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7deadlycinderellas · 5 years

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If the summer of our lives could just come again, ch20

Ao3 link

��Winterfell

Perhaps a week or so after the others had returned to Winterfell, Arya awakes, tossing and turning, after only an hour of sleep.

With a glance at her sleeping husband (who is out like a light as usual), she pulls on her cloak and steps into her boots. She leaves in the direction of the kitchens in search of a late night snack.

The kitchen is quiet, and still, even the fire having been put out after the cook had left for the night. Arya spies a plate of wintercakes that was left out, and reaches her hand out to sneak one from the platter.

She feels her skin prickle, and jumps at the movement in the room when she realizes she’s not alone.

“Seven hells Arya, if you’re sneaking around at night, don’t freak out on other people who are too!”

It’s Sansa, sitting at the cook’s table, munching on a wintercake she’s already removed from the platter. She nudges it across the table in Arya’s direction. She sits and takes one.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Sansa admits, “I have to adjust to the noises here. In King’s Landing I could hear guards in the halls all night and people from the streets. Here the snow makes everything quiet.”

Arya munches her cake for a few moments more.

“Sorry about you missing the wedding. It was Mother’s decision to push it, not ours. Only thing it really changed is that we can share a bed and the servants don’t know how to address him.”

“Do they spend all their free time studying your midsection absolutely certain Mother only allowed the two of you to marry because you’re with child?”

“You know it. Jokes on them, we didn’t even start laying together properly until like two moons ago.”

She’s still not quite sure what brought it on. Maybe it was just the right time, maybe it was the candle light making Gendry look extra handsome, but something that night just made her take his arm after supper and say ‘take me to bed.”

He hadn’t even reacted at first, just gone, “It’s still sort of early isn’t it?”

She stops where they were, and squeezes his arm a bit tighter. Her eyes meet his, teasingly, and his go wide.

With care, Gendry glances one direction down the hall, and then the other. Satisfied that they are alone, with one swift movement he wraps both arms around her waist and lifts her into his arms. He definitely needs both arms to do it now.

“Oh,” Arya says in surprise, shivering at the sudden feeling of his lips pressed against that spot behind her ear, “You missed me.”

When they get back to her chambers, it’s a struggle for them to get undressed because they can’t stop touching each other. She’s so glad she hadn’t let him cut his hair this time.

When she moves to unbutton his breeches and climb on top of him, Gendry grabs both of her hands, and kisses each finger.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, we have a bed and all night. We’re not going to die tomorrow. Let’s take our time and enjoy this.”

And though Arya’s a little miffed, she kisses his wrist and melts into him. He’s right, and he’s true to word. She doesn’t think a single part of her, from the tip of her nose to the arches on her feet, and everything in between, goes unkissed. Despite his gentleness, he can’t hide his eagerness. It’s as though they hadn’t spent the last year sleeping in the same bed and fooling around.

And after some time Gendry finally settles between her legs and enters her with a measured, careful, ease. When he’s completely sheathed, he pauses, though it looks like it takes him much effort, and searches her face for signs of pain. Finding instead, a sunny grin, he slowly slides back on his knees, and Arya, puts her hands on his shoulders and pulls herself into his lap.

It’s rather unfair, she thinks, that it’s so hard to kiss when you’re smiling so wide. But when she comes around him for the first (second) time, she’s smiling like a loon. And also the other two times that night.

And Arya really hopes her face doesn’t spill quite all these details. She’s still not quite sure how squeamish Sansa is about these sorts of things now.

Sansa, for her credit, looks confused.

“Why did you wait so long?”

Arya shrugs.

“Some of it is that this whole thing still makes me feel like a tiny babe sometimes...but mostly because I’m really scared of going into the long night with child.”

Sansa still furrows her brow, “Maester Luwin could give you moon tea.”

Arya nods.

“And he did, but I’ve heard enough stories that it doesn’t always work to make me feel uneasy.”

She does take the moment to smirk at her sister conspiratorially.

“Know what he told me? He told me all of the herbs needed have been seeded to grow throughout Winter Town, along footpaths and between buildings. Had nothing to do with it of course, he told me. It wouldn’t do for a maester of the Citadel to be seen encouraging immorality. But he also said he didn’t want to hear about some crofter’s daughter sticking herself in the womb with a fireplace poker trying to bleed it out.”

“S’pose it’s nice for someone to think of them,” Sansa remarks bitterly, with a bite of her cake. There’s a long pause before her next comment.

“Everyone always talks about it hurting.”

Arya looks at her quizzically. Whatever she had been expecting to come out of her sister, that was not it.

“It hurt some, the time before,” she says slowly, “course, I did sort of throw myself in headfirst without much thinking. It didn’t this time. I think those stories are mostly made up to excuse the behavior of clumsy, oafish husbands who likely care very little if they’re wives enjoy it or not. It’s a pretty delicate process, but I certainly don’t think it HAS to hurt.”

“Unless he wants it to.”

The silence returns. Arya has no words whatsoever for what Sansa went through with Ramsey before, could still picture the scars that dotted her sister’s body even though they were long gone.

Mouselike, Sansa restarts her conversation.

“In the south, I spent a lot of my free time learning to play cyvasse with Lord Tyrion and Princess Myrcella. After Myrcella left for Dorne, he still played with me often.”

Arya raises an eyebrow. She knows all this from the letters Sansa managed to send home over the years, and she wonders where it’s going.

“Sometime this last year I became possessed by the idea that maybe when I had married him before, maybe I should have let him take my maidenhead. Even if I had still run afterwards, Ramsey likely wouldn’t have been interested in a bride who wasn’t a virgin. And whatever faults Tyrion may have, real or imagined, he wouldn’t have enjoyed hurting me.”

“Sansa,” Arya interrupts sharply, “You can’t think like that. You were fourteen years old and a prisoner. Even if he wasn’t as brutal as Ramsey, fourteen year old you would have been terrified and still would have considered it a violation. Whatever feelings you’ve developed for Tyrion came later.”

Arya’s voice softens.

“You were always the one going on about love and romance. It shouldn’t be surprising you managed to scrounge it up out of the ashes.”

Sansa laughs.

“You should hear your own life from the outside. If things hadn’t gone the way they did, there would have been songs about you and Gendry. A pair of lost children find each other on the road, and they turn out to be a lost princess and a king’s bastard? And you find each other again and make love before a huge battle that you not only miraculously both survive, but that you, yourself, had a hand in ending?”

Arya rolls her eyes and changes the subject. She doesn’t want to linger on the bits of her life that were out of one of her sister’s dreams.

“Anything actually interesting happening in the south?”

“Interesting it putting it lightly, it’s a fucking mess down there.”

Arya quirks an eyebrow at her sister’s language.

“What? It’s true. Joffrey is king, even if he’s mostly his grandfather’s puppet. Stannis left the crownlands to aid the wall- Ser Davos was nearly inconsolable to hear that three of his sons left home to join him as well. Iron born ships are attacking Storm’s End for no suitably explored reason. I have no idea what on earth Danaerys is going to do with the place once she gets here. Oh, and Littlefinger is clearly still plotting since he sent that sellsword after us on the Kingsroad but still sent us an invitation to him and Aunt Lysa’s wedding.”

“What?”

Wait.

“Neither of us mentioned that did we?”

Arya’s glare is the only response she needs.

“Well, we were going to have to talk about it with Father and Mother in the morning anyhow, so lets just go back to bed.”

Arya gets up without another comment, but stares after Sansa as they separate in the hallway. Can’t believe her sister’s been home this long and didn’t think fit to mention that they’d been attacked.

The next morning turns into a flurry of activity. There’s more ravens at once than there’s been in ages.

“There’s another invitation to Lysa’s wedding,” Catelyn comments, wondering at her sister’s mental state if she’d forgotten they had already sent one.

“Here’s one from Myrcella,” Sansa adds, “She claims some of the sailors in Dorne have claimed to have seen dragons on the water.”

“Oh,” Ned says, reading his, “It appears Queen Margaery is now with child.”

Sansa lets out a sigh. That’s not going to be fun to handle when Danaerys lands in Westeros. She opens the next raven that has arrived. Reading it’s contents, she tucks it in a pocket. At her parents look, she says.

“Something that might end up being important.”

Bran makes a noise of disgust reading his.

“It’s from the wall. Thorne is declaring Jon dead, lost to over the wall.”

That completely ruins the atmosphere for breakfast. Benjen had been declared much the same in the past year. Commander Mormont would have never left a lost comrade go forgotten, but Thorne did not seem to share his sentiment.

Bran grabs his cane and stands up roughly. Meera jumps beside him.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m sending Septima over the wall. Enough of the wildlings have fled that I’m not too worried about other wargs. If Jon is still alive over there I’ll find him.”

Meera nods, and stands, grabbing his hand, to accompany him. Ned spares a glance at their joined hands and Sansa has to stifle a giggle.

Sansa returns her attention to Ned and Catelyn.

“What are we going to do about Aunt Lysa?”

“I don’t think I can avoid it without a really good explanation, she is my sister after all. And the trip from White Harbor to Gulltown isn’t too long a journey, though getting to the Eyrie is a bit trying.”

Sansa nods, “I’ll go with you then.”

Catelyn looks concerned for a moment, but then nods.

“I can’t accompany you two,” Ned realizes, “Robb and I need to travel to the Dreadfort to deal with the free folk.”

Arya cuts in,

“Yes, that should be a near top priority. The free folk speak civilly of Robb and the way he has dealt with them, but they don’t know you and won’t respect you if you don’t show them the same treatment. They don’t have any loyalty to names.”

“And Mother and I going to the Vale alone might actually work out better for us.”

At everyone’s confused looks, she elaborates.

“I told you. Littlefinger’s prime objective seems to be to seed enough chaos that things implode around him and he can seize control amongst it. If he believes there might be a rift in your marriage-”

Ned and Cat both look uncomfortable at this cold calculation of their situation. Things had been smoothed a bit since they had returned, but it was still not completely healed.

“Then I feel like he might get cocky and I feel I could take advantage of that.”

Catelyn’s eyes stay on her daughter. She speaks of the other man in such a manner that she wonders what he was to her in her other life. She’s so guarded about it.

Well, it seems they’ll find out eventually.

Over the Wall

“That sword has a name you know?”

Ygritte glances at the sword in her hand and then back at Jon. They’d been sparring outside the cave when he’d volunteered that bit of information, after she’d told him that she’d taken to calling her axe Wild Thing. She uses the sword well enough, but goes back and forth when they spar, and she says she thinks she prefers the axe.

“Did the tree tell you that?”

Jon nods. Truly, he had been mostly kidding when he’d asked, but then the weirwood showed him .

“It’s called Dark Sister, it was Visenya Targaryan’s.”

“I guess it’s good to keep it in the family again.”

Jon feels his neck flush, but doesn’t respond. Ygritte doesn’t know too much of the baggage that came with the knowledge that he was a Targaryan, and he is grateful she never feels the need to make jokes about him marrying his sisters.

“One of your sister’s liked swords right? Maybe you should give it to her when you see her again.”

Arya. She’d been eleven with the face of twenty when he saw her last. The tiny sword he’d had made for her all those years ago. She’d be seventeen, or close to, now, he thinks, the blade probably long outgrown. He hopes she still uses it.

“Maybe I will, but for now, you keep it. Wild Thing won’t do a thing against a walker.”

She nods, in understanding. Some of the Others have wandered past the cave entrance, alone thankfully, seemingly. They take turns leaving the cover of the wards to pick them off, though more of them always seem to find their way again, seemingly heading for the Land of Always Winter.

Rowan had advised him some moons ago, for him to ask the weirwood to show him how the others came to be. When it was done, Jon had turned to her in horror. She had merely let her head drop in shame, and he found he had no words to rebuke her.

“We should go back inside,” Ygritte interrupts him, “The sun’s getting low.”

When they return to the camp, they are surprised to find the others crowded around the fire, Gilly sitting across from Aemon, with an incredibly bewildered expression on her face.

“Sweetheart,” she starts, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Aemon has been talking for years, in full sentences too. His little voice is clear.

“Why don’t you call me Sam anymore? It was my name.”

“When did this start up?” Jon asks Gilly, when she turns to greet him.

“I found him wandering by the roots of the weirwood earlier,” Gilly admits, “I have before. I find him there a lot actually, pretending to talk to it, like you do.”

Jon feels a queer sensation in his stomach. Rowan seems to have a similar thought.

“I’m not sure he was pretending.”

Jon turns to Rowan in shock.

“How could he- it took you so long to even teach me simple words.”

“Children are far more adept at learning any sort of language than adults are,” Rowan muses, “A child raised in an environment where they constantly hear more than one language picks them both up with ease.”

She reaches and pats Aemon’s hair.

“And perhaps your son is just very clever at picking these things up.”

“But-” Jon’s mind is racing. He can’t understand why the boy would think his name was Sam. The only Sam he can think of even is the fat boy from the watch.

“I think we are discovering more about the nature of a tree’s memory than was known before.”

Jon thinks on it.

“You think the weirwoods still remember the life you had from before.”

“It makes sense truly, the weirwoods know nothing of time, of past or of future. It’s why they can show you so much of the world.”

Ygritte bursts into the conversation.

“I smashed my skull against the dead stump of the one above us,” she recalls, “That’s when I remembered my before life.”

Rowan’s face turns reverent.

“There’s a reason my people treated the weirwoods as gods. They certainly have sight beyond what either of our people could understand.”

Jon has plenty of time to muse on this, as he eats his supper of venison broth with moss.

Later that night, he leans forward and presses a kiss to Ygritte’s shoulder. Satisfied that she’s asleep, he quietly stands and pulls his boots on.

He can get to the roots of the young weirwood without even a light now, but he brings one anyway just to be safe. Sitting beneath it in the night is eerie, but he still wants to do this.

Touching the base of the tree, he asks it of Samwell Tarly, now.

With his first glimpse, Jon laughs. Sam at the Citadel, sent to train to replace Maester Aemon. It made perfect sense, and he supposes Thorne might have been far too pleased to get rid of him. And even if Sam had resisted, hadn’t wanted to leave the wall under siege and one of his only friends lost on the other side, he would have adapted. He would have found himself in his element.

Jon takes a break after, and with a deep breath, he tries now. He asks of Samwell Tarly, before.

He sees some the same, of Sam in Oldstown. But to his shock, he sees Gilly with him, and her child. None of her sister’s are there, but both of them seem quite fond of Sam.

He laughs. Sam was just the type of person who could wander himself into finding a woman and child, and also find himself in not one but two roles that demanded celibacy.

In some of what he sees though, he sees himself, and it’s the strangest thing that’s ever passed through his mind. Jon hasn’t looked at his own face in ages, and has no idea if he resembles this vision at all. He cut his hair and beard when they became cumbersome, but other than that, he has no idea of his own appearance, or his own demeanor.

He’s jolted back from the vision to discover Ygritte has followed behind him.

“You’re a right fool Jon Snow, if you think I can sleep without you grinding on my arse.”

He rewards her with a sheepish smile as she sits beside him.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she starts, “Coming out here, to ask that thing about your last life, since you can’t remember.”

He laughs. He supposes he is not a subtle person.

“I wasn’t actually.”

That takes Ygritte back.

“I thought about it, and I might if I end up feeling like I really need to know something, but...I think I’m better off not remembering. I don’t think I’m the same person I would be from then.”

Ygritte’s face following this is hard to read.

“I’m not sure you are either.”

She bites her lip before her next words.

“I would have said before that I was in love with you, that that was why I ran so furiously into the battle where I died. I would still say I love you, but it’s different now.”

She takes one of his hands and presses it to her chest over her heart.

“Out here, I actually feel like I know you. I watch you with Rowan and the other women and it’s like you’re unburdened. You barely spoke of your family before, now I feel as though I’ve met them. Out here I’m not worried if you’re still a crow, and you’re not worried that I’ll stab you in the back for a lark.”

“Much.”

She snorts. He hasn’t worried about that in ages.

“I may not be able to say I knew you before,” Jon responds, “But out here I can say I trust you to have my back.”

He reaches out, and slowly pulls her onto his lap, one hand winding it’s way through her bright hair.

“And if you want the honest truth,” Ygritte mumbles, her voice muffled, “I can tell being up here is good for you. You don’t brood nearly as much.”

That makes him laugh, and they sit together like that for a while, before stepping gently along the cave to rejoin the group.

That night, Jon dreams of birds and catapults. He can’t even begin to make sense of that one.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #gendrya #jongritte #time travel fix it #fic

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valasania-the-pale · 6 years

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Unforgivable

This takes place post-V6 and presumably pre-V7 in that happy little space where the party finally gets to settle down in their new locale before diving headlong into a new set of problems. Please enjoy! This can also be considered a spiritual successor to my other drabble, ‘Contemplation.’

Either he was getting better at noticing changes in his surroundings, or Ruby was truly exhausted, because when she slipped out of the small apartment provided to them by the Atlesian military, Oscar was aware of it. That alone surprised him – travelling with a group of huntsmen (‘Not yet’ a voice whispered back at him, not his own) was stressful. Not only did they attract terrifying monsters seemingly by chance, but they also managed to constantly surprise him.

Huntsmen were quiet. They were skilled. They needed to be to stalk their prey, and in the ‘killing Grimm’ category, his companions were particularly prodigious. Sadly, he was a mere farm boy and they often managed to sneak up on him without meaning.

‘You’re improving,’ the other voice whispered again, part in amusement, part just stating a simple truth.

Oscar scoffed, suppressing the tiny glow of pride in his chest, but the other presence noticed it anyways and flickered with amusement.

His mind returned to Ruby. It wasn’t the first time she’d slipped away from the group to be alone. According to Weiss it was extremely unusual behavior for her – Ruby tended to cleave to her friends when emotional or troubled. The heiress had been very offput when he’d confided in her about it; she’d waived him off at the time, but Oscar didn’t need help from his other half to realize that she was more troubled she hadn’t noticed it herself.

What was Ruby doing? Was she just trying to get away from everyone for a little while, find some privacy? After living with just his aunt for several years – punctuated by the frequent visits of neighbors and distant relations, especially during harvest season – Oscar could appreciate how overwhelming it could be to suddenly be surrounded by people day and night. Hell, he felt the same way when he first joined up with Qrow and RNJR for the first time, never mind the additions of Ruby’s original teammates.

‘…Go talk to her.’

“What?” Oscar muttered back. He wasn’t quite used to the mental conversation thing. It was far more comfortable to speak aloud when possible. “Maybe she just wants some privacy, I don’t want to be rude!”

Ozpin shifted – an interesting, if decidedly odd feeling, constrained by his own little partition of their shared consciousness as it was. ‘I don’t believe that is the case… at any rate, I want to speak with her.’

Oscar hesitated. “If you’re sure…?”

‘As I can be. This has been long in coming anyways. Better now than after we meet with James… Powers know what will happen after that conversation.’

“Fine.”

He grabbed his cane from the countertop he’d been fiddling with it on, the handle fitting his hand like a glove. Thankfully he’d elected to stay dressed – Solitas was, quite frankly, freezing. To an extent Oscar hadn’t felt since the bitter winters of his early childhood. The lining of his coat was particularly good at keeping out the chill.

Ruby’d been wearing her cloak, but aside from that just wore her usual attire… Thankfully her footsteps were clear in the fresh snowfall, not yet destroyed by the passerby that would undoubtedly turn the white blanket into grey slush come morning.

A few blocks down – not far enough to be worrisome, far enough to feel distant from the rest. Up some stairs, and there she was. Protected from the snow by a decorative awning, Ruby shivered on a bench, staring out over the Atlesian skyline.

Tense – and still not sure he wasn’t interrupting some sort of private moment of self-reflection or somesuch – Oscar of course tripped on the last chair, startling Ruby out of her contemplation. “Oscar!”

“Uh… hi?”

There were shadows underneath her eyes, and Oscar felt Ozpin measuring the slump of the girl’s shoulders, as well as the sag in her usually excellent posture.

If she noticed his once-over, she didn’t show it, instead putting on a concerned expression. “Is something the matter? Everyone’s alright, right?”

“Yeah!” Picking himself up, he walked over to the bench. “Yeah, nothing’s wrong, just saw you leaving and figured I’d… um.”

Oscar floundered for a moment, suddenly aware that he hadn’t followed her for any particular reason. ‘A little help?’

Ozpin chuckled, a sound Oscar only knew from Ozpin’s memories – when he took the reigns his voice was Oscar’s, if inflected differently. It was a different man’s laugh in his mind.

He felt the nudge, like a hand slipping into a glove, except the glove was his body and the hand was Ozpin’s mind slipping around Oscar’s. It was quite the feeling, and one he hadn’t realized he’d grown familiar with until Ozpin disappeared entirely for the last few days. Oscar surrendered to the loss of agency willingly, becoming just a presence in another’s mind, watching from his eyes as a passenger.

Through those eyes he saw Ruby’s silver widening in recognition as Ozpin shifted posture, both hands resting on the handle of their cane, shoulders evening out in that just-so manner that Oscar’s aunt would have cried to see.

“Oh… Professor Ozpin.”

“Miss Rose. If we’re not interrupting anything, I would like to have a chat.” Oscar could feel the distance between Ozpin and his words. The formality, the coolness bordering on warmth – it was the tone he used to greet new students at Beacon, the tone he’d used to first greet Oscar himself that fateful morning. Jovial, polite, and perfunctory… but still undeniably the voice of a stranger speaking to another stranger.

Ruby blinked, some emotion passing over her face before it shifted into something resigned. Or maybe resolved. Oscar couldn’t really tell – he was used to drawing on Ozpin’s muscle memory and tactical memories, not so much the social kind. Those were a bit more… personal.

