#why did i say it looks like dobby no it doesn't

[pajarraco-is-silly]

Can someone please help me find the image of that white thing (possibly a person? I don't really remember) looking up at you from a horrible angle it has like a big nose or whatever it is.

Sort of looks like this?

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

WHAT THE HELL WHY IS SNAPE SO MUCH MORE CRUEL IN THE BOOKS? 💀 Thank you so much for telling me all that btw, I think I understand why so many hate him now, since I've only seen the movies I was always flabbergasted when people said that they hate Snape but bro is a literal creep. Taking Lily's photo is sooo weird wtf 😭 Also why is he tormenting a literal 11 year old boyy. Damn. And poor Hermione :')

Thank you for your time btw! ^^

Also, are there any honorary mentions in the books? Not necessarily about Snape too perhaps but maybe anyone or anything else? Like, are the books that different from the movies? Low-key makes me wanna read them but I don't feel like buying the books 💔 (':

You don't need to buy anything! It's free if you search online. I haven't bought a single book but I've read the whole series online and even found the audiobooks free online lmao.

Honorary mentions?

Tbh, when Harry visits his parents graves in deathly hallows, I was always moved by the line 'he wished he was sleeping under the snow with them'

And I think all the chapters in Half blood prince that focus on Voldemort's memories from when he was a young man are super engaging. Everything about his family is interesting, imo.

I liked how, when Hermione asks Ron to be her date to Slughorns party, Harry gets all flustered and says he 'knew something like this would happen'

I like how, when Harry uses the resurrection stone in the last book, he and his mother are so enthused to be able to look at each other that they just gaze at each other for a bit.

I LOVE the scene with Madame Maxine and Hagrid when we find out Hagrid is a half giant. I'm a sucker for characters telling people they like "don't go". And I love how Harry is all like "oh damn. I should NOT be hearing this conversation"

There's a moment where Harry tells the dursley's that Voldemort has come back, and aunt petunia expresses fear. Harry says it's the first time he appreciates that petunia is his mother's sister. I think it's so cool that petunia, someone who does her best to live a smuggle life, is still very aware of the kind of threat that Voldemort is. I feel like that's a detail a lot of people look over. To me, that scene adds a whole new layer to how terrifying Voldemort is.

I like how Neville gets given a candy wrapper by his mom (she was tortured to insanity and has been permanently hospitalized. Neville was raised by his gran as a result) and his gran tells him to throw it away, but when he thinks no one is looking, he stuffs it into his pocket instead. Like. God. I just love that scene. Neville's mom doesn't know who he is. To me, I read that scene and can't help but think "Neville has never received a gift from his parents. He keeps that wrapper because it's the only thing his mom has ever given him. It is the only type of 'gift' that he will ever receive from his mom" It drives me insane.

Oh and oh my GOD. I love how Hagrid is all like "Harry, I'd love you to win the tournament. It'd show everyone that you don't need to be pure blood to be worth something" and this moves Harry so much that he gets to work on solving the egg clue. Literally NOTHING anybody else has said to him has made him take action, but Hagrid's faith in him is what did the trick. And I love the line "there was something about lying to Hagrid that wasn't quite like lying to anyone else." Their relationship is honestly so pure. I love that Hagrid was Harry's introduction to the Wizarding world. He literally brings Harry to us, the reader (or watcher if we're talking the movies). Harry comes to us on Hagrid's motor bike. From the very beginning, Hagrid carries out Harry's introduction.

I love EVERYTHING about the way dobby adores Harry. You don't get much a sense of it in the movies, but their relationship is super wholesome. Dobby may have been a free elf, but he followed Harry's every command because he loved him so much. He straight up fought another elf for insulting Harry. He deserved better than what the movies did with him.

I will say, the one thing from the movies I like better is that I love the scene with Hermione and Hagrid right after Draco calls her a mudblood. I love how he holds her hand and says "don't you think on it" and Hermione's eyes are filled with tears but she smiles at him anyway. That was incredibly cute. Although, in the books, Hermione does not know what a mud blood is, and I think there is merit in having Ron--the only pureblood wizard--know what it is while Harry and Hermione do not. There's something so pure about Ron attacking Draco even though hermione doesn't know what a mudblood is. It's like "I don't care if you didn't hurt her feelings! I don't care if she doesn't know what that word means. I know what that word means and you're not going to talk to her that way."

Oh, and I like the part where Percy sends a letter to Ron telling him not to talk to Harry anymore. Harry being all like "I've know percy for 4 years. I've spent summers with him. He gave me top marks during the tournament. I shared a tent with him." is really effective and you can feel his hurt so well.

This post is so long lmao. I've left out so many good moments. My point is: read the books! You'll love them.

[ashesandhackles]

what are your thoughts on the Harry/Dumbledore relationship?

hello! so most of my feelings about harry-dumbledore equation are captured in these metas:

A cold blooded walk to destruction

the lightning struck tower

my favourite moment of Harry and Dumbledore's relationship though is captured in the Life and Lies chapter in Deathly Hallows. I am obsessed with that chapter and obsessed with Harry's feelings in those chapters:

here are my notes from the chapter, cutting it down to Harry-Dumbledore stuff:

The chapter opens with the smallness of Harry against the vast sky, a bird's eye view shot to really highlight how vulnerable he feels. On the heels of the chapters where he sees himself and his family immortalised in statues and have their old home preserved, it feels so stark.

The throughline of connection Harry makes from "People don't like being locked up! You did it to me last summer" to Dumbledore's apparent confinement of Ariana. Unresolved abandonment issues from OOTP, Sirius grief all coming to the surface here.

I am especially struck by the image of Harry's angry shouting making blackbirds fly into the pearly sky, and spiral over him. Blackbirds are associated with mystery, secrets and are seen as messengers to netherworld - this combined with the image of pearly white sky (heavens/God) seems intentional.

Harry and Hermione throughout Dh have oppositional positions: faith vs rationalist (hallows vs horcruxes), acceptance vs fear of death, and here Rita's book lies between them, a line on the ground.

"Look at what he has asked from me!: :The image of Harry, arms flung over his head - "trying to hold in his anger" or "protect himself from the weight of his disillusionment" is the thing that stays with me from this chapter. (it is reminiscent of Snape's "you have used me! I have spied for you, lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you" - basically, "why have you forsaken me?" moment. The chapter being set in whiteness and emptiness, reminiscent of King's Cross chapter where Harry does get his answers from Dumbledore is very striking)

Hermione, who has modified her parents memories, can confidently assert that "He loved you, I know he loved you", because her love for her parents, for Ron can also be sacrificed at the altar of greater good, even if it means doing things that would hurt them and dismiss their agency (as is with her parents). It doesn't mean she doesn't love them. Harry dropping his arms when she says this - he wants to believe it, he hopes to believe it but doesn't. But with Ron's return in Silver Doe, Harry will be on his path to be Dumbledore's man again.

From the Silver doe chapter: The discussion on Dumbledore with Ron shows the nature of faith Harry has in the moment: "Dumbledore's dead. He's definitely gone" vs in Chamber of Secrets where he says, "he will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him". With the faith in Cos, he was rewarded with Fawkes and Sorting Hat. Further illustration of where Harry is - Ron not thinking the Grindelwald stuff was a big deal ("he was really young") vs Harry ("he was our age").

Malfoy Manor chapters: In keeping with the faith aspect of the book, when Harry is at his most helpless- he asks the shard of mirror, where he kept thinking he is seeing Dumbledore's eye -for help. Dobby comes through.

Shell Cottage chapters: Harry understands the path Dumbledore laid out for him, but wishes he could understand Dumbledore himself. ( Ron and Harry's conversation about Voldemort - "You really understand him." "Bits of him -- I wish I understood Dumbledore as much.")

By the chapters where Harry meets Aberforth, Harry gains an understanding of Dumbledore's emotionality - "He was never free... never. The night your brother died - he took a potion that drove him mad. 'Don't hurt them-please, hurt me instead' " Harry points out how watching Aberforth and Ariana being hurt was torture to him, and emphasises his commitment to Dumbledore's cause, "Because sometimes you've got to think of the Greater Good! This is war!"

King's Cross chapter - Harry gets his answers. :)

Harry's journey to understand Dumbledore is extremely profound, and Harry's forgiveness of what Dumbledore put him through (with regards to his agency - which is Harry's main issue) comes from a very reflective, thoughtful space. Therefore, he names his second son after the two men riddled by guilt, seeking to atone for the harmful things they had done by committing to a greater cause.

[racfoam]

nynn Deathly Hallows AU

A day after Harry buried Dobby, she was sitting at the edge of the beach of Shell Cottage, staring out at the sea.

It was when she felt a wind not borne of the seaside caress on the doors of the soul bond that her body tensed. Picking herself up, Harry pulled out Draco's wand and Disapparated.

Harry landed on another beach, where above her, looking white cliffs stood tall. It was much warmer here.

The doors were pushed gently. Harry approached the sea, pulling of her Muggle clothes as she went, toeing off her trainers and pulling off her socks.

She could feel him at the back of her head now, so she laid on the bed of sand, spreading out her limbs, submerging her body inside the cool, cold water, closing her eyes. All her troubles went away underwater as the ocean drenched her face, her scar, her arms and any unlocthed skin. Everything turned quiet. Harry's long hair floated like a black veil in the sea.

After the first bubble came out her lips, Harry broke the surface again, refreshingly drenched. She stood up from the shallow and dried her hair with a drying charm, then did the same to the rest of her body. The moment the water was gone, Harry missed the feel of it. She Accioed her clothes to her and put on her shirt first.

The doors yawned open, creaking inside Harry’s ears. Saying nothing, Harry pulled up her trousers next.

She was stuffing her socked feet into her trainers when she felt the bond open, and Voldemort step past the doors.

Harry stood up, and Voldemort was there, three feet away from her, a red-eyed skeleton draped in black robes.

“Did the knife find a mark?” he asked, his cold voice all around her, just like the wind.

Harry clenched her teeth. She held her head high, and said nothing. The less Voldemort knows, the better. Harry climbed up the sandy beach, brushing past Voldemort; the cloth of his robe brushed against the cotton of her red shirt.

A skeletal, strong hand latched around her forearm, pulling Harry back, turning her around.

When Harry was turned to him, the hand released her. She felt his eyes on her.

“You’ve grown thinner.”

Was that a note of worry in his voice?

“It’s the fugitive style.” said Harry, staring at his collar. “You should try it out. Does wonders for your brain.”

Voldemort hummed. He moved out of Harry's periohery, and started circling her. Harry heard the sound of his bare feet on the sand as they walked, smelled the snowflakes she came to connect to his scent. She even felt the warmth of his breath on her neck when he leaned in and whispered, “Why did you run, Harry? I wouldn’t have harmed you. I would have been merciful toward your friends.”

Harry feels wetness on her cheeks. Despite drying her clothes and hair, her face is still wet from swimming in the ocean.

Voldemort stops in front of her, blocking her view of the blue horizon of the sea. Harry looks up at him then. His serpentine features are tense, impatience clear on the ivory face.

Harry glares at him for stepping in her way.

There are many things Harry could say.

“How was robbing Dumbledore’s grave?” she asks instead.

The impatience momentarily shifts to surprise. Voldemort looked almost displeased Harry knew what he had done while she was busy crashing on the beach and holding a dying Dobby in her arms.

Voldemort's skeletal hand disappears into the pocket of his robe. It pulls out a wand of dark wood.

Harry already thinks it doesn't suit him. The bone yew suited Voldemort much better.

Voldemort lifts it, sweeps his fingers across the bumped edges, thoughtful.

“It is not as though he will be needing it. I deserve it.”

Harry feels so disappointed and somber no words come. What was the point of trying, anyway?

