#for the record I think his mother is right. and I think jamie does know she's right. but he still can't bring himself to act on her advice.

[lunar-years]

what are your headcanons about tartt sr’s abuse? did it start when jamie was a teenager? was he always physically violent with jamie and maybe georgie too?

the s3 the finale is so disrespectful to georgie now that i think about it

Hi! This ones not super easy to answer because i think the show leaves the specifics largely up for interruption. My own thoughts on it are all over the map (and often change). I can basically see a lot of different avenues to getting to what we see play out in Man City, and I've seen a lot of differing thoughts on this topic; to be honest I find myself nodding along to most all of them even though all of them could definitely not coexist in the same universe, lol. So this is far from set in stone in my mind but here are my (once again quite long oops) general thoughts on how it might have gone (obviously TW for discussion of abuse below the cut):

the abuse canonically did start when Jamie was a teenager, because we know the Amsterdam trip happened when he was 14; whether the abuse also took the form of physical violence at that age I'm less certain, but I lean towards the bulk of that coming later. At this stage James was still in his "Stand Up Father" routine

I think the early relationship when James Tartt Sr. first came back into Jamie's life would've been a lot of false promises and the "Fun Dad" shtick Jamie describes when talking about Amsterdam. We also know James tried to get Georgie back at least once, and the way I interpreted the tone in which that was said was that the trip was neither the first nor the last time that happened. I kind of headcanon that James was in and out of rehab during that time, swearing to do better, making the same mistakes, rinse and repeat

Jamie's thoughts on James were a jumble of juxtapositions. James could always sweet-talk getting them an extra scoop of ice cream for free at the shop, he took Jamie to City matches and showed up all the time with cool or expensive gifts his mum could never afford - official kits and the like. He taught Jamie "life skills" like picking locks and petty crime tricks that, to a 12 year old were fucking cool! On the other hand he was also taking Jamie to pubs and making him try beer when he was like, 12 or 13. He made Jamie hang out with him and his friends - who were crude and brash and kind of scary. He arranged for Jamie to lose his virginity in Amsterdam because it was "past time for him to grow up and be a man."

All of those latter things made Jamie at best uncomfortable, but they were always balanced by the fun stuff. The good stuff. The problem was he never knew which version of his dad he was going to get on any given day, so he could never prepare for it.

I think the physical violence started off "small" - shaking his shoulder aggressively, keeping an ironclad grip on the back of Jamie's neck, etc. When he hit Jamie the first time he showed up the next day with a grand apology. He always used "getting too drunk" as his excuse and said "it won't happen again" and Jamie always believed him until the next time, because it really didn't happen that often, and anyway the bruises were never anything he couldn't keep hidden from Mummy and the teachers at school.

there were maybe one or two "Bad Times" when James "lost control" (in his own later words) and got Very Violent with Jamie whilst he was still a teenager. These are the times when Jamie learned how to hide substantial injuries and bruises from his team, his coaches, etc. and stared at his Roy Kent hoping by some miracle for the man to come out of it and save him.

I also think this is an instance where a young Jamie might have ~fought back~ and/or purposely said things to provoke his father, only to then have the resulting beat-down framed as a "punishment" by James, which scared him shitless (because canon Jamie does not seem afraid of most anything, but he is definitely terrified of his dad and that came from somewhere) and effectively prevented him fighting back in future. These occasions very much stand out as formative in his memory because the violence was so not constant at that time; the biggest thing to me is that James was incredibly inconsistent and that was part of his manipulation. Jamie started wondering if he was somehow at fault for the abuse, if it was his failure to be good that caused his dad to hurt him.

"say goodnight son..." when he goes to kill Beard with a lead pipe sure says a lot. I think that level of beating on Jamie and physically abusing him really began when Jamie was an adult playing for Man City. Both before he comes to Richmond and after he is sent back to Manchester in s1. He "restrained" himself during the season, to keep Jamie fit enough to play. But the off season has been a historically bad time for Jamie.

this is the timeframe where I think Jamie has a very tense relationship with his mother and isn't really talking to her about anything, let alone James. The distance between them started when he was teenager keeping secrets, worsened when she began things with Simon, and are by this point at an all time low, and he's fallen back on his father, spending more time with him than ever. He's essentially isolated himself from any support system and this is when things are really very Bad.

As for Georgie -

yes, i do imagine she also suffered from James abuse, though I don't think the abuse would have looked exactly the same for her as for Jamie

I think the bulk of it was emotional/verbal abuse. I can very much see James yammering on about he'd "never hit a woman." meanwhile he's spewing constant vitriol about her, calling her a bad mother, calling her slurs, and of course beating on their kid. But (in his warped brain) slapping Jamie around isn't the same as slapping Georgie around, because Jamie should be "able to take it" and "be a man." Just all kinds of ickiness exuding from that man.

"your father is never, ever going to change" is definitely the consensus (to me) of a woman who has been deeply manipulated by James in past and let down herself by his false promises. i would not be surprised if she HAD gotten back together with James once when Jamie was a teenager and he was on a longer sobriety stint from rehab.

I do think Georgie knew on some level that Jamie was being abused but I also really believe she did not realize the full extent. Jamie kept secrets from her (Amsterdam included). Georgie sensed there were secrets, but didn't poke into them, in part because of her own james-related trauma and in part for paralyzing fear of what she'd find if she looked deeper. It was easier to believe Jamie was still telling her only truths. So she comforted him the best ways she knew how, and she did her best to limit the time Jamie spent with James, but Jamie adamantly always wanted to see his dad, and she had to work so often and couldn't always be around to monitor him, and what was she to do, in the end?

Jamie does tell Georgie all of it after they repair their relationship circa/post s2/s3, and the resulting bond is stronger than ever.

#i think it is telling that jamie lets ted's advice in Mom City override his mother's #for the record I think his mother is right. and I think jamie does know she's right. but he still can't bring himself to act on her advice. #because if he does then it's really over and he's always going to have a shit dad and that's never going to change ever #if he follows ted's advice though...well there's still a chance isn't there? #and the part of him that is still 13 watching a City game with his Dad and his Dad let him get any snacks he wanted! any at all! #and they're laughing! and his Dad is telling him that's gonna be him down there one day on the pitch and his voice is all pride. #yeah...that part of Jamie. That part of him still wants to believe in that chance. #which is tragic but also says something about how resilient and inherently hopeful Jamie is. #jamie tartt #james tartt sr. #georgie tartt #asks #tw abuse #tw child abuse #ted lasso

[theicarusconstellation]

TELL ME ABOUT DUNE ALIA ATREIDES DUNE just anything I just need to read more about it I'm brainhungry

OH MY GOD OKAY OKAY OKAY FJSJSKNDNF

THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT DUNE ANY TIME THAT GOES FOR EVERYBODY

SO. ALIA.

my poor girl was doomed from the START from CONCEPTION😭😭😭😭once jessica drank the water of life, alia’s fate was pretty much sealed.

it’s so fucking tragic to think about her relationship to jessica and paul. jessica loved her kids, truly, she did, and we see it in how she cares for paul and alia throughout the first book, even after paul thinks, my mother has become my enemy. and yet. even before paul was born, jessica has been motivated by selfishness. she defied the bene gesserit and bore a son instead of a daughter to make leto (and herself) happy, thus damning paul to the fate of the kwisatz haderach. she drank the water of life and took on the role of the fremen reverend mother while pregnant to help implement the bg’s plans (and her own plans) even though she knew what it would do to her unborn daughter. from that point on, alia was sentient. she had the memories of billions within her fighting to gain control.

for the first few years of her life, she had a very distinct sense of self. she and paul, despite their age difference, loved each other SO MUCH😭😭😭😭there’s this one quote from dune messiah where reverend mother mohaim says, “who could understand but the sister?” in reference to paul’s struggles, and yeah. they understood one another in a way no one else could.

she had a sweet family dynamic with harah, jamis’ wife and paul’s eventual servant. their moment together in the first book is honestly the most open declaration of familial love we ever see in the books (“i love you, harah.” FUCKING RUINS ME), and right after that, alia snuggles up to jessica and takes comfort in her mother (she was so young she just wanted her MOM😭). like yeah she has many different memories within her that are not the memories of a child, but she, alia atreides, was still a child. and i know brian herbert and kevin j. anderson’s books are…certainly something😐but there’s a moment between alia and irulan in paul of dune where irulan tells alia, “you deserve to have a childhood too” and that just BREAKS ME because she never got one. since birth, she was treated like a freak and knew it. she literally said, “i know i’m a freak.” (she was like TWO when she said this MY BABY😭). when paul’s jihad was going on, she was running arrakis in his place as a CHILD. she had so much wisdom and knowledge and did an amazing job, but underneath that, you do see that she was a literal baby.

once she hit about four years old, jessica left her on arrakis. jessica went back to caladan and reverted back to her old bene gesserit ways, living in fear and disgust of the children she created. the children she once loved so. much. are now her biggest regrets, and we see this when she visits alia in children of dune and literally hesitates to call her “daughter.” once she admits it, there’s an understanding between alia and jessica that they are still family, but the “…daughter” DOESNT HURT ANY LESS.

then dune messiah comes around. she’s ≈ sixteen and already regarded as a demigoddess by the people of arrakis and has a little mini-cult surrounding her. she is paul’s closest confidante (some may argue that it’s chani, but i say again, “who could understand but the sister?”). she’s “saint alia of the knife” for a reason too. her fremen upbringing + her genetics make her incredibly skilled, so much so that breaking records is second-nature to her. however, as paul’s state declines, so does hers.

(WHO. COULD. UNDERSTAND. BUT. THE. SISTER.)

she starts slipping into spice trance, letting ancestors converse with her for longer periods of time. she’s argumentative and so, so lost. when duncan idaho’s ghola is given to paul, this 35+ year-old zombie man sees this 16 year-old and is like “yeah i’m gonna get up on that,” so he and alia get into a “relationship” that my poor girl didn’t know any better than to accept.

i think the start of her breaking point came when paul lost his sight. up until then, they had understood one another as easily as breathing, like those saplings that grow next to each other and end up twisting around one another (or turning into one tree). but when paul comes back blind yet still able to see, he knows she’s scared of him, and an irreparable rift develops right then and there (i pretend this doesn’t happen for my mental health).

once paul wandered into the desert, alia was gone. her sense of self and grasp on reality went right with him. he was the only one who didn’t live in fear of her, the only one who she ever felt truly loved by, who didn’t put her on a divine pedestal she didn’t want, who she could TRUST😭

this fucking monologue from messiah guts me inside:

“i wish i could burn this thing out of me…but i’m sister to an emperor who is worshipped as a god. people fear me. i never wanted to be feared. i don’t want to be part of history; i just want to be loved. and love.”

WHO!! COULD!! UNDERSTAND!! BUT!! THE!! SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!

the (almost) last things we hear her say in messiah are literally, “duncan, duncan, he’s [paul’s] gone! i need you duncan, love me!”

then, children of dune occurs. it’s nine years after paul wandered into the desert, AND ALIA STILL WEARS YELLOW, THE FREMEN COLOR OF MOURNING. she hates him and loves him and hates him and loves him and can’t stay out of a possessed trance for more than five minutes. rather than help her as the people around her notice her falling victim to the voices inside her, they ice her out, even her former lover, and call her abomination, trying to send her to her death and looking upon her with disgust. leto ii and ghanima, who she raised since birth, have no sympathy for her.

the only person we really see her close with is irulan tbh. which like. oh i love their dynamic. they went from being curt and uncaring with one another in messiah to being one another’s only comfort in children (for irulan loved paul too). still, irulan distances herself the more wrapped up in her own head alia becomes. when jessica returns to arrakis, she does nothing but stand by (and encourage alia’s execution) as she watches her daughter slip away as a result of her selfish choices!!

after alia finds out paul is alive, god there is so much conflict going on within her. the last time she saw him, they loved one another with a love that was more than love, but now, he’s preaching that everything they’ve built is a blasphemy and alia should be overthrown. she wants him dead but she wants him alive but she wants him dead but she wants him alive and she wants to see him but she hopes it isn’t him but she wants to see him. her big brother.

when she finally does see him, he looks her in the eyes and calls her a blasphemy.

then, paul is stabbed. alia watches him die, and to me, that is when the last string within her finally snaps. she turns to jessica and shouts, “that was paul they just killed!”

so many voices fight to overtake her, including her grandfather, baron harkonnen, who had been possessing her up until this point, but she is just so, so tired and so hurt and so unloved that she can’t do it anymore. she doesn’t even bother to fight. she jumps to her death and does not scream on the way down.

and this is what gets me too. we know it was her decision, the last decision she ever got to make of her own volition, and it was one of self-destruction. the baron was screaming at her not to do it — everyone else watched as it happened — but she did it anyway, and honestly, she found more peace in death than she ever did in life.

god i could talk about her for hours i love her so much she’s my girl my love i need to wrap her (and paul) up in little blankets and hold them so close.

also there is just…something about jessica watching both her children die in front of her. and the comparison she made in the first book when alia walks into her room and she thinks, “she reminds me of paul at that age” with both their big, curious eyes and quiet mannerisms and OH😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#god i spent forever typing this out #this is definitely more than you asked for but #oh i just love her #alia atreides #st alia of the knife #alia ): #my girl my girl my GIRL #astra’s asks #dune

[seraphjewel]

Du’Met vs Lonnit Entertainment

Okay so I wrote out my theories on Du’Met’s plans concerning the Lonnit Entertainment crew. This is only based on my own observations of the story and characters, and is pure opinion. Please keep that in mind and be respectful.

Cut for length and for spoilers!

Erin: I think Du'Met sees himself in Erin. Later in the game she brings up something she sees they have in common: they're both selectively mute. I don't know whether she's right in her analysis, but the fact remains she sees a connection between the two of them. Du'Met sees it in her asthma. We learn that as a child, Munday had acute bronchitis. I had bronchitis once and had to use an inhaler for a while. It's likely Munday needed one as well, or just struggled to breathe in general because of his mother's smoking. So when he heard Erin’s discussion with Jamie about not wanting to depend on her inhaler, he identified with that and wanted to test her.

That's why her first trial is if she'll reach for her inhaler. If the player chooses the inhaler, Du'Met cuts off a strand of Erin's hair as a souvenir of the encounter. This suggests he was impressed with her and wanted to remember the moment. From here on, the player has the option to use the inhaler for certain situations. I never did and it didn't have any negative effect on Erin; I've also seen other players use it, also with no negative effects. I theorize that maybe the devs meant for something to come of whether or not you use the inhaler but ran out of time to implement it. If we continue with Du'Met testing Erin's resolve to not depend on the inhaler, maybe the idea was that the more you use it, the more likely Erin will die. But like I said, nothing ever comes of using it versus not.

Charlie: Players have observed how Du'Met seems to have a particular vendetta against Charlie. Du'Met plants that edited recording of Charlie early on to sew discord among the crew. Out of all the crew, Charlie's deaths are the ones that are the most brutal and he can die in so many different ways. I think this mostly revolves around Charlie being a smoker. We learn that Munday's mother was a smoker and she physically and verbally abused him. It was partly because of her smoking that Munday had poor health as a child. I think that left a mark on Munday where he was resentful or even hated smokers from then on. This also could have fueled his complicated relationship with Manny Sherman. This is why Charlie's trap has him being killed by his own lighter. Charlie doesn't have any tests to overcome-- Du'Met just goes straight for the kill.

Of course if the player does everything right, Charlie survives. Du'Met can go from that moment at the furnace to the end of the game without realizing that Charlie survived. I think that's why every death afterward (being ground up in the compactor, impaled by the meat-hook and hung, pushed off the ledge with “complicit” carved on his chest) are even more brutal. Du'Met is pissed that Charlie survived and messed up his kill count and so every possible death afterward is much more personal and brutal.

Jamie: All of Jamie's tests revolve around her relationships with other people. Her first trial involves guiding Erin into the closet to hide from Du'Met. You play this scenario out in Curator/Shared Story: you find a warning from Du'Met that you must tell Erin to hide or he'll kill her. Not long after that Jamie is tested again when she's faced with killing Erin versus Kate. I theorize that Du'Met left the leak in Kate's window on purpose (he needs her to be alive for his ultimatum) with the test here being how deep Jamie's feelings for Erin go. Whichever way the player ultimately chooses, Kate walks away alive so Du'Met's ultimatum can work.

