#umbridge family

[okeydokeylackey]

The moment I saw @danielyuikai's Ellen Cracknell design on my feed, I was so excited. Barely any people know that she even exists, let alone is there any art of her.

I've had art block for the past 4 days or so and just seeing the design broke me out of it. I hope I did your version justice, I wanted to do a little bit of a scene instead of just... drawing her lol, so.

[severussnapemylove]

Y/N; "If you hurt my people, you will answer directly to me, and whatever crimes I commit against you, remember, I have diplomatic immunity in 46 countries."

Umbridge; "You will find that the word "fear" is not in my vocabulary!"

Y/N; "Perhaps... but it's in your eyes."

[overlord-of-fantasy]

The worst for the worst

These are the options that got votes the last time (but i only selected 1 day then, oopsy) Please vote on my new crackship!

[jade-eclipse-lithium]

This year is going to be a long one.

Perhaps for the ones who make it through alive.

[carewyncromwell]

Ron 🤝 Carewyn

Of all of Bill's siblings, Carewyn knew Ginny and Ron the least well. Considering she hadn't gone to school with them at all, she had only really been able to interact with them over the holidays or (in Ginny's case) the one school year before the youngest Weasley went to Hogwarts. Because Ron went to school the year immediately following Carewyn's own graduation and eventually chose to stay at school over Christmas break for most of his time at Hogwarts, the young up-and-coming lawyer had the least amount of time to get to spend time with Ron one-on-one. Despite this, Carewyn was still very fond of Ron, as she was with all the Weasleys, and Ron had warm feelings toward Carewyn both as one of Bill and Charlie's closest friends and as someone who honestly acted a lot like his mother, Molly, except (in Fred and George's words) "cooler." She'd even gifted Ron one of his largest and nicest Chudley Cannons posters.

One of the things Ron and Carewyn were able to talk about during the holidays, on those occasions where Carewyn could come over, were their respective friend groups. Ron told Carewyn all about Harry Potter and Hermione Granger the summer after his first year, and Carewyn was immediately reminded of her time with Bill, Rowan, Penny, and Ben, who had been her first friends.

"Hermione's Muggle-born, but she's the smartest girl in our year, easily," Ron explained. "She even stays awake during Binns's lectures, somehow! And passes all his tests!"

This made Carewyn giggle behind her hand, remembering the wonderful days at school when her best friend Rowan would give her own History of Magic lectures in front of their class while Binns was asleep.

"Maybe she should teach the class herself, if she's so capable at it," Carewyn said amusedly. "Then maybe everyone would get a proper education in the subject."

Seeing usually cool Carewyn laugh made a brighter, prouder light dance through Ron's expression and he grinned that little bit bigger.

"You'll love Harry when you meet him, though," he said fervently. "All of you will. He's the nicest bloke I've ever met. And you should see him on a broom! He can catch the Snitch like nobody's business. In his real first match, he even caught the bloody thing in his mouth! It was an accident, mind you, but still -- a first year catching the Snitch at all, and that quickly -- you gotta admit, that's pretty brilliant!"

"It is," agreed Carewyn. "As is a first year being chosen for a Quidditch team at all -- even the best fliers I knew at school were only chosen in their second year. Potter has good reason to be proud of himself."

Ron's expression grew a bit more serious, even though the smile didn't fade.

"...I know," he said lowly. "That's the thing, though. 'Cause he does have good reason to be proud! He's brave, clever, funny -- brilliant at Quidditch...not to mention that he beat You-Know-Who not just as a baby, but even this year when he wanted at the Philosopher's Stone, all by himself! He's rich -- he practically bought the whole trolley when we first met, just so we could try all the different sweets together! The professors all like him, aside from Snape...McGonagall even gifted him a brand new Nimbus 2000, when he first joined the Gryffindor team!"

Carewyn raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Minerva must've really believed in Potter's abilities, to be that blatant in her favoritism toward her Quidditch team, she thought more cynically than her voice and face would suggest. And to pay for something the player could've more than afforded himself...

Ron nodded.

"Most people like him, and everybody knows his name. But even with all that...Harry doesn't see what he's done as that big a deal. He never brags, or acts all high-and-mighty, or looks down his nose at anyone...well, maybe aside from Malfoy, but that prat deserves it, trust me. And the only reason I can figure for it is...at home, his family -- his uncle, aunt, and cousin, I mean -- treat him like rubbish! They bully him, and ignore him, and put him down -- they don't treat him like family. When he's Harry Potter! Not just the Boy Who Lived -- but a really, truly awesome person..."

Ron rested his head on his hands, his eyes narrowing on the carpet a bit. His smile had faded over the course of his explanation.

"...That's why...I want Harry here, this summer. I want him here, and away from those rotten Muggles who tried to 'stamp' his magic out of him and used to lock him up in a closet under the stairs when they were cross with him! I want to be there for him, like at school -- to make sure he knows he's brilliant, no matter what the Muggles say. I know we don't have much, and I know our place is cramped and rundown and all, but...I want him here, with us. I want him to know what family's supposed to be like. And I think...if I brought him here, I think he'd be just as happy as I'd be to have him! The thought of being invited to my house -- my small, crowded, rickety old house with my tiny shoe-box of a room -- it made Harry so happy, you would've thought I was Father Christmas or something!"

Ron looked up at Carewyn with something oddly self-conscious in his flushed, freckled face. It was like he was experiencing a feeling he'd never really known before and was having trouble explaining.

"...I just...he needs me, Carey. You know?"

Carewyn's expression softened. Very gently she brought a hand onto Ron's shoulder so as to steer him into a sideways hug.

"I do," she said kindly. "And you know, I think Bill does too."

She felt Ron relax under her arm, clearly encouraged.

"Yeah?" asked Ron. Like Ginny, he'd always looked up to Bill.

"Mm-hmm," said Carewyn with a fond red-lipsticked smile. "Because from what Bill told me later...he felt the same way about me, back in the day. Thinking I shouldn't have to do things by myself and wanting to be there for me. Wanting me over at the Burrow for the winter holidays, just so I didn't have to spend Christmas alone."

This brought the smile back to Ron's face.

"That's why I stayed at Hogwarts this last Christmas," he explained. "Hermione was going back to her parents, and the rest of the boys in our dorm weren't staying either...so Harry would've spent the holidays all alone, if I hadn't stayed..."

Carewyn smiled and gave Ron's shoulder a light squeeze. "I'm sure Harry really appreciated that."

The conversation was so casual that Carewyn didn't think on it again until years later, in the midst of the Second Wizarding War.

The Ministry of Magic had fallen to the Death Eaters, and everything both there and in the outside world was grim. Dolores Umbridge was head of the new Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and the Auror Department was out seeking "Undesirables" for their new Death Eater overlords. And one day, in the midst of several trials for captured Muggle-borns, Carewyn collided with a rather harried Magical Maintenance wizard in sopping wet robes looking for someone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Sorry, I'm looking for Bernie -- have you -- ?"

As soon as Carewyn walked by the small, ferret-esque wizard talking with the witch at the second desk on the right, though, she immediately sensed something was off. Carewyn didn't know Reg Cattermole at all, but her natural Legilimency had become very sensitive in her time as a lawyer, and she could just sense deception coming off of him. What he was saying was a lie. And so she paused off to the side and watched the exchange.

"Oh -- hello, Reg," said the witch, sounding bemused. Clearly she wasn't incredibly familiar with the custodian either, but was humoring him, even as she continued to organize the files in front of her. "I'm afraid Bernie's already left -- he's gone off to help with turning the rain off in the Department of Magical Transportation -- "

"Wha -- ?" the wizard called Reg couldn't seem to stop himself, before halfheartedly accepting the witch's assistance. "Right -- um -- thanks..."

As he turned as if to head back to the lift, he nearly ran right into Carewyn.

"Ah!" his eyes widened noticeably at the sight of her. "Care -- I mean, Ms. Cromwell! H-how nice to see you..."

Carewyn's blue eyes narrowed upon his face.

"Likewise," she said lightly.

Considering we've never spoken.

It was as Carewyn stared into this stranger's eyes, though, that something scratched at the inside of her brain -- multiple familiar, happy voices, echoing in delight at the sight of her --

"Carewyn dear!" "Carey!"

Carewyn flinched. The shift in expression made the wizard called Reg falter a bit too, his expression looking noticeably more wary. Images of Albert Runcorn looking oddly anxious danced over her mind.

"She had to go down to Courtroom Three with Umbridge, she couldn't refuse -- "

"You said you were looking for Bernie Pensworth, Reg?" Carewyn said abruptly. "Why don't you come with me -- I already told him I'd help him with 'turning the rain off' downstairs..."

The wizard called Reg looked stuck halfway between relief and utter terror.

"Ah -- y-yeah! Uh -- that'd be great! Thanks!"

He followed Carewyn back to the lift, shooting her unsure glances out the side of his eye. Carewyn could hear more familiar voices rippling off of him --

"Did you say Occlumency? ...You know Carey had to study that too, right, Ron? That's the opposite of Legilimency..."

"Shame he has to study it with Severus Snape, though -- "

" -- he needs me, you know?"

It was strange enough hearing Bill and Arthur in this stranger's head -- but it was the final familiar sentiment, and the image of Albert Runcorn in the elevator accompanying it, that made Carewyn stiffen.

Ron...?

" -- he needs me -- "

Carewyn and the wizard called Reg made it back into the lift, and Carewyn very sharply closed it behind her before anyone else could join them inside.

Reg made as if to press a button, but Carewyn stopped him, placing her hand over the console.

"Which floor do you need to get off at?" she asked in a very soft, urgent voice.

Reg gave a start. "Huh?"

"Which floor is your friend on?" said Carewyn.

She looked right at the modestly-sized man, fixing him with a very sharp, meaningful expression.

Very slowly the wizard called Reg -- in truth, Ron Weasley -- seemed to melt, his expression giving way to pure, unadulterated relief.

"...Level Nine," he breathed. "They're both in Courtroom Three, with Umbridge -- "

"Then we're getting you down there," said Carewyn firmly.

She took out her wand and used it to push in the floor button for the ninth floor. While doing so, she whispered, "Epoximise."

The button, rather than going back into its proper place after being pushed, stayed stuck where it was. The lift then headed straight down, even seemingly ignoring the other floors where people were waiting.

"Tonks taught me that trick," Carewyn said with a wry smile. "Folks around here use it as a cheap way to get to their offices quickly, when they're running late for their shifts..."

Ron as Reg Cattermole grinned from ear to ear. "Tonks really is bloody brilliant!"

"Yes, she is."

Ron's smile faltered as Carewyn turned to him very solemnly.

"Listen -- we don't have much time. I was just upstairs near the Minister's office, and I heard someone say something about a hole in Umbridge's office door. I don't know if it's connected to what you're up to, but considering your friends are down there with Umbridge right now, I have a bad feeling they might've caught on to you being here. If so, it's very possible the Minister might order the fireplaces in the Atrium sealed, to try to prevent anyone from escaping -- "

Ron noticed them passing the Atrium out the side of his eye, but Carewyn didn't even make any effort to stop it early. She knew Ron wasn't going to try to bail out without his friends -- just as she never would've.

"My Sticking Charm might keep this lift from being called elsewhere for a little while, but only that. Fifteen minutes, at most. I need you to get to Courtroom Three, get your friends, and get them back here as fast as you can. Then take the lift straight to the Atrium. I'll go back up the stairs myself, so that this lift stays here for you..."

When they arrived, the doors clanged open with a cool, serene "Level Nine: Department of Mysteries." Both Carewyn and Ron bolted out, heading right for the stairs.

"Carey -- " said Ron. He couldn't stop himself from throwing his much shorter arms around her and giving her a tight hug. "You're the best!"

But Carewyn quickly extricated herself, even as she squeezed his arm affectionately. "Go, quickly!"

As Ron ran off, she couldn't help but call "Be careful!" in such a gravelly whisper after him that she wasn't sure if he heard her or not. Sadly she couldn't afford to wait to make sure he made it back -- instead she had to run back upstairs.

Carewyn wouldn't be able to dawdle around in the Atrium, to ensure Ron and his friends' escape -- but maybe if she went back and sabotaged the other lifts the same way, it might just slow down anyone coming from Level One or Two just enough to give them a real chance...

Friendship Drabble Prompt!

[persephone-sails]

I actually sympathise with Fiona because I've been her (recently 💔) but god her misogyny is so unbearable

[braveclementine]

Chapter 23

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕴 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 Hospital wing. Trang was sitting in a chair, holding Remus who was fast asleep. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both sitting by Bill, Fleur wide awake in a nearby chair. Neville was still asleep though Luna was nowhere to be seen. I supposed she'd gone back to the Ravenclaw tower.

Dad and Tonks were still at the far end of the room, talking. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were gone, probably back at the Gryffindor Tower. Madam Pomfrey came bustling over once she saw that I had returned.

"Good, now I can finish healing these burns." She started plastering paste all down one leg and wrapping it. "Your robes were ruined, I threw them out."

"How did you get burned?" Trang asked, somewhere behind me, "No one else showed signs of burns."

"Bellatrix Lestrange." I said aloud, "She set Hagrid's cabin on fire. I think Greyback pushed me in, I don't really remember."