“You’re still taking things that don't belong to you.” said Harry, breaking the silence.

Voldemort lunged, fast as a viper, with blinding speed. His long, skeletal fingers wrapped around Harry's throat, holding her paralysed.

“You belong to me!” he hissed, nightmarish face dangerously close, red eyes scalding into her. Harry's heart stopped beating for a moment as she stared at the enraged face.

Harry watched the rage fade, the tension vanish from the snake-like face. The fingers restraining her like a python loosened their grip on her neck, and his hands travelled up her skin. His fingers brushed her ears, and the next moment, those same palms were cradling her face as though she was the most fragile thing in the world.

The hiss turned into a silky whisper. “You’re mine.”

Another beat of silence.

“Come home to me.”

The red eyes trailed along her face hungrily, his breath caressing her cheek, wintery cold in a blooming spring sun.

The hunger overtook his eyes, the slitted pupils expanding into exploding dark holes. It was the only warning Harry received. Not that she could have stepped away, anyway, not with her face caged between his palms.

Voldemort sealed his mouth over Harry’s, kissing her hungrily. The kiss was warm and scalding hot, sending electric tremors through the most tender, vulnerable parts of her. Her lips were parted, so Voldemort took advantage, driving his tongue inside her mouth.

Harry didn't move. Didn't make a sound. She let him kiss her, let him have it. Voldemort, greedy as he was, hungering for more, took as much as he could, curling his tongue around Harry's mouth, tasting her and her lips both.

When it got too much, when Harry couldn’t breathe anymore, she whimpered into him. Voldemort pulled away regrettably, releasing Harry from his affection, tongue and lips retreating. He was smiling so beautifully, like an overjoyed boy.

The smile fell when he saw the sadness on Harry's face. Confusion marred his face. He looked as though he had no idea what he’d done wrong.

Harry felt so sad over the fact — over the fact Voldemort thought there was nothing wrong with this — that she felt tears gather in her eyes.

Voldemort bent down and kissed Harry again, this one slow and tender, not as passionate. Harry didn’t know how many times he kissed her. She knew she kissed him back a few times, hoping it would make him stop. But it felt as though he knew her heart wasn't in it, and kept pressing for more, his fingers caressing her face adoringly, repeating “Come home to me.” between each kiss.

Harry returned to Shell Cottage an hour later, rushed to the bathroom, and cried.

[milkybonya]

crush ☆ doyoung

order 069, anon: large taro milk tea with strawberry popping boba for treasure Doyoung

! : suggestive (kissing), explicit language (swear words)

# : bad boy!doyoung (but he's really just tsundere) x gn reader, ft. best friend!Jaehyuk

[💌: since hello era... doyoung and junghwan be hitting differently like THESE BOYS ARE ALL GROWN MY BBYS :( also anon i hope u like this one i'm sorry its so late T_T and on Haruto day?? not me posting a Dobby fic on Haruto day hehe HAPPY RUTO DAY]

there's no bad boy that makes you as weak in the knees as Doyoung. you have the fattest crush on him but no one will ever know. not even him. well, no one except for your best friend, Jaehyuk.

you keep your eyes straight ahead as Doyoung loudly enters the classroom, slamming the door accidentally (?) behind him and loudly pulling out his chair in the back to sit down.

you watch Jaehyuk wriggle his eyebrows as you from two rows ahead. then, you steal a glance back at Doyoung. he's leaning back in his head, facing the ceiling, revealing his attractive neck--

okay, seriously. you've gotta stop. how can a neck be attractive? well, his can.

you gulp as you face the front, trying to focus on the lesson. but... the teacher doesn't show up. so, as always, the kids start causing a ruckus. Doyoung keeps his head down in the back and you sigh as you sift through your homework, trying to find something non-violent to do.

just as Jaehyuk approaches you to have a conversation, he gets pushed aside by one of your class's rude idiots. he falls to the ground.

"y/n, is that the homework? can i borrow it?" they ask, leaning way too close.

"fuck off," you mutter, annoyed.

"huh? did you say something?" they ask, leaning even closer.

you sigh, trying to decide if you should fight back or just give them your homework--when you hear the legs of a chair scraping against the floor from behind you.

"just piss off! leave them alone," Doyoung yells at the rude idiot. "if you care about homework that bad, why don't you actually do it, hm?"

"yeah, he's right," Jaehyuk pipes up, finally getting up from the floor.

"and what if i don't leave them alone?" they challenge Doyoung, who makes some kind of quiet snarling sound before he bounds over to you.

"fuck. off," he says, shoving the person with each word.

they fall backwards onto a desk and Jaehyuk cheers.

your heart is racing, both because of the adrenaline the situation is making you feel, and because Doyoung is so... damn attractive while he's shutting these idiots down. his jaw is clenched and the outline of it is sharp. his lips glisten under the ceiling lights from when he licked them moments ago, trying to hold back his anger.

Doyoung turns to you, his ears red and his hands in his pockets. his dress shirt uniform is unbuttoned, revealing a black shirt underneath.

he doesn't say anything, just scans your face with slightly furrowed brows before walking to his spot in the back. once he's gone, you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding. then, you race to Jaehyuk, making sure he's okay.

"i'm fine! are you, though? your knight in shining armour totally just saved you--" Jaehyuk starts, wiggling his eyebrows.

"shut up!" you whine, slapping his arm.

you can't help but smile, though. as you look back to glance at Doyoung, you watch his head immediately jerk away from you.. as if his eyes had been on you before you looked at him.

you shrug it off as the teacher finally walks in.

-

Doyoung watches you for the entire lesson. he's never paid much attention to you until today, when those idiots were harassing you. usually, he doesn't get involved in class drama. but for some reason, he got so angry this time. he wonders why. he needs to know why.

the whole day you feel someone's eyes on you. every time you turn around, you see nothing. there's always so many students everywhere, so you don't pay it much mind. that is, until you notice something.

Doyoung is always there, in your line of vision, when you turn around to see if someone is watching you... but it's probably just a coincidence. it isn't until he joins you and Jaehyuk at the cafeteria to eat that you think maybe it wasn't a coincidence.

you're both stuffing your faces with food when he smoothly slides his tray in next to yours, sitting down and poking at his food.

"can we help you?" Jaehyuk asks, seeing how you're too stunned to speak.

"no. keep eating," Doyoung says somewhat coldly.

he watches you from the corners of his eyes.

"well, anyways, i think it's so dumb that we all have to do an outdoor activity this weekend and write a story about it. that's what little kids get assigned to do!" Jaehyuk complains, ignoring Doyoung.

"whyyy? i think it sounds so fun and cute! we could go on a picnic and both write about it--"

"i'm coming, too," Doyoung blurts out. he's shocked by his own words.

"why would you come?" Jaehyuk questions, maintaining (or trying to) a friendly tone.

"because... i don't know what else to do for the project either," Doyoung grumbles.

you stare at his lips, stained with the strawbery milk he just took a sip of.

"stop drooling, y/n," Jaehyuk says.

"shut up!" you screech, slapping your friend.

Doyoung chuckles and catches himself in the act. why was he so amused by you? he's never cared about a single living soul at this school before.

-

all three of you show up to the park with hands full of goodies... except, Doyoung's 'goodies' are just his skateboard... that's it.

Jaehyuk shakes his head, sighing as he lays down the blanket and one side of it folds in because of the wind. you're too busy staring at Doyoung as he sets his skateboard down to notice your own friend struggling.

"hello? a little help here?" Jaehyuk whines, but you still can't hear him.

the wind blowing through Doyoung's hair and rustling his clothes makes him look incredibly attractive. your knees feel weak and you decide to help Jaehyuk to distract yourself.

before you know it, you're being stopped by Doyoung himself.

"no, let me," he says in a deep voice, taking over and helping Jaehyuk with the blanket.

eventually, everything is set up and the three of you are sat surrounded by snacks and your notebooks.

"well.. we can't just write that all we did was sit here and eat. what should we do?" Jaehyuk points out.

"how about a game?" you ask excitedly.

you peek at Doyoung to see his reaction, but he's staring off into space. you pout and Jaehyuk notices.

"hey, Doyoung! what do you think?" Jaehyuk asks.

"yeah, sure. if y/n wants to, let's do it."

you feel butterflies within you as you grin as Doyoung.

"how about truth or dare?! Jaehyuk first! truth or dare?" you say.

"truth!"

"boring," you and Doyoung say at the same time. you both look at each other and you watch the boy's lips curve slightly upwards.

"i pick truth. now ask me something."

"have you ever liked y/n?" Doyoung asks, lazily.

your heart races at the question, even though you already know the answer.

"i did before, actually. i confessed but.. it didn't work out.

"how long ago was that?" Doyoung asks, brows furrowed.

"Doyoung, your turn! it's one question only," you say.

he presses his lips together before choosing 'dare'.

"i dare you to eat all those strawberries in one minute," Jaehyuk says.

you slap his arm, telling him that's too much, but Doyoung goes for it. you watch as his cheeks fill with the red berries, his face puffy as he chews. he starts laughing when you both laugh at how funny he looks, and he isn't able to eat them all because he laughs so hard he has to spit everything out!

"y/n, your turn," Doyoung says softly.

"mmm.. okay what will my truth be and what will my dare be?" you ask.

"dare is you kiss Doyoung and truth is do you like Doyoung," Jaehyuk asks.

your jaw drops and Doyoung smirks, amused.

"you--"

"pick!" Jaehyuk urges.

you sigh and choose dare, thinking that'll be the safer option.

Doyoung's face is slightly red as you turn to him.

"kiss! kiss! kiss!" Jaehyuk chants like a kid.

"shut up!" you say before turning to Doyoung, gently cupping and squeezing his cheeks so his lips are puffy, and pressing your own lips to his.

the kiss is soft, his lips are plump and his mouth tastes like strawberries. as if instictually, Doyoung's arm wraps around your waist, but Jaehyuk's giggles make you pull away.

"well, won't i have quite the situation to write about!"

"shut up, Jae," you say, nervously.

you still feel butterflies and you can feel Doyoung looking at you. every time you look at him, he looks away.

a few moments later, Jaehyuk gets up in search of a washroom. you and Doyoung are left on your own.

"i'm sorry if you didn't want to do that kiss--" you start.

"no. i wanted to," Doyoung replies sweetly.

"oh?"

"did you want to?"

"yes," you reply.

"do you want to do it again?" he asks while leaning back his weight rested on his arms.

"y-yeah."

and that's how Doyoung kisses you so hard that you fall onto the picnic blanket, Doyoung's arm also catching you as you fall. you place a hand to his chest to keep yourself grounded as butterflies rage inside you, but feeling his heartbeat makes you melt even more.

"hey, i leave for one second and come back to this?!" Jaehyuk says in disgust.

quickly, the two of you pull away.

Doyoung's face is red and he clears his throat.

"well... to avoid this from getting awkward, i say we end the picnic here," Jaehyuk announces.

after cleaning up everything, Doyoung pulls you aside to ask if you want to hang out with just him some time.

"i like you, y/n. something about you just keeps drawing me to you," he says, caressing your cheek.

"i-i-yes.. let's meet! this weekend! wait, it is the weekend... maybe some time this week after school?"

Doyoung laughs, a rare sight. "sure. let's meet after school."

you and Jaehyuk walk home together and the whole time he's teasing you, but you couldn't be happier.

[midnightstargazer]

Regulus Black is probably my favorite Harry Potter character, but I don't understand why he's so often portrayed as being forced to join the Death Eaters.

Don't get me wrong, I totally get the desire to portray him sympathetically or give him a redemption arc. And I definitely think there's room for different interpretations as far as what he actually did as a Death Eater and why he betrayed Voldemort in the end. But there's really no ambiguity in whether he joined willingly or not. Every time he's brought up, including when the truth about his death is revealed, it's emphasized that he changed his mind, not that he was never loyal in the first place.

