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spiltscribbles · 3 years

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Worth It

~Notes: Oof, I know I have so many prompts in my inbox and I appreciate them so much! But I wanted to write something after dinner in dedication and a gift to the lovely Remus-John-Lupin!!!!!!!<3<3<3 I love you RJ and I appreciate you and your friendship so fucking much, so this is just a strange little gift from me to you in thanks for how kind you’ve always been to me since I joined this crazy fandom, ILY and you’re my favorite slag!!!!

Sirius silently reminds himself that he in fact likes Lily, he thinks she’s a total knock out and is happy that his brother is finally getting to date the girl of his dreams. He likes her damn it,! And one does not commit battery to folks that they like.

Assured that his pure irritation won’t bleed through his words, Sirius tries again in his most charming of inflections. “All I want is his number.”

“No,” she repeats, casually steadfast while poking at her salad— Not even bothering to flick her gaze up at an increasingly irate Sirius.

“Why are you being so fucking difficult!”

“Why are you still bitching about this,” she counters, finally giving him her undivided attention, even if it’s her glaring at him like she’d like to skewer Sirius on a stick.

“Hey guys, let’s chill.” James tries to mediate, laughing awkwardly between the pair of them, hand raised in concession and glasses going a bit skewed.

They promptly ignore him.

“I like him. What is so difficult to understand Evans? Aren’t you like supposed to be some brainiac or some shit?”

“It’s been like two months Black,” she says pointedly, grip on her fork tightening while her mouth curls unpleasantly. “That’s way past your ordinary infatuations, so why the hell do you still even care.”

Sirius bares his teeth, pinning her with a glower that once made an old school yard bully of Regulus’s actually piss his pants. So of course Lily doesn’t even flinch. “He’s cute.”

“You’re a dog.”

“You’re being a total ass.”

“And you’re a bastard.”

“But you love me though.”

“Just barely.”

“So you’ll give me Remus’s number?”

“Dream on.” she says with a lofty sniff and haughty flip of the hair, discarding her barely eaten lunch before swaggering over to where a group of her friends from the STEM club are sat, including Alice Flores and Dorcas Meadowes.

“Guess you’re back to square one Pads.” James says, unhelpful as fuck, so Sirius only flips him off before snatching back his calculus homework from a pitiful looking Peter.

“Fuck this.”

Sirius thinks of himself as a reasonable sort of guy.

He isn’t one for holding grudges or obsessing over perceived slights. He’s brilliant whether he’s playing linebacker on the field or taking a exam in class.

For fuck’s sake, Sirius can be plumped down in any and all social situations without warning, and can have the room eating out the palm of his hand within the first five minutes.

In layman’s terms, he’s decent and driven and downright charismatic. Mix this all together, and well Sirius thinks he’s a pretty fantastic fucking package— if he does say so himself. He can have his pick of the lot, truly. Especially when walking down the halls flocked by his best friend turned second brother on one end and little Petey, who’s a great hype man, on the other. So its only poetic justice that the one person who’s been able to swallow up all his attention is the one person who doesn’t even give him a second glance most days.

And that’s fucking ridiculous.

This is ridiculous! He is fucking ridiculous! No, record scratch. Remus fucking Lupin is the most ridiculous part of this all!

Remus lupin with his delightfully disheveled hair the color of gold and his crooked grin that’s everything darling in the world, and his big doe eyes that sometimes flare with green specs when he’s especially passionate in class or when he’s chatting with Lily in the halls. Remus lupin who’s only just moved here to Murray Hill from a small town in southern Illinois and who toppled Sirius’s world upside-down while he was at it.

The first time they met was completely on accident.

It was the week before classes began, and Sirius had only just come back from his family trip to their villa in Rome, and he was only meant to meet James at the coffee shop that Lily was working at now. They were suppose to head to the city and go out drinking to celebrate the start of their senior year. Sirius was suppose to find a nice, college aged girl to fuck because he’s given up on the boring lot that infests Hogwarts these days. It was suppose to be easy and fun and he was suppose to stay stringless and unattached as ever.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Sirius walked into the Howling Moon and was met by the sight of the most lovely, most gorgeous boy he’s ever met. Hand to God, it felt like one of those slow motion moments in a Romantic Comedy when the disgruntled, wayward lead first sets their eyes on that love interest— the one to out shine all others, the one who turns everything inside out and makes it all glitter gold.

“Hey there,” Remus had grinned like the fucking sun, slipping the pen from his ear and hand poised over the cups lining the counter. “What can I get ya?”

“Oh, erm— Yeah. Just a caramel macchiato, iced.”Sirius’s ordinarily smooth baritone almost fucking cracked while ordering, and Remus’s beautiful eyes had glittered.

“Would’ve taken you for a dark roast sort of guy.” He said, and Sirius swears that it was playful and flirtatious and a little mischievous too.

Sirius was in love.

“I’ve been known to partake in sweets, you know, if they catch my eye,” he replied, eyes lingering meaningfully up and down Remus’s slighter frame.

“What a come on,” Remus had laughed, head thrown back to show off his long neck and Sirius was so fucking gobsmacked at how it quite literally sounded like all the most splendid instruments woven together.

He had ducked his head, so unordinary bashful but so beyond pleased. “What can I say beautiful, you bring it out of me.”

“”Cute.” Remus had chuckled, cheeks going a fetching red and scribbling down the order. “Definitely one of the more interesting one liners I’ve gotten today.”

Sirius ignored the flare of jealousy over that, considering that he hasn’t gotten to even kiss him yet, and he should probably take this slow if he doesn’t want to screw it up. “Has anyone of those bastards mentioned how your eyes put the brownies on sale to shame?”

“No one as hot as you if I’m being honest,” Remus retorted, ringing him up and sinking his teeth into his plump bottom lip. And fuck, Sirius knew he was in trouble from then on.

They had talked for over half an hour about nothing at all in that tiny bistro while Remus was busy exchanging the coffee pots for a fresh batch and rearranging the baked goods, and it was amazing.

Sirius has always been someone who couldn’t sit still, who had to be fluttering all over the place to feel like he was actually headed somewhere, like he was getting something finished. But for the first time in too long, just sitting there, still and silent and besotted while Remus chatted about his hometown and moving half way across the country and his eccentric mother— Well Sirius felt completely balanced, completely calm. He felt like just as long as Remus was their chatting with him and smiling in that beguiling way of his, that Sirius could actually breathe without pressure. Like he knew what it meant to have a center.

So of course, right when he decided that he was going to snatch him up— to ask him out on a date before anyone else from their shitty class filled with degenerates and dick heads could— Lily of all people had swaggered in, and gave him a caustic sort of glower that plainly said, keep the fuck away.

Ordinarily Sirius would’ve completely ignored her warning, would’ve unashamedly and excitedly chased after the cutest fucking boy he’s ever laid his eyes on with an absurd sort of zeal. But he under estimated just how much sway Lily was able to cater with Remus in the few weeks they worked with one another before he had met him. So instead of starting off the year with a brand new, insanely pretty boyfriend wrapped around one arm, Sirius has just spent the past nine weeks pining like a fucking love sick loser. Like he was starring in some cheesy John Hughes movie from the damn 80s!

And this will not do, this is not all right, not okay at all.

Sirius needs to figure out a way to get close to Remus, and outside of Lily’s overbearing claws. Something that only Remus likes, that Sirius can partake in to prove himself worthy.

As he promenades down the hall towards his free period, Sirius creates a mental check list of the things he knows Remus enjoys.

Remus enjoys poetry, and Sirius knows that he’s part of the school’s award winning Forensics team. But they meet during the football practices so Sirius couldn’t even try to impress him in that arena until the spring. He also knows that Remus likes history, that he’s going to end up majoring in classics in University, but Sirius really doubts his ability to memorize the Iliad in the matter of a few hours— He’s good, but not that good.

“Jesus fuck is this hard,” he mutters nastily to himself, tugging at the ends of his dark hair before ramming straight into a display outside the southern wing of their preparatory school’s building.

He winces, not so much for the throbbing in his toes, but because of Marlene’s snappish attitude when he makes it so that the table shakes.

“Keep your head out your ass Black,” she scolds before going back to filing her nails. And Sirius is about to snipe right back at her— That is until he catches on the bright poster adorned with small rainbows and the words, GSA FOOD DRIVE spelt out in large lettering.

And oh!

“Eureka!”

“Pardon?” Marlene asks, nose wrinkled indelicately as she eyes him like he’s about to puke on her brand new Doc Martens again like last weekend. Holy shit, she should really get over it by now.

But Sirius is smart enough and tactful enough not to mention his thoughts on the matter, only smiles down at her with pure elation. “Marls, what if I said I had a brilliant idea to help our lovely GSA.”

“I’d accuse you to only doing it to try and get in Lupin’s pants since he’s our new VP.”

Sirius grapples for his chest, feigning indignant. “You pain me my old friend.”

Marlene snorts. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“That’s neither here nor there.”

“So are your chances with Lupin.”

“You’re a sick fuck McKinnon.”

“What do you want from me you gnat.”

“Let me help with the fundraiser.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll tell Lily to get Meadowes to notice you?”

Marlene glares at him now. “We’ve been fucking for like a month you prick.”

“Oh— Erm, then for some of that good old Bi unity?”

Marlene suddenly looks so very shrewd and Sirius hates how every fucking woman in his life could eat him whole for breakfast. “Absolutely not.”

“Fine, what the fuck do you want.”

“You cover Fabian’s costs for the goods when we go to that rave for 2KBABY in January.”

