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satansapostle6 · 5 months

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folie à deux

Sometimes poison is sweet.

Selina Romanov and Draco Malfoy met when they were only eleven years old. The two of them have always shared an intense bond, always having gravitated towards one another. But the question still remains, as the years pass by, is their connection one of passion, or delusion?

Warnings: Contains Mature Themes/Language, Themes Such As Sexual Content, Violence, Abuse, Sexual Assault, Eating Disorders

Eight.

Quidditch practice was awkward, to say the least. Selina hadn't spoken to Draco much at all since what she referred to as 'the incident'. She prudently decided that it would be best if she didn't tell Jasper anything at all about what had really happened at The Three Broomsticks, especially given that they weren't in a relationship. It was fairly difficult, but Selina knew that it was what was best for everyone. No matter what had happened, Selina regretted kissing Draco, and certainly never planned on doing it again, so she figured there was no point in telling him about it anyways. It only would've made things more difficult for everyone, including Jasper. Selina had also decided to keep what had happened from her other friends as well, realizing that telling the girls would only complicate things further. She figured she'd be safe as long as she didn't tell anyone, considering Draco would most likely be far too embarrassed to tell anyone about what had happened between the two of them, not to mention it could ruin his chances with Pansy Parkinson. Unfortunately, someone still found out about what had happened with Selina and Draco, especially considering that the two of them hadn't spoken in almost a week.

Selina had decided she'd sit next to Blaise Zabini during Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin, desperately hoping to avoid having to speak to Draco. Her friends both laughed along with her before they entered Professor Snape's class, hardly paying attention as Draco Malfoy stormed off past them. Selina sat down behind the girls, waiting for Blaise to take the seat next to her. She silently wondered where Blaise was, urging him to get to class as soon as possible. But surprisingly, it ended up being Draco who took the seat. Selina sighed, knowing it would be a particularly long class. She mostly sat there in silence, rushing to complete the assignment Lupin had set so that she could avoid having any homework.

"So," Draco spoke nonchalantly, distracting Selina as she read from her textbook, "I think I'm going to ask Pansy out on a date."

These words made everything stop for Selina. She froze as she tried to process what he'd just said to her, dropping her quill as she looked straight ahead. She was furious and unable to meet his gaze at first. Flabbergasted, she just barely resisted the urge to slap him across the face. Her worst fear had just been confirmed. She could feel herself getting hotter and hotter as she tried to process the betrayal.

"You-You what?" she asked, her voice so quiet he'd hardly heard it.

"I'm gonna ask Pansy out," he announced casually.

Selina Romanov was furious, to say the least. She turned to look at him, a calm yet resolute expression on her face. She was now sure that what he'd done was cruel and inconsiderate to say the least, and chose not to ignore his lack of respect as she usually did when he was rude or annoying.

"What the fuck are you playing at, Draco?"

"What?" he asked, as if he had no reason to anticipate a negative response from her.

She stared at him in disbelief, completely unable to understand the nerve he had. She knew that he, in reality, wasn't a good person, but Selina had always known she could trust him. Draco had always stood by Selina's side, even if it was in ways she hadn't necessarily expected. Draco always insulted people for her, stole for her, and threatened to fight the other boys for her, and to her, it was all she ever needed to know that he cared. Draco wasn't perfect. He was mean, and idiotic, and forgetful, but he always kept Selina in mind, always trying to impress or please her, which she had always loved. But this time, Selina saw none of the kindness in his eyes that she remembered.

"You kissed me not a week ago, and now you're telling me you want to ask out the one person I can't stand?" she summarized furiously. "Are you serious?"

"That's what this is about?!" he demanded, finally aware. "Bloody hell! That was nothing, the other day! Just a bit of fun, is all. Relax."

"Really! 'Just a bit of fun'?" she repeated. "Then why did you throw a fit and storm out?!"

�� "I did not!" he cried. "Besides, the only reason I felt like kissing you was because Pansy wasn't around."

Selina glanced over at Pansy on the other side of the room, catching a mischievous grin spread across her face as she listened in on their conversation.

"Oh, really?" she laughed, genuine anger in her eyes.

Draco nodded, responding without trepidation in his voice. "Yeah. I wanted to hang out with her, because she doesn't try to convince me that I care about someone's bloody pet bird, and she doesn't act like I'm an idiotic loser! She treats me well, and I wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her, but she wasn't there. So, I just settled for you," he scowled down at her.

"You settled for me?" Selina scoffed as her friends both gasped in shock at what they overheard. "That's rich."

"And so am I," he agreed, "And smart, and funny, and cool! And she actually tells me so," he declared pompously.

"Well, I hope you two are happy together," Selina said. "Congratulations, and get tested."

Without another word, she stormed off toward the front of the room with her completed assignment. Conveniently for her, she ended up in line at Professor Lupin's desk right behind a rather smug Pansy Parkinson. She watched, utterly humiliated, as Pansy handed her assignment in to Professor Lupin, stepping aside as she addressed Selina.

"So, I hear Draco's through with you, Selina," she remarked with a sickly sweet lilt to her tone. "Took him long enough."

"Ladies," Lupin interrupted. "Assignments, please?"

"Yes, he'll be back to pretending to like your 'Pansy Malfoy' doodles in no time," she assured her. "Now leave me the hell alone."

"Yes, Miss Parkinson, I would also advise you to please leave her alone," Professor Lupin echoed awkwardly, holding his hand out for Selina's piece of parchment.

"Certainly. After she leaves my boyfriend alone," she agreed.

"Miss Romanov, please tell me that you at least have the sense not to engage her," Lupin hoped exhaustedly.

"Oh, he's your boyfriend?" Selina asked in a mocking, saccharine tone. "Does he know that?" she knowingly patronized the girl.

"Back...off, Romanov," Pansy Parkinson grinned, "Or I'll slap that stupid look off your face."

"Miss Parkinson," Professor Lupin warned.

"Go ahead. If you can reach it," she replied, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow at her teasingly.

"He loves me!" the girl insisted, stepping towards her, "Not you."

Selina tried her best to ignore the ludicrous statement she'd just made.

"Don't worry," Selina scoffed, a cold anger filling her eyes, "He's all yours."

She courteously handed her assignment off to Professor Lupin, who said nothing to her as he watched her leave. She silently sat back down in her seat, mindlessly flipping through her textbook as an insolent Draco Malfoy sat beside her, his arms crossed in anger. Professor Lupin dutifully made his rounds throughout the room, watching as everyone completed their assignment. A thumping noise suddenly interrupted the quiet atmosphere of the room. Selina Romanov looked up, particularly surprised to see that Lupin had "accidentally" slapped Draco upside the head with a book he'd been holding. Hardly stifling a giggle, Selina glanced over at Blaise, who seemed thoroughly amused by the situation. Once Defense Against the Dark Arts was over, Selina was one of the first people out of the room. She and her friends had left the room so fast, she didn't even notice someone casting a charm, wetting the floor just as Draco and the other boys ran out of the room. She also hadn't noticed that, out of everyone in the room, it was Professor Lupin's wand that was sneakily aimed at the ground.

"Hey!" a loud voice filled the hall as Selina and her friends stopped.

"Oh, hey, Draco," Elspeth Laurier greeted him.

"Guys, I'll just catch up with you later," Selina said knowingly, giving him a warning look.

"Okay," Amana smiled, as the two of them left.

Selina discreetly led Draco into the hall, looking around to make sure no one was looking.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Draco Malfoy demanded.

"What?" Selina whispered. "You don't get to be angry at me."

"The hell I don't!" he argued. "What the fuck did you say to Pansy?"

"Nothing she didn't have coming," she scoffed dismissively. "She fucking came to me first!"

"So you didn't tell her anything about what happened between us?" he questioned expectantly.

Selina was completely flabbergasted. "Why the fuck would I tell her about that?"

"I don't know, maybe you wanted to brag or something," he exclaimed, "How should I know?"

"Are you insane? Why would I want anyone knowing about what you did?"

"What I did?!" Draco cried.

"Whatever! I didn't tell Pansy we kissed, I didn't tell anyone. You really think I want Jasper to find out?" she reasoned.

"Well, if you didn't tell her, than why does she seem so cross?" he asked her.

Selina sighed. "How should I know? Could be anything with her."

"Why do you hate her so much?" Draco scoffed.

"Me? I hate her because she's been picking fights with me! Or, did you forget that she stole my clothes while I was in the shower? Or, that time she stuck gum under both of my shoes? Or that time she spilled pumpkin juice all over the front of my pants."

"Okay, okay, point taken," he sighed.

"Why! Why did you have to kiss me right before you asked Pansy out!" she cried.

"Really? You still want to talk about this?!" he questioned.

"Yeah, clearly I have no choice!" she exclaimed. "I hate you! God! Why did you have to do this...! You were my friend, I thought we were friends! You humiliated me, and I—I cared about you!"

"Then why did you have to leave right after we kissed!" he shouted with desperation, a tortured look hidden behind his eyes.

"Leave?!" Selina yelled. "You left me in The Three Broomsticks!"

"I'm not talking about The Three Broomsticks!" he screamed at her. "I'm talking about after that!"

"After that?" she questioned.

"After I left The Three Broomsticks, I walked around Hogsmeade. Then I went back, to look for you," Draco Malfoy said.

Selina felt a pang of guilt in her stomach, struggling to breathe as she crossed her arms out in front of her, trying to steady herself. She tried to think, not understanding what Draco was trying to tell her.

"I went back to look for you, and you were gone."

"Because you threw stuff at me, and left me!" Selina exclaimed. "What did you expect me to do, sit around waiting with all the strangers you embarrassed me in front of?!"

Draco tried to swallow to stifle the rough lump in his throat that just didn't seem to go away.

"What's the point of all this anyway?" she demanded. "If you just want to be with Pansy, then go be with Pansy. I certainly won't stop you," she pointed out.

"Right," Draco said, "Of course you won't."

"Why, because I won't let you make a fool of me anywhere and everywhere?" she asked. "You say that like it's a horrible thing, you say that like I've done something wrong!"

"Right, because you could never do any wrong!" he yelled at her.

"You're turning this around on me?" she scoffed. "Just because you're not getting your way?"

"Fuck you!" he huffed.

"I'm not dealing with this, you're just turning this into another reason to be childish, and blame everyone else instead of just saying what it is you want?!" she demanded. "That's it. I'm not waiting around for you to actually talk to me anymore, I'm done."

"Sel! Sel!" Draco yelled after her as she walked down the hall.

But she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't have the energy to try for the both of them anymore. Selina had always known that, when it came to her friendship with Draco, she would always have to be the mature one. She had always tolerated being the calm one, since she preferred to avoid all the unnecessary drama that came with arguing with him. But this was different. This was unavoidable, and on a completely different level. Draco had crossed a line this time, at the very least. She couldn't take it anymore; she felt as if she were about to break, right there in front of him. Selina hurried away from him as fast as she could, crying the entire way back to the Slytherin dormitories. She briskly walked as fast as she could without anyone having anything to say about it. She hoped to avoid everyone she actually knew, no longer able to tolerate any more humiliation. Selina Romanov ran to the bathrooms, locking herself in a stall.

*****

Over an hour had passed before Selina was able to calm herself. She had emerged from the girls' bathroom with bloodshot eyes, furiously washing her face in the sink before Quidditch. Selina met Jasper in the common room before the game, where the other Slytherins were also hanging out before the match.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Jasper Carroll asked worriedly. "I couldn't find you anywhere... what happened?" he asked gently, holding onto her hands out of concern.

"I got into a stupid fight with Draco... he said a lot of things, and it just got worse."

"What did he say?" Jasper asked her.

"Let's just say we argued about Pansy, and it just escalated," she sighed, "I don't want to talk about it. I'll see you after the match."

"Okay, good luck," Jasper said, hugging her as he kissed her in the cheek, "I'll see you later."

Selina forced a smile, trying to appear confident as she headed off to play her second game of the season. She walked to the pitch alone, without Draco to talk to. Selina wasn't too bothered by the fact that she wouldn't be arriving at the pitch without him, so long as she didn't have to see Montague on the way down. It had been very uncomfortable seeing him at practice, to say the least, after she had never really hung out with him again after their date. It was awkward, but after a while, he had gotten the hint. Selina wasn't looking forward to today's game, not enthusiastic about watching Slytherin's team go up against the Hufflepuff team, especially with Cedric Diggory as their chaser. However, Selina forced herself to remain focused and optimistic, working as hard as she could to score points in the game. Selina spent a decent amount of time in the changing room on her own, bracing herself for human contact before she joined Flint and the rest of the team in the tunnel. She didn't bother to look back at Draco at the end of the formation, glad to not have to make eye contact with him. Selina dutifully took her position beside Montague, who didn't seem to want to look at her either, waiting to fly up onto the pitch just after Flint. Madam Hooch was currently making her way onto the pitch for the start of the game as Lee Jordan commentated.

"Slytherin won narrowly against Ravenclaw the last game they played, but will they have the same luck against Hufflepuff?! Here comes the Hufflepuff team now, led by Captain Cedric Diggory! Oh, this is going to be a good match!"

Selina mounted her broom, signaling for everyone else to follow suit. The tunnel door lifted open, as Flint soared up ahead of the team. They circled the pitch a few times, as most of the crowd cheered.

"And now, here come the Slytherin team, with Captain Marcus Flint!"

Selina and the other players all took their positions hovering above the field, behind their respective team captains. Everyone waited impatiently, antsy for the two captains to shake hands with one another before the start of the game. Flint shook Cedric Diggory's hand, a malicious smirk on his face as he nearly crushed Diggory's hand. Selina chuckled softly as she watched him grimace with discomfort, waiting for the game to officially start.

"The Quaffle has been released! There goes the Golden Snitch! And the game has officially begun!"

Selina took off into the air, strategically covering the field with the distance between her, Flint, and Montague. She watched Montague and Flint chasing after the Quaffle, flying through the air after the Hufflepuff Chaser's, as discussed with Flint and the others before. The game continued as she employed a rather offensive strategy, successful in dodging Bludgers as she wove around both teams.

"Here comes Romanov, charging towards Macavoy, one of the best Chasers Hufflepuff's seen in years, giving Slytherin quite the edge! My, do they sure have quite the rivalry going already!" Jordan's voice boomed.

Selina eventually succeeded in single-handedly taking Heidi Macavoy out of the game for good, without even earning the team a foul of any sort. Macavoy was sent flying off her broom, with everyone gasping and wincing as she slowly spiraled towards the ground.

"As we predicted, ladies and gentlemen, Selina Romanov's eliminated one of Hufflepuff's star players! What will they do now?!"

The game carried on rather horrifically, even worse than the first game they'd played against Ravenclaw that year. Both Flint and Montague had refused to go along with Selina's plays, insisting upon winning the game using only the strategy of taking out Hufflepuff's players. Selina was, for a while, the only Chaser actually working towards score goals. After Selina had taken out Macavoy, Flint and Montague had managed to take out one of Slytherin's Beaters as well as another Chaser. Unfortunately, Cedric Diggory was still in the game and chasing after the Snitch, along with Draco Malfoy. Selina whipped past Diggory's broom as she rushed to the Quaffle before the Hufflepuff Chasers, hoping he'd accidentally fall off of his broom. She had made contact with him, but unfortunately, he remained hanging into his broom, hardly shaken by the bump. Selina eventually secured the Quaffle by catching it after Derrick hit a Bludger that flew towards the Hufflepuff Chaser closest to it. Selina flew up and down, outmaneuvering the Hufflepuff players closest to their goalposts. Selina managed to score by tricking their Keeper, strategically avoiding a foul since Slytherin was already on its third foul of the game, thanks to Flint's leadership.

"Another goal scored by Romanov! Slytherin's still in the lead, 60 to 20! Flint's offense-heavy strategy seems to be working for the team!"

Selina couldn't help but rolled her eyes as she continued in the game, until the score eventually reached 160:130, still in her team's favor. Out of the sixteen goals scored by Slytherin, Selina had scored ultimately almost half of them on her own, only assisted by her other teammates several times. It was after a few minutes at that point that Draco had reached the Golden Snitch before Cedric Diggory, securing a victory for Slytherin. All of Selina's teammates celebrated where they stood on the Quidditch pitch, showing off in front of everyone watching from the stands as Draco held the Snitch up victoriously.

"Draco Malfoy has caught the Golden Snitch, earning another thirty points for Slytherin, securing them a surprisingly fair victory of 190 to 130! That's their second win of the season, everyone! Will the Slytherin team be able to keep up this winning streak when they play against Gryffindor in the final match of the year?!"

Selina was far too exhausted to enjoy the celebration of their victory, fatigued and drenched in sweat as she tried to recover as quickly as she could from scoring seven goals, as well as eliminating three of the opposing team's players. Needless to say, Selina Romanov was furious with Marcus Flint for refusing to change up his strategy, which they had disagreed on the entire year. It was a brutal hour or so that she'd spent in the air, which was certainly significant considering that Selina was in optimal athletic shape for someone her age. She stood still in the air on her broom, trying to catch her breath as the other Slytherin players flew victory laps around the pitch.

She breathed aggressively with her hand rested on her chest, trying to satiate her need for oxygen. Her eyes felt as if they were bulging out of her head as she tried to steady herself. Selina was the first player to return to the changing rooms, exhausted from playing. She didn't feel sorry at all for the Hufflepuff players she'd sent to the hospital wing, not feeling much better off than them herself. She held onto the wall as she stumbled into the girls' changing room, her legs completely limp from tightening around her broom for over an hour. Selina sat on the bench for a moment, heaving constantly until she found herself capable of moving. She quickly threw off her wet Quidditch robes, storming off to the showers with her towel and clothes to cool herself off. She was enraged at Marcus Flint's arrogance as she rinsed herself off and dried her hair, leaving without speaking to anyone. She made her way outside of the pitch, where Jasper waited for her with the girls before they all went to the party in the common room.