I know there's a popular headcanon that Sirius ran away to avoid being forced to join the Death Eaters, and I can see how that idea would naturally lead to Regulus being pressured to as well. But Sirius never actually mentions Voldemort or the Death Eaters when he explains why he ran away. He also tells Harry his parents were not Death Eaters, and while he indicates they were probably proud of Regulus for joining, he never suggests that they might have pressured him into it.

This is especially important because it's implied that Sirius had more nuanced feelings about Regulus than the rest of the family. (That's a topic for another day, but seriously, he put a hippogriff in his mother's bedroom and carelessly threw away dozens of family heirlooms, all while leaving his brother's room untouched). When he tells Harry about Regulus, Sirius shifts part of the blame for his poor life choices onto their parents, describing Regulus as a "stupid idiot" who was "soft enough to believe" their ideology. If he had any reason to believe they had forced Regulus to get the Dark Mark, and especially if that reason was that they had also tried to do the same to Sirius himself, why not say so?

The version told by Kreacher in Deathly Hallows reveals more about Regulus's decision to join: he expressed blood purist views, admired Voldemort, talked about him for years before joining, and was "so proud, so happy to serve." Again, nothing to indicate reluctance or coercion. He was certainly influenced by his family's ideology and most likely experienced peer pressure from his fellow Slytherins, but that's not the same as saying he was made to join against his will.

I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of the first war, there were certain pure-blood families that expected their sons to become Death Eaters. Was there ever anybody who wasn't thrilled by that prospect, but went along with it because it wasn't easy to say no? Possibly. But I actually don't think Regulus is a good candidate for that. Aside from everything I mentioned above, he didn't go along with it. Just a year or so later, he was prepared to die to strike a blow against Voldemort. That's much easier to imagine coming from a true believer who for whatever reason had a change of heart than a reluctant Death Eater who only joined out of fear. And in my opinion, it's more interesting that way.

For what it's worth, I don't think he has to be forced into joining to be sympathetic or redeemable. Consider the following:

He was only sixteen when he took the Dark Mark, an age at which the human brain is not yet fully developed.

We're never told about any specific crimes he committed, and he was still a student at Hogwarts during most of his time as a Death Eater. He doesn't necessarily have to be guilty of extreme atrocities (although I tend to think he should be guilty of something beyond just going to meetings and having an ugly tattoo).

He was noted to be kind to his house-elf. Regardless of exactly what that looked like beyond not being cool with what Voldemort did to him, it creates an interesting contrast with the Malfoys and the way they treated Dobby. This suggests that Regulus didn't enjoy engaging in pointless cruelty just for the sake of being cruel. Which is admittedly a very low bar.

He did eventually turn against Voldemort, and none of the characters who provide accounts of this seem to fully understand why, making a wide range of headcanons plausible.

In an AU where he survives his trip to the cave, he would almost certainly end up going into hiding and/or changing sides, and therefore would be separated from the influence of his family and fellow Death Eaters, quite possibly surrounded by people who would challenge his views.

There are enough ambiguities and indications of nuance that (in my opinion) he can be portrayed as a morally gray character, set up for a redemption arc, or just humanized and portrayed with some degree of sympathy, without undermining the fact that he did make a really awful choice.

So what's the appeal of having him be a good person from the start? Like, I understand that morally gray characters are not everyone's cup of tea, but there are plenty of straightforwardly good characters in the series. What's the appeal of changing the narrative to make a Death Eater basically an innocent victim?

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Seeing your reply on the HP books, what disappointed you in DH? What would you have changed in it? Less deaths?

On HBP and why I didn't care for DH: get ready for a long post/ran that the tl; dr version is: *it makes narrative sense but not logical sense and I wanted both*

I didn't *love* the intro of the battle of the seven potters, to begin with. Obviously I know that we needed some introductory action to get going, and what's better than a battle where both Hedwig and Mad-Eye die? Even warriors die, childhood ending, etc. It makes *sense* for the narrative, but not in-world. Just make an illegal portkey. Apparate, ffs. Put Harry under the invisibility cloak, side-apparate him to Diagon Alley, and then re-apparate to a safe house, if you want to avoid the trace issue. Or illegal portkey that noise because Harry's already wanted and so are the others. Remus would've been a great pick. Everyone hates werewolves. (and ok, I get why they did what they did, because Snape put it in Mundungus' ear to keep Voldemort's trust, but also, it just seems like shoddy thinking it through, JKR's inconsistencies drive me crazy).

Grimmauld Place and Yaxley. Ok, so this is also going back to JKR inconsistencies. If Snape was Secret keeper (as were all Order members after Dumbledore's death) why wouldn't Voldemort just ask Snape for the location and ambush them? But ofc Snape is protecting Harry, there's that tongue-tying thing so Snape couldn't say, I suppose, but still. Part of me wonders why Hermione didn't try to obliviate Yaxley, or stun him, and then ask Kreacher to come with them so they wouldn't starve. Kreacher would've been delighted to hunt for horcruxes. Or why Hermione didn't apparate them to nowhere first, shake Yaxley off, and THEN go to GP? But again: hero's journey has to be alone, character development, whatever. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense.

Camping: so boring. Harry Potter and the Haunted Camping Trip. Pass. I get it; it's boring to them, it's boring to us, it's dry, it's dull, it's reflecting what the characters are going through. But at the same time, why didn't they call for Kreacher? Or Dobby? And why did they wear the locket when they could have shoved it in the beaded bag, put a sturdy string around that, and worn the beaded bag around their necks? Give them some kind of protection? Sigh. It's for narrative purposes, not sense-making purposes. Or give us more deaths during that process, they come across some cool dead bodies of Muggleborns and it freaks them out.

The deaths: ok, let's start with my clear frustration with Remus and Tonks dying (for narrative purposes, I also get, orphaned child, last Marauder is gone, Tonks is young and dies early like Alice Longbottom, whatever). Andromeda Tonks is left with Teddy. Wtf, did JKR forget that Andromeda existed when she killed Remus and Tonks off? Did she realized she killed a whole family? What? Narrative purposes, I say to myself, but also want to scream.

I would've had more deaths, but different ones. Instead of Fred, I'd have killed Bill and Molly. Fleur would be newly pregnant and not know it, so Victoire would still exist, but Bill dying would bum everyone out, and have a fatherless child. Then Molly--just imagine Arthur without her. Do it. Kill the next closest mother figure Harry has. Have Neville kill Bellatrix instead, but make it more of an accident. Ron will kill Nagini. That's the stuff right there. Or hell, get Andromeda Tonks all up in there, have HER kill Bellatrix, and die in the process. Leave Tonks with her little family. Oh, and as an added kick, set the epilogue only a year later, have it be Arthur's funeral because he died of sadness or whatever but things are looking up elsewhere.

That epilogue. While I'm ok with it giving us the Potter kids and Tedoire, I would have loved to have left it to the imagination. You know what would've been good? Arthur's funeral, but have all the canon couples be together as engaged or newly married, Fleur's holding fatherless Victoire, and Arthur is joining his oldest son and his wife in the grave. Lupin and Tonks are there with Teddy and then they go see the Tonkses' graves to put flowers there or something. Remus wasn't really a father figure to Harry but Arthur was. Kill all the real parent figures. Get Vernon and Petunia in the ground too just for shits and giggles.

Anyway. That turned into a much bigger rant. I was more or less dissatisfied with the how of everything, a little bit of the why, and I like the how and why to be congruent. Why things made narrative sense was fine enough, but let me scream about how dumb the camping trip, secret keeper rules, battle of seven potters, and screech about Remadora.

at the end of the day they're all fragments of fiction that are vehicles to tell a story, and while I understand the story that was ultimately told, it doesn't mean I like the ending or that I think it was satisfying for the saga that came beforehand.

that's what fanfic is for!

[sunwarmed-ash]

Fucking Friday- fic preview 3

Here's a bit of where the next chapter of silence Isn't golden is headed

TW's: mentions of past SA, torture, kidnapping

The man who comes down the stairs is not the man who purchased me. He’s younger, taller, and strikes a familiar chord in my brain though I can’t be sure of any facts any more. Maybe I’ve met him, maybe not. 

“Oh how the mighty fall,” the man chuckles cruelly, eying the surely pathetic shell of my former self cowering on the cell floor. Whether or not I know him, he knows me, and I push myself further back in my cage. He continues his hateful monologue. “Though it does give me peace to see two Malfoys behind bars. Metaphorically in your case.” He takes as many steps forward as required to reach the glass. When his hand touches the wall, it doesn't electrocute him. “Can’t say I don’t love this. Seeing your posh ass so fucking destitute. I don’t even think your father would spit on you if he could see you now.” 

The man cackles then, hard, before spitting a harsh truth I hoped I wouldn't have to face yet. “If he was still alive that is. Can’t say you don't deserve the same punishment. You and your entire wretched bloodline. Everything you’ve done to mine, for generations.”

‘I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING,’ I insist, though no sound leaves my lips. Because I haven't! I may have been pulled into and forced against my own will to commit atrocities in my 6th year but- I’ve never hurt anyone, not like that. Nothing permanent. Nothing that couldn't be reversed. 

At least I don’t think… 

The man's eyes continue to rake over my body. Feeding on my discomfort. 

“No ones looking for you Draco. Now that the Dark Lord is dead, the world is rightfully hostile towards any and all of his followers. Many are even willing to pay a substantial amount to get their hands on former Death Eaters. At least, the ones not already in line for execution in Azkaban. But you just happened to luck out of that charge didn’t you? But I’m sure that had everything to do with Severus, not you. You're not particularly clever.”

He’s right, I’m not. Dumbledore even said so before he died. My fathers been saying it for years. 

“I’m going to torture you Draco. To the brink of death. And then, I’ll heal you. And then, I’ll start again.”

‘WHY!’ I leap to my feet, ‘WHY!? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU!’ I demand, though none of my words will ever be heard. The man seems to understand anyway because he laughs before stating,

“The Malfoy line will end with you. Don’t you get it? It’s the only way to restore balance in the world.” 

-

12 Grimmauld place

“HARRY! CALM DOWN!”

I hurtle another chair across the room and watch it explode into hundreds of pieces. They don't hurt anyone because i'm not an asshole or an idiot, but what I can’t understand why we don't have a single fucking clue as to where to search for Draco! He is in danger, I can feel it. Ive been able to feel it for months, and now that Dobby has confirmed proof of life, at least two and a half weeks ago, our time is running out. 

Dobby still isn't healed enough to help us track. Hermione has been admitting that and if I was as selfish as a person on the outside as I was feeling on the inside I would have taken him and apperated the hell out of here weeks ago. Nothing is going right. Draco could be dead now for all I know and we are just standing here! Why aren't we out there looking for him?!

“WE AREN’T ANY CLOSER TO FINDING DRACO THAN WE WERE A MONTH AGO!” i scream, hurtling another chair and bursting it midair with a spell. The pieces exploded before gathering back together and getting back in line with the other chairs to be exploded. 

“AND THIS IS HELPING HOW?”

“ITS SURE MAKING ME FEEL BETTER!” Because it is. Im furious, and at least this way noone gets hurt. 

She huffs and leaves the room knowing better than to argue with me like this. Its fine. I need time to think anyway. 

-

Confinement Chamber 

I don't remember falling asleep. Which unlocks very specific fears and traumas in my mind and body the second I wake up strapped to long metal table. 