At any rate, she didn’t say anything, just mutely nodded and sat back down. Ozpin joined her, leaning forward to put his weight on the cane, just staring out over the Atlesian skyline.

He and Oscar both could sense the tension radiating from the girl. Among the myriad emotions swirling within his other half – more than Oscar had ever felt at once from the older soul – he could feel a trickle of pity and, surprisingly, empathy. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s so much…” Ruby whispered. “So many buildings… like Vale, but so much more high-tech… This is where Weiss grew up.”

“Indeed. It’s not too hard to see how Miss Schnee could come to be the woman she was when she first arrived at Beacon when her origins lay here.”

“It’s nothing like Patch.”

Sadness, a faint memory of a childhood spent far from the city, stars overhead and forests surrounding. Oscar marveled – the images were not his… yet they were so similar to his own, save for perhaps the constellations.

“Atlas is spectacular… though I find myself longing for the days when Mantle was ascendant. Perhaps it was less prosperous, less populous, and dare I say even less beautiful, but there was a pioneer spirit to be found here. The feeling that if you just worked hard enough, for long enough the faintest of dreams were within your grasp.”

“Kind of like Beacon.”

“Yes. The best huntsmen came here because of the city’s lack of natural fortifications, Grimm were still drawn here like moths to the flame. It was slow, but progress was made, and all so suddenly the city was rising before my eyes.”

Oscar saw a flat plain, broken only by the random outcropping of grey stone. Hardly the kind of place one would put a city, with so little in the way of natural fortifications. Grimm would wash over this place like a dark tide, and yet…

Dust. Someone, somehow, managed to discover a truly incredibly vein of Dust. That justified the settlement. The mines. The mistreatment, though he could only watch on in sorrow, a mere visitor – a stranger – hoping against hope that things would change.

Change it did. The vein led to deeper tunnels, more intensive mining, new veins and even more Dust. Soon the settlement grew to a city. Alsius coming into being after the war. The military moving in, providing even more protection as more of Mantle’s population moved to the thriving boom town.

Amidst sorrow, toil, and sweat, a city rose to supplant its parent, eclipsing it in all things.

And then it rose. The mines finally ran dry, but the city would not be deterred. They were Atlas, now. Like the Vytal stadium, the best minds worked in concert and the city moved itself to a new vein – discovered underneath the old capital… too late to save it from ignominy.

Oscar gasped – was it a gasp, if it only happened in his mind? He was not used to falling into flurries of memory like that. It was always nudges or feelings, the briefest glimpses of thought from Ozpin.

‘Hiding did me little good before,’ the older soul admitted mentally, outwardly silent as he and Ruby gazed out on the skyline. ‘And though I don’t believe you’ll pry again, you also don’t deserve me shutting you out entirely… and wasn’t it just incredible, seeing the change?’

‘Yeah,’ Oscar thought. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that… it was like the crops back at home, but bigger. And faster.’

Ozpin chuckled in his mind, almost but not quite hiding the shift Oscar got from him. He was steeling himself for something.

Beside them, Ruby shifted uncomfortably. She was so tense he couldn’t detect her shivering any more, but Oscar could tell her mind wasn’t on the sights any more.

Ozpin broke the stalemate.

“I wanted to tell you that I was sorry, Miss Rose, for deceiving you.” Ruby flinched, otherwise frozen, but remained silent. Ozpin carried on. “I’ve had a fair amount of time to reflect on the last few months, and on my behavior since the fall of Beacon. I haven’t been fair to you, or your teams. I expected too much from you, and didn’t correct you when you made your own assumptions.”

“Professor—”

“No, I don’t want there to be—”

“Professor.”

Ozpin fell silent, halted by the ragged note in Ruby’s voice. The smallness, like he hadn’t ever heard from the girl. She clenched her fists, refusing to meet his eyes, her gaze fixed on the city like it was her prey. “Professor, what we did…” Ruby shook her head, brow furrowing. “What I did was wrong. It wasn’t my business to ask Jinn that question… I shouldn’t have pried.”

Oscar blinked – no, that was Ozpin, Oscar could only feel the slightest edge of bewilderment and sorrow from his other half. Ruby was shaking. His own gold-flecked-hazel orbs tried meeting hers, tried to lock with her gaze to convey… something, Oscar couldn’t tell what Ozpin wanted to do. But they wouldn’t turn.

“I was impulsive,” her voice cracked. “I was cruel… I was a bully.”

Oscar recoiled as the tears began to flow. “I wasn’t thinking about what would happen when I asked, I was just thinking about needing to know… I didn’t want to trust you. I didn’t trust you to not lie again – to hide whatever it was from us behind something else… I’m sorry.”

Their hand rose, hesitantly hanging in the air as the girl buried her face in her hands, cutting herself off from them entirely. Should they comfort her, should they say something? Oscar had no reference, and Ozpin was hesitant to push… worried that too much would break the fragile soul beside him, a feeling he knew too well.

They let the silence hold for a few seconds. Oscar could feel him ruminating in the back of their mind, feel the faintest swell of emotion, of empathy.

‘The harshest criticism comes from within,’ the older soul whispered sadly, a sliver of sympathetic ice spearing their heart. As it had only days before.

Their hand fell, and Oscar watched from the back of their mind as Ruby had her cry. They were a silent presence beside her – had the adrenaline just run out? Was it just the day, the fight, the horror and shock as their plan fell apart around their ears? Or perhaps it was an older wound than that – is this what she did, each time she vanished out on her own?

‘This must be really hard on her too,’ Oscar remembered sadly, images from their shared memories, neither one nor the other’s alone. Ruby knew what to say to make him feel better, at least that one time. He felt helpless now.

‘It is hard on us all – she isn’t ready for this,’ Ozpin frowned. ‘None of you are. In many respects.’

‘No kidding.’

Several minutes passed before Ruby pulled herself together. Minutes that Oscar spent in his own partition, blocking everything else out and seeking some of that peace his aunt tried to teach him in the garden pulling weeds. Away from it all.

“It seems we’ve both made our mistakes.” Ozpin commented after Ruby wiped her eyes.

“Yeah.” Ruby sniffled, looking for once utterly pathetic.

“I’m sad to say, as your teacher, that they only tend to pile up as the years pass by.”

Ruby gave a watery laugh. “I don’t think they have to be this bad.”

That drew a smile from their lips. “We live in interesting times… it used to be said that those were the sort of times you cursed being born into. It’s still a saying in Mistral, if I’m not mistaken.”

Ruby wasn’t distracted by the old man’s intentional rambling – Oscar could only watch from the background as the professor tried guiding her back out of the hole she’d dug for herself.

“I really am sorry, Professor,” Ruby said again, finally turning to look them in the eyes. Pain shone in those silver orbs – as well as guilt, and sadness, and exhaustion.

‘She really needs a good sleep,’ Oscar observed.

‘I wouldn’t say no to that, myself.’ Something felt lighter in his other half. His emotions were a swirling mess – more chaotic than Oscar was used to feeling from the controlled, reserved soul. But it was a good chaos – there was no hiding, no shying, not even from himself.

“I forgive you.”

Eh?

He said it so simply. Like it was nothing, and yet…

“What I did was unforgivable!”

“Well, I forgive you anyways.” There was a note of humor in their voice, entirely Ozpin. He… meant it. Why?

‘Hm.’

He wetted their lips, choosing his words carefully. “Maybe it was unforgivable… It certainly hurt, more than I believe you can even comprehend… but…” Ozpin paused, his mind casting very far back, farther than Oscar had ever felt before. “…I learned long ago that forgiveness is the surest path to peace… I have committed many sins… ‘More than any man, woman or child on this planet,’ I believe I told you… Yet I have met many hundreds of people willing to forgive me, trust me, to be my friends and confidents… Those are the people I have treasured most in my, very, long memory.”

Naked emotion shone in Ruby’s silver eyes, as well as the faintest glint of tears. “I don’t deserve it.”

“’Deserve?’” Their lips quirked. “No… you don’t. But it is my choice. You didn’t mean to hurt me, though you did. Your actions were not born of malice, though their results struck truer than many a mortal enemy I’ve faced… and you clearly feel remorse.” Ozpin hummed, eyes distant on the horizon, peering far back into that ancient memory Oscar couldn’t quite view. “Maybe I shouldn’t forgive you… maybe I should hold onto my anger, lest you tempt me to lower my guard again… but I won’t. I don’t want to. I won’t let her win.”

“Professor…”

“Ozpin. I may still be your teacher, but while we journey together, I believe it wouldn’t be too out of line for your to call me by my given name.”

‘Such confusion!’ Ozpin chuckled.

‘Ozpin?’ Yes, he was confused, and would like an explanation please?

‘I don’t like grudges, Oscar. Perhaps you may feel differently – and I will not urge you to choose anything not to your desires – but I will not torment Miss Rose further when she clearly loathes herself for what she did more than I ever could. Better to bury the hatchet and move on.’

Not parley to their mental exchange, Ruby stared in bewilderment at them. “Does that mean we’re… friends?”

Ozpin mentally blinked – he was too outwardly controlled to let such a tell go unchecked. It was another distinctly odd sensation to feel from a mind. ‘Not the question I would have asked.’

‘Ruby is Ruby.’

“If you would like to call it that, yes.”

That seemed to break her out of her shell a little, because she smiled. It was weak – tentative – but it was something. “Well, my friends call me Ruby.”

Ozpin smiled wryly. “Ruby it is then.”

“Yang is still mad at you.”

Their eyebrow quirked.

“Indeed, and I don’t believe I’ve forgiven her for the ‘bastard’ remark – my mother was a wonderful woman, and happily married.”

“Uncle Qrow’s drinking’s been getting worse.”

“Neither I nor Oscar have forgiven him that right cross… and shan’t until he pulls himself out of his despair enough that he apologizes himself. Oscar can speak for himself on the matter.”

“I still don’t trust you entirely, even though I want to.”

“I don’t believe I shall ever forget what you made me go through, at least not for a long while… but hindsight truly is crystal clear.”

Ruby let out a laugh, hugging herself. “Dust… I’ve made so many mistakes…”

“The Leviathan was a particularly impressive fuckup, if you’ll pardon my language.”

Her arms tightened. “I was only thinking about getting to Atlas…”

“Tunnel vision,” Ozpin remarked clinically. Oscar marveled – he was so… casual about it. About all of these terrible things. The lightness in his spirit refused to be dampened. “It’s a trap even the best fall into. Huntress you are, you were trained to work with goals in mind. If things had been different, Glynda would be working you to the bone even as we speak on repercussions, law, and the more mundane skills to learn. Like critical thinking.”

Ruby groaned, burying her head in her hands.

“Now now, Ruby. You managed to clean up after yourself, and only a few people were hurt.”

“The gryphon pack grounded three of the Argussian airships and thirteen people were injured,” she muttered.

“And a steeple,” Ozpin threw in flippantly. “Never forget infrastructure damage – Glynda was always on me about the migraine of paperwork involved in that.” He folded their hands. “Indeed, your failure endangered countless lives and might have had grievous repercussions… but such is the life you have chosen to lead. Entrusted with the lives of Remnant, your mistakes will cost many more as the years go on. The trick of it all is to reduce the mistakes, and ensure that those that are, for the most part, preventable, do not occur.”

“How can you be so… casual! About this?!” The bewilderment was back.

But Ozpin had an answer for her – one that drew on some of the darker clouds in the morass of his soul. They had just the slightest hint of sharpness, self-loathing. Some irony. “Because I vividly remember a time not so long ago that my lack of foresight and passivity cost me my home, my school, and thousands of people their lives. Even after thousands of years the simplest mistakes to make are made, and there is little to do about it save to pick yourself up, do your best to ensure it never happens again, and move on. Such is life.”

Ruby laughed into her hands, a sound suspiciously close to a sob, and Ozpin patted her gently on the shoulder. Thankfully, she didn’t dissolve back into tears and her moment passed.

“Will you come back after this?”

“I will to meet with James… I don’t believe that Qrow is up to the challenge of countering James’ ego… nor his paranoia.”

“But what about… us? The group?”

“I…” Ozpin paused, eyes flickering down. “In time. A few days isn’t very long. It speaks to your character that you are willing to forgive so quickly… I am not so… inclined.”

‘What happened to the ‘no grudges’ thing?’ Oscar asked.

‘You’ll find that there’s a difference when the other party actually feels remorse for their misdeeds. I don’t like grudges… but I am not a saint.’

Ruby straightened up. In spite of the exhaustion clinging to her frame, she looked more like her normal self than she had all day. “I’ll talk to them,” she said resolutely. “Yang is angry… she’ll be angry for a long time. So will Jaune… Blake will listen, I think. So will Ren. They can help me with the others.”

Curiosity.

“And Miss Schnee?”

“I don’t know about Weiss…” a shadow passed across her face. “Being in Atlas is hard for her, she’s scared her dad will come after her when he hears about her being here. I don’t want to push again…”

‘Ah.’ Ozpin hummed. “Give it time. Impatience got you into this mess, patience will, hopefully, be the cure. I appreciate your effort all the same.” To both his and Oscar’s surprise, he meant it.

“Thank you, Ozpin.”

“Thank you, Ruby.”

#RWBY #Valasanias drabbles #Ruby Rose #Oscar Pine #Ozpin #RWBY Spoilers #Post-V6 #Pre-V7 #I just want these two to talk it out #This is probably a lighter version of that conversation #I've seen some really harsh emotions from Oz #In other stories #Which I get #But I'm curious to know how this will be recieved #Please let me know what you think!#Feedback encourages me to write more

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mathiaskillmaster · 5 years

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My GOT Ending: A Song of Ice and Fire (Episode 6 Season 8) Part 2

A few days have passed. At Dragonstone, the big day has arrived. Everyone gathered in the small chapel of the fortress dedicated to the faith of the seven, the Targaryen house having converted to the religion of the seven at the arrival of Aegon the conqueror. Samwell, the person closest to a maester among all the survivors present, has been designated to unite the couple, although he personally does not feel able but to decided to do so out of friendship for Jon. Jorah struggled to recover from his injury, but thanks to Samwell again, managed to escape death. Unfortunately the terrible wound inflicted by the Night King seriously handicapped the Andal Knight, who can no longer move without the help of a cane. Although tired, he was keen to attend the ceremony. Although not very fond of this kind of reception, Arya, out of respect for Jon, is present, standing right beside Gendry and Sandor. Bronn, Yara, Missandei, Gilly and Davos stand next to each other, in the utmost silence, as are Brienne, Bran and Sansa. Tyrion stands at the entrance to the chapel, ready for the bride's arrival to lead her to the altar. In front of the altar, Jon stands, dressed in his king in the north outfit and cape, and waits, a little nervous and his heart beating. Samwell glances at him to try to reassure him a little. It was then that Daenerys entered through the door of the chapel, wearing a white silk dress sewn with red threads running along her bodice, as well as a silver necklace representing a dragon around her neck. Missandei and Gilly braided her hair before the ceremony. All guests turn to her and bow their heads in respect. A little nervous too, Daenerys glances at Jon, then at Tyrion who introduces himself to her, nodding to her and offers her his arm to lead her to his chosen. _"You are resplendent, majesty," said Tyrion to her, to which Daenerys thanked him. Missandei can not hold back a tear of joy to sink, rejoicing for her queen. The queen of the dragons is led to the altar by her hand, which then returns to place among the guests, alongside Sansa. For the first time, Jon looks at Daenerys in her wedding dress, and can not help but find her beautiful. Once the couple is face to face, Samwell stands in front of them and begins the ceremony. _"You may now cloak the bride and bring her under your protection." Sam said to Jon's attention. The young king in the north acts and unfastening his cloak, comes to lay it on the thin bare shoulders of his queen, who blushes slightly. Then Jon and Dany stand side by side, putting their hands on each other. Once done, Samwell continues, while starting with a ribbon of cloth, to connect the hands of the couple between them. _"My lords and ladies. We are gathered here today, under the gaze of gods and men, to witness the union of a man and a woman. One flesh, one heart, one soul ... Cursed be the one who tries to separate them..... now, look at you and say the words." Jon and Dany then turn to each other, looking directly into each other's eyes and together say the oath of the seven: _"Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am his/hers and he/she is mine, from this day until my last day." In the assembly, smiles appear. Once the oath is pronounced before the seven gods, Samwell speaks again to make the last verdict. _ "By the powers that are conferred upon me on this day, I declare you husband and wife .... you may kiss the bride." Jon and Dany can no longer hold their joy and seal their union in a kiss, to the applause of the small assembly. After the kiss, Jon shakes Samwell's hand, thanking him from the bottom of his heart. The new couple is congratulated by each of the guests present. Sansa, although a bit reserved at first, still smiles at Jon and looks at Tyrion who in turn congratulates the young couple. On their way out of the chapel, the couple and the guests were able to contemplate the majestic flight of the last dragon still alive, Drogon, above the island, letting out a mighty roar that echoed in the sky, as if to celebrate the union of the two last Targaryens of the world. ********* In the evening, at Dragonstone, a shy and modest feast is celebrated for the marriage of the King in the North and the Queen Targaryen. In the main room of the fortress, tables were set up and the guests, all seated, share some discussions while eating and drinking. At the head table, Jon and Daenerys are sitting side by side and gently clink their glasses of wine to their union. Tyrion, sitting next to the Queen of Dragons, lets himself go to the drink, drinking glass after glass, and determined to finish drunk, to the bothering of Sansa sitting next to him, who after a joke of bad taste from the dwarf, can not help but plunge her face in her hand, dismayed. The ring managed to snatch a chuckle from Dany and Jon. But very quickly, the dwarf becomes morose. _ "And Podrick ..." said Tyrion in a sad and alcoholic tone "... he was .... he was a good boy ... helpful, brave .... he gave his life to save me .... He deserves to have his fucking statue!!" Seeing Tyrion go a little wild, Daenerys and Sansa both look sorry for him, and try to calm him down a bit. _ "Sir Tyrion, you should stop the wine a little, at least for the evening." Sansa suggests. But the dwarf does not obey and takes a drink immediately. Daenerys feels bad for him. She did not know young Podrick very well, but knew how much he meant to Tyrion. Jon puts his hand on hers and looks into her eyes. _ "It may have been a victory for us ..." said the young Queen Targaryen "... but we lost so much to get there ...." _ "I know .... the terrible truth of the war .... it is known ...." Jon replies. ".... but tonight ..." he adds, gently pulling his arm around Daenerys's thin waist, and placing a light kiss on her cheek. Daenerys lets him do it, shuddering with pleasure and chuckles as Jon continues to sneak hiccups into her neck. _ "Jon, come on ..." Daenerys said a little embarrassed, but also laughing "... we are looked at ..." _"If you think I care about what they can say..." he answers with a naughty smile, which amuses the queen even more. At a table, Yara indulges in a tight wrestling match with one of his sailors and manages to beat him, almost wringing his wrist, under the laughter of other ironborns. Bran is sitting near the fireplace with a drink in his hand but does not seem to want to drink it, continuing to visualize memories that are not his own and sometimes glancing at Jon and Dany, seeing them together, united and happy, sharing a glass of wine together. Samwell comes to see him and leans on the fireplace to talk to him discreetly. _ "How will he find the strength to tell her?" Sam asks, still thinking that this is really unfair. _ "He will find it ..... for the good of all." the three-eyed raven simply answered. Brienne, Missandei, Gilly, Jorah and Davos share a drink at their table with some already agitated soldiers. Bronn, for his part, seems to have made a bet with several soldiers and seems to get them all each other with a master hand. At another table, Gendry and Sandor are sitting face to face. The hound does not say a word and enjoys eating chicken on his plate. Gendry, meanwhile, seems to search around him with perplexity. _ "Where is Arya?" he asks. Sandor looks up from his plate and stares at him. _"Seriously? We almost ended up in ashes and you just think about that?!" _ "W ... What? But no, I don't think so." Gendry blushed, more than embarrassed, which does not escape the hound who does not hesitate to openly bother him. _ "Of course you are, my little piece of shit. Don't you know how I see the way you look at her? Go ahead, what's waiting for you, that I can finish my chicken in peace." Gendry gets up and starts wandering between the tables, looking for Arya. _"Gendry? You call yourself Gendry, is not it?" Suddenly Daenerys's voice calls out. Gendry then turns to her, like everyone else. _ "Uh...yes, your grace." _"You are the son of Robert Baratheon, the very one who overthrew my family and took the iron throne ..." said the queen, under the somewhat puzzled looks of Jon, Tyrion and Sansa. Gendry seems more than uncomfortable. _ "I .... I didn't know it not so long ago, my queen, and anyway, he's dead." _"Yes, he and his brothers are dead, but in this case, who governs the stormlands now? Who is Lord Baratheon?" asks Daenerys, still intriguing. Gendry does not know what to say. "I think you should be that lord ...." the queen continues, to everyone's surprise in the room, Gendry first. _ "But .... I can't. I'm a bastard." _ "No ...." Daenerys replies, with a slight smile "... You are Gendry of the house Baratheon, lord of Storm's End and the stormlands, because that is my wish and to thank you for to have helped rescue Jon, and to have fought alongside us against the threat of the white walkers. " Gendry remains speechless, but more than relieved, having feared for a moment that the queen decides to chastise him for some reason. In front of this statement, Davos is the first to get up from his chair, and brandishes his glass with pride. _ "To Lord Gendry Baratheon!" All in the room get up and hold out their glasses in honor of the new young lord of the house Baratheon, except Sandor who sits down to eat his chicken and just shakes his head nonchalantly. Gendry accepts the tense glass, and it is with a shy smile and under the encouragement of all that he drinks his first sip as a lord. Shortly after, the young new lord of the stormlands leaves the reception and for several minutes, wanders in the corridors of the castle in search of Arya who remains untraceable. He ends up finding her, isolated, practicing archery on a wooden target, just shooting right in the middle. She smiled at Gendry as she saw him coming, before preparing a new arrow. _ "You don't come to celebrate?" Gendry asks. _ "That's what I do." responds the young wolf girl, notching the arrow and shooting to make another superb shot, under the admiring eye of Gendry. But unable to wait, he starts. _ "Listen ... I am no longer a Rivers, henceforth I am Gendry Baratheon, lord of Storm's End and the stormlands, by the will of the Queen Daenerys." _"Congratulations." Arya responds sincerely. But Gendry does not stop there, coming to seize her by the shoulders and to place a kiss on her lips, what Arya lets do. _"I don't know how to behave like a lord, I can barely use a fork, but all I know is that you are beautiful, that I love you, and that I want to be with you ...... So be by my side ... " he declares, almost bursting into his joy, before kneeling on the ground, in front of Arya, a little surprised. "Be my wife, be the lady of Storm's End." Arya kneels in front of Gendry and in turn, comes to kiss his lips, before giving her answer, unfortunately, not what the young Lord Baratheon was hoping for. _ "You will make a great lord, I don't doubt it .... and the one who will become your wife will have a lot of luck .... but I'm not a lady .... it's not me." She was sorry for him, but the young lady Arya Stark was no more since long ago, having left her place to another. Gendry, quite disappointed, did not know what to say. After the reception, Tyrion, in a state of extreme drunkenness, scarcely able to walk straight and laughing without being able to restrain himself, was taken back to his quarters by Sansa. The dwarf dropped heavily on the bed, lit by candles, while Winterfell's lady helped him take off his boots. _ "I remember ...." begins to stammer Tyrion under the effect of the drink "... on our wedding night .... I told you that you had a big neck .... Eh Well, it looks like he's doubled in size again." _ "You really drank too much, sir, I'm afraid." Sansa answered with a chuckle following the dwarf's remark. _ "But I also remember thinking you were so beautiful ...." Tyrion adds, this time in a more serious way. Sansa blushed slightly and wanting to leave the queen's hand to drink, decides to leave. But Tyrion's little hand gently holds her wrist. Before she could say a word, Tyrion's lips came to rest on hers in a short kiss, leaving the young lady speechless. Tyrion, in a burst of consciousness, seems to regret this gesture. _ "I ... forgive me, Lady Sansa, it's just that ...." he tries to justify himself. _"It's nothing ... have some rest, my lord." Sansa reassures him before leaving the room, her cheeks having turned red. Once the door closed, Tyrion dropped back on the bed, running his hands over his face and treating himself as a fool. Meanwhile, Jon and Daenerys have joined the royal quarters of the young queen to share their first night as husband and wife. Hardly had they closed the door behind them than the couple embraced with passion and desire. Without interrupting the hug, Jon hugged Daenerys' waist and slowly began to undo the laces of her dress behind her back. Dany looked at him with a smile and invited him to continue, which he did. Once the dress removed and left on the ground, it is the turn of the queen to help her husband to remove his tunic, always between two passionate kisses. But after a kiss, Dany notices that Jon seems to be divided between joy and fear. _"What happens?" she asks. _"It's just that ...." he answers while gently touching her cheek, spreading a silver lock with his fingers from the young woman's forehead. "... when I was captured .... I didn't know if you had survived Winterfell .... this idea haunted me and I only thought of one thing: finding you, and knowing that you were in life..." Daenerys blushes, very touched and approaches her lips to Jon's, the couple looking at each other with love. _ "Chttt .... don't think about it anymore ..." she murmurs to him "... I want this night to be ours." _ "As you wish .... my queen." Jon answers with a small smile. He and Daenerys kiss again passionately, Jon even drop little kisses in the neck of the young woman, making her moan with pleasure. Once they are both cleared of their clothes, Jon raises Dany, his arms around her waist, and carries her to the big bed to put her on it with delicacy. Lying on her back, she lets Jon crawl over her and continue enjoy on their wedding night, in this calm night, the light of the moon reflecting on the surface of the ocean. Having wanted to be alone after the reception in the Great Hall, Bran, still sitting in front of the fireplace, was entering a state of trance. Having taken control of a swarm of crows, he roamed the moors of Westeros, passing over a few ravaged villages, to finally see him in the distance, walking slowly and accompanied by a large horde of wights. the Night King, stopping neatly, sensed Bran's presence in the group of black birds and turned his cold, inhuman gaze on them.