"Selina!" Amana Tesfaye cheered. "You were amazing! You carried the entire game!"

"I think she's aware," Jasper smiled sympathetically, kissing her on the cheek. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," she assured him. "Just fucking pissed at Flint, and in need of some Firewhisky."

"If you say so," Jasper sighed, wrapping his arm around her as they all walked together. "I'm really proud of you, you know," he said close to her ear, so only she could hear.

Selina sighed, her voice still faint. "Thank you..."

"I mean it. Not only did you play along with Flint's awful strategy to help the team, you still did the hard work and scored half our goals. You played like a pro, hell, you played like a star," he raved passionately.

"At least you think so," she remarked. "Flint's probably gonna take all of the credit, as usual. I bet he won't even mention my name throughout the whole party."

"Well, he's a fucking narcissistic twat, what do you expect?" Jasper comforted her. "Just take comfort in knowing you're league worthy as you are now, and Flint could barely hold his own against the new players as both a seventh-year and the team captain."

"Speaking of team captain, did you notice Snape in the staff box?" Elspeth questioned.

"No," Selina shook her head, why?"

"He was totally keeping an eye on your broom," Amana Tesfaye informed her with excitement, "And I think with Flint's last season as a player, he's probably looking to appoint a new team captain for next year."

"Yeah, I think you definitely have a real chance," Jasper nodded with certainty.

"Well, if Flint was captain," Selina rationalized, "I think my cat has a real chance."

She let out a wry chuckle as they made their way to the Slytherin party, Selina's outfit consisting of a simple tank top and jeans. Naturally, she had arrived in the common room to find Pansy in a rather formal black outfit, quite literally throwing herself over Draco on the couch. She averted her eyes immediately, adjusting her focus and making a beeline for Flint.

"Hey. Flint," Selina frowned, approaching her team captain as Jasper stood by her side protectively.

Elspeth and Amana stood across the room with everyone else, getting something to drink with a few of the other Slytherin girls. They whispered to each other continuously as they spied on their friend.

"Oi. Romanov," Flint snickered, already having taken multiple swigs from one of the bottles of whiskey supplied by one of the seventh-years. "Missed the chance to score us our two hundredth point, eh?"

"What, scoring seven goals for your lazy, stubborn arse isn't enough?" she confronted him.

Flint laughed, cocking his head as he glowered down at her, not willing to tolerate anything he perceived as disrespect to his fragile ego.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, Romanov? Did you make a bet on how quickly you could get booted off the team?" he provoked her.

"Please. If I had to bet on someone getting kicked off the team, it'd be you," she replied boldly.

Marcus Flint was flabbergasted, a glimmer of hatred in his eyes. "And why's that, eh?" he stepped closer to her, clearly seeking conflict.

Jasper glared at him, stepping up behind Selina as he prepared to defend her. Selina had to admit that she liked that about him, that he was willing to stand up for her physically as well as verbally.

"Because you manage the team like a brute," she said flatly, not even fazed by the taller, older boy. "You're too daft to come up with actual maneuvers and plots to score us points, so you rely on all of us to take out the other players altogether, because it's the only way we'll win with you as captain. No one does their job, they just fuck off all over the pitch racking up fouls because you can't do yours, you pathetic twat."

"You watch your mouth, little girl," Flint hissed threateningly, "Especially when our team's been inside of it."

"Oi, you watch how you talk to her, mate," Jasper warned, his hand roughly sitting on Selina's shoulder.

"You watch how your slag of a girlfriend talks to me," Flint sneered at him, turning back to Selina, "You need your boyfriend next to you to run your mouth?"

"Fuck no, I don't," Selina murmured, "Jasper, leave us."

"Selina," he began, still eyeing Flint.

"I said 'go'," Selina repeated, "I can handle myself."

Debating whether or not he should listen to her, Jasper Carroll slowly retreated, heading over to find Amana and Elspeth as he kept an eye on the situation between Selina and Marcus Flint. He could tell she had already committed to destroying him.

"See?" Selina cocked her head at him. "The only little twat here is you."

"Yeah, I'll say," Flint said, "From what I hear, yours has got to be pretty ran through by now."

There were many various gasps and laughs and other audible reactions coming from onlookers. Everyone was now fixed on their argument, no longer doing anything else. Even Draco and Pansy had stopped whatever in the hell they had been doing to observe, although with completely different reactions. Draco was left frozen and dead silent, although Pansy was practically bursting at the seams with laughter, audibly cheering Flint's name as if the Quidditch match was still going.

"It's alright, Flint, I know you're just stuck fantasizing about mine because you can't get any from anyone your age," Selina told him. "I don't blame the girls in your grade, though. There's enough room for their shit to get caught between your two front teeth."

"Oh, go on Flint, end it!" Draco Malfoy shouted from somewhere in the middle of the room.

Selina and Jasper were both seething. Selina in particular was irate, however unable to focus her anger on anyone other than Flint at the moment.

"How dare you, you used-up slag?! Fucking cunt!" Marcus Flint bellowed, reaching behind his head with the bottle in his hand.

"Hey!" Jasper boomed, intervening as he stepped between them, pushing Flint back. "Get the fuck away from her!"

Selina breathed angrily as she pulled her wand out of her pocket, ready to curse Flint.

"It's alright, Carroll," Flint spat, a disturbing grin aimed at Selina Romanov. "Enjoy her before she goes for the rest of the team. Maybe she'll make her way across every House team before the end of the term!"

"That's it, throw out those meaningless rumors about me just because you know you're not a real captain for shit!" Selina challenged him further. "Just watch, Flint, soon enough this slag will be team captain, and we'll actually win! We won at one-ninety today, next year, we'll be winning at two hundred, and two-twenty!"

"Why don't you fuck off, Romanov, it's what you're good at, anyways!"

Flint actually seemed to be about to hurl the full liquor bottle at her head. Still, Selina did nothing, her gaze locked onto him as Jasper prevented him from being able to throw anything at her head. Flint eventually backed off, still smirking as he made his way about the party again.

"Selina. Hey. Look at me, it's okay," Jasper murmured, holding her out in front of him. "Just let him go, he's not worth the trouble."

"Fuck Flint," Selina spat, still staring daggers at him across the room. "I should be captain of this fucking team, and he knows it."

"Yes, you should," Amana nodded, trying to calm her down, "But getting into it with Flint won't do you any good. Don't sink to his level."

"I agree, just let him say what he says. You know you can't reason with Marcus Flint," Jasper reminded her coolly, "Do you want to go rest in your dorm? You must be tired after the game."

"No," Selina refused confidently, determined to let out all of the suppressed rage that she'd accumulated over the past couple of weeks, as well as throughout her entire life. "Somebody get me a bottle. I don't care what's in it."

"Selina," Elspeth Laurier frowned, "You should really settle down, maybe take a seat," she began, only to be cut off.

"Fuck settling down, Flint isn't settling down. Somebody get me a fucking bottle, now!" she boomed, startling half the room.

Lucian Bole tossed a bottle of bourbon to Selina, who took aggressive swigs out of it as her friends watched, concerned. Everyone else proceeded as if nothing had happened at all, celebrating into the night. The party in the Slytherin common room got rowdier and rowdier, with a few team members having even surfed the crowd, including Draco. Selina had had a decent amount to drink. Crabbe and Goyle had also contributed to the situation, which worried Jasper. He and the rest of her friends tried not to drink at all throughout the party, trying to keep a close eye on her. But, eventually, Elspeth and Amana had given in too many times, and ended up stumbling back to their dormitory to pass out. Jasper had stayed with Selina for a while, both keeping her company and making sure she didn't get into any trouble. But as the night dragged on, he grew increasingly tired. Selina had told him she was going to wander off to get a drink from one of the fifth-years.

"Alright, I'll be here," Jasper Carroll nodded, trying to watch her.

He quickly lost her in the large horde of people in the common room, unable to see her as she disappeared behind dozens of people.

"Try this," one of the fifth years told Selina, handing her something dark poured into a cup.

"Don't have to tell me twice," she practically belched out.

Selina tipped her head back completely, downing the contents of the cup. She gulped multiple times, wincing slightly as she finished the drink, slamming the cup down on the ground as she narrowed her eyes, trying to steady herself. The room was spinning entirely, with odd shapes being created by the darkness her eyes perceived. She stuck both of her arms out to steady herself, convinced that the floor was tilting left and right like a rocking boat floating out at sea. She tried to maintain her balance, sure that she was about to be knocked down by a moving dungeon floor.

"Oi, Romanov," Flint called to her, approaching her with a grin on his face, "You alright there?"

"I'm fine," she gulped, still horrified by the floor. "Fuck off."

"I'm not here to fuck with you, I'm over all that shit from earlier," he laughed merrily, holding a hand out to her. "Come on. You look tired. Come to my dorm, I'll make sure you're alright."

In that moment, Selina was pretty sure that, normally, she wouldn't really want to be anywhere near Marcus Flint, especially alone. But right then and there, as she failed to balance on a flat surface, she suddenly felt a desperate, overwhelming urge to find someplace to sleep soundly. She just wanted sleep, and nothing but sleep, no matter the costs. She was desperate for rest.

"Sure," she blurted out, barely able to speak.

She felt her entire body going numb.

"Alright. Come along," Flint smiled, dragging her by the hand off to his dorm room as she stumbled through the halls.

He shook hands with and whispered a sly 'good one' to someone they passed, who Selina didn't recognize as the fifth-year boy who had given her the last thing she'd drank, which had tasted unpleasant as she'd expected, but not necessarily in the way that alcohol was supposed to taste. Selina haphazardly bounced back and forth off of the walls on either side of her, without the ability to control her direction. She knew on some level she would probably wake up with plenty of dark bruises, given that she was very forcefully propelling herself forward under the influence.

"Here we are," Flint smiled, opening the door to the room he slept in.

Meanwhile, out in the common room, Jasper Carroll was confused, making his way around the room.

"Oi. Montague. Have you seen Selina?"

He received a shrug and an inaudible noise from the boy, who was definitely drunk at this point.

"Miles! Do you know where Selina is? ...Selina Romanov, your teammate! Damn it, Dorian, have you seen Selina!"

Yet another clueless 'no'.

"Peregrine, have you seen Selina?!" Jasper shouted.

"No, mate."

"Shit... Fuck me."

Jasper thought he'd made about four laps around the dark Slytherin common room, lit only by the faint green light from the Black Lake above. He made a beeline for Malfoy, who was his only hope.

"Hey. Draco!" Jasper gasped, ready to beg. "Have you seen Selina at all?!"

Draco shook his head, blankly looking up at him from his spot in the couch. "No, I haven't," he slurred, clearly inebriated.

"Fuck! I don't know where she is!"

Selina had entered Flint's dormitory, not paying any kind to him as she slumped down onto a bed, only able to half sit up. She began to fall asleep already, not noticing him as he took one of his friends' school ties, sticking it onto the doorknob to ensure that no one would try to come into the room. Selina began to fall back, her eyes only slightly open.

"I'm...sleepy," she mumbled dreamily, feeling herself slip further away from consciousness as Flint leered over her.

"Yeah, just go to sleep, little girl," Flint sneered at her domineeringly, laughing to himself as she reached out at nothing, her hands falling unsuccessfully. "This should teach you to fuck with me."

She was unable to shove him away as he came toward her, his face nothing but a dark shape at this point. Selina was no longer aware, of anything. She felt many different things, physically and otherwise, but couldn't make out any of it at all. She slipped away from herself, leaving her own body within seconds. She was out cold within the next minute.

*****

Selina Romanov didn't know how much time had passed before she regained consciousness. Judging by what she saw as her eyes first opened, it had been a lot. She had finally woken up, heavily disoriented as she forced her eyes open, fighting the exhaustion. The first thing she noticed wasn't something she saw; it was something she felt. The skin covering her entire body burned, as if she'd fallen and scraped her entire body on stone. She had woken up in the hospital wing, seemingly smothered by people, which included Jasper, her friends, and Professor McGonagall, who all seemed extremely upset, to say the least. Jasper looked distraught as all of their faces hovered above her.

"Guys?" Selina murmured, trying to sit up. "What happened...?"

She was still in a daze, becoming more and more panicked as her eyes adjusted. She felt immense pain coming from everyone on her body, but she was still unable to relax herself to ease her pain.

"Don't sit up too fast, Selina," Professor McGonagall said immediately, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Slow down..."

"Ow..."

Selina touched a hand to her shoulder, where the skin on her collarbone felt bruised.

"What happened last night?" she asked.

Elspeth and Amana exchanged concerned looks. She could tell by looking at both of their eyes that they'd been crying, and Jasper wasn't far from it at that point.

"Sel," Amana began slowly, trying to articulate, "There's something you need to know..."

"What the hell happened to me last night?!" Selina exclaimed, her heart beating faster and faster. "Jasper? Amana?! Someone...?!"

"Selina, hey, it's gonna be okay," Jasper squeezed her hand, tears falling from his eyes as he was unable to hold them in any longer, "You're okay, you're safe now," he insisted, holding her hand in both of his.

"Why won't anybody just tell me what's happening?!" Selina screamed. "What the fuck happened to me...!"

She began wailing uncontrollably as she felt her body temperature growing higher and higher, causing her to feel extremely sick.

"Perhaps I should give her something and let her sleep a while longer," Madame Pomfrey suggested urgently.

"It's alright, Poppy," McGonagall murmured, "Please escort the others out, I need a moment alone with Miss Romanov."

"Yes, of course," the woman nodded quickly. "Come. Give them some privacy," the school's Healer said as Jasper and her friends reluctantly left her.

Selina automatically turned to Minerva McGonagall, sobbing.

"Professor, what happened to me?" she croaked out.

"Miss Romanov, I am so sorry," the older woman began with the utmost sincerity, tearing up as she spoke, "I honestly have never had to have such a... difficult, and frankly devastating conversation with any of my students before."

"Professor McGonagall," Selina begged, blubbering desperately, "Please...! Just tell me what happened to me, everything's hurting!"

She couldn't exactly feel where her pain was coming from, as Madam Pomfrey had fed her something earlier to lessen the pain as much as she could.

"Selina... can you please tell me the last thing that you remember from the night before?" the professor asked her. "And don't concentrate on any consequences for what you might have done..."

"All I remember is I took a drink from one of the boys," Selina said, "I don't remember who, but I didn't know him. Then I woke up here."

Professor McGonagall nodded grimly, looking down for a moment as she bit her lip stressfully.

"Well, you never went to Herbology this morning, so eventually Miss Tesfaye and Miss Laurier were sent to look for you, in the dormitories," she explained slowly. "And, eventually... they both discovered you unconscious in one of the boys' dormitories. Completely undressed," she relayed quietly.

Selina's eyes widened at her words, filling with dread as everything around her returned to being absolutely nothing again. Selina was deep inside of her own head, barely hearing anything Professor McGonagall said.

"Daphne Greengrass informed us that she saw a fifth-year-boy, Henry O'Connor, hand you a drink just before you disappeared. Madame Pomfrey said that it had to have been a badly brewed Sleeping Draught, which is why you were asleep for so long, and why you're so disoriented. Lucian Bole had said that he last saw you heading off into the dorms, with Marcus Flint, and your friends have come forward confirming that Flint had been threatening you early on during the party in the common room," McGonagall explained. "Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore are speaking with Mr. Flint right now."

"Oh my God."

Selina was completely paralyzed, unable to move from where she sat in the clothes Amana and Elspeth had gotten for her when they found her unconscious in the dorms.

"Again, it pains me very much to have this conversation with you. I can't imagine what you must be feeling, but I was hoping you'd be able to shed light on the situation, and tell me anything you might remember," she said hopefully. "The bruises on your body and... other injuries have given us some idea of what might have happened to you last night."

"I... Ow!" Selina gasped, feeling a sharp pain. "Ow! Fuck! Fuck!" she screamed.

She slowly looked down, finally beginning to realize exactly where the most unbearable pain she felt on her body had been coming from. She stared down at her lap beneath the blanket, horrified. Selina yelled out in agony, tears of rage streaming down her face as she realized that her body had been ripped open and was stinging horribly. Selina felt her mind beginning to cave in on her as she tried to process that she'd been violated while she slept.

"Oh my God!" she wailed, falling forward as Professor McGonagall frantically got ahold of her, wrapping her arms around the young girl as she kicked and screamed. "Oh my God, oh my God! No!" she sobbed, collapsing into her professor's arms.

Selina could hardly bear, let alone describe, the different levels of pain that she felt. She felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest, and shoved down her throat. Everything hurt, and her mind was screaming at her. She wanted the pain to end desperately, and would have been willing to do unspeakably things just to end it.

"I am so sorry, Selina," Minerva McGonagall whispered, hesitantly brushing Selina's hair back from her face as she cried. "Truly. I'm so deeply sorry that someone did this to you..."

"It was Flint!" she sobbed, "It was Flint! It was Flint."

"It's alright," Professor McGonagall told her, trying to calm her, "You're safe. He's not here, I am, alright?" she said, hugging Selina.

"Flint did this to me...!" Selina Romanov choked out.

"I know," McGonagall said, swallowing her wrath as Madame Pomfrey watched beside the Deputy Headmistress with tears in her eyes. "I promise you, that boy will not get away with this. But for now... you're safe with me," she sighed, letting Selina break down on her shoulder.

"I'm gonna kill him," Selina whimpered.