"You shouldn't have fought." Trang said.

"Yeah there's a lot of stuff I shouldn't have done apparently, thanks!" I snapped, my temper rising. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips.

"Just because Harry and everyone else here thinks you're an evil person doesn't mean I do." Trang said.

"What do you mean everyone?" Dad asked sharply, turning from Tonks. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and Fleur were looking up in interest and confusion.

"Oh puhlease." Trang snapped, "Say what you want Mr. Lupin, but I saw the look on your face."

"Trang that's enough." I said softly. "Doesn't matter."

"Obviously it does!" Trang started, "It's not your fault!"

"I never said it was!" Dad said hotly.

"No?" Trang flared, "I didn't hear you saying a word in defense as Harry was beating Elizabeth down! Or as he kept attacking her repeatedly, over and over. I'm really good at reading expressions and your face had a mixture of hate and disgust and regret on it, so excuse me for calling you evil!"

Remus started to cry again.

"Trang, stop." I said sharply, "Give me Remus."

"You should change his name." Trang said hotly, meanly, but she handed him over all the same. I forgot how cruel Trang could be if someone had hurt her friends or family.

Mr and Mrs. Weasley's mouths were open in shock, looking back and forth between Trang and I and Dad. Tonks looked hesitant, sitting by Dad, but looking from him to me like she wanted to say something.

"What did we miss?" Mr. Weasley asked in something that sounded like amazement.

"Nothing." Dad said shortly.

Trang launched into the whole story, adding details that including how much Dad apparently hated his daughter and how Harry was incorrect and other slightly (hugely) biased details. I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Trang could be extremely hot tempered and I was so glad that I wasn't her enemy.

"There." Madam Pomfrey said a few minutes after Trang had finished her story to which neither Mr. or Mrs. Weasley had anything to say. "You should stay over-"

"No thanks." I said quickly, getting to my feet, "I'll be fine."

I beckoned to Trang and the two of us left the room. "Where are you sleeping tonight?" Trang asked as we covered the hallways.

"Severus' room." I said softly. "Just going to lock myself in and put Remus to sleep and sob my heart out. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Sure." Trang said sadly, putting an arm around me. I let her hug me and then she headed for the Ravenclaw tower with heavy feet. I went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, opening the door and closing it softly behind me.

I slid down, my back against the door and wept, not even making it to the bed. I reached up, blindly reaching around for the lock and turned it. Remus was crying too, the only incentive that made me get to my feet so that I could reach the bedroom and put him in his crib.

I half expected Severus to be sitting on the bed waiting, but the room was empty, the bed made from this morning. I turned back around, thinking maybe I'd missed him. He'd be standing in the corner of the shadows, waiting to envelop me in his arms so that I could sob into his chest. I could feel his hair on my cheeks and I touched my cheek with my hand, finding that nothing was there.

His desk was clear, all homework graded and in neat stacks. Quills in ink pots, slimy things in jars on shelves, an art easel in the corner, the curtains pulled over the window, Harry's detention boxes collecting dust in the corner. Harry would never finish them.

I went back into the bedroom, closing that door and locking it too. I turned off the light, climbing under the covers. I reached for the pillow, getting ready to stuff it under my neck when my fingers touched parchment.

I flipped the light back on and reached under the pillow, pulling out an envelope. My name was handwritten on the outside of it with Severus' handwriting. With trembling fingers and a few papercuts, the letter was finally out of the envelope.

I unfolded the parchment and read:

Elizabeth, The love of my life, I know you know what's going to happen, that's an under- statement. You know far more than what I know. But I had to write this, just in case, you understand? It's a letter to you in case I never see you again and it's a letter to Remus in case I never see him again. You'll give it to him when he can read. I wish I'd been a better man, someone Remus could be proud to call his father. I don't know when I'll see you again. I won't say if ever because I believe I will see you again, it's the only thing that's keeping me on this path. Chances are you won't ever read this of course. It could be to painful for you to sleep in this bed ever again. Someone else could easily find it, but I have a good feeling about this so I'm writing it. I want you to realize that I know I'm leaving you in a terrible

position. It can't be easy, knowing the future. Someone might

blame you for Dumbledore's death, even though both you and I know that it was inevitable, that you could do nothing to persuade either of us from the plan. For that, I am sorry, it should not be your burden to carry. I'm even afraid (I hope I'm wrong and you curse me for it later) that your father will find you guilty. He's close with Dumbledore. I hope I'm wrong.

But despite what people say, despite what people might

think, I want you to know that I love you. Maybe that's not enough. Maybe you need the love of your friends. I know you care very much for your father. But I know you, and I know that you are strong. I know that you will be able to move past people's thoughts about you. I know that you will be the better person. I love you, I love you, I love you. I never thought I was a romantic, but I cannot seem to be able to write those words enough to know that you will know that I mean them. Perhaps I should've run away with you to Australia when we had the chance. I love you. I love Remus. I love you.

-S.S

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕭𝖊𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖒𝖞 𝖈𝖗𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌 and Remus' crying, I didn't get much sleep that night. It was foolish, I knew that. Severus wasn't the one who had been lying dead under the Astronomy tower. Severus was fine- for now- and I would see him again next year.

But the weight of what had happened last night seemed to pierce right through my heart. In a way, Harry was right. I should've done more to save Dumbledore, but in a way, I thought I was more right. Dumbledore was okay with what happened, he asked Severus to do it.

I wondered, had I kept my mouth shut last night, would I feel so terrible this morning? Would Harry and I have had a fight? Would dad still feel repulsed by me still?

I lay in bed for a long time, watching the hands on the clock in the bedroom tick past, occasionally getting out of bed to feed or change Remus and then climbing back into bed in a sullen depression.

There was a knock on the door of the office but I didn't fee like leaving the bedroom. I heard the door open and knew someone must've used the Alohomora spell. Strangely, I didn't care you entered: student, Professor, dad, Tonks, friend, foe, Death Eater, Voldemort. It didn't really seem to matter anymore.

"Eliza?"

It wasn't the voice that I was expecting and I slid off the bed, and unlocked the bedroom door and pulled it open. Severus had never closed the bedroom door before, we'd always left it open so that it felt that the main room and the bedroom were one.

"Ginny, hi." I said softly.

"You look horrible." She said, coming in through the door. "How are you?"

I just stared at her.

"Right, stupid question. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with Ron, Hermione, Harry, and me." Ginny said. She went to the crib, peering over the edge, "You can bring your baby with you if you want."

"Right and have another shouting match with Harry? I don't think so." I said softly, climbing back into the bed, pulling the sheets around me.

Ginny turned from the crib to look at me. "Did you even eat anything today?"

"No." I whispered, "I can't go out."

Ginny sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hermione chewed out Harry last night."

"Why?" I asked.

"For what he said to you. It wasn't fair at all." Ginny said softly. "He shouldn't have said any of that."

"The damage is done." I whispered but I didn't cry. My tear ducts seemed to have dried up, "Dad already hates me."

"Lupin doesn't hate you." Ginny said kindly. "He's really broken up about what happened last night. Trang and him had it out again this morning. He wants to talk to you."

I sighed, "It doesn't matter. I mean, people say what they want you to think, don't they? I'm not really his daughter, you know? He isn't going to love me the same way he would love his own child. There's a gap. He admired Dumbledore. I could've. . . well I really couldn't. Dumbledore believed the only way for the future to unfold the way I told him was if he died. Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong. Personally, I think he was right. Severus. . . well, I can't explain it, but Dumbledore was going to die anyways."

"Because another Death Eater would have killed him?" Ginny asked softly.

"No." I said, shaking my hand and letting the blankets drop a little bit, "His black hand was cursed. He only had a few more days to live anyways. If he hadn't died last night. . . well we still would be having a funeral, but probably after your O.W.L.s instead."

"Why didn't you tell anyone that?" Ginny asked. "Then there would've been an understanding-"

I shook my head, "Dumbledore wanted it to play out that way. Eventually, Harry will find out that Severus only killed Dumbledore because he asked him to. But until then, that little secret remains between you, me, and Trang, Ginny. Harry cannot know until he finds out on his own, do you understand?"

"Yes." Ginny sighed. "Trang knows then?"

"I tell her everything because she keeps every secret." I said softly. "And because she isn't part of the future. But you are and so is Harry and Hermione and Ron and everyone else here. I shouldn't have told you what I have and I did, and maybe that'll alter the future somewhat, but if Harry finds out what I've told you, the future could alter hugely, and that could end up being a very bad thing."

We sat in silence for a minute and then Ginny said, "There's something else you should know."

"And what's that?" I asked.

"The entire school knows you have a child, but- they don't know who the father is." Ginny said. "I just thought you should know before you go out there."

"Yes." I said sarcastically. "Because knowing everyone knows I have a child definitely makes me want to go out there."

Remus started to cry. Ginny hopped up from the bed, "Can I get him?"

I nodded. Ginny went over to the crib and picked Remus up and held him close to her. After a few minutes of bouncing her arms, he fell asleep again. "What's his name?"

"Remus Sirius Snape." I said.

"I'm surprised Snape even let you name him that." Ginny said lightly, obviously not wanting to start a fight. "Considering how much he hated Sirius."

"He understood it was something I had to do." I said and then I smiled a little and said, "I think the way he put it was 'at least you didn't name him James'."

Ginny laughed lightly.

I got out of bed, smoothing the covers over. I was wearing school clothes and I grabbed my robes to throw over them. I smoothed down my hair and used a little makeup to fix the red eyes and blotchy face.

"Elizabeth?" Another voice asked at the door.

"Hi Susan." I said unenthusiastically.

She came into the room and squealed with delight, "You do have a child!"

"Yeah his name is Remus Sirius." I said, not letting out the last name.

She smiled at me, " Can I hold him?" I motioned to Ginny to let Susan hold him.

"I think I'm going to go down to Hagrid's." I said to Ginny. "I'll take Remus with me. I don't really want to go into the Great Hall though."

"I'll get you food." Ginny said, "I'll meet you in the entrance hall." She left the room quickly.

"I'll go down with you, if you want." Susan said softly.

I nodded, my throat tightening. "I just hope I don't see a lot of people."

Susan and I went down the stairs. I wondered if the fact that she knew where to find me meant that she knew Severus was my husband or whatever the rumors were but she didn't let on.

"Was anyone seriously hurt last night?" I asked.

Susan shook her head, "I'm disappointed in Zacharias for not showing up but I never had time to confront him. His dad escorted him off the school property today."

I sighed, "I thought he might stay for the funeral."

"Me too." Susan said sadly. "Padma and Parvati Patil are both gone, their father picked them up before breakfast. They had a row, tried to stay at Hogwarts, but their dad refused. I heard he was livid that they had fought the Death Eaters. Seamus had a huge row with his mother in the entrance hall. She'll let him stay for the funeral though."

"They won't be the last students to have rows or leave." I said. "Parents aren't going to want their students in the school anymore, not that they'll have a choice next year."

Much to my relief, the hallways we were using had almost no students in them and the students we did see were first or second years and paid us no attention whatsoever because they didn't know us.

"Next year?" Susan asked.

I shook my head, "You'll find out sooner or later. Just stay safe next year."

"You won't be coming back?" Susan asked.

I hesitated, "I don't know yet. We'll see."

We passed the Great Hall and students were more abundant here. Ernie and Justin came running out of the Great Hall to join us, both of them showing exclamations of surprise at Remus, but no hard feelings were between us. I really did belong in Hufflepuff. It was ridiculous it had taken me six years to believe that.

Ginny was in the Entrance Hall, holding a basket of food which she thrust into Ernie's arms. "I'm going to go with Ron, Hermione, and Harry, we're going to see Bill in the hospital wing."

"Tell him I told him to get better." I said lightly. Ginny nodded and hurried up the marble staircase.

"Where are we going?" Ernie asked, staggering under the weight of the picnic basket. Susan giggled.

"If it's too heavy for you, you can always use magic." She teased.

"I was going to Hagrid's cabin." I said, "But we can have a picnic in the pumpkin patch. I should say hi to Buckbeak anyways."

"Buckbeak?" Ernie asked.

"Oh right, sorry, I meant Witherwings." I said with a grin, hoisting Remus higher up on my shoulder. He was blinking up at the bright sun, and waving his hand in the breeze.

There were lots of students outside and they all pointed as the four of us made our way down to Hagrid's cabin. The girls squealed and oohed and aahed from a distance about the baby. The boys seemed almost impressed for some reason.

Rose broke away from her group of friends to come and join us. I spread the blanket out in the pumpkin patch, petting Buckbeak's nose, holding Remus up so he could pet Buckbeak too. Buckbeak nuzzled Remus and then we went and sat down with the others.

Rose was delighted with Remus and asked to hold him. He was only a few weeks old and I was suddenly slightly worried about all the dangers that were outside but I let Rose hold him anyway and then produced a small umbrella and cradle out of a pumpkin so that he could fall asleep in the shade and also not be sunburned.

I had undone the spell on my wedding ring, making it visible to everyone. I figured now that everyone knew I had a child, they could all know I was married too. They just wouldn't know who I was married to.

Hagrid joined us some time later with his own food which we managed to avoid. He told us stories of old and of Dumbledore and of Hogwarts and battles and dragon trades and Acromantula and many other things.