“Eh, didn’t you guys use to fuck?”

“Yes. But I don’t see the connection?”

“He won’t even give you a discount on the good shit?”

“Oh he does,” she leers, blue eyes glinting wickedly in the hallway light. “But I’d rather see you pay full price for’m.”

Sirius glares down at her, and repeats himself. “You. Are. A. Sick. Fuck.”

Marlene just lies back in her seat and returns to manicuring her nails. “Well if cheekbones isn’t worth the bother?”

“Fine,” Sirius all but growls out. “But we do this my way.”

“Scout’s honor handsome,” she absolutely beams, and Sirius reminds himself that this is all for Remus and that’s worth it at the end of the day.

It’s a week later, right before Thanksgiving break hits, and Sirius is sat in front of the cafeteria, smirking at the line of mostly pink faced girls and a few others amongst their midst, who have all queued up in front of him. A dollar in each of their hands, though he does see that a few have fives and even tens or more, and he doesn’t know how to subtly tell them that all he’s promising is a quick peck of his lips, and absolutely no other groping— including of his legendary ass or admittedly perfect abs.

“You’re just really enjoying yourself, aren’t you.” James hisses besides him after the latest girl— a blonde sophomore who’s decked out in Lulu Lemon for their only non uniform day of the week— scurries off. “Just a ego trip.”

“Jealous Jamie darling?” Sirius boasts, tipping back on his chair while Marlene collects the cash from the next five in line so that they can clammer closer towards him.

“I can’t believe all of them want to kiss you,” Peter marvels, round eyes completely in aw.

“I can’t believe you think this is how to get Remus’s attention,” Lily interjects huffily, lips set in a moody pout while perched on James’s lap to Sirius’s left.

“I bet you would’ve been in line if you weren’t dating Jamie here.” Sirius counters, smug as all get out, and laughing when all Lily deigns as a adequate response is her middle finger.

Sirius is on cloud nine. He can’t believe he didn’t think of this sooner! Remus loves all this shit, from the club to the charity. This is perfect! This basically guarantees that he’ll finally get a good smooch on him. And once their lips finally touch, Remus will surely feel the swarm of butterflies in his gut just like in those Harleyquin romance novels his cousin Narcissa would always read with a dreamy look on her face during their various Family vacations.

“You’re not gonna get him this way.”

“He’s not gonna know what hit’m Evans,” Sirius retorts, completely self assured.

One should never bet against Lily Marie Evans.

Sirius knows this now. But he still hates it with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

By the end of the lunch hour, Sirius’s earned over sixty bucks to the GSA’s fundraiser fund, and absolutely zero potential boyfriends who look like golden angels and make Sirius’s knees weak.

“I told you,” Lily says in that sing-song sort of voice that is so not appreciated right now. “Remus is not the type to kiss you in front of a huge crowd and after like a bunch of others. That’s not his style.”

Sirius is moody as all get out, and he’s irritated that he’s just wasted five dozen perfectly fine kisses on folks who aren’t Remus, so he doesn’t bother to hide his irritation when he gripes back at her, “Then tell me what the fuck is his style.”

Miraculously, that actually proved enough to get Lily to slow down her stroll, and cock her head curiously at him. “You actually care.”

“What the fuck have I been trying to tell you Evans!” He nearly shouts.

“I just thought— You know. That it was a game.”

Sirius’s face goes stoney, and he juts his chin away from her. “It’s not always a fucking game, all right. It’s not a game with him— I like him. I like Remus.”

“Oh,” Lily says very quietly, her face pulled in a thousand different directions before settling on something akin to solemn. “You should go to the music room for your free period today.”

Sirius quirks a brow at her, frowning while he asks, “Why?”

“Just trust me S,” she says, reaching over her hand to squeeze his forearm.

Sirius watches her walk off, hand in hand with James, and he feels a strange twisting to his heart when he imagines a very similar image— only with him and Remus and punctuated by plenty of kisses to the cheek, and jawline and lips too.

The music room is towards the back of the school, in a separate building along with the theatre and main auditorium.

The early autumnal chill lashes against Sirius’s face while he makes the track to the room, continuously chanting to himself that he actually trusts Lily and this is gonna be worth it if there’s a merciful God up there.

Once Sirius clammers in doors, he rubs his cold hands together, and shakes out his hair.

The first thing he hears is the soft strumming of a guitar, and finds himself in front of the music room after following its melodic toon.

Through the window he can spot the form of Remus bent over the instrument, his thick curls getting in his eyes and his steady hands plucking a few chords as he sits cross legged atop the piano.

Sirius feels his heart lodging in his throat at the sight of him, so beautiful and perfect and warm looking in that scarlet sweater. And he knows in his bones that this is some sort of unspoken blessing that Lily’s given him, so with a deep breath, Sirius opens the door and strolls in.

Remus starts slightly, going flushed once his eyes catch on Sirius’s own.

“Oh Sirius,” he greets, the corners of his mouth tipping into a smile that doesn’t ring true. “You pulled away from the haram?”

“That’s a bit much? Calling them a haram,” Sirius says cooly, hitching up besides him and swinging his long legs. “I just did it to help you.”

“Oh— Yeah,” Remus nods. “The GSA appreciates all the help we can get.” His words are quiet, and he’s rinsing a hand through his curls, so Sirius can tell that he’s a bit nervous. And it’s impossibly cute, but also not on. He doubts that he’ll ever get his kiss if Remus won’t even look at him in the eyes.

Gingerly, Sirius sets the pad of his pointer finger beneath Remus’s chin, lifting his gaze upwards. “Not the GSA— Though I appreciate the club’s work and your part in that.”

“Oh,” Remus says again, lips pursed and his throat pulsing when he swallows down. “Then—“

“I did it for you Remus,” Sirius repeats heatedly. “I did it because I’ve been mad for you since ever meeting you in August, and I can’t get your fucking face or name or lips or ass out of my head. And I thought that if maybe I pulled a dumb stunt like that, you would actually kiss me along with the lot of those idiots who can’t even hold a candle to you.”

“M—My ass?” Remus questions, voice going pitchy and face bright with emotion.

Sirius laughs, booming and bombastic. “You have the best ass I’ve ever seen Remus Lupin and it’s really obscene.”

Remus shoulder checks him, looking down and then back up through his lashes at Sirius and it’s a sight Sirius wish he can keep with him for the rest of his days.

“So you thought I’d want our first kiss to happen after you’ve just made out with half the school?”

Sirius grimaces, bending down so that their lips are only inches apart. “Listen, I can be a complete dumb ass on occasion.”

“Don’t forget arrogant.”

“Okay, fair.”

“And brash too.”

“Right.”

“Also you tend—“

Sirius places a soft hand over Remus’s supple lips, glaring teasingly at the other boy, who’s grinning like the cat who’s caught the canary, his eyes teeming with laughter.

Remus Lupin is going to be the death of him, Sirius knows it.

“Listen Lupin, I’d like a shred of self respect here, so I can actually muster up the courage to ask you out on a proper date already.”

Remus perks at that, so Sirius moves his grasp.

“You wanna ask me out?”

“Depends…. You wanna continue that little rant until I’m blue balled and gutless.”

“Hmm,” Remus inches closer, setting his hand over Sirius’s on the piano. “Nah, I think I’d rather do this.”

He leans forwards and Sirius barely has enough time to gather his bearings when he feels Remus’s mouth over his own and it’s literally every starlit promise and sugar burnt secret and sunlit afternoon all rolled into one. And Sirius feels his heart thud an uneven staccato when he grabs for either end of Remus’s waistline and plunges his tongue into his own and he lets himself get lost in the overwhelming feeling of it all.

#WOLFSTAR #REMUS LUPIN #SIRIUS BLACK #MARAUDERS #HARRY POTTER SERIES #💜rj💜#SPILT INK

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everythingsinred · 3 years

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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 16)

We've just seen a pretty stressful arc, and on the other end of this post is yet another stressful arc. Upcoming is little break from serious plotlines to focus more on relationship growth and introduce some concepts that may seem minor now but will be pretty important later (though that will especially be the case for Mikan's perspective).

I'm on something of a vacation right now so I don't have a lot of time to format and work on this. The editing might be somewhat limited so if there's more mistakes than usual (not that I ever make mistakes) then I'm very sorry.

Chapter Seventy-One

The next few chapters are a welcome respite from the stresses of two major arcs. We just had to deal with Natsume’s heavy backstory, Mikan’s near-death experience, and a lot of fighting. The next major arc is the Sport Fest, and that gets pretty heavy very early on. So having a short break like this is more than needed so that we can catch our breath and maybe foolishly hope that everything will stay “back to normal”.

We join Natsume, who is again looking wistfully at the little Christmas-wrapped bag. We still aren’t entirely sure what’s in it, reading for the first time, but we can surmise it has something to do with Mikan. But reading for the nth time, we know that it’s his alice stone, and he’s been keeping it with himself since at least New Year’s, but probably earlier as well.

Quick! Put that away, it's embarrassing!

He’s interrupted by Ruka, who is eager to spend time with his friend. They’re both able to laugh and joke with each other, which prompts Ruka to say that he knows Mikan helped Natsume get to the point where he can laugh freely.

It’s interesting, because, even though it should be, Natsume’s DA class life is not necessarily any easier. In fact, it’s harder. He’s going through more now than ever as a way to take all the punishment for the problems with the Hana Hime party. And yet somehow, despite all that, he’s still able to smile. He’s light-hearted. He’s at peace with his life, content simply to stand in the same vicinity as Mikan.