#game of thrones #A Song of Ice and Fire #daenerys targaryen #jon snow #arya stark #Night's King #white walkers #dragons #bran stark

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iamfitzwilliamdarcy · 6 years

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Little Boy Lost- Ch 5

Summary: Sirius Black has made a troubling habit of sneaking out, exploring Muggle London, and turning his father’s hair gray early.

Or: Five times Orion Black finds Sirius in Muggle London through the years (And one time he doesn’t). (ao3)

In this chapter: Sirius sneaks away from a Christmas party to the chagrin of his father and ire of his grandfather. (WARNING: Arcturus basically assaults Sirius in this chapter so if that’s upsetting, pls pass)

(Ch1) (Ch 2) (Ch 3) (Ch 4) (Ch 6)

v. Christmas at Grimmauld Place

That the annual Black Family Christmas Party, hosted at Grimmauld Place with guests of all Sacred 28 Families invited, was several hours in with no major disturbances was, in Orion’s mind, a minor miracle. He had lost track of his elder son hours earlier, but Orion supposed as long as Sirius was not causing any trouble, he didn’t have much room to complain. It wasn’t until he saw his father bodily drag his younger son away from a group of older boys that Orion realized something was amiss.

He followed them quickly into the side room, flinging the door open just as Arcturus raised his hand to Regulus.

“What’s going on?” he asked delicately, shrewd eyes taking in the situation.

Arcturus let his hand fall back to his side, and Regulus, already flinching away from his grandfather, turned to Orion in appeal. “Father, please, I promise, I don’t know where he went!”

“Has Sirius disappeared then?” he asked, while Arcturus scoffed.

“Of course he has,” Arcturus snapped. “I saw him slip out ages ago and he hasn’t turned up again, and this one--” he sneered at Regulus, “--insists on covering for him.”

“I’m not, sir, honest!” Regulus insisted, his eyes widening.

Orion spared Regulus a passing glance. “He’s not,” he said.

Arcturus snorted his disbelief, and Orion, looking over his father’s shoulder, continued, “Regulus, though unduly loyal to an undeserving party, has never quite mastered the art of lying about it.”

Arcturus threw a look of contempt at his youngest grandchild, who was old now enough to resist the urge to shrink away into his father’s side, though the desire was shown across his face.

“You’re dismissed,” Orion told him. There was no winning for Regulus here--he ought to have more backbone, learn to show no weaknesses, but lying to Orion and Arcturus about Sirius would have also have gotten him into trouble.

Regulus shot one last furtive look between the two of them, and, when Orion gave a slight incline of his head, dashed back towards their guests, leaving Orion alone with his father.

“You baby him,” Arcturus accused, watching the place where Regulus disappeared.

“Hardly,” Orion said. “If you’ll excuse me--,”

“No,” Arcturus snapped, taking a step forward, his cane scraping against the floor. “I will not excuse you.”

Orion drew in a deep breath, kept his annoyance out of his tone, “What can I do for you then?”

“I want to know,” Arcturus said, “what you plan on doing with that boy?”

“Who, Regulus?” Orion said airily. “I imagine we’ll allow him to finish his schooling, at which point we can find him a suitable wife, and--”

“Don’t play dull with me, Orion Arcturus,” his father growled. “I’m talking about Sirius, and you know it. You’ve let him go on for too long.”

“Sirius Orion,” Orion said slowly, cautiously, “is clever and spirited. I admit he has some...wayward tendencies, but he’s young still.”

“Youthful energy, pah!” Arcturus laughed meanly. “How many times have I told you? You have to beat the rebel out of the boy, or he’ll never fall in line.”

“Thank you for your advice, Father,” Orion said stiffly. “Ought we return to the party now?”

“I would think,” Arcturus sneered. “That you would be out looking for that damned whelp of yours and dragging him home by the ear.”

“Well, certainly, I am,” Orion said through clenched teeth. “I already have a good idea of where he is. But we really shouldn’t deprive our family and guests of your company much longer.”

Arcturus laughed again. “Oh, no, boy, I’m coming with you.”

Orion blinked. “Are you?” he said silkily. “You want to go out on a night like this?”

Arcturus pushed past him towards the cloak closet. “Yes, I rather think so,” he said. “I’d like very much to see how you’ll handle this situation. And ah, intervene, if necessary.

Orion flushed as he followed his father. “You really don’t have to come with me, Father,” Orion said, putting his heavy cloak on. “It’s quite unnecessary. Go back to the party, I won’t be long.”

Arcturus glowered at his son, undeterred, and Orion sighed, pulling his gloves on next.

“I can manage my son,” he said, and Arcturus snorted. “Clearly.”

Orion pushed the door open irritably and plunged out into the night. It was a bitterly cold Christmas Eve, and snow was falling heavily. He paused, and said again, “Are you sure you want to be out in this, Father? This weather, at your age would--”

He broke off when Arcturus whacked him with his cane. Orion inclined his head in acknowledgement, and pressed his lips together, feeling humiliated, as he waited for his father to climb down their front steps .

“Well get on with it,” Arcturus snapped. He gestured out. “Lead the way to the dunghole where you’ve allowed my grandson to patron.”

“Yes, Father,” Orion said, gritting his teeth, fuming at Sirius for not being able to manage to stay at one party--just one his mother had said, just one the whole holiday season--the whole night through.

Orion strode quickly towards the street of pubs he knew his son frequented when he was home. Try as he might, he had never quite managed to break Sirius’ habit of roaming Muggle London, though Sirius apparently operated under the delusion Orion did not know what he got up to. Arcturus, surprisingly, kept up well with Orion’s pace, though Orion temporarily entertained an image of the old man slipping on ice.

He chased that thought away, feeling guilty; a fall at his father’s age could kill a man, even a wizard.

There weren’t many people out in Muggle London this late on Christmas Eve. The shops were closed to any last minute present shoppers, and even the Muggles, apparently, had a proper sense of duty to family and had gone home to be among each other. There were a few drunks out and about, many on their own, though Orion passed at least one group of young adults behaving abysmally, shouting and going on, even kissing each other. He did hesitate as he walked past them, just to be sure, that Sirius was not one of their number.

He began pausing at each pub, just long enough to see Sirius was not a patron, before finally finding the boy.

It was a dump of an establishment, and Orion wrinkled his nose as he entered. Sirius had changed out of his dress robes and into a Muggle outfit--what he called jeans and and a sweatshirt--and was sitting at the bar, the only customer of the evening, chatting animatedly with the bartender. He was far more talkative and charming, in this stye, with this good-for-nothing Muggle commoner, than he had bothered to even pretend to be tonight, with his own family and family friends.

“Be right with ya, gents,” the bartender called, and Sirius ducked his head, digging in his pockets, fishing for money. He had just thrown a crumpled paper bill on the table, when Arcturus grabbed his shoulder, turned him around, and backhanded him across his face. The heavy signet ring with the Black family crest he wore caught Sirius’ cheek, cutting it enough that blood leaked steadily down his face; had he not been in Arcturus’ surprisingly strong grip, he might have fallen back against the bar with the force of the blow.

“Oi!” the bartender shouted.

Sirius’ voice overlapped his. He managed to get out “What the fu--,” before his grandfather struck again.

“How dare you?” he spat, raining blows down on his grandson. “How dare you besmirch our good name, sneak out of a party like a gatecrasher--”

“Father--” Orion tried, but Arcturus ignored him, his own voice rising.

“--fraternizing with filth, clothing yourself in such an undignified way! I won’t have it in this family, boy, I won’t!”

The bartender had come around the bar to Sirius’ aid, but the moment he put his hands on Arcturus’ shoulders to pull him off, shouting that he had to go or the police would be called, Arcturus pointed his wand at him and blasted him into the wall.

Sirius used the moment of distraction to push his grandfather away. “Get off me, you miserable old man!”

Arcturus stumbled back a step, but caught himself and shoved Sirius so he fell against the bar and, shouting that he would beat the impertinence out of Sirius if it was the last thing he did, raised his cane. He landed two strokes before Orion grabbed his arm.

“Father, really,” he said firmly. “That’s enough.”

“Now you show up,” Sirius muttered, but his father and grandfather both ignored him.

“I told you, Orion, I did,” Arcturus said, jabbing his finger hard into Orion’s chest, “I told you you ought to ‘ve beat that boy hard and often long ago, and if you wouldn’t do it, someone else would have to.”

Orion didn’t say anything to that, and Arcturus held out his cane to him. “Go on,” he snarled, breathing heavily, “discipline the boy. He doesn’t respect me or his family, he doesn’t respect you, make him.”

Orion glanced over at Sirius, one hand on the bar holding himself up, head bowed, his other raised to meet his face. He returned his gaze to meet his father’s steadily, and shook his head.

Arcturus’ face twisted in contempt as Orion said, softly, “This is a private matter, Father, and--,”

“Don’t make excuses for your weakness,” Arcturus snapped. He set his cane back on the floor, surveying his son and grandson, disgusted. Then, abruptly, he drew himself up.

“Come along,” he ordered. “We’re going back to the party, and I expect you both in attendance until the very end.”

His marching orders given, he himself lead the way out of the pub. Orion turned to Sirius, who was still leaning against the bar, panting, his face murderously furious. He reached out a hand to help the boy straighten up, but Sirius snapped, “Don’t you fucking touch me,” and Orion gave that up as a bad job, not even bothering to correct his language.

“Really now, Sirius,” he said impatiently, moving away from him and to the Muggle. “Was it so hard to stay at a party for one evening? You can’t stand our very presence so much you sneak out at the first opportunity you get?”

“That’s the gist of it, yeah,” Sirius said from behind him.

Orion sighed, and focused on modifying the Muggle’s memory. “It’s the holidays, can’t you at least try to be civil?”

“Tell that--,” Sirius said, flinging his arm towards the door as Orion turned back to him and, with a wave of his wand, set right any of the disturbed furniture, “to him.”

He continued, before Orion had a proper response to this, “Is it any wonder why I can’t stand being around you people?”

“You’re included in that ‘you people,’” Orion reminded him dryly. He placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, and steered him sternly after the Black patriarch. “This is your family. Come, let’s catch up, we have a party to return to.”

“I didn’t sign up for this family,” Sirius sneered, looking uncannily like his grandfather had earlier that evening. “In fact, for your information, I hate this family.”

Orion tried very hard not to roll his eyes. “You’re sixteen, you’ll get over it.”

Sirius snorted. “Unlikely, but your optimism about the matter is almost endearing.”

“I’m not optimistic--,”

“Then surely just blind,” Sirius snapped. “I think I’ve made it perfectly plain how I feel about our relations. Merlin, a party like that is suffocating.”

“Present company included?”

Arcturus chose that particular moment to shout at them to quit idling and hurry along. Sirius’ face turned stormy. “Present company absolutely included. I hate that man most of all.”

“You are only saying that because you’re upset he caught you in your mischief and punished you,” Orion scolded him sternly. “I’ll admit he was a little harsh, but you should show him, and this family, more respect.”

“And you,” Sirius burst out, “should try standing up to him every once in a while!”

Orion halted, suddenly furious, and grabbed Sirius by the shoulders. Leaning in, face close to his son’s startled one, he hissed, “What, exactly, do you think I just did back there for you?”

Sirius rallied quickly, “Let him have a good go at me!”

Orion stepped back and shook his head, voice turning cold. “If you don’t want to listen, I won’t waste my time speaking. We’re going back to this party, you’ll find some proper dress, and you will be the absolute charming young man I know you have in you. I saw you talking to that common Muggle as if he were your equal,” he added, raising his eyebrows. “I know you have it in you to be pleasant and sociable.”

“I like Mitch” Sirius muttered, but he seemed cowed enough. He at least fell into step with Orion when he started walking again, though Orion thought he heard, distinctly, a low, “Fuck you, Dad.”

Whether he was meant to hear it or not, he did not know, but ignored it. To indulge Sirius would only lead to further arguing, and Orion was weary enough as it was.

When they returned home, Orion stopped at the bottom of the steps, and held out a hand for Sirius to stop. Still looking defiant, Sirius obeyed, his arms folded across his chest--though whether that was out of petulance or cold--surely his outfit was not warm enough for this weather-- Orion was uncertain.

Orion reached out and took Sirius’ chin gently. Ignoring the way Sirius tried to disguise a flinch, he tilted the boy’s head, examining the damage.

“Where your grandfather is concerned,” Orion said absently, but still softly, so Arcturus, grumbling at the top steps while he waited for them could not hear, “you got off rather lightly. You’ve hardly had a true beating from him. Push his patience much further, and I’ll have little room to intervene; he is head of this family.”

Sirius glared back at him, and Orion sighed, pulling out his wand. “I’m not as good at this as your Mother, but if you hold still, I’ll clean you up.”

“It really takes the sting and message out of the punishment if you just go and heal the boy, Orion Black, you ought to know that!” Arcturus called from the top step.

“If he returns to the party like this, Father, people will talk,” Orion said, waving his wand so that the cut on Sirius’ cheek pulled itself back together. Then, he touched it the boy’s face, holding it there as gently as he could, even as Sirius grimaced, to bring down the swelling and redness.

He was, Orion thought idly, a very handsome boy.

“Pah,” Arcturus grumbled. “They talk about him anyway. Favorite topic of conversation, he is. He makes me a fool and this family a laughingstock.”

“Yes, well,” Orion said, straightening. “We ought to mitigate that gossip as best we can.”

Arcturus glowered down at them both, then turned and stomped back inside.

Orion closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his forehead. Dressings down from his father were never particularly pleasant, and when they occured in front of his own children…

It was Sirius’ fault in the first place, he reminded himself. The boy had no room to feel pity for him. Not that he seemed to; he was still huddled up in himself, his face, now healed, still mutinous.

Orion gave Sirius a small, almost gentle, push. “Go on,” he said, following closely behind as Sirius began to climb up the steps. “Get your robes back on and rejoin this party. He shouldn’t notice your absence again for another thirty minutes. If I don’t see you in twenty minutes, I’ll come looking, and you’ll be extremely sorry when I find you.”

Sirius made a face over his shoulder, not recognizing the small mercy of a moment to himself Orion was offering him, and, though already obeying, said, mockingly, “One day you won’t find me and then maybe you’ll be the extremely sorry one.”

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#sirius black #orion black #arcturus black #fanfic tag #my fic #katie's adventures in writing

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overwatch-imagines-hub · 7 years

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Fictober - Vampires (McCree)

You bet your ass I used a nickname from that list of nicknames by Denny’s during this. I’m also pretty sure that this is my longest piece so far. What can I say? McCree’s my huckleberry.

An old non-Overwatch RP scenario I did a few years ago inspired this lovely little piece.