Over the next couple of days, there were many people that we'd either seen before, or hadn't seen before but nobody I wanted to talk to.

I visited Bill in the hospital wing when the only person there was Fleur and Madam Pomfrey. He gave me a one armed hug and asked how I was doing, if it was true that I'd had a child with Severus, and what the child's name was.

But unlike many of the other people who were disturbed about the child and even more disturbed I'd had it with a Professor (like Bill's mother), Bill was quite pleased with the idea, and asked me if he could see Remus.

I brought my baby too him and he held him on his lap and said to Fleur, "We should have one of these."

"But of course!" Fleur exclaimed and went onto a long rant about how her and Bill would have about seventy children and half of them were name Gabrielle.

Neville hadn't been discharged yet, and Luna sat by his side quite frequently. Luna and Neville were also people who quite liked Remus and of course, Luna took the most unusual side of things that made someone want to hit her and laugh with her at the same time.

"You must have a case of Stranger's Aching." Luna said over a new edition of the Quibbler, "It's where people fall in love with their soulmate, but then fate intervenes and something happens and-"

Ginny started to giggle and I flushed. Bill looked confused and looked between Ginny, Fleur, and I for help understanding. Fleur hadn't been paying attention. Neville looked embarrassed for me.

"Thanks, Luna." I said, trying not to laugh. "I'll work on that."

Ginny giggled harder. Trang cracked a smile.

"So." Trang said, pulling something out of her bag. "I've done my research." She handed me a sheaf of paper.

I flipped through the pictures. They were stationary- Muggle candids of apartments and houses. "These are relatively cheap." She said. "But this one is near a park." She said, pointing to a small blue house with yellow shutters and a white porch. "It's older than the apartments but like I said, I did the research. It's perfect."

"Your moving?" Bill asked, frowning which contorted his face into more of a scowl.

"Of course." Trang said before I had a chance to even open my mouth. "Where else is she supposed to go?"

Bill moved uncomfortably in his bed. Fleur contributed this to being restless, and Trang and I left them alone.

"I don't know where to move to..." I said hesitantly, walking down the hallway. We were going to go outside with Remus. "I-"

"But where else can you possibly go?" Trang asked.

"Home." A different voice said from behind us. Trang scowled and I turned around hesitantly.

Dad stood there with Tonks. "Elizabeth, you should come home."

I swallowed hard. I wasn't ready for this conversation. I clutched Remus just a little tighter in my arms. "I. . ."

"Just come home." Dad repeated, almost pleading. My heart wrenched.

Trang was gritting her teeth loudly but she said nothing. This was my choice, she knew that.

"I don't. . . I think it'd be easier. . . for you if I-"

"No it wouldn't!" Dad said fiercely. "I want you to come home."

"It's not going to be the same." I whispered.

"Why?" Dad demanded. "Because I was upset with Dumbledore's death?"

"Because you blamed me for his death!" I protested, close to crying.

"I didn't." Dad denied. "I was trying to wrap my head around a difficult situation. That's not an excuse and in some aspects, Trang was right. I didn't stand up for you, and you don't know how much I regret not doing so. I should've told Harry off, I know that, and I didn't, and there is nothing I can do to change that, I can't turn back time! But I love you and I want you to come home and I want you to introduce me to my grandson and I want you to be there for Tonks and mine wedding and I want you to know that I'm always going to stand up for you, no matter what."

But he wouldn't. He was going to die and so was Tonks and Fred and Severus and Lavender and Colin and Uncle Moody and who knew how many other people.

"His name's Remus Sirius Snape." I whispered, holding him out for dad to hold. Dad took him gingerly in his arms and smiled down at him. Tonks smiled at me. I smiled back.

"I'm sorry." Trang said in a hard voice, not looking at dad. "I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"You put me in my place and though you were wrong about some things, you were also right about others. I just needed to hurt for a little bit." Dad said softly, waving a finger in Remus' face.

"I'll see you later." Trang whispered, putting a hand on my shoulder and then walked off.

"How old is he?" Tonks asked.

"A few weeks, about a month almost." I said. "June 4 was his birthday."

"Eliza!" A voice squealed and turned, nearly getting knocked over as Hermione threw her arms around me. Ginny was on her heels. Ron and Harry were much slower in following.

"Hi- Hermione- can't breathe."

Hermione let go of me quickly, smiling and said, "Oh, I'm so glad we ran into you! We were just on our way to go see Bill."

"Yeah, he's awake." I said. "At least he was when I left. Fleur's with him."

Ginny let out a dramatic sigh. Ron hurried past us and left with Ginny. Harry stopped in front of me, hesitating.

I didn't know who did it first, but in a moment we were both hugging each other and whispering that we were sorry and for each other to forgive the other and how stupid we were, yada yada.

Hermione was positively beaming.

From that day on, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Trang, and I were always together, almost always accompanied by Remus either asleep or crying and sometimes an extra friend from Hufflepuff. And even though I'd made up with Harry I did not forget the sense of acceptance that had come from Hufflepuff. I'd always belonged in Hufflepuff. I did not have to be my parents or Lupin.

I just had to be myself.

⬅️➡️

[dream-with-a-fever]

ginny weasley did not

defend harry against malfoy in flourish and blots when he was picking on him (it’s the first time she ever speaks in front of him)

carry around a horcrux for the better half of a year and realise that something was wrong and try to dispose of it at age 11

get possessed, manipulated and controlled by one of the darkest wizards of all time and live to tell the tale

get forced to write her own farewell note on the wall in blood and walk to her own death

go on as normally as possible afterwards despite the trauma of her first year, because she didn’t want to be a nuisance

make harry a get well soon card after he fell off his broom because of the dementors in third year

tell harry and ron off when making fun of neville for not being able to get a yule ball date

refuse harry as a yule ball date despite having harboured a crush on him for years because she didn’t want to hurt neville

see harry was floundering after hermione & ron left him to do prefect duties and immediately take charge and invite him to come with her

defend luna against bullies, and encourage neville to believe in himself and know his self worth

decide to quit pining for harry because it was a waste of time, instead dating other boys and becoming a solid friend to him

join dumbledore’s army without a second thought, coining the name and even encouraging more ravenclaws to join

call harry out when he was in a downward spiral about being possessed, explained her own experience and remained gracious despite him forgetting her biggest trauma

fill in for harry as seeker in the quidditch team and help them win the quidditch cup that year

reassure harry that he will play quidditch again, when he was feeling low about umbridge’s life long ban

encourage harry to talk to cho if that’s what he’s upset about (putting her own complicated feelings for him aside)

get harry to admit what was actually upsetting him and helping him find a solution

immediately agree to help harry by standing guard outside umbridge’s office despite not knowing any details

call harry out whenever he was being snarky / impatient with her and not take any of his shit

disarm malfoy & the others and escape from umbridge’s office to rush to harry and hermione’s aid

refuse to stay behind at hogwarts stating that she cared for sirius too and wanted to help

go with the others to the DoM in an attempt to save sirius, risking her life and breaking her ankle in the process

refuse to tolerate her brother’s new girlfriend who was being snobbish about her family’s home and lifestyle (but then go on to love and respect her, as they mature)

get invited to join the slug club because of her skill with hexes and not nepotism (the only one who wasn’t invited for that reason)

tell off zabini for laughing at harry about what went down at the DoM

call ron the fuck out when he was borderline slut-shaming her

crash into the commentator’s podium to shut zacharias smith up from talking smack about the gryffindor team

immediately try to intervene when she thought harry was in danger of being possessed by the hbp potions book

tell off dean and seamus for laughing when harry got seriously hurt in quidditch

come to harry’s defence after he attacked malfoy (bc he had to defend himself against an unforgivable curse) and stand up to (one of her) closest friend(s) to do so

step up to play seeker in harry’s place (again) in the quidditch final and winning the cup in his absence (!!!!)

make harry feel “the happiest he had ever been” when they finally got together

make my boy LAUGH 24/7 and bring him (and many others) so much JOY

support harry after dumbledore’s death, knowing when to give him comfort and also space

show unwavering love and loyalty to harry when he was trying to break up with her, claiming she didn’t care about the danger

also ultimately not fight his decision, understanding his need to stop voldemort once and for all, despite her being completely heartbroken

respect harry’s wishes to stay broken up, but still give him the most INSANE kiss ever as a birthday present (and something for him to fight for!!)

return to hogwarts under the rule of deatheaters, despite the target on her back as a blood traitor (also as brother of ron AND ex girlfriend of harry)

take the place of younger students and try to protect them from being tortured by the carrows

start up dumbledore’s army again with neville and rebel against the system, to reek as much havoc as possible at hogwarts

try to steal the sword of gryffindor from snape’s office because they wanted to help the cause as much as possible despite understanding why they needed it and ultimately being punished for it

refuse to stay put in the room of requirement when her family were out risking their lives during the battle and given the chance, immediately joined the fray

comfort an injured younger student at the battle, and stay strong for them, despite having just found out her brother had been killed

duel with bellatrix in the battle and almost lose her life doing it

go through so much and have her trauma be overlooked and forgotten by so many

go on to play QUIDDITCH PROFESSIONALLY in the team she DREAMED of playing for

and then going back to a career in writing (sports correspondent) despite her traumatic experience with the diary

marry the love of her life and have three beautiful children and get the happy ending that she deserves after EVERYTHING????

all for you guys to shit on her the way you do. put some goddamn RESPECT on MISS GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY’S name. she’s NOT a mary sue, she’s NOT a bully, and she’s NOT boring. she’s an ICON.

[mrsmikaelsxn]

Flower Crowns

masterlist

pairing: harry potter x female reader

warnings: kissing, jily 2.0, fluff, flirty harry

summary: you were quite popular among the wizards and witches in the school, you had many admirers but none of them were like harry potter

a/n: harry would honestly be such a perfect boyfriend

song: i was made for lovin’ you - kiss

It was your sixth year at Hogwarts, today was your first day back after summer. Seated at the Slytherin table with some of your friends, you were in a conversation about what everyone did over the summer. 

As you were about to tell them about the trip you took, you hear a throat being cleared from behind you. You turn around as your friends look up and roll there eyes. 

“Hello, darling,” Harry grins while plopping himself on the bench with little room next to you.

“Potter,” you nod looking him over.

“How is it you’ve gotten even more beautiful over the summer,” he sighs dreamily. Your friends moved down the table more since they were tired of this routine. You look at them with betrayal as they just smile and shrug. 

“What is it you came over here for?” you dont know why you bother asking at this point, you already know whats coming. 

“Well, love, I came to ask you if you would go out with me this weekend,” he winks. You glace over his shoulder to see a Hermione sighing and a grinning Ron. 

“Sorry, Potter, but I’m going to have to decline your offer,” you said looking back at him. He’s use to you saying no, like how it has been for the past four years. He still trys all the time, he has never done anything with another person either. He is so set on you being for him that he is disgusted at the thought of being with anyone else that isn’t you. 

In the summer before second year, he went back home and told his parents about you. He would somehow have a way to bring you up everyday, while he blushing thinking about you. James would always grin at Lily while lifting his eyebrows up and down. She would roll her eyes as James starts to tell him about how to get you to take interest in him. 

Taking his dads advice, he would buy you little things at least twice a week, give you compliments every time he saw you, and many more things. 

One time during fourth year, he saw you walking around alone at the Quidditch World Cup. You were in a somewhat long silk green dress that complimented your body perfectly. You had some light makeup and your hair styled back.  He told the Weasleys and Hermione to go on and that he would joining them in a few minutes. 

“Hi, sweetheart,” Harry greets you while letting his eyes roam all over you in adoration. You glance over at him, taking in his messy hair and him in general. You would be lying if you were to say that he was not attractive, anyone could see that. 

“Potter, how are you?” 

“I'm perfect after seeing you, you look stunning” he smiles.

You blushed and looked away trying to hide your light pink cheeks. Although he most definitely saw, he felt like the happiest person ever. This was the first time he was able to make you blush.

“Thank you, I suppose you don’t look bad yourself,” you tell him while the corners of your mouth lift up a bit. 

He could have fainted right there, he started to stutter as he wasn’t expecting that. 

“I best be off, Potter. My family is waiting for me, I’ll see you soon,” you wave at the blushing boy as you start walking back. 

“I- uhm- brilliant!” That day he went to back to the Weasley’s tent as he told them about what happened. They all teased him about his massive crush as was still in a daze. It was truly astonishing how one sentence from you could lead him to act like this. 

Another time was last year, fifth year, when you had gotten detention with Umbridge. You were walking back to the common room with tears stinging your eyes. Umbridge had you stay much longer than you thought because of your “innappropriote behavior”. Apparently, speaking the truth is innappropriote now. As you were turing you almost crashed into someone. You look up to see a worried Harry Potter looking down at you. 

“I’m sorry, Potter. Excuse me,” you excuse yourself trying to go around him. Before you can, he gently grabs your waist and turns you to face him again. 

“Hold on, darling. Why are you crying, did something happen?” 

You couldn’t hold in the pain anymore. You started crying while grabbing onto Harry. His arms quickly wrapped around your waist. 

“Shh, love. Tell me whats wrong,” he whispers while using one hand to play with your hair. 