Natsume’s love for her is pure and innocent. All he wants is to keep her safe. Seeing her happy makes him happy. The fact that she considers him a friend is more than enough to keep him smiling. He is not morose that she probably doesn’t feel the same. In fact, in a lot of ways, he’d prefer she doesn’t, because he still can’t give much more than he already is.

So, yes, he can smile, despite his life not being much easier, all because Mikan is in it.

Ruka then points out another fact, that he knows Natsume stayed to protect Mikan.

Natsume confirms it. He says he’ll protect Mikan from anything that stands in her way, no matter what.

In the TokyoPop, he just says something like "no matter what" but here he just goes out and says it (sacrificing my own life...). Natsume's fate was obvious from the start. It was all leading to a specific outcome. It was always going to happen this way. He's just too eager...

This scene is a further example of how that scene from after the Christmas Ball has really changed their friendship. They are more open with each other. They have conversations. They laugh together. They communicate. There are still some topics Natsume won’t touch, but he can be open with Ruka about this.

Ruka says he wants to protect her too, because he also likes Mikan, and because he wants to keep Natsume smiling. After all, Ruka promised that if Natsume wasn’t smiling, he wouldn’t either, and now Natsume is smiling. That’s worth protecting, because it didn’t come easy.

There truly are no hard feelings between them about Mikan. They aren’t turning bitter, or arguing over her. There’s no resentment. They loved each other before they loved Mikan and ultimately they just want the other to be happy. And whoever Mikan chooses to love, if it even ends up being one of them, would be fine, because she’ll be happy too. Moreover, they both seem to be somewhat rooting for the other, and always have been, especially Natsume. He wants Ruka and Mikan to be happy, and because he’s aware that his life will be cut very short, he doesn’t think she will be happy if she chooses him, which would never happen, in his own mind. Why would anyone choose him over Ruka?

Ruka then reminisces on the day they both first met Mikan, where we get a full explanation of why Natsume tried to escape that day: not because of Misaki-sensei’s claims that Natsume was a repeat escapee, but because he was getting bullied and wanted a letter from his dad.

The story ends and they both notice Mikan crying, trying to find Hotaru. She finds Narumi instead, who makes a comment that he knew from the moment he first saw her that she’d save Natsume, and confirms that’s why he made her his partner. Now that Natsume is no longer such a troublemaker, and that he has done his job in helping him, there’s less of a weight on his shoulders. Of course, the wind is raging and she can’t hear him, but Natsume heard.

Who the fuck is Narumi calling a burden?

He’s angry because Narumi is right. He also finally knows who exactly pulled the strings to make them partners, and that he’s in love with her because of Naru’s meddling. So he jumps down from the tree and kicks him, causing Mikan, who was in his arms, to be flung far away.

That gives Natsume enough time to scold Naru for hugging Mikan in the first place, and also for having the audacity to say Natsume’s behavior was a weight on his shoulders. Essentially, stay out of my business, despite the fact that Narumi sticking his nose in Natsume’s business is exactly the reason Natsume is so happy right now.

But even when Natsume storms off and Mikan angrily follows him, and they’re both trailed by Ruka, Narumi can see the truth. He was spot on.

Chapter Seventy-Two

This chapter is a fountain of lore! There’s so much new information and the online scans have kept me ignorant to it for a long time! There’s a lot of text and info, so it might be daunting to have to translate it all and write it out, but the price of saving time is that fans who care will be at a disadvantage.

I wanted to share some of the information that I’d found lacking in the scans just in case anybody wanted to know: the more powerful a user is, the more control they have over a stone’s size, shape, and vividness of color. Thus, Tono, a powerful alice user, can make his alice stone look like an eggplant. You could imagine a powerful user making their stone heart-shaped, or more circular or ovular depending on what they like best. The color of the alice stone reflects the user’s personality and maybe even their alice, not necessarily their favorite color, which is how Ruka’s ends up being a cream/brownish color, and not blue like I’d imagined for years. Koko reads some color meanings from an aura textbook to help sort out what the colors in a stone might signify.

This is all brought on anyway by Mikan being followed by an aquamarine alice stone, which we can tell is probably Sakurano’s. Out of loyalty to Yuka, he has strong wishes of wanting to protect Mikan, hence the stone following her around and being aquamarine, which symbolizes feelings of compassion and care.

Natsume and Ruka are both confused about this stone--it’s neither of theirs, after all--but since Mikan has so many friends who care for her, even amongst the staff and upperclassmen, it honestly could have come from anybody.

Although everyone wants to see Natsume make an alice stone, seeing as he is the most powerful alice user in Class B, Narumi makes it clear that he’s already learned everything there is to know about making stones, and thus can do whatever he wants during the lesson, which is what Natsume had wanted. This is intriguing information, because Narumi says specifically, “There’s nothing more we can teach him,” which begs the question: how does Narumi know? Has Natsume shown the staff his alice stone? It’s unlikely he would’ve asked a teacher for help in creating one, since he doesn’t trust any of them as far as he can throw them. But maybe, in order to get out of doing the lesson, he showed a teacher his alice stone to prove that he doesn’t need to be taught anything.

Tono brings up one last tip before they all begin to make their first alice stones. For once, you’re not using your alice for your own use. Somebody else will be using your stone, so how you feel about the person will come out in the stone, whether it’s good or bad. Wanting to protect or harm somebody, whether you have concern or resentment towards them, it will all show up in the stone, so focusing on certain emotions is tantamount to getting the result you want. These feelings can also influence the color, like everything else.

Red is mentioned as being a color of passion and strong feelings, and although Natsume's alice stones are all red anyway, according to his personality, it's interesting that when he makes a stone just for Mikan, it comes out as such a vibrant red. He is very passionately in love with her and it shows in the color. He also only had to think of her to get such a huge stone, and although that's also due to the fact that he has such a powerful control over his alice, it's also impressive that just thinking of her yielded such results.

It is after this lecture that Mikan is finally made aware of the true meaning behind exchanging alice stones and the romantic significance it can carry. Anna and Nonoko explain that the romantic tradition is what inspires girls to give stones with their chocolates on Valentine’s Day, and that it can also connote a proposal of marriage.

Mikan freaks out now that she knows what she and Ruka essentially promised. Natsume can see that she’s freaking out, but because he saved himself this humiliation by rejecting Mikan’s stone, the only person he’d really be concerned for is Ruka, whose feelings he was initially protecting by not telling Mikan anything that night.

Before anything crazy can really happen, everyone starts the lesson and gets to work making their stones. Although Iinchou and Hotaru are more successful, making stones that can actually be seen and held without a microscope, the rest of Class B isn’t quite as skilled yet. They’re all exhausted from the effort, even if it only gave them pebbles as a result, and all somewhat embarrassed and depressed that they couldn’t make bigger stones.

So Tono suggests they play “Alice Stone in the Dark”, that is, that you find someone in the dark and when the lights come back on, you have to exchange stones. Class B only gets really into this idea at the concept of getting their hands on a useful alice to make the most of the possible combinations.

He has this expression for the whole scene. He's so cute when he's flustered.

Thus the game begins, and even Natsume participates, albeit reluctantly. He’s probably just trying to avoid other people and possibly being forced to exchange stones--because he’s not going to make one on the spot and he doesn’t want to give away the stone that rightfully belongs to Mikan.

It turns out luck is on his side, because someone grabs his hand and when the light comes back on, the person is Mikan! She smiles in relief that she was able to find him, and explains that she wanted to force her stone on him. She keeps blabbing on and he doesn’t say a single word the whole time, just standing there shocked because of all the people in the class, Mikan wanted to give her stone specifically to him.

He's never gonna lose that tiny pebble... this is one of the best things that's ever happened to him.

It’s tiny and practically unusable, but that doesn’t matter to him. This little pebble is enough for him. She wanted to give him her stone, because she cares about him, and that gesture is enough to finally spur Natsume into leaving her his alice stone by her bedroom window. It’s more or less anonymous, but he wants her to know that she is thoroughly loved too, even if she has no idea who loves her this much.

Chapter Seventy-Three

It’s Valentine’s Day, otherwise Hell on Earth for popular Alice Academy boys. The romantic and sweet ingredients for chocolates at a normal school are replaced with potions and chemicals and pranks. The more popular and beloved you are, the worse your experience on Valentine’s Day will be.

Mikan decides to give her chocolates to all her friends, but they make it clear to her that accepting chocolate from anyone less than your true love would be terribly risky and stupid, so even if she does give it to all her friends, they probably wouldn’t eat them.

Maybe I’m wrong, but Natsume, who’s looking through a Sanrio catalog, wouldn’t be all that bothered about being one of many to receive chocolate from her. She specifically selected him to receive her pathetic alice stone, after all, and he’s made peace with the fact that they can never be together.

He does get bothered later, however.

He’s hiding, because it’s Valentine’s Day and he’s incredibly popular. He has an overly passionate fan club and closet admirers from all over campus, so being out in the open is dangerous business. He stays in the vents for a while, and thus he witnesses Mikan giving Ruka some Valentine chocolate, asking him to be the first to accept them. They both escape the classroom, Mikan dropping a little baggy of chocolates as she goes.

Natsume drops down and decides that he will be the first to accept them, actually, and eats them. It’s not anything huge, and Mikan won’t even find out that he ate them until a year later, but for now, he’s just acting on his own. He can be selfish here because nobody else knows about it. It’s just a harmless little thing to make himself feel better, with absolutely no consequences. Besides, he finds the chocolate disgusting, so no harm no foul.