Alternatively titled “Oral Fixation?” Enjoy.

~~~

You hummed along to some song on the radio as you pulled your second batch of Halloween cookies from the oven. You swayed a bit to the beat and bumped the oven door shut and placed the assortment of ghost, pumpkin, and witch hat shaped cookies on the kitchen counter.

You weren’t always a hugely festive person but when it came to the last three months of the year, you jumped on the holiday fanatic bandwagon. You’ve had the house decked out in anything and everything Halloween since September twenty-fifth and by noon on November first the Halloween hovel would be turned into a Thanksgiving cabin; the day after Thanksgiving struck Christmas tree hunting and colored lights strung up around the outside and inside of the house. Of course, making Halloween treats and pumpkin spice goodies until Christmas preparations rolled up--where pumpkin spice would turn to sugar cookies and candy cane--was a necessity and this explained the several end table trays around the house filled with homemade sweets, tupperware containers being filled with cookies and sent off to neighbors, friends, and family, and no lack of candy for trick-or-treaters when the time came because an entire kitchen cabinet was filled with bags of store bought candies.

You were taking in your wonderfully festive handiwork when something caught your eye outside the kitchen window. However, you saw nothing when you peeked outside, so you shrugged and carried on with your business. You plucked freshly baked cookies of the cookie sheet and placed them in a swirled pattern on a large plate.

“Hey, babe, cookies are done!” you hollered. You were hoping to get Jesse’s attention from where he was hanging out upstairs; he was the biggest fan of your homemade treats, after all, and one of his favorite parts was watching you using the icing to draw pictures.

Still, you were given no response.

With a shrug you got the icing ready and muttered, “Fine then. I’ll decorate these beauties on my own and you won’t get to see it.” You put the bag of icing’s tip to the first cookie’s surface and began to work. After a moment you added to yourself, “Maybe I’ll eat the first cookie too.”

Suddenly, the same movement from outside caught your eye again, this time coming from the back door’s window. You stopped your icing mission, eyebrows raised curiously.

“Don’t you dare be trying to scare me while I’m in the middle of the most tedious part cowboy,” you warned, placing your icing on the counter and wandering over to the door. However, a nervous shiver crawled up your spine as you peered outside for a few moments, then checked the door to make sure it was locked for the night; you were sure Jesse was upstairs cleaning his Peacekeeper, which made this scenario all the more creepy.

After a few minutes of hesitation and checking to see if the movement happened again, you made your way back to the counter and continued your work. Five cookies in and you’d mostly forgotten about the events that had happened, until a growing shadow on the kitchen counter from something walking up behind you caught your attention. You couldn’t help but hold your breath; Jesse had never been a quiet person but whoever was behind you was dead silent. You for a knife nearby, in what you hoped was a discreet fashion, as you waited for the intruder’s next action.

Then a low voice, clearly Southern but attempting to mask it with some other unrecognizable accent, hummed against your ear, “Good evening, darling.”

“Jesse motherfucking McCree,” you breathed, relaxing and leaning heavily on the counter in front you. “I could have stabbed you. What the fuck is that accent you’re trying to pull off?” You dropped the knife you had just caught in your fingers and turned around to face your partner.

Jesse took a step back with a wide and cheeky grin plastered on his face, cosmetic vampire teeth plainly visible where his canines were. He wore a well-tailored black tailcoat suit of slightly shimmery material with a long cape of black satin draped over his shoulders. His jacket had only the center button done up, revealing a collared white dress shirt that clung to the man’s broad chest and the white bow tie that matched it. The cowboy’s hair was slicked back, shining in the kitchen light from the amount of product needed to force the usually unruly mess down, and his irises were blood red as a result of colored contacts. His eyebrows and facial hair were controlled and styled with just as much effort as the hair on his head and subtle eye makeup--shadow, liner; everything but fake eyelashes because his were already those of gods--was not subtle enough to go unnoticed by you.

When you glanced down, however, he was still wearing those god forsaken roughed up cowboy boots.

“How the hell did you sneak up on me in those?” you inquired aloud. Then you met his cocky gaze with a quirked eyebrow. “How the hell did you sneak up on me period? I thought you were upstairs cleaning your gun or napping or something.”

“I snuck into the pantry when you went to the bathroom earlier,” Jesse replied. He dropped the bad Dracula accent for the time being but kept his proud stance.

You stood on your tiptoes to glance over his shoulder at the small dark room he’d exited, then looked at him incredulously. “That was like an hour ago. You stood in there for an hour?”

“Genji was doing the flashy thing outside the windows.” Jesse took the edges of his cape in his hands then raised his arms, giving him the appearance of bat wings. In his bad accent, he asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“An ass who put way too much effort into this?” you answered, pretending to answer his question. “Oh, wait, I know. Someone who not only isn’t going to eat the first cookie but who is also going to sleep on the couch tonight.”

“Vampires don’t sleep,” Jesse countered, though his grin deflated slightly and his pointed eyebrows furrowed.

“Hm, you’re right,” you replied, “Do I have a stake anywhere?”

“Aw, angel cake,” Jesse said, dropping his act completely and shuffling up to you, “did I bother ya that bad? I’m sorry, bubbles. I just wanted t’ do have some Halloween fun; I thought you’d enjoy it.”

You turned back to your work pointedly and gestured at the cookie you had been working on when Jesse initiated the final act of his prank; the cookie’s icing was smeared and you had dropped the bag of icing on the others that had already been decorated, ultimately rendering your icing mission pointless. “Boy, you ruined the cookies.”

Jesse wrapped his arms around you, overall wrapping the both of you in his thick cloak, and rested his chin on your shoulder. His facial hair softly tickled your cheek and you look see out of your peripherals that he was now pouting. “Sorry, sweetheart.”

You felt a rush of regret for making him feel bad. You weren’t really upset with him, after all, just the fact that he--and Genji, apparently--had made you think someone had broken into the house.

“You smell like hair products,” you commented. You leaned back against his chest and turned your head slightly, pressing a kiss to his jawline.

“I am wearing a lot of ‘em, so it’s not surprising,” he replied, partial grin grin returning. He discreetly tried to reach over and scoop up some discarded frosting on a finger, only to get his hand smacked away. He let out a whine, similar to that of a puppy wanting attention, and placed his arm back around your waist.

“They’re still not done,” you warned.

“Could use the frosting for somethin’ else,” he mumbled; it earned him a smack to the shoulder. “Ow!”

“Vampires don’t feel pain,” you said with a snicker. “Now shove off, Dracula. I fix this mess.”

“How about I drink your blood instead, blah,” Jesse suggested, the terrible accent returning. He began to sway with you where the two of your stood and buried his face in your neck, tickling your soft skin with both facial hair and the edges of artificial fangs. You shivered slightly, then felt McCree’s smile widen against your neck before he started nibbling on your skin, quietly murmuring “nom” as he did so.

You felt blood rush to your face and your knees wobble a bit; damn this cowboy vampire man.

“Is Genji still around?” you asked suddenly.

Your vampire cowboy raised his head and gave you a look of confusion. “I sent him off after his part was over. Why?” He paused, then continued slowly with raised eyebrows, “Do, uh, ya want him to be?”

“Jesus, Jesse.” You rested your head back against his shoulder and laughed, which was a very nice feeling after being mildly terrified a few minutes before. After calming down you squeezed McCree’s arm and replied, “That is not at all what I had in mind, my dear Dracula. I just figured Genji peekin’ around while you’re giving me hickeys is not the prefered scenario.”

“We can go somewhere else for me to give you hickeys,” Jesse suggested, giving you a light tug back against him.

“Sorry, cowvamp,” you replied, slipping out of his grip and looking at your mess of a cooled cookie plate. “I have cookies to fix and finish. We can talk about frosting, hickeys, and bloodsucking later.”

“Sounds like an ideal way t’ spend the night to me, sugar.” Jesse hummed and moved to lean against the counter beside you. He eyed the cookies.

“You put a finger on those cookies and I will consider stabbing you again,” you stated. You started to carefully remove the icing tube from the mess of cookies.

“Here’s an idea though,” Jesse said carefully,” How about I eat the frosting off the icing thingy? There’s no use for it being outside the tube if it’s not on the cookies.”

“How about you help me decorate the cookies,” you countered, “so we can move onto more fun events of the night.” You wiped the frosting tube clean with a rag hanging from a drawer then set it aside while you used your fingers to clean up the messy cookies. Sticking a frosting-covered thumb into your mouth, you glanced over to the man questioningly.

You were greeted with a look that made you wonder if you were about to be picked up and hauled to the bedroom at that moment. Then Jesse grabbed the tube of frosting, gave the cookie plate a red-eyed glare of determination, and asked what he should do first.

#overwatch #overwatchimagineshub #overwatch-imagines-hub #overwatch fanfic #overwatch fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #jesse mccree #mccree #mccree x reader #jesse mccree x reader #overwatch jesse mccree #overwatch mccree #fictober #2017 #2017 fictober #fictober 2017

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aureliusbrighild-blog · 7 years

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N E K H B E T | he isn't used to not being clad in a cloak to be fair, he feels /almost exposed/ in a way. it is odd to mix and mingle at this sort of thing, he preferred to stick to the shadows; but it was never bad to garner connections, so he rightfully couldn't complain. still the thought of sanda mel much less a ball made him want to roll his eyes, he doesn't of course because kael wouldn't but the thought is there all the same. idly he finds himself observing everyone pooling into the ball room before he even tries to interject himself into any groups or conversations. A U R E L I U S | the invite did say one /needed/ a date did they not, to think he doesn't have one...unless one counted the healer perhaps but in the company of others this was simply not viable. still he is here and he is at least ever the happy (if a bit nervous) sort to be around his friends and fellow countrymen. this ball gives him hope that all will be well after everything, he tries to shake off any foreboding feelings otherwise as he enters, looking around to see if he spots anyone he knows. to be honest though when had he ever really converse at these events, he quite felt like a ghost that haunted them more than anything else, he is fine with this though never the less. K H A I L E E | Khai looked only slightly less put together than she usually did for these events. She hadn't had the money to have a new dress commissioned for the ball like she normally would have, so she wore an old one. She also no longer had servants to help with getting her ready, so instead of some elaborate up-do she'd left her hair down. But if anything had survived the invasion and the fire, it was her need for a good glass of wine before the night's festivities could begin. As she was making her way over to get herself some, she brushed shoulders with someone, and upon looking up and realizing who it was she couldn't help but smile a bit. "N--" Remembering his new cover identity, Khai cleared her throat and started over. "Kael. I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight. Do you not have a date?" N A T H A N I E L | his own event, one he figured would be best as the holiday approached and yet he wished to be elsewhere. wasn't that how recent events would go in his position? after being bedridden for so long he'd been granted permission to roam the halls and attend his own festivities. with his cane in one hand, the one that had been gifted to him long ago by a certain ironhaven knight, he gently stepped into his ballroom. he nodded to those who gave him a glance, forcing himself to keep a smile on his face. nathaniel was sure he still appeared quite fragile and bruised but he needed everyone in the kingdom to understand he would not let it kill him. M A G N U S | He really didn't want to go to a ball even less a Sanda mel one, last year he would have found some girl to bring and surely sneak away before the end to go to his room but now he was the king and he couldn't do that, not that he had any desire to do that anyway, but he should go and seem to enjoy it for at least a few hours V I O L A | it is becoming, as the weeks pass and the days slip by, quite harder for the queen to balance upon her feet. but the months have been hard for them all---not least of all for their family, she thinks, fingers tightening around nathaniel’s own---& now is not the time to cower in their rooms, covers pulled up to hide her head. sanda mel is a time for JOY, a time to show all the world that their family has stayed strong. an arm looped through her husband ( to support him, as much as herself ) & her head held high, viola smiles serenely as they walk inside the ballroom. “it looks lovely, does it not?” C L E O | Cleo couldn't believe a whole year had passed already, last year they were in the middle of the war against the pirates and now here they were, everything seemed to finally be able to go right, and everything looked lovely as well L U C R E Z I A | the moment the night's festivities were announced, there was no doubt in the girl's mind that she would attend. sanda mel was one of her favorite holidays and she wanted to enjoy her time in the bearorian kingdom. she had always dreamed a charming man would sweep her off her feet one sanda mel but as she grew, she had become more accustom to how silly her dreams were. dressed in a beautiful teal with her hair in light curls, lucrezia made her way into the room. A V E R Y | he didn’t see her at first – he was, once again, in it for the free food and not necessarily the company, or so he told himself – but then a casual sweep of the room revealed her, and he stopped to stare for a minute. he had to admit it. she looked damn good. and just the person he wanted to talk to, too. he walked over, offering her a pastry he’d grabbed off a platter. “you’re here.” N E K H B E T | the vulture doesn't see anything wrong with khai, she is as pretty as a picture still and ever effervescent looking in the way she holds herself. had anyone else brushed shoulders into him and he might of found himself slightly annoyed, yet it is her and can't help but offer her a cheeky smile in return when she speaks to him. "I wasn't expecting to be here my lady, yet how could I miss such an event to mingle with the likes of you." He cooed, as if he'd only came there for her, it isn't a complete lie, he had thought she might be here and while he never would hate to see her it hadn't been his complete intentions truthfully. "i don't believe i do, unless someone snares me away that i don't know of." it was entirely possible, he'd probably slept with enough people he figures. N A T H A N I E L | he held onto his wife tightly, the overwhelming feeling of danger filling his chest. big rooms had always made him a bit nervous but his suspicion had grown. as much as he knew he shouldn't have been worried, to have so many ironhaven men in the same room as him bothered him. how many of them had been the ones to bruise and beat him weeks ago? doing his best to pay no mind to the past, nathaniel turned to his wife and smiled. " yes, it does. " a simple response, feeling ease in her company. " if you believe this is lovely, wait until i show you my gifts. " it would be hard to beat the year before, yes, though it hadn't stopped him from trying. K H A I L E E | She rolled her eyes at his cooing, swatting him gently in the arm. But even in the midst of their usual playful banter, she couldn't help the anxiety that clogged her throat. She'd slipped a letter under Matt's door earlier that day and hadn't seen him since, and she couldn't help but be a tad antsy as she awaited his reaction. But Nekhbet of all people could help distract her a bit till he showed up, so she nodded toward the wine and responded, "I'll snare you away, even if it's only for a little while. Come, take a drink with me." L U C R E Z I A | " oh, avery! " she gasped, skipping forward and taking his gift with a bright smile. " sanda mel is my favorite holiday, i wouldn't miss this for the world! if it is a shock for either of us to be here, it is you. " lucrezia takes a bite into the pastry, jam covering her lips. she swallows and clears her throat before defending her words, not wanting for him to take them incorrectly. " oh, but i am glad you're here! a pleasant surprise. " A V E R Y | once upon a time he might have jerked his hand out of her grasp immediately. resistance, however, was something he’d come to know as futile, and not at all necessary, either. “i wasn’t going to stay,” he said, almost defensively. he had the feeling that now he would be. staying, that was. “but you’re fucking right. i’m not here for the holiday side of things, that’s for fucking certain.” P A N D O R A | Before passing through the doors, Pandora smooths down the front of her dress. The dark green hue compliments her skin tone nicely, but the simplicity of the number makes her wants to snub her nose at it. Truly, it's a fine dress that suits her well enough, but it's simply not her taste. Still, despite her unhappiness with her outfit, as she scans the room carefully, she is please to see King Magnus already present. With practiced grace, Pandora nearly glides over to where he stands and offers him a curtsy. " Good evening, your majesty. " N E K H B E T | of course he would get that reaction from her and he quite enjoyed it, he snorts in amusement when she swats at him. something still did seem off though, she hadn't told him and he hadn't yet asked; as usual he was happy to offer her a life distraction at least. his thoughts go back to the notion of a date though, briefly picturing a perfect world where perhaps he could have formally invited hadrian with him. he is happy to be equally distracted from that thought with the presence of khai. he offers an arm to her, nodding his head softly. "Oh it would be a pleasure," He replies back his eyes adverting towards the wine as they head that way. "Now tell me, do you have a date or are all the men in Zenan too cowardly to extend an offer." K H A I L E E | She loops her arm through his, the action as familiar as breathing. It was a routine they'd been following for years now. Her heels clicked as she walked across the stone floors, the sound drifting up into the air and getting swallowed by the chatter and noise surrounding them. "I usually attend these things with Lord Matthias, but..." A quick glance around the room. "I haven't yet seen him." Khai snorted then and added, "And of course, I always have to turn a few unwanted suitors down each year." As they came upon the table with the wine, Khailee released his arm and moved to fill two glasses. Handing one to him, she turned her amused gaze back on his and added, "Oh, and I do believe I haven't said it yet: Happy Sanda Mel." L U C R E Z I A | her face falls slightly at his confession and the nurse struggles to keep somewhat of a smile on her face, not wanting her reaction to be too obvious. of course she would want him to stay, but did /he/ want to? her hand gripped his and her fingers interlocked with his, wondering for a moment if he was disgusted by her actions. " you don't have to be here if you don't want to be. " she reminded him, almost a bit hurt. lucrezia knew how he was and yet, for some reason, she thought he would want to stay. for her, out of all things. how ridiculous was that? maybe it was the holiday or her feelings high on love, but the way she looked at avery in that moment was different from how she usually did. " one of my patients gave me flowers today, maybe i could find him if you'd like to leave. " M A G N U S | Magnus smiled faintly at the girl, "Hello Pandora." He said and really by the tone of his voice it would seem that he was actually having a good time, and maybe he wasn't having a bad night, everything looked great and it was nice that things were returning to a normalcy,but things would never feel the same to him "Are you having fun?" V I O L A | there is a TENSION in his grip, a sort of anxiety in his gaze that makes her press closer, & her fingers squeeze his own. it’s alright, she wishes she could tell him, nothing will happen. if only she could believe it herself. she had /trusted/ octavius. or---she had tried to. who else could there be, lurking in the shadows for a chance to strike. she settles---as she must, for a reassuring smile, lips brushing across his cheek. “you spoil me,” she says, instead, opting for the easier conversation. “you did not need to get me anything, nate. you’ve already given me so much. ---i do have a gift for you, as well.” A V E R Y | she seemed a bit disappointed, and he frowned. "don’t mind stay now. just didn’t much fancy it without–” he nearly said he wouldn’t have fancied staying if lou hadn’t been there. “there’s no good food left. all we’ve got’s conversation. and i don’t know if you knew this, but i don’t want to fucking talk to anyone here ‘cept you. so there’s that.” he’d sort of said it anyway, he supposed, by why not? it was the truth. there was nothing more to it. “not the same patient that got crushed by a horse, surely.” N E K H B E T | it wasn't often that he'd so /willingly/ allowed somehow else to be as close as he had with her, yet khai had seeped into his cracks for so long that they'd had their routines; their second nature habits for one another like now. it is a familiar comfort that this offers him, one he won't admit to or complain about. "what a shame for him," he comments, adding "and a gain for me, at any rate perhaps he will show up." nekhbet gives a gesture of his hand before taking the offered wine once they get to it. "of course, i can't imagine you coming to an event like this with anyone less than wanted. honestly it reminds me of the events we used to attend together." he could hardly forget the nights they'd annoy her husband, it had been amusing for a time. "only now we lack, what was his name again?" he acts as if he can't recall her late husbands name, a jest they had done before. "ah it doesn't matter now." there's a slight laugh and before he knows it the holiday is being brought up. he takes a long sip of the wine, surely he needs it upon the reminder what this ball was about. "happy sanda mel to you as well, although you may be the only person i perhaps mean that towards." another snort this time it's indifferent, he'd mean it to the bard too he thinks, he just tends to hate anything pertain to the idea of love. A N Y A | anya wasn't quite in the mood to celebrate but figured she didn't have anything else to do with her time. she's wearing a simple gown, the black fabric contrasting with her porcelain skin. perhaps, this was a funeral after all ?? she takes a seat at a nearby table and eyes the wine closely before deciding on grabbing some bread. her fingers began picking apart the bread, leaving the crumbs scattered around her. N A T H A N I E L | the king leans into her, his forehead pressed against hers. there is much he has to thank her for and though all the gifts in zenan will not make up for any of it, he of course must spoil her any way he can. " you deserve the best, " he assures, giving her a genuine smile. " ah, you got me something and thought i would not return the favor? " nathaniel leans back and his smile grows into a chuckle, shaking his head. P A N D O R A | She gives a shake of her head as a smile plays at the corner of her lips, " I think it might be too early to decide if I am enjoying myself. " Her eyes wonder for the briefest of seconds to those in the center of the room, socializing, dancing. How nice it would be to freely indulge in this night. " Did you receive anything of note for Sanda Mel ?? " She asks lightly, wondering what his thoughts were of the rabbit foot. L U C R E Z I A | just as her expression had faltered, there was suddenly a bashful grin back onto her lips. her cheeks had turned a bright red and she couldn't help but gently squeeze his hand. " then you will talk to only me. " she returned, nodding her head. " oh, no, absolutely not. he's a bearorian native and he's very kind, he even asked to escort me to the event tonight. " her heart sped up, wondering if she should admit she only said no because of avery. still, she remained quiet, eyes scanning the room to take in the atmosphere. E M E L I N E | she's been greeting the people of dracborough ( and who else wanted to greet the queen ) but as she finally got a moment to herself, emeline walks out onto the balcony, admiring the sun that began to set. her arms lean against the railing, a chalice of wine in her hand. there was a pit of loneliness in her heart but how could that be solved ?? she feels the faint heat on her skin as she takes another sip of her drink. H E N R Y | knew good and well he was late. but the previous night had been a hard one, with the wolf taking its sweet time, and even staying an hour after the first glow of daybreak. still, henry wouldn't allow his lateness to hinder him from going to the ball - or the bags under his eyes and the limp in his step, from when he'd woken with a deep gash in his thigh. the first thing he did when he entered the ballroom was look for nate, but upon seeing him... busy, henry quickly turned his attention