I think Du'Met sees Jamie as his “rival” and the most challenging of the crew. She has knowledge of electrical wiring and can mess around with his system a little. I think the first power outage was intentional to test her capabilities. Later things start going awry (Charlie throwing the book that blocks the walls from closing was definitely not in the plan) so I don't know if Jamie messing with that other circuit breaker was what Du'Met wanted. I also don't think her final “trial” was planned: Du'Met didn't intend for the girls to find his director's suite, so luring them into the glass room was more of a gambit. Obviously here he's hoping that Jamie's relationship with Kate has improved enough that Jamie would sacrifice herself, because Kate dying would make him lose the leverage Du'Met needs to manipulate Mark. I highly doubt he factored in the screwdriver breaking the glass, so in Du'Met's perspective someone's going to die whichever way the scenario goes.

Kate: The game touches a bit on Kate's PTSD and survivor's guilt, and Du'Met's original plan certainly revolves around that. In two cases, Kate is put in a situation where the options are her versus one of the crew. In the first case, Jamie could potentially kill Erin to save Kate; in the second, Jamie could sacrifice herself to keep Kate alive. If both of these things happen, Kate's survivor's guilt will be built up to an extreme by the time it's down to her and Mark. Du'Met's idea here is to torment her with that until her last breath. His ultimatum requires Mark to choose Kate over five strangers, compounding Kate's survivor's guilt even more. It is also more directly linked to her being the cause of these people's deaths.

Mark: Du'Met marks him as the “ferryman”, which implies he sees Mark as the most malleable/weak of the group. The game's narrative tells us that Mark waffles over decisions and doesn't take huge risks. His only trial involves holding down the lever connected to Charlie's furnace chamber (Curator's Cut/Shared Story). Du'Met is banking on Mark's sense of self-preservation here but even if Charlie makes it out, the crew doesn't know this and Mark is left with the (presumed) knowledge that he didn't save Charlie. This feeds into things later when it's down to Mark and Kate and he has a chance to save her-- as long as he agrees to the ultimatum.

Since Mark is intended as the “ferryman”, he doesn't have any chances to die until the end when Du'Met's original plan falls apart. He was meant to fall into that jail cell and wait while everyone else except Kate was picked off, but of course that went wrong when the strap of his camera caught. Even if the player is caught by Du'Met, Mark can easily escape. Overall, Mark experienced the least amount of Du'Met planning. There are a few possibilities why this is a case: Du'Met didn't think he was worth the trouble, Du'Met thought Mark's tendency to waffle and not take risks would mess things up, or there were some hiccups in previous groups that made Du'Met want to make sure the “ferryman” was isolated and out of the way.

If everything goes as planned, Du'Met only uses the axe as an intimidation tactic with Kate by purposefully missing and making her fear for her life. But if things are messing up, the axe is used as a weapon-- both Jamie and Erin can be killed by the axe, and of course Du'Met is still assuming that Charlie is dead. I personally don't think the final showdown on the boat was intended by Du'Met at all. It reduces him to an unsophisticated axe murderer in close quarters where the victims can easily get away from him.

Du'Met plays classical music when activating his traps, which suggests he sees himself as cultured and refined. All of this is “art”, after all. It's only if the crew keeps messing with his traps that he spirals into a more traditional murderer. We don't really see much of his previous kills. Some of the skeleton crew look like they could be accidents or suicides. All we know about the Morellos is the order they died in. With the group before them (the Lees and the Halls), we know how they died but nothing else. With how Du'Met treats the crew, it's safe to assume that he created traps/scenarios that messed with each of his victims based on their profile/his observations. We see him doing the same thing with the next group (June Collins and her family). I'm not sure where the students we see in the other end credits fit in since there's no information on them in the game-- all that's implied there is that the cycle is going to continue, leaving the player with a sense of foreboding.

The theories about Du'Met/Munday are all over the place but I think we can all agree on one thing: his original plan was carefully laid out to tailor to each of the crew in specific ways, and it's only because the crew started messing things up that the plan eventually unravels.

#Headcanon #the devil in me #granthem du'met #lonnit entertainment #spoilers #the dark anthology #dark pictures anthology

[renee-writer]

Take the Wheel Chapter Twenty -Two

AO3

She reaches for his hand as they enter the courthouse. Even though he knows she is doing it out of nervousness, it still feels wonderful. He encloses his around hers.

“It will be alright.” He assures her.

“Yes. Just a bit nervous to see him again.”

“You stand up straight and look him dead in the eye. Let him know he holds her power over you.”

She squeezes his hand and grins.

“Thank you Jamie.” They enter the lift and head up to the third floor. They exit to polished wood floors and benches. The courtroom is a few doors down. He opens the door and follows her in.

She sees him right away, standing stiff and straight. He sees her and frowns.

“Claire, what are you doing here?”

“Surprised, eh? Did you think you could throw away my child without me being present?”

He turns away and Jamie’s heart fills with pride. Good on her!

They find seat near the front. The man takes a seat on the other side. There is hardly anyone else there.

The judge enters and looks sternly down at them. “I see this is a hearing to have parental rights terminated and the father request it? Am I correct?”

“Yes my Lady.” His barrister stands and answers. She frowns.

“Is the mother present?”

“Yes My Lady.” She stands on shaky legs.

“No distention filed?” She looks through to see.

“No My Lady.” His barrister pops back up.

“Why?” she addresses Claire.

“He doesn’t want her. We are doing fine without him. I see no reason to force him to be a father. It would just hurt my child. My Lady.”

“I see.” She turns towards the man. “Stand up.” He does along with his barrister. “She has a lot of class. As Miss Beauchamp has no objections, I must grant the petition. The law allows me room to state my opinion on it though.” She glares down at him, “You are a embarrassment to men out there working their hands off to provide for their children. You wanted the fun without any of the responsibility. You don’t have the stones to be a proper father to your child. I just hope you are smart enough to take precautions to prevent another child from coming into this world without a father. Though I doubt it.”

“My Lady!” his barrister tries to object.

“Hold your tongue Mr. Cowell or I will express, on the record, my feelings about you taken this case.” He sits down, leaving his client to face the crown’s wrath alone.

“Where was I? Right, doubting your intelligent. You, Mr. Randall, are one of the sorriest men that has ever graced my courtroom. Now, I must tell you that when I sign this order, you will have no more rights to the minor child, K B aged twenty months. You understand that?”

“Yes My Lady.”

“You are entitled to no information about her. All decisions about her health care, education and, religion, will be her mother’s. This totally strips you of any rights for the rest of her life. You do understand that?”

“Yes My Lady.”

“You also will have no responsibility towards her care, which I believe was the point of this. You understand that?”

“Yes My Lady.”

“As Franklin Randall has agreed to give up paternal rights to the child, KB and any responsibility towards her care, the Crown henceforth dissolves his natural right as the father of the minor child. The court also orders these records sealed until the minor comes of age. At that time, the child might wish to seek him, God knows why. The Crown will not disallow such a search. So ordered. So done.” Her gavel comes down. “This court stands adjourned.”

“Claire?” They turn and face him. Jamie takes her hand to help calm himself. He so wants to hit the smug bastard. “I never meant to hurt Kara.”

“It is Kiara. She isn’t hurt. She has no need of you. Goodbye Frank.” They walk out, her head high. Jamie is so bloody proud of her.

#my writing #outlander fanfic #take the wheel #chapter twenty-two #jamie and claire #cannon divergence #outlander fandom #modern au

[legends-of-time]

The Strength of a High and Noble Hill (Outlander)

Chapter 21: Fathers

Masterlist

October 1769

"I should warn you, I was never good at this."

Jamie glances over his shoulder at his son. It still amazes him, even if it's been weeks since they'd reunited, to see how much he's grown since he last saw him. Jamie might've seen it in the photographs Claire had shown him but to see Brian as a grown man in the flesh is different.

Jamie gives his son a shrug. "Dinna take te it like yer sister did?"

Brian shakes his head. "No, Ellen took to it better when dad, uh, Frank, taught us."

Jamie gives him a soft smile. "Dinna fash yerself. Ye can call him dad if yer want to. He was yer father fer twenty years."

"But you're my dad too." Brian argues. "I don't want to disregard either of you because both of you have been a father to me."

Jamie's eyes water at that statement, he swallows thickly and replies, "Ye can call me Da. Tha' good?"

Brian nods. "Yeah... Da."

Jamie lets out a watery chuckle and grips his son's shoulder. "Come, we hav' hunting te do."

——

January 1966

A 19-year-old Brian picks up the ringing phone. It's Joe. His voice is serious as he asks if he can speak with Brian's mom. Brian sighs, still shaky from the yelling he'd heard coming from the room that contained his parents and then the slamming of the door as his Dad leaves. He didn't hear much but accidentally heard accusations of infidelity when he wandered too close to the room. Brian has known for a while that his parents aren't happy but to hear those words had been a punch in the gut.

Brian says he will and goes to that room where his mother hasn't emerged since Dad walked out. Brian is glad Ellen isn't at home but at school, finishing high school soon. She doesn't have to hear the abuse their parents threw at each other nor does she have to see Mama's absolutely unrecognisable face with mascara-stained tears staining her cheeks.

Brian tells her Joe is on the phone and she sprints past him like a bat out of hell, reaching the phone in record time.

Brian lingers behind her. Waiting, listening, to hear what Joe has to say. Something in Brian's gut is telling him something is wrong.

——

Dad's dead.

That's what Mama said. A car crash killed him. It wasn't unfeeling the way she said it, far from it. But it wasn't sorrow either. Brian can see that his mother looks almost liberated.

Brian had the same feeling too. He'd loved his Dad as any child would love a parent but had always known it was never as much as his sister loved him. There had always been this weird chasm between the two. Brian would watch other sons with their fathers and wonder why he and Dad weren't as close.

Brian was never able to please him. The two of them were so different.

The day he'd come home from school after learning about these other countries in Geography, Brian had been particularly excited about Scotland, wanting to go there and was eager to tell his parents. He didn't know why he was so drawn to Scotland but it felt right. It felt right up until when he told his parents.

Dad had stared at him, his face a mixture of absolute fury and complete shock. Mama had stood frozen to the spot, not daring to move. Dad had stood abruptly, shoving past him, nearly running out of the house and slamming the front door hard enough to knock a painting off the wall.

Brian had looked at his mother with wide tearful eyes. She'd hurried over to him, wrapped him in a hug and promised that everything would be alright. She'd promised that they will go to Scotland one day. Brian had taken comfort in that, in his mother's arms.

But now... now things are different.

Brian can see that in his mother's eyes as they comfort Ellen, who's in tears over the news. Things are different.

——

A/N: Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

#outlander

[scapegrace74-blog]

New Ways of Turning into Stone, Chapter 6

A/N Where does the time go?  I lugged my laptop 7,000km round trip with the sole intention of working on this fic, but that apparently didn’t happen.  For those who found the last chapter hard to bear, I apologize in advance.  I am not quite finished being cruel.  With that said, trigger warning for character death, childhood disease, suicide ideation.  The chapter title is Sleeping in the Clouds.

The first five chapters are available on my AO3 page.

Five Months Later

A persistent mechanical bleating lifted Claire from the indeterminate depths of medicated sleep.  The emergency contact number she provided to all her patients was programmed to forward to her mobile, where a particularly aggravating ringtone ensured she would never miss a call.  Even at one am on a Tuesday night.

Fumbling for the device, she glanced at the unfamiliar number before answering.

“Doctor Beauchamp speaking.”  Her voice was gritty and rough.  She reached for a half-filled tumbler of water while waiting for the caller to identify themselves.  Over the line she could make out muted traffic noise, and perhaps a distant foghorn, but no-one spoke.

“Hello?” she inquired, torn between concern that a patient needed her and frustration that she might have been woken by a misdialed number.

“If you’re one of my patients, you need to talk to me so that I can help you.”

There was an intake of breath, a weepy sniffle, and then the click of the call being terminated.  A prickle of gooseflesh washed over her.  She couldn’t say exactly how, but she knew who had called, and that he needed her.

One of the grim perks of her job was that she had backdoor access to reverse look-up for telephone numbers, in cases where there was a threat of self-harm or harm to others.  As Claire hastily donned socks and grabbed a winter coat, she waited on hold for the PSAP operator to provide an address.

“We’re in luck, Doctor Beauchamp.  It wasna a mobile number.  In fact, tis a telephone booth.  Gote Lane, in Queensferry.  Down near the... umm, next tae the bridge.”

Without so much as a thank you, she hung up and frantically punched the app for an Uber.

Fifteen nail biting minutes and an excessive tip later, she stood in front of an empty phone booth.  Predictably, the directory had been torn out, leaving only a thin metal cord and car-key graffiti inside the cramped interior.  But on top of the phone itself she found a familiar ecru business card, her name and credentials embossed in black font.

“Damn it, Jamie,” she muttered to herself, palming the card.

If he’d hung up and started walking towards the bridge, she might be able to catch him if she ran all out, but something called her towards the nearby shore instead.

The tide was out, leaving a narrow strip of beach and sharp, slimy rocks exposed to the heavy air.  Her nostrils were assaulted by the briny vegetative rot of the retreating sea.

On a weathered bench facing the river, encircled by a cone of foggy streetlight, sat a man, his eyes trained on the smudgy lights of the Queensferry bridge hovering high above.  Even bundled in a heavy black jacket and watch cap, she would recognize his long limbs and the set of his shoulders anywhere.  She let out a long breath of relief.

She approached the bench cautiously, not certain if her presence would be welcome.  Instead of turning to greet her footsteps, Jamie addressed the bridge.

“Maggie passed t’day.  I called ‘cause I wanted ye tae know, but then I couldna find the words tae tell ye.”  Despite his refusal to look at her, his words were calm and without a hint of the bitterness she’d expected.

“Oh, Jamie.  I’m so terribly sorry.  I didn’t know her well, but she was a very special little girl who loved you dearly.”

He nodded in acknowledgement of her words, but didn’t reply.  She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, suddenly aware that she was still wearing her pajamas, her hair doubtless a veritable cumulus of tangled curls.

“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.  “I still have some contacts at the hospital, I could...” she broke off, knowing it was ridiculous to offer professional assistance when she’d been the one to sever their relationship.

“Would ye, if it’s no’ too much tae ask, would ye mind jus’ sittin’ here with me fer a bit?”

He finally turned to look at her, and she could see the spider web of red veins that surrounded his irises, testimony to his heartbreak.  His mouth, usually such an accurate barometer of his mood, was strangely inert.  She nodded, unable to deny him such a simple request.

It was the time of night when the daytime symphony of the city broke into its component parts, every passing car, every lapping wave a single instrument singing its own plaintive song.  They sat in silence for long enough that she could feel the damp creeping up the legs of her pajamas.

“Maggie loved tae cross that bridge,” Jamie said at last.  “She’d lower her window, rain or shine, and stick her wee arm out, sayin’ it felt like she was flyin’.”

Claire smiled at the image, trying to picture the little girl with the giant imagination.

“What colour was her hair, Jamie?” she asked.  “Was it red, like yours?”

“Nah, dark, like Jenny’s and our Da.  But wi’ curls like mine and my Ma’s.  A little like yours, actually, Sassenach.  That is, before the chemo took it away.”

She grimaced, not knowing what topic to choose that wouldn’t lead Jamie on a path directly back to his grief.

“She fought sae hard,” he continued before she could attempt another distraction, “but the cancer wouldna let her win.”  Tears were rolling down his cheeks, glinting in the sodium light like stars, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.  “She was the best person I knew.  Sounds strange tae say of a wee lass, but she truly was.  An’ it made me a better person tae love her.  What the fuck am I gonna do now?”

Jamie was looking straight at her, as though he truly expected her to offer useful guidance.  All her training, her professional distance, fell away in the face of one broken man.  She swallowed, searching for words that weren’t a platitude.

“You’re going to go on living, because she can’t.  Because your happiness, when you are ready to feel it again, will be a gift to her memory.”