Natsume, she couldn't have asked you first, she didn't even know where you were!

The climax of the chapter happens when all the most popular boys in school: Tsubasa, Tono, Natsume, among others, are all running from a stampede of rabid and sadistic girls. They’re flinging chocolates willy-nilly, desperate to get a catch. One is heading right towards Mikan, so Natsume gets in the way, catching it just in time, right when a girl flings one into his mouth.

Natsume has just consumed a love potion chocolate, selflessly, for Mikan (this chapter is so silly), so of course he’s now infatuated with Tsubasa, who is terrified, because it’s embarrassing and because Natsume will be pissed when the potion wears off.

This is very romantic but very ridiculous. Natsume really does take protecting Mikan quite seriously.

More or less, since the love potion is like a pheromone extract, we can see how Natsume has changed in his reactions to such an alice. In the very first chapter, Natsume passed out entirely from the pheromones. Misaki explained that someone entirely inexperienced in romance would pass out immediately, but Natsume is no longer inexperienced, so there’s way more of an effect.

The chapter isn’t particularly important, especially compared to the alice stone one, but it’s a silly little break from the real drama.

Chapter Seventy-Four

The next two chapters are joint, forming the little “Elementary Graduation” arc. We find out that students are to remain at the academy until they are twenty years old, so Natsume wouldn’t have to just power through another seven years, but nine until he could truly be free, and that’s much harder to accomplish.

Anyway, Mikan has seen the senior graduation and is inspired to do something special for the elementary graduation. She doesn’t just want to sing a lame song, she wants to do a special performance! Thus begins the drama of Sumire bossing everyone around because she’s one of the only kids with any real musical talent in a class full of amateurs.

One such amateur proves to be Natsume, who confidently selects the sax to play. Everyone, so convinced that he is talented at everything, is shocked to see how horribly he plays his instrument. Class B gets more and more enraged with Sumire’s attitude, only in part because the only lackluster performer she won’t call out is Natsume, who plays the worst of all of them.

The class breaks in two, and Sumire decides that she will play solo with two other partners who are musically inclined, leaving everyone in the dust. They cheer up eventually, when Ruka leads the class in an impromptu playing session, where everyone prioritizes fun over sound. Even Natsume joins in with his sax, and he seems to be making progress.

It's not a mandatory project, but he wants to join in anyway. (At some point Ruka comments, "You've gotten quite attached to that sax, haven't you?" which is cute because it shows Natsume doesn't just want to fit in, he's also genuinely interested in that specific instrument. Anyway Natsume as a famous jazz performer--)

Natsume electing to join in is very interesting. He doesn’t have to do this, especially because he’s terrible at the sax. He’s choosing to have fun with everyone and learn something new, even if everyone can see how bad he is to start with. He’s finally allowing himself to make friends, not just with Mikan, but with the whole class. He’s in a different place than in the first few chapters. Sure, he still has a fan club and devoted followers, but instead of viewing them as vessels to pass the time at best and annoyances at worst, he now considers them his friends. He wants to spend time with them and have fun together. And, no it wouldn’t have happened without Mikan’s help, but Natsume had to accept the change. He helped go on a mission to save Iinchou and Hotaru, to help Class B, and ever since he’s been slowly getting more involved in class. His birthday in particular also highlighted that his classmates care genuinely about him, so it’s made him all the more willing to repay the favor.

Chapter Seventy-Five

Mikan wants the two rival factions to make up, specifically Sumire and Koko. Nothing she says is enough to inspire peace and she’s distraught that no progress is being made.

She sees Natsume and Ruka playing with fireworks for no reason. They can tell instantly that she’s still bothered about Permy’s falling out from the rest of the class. Last chapter, Ruka tried to help Mikan by cheering everyone up and starting a little music session. This chapter, Natsume gives her advice. He says all relationships have ups and downs, and Permy is just aggravating the situation because she’s a kid and doesn’t know better. They all care about each other; they just need time to figure it out. And besides, he says, it’s way more Mikan’s style to give them an excuse to make up rather than forcing them to communicate. This cheers Mikan up and she runs off to come up with an idea.

They haven't known each other for a full year even but he still knows her pretty well. How cute!

Ruka teases Natsume for watching her and being a stalker, and we can see that despite what Natsume said about all relationships going through fights every once in a while, Natsume and Ruka won’t be having a fight anytime soon, least of all over Mikan. They accept each other’s feelings and are just happy to be happy and crushing on a girl together.

And Natsume has been paying attention, clearly, because he always keeps his eye on Mikan. Of course, he does this to keep her safe, because she’s being used against him by the DA Class, but also because he loves her. He wants to know everything about her, and see her everyday, so naturally small things about her would click into place for him.

Later, when Mikan figures out how to make everyone make up, Natsume is one of the first people to step up and help Permy. He’s helping Mikan too, because what she wanted more than anything was for everyone to make up, and it will help give the rest of the class the courage to step up too. He loves her, so he’s willing to embarrass himself playing the sax to help her bring everyone together again.

Conclusion

Chapter Seventy-Six has almost no Natsume in it, and his few appearances are pretty unimportant. He doesn’t do or say anything, so I felt comfortable skipping it. Anyway, these little chapters showed just how much Natsume has changed since he met Mikan. He’s now involved with the class, willing to have fun and embarrass himself. He is much more like he was before the academy stole all his vivaciousness. Of course, he’ll never be that kid again. He’ll always be more mature and selfless than he should be, but at least he can smile and laugh with the others for now. In the next essay, we’ll see that happiness evaporate as the academy narrows in on Mikan.

I don't think I'll be able to post on Monday, sadly. I'll try to post next Friday instead to make up for it, and to keep up four-day-a-week posting. I don't want y'all to catch up to where I am quite yet, so I'm going to put in a lot of effort into writing as much as I can whenever I can over these next few weeks. Thanks for reading, beloveds.

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thebookwormfairy · 4 years

Text

The-Family-Who-Lived AU

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: James x Lily, Harry x Hermione

A/N: I already know I have sooooo many works I'm suppose to get out, but this is just stuck in my head and I can't get it out. So enjoy my first contribution to HP fandom

Voldemort was dead

He was finally gone

James sat heavily on his chair in Pottor Manor cradling his wife and son in his arms thinking of what happened earlier that night

The attack on his family

The obvious betrayal by his friend Peter who now was on his way to Azkaban

James didn't know what saved them from Vodemort or what killed him, but he was grateful

All he remembered was facing off against that evil man in his son's nursery. Begging him to spare Lily and Harry's lives

He saw the spell being cast he heard the words cross Voldemort's lips, but they didn't die

Everything was a blur after that

Them leaving the destroyed house

Seeing Hagrid arrive, telling him to send word to Dumbledore about what happen

Sirius and him capturing Peter and Sirius taking him in

Apporating away from the scene as reporters began spilling in promising answers in the morning

Lily shifted in his arms breaking him from his thoughts

Lily: What do we do now?

James: We treasure the gift we've been given

And that's what they did

James used his position as both and Aurora and the Head of a powerful and Ancient house to make sure every Death Eater that was brought before him faced justice

And when the Minstery refused to put away rich men who turned out to be Death Eaters he would use his title as a member of the Family-Who-Lived to remind people what could happen if they let these men walk

James helped put away men like Peter Pettigrew, Luscious Malfory, Barty Crouch Jr., and Severous Snape, so that his son could have a better and safer future

Soon James was promoted to Head Aurora for all his work against Death Eaters and keeping people safe

But he had a feeling him being a member of the Family-Who-Lived also played a part in thay

As Harry grew older and started to attend primary school (Lily insisted) Lily accepted the job as the Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts

At first a lot of the students were nervous around her, she was a member of the Family-Who-Lived, which meant she had to be a very powerful witch and very tough to help defeat He Who Must Not Be Named

As the students walked into the room they were expecting a very stern woman who wouldn't put up with anything

But soon she was able to disprove their expectations with her kindness and patience

Soon she was known as the cool professor throughout all the houses

When they entered her classroom she didn't care about the colors they wore, where they came from, or what their blood status was

They were her students first everything else second

She loved her job, she even started a couple of clubs for the muggleborns and halfbloods to help them keep connected to their roots in the muggle world, with some curious purebloods joining the clubs as well

Such as a muggle sports club with Madame Hooch were they would play sports like football and rugby

Lily would also smuggle in muggle shows using magic, the most popular one being Doctor Who

She showed an episode in class once and got a lot of the purebloods obsessed with it

Now she plays episodes in her classroom every Tuesday and Thursday during lunch

But no matter how busy they got in their professional lives Lily and James always made sure to put their family first

They made sure they were there for dinner every nigh and they would switch off who would pick Harry up from school with Remus and Sirus picking Harry up when neither could

The two men practically lived at Potter Manor with the family the only sleeping in their own apartments when they had a date (Sirius) or if it was close to the full moon (Remus)

With them being known as the Family-Who-Lived James and Lily was careful to not exposed Harry too much to the wizarding world

They didn't want him growing up in the lime light with constant scrutiny from others

Because of this they were very careful with who they let Harry interact with

The first family was of course the one of Harry's godmother the Longbottoms Alice, Frank, and Neville

The Second Family was the Weasleys who did everything they could to help during the war

The third was of course Sirius' favorite cousin Andy and her husband Ted with their little girl in tow who soon became the leader of the children when she was home from Hogwarts

The fourth family surprised a lot of people because it was the Malfoy family.