“I- um- had detention, with Umbridge,” he looks confused so you take a step back an slowly hold your left arm out. 

He was still confused for a second before looking at your hand. He was fuming, he saved his anger for now and decided to comfort you right now. He also felt such sadness that anyone would hurt an angel like you. 

“She did this to you?” he asked while sounding like he was about to cry. You nod, with some tears still streaming down your face. Oh how we wished he was able to kiss them away. 

“Come on love, I’ll take you to Hermione… she is much better at healing spells than me,” he informs you while gently pulling you towards the Gryffindor common room.

It was pretty late, so the room was empty when you both arrived. Except for Ron and Hermione who were arguing on the couch. They never had anything against you, even though you were a Slytherin, you had never participating in any of the bullying that a lot of other Slytherins did. You even scolded Malfoy when he called Hermione a Mudblood. 

Since that day you became somewhat friends with the girl, ignoring the looks of disgust from others in your house. 

When the two gryffindors looked up and saw you crying with distraught Harry, their argument quickly ended as they rushed over to you both.

“What happened, y/n? Harry?” Hermione says worridly. 

You tell them what happened, and they were just as mad as Harry. They tried to get rid of the writing on your hand but it would not go away. So Hermione decided she would just take the pain away for now. You thanked her with a hug and said goodnight as her and Ron went to their rooms. 

You turned to Harry and noticed how close your faces were, you glanced down at at his lips almost leaning in when you heard a bang from the dormitory making you both jump. 

“I- uh- should get back. Thank you, Potter,” you smile, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek before rushing out and leaving you both a blushing mess. 

Harry was left standing there as he lifted his hand to his red cheeks where your lips were. “What a girl,” he mumbled walking up the stairs. 

Back to present times, Harry got back up from his seat and looked down to you. “I’ll suppose I’ll have to try again tommorow, pretty,” he grins walking back to his seat. 

You blush lightly before picking up your things to head to your first class. The professor ended up assigning seats, and to Harrys luck, he was partnered with you for the year. 

“It’s meant to be, love,” he says as he leans back into his seat. 

“You wish, Potter,” you smile at him. 

“Yes, I do wish,” he grins looking at your eyes. 

After a long day of beginning of the year speeches, you were finally able to plop onto your bed and sleep. You look over to your friend, Daphne Greengrass, she was one of the only tolerable Slytherins in your opinion. 

“It’s adorable how much Potter loves you,” she laughs laying in bed. 

“Pfft, don't be ridiculous Daphne. He doesn't love me,” you shake your head. 

“He looks at you like you’re the only person in the world,” she giggles.  

“Hm”

You decided to drop the conversation, you closed your eyes and fell asleep. Later the next day, you were in the forbidden forest. Around a year ago, you found a place with a pretty flower field that was closed off. You come here often, as far as you know, you’re the only one who knows about it. 

You started to weave a flower crown out of a few lovely flowers you picked. You finished it and put it on as you hear meows from behind you. You turn around a squeal as you pick up the kitten and started to play with her (you checked the gender). 

You were unaware of Harry who was on his was to you after using the Mauraders Map to find you. He finally found you and his heart melt as he saw you giggling with a meowing kitten that licked your face as you lay in the field. 

You heard walking and sat up only to find yourself looking at the boy who has been on your mind a lot recently. 

“Oh! Hi, Harry, I didn’t expect you to come here,” you say. 

“Harry?” he asks you, trying to suppress a smile.

“Thats your name, is it not?” you laugh. 

“I suppose it is. Mind if I sit?” you nod, as you sit together in silence that was unexpectedly comfortable. 

Harry couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of you. 

“I really do fancy you,” Harry mumbles.

You turn to look at him, “I know… maybe I fancy you a bit as well,” you say, bringing your fingers up to show a pinch. 

“Really?” Harry asks leaving closer to you. 

“Really,” you whisper as you move so close your lips are brushing. You look into see his eyes and notice how pretty they are. 

“You’re perfect,” he whispers against your mouth as he connects his to yours. You both close your eyes as you kiss back and reach your hands into his hair. For the first minute it was sweet, before it started to become more passionate. You bring your leg over his and straddle him without disconnecting your lips. It was pure bliss.

You tug his hair getting a groan from him as his tongue swipes against your bottom lip, asking for permission. You happily comply and open your mouth, letting him explore your mouth, and you his. You gently pull his hair back and kiss down his neck and jaw. You leave many butterfly kisses. In between the kisses he whispers some small compliments, making you smile against his neck. You find his sweet spot and lightly suck on it, making him whimper, and leaving a beautiful hickey.  He says some praises bring heat to your face. He kisses your cheeks, “I love making you blush,” he smiles. 

“Oh hush, Potter,” you get off his lap. He groans but you decide its better to stop now before things get more heated. 

“Is it alright if I make you a flower crown? I think it would look rather good on you,” you asks with a sheepish smile.

“Of course, love”

He lays his head on your lap as you make the crown, you finish after about four minutes. It was somewhat hard for you to focus when you could feel Harrys gaze on you, but you tried your best to ignore it. 

“Andddd… done!” Harry sits up and you place it on his head. 

“You look pretty,” you smile pecking his lips. A light pink coats his cheeks. He honesty has never been so happy, he adores you so much that you are 90% of what he talks about. It was such a pain for his friends to have to listen to his rants about your “angelic beauty,” as he puts it. 

“Thank you, angel,” he says. 

“I think we should head back now, dinner alreader started,” you say standing up, also taking the kitten with you. You both walk hand in hand, you grinning at the kitten asleep in your arms, and both of you forgetting about the flower crowns on your heads. You both keep up a good conversation throught the walk.

You stroll into the great hall with Harry as it goes silent. Then there was a chorus of gasps as they take in your guys hand held together, both of your somewhat messy hair, swollen lips, and the hickey on Harrys neck. You step away from him and you head towards your friends, you could hear most boys wolf whistling, some scowling at Harry. Many girls were also glaring at you out of jealousy. 

You look at the staff table and see Dumbledore wink at you, making you raise your eyebrows. You also see Snape hand over some galleons to McGonagall. 

“I’m happy for you, Harry,” Hermione smiles, glancing at Ron as she kicks his leg. 

“Oh- yeah! Good going, mate,” he smirks as he pats his back.

The next day Harry asked you if you would be his girlfriend. You nodded with a smile and gave him a soft kiss.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Could you please go more on Harry and Sirius and their relationship? I love them so much.

Honestly, yes. Like I think I already wrote most of what I think about them, (here, here, here, and here) but I love their dynamic so much and one of my pet peeves in fic is when Sirius is villainized for no reason and treated as a bad influence in Harry's life.

Like, Harry's life is lacking in competent adults he trusts, and I wanna talk about how much Harry trusts Sirius since I haven't covered that yet, I think.

Dumbledore is extremely competent, but Harry doesn't trust him. Snape is also extremely competent, but Harry would rather deal with whatever himself than tell Snape about it (except in life-and-death situations like at the end of OotP).

Then you have characters like Hagrid, who Harry trusts, and is definitely good intentioned, but not very competent. Molly and Arthur kinda fall into this category for the majority of the books.

Remus in book 3 came close. He's competent, and Harry likes him, but that trust and seeking of a relationship is one-sided. It's always Harry seeking Remus out, Remus doesn't want to be involved in Harry's life and keeps running away like Remus does. (There's a reason Harry keeps calling him "Lupin" in his head)

Then you have Barty/Fake Moody who is competent and Harry trusts and grows close to only to later be revealed to be a Death Eater during book 4.

Basically, Harry has a shitty track record with mentor figures in his life. Then comes Sirius, who loves him, wants to have a relationship with him, who is intelligent and competent (Especially during GoF), and who Harry feels he can trust.

Throughout GoF and OotP, whenever Harry has a problem, be it strange dreams from Voldemort, his scar hurting, the Triwizard Tournament, him just having a bad day, Umbridge, anything, the first person he goes to (or wants to go to), even before Ron and Hermione — is Sirius. And that is so important to me.

Like, growing up the way he grew up, Harry isn't the most trusting of kids. He often goes and acts heroic because he doesn't trust adults to do what needs to be done and so he feels like it's his responsibility. Sirius is the only adult in the books that when he tells Harry: "Stay away from it and let me check out what I can find out first", Harry listens. In GoF Sirius tells Harry not to leave school, and to watch out for Karkaroff, and Harry does so. He actually believes Sirius has his best interests and he lets him be a responsible adult in his life.

At least, more than he lets anyone else.

I did mention it in the past, but Harry feels just as responsible for Sirius as Sirius feels for Harry. Harry never got to be a child, so he doesn't exactly act like one.

At the beginning of GoF he tries to lie to Sirius that his scar doesn't actually hurt so Sirius would stay safe and away from Britain. Sirius doesn't buy it and comes anyway because Harry's safety is always Sirius' number 1 priority.

Even when his mental/emotional state deteriorates in OotP, he is mostly talking about endangering himself, not Harry.

And with this behavior, it's easy to see why Harry comes to trust Sirius so fast. Sirius is a connection to Harry's parents (something Harry's always looking for), he says he loves Harry and would do a lot for him (including escaping Azkaban by swimming as a dog across the North Sea), and it's clear he's prioritizing Harry in a way no one else has before.

Is Sirius' fixation on Harry's well-being necessarily healthy? Not exactly, I mean, there is a reason in all the airplane safety instructions they tell you to put on your own oxygen mask before you help someone else, and Sirius would definitely put the mask on Harry first. But given both their circumstances, this is honestly what they both need to feel a semblance of family.

Like, their connection, for both of them, is a kind of lifeline.

Harry needs to be the most important person to someone after he has been treated like nothing for years. And Sirius, I think, needs to care for someone else, to feel he is helping and doing something good. If he's helping Harry, he feels his own life has a purpose.

It's so very visible with Harry just how much of a lifeline Sirius became to him after such a short time. Like, I reread books 5 and 6 recently, and at the end of OotP, after Sirius dies, there is a shift in Harry. He stops caring as much.

What I mean is, there is a reason Harry has his "there's no reason to call me sir, Professor" moment in HBP. After Sirius dies, Harry loses his last bits of self-preservation. At the end of OotP he starts sassing Snape:

Malfoy’s hand flew toward his wand, but Harry was too quick for him. He had drawn his own wand before Malfoy’s fingers had even entered the pocket of his robes. “Potter!” The voice rang across the entrance hall; Snape had emerged from the staircase leading down to his office, and at the sight of him Harry felt a great rush of hatred beyond anything he felt toward Malfoy. . . . Whatever Dumbledore said, he would never forgive Snape . . . never . . . “What are you doing, Potter?” said Snape coldly as ever, as he strode over to the four of them. “I’m trying to decide what curse to use on Malfoy, sir,” said Harry fiercely. Snape stared at him.

(OotP, 851)

Snape is shocked, he doesn't even know what to say to that because Harry doesn't speak to him like that before. Before, even during the Occlumancy lessons, Harry is mostly polite because he feels he has to be. After Sirius dies, there's none of that. He's sassier, snappier, and angrier, and he carries that with him through HBP and DH. Said anger isn't just towards Snape. He snaps at Ron and Hermione throughout DH even without the Horcrux, and he lifts up Mundungus by the throat in HBP. I think a lot of his focus on Malfoy is because of how lost he feels throughout HBP. He goes out at Remus with his worst in DH when he wants to join them in the Horcrux hunt. I mean, Remus needed someone to talk sense into him, but Harry didn't need to be that mean.

What I'm saying is that when Sirius died, one of Harry's major lifelines was cut and he's in a weird sort of lashing out throughout HBP and DH. Yes, he knew Sirius for a very short time, but he was the person Harry trusted most in his life — and then he was gone.

It's not to say he never got angry at Sirius, Harry did, and that's natural and healthy, honestly. But it doesn't change the fact that in GoF and OotP when Harry needs to rant, needs someone to talk to, wants advice, he first goes to Sirius, then to everyone else.

I just feel so much about these two.

[macabreafterparty]

Imagine this tomarry/harrymort au that was inspired by a conversation I had with my lover

Harry Potter is nothing but a lowly servant to be married off to someone like Dolores Umbridges son for some land his family owned before they died but then he mysteriously goes missing.

Rumor started to spread that the god that lived in the woods (or dilapidated castle) snatched the green eyed virgin away for trespassing some days before.

His foster family (the Dursleys of course) wanting to save face as the "caring" family who wants to return him to his "true love" gathered a team to rescue him (Order of the Phoenix or maybe just his merry band of Gryffindors)

As the rescue team zones in on him, they're surprised at how warm the home they tracked Harry to is, how it smells of baking treacle tart, how the magic seems to buzz around them in joy.

As they smash into the only lit room, yelling "HARRY WE'RE HERE TO RESCUE YOU" they were surprised by seeing Harry. Not chained or tortured. No, he was not only healthy by draped in this god damn thing

On this god damn thing

With not only mountains of food, books, and magical trinkets littering the area but a god-like creature (whether it be Voldemort or Tom Riddle you can decide) Sitting behind him, chin on his shoulder and arms around him, possessiveness oozing from the very hold.