Jamie sniffed, then wiped his sleeve across his face.  He placed his hand on the bench between them.  Without allowing herself to think, Claire reached for it, finding his skin surprisingly warm.  There was an agonizing fermata, when all the instruments held their breath, and then he turned his palm upwards to meet her own.  Beneath the fog the river slipped by, blending endlessly into the sea.

"Look, Jamie, I know it’s not the right time, but I want to tell you that I’m sorry.  For the way I treated you, and ended things, and...”

“Nay, Sassenach, it’s me who should apologize.  I had no right tae throw my diagnosis at ye like some kinda weapon.  An’ when I think of how I heedlessly brought up yer becoming a mother.  I, of all people.  Weel, suffice it tae say I’ve spent many an hour regretin’ my words an’ actions.”

She squeezed his hand, wordlessly declaring them equal in remorse.

“How have ye been?” he inquired, peering at her as though trying to read her state of mind on the planes of her face.  She chuckled, looking away when the intensity of his gaze became too much.

“About the same, I suppose.  Better some days than others.  Geillis has started ordering my lunches for me, so I no longer have any excuse not to eat.”  Jamie nodded, seemingly pleased with this news.

“And you?  Are you still seeing Dr. Rafferty?  I... uhh, I know his office requested your file.”

In fact, Giles Rafferty had called her the week after her confrontation with Jamie, wondering why his new patient’s record of treatment contained no more than his biographical details and the time and date of each of his appointments.  She told him the same thing she’d told Geillis when she asked the same question in significantly cruder terms: that her weekly interactions with Jamie had never led to a professional diagnosis or a recommended course of treatment.

“Aye. He’s a good man, although tragically immune tae my charms.  Unlike some.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Fraser,” she warned, although his rakish grin warmed her from the inside out.

“I’ll be darkening his doorway wi’ some frequency, after t’day,” he continued with a return to solemnity.

And yet you called me, Claire wanted to say, but didn’t.  When his beloved niece had slipped away, hers had been the number he had dialed, despite everything.  The very idea made her thoughts flit about like fireflies.

“I missed ye, Sassenach,” he confessed quietly after a time.

“I missed you too, Jamie.”

They sat together through the thin hours of the night, talking, sharing memories of Maggie, but mostly in silent companionship.  As dawn brightened the eastern sky, the fog began to lift, revealing an overcast sky.  The lights of the bridge blinked out, and the city’s music began anew.  Claire wished futilely that day would never break, knowing that it would bring them both the pain of two very different kinds of goodbye.

Her hand, when Jamie finally let it go, felt strange, as though it had been separated from its source.  She tucked it quickly into her pocket.

“I.. errr, I need tae be goin’,” Jamie said by way of apology.  “Ian and Jenn will be needin’ me.”

“Yes, of course.  I’ll just, um, call myself an Uber.”

They were both standing, neither seemingly knowing how to part.

Jamie opened his mouth, paused, shook his head in frustration, then looked away.  Her traitorous hand escaped her pocket and found its way to his chest.

“I’ll be thinking of you.  All of you.  If there’s anything, anything at all..”

“How long until your no’ my doctor anymore?  Ethically speakin’.”  He was looking at her in a way that made the fireflies whirlpool about.

“What?” she asked to buy herself some time to breath.

“Before I go an’ face everything that is wrong about t’day, I want tae ken, how long must I wait before I can kiss ye again wi’out riskin’ yer reputation?”

“There’s no written timetable,” she stalled.  “It’s a question of a doctor exerting undue influence or the exploitation of the patient’s trust, and there’s really...”

“Those rules are meant tae protect the patient, aye?  So I should be allowed tae waive them, no’?”

“Jamie...”

“Fine, let me rephrase my question.  Doctor Claire Beauchamp, when can I, James Fraser, ask ye tae look upon me as a potential suitor and no’ a former patient?  Six months?  A year?  Two years?”

“You really are the most infuriatingly stubborn man,” she huffed.

“Aye, I ken.  Sae, two years?  Do we have an agreement, Sassenach?”

“Fine, yes, two years, but Jamie, I don’t expect you to...”

A finger was placed across her lips, silencing her protests.

“Two years are naught if I can kiss ye again once they have passed.  Until then, Claire, please take care of yerself.”

She stood by the bench long after Jamie was gone, staring out across the river.  A flock of geese flew by in formation, broad wings nearly touching the surface of the water as it reflected the steel gray clouds above.  She thought of little Maggie, and her birdhouse surrounded by clouds.  A sob wrestled its way up her throat, surprising in its urgency.  And then, she allowed herself to cry.

#my writing #outlander

[sunaswife]

Summary: It’s been five years since you’ve seen your ex, Rin. He’s still not over you and you’re not over him. When he finds out you have children he thought he didn’t have a chance. Then he finds out they’re his? All of a sudden you’re teaching Suna how to be a single dad.

note from denise: TAGLIST CLOSED

Warnings: Fluff, angst I guess, drama, and cuteness twin overload

Previously Up Next Masterlist

Chapter seven

“Alrighty give mommy kissy.” You squatted down. Both of your kids tackled you in a hug and they kissed your cheeks. You kissed them back and pulled away. You watched as they walked to the bus.

Even though they’re homeschool, they offered a program where your kids can still go to class in person once a week so they can socialize and it won’t affect their mental health. After talking to another mother who put her kids in the same program, she recommended it and you decided that it was best.

Your kids already socialized in their volleyball practice but it wouldn’t hurt for them to talk more with other kids.

You saw as Rini helped his sister up the bus first and blocked the back of her skirt from showing her shorts underneath and you lowkey wanted to cry because he was such a gentleman. He then got in and they sat together on the right side of the bus and they waved you goodbye. You waved back and the bus began to leave.

You sighed and turned back home. You washed this morning’s dirty dishes and cleaned a bit around. After you were satisfied with the presentation of your house, you made your way to your small studio office and began answering more emails and writing topics for the new podcast episode you and Jamie had to record.

You took another sip of your barley warm tea and finally you heard the doorbell ring. You glanced at the time on your watch and realized it wasn’t 12 yet, it was probably Jamie.

You carried your laptop and placed it on the dining table and ran to the door. “I’m coming!” You yelled as Jamie rang the bell again. You opened the door revealing your two best friends and you were shocked to see Hana. She’s your best friend from highschool, the one who blocked the boy’s numbers and let you spend the night when you got kicked out.

She was also the one who was rooting for you and Suna but she was more than furious when she found out what happened. You called her on New Years and started balling your eyes out.

You told her to never date boys cause they sucked but little did you know she had a big crush on you. You were her first love.

I guess you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. So when Rin started to take your attention, she felt jealousy and loneliness but your happiness mattered more than her selfishness.

She became a fashion major in University but dropped out because she didn’t like what they were teaching. With the bit she learned and already knew, she turned into art. She made beautiful leather pieces of lingerie with straps and belts and lace and the models needed dramatic makeup and hair. And you happened to know an amazing makeup artist.

That’s where Jamie came in.

And eventually they fell in love.

Hana is always busy with her lingerie company since everything is hand crafted and not made in a factory like Jamie’s makeup products. So that’s why it was a shock to see her here during the day at least. “Come in come in. Mi casa es su casa.” You said in broken Spanish and they laughed.

Jamie sat on the dining table and sighed. She rubbed her baby bump and you asked if she wanted something to drink. You got her water as well as some wine for Hana. “So they’re really coming over?” Hana asked as she opened Jamie’s laptop and set it up for her wife.

“Yeah I hope so. If they flake I’m not gonna give him another chance. I already told the kids he’ll be here and they’re excited.” You said and she nodded. “Good.” Hana replied. You and Jamie began reading eachothers notes and topics regarding the podcast. “I think Hana is gonna have to take my place on the podcast if I pop.” Jamie mentioned randomly.

“Hell no.” Hana immediately said. “That’s a you two thing I’m not getting into it.” Hana said sternly. “But Hana, since Jamie got pregnant. You didn’t have a face for your spicy lingerie line. So I temporarily replaced her. Surely you could do the same!” You exclaimed and she rolled her eyes. “Speaking of lingerie I have something I want you to try for the next photoshoot. I’ll go get it after my smoke.” She said and you rolled your eyes with a nod.

“It’s pretty hot, like a harness thing on your wrist that connects to your thighs.” Jamie spoke up as Hana left. “Where does Hana come up with these things?” You asked and Jamie made a smirky face. “Nevermind I don’t wanna hear about your guy’s sex life.” You shuttered and she snickered.

Hana got out your front door, walked to her fancy Mercedes and took out the gift wrapped box as well as her favorite pack of smokes. She sat on the small bench in the front of your house and she lit the lighter, breathing in the nicotine. She sighed and wondered if you’re going to be okay with your ex seeing his kids.

If it was her she would refuse to let him see them and take it to court. But you weren’t like that. You always had hope and patience that you’d meet Suna again someway somehow.

She heard a car door slam and looked up to see the three tall figures get out of a car. She exhaled the smoke and they looked up to see her. “It’s been a long time, huh?” She tilted her head to the side and Suna scratched the back of his neck as he neared. “Hana I—I’m sorry for everything.” He said. “I trusted you with my best friend and you hurt her. I don’t think I could ever forgive you for hurting my first love like that.” She spoke bitterly and put out the cigarette in the small froggy bowl turned ashtray that the twins made.

“First love?” Osamu asked and Hana stayed quiet and motioned for them to follow her. Suna didn’t know what to say, after you left Hyogo Suna began bugging her for answers and she went off on him once and that’s when he realized that Hana was gay and in love with you the whole time.

Immediately when the door opened they heard yelling and singing. Obviously confused the boys looked at eachother but Hana seemed unfazed, she’s used to her wife’s chaotic nature and even though you’re pretty quiet and collected you make a complete 360 with Jamie around. You were both like Yin and Yang.

“Shh she’s been trying to get this song down for weeks.” Hana whispered as the boys followed through the small hall. They looked at the photos that adorned the wall and they saw baby photos of Suna’s kids and they truly looked like him. From the corner of his eye, Suna saw a photo of you with Shawn Mendes and smiled that you finally had a chance to meet your celebrity crush.

Suna nor the twins didn’t know what to expect when they saw you again. But they were shocked to see you in your true nature with studio headphones over your ears as you sang each note higher and higher. Jamie was yelling and slamming the table with her palm encouraging you to keep on going. Jamie used to do that in parties, drinking games were her favorite.

You finally finished the song and you took off your headphones and started screaming. “SIX WEEKS IT TOOK ME SIX FUCKING WEEKS TO COPY IT TO A T! I DID IT OH MY GOD!” You yelled and Jamie yelled again too. “BITCH I TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO IT BUT YOU-“

“SELF-“ punch

“DOUBT-“ punch

“ALL-“ punch

“THE-“ punch

“TIME!” punch

“Alright alright I get it goddamn—if you weren’t pregnant you know I would punch you just as hard.” You scowled as you rubbed your arm. “Sorry y/n.” She apologized and chuckled. “We’re not interrupting right?” Hana spoke up causing you and Jamie to turn. The three men stood behind her and your face fell. The air shifted and you suddenly felt cold.

“No just work stuff.” You said and you quickly stood up. “Welcome to my home. You’re welcome to sit at the table.” You said and closed your laptop. “Would you like anything to drink..?” You asked, trying to be hospitable and Hana scoffed. “Give them water, you don’t have to be nice to them.” Hana said and she sat by Jamie. You bit the inside of your cheek and looked at the three men. “Water is fine..” Suna spoke up and the twins nodded.

“Sit.” Jamie said and motioned to the dining chairs. They all sat awkwardly while waiting for you to come back from the kitchen. You had your tray with their water, more tea for you and Jamie, and a glass of wine for Hana.

“Alright where do we start..” you said as you sat down next to Suna since that was the only empty spot. “The beginning.” Jamie shrugged. “I already explained what happened. I told her everything.” Jamie told the boys and immediately Atsumu scowled. “Knowing you you probably made yourself sound less bad.” He muttered, immediately Hana was about to say something but you interrupted. “Did you make the bet?” You asked the blonde, “Y..Yeah..” he frowned and shifted in the seat awkwardly, “Did you accept the bet?” You turned to Suna. “Yes..” he said guiltily. “Did you think Suna would win?” You asked Osamu. “Yeah.” “Jamie Did you think pissy— I mean Atsumu would win?” You asked her and she sighed a yes. “And did you all bet with money?” You asked. They all replied with yeahs and yes’s.

“Did you guys agree to quit because it was wrong?” You asked and they all nodded. “Then that’s all that happened. I don’t need to know anything else.” You explained.

“Look guys.” Jamie spoke up and she tapped her manicured fingers on the table nervously. “It took a long ass time for Y/N to forgive me and trust me, I ruined her life and I’m blessed to have met her. Without her I’d probably still be in an abusive relationship. Without her I wouldn’t have learned how to be humble and grateful for even waking up in the morning. She’s my best friend and I’m telling you straight up if you truly want to be her friend again. You need to work for it, Suna if you really want to be in the kids lives and earn Y/N’s trust you truly need to work for it.” she said almost desperately.

“If you ever disrespect her again. I will not hesitate to sock you in the face and I’ll call up Tobio if I have to. That goes for all of you.” Hana told the three men.

“Do you guys have anything to say?” You asked. “I would apologize but I’d rather let you see it than hear it.” Suna spoke up and you nodded. “Alright.” You said simply.

“I’m sorry, Y/N-cha—I mean Kageyama.” Atsumu said. “I’m sorry Kageyama.” Osamu finished and you nodded once more.

“Okay this is awkward. I forgave you guys a long time ago but I don’t trust either of you. Atsumu, Osamu you are not obligated to be my friend. Suna you aren’t obligated to be my friend either but I would appreciate it if we were civil with one another for the sake of the kids. If you ever have any questions regarding the kids I’ll be happy to answer.” You told him as you played with the tea bag in your cup, and they all stared at you.

Like that’s it? You forgive them? You’re not going to throw your tea at them?

“Um I kind of want to ask about the ya know..”

“Pregnancy?” Hana raised a brow and Suna nodded awkwardly. “Like when did you find out....and is that why you left?” He asked. “If its alright can we talk about that in private?” You asked and stood up. “Y-yeah sure.” Suna stuttered and he stood up as well. “Hana, Jamie you don’t mind—“ “The bus honks at 13:30 we know. We’ll be able to hear it.”

“Yeah and we have a lot of catching up to do.” Jamie fake smiled and you wanted to snort at the her disgust and their awkwardness. “Alright follow me.” You motioned down the hall. You opened the door to the kids room and you took a step in. He followed you and closed the door. You both released a sigh and you sat on Akira’s bed. “You can sit there.” You motioned to your sons bed.

He nodded and sat on the small bed. “Okay so..the pregnancy..” you started. “Mhm.” He nodded. “I found out on January 25th, I wasn’t feeling the best for a while and I couldn’t handle the discomfort anymore so I went to the hospital with my mom. The doctor asked me the basic sex questions and tested my urine. My mom came into the room when I was told the news and I was basically disowned.” You sighed and leaned back against the wall.

You hugged your knees to your chest. He could already feel the shame you must have felt in his chest. “I had to walk to the pharmacy in my school uniform to get to prenatales since my mom told me to walk home. When I finally arrived home, my room was trashed and they were asking if you happened to be the dad. I told them no. He even threatened to kick me out and I told him I didn’t know so I was kicked out and I left. I spent the night at Hana’s and the next day I resigned as the team’s manager, and gathered all my papers to transfer.” You said and he rubbed his face and sighed.

His birthday.

You found out on his birthday.

He patiently listened and asked a few questions here or there and before you knew it you barley heard the faint foot steps and the door bursting open. You both turned to see your guy’s kids standing there. “See I told you they were talking.” Akira mumbled. “Aunt Hana said something about them making out.” Rini huffed.

“She said making up not out! Are you an idiot or an idiot?!” Akira said slightly frustratedly. “I’m older than you, don’t call me an idiot.” He said and shoved her. Before you could scold your son, you saw Akira’s whole demeanor change and you knew Rini was fucked. “How many times has mom said to stop shoving girls and pushing women! If you keep at it than you’re going to be a bad husband to your future wife someday you stupid Rabbit!” She yelled as she tackled him and began smacking him around. “Get off me you nerd!” He yelled and you quickly pulled Akira away.