After Lucious went to Azkaban, Narcissa reconnected with her estranged sister Andy, begging for forgiveness and to start over

Andy of course welcomed her sister back into her life with open arms and vouch for her with the Potters

The boys from each family seem to take to each other almost immediately

And much to James' glee and Lily's annoyance Harry seemed to inherent James' knack for causing trouble and dragging innocent boys down with him

Harry loved his family and his life

He got to play with his best friends Ron, Neville, and Draco almost everyday

His dad and uncles would tell him all sort of stories from their days in Hogwarts and the trouble they caused

His favorite was about how his dad first met his mom

Lily would always roll her eyes when James told that story making sure to give Harry her side of it

When Harry turned 11 and got his Hogwarts letter the Muaraders sat Harry, Ron, Neville, and Draco down and told them about the Muraders and officially passed the name down to the new group of boys, giving them the map and Harry the invincibility cloak

The group of boys made a promise with eachother that they would become animagis just like the original members

Lily overheard them and made them promise to let her know when they started the process so she can at least keep an eye on them in case something goes wrong

They also promised to stay friends no matter what house they were sorted into

September 1st came faster then expected and soon the Potter family (uncles included) were dropping Harry off on Platform 9¾

As they past through the barrier Harry told them he was going to look to see if his friends had arrived yet running off before any of the adults could tell him no

Lily *shaking her head*: That boy, I swear he's just like you, James.

James *laighing and wrapping his arms around Lily's waist*: He's much more like you my love with his brilliant mind and caring heart

Lily: Flattery will get you no where Potter. Can any of you see Harry or the Malfoys, Longbottoms, or Weasleys?

The men began to scan the crowd looking for the young Potter and his friends

Sirius*pointing in the opposite direction Harry went*: There are the Malfoys

James: And I can see Frank by the train

Remus *stifling laughter and pointing*: And I think I see history repeating itself

The other adults looked over to where Remus was pointing seeing that Remus was right

They could see Harry with a lovestruck look on his face as he talked to a young girl with wild brown hair and her obviously muggle parents

Sirius let out barking laughter as he watch little prongslet grab the girl and start dragging her over to them with her parents following the children, probably a bit worried about this strange boy taking their daughter away

Harry *dragging the girl over*: MUM! DAD! UNCLE PADFOOT! UNCLE MOONY! I want you guys to meet Hermione Granger!

James *trying to hide his laughter*: Hello Hermiome it's nice to meet you

Hermione *shyly*: Hello

The group of adults also introduced themselves to Hermione's parents as the two children continued to chat with eachother

Slowly the rest of the group started to join them with Harry introducing each boy to his new friend

Lily couldn't help but noticed that as Harry eagerly introduce Hermione to the other boys, he also had his arm wrapped around her the whole time not seeming to realize that he was doing it.

As the time came for the kids to board the train goodbyes were exchanged, hugs were shared, and tears were shed (James: They're not tears Lily! It's liquid bride!)

As the kids were about to board the train Harry turned to the Grangers wrapping his arm around Hermione's shoulders again

Harry: Don't worry about Hermione I'll take care of her

Hermione gets a bit of a sour expression on her face, turning to face Harry as his arm fell from her shoulders

Hermione: I am more than capable of taking care of myself

Harry's lovestruck expression returned

Harry: Of that I have no doubt

The two said their final goodbyes to the adults before boarding the train

The adults stayed on the platform watching as the Hogwarts Express drove out of sight

As the adult wave goodbye and the Granger's left the train station sighting the need to return to their dentistry practice and the other families left as well the Muraders burst into laughter

Lily*hitting James on the shoulder*: This is all your fault!

James *still laughing*: What?

Sirius: Don't be too hard on him Lily

Remus *shaking his head*: That poor girl has no idea what she just got drag into

James: Did you see her reaction to Harry's comment at the end? No, she isn't going to be drag into anything else so easily. She's a fighter I can tell

Lily: Well we'll just have to wait and see

#harry x hermione #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fandom #harry potter #james x lily #Family-Who-Lived #hhr

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halothenthehorns · 3 years

Text

All in the Family

Chapter 68: Mayhem at the Ministry

They landed in yet another office, though to call it such was a bit grand. More like a cubicle that was waiting on an upgrade. There was paperwork set up in neat, alphabetical files along the desk that was hardly wider than the chair beneath it, and yet still seemed to find room for the inkpot. A nameplate was the only thing out of place, only the first few letters visible and the rest obscured by a picture of the Weasley family.

The eight of them had been crammed in tighter quarters, but it wasn't fun to have no elbow room in the minuscule space, nor particularly enjoyable to scavenge for the book. It was at the bottom of a stack of papers with freshly signed ink from Crouch over an import of a sphynx that seemed forgotten, the large majority of everything current was complaints and requests for reimbursements of their damaged property from that catastrophe of a Cup.

Remus accidentally tipped it all to the floor as he tried to dig the book out, then winced and muttered an apology to no one here. Potter forced a laugh no one acknowledged as Remus began Mayhem at the Ministry, eyes flickering to the floor once more and mentally agreeing.

Lily shifted uneasily in sympathy as Mr. Roberts gave the improper goodbye upon Harry's group leaving, well aware that could have so easily been her or her family under other circumstances. On pure instinct, her mind flickered to the thought Sev would never let that happen to her, but then she shifted even more uncomfortably as she wondered how true that was. Considering the lot he'd been hanging around so much lately...

The Weasleys made their way home with much a'fuss from their mother, then Harry slipped off to Ron's room and spent some time worrying about Sirius Black not having replied yet. The present Marauders, all four of them she checked, looked surprised and even concerned at this news. Even Regulus Black could be visibly seen biting the inside of his cheek, and Frank and Alice exchanged a bewildered look the man wasn't keeping in better contact with his godson after the news Harry had delivered; still all Lily could think of was her absent friend.

How long had they been missing? Was he worried at all about her? What would she say to him when she saw him again? She tried hard not to look accusingly at Lupin as the last conversation they'd had simmered in the back of her mind.

"...thought we were supposed to be friends?" Snape was saying, "Best friends?"

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?"

Lily had reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.

"That was nothing," said Snape. "It was a laugh, that's all."

All his throwaway comments, all his pestering and assumptions about what the Marauders got up to, and he'd been right all along. Would she tell him? Was it not fair to admit to him he'd been right all along, they were up to something in school?

Lupin had very nearly killed them, true, but they’d also been locked in a cage with him and he had done everything to stop Black in the meantime from hurting Pettigrew just now. She knew, the whole school knew Severus had done something involving that tree and some monster in its roots because Dumbledore himself had gotten involved and forbidden he speak of the events, to protect Lupin she now knew. Sev followed them all over the school, had apparently followed them down there one night because he could never leave them alone, trying to get them caught and thrown out. Who did that make in the wrong, the illegal animagus’s playing around the werewolf, or her nosy friend for getting involved?

She remembered all the way back now, to Snape’s Grudge and him recounting an event of Potter playing some nasty trick to nearly get him killed. She’d thought that simply hadn’t happened yet, but as protectively as James Potter had defended Sirius Black as well as Remus Lupin through all of this, never leaving a moment of doubt as he stood between his friends and them, it seemed a ludicrous notion he’d do such a thing as get Severus involved in their private affairs when he’d never even bragged to her about his masterful transfiguration work of nearly getting eaten alive once a month via a deer.

He’d done nothing to pull Pettigrew back into the folds of whatever argument they were having though. This future was a complete mess, he was apparently dead because of that friend, a deed he was being punished for but still not scorned away from? He’d held Black back rather than joining in with his son nearly being presumed dead under that mark. What was the line he’d cross? Had Severus made one too many theories and cracks and Potter had tried to teach Lupin a lesson, or were their secrets, their friendship still more to him?

She knew now, even more than her best friend, the insides of their group. Yet it still gave her no better idea of who was in the right in their constant fights. Pettigrew still had dried blood on his face and was avoiding looking at any of his so-called friends, Potter was standing slightly apart from his other two friends with a miserable look on his face and gazing up at the ceiling without taking in a word of what the Ministry was going through any more than her.

Even the Weasley family's inner squabble about some writer giving Arthur some bad light and Percy defending his boss over his father wasn't really holding her attention, she had her own misgiving feelings to worry about.

Regulus, on the other hand, couldn't help but stare on in fascination as Lupin's derivative voice spoke for Percy made his feelings clear. He would have thought Sirius more than anyone would be sticking up for Percy, but he was hissing his displeasure as well into Lupin's ear apparently and had stopped prodding along the edges of his own bloodied nose. Considering the blood traitors he still sort of thought them to be, he'd been under the slight impression from what he'd seen of their family they were all very close, this was an odd perspective to see their inner quarrelings were no different than his family's.

"Dress robes? Of all the silly things for the school to add?" Alice giggled a bit and squeezed Frank's hand. He startled a bit and dragged his attention to her from his own thoughts, but then admitted sheepishly he hadn't caught what she said.

"What's the matter?" She asked as Ron began complaining to his mother for the pair he got. They did sound a bit old fashioned.

He hesitated for a moment but didn't bother lying to her, sharing his impending worry. "I'm ah, wondering what Harry's going to encounter at school this year is all. Something's obviously building up to happen, again."

She wanted to laugh that having to dress up had him so worried, but Lupin gave them the warning the chapter was about to end before she could respond, and she winced a bit at the parting lines showing more discourse running in the Burrow as Ron lamented his poor state again. She gazed once more about the office, eyes lingering on the Weasley family photo on the desk. She couldn't help but mentally agree her boyfriend was probably right to be worried at this rate.