"I wish you could," Professor McGonagall whispered, meaning for this moment to be entirely between the two of them. "I really do."

"This is horrible, Minerva," Madame Pomfrey spoke up, "Despicable. Tell me they'll expel him," she said worriedly.

Professor McGonagall looked up at her, aware of Selina's presence in the room.

"You know that if he had been one of my students, he would be... but I can't promise that," she reminded the other woman. "You know how these things go..."

"I do," Madame Pomfrey nodded, "And it's disgusting. Downright shameful, if I'm being honest. That's why I fear for the poor girl," she said finally, rushing off to leave them alone.

Professor McGonagall had sat with Selina for quite a while, abandoning the rest of her duties for the remainder of the school day, having them delegated amongst the rest of the staff as she sat in a chair beside Selina's bed. Selina had been dead silent for almost the entire time, frozen and unable to speak much. Professor McGonagall was completely lost, and had nothing helpful to offer to the distraught student. She felt incredibly guilty, having such a horrible thing occur at the school she worked at, the way she always did when these things happened. Her heart ached for Selina, and all the other girls before her that she'd come across. Still, even after all these years, Minerva McGonagall never found anything to say that would ease the pain. Selina figured she must have sat there for hours before she actually spoke again.

"Professor McGonagall?" Selina said finally, a dark, distant look still in her eyes.

"Yes, dear?" the woman said quickly, worried that she might need something.

"Do I have to talk to Professor Dumbledore?" Selina looked up at her, her eyes red and puffy.

"Are you feeling up to that?" Professor McGonagall asked, genuinely concerned for her wellbeing.

"I, erm... I think that if I don't do it now, then I never will," Selina's voice cracked, tears still left in her eyes.

"Alright," Professor McGonagall nodded, "If you feel comfortable, Professor Dumbledore has requested you see him in his office. But do not feel pressured if you're not up to it—"

"No," Selina protested, a burning determination in her eyes, "I want to go."

"Would you like me to take you?" the professor asked gently.

Selina just nodded exhaustedly, allowing the woman to lead her out of the hospital wing to the Headmaster's office, completely numb to the world. She allowed Professor McGonagall to softly steer and guide her through the halls of the school, not saying anything to anyone as she walked with her. She allowed Professor McGonagall to handle all of the 'excuse me's' and 'pardon us's', unable to speak to anyone. They finally reached the tower, as the professor spoke the password, revealing the entrance up to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Would you like me to accompany you?" she asked thoughtfully.

After a moment, Selina nodded, stepping into the empty stone entrance as it magically ascended. Looking down at her for a moment, Professor McGonagall gasped, suddenly wrapping the girl in a tight hug as they went up together. Selina froze into the hug. She wanted to hug the woman back, thanking her for her kindness, but nothing had come out at all. She couldn't speak, and she couldn't move. She was just frozen ,completely lost as she just stood still.

"I'm so sorry about what that awful boy did to you," McGonagall expressed, "I hope you know that had anyone known—"

"Don't worry about it," Selina murmured, beginning to be able to numb herself to the entire ordeal as the statue separating them from the Headmaster's office rotated, allowing them to enter.

Professor McGonagall frowned, unable to help any further as she walked Selina into Professor Dumbledore's office, where loud voices had been carried all the way through to the corridor.

Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking over at Professor Snape to his left. The two had evidently been arguing, loudly. Selina was dead to the world, and had only caught a few things, the words being 'disciplinary action' and 'obstacles'. Both Snape and Dumbledore were startled to see Selina walking in, their eyes widened as she entered the room alongside McGonagall.

"Miss Romanov would like to speak to you now, Headmaster. She has expressed that my presence would be helpful," Professor McGonagall said calmly.

Professor Snape looked at Selina for a moment, as she was unable to identify the exact word for what she saw on his face. It was a look she'd never seen before. He seemed perfectly composed, except for the darkness in his eyes and slight trembling of his lips as he still remained silent.

"Of course, Minerva, thank you," Professor Dumbledore said courteously, "Miss Romanov, please have a seat, if you'd like."

Selina said nothing, slowly walking to the chair in front of the desk as she sat down, her face empty and expressionless.

"I'm very sorry to have to have this conversation with you, but I'm afraid Professor Snape and I are going to need your perspective on the events that took place between last night and this morning, given Madame Pomfrey's findings upon examining you," Dumbledore said quietly. "Given the severity of the situation... I must insist upon hearing from you directly, unfortunately."

"Erm, that's—that's okay," Selina said slowly, looking him in the eye with no emotion whatsoever. "I don't actually remember anything that happened between me and Marcus Flint..." she said slowly, the incoherent flashes from the night before haunting her memory.

Professor McGonagall stood behind her, sympathetic towards her young student.

"As I told Professor McGonagall, all I remember from last night is getting a drink from that boy. I finished it, and... I think I ended up going off to the dorms, with Flint," Selina gulped, humiliated. "I fell asleep, in his dorm... and then I just woke up in the hospital wing."

"This is outrageous!" Snape boomed. "We cannot allow something so cruel and heinous to go unpunished—"

"Severus," Professor Dumbledore murmured, interrupting his thought.

Professor Snape was reluctantly, fuming as he listened.

"Miss Romanov, I must express that you have every right to determine if you ever feel this conversation to be too much for you, but I'm afraid I must tell you... eventually, there is something I must ask you, that I dread having to ask any one of my students," the school's headmaster said earnestly.

"What is it?" Selina looked at him, brows furrowed.

Albus Dumbledore glanced down at his desk, struggling to get the words out. "Miss Romanov... do you have any recollection, any recollection at all, of being raped or otherwise assaulted by Marcus Flint, and if not, could you somehow confirm whether or not this is what happened after you were given the Sleeping Draught?" he asked gravely. "Madame Pomfrey's physical examination is sufficient evidence of rape and other physical abuse, I'm afraid. The only thing we need confirmed by you is whether or not the person responsible is, in fact, Marcus Flint."

Selina just stared at him for a moment, the fact dawning on her that this was the first time that she'd heard the horrible word actually spoken aloud all day.

"Yes," she whispered, the night before flashing before her eyes as she spoke. "The last thing that I remember is Marcus Flint bringing me to his dorm...and then coming towards me. It was him, I remember enough."

Severus Snape look absolutely appalled as he listened to her, shocked.

"He was the one who.... did this, because he and I had argued right after the match ended," Selina said, eerily composed. "I was intoxicated, and then I drank the Sleeping Draught, and then he brought me to his dorm room."

She was in shock, unable to process anything that happened as she spoke. Not reacting in order to keep the situation as calm as possible, Professor Dumbledore nodded as she spoke.

"I see. Now, I must ask you, are you looking to attempt to press charges?" he asked. "I can give you as much time as you need to consider it—"

"Yes," Selina murmured, trembling with rage, "Yes. Press charges," she said with the utmost seriousness.

"Yes, as we should!" Professor Snape thundered. "Flint should be expelled, and subjected to legal disciplinary action of the highest degree—"

"That's enough, Severus," Dumbledore said quickly, not wanting to worsen the situation. "Miss Romanov, I must naturally inform you that, should you proceed, you will be required to give repetitive statements, before as many as, potentially, the entire Wizengamot—"

"I don't care," Selina decided finally, her voice small but perfectly clear. "Whatever it takes. I won't change my mind. Nothing could," she promised them, a violated, hungry look of despair in her eyes.

"Of course," Dumbledore nodded, "Thank you, Miss Romanov. Words cannot convey the regret I feel that something so awful has happened to a Hogwarts student. For that, I am deeply sorry."

"Thank you," Selina croaked out, forcing herself to speak.

"Just know that, soon,

"May I be dismissed?"

The professor nodded. "You may. Please, feel encouraged to go to Professor McGonagall, myself, or Professor Snape with any information, or concerns that you might have... Again, if you find that you would like to forego with the legal action, do not hesitate to speak to any one of us. Given the opportunity, I must also assure you that, in light of what has happened, I find myself unable to even think about punishing any of my students for the possession or consumption of alcohol on school grounds, and will simply ask that all students exercise caution in the future. Again, you have my greatest sympathies, Miss Romanov. If you ever find that there is anything I can do at all, please, do not hesitate to ask. Although I could never understand your pain, I can say that what has happened to you affects me greatly as the headmaster of this school."

"Thank you," she nodded, leaving the office as she left the three professors still inside, dead silent for a while.

She headed down from the Headmaster's Tower, running into Jasper and her friends in the corridor. They all looked exhausted.

"Selina," Jasper said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she nodded slowly as she hugged him, "I'm fine... In every way that matters, I guess."

"What Flint did to you was evil," Elspeth said in disbelief, "They should expel him immediately."

"I told Dumbledore what happened. I told him I wanted to press charges," Selina said quietly.

"Good. You should," Amana told her. "What he did to you... Look at you. You've got bruises all over, and I heard Madame Pomfrey say there was internal bruising..."

The girl trailed off in tears, unable to stomach the mere thought of what had happened to her friend.

"Hey, I'm okay," Selina promised her, numbly giving her a hug.

Her best friend broke down in her arms, crying softly as she held onto her friend.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Selina," she sobbed, "You're my best friend, if anything happened to you... Elspeth and I... If we would've known—!"

"It's not your fault," Selina reassured her firmly, holding it together for her friends.

"But it is! All of our faults!" Elspeth said tearfully, "We left you. We never should've left you."

"No one could've prevented this," Selina sighed, "It would've happened one way or another."

These words stung for Jasper Carroll. His eyes burned with genuine hate as he thought about what had happened, unable to forgive himself for losing track of Selina.

"Not if I could've helped it," he told her. "I would've done anything to protect you, Selina, if I had known, I would've... I would've made sure he never hurt you. But I didn't, none of us did, and I'm so, so sorry for that. But nothing can change what that... that fucking brute did to you."

"I'm okay," Selina promised him, "I'm right here, nothing happened to me. I'm alive, that's all that matters, okay?" she asked, her voice faltering as she tried to suppress the feelings of shame and weakness that she'd felt ever since she woke up.

"I'm sorry, it's just... hearing about how the girls found you, helpless, and just left there, completely naked... it scared me. It scared all of us," Jasper sighed, his eyes bloodshot.

"We love you, so much, Selina," Elspeth said in despair. "We... We're just so relieved you're at least here," she confessed.

Selina thought for a moment, for the first time, that she could have easily died the night before. That could have been the end of it for her. The disturbing thought gnawed at her as she froze, receiving multiple hugs out of distress from both the girls and Jasper. They were all overwhelmed with emotions after what Selina had been through, but somehow, she found herself feeling mostly empty. She couldn't muster any anger, or despair anymore. All that was left was emptiness, she feared.

"Do you want to go with us?" Elspeth asked her. "To the dorms?"

"Erm, no, no," Selina said finally, sure of her choice. "Not yet."

"That's okay," Jasper promised her. "Do you want to go somewhere else? I'll go with you."

"I think I just need some time alone right now," Selina told them all, overwhelmed by the emotions.

"Yeah, that's perfectly understandable," Jasper nodded quickly. "You just take all the time you need, er... We'll just head back to the common room. Come find us if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay," Selina nodded, no expression on her face.

Her friends watched worriedly as she walked away, heading out of the castle hoping to get some fresh air. Nothing felt real whatsoever as she walked the halls of the castle, feeling as if she were stuck in some dreadful nightmare. But she knew that, whether she liked it or not, her reality was the nightmare. Selina Romanov was tormented by the thoughts that circled her head as she walked, half numb to everythin, half overwhelmed by all of it. She aimlessly wandered out to the courtyard, everything that had happened that day weighing on her. She began to notice some people staring at her as she walked by. Selina was aware of her puffy face and disheveled appearance, but what she hadn't been fully aware of were the noticeably visible bruises on her neck and shoulder, in addition to the ones beneath her shirt. Selina was deep in thought, hardly paying attention as Pansy Parkinson, of all people, was calling out to her from a stone bench beneath the trees.

"Romanov!" she said loudly, from the bench where she sat with Draco Malfoy, who was laying his head on her lap.

Draco seemed startled, turning to face her as he sat up, his attention completely fixed on Selina. She met his gaze, realizing that she should probably tell him about everything before he heard from Amana and Elspeth, or worse, Dumbledore or Snape.

"Where the hell have you been all day? My new boyfriend and I have been worried sick about you!" she taunted her.

Selina just shook her head, unable to deal with Draco's disastrous love life at the moment.

"Not now, Pansy," she said distractedly, "Draco, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it, Sel?" he asked, concern in his voice as he stood up. "What's wrong?"

Crabbe and Goyle stood around the bench, watching as they had no idea what was really going on.

"I need to speak to you. Privately," Selina said finally.

"God, you're not trying to win Draco from me, are you?" Pansy Parkinson sighed.

"Not now, Pans," Draco told her, focused on Selina as he walked the two of them away from the others, increasingly unnerved by her appearance. "Sel, is your neck bruised?" he asked her.

Selina had no words, staring at the ground as she tried to articulate everything to him.

"Selina," he said worriedly, his eyes widened, "Is that a handprint?"

Selina bit her lip, finally meeting his gaze as she broke down, ever so slightly. She was no longer able to contain everything she'd been thinking for the past few hours.

"Draco... About last night... There's something you have to know," she began, sighing as she slowly braced herself, her breath shaky and unsteady. "There's something I have to tell you."

Draco looked at her in confusion, his heart pounding in his chest as he listened to her speak.

#draco malfoy imagine #draco x reader #draco fanfiction #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco lucius malfoy #draco malfoy #hpdm #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy x reader #draco x reader angst #draco x y/n #draco x you

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endversewinchester · 11 months

Note

I want mooore wolfstar on your masked!Remus universe!!! I need it!!!11 (it's ok if you don't want to or don't have the time for it, I just really really liked the story)

Heh again, thank you all so much for reading! You're in luck, anon. How do you feel about some Remus POV?

Title: The Ride

Word count: 1627

Ship: Wolfstar (Remus Lupin x Sirius Black) // Language: english.

Warnings: Slavery. Non consensual bondage (it's a mask that keeps Remus from speaking).

The Boy in the Mask series on AO3

Summary: In which Sirius is irrevocably insane and Remus can't have enough.

Sirius Black was completely insane. It wasn’t the longer than appropriate hair, the casual carelessness for rules, or the obsession for muggle music, though those also counted as evidence. No. What Remus actually meant came much earlier, when the then eight-year-old boy had chosen to cross the street and ask him about his mask.

No wizard ever talked to him like that. Other than his master, he would be thoroughly ignored by anyone that was not a servant. That had hurt a lot at first, when he still hadn’t fully adjusted to the muzzle and the rules and being away from his parents, but eventually it became the norm, and he stopped expecting any different.

The point was, to have a pureblood walk up to him as though they were casual friends had sent Remus’ soul right out of his body, thank you very much. It happened again on the train, and once more when Sirius made clear that he absolutely wanted to be friends with him despite what he was. At that point, Remus fully believed he’d grow used to the dark haired boy’s recklessness.

Except they were both 16 now, and nothing had changed.

“Where did you even get that?” James asked, apparently as horrified as Remus felt because Sirius had just rid into the Potter’s yard with a mask over his entire head and a muggle vehicle.

He’d seen one of those before. Very vague memories of one of his uncles coming to visit the family home back before he was forcefully taken from his parents appeared on his mind. He could not for the life of him remember what they were called, though.

Sirius lifted the thing on his head up, allowing it to hang over the top of his head instead. Okay. Remus breathed. Not a mask. It actually reminded him of one of the quiddich helmets, but this one seemed to protect the person’s face more thoroughly.

“Uncle Alphard sends me a generous amount of money every month, so I figured why not?” Sirius rotated the grip slightly, making the engine roar. Despite that, it did not move.

“Did you like it?” He asked, flashing both of them that shit eating grin that sent butterflies to the pit of Remus’ stomach.

“Did we like it? Pads, my parents are going to lose their minds! They won’t even know what to call it when they do”

Sirius faked his hurt, letting go of the grip with one of his hands, and placing it over his heart instead.

“This is Callisto. She is a motorcycle, and a very good one at that. Don’t hurt her feelings” James reached for his hair, clearly overwhelmed by his brother’s insanity.

“Are you even old enough to have it?”

“I’m almost a legal adult now, moons. I can do whatever I want” He adjusted his leather jacket theatrically and started the motorcycle again, riding it in circles through Euphemia’s perfectly cut grass before coming to a stop in front of Remus.

“…Including taking you for a ride” He stretched one of his gloved hands out.

See? Completely insane.

But for once, Remus actually felt tempted. Not in his usually rational, collected way. More of a “the idea of riding around with Sirius Black made him giddy” way. Except…

“Mr. Howard should be back soon.”

The old geezer actually found it really amusing that he’d been able to make friends without the ability to speak. So amused, in fact, that he’d completely prevented Remus from doing so to any of them for six years now, despite not being half as strict at home.

Fucker.

His interest on these friendships was fickle at best. Sure, he thought them interesting, in the way someone might find the friendly way their dog behaves towards others at the part interesting, but he had no real interest in making any effort for such bonds to grow. Remus was only here right now because he worked really hard for it in the previous weeks.

“Eh, don’t worry too hard about it, mate.” James shrugged, doing his best not to lose it at the wonky paths Sirius carved on his backyard. “I made a deal with my dad that if you showed up, he’d stall Mr. Howard for as long as possible”

Remus’ chest tightened. Five years had passed, and he still could barely believe how lucky he was to exist in this universe in the same place and time as the other marauders.

“You’re the best”

“Oi, I’m the one taking you on a ride” Protested Sirius, almost pouting.