elsewhere to prevent himself from becoming jealous or angry. looking immediately for cleo, he went to her as quickly as he could with the small limp, and smiled warmly at his daughter. "cleo," he greeted, leaning down to affectionately kiss her forehead. "happy sanda mel." C L E O l Cleo smiled widely at her father, she knew that he was probably tired from last night, after all some nights were harder than others at least on her experience and she could see that he was tired "Happy sanda mel... Did you like your present?" She asked smiling "Have you spent any time with your person today?" she asked in a faintly teasing tone so anyone asking would think she was talking about the queen of norden B R Y N | bryn's cheeks were fiery with anger and embarrassment. he'd all but forced himself to come to the ball, if only to keep up appearances now that he was a duke, but he wasn't happy with being there. he'd schmoozed the minimal amount, and downed maybe a few too many goblets of wine. the words of the letters he'd read in lotte's handwriting, praising and doting on silas, were swimming through his mind. knowing he would have to speak with her again at some point (even though their previous conversation on the matter hadn't gone well), the tipsy duke made his way over to charlotte, interrupting any conversation she was having. but before he could speak, his eyes traveled over the immaculately dressed and gorgeous form of his former betrothed. his anger drained slightly, and bryn closed his mouth and looked up to her face. "lady charlotte," he said, his voice a bit husky. he took a few steps towards her - maybe a little too close to be a friendly stance - and tried not to smile... he /was/ supposed to be angry, right? "you look... look... well, you look ravishing." A V E R Y | avery couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased that lou had turned the bearorian down. and a little resentment towards the man, whoever he was. he told himself it was merely out of concern for lou’s sanity. avery couldn’t think of anything worse than being handed flowers and asked to go to parties. then again, he was pretty damn sure lou didn’t feel the same way. “fine with me. let me know if you ever want me to scare him the fuck off.” K H A I L E E | She smiled again at his flattery but found her mind wandering back to Matt once more. He usually beat her to these events and would find her in the crowd somewhere when she finally walked in, but she hadn't seen him yet and the thought of his not attending because of something she'd said in her letter was almost unbearable. Khai bit her lip for a moment thinking about it but, remembering how observant Nekhbet had always been, forced herself out of the involuntary action and tried to refocus on their conversation. She smiled again as he pretended to forget her old husband's name, remembering all the fun they used to have toying with him when they were younger. "Ah, yes, such a tragedy he couldn't be here tonight. I truly don't know how I've managed to go on without him all this time." Khai raised an eyebrow at his final words. "I'd better be." She took a sip of the wine and after a moment of contemplation found herself saying, "I was going to slip a note into your chambers but I feared someone else finding it first. I didn't want to risk exposing you in any way." Her words were low and quiet, only loud enough for him to hear. "But what I was going to say in that note is that I'm very happy I've had you around all these years." It was a singular moment of affection, one she knew he needed from time to time even if he wouldn't admit it to either of them. N A T H A N I E L | as he breaks away from his wife, he stumbles around the room, nodding his head in the direction of his guests. there are few people he wants to speak to and while one of them is preoccupied, another is standing on his balcony. he makes his way outside, joining queen emeline and he's suddenly disappointed to not be holding a drink. " happy sanda mel, your grace. " he greets, steadying his balance by holding onto the edge of the stone siding. C H A R L O T T E | Charlotte had always loved any type of balls, though her enjoyment of them had dwindled with all the things that had happened recently, but this one felt like old times, well almost, back then she would be around Niamh, Pollux and Silas talking about how silly some people looked. She had arrived with Silas but she moved away as fast as she could. She was now talking to a friend of her mother when they were interrupted by Bryn, and a wide smile formed on her face, she had wanted to see him all day. "Thank you, your grace. You look very handsome yourself.." H E N R Y | Henry smiled easily, the tension left in his shoulders from the day melting away in the presence of Cleo - as it always did. His smile only widened when she mentioned his gift, and he moved the robe from his side to show her the dagger, sheathed on his belt. "Gods, yes. It must be the most beautiful blade I've ever seen - and I've seen quite a few... and maybe a bit too closely." He moved his head enough to show her the now old scar on his cheek, courtesy of the pirates. He chuckled, though, and continued. "Thank you, darling. It means the world to me." His smile faded when she spoke of his person, and while he tried not to steal a glance at Nate, he shook his head. "Not as of yet," he said. "The queen is a very busy woman." M A G N U S | I "Ah well usually this parties are quite fun...is the first time coming to one?" He wasn't surprised since she wasn't nobility and it was only recently that it seemed everyone was invited no matter the rank. "I liked the present by the way thank you...you liked yours?" L U C R E Z I A | she giggled at his offer and while she would never agree to such terms, to have avery offer such a thing warmed her heart. maybe he did it out of jealousy or kindness, or maybe it was an excuse to punch another man in the face. either way, she decided it was best not to think too much into it. then, suddenly, she questioned if turning down the bearorian was a mistake. whenever she was nervous, lucrezia had a habit of rambling and letting her thoughts get the best of her. unfortunately, her nerves were as high as the clouds. " avery, " she began, tilting her head, speaking quickly. " would you have cared if i agreed to his date? " C L E O I Her smile only grew when he said he liked his present "I send it to have it made almost a month ago" She sighed and her smiled faltered when she saw the scar on his face, her father getting kidnapped and hurt by those pirates had been easily the worst moment of her life, she would take getting poisoned again before something like that ever happening again. "Well yes, but I am sure that she is very excited to spend time with you, it is Sanda Mel after all." P A N D O R A | finds herself nodding at his words. " Yes, " she says. " Any advice for a newcomer ?? " Her smile grows wide. For some reason, the comment makes Pandora feel exceptionally pleased with herself. " The flowers were from you ?? Yes, they were lovely. Thank you. " E M E L I N E | she hears a clink on the floor along with labored breathing before she turns her head to greet the stranger. as it turns out, it was no stranger; instead, a dear friend. "aye, i suppose it's meant to be happy ?" perhaps she shouldn't have had a glass of wine before the ball as well. "happy sanda mel, nathaniel. you look brilliant. 'ave you seen henry ?" she was being a bit too loose with her words but there were scattered people on the balcony, especially when the king and queen began talking, many seemed to leave out of courtesy. N E K H B E T | perhaps she had been thinking of whoever this lord matthias was, he could hardly blame her to be honest; he'd thought of hadrian himself. still she could have merely had a great number of things on her mind, given whatever happened back in her homeland. he wanted to pull the answers out of her still, like pulling strings from a frayed shirt or rather moans from her lips as he had done in the past. there might have been a time when he was more disgusted at himself for feeling fond of her, wanting to help her even; now is not that time, not anymore. "easily i'm sure." he chuckles, he would have killed the man sooner to be fair for her, if it wouldn't have cause problems for his work relationship with her father. "why you're still the only one who knows my name even, who else would i wish such things on this day. " his voice is also a hushed whisper, although this ball is so loud he doubts anyone would hear that anyway, not that it matters without context. "well i thank you, also should i be offended that you think i have people in my chambers?" it's an obvious joke, mostly because she knew as well as he did just how he was. still he grows quite for a moment at her admission, his face slightly flushing crimson for only a second. "i'm," he pauses another sip of his wine being swallowed down. real admissions had always been hard to him, it was easier to hide them is jests. "i'm happy as well, after everything in ironhaven if i hadn't found you, i think my world would have been rather bleak." M A G N U S I "Dancing and drinking seem to be the best things to do do have fun, and there is a lot to drink or so I've heard." Surely she would find someone wanting to dance with her easily, she was very pretty and tonight she looked great "Ah yes, i suppose i should have signed it." B R Y N | Upon hearing her voice, Bryn no longer saw or heard anyone else in the ballroom. There was just them, and even though he had been angry, he couldn't find a reason to continually be mad at someone he loved so much. Lost in the moment and overcome with wine and forgiveness, Bryn all but ignored her compliment. Instead, he took her by the waist and pulled Charlotte against him and pressed his lips down on hers without a thought. N A T H A N I E L | " it is. " he assured, nodding, letting out a breath. " i look terrible, but i do appreciate you trying. i have seen him with his daughter and yet, i have not spoken to him. the less i can be seen with this cane, in my state, the better. " he referred to the balcony, looking out over his kingdom for a moment. " i am sure you've received hundreds of gifts from men, women, and citizens alike. " C H A R L O T T E | She was taken by surprise, of all things she didn't expect him to just take her and kiss her, not that she was complaining but they were surrounded by people. But the moment his lips met hers she forgot about the world around them and she kissed him back her arms around his neck L E V I | he was fashionably late he thinks, although that might have ever been the /only/ thing fashionable about him; not that he looked bad he just really thought he looked better out of such formal clothing, his hair was still messy as ever however and his expression someplace between happiness and trepidation. he'd spotted many familiar faces as well as many not so familiar ones, he didn't know where to start either; they all seemed rather busy either way. A V E R Y | what kind of a question was that? avery felt caught. it seemed lou knew him: he couldn’t imagine the question being that much of a coincidence. trouble was it was difficult to come up with a satisfying answer. no was too final, and definitely a lie. yes carried implications. he wasn’t sure he liked all the implications. there were some, though, that again almost rang true. “sure. what of it?” P O L L U X | Unlike his usual behavior, Pollux had been minding his own business. On a day like Sanda Mel -- a day of happiness and love -- he found it was always best to allow the world to work as it would. However, as he spoke to an old duke about his land investments, Pollux found his gaze wandering. Almost immediately, he saw Brynjolf and Charlotte together. His interest was piqued. With Silas nowhere to be seen, Pollux knew he had to do something. Giving a hasty goodbye to the duke, Pollux quickly stepped to the center of the ballroom, wanting to put a stop to whatever it seemed was about to happen. Unfortunately, he was paces away when the two of them kissed. Affronted, Pollux put grabbed for Charlotte’s arm to pull the two of them apart. " What the hell are you doing ?? " He demanded, shocked. B R Y N | The kiss was warm and comfortable, and it felt natural; and it was not soon to be forgotten -- by more people then just them. It was only a moment before Charlotte was pulled from Bryn's arms, and he immediately met the gaze of Pollux. Oh, Gods. "Kissing the woman I love," he hissed lowly, taking a step closer to Pollux and attempting to take Lotte's arm from the Prince's grip. "I'll thank you to let go of her, aye?" P A N D O R A | " I'll have to find the refreshments table then. I doubt I'll be doing very much dancing. All the good partners seem to be taken. " Taken, or standing off to the side. " It might've helped. The gesture was kind. In truth, I had not expected to receive anything. Do you send flowers to everyone in your kingdom ?? " L U C R E Z I A | the woman gave a slight shrug, her mind spinning. had she overstepped? should she have left things unspoken? what if she was about to make a fool of herself? " you are saying that if i was to come here tonight with another man, you would care... as in, not want me to be with another man. " she stated, tilting her head and ignoring eye contact as she rambled on. " if you would not have wanted me to attend tonight with /another/ man, then, perhaps... you would want me to attend with you? which, i suppose i did, as we are here, together? yet, not /together/, but we are talking together. i... " lucrezia closed her eyes and let out a sigh, trying to make sense of the scrambled thoughts in her mind. " is it too late to ask you if you would attend the event with me? as in, a sanda mel date? i understand that these events are not a favorite of yours and i do not know if you even consider me a friend, yet my offer still stands. " her cheeks are red as she awkwardly stares at the floor, waiting for a response of any sort. C H A R L O T T E | Charlotte was returned by reality abruptly for a moment she wanted to snap at whomever pulled her away from Bryn, but she intimidatingly remember where she was, not to mention the one grabbing her arm was Pollux and she just knew...this was bad "Pollux...I..." E M E L I N E | "nonsense, nathaniel." a roll of her eyes follows her statement. her hand grasps his, squeezing it tightly. "you may as well be the most handsome man here. viola," her voice drops to a whisper. "and henry are both lucky to have you." at his next assumption, she lets out a boisterous laugh, thank gods for their lack of an audience. "you couldn't have been more wrong." but her head whips around to the commotion going on inside and instantly sees pollux' face. "what is happening ?" she leaves her chalice on the railing before entering the ballroom to where pollux stood. "what is going on here ?" A N Y A | her bread suddenly seems less interesting but still keeps it in her hand as her attention is caught by the tense conversation happening in the middle of the ballroom. there's a certain prince that she spots-- along with silas' soon-to-be wife. with furrowed brows and the bread, she joins them, grabbing the prince's arm gently. "charlotte ? where's-- where's silas?" L E V I | In one fell swoop he spots his friend in what seems to be a sudden heated exchange, he also spots his queen and a few other people he fails to recognize. of course levi approaches the scene, concerned at the louder voices and the crowd gathering. "i could say the same thing," he chimes in with emeline, eyeing the scene. P O L L U X | His eyes narrow as Bryn's words cut over Charlotte's. His grip tightens around her arm. He doesn't want to hurt her, it's more of an involuntary action. " No one was talking to you, you -- " His words cut off as he hears Emeline's voice and her feels someone touching his arm. " Charlotte, " he says sharply, his gaze refocusing, " you are engaged to Silas. " E M E L I N E | despite being ignored-- or perhaps unseen due to pollux' blatant anger-- she understands the situation all too clearly now. and her gaze goes directly to bryn. making her way over to him, her hand comes up to give him a blow behind his head before she can stop it. "brynjolf !" N A T H A N I E L | he lets out a calmed sigh, a feeling of safety and warmth as his friend squeezes his hand. she has always been one of the most important people in his life and he owes her many thanks for the everlasting support she has always showed him. " i am much more lucky myself... i don't know what i'd do without either of them. " he responds, a small smile unable to be hidden. " then by the gods, they have no idea of what beauty they are missing. " to know emeline is still an unmarried woman is shocking to him, yet he knows her kingdom will always come before a man. at the distraction of something happening, nathaniel grips his cane and makes his way back inside, slowly but surely. he is in no position to handle such a situation. " is there something the matter here? " B R Y N | Bryn was seething, and his breath was heavy with anger and wine. He waited for Pollux's insult, but when it didn't come, a smirk formed on his lips. "Just say it, you coward," he spat, taking yet another step towards the prince and making to grab his arm. Just as his hand wrapped around Pollux's arm, however, he feels a smack on the back of his head. His head turns and he meets the gaze of Em, and his cheeks darken immediately. "Your majesty," he said, turning again to notice Nate joining the gathering crowd. He looks back to Pollux, and with great effort, he lets go of his arm and waits for his punishment. C H A R L O T T E | Charlotte's face was growing red, and as more people surrounded them she was even having trouble breathing, she loved Bryn and she wished she could be with him openly but she was still engaged and everyone that knew her was here. "Pollux...your majesties.." P O L L U X | He releases her arm as Nate speaks. Pollux curses under his breath. " Nothing, " he mumbles, sounding like a child who knows he's about to get lectured. He finds himself slowly backing away from the pair, almost hiding behind Anya's skirts. L E V I | just what the hell was going on, levi felt so out of the loop, he was usually so perceptive but this time it took him longer to put two and two together, and when he did...perhaps because he thought the best of bryn; either way he still did. "perhaps there is a better time ta' settle things-" he implores his friend to listen, he'd back him up but...the matter stood there were kings and queens getting involved and this didn't bode well. S I L A S | He had went outside for a moment to talk to his father, when he returned he frowned when he saw a group of people that were obviously having a problem, his frowned deepened when he saw who were there, he approached his best friend and Charlotte "What is going on" Hie finally saw Bryn and he now had an idea still he wanted to know "Charlotte, darling. May you tell me what is going on?" A N Y A | suddenly, there is a king and a queen in front of her. her eyes are widened with shock and she wants to hide the bread-weapon before she can be thrown in the dungeon for the potential harm she was going to cause. she feels the prince shift behind her and she feels all the more exposed. but her gaze softens as silas joins them and her frown deepens. "silas, my lord--" she greets but what is there to say ? how do you tell someone their fiancee is cheating ?? B R Y N | The voice of a friend calmed Bryn only a little. His gaze traveled to Levi, and his words rung true - he would only get thrown in the dungeons for harming the prince. He nodded and gave Levi a look that said 'perhaps you're right,' but just as he began to back up, he saw Silas enter the room. Suddenly, all rational thought was gone, and he rushed over to him with a heavy step. "Let us settle this," he said, his voice quiet but heavy with bitterness and anger. "Once and for all." S I L A S | Silas stared at Charlotte for a moment before looking at Bryn again as he came closer, he knew best as to try and fight someone when the king and a queen were next to them "Settle what? " He looked at Pollux "Would you tell me what is happening and why does he wants to fight?" P O L L U X | " Because, " he said, stepping forward just a tad, " this asshole was kissing your fiancée. " Gods above, he regretted giving Brynjolf the benefit of the doubt. He couldn't believe he almost allowed him at his wedding. E M E L I N E | her arms crossed over her chest in confusion and agitation but her eyes eventually drift to levi who also seemed interested in the commotion. but she doesn't let her gaze dwindle on him for too long, no, because bryn decides to take a threatening step towards a duke she's never seen before. perhaps, the fiance of the woman before them ? "bryn, you need to calm down." she gives levi a look along with a nod to hold the duke back, hoping he understood what she was implying. C H A R L O T T E | "please..." She said weakly the last thing she wanted was to Bryn to get in trouble by trying o fight Pollux and Silas and they were surrounded and people were watching and she knew word of this would get to her parents N A T H A N I E L | in all the nonsense, as his brother talked, it dawned on him that he had no matter in the situation. he would be a hypocrite to say anything about what brynjolf had done. yet, it was public knowledge now and it was something he could not tolerate to escalate anymore. " brynjolf, stop this immediately! " he hissed, slamming his cane onto the ground. A V E R Y | lou startled him out of keeping an even expression; by the time she’d finished speaking he was looking rather shell-shocked. that she was staring at the floor seemed like something of a blessing. it wasn’t as if he’d had no part in the direction the conversation had gone in. the thing was– “the fuck, lou,” he said. it was instantly regretted. “i hadn’t thought about it,” he confessed. “or any shite like that.” he frowned, and tried out an answer: “yeah. i would.” it felt right. “don’t know what a fucking date is supposed to be like. that’s on you.” B R Y N | Fists clenched and jaw grinding his teeth together, Bryn was all but panting with emotion. He's eerily close to throwing a punch when Em's words reach his ears, and she whips his head to look at her. "Your majesty," he said, his voice transforming to a calm tone, though it shook with anger. He nearly said something else, but the sound of Nate's cane slamming onto the stone sent a chill down his spine - he'd never seen the king so angry. He looked back at Charlotte for a moment, his eyes widening slightly in guilt. He shouldn't have started this mess. A N Y A | suddenly, this was all the more overwhelming to witness. the duke was in silas' face and perhaps anya should've thought about her actions before following through. but with a clenched fist full of bread, she gives a blow to the man, coming to silas' defense. L E V I | levi takes a step closer, trailing after his friend, placing a /firm/ hand on his shoulder. "there are other ways ta' handle this, i'll will help you if i can mate, but this has ta' stop, come on mate why don't we take a walk..." he doesn't want to see something happen to bryn, doesn't want his anger to get the better of him. S I L A S | Silas had to take a very deep breath not to lose control and his temper right then and there, he suspected there was something going on, he wasn't stupid but that he kissed Charlotte in front of everyone, that was too much. he blinked when he saw Anya hit Bryn, with a lot of bread in her hand, it was nice to know she was on his side. "I...think this is not the time for this...Charlotte, I think we should go out and talk." He is practically giving an other he looks at Pollux "will you come with us? " He asked as he grabbed Charlotte’s arm