Rini began crying and Akira did too and you sighed and turned to Suna.

“Welcome to parenthood.”

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#haikyuu suna #miya atsumu #suna rintarou fluff #suna rintarō #suna x reader #haikyuu x you #miya osamu #suna imagines #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu!! x reader

[writtenbykat]

First Date (Jilytober Day 30)

Prompt: Nervously planning a first date @jilytoberfest This is a prequel/James POV to chapter 3 (Giggles)

James Potter did not believe in fate. Fate is for suckers.

Because fate really did not want him to end up with Lily Evans.

James glanced down at the shivering girl clutched in his arms and internally cursed every deity he could think of. How had it all gone so wrong?

It all started when she asked him about his weekend plans for the third time that day, while patrolling. “I don’t have any Hogsmeade plans, Evans. Like I told you earlier, I’ll probably just hang out with the boys. Maybe pop into Zonko’s…”

Evans cut him off with an exasperated sigh, and a light smack on the shoulder. “I’m trying to get you to ask me out, you idiot! How much more obvious does a girl have to be?”

“You– You want me to ask you out?” he responded, incredulous.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, then, “That is, if you’re still interested… I’m not forcing you to or anything, and I totally understand if you’d rather not…” she trailed off, sounding unsure and suddenly very interested in the stone flooring of the castle.

“Of course I’m still interested!” How could she think he wouldn’t be? “Evans, will you go out with me this weekend?”

A delighted flush colored her cheeks in a sweetly endearing manner. “Yes, Potter. I would very much like to go out with you this weekend. I’ll meet you in the entry hall at eleven.” With a pleased smile, she turned and headed back to Gryffindor Tower– abandoning rounds entirely.

24 hours before the date

“Thank you,” James thanked Boppy as she scuttled off with the list of foods he’d asked for. With a spring in his step, he made his way down to the great hall for a spot of breakfast before classes.

For once, he eagerly anticipated going to class. Not because he was excited about the class itself, per say, but because the sooner classes were over, the sooner the day was over, and the sooner the day was over, the sooner tomorrow came.

And tomorrow he had a date. A date with Lily Evans.

After years and years of chasing her, he’d finally landed a date with Evans– one he almost hadn’t even asked her on.

James had just helped himself to a heaping scoop of eggs, when his family’s owl dropped a letter down on his plate.

Jamie, Sirius has informed me you have a date today, darling! I hope you have adequately wooed this witch of yours– since from the tone of Sirius’ note, it seems you have been trying to secure a date with her for quite some time. Do be on your best behavior, my dear. I do want to have grandchildren someday. (Don’t screw this up for yourself!) Write me, and tell me how it goes. I cannot wait to meet her soon. Lots of love, Mum P.S. your father would like to remind you not to let Sirius come on a date with you again– since the amount of complaining you did the last time he did drove your father mental. Oh– and he sends his love.

James finished reading and put down the letter to glare at his friend. “You wrote my parents?”

“This is big news for you, Jamie dear,” Sirius intoned in an impression of his mother, mouth still full. “You’ve been trying to get Evans to go out with you for ages– which means we have had to hear about it for ages. So yes. I wrote your parents to let them know the good news– and so they know why I moved, when this inevitably goes awry.”

“What makes you think the date will go badly?” James asked.

“Your track record.”

“Harsh!”

“Prongs, be serious,” Sirius didn’t even pause for the requisite joke about his name, “how many girls have you successfully dated?”

“I–”

“None. That’s how many,” Sirius cut in before he could utter a response.

“I’ve had girlfriends!”

“Yeah, and now you have ex-girlfriends. And Evans is THE girl, mate. You really think you’ll manage to keep your head with that kind of pressure?”

James hadn’t felt pressured about the date before– he’d been practically floating since Evans had said yes. Sirius’ question brought him crashing back down. He was right. James didn’t have the best dating history. Even his own mum had cautioned him about it! What if he messed it all up? Could they stay friends? Would he ever get over her?

Suddenly the hilltop picnic he’d planned seemed insufficient to ‘woo’ the girl of his dreams– the girl he’d been pining for for the majority of his time at Hogwarts.

“I gotta go,” he mumbled under his breath, grabbing his bag and rushing for the doors to the library.

12 hours before the date

The sun had set long ago, the library closed, but James had donned the cloak to sneak back. His hand cramped from writing, and his eyes felt strained from the hours of focusing on the text. That was how Sirius and Remus found him: hunched over a library table, pouring over every book of courting customs and etiquette the school had to offer.

“See?” he heard Sirius say, “I told you! He’s been here practically every free moment since breakfast.” The two came around the corner, map out, wearing matching expressions of disbelief and worry– Sirius’ tinged with annoyance.

“What are you still doing here?” Remus asked, glancing over the books strewn across the table.

“Just some last minute research.”

“Research? For your date?” Remus’ brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yeah. I just don’t want to mess up anything with Evans. I can’t,” he stressed.

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks. “And you think you’ll find the answers in,” Remus paused to check the cover of the book James was currently immersed in, “Courting, Betrothals, Contracts: Pureblood Courting Rituals of the 1870’s?”

James gave a half-hearted shrug.

“James, you just have to be yourself. From what you told me, Lily practically asked you out herself! She fancies you, mate– it’s what I’ve been telling you all term.”

“Yeah,” Sirius chimed in, “I was just taking the mick this morning. Even I can tell Evans has it bad for you. I didn’t think a bit of ribbing would end in you immersing yourself in pureblood courting rituals and etiquette,” he said, nose wrinkling in disgust at the nature of his study materials. “Evans fancies you, for some reason. If you pull some outdated courting ritual shit, you’ll scare her right off.”

“I guess,” James acquiesced, though still firmly believing that centuries of successful courting rituals might have more sway than his friends’ advice.

“Okay,” Remus said gently, “then come on. It’s nearly midnight. You have to get some sleep or you’ll be absolutely knackered for your big date tomorrow.” James smiled, and packed his bags– shoving his notes about courting etiquette in the bottom before either of his friends noticed. He shouldered his bag, and together the three made their return to Gryffindor Tower.

Morning of the Date.

It was barely seven in the morning, but James couldn’t contain his nervous energy a second longer. He’d already showered and dressed– before changing his mind six times on what top he should wear. He shrugged off the latest option: a purple jumper his mother had gotten him for Christmas a few years ago. Nope. Not unless he wanted to look like someone whose mother picked out their clothing for a Date– the Date (capital ‘D’).

“That’s your seventh outfit change,” Peter remarked.

“Can you blame me, Wormy? What do I wear? I’ve been waiting for this day since we were old enough to even go to Hogsmeade! What do I wear for the Date?”

“What am I? Your fashion consultant?” Peter quipped.

James rolled his eyes, and changed once more– before finally settling. On the first thing he’d chosen: a simple button-up, with a navy jumper and a black coat. He tried to smooth down his hair (an effort made in vain), checked his watch and headed down the stairs. He was meant to meet Evans at Madam Puddifoot’s, and he didn’t want to be late. And truly, an hour early wasn’t too early, was it?

Read on AO3 or FFN

#jily #jilytober #jilytober fest #first date #tropes challenge #31 prompts #prompt30 #he's so nervous and so cute #someone protect james from his own good intentions

[toomanyrobins]

a little birdie told me pt. 10

Summary: Y/N “Birdie” Parker left New York and her family three years ago in the middle of the night. Now, a call for help to her best friend brings her back into the fold of the Three Families and their “business”

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Parker!Reader

Content warning: physical abuse, miscarriage, mentions of forced marriage, mentions of alcohol abuse

Word Count: 1.8k

series masterlist // next part

Y/N was in the kitchen when she heard someone return home. She had been sitting at the kitchen island, staring down at a glass of whiskey. She had poured it to settle her nerves, but had yet to pick it up. Pepper walked in and immediately could tell that something was bothering her daughter. She saw the glass and slowly slid it out of Y/N’s hands, “What’s wrong? I thought last night was a success. Did something happen?” The younger woman nodded and refused to meet Pepper’s eyes. It didn’t take much for the intuitive woman to guess what was ailing her daughter. She nodded, “You finally realized you are in love with Steve.”

“I didn’t mean to be,” Y/N wailed as she slammed her forehead onto the island, “ow.”

“Why is this such a bad thing?”

“Because the last person I was with was a terrible person,” Birdie grumbled, “I had every intention of staying single forever to avoid feeling like shit every again.”

“Honey, that’s insane. Anyone with eyes can see that Steve is disgustingly in love with you and would move mountains to make you happy.”

“It’s just so soon. Too soon.”

“There’s no timeline for this kind of thing. When you know, you know.” Pepper laughed to herself, “The funniest thing is that when I confronted your father about the arranged marriage, he told me that the plan was for you and Steve to get married.”

Y/N shot her head up and nearly toppled off the stool, “What? He picked Steve for me? I—I have to go.”

Y/N was trying to keep her head on straight as she walked into George’s office. The entire drive over, she had tried to calm down and approach this with some levelheadedness. Before she could even sit down across from the desk, that plan was thrown our the window, “I need answers and I don’t think Dad will tell me everything. Why were you going to marry me off to Steve?”

George sighed and leaned forward, “First of all, I’ve told your father that you should’ve been told about all of this. The truth of the matter is that we needed stability in the families and this was a way to bring us together. HYDRA had started gaining power and your marriage was a way to secure some balance and open up channels that had previously been closed off to us. Also, we had seen the two of you together. You got on well. Why the sudden interest?”

“I don’t know if I can stay here. Apparently, everyone has decided I’m Jamie’s mom. No kid deserves to be stuck with me as their mother.”

He leaned back in his chair, “He really did a number on you.”

Y/N felt like the air had been sucked from her lungs but she tried to play dumb, waiting to see how much he knew, “Who?”

“You think I don’t know things, Birdie? I’ve got your medical records from your hospital visit. I know that your hospital visit wasn’t a one time thing. I know about the miscarriage. I may not know his name, but I will soon.”

“Ho—how?

“I'm a Barnes. A third of the group that runs New York. You think I can’t get information?”

“Have you told anyone?” They both knew who Y/N was truly worried about.

“I haven’t told Steve or Tony. You should though. I highly doubt they would be mad at you for anything,” his voice softened, “You were abused, Birdie. Nothing that he did to you is your fault.”

Her nails were digging into her palm, trying to focus on anything else, “I let him kick me in the stomach. I didn’t even try to stop him. What kind of fucked up, evil person does that?”

“You’re not evil. You’re hurting and have been for a while. I don’t think running will solve anything for you. Are you truly capable of leaving Jamie behind? Your family? Can you leave Steve when you love him?”

Y/N looked at her godfather, “I don’t love Steve.”

He laughed, “You used to be better at lying. He has always brought you back down to earth. I thought a match between the two of you would settle you down. Steve even agreed to it, but he stipulated that you had to go to college first and that you had to agree. He couldn’t force it on you.”

Y/N couldn’t believe it. She thought that he had just been hiding the marriage from her. Never had she considered that he knew he was her future husband, “He knew the whole time? Why would he want to marry me?”

“Of course, he knew. God knows why, because you were insane, and still are. He was ready to marry you. Clearly he thought you could make each other happy.”

“He didn’t tell me he knew it was him the whole time. I just thought he knew you were marrying me off.”

“Seems he wanted a chance to romance you all on his own, but you were gone before he got the chance.”

“This is so much information,” Y/N rubbed her temples.

George poured himself a drink, “I was like you for a really long time. I fought with my father every time I saw him, and I spent most of my teens and twenties drunk and alone. It’s a sad, lonely life that you have an opportunity to avoid. Take a chance, make mistakes. It’ll be worth it.”

Y/N sat there for a minute, trying to absorb all of the information that had been thrown at her. The office door burst open and Tony came in, “Good, your mother said you’d be here. I need you to do something.” Y/N’s nerves immediately felt like they were on fire. The moment her father had that look on his face, it was a problem, “There is a deal coming up and we need to present a united front. With the rumours swirling since your return, we’ve discussed and think the best move is for you to marry Steve.” 

“Tony—,” George tried to warn him that it wasn’t the time. The whole office was frozen as she absorbed the information. 

The laugh that broke the spell was harsh when Y/N realized he wasn’t kidding, “Oh my god. OH MY GOD! That talk about not wasting my life was just a load of crap.” She whirled around to Tony, “You will never learn, will you? I am not some piece of property that you can trade!”

Her father tried to walk closer but she stopped him. He continued anyway, “What is your objection to Steve, exactly? He’s a good man...mostly. We thought he'd be a good match for you three years ago and you are even closer now.”

Y/N started to walk towards the door but she turned, “I knew about your plans for me then. It’s part of the reason I left. You move people around like pawns and don’t seem to know or care that your choices affect us. All I’ve ever wanted is a say in my life and every fucking time I think maybe it’ll be different, you manage to prove me wrong. So congratulations, you continue to fuck it up.” She stared unblinkingly at Tony, “I think it goes without saying that I’ll be taking you up on your offer.” 

Y/N walked down into the Ivory bar on a mission. She found her brother in his usual booth with the group. She marched up to the table, “Evening, gentlemen.” They all nodded at her before she turned her attention to Steve. She planted her hands on the table, “Look here, Rogers, you can just move on to the next girl and stop wasting my time and yours. Do me a favor and lose my number. I’ll never marry you.” 

She didn’t look back as the men watched her through the window. She swung her leg over her bike and shot off. No one said a word and instead turned to look at Tony and George who had come down after her.

After she had left, Y/N pulled off near Central Park and parked. She wandered for hours until she bumped into someone. She had felt the weight of someone’s gaze for a while. Spinning around, she expected to see a familiar guard and was ready to tell them off. Instead of one of Tony’s men, it was the person who haunted her nightmares. “Better watch where you’re going, darling.” The voice made her blood run cold. Y/N was looking into the eyes of Brock Rumlow, the devil himself.

She stumbled back, trying to put some distance between them, “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. You think I’d just let you leave?” Brock grabbed her arm and jammed a finger into her stomach, “You’ve got my kid in there.”

She laughed in his face, “No, I don’t.” He gritted his teeth and tightened his on her arm. Y/N knew that she was going to have bruises later. 

“You killed our baby?” she shook her head, but Brock was blinded by rage. He shook her, “Don’t lie to me, you traitorous whore.”

“You beat me so badly that night that I lost the baby. There is no one to blame but you. And now, you have no claim over me.” Y/N wrenched her arm away, “You lose.”

“That’s where you are wrong, darling. What would Daddy Stark think of you running away to be with me? A member of HYDRA? Would they keep you if they knew the truth? You really would be a traitorous whore in everyone’s eyes.”

Y/N thought she was going to be sick. Brock was a member of HYDRA? She couldn’t believe she hadn’t known. This was so much worse than she could have imagined. “Stay away from me.” She turned and walked away.

He called after her, “I’ll be seeing you, baby!” The moment she rounded the corner, she took off in a run. Y/N’s thoughts flying as fast as she was down the streets. Once she was a block away, she cut off into an alley. She needed a moment to get her plan organized. As much as it pained her to admit it, Brock was probably right. If everyone knew the details about his connection to HYDRA, at minimum, she’d be exiled and never be able to see her family again. At worse, she’d be dead… a traitor to the Three Families. Y/N knew that there was only one thing she could do to make her position more secure and she hated it more than anything: she needed to marry Steve Rogers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@samwinter09

@founding-fuck-bois

@animegirlgeeky

@inlovewiththefictionalcharacters

@spntiel

@marvelofwitch​

@hollandstanevans​

#avengers au #avengers imagine #toomanyrobins #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers x reader #avengers x reader #mafia au #mafia!avengers #mafia!steve #mob!au #mob!avengers #mob!steve #steve rogers #steve rogers au #avengers #captain america #captain america imagine #captain america x reader #mafia!steve rogers

[sylphidine]

Weekend writing progress.

Here’s a VERY rough draft of the first half of the newest chapter of A CITIZEN OF THE UNIVERSE AND A GENTLEMAN TO BOOT This will end up being chapter 18 after I take out the two placeholder chapters.