Remus couldn’t help the slight twitch up of his lips. Soo dramatic.

“And I’m the one that is going to have to figure out how to undo these marks before mum comes back from the shop” Mimicked James, a tiny hint of fear on his voice.

And Remus had meant to help, really. He knew a thing or two about gardening and keeping himself out of trouble due to working around Mr. Howard’s house, and he’d actually gotten quite good at nonverbal spells thanks to school but it all faded to the back of his mind when Sirius locked his eyes with him.

“I do have a spare helmet in the saddlebag” Sirius explained, pulling his helmet down over his face again. “But with your mask… it’s best if you go without.”

Remus furrowed his brow. The idea of riding without protection didn’t really bother him, werewolf healing and all, but the possibility the adults would return while they were doing this very much did.

He glanced at the watch on James’ wrist. It had only been one hour or so since they left, and Mr Potter did say he’d be stalling...

He pushed himself off the grass, patting his pants as he went.

“Make it fast” he signed, before walking behind Sirius and sliding on what he believed was the seat. They should be fine. And if they weren’t… eh. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Took the words right out of my mouth, moony” He shifted the grip again, letting it roar louder this time. It was only then James seemed to realize his mistake.

“Wait. Pads, DON’T-”

But the motorcycle was already off at impressive speed, plunging out of the garden and onto the street, threatening to throw him off at any second like an angry graphorn. Panicking, Remus grabbed on to Sirius’ waist.

“Don’t worry, Moony! This is about to get interesting”

He bit back a curse he couldn’t express anyway because he could not let go of Sirius to signal. He very much did not want things to get even more out of control, but there was nothing he could do as the dark haired boy pressed a red button on the side, and suddenly the rocky ground disappeared.

Wait. What?

Forcing himself to open his eyes against the wind, Remus realized that 1- it hadn’t been an exaggeration and 2- they were getting really high really fast.

“I named her Callisto for a reason!” Sirius shouted through the wind, as he sped even further upwards, until James’ house was nothing but a tiny dot below.

He tightened his grip around Sirius’ abdomen, and actually felt the other boy laugh.

This was it. His crush was over. He actually very much hated Sirius Black now.

“So, how are you feeling?” Asked Sirius, almost as if reading his mind. He turned his head slightly under the helmet, hoping to face the other teen. Remus glared as best as he could.

“You just need getting used to it, that’s all”

No, you need to take us back down. He thought. At this height, it wasn’t just the adults they knew that they needed to worry about. There were muggles, creatures and airplanes. But Sirius gave no indication whatsoever of understanding or even feeling his anguish. Instead, he adjusted the bike’s angle so that they were flying forward rather than upwards, and slowed down a bit.

Remus wasn’t sure when all his anxiety melted away into pleasure, but it did. Slowly, the tension of being this high up in the air had turned into a cheerful kind of thrill, and the wind against the exposed parts of his face and hair actually felt really nice.

Now, as they slid through the clouds and Sirius dove every now and again, his fear turned into laughter. Never in his life had he felt more free, even as a young human child, and his entire being was relishing on it. Enough so that his grip on Sirius loosened.

The other teenager definitely noticed that, because he became bolder and started doing all kinds of stunts, even going as far as doing a full flip once (he’d tightened his grip on Sirius again for that one). Far too soon it was over, and Sirius was taking them down from the reddish afternoon clouds and back onto the ground. This time, he landed on the street in front of the house rather than on the yard, which James had apparently been able to fix.

“So…” Sirius said, turning the keys on the engine once he was satisfied with the spot he’d parked on. He removed his helmet next, letting the open visor slide through his upper arm, while his hair fell perfectly back into place. The only indication they had ever flown was the complete exhilaration on his grey eyes.

“Did you like it?”

It was only then Remus realized he was still holding on to his friend’s stomach. He removed his arms quickly, too busy worrying about the heat on his cheeks to notice Sirius’ smile fall a bit.

“I loved it”

The smile returned almost instantly.

A/N: Callisto is the prettiest moon in the solar system.

#my fic #remus lupin #sirius black #slave!lupin #wizarding world politics #wolfstar #poor james #marauders era #the marauders

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grad602-pt2-catherinepascual · 2 years

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SDL - Target Personas

I’m gonna start off with the younger persona and initially ask - do young people actually enjoy gardening? If so, why?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2016/sep/22/big-up-monty-d-what-young-people-think-about-gardening#:~:text=As%20a%20hobby%2C%20gardening%20is,and%2075%25%20enjoy%20growing%20plants.

As a hobby, gardening is seen positively. 72% of millennials have already helped with gardening, 79% have grown a plant and 75% enjoy growing plants.

Gardening as a fun pastime is popular among young people; careers are a different matter entirely. Fewer than one in ten have considered a career in horticulture (93% haven’t, 7% have).

Appealing to youth

We asked those taking part in the survey what would make them more interested in gardening as a hobby or career. They said: better pay, owning an allotment or garden, being their own boss, the science / botanical elements, schools teaching horticulture, explaining the different careers possible and a love of nature.

“Learning about growing my own fruits and vegetables.” Female, 19.

“Gardening is awesome! Gotta encourage more people to know how to grow stuff in their garden! Even if its just runner beans ;).” Female, 17

“I like the biological side of it. I might find it more interesting if I could set up little experiments to do” Female, 20.

Demographics:

Female, 24 years old (young adult/millenial)

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/young-people-gardening-covid-lockdown-b1859595.html

One in eight young people think gardening is cool - and more than half would rather go to a garden centre than a nightclub.

The appeal is rooted in mindfulness, with a desire to make their homes and gardens a nicer place to be, to improve mental health, and create a space they can escape to.

It also emerged gardening is so popular that young adults spend close to two hours during a typical week taking care of their beloved plants.

“Gardening is a very calming activity, as well as a rewarding one – everyone can enjoy the benefits it brings.”

The study found the most popular houseplants among those polled are cacti, orchids, and aloe vera, followed by basil, spider plants and peace lilies.

Outdoors, the most common are daffodils, roses, and lavender, along with tulips, mint, and hydrangea.

^just gotta be careful about houseplants vs garden plants in relation to the attraction of pollinators.

Many also said they love shopping for gardening items – whether that’s plants, seeds, or tools.

^possible complementary products if we were to extend the brand.

The most popular place to grow plants is on the kitchen windowsill, while living rooms, bathrooms and balconies are also popular locations for all things green.

Okay important note/distinction to make!

We should be mainly looking into garden plants and not house plants:

MOST POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS

1. Daffodils 2. Roses 3. Lavender 4. Tulips 5. Mint 6. Hydrangea 7. Clematis 8. Geranium 9. Magnolia 10. Hyacinth 11. Snowdrops 12. Honeysuckle 13. Jasmine 14. Chrysanthemum 15. Iris 16. Hibiscus 17. Lupins 18. Wisteria 19. Ornamental Grass 20. Waterlilies

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/lifestyle/why-millennials-love-gardening.htm

Gardening for millennials includes both backyard veggie plots and flower beds, and offers young adults the chance to get out and help things grow.

Millennials are excited about planting and growing. More people in this age bracket (21 to 34 years old) are engaging with their backyard garden than any other age group. Gardening gets millennials outdoors, provides a break from job worries, and offers time away from the computer screen. Technology and the constant connectivity can stress young people, and plants resonate with millennials as an excellent antidote. That’s not to say that all or even most young adults have the time to work big backyard vegetable plots. Millennials may recall with fondness their parents’ home gardens, but simply can’t duplicate that effort. Instead, they may plant a small plot, or a few containers. Some millennials are thrilled to bring in houseplants that only require a little active care but provide company and help clean the air they breathe.

#SDL #Research

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my-name-stitch · 3 years

Text

look I'm stupid and gay and it's ALL about the YEARNING and hyper fixation. y'all gonna deal with me and BatCat bc they're one of the original otps that got me into fandom back in 2009. 😤😤😤

#tom king can kiss my ass tho #fuck that guy #also why my mlw ships got huge height differences lmao #i didnt know when i first shipped them that hrs canonly (if people would draw them consistently) basically a head taller #i also found out lupin is like eight??? inches taller than tonks waaaaayyy late too - like seven years after i started shipping them #now im finding out batcat have about the same height difference???#something like ten years after i start shopping hem #bc i shipped them as soon as j found bats but i cant remember when that is #i wanna say 2009 bc of the dark knight movie tho #and bc j know j was drawing bat content in late 2011 BEFORE the third dark knight #so

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hauntedwitch04 · 2 years

Text

Escape

Serie: Beauty and the Beast

Mafia!Remus Lupin x Reader

Words: about 1.9k words

Warnings: Blood, violence, cursing

Author's note: Hi! I'm sorry if I post it only now but I had a really busy time this weekend. Hope you all good. Enjoy it!

Request are open

Join the Taglist

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It's been a few weeks since Remus kidnapped me, that fateful night in my library. All I can think about is how to get out of here. During this time I have become very close with Sirius and James, but that doesn't take away the sense of imprisonment from my existence. I feel like a little bird in a cage, a beautiful cage, from which it looks out at the world around me, but feels that it doesn't belong to it and wants nothing more than to return to its poor and less beautiful nest, which unfortunately it knows no longer exists. In the last few weeks, however, after some discussions between Pads and Moony, the latter granted me a little more freedom, allowing me to roam freely in the apartment, on one condition: I must absolutely stay away from his office, the door at the end of the corridor on the right near my room. I immediately accepted, and so I found myself countless mornings wandering around that grandiose apartment, getting to know the cleaners, drivers and even other Remus' henchmen He revealed to me that at night, when they swap shifts at about ten p.m., the door that is the secondary entrance remains uncovered for a couple of minutes since it would be his place to watch, but he is always a few minutes late because his wife keeps him a few minutes longer in bed.

Perfect, the plan can begin. Over the next few weeks I find myself studying in great detail the apartment, the people, their habits and their weaknesses, and in no time at all I have a perfect escape plan that lacks only one thing: to put it into action. After carefully considering the date of my escape, I schedule it for an evening when Remus shouldn't be home, as he has a business dinner at another mobster's house, and he would be taking Sirius and James with him as well.

Tonight is the night. I pack my bag with some clothes, which Sirius had retrieved from me by doing some quick shopping, after discovering that they didn't have a single piece of women's clothing in the house that wasn't underwear left behind by their daily mistresses. I also pack a few other useful items for my escape when I hear a knock on my door. I look at my watch and see that it is nine o'clock. Damn they should be out by now, dinner was starting at eight.

I grab the bag and the rest of the items and throw them under the bed quickly as the door opens. In the doorway is Remus looking at me.

"Hey, I thought you guys had already left, what are you still doing home?" I ask unsure as I try to give him a smile.

"You know Sirius, the ultimate drama queen...had to take a two hour long bath and then take as long to pick out what to wear." He says rolling his eyes as I laugh slightly knowing the character.

"Look I can hear you, Remus." Replies Pads indignantly from the room as he walks towards the elevator that leads directly to the parking lot.

"Of course Pads, of course. Am I distracting you anyway?" He asks towards me. I nod, so he moves out the door, and goes to sit on my bed, not far from me.

"I wanted to apologize to you, for the way I've acted these past few weeks. I haven't been sympathetic to you at all, and I'm sorry. I'd like to ask you to start over, like nothing ever happened, or rather like I haven't been a jerk to you all this time." I look at him in wonder, struck by his sincere words. My heart and mind conflict, and no longer understanding who I should agree with, I nod and decide to follow my instincts.

"I'm not going to apologize for everything you've said and done these past few weeks, but I'm ready to give you another chance if you give me the chance." I say, only to look at the clock quickly, damn it's almost time, then miss my chance.

This time it's his turn to nod, understanding what I just said.

"Remus you're going to make us late, you can make eyes at her later. Move heartbreaker." I hear Sirius yell from the elevator. At his words Remus blushes slightly, and stutters something unintelligible, then walks out the door. I hear Moony insult Pads as they take the elevator, while the latter laughs at the other's blush.

I smile as I hear the two of them arguing, and then I stop and think about the argument I had just before with Remus, and I almost regret lying to him, since his apology seemed sincere. But I need to keep my wits about me, and I need to get on with my plan.

I sit on the bed as I wait for the exact time for my escape to arrive. I look around and almost feel a little sad. I don't understand why I feel this way, after all the only thing I've always wanted to do since I arrived here is to run away, but somehow during these weeks I got used to this strange reality. I don't know where to go once I leave here, and that scares me, but I can't stay. I look at the clock again and see that it is now time. I start towards the door and after checking that no one is there, I run outside. I hear someone say something inside the house, but it's too late, I'm already running down the back stairs. I feel the cold air lash against my face, I don't realize how far I've come until I'm standing in front of a fire door that says "Exit". I open it and dash out into the street. The dark sky is covering itself with stars, the streetlights are already on and the stores are all closed. There is no one on the street. I have no idea where to go, so I turn around and take home a fairly well-lit street. I don't know this area since I've never been there, it's the most infamous area of the city, where all the gangs live and hide.

I gasp at every little noise: the meow of a cat, police sirens, or cars whizzing by the sidewalk. I feel like I've been walking for hours, but in reality I've only been walking for a few minutes because of my anxiety. Then all of a sudden I hear a car pass by me, and it comes to a screeching halt just up ahead from where I am. I stop and wade around, I see an alley off to the side, small and dark, perfect for hiding, but I don't make it there in time.

"What do we have here? Wow sweetie, what a stunner!" says a man as he gets out of his car and walks towards me. I turn around and start running back the way I came, but almost immediately I feel a pair of hands grab my waist and stop me.

"Where do you think you're going honey? We haven't even introduced ourselves..."

I try to escape from his grasp when I hear Remus' voice call my name, inching towards the street. My muscles stiffen hearing Moony reach for me, my heart increases its beats, and I can't tell if it's from joy or fear. The man behind me senses my change, stops and laughs as he says addressing his henchmen:

"So our dear Remus is looking for you. Guys I think we've found our Remus' new little friend."

In response I take all the breath I have and scream in Remus' name, he immediately turns around and sees me. I see him run up to me and pull out his gun and then say.

"Malfoy, good to see you, or rather sorry to see you. Now please leave the girl alone, and let's each go our separate ways and I'll let you live for today. That seems like a more than kind proposition on my part."

"And why do you think I'm going to let her go just like that? I'm not that stupid."

"Because if you won't do it of your own free will, I'll go to plan B, which is to put a hole in your head with a bullet, but I thought you were a gentleman and didn't want to show such a thing to such a pretty girl. Come on now do as I say and no one will get hurt."

These are the last things I can comprehend, the rest are an incomprehensible symphony of gunshots, a meaningless bullet dance filling the space around me. I find myself slumped on the ground as I hear the car from earlier speeding away at top speed. I look up to see where Remus is and see him standing there, still holding the smoking gun. Then he notices a small hole in his shirt just above his hip that is quickly tinged red. I get up suddenly, and put an arm around his shoulders to help him stand, seeing that he is losing a lot of blood.

"Why did you follow me!" I ask as I quickly try to make my way back to the house.

"Is this how you usually thank someone who just saved your life?"

"No, but it's what I say to someone who is dying because he had to take on an idiot, acting like an idiot himself. Besides, aren't you supposed to be at a dinner party?"

"It's skipped since the wife of the guy I was supposed to go to got sick. I got back to the house, a little after ten o'clock, and as soon as I walked in I went to see how you were and asked if you wanted to see a movie, but what did I find?

An empty room with no note or message. I thought someone had kidnapped you, dammit! Then I realized you'd escaped, so I came looking for you, and then I guess you know the rest."

"But why did you follow me!?"

"Because it's dangerous out here, but you don't want to understand that! You're so fucking stubborn! You don't know how scared and angry I got when I didn't see you! Damn I spent the past few weeks trying to trust you and then you do something so stupid-" He stops groaning in pain. I'm still beside him, trying to help him as we walk, but he keeps moving not wanting my help.

I feel guilty for what I did, for doing something so irresponsible, but I didn't think it was so dangerous here. I know it now, now looking at his wound I realize it. I don't realize the arrival of Sirius and James. Prongs picks Remus up and carries him into the lobby of the building where the apartment is located. I didn't even realize we had arrived here. The last thing I remember seeing that night is the disappointed look on Remus' face just before he lost consciousness in the elevator.

Taglist

@shadowolf993

#mafia!remus lupin x reader #mafia!remus #mafia!marauders #mafia!au #remus x reader #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin x reader fluff #remus lupin x you #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin au

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angelblacksmith · 3 years

Text

Dating with Remus Lupin and adopting Harry after war, would include

Pairing: Remus Lupin x fem! reader

Warnings: mention of death, fluff, little angst, my English ( is not my native language, sorry)

this is the biggest thing I've written

you may have been younger than him (by a year or two)

You would know exactly who the Marauders are

But they weren't your idols

They were too noisy

You like to spend time in the library

And on one of these evenings you ran into Remus

You know that he is one of the Marauders

And you were surprised that he was so calm and quiet

You didn't imagine him like this

He would be reading a book

But he definitely paid attention to you

next time you will see it also in the library

You start a dialog

And you're fascinated by him

And his manners

Yes, baby, you like him

You continue to communicate with him in the library

It happens every tonight

Until one day James comes to the library

He literally came running

"Remus, who is this charming young women? Is it you're girlfriend? Why you don't speak for me? "

A lots of questions

"Shut up, James!"