P O L L U X | As Anya threw the bread at Bryn, he found his jaw falling open. The smile wasn't lost on his face, however. She was a force to be reckoned with. Despite the humor of the situation, Pollux kept his eyes on Silas. He was worried for his best friend. At the look from Silas, he grimaced. " If you'd like me to, " Pollux said. He wasn't entirely sure why he was needed, but if Silas needed him, he would go. B R Y N | Bryn was at the point of dizziness from both the wine and constant swiveling. This time, the duke turned to see a woman who had just... hit him with bread? "What in the gods' name ??" He stared at her, flabbergasted and becoming more and more angry. "Who the hell are you?" He asked, before he could stop himself. Then he felt a firm hand on his back, and turned yet again to see Levi. He looked at him skeptically, but upon glancing around at the crowd, he nodded in agreement. When Silas grabbed Lotte's arm, though, he grabbed Silas's. "If you so much as hurt a hair on her head, you will live to regret it - I swear to the gods above us." He let go, hoping he grabbed him hard enough to bruise. With one more glance at Charlotte, he smiled slightly at her and looked back to Levi. E M E L I N E | gods how had this happened ?? but as the tension begins to fade, her eyes catch sight of the woman between this all. her anger dissipates but she sends a deathly glare to the woman for her unladylike actions. of all days, she chose the day of love to cheat ? surely, there was no hope left in the world. but as levi grabs bryn, she gives a nod his way to show her thanks before her interest lacks and she is back off to the balcony to retrieve her wine and continue on with the lonely night. C H A R L O T T E | Charlotte seemed to have lost the ability to talk but as Bryn grabbed Silas she knew that she had to say something before a fight did broke out "Please...just stop." She looked at Nate "I'm sorry your majesty this is my fault." She looked at Anya, Pollux and Bryn's friend before sighing "Fine let's go" At least the distance would make them stop fighting L E V I | he looks towards emeline momentarily, as if to assure her he had the situation under control, he didn't but he was trying. the closer he got to bryn the more he realizes that he'd probably been drinking, nothing ever good from women and alcohol; it was like water and oil and he knew the feeling all too well. bryn yells at him but levi takes it all in stride, he knows it's not bryn, knows he doesn't mean it. he offers a smile in return it's soft and concerned, this is no time for laughter like usual. "he won't hurt her," levi assures, he doesn't know the situation but he glares daggers at silas all the same. "tha' i am sure o', why don't ya' come with me, alright? fresh air might do ya' some good, ya' can think about this all when there's less people." less assholes he wants to add as he idly looks to silas. L U C R E Z I A | her lips began to tremble and she blinked back tears as the nurse waited for avery's response. she was absolutely terrified. what if she had ruined everything? at his cursing she sucked in a deep breath and glanced up at him with a pout. " i'm sorry. " she apologized quickly, her face bright red. through the whole scene they'd been holding hands and as he spoke, she immediately pulled both of her hands behind her back. it was as if she'd been scolded for doing something she shouldn't have been doing. in truth, she wasn't sure what she was doing. " i... i don't know either. i just, you know, it's sanda mel and... i like you, avery. " her words are quiet and she presses her lips together, nerves at an all time high. K H A I L E E | She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes again at his joke, but in the end she settled for an amused shake of her head. As she took another sip of wine, she noticed the red tint in his skin. She knew this outright affection was as strange to him as it was to her, but still, she couldn’t help but poke fun at him: “Why, Nekhbet, I do believe I’ve made you blush.” As she spoke, she butted her hip into his softly, a hint of laughter on her lips. “Of course it would’ve been bleak. I’m a breath of fresh air, darling.” Khai’s mind went back for a moment, back to a past that was so long ago that it felt like it was another life entirely: nights spent at Kradaecan balls, Nekhbet at her side, her family surrounding her and her husband’s face turning red as they teased and tested him. It all used to be so much simpler, and she’d taken it all for granted. What was worse was that she still hadn’t even told this man whom she trusted so much what had happened to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but just as the words fluttered up into her throat, they got trapped. Her lips shut, reopened as she tried again, and then shut once more. She hadn’t said any of it aloud before and wasn’t sure she’d be able to now. N A T H A N I E L | he lets out a groan, jaw clenched as his gaze goes back and forth between those in the crowd. can not one night be off limits to the dramatics? the king hears charlotte's apology and yet says nothing, disappointed with the way his citizens have acted. he wants to speak to his brother but instead watches him go with charlotte and silas. " you have all had your entertainment for the night, go back to enjoying your sanda mel. " he announced to those that looked on. with an exhausted sigh, he lifted his hand to rub his beard. B R Y N | Bryn's breathing had not swallowed nor slowed. But he followed Levi all the same, glaring at Silas for as long as he could before the three disappeared on the balcony. "Levi," Bryn whispered, walking away from the scene with his friend. "I must hear what they say. I have to know." His eyes widened in question, as if to say 'will you help me?' S I L A S | Silas needed Pollux to be there because he knew if his friend wasn't there he would really lose it and that wasn't a good idea. once they were out side he took a deep breath "So, you decided to put out a show in front of everyone we know, on Sanda mel. How could you Charlotte, if Pollux hadn't stopped it I would have returned to see you kissing him? I get you're infatuated with him but I am your future husband and I would think that after so many years together I would deserve some respect." He took a breath A V E R Y | “well, shit, lou. i like you too.” when she had her hands entangled with his he rarely payed it any mind, but when she pulled them away her absence was always felt. tonight was hardly an exception. he reached out and took them back. “it’s–” if someone had told him, the night before, that all this would happen if he showed his face at the sanda mel celebration, he would have called them bloody mad. “fuck it,” he said, and kissed her. P O L L U X | He leaned against the wall, awkwardly bearing witness to this conversation. He agreed with all of Silas' points. The way Charlotte had acted tonight was horrifyingly disrespectful. H A D R I A N | Hadrian was sure that he’d never stop hating himself for how long it took him to finally convince himself to come to the ball. He was /nervous/... he didn’t get nervous. That wasn’t normal. And he usually quite enjoyed the holiday itself - it had never meant much to him, personally, but he was admittedly always interested in other people’s love lives. But the very reason he thought he might be so strangely nervous was also the reason why he /had/ to go. So he arrived, horribly late but he was /there/ (and he hadn’t missed the opportunity to dress up, of course). He didn’t care much for mingling just yet; he wasted no time locating his /friend/... who seemed to have a friend of his own nearby. “Well. Fancy meeting you here,” he said as he came up behind the pair. L E V I | he hadn't expected bryn to ask such a thing from him, he didn't have the heart to tell him now, he did however had the sense to in some form; in the end he decides on a compromise. "listen mate, i'll go listen, ya' don't need ta' be in tha' middle o' that right now, i'll tell you what i hear when things have calmed down tomorrow, tha' sound fair?" he eyes him, he thought bryn might go listen if he didn't stop him; thinking it was better for someone not drinking to handle the situation; gods only know what might happen if bryn heard something he didn't like. C H A R L O T T E | "I did not planned this okay...and honestly is not like I am happy anything of that happened, you think I wanted to create a scene where even the king was there?" Finally she was able to talk. "You know that things changed and you know I have feelings for him and things will be much better if we just stop this. I know that by now the only reason you want to marry me is because you don't want someone else to have what you think is yours because let's be honest Silas we don't love each other anymore...maybe we never did, and I really don't want to marry you. We would just be terribly unhappy." A N Y A | after silas and pollux left, anya suddenly felt silly for intervening. the group dispersed and she was alone once more, on sanda mel. her thoughts drift to lucien and wonder what he's doing ?? had he gotten her gift ?? but as her thoughts take over, her eyes catch a pair of lips that she didn't think would be together, kissing. a large squeal erupts but she doesn't want to ruin their moment. at least someone was having a happy sanda mel. she takes a bite out of her bread, chewing it angrily and with frustration. B R Y N | bryn's fogged mind mulled over levi's offer for a moment. while he wanted to hear what was said himself, he trusted levi to tell him the truth. then again... if he waited to hear it, he might not be able to act as soon as he'd like. but, bryn concluded, if it was something that needed to be acted upon, he would have time to plan. and so bryn nodded, his lips pressing together in cooling anger. "aye," he said, nodding. "you're not wrong." he pulled a smirk onto his lips for a moment, patting levi's shoulder sloppily and making a head motion towards the balcony. "listen close and remember well, aye?” L U C R E Z I A | her blushing was accompanied by a small smile, one she attempted to hide as she bowed her head. for someone who had expected her words to reap awful consequences, the situation had turned out quite nicely. at least avery didn't hate her. she glanced up at him, about to speak, when his lips were quickly pressed against hers. her heart jumped in her chest and her stomach was filled with butterflies. it was something she never felt before and it was incredible. she pulled back, for a moment, to look at him with shock. though, to assure him she was thankful of his actions she took her hands away from his once more, only to cup them against his cheeks and pull him back into another kiss. P Y R O S | His brother-in-law was an idiot, that much was obvious. Starting a fight on Sanda Mel was a stupid ass choice. However, he figured there was enough of a crowd and found himself sitting away, close the the refreshments so he could healthily munch away. He is surprised to see Anya coming out from the dispersing crowd. " What happened there ?? " Pyros asks in amusement as he moves to sit closer to her. S I L A S | He couldn't stop his anger anymore and he went and grabbed her by her arms, he didn't care right now if he hurt her. "Things changed because you wanted them to change, because you can't move on from a stupid mistake that you don't want to remember you were part of it too, as was Pollux and Niamh and still it seems all your issues are directed at me. And now you want to be with that fucking stable boy because it reminds you of how things were when you were young and innocent and dumb." He was yelling at her. "You don't love him Charlotte you'll get bored of him soon enough but we we have been together for years now, and maybe if you stopped acting like you are a saint you would see that too." He laughed "Never? For fucks sake Charlotte, is that what you tell yourself so you feel better about what you have been doing?" N E K H B E T | she hadn't made him blush, nope he wouldn't admit it even if she had, even if he believed her; part of him does. "somehow i don't think that would be the one thing you've ever said to me, to make me blush." he has to stop himself from practically waggling his eyebrows suggestively, instead he gets a very cheeky sort of look; plasters it on his face like a mask. he refuses to blush again, absolutely refuses (as if he can control it). he'd almost forgotten how nice it was to spend time with the women, oh how he'd missed it and the little hip butt doesn't go unnoticed with him. "that you are my dear, that you are." he agrees with her, when doesn't he usually though. she seemed as though she wanted to say something, had he managed to get her to speak of what happened back home? tugged at her memories with ones they once shared, she shuts her lips though as soon as the all too familiar bard arrives. it an instant nekhbet has to compose himself from grinning almost stupidly, the things this man does to him rivals many. he opts for a still devilish smile all the same. "hadrian, i'm glad you decided to come, i was hoping to see you." he's especially glad to see him all dressed up and looking as /delicious/ as ever. it takes him a moment, before he realizes that introductions are probably in order. "hadrian, this is lady fell, khai this is hadrian." he hadn't thought about khai not knowing that hadrian knew of him. A N Y A | anya's eyes widen at the presence of pyros before trying to calm her composure. he knew of the baby, what was she scared of ?? "a cheating whore, i suppose ??" it's not as if she had anything against the woman, other than the fact that she /did/ just cheat on her fiance in front of everyone. "i hit someone with bread," she mumbled, taking another piece to nibble on it. "again." she was relentless, especially with bread. "i received your gift. thank you, pyros." her hand reached out to give his a squeeze along with a smile. P O L L U X | He realizes now, as Silas' voice raises, that his role was meant to be the adjudicator of the fight. " Silas !! " Pollux shouts as he grabs Charlotte. His anger is warranted, but the abuse is not. " That's enough, " he says sternly, a hand on his best friend's shoulder. The words also sting Pollux, a little bit, but he knows the reaction is wrong. P Y R O S | He gives a low whistle. " Was the Charlotte ?? I always thought they deserved each other -- Silas and Charlotte, I mean. They both seems so... shallow. " That was, ignoring the fact that Pyros himself lacked any depth. He gives a loud snort. " Again ?? Who do I need to punch this time ?? " At the mention of his gift, Pyros grins. " I'm glad. I made it myself. The painting is nice. I like it a great deal. " K H A I L E E | Khai knew he picked up on her hesitation and knew she'd probably have to answer for it later, but she was forced to wipe her face clean of all anxiety when another man came up. She recognized him, and as Nekhbet introduced them officially, she pursed her lips. Khai held a hand out in greeting as she said, "I do believe we've met before, but it's a pleasure seeing you again." And then, just to the side of Hadrian's face, she spotted Matt in the distance and her heart leaped into her throat. She swallowed hard and tried to collect herself as she glanced back up at the two men before her and dismissed herself. "I believe my date has just arrived, so if you gentlemen will excuse me." She bowed gracefully and then stepped away from them, her feet carrying her in Matthias's direction. But halfway there, she stopped suddenly, unable to move further. Had he read her letter? What did he think of her now? Would he even want her if she wasn't a Lady anymore? A million troubled thoughts swirled around in her brain as she stood there, motionless, eyes glued to the only man that had ever made her truly feel anything. C H A R L O T T E | she stares at Silas and she can feel her eyes beginning to sting as the tears begin to form. "It wasn't just that... though you know that the one that started all that was you." She takes a deep breath as he keeps talking. “ And is not just that, feelings can change..." Didn't Pollux love Niamh more than anything in his life and now he loved Sybill... though of course Niamh was dead.. "Okay fine maybe we did but can you honestly say we do now?" B R Y N | He was smirking at Levi still when he saw it, in the corner of his eye. All smiles gone, he screamed out before he could stop himself, "SILAS!" With no thought or control, he pushed through the crowd and grabbed Silas by the shoulder, spinning the duke away from Charlotte. He warned him; if he hurt her, he would regret it. Bryn stepped back and balled his fist, putting all of his weight and muscle into a punch that hit Silas square in the jaw. POLLUX | As Bryn comes bursting through, Pollux' jaw drops. Fucking. Drops. What the ever loving shit is happening. C H A R L O T T E | "Bryn!" She screams as she sees him running towards them "Pollux...do something.." L E V I | he'd merely wanted to have a nice evening, he didn't regret helping bryn for a second of course but this was not his idea on how the evening would go. "if anything is ta' happen i'll step in, /i promise./" he assures his friend, but before he can say anything else bryn is already spotting something that sets him off. dear god this wasn't going to end well. levi turns on his heels, spinning around after his friend, catching the tail end of pollux stopping silas from grabbing charlottte. so that's what set him off, greattttt. S I L A S | He was taken by surprise so after he was hit he truly didn't know what was happening but soon enough he recovers himself and takes out his sword "What the fuck are you doing." A V E R Y | he didn’t know what to do with her expression. he told himself he didn’t care what she did. if she wanted to refuse him, he was alright with that – they could go right back to being friends. but though he would accept it, he didn’t /want/ it. he wanted to kiss her again. when lou took care of that for him, he smiled against her lips. yes, he hadn’t been expecting any of it. he’d been expecting nothing. which was why this was a thousand better than his expectations. "good thing you said no to that bearorian." A N Y A | "i like silas," she answers, coming to his defense softly. he was acting incredibly normal despite the information he knew about her. but her smile grows as pyros threatens to come to her defense once again. he was being awfully sweet and it made her heart ache. pyros was here-- on sanda mel and yet, lucien was nowhere to be found. "you.. made it yourself ?" her heart grows. "i'm sure the baby will like it." anya's smile never fades and she nods happily. "i spent some time on it." P O L L U X | He supposes that he should also pull out his sword. Then again, he has children to consider. You know, Vi and Nate's children. Anya's future child. With a sigh, he also draws his sword. L E V I | "woah, woah, woah now." he sputters out, trying to get between bryn and silas once the latter brandishes a sword, he doesn't yet pull out his own blade, this had all gone too far and he didn't want to see a drunken bryn get caught in the scuffle. HELL of a punch though, he'd have to commend him for it later. C H A R L O T T E | "Gods stop fighting all of you" She screams at them "And put away all of your swords what are you doing. Do you want the king to come here again? and find everyone trying to kill each other?" M A T T H I A S | it is ODD, for once, to find himself at a ball without his clara toddling at his heels. he does not mind her company---far from it, in fact--- but he cannot deny he is glad for a few hours of /adult/ conversation. "---yes, i agree, the queen is quite...” the men about him turn to empty small talk as they walk; after a moment, matthias tunes them out, letting his gaze sweep to their surroundings instead. a handful of candles give the room a cheerful glow that warns away the encroaching night, and he smiles to hear laughter in the air. and then---OH. the lord bites his lip, lost behind his eyes—then his gaze focuses like the strike of lightning and he breathes, “khailee.” his mind is spinning. a letter still sits upon his desk, the parchment worn from worry and streaks of ink left to stain his palm. be careful with my heart, she had asked of him. how could he be anything but? the lady fell has not made this decision lightly, and neither will he; and yet, as he meets her gaze with his own, there is no uncertainty in his heart, no uneasiness to give him pause. he SMILES, face relaxed and open in the gold glow of dying sunlight, and his hand reaches for her. “my---my khailee,” he says, dipping into a bow, lips brushing across her palm, “i---my apologies for being late.” P Y R O S | A smile pulls up the corner of his lips. " That's the first time I've ever heard that. " Then, his eyes narrow. " The baby ?? What baby ?? I made the sweater for Ghost. " B R Y N | bryn was close to pulling his own sword, though he had never done so in a fight before. but the voice of levi slowed his hand, and the furthering words of charlotte stilled it altogether. he backed up a step, and then two, and then three... and soon, he was next to levi, and he gave him an 'oh shit' look that screamed that they should leave. S I L A S | He glanced at Charlotte and Pollux and it was just because of their presence and Charlotte's words that he puts out his sword. "Charlotte...I think is time we leave for the night." They had arrived together after all "Pollux...thank you." L E V I | "bryn you head out i'll be there in a minute," he pauses, eyeing him motioning with a slight nod towards the exit. he steps forward towards silas once he lowers his sword, "i don't know n' i don't care what's going, but if ya' ever, n' i mean ever lay a hand on him." he motions his head once more. "ain't nobody gonna stop me, n' i ain't bryn mate, these fancy clothes ain't me, this sword...this sword is me." he's perhaps never been more serious in his life, glowering at the man before he moves to walk back toward bryn. K H A I L E E | Khai remains frozen as he approaches, worry clear in her eyes. It was so strange, to feel so anxious and out of control all the time, to no longer be the collected, confident woman she once was. But she knew that Matt was the last person in that room that would think any less of her for it. It felt like the weight of the world lifted off her chest as his face broke into a smile, little warm beams of light reflecting off of his skin and making him more captivating than ever. 'My Khailee.' She'd never heard anything more comforting in her life. A small smile of her own graced her lips as he kissed the soft skin on her hand, and instead of releasing him afterward, she stepped closer and held on, fingers curling gently around his as she faced him. "Nevermind that. I'm just glad you could make it." There was a fight breaking out at the opposite end of the room, but Khai barely even noticed the commotion. Her mind was only on one thing: "Did you... Did you read my letter?" L U C R E Z I A | at his words she giggled, biting her bottom lip as she blushed once more. " good thing. " she agreed, giving him a nod. her hands fell back to her sides, one reaching forward to intertwine with avery's. as much as she wanted to question things and get answers, she figured she had done enough blabbering on for the night. lucrezia wanted to stop on a good note. " oh, by the way, did you get my gift? i hope you liked it. " P O L L U X | Following Silas' lead, he also puts away his sword. " It's nothing, my friend. " Still, he throws a weary glance at Charlotte. He doesn't want to see his friend bother with her still. She had once been as close to him as Silas, but she had been making so many stupid choices because of Brynjolf, he was tired of her. B R Y N | bryn was all too quick to take levi up on his offer. nodding at him gratefully, he stole one more apologetic glance at charlotte that lingered for a moment before he turned and left the ballroom, ignoring the countless pairs of eyes on his back. A N Y A | so he didn't know ? anya is flustered that she managed to out her secret and takes the bread. "i--i have to go," she says quickly, attempting to leave the ball as urgently as she can. A V E R Y | “i did.” he supposes he should have gotten her something. then again, he hadn’t been aware they were going to kiss. or really that she would be there – should have seen that one coming, though. he reckoned he could make it up to her in little ways, if things continued the way they’d begun that night. “we can share the wine.” C H A R L O T T E | Charlotte stared at Silas and pollux the people that not that long ago meant the most to her, and it seemed all that happened that night and honestly even before this night she just started to cry, she knew she loved bryn but she guessed he hand't really thought of the consequences and just wished all would be fine, She wiped her eyes quickly though and faintly nodded, she really just wanted to go to her home. M A T T H I A S | “ah---yes.” a pause, he pauses for breath as if he means to continue, but his gaze is drawn again to the smile upon her face, the worry in his eyes, and instead he sighs. carefully, he reaches out to cover her hand with his, reassurance and tenderness and something deeper, something /nameless/ that belongs only to the two of them. the letter she speaks of is his pocket even now, re-folded along its crisp creases, the words read and read till he is sure he will see them in his sleep. ---they do not matter. they might have, years ago, when his REPUTATION was still foremost on his mind. there are far more important things in the world. clara’s laughter in the morning, the kitten chasing a ball of yarn. khailee, here, a mere few feet in front of him, her heart and soul bared. “i simply---why did you not tell me, when your parents... i could have helped you, khai. i would have, you must now that. i would never---i could never leave you behind.” L U C R E Z I A | "i'm glad." she's too high on adrenaline, on happiness to say much. her head is spinning and her heart is pounding, something she hopes isn't loud enough for avery to hear. "i would love that." she returned, swinging their arms happily by their sides. with a giggle, she glanced back at him. "have your feelings about sanda mel changed?" K H A I L E E | The more he spoke, the more she felt the walls she'd put up around her heart after this tragedy begin to break down. She hadn't let anyone in on it yet and the only time she'd given herself to process things and grieve over her lost family was when she was alone at night -- and half the time, she was too drunk on those nights to be able to feel at all. Her pain had been lurking deep down ever since the attack on her family's estate, and she hadn't dealt with most of it still. So now, as she was faced with the understanding and compassion in Matt's gaze and voice, those emotions were beginning to break free. "Matt..." Khai could feel that familiar shame creeping back in and lowered her gaze. "I'm nothing now. I have nothing. And that isn't anyone's problem but my own. I didn't want to burden you with it and-- and--" A deep breath, eyes still on the floor. "And I didn't know if you would even still want me if everything that had made me a noblewoman was stripped from me. A man like you can't be seen with someone without a title." H A D R I A N | He remembered briefly meeting the woman before, and recalled finding her pleasant to be around and interesting, so he greeted her with a genuine smile and a nod. "Good to see you." He didn't know whether to be relieved or anxious when she left so soon after he'd gotten there. He didn't have to put in the effort to fake a casual attitude towards Kael now that they were alone, but there also was no buffer, no excuse not to talk directly to him. /Gods/, when the /fuck/ had he become that person? He always spoke his mind, usually to a fault, without even the slightest hesitation. It had gotten him into trouble more times than he could count, in fact. /Why/ was this so different? "I, uh..." He scratched his head, visibly cringing at his own awkwardness. "Thank you. For the gift. It's a bit unusual... Not something most people would think of when picking out gifts for me, but I suppose you are unique. I wasn't... expecting anything at all from you, so..." He sighed, finally smiling at the other man. "It's beautiful, but it's wasted on me. I don't know how to use it." N E K H B E T | "i've known her longer than i've known anyone really." he comments, "you don't have to worry about any acts around her, at least concerning me- /she knows/." he doesn't elaborate on what she knew because it being a public place but still. "i used to work for her father, years back." another comment he adds with a shrug. he has to admit though hadrian seemed so, what's the word hesitant? nekhbet wonders if he's done something wrong or said something wrong. he doesn't think he has, should he not have given him a gift on this day? he knew that sanda mel was a bunch of bull shit after all... "i don't think i've ever given any sort of gifts for the occasion before, your expectations would have been usually right." there he'd admitted in one way or another that hadrian was different, he couldn't quite explain why..why had he been? what made him so special, the answer was more like what didn't?! "like i said in the note i can show you sometime...but if you really don't want it then trash it i suppose, or sell it." his heart almost pangs slightly at the thought, eyes advert away briefly but they come back to hadrian's smile and all is well again. "nothing beautiful is wasted on you. /nothing/." nekhbet's voice is low, it's quiet, almost like a prayer set in a hushed whisper. A V E R Y | he grins at her. “fuck nah. it’s not sanda mel. this is all /your/ fault, lou.” though just for the night, his feelings for the holiday have changed. it doesn’t seem likely that the night would have reached the same result if traditions were different. M A T T H I A S | she says his name and he watches her lips shape the word, lingering on the curves and points of each letter. his heart is pounding in his chest. the room is heavy with sorrow and something deeper that he cannot quite breathe through it. instead, he feathers fingertips up her neck, over her jaw, letting them slide into her hair; she calls herself a burden and his heart twists. “khailee---how could you ever burden me? i---i WANT to care for you, to be there to give you aid when you need it. it is not a burden. i just cannot bear to see you hurt,” he says, and his voice is gentle. “look at me." it takes both hands on her shoulders, gentle but steady, and he leans to peer into her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. “of course i want you. that was never in question.” K H A I L E E | She found her eyes fluttering shut as his fingertips traced gently over her skin and into her hair. His touch was warm, and she could feel the heat in his fingertips sinking into her skin, drifting down into her ribcage, and wrapping around her heart. Khai's eyes opened again and reluctantly moved back up to his at his lighthearted command. She could feel them stinging ever so slightly, but she blinked quickly to try to rid them of their pesky tears. "I know, I.... I know. I've just never /needed/ anyone's aid before, and I hate the feeling." Khailee reached a hand up and rested it gently against the side of his neck. She was in heels, so their height difference wasn't as drastic as it usually was, making it easy enough for her to lean in and nuzzle against him, just under his jaw. "Thank you. For everything."