The chapter name is “Old Haunts”.

==========================

Jack wrestled with his facial expression to show a cockiness he didn’t really feel.  The Guardian of Fun no longer made the mistake of underestimating the powers of other spirits and beings, no matter how friendly they might seem on the surface or what humanoid forms they might take.  And these two… while he had teasingly started calling them “grand-eldritches” after enough time in their company, these two were never, ever to be underestimated.

As he waited for either Richard or Cianan to answer his signal, he was beset again by the broken-record memories associated with the last time he had taken refuge here on the Mountain of the Whispering Winds.

“You know, you sound like my mother used to. I think. I don’t remember her that well.”

“The way Jamie talks about you, you’re practically family already. We can make it semi-official. You can move into the spare room.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I do."

Jack had clutched those words to his heart as tightly as Emily had been clutching on to him that day.  He still did.

"You're not my brother!  You're not even family!  You should just leave because nobody needs you!"

After all this time, those words from Jamie still hurt, even if Jack understood now why his younger brother had lashed out then. 

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Hey, of course I am. I can take care of myself."

"I know. But I was worried."

"Why?  It's not like I'm all alone."

"I'm your mother. I'm allowed to worry."

Upon his return to Burgess, Jack had let Emily believe that he had fled to seek refuge with the Guardians.  Which he had… eventually.  He just hadn't gone to the Guardians right away.  He'd come here first, needing the company of spirits who better understood both loneliness and sibling jealousy.

He had only felt a tiny bit of guilt about his lie of omission back then.  

Now though, if he had to introduce the Bennetts to cosmic entities and their significant others, Jack hoped the Bennetts would accept them as easily as they had accepted the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and the rest of the Guardians.

Finally a portal framed in billowing snowflakes opened in the air in front of him.

“Pitch, you’d better appreciate what I’m doing here,” Jack muttered as he stepped forward into the elsewhere realm of elemental Winter.

---------------------------------------------------------

Bunny pushed himself up slowly, his neck cracking as he did so. The Goddess extended Her clawed hand towards him and he gingerly placed his paw within Her grasp.  The lagomorph thought to himself, “Pitch, if we get out of this in one piece, you are going to owe me.”  Aloud, he said, “Thank you, Mother, for answering my call.”

“Oh, pish tosh, Aster, let’s not stand on ceremony,” She replied. “In fact, let’s not stand at all.” Without the slightest idea of how he got there, Bunny found himself crouched on the edge of a comfortable wing chair, facing Mother Nature seated in a similar chair opposite him.  She had stretched Her dimensions somewhat so that She appeared to be of an equivalent height to him, which meant he *had* to make eye contact with Her. The grass beneath their feet seemed to be an even more impossible green than was usual in the Warren.

Bunny had had a total of four audiences with the Goddess over the course of his long, long life, and each time She had called Herself by a different name. She anticipated his question of how to address Her by saying, “It’s Coronach today. Doesn’t that have a lovely sound?” 

“Yes. Yes, it does.”

She tilted Her head at his reply and said with a sharp and unnerving giggle, “Well, it’s hardly like you could say ‘no’ to Me, now, is it?” 

That giggle raised Bunny’s hackles, quite literally and quite involuntarily. He knew that in the blink of an eye this being could rend him limb from limb, or turn his bones to dust, giggling all the while, if it suited Her.  She also could be, and had been in the past, the literal soul of generosity. Much of the magic he put into the Warren was magic he had learned from Her; he had been Her child far longer than he’d been a Guardian under the provenance of the Man in the Moon.

Seeing Bunny nervously rubbing one paw against the other, Coronach apparently took pity on him and turned serious.  “You wouldn’t summon Me for something trivial, Aster.  What may I do for you?”

Somewhat reassured, he repeated Sandy’s tale of the mysterious vines in the culvert that had strangled two teenagers, had destroyed Pitch Black’s Nightmares, and had poisoned Pitch himself. “They didn’t seem like any kind of plant species I recognize. I was wondering whether you know what they were, or where they come from…” 

He trailed off.

Coronach finished for him. “Or whether they even grow on this Earth.”

“That’s right.”

“Hmmmmmmm. Let Me think.”

=======================================

“You have GOT to be kidding me.”

“Does this look like a face that kids, kid?”

“I’ll give you that one, old man.  But I still think this is the most awesome use for a wicked wizard’s laboratory EVER.”

“Eat your slushie, Jack, and let the grownups do the thinking, there’s a good boy.”

“Hey!  Rude.”

"I really am a mean and despicable creature at heart, y'know." 

"That's not what your husband says."

The banter with Cianan felt good to Jack, but he could sense a strain in the old enchanter's manner that he couldn't fathom. And what was even more puzzling was that Richard was being unusually quiet. Normally Richard would have chimed in with a clever and hearty rejoinder to back up his beloved's dry wit.  Their joint welcome had been quite sincere in its fondness, but Jack had the feeling that he'd come at a bad time. 

His worry must have shown on his face, because his two "uncles" exchanged a look. Then Richard gave a good approximation of his usual goofy grin and said, "Well, Jack. How's the family?"

Jack was not going to pass up such a perfect opening. "Funny you should mention family. We seem to have a new honorary member… or at least a persistent houseguest. Oh, and by the way, it's the Boogeyman."

Now he had their full attention.

#fic: citizen #sylph writes #rise of the guardians #rotg fanfiction #jack frost #e. aster bunnymund #snow miser #winter warlock #coronach crutch #it's not nice to fool mother nature

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Had to watch late...wow...yikes

I mean I just kind of rolled my eyes and laughed at it but it’s literally all terrible. Every second of it. 

Let’s start with the Lydia stuff. I just...I don’t understand what this pension scam plot is supposed to be. Is it still meant to have been Paul that did it? If so, why are we torturing Lydia further with Paul nonsense after the credit card debt? What is that actual point here? If it’s not a Paul thing, then???? There’s literally been no talk about pensions or pension scams anywhere. We don’t even know whose pensions she’s meant to have been stealing. It’s not like she stole from people in the village that we knew. And who the fuck are all these people that suddenly care about these things? It just literally makes zero sense and I see no need to make Lydia more miserable. I just don’t get it. And therefore, I can’t connect with any of it because it’s all meaningless. 

I never need to hear about the Amelia/Beth plot again. Please don’t bring it up Dan. It was scarring enough the first time. 

I want to like this Kim/Gabby stuff more than I do cause right now I really don’t care. I just wish I was more invested in this whole poisoning plot. I hope Bernice coming back livens things up. 

Also, I just really need covid restrictions to end so we can have more customers in these places because it’s just always so silly to only have the main characters there in these little groups. 

I’m so bored of Dawn and Jamie. Honestly, I don’t even know how Kim can watch her live stream. It would put me to sleep. 

I don’t know why they bothered hiring that kid to play that Tyson character unless he’s going to do more than ride around on his bike. Maybe he’ll find them both passed out or something. 

I wholeheartedly agree with everyone who doesn’t understand why Sandra is a COMPLETELY different character now than she was last time. It drives me crazy how much they just continually retcon people to fit the plot of the moment. I just want some sense of consistency. Is that too much to ask for? I wonder what the actress thought when she read the new stuff. I mean I know she was flaky before and I know personality number two gave her a pill problem. I don’t remember her specifically having a drinking problem though. I guess they wanted to go for “like mother like daughter” but it’s weird. Also she definitely wasn’t so uninterested in Liv’s life and problems before. I feel like it was almost the opposite even if she didn’t deal with it well. I guess we’re meant to just think that’s the booze? I don’t know. 

Also...the robron slander! Tell you what, Aaron should have kept running off with that fella. I’m sure they’d both be doing better now even if they were looking over their shoulders. 

And the Ben stuff....haha. I mean...speaking of retconning. Ugh. I just hate that Ben is there all the time and just attached to Aaron. It’s so weird. I mean I realize he was there when it was announced that Liv was missing and so he might just stick around to help but it’s still weird. Especially because there was no scene with them where he was like “want me to stay? I want to help”. Instead, we’re just meant to believe Aaron is fine with this guy hanging around? 

Also, him being the one to have all the answers to everything drove me nuts. I guess you could say it’s because he’s not the one going through this and he can be more calm and level headed but still, it’s feels...manipulative...for the audience, to try and get us to like him. Because look he’s supporting Aaron. Blah. Whatever. You have to earn that role mate. 

And ditto to everyone commenting on how he really shouldn’t know that Liv is brave and clever and sharp and whatever else he said. I too was screaming “HOW WOULD YOU KNOW????!” at the screen. 

In my head, I was thinking the best way for them to try and reintegrate Ben into Aaron’s life would be to have them work on something together and have him see a different side to Aaron, but this wasn’t what I meant. This really does just stick him in there like he’s been there all along. It’s weird. If they didn’t want to add in lines that Aaron was hanging out with Ben off screen during those 4 and a half months, which honestly, I’m glad they didn’t cause...gross, the least they could have done was have him check in with Aaron now and try and explain some of it. Like I said above, just have him ask Aaron if he should stay or have him look awkward and have Aaron ask him to stay and help. Anything to explain why he’s just hanging around the whole time. 

Also Chas telling him “thank you love” for the tea or whatever just made me irrationally mad. Haha. 

And I definitely thought Aaron was saying “what are you still doing here?” to Ben and not Chas. And ugh and Chas being all “it’s better he lashes out at me”. 

I just hate all of these people. Haha. 

I just wonder what they’re going to do now with them. Are they going to backtrack from this little detour and have them go on a proper date? Are they going to actually have a real conversation about what it is that they’re doing? Or is Ben just going to keep being his shadow and then they’ll just ....be a couple or something terrible like that? I just have zero faith in these people to even tell a halfway coherent story. As is evidenced by this rant, they clearly have a terrible track record. 

Sigh. 

#ed lb #belated live blogging #emmerdale complaints corner #current emmerdale #current aaron #nonron #get out of the Mill Ben...you don't deserve it

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

Float (fred x reader)

note: Totally did not intend for this to be that long.

summary: You are a professional Quidditch player. You and your best friend transfer to Hogwarts and meet Fred and George Weasley.

"Hogwarts?! Mom, you can't be serious!" You said. "I'm sorry dear but the next expedition is in England." Your father sighed. "Come on! I'm a professional player I can't just leave!" You said. "Dumbledore said he'd allow you to professionally play for your house." Your mother said. You huffed leaning back into your seat. "Plus, with your insanity I think they'll find you refreshing. It's not like you'll be the only one there, Lizzie is going with you." Your father reminded. It did help that your best friend was going with you to England after throwing a "bitch fit" for being possibly separated from you. "'my insanity' has a name. The Quidditch Free Fall." You reminded. "Yes we're aware of the name dear, it doesn't stop it from being terrifying!" Your mother said. "I didn't time it right once!" You sighed. "And you broke your wrist!" Your father said. The Quidditch Free Fall was made when you went a ridiculous height to spot a snitch and actually jumped off your broom, hitting the ground with it in your mouth. The actual move though, became a move you'd use regularly where you'd resummon the broom so you wouldn't it the ground but land back on your broom.

You sat in the car with Lizzy, looking at the English Architecture around you. "....Excited?" Lizzie asked. ".... As long as I can play quidditch I think I'll be fine." You admitted. "You only think about Quidditch Y/n... What about boysss?" She asked. You rolled your eyes. "Whatever. They're so... Annoying to me." You laughed. "Because at ilvermorny pranksters were... Bleh?" She asked. "Okay, firepoppers on a toilet seat is funny, how did no one find that funny!?" You asked. "Again. Ilvermorny. No sense of humor." She reminded. "You better not get into more trouble Y/n." Your mother sighed as they pulled into King's Cross. "alright! Alright...." You lied. Lizzie saw that glint of "oh I know I'm going to fuck shit up" in your eyes making her roll her eyes and look away. You got your things, running through the wall after hugging your parents goodbye. You and Lizzie exchanged a "holy shit that's cool" look after seeing the Hogwarts Express. You got on the train, sitting in an empty cart as Lizzie read. The door slid open and you looked over. "My bad! Thought my brother was in here, turns out it's just two beautiful girls." The boy flirted. You snorted. "Tell me that line hasn't worked." You said. ".... You're American?" He asked. "Oh really? What gave it away?" Lizzie asked sarcastically making you snort. "FRED. RUN." A identical boy said. "What did you do?" Fred asked. "PUT TREVOR IN DRACO'S BAG." he said. "WEASLEY!" you heard a shout from the other side of the train and you smirked. So they're pranksters... Oh you were so going to love these guys. "Hide in here." You suggested. George didn't hesitate, sitting down immediately and picking up a vacant newspaper to cover his face. Fred sat next to you. "I'm Y/n." You introduced. "Fred. And that's George." Fred motioned to his brother. You handed him a newspaper and he took it, following his brother's idea. A blonde boy soon opened the door. "HAVE YOU SEEN TWO RED HAIRED DEMONS!?" Draco asked. "No?" You responded confused. "They can't hide forever!" He growled before walking away. The second the door slid back, the cart erupted into laughter. "I feel like I recognize you." George finally said after you all recovered from laughing. "I'm a professional quidditch player." You admitted. "Oh shit, you're the Free Faller!" George said. "Yep!" You nodded. "Wicked." Fred nodded. "what about you?" George asked. "I'm just the best friend that tries to keep her out of trouble. She's like you two. A troublemaker." Lizzie said. Fred's interest was peaked. "A trouble maker you say?" He asked. "Yep." You chuckled. "You like pranks?" George asked. "Love them." You answered. "You should stick with us then. You'll live on the edge of your seat!" Fred said. "Count me in. Actually I have a bit of an... Entrance planned." You said with a smirk. "Entrance?" George asked with a smile. "Y/n no." Lizzie said. "I want to and you can't stop me." You said sticking your tongue out. "What's the plan?" Fred asked. "I'm riding in on my broom." You said. "Oh that's cool! After all you're a--" "Quidditch player!" Fred, you and George said in unison with nods. "See they think it's cool!" You said lightly kicking Lizzie. "When you get in trouble I'm not bailing you out." She said. "Nah, Dumbledore would expect nothing less." George said. "Does she have a record?" Fred asked. "Not that big--" "Yes. It's like a fucking novel." Lizzie answered. "Then he's definitely not going to be surprised." George said.

When you two were later called to be introduced to Ravenclaw, Lizzie simply walked to the front. You sprinted forward, summoning your broom to your side and riding it to the front quickly and with style. "Damn it Y/n." Lizzie sighed as you hopped off with a chuckle. She picked an owl feather out of your hair and Dumbledore chuckled. "It is my pleasure to introduce Elizabeth Miles and Y/n L/n." He said. Everyone started talking. "The Y/n L/n!?" Ron asked. "Yep." You nodded. "Your houses were sorted when you visited last week, correct?" Dumbledore asked. You nodded, pointing to the table adorned with blue. "Ravenclaw." You said. "In advance I apologize for my best friend." Lizzie said to Dumbledore. "Any chance I can sit with Gryffindor because I met two kids there and I think they're cool?" You asked. "We don't mind interactions of separate houses. Go ahead." Dumbledore said. You walked over to Fred who had a smirk on his face. "Nice entrance." Fred said. "why thank you my dear." You said tipping a pretend hat to him. "So you're the professional player?" A boy asked. "Yep. Proud to be one." You said with a laugh. "This is my brother Ron, over there is my sister Ginny and these are my family friends Harry and Hermione." Fred said. "Yo." You waved. "Are you excited to be here?" Ginny asked. "Eh. I'm already enjoying the fact that there's two pranksters here. Ilvermorny had like zero sense of humor." You said. "I'm still trying to figure out a good prank." George said. "I'm thinking we screw up the sinks." You suggested. "Why's that?" Fred asked. "Weak pipes...a explosion and poof.... Water everywhere." You said with a smirk. "Fred... I love this girl." George said. "Meet us tomorrow at three... This is going to be bloody brilliant." Fred said with a chuckle. Sure enough. Around four, Snape tried to use the sink and bam... Water explosion while you were all waiting for him in potions. "What's taking him so long?" Lizzie asked. Fred exchanged a knowing glance with you before the door opened and he walked in soaked. You bit your lip, trying not to laugh. "...Due to... Complications... Class is cancelled." Snape said, dismissing everyone. You walked out, Fred, George and you all dying of laughter. "Poor Snape. Bastard looked ready to murder someone." Fred said with a laugh. You smiled... This guy had a nice laugh. "We couldn't have done it without the brains of Y/n!" George said putting a hand on your shoulder. You took a bow making them chuckle.