James would have teased Remus

But these are not malicious jokes

You will get acquainted with all the Marauders

You are very dear to Remus

That's why he's so worried and doesn't want to lose your friendship

James and Sirius give him advice about you

"You should confess your feelings to her! "

"She's my friend! "

Most likely, you will be the first to tell about your love to him

He's so happy

You become a couple

And now you are together

Lots of kisses

Hugs

A lots of hugs

Hold hands

you like his hair

They're so soft

Have you noticed that once a month he leaves

The Marauders don't tell you Why

You have a lot of guesses

But you're not sure

Eventually, ask him

He would have confirmed your guesses

He thinks you're going to break his heart

That you don't want to be together with him

Because he's a werewolf

But this is not the case

And you tell him

"Hey, I still love you!"

He's so happy about it

Calls you: "darling" and "honey"

He loves you so much

best friends with Lily

friends with James

And with Sirius

And with Peter

And with Mary and Marlene

You were so happy when you found out that Lily was pregnant

Help James and Lily with Harry

you and remus live together

Comfort Remus when James and Lily are killed

You don't believe Sirius killed them

to be together with Remus, no matter what

All the time

lots of hugs

And kisses on the nose

And light kisses on the lips

It's been a difficult time for the him and you

But you're still together

Many sleepless nights

When you and Remus cry

And you comfort each other

you and Remus adopting Harry

Remus sees him as James

He cries of this moments

And you're trying to calm him down

Tell Harry what wonderful people his parents were

you in no hurry to get married

But in the end you would have married Remus

The best family

Remus is teaching Harry magic.

He's such a good teacher.

That's when he thinks about becoming a teacher at Hogwarts.

But he does not consider it necessary.

Harry is still very young boy

As he gets older, you and Remus start thinking seriously about your second child.

Harry knew that you weren't his real parents.

But he considers you his family.

You cry when he calls you "mom"at the age of five.

And Remus - "Dad".

Later it becomes a habit, and he always calls you and Remus that.

"Mom, I want to play Quidditch on this broom!".

Remus is crying because James also loved Quidditch.

he looks so much like him

and Lily, too

cry together with Remus remembering the memories

until Harry wakes up

and he won't ask why you're crying

"Oh, honey, we're crying because we love you so much! "

And so Harry is eight when you find out that you are pregnant.

Remus doesn't leave your side for a second.

Come Harry's room one evening

He's crying

"Oh, my God! Honey, what's wrong?"

"Will you really not need me now?"

You were shocked by this question.

"Harry, we love you very much, of course we need you!"

you told Remus about it.

would have done anything with Remus for him

So that he would never think about it again.

Because Remus and you is very very very love Harry

You and Remus had a baby boy.

Harry and Remus were so happy.

Remus wanted a son.

And Harry's brother.

You were happy too, because, oh, my God, you have a son!

Send Harry to Hogwarts for the first time.

you knew that Harry would be in Gryffindor.

like his father James

and his mother Lily

And you would have cried

Because your boy has grown up

Your son and Remus also saw Harry off

It's so touching.

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fruitcoops · 3 years

Note

Hi!! I was wondering if you could do another fic involving jules and coops together? Just like sweet moments between the three? I loved the baby sitting series you did and could not stop thinking about it❤️❤️ Thank you!!

Yeah, of course! I love writing my boy at any opportunity. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove, but the relatives are my ocs!

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sirius asked under his breath as Remus finally—finally—appeared from the mass of people.

“It’s fine,” Remus said around a forced smile to a middle-aged man across the yard.

Sirius hid his mouth by pretending to look down at the nearest casserole dish. He didn’t even know what was in it; nobody had bothered with labels, and everyone’s dishes were the same basic florals in different colors. “I love you, Re, and I totally get the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing, but this is a bit much if I’m being honest.”

“Honey.” Remus’ shoulder pressed against his own. “I’m sorry you’re not having a good time, but my Aunt Jen would skin me alive if I didn’t bring the man I’m marrying to the family reunion. We can leave tomorrow if you really hate—oh, no.”

“Remus!” a shrill, excited voice called. Sirius felt his fiancé straighten up as a tall, redheaded woman in star-painted jeans hurried across the grass with three other women in tow. She reached up and gave Remus’ cheeks a squish, then leaned in a planted a lipstick-stamped kiss to his forehead. “How are you, my duckling? Was your flight alright? Make sure you stay away from the salt or else your feet will swell.”

“Hi, Aunt Jen,” Remus said, grimacing a little at her rib-crushing hug. “I’m doing well, and our flight was fine. How are you?”

“Peachy keen,” she assured him. Dark brown eyes lasered in on Sirius half a second later and he felt his fight or flight kick in. “And who are you?”

“Aunt Jen, this is—”

“It was rhetorical, honey,” Jen interrupted with a pat to Remus’ arm as she stepped closer to Sirius and immediately hauled him in for a hug. She was as tall as Remus, but broader in the shoulders and hips; he had never felt so engulfed by someone. It was a strangely enjoyable feeling.

“Aren’t you a handsome one?” the shortest of the group cooed, as if she was talking to a particularly small dog in a purse. “Our Remus always knew how to pick them.”

Remus furrowed his brows. “Aunt Lisa, this is the first boyfriend I’ve—”

“But he’s not just a boyfriend!” Jen trilled, giving Sirius’ cheek a pat. “He’s a fiancé, something I learned from your mother. Not from your father—oh, I gave him a talking-to about that—and not from you, duck.”

Sirius bit back a laugh at the nickname and spared a glance to his left, where Remus had gone pink all the way to his ears. “Sorry.”

“Introduce us!” the shortest insisted, taking the other two by the hands as pulling them forward with an eager smile.

“Everyone, this is Sirius Black, my fiancé.” Remus gestured between them, and the four women beamed at him. “Sirius, this is Aunt Jen, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Allison, and Aunt Mary, my dad’s sisters.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Sirius said, holding a hand out.

“No need to be so formal,” the brunette grumbled with a teasing grin. “We have heard so much about you from Lyall. After those damned pictures—”

“Allison,” Jen hissed.

“—after the damned pictures,” Allison repeated with a pointed look. “I was about ready to drive up to Gryffindor myself and give that lousy son of a bitch a piece of my mind—”

“Allison!”

“—but Lyall talked me down and I have been waiting to meet you ever since.” She finished with a soft huff and gave his arm a quick squeeze. “Remus is a lucky boy to have you. It’s very exciting to see you in person at last.”

Sirius’ heart gave a happy little ka-thump and he smiled. “I’m glad to be here. Thank you for having me.”

“He is so polite,” Lisa said to Remus out of the corner of her mouth with a wink and a thumbs-up. “Good choice.”

“You know what I just realized? We haven’t said hello to Jules yet. We’ll see you in a few, yeah?” Without waiting for an official answer, Remus wrapped an arm around Sirius’ waist and practically carried him away from the table. Once they were out of earshot—and the aunts had busied themselves with one of the younger Lupins—Remus relaxed with a slow exhale. “I am…so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I had no idea they were going to corner you like that. I mean, I did, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be for another few hours. They tend to move in a pack at reunions, like sharks. Or wolves.”

“They’re really sweet.”

“They are,” Remus said grudgingly, though Sirius could read the affection dripping off him like his favorite book. “My dad’s the youngest of five, and I was the first nephew. You can imagine how that went.”

“Baby of the baby?”

“Exactly.”

“Can I ask one thing?” Remus nodded, visibly confused, and Sirius found he couldn’t keep his grin down any longer. “Duckling?”

“I hoped you didn’t hear that,” he groaned as they headed toward the kids’ play area beneath a large oak. “Long story short, it involved five-year-old me, a pond, and a sinus infection that made me sound like a duck when I sneezed.”

“Oh my god,” Sirius laughed, earning himself a light elbow to the ribs. “And the name stuck?”

“Considering she was the one that had to stay with me while my folks were working, she could call me whatever the hell she wanted. Please don’t ask her about it unless you want a thirty-minute TED talk about the ins and outs of my sinuses.”

“She’s a doctor?”

“No, she just overshares.”

“Sirius!”

Sirius looked up and saw a herd of small children racing toward them, led by his favorite person under the age of eighteen; Jules crashed into his legs and squeezed him tight around the waist. “Hey, I missed you!”

Jules propped his chin below Sirius’ sternum and stared up at him with the classic hazel-gold eyes that were far more common than Sirius believed before they arrived in the Lupins’ backyard. “I missed you, too! How’s the team? How’s Harry? Is he still super small or did he do that weird thing that babies do where their legs grow and the rest of them still looks normal? How was your flight? Did you have turbulence?”

Sirius thought for a moment. “Good, also good, growing normally, and yes.”

“Sweet! Come play cornhole with us!” Jules grabbed his hand and dragged him along the grass at the closest thing he could manage to a sprint with Sirius’ added weight—the pre-teen years had lent him gangly legs, though he didn’t seem quite sure how to use them yet. He looked more like a foal than a sixth-grader.

“What the hell is cornhole?” Sirius muttered as the flock of kids ran ahead to grab armfuls of beanbags.

Remus grinned. “Something I’m about to kick your ass at.”

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

By the time the sun set, Sirius was exhausted. He had been introduced to dozens of people who looked just enough like Remus to be eerie, as well as plenty who seemed to have been acquired by one Lupin or another over the course of their life. Jules fluctuated between laminating himself to Sirius’ side and disappearing for an hour at a time, only to return more grass-stained and rumpled than ever as he begged Remus to swing him around by the ankles again. His ass had been thoroughly kicked at cornhole and freeze tag; it was a true miracle he hadn’t already passed out into a food coma. For all of his earlier griping, Sirius couldn’t think of a time in recent months when he had been more content.

“You’re a brave soul,” Remus remarked as they sat in the grass together and watched the fireflies wake. Though it was a warm night, it seemed the citronella candles littering the tables were doing their job of chasing off mosquitoes.

Sirius leaned his head on Remus’ shoulder. He smelled like grass and summertime and sunbaked warmth. “Am I?”

“Mhmm. I’m sure most people would have run screaming by now.”

“I like your family.”

A beat of silence passed; Remus rested his temple against the top of Sirius’ head. “I’m really glad to hear that. They’re weird and loud, but I love them.”

“And I love you.”

“Are you saying I’m weird and loud?”

“On occasion.”

“Asshole,” Remus laughed, giving him a nudge that hardly qualified as more than a gentle sway.

“Language, there are eight million kids around.”

“They’re busy.”

Sirius watched as small group run by in a wave of giggles, all clutching mason jars of fireflies with their names written on masking tape. “Thank you again for asking me to come with you.”

“Like I said, Aunt Jen would—”

“Remus.” He fell quiet. Sirius didn’t remember the last time he said Remus’ full name aloud. “Your family loves you so much. They’re everything I ever wanted growing up, and it means the world that you wanted to share them with me. All they want is to see you happy. It was amazing to finally meet them.”

“They really, really love you,” Remus said softly, his voice a little thick. “I had about twenty people tell me how wonderful you are. They all thanked me for bringing you, and not a single one mentioned the celebrity thing. Even my Uncle Jay didn’t say a word about hockey.”

“He was the one in the jersey?”

“I’ve known him for my entire life and I’ve never seen him without one.”

“Huh.” Sirius tucked his face closer to Remus’ neck and let the sound of the bullfrogs in a distant marsh lull him. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven. The adults will be up for a while, but the kids will start crashing soon.”

Footsteps on the cool grass rustled to their right and Sirius looked up. “Who wants pie?” Aunt Allison singsonged, breaking their quiet bubble with paper plates and utensils. “This one is blackberry, but we have peach, pumpkin, and a few others on the table if you’re still hungry.”

“Just a small piece, please,” Sirius said.

Allison paused and cocked her head, then burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re funny!”

“I am?”

“Don’t fight it,” Remus whispered.

“You are a growing boy,” Allison said as she cut a thick slice and plonked it onto his plate. “And there’s no such thing as too much pie.”

I’m 26, Sirius wanted to say, though he held it in. “Just a small one for me, as well,” Remus said.

“Ha!” Allison snorted. “You’re already too skinny. Eat your pie or you’ll end up a string bean like your father. The NHL might have given you muscle, but it’s useless if you don’t enjoy some of your favorite aunt’s—”

“—woah, hey now—”

“—pie once in a while.” Allison kissed the tops of their heads once both plates were secure and bowing in the middle. “I’m going to make sure the kids aren’t poking around in the river again. Sleep well, you two.”

Sirius stared down at his plate as she wandered away. “I’m honestly going to die if I eat this.”

“Yeah, please don’t make yourself sick on pie. You really don’t have to eat all of that. The aunts and uncles are convinced that none of us are eating properly once we turn eighteen.”

“Really?”

“I wish I was kidding. You’re going to sleep so well tonight, though.”

As if on cue, Sirius stifled a yawn with the back of his hand and cuddled under Remus’ arm again. A familiar shadow bounded over not two seconds later and he barely held down a groan. “Hey, can I join you?”

Remus shrugged. “ ‘course.”

“Sweet.” Jules settled himself across their laps, staring at the sky with his head pillowed on Sirius’ thigh. “Did you have fun? I’m really glad you could come.”

“I had a great time,” Sirius answered honestly. Now please move on so I can take a nap.

“Mom and dad and me got here yesterday, and Aunt Jen kept checking the door for you guys even though she knew you weren’t coming until today. She was worried you wouldn’t like us, I think.”

“That was never an option, Jules.”

“Yeah, I know.” A devilish grin flickered over his face. “Remus is the weirdest of all of us, and if you want to marry him—”

“Get off,” Remus grumbled, shoving Jules’ legs onto the picnic blanket. “You know, you were a lot nicer before you turned eleven. Can I return you and get a new one? I have the receipt somewhere.”

“Nope.”

“That’s all a birth certificate is, right?” Sirius raised his eyebrows. “If you bring it back in good condition, I hear they give you a ten percent discount.”

Jules scowled. “That’s so not true.”

“How do you think I got Regulus?”

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Remus asked with a pointed look. “Run along, problem child.”

“Of the two of us, I’m the least problematic.” Despite his words, Jules clambered to his feet and dusted his hands off over Remus’ head. “I’m not the one that got a secret boyfriend and got engaged in a year. I’m so easy. Mom and dad want two of me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Remus sighed as he stretched out on the blanket. “They had a second kid because they wanted two of me.”

“You’re adopted.”

Remus cracked one eye open in disbelief. “No, I’m not.”

“How do you know?”

“Because—y’know what, go to bed. Or go find the stampede, I think they’re by the river.”

Sirius whistled lowly as Jules scampered off again. “That was impressive. Isn’t your aunt over there?”

“Yep.”

Realization clicked into place. “She’s going to make him go to bed.”

“Yep.”

“You’re brilliant.”

Remus smiled without opening his eyes, and tugged Sirius down by the sleeve to lay next to him. “You’re just figuring that out now?”

The stars were brighter than anywhere Sirius had ever seen; for a moment, he was struck speechless by the endless rivers of sparkling white overhead. He stared until his eyes burned from dryness, then put his head on Remus’ chest and kept on looking. There was no way he could tear his gaze from it. A few shooting stars streaked across the clear sky and he felt his heart skip a beat in pure amazement when he realized there was nothing else he would wish for in that moment. He could listen to Remus’ heartbeat and the sound of his new family talking against a backdrop of the night, relishing in a full belly and cool wind, and simply stay there for as long as he liked.

#sirius black #remus lupin #julian lupin #coops #lupin family #sweater weather #lumosinlove #my fic #fanfic #family reunion

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bethansfandoms · 4 years

Text

Why Remus Lupin never kept the job as quidditch commentator for very long

Remus | McGonagall

1. Language

“What the actual fuck was that!”

“Mr Lupin that’s warning number one!”

“Yes! Gryffindor have the Quaffle! And- bullshit! You can’t do that! Oh, yeah, that’s right Mulciber, flip me off you fucking cheat!”

“Lupin! There are eleven year olds at this game!”

“I’ve been asked not to swear but what the fuck?!”

“Mr Lupin, slytherin seeker is after the snitch, it is your job to tell them this!”

“Yeah well I’m pretending I didn’t see it and so that way it never fucking happened!”

“Quite frankly, Professor, I don’t really give a fuck that he’s only twelve, he’s still a cheating bastard!”

2. Gossip

“And James Potter has the Quaffle! Single, available, handsome James Potter who can be found in the courtyard between seven and- hey don’t take the mic from me!”

“Marlene McKinnon has the Quaffle! And Dorcas Meadows has stopped playing because she’s swooning. That’s right, Dorcas, I see you!”

“Slytherin score. See, James, if you actually went to practice instead of asking out Evans we’d actually be winning this game!”

“Avery intercepts the ball from Longbottom. Because Frank has been skipping practice to sneak off with Alice in the fourth floor broom closet. And other than laid, where’s that gotten you now, huh, Longbottom?”

“Oh, okay, so apparently we’re just going to ignore that blatant bit of cheating from Lestrange. Although I hear quidditch isn’t the only thing he cheats on...”

3. Personal grudges

“Slytherin captain Lucinda Talkalot falls off her broom! But that’s probably just karma.”

“Sirius Black hits a bludger straight into Dirk Cresswell! Maybe it’ll knock some fucking sense into him!”

“Less personal grudges, more quidditch, Lupin.”

“And here come the slytherin team! The weight of their upcoming defeat already resting on their shoulders.”

“You’d think if Nott could afford a brand new broom he’d also be able to afford at least a little bit of human decency but apparently not.”

“The slytherin seeker knocks themselves out! Because apparently he can see a tiny gold ball from a mile away but not the floor from right in front of his face...”

4. Talking about teachers

“Madam Hooch, with all due respect, have you ever read the rules of quidditch?! Like even once! That couldn’t have been a more obvious foul!”