Harry looks up in shock from the giant tome floating in front of him, (the creature not even looking in the team's direction as if he wanted them to find the both of the men in said position) and just goes "What..are you talking about? Go away, I'm fine."

[overlord-of-fantasy]

The worst for the worst

[wordsarelife]

harry potter masterlist

fluff (f), angst (a), suggestive (s), platonic (p), wound (w), humor (c)

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❛ 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ❜

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𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 (21.6k)

this love (0.5k) — mattheo finally asks you to be his girlfriend (f, s)

willow (0.8k) — mattheo has a brilliant date idea.. not (s)

the game (3.5k) — after a night with you mattheo can’t get you out of his head, sadly you don’t like him like that (s, a, f)

merry christmas (1.2k) — two times you surprised mattheo with a cute ‘tradition’ and the one time he surprised you (f)

christmas love (2.3k) — it was no secret that mattheo riddle annoyed the hell out of you, but you did grow concerned when you suddenly didn’t mind it anymore (f, s)

winter wonderland (0.5k) — you drag mattheo outside to build a snowman with you (f)

white christmas (0.5k) — mattheo is sad and you cheer him up (f,a)

starlight (2.1k) — mattheo had been liking you for years and when you loose your cat, it's finally his time to prove how good of a boyfriend he would be (f)

gorgeous (3k) — being in love with your best friend might be a bad idea, but drowning your sorrows in alcohol might be your worst one yet (s,f)

endgame (3.7k) — mattheo is absolutely in love with you, but now it seems like he spent a bit too long not telling you that (s,f,c)

we are never ever getting back together (0.6k) — you’re a swiftie, mattheo isn’t (f,c)

you’re not sorry (1.4k)— you and mattheo run into each other years after your relationship has ended (p,f,a)

miss americana and the heartbreak prince (0.5k) — headcanons about mattheo dating a foreign exchange student from america (f)

august (1k) — is he really yours when there is someone who could love him better? (a,f)

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𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐭 (30.6k)

i‘m only me when i’m with you (0.3k) — you steal theo‘s clothes and he finds out about it (f)

you are in love (1.4k) — after a lovely visit with umbridge, theo must prove that the words carved into your skin are the opposite of the truth (a,f,w)

call it what you want (0.7k) — in a school full of people treating them like celebrities, y/n and theo try to keep their relationship private (f)

-> there will be more following the couple -> feel free to request

we wish you a merry christmas (0.6k) — theo meets your family for the first time during christmas (f)

a nonsense christmas (0.8k) — you and theo are only friends.. right? (f,s)

jingle bells (0.8k) — you and theo bake gingerbread cookies for christmas (f)

karma (2.8k) — karma is the way you wear his jersey, making sure his teams will lose the game (s,f,w)

forever winter (1.9k) — theo pulls away from you and you’re worried about his well being (f,a)

so high school (3.8k) — he knows how to ball, you know aristotle and your friends know you’re a perfect match (f,c)

superman (2.7k) — theo won’t leave you alone after you broke your leg, you’re not sure you appreciate it that much (f,c)

bigger than the whole sky (1.6k) — you get bad news and theo is conflicted about it being his fault (a,f)

long story short (2.3k) — you survived a violent person before, knowing well enough that you wouldn’t ever tolerate going through that again (a,w,f)

the black dog (4.4k) — the war awakes something in theo you hadn't thought was even there. you battle with your feelings of heartbreak, while you try to forget his everlasting presence in your life. (a,w)

twenty-two (1k) — you try to make theo a swiftie (and succeed). (f,c)

mine (5.5k) — theo’s and your relationship throughout the years (f,a,w,c)

merry christmas, please don’t call () — you and theo meet again after your break up, grieving your past relationship, realizing it won’t go back to normal (a,p)

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𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 (8k)

it’s the most wonderful time of the year (0.5k) — draco and you spent the best christmas together (f,a)

timeless (3k) — draco malfoy wouldn’t have thought to come across you in a dark magic shop or how eager he would be to marry you (f,a)

anti-hero (1.7k) — you hate that you’re so emotional about everything, but draco secretly loves you for it (f,a)

style (2.8k) — draco and you come always back to each other, until you can’t bare to keep it a secret any longer (f,a,s)

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groups (2.2k)

feliz navidad (0.6k) — the reader, who is obsessed with christmas wants to do something her friends aren't particularly happy about (f,p) //slytherin!group x reader

what christmas means to me (1.2k) — when you don't turn up for breakfast one morning, your friends go on a scavenger hunt to find you (f,p,a) //slytherin group x reader

happy xmas (0.4k) — you spend christmas in hogwarts, with your best friends (f,p) //marauders x reader

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series

don't blame me — theo nott x fem!reader

-> theo is the lead singer of the band cursed legacy and also the one who you hate most in the world. easy enough right? things only get complicated when theo puts out a rude song about you, the band starts to rise to fame and one single accident might ruin everything they worked for so hard. eventually theo is forced to ask for your help, but you wouldn’t be you if you would say yes without a very important rule: theo can’t play his most famous song: the one he wrote about you.

wordcount: 8 parts (32k)

no body no crime — theo nott x fem!potter!reader

-> a sudden murder happens in hogwarts and you're compelled to join forces with theodore nott, the quiet slytherin who always quirked you. theo and you are ready to investigate, but slowly get involved in something darker than you would've thought. between masquerade balls, secret societies and no one you can really trust you try to find the killer, before he finds you...

wordcount: 7 parts (29k)

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52 works

[remus-poopin]

There's this underlying theme of motherhood being under-looked in Harry Potter - Voldemort underestimates Lily, Molly is seen as this frumpy housewife, etc... and JKR thinks she's blowing everyone out of the water by then making motherhood the single most important thing i the story!

Yet! Not a single working mother! In the entire series! "The struggles of motherhood" is JKR's favourite card to invalidate trans women's experiences, and yet she seems to have an (unsurprisingly) narrow mind when it comes to what motherhood can look like.

Here's an example that comes to mind: in the context of the second war, with Remus being a man persecuted by both the Ministry and Death Eaters for his condition and position in the Order, there was no reason for him to marry Tonks. I'm not talking about "building a family" or "being together", I'm talking about signing wedding papers.

Personally, I think JKR places a weird amount of value on traditional marriage, and upholds the ideal of a nuclear family above all things. She could not have Tonks giving birth a baby without being married to a man first.

YEP!

For the Tonks/Lupin issue you can’t even blame this fully on the fact it’s being written in a children’s book because JKR’s description of their relationship later on pottermore falls into the same traditional (and honestly puritanical) traps. And like you mentioned, this doesn’t even make sense for their story/relationship. (there’s an implication that they were only just friends until that confrontation in HBP and were never actually together or even hooking up. Most remadora shippers, like myself, tend to not like this version of events because it makes their whole marriage/relationship look a bit ridiculous. Tonks’ behavior in HBP comes off a lot different if they never had any romantic interactions at that point. It also seems odd that they would get married in less than a month of being together if they were strictly platonic up until that point)

And yes her view of motherhood is incredibly limiting and a bit revealing. In general it’s used as a tool which to measure her female characters by: The non maternal/improperly maternal women are clearly marked as villains (Rita Skeeter, Umbridge, Petunia, Bellatrix, Marge), the maternal ones are seen as demonstrating proper femininity and are therefore good (Lily, Molly, Tonks), women who were looked down upon previously get a redemption arc focusing around this (Narcissa) (Fleur can also fit into this category as she takes on a Molly like role in DH) and the women who don’t have kids but are still supposed to be seen positively look after kids to some capacity (McGonagall)

Her use of motherhood in the terf rhetoric she spreads is stemming from a similar idea. Gender essentialists tend to highlight female suffering as their primary justification for their exclusionary behavior, whether this suffering be biological or societal. Suffering and pain is used to define femininity itself. Suffering, female suffering, is noble, divine, inherent, and honorable. Motherhood, like you mentioned, is one of the biological sufferings they reference for their argument. The pain of giving birth and the sacrifice of your body and the rest of your life is noble, divine, inherent, and honorable.

In the books motherhood is suffering and motherhood is sacrifice. A woman who accepts this role of pain achieves righteousness. A woman who rejects it is selfish and wicked.

[forestdeath1]

Canon Sirius through quotes

Part 3. Harshness and toughness (and how Sirius Black differs from James Potter). It's long. Really long.

Sirius isn't a soft crybaby. His harshness (and even cruelty) goes beyond the silly teenage pranks we usually see in fanfiction. Sirius is often either whitewashed by newer fans or overly demonized by anti-Marauders fans. Sirius has a tough exterior but a heart of gold. He's not childish and had to grow up early, though he can still be quite fun.

‘Do you know, I still have trouble believing it,’ said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. ‘Of all the people to go over to the Dark side, Sirius Black was the last I’d have thought ... .’

"Of all the people to go over to the Dark side, Sirius Black was the last I’d have thought" – this shouldn't be taken literally. Rosmerta saw many others regularly, Dumbledore, Lily, Remus, and many others, and out of all of them, Sirius Black was the last who could turn to the Dark side? Seriously? Did Sirius walk around with a halo and angel wings?

One trait that is always emphasized in his appearance is his haughty, bored look.

Rosmerta speaks metaphorically, not literally. She saw Sirius once a month or two when they went out to Hogsmeade to have fun and drink. In those moments, Sirius was lively, funny and noisy (especially lively after running away from home), and perhaps he even flirted with Rosmerta in a childish manner, melting the heart of the adult woman.

Sirius can be funny, although his humor is always edging towards dark:

"Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose.’ 

Ron laughed but Hermione looked upset. 

‘Sirius!’ she said reproachfully. ‘Honestly, if you made a bit of an effort with Kreacher, I’m sure he’d respond. After all, you are the only member of his family he’s got left, and Professor Dumbledore said –’ 

‘So, what are Umbridge’s lessons like?’ Sirius interrupted. ‘Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?’

Moreover, he interrupts Hermione, not letting her finish her point. He sharply outlines if he doesn't want to listen.

"the stuffed elf-heads on the hall wall wore Father Christmas hats and beards"

Dark humor.

‘Kreacher is cleaning,’ the elf repeated. ‘Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black –’ 

‘And it’s getting blacker every day, it’s filthy,’ said Sirius.

Here he responds with a clear "Black" shade. His mother also loved to talk about filth.

‘Sirius – it’s me ... it’s Peter ... your friend ... you wouldn’t ...’ Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. ‘There’s enough filth on my robes without you touching them,’ said Black.

And again. And here’s his mother:

‘Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers –’ 

‘Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth ...’

Sirius desperately wants to be unlike the Blacks, but he is still Sirius Black.

‘I thought it was the perfect plan ... a bluff ... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you ... it must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.’

Sirius's humor isn't the only harsh thing about him. Even though here he has a reason – after Azkaban he met James's traitor – his way of speaking reflects his overall personality. The way one speaks is a mirror of personality, even if Sirius has PTSD, it only exposes even more vividly what he might control in a calm state.

‘Nasty temper he’s got, that Sirius Black.’ (Peeves)

At the same time, yes, he can be cheerful and infect everyone around him with his cheerfulness. If he's in a sombre mood, he creates a quite oppressive atmosphere around him that everyone feels. Just as with a good mood – everyone feels it.

Harry could not remember Sirius ever being in such a good mood; he was actually singing carols, apparently delighted that he was to have company over Christmas. 

-

Sirius tramping past their door towards Buckbeak’s room, singing ‘God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs’ at the top of his voice. 

-

Sirius’s delight at having the house full again, and especially at having Harry back, was infectious. He was no longer their sullen host of the summer; now he seemed determined that everyone should enjoy themselves as much, if not more than they would have done at Hogwarts, and he worked tirelessly in the run-up to Christmas Day, cleaning and decorating with their help.

But the ability to be cheerful is in no way connected to being very harshn at the same time. This is precisely the case with Sirius.

Of all the Marauders, only Sirius is really harsh and can be truly dangerous (the author wrote about him, “The best-looking, most rebellious, most dangerous of the four marauders”). James was also a bully, but he's not harsh, despite the fact that it was he who pulled down Snape's trousers. Why? I think Sirius was already aware of what they were doing. James – not. Without awareness, it's too early to speak of any harshness and cruelty. Sirius had this awareness and still continued to do it.

Let's consider the reactions of Sirius and James in comparison.

‘Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?’ 

Sirius did not smile. ‘My whole family have been in Slytherin,’ he said.

‘Blimey,’ said James, ‘and I thought you seemed all right!’ 

Sirius grinned. ‘Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?’

A small note: Sirius didn't even react to James's "I'd leave", even though he knew his whole family was from Slytherin, and he was likely to go there too.

James lifted an invisible sword. ‘“Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!” Like my dad.’ Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

‘Got a problem with that?’ ‘No,’ said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. ‘If you’d rather be brawny than brainy –’

It was Snape who starts the confrontation on a personal level. James in his insults in this memory refers to moral qualities. "Who wants to be in Slytherin?" Only bad people. He is prejudiced against Slytherin because Slytherin is evil. Voldemort is gaining momentum. The first Muggle-born Minister was recently ousted. Attacks are happening here and there. Dark forces are growing. More and more of the pure-blood society talks about "Mudbloods" not belonging in this world. And "amazingly", they all turn out to be from Slytherin. James sees himself as a noble knight "James lifted an invisible sword", and he is against Slytherin not so much personally as against the moral component of Slytherin.