From that point on the duo became a trio. "The mischievous three" Mcgonagall called you. But with every prank, you seemed to get closer and closer to Fred. George noticed you two, exchanging laughs and smiles. He knew immediately that you two were bound to be something. Finally though, quidditch season started. You seemed to be bouncing that day, sharing the field with Gryffindor. "So. Miss professional." Wood said after laughing at a joke George made. "Would you mind showing us that move?" He asked. You shook your head. "My secret weapon? Now that's just wrong." You laughed. Fred smiled at your laughter making George smirk. "You're really good at flying." Harry said. "Thanks, took years to master. I used to be really crappy at it actually." You said. "Really?" George asked. "Oh yeah. I ran into everything, hurt myself really bad at one point. But I kept trying and eventually I wasn't so bad anymore." You shrugged. "How'd you become a professional?" Wood asked. "Went up against Durmstrang a few years ago and made a sonic boom." You said. "A what?" Harry asked. "It's when you basically move faster than the speed of sound and you send a shock through the air. Sounds like thunder." You explained. "And you did that?" Wood asked. "Yeah. The the professional spectators were really interested after that, next thing I knew I was basically signed on to do quidditch after school was finished and I would sometimes go to bigger games." You explained. "Wow." Fred said. "Yeah. Ilvermorny though... They're so.... Academic. Compared to here they're so... Boring." You shrugged. The next game, Harry got a taste of why you were a professional. You were quick for a seeker, but it's how high you'd go for that snitch that surprised everyone. The snitch was spotted 30 minutes into the game, you and Harry both going after it. It shot up though and you didn't stop until your broom couldn't take the height and just stopped flying. You almost seemed to run up the hilt before gripping the snitch and pushing off, away from the broom and rapidly falling towards the broom. People stood up, watching you fall and maintain the same position before screaming "UP!" and your broom shot out, you gripping it before almost hitting the ground, making the crowd erupt into cheers as you held the snitch. You didn't celebrate with Ravenclaw though, instead you hung out with Fred. "Congratulations Y/n. You weren't joking about that move." Fred said. "Yeah." You chuckled. "How'd you come up with that anyway?" Fred asked. "Well... I was in a particularly challenging match against the Thunderbirds. I was a seeker and so was this guy Jamie. So I was waiting to see the golden snitch when some girl hexed my broom. In the middle of the chaos I noticed the snitch and I had to think quick so..." "You let go." Fred nodded. "Exactly. After I did I didn't exactly do what I did earlier and resummoned my broom I actually ended up breaking my arm after hitting the ground." You said earning a wince from Fred. "What inspired you to make it a move though?" Fred asked. "something about the chaos of it seemed really appealing. making people think that I was falling rather than actually chasing after the snitch seemed like a good plan so.... I started to get really well acquainted with the broom that I was using at the time and before I knew it I was able to basically resummon it whenever I wanted to." You explained. "Smart. I'm beginning to understand why you're in Ravenclaw." He said earning a laugh from you. "I hope you're not upset over me winning..." You said. "Psh. That was epic, how could I possibly be mad at that. I just hope I live to see you do another sonic boom." He chuckled. "The last time I did it it was an accident and I don't know how to trigger another one." You admitted. "with how brilliant your brain is I guarantee you you could figure it out" Fred said making you blush. George sat down in front of you making you look at him. "So, what'd I miss?" He asked. "Congratulating Y/n on her win." Fred said. "Mmm. I've been thinking about our school trip." George said. "Trip?" You asked. "Yeah, we're going to Hogsmeade." Fred nodded. "What the hell is Hogsmeade?" You asked. "Small village. Really fun." George said.

Sure enough during the winter, it actually was. You spent it with the twins, laughing at stupid jokes and drinking butterbeer. You shivered at the snow and Fred wrapped his scarf around you, smiling as you blushed. You kept close to him the whole time, even having a snowball fight at one point. You had the best year of your life, pranks, friends, finally something new.

But your parents were ready to move. Again. "no." You said. "Y/n--" "me and Lizzie were given the opportunity to stay with someone else's family, please I don't want to leave again!" You snapped. Your mother sighed. "....Fine. who's the parents." She asked. So she sat down and asked Arthur and Molly if they'd take you two. Which they said yes. Because it's Molly. When would she ever say no? However now Fred was panicked. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO GEORGE?! MY CRUSH IS LIVING WITH ME!?" He asked frantically. "First off, calm down. Second off, maybe this is good. You're not exactly bad with girls Fred." George said. "I flirt, sure. But this is... This is different." Fred admitted. "How so?" Ginny asked, sitting on Fred's bed eating a cookie. "...I think I love her." He said making George gape and Ginny nearly drop her cookie. "You love her?" Ginny asked. "Maybe? And she's coming here tomorrow." Fred whined. "Well it's not like she's staying in here, she's bunking with me, along with Lizzie. She did say something weird in her letter though." Ginny said. "Wait, she wrote to you?" George asked. "Lizzie did. But she said Y/n had a surprise for all of us." Ginny said. "A love confession?" George asked, making Fred smack him. "She said all of us. Mum and Dad included." Ginny said. Sure enough, the next day you showed up with something in your hand. "What's that?" Fred asked after helping you with your bags. "Tickets." You said. "For what?" George asked. "The world Quidditch cup. I'm playing for Ireland." You said with a smirk. "....Wait so we're--" "Going to the big leagues!" Lizzie said enthusiastically. "HOLY CRAP!" Ron gaped. "annnnddd I even got extra tickets for Hermione and Harry." You said making Ron hug you. You giggled and Fred smiled.

So there you were, standing in a stadium practically shaking. You were in the big leagues now. You swallowed the forming lump in your throat before seeing Fred. You gave a him a smile and felt a surge of confidence before flying up. You versus Viktor Krum. You sat on your broom waiting patiently, occasionally moving out of the way for other players before you noticed something behind Viktor's head. You gripped your broom handle and shot down, following the snitch. He was on your tail, making you anxious as hell as the snitch flew up. You shot upwards, the snitch flying very high into the air. Fred watched you, knowing damn well you were going to do the "Free Fall". You went so high the broom literally seemed to just stop working as you ran up it's side and gripped the snitch before falling. Your broom was next to you, air seeming to bend around your body. That's when Fred realized what was about to happen. "COVER YOUR EARS!" He warned. Everyone near that heard him did, slightly confused before a loud noise sounded off, similar to a clap of thunder before you smirked, gripping your broom and finally returning to the normal position. You held up the snitch and the crowd roared. Course you couldn't hear anything because the noise made your ears ring, but when you finally returned to the tent you were smiling with a medal around your neck. "there's our champion!" Arthur said. Fred scooped you up into a hug and you smiled, squealing with a giggle. "I am on cloud nine right now! I can't believe I did it!" You said. "You made a sonic boom Y/n, that was the most extraordinary thing I've seen!" Hermione said. "Yeah, my ears were ringing for a while there." You admitted. "Everyone at Hogwarts is not going to shut up about this for a while." Lizzie chuckled. "Course not, not only is she the youngest player out there but she's also the reason they won." Ron said. "Makes me wish you were with Gryffindor... We're really screwed when we have to go up against you." Harry said. "Nah, you keep me on my toes Potter." You said with a chuckle. "Dad will probably want your autograph. Mind if you sign this?" Harry asked, holding a notepad. "What's your dad's name again?" You asked. "James." Harry nodded. "To James. Thanks for giving me a cool brother." You wrote making Harry smile as you ruffled his hair. "Excuse me." A voice said making you all turn. "Viktor... Krum." Ron gaped. "Hello. Uh.... English is not my first language forgive me." He apologized. "Hello." You nodded. "I just want to say, I look forward to going to school with you this year." He said. "What?" Everyone asked. "The Triwizard tournament is at Hogwarts this year, yes I heard." Arthur said. "Yes... Hopefully we will work with you miss Y/n." He said. "Good game Krum. You did amazing out there." You said shaking his hand. He seemed fixated on Hermione though, making you smile. "Hermione! This is Viktor Krum. Talk." You said, pushing her forward. "Uhm... Hello?" She said confused. Fred chuckled as you sat down. "I still cannot believe I won." You said. "I can. I knew you could do Y/n." Fred said sitting next to you at the table. "I was so nervous the whole time... I'm just glad you guys came. It would've sucked if you didn't." You said. "why didn't your parents come?" Arthur asked. "They're archeologists sir, they do scientific work across the world... They're in Egypt this year it's why they couldn't be here." You admitted. Fred smiled and put his hand over yours. "We're proud of you Y/n." He said sincerely making you blush. Arthur smiled and got up, leaving you two alone. "So what do you want to do?" Fred asked. "hmm... I saw Draco here... Think we can fuck with him?" You asked. "Oh absolutely. George!" Fred said with a laugh. George walked over, noticing Fred's hand still on yours. "Yeah?" George asked. "Wanna screw with Malfoy's head for a bit?" Fred asked. "Is this even a logical question?" George asked. You three managed to rig a drink that exploded in Draco's face, making him pissed. The worst part was that he couldn't actually figure out if you were behind it.

The school year finally started, all of you already aware of the competition. A few students congratulated you on the win before sitting in the great hall. The Beauxbatons sat with Ravenclaw but you sat between Hermione and Fred, moving at one point so Viktor could sit with Hermione. "So think you'll compete?" Fred asked you, nodding to the goblet of fire. "Hell no. I get embarrassed still over recognition of quidditch. This competition would literally make me want to die." You said. "We'll definitely try to compete." George said. "A competition that definitely violates some sort of safety code? Why am I not surprised?" Lizzie said. "Oh come on Y/n. You'd have this thing in the bag." Fred said. "you have more confidence than I do." You chuckled. "Because I know you can do it." He said, very close to your ear. You blushed, his voice sending shocks down your spine. "... I'll sign up..." You said. You were the first to put your name in the goblet, Viktor following soon after. A few other students put their names in the cup but you thought nothing of it. Until that stupid name pull. "Viktor Krum for Durmstrang." Dumbledore called, earning an applause. "Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons." He said. "And Y/n L/n for Hogwarts." "WHAT!?"

So now you were really fucked. How the fuck were you supposed to participate in this competition!? "This is bad." You said pacing in the Gryffindor common room. "Y/n, it's not that bad, I mean you're talented! You'll be fine!" Lizzie reasoned. "No, Lizzie I will not be fine! I know you read books! I know you know how dangerous this competition is!" You said. "So why'd you sign up!?" Ron asked. Fred said nothing, reading a book and turning it's page with a small smile on his lips. "I just... I figured with the amount of students already here I'd have no shot at winning." You said. "but here we are." George said. "What even is that first challenge anyway?" Hermione asked.

The answer was dragons. Dragons were the fucking challenge. You all had to draw small baby dragons from a bag and find out which one you'd be in a ring with. Yours was a Hungarian Horntail. Of course you ended up with the most dangerous dragon. God damn it. Fred sat next to George in the stands, raising a brow. ".... What's that?" He asked noticing his brother Charlie wheeling a large box out. Oh no. Not a good sign. Definitely not a good sign. He got up, going to the tents where he knew you'd be to find you pacing. "Y/n." He called making you turn. "Fred. Thank God." You said hugging him. "I saw my brother Charlie and knew something was up. What's going on?" He asked. "I have to retrieve something from a dragon Fred. A dragon!" You said. "Well as long as it isn't a Hungarian--" "It's a Hungarian Horntail." You said. "....Fuck that isn't good." He sighed. "Any chance they'll let you back out?" He asked. "No.... I've tried." You breathed. "I can't do this Fred." You said, panic in your eyes. "You can... And you will." He said holding your hands. "And if I fail?" You asked. "Then I'm right here. Any time you need me." He said softly before the sound of a camera went off. Rita. God damn it. "We're dealing with something woman, move." Fred snapped. "Rude... But this is a definite scoop." She giggled before running off. "Oh God I'm not living that down." You whined. "Love, you've got this." He said. "Wait did you--" "Y/n. It's your turn." Viktor coughed out. Oh that's a reassuring thing to see. A fellow competitor looking like he walked through fire with a fucking egg. You sucked in a breath. "I'm right here." Fred said softly. "Well I mean I'll be in the stands but you get my point." He corrected. You nodded as he left and you got ready to walk into the ring. Fred sat back down and you swallowed hard, staring at the dragon. You could do this right!?

Well after being winded from being slammed into a rock you most definitely thought you couldn't. You coughed and looked at Fred. He was giving you a reassuring (yet slightly panicked) look. "That all you've got scaly!?" You coughed out. It geared up to breathe fire and you ducked behind a rock. You had to think and you had to think fast. What could get you out of this!?

That's when it hit you. Your broom. "ACCIO FIREBOLT!" you screamed before your broom shot out and floated towards you. You could feel the heat of the flame behind the rock before you jumped on your broom, earning a large cheer from the crowd. You were safe! Thank God! Now Fred could BREATHE. That's when the dragon's chain decided to snap. "Oh fuck." You whined before shooting off  past the stands. "OH FUCK!" you screamed as the dragon also hightailed after you. You flew to the school, trying to avoid being killed before you were slammed into a tower. "Oh shit, that's going to cost them a few pennies." You said before you lost your grip. "SHIT!" you gasped before bringing your broom closer. You flew out of the way, going through many different areas before finally throwing the dragon off. Fred was freaking out, you not in sight. "Oh God George, I convinced her to do this, what if she's hurt!? What if she's--" "SHE'S THERE!" Hermione pointed as you  flew into the arena grabbing the egg.

You went back to the tents, covered in dirt and bits of roof shingle on your coat. "Christ." You muttered dusting yourself off before Fred ran in. "You did it!" He said. "Yeah! Ow." You winced holding your wrist. "What happened!?" Fred asked, clearly concerned. "Nothing! I just... I hit my wrist on one of the towers before I could actually get away from the dragon." You admitted. Madame Pomfrey looked at it. "Oh this is a simple fix. It's just bruised, take one of these." She said handing you a gummy. You nodded and within seconds the pain was gone. "See I'm fine-" Fred put his hands on the sides of your face, looking into your eyes. "Try not to get yourself killed in this... Please." He said. "...I... I will try." You nodded. He was so tempted to kiss you. But he refrained seeing as Rita Skeeter could be around the corner. He let go of your face and you swallowed hard.

The celebration of you winning was loud, earning you leaving and sitting in the halls while everyone else was losing their mind. You looked at the egg and rose a brow opening it to hear shrieking. "What the fuck!?" You gasped. This had to have some sort of purpose. Especially that shrieking. That egg opened for some reason. So why? "...I need to get this muffled..." You said getting up. So you went to the bathrooms, filling up the bath with water before going in. You put the egg underwater, before poking your head under too.

After listening to it song you concluded that the next challenge with most likely be at the lake. You sighed, standing out in the cold air. "Where's Fred?" You asked George. "I don't know. One of the faculty members said that he was needed for something and he just disappeared and never came back." Lizzie said. You looked in the water. "have I mentioned how much I hate this competition?" You asked. "only every other day." George nodded. "You've got this Y/n!" Ron encouraged. "Yeah, you're going to do fine!" Harry said. Neville managed to hand you something, something that would allow you to swim underwater without needing to come up for air. You jumped in as the sound went off, swimming in the lake. It was dark, cold and murky. Who in the fuck thought that this competition would be a fun idea for children!? You swam in the water for a while, following the other competitors and finding out exactly what you were there for. Fred. Fred was there. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." You thought. You managed to get him free, being the first to come up with someone. Fred coughed and you sighed climbing out of the water. Viktor soon emerged with Hermione. But Fleur came back empty-handed. And you recalled seeing a child down there. "I couldn't get Gabrielle!" She whimpered. You looked at her and then the lake. "stupid morals" it was all anybody heard you say before you jumped right back in. Everyone ran to the edge to see you. Right now it was a waiting game.