“Oh, joy, Slytherin score. But I blame Slughorn for keeping James Potter in detention during quidditch practice! I reckon he knew what he was doing as well and- what? Apologise? But- okay. Fine. I’m sorry professor.”

“Sirius Black would like me to point out to everyone how dashing McGonagall looks today!”

“Give me the microphone now.”

5. Personal relationships

“James Potter scores! You absolute legend! Find me a better quidditch captain I dare you!”

“Sirius Black successfully deflects a bludger. And no, you’re not the only one thinking that it was incredibly hot.”

“Potter! Potter! Potter! Potter! Everyone join in!”

“Dorcas Meadowes catches the snitch! I told you she was the better seeker! What did I say!”

“Not to be biased or anything, but Gryffindor are going to absolutely win this game, they are undoubtedly the better team I won’t hear anything against it!”

“I’m taking ten points off of Slytherin because you’ve injured Sirius Black and it’s all I’m going to hear about for the next week.”

6. Promoting irresponsible behaviour

“Right, James, no pressure but if you miss this I’ll kill you. I have three galleons riding on this game.”

Ha! Longbottom misses! You owe me a bottle of fire whisky now!”

“Sirius if you hit anyone clean off their broom I’ll do your transfiguration homework this week.”

“Gryffindor win! Party in the common room starts at eight! Bring drinks!”

Why Remus Lupin kept the job as quidditch commentator for as long as he did:

“I’ve been informed that this will be my last game due to some of my questionable language choices. Auditions for my job start Thursday next week at seven o’clock.”

And for the rest of the game, all that was heard being chanted was “Lupin! Lupin! Lupin!”

The auditions were boycotted and not even a slytherin turned up. But Remus did, and so by default he was re awarded the position.

This lasted three weeks before he told the slytherin keeper to “take his broom and shove it up his fucking arse.”

Quidditch games weren’t quite as good after that.

1K notes · View notes

fanfics4all · 3 years

Text

Torture

Request: Yes / No

Requests are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Harry Potter x Fem!Lupin!Reader

Word count: 4190 (Probably could have gotten to the torture party quicker, but I just had to add backstory lol)

Warnings: Torture obviously, and Dobby’s death

Y/N: Your Name

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

A/N: Bingo card made by @slyttherins

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

Harry and I have been together since he and Cho broke up. Now we were in our seventh year and everything was going to hell. Professor Snape had killed Dumbledore and was now in charge of Hogwarts. I feared going back to school, but I feared for Harry more. So, when the summer was coming to an end and my older brother Remus said he was going with the Order to Harry’s I immediately demanded to go with him.

“Y/N/N, it’s dangerous.” He said.

“This is my boyfriend’s life in danger. I am coming with you.” I said, standing my ground.

“Y/N/N… if anything happened to you Mum and Dad would kill me.” He sighed.

“If anything happens to you or Harry, you won’t have to worry about Mum and Dad.” I threatened.

“There’s nothing I can do to convince you to stay home with Edward, is there?” He sighed again.

“Not a thing. And if you go without me I’ll just follow you.” I shrugged and he sighed once again.

“Fine, fine. You can join me, but you better not leave my side.” He said and I smiled.

“Thank you!” I said and hugged him.

Before we went off to Harry’s house, The Order met up to discuss what would be happening. You-Know-Who was searching for Harry. He was going to go after him and we needed to act first. We were the only line of defence for Harry and I was going to fight for both our lives till the very end. Once the plan was in order we all got on our brooms and headed for Harry. When we all landed Harry opened the door and I ran up to him, throwing my arms around him and holding him tightly. He hugged me back and I leaned up to kiss him.

“What are you doing here?” He asked shocked.

“Did you honestly think I would just sit around while your life was in danger?” I laughed and walked into the room with the others.

“I tried to get her to stay home, but she’s stubborn.” Remus said and I smiled.

“All righ’ ‘arry? Yeh look fit.” Hagrid said with a smile.

“Yeah, he’s ruddy gorgeous. What say we get undercover before someone murders him.” Mad-Eye said in his usual rough tone.

“I thought you were looking after the Prime Minister, Kingsley?” Harry asked.

“You’re most important.” Kingsley answered. Harry smiled and Bill Weasley walked in, extending his hand to Harry.

“Hello, Harry. Bill Weasley.” He introduced himself.

“Wasn’t alway this handsome.” Fred joked.

“Dead ugly.” George joined in.

“True enough. Owe it all to a werewolf by the name of Greyback. Hope to repay the favor one day.” Bill said. Fleur walked in next to him and kissed his cheek.

“You are still beautiful to me, William.” She said.

“Just remember, Fleur, once you’re married, Bill takes his steaks on the raw side now.” Remus said, finally walking into the room with Tonks.

“My husband, the joker. By the way, wait until you hear the news! Remus and I are-”

“Alright, alright! You’ll all have time for a cozy catch-up later! We’ve got to get the hell out of here and soon!” Mad-Eye cut her off. He dropped a sack by his feet and turned to Harry.

“Potter, you’re underage, which means you’ve still got the Trace on you.” He said.

“The Trace?” Harry asked.

“You sneeze and the Ministry will know who wipes your nose. Point is, we have to use those means of transport the Trace can’t detect, brooms, thestrals, and the like. We’ll go in pairs. That way if anyone’s out there waiting for us- and I reckon there will be- they won’t know which Harry Potter is the real one.” He explained.

“The real one?” Harry asked.

“I believe you’re familiar with this particular brew.” He said, pulling out a flask.

“No! Absolutely not!” Harry exclaimed.

“I told you he’d take it well.” Hermione sighed.

“If you think I’m going to let people risk their lives for me-”

“Never done that before, have we?” Ron joked, cutting him off.

“This is different. Taking that. Becoming me- no.” Harry said.

“Well, none of us really fancy it, mate.” Fred said.

“Yeah, imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as scrawny, specky git forever.” George joked.

“Reckon Y/N would love having more than one Harry.” Fred added and I rolled my eyes.

“Piss off, the both of you.” I said and they laughed.

“Everyone here’s of age, Potter, and they’ve all agreed to take the risk.” Mad-Eye said.

“Technically, I’ve been coerced. Mundungus Fletcher, Mr. Potter. I’ve always been a huge admirer.” Mundungus introduced and just about everyone rolled their eyes.

“Nip it, Mundungus! Alright, Granger, as discussed.” Mad-Eye said. Hermione nodded slightly and grabbed a bit of Harry’s hair and pulled.

“Blimey, Hermione!” Harry groaned.

“Straight in here, if you please.” Mad-Eye said, holding open the flask. Smoke rushed out the top and he handed it to George first.

“For those of you who haven’t taken Polyjuice Potion before, fair warning. It tastes like goblin piss.” Mad-Eye said.

“Have a lot of experience with that, do you, Mad-eye?” Fred joked. Mad-Eye’s eye rotated towards Fred.��

“Just trying to defuse the tension.” Fred said. George took the first sip, then Fred, Ron, Hermione, Fleure, Mundungus, and finally it was passed to me.

“Y/N? No! Lupin, you can’t seriously be alright with this!” Harry said, before I could take a sip. Everyone else was already transforming.

“I’m not, but like I said, she’s stubborn.” Remus sighed.

“Who’s she gonna ride with?” He asked and everyone was silent. That was something they haven’t figured out yet.

“I’ll go on my own. They won’t expect it and probably will just leave me be.” I shrugged.

“Absolutely not!” Remus said.

“It would look less specious than two Harrys riding together.” I pointed out.

“Very well.” Mad-Eye nodded.

“What? You can’t be serious! What if she gets hurt? There’s no one with her to protect her!” Remus said.

“She can’t go on her own!” Harry said.

“Y/N, are you willing to take the risk?” Mad-Eye asked and everyone looked my way.

“If it means Harry is safe, then of course.” I answered.

“She agrees, now hurry up and drink so we can get on with this.” He said. Before my brother or boyfriend could stop me I took a gulp of the awful potion and handed the flask back to Mad-Eye. I soon also looked like Harry.

“Wow, we’re identical!” Fred and George said together.

“Not yet you aren’t.” Mad-Eye said. He walked over to the sack he dropped earlier and dumped out eight pairs of identical clothing.

“Don’t you have something a bit more sporty, do you?” George asked.

“Yes, don’t fancy this colour at all.” Fred agreed.

“Fancy this, you’re not you, so shut it and strip.” He said to the twins and turned to Harry.

“You’ll need to change too, Potter.” He said. All of us started stripping, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it was a bit awkward.

“Bill, look away… I’m ‘ideous.” Fleur said dramatically and I rolled my eyes.

“I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo!” Ron said with a smirk.

“Harry, your eyesight really is awful.” Hermione said, wobbling a bit.

“Don’t worry Harry, I still love you.” I said and he smiled.

“Blimey. I almost forgot!” Mad-Eye rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a bunch of glasses.

“Right then. We’ll be pairing off. Each Potter will have a protector, except for Y/N, As for you, Harry…” Mad-Eye started.

“Yes?” Everyone but me answered, again I rolled my eyes.

“The real Harry! Where the devil are you, anyway?” He asked.

“Here.” Harry said, walking towards him.

“You’ll ride with Hagrid.” He finished.

“Brought yeh here sixteen years ago when you were barely bigger than a Bowtruckle. Seems only righ’ I should be the one ter take yeh away.” Hagrid said and I smiled at how sentimental he could be.

“Yeah, it’s all very touching. Let’s go.” Mad-Eye said and stormed out of the house. Everyone got on their brooms and thestrals, while Hagrid got on his motorbike. As the real Harry walked out of the house Hagrid tapped the sidecar for him. Instead of going to him he walked over to me.

“Please be careful, love.” He whispered.

“I’ll be fine. And if for some reason I’m not then you and Remus can tell me you told me so.” I smirked.

“Harry, we need ter go!” Hagrid called him.

“Go, I’ll see you soon.” I smiled and he nodded. He got in Hagrid’s sidecar and everyone looked towards Mad-Eye.

“Good luck, everyone. On the count of three. One… two…” Before he could finish Hagrid’s bike came to life and off he went. Everyone flew to the skies and split off. It wasn’t long until an uneasy feeling filled the air. Death Eaters dropped from the clouds and started surrounding us. Green flashes lit up the sky as they tried to hit us. I glanced ahead and saw the real Harry was getting away. Everyone was splitting off more and I found myself alone. I couldn’t see anyone ahead or behind me, no one was around to help me if I needed it. I pushed those thoughts away. This is for Harry. This is so he’s safe. Suddenly three Death Eaters came out of nowhere and shot a spell at my broom. My broom stopped flying and was now pulling me towards the ground. Fear gripped my heart as the wind harshly hit my face. I suddenly stopped falling and was grabbed by one of the Death Eaters.

“Think he’s the real one?” The one holding me asked.

“No, they wouldn’t let the real Potter go off on his own.” Another answered.

“Doesn’t matter if he’s the real one or not, he could have information. Let’s take him with us. Bellatrix will get ‘im to talk.” The last one said. My eyes widened and my throat went dry. Harry and Remus were going to kill me if Bellatrix didn’t first.

I didn’t say a word as we arrived at Malfoy Manor. I knew the potion was going to wear off soon and they would know exactly who I was. Just as we were arriving at the large gate I could feel myself turning back into myself.

“Oi, looks like you was right, this ain’t the real Potter.” The one gripping my arm said.

“She’ll still be of some use.” Another said. We walked up to the gate and standing on the other side was Bellatrix, Lucius, and Narcissa Malfoy. Bellatrix walked forward and the Death Eater holding me pushed me against the metal bars.

“She was a fake Potter, but we thought she might have information.” One said.

“Bring her in.” Bellatrix said with an evil smirk. I was roughly brought into the Manor and pushed down to my knees.

“Call Draco, he might know who she is to Potter.” Bellatrix said. She kneeled down in front of me and roughly pulled my chin up to I was facing her.

“Tell me dearie, why were you left all on your own?” She asked, but I said nothing.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” She asked with a smirk. We heard footsteps enter the room and I saw Draco. His eyes widened slightly and I saw worry swimming in them.

“Draco, I was hoping you would know who our guest is.” Bellatrix said, turning to face him and letting go of my face.

“S-She went to Hogwarts.” He answered. It was obvious he was scared and that he didn’t want to give me up.

“We know that much, but who is she to Potter?” She asked in a slightly annoyed tone. Draco stared at me for a moment and gulped.

“Now Draco, all you need to do is tell us. She could be the key to keeping the Dark Lord from killing all of us.” His Father said. It was now my turn to gulp. Sure Draco was a huge git to my boyfriend and friends, but he oddly never said anything about me. Always just questioning why I was with Harry. Perhaps it was because I was nice to him despite everything he did.

“I’m Y/N Lupin. Harry’s girlfriend.” I answered and everyone looked at me in shock, Draco especially.

“See dear, that wasn’t so hard.” Bellatrix said, her smirk growing and seeming to get more evil.

“If you simply answer all my questions then no harm will come to you.” She said, walking closer to me again.

“I will not betray my friends, family, or boyfriend.” I answered with a hard stare.

“Then this will be a very hard time for you.” She said, her fake kindness dropping.

She wasn’t lying when she said that. At first it was just little cuts with her knife. It was painful, but nothing I couldn’t handle. However, she was just warming up. She then moved on to the Cruciatus Curse. The pain was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Even when the spell was over the pain still lingered for a little while. That lasted a month or so, I’m not entirely sure, but once she realized that I wouldn’t be talking by that means she moved on. She said she didn’t want to damage me to the point I couldn’t say anything. Nothing she was doing was working and I could tell she was getting frustrated. That’s when she had her brilliant idea. She brought me up from the cellar and standing there was Lucius, Narcissa, and Grayback. I felt my blood run cold and boil at the same time. He was the man that hurt my poor brother at the age of five!

“I’m sure you know Fenrir well.” Bellatrix smirked. She pushed me to the ground and held me down.

“Now, I’m going to let him do the same thing he did to your brother, unless you tell me what I want to know.” She said.

“Where is Harry Potter?” She asked.

“Now that you’ve all taken over the Ministry, he could be anywhere.” I answered. I didn’t know where he would be at this point. I didn’t know what the plan was.

“Liar!” She shouted and started carving something into my arm.

“Tell me where he is!” She shouted at me.

“I don’t know! Please! I don’t know!” I cried out in pain.

“You are a pathetic little liar. Fenrir!” She called and got off me.

“I think it’s time you gave her a little gift.” She said, that evil smirk appearing on her face once again.

“With pleasure.” He smirked. He crawled over to me and sniffed me. He laughed and licked the blood that split from my arm.

“I’m going to enjoy this.” He said and bit into the same arm that Bellatrix carved into. I screamed and cried as his sharp teeth drug into my skin. He was suddenly pulled off me and Narcissa was there placing something on my arm.

“Wormtail! Come lock our new little puppy up. I suspect she’ll become hungry soon.” Bellatrix smirked. I was pulled off the ground and brought back down to the cellar. Wormtail locked a metal collar around my neck and smirked.

“Be a good dog and keep the howling down.” He said and left with a laugh.

It wasn’t long after he left that I started transforming. I thought the Cruciatus Curse was the worst pain I’ve ever felt, but that was wrong. Transforming into a werewolf was way more painful. It felt as though all my bones were breaking and shifting into different places. It felt like my mind was going hazy and I had no control over myself. I felt the hunger hit me and the need to hunt became strong. I tried to run, but the collar around my neck kept me in place. I screamed, growled, and howled trying to get out of the chains and to something to eat. When I realized that I couldn't, I started hurting myself. I clawed at my neck and arms, ripping the skin from my body. That was the longest night of my life. And the next few days I felt incredibly ill and weak. It didn’t help that they were hardly feeding me anymore.

That was how it went from then on. They didn’t bother torturing me for information anymore, I was now torturing myself. They had done the worst to me and now were just leaving me with my own thoughts. Remus would blame himself for this. I know he was going to say how he should have tried harder to make me stay home. Or how he should have made sure he was with me the night we all split up. I knew Harry would blame himself too. He’d say how it was his fault all this happened. All because I was with him.

“Y/N?” Someone asked quietly and I looked up to see Draco. He was standing over me and I pushed myself closer to the wall.

“Please, don’t come any closer…” I whispered.

“What did they do to you?” He asked, kneeling down, but not coming extremely close.

“They made me like my brother…” I answered and his eyes widened.

“Grayback?” He asked and I nodded.

“They’ve kidnapped Luna, they’re bringing her here.” He said.

“They’re keeping her with me? I’ll kill her!” I cried.

“No, you won’t. You’re locked up and can’t get to her, she’s smart enough to not come near you.” He said.

“I’ll bring you something to eat later tonight, I know they’re starving you.” He said.

“Why do you care so much?” I asked.

“You’re one of the only people who was ever nice to me.” He answered with a small smile and stood up.

“I’ll see you tonight.” He said and left.

Just as Draco said, Luna was thrown into the cellar with me. She looked at me with wide eyes and came towards me.

“Y/N?” She asked.

“Luna, stay away.” I said.

“Why? Why are you in chains?” She asked confused.

“I-I’m a werewolf now… So please just stay away.” I begged.

“Oh Y/N, I’m so sorry.” She said and took a few steps my way.

“Please Luna! Just stay back, I don’t want to hurt anyone.” I cried.

“You’re not in your wolf for now Y/N, you won’t hurt me.” She smiled and came to sit next to me.

“I don’t know when the full moon is…” I whispered.

“Then I’ll stay away at night, but you need a friend right now.” She said and hugged me. It was the first kind touch I had since I got here. She was right, I needed that.