HPHPHP

Your input is important to me, every single person reading this, so if there's someone's point of view you'd like to see more of feel free to let me know.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #Marauders #GoF #reading the books #Wolfstar #Jilly #Regulus Black #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #James Potter #Alice Smith #Frank Longbottom #Lily Evans #Peter Pettigrew

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ineffablelads · 5 years

Note

Sending you a little prompt. A bughead prompt. The prompt is: Betty is sick but tries to put on brave face. Worried Jughead happens and he might make her some soup.

I told myself this was just gonna be a cute lil 500 word one shot… but my finger slipped and 1800 words later… here is a bigger one shot than I once intended. Thanks for the prompt!!!!!

Jughead sat in a crooked hunch behind his desk, head resting in his palm as he gazed at the door in the opposite corner of the classroom. A fleeting hope tightened in his chest; that Betty would walk through the door and tell him he was silly for worrying.. that she just slept in past her alarm or wanted to go get some breakfast at Pop’s before coming in today.

Mr. Kitely faced away, writing Shakespearean phrases in his messy hooked swoops of what could almost pass as cursive. His voice rose and fell dramatically as he spewed prose- a sure sign that the conclusion of his lecture would come any moment now.

The door remained closed. Her seat remained empty.

Pictures of their dark adventures plastered the insides of his eyelids for a heavy moment. Memories of Betty always distancing herself when things were at their worst for her… of her wanting to take matters into her own hands, by herself.

No matter how close they’d become and how much of her trust he had earned... he was beginning to see that it was just her nature. Her independent inclinations got the better of her… her hunger to prove her strength to herself. Overcoming dark challenges satiated that hunger.

He rotated his pencil back and forth between his fingers as he thought.

Usually there were some sort of tell-tale signs that would give her away before she began her sleuthing or problem-solving, though. She would get a distant look sometimes in the middle of conversations, she’d make unlikely alliances, propose strange articles, or she would ask seemingly unrelated questions out of nowhere… something.

None of that had been happening, though.

So, where was she?

Jughead’s leg began to shake up and down in a sudden bout of thick anxiety.

Finally, the bell rang.

He stayed in his seat a moment, allowing the crowd to go on ahead of him into the halls. He pulled out his phone.

No messages.

He had already texted her twice before class started. Usually, they met out front and walked to English class together. But this morning there was no sign of her.

He racked his brain for anything important he may have forgotten.

Was she going to visit Polly and Alice at the Farm? Did she mention anything out of the ordinary? Did he do something that may have offended her?

He tried calling.

No answer.

He left a message,

Right as he was finishing up, Archie and Veronica rounded the corner of the hallway.

Veronica sized up the empty space by his side. She exchanged a brief questioning glance with Archie.

“Where’s B?” she prodded.

Jughead shook his head.

“You haven’t heard from her?” Archie asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Radio silence.” Jughead replied.

“That’s weird.” Archie said, “I didn’t see any light on in her room this morning. But the car’s still there. I even tried knocking to see if she wanted to walk to school together… nothing.”

“Did you guys get in a fight or-” Veronica trailed off when she found she couldn’t stomach the look that was brewing on Jughead’s face.

She wrapped herself reassuringly around Archie’s arm.

“Oh my gosh, look at you two! I’m sure no news is good news. We’re talking about the same Betty Cooper, right? Because the Betty Cooper I know took down three murderers and my gargoyle of a father in the span of two years. I have complete faith that she’s fine.”

She flashed him a smile that was simultaneously sympathetic and vaguely amused.

She was right.

Out of the four of them, Betty was probably the most capable of holding her own. She was smart, she was cunning, she was… giving him a lot of anxiety.

He followed Veronica and Archie to the door of the room with the couches and vending machines then paused. Veronica had begun chattering about her latest Speakeasy plans.

“You know, I think I’m just going to go check on her to be sure. I’ll be back after gym, probably.” He said.

“Yeah, or maybe you can just be a proper rebel and not return after ditching half a day of classes. See you at Pop’s later?” Veronica smirked.

Jughead smiled, “Yeah, I’ll see you guys there.”

He set off down the hall, pushing through an unbearable crowd of his peers.

Things had improved for the Southsiders at Riverdale High in the past few months, but it still wasn’t perfect. He could tell that people noticed him and the other Serpents a little bit more than their average peer. Their eyes always paused an extra moment whenever one of them entered a classroom. It was clear to him that people were less likely to move out of the way for them in the halls than they were for a couple of Northside pearls like Veronica or Archie.

And anyways, people liked to have an excuse to sneer at him when they forced him to push through them. Big guys like Reggie liked the opportunity to shove him or cast half-witted jeers as he elbowed past, even before he joined the Serpents. But now, especially, that he was their king.

Sometimes he wondered if the only one anchoring him to this place with it’s dirty halls and dirty looks was Betty.

Sometimes he wondered if the only one anchoring him through all the insanity of his life in general was her.

But it was like Zelda Fitzgerald once wrote in a letter to her husband Scott,

“Why is there happiness and comfort and excitement where you are and no where else in the world?”

He smiled to himself. Betty Cooper had turned him cheesy. Had it really only been a couple of years since the lonely beginning of sophomore year? Had he really gone most of his lifetime blind to how much more incredible it could be with her not just as his friend he met through Archie, but a warrior Queen fighting by his side?

He swung the doors to the parking lot open and scanned the lot for his bike. The brisk morning air clung heavily to his clothes, leaving dew drops on the faux wool peeking out of his denim jacket. As he crossed the lot, a thin bite of wind shredded coolly at his face.

There was something about mounting his bike and bringing it roaring to life that made Jughead feel a little more alive than he was the moment before. Something about making himself vulnerable to fate and circumstance tickled his poetic existentialism in a way driving a car never could. The tires of the bike skidded precariously over the rain-soaked blacktop as he turned onto the main road. For a brief moment, his mind emptied itself of the morning’s anxieties and he was just a rush of stark senses.

He loved that his motorcycle refused to shield him from the elements. If it was snowy, he’d feel snowflakes caking his clothes, bristling at his skin. If it was hot, he’d feel the sun beating down directly into his flesh. Now that it was rainy, the precipitation soaked right into his clothes and the resulting cold seeped deep into his bones.

In a car you could feel numb. You could turn on a heater on a snowy day and feel as warm as the summertime. You could lie.

On his motorcycle, he was honest. About the weather. About where he was coming from and where he was going.

On his motorcycle, he was a person who faced things head on.

And so he did, pulling into Betty Cooper’s driveway that drizzly morning. He slid his helmet off and threw it onto the seat. In an instinctual instant, he had his beanie settled over his hair again. He knocked on the front door and pushed a tuft of hair from his eyes. The rain had picked up. He wished he’d brought his serpent jacket instead of his fluffy jean coat.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and did his best to dry them. Then he sent Betty a text.

Hey, I’m at your house. Can you let me in?

-Message read.

He let out a defeated sigh and leaned against the door frame, planning his next move.

But the longer he waited for some sort of response… any sort of response, the more out of control his anxious thoughts became.

What if one of Hiram’s goons was still out there and came to get comeuppance over his arrest? What if one of the Black Hood’s crazy fanatics came after her? What if one of the remaining Ghoulies found her to “create chaos”?

“One can find so many pains in the rain.”

John Steinbeck’s quote interrupted his thoughts. He remembered reading it over the summer.

He felt the author’s quote spinning around his head, as though to tease him… but maybe also a godsend to distract him from the dark train of thought he had been spiraling through.

“Jug?”

Betty’s big, warm hazel eyes peeked through the slightly opened door. A set of sniffles followed.

He moved into plain sight and waved meekly, soaked.

“Oh my god, Jughead!” she croaked, sniffling some more and practically throwing him into the house.

He laughed, looking up at her in starry-eyed relief. She was in her pink, fluffy pajama bottoms. One of his “S” t-shirts hung loosely around her shoulders along with a cozy blanket. She padded away, barefoot on the hardwood floors, and came rushing back with a set of towels and a box of tissues.

Jughead pulled off his boots and left them in the entryway, upside down.

“What’s wrong?” Betty asked, “Why are you here?”

He gaped at her, incredulous.

“I was worried. You weren’t at school and you hadn’t responded to any of my messages. Archie said he didn’t see you leave this morning and-”

She sniffled once more, head cocked sympathetically to the side in that way Jughead knew all too well. Here she was comforting him when she was the sick one.

He tensed. He knew his anxiety had been getting worse over the years… but ever since the debacle with Hiram Lodge- it was like he couldn’t stop the warning lights from going off in his head anymore.

“I guess I still worry that it’s not over.” he whispered.

Betty took one of his cheeks in the palm of her hand.

“Maybe it’s never over.” she mused, “but we’ll never be able to live happy lives if we let ourselves believe that.”

There it was: Betty Cooper and her brave face.

She smiled at him as she came forward and pulled off his jacket and flannel. She threw them in the drier, along with his socks and hat that he threw in himself.

“Erm, did Chic happen to leave any pants behind here that I could borrow?” he asked.

Betty reddened.

“No, we uh- we burned his belongings after I handed him over to the Black Hood. You know… to be sure.”

Jughead raised his eyebrows.

“But… we could check the guest room Archie stayed in when Fred went to Chicago freshman year. Maybe he left something behind?”

He nodded.