One that didn't take very long considering you came back up within fifteen minutes with Gabrielle. Fleur hugged you as you coughed up water and shivered. Fred shared his towel with you, wrapping it around your arms and looking at you. "That was so stupid." He laughed. "I know." You shivered. "But it was brave. And for that, I've got to say you're killing this competition." Fred said making you laugh. You looked in his eyes, the water dripping from his hair. "Congratulations! You survived!" Lizzie said. "Yeah and I'm fucking cold, can I please get some coffee?" You asked making Fred laugh. "Agreed" he nodded.

As school continued it was becoming clear there was some stupid dance coming up. It was basically thrown in your face when McGonagall forced dance classes on you. Fred being your partner made it more bearable though. He was a surprisingly good dancer, him being the one to teach you. "So the Yule is coming up." He said swaying with you. He twirled you and you chuckled before he pulled you very close to him, facing you against him. "Would you like to go with me?" He asked in your ear making your face very red from the blushing. "....Uhm... Y-Yeah s-sure." You stuttered out. For God's sakes-- woman you fought a dragon, but you can't handle your crush being close to you!? "Great." He said, now directly into your ear. Your legs felt so weak right now but he twirled you again so you'd be facing him. "Uhm... F-Fred what are... What are we going as?" You asked. Fred smiled, his hands in yours as you swayed. "Well, we could always prove Rita's theory of us dating to be true. But only if you want to." He said. You swallowed and nodded. "You want to?" He asked. "words aren't forming. Legs weak. Going down." You said. "What--" you fell, making both of you fall and Fred laughed. "Well if I knew asking you out had that effect I wouldn't have done this in a dance class." He said getting up. You took his hand and he pulled you up, kissing you as you came back up. Your eyes were wide but you eventually sunk into it before McGonagall cleared her throat. "...Thank you for the theatrics. We have a class to teach." She said. "Sorry professor." Fred said as you sputtered like a dying engine. Fred snorted and you punched his arm.

From that point on, Fred was always giving you some sort of affection, your favorite being when he'd slink his arms around your waist as you spoke, saying "hello darling." In your ear. When the Yule finally approached you were a nervous wreck. "Y/n you can't even fuck this up. First off: you're gorgeous. Second off : you're going with your boyfriend." Lizzie said, zipping up your dress. "You never told me who you were going with." You said. "George." She said making you turn around. "Sorry. Did you just say George? As in my boyfriend's brother?" You asked. "Yep. See believe it or not, I actually spent time with your friends. George is nice to me. And cute." She said. "...This is so weird. Right?" You asked. "....Okay yes but I'm serious, George is great." Lizzie agreed.

You both walked down, the brothers waiting. "So wait you're going with my girlfriend's best friend?" Fred asked. "Yeah. She's beautiful and smart, what do you want from me?" George said. "Well a warning would've been.... Nice..." Fred said before seeing you. "Holy--" "Shit." Fred and George gaped. "Wow." Fred said looking at you. "Thank you." You chuckled. He kissed your cheek and just kept staring. "What?" You asked. "Love, you're beautiful." He said. "Thank you-- Oh that's so weird." You said looking at George who was kissing Lizzie. ".... Don't I have to present you?" Fred asked. You whined. "Why? Why me? Why did I even sign up for that stupid competition?" You sighed. "Because my persuasion skills are amazing." Fred said making you roll your eyes as you stood with the other champions and their dates. "Holy shit Hermione, you're gorgeous!" You gaped. "thank you-- wow you're beautiful too!" She said before the doors opened. "Crap." You breathed. "Any last requests?" Fred asked. "Don't let me fall." You whispered to him before walking out with the group.

You did that ridiculous dance, actually not screwing up for once. When it ended you were relieved. "Thank God. I hate ballroom dancing." You said making Fred laugh. "You did great dear." He said with a smile. You kissed him, resting your forehead on his. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life." You said softly. "I love you Y/n." Fred said. You smiled. "I love you too." You said softly. A slow song of course came on, Fred pulling you to the dance floor as he held you close, whispering sweet little compliments to you.

When the night ended you and Lizzie both had big smiles on your face, giggling and talking about the night. That night was probably the least stressful compared to the others. As the weeks went by though, the final trial was there, right in your face. You couldn't sleep that night, sitting in the astronomy tower before you heard someone walking up. You turned to see Fred. "hey beautiful." He said, sitting next to you. "Hi." You said, looking out at Hogwarts. "Nervous?" He asked. "Yes... In all of these challenges I have narrowly escaped death..." You muttered. "Nothing will happen. I won't let anything happen." Fred said. "What if you can't stop anything from happening--" "Y/n... I promise if it seems like things will go wrong I will cross through hell to make sure you're safe." He swore. "Plus. I have a good luck charm." He added before handing you a small bag. You opened it to find a leather bracelet. "Is this... The Marauders map motto?" You asked looking at him. ".... Maybe." He said with a smirk. You put it on and kissed him. "Thank you." You said. "You should try to sleep Love. Tommorow will be hard." He said. "...Stay with me?" You asked. He nodded as you both snuck into the Ravenclaw common room. The next morning you were found wrapped in Fred's arms sleeping like a baby. "Hey idiots. Wake up." Lizzie yawned, smacking Fred with a pillow. You groaned, waking up. "Fucking hell." You whined.

You stood with the rest of the competitors. You looked at Fred and kissed your bracelet. You could do this. Right? Yeah. You got this. After all, it's not like there's a dragon! Well there are vines that TRY TO CONSUME YOU IN THE FUCKING WALLS. Upon making this discovery you booked it, turning different ways before seeing it. The cup! And Viktor. Fuck. You sprinted before gripping the handle, unsure if you just tied before landing hard on the ground in front of the crowd. You were alone. Did you... Did you just... Win!? You stood up, brushing dirt off you with the cup in your other hand. Cheers erupted and you jumped. So you did win! You did it! Ayyyeeee! Dumbledore lifted your hand with the cup, declaring you the winner as the other competitors accepted defeat. "And your reward. 1000 galleons." Dumbledore said. "Wait what?" You asked.

So that summer was spent being conflicted on what to do with the money. "I don't need money though." You said to Molly. "Fred, we have another order." Lizzie said. That's when a lightbulb went off. "I KNOW WHAT TO DO!" you gasped making Fred, George, Molly and Lizzie jump. "What?" Fred asked. "A shop! You guys need a shop!" You said. ".... We're not letting you spend this money on us." George said. "Psh. Consider this a business investment." You said. "Y/n!" Fred said. "Babe, you'll actually use this! And what you don't use we can save, it's literally that simple!" You said. "And you're sure? That you want to do this!?" George asked. "After we graduate, game on." You said. "...Mum... I'm in love." Fred said making you smile as he scattered kisses across your face. Molly chuckled and shook her head.

You actually did hold your promise too, after you all graduated they got the money and bought a shop. You would work there when Quidditch season was up, usually taking stock or something. One day Fred was acting... Very strange though. George had to know what was going on. "Fred. What is up with you?" George asked. He looked across the store to see you with a clipboard taking down inventory. "not here." He said. He pulled him to the back. "I'm asking Y/n to marry me. Tonight." He said. "... you've got to be fucking joking." He said. "Well we've been together since our fifth year--" "I planned on proposing to Lizzie tonight." He said. "....Okay this whole 'twins think alike' thing is kicking our ass." Fred said. "...Okay. we take them both out to dinner and propose?" George suggested. "....Deal." Fred nodded.

And that's exactly what happened, both men acting really weird. "Okay what the hell is up with them?" You asked after witnessing Fred trip over air. "...I have no clue. George sliped up the stairs today. Up. The. Stairs. How in the absolute fuck do you fall up stairs?" She said. "...Something is going on." You said. "...And it's dealing with both of them." She said. You all were having a nice night, laughing, smiling, giving each other loving looks. Fred exchanged a look with George and both of them handed you and Lizzie boxes at the same time. You rose a brow and opened it before you gasped. "Oh my God. Fred. Are... Are you actually... Serious!?" You asked. "As serious as possible." He said. Lizzie looked at George with the same expression. "Yes!" Both of you replied in unison. Both men let out relieved sighs and you hugged Fred. "Did you two plan on asking us at the same time?" You asked. "no." Both of them admitted making you snort. "You two are idiots." Lizzie laughed. "But their our idiots." You said making Fred smile.

#fred weasley x reader #fred weasley #fred weasley x you

[renee-writer]

The Surrogate Chapter 26 The Much Anticipated Dinner Party

She couldn’t stop smiling, thinking her husband’s idea of having a dinner party with their parents means he is starting to forgive her.  Jamie hinds his own smile knowing that, were she to see it, she would know something is up. She mustn’t know that.

 

He had carefully planned it down to the last detail. From the food, all Claire’s favorites. Her morning sickness is better and she is constantly hungry.  He had explained to Geneva that he wanted their parents to see their surrogate has a healthy appetite. “That the baby will be strong and healthy”

 

She was thrilled, of course, thinking that this meant that she would be involved in the baby’s life. Claire understands what he is about. It will make the reveal even more delicious. Fill her with hope then drag her down.

 

“You ready for this?” he asks. He is dressed in a suit and tie. Claire wears her fanciest maternity dress. She fettles with her hair. Jamie comes up and helps her with it, pressing a kiss on her newly exposed neck. A quick intake of breath. “Sorry, it is just hard to resist you.”

 

“You must though. Until this situation with Geneva is finished.”

 

“Aye. We will start that tonight.”

 

“Jamie, will they like me? Your parents?”

 

“Aye, they will adore you.”

 

“James?” he mutters a course.  Claire smiles and gives him a quick kiss.

 

“Just a bit longer.” She whispers. He grins and walks out.

 

The table is set with their best china and crystal. Wine is chilled for all but Claire. Sparkling water chills for her. Beef stew, heavy with vegetables, steams in a heavy pot. Fresh bread and real butter also fill the table.

 

Right at seven, there is a knock on the door. Jamie goes to answer it. “Welcome William and Judith.”

 

“Hello James. We are anxious to meet the lady carrying our grandchild.” Judith replies.  He brings them in where Claire stands.

 

“Judith and William Duscany meet Claire Beauchamp. Claire, Geneva’s parents.”

 

“Very nice to meet you, sir and ma’am.”

 

“Exquisite manners and she is a beauty. It will be easy to pass off the child as Geneva’s.” William comments. “You did well.”

 

Christ, Claire thinks, now I know where she gets it. Jamie moves closer, not touching her but lending her his strength.

 

“Yes, no one will know the baby isn’t mine and James.” Geneva comes up and wraps her arms around his. He has to physically restrain himself from shuddering.

 

 

The doorbell rings again giving him an excuse to move away. He opens to his parents. “Mam and da.”

 

“Son.” He is hugged by both of his parents. “where is she? The angel that is making you a da?” his mam asks.

 

“Claire, meet my parents, Henry and Ellen Fraser. Mam and da, Claire Beauchamp.”

 

Ellen comes up and hugs her close. “I have so looked forward to seeing you.”

 

“Ellen, let me get a look at the lass’.” Brian comes up and exams her.  “Thank you Claire for what you are sacrificing to make Jamie a da.”

 

“And our Geneva a mum.” William adds.

 

“Of course. That too.”

 

“Your welcome.”

 

“Come on. Let’s go eat. We must feed the bairn.”

 

“Aye,” Brian offers Claire his arm and escorts her into the dining room. He pulls out a chair for her and his wife. Jamie does the same for Geneva, due to the presence of the others. He also pulls his mother-in-laws chair out as William had already taken a seat. He shares a look with his da.

 

“Da, would you say grace?”

 

“Aye son.” He meets all eyes until all heads drop. “Lord God, we thank you for gathering ourselves together for this meal. We are thankful for the food, fellowship, and especially for the sacrifice Claire is making and the coming child. Bless us all. Amen.”

 

“Amen.” Echoes around the table.

 

“Well, Claire, tell us about yourself.” Ellen asks as bowls are filled and drinks are poured.

 

“Okay ah, I am an only child, raised by my uncle after the death of my parents. I am a medical student, wishing to be a surgeon.”

 

“Impressive. I am sorry about your parents. How old were you when you lost them?”

 

“Five. Thank you. It was tough but I was blessed with the worlds greatest uncle. He is mum and dad, teacher and therapist. Everything.”

 

“What made you decide to do this?” Brian asks.

 

“In all honesty, the lure of graduating without student debts. I also wanted to help.”

 

“Sensible and respectful. I really like you lass.”

 

“Thank you sir.”

 

“So there will be no problem with you giving up this baby?” Judith inquires. Claire tightens up until she feels Jamie’s knee against hers. It is amazing the power of his touch.

 

“I always planned on finishing school before starting a family.” She hedges for Jamie’s offer to be a fully involved mum is constantly in her mind.

 

“That is smart.” William agrees.

 

“So have you thought of names.” Judith asks her daughter.

 

“William James for a boy.  Willa Geneva for a girl.” She states. Jamie has to still his face. No way in hell.

 

“Quite perfect.”

 

No, Claire thinks. Quinn Ellen or Brian Lambert. She and Jamie had already discussed it. But she focuses on eating to keep her mouth shut.

 

They all focus on eating for a bit if time after that. Claire knows when they finish is when this dinner party will really get interesting and wishes she could have a sip of wine too.

 

Finally

 

 

Jamie stands up after everyone is finished. “There is another reason I wished you all gathered today, besides meeting Claire. I have something to discuss with Geneva and wished you all here as witnesses.” He has everyone’s attention. Geneva maintains her smile but it is strained. Just wait, he thinks. “You see Geneva I know who your lover is and I know what you to have been up to outside f*cking in my office.”

 

“What is this then?” a stunned William yells out.

 

“Aye, seems your daughter has not only been cheating on me but my company also. She is screwing Steven Bonnet and they are both screwing my company. Been stealing trade secrets for the last few years.  Fraser’s Spirits recipes are finding their way to Gloriana.”

 

“That is a lie!” a panicked Geneva tells out.

 

“Really?” He reaches for his tablet and starts playing the recorded sting. The entire table holds their breath to hear. He turns it off when it is clear what she and Bonnet are about to be about. “No reason to have you watch her having sex.”

 

“Jesus Christ Geneva. Our son has offered you everything. To be stealing from him. Cheating on him.” A stunned Ellen confronts her.

 

“A couple of things to make sure everything is clear. I have started the divorce on the grounds of adultery and corporate theft. It will be publicly filed and will follow you where you try to get a job. Right now, the bobbies are gathering evidence from our offices and Mr. Bonnets. You need to get her a good lawyer. This child is mine. Not yours. You will not have a thing to do with it. The divorce will show no issue in the marriage. It’s name will not be William or Willa.  One final thing, I saw your bags packed. You may leave with your parents. Now.”

 

“James, you can’t do this!”

 

“Come Geneva.” Her mum moves her away and towards the front door where they find her suitcases. William follows slowly.

 

After the Duscany’s leave, silence reigns for a moment before Ellen walks over and pulls her son into her arms. “I am proud of you mo mac.” He shudders and releases the emotions he had been holding in.

#my writing #outlander fanfic #the surrogate #the much Anticipated Dinner Party #jamie and claire #cannon divergence #modern au #outlander fandom

[dailytomlinson]

How does an artist find himself after leaving the biggest boy band on the planet? He leans into authentic self-expression. “I'm aware that to a certain degree, I'm swimming against the tide,” Louis Tomlinson tells Apple Music. “I've had all this amazing success with One Direction, I realised that I might as well just follow my heart.” And so the English singer-songwriter has: Walls, his solo debut, is electric pop-rock, triumphant in the face of tragedy—he writes with diaristic precision (the balladic ode to his late mother on “Two of Us” and the ’90s Britpop guitars on “Kill My Mind”) and consideration for his most ardent fans (the 1D-channelling “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart” and the life-affirming “Perfect Now”). In this track-by-track guide, Tomlinson opens up about Walls, revealing a side of himself previously undiscovered.