A month went by and as promised Luna stayed away from me each night to be safe. When the night was finished and I was back to human Luna came to comfort me. She helped keep me distracted and even helped Draco when he came to check on me. The two of them patched up my wounds that I had given myself. Luna was sitting with me and talking about something her Dad had written about in their paper. I tried to pay attention, but my mind kept drifting off to Harry and my brother.

“What are we gonna do? We can’t leave Hermione alone with her!” A new voice said and Luna and I looked at each other confused.

“Ron?” She asked as she got up and looked around the corner.

“Harry?” She asked and my heart skipped a beat.

“Luna?” Harry asked and a few tears fell down my face.

“Y/N is here too, just this way.” She said. She came back around the corner with Ron and Harry following her.

“Y/N!” Harry said, his face looking a bit odd, but it was definitely him. He ran up and hugged me and I held him back.

“What happened to you? Why are you locked up like this?” He asked, worry clear in his voice

“They tried to get me to tell them where you were…” I answered.

“What did they do to you?” He asked again.

“Grayback…” I whispered and his eyes widened.

“You’re…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I’m just like Remus now…” I whispered.

“I’m so sorry Y/N.” He said and pulled me to him.

“We’ll get you out of here, I promise.

“There’s no way out of here. We’ve tried everything. It’s enchanted.” Ollivander said. He was here before I was, same with Griphook. Harry pulled up his pant leg and pulled out a piece of mirror.

“You’re bleeding, Harry. That’s a curious thing to keep in your sock.” Luna said.

“Help us.” He whispered to it. Then quickly put it away as footsteps grew closer. Ron and Harry ran towards the door as it opened.

“Let her go!” Ron growled.

“Shut up! Get back!” Wormtail growled at them.

“You, goblin, come with me.” He said and then they left.

“Aah!” A new voice said suddenly.

“Dobby? What are you doing here?” Harry asked.

“Dobby has come to rescue Harry Potter, of course.” He answered.

“Dobby will always be there for Harry Potter.” He added.

“You can apparate in and out of this room? Could you take us with you?” Harry asked.

“Of course, sir. I’m an elf.” Dobby answered like it was obvious.

“Works for me.” Ron said.

“Dobby, I want you to take Luna, Y/N, and Mr. Ollivander-”

“Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth.” Ron cut him off.

“Trust me.” He added.

“Whenever you’re ready, sir.” Luna said.

“Sir? I like her very much.” Dobby said and they made their way over to me.

“Meet me at the top of the stairs in ten seconds.” He said and Luna grabbed my hand. We were suddenly out of the cellar and on a beach. There was a little cottage that was quite cute, I wondered who it belonged to. Luna kneeled next to me and smiled.

“Are you alright?” She asked. I felt my neck and the chain was no longer on my neck, but I felt some blood dripping down from where it dug into my skin.

“I should be, but I shouldn’t be around anyone. The next full moon could be soon for all I know.” I said, slightly freaking out at just the thought of hurting my friends.

“Shh Y/N, we’re free and safe now. Just enjoy that.” She smiled. I suppose she was right, but Harry wasn’t with us yet.

It wasn’t that long until the others arrived. Their landing was a little rougher than ours, however.

“You’re alright. We’re safe. We’re all safe.” Ron said to Hermione.

“Harry Potter.” Dobby said and we all looked at him.

“Dobby. Dobby! No, just… hold on.” Harry said and ran to him, holding him in his arms.

“Hold on. Look, just hold on, okay?” Harry begged.

“We’ll fix you. Hermione will have something. In your bag, Hermione? Hermione? What is it? Help me!” Harry begged, but she didn’t move.

“Such a beautiful place… to be with friends. Dobby is happy to be with his friend… Harry Potter.” Dobby said, his last words he’ll ever speak. No one moved except for Luna.

“We should close his eyes, don’t you think?” She said, kneeling next to them. Harry nodded and she gently closed his eyes.

“There. Now he could be sleeping.” She said.

“I want to bury him. Properly, without magic.” He said and everyone nodded. I got up and made my way to him.

“I’ll help you.” I said and he nodded. We all buried him without magic, but in the end it was just Harry and I left at his grave.

“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you. I should have stopped you from taking that stupid potion.” He said and I shook my head.

“Stop it. This isn’t your fault.” I said.

“Yes it is Y/N, it is entirely my fault! You were brought into this mess because of me!” He said and I hushed him with a kiss.

“Stop it. I love you Harry Potter and I would have done this no matter what. You and Remus are going to blame yourselves for the rest of your lives, but I will not ever blame either of you.” I said and he went to say something, but I stopped him with a kiss.

“Whatever it is, don’t say it.” I said and he sighed.

“Remus is going to kill me.” He said and I shook my head.

“Not if he knows what’s good for him.” I said. That was when everything turned around. I was safe and with Harry and my friends. I’d allow myself these few moments of peace before the full moon came to ruin it again. But for now, I need to focus on the good. I needed to be happy that I was reunited with Harry and my friends.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs-blog1 @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @lady-of-lies @ravenmoore14 @ravenempress101 @cillianchamp @rowanthomasknapp @rachelxwayne @in-slytherin-we-trust @accio-rogers @sambucky8 @bruisedfists-and-splitlips @answer-the-sirens @andreasworlsboring101 @vanessa-kom-skaikru @impulse-anchor @vamora

#Harry Potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter and the deathly hallows part 1 #harry potter x reader #harry potter x fem!reader #harry x reader #Harry x fem!Reader #harry x lupin!reader #harry potter x lupin!reader #Remus Lupin #remus x siser!reader #remus lupin x sister!reader #fanfic #torture #harry potter bingo

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blitheringmcgonagall · 3 years

Text

My Gallant Lad - Part IV

So I got a wonderful anon telling me that this is their favourite Lily Rescues James fic, it’s part of my finished canon marauders fic We Can Be Heroes. But, because it works as a stand alone story, I posted it here in four parts. I hope you enjoy it! Set during the first wizarding war, Lily is very BAMF (but tbh so is James)

TW: angsty and violence

Part I here: After their worst row ever, Lily and James get captured by Voldemort...

Part II here: James tries to save Lily

Part III here: Lily tries to save James

PART IV

(PS this is not pro- Snape at all, quite the opposite, for this to make sense you’ll have to read the other parts, lol!)

Mulciber swallowed.

“Now help me lift Potter, and for fuck’s sake be careful, he’s perilously close to death as it is!” Snape said.

He was so angry his body was shaking in agitation.

Mulciber lifted James’ body as though it were made of glass.

***

“I’ll take it from here,” Snape ordered.

They were standing underneath the main door of the castle, which led into the courtyard.

“I thought we were bringing Potter and his vile mudblood to the Dark Lord?” Mulciber said, frowning suspiciously.

“Change of plan, Mulciber,” Snape said matter-of-factly. “I want to try and get Evans to talk, that way if Potter snuffs it, we won’t risk being beheaded by him.”

“What do you mean?” Mulciber looked at him in bewilderment. “If you attack Evans and manage to injure her also, we’re doubly fucked!”

“I won’t fuck it up, unlike you dithering idiots I actually know what I’m doing!” Snape says angrily.

Mulciber stared hard at him.

“Are you sure you’re Snape?” he said, narrowing his eyes and reaching for his wand. “You’re acting strangely and I-“

“He’s Snape all right, but under the Imperius Curse,” Lily interjected. “Expelliarmus!”

Mulciber’s wand flew into Lily’s outstretched hand.

“You?” Mulciber seethed. “How in Morgana’s hell did you manage to Imperio him? Last I heard you were wailing painfully awful songs from your cell, giving us all a headache! I thought you’d given up!”

“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad, for all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad,” Lily shrugged. “You just hadn’t experienced the merry part yet!”

“You’re not a man,” Mulciber sneered.

“Ha!” Lily’s face broke into a harsh smile. “What Chesterton didn’t say about Irish women is that when they’re angry, all their wars are won!”

Mulciber stared at her sullenly.

“Not my fault that you consistently underestimate me, Mulciber!” Lily shot back. “You think you’d have learnt by now!”

Mulciber’s face looked like curdled milk.

“Too late,” Lily said. “Obliviate!”

Mulciber’s expression changed slowly to one of utter confusion as he looked between Lily, James and Snape. He hadn’t even seen the spell hit him.

“What happened to him?” he said, scratching behind his ear and staring at James’ body. “Where’s your Head Girl badge? Your uniform?”

“Quidditch injury,” Lily said flatly. “Vicious Slytherin tactics. One hundred points from your House, now back to your common room before I have you expelled!”

“Whaat?” Mulciber said, looking utterly bewildered.

“I’m counting till ten. Ten… nine… eight…” Lily said.

Mulciber stumbled and turned immediately, muttering incoherent protests.

“Not bad, Lily Evans,” Snape whispered with a vicious grin. “Not bad at all.”

***

“Outside! Now!” Snape ordered.

Lily Evans remained silent as she walked outside at a steady pace, Snape following her and dragging James Potter’s body along the ancient flagstones.

“Now, it seems that nothing will persuade Dumbledore’s man to reveal what has happened to the Dark Lord’s precious treasure, a book Dumbledore’s men stole! Potter nearly died refusing to tell us. I’m ordering you to tell me, or I’ll make you kill your own husband!” he called out.

“No, I won’t tell you anything,” Lily said with effort.

“Wow! That’s dope!” Villiers whispered loudly to Wilkes.

The two men were sitting on the battlements having a smoke and peering down with interest at the scene unfolding below them.

“Look what Snape is up to! I never thought he was into that shit!” Wilkes replied. “He usually lets us handle that kind of stuff, says it’s boring!”

They looked at each other and grinned.

“Massive!” Villiers giggled, bumping fists with Wilkes.

Snape picked up his wand.

“Last chance, Miss. Evans,” he said, dragging James closer to the middle of the courtyard.

He was holding two other wands in his hand.

“What is going on here?”

Snape whirled around.

Voldemort was standing at the castle gate, and with him Evan Rosier. Voldemort’s wand was pointed at him.

“I am quite simply trying to establish the whereabouts of your missing book, my Lord,” Snape said. “I thought this might work.”

“Rosier here tells me you have been acting exceedingly strange,” Voldemort’s voice was icy. “He thinks you may be under the Imperius Curse.”

“Rosier is neither observant nor intelligent, my Lord,” Snape said stiffly.

“Be that as it may, Severus, you are not yourself, you would not usually dare speak to me with this much courage,” Voldemort replied, stepping forwards.

“My Lord?” Severus replied.

“Let us see what happens, shall we?” Voldemort said, whirling around at the last minute and pointing his wand at Lily.

“Stupefy!” Voldemort said with a lazy swish of his wand.

Lily Evans crumpled to the ground. Snape stood motionless, as though unsure what to do.

“Ah, the spell fades, I see. I had hoped you would not be so easily overcome by it. You disappoint me, Severus, I thought you were stronger than that. I thought you knew the mudblood well enough to watch out for any tricks she might play? Or were you too enticed by her beauty to focus on doing your job properly?” Voldemort spat out. “You shall pay for this mistake! And the object of your affections will most definitely pay.”

“I’m afraid I underestimated the mudblood,” Snape said, with a condescending smirk at the Dark Lord. “I don’t know her as well as I thought I did. She should perhaps have been sorted into Slytherin. It appears that Lily Evans is a devious little bitch!”

Startling emerald eyes glared at Voldemort from Snape’s face. As the wheels in Voldemort’s mind whirled, Snape removed a leather bracelet from his wrist and tapped it, revealing a large glittering brass key.

“Póg mo thóin, Riddle!” he said, flicking the V at Voldemort (who looked momentarily stunned) as he grabbed hold of James’ arm and apparated into thin air.

“I don’t get it,” Rosier said, looking at Voldemort and rubbing his forehead as though in pain. “Was that Snape? No, hang on.. what was..?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” roared Voldemort, raising his head as his blood-curdling screams carried over the courtyard and into the surrounding forest.

He kicked out viciously at Rosier’s leg sending him hopping around in circles howling with pain. A family of carrion crows, disturbed by the commotion, flapped and squawked upwards from the turrets and battlements.

“Which one of you is the imbecile who allowed Lily Evans to escape?” he screamed at Rosier. “Why did none of you stop her?”

Villiers and Wilkes ducked down behind the walls of the battlements, grimacing.

A splash of white bird dropping landed on Voldemort’s nose. Rosier stared at him.

“You have some…” he said, pointing to Voldemort’s face. “Just there?”

Voldemort looked ready to kill him.

“If you don’t permanently dispose of this group of crows by Salazar’s soul, I will feed you to them myself!” he shouted wildly, waving his wand at Rosier, and rubbing his face furiously with the back of his sleeve.

“A murder of crows, not a group, but whatever,” Rosier muttered to himself, looking peeved, as he aimed Avada Kedavras at the screeching birds.

Voldemort walked over to the body of Lily Evans and stared at the darkening hair and sallower skin, Snape’s eyes looking up at him.

“Legilimens!” he intoned.

The memory was tampered with, powerfully, so that he was unable to see some of the earlier incidents, but he could see the conversation between “Snape” and Avery, Fuck Voldemort, I hate that bastard! Avery running off to hide from him. Seething with rage, he grabbed Rosier’s arm and touched his dark mark.

He watched as all his followers apparated around him, all except Snape who lay half-stunned on the ground, and Hugo Avery.

“Find Avery, bring him to me, now, or you all die!” he hissed, the red veins in his sclera protruding menacingly. “Nooooowwwww!!!!”

***

“I don’t know what happened,” Frank said, his croaky voice difficult to understand in between coughing fits.

“He needs to come with me to the Infirmatory,” Poppy interrupted, looking at Dumbledore and pointing towards the door.

Frank continued coughing and shook his head forcefully.

“We were ambushed… they were waiting for us… they wanted to get Black and Lupin,” he wheezed. “They got Lily and James… I wanted to create a diversion but before I could move, one of them released noxious fumes, no doubt to catch any other Order members, I was knocked out cold… I fell backwards and the thicket hid me from sight… woke up freezing cold a short while ago… I couldn’t find any trace of them whatsoever. I only got back just as Lily apparated here with James, he looks bad.”

The ancient double door burst open as he spoke, and Sirius Black stormed inside, his black jeans soaking wet, his leather jacket still in his hands, closely followed by a haggard-looking Remus Lupin.

“We came as soon as we got your owl. Where are they?” he roared, going straight up to Frank and grabbing hold of his collar urgently. “Where the fuck are they? Tell me!”

Remus found himself unable to utter a single word.

***

The door of the Infirmary flew open, Sirius breathless as though he had just sprinted up five flights of stairs (which he had). He looked at Lily and seeing the pain and fear in her eyes, he forced himself to look at James lying unconscious in the bed behind her - it didn’t look like his brother, the bruised and battered body covered in what he immediately recognised as myriad curses, his usually tanned skin a deathly pale colour. He looked already dead. He looked back at Lily, the darkness under her eyes, her quivering lips.

“Lily,” he tried to say her name but no words came out, caught in his throat.

“I know, sweetie,” Lily’s voice a hoarse whisper.

Then they flung their arms around each other, gripping on for dear life. Sirius felt her chest heave and held her even closer as her quiet sobs filled the silent room, shattering his heart.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered back, his breath still caught inside his chest, trapped.

What could he say, hearing her heartbroken sounds?

“We won’t... we shan’t let him die,” he managed to say eventually, shutting his eyes tightly to stop himself breaking down. He moved to take both her hands in his own, looking down at her with tears in his eyes.

He didn’t even know was he trying to comfort her or was he trying to comfort himself.

“I… I used an Unforgivable, Sirius,” Lily said eventually, keeping her head down.

“I would have sprained my wrist throwing Unforgivables at the bastards!” Sirius said. “I wish I could have done it for you.”

He had badness in him already, let him hold it for all of them.

It should have been him. He should have been there instead of James, instead of Lily.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Lily’s voice shook. “I did it to save James… it felt wrong, Sirius, it is wrong and disgusting, but I know I’d do it again to save him. Am I a bad person, Sirius? I.. I saw what they did to him, I wanted them all dead… I thought about it... I wanted to. I don’t want to become like them, Sirius, but I wanted to kill them, so badly!”

“Lily, you didn’t kill them. You could have tried to, but you didn’t. You saved James. Merlin, you saved my brother, the only brother I have left, I can never thank you enough,” Sirius’ voice broke.

He wondered what he would have done in her place.

“It was Snape, he wanted to save me, but I had to find James, I couldn’t… he hurt James, I hate him for it,” Lily said desperately, squeezing Sirius’ arms.

“Fuck that creepy bastard!” Sirius said.

“What if Voldemort kills him? What if he dies? It will be my fault!” Lily whispered. “I hate him so much, but I don’t want to get him killed. I wouldn’t care if he died in battle, not now, not after everything he’s done to James! But being tortured and killed for trying to save me? I don’t want that, am I mad?”

“You had to,“ Sirius said, gripping her tightly. “You had to try to save James. You couldn’t leave with Snape, you know that would have been wrong! You are not to blame for anything Voldemort does!”

“I need James too, Sirius, he doesn’t see that, he thought I could manage without him, he’s so stupid, such a stupid, darling, beautiful man,” Lily stopped, her hand over her mouth.

“He can’t die, Poppy won’t let him die,” Sirius whispered back.

Lily nodded, still crying. He saw her sway and grabbed hold of her shoulders.

“Merlin Lily,” he said anxiously. “Sit down immediately! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Do you need Poppy? Will I get-“

“ No, please, Sirius, I didn’t get hurt, James-“ she stopped, unable to continue, and bringing her hand up to her mouth again.

He didn’t think he could handle hearing what had happened.

“Hush, Lily, you’re both safe now,” he heard himself say.