‘What is this? What are you doing to me!’ I shout, thrash and scream but still nothing comes out. My movement signals him to my consciousness status and now, as I see the sharp objects in his hands, I wish I had stayed silent. ‘Please, please don’t please don’t,’ I beg, louder and louder though it never makes it into the airwaves as the needles get closer. The first one sinks into the meat of my biceps and it stings, but its a butterfly kiss compared to the electrical pulse that follows the pinch, localizes in my arm and then makes my entire body twitch in efforts to get away from the pain. 

Tears push past my defense and drench my face. I can’t keep my eyes open. I beg for him to stop, but he doesn't hear it. Or chooses not to. He just repeats the action in my opposite leg. It hurts so much worse. I pray for unconsciousness to take me. 

“You really can’t talk huh? I thought it was an act, but if you can keep it quiet under this,” to emphasize his point he pushes a third needle back into my thigh muscle and lights the charge. My body jerks but I stay silent, patient. It’ll be over soon. One way or the other. 

“This isn’t going to work,” he suddenly mutters and I know its stupid to assume that means any good news for me. He pulls the needles out and sets it on the table with a frustrated clatter. The next moment he's grabbing another device. Something that doesn't look magical in its origin. He brings the device above my throat, squinting at the screen and analyzing whatever the hell it said on there. 

“Gotta give the guy credit, this is pretty intricate spell work. If you had tried to reverse it yourself, it would have permanently severed your vocal chords. You would have felt it too. He must really hate the sound of your voice.”

I could only be so fucking lucky….

‘HA! If that was the case he wouldn't have undone it when he raped me. Couldn’t get off without my sounds, perverted old fuck.’

It's quiet. For a beat too long and then the man says,

“…..Shit. actually?”

My eyes fly open, and I'm feeling lucid for the first time in years. 

‘How the fuck did you hear that?’

“I can see what you’re saying with this machine.” 

‘What?!’

“Yeah, designed it myself.”

This feels monumental and also harrowing. This man is obviously a more clever wizard than even Severus, and that cannot mean good things for me. 

I don't say anything else, and neither does he. He pushes the machine away with frustration before clapping his hands above my bound throat. It startles me, because I've been struck too many times not to jump at motion near my face. When no other sound follows I open my eyes, only to notice hes casting in a way I'm intimately familiar with. 

‘Wait, what are you doing?’

“Gonna need you to not talk for this,” he warns,

‘What are you casting!’

He drops his hands and huffs angrily before slapping me hard across my face. I bite so hard into my tongue my mouth fills with blood. I swallow it down along with any other words of objection. 

“Shut it, don't make me tell you again or I’ll make it permanent.”

I don't move. I don't even open my eyes. Whatever spell he’s casting around my throat hurts, burns actually, like someone has made me swallow fire, but I’ve spent years numbing myself out to torture. If he wants me to scream, it won't be from this.

[alastorseye]

About Remadora

When I say I really hate the HP fandom, I'm talking about the "fans" that hate everything about the saga, but still having Harry Potter accounts. They change the original story, claim that fanonical facts are canon, and launch hatred and death threats at those who simply like HARRY POTTER JUST THE WAY IT IS. Yes, I'm mostly talking about Marauders fans, which I joined after reading the books because I thought it would be interesting and funny. I suddenly realized how toxic and hateful that fandom was, it's like a cult dedicated to deifying Remus, Sirius, James and Regulus, and it seems that hating Snape, Dumbledore, and Remadora is a requirement to be a part of it.

At the beginning I used to consider Wolfstar as something funny, a bromance, it never bothered me, I mean... every fandom has fanon ships and I respect that, but the way they always hate Remadora and their shippers is something that MUST stop.

"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely -"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front ofLupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times. . . ." And the meaning of Tonks's Patronus and her mouse-colored hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumor someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all."

"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes,staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor . . . too dangerous. . ."

When I read this part of the HBP I realized that Remadora was my favorite Harry Potter ship. Of course I wasn't aware of the death threats I'd receive later. I've read some "reasons" why some fans hate Remadora.

"Tonks forced him!"

We all know how insecure Remus was. I don't have to explain what's written in Wizarding World (Pottermore). This is the Remus bio:

Well, we can read that Remus was really attracted to Dora.

"Remus, so often melancholy and lonely, was first amused, then impressed, then seriously smitten by the young witch. He had never fallen in love before. If it had happened in peacetime, Remus would have simply taken himself off to a new place and a new job, so that he did not have to endure the pain of watching Tonks fall in love with a handsome, young wizard in the Auror office, which was what he expected to happen. However, this was war; they were both needed in the Order of the Phoenix, and nobody knew what the next day would bring. Remus felt justified in remaining exactly where he was, keeping his feelings to himself but secretly rejoicing every time somebody paired him with Tonks on some overnight mission".

This is so sad and cute, and that's undeniable. I cried when I read it. If someone still thinking that Dora forced Remus to marry her after reading this paragraph... I mean... they're probably talking about another book series.

"The age gap!"

I'm so satisfied to know that some Remadora shippers have explained this. When it's about a kid and an adult... OF COURSE IS HORRENDOUS! Because children are not physically and mentally prepared to have romantic relationships. Wizards are legally adults at 17, REMUS MET TONKS WHEN SHE WAS 21!

I mean, many old people abuses of young people innocence, or something. But we all know that Remus wasn't one of those! He really loved Tonks, and that's canon. I don't know what's doing in the fandom people who denies canon facts.

Remus and Tonks were two physically, mentally, and legally adults loving each other.

"Remus didn't love her!"

He was an introvert, Tonks was an extrovert, she made his life better. And of course, I loved the way he introduced himself when he was trying to prove he wasn't a Death Eater:

"I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag." (Remus Lupin, DH)

Maybe I'm not the only one who perceive he was proud to be Nymphadora Tonks husband.

"I.. I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgment and have regretted it very much every since". (Remus Lupin, DH)

This phrase makes more sense after reading Remus bio. He used to think that he was "too poor, too dangerous" for her. He thought he wasn't enough for her. He never imagined that she would love him back. He was a werewolf, and of course he knew he was dangerous, you only need to be emphatic to realize he tried to get away from Tonks because he loved her, he didn't want to hurt his beloved woman!

If you don't believe me, read this again. It's in the chapter 11 of Deathly Hallows:

"Don't you understand what I've done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I've made her an outcast!"

So, if Remus was trying to escape it's because he loved them, he thought he spoiled their lives. And of course, no one likes to feel that their influence is bad for someone they love!

"Their relationship came from nowhere! They don't have a development"

Well, the saga's name is HARRY POTTER, not The Love Life of Remus Lupin. The story is about the tragic life of this kid and everything he went through to save the world of a cruel and dark villain. I know many readers are young people in love, and they only want to ship everything, but that's not the main topic here, maybe mother's love would be the topic. Of course Ron and Hermione had a development because they were HARRY'S BEST FRIENDS, and they were always with him, from Philosopher's Stone to Cursed Child. Remus and Tonks are minor characters, and it's funny the fact that this usually comes from Wolfstar shippers, so... is Wolfstar more developed than Remadora?! I mean... they can ship whatever they want, Snape and the Sorting Hat, Dobby and Voldemort, anything, but that does not give them the right to disrespect such a cute, tragic and beautiful canon ship as Remadora.

"They are queercoded! Their relationship is homophobic!"

It's surprising to hear this. It's like... people gets angry just because the author doesn't make queer their favourite characters? I will explain why I don't think Remus and Tonks are "queercoded":

Whether through their dress, their behavior, their language, or other subtle forms of implication, queer characters were written or designed to communicate their unstated queerness to those who were searching for representation.

And this is the definition on the website Pride.com:

"Using LGBTQIA tropes and stereotypes to allude to a character's sexuality without explicitly confirming it in the text."

We all know that Disney used queercoding on characters like Ursula, Scar, Jaffar. And why do we know that? Because DISNEY WANTED TO PORTRAY THEM LIKE THAT, get it? Disney, THE CREATORS MADE THESE CHARACTERS INTENTIONALLY QUEER. How? BASED ON STEREOTYPES.

And going back to Remadora, I was really happy to see by first time a bada*ass woman, with short hair who wasn't portrayed as a lesbian just because the way she looks. This character didn't follow the: "Straight women have long hair and are girly", and "short dyied hair is for lesbians". I'm very very very surprised the fandom follows these stereotypes.

About Remus: I don't know how the phrase "being a werewolf is a metaphor about people with HIV AIDS" means "he's gay". Fenrir Greyback bit him when he was a kid. Many people interpret this as "r4pe". Okay, even thinking that it is the meaning of the "bite", I still cannot understand how being "r4ped" and "infected" makes him queer. Is this (again) a stereotype about people with AIDS and gay?

"JK Rowling created Remadora because she didn't like people shipping Wolfstar!"

It is true that fans love shipping everything, they queerbait and queercode everything. That's great, that's not the problem. The problem is when people starts bashing fans who ship canon straight couples. A very good example is the polemic on Falcon and Bucky relationship, some fans wanted them to be a gay couple, Anthony Mackie said that two men can only be friends, and there is no need to always give them a romantic connotation. People cancelled him, they called him homophobic. Yes, just because a person with authority (on the story they're following") didn't like the fact of queercoding their favourite characters. It's the same about Remadora.

Grindeldore is a very interesting and underrated couple by the way. You can love or hate JK Rowling, but the truth is that Harry Potter story is hers, and even if Remadora was "because she didn't like Wolfstar", she is the author, it was her mind where these characters first appeared, as a big Harry Potter fan I respect and like the original story, that's not a sin. An author has the right to make some changes if some characters were misunderstood by the readers.

(Yes, I wrote this a bit angrily since I've seen too much hate towards Remadora shippers)

[sweetcherrypie1967]

Narcissa’s Secret

It was a little known fact that Narcissa Malfoy was a skilled legilimens and occlumens, even more so than her sister Bellatrix. It was how she was able to be part of the Death Eater meetings without having a Dark Mark herself. It pained her that she wasn't able to save her son from the fate she was able to avoid. It pained Narcissa that her husband was foolish enough to jump into such a fate head first, damning the rest of his family without so much as consulting them.

She had begging Lucius to let their son choose his own fate, Narcissa would have begging the Dark Lord himself not to do it but it was her husband who insisted on it. It shattered her heart, hearing Draco's pain filled screams echo throughout the Manor.

Her baby boy, forced to be just like those monsters.

Narcissa tried talking Draco into leaving, run off to any corner of the world to get out and start over or even go to Dumbledore's group. In the beginning Draco had scoffed at the idea but the more she pushed, the more she could see him consider it. While he never went out and said it, there's been a definite change in him compared to when she first brought it up all those months ago.

Now she was standing silently, watching as they brought in the Potter boy, one of the Weasley's offspring and the muggleborn girl. Narcissa noticed a shift in Draco that no one else but his mother would catch, she began watching him closely. She tried to hide a smile as he lied about knowing their identity, Draco's ears always turned pink when he lied. It was a tell that she made sure no one else knew about, not even Lucius.

"Take them all to the dungeons...all except for the Mudblood,"

Narcissa could practically feel the anger radiating off of Draco. It confused her why his reaction was so strong, she knew he didn't want anyone to be harmed let alone someone he knew -he wasn't a monster- but he was always going on about how much Draco 'hated' Potter's pet.

Then it clicked.

The change in him, his reaction earlier and his now. They were all connected, it was because of her!

Just to be positive she cast a silent legilimens on the girl while everyone else was distracted. Her mind was very strong, but once Bella had her way..it weakened significantly. Narcissa didn't have to look to see how pained he was when the girl's screams began. Echoing throughout his own home while he could do nothing but stand there.

What Narcissa saw in her mind shocked her beyond belief.

She searched through her memories, looking for anything to do with her son, when she stumbled upon something no one was supposed to find.