Once he was switched into one of the flannels she had borrowed from him some time ago and pulled on some of Archie’s old jeans, he came downstairs and found Betty leaning in a state of pungent exhaustion against the counter, blowing her nose.

He shuffled forward excitedly and scooped her up into his arms, spinning her around once.

Together, they spun from the hardwood floor of the dining room to the squishy rug of the living room. Jughead collapsed down onto the couch, bringing a ball of sniffling Betty Cooper with him.

They pressed their foreheads together in a gesture of momentary oneness.

Betty pulled away first.

“I don’t want to get you sick, too.” She worried.

“That is the least of my worries.” he responded. “Right now, all I’m worried about is making you feel better.”

She gave him a puzzled look.

Jughead cradled her once more as he stood up and set her back down on the sofa.

“I am going to take care of you for once!” he announced. A self-satisfied smirk crossed his face as he leaned forward, kissed her on the forehead, and tucked in her blanket.

Betty quirked an eyebrow but did not protest. Instead she leaned back into the arms of the comfortable sofa and accepted the oncoming pampering.

Jughead left nothing in his reserves. He set up candles around the room to replace the strain of bright light bulbs. He started up the fireplace. He brought her tissues and cough drops and ibuprofen that he must have found after about ten minutes of frustratedly rummaging through the pantry and cursing Alice’s organization. He even had something cooking on the stove that smelled delicious.

Betty watched with adoration as he doted by whatever he was making in the other room, humming happily to himself.

“Eureka!” he shouted.

Betty did all she could to keep from snorting out her laughter.

She failed.

Jughead waltzed in wearing her mother’s lacy, flowery cooking apron and an oven mitt over his haphazard rain outfit. In the mitt was a bowl of piping hot soup he set on the coffee table before her.

He beamed.

“AND!” he shouted. Before she could say anything, he’d run back into the kitchen and eagerly shuffled back with a steaming tea cup.

“A meal fit for a Queen! Bon appetit.” he said in the worst french accent she’d ever heard. He bowed dramatically, a smile curled joyfully around the sides of his mouth.

Betty sniffed again and made her best effort to inhale a waft of the soup’s smell. It was a homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese- just like what she would get at Pop’s. The tea was her favorite relaxing green tea.

Her eyes flickered up to Jughead’s. She stretched her arms forward, beckoning him to come snuggle her.

He happily obliged.

#bughead #bughead fanfic #riverdale fanfic #Anonymous #endlesswriter03 #my writing

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onehellofababysitter · 6 years

Text

FP Jones x OC Fanfic: A Serpent Never Sheds Their Skin: Chapter 2

(A/N: Here’s chapter 2 :) I fully intend to bring FP in during the next chapter, but I wanted to get her to Riverdale in this one. Once again, comments and reblogs are very, very appreciated)

(Tags (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed): @mrfangsfogarty @southside-serpent-mia @drarrypsycho)

Chapter 1 here

“Welcome to Riverdale: The Town with Pep!”

The Riverdale town sign was the first thing Ali saw of her old town. To her, it seemed like an old friend extending a greeting, and she was happy to see it. She’d been riding for three days, stopping only to eat every few hours and to crash for a couple hours a night. She could have made more of a trip out of it, but she was too anxious to get back home to Riverdale. She’d ridden for half a day and had stopped to eat when her phone had rung, and unidentified number with a Riverdale area code flashing across the screen. She’d nearly broken it in her haste to answer, and when she did she heard the voice of a person she’d never expected to call her: Fred Andrews. He’d said that somebody had scrawled her number on a piece of paper and slid it under his front door with a note that said to fill her in. Her “something fishy radar” had started to go off once her mind had slowed down enough to think about the fact that someone from home had found out where she lived no matter how careful she had been to keep herself out of the system. The call from Fred had just cemented the fact that something was definitely off.

However, it had also cemented her desire to get there and help the Serpents. He’d filled her in completely about the events of their small town after she’d left, up to the recent murder of Jason Blossom, the son of the rich Blossom family she remembered from her teenage years, and the Black Hood murders, to the Lodge and Ghoulie takeover of the Southside and the decimation of the Southside Serpents that had been so bad they were living in a camp on the side of the river. It was like she’d left and the town had turned into a damn soap opera.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she started scanning the streets, looking at the changes. Some things were the same, like Pop Tate’s Chocklit Shop, and some things were so different they threw her for a loop. She’d stopped by the White Wyrm and had felt a burning anger as she saw the graffiti sprayed all around the walls. The old Twilight Drive-In, the place where her and FP had had countless dates, was completely torn down. She rode down the residential streets until she found the address Fred had sent her. She stopped in front of the two-story house, and unclipped her helmet, rolling her neck back and forth, feeling it pop as she tried to work out the tension. She dismounted and made her way up the sidewalk, barely noticing the flicker of the curtain in the window of the house next to the one she approached. She knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting.

The door swung open a few moments later, a teenage boy around sixteen or so with bright red hair staring in confusion at Ali, his eyes dropping to the leather jacket she wore with a look of recognition she didn’t expect from a boy who was so thoroughly a Northsider it was practically written on his forehead.

“Can I help you?”

Ali smiled at his sharp tone as she smoothly replied “I’m a friend of Fred’s, is he home?” The boy turned and shouted for Fred at the top of his lungs, but didn’t move from the doorway, apparently determined to keep her from coming in. She spotted Fred walking up behind the kid, who she was assuming was his son, Archie.

“Ali, hey. It’s so good to have you back home.” Fred moved past his son and wrapped Ali in a tight hug, which she gladly accepted.

“Hey, Fred. I’m glad to be back, believe me. It’s been way too long.” He released her and ushered her inside, instructing Archie to shut the door behind them. The boy trailed behind them as they made their way to the kitchen, and she could feel his eyes on the Serpent sewn onto the back of her jacket.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you with the Serpents before, but you have a jacket.” Archie’s tone was sharp and accusing and Ali turned to face him, raising an eyebrow as she spoke quietly.

“I grew up here, down in the Southside and I was a Serpent for 4 years before I got dragged out by my family.” Her tone was razor sharp around the edges, matching his, and Archie drew away from her slightly.

“She was one of the most loyal Serpents I’ve ever met, Arch, and I’ve met a few. She didn’t really have much of a choice when her father left Riverdale. She’s back now, though. Speaking of which” and with this he turned and addressed Ali directly “you don’t know who gave you the letter? Or me your phone number?”

She shook her head, biting her lip. “No, and it’s concerning because I’ve prided myself on staying hidden from anyone other than who I wanted to find me.”

“And you don’t know why they had me contact you and not another Serpent?”

“No. No offense, but you weren’t on the friendliest of terms with the Serpents when I left, what happened?”

He exchanged a quick look with his son, and Archie answered for him. “My best friend, Jughead, joined the Serpents a while back. Once the Ghoulies started taking over, kicking all the Serpents out, we let some of them stay here until they could get moved by the river. One of their newer members, Cheryl, is letting them live in her mansion until they can all figure something else out.”

Ali leaned against the counter, listening as Archie spoke.

“ Do you know where they are now?”

Archie pulled out his phone and typed something out quickly. Within seconds, his phone chimed with a received message. “Jug says they’re all down by the river for a meeting. If you want, I can take you down there.”

Ali nodded, looking over at Fred to see if he had any complaints about Archie going with her. He nodded back before addressing his son. “Do you have a way to get back? She probably won’t want to leave after she gets there.”

“Yeah, I can call Ronnie. She probably wants to go out anyways.” Archie looked at Ali with a ‘let’s go’ expression on his face, so she turned to thank Fred before heading towards the door.

“Drive safe.” She nodded back at Fred, promising she’d get Archie to the river in one piece. Once outside, she was mounting the bike when she saw the curtains of the house next to Fred’s move away from the upstairs window, and a woman stared down at her. A face she recognized despite the years that had passed. Alice Smith, her old friend from the Serpents.

“Alice moved north of the tracks, huh?” Archie followed her gaze up to the window as he got on the bike behind her.

“Oh yeah, Mrs. Cooper moved up here after she got married. To the guy who ended up being a serial killer.”

“You’re kidding. Alice married the Black Hood?”

“ Yep. Although in her defense, she didn’t know. He was good at hiding it. No one ever noticed until it was too late.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, a clear signal he wanted to get going. Ali obliged, starting the bike up and roaring down the road, heading towards Sweetwater River. He’d told her where to go, so she went down the same streets she’d wreaked havoc on as a teenager, every second bringing her closer to her family. She found the place relatively easily, she’d been there a few times before. She stopped about 60 feet outside of where he’d said the camp would be, wanting to walk up rather than ride in and call a lot of attention to herself. Archie climbed off the bike, unclipping the helmet she’d made him put on, waiting while Ali pulled off the Serpent jacket and draping it over her arm. Now she wore just a simple black tank top that showed off the Serpent tattoo on her left arm. She was hesitant to wear the jacket into the group, in case she wouldn’t be welcomed back. She moved forward, a knot of tension settling between her shoulders as Archie walked behind her.

They walked through a break in the trees, the Serpent camp directly in front of them. Curious eyes turned their way, recognition dawning on the faces of the older Serpents. None of them moved towards her, seemingly frozen. Archie moved past Ali, saying something about going to get Jughead. She nodded slightly, staring into the faces of the Serpents, waiting to see if they would accept her back or cast her out as a traitor.