M A T T H I A S |

he does not miss the fluttering of her eyes, and neither does he miss the swift blink she gives, as if at dust—or at tears. uncaring of the people about them---the fight still, a mere few paces away, he pulls her close, cheek brushing against hers.

“everything will alright, khailee. i do not know if i can do much, but i will do my best to see you in safety and comfort. i promise you.”

his hand glides through her hair, in easy, familiar reassurance, and his lips brushes her head.

“there is nothing to thank.”

K H A I L E E | To think she had nearly run from him when she'd first developed feelings for him. Her emotions had terrified her so much that she'd almost idiotically given up one of the best people she'd ever known. Her free hand wrapped around him, fingers twisting around the fabric of his clothing tightly, as he was the only source of stability in her life anymore and she never wanted him to let go of her. But every moment must come to an end, and after this one passed she pulled back.

Khai sniffled once, but with a deep breath and a slight shake of her head, the tears dried up and her face returned to its usual expression, her emotions expertly concealed for the time being.

"Now, My Lord, I do believe you owe me a dance." There was a warmth in her voice that was surprising even to her own ears. It was one that came out only rarely. She realized in that moment that she trusted Matthias as much as she trusted Nekhbet and Nicolette, who had both been in her life for so much longer, than the man standing before her had.

H A D R I A N | "Oh. I see." Hadrian had been curious how he'd known her, but he hadn't thought to ask. He was a little /more/ curious now that he'd said that he'd known her long. "She's pretty," he commented with a grin, and he left it at that. He would have been happy to keep the conversation on her for awhile; the fluttery feeling in his stomach when the topic shifted back to him was absolutely /ridiculous/, and terribly distracting. It made it even harder for him to say what he wanted to say.

"No! No, no, no,"he clarifies almost frantically, resting a reassuring hand on the other man's arm for a brief moment. "I would never. I love nice things, you know that,"he adds with a grin. "The greatest archer in all the world probably doesn't possess as fine a bow, and I've never so much as held one. But I would absolutely love for you to show me. I'll teach you to play the lute, in exchange."

It's a humorous thought, but then, he is certain the thought of him using any sort of weapon was probably humorous to most. He almost can't /believe/ the next words out of Kael's mouth, and the long, silent stare he gives him makes that much obvious. "I..." /Need a drink/, is what he wants to say. Why had he thought it a good idea to come here sober?

"I hope that that's true. You have a certain sort of beauty to you, yourself. I would hope that I'm worthy of that."

N E K H B E T | "that she is, /fiery too/ don't let her fool you." nekhbet couldn't really recall a more stubborn women either when it came down to it, had been on the the qualities about her that he'd always liked though. the assassin takes a long sip of his wine, finishing it off. he'd been more apt to actually drink his alcohol recently, he wonders if that was more hadrian's doing than his own. perhaps he hadn't been the only one wearing off on the other, nekhbet doesn't mind though; the alcohol was always a good way to ease himself from thinking too much...usually. only now he wasn't drunk by any means, he wishes he was. then hadrian is speaking again and it's /practically frantic/, that was...different, amusing even to see such a reaction; hadrian when he wasn't drinking seemed to be more easily flustered. nekhbet could get used to that he thinks, it's better than himself getting flustered. "i do," he nods, hadrian liked nice things and nekhbet liked him is was that simple, or was it- "if he did you know i could just off him so you would." he jests, laughing a bit, he keeps his words back down mostly because although it was intended as a jest, it's really less of one than he intended. "the lute?" eyebrow raise curiously. he'd never held any instruments, he thinks he has about as much talent as hadrian believed he did with the bow, still the thought of the bard teaching him how to use his fingers and blow on anything amuses him more than it probably should.

"it's settled then, we'll make a day of it sometime." he wants to crack a joke, tease the other but there is nothing to be said beyond a long gaze back to hadrian's. nekhbet licks at his lips, he wants to leave but not alone, he wants to get away from the crowd now because it's starting to feel like it should be just them. "i lie about a lot of things..." he admits, shrugging as if it is nothing. "but i'm not lying about that..." it was true and all the while when hadrian tells him he's got a beauty about him he can't stop his face from flushing fast enough, can't cover up his cheeks like some young smitten child.

so he gives a defiant look towards the side instead. he'd been told many things in his lifetime, but they always sounded the most sincere coming from the bard. “ thank you," is all nekhbet can mumble out for a moment, adding; "you are worthy of a lot, in fact can a get you a drink." anything to look away and stop his stupid face from feeling warm.

gods the vulture at a dammed sanda mel ball all flustered, who would have thought.

#sanda mel #sov.recap #i didn't small text it because this was tedious enough but ily u guys #i hope this is okay tho???!

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acenancy · 8 years

Text

I Think It’s About Old Friends

This is literally a week late and I am SO sorry. I’m legit the worst Secret Santa ever. But work and family has finally freed me (for now, anyway), so here is the fic I owed you days ago, @jerememeknox! Beware: I haven’t read or written Jily in years, so who knows if this makes sense. Also, I wanted to add a lot more and at least edit this, but alas! Time is not on my side. Maybe I’ll go back and clean this up on my day off? I hope you like this, despite everything, babe. Heads up, @thewritingcrew!

(ao3)

Rated: T Word Count: 7,961 Fandom: Harry Potter Pairing: Jily

1971

Not once since she met him has Lily found James Potter funny. Not when James convinced Emmeline Vance brooms are ridden bristle-side front, not when he jinxed his own friend Sirius’ feet to dance all through History of Magic, and certainly not any of the times Severus was caught at the wrong end of James’ buffoonery.

Lily has never even chuckled. Never even cracked a smile.

But when she steps into Charms the week before Christmas and candy canes are floating around the classroom, dangling themselves over light fixtures and fingers and long hooked noses, Lily can’t help the tug that pulls at the corners of her lips; nor can she stop the breathy laugh that escapes her when a candy cane loops itself behind the shell of her ear.

“Isn’t this wonderful?” Marlene asks, sidling up beside her

Lily’s eyes follow Frank Longbottom as he jogs between desks, a candy cane chasing after him. The shrieking laughter of her classmates cottons Lily’s ears. The sticky skin of crystallized sugar bumps against her hand.

“It’s...” Lily blinks at the sight of her classroom, dressed red and white around her. She can’t think of a word to describe the warm feeling this small bit of magic has filled her with.

“It was James,” Marlene tells her, nudging Lily with her elbow, “and Sirius and Remus and Peter. But it was James’ idea.”

And as though his name alone conjures him, Lily meets James’ eye across the room, through the throng of sugar he’s made dance in the air. He grins at her, lopsided, and only then does Lily remember to wipe the smile off her face. She replaces it with a scowl that she knows does not meet her eyes. Her small act of defiance is only cause for him to grin wider.

“It’s a nuisance,” Lily mumbles, pointedly averting her gaze from James. She pushes the candy bouncing in front of her out of her way before marching to her desk. “How are we supposed to get anything done with these things flying around?”

Marlene groans behind Lily, then snatches a candy cane from thin air and points it at her. “You need to stop being such a Snooge, Lily.”

“Do you mean Scrooge?”

“I mean you need to lighten up.” Marlene sticks the cane in her mouth and continues to speak around it. “You don’t have to hate good things just because James Potter made them happen.”

Lily responds by flicking a candy cane from her desk to the floor.

Marlene rolls her eyes, groans again, then slinks away.

Lily tries her hardest to ignore the candy cane debacle all throughout class, but it can’t be avoided when they’re dismissed and something taps her shoulder. Turning around, Lily comes face to face with James, who is looking at her from over his glasses, smirking, holding out a candy cane.

“Forget to take one, Evans?” he asks.

Vision trained on his offering, unimpressed, Lily shakes her head. “Nah, I didn’t.”

She almost laughs again when she walks away and hears James yell “you’re a real Snooge, Evans!” after her.

1972

It’s always been obvious to James that Remus is a werewolf.

He eats his meat dripping blood, becomes sickly one week each month, disappears during every full moon, and, while he isn’t a terrible liar, he can only make up so many stories to cover his tracks before the excuses become outrageous.

“Tell me again why you won’t be around next week?” James asks, careful to keep his voice low in the empty corridor.

Remus tugs James’ invisibility cloak more snugly around his shivering form. “We’re celebrating Christmas a week early,” he says.

“And why’s that?”

“Family tradition.”

James huffs. “What kind of tradition is that?”

“I just told you,” Remus says. “A family one.”

James snorts, disturbing the piece of cloak falling across his face. It bothers him that Remus doesn’t trust him with his secret, but James doesn’t push the subject. If Remus chooses to tell him and the others, he’ll do it on his own time. Until then though, all James can do is enjoy his friends awful fibs and sneak him to the kitchens for chocolate when he can.

And sneaking to the kitchens is exactly what they’re doing.

As they lurk along the halls, the topic of conversation changes to quidditch, then pranks, then how much oil they could wring from Snape’s hair; then, before they know it, they’ve tickled the pear and stepped into the kitchens.

Their conversation comes to an abrupt halt, however, when they snuck inside and see Lily Evans sharing a plate of gingerbread cookies with a house elf. At the creak of the door, she spins around from where she sits atop a bar stool. Her eyes narrow when she sees no one there.

“Hello?” she calls. Her sight is set dead upon James, and he swears the intensity of it will burn a hole straight through his cloak.

“Dinky thinks it just be a ghost, miss,” says the house elf. “The ghosts always opening Dinky’s door.”

Slowly, James closes the door behind them. Remus chuckles at the suspicious expression Lily wears as she watches it seemingly shut on its own.

“I think there are some things about this world I’ll never get used to,” she admits to Dinky, eventually turning back to the elf with a frustrated sigh.

“Dinky thinks Miss Lily is just fine. Dinky thinks Miss Lily is the best witch she knows.”

At that, Lily laughs, and James wonders how he could have spent almost two years around her, never having heard it before. The sound of it vibrates in his chest, tickling his heart, igniting sparks of confusion in his twelve year old boy brain.

“I didn’t know Evans knew how to laugh,” James whispers to Remus.

Remus shakes his head, fixing James with tired eyes. “She’s the smartest witch in our year,” Remus reminds him. “She knows how to do a lot of things.”

Frowning, James elbows Remus in the side, urging him to skirt the edges of the room. They proceed to raid the kitchens as discreetly as possible, searching for chocolate that evades them. All the while, James keeps an ear open to Lily’s conversation with Dinky the House Elf, listening to her speak in a way he never has before.

Lily has only ever spoken to James with agitation and biting words, but he still knows she’s a good person, in a vague sort of way. She looks after Remus when he’s not feeling well and patiently tutors Peter who can be thick as a rock when he wants to be; apparently she spends her nights sharing gingerbread cookies with house elves too, which is thoughtful if not a little lame. And she only has nice things to say about Marlene McKinnon who’s a real crab to most people, and Mary MacDonald who is so sugary sweet it makes everyone hurl; she even has nice words for her sister Petunia, who once sent Lily droppings in the post that she claimed her owl left on their doorstep back home.

It’s a side of Lily James never had the chance to see; a side of herself she refused to show to him.

He wonders how Remus seems so unperturbed.

“Maybe because my attention is focused on not knocking every pot and pan in the room over,” Remus mumbles.

James huffs in response. He’s only knocked over two pans when Lily’s stories distracted him. Five pots tops. He’s not going to apologize when she is really the one bungling up this mission.

Especially when James stubs his toe and curses, and Lily has the indecency to blow their cover.

“My friend Remus is lovely too,” she tells Dinky out of the blue. “I wish he were here to try these gingerbread cookies.” At that, she looks away from Dinky and directly at James and Remus, still hidden by the invisibility cloak. “But he’s more of a chocolate person, anyway. He would really love the chocolate that’s stored in the dessert freezer.”

James and Remus turn to each other, defeated. Beaten, they inch their way to the chocolate in the freezer while Lily continues on rambling to Dinky. They don’t even bother with subtly as they open the freezer, snatch the chocolates, head back to the ticklish peach, and steal a gingerbread cookie on the way out.

The next morning, James approaches Lily at breakfast, only the slightest bit embarrassed. “Those gingerbread cookies were good, Evans. If you can’t think of anything else to get me for Christmas, more of those will do.”

Lily doesn’t spare him a glance when she says “the only Christmas present you’ll be getting from me is some advice: check to see who’s in a room before you enter it. You may just barge in discussing how to collect oil from someone’s hair in front of their best friend.”

James feels the pull of a grimace setting on his face but he catches himself, pushing any guilt he may have aside. Instead of apologizing like he knows he should, James changes the subject to something more pressing than Snape’s personal hygiene. “Aren’t you going to ask how you couldn’t see us?”

“No.”

“You’re not the tiniest bit curious?”

“I am.”

“But you don’t want to know?”

“Potter,” Lily starts, setting down her toast. “You’re either going to tell me or you’re not. Since we aren’t exactly friends, I’m going to assume you won’t. So, this back-and-forth between us? It’s pointless-”

“I have an invisibility cloak.” Before he can consider it, James blurts the secret out, low and hushed, a confession. Watching Lily’s eyes go wide, he wants nothing more than to slap himself for being such an idiot. Why would he tell someone about his cloak? Why would he tell Lily Evans about his cloak?

Maybe because he wants her to talk about him to Dinky. Maybe he wants Lily to tell house elves he’d risk a month’s detention for being out after hours and the confiscation of a rare treasure just to get his friend sweets. Because James wants her to experience the same thing he did last night, when he learned her laugh and saw her heart for the very first time in the kitchens. He wants Lily to know who he really is, too.

“Why did you tell me that?” she asks him.

James lifts one shoulder, glancing around to make sure no one else heard him. “Because I want you to know, I guess.” He continues scanning the Great Hall. He can’t meet her eyes. He feels hot and raw, as though he’s stuck beneath a spotlight.

“I’ll talk to you later, Evans, yeah? The cookies really were good.”

He doesn’t risk looking at her when he speeds away.

Not until that afternoon when she sets a gingerbread cookie on top of his coursework in the common room. “Merry Christmas?” She says it like a question.

James nods. He smiles, small and sure. “Merry Christmas.”

1973

A suitable punishment for James and Lily’s disruptive bickering would be to separate them, Lily thinks. Put James in one corner of the Potions classroom and stick Lily in the exact opposite; remove them from one another’s lines of vision; make it as difficult as possible for James to jinx Severus or for Lily to fume at James so violently that his cauldron bubbles over onto his lap.

Professor Slughorn had other, less practical ideas.

Which is why Lily found herself partnered up with James for the foreseeable future, until they learn how to get along.

It’s tremendously stupid, both Lily and James agree. Not only do they have more ample opportunity to be at each others’ throats, but now they’re more of a distraction to their classmates than ever. James doesn’t mind the latter since his engine is fueled by attention, but Lily has always loathed being a nuisance, which James has undoubtedly made her.

Lily must admit, though: they’re a tremendous team. Between the snappy remarks and petty pranks since they began working together, they’ve managed to develop a partnership that is unparalleled to any of the others in class. With Lily’s uncanny knack for brewing potions and James’ willingness to get down and dirty, the last three potions they’ve brewed together have been near perfect. If they hadn’t already had high marks, Lily is sure hers and James’ grades would be soaring higher than ever.

It’s not something Severus if fond to discuss, especially when they’re assigned to brew Christmas Spirit for the holidays... and one of the main ingredients is mistletoe.

“You know Potter is going to pull something...funny,” Severus warns her. It takes everything in Lily not to roll her eyes.

“Potter is an arse, but I doubt he’d go so far as to corner me under mistletoe,” she assures him.

“You’re right, he and his dumb little cronies never go far,” Severus seethes. “Not when they charmed your hair green for two months or when they left dungbombs in my shoes or when they literally tied your friend Marlene’s tongue into a knot.” Lily does roll her eyes at Severus’ last point. He thought what happened to Marlene was just and funny until he realized who’d done it to her. “But no,” Severus continues, “Potter wouldn’t go so far as to catch you under mistletoe.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake,” Lily groans. “I’m not saying he’s an angel, Sev. I’m not trying to defend James Potter. All I’m saying is I highly doubt he’ll try to kiss me under some mistletoe just because it’s at hand and just because he thinks it would be funny.”

“He likes you, Lily.”

The wings of her heart flutter against her ribs. Lily ignores the feeling like she does every time Severus brings up James Potter’s supposed crush on her.

“I know you think that,” Lily says, “and you know I think you’re wrong. But if you’re right and Potter does like me, why would he do something that he knows would only upset me?”

“Because he’s dense as a stratus cloud?” Severus suggest. “Because he has no respect for anyone, including you?”

James can be foolish and he is undoubtedly a bully to some, but in the three years she’s known him, Lily has found that neither of Severus’ statements are necessarily true. James is smart when he chooses not to be dumb and his heart is big and open to everyone, even Lily, unless you’re a Slytherin. She understands wholeheartedly why Severus can’t stand him, but she refuses to entertain untruths because her best friend refuses to acknowledge every facet of a person’s personality.

“I’m not having this conversation,” Lily says. But she can’t help but reconsider her stance when she enters Potions and sees Sirius and Peter hanging mistletoe over Severus’ and Slughorn’s desks.

If they would pull pranks with mistletoe, wouldn’t James do it too?

But for the remainder of their project, everything is business as usual. The only thing James does with their mistletoe is grind it into pretty flakes and sprinkle four cups into their brew, pestering Lily while she stirs it clockwise 25 times.

They’re the first pair to finish, and when Slughorn announces their Christmas Spirit is flawless, he allows them to take a spoonful each as reward. The classroom feels cozy and warm then, everyone surrounded by a warm, cheery glow; the scent of cinnamon and holly hangs heavy in the air; Lily is excited for the holidays at once, and thankful for her friends, and her family, for Slughorn, and for her potions partner.

Lily and James peer at each other from the corners of their eyes. They smile. And for the rest of the lesson they have a pleasant discussion about the intricacies of fruit cake.

However, it all goes South when, from behind them, they hear an obnoxious cough and the snickering of their classmates. They turn in their seats. Standing there is Sirius, hanging mistletoe over their heads, sporting a devious grin spread ear to ear. “Well go on,” he tells them. “Show us what a real Christmas miracle looks like.”

Lily’s jaw falls halfway to the floor. She looks to James to gauge his reaction, only to see he’s already staring back at her, forcing down his laughter. “What do you say, Evans?”

It turns out the quickest way to defuse Christmas Spirit is to find someone to fill you with disgust and disappointment. The Potions classroom is dingy and cold again; her laughing classmates don’t flush her vision with affection but dampen her mood entirely; James Potter isn’t the best potions partner she’s ever had and a surprisingly decent conversationalist but the same old ugly bully he’s always been.

Severus was right all along.

“What do I say?” Lily fumes. Her voice is low so only he and Sirius can hear her. The heat of fury steaming from her is so strong that the mistletoe hanging over them sizzles and burns. Flakes of ash fall like snow onto both Lily’s and James’ heads. “I say I can’t believe I thought you were decent enough not to embarrass me like this and make me feel uncomfortable in front of half our year. I thought you were better than to have your best friend set us up like this, just so you can say you got Lily Evans to kiss you. I say Severus was right – you are an indecent human being.”

“Evans, wait a second,” Sirius interrupts. Lily barely listens to him. She’s fighting down the guilt rising from her stomach like bile at the wounded look on James’ face. She shouldn’t care if she hurt his feelings. He hurt her too. “James had nothing to do with this,” Sirius tells her. “I just thought it would be-”

“Funny?” Lily guesses. She turns her attention to Sirius, who looks annoyed at this turn of events but also just the smallest bit embarrassed. “Am I laughing, Black? Is James? Are you? Is anyone in this room laughing?”

The room has, in fact, fallen into an uncomfortable silence. Lily is sure her classmates are straining to hear whatever it is she is whispering. She refuses to give the Marauders the satisfaction of an outburst.

“I mean, they were-”

“Mate,” James groans.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lily tells Sirius. “I don’t believe you anyway.” She stuffs hers things into her pack, ignoring James’ quiet pleas for her to look at him. Sirius continues to stand awkwardly behind them, only speaking to tell the kids around them to sod off and stop eavesdropping. “The only person at fault here is me for letting my guard down and trusting you.”

She leaves the classroom then, ignoring Slughorn’s inquiries as to where she’s going and the whispers as she storms away. She ignores Severus too, who doesn’t look pleased but doesn’t look too angry either. He told her so, after all.

Lily doesn’t see James again until they return to Hogwarts after Christmas break. Luckily, Slughorn has smartened up in the meantime.

James and Lily are seated at opposite ends of the room.

1974

This last full moon has been particularly rough. Something to do with its size and the alignment of stars and mercury being in retrograde, which sounds like a load of unicorn shit until it isn’t. The strained political climate doesn’t help; neither does the stress of Christmas.

It’s all culminated in Remus tearing himself to sheds, slashes marring his already scarred face, tendons cut, bumps and bruises disguising the Remus James knows.