It was Draco and Hermione...kissing! As if they'd done it millions of times before. It was the most prominent memory she could find with him in it, and it was only a few months old. But..too soon to be in Hogwarts. Narcissa's mind instantly went to one of the days Voldemort wasn't in Malfoy Manor, he had left the Manor to visit his friends at Zabini Manor. Narcissa had suspected he was leaving something out of his story, but allowed it. Now, she knew what he was really up to.

She went through what seemed like hundreds of other memories, them sitting together on a couch talking, in the Astronomy Tower after curfew watching the stars and laughing with many more. Narcissa has never seen Draco look as happy as he was in these memories. One in particular caught her attention, unlike most others she saw it was more sad than happy. It was in the Astronomy Tower.

"Please Draco, don't go," Hermione begged in a whisper through her tears.

Draco gave her a sad smile, he wanted to oh so badly. "We both know that I need to go, it's what's best for the Order," Draco said.

"You don't have too! It's too dangerous, please. Dumbledore will understand. Don't leave me," Hermione begged, looking at him with glassy eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, both hearts breaking at what had to be done.

"Hermione, you don't know how much I wish I could stay. I'd never leave your side through all this rubbish, but you heard the Headmaster. The Order needs me to spy on them. If I can earn their trust, if I can prove to Dumbledore and Potter and even bloody Weasley that I've changed. That I can be who you deserve, then I have to do it," Draco said.

"I don't care what Harry and Ron think-" Draco gave her a disbelieving look, "ok yes I do but I'm going to be with you no matter what. If they don't think you're worthy of me then that's their own bloody problem because I know you are and..I love you,"

Draco's eyes snapped to hers, searching for her sincerity before his face broke out in a grin, "I love you too, Granger."

They both kissed and the memory faded.

Narcissa's son was in love with Potter's pet? Hermione Granger? More importantly, he was working as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix?! Part of her was ecstatic, her son found love and took her advice to get out of this life Lucius had lay out for them! Another part, however, was scared. Being a spy, let alone for spying on Voldemort himself, was very dangerous business. If one was spying on the Dumbledore, they wouldn't have the guts to kill them but Voldemort wouldn't think twice about it.

Narcissa's focus was abruptly interrupted by the whole ordeal with Potter and Weasley saving Hermione and escaping with Dobby. She wasn't expecting her ex House Elf to be their savior but as long as they were going someplace safe. Narcissa knew Dobby used to enjoy listening to Draco rant and rave about the Potter boy and his little group. It was plain that he became fascinated, she wasn't sure if he simply didn't understand her son's sarcasm or just read between the lines.

Once the whole ordeal was done she practically dragged Draco into a separate room and cast every silencing charm she knew on it. She rounded on him and she could see he was guarded and..scared? Draco's fists were shaking along with the rest of him, probably trying to gain enough self control not to go after Bella for what she did.

"Would you mind telling me what that was all about?" Narcissa asked him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean with the Granger girl," she said and he set his jaw defensively, "I saw her memories, Draco. I know you switched sides..and I know you love her."

His shoulders dropped slightly but he was still on guard. Just because she knew doesn't mean she wouldn't tell, it pained Narcissa that Draco would even think she would put him in danger like that.

"What's there to tell if you already know everything?" Draco said.

"Well I didn't have quite the time to see everything, and I'd like an explanation," Narcissa said.

“How do I know you won’t go off and tell Father or the Dark Lord himself,” he said.

“Because I’m your mother, Draco,” she said softly, “I would never intentionally put you in any danger if I could prevent it. I love you more than life itself.”

He sighed in defeat, "Hermione, she caught me..in a vulnerable moment. I was overwhelmed by my task and the fact my plans never seemed to work. She offered for me to join their cause, even full immunity for me and you. After all you've said, I've been thinking about it and I accepted. I think it surprised her almost as much as it surprised me," Draco said with a slight laugh remembering, "we went to Dumbledore and he made a plan. It was decided that I was to spy in His ranks and give information back and forth, though only the bare minimum of members knew about my involvement. Me and Hermione began meeting secretly if I received any information and she would keep me updated with anything she was allowed to inform me. As time went on though, it wasn't always about the Order. I fell in love with her and she says she loves me too," he concluded with a warm smile.

"That settles it," Narcissa said sternly. Draco waited anxiously for her next words, "we're getting you out."

"Out? I'm a spy, I can't leave," he said confused.

"The Order already has spies in the Dark Lord's ranks, you don't need to be one of them. I'll even send information if that's what it'll take. You need to be there for your Hermione," she said. Narcissa expected an argument but he sighed and agreed with her.

Only on one condition, she wasn't to act as a spy. 'Too dangerous' he said, the little hypocrite.

They had snuck him out that very night.

Months and months went on without so much as a word from it about Draco. This was good. He was keeping a low profile, it would be dangerous for him to send her anything. But Narcissa couldn't help but worry. What if he hadn't found them? What if something went wrong with Potter or the Weasley boy? What if he got hurt?

So many questions that would have to remain unanswered until it was all over.

The Battle of Hogwarts had taken many lives, including her insane sister Bellatrix. She'd have to thank Mrs. Weasley later, Bella has always caused more harm than good.

Narcissa was especially thankful that when it was all over, her son was still standing and with the Granger girl by his side. Not a perfect ending, she thought, but at least it can still be a happy one.

[amazingmaeve]

I’m so sorry - Hermione granger

Harry Potter Masterlist

Summary: Y/N Malfoy twin sister to Draco Malfoy and daughter of Narcissa Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy. Y/N and Hermione are in love but she had to break up with Hermione to protect her from Voldemort. Now she finally stands up while she’s being torture by her aunt.

Pairing: Hermione Granger x FemaleMalfoy!reader

Warnings: Torture, Angst, Spoiler

AN: I just had this idea and wanted to writes before I forgot it.

Word Count: 1588

Y/N Malfoy was thought to be as cruel as her family. That's what everyone thinks and thought. She didn't really bully anyone but had something against mudbloods since her parents said they were bad.

When Y/N met Hermione Granger she was quite rude. Y/N was taught to not be nice to Mudbloods and she knew Hermione Granger was one.

One night on the Astronomy tower Y/N ran into Hermione Granger. It was their fifth year and Y/N was sad she's always been sad.

Her parents mostly Lucius had always chastise her for being to soft. That she should be more like Draco. That made her angry and sad.

Y/N was sad because no matter what she did it would never please her parents.

Y/N was also angry at herself for not being more like Draco. Less emotional. Even though she was a Slytherin Y/N had cared more. She always felt bad when she said mean things. Or when Draco did it. Y/N just wished she could be more strong.

"Oh it's you," Y/N snapped out of her face to see Hermione standing there. Y/N was quick to wipe the tears away. "Wait are you crying," Hermione questions Y/N could almost sense some concern.

"Go head make fun of me Granger," Y/N sniffles drying her eyes making them more red.

"Unlike I don't make fun of people," Hermione states going sit next to Y/N. "Are you okay," She asks putting her books down.

"Obviously not," Y/N not putting her head in her hands trying to make her head ache go away.

"Sorry stupid question," Hermione cringes. "So you want to talk about it I'm a good listener," She gives her a half of a smile.

Y/N sighs she's never really had anyone to talk to so it's weird to her.

"Well first my parents think I'm to emotional and should be like my twin. And second of all I think I should be less emotional," Y/N lets out a few tears. "See I'm too emotional," She lets out a chuckle.

"It's okay to be emotional," Hermione corrects her starting to feel bad for her. Y/N had barely talked to Hermione only when she had introduced herself.

Y/N had wanted to apologize but didn't want her parents to hate her even more.

“Why are you being so nice to me I've been nothing but rude to you," Y/N questions feeling her heart race and butterflies in her stomach.

"I believe you are a good person just brought up with a bad influence," Hermione smiles at her and puts her hand on hers Y/N smiles back.

From that day on Y/N and Hermione always met at the astronomy tower. She always set her smiles when no one was looking.

Y/N could feel herself falling for the smart and beautiful girl.

Then one night as they were talking and laughing about her days, then Hermione kissed her on the lips.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean-," Hermione was about to apologize when Y/N had brought her hand to Hermiones cheek and kissed her again.

She moved her lips along with hers. When they broke away Y/N let out a nervous chuckle putting her hand on her.

From then on Y/N and Hermione would sneak around with giggles and kisses.

Whenever Y/N needed a shoulder to cry on Hermione would always be there for her reassuring that it was ok to be different.

And when Hermione needed to talk about fights with Ron and Harry Y/N would be there for each other.

It's been about a year that this has been going and they're almost done with their sixth year. Y/N had just found out that Professor Snape had killed professed Dumbledore.

Y/N then figured out her brother had the mark. And that's when it clicked why he had been distant. Y/N and Draco were somewhat close but they drifted when she got with Hermione.

Y/N was scared that her brother found out and told her mom. But it wouldn't be as bad as if her dad had known. But Hermione reassured her that nothing was wrong and oh how wrong Hermione was.

And know she had to break up with Hermione because her mother found out through Draco. Y/N was so scared that they would hurt Hermione she had to break up with her.

"Y/N what's wrong I was worried about when I couldn't find you," Hermione rushes over to Y/N worried that she had gotten hurt.

"I'm sorry," Y/N sobs.

"Why what's wrong love," Hermione asks brushing the tears away with her thumbs as her hands wrapped around her cheeks.

"We can't be together anymore," Y/N whispers.

"What why," Hermione asks confusion spreads on her cheek.

"My family found out," Y/N's lips tremble as tears cascade down her cheeks feeling heartbreak.

"Oh," Hermione lets out a breath.

"It's better you don't be with me I don't want you to get hurt," Y/N's body's tremble as she sobs. "I'm sorry please don't hate me," Y/N whimpers.

"Shh love I don't hate you," Hermione shushes her. "We will meet again and I know we'll end up together," Hermione lets some tears fall. She leans forward and kisses her one last time before leaving.

Y/N sadly smiles at Hermione leaves as tears keep on falling and falling.

And finally here we are at the Malfoy Manor with Draco and Y/N by their parents sides.

Her eyes widen as the Golden Trio was dragged into the room. Y/N felt her heart stop and her body coming to a halt.

"Oh my god," Y/N whispers.

She blocks out everything even when her aunt goes on a rant about a sword one of the guys have.

Of course her aunt almost murders the guys wanting to get the sword.

Draco drags Y/N out as her aunt mutters something about girl talk with Hermione and dragged the two boys down to the dungeon.

Hermiones scream snap her out of her daze. She felt her stomach twirl with anxiety and anger. The anger driven towards her aunt.

When Draco is looking away Y/N runs away to go to the room where her aunt is torturing Hermione.

"Stop," Y/N screams as she grabs her wand and points it at Bellatrix. Her eyes were burning with rage.

Bellatrix's eyes snap up to her nieces.

"And what are you going to do about my dearest niece," Bellatrix smirks knowing that Y/N was to weak to do anything.

"Stupefy," Y/N shout pointed her wand at Bellatrix who goes flying

As she gets flown across the room she runs across the room to Hermione where tears are rolling down her cheeks.

She helps Hermione stand up and pulls her behind so that her crazy aunt doesn't do anything.

"Don't even think about doing anything," Y/N snaps at her aunt who got up pretty fast who puts up her wand with a smirk on her face.

"Or what," Bellatrix cackles.

As she was about to speak her parents enter the room with Draco by her side.

"Y/N don't do anything stupid," Lucius snaps at his daughter who has had enough of her family.

"No I've had enough of this, from you, my family who's supposed to support me," Y/N snaps as tears roll down her cheek.

"Y/N sweetheart calm down," Narcissa softly told her daughter not wanting thing to go out of hand.