‘Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?’ interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

Sirius immediately strikes at Snape's personality. Sirius is sharp-tongued, self-assured, and likely accustomed to considering others below himself. He probably assessed James as his equal right away. Brave, cheerful, sincere.

'Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment.'

'Oooooo...'

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

'See ya, Snivellus!' a voice called, as the compartment door slammed...

James tried to trip Snape. James most often uses physical/magical force. He trips Snape, he pulls down Snape's trousers, he uses most of the spells on Snape in SWM. But it's Sirius who goes after Snape's personality. It looks like James has concocted a "noble justification" for his behavior and attitude and punishes Snape for existing just as he is.

Sirius, on the other hand, hardly uses magical/physical force in memories; he finds painful points in Snape's personality – from character to appearance, intentionally demeaning his personal traits.

Moreover, it was Sirius who focused on Snape's appearance. No one, except him, places such an emphasis on Snape's unattractive appearance and his untidiness.

'Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was,'

Very vivid epithets. Sirius is very eloquent when it comes to demeaning someone he dislikes.

Moreover, it's James who's the attention seeker. It's James who plays with the snitch, drawing attention, glancing at the girls by the lake, and ruffling his hair to show everyone how cool, strong, brave, and awesome he is.

After five minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn’t tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to be enjoying the attention. Harry noticed that his father had a habit of rumpling up his hair as though to keep it from getting too tidy, and he also kept looking over at the girls by the water’s edge.

While Sirius, likely, isn't much interested in societal validation. Sirius is more reserved, with firmer boundaries, he's not as interested in public adoration as James might be.

Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so.

This is a typical expression for Sirius – bored and haughty. He spent nearly five full years in Gryffindor alongside James, and the bored and haughty expression is still with him. It's not just a random trait in his character – it's one of the pillars of his personality, reflecting his attitude towards random people around him.

‘Put that away, will you,’ said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer, ‘before Wormtail wets himself with excitement.’

As I've said, Sirius cuts with his words without a knife. They've been studying together for five years, been friends with Peter, and he jokes about Peter like this. I think they all joked about each other in the same way, just James's "jokes" are blunt and probably he just says whatever comes to mind, whereas Sirius's are more subtle and hurtful.

Moreover, when people say this is the only episode we know of bullying by James and Sirius and that it's the worst in their history, that's not correct. This episode is the worst in Snape's life. And not because they pulled down his trousers. But because he lost Lily forever that day. This episode, likely, was quite typical for the Marauders. They were in a good mood, had finished exams, Snape just happened to pass by, there were no obvious reasons for this bullying. Harry sifted through their detention records, and there were many, very many, and how many more when they weren't caught?

Sirius got bored, and there they decided to "have some fun."

‘I’m bored,’ said Sirius. ‘Wish it was full moon.’ 

‘You might,’ said Lupin darkly from behind his book. ‘We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you could test me. Here ...’ and he held out his book. 

But Sirius snorted. ‘I don’t need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.’

I won't discuss The Prank here, many have written about it. In general, Sirius doesn't show empathy in everyday interactions even with Remus. Sirius has a heart of gold, but his shell, especially as a teenager – tough, harsh, sharp, and cutting. The grown-up Sirius interacts with close people much more politely, though he still occasionally shows his harshness (for example, with Hermione).

‘This’ll liven you up, Padfoot,’ said James quietly. ‘Look who it is ...’ 

Sirius’s head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit. 

‘Excellent,’ he said softly. ‘Snivellus.’

I don't want to justify Sirius and James, but for context – Snape is fascinated by the Dark Arts, hangs out with future Death Eaters (= fascist), and they have mutual dislike from the first year. No, the act is immature, but James justifies it in his head exactly like this – Snape is bad for him, so anything goes, and anyway, "so what?" Sirius doesn't need justifications. He's just bored.

Even when James uses all the spells on Snape, he still glances at the lake:

Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water’s edge as he went. Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view.

Why look at the girls by the lake when you're humiliating someone, if you know you're doing something really bad? James genuinely sees himself as a noble knight, deserving of admiration. Moreover, many do admire him (''Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained. Several people watching laughed''), and Lupin mentioned several times that James was popular at school.

‘How’d the exam go, Snivelly?’ said James. 

‘I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,’ said Sirius viciously. ‘There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word.’ 

Again, Sirius harshly targets Snape's personal traits, including his appearance.

‘You – wait,’ he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, ‘you – wait!’ 

‘Wait for what?’ said Sirius coolly. ‘What’re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?’ 

And again – Sirius strikes with words.

Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened.

‘Wash out your mouth,’ said James coldly. ‘Scourgify!’

And James responds with a spell to what? Snape's insults. He says ‘Wash out your mouth.’ He appeals to the moral side of the issue.

‘I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!’

‘Apologise to Evans!’ James roared at Snape, his wand pointed  threateningly at him. ‘I don’t want you to make him apologise,’ Lily shouted, rounding on James. ‘You’re as bad as he is.’ ‘What?’ yelped James. ‘I’d NEVER call you a – you-know-what!’

This also proves that James is sure he's doing everything right. James is like a volunteer in the allies' army against the fascists, a brave Gryffindor, and his sword is to cast spells on anyone he deems not fitting his moral standards.

‘Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.’

And from the outside, it looked like this.

‘What is it with her?’ said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him. 

‘Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate,’ said Sirius.

And Sirius understands it all too well. Who he is, who James is, and what Lily thinks about it all. Sirius knows about James's crush on Lily and finds it even funny that she rejects him. Likely because Sirius understands that they often cross the line. I don’t think Sirius could have stopped Potter. I don't even think Sirius wanted to stop Potter. He found it all funny. Azkaban, on the other hand, softened Sirius in his interactions with others. It knocked down his pride and arrogance. Showed him that life can be unfair and you don't need to act like a haughty jerk who thinks the world revolves around them.

At school, Sirius was more about psychological bullying, while James was about the physical. Given that James and Sirius were very popular at school and within their house, their bullying was likely directed mostly at Slytherins or at arrogant jerks like themselves who they just "didn't like."

And the adult Sirius understands that they were “arrogant little berks.” And he’s “not proud of it,” but his next words speak for themselves:

“ I think James was everything Snape wanted to be – he was popular, he was good at Quidditch – good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts, and James – whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry – always hated the Dark Arts.”

Sirius justifies James while simultaneously praising him. Justifications always imply a partial denial of guilt. Someone fully aware of their guilt doesn’t seek to justify or be justified. Of course, Sirius said this for Harry's sake too. To ensure Harry didn’t think his father was just a bully for no reason. His father was actually “on the side of good,” is what Sirius wants to convey. About himself, he remains silent. But he doesn't miss the chance to insult Snape again “little oddball.”

Even Remus, as an adult, sincerely justifies James.

‘She started going out with him in seventh year,’ said Lupin. 

‘Once James had deflated his head a bit,’ said Sirius. ‘And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it,’ said Lupin.

 ‘Even Snape?’ said Harry. ‘Well,’ said Lupin slowly, ‘Snape was a special case. I mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James so you couldn’t really expect James to take that lying down, could you?’ 

‘And my mum was OK with that?’ 

‘She didn’t know too much about it, to tell you the truth,’ said Sirius. ‘I mean, James didn’t take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did he?’

Lupin finds a genuine justification for James. The concept of “violence in any form is bad” isn’t fully grasped by them. They follow an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Lupin even was ready to kill Peter, and he insisted that war is not a playground and that killing is sometimes necessary in war. Remus, though gentler and kinder, and preferring not to engage in conflict, genuinely wished Sirius and James hadn't bullied anyone at school, but yet, he still reconciles with all they do and even justifies James.

In Sirius's mind, James may have acted like a fool, but Sirius doesn’t genuinely condemn it. He just thinks they were too arrogant. And Sirius’s behavior after Azkaban (how he became gentler with others) indicates he truly realized – you don't need to belittle everyone you dislike or even like. Yet, Sirius’s harshness, even after Azkaban, didn’t disappear; it was just redirected towards what he genuinely hates.

‘Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons ... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me –’ 

Black made a derisive noise. 

‘It served him right,’ he sneered. ‘Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to ... hoping he could get us expelled ...’

Remus's reactions are much softer, but Sirius’s reaction, even years later, is harsh and even a bit cruel. ‘It served him right.’ Because it's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

However, Sirius’s harshness still occasionally breaks through even towards his close ones when he slightly loses control over himself after Azkaban.

‘You’re less like your father than I thought,’ he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. ‘The risk would’ve been what made it fun for James.’ 

‘Well, I’d better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs,’ said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. ‘I’ll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?’

Sirius calls themselves “arrogant little berks,” but the peculiarity of Sirius’s arrogance is that it's due to his personal qualities, not external “glamour”.

 ‘I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter – I’ll never understand why I didn’t see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who’d look after you, didn’t you?’

He despises Peter for groveling, for weakness, for the same reasons he despises Regulus, considering him a soft idiot. Sirius’s arrogance was never built on finances or blood purity, on popularity, on playing Quidditch, not on his name, although the family dynamics undoubtedly influenced his pride. But overall, his arrogance is of a different level – that of a rebellious spirit, a very strong person, not like the Malfoys. Lucius Malfoy is intentionally depicted as the complete opposite of Sirius Black (in character – the most rebellious of their pure-blood circle and the most sycophantic, and in appearance – black and white).

Sirius and Kreacher's story demonstrates that Sirius does not forgive those he hated and can carry hatred through the years. People usually soften over time, but Sirius has an excuse – Azkaban. Nonetheless, the behavioral pattern remains unchanged. Azkaban does not change the essence of people, it makes certain traits more vivid and pronounced. Sirius became calmer towards the people around him who help fight against evil, he toned down his arrogance and pride (even towards Snape, he no longer hurls insults first, it’s Snape who insults Sirius first), but Sirius became even harsher towards those he hates.

‘Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it’s no good looking like that, you know it’s true. I’ve said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did ... and so did Sirius.’

Harry had no retort. As he watched Kreacher sobbing on the floor, he remembered what Dumbledore had said to him, mere hours after Sirius’s death: I do not think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human’s ...

And he himself demonstrates this repeatedly:

At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione’s protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.

Dumbledore believes Sirius showed cruelty to Kreacher through his indifference and neglect. That is, Sirius could shut off his empathy towards a being, despite generally being friendly towards house-elves.

‘He (Sirius) regarded him (Kreacher) as a servant unworthy of much interest or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike… Sirius was not a cruel man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living reminder of the home Sirius had hated.’

Sirius was not evil. But the neglect emanating from him was very cruel, harsh, and cold. Sirius can shut away all the good within him towards anyone he despised – “And whatever Kreacher’s faults, it must be admitted that Sirius did nothing to make Kreacher’s lot easier –”

‘– comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around, oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he’s back, they say he’s a murderer too –’

‘Keep muttering and I will be a murderer!’ said Sirius irritably as he slammed the door shut on the elf.

However, Sirius likely never killed anyone, even while serving in the "Order."

Regarding his family and even Regulus, Sirius is also harsh. Even if he, like any child, deep down loved his family, it doesn’t matter because his real words and actions are very harsh and aimed at severing ties. The possible love for them deep down only further highlights his harshness and readiness for confrontation.

“I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal ... my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them”

Likely, he’s ashamed of them, and his hatred also builds a wall between them and himself.

‘Does it matter if she’s my cousin?’ snapped Sirius. ‘As far as I’m concerned, they’re not my family. She’s certainly not my family. I haven’t seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming into Azkaban. D’you think I’m proud of having a relative like her?’

And at the same time Dumbledore about James:

‘I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry,’ he said gently. ‘He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it.’

I don’t know how true this is (though likely, the author speaks through Dumbledore here), but considering that Harry himself is a character whose main traits include the ability to understand and forgive others, perhaps James had this to some extent too. But Sirius lacks the ability to forgive, and this is deliberately shown in the book – that he suffered precisely because of his excessive harshness.

In conclusion, Sirius's harshness and toughness is not just teenage arrogance; it's directly a trait of his personality, something that cannot be overlooked when talking about the canonical Sirius, not his sugar-coated substitute in fandom. Sirius had to grow up very early, and all this left its mark on him.

Of all the Marauders, only Sirius is really harsh and can be truly dangerous.

But Sirius was not cruel in a moral-ethical sense, or more precisely – ideologically. There's no reason to believe Sirius is constantly drawn to the dark side or that he's amoral. His constant fight against his family suggests instead that he formed high ideals within himself. No, Sirius is not amoral; he has difficulty with empathy (especially in childhood), a tendency towards aggression and cruelty (mostly in childhood, he controls himself quite well as an adult. Well, for Sirius Black quite well), arrogance, but he very well understands what is right and what is wrong.

‘She’s got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.’

[braveclementine]

Chapter 22

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (However they are very few so those under the age of 18 can still read a majority of this book. However please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕬𝖙 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖘𝖙, 𝕴 thought Fred and George were playing a prank on me and I didn't fight immediately. And then I saw that there were five Death Eaters, one of them holding me and I screamed. "DAAADDDD!!" I screamed as loudly as possible, panic setting in.