This time around, his pain is so severe that Madame Pomfrey gave him a sleeping drought to keep him under for days. He’s been in such a deep sleep, he didn’t even wake when the rest of the Marauders accosted Pomfrey and demanded to know why she couldn’t magic him back to health the way she usually does with everyone else and they had to be escorted out when her answers weren’t to their satisfaction.

But really. How can the woman set broken bones with a flick of her wand and not be able to vanish the scratches of a wolf? It’s illogical.

And the older Remus gets and the more the world changes around them, the worse his full moons are becoming. It’s devastating to witness. It’s frustrating not to be able to help; even more so when James thinks about how long it’s taking him and the others to become animagi. It’s been two years, and the most they’ve managed to do is give themselves snouts.

He doesn’t think that makes them terrible friends, but. They should probably be trying harder.

James has set up camp at Remus’ bedside for the evening, ignoring Pomfrey whenever she’s warned him about the time.

Visiting time ends in three hours, Potter. In two hours, Potter. In an hour and 43 minutes and 12 seconds, Potter.

He would supply her with a healthy dose of attitude if he were paying attention to her nagging at all. As it is, James is focused on his friend, beaten and bloody by his own hand, unconscious on a lumpy mattress.

He doesn’t even register when the doors to the hospital wing creak open and Lily Evans tiptoes inside.

“Visiting time ends in an hour, Ms. Evans,” Pomfrey informs her.

“I’ve just come to wish Remus a Happy Christmas,” Lily assures her. “I won’t be long.”

“You and every other rebel rouser who has caused a scene in here today,” grumbles Pomfrey, marching angrily back to her office.

James only spares Lily a glance when she sits beside him, returning his attention back to Remus just as quickly.

“How is he?” she asks.

James shrugs. “Well he won’t be skipping through daisies anytime soon but,” he smooths a hand down his tired face, “he’ll live.”

They sit in silence for a moment, James taking stock of every one of Remus’ injuries for the thousandth time and Lily examining his wounds for the first time, in horror. James can practically hear her heart breaking beside him.

“What happened?” she asks.

One thing Lily is not is an idiot. James is positive she knows Remus’ secret, even if Remus hasn’t told her himself. It took him almost two years to tell the Marauders after all, and while Lily is a good friend of his, she’s not nearly as close to him as they are. But she’s smart. She’s observant. And she cares with her whole damn heart.

James knows she knows. So he simply looks at her, steady, and doesn’t say a word. An understanding passes between them. Neither of them will admit the extent of their knowledge concerning Remus and his ailments but they will sit there, together, and put their differences aside to help him anyway.

“Thanks for stopping by,” James says instead.

Lily almost look offended. “Of course,” she says. “Remus is my friend.”

James nods. “I know.”

Awkwardly, she fishes something from her satchel, then sets it on the table at Remus’ feet. “I brought him chocolates, for when he wakes up,” she says “whenever that will be.”

“Pomfrey says not for another few days,” James tells her. “He’ll miss the Express back home. Probably sleep through Christmas.”

Heavyhearted, Lily exhales deeply, eyes closed. “He’ll be here all alone.”

“No,” declares James, aghast at her assumption. “No, he won’t be. I’m staying here over break. And so is Sirius. Peter, too. We canceled our trips home.”

James can feel Lily staring hard at the side of his head. His heart stutters in his chest. He refuses to meet her eyes. It’s no secret that James and Lily aren’t friends. Anyone could tell you that. But no one can tell you about the moments, like this one, when they take off their armor and reveal their hearts on their sleeves, only to each other. When he proves he’s not always the dick he acts like, and she studies him with shining eyes, parted lips, awe. When she shows him compassion, radiating from her so brightly, it hurts his eyes to look. That is the thing no one knows – the way they melt around each other, for each other, until their truest selves are on display.

“Right,” Lily says, blinking hard and looking away. “Of course. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Evans. It’s easy to forget what a great guy I am.”

She snorts, and they glance at each other, sharing a smile.

“You’re a good friend, James.”

He frowns, but nods. He could be better. “You are too, Lily.”

They sit there, at Remus’ side, discussing nothing and everything all at once, until Pomfrey gives them a ten minute warning. James ignores her like he has the rest of the night, and he hopes Lily will do the same. She doesn’t though, and she stands to leave, but not before placing a soft kiss on James’ cheek.

The skin her lips touched tingles and stings. He can hardly believe she’s real.

“Happy Christmas, Potter.” Her voice is a quiet hush, a lullaby. “You’ll figure out how to make this better. I know you will. Because you love him.”

James can feel tears sting his eyes. His throat shuts so tight he can’t even answer her. All he can do is smile, grateful, and watch her walk out the door.

1975

Lily doesn’t have much Christmas shopping to do. She bought a kettle that whistles actual tunes when it comes to a boil for her parents, a simple blouse for Petunia, and small trinkets for her friends. The only people she really has to get something for is Severus and Benjy Fenwick.

Severus is easy enough. He always gives her something sentimental but prefers receiving practical gifts himself. Since he’s burned a hole through the bottom of his cauldron, she figures she’ll buy him a new one. Benjy, on the other hand, is more difficult to find something for.

Lily has been seeing him for two months. He’s incredibly sweet, and caring, and kind. Everyday he walks her to her classes, sits with her during meals, kisses her goodnight. He makes her smile. Lily is incredibly fond of him and his company.

It doesn’t matter that he never gives her butterflies; Lily doesn’t think you should feel nervous about liking someone, anyway. It also doesn’t matter that she’s never particularly eager to see him, or overly comfortable around him either. All of that comes with time, doesn’t it? She’s sure she’ll get there with Benjy eventually.

For now though, she’s only focusing on getting him something for Christmas and remembering to meet him for an early dinner later in the afternoon. Until then, she’ll mosey around Hogsmeade with Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary, and perhaps even sacrifice some time to the Marauders if her friends see fit.

Which, Lily assumes, they will. Marlene and Dorcas have had their eyes set on Sirius and Remus, respectively, so Lily has found herself in their company more often than not as of late. Lily wishes she could say it’s been torture spending time with the Marauders but it’s actually...not.

They really are genuinely fun to be around; Sirius with his outrageous schemes, Remus with his quiet wit, and James with his all-around wonderful sense of humor. Even Peter can crack a joke now and then. Lily has never denied that those elements of their personality were there – they’re the most blatant traits the Marauders possess – but she’s never allowed herself to indulge in them either. Now that she has...well, she’s never laughed as much in her entire life as she has this semester with them.

Much to Severus’ chagrin.

And, sometimes, much to Benjy’s too.

Lily supposes that’s only natural. Severus is an old friend, but a possessive one, and he often becomes jealous when Lily spends time with other people. The fact that she spends more time with the Marauders than him now surely hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Benjy’s jealousy is more specific. While Severus is resentful towards every person Lily hangs out with that is not him, Benjy has his sights set specifically on James Potter. Lily can’t say she blames him. She and James have always had the most palpable tension, and now that they get along, the nature of their relationship has become gossip fodder for the entire castle. It doesn’t help that James teasingly asks her out every chance he gets despite the fact that he knows she’s with someone else.

Though, to be fair, he’s been asking her out longer than Lily’s been seeing Benjy.

It’s not like James is serious, anyway.

“Of course he’s serious,” Dorcas insists. She and Lily along with Marlene and Mary are strolling around Hogsmeade’s town square, enjoying the crisp air and crunchy snow beneath their feet. “He wouldn’t keep asking if he weren’t.”

“He’s a jokester,” Lily reminds her. “He’s only joking.”

“Sometimes I wonder if he’s not,” Mary chimes in. “Like the other night, when we were in the boys dorm drinking firewhiskey-” Lily whines at the memory “-and he was staring at you with such adoration. Merlin, I’m getting gooseflesh just thinking about it! And he just whispered, so sweetly, ‘go out with me, Evans.’” Mary clutches her chest dramatically. “If only a boy looked at me the way he looks at you.”

Lily purses her lips. “He was drunk, Mary. Peter also accused Marlene of plotting murder against his toad that night.”

Marlene shrugs. “He wasn’t wrong.”

“My point is you’re all making something out of nothing,” Lily concludes. “Just because we laugh with each other instead of fighting now doesn’t mean he’s in love with me.”

“Au contraire, Evans.” The sound of James’ voice rings from behind her, and the girls spin around to watch the Marauders saunter up to them. “You’re my sun and my moon and my stars, and I adore you.”

“Almost as much as he adores me,” adds Sirius.

“Almost as much as Sirius adores detention,” Peter says.

Remus snorts, patting Peter on the back. “Nothing can compare to the romance between Sirius and detention, Wormtail.”

“You have me beat there, Paddy.” James stops right in front of Lily, toes of their boots nearly touching. He grins down at her, wide as the sky, and Lily can’t help the smile she gives him back. “Where are you ladies off to this fine afternoon?” he asks, eyes never leaving Lily’s.

Marlene, who has looped her arm through Sirius’, is already trying desperately to drag him away from the group. “I want to show Sirius that new Nimbus I was telling you all about,” she says.

Lily can’t recall Marlene ever mentioning anything about a new Nimbus to her, but she bites her tongue and plays along. “Mhm...”

“New Nimbus? I would have heard about a new Nimbus,” Sirius grumbles. “Did you hear anything about a new Nimbus, Prongs?”

“There is no new Nimbus, Padfoot.”

“James Potter says there is no new Nimbus, Marlene.”

“James Potter isn’t half as educated about brooms as I am,” Marlene says. She tugs on Sirius’ arm some more.

James guffaws. “Absolutely blasphemous.”

“I don’t know,” says Lily, “Marlene has never been wrong about a broom as long as I’ve known her.”

“Well!” Sirius exclaims. “If Evans says so...” He blows a kiss to James, “sorry, Prongs,” and allows Marlene to whisk him away. “Come along, Moony!” Sirius calls behind him.

With a shrug, Remus jogs after them, Dorcas and Peter trailing in his wake. It’s just James, Lily, and Mary then, until Mary jabs her thumb in some vague direction.

“I’ve got shopping to do for that person,” she announces, sly grin plastered across her face. “I’ll see you two later?”

Mary doesn’t wait for their response. She scurries away faster than a mouse after cheese, leaving James and Lily by their lonesome.

“You think she wanted to get us by ourselves?” James asks, rolling onto the balls of his feet.

“You noticed that as well?”

They snort in unison, then continue to walk around town, no destination in mind.

“So what shall we do while our friends look for this Nimbus that definitely does not exist?” asks James.

“Well, I have to buy Severus a cauldron-”

“Ooh, another expensive gift for Snivellus that the slimy bastard doesn’t deserve-”

“Shut up, Potter,” Lily scolds him, almost as an afterthought. “I have to buy a gift for Benjy, too.”

At this, James remains silent, simply bobbing his head in thought.

“I have no idea what to get him,” says Lily, filling in the silence.

“What does he like?”

“I don’t know?” Lily glances at James, grimacing when she considers how little she actually knows about her boyfriend. “I’m a terrible girlfriend.”

“It would seem that way,” agrees James, and he nudges her playfully when she scoffs. “You’re not a bad girlfriend, Evans,” he assures her. “Fenwick is just a dud. Nice bloke and all, but a dud. He probably couldn’t tell you what he likes if you slipped him a truth serum.”

“Don’t be mean,” Lily chastises, though she’s afraid James just may be right.

“Is it mean if it’s the truth?”

“Potter.”

“Sorry.”

They stop in front of The Three Broomsticks, James holding the door open for Lily to step inside.

“Buy him some liquor,” James suggest, pulling out a seat for her in the middle of the room. “What he really needs is to loosen up a bit.”

“He’s not uptight.”

“Just a bore. You’re right, Evans, there’s a difference.”

“You really don’t know how to be nice, do you?”

“Yes, I do! Did I not call you my sun and my moon and my stars before? Was that not nice?”

A group of students a year below them pass by the table as James says this, sharing wide eyes and whispering scandalously to one another.

Lily groans, rubbing at her temples. “The whole castle is going to be talking about our torrid love affair by sundown now. You know that, right?”

“Then Fenwick will break up with you and you won’t have to worry about what to get him for Christmas.”

“Thank you for your positive outlook, Potter.”

“That’s what I’m here for, Evans. Butterbeer?”

They order their drinks, and they talk, and they have a wonderfully pleasant time in each other’s company.

And, just as Lily predicted, by sundown everyone is talking about how she is cheating on Benjy Fenwick with James Potter. The icing on the cake is when Lily loses track of time and completely forgets about dinner with Benjy. So she’s truly not surprised when he storms into The Three Broomsticks, catches sight of James and Lily in a fit of uproarious laughter, and stomps right up to their table.

“Lily?” Smoke is quite literally billowing from Benjy’s ears. The sight sends James and Lily into another bought of laughter. “What is this?” Benjy seethes.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Benjy,” Lily apologizes. “I was just listening to a story James was telling me about-”

“Why are you with him to begin with?” Benjy snaps. His eyes flick between the pair of them, sitting across from each other, onto their third butterbeers of the night.

“We were just hanging out, Benjy,” explains Lily. “We’re...” Despite how splendidly they’ve been getting along, Lily is still hesitant to call her and James friends.

“You’re what?” demands Benjy

Lily glances to James, looking for a possible answer to Benjy’s question. James only shrugs, casually pushing his glasses up his nose. “Dunno,” he supplies.

Lily turns back to Benjy, shrugging the same way James had. “I don’t know.”

Benjy shuffles from foot to foot, gnashing his jaw and glancing around the room to see who is watching them.

Everyone is.

Lowering his voice and leaning into her space, Benjy hisses. “You’re telling me you don’t know the nature of your relationship with James Potter?”

Lily considers his question thoughtfully before giving him an honest answer. “Yes.”

Leaning away from them, Benjy casts his eyes between James and Lily once more before taking a slow, deep breath. “Alright, Lily,” he concedes, eyes cast down at his feet, rage barely under wraps. “I see how it is.”

“Benjy!” Lily cries, reaching out a hand. “Oh, please. It’s not like that!”

But the damage is already done. Benjy is flying out the door, humiliated, and Lily is left with her head in her hands, equally embarrassed.

“Like I said before,” James offers, bumping her shin with his foot beneath the table. “One less gift to buy.”

“Shut up, Potter.”

1976

James is in love with Lily. He’s not sure how long his heart has been hers, but he thinks it has been since sometime in Second Year, after the kitchens. She’s always been a part of him, the same as his friends, and his glasses, and the organs in his body. James wouldn’t be James without her.

It’s as simple as that.

It’s just a shame he didn’t realize it until after he made a fool of himself by the Great Lake.

It kills James to think of all the time he wasted fighting with Lily, teasing her, thinking all they could be was adversaries who sometimes got along. He could have been her friend, or more, or at the very least there for her when she could have used him the most.

It takes a summer of groveling and three months of being nothing but the most wonderful friend he could possibly be for them to even get to where they are now: sitting in their handmade igloo, a jar filled with fire between them, passing a mug of hot cocoa back and forth.

It’s strange to think only last September they truly became friends, when he held her shaking frame in his arms as she cried over Snape, and her sister, and her sick father, and the terrible names thrown her way like confetti; when James mouthed his apologies into her hair, rocking her back and forth, drying his own tears in her waves; when they fell asleep wrapped up in one another in the common room, waking up grateful that they’d finally made their way to each other.

So James thinks it’s safe to say he’d do anything for Lily, and she would do anything for him. Sometimes the things she needs from him are just so incredibly torturous that he fancies himself an idiot for ever falling in love with her.

“You need me to be what?” James balks, shoving the cocoa her way.

“My date to Slughorn’s Christmas party,” Lily repeats. “The only other person I know who’s going is Severus, and I know it’s only so he can corner me again.

“Lily,” James groans. He conks his head against the wall of their igloo. His eyes are squeezed shut as though he’s in physical pain. “Slughorn’s Christmas party? Really?”

“I mean, I can ask Remus if you don’t want to,” Lily grants him, “Or even Sirius or one of the girls. You’re just – well I would rather take you, is all. But I understand if-”

“Lily, you already know I’m going.” James laughs when he catches her pouting. “It’s just...Slughorn.”

“I know.”

“And Christmas.”

“I know.”

“And Snape.”

“Yeah,” Lily sighs, “I know.”

“Right. Well.” James claps his hands in front of him, rubbing them together mischievously. “When is it?”

The party is the weekend before Christmas and their last week before winter break. Lily wears a flowing navy dress that sets James’ blood running and a smile that makes his heart sing when she sees him. She holds his hand when they enter the party, and only introduces him to a handful of people. When Slughorn targets them for small talk and gloating, Lily allows him to step away for a while, and when Snape tries to capture Lily on her own, James swoops in and guides her onto the dance floor.

They make a dashing, unsocial, avoidant team.

Just like they always had.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” says Lily. James has one hand on her waist and the other wrapped around her smaller, softer one; her smooth cheek is pressed against his stubbly one; her breath tickles the skin of his ear. If anyone should be thanking anyone, James should be thanking all the Gods he can name, and Lily Evans for being in his arms. “I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she admits.

James tsks, guiding her across the floor. “Taken Remus or Sirius, like you said you would. Or Marlene or Mary or Dorcas. Or Peter if you were really desperate.”

“Not nice,” says Lily, and he apologizes.

“My point is, you had options,” James reminds her.

“Okay,” she allows, “but Sirius would have set Severus on fire if he came near me. Remus would have felt obligated to talk to Slughorn and driven himself mad with boredom. Peter would have scurried away hours ago-”

“Not nice,” says James, and Lily apologizes.

“My point is, no one else could have saved the day like you did.”

James presses a smile into her cheek. “The nights not over yet, you know.”

She hums, untangling her hand from his and wrapping her arms around his neck. He follows her lead, heart swelling and soaring, and wraps his arms around her waist.

“We can leave whenever you like,” she tells him.

James only holds her closer, feeling her heart beat in time with his own. “No,” he breathes, his voice barely a whisper. “Not yet.”

1977

“Are you scared?”

“No.” James is practically bouncing out of his skin, nervous energy setting his entire body on edge. “Are you?”

“No.” Lily is nibbling at her cuticles, beads of blood pooling around her nails.

“You’re a terrible liar,” James tells her, and Lily drops her hand, smiling at him as if he’s the greatest thing she’s ever set her eyes on. And he is, she realizes. He really, truly is. “So are you.”

James grins back at her so wide that Lily is afraid his face is going to split in half. “We’re cowards and terrible liars together, then.”

“I suppose we are.”

They break into a fit of anxious laughter, not stopping even when James pulls Lily’s face to his chest. “Why are you scared?” he asks her, resting his chin atop her head. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“No,” say Lily immediately, shaking her head into his sweater. She tilts her face up to look at him. “I’m just nervous they’ll say we’re rushing into things. Give us problems. You know our friends don’t keep their opinions to themselves.”

James presses a firm kiss to her forehead. “Sod ‘em if they think we’re wrong,” he mumbles into her skin. “But I don’t think they will. They’ve wanted this longer than we have.”

“And how long have we wanted this again?” Lily asks.

“Second year for me. Fourth year for you. You were a little slow to catch up to the rest of us.”

“Guess that’s why I never made the quidditch team.”

“That, and your lousy arm.”

Lily nips at his collarbone, causing James to squeeze her body to his tighter.

“Why are you scared?” Lily asks. Her arms are wrapped around his waist, ear pressed right against his slow, happy heart.

“Because saying it out loud makes it real...and I never thought it would be,” James confesses.

Lily shuts her eyes, breathing the smell of him in deeply. “No second thoughts?” she checks.

James snorts, as if the answer is obvious. Lily supposed it always has been. “Absolutely fucking not.”

“Right.” Stepping away from his warmth, Lily laces her fingers through James’, then turns them towards the Fat Lady. “So are we ready?”

“As we’ll ever be.”

The Fat Lady rolls her eyes. “Just get a move on, will you? I can’t wait here all day.”

Frowning, James tells her the password, then opens the door with a little more force than necessary.

In the common room, their friends sit around the fire, chatting amongst themselves, enjoying the last of one another before they all go their separate ways for the holidays. Sirius is the first to spot Lily and James, and he throws his arms in the air and cheers when they squeeze their way into the group.

“Long time no see, lovebirds,” says Dorcas, smiling adoringly at the sight of them. “Ready for the holiday?”

“Hardly,” Lily tells her. She shares a frightened, secret smile with James, who kisses the back of her hand, still entwined with his.

The exchange does not go missed by their friends, who glance at each other suspiciously, then knowingly, then with big stupid grins.

“Why?” asks Peter, the only one still oblivious.

It’s Marlene who grabs Lily’s left hand, gawking at the simple band slipped over her ring finger. “Get out!” she yells, jumping to her feet. “Really? Really, really?”

Surprised by her friend’s reaction, Lily blinks, then smiles, then nods her head emphatically.

Marlene shrieks, followed by Mary, silenced when they’re pushed to the side as all the others gather around Lily to admire the engagement ring on her finger.

Peter continues to stare at them all with a furrowed brow. “What?” he asks.

“Lily and I are getting married, Wormtail,” James explains to him, minutely.

Understanding creeps upon Peter. “Oh!” A slow smile spreads across his face. “Oh, congratulations! What a happy Christmas this makes.”

James ruffles his wispy blonde hair. “Thanks, mate.”

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Lily asks the group. Her eyes, however, are trained mostly on Sirius and Remus. “We’ve only been dating four months.”

“Too soon?” repeats Sirius. “You and James have been seven years in the making, Evans. I don’t know what about that reads as too bloody soon to you.”

“I guess that answers the question,” she deadpans.

James nudges her in the side with his elbow.

“I have to agree with Padfoot, unfortunately,” says Remus. “This has been a long time coming. The two of you together, now more than ever...it just makes sense.”

The smile Lily spares him is small, but whole and nothing but grateful. “That’s how we feel too.”

“My only concern is your surname,” says Marlene. “You’re going to keep Evans, right?”

“Well, no.”

Sirius hands fly to his scalp, tugging mightily at his shaggy locks of hair. “Oh, but Lily Potter sounds terrible, Evans. Don’t change your name just because you’re marrying this dolt. Please. I beg you.”

“Shut up, Padfoot, or you’re not invited to the wedding.”

“Like hell I won’t be.”

And they continue on that way for the rest of the evening, reveling in the company of their friends, their family, and most importantly, each other.

It’s not until everyone’s gone to bed that Lily and James are alone again, sitting in the light of the Christmas tree in the Gryffindor common room. James tugs a decorative candy cane from one of the tree’s branches, holding it out to Lily beside him. She takes the offering from him, memories of floating candy canes and a different James dancing across her memory. Lily takes his face in her hands, kissing him, her old nemesis, her best friend, the love of her life with all the love she can hold in her heart.

When they part, James smiles against her mouth, whispering what she knows now has always been true. “I love you, Lily.”

She smiles back at him, their past flitting through her brain, their future waiting on her mind’s horizon. “I love you too, James,” she tells him. She loops her candy cane over the shell of his ear, and they laugh, falling against each other. “Happy Christmas.”

#thewritingcrew #jerememeknox #jily #jily fanfiction #Harry Potter #mine #i literally didn't even have a sec to fix this weird af spacing lmaaaoooo kill me

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