Y/N scoffs a little but was interrupted again when Harry and Ron entered the room and started casting spells to get Hermione out.

But what she didn't feel her aunt grab Hermione from behind her.

"STOP,"Bellatrix yells Y/N turns around to see her want and against Hermiones chin. Tears come down Hermione's cheeks.

Bellatrix goes on a rant and as Y/N pulls out her want the chandelier cascades down on Bellatrix.

Y/N runs to Hermione to make sure she’s.

“Minoe you ok,” Y/N softly asks as she grabs her hands.

As Hermione was about to speak but was interrupted by Ron.

“Hermione come let’s go,” Ron rushes.

“I’m not leaving without her,” Hermione says grabbing her hand pulling her along.

She sees the disappointed look on her families face as they all stand together and Y/N hands intertwines with Hermiones’. Hermione squeezes Y/N hand reassuring her.

Dobby the house elf that used to work for her family makes a huge speak which she smiles at. Y/N was one of the only Malfoy’s that cared about him.

They finally do the Apparition to make them leave the manor but not before Bellatrix throws a knife going with them.

They reappear somewhere else as Hermione clings on to Y/N.

“Thanks god you’re ok,” Y/N whispers as she kissed Hermione. She kisses back wrapping her arm around Y/N’s waist.

After they break apart she notices that Dobby has a knife in his stomach.

“No,” Y/N whispers as Dobby stumbles into Harry’s arm. Harry wants to do something Y/N sees but knows there’s nothing that can happen.

Y/N lets more tears fall as Dobby takes his last breath. Hermione hugs her as she cries on her shoulder.

She got out of her families house but ended in a tragedy.

[pale-sun-kisses]

Just had a funny little drarry dream.

It started after Voldy's defeat, with Draco looking at his small collection of Malfoy family house-elves (there's maybe 8 of them) and informing them he'd like to get them better clothes. Quickly assuring them that he's not getting rid of them, he just wants to do something nice. He does warn them it might take some time as he doesn't really have any money, but he's working on it. He then informs them he's going to go find Harry for some help and both Dobby (who's somehow alive) and an elf named Missy decide they're coming along to keep him safe.

It doesn't take long because Draco sent Harry a letter asking to meet up. They're quickly sidetracked and have to hide from (I can't remember what wizarding cops are called) and reporters having heard that the two of them are there. They use Harry's stinging spell to the face trick to avoid detection and hide in a hotel room to actually get to talk. We find out that Draco is now a werewolf and the reason he's getting in contact is because he needs wolfsbane potion that Harry would have an easier time getting than him, with him technically being a war criminal. Which Harry agrees to get for 25 bucks. $25 he doesn't have, but his elves were look for loose money while they were talking apparently because he suddenly has maybe $60 at most of random bills. Draco jokes "look at me, shifting through a stack of bills as if I have money" before handing a confused Harry the requested amount while thinking "I'll be able to buy food this month".

The two of them spend the night together in that hotel room, but it's all innocent as Draco is behaving somewhere between a normal kind hearted person and extremely awkward with the situation and Harry is just an oblivious mf. When they split up, Draco is both a little down hearted over not knowing if Harry likes him the way Draco is starting to like him and relieved that Harry made sure to give him space and didn't touch him. He's unsure why Harry did that, has Harry didn't seem to be shying away from him, but is sure it's probably because of how firmly he pressed himself to the wall. (This was a "only one bed" scenario)

On the way home, Draco finds two kittens of varying ages and returns them to their mother. People definitely stare at him, but he ignores it.

Once he's home, his father asks him if there's anyone he feels like marrying. Draco totally forgot most purebloods are forced into arranged marriages and answers "no" because he knows Harry Potter probably isn't an option. To which Lucius acts all sad and disappointed before saying something like "don't worry I'll ask around to see who of my colleagues is willing to marry you". Draco is pretty sure his father meant "kid of my colleagues", but wants to die either way.

Narcissa comes and takes Lucius elsewhere while shooting Draco concerned looks because she's a wonderful mother. Draco just goes to his room...

And then I woke up, so that's fun

[milkybonya]

intersection

order 036, anon: large classic milk tea with regular tapioca pearls for trsr's Doyoung

warnings: none!

summary: just a school day with best friend!Doyoung that somehow ends with confessing and cuddles :P

word count: 1k+

barista 🥛's 💌: even though our Dobby has graduated (>.<) i made this a highschool!au hehe

you race down the street, running hard with your backpack jumping up and down behind you.

"y/n, hurry! we're gonna be late!!" Doyoung shouts from a little further down the street.

he always waits for you every morning by the same intersection so he can walk with you to school. even though you're late this morning, he still waited for you. he was planning on calling you, actually, because he was worried. but when he saw a tiny figure in the distance running towards him in school uniform, he knew you were okay.

"Doyoung, i'm so sorry! i--" you pant, but Doyoung cuts you off. he doesn't need you to explain why you're late. you just being there makes everything okay.

"let's go! we'll be late," he says, grabbing your hand without thinking and running forwards.

although the two of you seem to be running faster than the speed of light to make it to school before the bell rings, everything feels like slow-mo. all you can feel and see is Doyoung's hand in yours, and you can hear nothing but your own heartbeat.

wait.

you shouldn't feel this way! Doyoung is your friend. your best friend. you don't want to ruin your relationship with him... but you can't help it.

Doyoung himself isn't sure if his heart is racing because he's holding your hand or because you're both running so fast, but he ignores it for now.

the two of you manage to make it to class in time, panting and out of breath. you take your seats and try to focus, but it's hard when Doyoung sits right in front of you and has you playing footsies under the table. you can't see his face, but you just know he's hiding his laughter as you gently kick him from under the seat and he kicks you back. it's a wonder the teacher doesn't notice, but it's probably because you sit further back in the class.

when you finally have your lunch break, Doyoung asks if you were able to take all your notes during the class.

"no, because someone was kicking me under the desk," you say.

"hm, i wonder who that was. wanna copy my notes?" Doyoung asks, handing you his notebook.

you're amazed at how he managed to take notes and kick you during class at the same time.

"thank you Doyoung, i love you!" you blurt out, lowering your face and scanning the pages to hide from what you just said.

Doyoung's breath hitches in his throat hearing your confession, even though he knows it was just a friend-confession; just a friendly 'i love you'. so why is his face turning red as he watches you copy down the notes?

"i'll get us something to eat!" Doyoung says, standing up suddenly and leaving the room.

once he's gone, you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding. being friends with the person you like definitely isn't easy.

Doyoung comes back bearing snacks and drinks. his hands are so full that everything falls onto the table when he approaches you.

"why did you buy so much?" you ask the boy, who looks proud of himself.

"because i didn't know what you want?" Doyoung replies.

you shake your head at him and ruffle his hair, turning his face a light shade of pink. it's amazing that you have the ability to literally change the colour of his face but aren't aware of it.

the two of you share the snacks while you continue copying Doyoung's notes and he watches over you, smiling. he shelters you from the sun with his hands when it starts shining too brightly on you, which must happen a lot because the sun follows flowers like you around often, doesn't it?

towards the end of the school day, you get hungry again so you try to eat one of the leftover snacks. there are a lot of leftovers because there was just too much to eat! you're usually good at eating snacks without your teacher noticing, but unfortunately this time, they were ready to call you out.

"y/n! what is that in your hands?" they ask.

"a-a snack," you respond.

the class quietly giggles at your stutter and Doyoung frowns at everyone.

"you should've done all your eating at lunch. stay after school today and spend an extra hour cleaning," the teacher says, returning to the chalkboard.

"no!" Doyoung suddenly cries, standing up. everyone stares at him.

"i-it... was my fault. i was bothering y/n and didn't let them eat lunch today," he quietly says.

"really? then you can join them after school today!" the teacher says.

Doyoung sits down with a smile. things turned out exactly how he wanted.

-

"how are we supposed to clean this entire floor in one hour! it can't be done," you whine, stabbing the mop into the ground.

Doyoung cups your face in his hands, and your cheeks are hot to the touch.

"don't worry, okay? we'll get this done!" Doyoung says, starting to sweep the first classroom.

"you can already start mopping the areas i've swept. that way, it'll faster!" Doyoung says.

the two of you proceed that way, being careful to not hit yourselves on the many desks and chairs that litter the classroom. after a while, though, everything feels too quiet, and you get an idea. you go to your bag and find your bluetooth earbuds, placing one in your ear and giving the other to Doyoung to use.

"let's listen to music," you softly say, and Doyoung nods at you with a smile.

he knows for a fact that he'll never forget every single one of those songs that play in the next hour.

-

you manage to finish cleaning in just 45 minutes and leave home earlier. because it's winter, though, it's already dark out. Doyoung worries about you, since you always have to walk home for a part of the way alone.

"y/n... could you not just sleepover at my house today? i don't want you to walk home alone," he says, reaching for your hand in the darkness and holding it.

his actions today are confusing your heart, but you're definitely not mad. his hand feels soft and you don't ever want him to let go... maybe that's why you agree to sleep at his house right away.

your parents know and love Dobby, so they let you stay over at his house, knowing you're in safe hands. his parents welcome you, too. they set up the dinner table for you and invite you to eat with them. Doyoung sits next to you and both him and his parents add food to your plate, asking you to try and have more of this and that.

you head to bed with a full belly, collapsing on Doyoung's desk chair. he laughs when he finds you sitting in that weird state.

"are you full? i'm glad you ate well," he says, patting your head.

Doyoung sets up a spot for you to sleep on the floor next to his bed, making sure you have enough blankets and pillows. the two of you brush your teeth side by side in the small bathroom, laughing at each other's foamy smiles and purposely bumping into each other.

Doyoung lets you wash up and gives you comfy clothes to wear. he asks you if you want to do your homework and you respond with silence.

"i'm guessing that's a no," he says, throwing a pillow at you from his spot on the bed.

"what do we do, then?" you ask.

"whatever you want," Doyoung says, admiring the way you look in his clothes.

"i want a hug," you mumble mindlessly, but Doyoung gets off his bed and sits beside you with open arms.

"come here, then," he says with a smile.

you dive head-first into his chest and he wraps his arms around you, rubbing your back.

"Doyoung, i want to ask you something," you say, quietly and cautiously.

"what is it?" he responds, sweetly.

"are we just friends?" you ask, your heart racing.

Doyoung gulps as he thinks of how to properly answer your question.

"if you wanted... we could be more," he says.

you look up from his embrace at his round, warm eyes.

"what does that mean?" you ask.

"it means i like you and i'll date you if you like me too," Doyoung softly blurts out.

your knee-jerk reaction is to press your lips against his plump ones. he's taken so aback that he falls over backwards and you fall on top of him, kissing him more deeply now that gravity is pushing you down lower. Doyoung wraps his arms around you as you pull away, silently telling you to stay close.

"you didn't hurt yourself, right?" you ask him, referring to when he fell backwards.

he shakes his head, no, and pats your head with one hand while smiling at you fondly.

"just stay here for a second," he hums, letting you rest your head on his chest as he holds you close.

you can hear his erratic heartbeat and feel his warmth. it's all unfamiliar and new but so nice. you can only hope that it'll happen enough for you to get used to it.

"can't you just sleep next to me on my bed tonight?" Doyoung asks.

you nod and he can feel the movement against his chest. somehow, you can hear his smile. well, maybe you can't hear it, but you can sense it even if you can't see it.

just like that, the two of you fall asleep while curled up together on the ground, mumbling sweet nothings.

[deistarr]

Jiang Cheng/Lan Wangji has got to be the single most cracky crackship I've ever seen since Sorting Hat/Dobby the Free Elf.

Seriously, this is not actually a ship. I don't care how many people who've only ever seen pictures of the actors from the drama and thought they would look hot together write fic and draw art for it. It is still a crackship.