Chapter 3 here

#FP Jones x OC #Alissandra White #Riverdale #Fanfic

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noplanwithavan · 7 years

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WISH YOU WERE HERE

There’s been a touch of holiday season “hiraeth” these last few weeks. Or perhaps that’s disingenuous. It’s not the motherland we miss. We cannot lay claim to that evocative welsh term for longing. Ours is more a background hum - a pang of kinship for the traditions and people of home. Christmas time will do that to you. When the strength of familial bonds tug most keenly. Yet there has been enough to lessen the strain - many friends - old, new and acquired have helped to see us through.

First there was the Osman family whom we met on the Costa Brava at the start of our journey. We’d kept in touch as we knew they would be heading south for the winter, and managed a rendezvous at a campsite outside Caños de Meca. Unlike us they hadn’t gone down the route of wild camping. Their smaller van with a large tent in tow ruled out that option. Instead they’d stuck to campsites - a more expensive, yet undeniably less smelly existence. We spotted their flower-powered van on our approach and followed, whopping, hooting and waving with glee. Despite only having spent a few days together 3 months ago, they felt like long lost friends. Bonded by that peculiar camaraderie which comes from shared experience. The girls picked up with their kids Nancy and Dolly where they left off. Trotting, free-wheeling and carousing around the campsite. All chitter chattering as they shared stories. Rain set in for a few days, but we countered it by hunkering down in the Osman tent. Gossiping and catching up. The adults drinking wine, while the young ones put our distraction to good use. Before we realised what game they were playing, it seemed too late to stop it - dress the parents up in the children’s clothing. Unsurprisingly Elsie got very absorbed in her role as stylist. A particularly fetching ruff was selected for Nancy and Dolly’s dad, Jay, which gave him the air of a Spanish reconquistador. She paused to weigh up the effect of her composition, but seemed unsatisfied. Clearly this was not quite the look she had in mind. Disappearing briefly into the deeper recesses of the tent, Elsie emerged moments later with a triumphal look. Rapidly, layers were added - to the face, and hands. She stepped back quizzically to admire her work, and smiled. The masterpiece was complete. With hands now bound in submission, Mr Osman was transformed - no longer a knight of the Spanish Golden Age. More like a detainee from Guantanamo Bay.

As we parted, Marcus joked we’d have to find more friends in time for Christmas. And in fact, this proved remarkably easy. Rolling our way back down the coast, we made for Tarifa. That wind-sock of a kite-surfing mecca, luring you in with its laid-back charm. We’d heard there was a good free camping community at Playa de los Lances. Surely our best shot at making festive friends. After searching for a few days without success, Marcus suggested trying down one of the many beach-side tracks. One clearly declaimed itself a campervan-free zone, with a hard-to-ignore “No Acampar” sign in large lettering. Venturing on through the umbrella-shaped pines, we broke out onto a runway lined with mobile homes. This was van heaven, curving off into the distance. With a collective gasp, it was clear. We were hit with a serious case of vehicle envy. It’s hard not to marvel at human inventiveness at such moments. The sheer cornucopia of self-sufficiency in all shapes and sizes. Big wheels, graffiti spray-jobs, even patio doors out the back. All these configurations and compromises tailored to individual need.

We celebrated the girl’s 6th birthday here, foregoing presents for an “experience” instead. After some discussion they settled on a rock climbing lesson over horse riding on the beach. It proved an education all round; the parental art of butting right out. Scaling a 40 foot rock face in nearby Bettis, Elsie baulked at the prospect of letting go to abseil down. Contradicting everything she’d ever been taught, the instructor Chris was now explaining how to let go and lean right back. She was not at all keen to put her untested faith in a rope. Sensing panic, Marcus and I tried to help, bellowing up instructions like, “Move your leg over to the right. No, not that right, the other right.” This didn’t help. We were merely fuelling the flames, a volley of overlapping commands fired at cross purposes. That was until Chris turned to us diplomatically, with the words, “I think it would help if you just let me do the talking.” Enough said. He had her down in a jiffy. From a quivering jelly back to full bravado, all in the space of a few feet. And busting to do it all over again.

During our time in Tarifa we acquired a favourite pitch at our camping spot. That curious desire to lay claim even amongst a free-for-all. If we went for the day we’d leave behind a few possessions - chairs, clothes hung out to dry. And there was good reason. Not wanting to lose our place beside the big blue bus. When we first arrived we noticed it had the tell-tale sign we tend to home in on - a child’s bike mounted on the back. Sure enough, 3 year-old Bonnie soon burst forth, wearing baggy pants and a sweet, diffident smile. Within minutes that immutable call to friendship between children had been uttered and answered. The girls disappeared inside her bus. And that was it. We had neighbours. And what’s more neighbours with extended family. A few days later Hilary and Richard, Bonnie’s Grandma and Grandpa, showed up. Swinging by in style with their vintage VW van. This was, it seems, a grand tour en famille. We stayed put, cooking together and sharing food on Christmas Day, happy to be part of this warm solidarity. Hilary and Richard provided an indulgent treat for the girls - spearheading craft sessions on the beach and trips to pick edible mushrooms. After a week Elsie and Lulu were even calling them Grandma and Grandpa, exchanging christmas cards and involving them in parental confidences. Waving hello one morning Hilary chuckled knowingly as she shared, “You can’t tell children anything can you?” I must have looked puzzled, for she added in a conspiratorial whisper, “Just so as you know…we DO have a toilet.” Blushing furiously I could hear my mind whirring…back to that conversation days ago with the girls. The one that went:

Lulu - “I like their orange van. It has nice curtains. It’s pretty cool isn’t it? Me - “Well yes VWs are good to look at, but frankly they’re not very practical. I mean it’s very small. They probably don’t even have a toilet in there.”

Repeated verbatim to the subject in question…thanks a lot kids.

Social indiscretions aside, we would have loved to stay, but Boxing Day brought with it a new chapter. Friends from the old country - the Bulloughs - were coming out to see us. The girls were crackling with excitement. I’m not sure which was more of a novelty - welcoming the first pals to have made it out to join us along this journey, or ditching the camper van and living it up in a flat for 12 days. Sadly I fear it may not have been the relaxing holiday Tom, Charlie, Edwyn and Alice envisaged. All 8 of us squeezed into a small apartment, with Elsie and Lulu clearly the more noisy and boisterous half of their merry band. But it was fab. And as a city Cádiz is hard to beat. This is Spain at it’s most Spanish. We were in the heart of the old town. Crammed into a spit of land, with the port on one side, and sweeping beaches the other. Looking out from up high there is a maze of flat roof-tops, intersected at points by over 100 watchtowers. Faded relics from a more prosperous past. Then stepping outside you’re thrown headlong into a warren of wide, criss-crossing streets teeming with life. I had the unshakeable sense that whole lifetimes are lived within just a few yards. The same faces seen day after day within invisible boundary lines - hawking their wares or pacing the plaza. It was truly an enchanting, beguiling place. Having been told from Grandma Ros that Rick Stein had done a programme on Cádiz, Marcus assiduously followed all of Rick’s food recommendations. And we weren’t disappointed, gulping down sherry, seafood and churros. Bizarrely the only time when people didn’t appear to be out and about, drinking and eating at all hours, was New Year’s Eve. We’d read that Spanish people celebrate with their families until midnight, and only come out much later. Having managed to stay awake until 12.30, we reasoned things would surely have begun to heat up by now. The odd bar perhaps cracking open to offer a sliver of comfort. Maybe even the faint strains of “auld lang syne” calling us forth. But no, the whole place was a ghost town, shutters drawn over large silent windows. If we’d kept prowling the pavements till 2am perhaps we’d have seen a party, but tired and despondent it was just easier to go to bed.

But if welcoming in 2017 was a little restrained, our epiphany was soon to come. Christmas Day is no big deal in Spain. The real festivities are geared towards the Magi. The 3 Kings visiting baby Jesus on January 6th. It wasn’t always easy to coax 4 kids around the city. To avoid the many glittering temptations in every doorway. Constantly beset by stops to the playpark or the irresistible giant magnolia trees. Their trunks inviting exploration, with bark the texture of an elephant’s hide. But if we’d tried we wouldn’t have been able to drag them home on the night of January 5th. Despite multiple separate breakdowns, all 4 refused to abandon their place behind the barriers lining Plaza de España. This was the mother of all fiestas. The Magi were on their way. A brass band heralding a cavalcade of flotillas snaking its way towards us, releasing a collective frenzy amongst the crowd. Small Spanish bodies surged forwards, elbowing their way past us, screaming “Acquí, acquí!” as thousands of sweets rained down. We tried to get a look at the girls faces, to see their reactions to this bubble-gum exuberance. But we couldn’t see them - shielded by the youthful melee they were scrabbling desperately all around - on the floor, under the barriers - for whatever pickings they could get. “Did you like that?” we asked later. “That.. was the best night of my life - EVER!” beamed Lulu.

Leaving Cádiz it was tough to say goodbye to the Bulloughs. But we were also hankering to be back on the open road and in the camper van once again. The last few days have been peaceful, sun-filled and happy. Hanging out along the Costa de la Luz - the surf spot El Palmar, Conil, and Vejer de la Frontera. And the hand of friendship has once again played its part. Big thanks to Ivan Black back home for putting us in touch with his great mates Sarah and Camden out in Vejer. Former Londoners who’ve been living in Spain for the last 12 years, we hit it off straight away. We ended up parking in their garden and had a fabulous day sharing great food, company and the delights of a washing machine and shower. Sarah even threw in a yoga lesson. New friends, old friends, friends not just for Christmas. It’s all good, and it’s set us in great stead for our next big leap. Across the water to Africa - Morocco here we come!

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