Kill My Mind

“That song was written for two reasons: One, I was listening to the album and it annoyed me that I didn't quite have that moment of excitement, and I think that song definitely evokes excitement. [Two,] it was a bit of a statement of intent. ‘This is where I want to be, this is the space I want to move into.’ But I'm aware that's a transition as well. I wasn't going to put ten ‘Kill my Minds’ on the album, because I don't think that would've been right.”

Don’t Let It Break Your Heart

“Straightway, that chorus reminds me of a big One Direction song. It's got that big, great, hopefully hooky chorus. In terms of concept, it almost sits in the same world as the Steve Aoki song I did, 'Just Hold On'. It's just one of those songs that's trying to promote hope regardless of what life throws at you.”

Two of Us

“I wasn't ready to write that song. The original lyric on the verse was ‘So I'll leave a message after the tone.’ And it always f**king bugs me, listening to it, because there's so much beauty in that song. Then I changed it to ‘So I'm not alone’, and I think that really captures the weight, emotionally, of the song. And that song is probably the most special song that I've ever written.”

We Made It

“I wrote ‘We Made It’ about three years ago, so I had about 20 different mixes. That took a second to get right, and we made it. Listen, I like the song, I like the song. Would I say it's one of my favourites? No, probably not. It was one of the record label’s favourites. So I kind of rolled the dice on that one, really. The strive for authenticity is a constant battle. That's something that I have to be strong on, as often as I can.”

Too Young

“I can remember that feeling of being 18 and meeting the person that you might spend the rest of your life with. We all made mistakes when we're younger, and I just wanted to capture that idea of true honesty. Look, I wasn't ready for that responsibility. And now I reflect, and I'm older, and I can look back with experience. I can see why that was wrong. But at the time, there's a lot of 18-year-olds—especially 18-year-old lads—they're not ready for that responsibility. I wanted to capture that.”

Walls

“We had an amazing moment for this song in London. I went down to record some live strings for ‘Walls’—that was a real f**king breakout moment for me, because there's been times on this album where I've been pretty frustrated and it's been hard to keep with the get-up-and-go because the creative process can get frustrating. But I had this moment, in this massive, amazing studio in London called Angel Studios, watching—I don't know how many people were there, but let's speculate 15, 18 people there for my song. I feel like the live strings on it really give it an extra edge of credibility.”

Habit

“It's got quite a storytelling lyric that I know hardcore One Direction fans will like: There's a line about the place that we all grew up with in the band, and that was an apartment complex called Princess Park. It's like an Easter egg for fans. I'm sure they'll like that.”

Always You

“It’s autobiographical, me making that realisation that it's always been that one person and that no matter what you do or what you see, you miss that person.”

Fearless

“What I wanted to try and capture with the song is the idea of feeling youthful and how important that is. I'm at this age where I'm on the cusp—I'm definitely not a teenager, I'm not a young lad anymore, nor am I old, but I sit in this space where I'm aware of my age now. I hear it as a playground or going back to real youth.”

Perfect Now

“I worked on this with Jamie Scott, who was part of the One Direction writing team. Lyrically, it's kind of an extension of ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, One Direction's first single. It was written quite deliberately as an attempt to write a fan favourite song. There is a long history of people coming out of bands and then talking s**t about that band. I absolutely f**king love One Direction. I love the music. I love the music that we made, the fans, the culture, and everything behind it. There are songs like ‘Kill My Mind’ and ‘Walls’ where I’m trying something different, but of course there’s always room for those [1D-like] songs on the album.”

Defenceless

“I’m trying to be vulnerable and I’m trying to be honest. I’m trying to write as many different feelings as I can. One day you might be feeling great, youthful and amazing, and the next day you might be feeling a little bit down in the dumps. I wanted to capture that.”

Only the Brave

“The crackly sound goes way beyond my production comprehension. The way the guitar was recorded, I don’t know. But what I love about that song is that it feels classic, like going back in time. It’s one of my favourite songs because it doesn’t have a traditional structure. You only really get the chorus once. You haven’t heard a song like that the whole record, and then you get it at the end. There’s something interesting about that.”

#300120 #apple music #quote #louis tomlinson #wpress

[marsalimackimmie]

Another Outlander Fic Idea

This is set in an AU where Jamie came through the stones to the 20th century soon after Claire returned, and they raised Brianna in the future together.

(I wrote this whole thing out at once and didn’t proof read it so please forgive any typos. It’s a mostly stream of consciousness outline.)

Bree always knew there was something different about her family-- in that they had none. All her friends had grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins… but the Fraser's were an orphaned family. Her Mama and Da had plenty of stories, but always said the people they discussed had died a long time ago. As a kid it made her sad in a detached sort of way, but as she grew older she began having more questions her parents couldn’t answer. 

Growing up, Bree had developed an interest in history with her father. He was always reading books, watching documentaries, and always seemed fascinated by everything he learned-- even the things everyone knew, and the things he supposedly lived through himself. It became something they bonded over, and it led Bree to her secret hobby of genealogy. 

Unbeknownst to her parents, Brianna one day organized a day trip with her friends up to Broch Morda, the place her parents always claimed Jamie was from. She searched their historical archives and church records, but could find no mention of Jenny, Brian, or Ellen Fraser born in the last few centuries. At one point a librarian said she HAD found people by those names, but perhaps it was a more distant ancestor(?) as they were all from the 18th century. 

With this being the only lead Bree had, she dug all in. Every detail that matched up with her parents’ stories (as few details as there were) made her confusion increase. Her first thought was “oh no, my parents are crazy”. Clearly, Jamie had become so lonely as an orphan that he constructed an entire backstory based on the lives of people who shared his last name 200 years ago, who he found through his weird fascination with history. Or was James Fraser even his real name? Oh god, is Fraser even HER real last name?

Freaked out, Bree decides to visit Broch Tuarach’s graveyard to make sure there weren’t just typos or mistakes in the records (it’s not like they’re very valuable or well preserved). The newest graves are full of Murray's, McTavishes, Mackenzies… wow a lot of M’s for a place built by the Fraser clan. She pushes through and finds many faded graves from the early 1800s… quite a few match the names from her supposed family history as well. Brianna is now certain her parents have been lying to her this whole time.

Roger, one of the friends Bree came to Broch Morda with, suggests that maybe they should try some archives in the larger Inverness instead, that maybe this whole Lallybroch business is just a weird coincidence, or a matter of family names repeating themselves. It’s not like Jenny and Ian are uncommon, after all, or James and Katherine for that matter. Brianna is skeptical but agrees. 

Back in Inverness, they dig through the library and find articles about Claire’s disappearance through the stones. Surprised, Brianna does the math and realizes her parents must have met when Claire ran away from this ‘Frank Randall’. The lies piling up, Brianna decides to call Frank and ask for any information he has. Frank is reluctant to speak to her when she ambushes him at his office, and she leaves.

Later she returns late at night hoping to break into his files (she’s really mad and not thinking straight, alright?) and instead finds Frank still there, drinking at his desk. In his drunken state, he tells her everything Claire had claimed about time travel, and stones, and that “bloody Scot bastard” who had taken everything from him. Bree is disturbed to find him so bitter and drunk, and honestly can’t fault her mother for leaving the guy-- he seemed awful. And how seriously could she take his story about magic stones when he’s three sheets to the wind?

Still, Bree can’t help but think. Her vacation is over and she goes back home to Claire and Jamie (they live in Edinburgh maybe, or a remote farming village away from modern hustle idk). Despite dropping many subtle hints, she can’t get her parents to crack. She does start writing down small details they mention about the family though-- for comparison to the historic family, out of curiosity, etc-- and trying to suss out whether her father is delusional or just lying. But he seems as sincere as ever, and never contradicts his stories like someone making it up might. 

Now Bree is starting to feel like the crazy one. Is there even anything here to uncover? So her parents are orphans; so her mom left a drunkard and married a Scot instead. Everything truly suspicious is just circumstantial, paranoid even. Why is she so fixated on it? In the end, Bree finally decides to drop it. 

She still had another visit to Inverness planned however, and Roger suggests they go to the Culloden heritage reenactment festival instead of getting stuck in dusty archives. Bree agrees, and Claire helps her assemble a period costume. Claire seems oddly knowledgeable and nostalgic about it, but Bree brushes it aside. In the end she has a costume that looks great, but isn’t totally accurate. It’s cheaper. It has zippers. She never said she was committed to accuracy ok? Still, making and wearing it seem to make her parents’ lips loosen a bit, and they all bond talking about Scotland and history and family the night before she leaves. As she’s going to sleep, she thinks she hears her parents discuss how they think “Jenny and Ian” are faring at Lallybroch, but that’s probably her imagination-- why would they speak in the present tense? And she knows for a fact Lallybroch is empty. 

Flash forward-- Bree and Roger have a great time at the festival. (To insert my own headcanon agenda, I should mention Roger and Bree are not romantic, just good friends. Roger knows Bree is secretly gay, and sometimes even tries to be her wingman. Bree is out to her parents after they caught her and Sally McGinnis making out when she was 17; that’s why they trust her to stay at Roger’s during trips without too much shovel talk.) When they get back to the manse, they run into Fiona (who had been dancing at the stones at sunrise and gone all day). She awkwardly lets them know she brought a man back with her, who seems like he just needs some help. Confused, they ask why he wasn’t brought to the hospital, and she says he doesn’t need it. Fiona claims this man was at the reenactment (to explain his clothes) but dodges most of their questions. Still, Roger is very hospitable as a Reverend’s son and lets him stay. 

The man, who introduces himself simply as Claudel, seems very friendly if a bit baffled. Still, Roger doesn’t love the idea of Bree staying in the building with a stranger and asks if she’d rather go home. Bree is resistant because she’s not some damsel who has to be protected, but Fiona pipes up and agrees with Roger. Especially since the trains aren’t running right now and the inn is full-- could she call Mr. & Mrs. Fraser to come pick you up, Bree? 

Outnumbered, Brianna angrily agrees. She then sulks in the living room until Claudel comes in and they talk for a while. Brianna complains that everyone treats her like she’s less capable, and the man commiserates, pointing out what she had missed earlier-- his missing hand. She asks what happened, and he vaguely says “the war”. (Fiona had briefed him on what happened to him, where/when he is now, and how he should be as vague as possible when he couldn’t give the truth or a good lie.) Brianna decides she doesn’t mind this guy, even though his presence is inadvertently forcing her to be picked up by her parents like a misbehaving child from a slumber party. 

About an hour or whatever later, there’s a knock at the door. Bree gets up, long suffering, and jokes with Claudel that it must be ‘her time’. They say goodbye amicably and he offers to walk her to the door like a gentleman. 

Bree answers the door to see Claire on the other side, looking equal parts ruffled and concerned, and almost doesn’t notice Claudel freeze behind her. She hears him ask, “Milady?” under his breath, and now her mother is freezing in place too. Do they recognize each other? she wonders.

Bree gets her answer almost instantly, when a smile stretches on her mother’s face and Claire goes to hug the man, saying “oh my god, Fergus. Oh my son.” Cue record scratch noise-- did Mama just call this man her son??? Bree has more questions than ever before.

#outlander #outlander fic #outlander fanfic #fraser family #fergus fraser #brianna fraser #claire fraser #fix it #jamie fraser #outlander au #jamie x claire #to be clear 'claudel' never heard that brianna's last name was fraser #but fiona kinda put it all together and set up this reunion on purpose #she's pretty sly #my writing #plot bunny #mine

[imagineclaireandjamie]

Prompt: All’s well that ends well.

It Does My Heart Good: Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5

When three quick knocks sounded on his front door, Dr. Quentin Lambert Beauchamp glanced up from his crossword puzzle, and squinted at the ancient Kit-Cat clock grinning down from the wall.

“Who do you think that would be?”

Ahmet Firouz - “Fez,” to his loving partner of twenty years - turned a page in the book of Persian poetry he was translating. “Aren’t you waiting for a package from Raymond in Paris? The messenger service he uses always comes by at odd hours.”

Lamb harrumphed as he stood, pushing his chair back from the dining room table. “If he sends me one more sketchbook from that hangman who served at the pleasure of the Sun King, I think I’ll scream.” He squeezed Fez’s shoulder as he passed into the long hallway, then yanked open the front door.

A young, red-haired woman - old enough to be one of his students - smiled nervously on the front step. On the sidewalk stood three adults - a red-haired man, clearly the young woman’s father, and a middle-aged couple.

“Good morning,” Lamb greeted his visitors. “May I help you?”

The young woman swallowed. “Are you Dr. Quentin Lambert Beauchamp?”

Lamb frowned. “I am. Who asks?”

She smiled. “My name is Brianna.”

With every ounce of his strength and composure, Lamb clung to the doorframe, gaping.

“My God,” he breathed. “My…God.”

—

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Lamb repeated for the fifth time in as many minutes.

Brianna squeezed his hand, sitting close to him on the living room sofa. “I know. I’ve been looking for my parents for a while now - but I didn’t even know about you until this morning.”

“It’s the hell of a shock, isn’t it?” Jamie nodded a thanks as Fez finished pouring them cups of Turkish coffee.

“It’s just - of course you don’t remember, Brianna, but I was there when you were born. Well, not in the delivery room itself, but I was the first one to see you, right afterward.” Lamb sighed. “And you and your mother lived here, with me, until you were two months old.”

“Do you remember the day Claire met with us?” John Grey carefully sipped his coffee, holding hands with Isobel.

Lamb nodded. “I drove Claire and Brianna to the adoption agency. I didn’t want her to be alone afterward.” He paused. “It was the hardest thing she’s ever done. You were such a good baby, Brianna - and that day, you just smiled and smiled.”

Brianna smiled tightly. “Did she live with you afterward?”

Lamb nodded. “She did - until the next semester started up, and she moved back into the dorms. Though she came back almost every weekend. That first year was really, really hard.”

“But she pushed through it.” Fez settled into an easy chair. “She’s an incredibly strong woman. Capable of doing anything she sets her mind to.”

Brianna took a deep breath. “Where is she?”

Lamb smiled. “She’s in North Carolina.”

“North Carolina?” Jamie exclaimed.

Lamb sat up a bit straighter. “She’s chief of medicine at a hospital in Raleigh. She got sent down there during her residency, and she decided to stay. She loves the pace of life down there, and the people.”

“And she probably wanted a fresh start, too,” Isobel chimed in. 

“Yes, definitely.” He turned to face Brianna squarely. “I want you to know, Brianna, that your mother has never forgotten about you. She thinks about you all the time. She wonders what you’re doing, what you like, what you don’t like, how much like her - or your father - you are.”

“Do you think she’ll want to meet me?”

Lamb gaped. “Of course she will! She’d walk through fire for you.”

“But doesn’t she have a family of her own by now?”

“She’s never married, Brianna.” Lamb’s voice dropped. “As much as Fez and I encouraged her - she couldn’t do it.”

“There have been a few people she’s dated, over the years. But nothing serious. Like she’s afraid to open her heart again.” Fez turned to the bookshelf beside him, picked up a framed photo, and handed it to Brianna.

Brianna’s eyes widened. “Is this her?”

Jamie moved closer to his daughter, peering over his shoulder. His hand flew to his mouth.

“My God,” he rasped. “She hasn’t changed.”

Brianna thumbed away tears. “This is incredible. Jamie showed me some pictures from before I was born, but to see this…”

“There’s something you should know. She doesn’t use the surname Beauchamp anymore.”

“That’s why I couldn’t find her in any records,” Brianna mused, eyes transfixed on the framed photograph of her mother. “What surname does she use?”

Lamb beamed. “Fraser.”

Jamie’s coffee splattered all over the antique Persian rug.

Lamb pulled a battered phone from a pocket in his vest. “She set me up with this video chat thing, the last time she visited. Hold on a sec.”

Fez silently appeared at Jamie’s side with towels and a bottle of carpet cleaner.

“Aha! Here we go!”

John, Isobel, Brianna, and Jamie sat transfixed as the phone rang six times.

“Lamb!” A woman’s voice floated through the room. Jamie covered his mouth, shaking with silent sobs. “Are you all right?”

Brianna didn’t know that a person could smile so widely. “Are you sitting down, Claire? Because it’s not every day that a phone call can change your life!”

#;mod gotham #adoption au #Anonymous