The Death Eater clamped a hand over my mouth and I tried to bite his fingers and knock his wand out of his hand at the same time. I knew he couldn't disparate without his wand. The wand fell to the ground and he tackled me to the ground, trying to keep a hold on me while he grabbed his wand.

A different Death Eater grabbed me, pulling me up. By this time, Bill, Uncle Moody, and Dad had torn around the corner, wands raised. Dad's eyes were murderous. Spells started to fly as I fought against the Death Eater holding me.

How had they found me? Of course, they would know about Mr. Weasley so they would've known that I would be here. And then I'd come out by myself. . . I'd practically handed myself to them.

I elbowed the Death Eater in the face. He reared back, grabbing my hair to make sure I didn't escape and I yelled out in pain, my head jerking back as a reflex.

"Disapparate with her!" One of the other Death Eaters called, shooting spells at Bill. "We'll hold them off."

The Death Eater holding me struggled to his feet and raised his wand. I remembered at that moment that I was wearing Heelys, and I jammed the wheel out and kicked my foot as hard as possible against his knee. There was a cracking sound and he screamed, letting go of me, both hands flying to his knee, falling to the ground.

I jumped away from him, darting past the other Death Eaters on my wheels, though one tried to grab me, and slid towards dad. He grabbed my arm, drawing me behind him and then pushed me into the alleyway where Mundungus and Mrs. Weasley had their wands drawn. The other kids were in the car. Mrs. Weasley pushed me towards the car, her eyes not leaving the front of the alley.

I climbed in the car without hesitation, sitting down and wrapping my arms around my knees, shaken. Bill, Dad, and Uncle Moody came back after a few minutes.

I was shaking terribly and Dad made a beeline for me, telling Mundungus to take a long route home in case they tried to follow us.

"How'd they know?" Mrs. Weasley asked, shaking, her face white. Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry's faces were all white as well although Fred and George looked annoyed. I assumed that they had tried to get out and fight as well and Mrs. Weasley hadn't let them.

"They knew I'd be visiting Mr. Weasley." I mumbled, still shaking. If dad hadn't been holding me, I might've crumbled into pieces.

"We need to let Dumbledore know right away." Uncle Moody was growling, his eye swirling.

"Is this the first time they've tried to get to you?" Bill asked, looking at me with a questioning look on his face.

"Of course they knew what they were doing!" Uncle Moody growled. "They work for You-Know-Who they aren't just going to try a kidnap operation without some knowledge or plan."

My face grew hot but I couldn't stop shaking. "Er- well- no."

"What?" Dad asked furiously and I looked up at him guiltily.

"The er- day Hermione came home, I'd been out all night because I'd taken a walk into the city... well I wasn't expecting. . . and Lucius Malfoy was there. . . and er. . . well, I barely escaped them then. . ."

Dad was shaking now too- with anger. "You left the house!"

"I'm sorry". I whispered. "I didn't know. . . I didn't think. . . I had to get out of the house and be by myself for a little bit and. . . I'm so sorry."

I didn't cry, I just continued to shake and I put my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. Dad kept his arm around my shoulders tightly.

Mundungus was still driving and Uncle Moody's eyes was rolling 360 degrees, searching. "I don't think they're out there Remus." He said after about an hour of aimless driving. Dad just nodded his head stiffly and Mundungus guided the car back to Grimmauld place. He dropped us off and we all rushed inside.

Sirius was waiting for us, humming Christmas tunes. He took one look at us and stopped humming. The others dispersed up the stairs. Mad-Eye stomped to the kitchen with Bill to write a letter to Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley bustled into the kitchen as well to start cooking dinner. Dad was still furious and I was still shaking.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, looking between Uncle Moody, Bill, Dad, and I. "What happened?"

"Death Eaters." Bill answered, "Tell Dumbledore about the Azkaban breakout Mad-Eye."

"Azkaban breakout!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Elizabeth saw it." Dad grunted. He still hadn't taken his arm from around my shoulder which was fine by me.

"Is she okay?" Sirius asked, looking from me to dad.

"Er, well no Sirius." Bill said. "The Death Eaters kind've ambushed us at St. Mungo's. . . they nearly got away with Elizabeth too."

Sirius looked furious. "But how'd they know she was there! How'd they think they were going to get away with that!"

"Because they knew Dad was in the hospital." Bill answered at the same time Dad said, "Because they already, very nearly, got away with her once already this break."

Sirius looked at me. "What do you mean Remus?"

"I mean that she snuck out one night, the night before she got sick, and they nearly caught her." Dad growled.

"You snuck out!" Sirius asked furiously, glaring at me.

"I just wanted to go on a walk." I muttered, my tongue finally coming loose. "I couldn't stay in the house. . . Lucius Malfoy found me about five miles from here. . . I had turned human for just a few moments. . . that was it."

"I'm going to kill him." Sirius said in a very even voice.

Dad led me into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley put a cup of tea down in front of me.

My hands were trembling horribly.

"Anything else we should add to the letter Elizabeth?" Uncle Moody asked. "I mentioned Bode, Death Eaters, and the breakout."

I paused for a moment and said, "I don't. . . I don't think so. . ."

Uncle Moody sealed up the letter and said. "I should get back to the office. I'll tell Tonks and Kingsley to keep an eye out as well. Maybe they can up the dementors on Antonin's cell." He stomped out of the room.

My legs were shaking horribly but I stood up anyone and mumbled, "I'm going. . . I'm going to go. . . go upstairs and. . ."

"Yes." Dad interrupted me so I didn't have to try and spit the whole sentence out. He was still hugging me fiercely. "Go get some sleep."

I stumbled out of the room and upstairs and closed my bedroom door. I collapsed on bed and exploded into terrified sobs. Oh God, I could've been in front of Voldemort at this moment. At that point, my locket burned me deeply and I ripped it off, dropping it on the table.

From across the hall, I heard Harry cry out in pain.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked in a concerned voice.

"He's really angry.." I heard Harry say.

"You think it's because. . ." Hermione drifted off.

"Yeah." Harry said. "probably because his Death Eater's failed to bring Liz to him."

"You were right there too!" Ron exclaimed. "Why didn't they try and grab you?"

"Because they want her visions." Hermione said. I threw my pillow over my head so that I could try and block them out.

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖔𝖔𝖗𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖌 below, startling me awake. I found that my head was no longer under my pillow. Perhaps dad had come in and tucked me in. Yes, the blankets were settled more neatly around me. I rubbed my eyes.

Mrs. Black was screaming in her portrait and then the door to my bedroom slammed open, the door handle bouncing off the wall, leaving a dent there.

"Oh no." I muttered as Severus slammed the door closed.

"Are. You. An. Idiot!" He snarled, striding over to me. "I told you to stay with people and what do you do! You leave St. Mungo's by yourself!"

I climbed out of bed and he pushed me back down on the bed gently, which greatly contradicted his furious tone of voice. "No, you stay in bed."

"I didn't realize-"

"Stop. Talking." He hissed. "Do you know how close you came from being taken!"

"Yes!" I said, nearly in tears again. "I was there! Mr. Weasley just held me back a few extra seconds and I didn't know where they'd gone and I didn't know they were going to attack me with five members of the order there!"

He pressed his lips to mine and the urge to cry was gone. I kissed him back eagerly and he pulled me to his chest. "I can't lose you Elizabeth. Not like that. Damnit! Don't you understand how much he wants you? He was willing to risk five Death Eaters to get you. If you hadn't broken Nott's knee. . ."

"I broke it?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes and if anything, it's made the Dark Lord even more eager to get to you. He wants you to pay. You cannot leave anymore, do you understand?"

I scowled at him, rebellion fighting in my veins. "You're not my dad."

"No, I'm not." He said, pulling me back to look at me face. "But I know for a fact that while your father and I don't get along, he'd agree with me on this. Don't you dare leave this house without supervision. It'd probably be best if you don't leave period."

"Alright, fine." I said, giving in. I wasn't eager to leave anyways. I just hated being told what to do.

"How did you break his knee?" Severus asked curiously. "I didn't realize you were that strong."

In answer, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to mine. When we pulled apart, he said, "Point taken."

I said, "Tonks gave me these shoes for Christmas. They have wheels on the backs of them." I pointed to them, laying on the floor. I didn't remember taking them off. "I popped the wheel out. It probably hurt a lot."

"Remind me to thank Tonks." Severus murmured, running his mouth down my neck.

"How long are you staying?" I asked breathless.

"Only a few minutes." Severus said, his breath tickling my neck. I shivered. "I had to yell at you."

I giggled nervously. "What time is it?"

"Nearly five thirty." He said, bringing his mouth back to mine. "But Sirius said you can sleep through the Christmas party if you want."

"You should just stay over." I said, whispering against his cheek. "I think that'd be much preferred."

He laughed low. "I don't think your father would approve."

I frowned. "No, I suppose he wouldn't."

He hesitated, his fingers in my hair and then said, "You know. . . I've always hated both your dads. . . but there is something I must give Remus credit for. . ."

"What?" I asked.

"Now, if you tell him I will never talk to you again but the thing is. . . I think privately I've always admired him. . ."

I was stunned and then smiled incredulously. "Are you just saying that?" I asked, genuinely puzzled.

He laughed a little louder. "No." he pressed his lips to mine again. "No. . . it's something I've never wanted to admit before either. . . not even to myself but you have to admire him. . . you know? He's a werewolf and he still keeps his head high. I don't think I could. . . it's a trait that he passed on to you, you know. You have the same resilience."

I was actually stunned.

"Don't you dare tell him I said that either." He said, kissing me again. "Promise?"

"Promise." I said, reaching up and kissing him. "But I don't think he'd believe me anyways."

"No." Severus sounded amused. "I suppose he wouldn't. Wonder if he would ever say anything good about me."

"He already has." I said, also amused. "In my third year. Complimented your potion skills and that he was lucky that you were willing to make the wolfsbane potion for you."

He looked a bit stunned and then said, "You know? I think if I try hard enough, I might just be able to get along with him."

I laughed aloud and then grinned and said sincerely. "You know I would absolutely love you two getting along. But I'm not so worried about that. I'm more worried about you and Sirius getting along."

"Yeah. . ." Severus said slowly. "That's not happening."

I laughed again. "No, I suppose not." I kissed him again, happy. "I ought to go down and join the party."

"I'll see you when you get back to school." He said. "And please, please, please Elizabeth? Don't get in a bind like that ever again. I can't lose you."

"Alright." I said, my heart hurting that he was begging. "I won't, I promise." He kissed me again and then left. I sighed, flopping down on my bed.

A second later Dad's voice said, "Well that was interesting."

I was so scared that I fell off my bed. I glanced over to see that Dad had been sitting in the shadows the entire time. There had been a pillow under his head so he must've fallen asleep in the room until Severus had come in. He got up from the chair now as I crashed to floor.

"Sorry." Dad said, coming over and helping me off the floor. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"How much did you hear!" I asked, a flush coming up into my cheeks.

"The entire thing. I woke up when the doorbell went off." But dad sounded more amused than anything else.

"Well at least you'll believe me if I tell you that Severus admires you." I said, still feeling scared. I pressed my hand to my rapidly beating heart and laid down on the bed again. "Bloody hell dad I think I had a heart attack."

"I am sorry." dad said, sounding more sincere.

"It's alright. Who all is here?" I asked. My nerves felt frayed, my heart pounding, head throbbing, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"Same crew as last night plus Mundungus." Dad said.

"They all know not to mention me being an Animagus to Harry right?"

"They all know." Dad said.

"Then I suppose I'll come down." I said, taking a deep breath. I put on the Heelys and went down the stairs- dad leading.

Everyone greeted me quite brightly and I grabbed a plate and mostly stood in the corner, eating rather than talking to anyone. I noticed Tonks wasn't there.

"Where's Tonks?" I asked Kingsley.

"At work." Kingsley said. "We got a message that Nott, a suspected Death Eater's knee was broken. Tonks is trying to tie it to your attack. How'd you break his knee without your wand, I must ask?"

I pointed to my shoes, picking up a foot to show the wheels. "Tonks gave them to me for Christmas and the wheels probably hurt against the knee. I used all my force."

"Well, I give all the credit to you." Kingsley said, drinking whatever he was drinking. "Your dad's been very er. . . enthusiastic about getting Nott arrested.

"I'm not surprised." I said lightly. "apparently we're a lot alike. I wish someone would get rid of Umbridge. . ."

"I've never liked working with her." Kingsley commented.

"You work with her?" I asked disgusted. "I'm so sorry."

Kingsley burst out laughing and Fred, Dung, and George who were nearby burst out laughing too.

Nearing the end of the party Kingsley said, "I got you something for Christmas."

"Oh?" I asked, feeling guilty. "You shouldn't've. I didn't get you anything."

Kingsley chuckled. "It was a last minute thing." He handed a mirror to me and I looked at it curiously. The mirror showed my reflection for a moment and then it turned black, like it was showing me the inside of a pocket. It wasn't a big mirror, maybe about 7 inches by 8 inches.

"It's a two way mirror." Kingsley said. "I have the other mirror. I want you to use it in case. . . well in case you're not so lucky next time."

Well, at least he wasn't deceiving me like Dad, Sirius, and Severus saying Voldemort would never get his hands on me.