This is not the Wuxia version of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, people - this is Lily Potter and Voldemort.

(Except that you know that LWJ has interfered with JC's Evil Murderous Plans For The Torture & Murder Of People Who May Or May Not Deserve It (Ask Him How Much He Cares) way more than three times; while JC doesn't actually try to kill LWJ because he knows that if he did, 1) LWJ would absolutely blow him up and turn his body into dust (and JC still hasn't figured out how to make a horcrux), and 2) even if he did manage to survive killing LWJ by using every sneaky, dishonourable trick he could find and catching the other man heavily wounded and unarmed, JC would not survive the political fallout of assassinating him.)

But their attitudes toward and opinions of one another?

JC would love nothing more than to drag LWJ off to his literal murder basement.

Meanwhile, LWJ is like, "Bitch, please. Go on; give me a reason."

(How sad is it that the fandom's favourite poor misunderstood uwu baby is a character who canonically has an actual, literal torture/murder basement and a well-known and unashamedly flaunted hobby of dragging people off to go in and never come back out again while any townspeople who come close have to listen to hours of screaming?!?)

😐😒😑

(At least people who love Hannibal Lector are not trying to say that he's simply misunderstood and is really secretly just the most caring and compassionate man ever who would also make the best babysitter...

Like, WOW - that is some mass delusion there, people.

At least fans of people like Hannibal and Voldemort generally recognize that Torture & Murder & Murderous Torture & Torturous Murder Are All Bad Things, which are practiced by people who are Not The Most Wonderful, Upstanding Citizens, Actually. They don't seriously believe that guys who have hobbies like that are Not Such Bad People After All, Really.)

Seriously... crack doesn't stop being crack just because the ignorant, unwashed masses declare it so.

(This is why they are called ignorant and unwashed - they are ignorant because they know not of which they speak; unwashed because being exposed to the contents of their imaginations makes me feel an urgent need to bathe.)

"Crack doth not stop being crack when it repetition finds; logic shall not cease to be irrespective of the soundness of thy minds."

@plan-d-to-i I STILL can't reply to your comments, OR send you messages. 😔

[thewidowsghost]

The Unknown Muggleborn - Chapter 17

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Harry manages not to shout out, but it is a close thing. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears, and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls and for some reason, Harry associates the green of the creature's eyes with (Y/n)'s green eyes.

As they stare at each other, Harry hears Dudley's voice from the hall.

"May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

The creature slips off the bed and bows so low that the end of its long, thin nose touches the carpet. Harry notices that is wearing what looks like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm - and leg - holes.

"Er - hello," says Harry nervously.

"Harry Potter!" says the creature in a high-pitched voice Harry is sure would carry down the stairs. "So long Dobby wanted to meet you, sir . . . Such an honor it is . . ."

"Th - thank you," says Harry, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who is asleep in her large cage. He wants to ask, "What are you?" but thinks it sounded too rude, so instead, he says, "Who are you?"

"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," says the creature.

"Oh — really?" says Harry. "Er — I don't want to be rude or anything, but — this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom."

Aunt Petunia's high, false laughs sounds from the living room. The elf hangs his head.

"Not that I'm not pleased to meet you," says Harry quickly, "but, er, is there any particular reason you're here?"

"Oh, yes, sir," says Dobby earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir . . . it is difficult, sir . . . Dobby wonders where to begin . . ."

"Sit down," says Harry politely, pointing at the bed.

To his horror, the elf bursts into tears - very noisy tears.

"S - sit down! he wails. "Never . . . never ever . . . "

Harry thinks he hears the voices downstairs falter.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything -"

"Offend Dobby!" chokes the elf. "Dobby had never been asked to sit down by a wizard - like an equal -"

Harry, trying to say Shh! and look comforting at the same time, ushers Dobby back to the bed where he sits hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll. At last, he manages to control himself, and sits with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of watery adoration.

"You can't have met many decent wizards," said Harry, trying to cheer him up.

Dobby shakes his head. Then, without warning, he leaps up and starts banging his head furiously on teh window, shouting, Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Don't - what are you doing?" Harry hisses, springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed - Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and is beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage.

"Dobby has to punish himself, sir," says the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir . . ."

"Your family?"

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir . . . Dobby is a house-elf - bound to serve one house and family forever . . ."

"Do they know you're here?" asks Harry curiously.

Dobby shudders.

"Oh, no, sir, no . . . Dobby will have go punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir -"

"But won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?"

"Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby will have to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments . . ."

"But why don't you leave? Escape?"

"A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free . . . Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir. . . ."

Harry stares. "And I thought I had it bad staying here for another four weeks," he says. "This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. Can't anyone help you? Can't I?"

Almost at once, Harry wishes he hadn't spoken. Dobby dissolves again into wails of gratitude.

"Please," Harry whispers frantically, "please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you're here -"

"Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby . . . Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew . . ."

Harry, who is feeling distinctly hot in the face says, "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I'm not even top of my year at Hogwarts: that's Hermione, she -"

But Harry stops quickly, because thinking about Hermione is painful.

"Harry potter is humble and modest," says Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. "Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -"

"Voldemort?" asks Harry.

Dobby claps his hands over his bat ears and moans, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"

"Sorry," Harry apologizes quickly. "I know a lot of people don't like it. My friend Ron -" Harry stops again. Thinking about Ron is painful, too.

Dobby leans towards Harry, his eyes wide as headlights. "Dobby heard tell, he says hoarsely, "That Harry Potter and (Y/n) (L/n) met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago . . . that Harry Potter and (Y/n) (L/n) escaped yet again."

Harry nods and Dobby's eyes suddenly shine with tears.

"Ah, sir," he gasps, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he is wearing. "Harry Potter is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already. But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he doesn't have to shut his ears in the oven door later . . . Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

There is a silence, broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice.

"W-what?" Harry stammers. "But I've got to go back - term starts on September first. It's all that's been keeping me going. You don't know what it's like here. I don't belong here. I belong in your world - at Hogwarts.

"No, no, no," squeaks Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flap. "Harry Potter must stay where his is safe. He is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger."

"Why?" Harry asks in surprise.

"There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispers Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir!"

"What terrible things?" says Harry at once. "Who's plotting them?"

Dobby makes a funny choking noise and then bangs his head frantically against the wall.

"All right!" cries Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell me. I understand. But why are you warning me?" A sudden, unpleasant thought strikes him. "Hang on - this hasn't got anything to do with Vol - sorry - with You-Know-How, has it? You could just shake or nod," he adds hastily as Dobby's head tilts worryingly close to the wall again.

Slowly, Dobby shakes his head.

"Not — not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir —" But Dobby's eyes are wide and he seems to be trying to give Harry a hint. Harry, however, is completely lost.

"He hasn't gotten a brother, has he?" Harry asks.

Dobby shakes his head, his eyes wider than ever.

"Well then, I can't think who else would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," says Harry. "I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one thing - you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?"

Dobby bows his head.

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's  powers rival those of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his strength. But, sir" — Dobby's voice drops to an urgent whisper — "there are powers Dumbledore doesn't . . . powers no decent wizard . . ."

And before Harry can stop him, Dobby bounds off the bed, seizes Harry's desk lamp, and starts beating himself around the head with earsplitting yelps.

A sudden silence falls downstairs. Two seconds later, Harry, heart thudding madly, hears Uncle Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!"

"Quick! In the closet!" hisses Harry, stuffing Dobby in, shutting the door, and flinging himself on the bed just as the door handle turns.

"What - the - devil - are - you - doing?" says Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, his face horribly close to Harry's. "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke . . . One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, boy." Uncle Vernon stomps flat-footed from the room.

Shaking, Harry lets Dobby out of the closet.

"See what it's like here?" he says. "See why I've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place I've got - well, I think I've got friends."

"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter," says Dobby slyly.

"I expect they've just been - wait a minute," says Harry, frowning. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing to me?"

Dobby shuffles his feet. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best -"

"Have you been stopping my letters?"

"Dobby has them here, sir," says the elf. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulls a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase  he is wearing. Harry can makes out Hermione's neat writing, (Y/n)'s neat scrawl, Ron's untidy scrawl, and even a scribble that looks as though it is from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid.

Dobby blinks anxiously up at Harry.

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry . . . Dobby hoped . . . if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him . . . Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir . . ."

Harry isn't listening. He makes a grab for the letter, but Dobby jumps out of reach.

"Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby is word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"

"No," says Harry angrily. "Give me my friends' letters!"

"Then Harry Potter leaves Dobby no choice," says the elf sadly.

Before Harry can move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulls it open, and sprints down the stairs.

Mouth dry, stomach lurching, Harry springs after him, trying not to make a sound. He jumps the last six steps, landing catlike on the hall carpet - feeling like (Y/n) for a moment - looking around for Dobby. From the dining room, he hears Uncle Vernon saying, " . . . tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. She's been dying to hear . . ."

Harry runs up the hall into the kitchen and feels his stomach disappear.

Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets, is floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouches Dobby.

"No," croaked Harry. "Please . . . they'll kill me. . . ."

"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school —"

"Dobby . . . please . . ."

"Say it, sir —"

"I can't —"

Dobby gives him a tragic look.

"Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry Potter's own good."

The pudding falls to the floor with a heart-stopping crash. Cream splatters the windows and walls as the dish shatters. With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanishes.

There are screams from the dining room and Uncle Vernon bursts into the kitchen to find Harry, rigid with shock, covered from head to foot in Aunt Petunia's pudding.

At first, it looks as though Uncle Vernon would manage to gloss the whole thing over. ("Just our nephew - very disturbed - meeting strangers upsets him, so we kept him upstairs . . . ) He shoos the shocked Masons back into the dining room, promised Harry that he would flay him within an inch of his life when teh Mason's had left, and hands him a mop. Aunt Petunia digs some ice cream out of the freezer and Harry, still shaking, starts scrubbing the kitchen clean.

Uncle Vernon might still have been able to make his deal - if it hadn't been for the owl.

Aunt Petunia is just passing around a box of after-dinner mints when a hug barn owl swoops though the dining room window, drops a letter on Mrs. Mason's head, and swoops out again. Mrs. Mason screams like a banshee and runs from teh house shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stays just enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife is mortally afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask whether this is their idea of a joke.

Harry stands in the kitchen, clutching the mop for support, as Uncle Vernon advances on him, a demonic glint in his tiny eyes.

"Read it!" he hisses evilly, brandishing the letter the owl nad delivered. "Go on - read it!"

Harry takes it. It does not contain birthday greetings.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place or residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine.

As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to preform spells outside school and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).

We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offence under Section 13 of the Internation Confedeation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.

Enjoy your holidays!

Yours sincerely, Mafalda Hopkirk Improper use of Magic Office Ministry of Magic

Harry looks up from the letter and gulps.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside school," says Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it . . . Slipped your mind, I daresay . . . " He is bearing down on Harry like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you, boy . . . I'm locking you up . . . You're never going back to that school . . . never . . . and if you try and magic yourself out - they'll expel you!"

And, laughing like a maniac, Uncle Vernon drags Harry back upstairs.

. . .

(Y/n) runs up to the front door, and bursts inside the house, tackling Hermione in a tight hug.

Hermione throws down her book, and bursts into tears, hugging (Y/n) tightly.

(Y/n)'s emerald eyes soften, and she hugs Hermione tighter, the brunette's tears eventually stopping after a minute or so.

"You're home?" Hermione asks, her eyes still watery.

"I told you I'd be back soon," (Y/n) murmurs softly, smiling at her adopted parents sitting on the couch across from them, and Jean and Tom smile back.

Then she glances over to the door to see her father carrying her trunk, and setting it just inside the front door.

Tony walks over to the elder Grangers, and, with a quick word, the three adults walk outside.

Suddenly, (Y/n) is knocked out of Hermione's tight embrace and off the couch. (Y/n) lets out a yelp as her head slams into the coffee table, Marvel weaving excitedly on (Y/n)'s stomach, rolling around, shoving her face into the crook of (Y/n)'s neck, and nuzzling her face.

Hermione wipes her tears away, laughing at the black-and-white cat.

"There's my cheery sister," (Y/n) says with a grin, clambering to her feet, Marvel clutched in her arms.

Tony and the elder Grangers walk back into the house, Tony standing at the door and looking meaningfully at (Y/n).

Understanding the meaning of the look, (Y/n) follows, Marvel jumping up to perch on (Y/n)'s shoulder.

"Have a good school year," Tony tells his daughter softly. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tony Stark says something that makes (Y/n) tear up a little. "(Y/n), you remind me so much of your mother."

(Y/n) steps forward, hugging her father tightly. "Thanks Dad. I love you," she murmurs, and Tony smiles softly, his brown eyes sparkling.

"I love you too, kiddo," Tony says softly, and after a moment, the billionaire steps back. "I'll write at least three times a week."

And, with that, Tony Stark walks to his car, waves, and gets inside, driving away.

A Month Later

The room is growing dark. Exhausted, stomach rumbling, mind spinning over the same unanswerable questions, Harry falls into an uneasy sleep.

Harry dreams that he is on show in a zoo, with a car reading UNDERAGE WIZARD attached to his cage. People goggle through the bars at him as he lies, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He sees Dobby's face in the crowd and shouts out, asking for help, but Dobby calls, "Harry Potter is safe there, sir!" and vanishes. Then, the Dursleys appear, and Dudley rattles the bars of the cage, laughing at him.

"Stop it," Harry mutters as the rattling pounds in his sore head. "Leave me alone . . . cut it out . . . I'm trying to sleep . . ."

He opens his eyes. Moonlight is shining throuh the bars on the window. And someone is goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone.

Ron Weasley is outside Harry's window, ready to whisk Harry off to the Burrow - The Weasleys' home.

Word Count: 3005 words

[kamosweasley]

Won’t you pull me through ? (Fred and George Weasley)

Description : Amber meet her friend Emily to take a tea and they talk about the war and the twins. It’s inspired by the song Trouble by Cage The Elephant.

Word count : 2.2K

Warning : angst, mention of death, torture, scars, death and mental illness.

Lyrics from Trouble by Cage The Elephant are in italics.

Tag list : @memekingofwwiii​ 

After knocking at the door, Emily entered with her brighter smile. It's been a while since she's had the opportunity to see her friend, the last few months have been a mess in the wizarding world with the death of Voldemort and the end of the war. She's doing her best but she's still overwhelmed, although the smile of Amber makes it all go away within a second. 

-Hey love. 

-Emily ! It's been a long time since the last time I saw you around ! How are you ?

-Pretty good, things are exhausting lately but we have to deal with it. We're in the middle of reconstruction, it's normal that things are moving fast. 

-This is a good thing, this terrible year is finally behind us. Do you know how well the reconstruction is progressing at Hogwarts? 

-McGonagall supervises, so it's efficient and almost done. She must be a great principal, she is what the students need after the trauma of war.

-I don't even want to imagine the condition that some people must be in, a whole year being tortured by sadistic deatheaters when they were only children …

The two friends sat down at a table to drink the tea Amber had prepared in advance. There is a silence following Amber's sentence, Emily looking at her with a hint of concern. Rare are the people who have not suffered from war and who do not continue to suffer from it today. Some have experienced more painful things than others, such as Amber who was imprisoned and tortured during the war at the Malfoy mansion. It was in the last month before the Battle of Hogwarts, she was able to escape thanks to Dobby, with Luna and Ollivander. Emily hadn't been able to see her before the Battle of Hogwarts a month later, she didn't seem to have experienced all the horrors she told her afterwards. On the battlefield she looked like a warrior determined to win, even at the risk of her life. She was unstoppable, and she survived. They both survived, not everyone was so lucky.

-Now all these assholes are either in jail or dead. My only regret is not being able to get revenge on Bellatrix before Molly killed her. That bitch left awful scars on me, and since they were made with black magic it can't be removed.

-You talk about it like it's nothing, so you feel better ?

-It was hard at first, the first few weeks after the battle I felt like I didn't recognize myself. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a stranger. But it's been getting better for a while, I feel good.

-I’m glad to hear it. You know that everyone is worried about you, you haven't had an easy time of it.

-There are some who have been through worse, I keep breathing and I have resumed a normal life. I think I’m doing well. Doesn't it look like it ? 

-You seem peaceful … After what happened 

-Can we talk about something else ? This war has already hurt us enough, don’t you think so ?

-Obviously.

A little annoyed, Amber finished her cup of tea, her hands slightly shaking. Nothing impressive, but Emily notices it, which awakens the worry inside her. She doesn't know what to do, maybe she should apologize for bringing it up. Obviously the blonde didn't want to talk too long about it. With a fleeting look in her eyes, Amber tucks a strand of her long hair behind her ear. The room suddenly seems to her empty and hostile, she loves Emily but talking about the war remains something that makes her uncomfortable. She much prefers to talk about the future and all the joyful things that await them. This is what helps her get better, telling herself tomorrow will be better and she always has the people she loves with her. She will be able to live that future with them. A smile appears on her face, speaking of joy she immediately thinks of them. Her two rays of sunshine.

-I have received the new catalog from George and Fred's store. Have you seen it ? It's still so colorful, it's good to see all these colors in this sad world. Wait, I'll show it to you, I think I put it over there.

The blonde leaves the table to rummage through the drawers of her dresser as Emily looks at her. We had talked to her about it but she wasn't expecting it, how is it possible ? 

-Oh Amber …

-What ? You already saw it ? You can tell me, I'm just trying to talk about my best friends. Maybe you went to the store not long ago, it's still fantastic isn’t it ? This place exudes a good mood, if I could I would spend all of my days there. 

-Did you go back ?

-Of course ! George and Fred wouldn't talk to me anymore if I wasn't their best customer. I love them so much, I'm glad the war doesn't change them. They are still funny and malicious, they always have been. You know, I think people don't realize how wonderful they are.

-I have never laughed so much as with them, they have always been very funny.

-You see ? That's what I said. I grew up with them, we did so many silly things together but we had so much fun ! 

-I know, you had few problems because of them. They always took you in their pranks, you were driving the professors crazy. They found you calm and studious, they didn't understand why you were doing this. 

-Do you know this song ? It says “trouble on my left, trouble on my right, I’ve been facing trouble almost all my life.” That’s on growing with George and Fred. You learn to like problems and to be clever enough to make it good. 

-I can imagine. Which song is it ?

-Trouble by Cage The Elephant. You should listen to it one day, it’s really great. It reminds me of my friendship with George and Fred. 

-Because they always put you in trouble ?

-Not only that, and to be honest I’ve always loved it. These are the best moments of my life, the three of us always had fun as kids. It's not really the same anymore … 

The silence remains, for a moment you can see a shadow on Amber's face, revealing suffering. The mask falls, she has not moved on as she claims, she is still haunted by what happened. We can not say that she is an exceptional case, it was war, but Amber is a special case. 

-I miss them, they don’t come often but they’re busy with their shop. Business is running for them, they deserve it. They work so hard for their shop.

-Amber, you know very well that their store has not reopened.

-What the hell are you talking about ? Of course it reopened ! I went there, I helped them put everything back in place. 

-It's not possible Amber. The store is still closed, and there is no new catalog.

-But I was there! I know it better than you do, I didn't imagine it ! Were you there to help them with the store ? I don't remember seeing you there, so how can you say it's impossible ? You didn't go back to Diagon Alley ? How can you say the store is closed ? It is not closed !

-Amber …

-IT’S NOT CLOSED ! Damn it, where is this damn catalog !

Now she’s crying, all her body is shaking. Her hands are clenched to the chest of drawers, the white knuckles, she’s so tense. It seems as if the slightest word or gesture could make her explode. Unsure of what to do, Emily gets up and starts walking towards her friend. She wants to comfort her, to tell her that everything will be okay, but that would be lying. It’s been a while now and it's not going to get any better visibly. Yet seeing her like this tears her heart out, she wishes there was something she could do to make her feel better. 

-I’m sorry Amber.

-Don’t … Don’t say this, you have nothing to be sorry about.

-We both know isn’t true.

-Why did you come ? I thought you wanted to talk like in the good old days, not that you wanted to bring up all the pain. The war has taken something from all of us, it's time to stop it and take it back.

-Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, we can't take back what it took from us. The dead cannot be brought back to life.

-No one should have died.

They can only agree on this point, this war should not have taken place and it should not have taken so many lives. Emily is standing in the middle of the room, Amber still in front of the dresser but she is almost shaking. The tears are already drying on her cheeks but she doesn't seem to care, she keeps scratching the inside of her right hand with her index. Worries fill Emily's thoughts, she feels like she's screwed up all over the place. She was hoping that she could make things better, make Amber feel better, but she's not worried that she's robbed her even more.

-Please leave, I need some quiet.

The blonde takes a cassette from one of the drawers of the chest of drawers, with red eyes she inserts it into a cassette player. The music begins as she leaves the room with a heavy heart. How did her friend get there ? After closing the door, Emily lets out a sigh. Things are worse than she expected, Amber is still in denial. The real version of the story is much sadder than Amber's version. She really escaped the Malfoy mansion in April after being tortured, she wasn’t that good but it’s the Battle of Hogwarts who makes her fall. She was on a fine line, fighting for her survival and to save her loved ones. She was fighting against her own sanity during the battle, every second, every move, every thought was a step forward. She was winning, seeing a glimmer of hope when Voldemort died. Her first reaction was to laugh at having a hard time breathing, it was over, they had won, she had won. So she ran through the castle to find her two best friends, she had seen them during the battle but was unable to join them at that time. They were finally going to be reunited, to be again the trio they always have been. No matter what they had gone through, they had survived and they will be able to rebuild themself together. 

Nobody can imagine the pain that hit her when she saw the two dead bodies on the ground. It was like the blast of an explosion, in less than a second her world collapsed. They were all she had, she has been an orphan for years, an only child, Fred and George were all that mattered to her. Thus broke the spirit of the young woman

-She hasn't progressed since May …

-It can take a long time before she may feel ready to accept the truth. She knows it but she needs to do it all again. 

-But how much longer ? She's not going to stay locked up here all her life !

-When she accepts reality and gets over it, she can return to live with her family.

-She has no family left, her parents died years ago and she had no one else. And the twins died too ... I'm afraid she has no family left.

The lyrics of the song can be heard through the door, from what she hears, Emily understands how this music speaks so much to Amber. “My sweet love, won’t you pull me through ? Everywhere I look I catch a glimpse of you.” It must be horrible to lose your two best friends, even more when you think of them as your brothers, your last family. She really lost everything that day, even her sanity.

~~~~

“God don’t let me lose my mind.” She sings with this whole heart, eyes closed and serenity filling the room. She knows the lyrics by heart, it became her favorite song because it reminds her of them. When she opens her eyes she faces the twins, sitting at the table. They exchange a mischievous look before looking at her, it's like when they were young. A blink of an eye and they are three children facing each other, mischievous and innocent. Then teenagers, running through Hogwarts to escape Filch, out of breath but having fun. It's only onto the common room they can relax, out of danger. Fred told Amber that it's her turn to do it, so she takes his wand and puts it on the map. Surrounded by his two best friends, Amber open her eyes and as a tear falls, she whispers :

-Mischief managed.