"Thank you." I said softly.

"Also, if you need anyone to talk to or you want updates on your dad, just use it, alright?"

I looked at him in surprise. "Thank you."

He grinned. "I'm not saying I'm giving you Order secrets but I'll be able to let you know how your dad is if your worried about him."

I hugged him as a thank you, kissed his cheek, and then I went upstairs to go to bed.

Over the next few days, I kept spending time with Sirius in Buckbeak's room because he was getting gloomy again. Of course, I wasn't his favorite person at the moment either when he found out that Severus and I were engaged. Him and dad actually got into a shouting match when the Weasleys were at St. Mungo's, waking up Mrs. Black. I had to listen to it and I could only be glad that Kreacher was all the way up in the attic because Voldemort didn't need to know that Severus and I were engaged.

Basically, Sirius was mad that Dad had let me get engaged to a Death Eater. And of course, Sirius had his biases against Severus because of at school. Dad of course said he didn't like Severus that much either but had to admit that Severus was going to protect me. Sirius said Dad was blind because obviously Severus was just going to bring me to Voldemort.

As Kreacher went down the stairs I went into the kitchen and told both of them to shut up before Kreacher overheard them and Sirius went to close Mrs. Black's portrait.

Dad was gone for a couple of days- full moon. The day before we went back to Hogwarts, Severus came by. He asked for privacy in the kitchen but allowed Sirius and me to stay in there. He allowed me because I'd already foreseen it, and he'd grudgingly allowed Sirius because I had a feeling he wasn't wanting to fight with him.

Sirius and Severus sat across from each other, glaring at each other while I sat a little ways down, sitting on Severus' side, my back against the wall. A few minutes later and Harry walked into the kitchen.

"Er." Harry said.

"Sit down Potter."

"You know, I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see." Sirius said loudly.

"I was supposed to see you alone, Potter." Severus said as Harry sat down next to Sirius. "but Black-"

"I'm his godfather." Sirius said, still louder than ever.

"I am here on Dumbledore's orders, but by all means stay, Black, I know you like to feel... involved." Severus said in a very quiet voice. I kicked him lightly with my bare foot.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked, letting his chair fall bac onto all four legs with a loud bang- he'd been leaning back in it.

"Merely that I am sure you feel- ah-" I kicked him again, a bit harder and he looked at me, cleared his throat and said, "The headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term."

"Study what?" Harry asked.

Severus sneered. "Occlumency, Potter. The magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one."

"Why do I have to study Occlu- thing?" Harry asked quickly.

"Because the headmaster thinks it is a good idea. You will receive private lessons once a week, but you will note tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You understand?" Severus asked smoothly.

"Yes. Who's going to be teaching me?" Harry asked, shooting me a hopeful glance. It wasn't a bad idea either, I'd be a nicer teacher than Severus at least.

"I am." Severus said.

Harry quickly looked from me to Sirius.

"Why can't Dumbledore teach, Harry? Why you?" Sirius asked with more aggression than was necessary.

"I suppose because it is a headmaster's privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks." Severus said in a silky voice and I giggled, pressing a hand against my mouth to silence myself. "I assure you I did not beg for the job. I will expect you at six o' clock on Monday evening, Potter. My office. If anybody asks, you are taking Remedial Potions. Nobody who has seen you in my classes could deny you need them." He stood up, his black traveling cloak settling around him.

"Wait a moment." Sirius said, sitting up straighter in his chair than he originally had been.

Severus turned, sneering. "I am in rather a hurry, Black. . . unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time..."

"Severus. . ." I muttered under my breath quietly.

"I'll get to the point then." Sirius said, standing up. "If I heard you're using these Occlumency lessons to give Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to."

"How touching, but surely you have noticed that Potter is very like his father?" Severus asked.

"Yes, I have." Sirius said and his voice was extremely proud.

"Well then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off of him." Severus said.

Sirius pushed his chair roughly aside and strode towards Severus, pulling out his wand. Severus whipped his own out.

"Sirius!" Harry said loudly. I had gotten to my feet, drifting closer to Severus.

"I've warned you, Snivellus. I don't care if Dumbledore and Remus and Eilís think you have reformed. I know better-"

"Oh, but why don't you tell him so." Severus said. "Or are you afraid he might not take the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months very seriously?"

"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?" Sirius snarled. I hissed.

"Speaking of dogs, did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you risked a little jaunt outside. Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform. . . gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn't it? At least until Elizabeth saved your ass by leaking a false trail in Thailand."

Sirius raised his wand. "NO!" Harry yelled, vaulting over the table. "Sirius, don't-"

I darted in front of Severus, blocking him with my body.

"Are you calling me a coward?" Sirius roared, trying to push Harry out of the way though he didn't budge.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am." Severus said, trying to move me but I wouldn't move either.

"Harry- get- out- of- it!" Sirius snarled, shoving Harry.

"Elizabeth, move." Severus muttered, one hand on my waist, trying to push me out of the way.

The kitchen door opened and we all looked over. The Weasley were entering, in the middle was Mr. Weasley who said cheerfully, "Cured! Completely Cured!" Then, they all froze, taking in Severus and Sirius who were looking at the door, their wands still pointed at each others face, my arms pinning Severus to the wall, and Harry standing in front of Sirius.

"Merlin's beard, what's going on here?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Severus pocketed his wand and strode out of the kitchen, past the Weasleys. "Six o'clock Monday evening, Potter."

I hurried out of the kitchen after him. "Severus. . ." I whispered as Mr. Weasley talked to Sirius back in the kitchen.

Severus took a deep breath. "Sorry" he said, not sounding sorry at all. I sighed.

"I'll see you tomorrow? Okay?" I reached up on my toes and kissed him. He left and I headed up the stairs.

About half an hour later Harry came to see me, knocking on the door.

"Come in." I said. I was laying on my bed reading a very battered copy of IT. "Oh, hello Harry." I closed the book, tossing it onto the bed. "What's up?"

"Er, in the kitchen. . . you called Snape 'Severus'."

I blushed. "Oh, um yeah."

"So that vision you had, of the two of you. . . did that er. . . come true?" Harry asked. He looked so much like our dad that it was like seeing a living photo of him- except the eyes of course.

"Oh well. . . we're not married but um. . ." I held up my left hand, showing him the ring. "He er- proposed Christmas Eve."

"That's so weird." Harry said, shaking his head.

"Hey, don't tell anyone, okay? The last thing I need is people thinking my grades are good because Severus and I are romantically involved, and I don't want Umbridge to know either and we'd both just rather keep it a secret until I become of age, Okay? Like. . . not even Hermione and Ron okay? Just a secret between the two of us? Brother-sister secret?"

"Sure." Harry said.

I was still worried however after he'd left. What if Voldemort pulled that piece of information out of his head? I mean, Voldemort might not kill Sev but still. . .

I laid down on the bed, worry eating me up from the inside. I was worried about Harry and I was worried about Trang and I also had a strange, intense worry about Sirius that seemed to out worry every other worry.

I fell into a horrible sleep.

In the morning, Dad and Tonks were there to take us to Hogwarts by taking the Knight Bus.

Tonks greeted me with a huge hug and said, "Thank you so much for the Firebolt!"

I had kept my promise from the summer by buying her a firebolt for Christmas. Dad had told me I was not to get him a new broom when I wanted to so I'd gotten him new robes. He was still a bit frustrated with this, he hated me buying him things even though he was buying me things.

"You're welcome." I said. "And thanks for the Heelys, they pretty much saved my life. Professor Snape also said to tell you thanks for him."

"And I must thank you for giving her Heelys." Sirius and Dad said at the same time in the same tone.

"Good-bye Harry, take care." Mrs. Weasley said, giving Harry a hug after she'd hugged everyone else.

"See you Harry, and keep an eye out for snakes for me!" Mr. Weasley said, shaking his hand. I grinned. Harry seemed distracted.

"Right-yeah." Harry said, but he was looking at Sirius. Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley turned to their children. I faced Sirius too. How could I tell him to be careful?

Sirius gave each of us a one-armed hug so that he was hugging both of us at the same time and said, "Look after yourselves you two." I kissed his cheek and hugged him hard and then Tonks- who had suddenly become a tall, much older woman, was moving us down the sidewalk. I looked back at Sirius for what I felt was going to be the last time and then the door was closed.

"Come on, the quicker we get on the bus the better." Tonks said, looking nervously around the square. Dad flung his right arm out.

BANG!

I jumped backwards. The three-decker bus had appeared out of thin air and a young, thin, pimply boy that I recognized from the Quidditch World Cup said, "Welcome to the-"

"Yes, yes, we know, thank you." Tonks said. "On, on, get on-" She pushed each of us up the steps- me first.

"'Ere- it's 'Arry-"

"If you shout his name I will curse you into oblivion." Tonks muttered from behind me.

"I've always wanted to go on this thing." Ron said happily. I had to agree. I'd never been on it before.

There was an assortment of mismatched chairs grouped around the windows. Witches and Wizards were getting up off the floor. Apparently the chairs weren't bolted to the ground because some of them were tipped over as well.

"Looks like we'll have to split up." Tonks said. "Fred, George, Ginny, Elizabeth, take those seats in the back. . . Remus can stay with you. . . Harry, Ron, Hermione, you're with me." They went up the stairs as we headed to the back.

I sat down between Fred and Ginny. Fred looked distinctly unhappy and so did George.

"What's up?" I asked Fred.

"Don't even know why we're bothering to go back." Fred mumbled under his breath. "There's nothing left for us considering it's our last year."

"I wouldn't be going back either if it weren't for Quidditch and D.A." I mumbled back. "I already begged Sirius to let me stay and he nearly said yes. But I have an obligation for Quidditch. But if that's taken away from me to, I may just leave."

"George and I are thinking of leaving." Fred confided. "But we want to go out with a bang so we're going to have to plan it perfectly."

"I'll let you know if I see anything." I said honestly and Fred grinned and then he turned to talk to George.

Each time the Knight Bus stopped, it was such a sudden stop that I realized why witches and wizards had been picking themselves up off the floor when we'd first gotten on the bus. The first time, Fred, George, Ginny, and I all flew out of our seats. Ginny hit her head on the chair in front of her and George nearly broke the window. I thought I'd broken my wrist when I landed but I hadn't.

"I never want to ride this ever again." Fred muttered the sixth time that it happened.

Dad somehow hadn't fallen out of his seat once. I was absolutely hating him for it. Especially as he grinned each time we fell out of our seats.

Eventually the bus stopped outside the gate to Hogwarts. "Oh no." I heard George say.

"What?" Ginny and I asked and we both hurried over to the window.

"Oh no." I muttered.

"What?" Dad asked, on his feet.

"Dad, stay inside." I muttered. "There's no reason for you to come out either."

Tonks came down with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What's up?" Ron asked.

"She's waiting for us." I hissed.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione's eyes flicked to Dad and then to me. "There's no reason for you guys to help us out." Harry said.

"Nonsense." Dad said in a cold voice, picking up Fred's trunk. "Let's go."

My stomach turned. This was going to be horrible. "Dad really." I said, hurrying after him. Harry had pushed to the front with Tonks. The seven of us followed Dad, making excuses about why he shouldn't come outside with us. Tonks looked slightly nervous too.

But Dad was already exiting off the bus and soon we were all standing there. Dad was shaking hands with everyone, ignoring Professor Umbridge who was standing at the gate, wrapped up in a pink fluffy coat with matching shoes. She was wearing her horrible little smile.

I hated her. I loved her coat though. In maybe a lighter pink colour, almost pastel.

Dad whispered something to Harry and then faced me. Ignoring Professor Umbridge, I hugged him as tightly as possible and then kissed his cheek.

"Hem, hem!" I gritted my teeth, pulling away from dad with one last hug.

"I have a few questions before we all go inside the castle." She said in her sugar sweet voice, her eyes resting on me. "For starters, why you all left early."

"Our dad was in the hospital." Ginny said.

"Dumbledore already told you he gave us permission to visit." I said coldly.

"Yes, but you should've known not to leave considering you still had detentions to do Miss Kane."

"Like I said, Dumbledore gave us permission." I repeated.

"But why'd he give you permission?" She asked.

"None of your business." I snapped.

"Watch your mouth." She said still in her stupid sugar sweet voice, her eyes blazing with triumph.

"It's hard to watch where my eyes can't see." I said. Fred, George, and Ron all burst out laughing.

Her eyes were flaming with anger again. "You just earned yourself two weeks worth of detention Miss Kane and if you don't watch it, your Quidditch Badge is going to go to someone else."

"You should know by now that your stupid detentions don't do anything. And you've tried taking my badge and you can't. You have zero power over me." I said, smiling. I turned back to dad, kissing him again on the cheek. He looked tortured and I whispered, "See? Stop worrying. I bring it all on myself. Love you Dad."

Then I picked up my trunk, tapped it so that it was lightweight and walked past her. The others followed me, leaving her standing there. We looked behind us and saw that Dad, Tonks, and Umbridge were having a kind of standoff and then Umbridge spun on her heel and followed after us.

"KANE!" She shouted after me but I was already far away and pretended not to hear her. I swept up the stairs, into the castle, and away from her. I smiled in satisfaction. I had showed her.

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