“He... I couldn’t... I tried...” she said. She closed her eyes and swayed again, sitting down suddenly and placing her head between her knees.

“I need some water, and something to eat,” she said, sounding suddenly anxious as her almond shaped clear eyes searched Sirius’ for reassurance.

“I... Merlin, yes of course, Darling, let me get that for you!” Sirius said, relief blossoming at some small task he could do to help. “Do you want a firewhisky instead?”

“No! I can’t drink now I’m ... I’m a bit dehydrated Sirius, I better stick to the water,” Lily said, placing her hand over her lower abdomen in a protective gesture.

“Yes of course,” Sirius said feverishly, throwing his leather jacket on.

“I’ll get it,” Dearborn was standing in the doorway looking at Lily uncomfortably.

“Lily, I know you already had a debriefing with Professor Dumbledore, but he was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering a few more-“ he continued.

“No!”

Both Lily and Sirius spoke at once.

“Not now, my husband needs me here, Dumbledore can wait,” Lily said, staring at Dearborn with a hostile expression as she swiped at her red eyes furiously.

“Tell him to go fuck himself,” Sirius growled.

Dearborn nodded, recognising defeat.

“You get some food and water for Lily, Caradoc, I’ll tell Dumbledore,” Remus said. Remus stood quietly behind Dearborn, a grim look, no obvious emotions displayed on his tired face.

“Righto,” Dearborn nodded reluctantly.

“Hurry up,” Remus ordered. “We don’t want Poppy to end up with another patient.”

“Righto,” Dearborn said, looking relieved to have an excuse to leave.

*** “You wanted to speak with me, Mr. Lupin?” Dumbledore said, gesturing vaguely towards the chair in front of him.

Remus sat down. The silence made him nervous.

“You feel guilty for swapping your week on call with the Potters. You want to make sure that your friends are protected from danger as much as possible from now on?”

Remus felt his cheeks flush. He nodded, feeling even worse.

“Good,” Dumbledore said. “I can see why you’d think that way.”

Remus swallowed. Dumbledore blamed him too? He wanted to crawl under the floorboards never to re-emerge.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, looking down, unable to meet the Professor’s gaze. “I should have stayed…”

“That’s quite alright, Remus, these things happen, and we have to learn from them,” Dumbledore said.

Remus felt himself slide further down the chair. He wanted to cry. It reminded him of The Prank at the end of Fifth Year. It should have been him. He should have insisted Sirius go with someone else. He felt personally responsible for what had happened, and if James died because of him… if James died…

“What can I do, Sir?” Remus whispered hoarsely. “Tell me there is something I can do to help!”

He looked up and caught Dumbledore looking at him keenly, with an astute gaze.

“Of course there is something you can do to help, Remus,” Dumbledore said, steepling his hands together. “It will be dangerous though, the most dangerous mission I have ever given any member of the Order.”

Remus nodded dumbly.

“It is also top secret. You must not discuss this information with a single soul,” Dumbledore said, his blue eyes assessing Remus coolly. “Not the Marauders, not Lily Potter, especially not Sirius Black. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” Remus said, sitting up straighter. “You can trust me.”

“I hope so, Remus,” Dumbledore said. “Most people wouldn’t.”

Remus froze, taken aback.

“I…” he stuttered.

“Luckily for you, I am not most people, Mr. Lupin,” Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. “Lemon sherbet?”

Somewhere in the back of Remus’ mind the words you bastard and what the fuck presented themselves as appropriate responses.

He declined politely.

“I have a singularly important and quite unusual mission, and it seems to me that you are the perfect candidate to volunteer for it,” Dumbledore said, sucking loudly on the muggle sweet and leaning back into his chair.

Somehow the wizard’s eyes seemed beadier in this light. Remus waited.

“I will of course understand if you turn down this opportunity, Remus, that you may be too frightened to go,” Dumbledore said. “Other Order members may be more-“

Remus’ jaw tightened. The words you bastard and what the fuck once more presented themselves as appropriate responses.

“Other Order members have no idea how little I fear most things,” Remus said, his eyes narrowing.

“Yes, of course, Remus, I am well aware that compared to most-“ Dumbledore said, with a placating raise of his palms.

“What mission?” Remus asked.

“A mission to infiltrate Fenrir Greyback’s werewolf pack. I am aware you have already made his acquaintance,” Dumbledore said. “To see if they can be persuaded to abandon their leader and join our side in the war. And to spy on them, at any rate.”

Remus felt a cold shiver of dread run down his spine. His old Headmaster couldn’t be serious, surely. That was a hopeless mission, a pointless waste of life, a …

Greyback…

An ear-splitting scream of terror, his own. Rabid eyes. Massive yellow canines lunging towards him, saliva dripping off them. Laughter and howling.

“Tell your Daddy I said hello!”

A tearing sensation as huge teeth sank into his hip. Another ear-splitting scream, this time of pain…

He felt his hands tremble and gripped the edges of the armchair in agitation.

“If you’d rather not, I am sure I can persuade another member of the Order to pretend to be a werewolf. With some clever Transfiguration spells, which many of our members are particularly gifted at, especially your own friends-“ Dumbledore said.

“No!” Remus said, standing up suddenly and staring hard at the other man, his breathing erratic. “Merlin no! You have no idea…”

His voice trailed off again, his heart hammering wildly against his ribcage.

“So, Mr. Lupin, you don’t feel you can bring yourself to-“ Dumbledore said.

“No!” Remus practically shouted. “I’ll do it! Don’t even think about asking anyone else… I’ll do it, alright?”

“I see,” Dumbledore smiled kindly again. “My deepest apologies Remus, how very brave of you. I should never have doubted you.”

Remus bit the side of his lip. This was akin to agreeing to a suicide mission. Any sane individual would have refused to accept the offer. But surely Dumbledore had guessed he would never allow any of his friends or colleagues to go instead of him, to risk being turned? The bastard must have known all along. Yet he owed so much to this old man, this powerful wizard, the one they were all relying on to beat Voldemort and to win this war. The one who had given him a chance. Who had risked his reputation by allowing him into Hogwarts. Who had not expelled him after the disastrous Prank in Fifth Year. Maybe he was being unkind and unfair to the man. Perhaps this mission was genuinely important?

“No need to apologise, Sir,” Remus said with a small smile, extending his hand out.

“Thank you, Remus,” Dumbledore said, shaking his hand warmly. “I do appreciate your help in this war. I shall contact you shortly with more information about this entire affair. Please remember to keep this top secret.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Remus.

***

He opened the door quietly. The room was dimly lit by the fire and the large candles on either side of the infirmary bed. James looked the same, somewhere between life and death. Lily was sitting on a chair, her head lying on the bed beside him, still fully clothed, the dark shadows under her eyes more pronounced in this light. She was holding James’ hand. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, but at the foot of the bed, on top of the carefully folded blankets lay Padfoot. He was whimpering in his sleep. The shaggy dog opened his eyes briefly, fixing Remus with his mournful grey eyes.

“Sleep, Padfoot,” Remus said quietly. “I’ll stay up. I’ll call Poppy if there’s any change. There’s nothing more we can do.”

Padfoot yelped quietly, turning to look at Lily and James and then looked back at Remus and whined. He was looking at Remus accusingly. Where had he disappeared off to, why hadn’t he comforted Lily? Did he not care?

“I’m sorry,” Remus said.

It sounded curt. Inadequate.

What more could he say?

Padfoot whined once again, dropping his head into his paws, looking dejected. Remus sat on the ground, his head in his hands. He could go over, talk to Sirius, but his boyfriend always knew if he was hiding anything from him, and he was too tired to make up an excuse for what had just happened. Too tired, too traumatised, too selfish…

He stayed where he was.

Padfoot slept fitfully, beset by nightmares. Remus did not sleep a wink. He did not allow himself to sleep. The fear of nightmares kept him awake, as though he were four years old again. Besides, he did not deserve to sleep.

***

PS Póg mo thóin - kiss my ass in Irish

PS To find out if James is okay, and if Lily is in fact pregnant and if yes, what happens next etc, I’m afraid you’ll have to keep reading We Can Be Heroes. If you just want to read on, it’s from Chapter 45.

If you want, I can post more stand alones (Harry’s birth? the Jily engagement? Jily Wedding? Wolfstar first kiss etc??or the next part but it just leads into more stuff!)

#WCBH one shots #BAMF Lily #BAMF James #first wizarding war #defying voldemort #canon jily #canon marauders #angsty #I love Lily Evans #jily #wolfstar #poor darlings #it’s all a bit Angsty

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lovemeleo · 3 years

Note

I know ur requests say closed but I wanted to plop this here for a rainy day because I don't want to wait and forget... ✨Adventures of Reg babysitting baby Asher? Would he be suprizingly good with him? Would he call Celeste for help? Lol. I love your writing so much and I just 😲😍 everytime I see you write more Asher and coops content!💕

Thank you so much, anon! I’m so glad you love it. Uncle Reg babysitting?? Yes please! I hope you enjoy this, anon! It was so fun to write. The SW world belongs to the amazing @lumosinlove.

If you haven’t read the rest of the Asher Pascal series, here are the links:

Coops become Dads

Coops become Dads Pt. 2

Dumo meets Asher

Asher’s First Dumo Dinner

Asher’s First Dumo Dinner Pt. 2

Cuddles with Cap

The Instagram Aftermath

The Lupins meet Asher

Black Brothers Have a Moment™️

___________________________________

Asher was crawling. Crawling.

The doctor had said to start expecting it around nine months or later, but apparently Asher was determined to prove him incorrect and started at eight months. Remus and Sirius had just finished putting the baby gates and childproofing more of the house when Regulus arrived.

Tonight was their first date night out of the house in a very long time. James and Lily had come over to theirs to make it easier a couple nights, but now they were finally getting to go to a restaurant.

Sirius swung open the door, looking frazzled as Asher followed after his dad, albeit a bit slower but he was moving. Regulus’s eyes widened, “He’s crawling.”

Asher looked up at the new voice, squealing happily as he saw his Uncle. Sirius swung him up off the floor once he got close enough, “Yeah, just started last night. He’d been trying for a while but now he just doesn’t stop. We’ve got baby gates and everything up.” He said, running a hand through his hair as he led Regulus into the house, showing him on the gates worked.

Singing was coming from the bathroom, some top 40s pop song. Regulus chuckled softly as Sirius pulled the door closed all the way, “James and Lily are picking us up, so the car will be here if you happen to need it. Sometimes Asher will fall asleep easier there.” He explained, picking up toys as he went.

Asher babbled happily, tapping at Sirius’s shoulder until he let him down once they got into the living room. He crawled across the floor until he got to where Regulus sat before plopping back on his butt, smiling up at him proudly as if to say look what I can do.

Regulus smiled softly, a smile that was mostly saved for his nephew. He had never been around kids much, except for when he was one himself, but he was learning. He glanced up at his brother, blinking in surprise when he found that Sirius was already looking back, “Uh.. so where are you guys going for dinner?”

“Just Sids as far as I’m aware. We really don’t wanna go too far, just in case. Still makes me nervous to leave him.” Sirius said with a shrug as he watched Asher play with some blocks on the floor. Regulus nodded because he’d be nervous too. Mon Dieu, he was nervous. He was about to be the only one watching this baby for at least 3-4 hours. Maybe he should’ve asked Leo to come over and help.

Just as Regulus was about to panic, Remus walked out, hair still wet from the shower. He smiled when he saw his soon-to-be brother in law, “Hey, Reg. Thanks again for watching him, we really appreciate it.” He said, leaning on the arm of Sirius’s chair.

Regulus shrugged, “Of course, you guys need to get out of this house for things other than practice.”

They chatted for a little bit when there were multiple honks from outside, repeating obnoxiously. Sirius rolled his eyes as he got up, “Lily must’ve let James drive.”

Remus picked Asher up, smothering him with kisses, “You be good for your uncle, bub.” He turned to look at Regulus. “He’s been going down to sleep around 8pm, so he’ll probably start getting whiny in an hour or two. He has formula already mixed in the fridge, but there’s also some cereal he likes on the counter. If you need anything, just call or text us.”

Leaning in to press a kiss to his baby’s chubby cheek, Sirius took Asher and passed him over to his brother, “Thanks again, Reg.” He said, giving him a hug before they were gone.

Asher sniffled softly, his lower lip pushed out as he stared at the door his parents had just walked through. Regulus rocked side to side a bit, trying to distract him, “No tears, Ash. We’re gonna be okay.” He turned on the TV, finding one of the shows Sirius had said Asher liked to watch.

Sitting down with him on the couch, Regulus let out a shaky breath as Asher’s eyes glued to the TV. They were going to be fine. He had helped take care of Asher before. He could change a diaper. He could feed him. Just the thought that he was the only person between his nephew and uncertain death. But it was fine. They’re fine.

Around an hour later, Asher seemed to get bored of the show and crawled into his uncle’s lap, tapping at his chest as he started babbling.

Regulus smiled, “What’s up? You hungry? Should we get a bottle, mon petit?” He asked as he got up, resting Asher on his hip. Together they headed to the kitchen, Regulus grabbing one of the pre-made bottles from the fridge.

Asher reached for the bottle, eyes wide as soon as it was in his sight. Laughing as he got him settled in the crook of his arm, Regulus brought the bottle to Asher’s lips, “Un garçon tellement affamé.”

Latching onto the bottle quickly, Asher started drinking the formula, his head resting happily on Regulus’s chest. It was still crazy to think that this was his brother’s son. He had a whole nephew that he would get to watch grow up, and do amazing things.

The bottle was finished quickly, Asher smacking his lips around the empty bottle. Regulus set it aside before grabbing a towel, throwing it over his shoulder to burp Asher.

He propped him up on his shoulder, gently patting his back as he paced the kitchen until he heard the quiet burp. Regulus wiped off his face with the towel before bringing him back to the living room, setting him on the floor to play with his toys.

It was going extremely well, and he said so to the group chat he was in with the cubs. Finn sent a thumbs up emoji, and Leo told him he knew he could do it. And he had. Regulus had confided in Leo when Sirius had first asked him, nervous that he would fuck it up. Leo was shaking his head before Regulus could even finish his worries. He told him that he would be fine, that Asher loved him and Sirius obviously trusted him enough to ask. He was lucky to have Leo as a friend.

As he set his phone aside, he realized he had a problem. A big problem. Regulus couldn’t have been on the phone for more than 30 seconds, but apparently in that time, Asher had managed to crawl out of sight.

His heart was pounding in his chest as Regulus jumped up from the couch, “Asher!” Looking under the couch, the table, searching the living room, the baby was nowhere in sight.

“Oh no, no no no no!” He ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. He lost the kid. He lost his brother’s baby. Sirius was going to kill him. Remus. Oh Remus was going to have him murdered, and no one would ever find his body.

As he pondered over who would let him hide at their house, he heard it. A loud clatter coming from one of the other rooms.

He followed the noise, which led him to… the kitchen? Shit. He had forgotten to close the baby gate. When he walked in, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Asher had found his way into the pots and pans. All of them. They were strewn across the kitchen with his nephew right in the middle, a large pot in front of him. He grinned happily up at his uncle, slamming tiny hands on the pot.

Regulus squatted down in front of him, chuckling, “You scared me, petit homme. Planning to be a drummer? Should I get you a little drum set?” He asked.

Letting out a loud squeal, Asher leaned onto the pot before a big yawn interrupted his smile.

“Getting tired? Should we get to sleep?” Regulus picked him up, carrying him to the nursery. “Let’s get you in a clean diaper and some pjs.”

Regulus changed his diaper quickly, not wanting him to be cold for too long before slipping him into a pair of soft dragon pajamas that he had bought for Asher.

Turning on the mobile above the crib, Regulus gently laid Asher down while making sure his blanket and lion stuffie were in reach, “Good night, Ash. Love you.” He whispered, running his hand through black curls.

Just as he was about to close the door, Regulus heard a quiet whimper. He turned back and was met with the worst case of the puppy dog eyes staring back at him through the side of the crib. He walked back in, “What’s up, bub?”

As soon as he leaned over the crib, Asher was making grabby hands at him, his lower lip pushed out in a pout.

Regulus let out a sigh, picking him up, “Alright just for a little bit.” He murmured as Asher cuddled into his chest. He carried him back to the living room, laying down on the couch. Letting Asher rest on his chest, he pulled a blanket to cover them both.

“Just for a couple minutes, d'accord?” Regulus murmured, wrapping an arm around Asher’s small body. A soft snuffle was the only answer he got, Asher clutching at Regulus’s shirt as he dozed.

Not long after they laid down, Regulus was out too. Who knew taking care of a baby was so tiring?

Remus and Sirius got home an hour or so later, quickly shushing each other as they saw the adorable scene on their couch. Sirius couldn’t help but take a couple pictures as Remus wandered into the kitchen.

“Why is every single one of our pots on the floor?”

#coops being dads #coops #sweater weather #lumosinlove #inspired by lumosinlove #asher pascal #regulus black #sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar #black brothers #wolfstar dads

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oingo233 · 3 years

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Rapture is a Boy (8)

Summary: Remus and you have always had a playful, loving relationship but his behavior around the full moon leads you to assume the worst. A huge fight ends with the two of you heartbroken. Will Remus reveal the truth behind his behavior? And will you still love him afterwards or has he truly lost you forever?

Young Remus Lupin x Reader(neutral)

Warning: FLUFF, so much fluff you could drown in it, self-doubt (brief)

Authors Note: This is the last part, which is crazy to me, I truly hope yall love it. This series is dear to my heart because it has allowed me to meet and talk to you and so many other amazing people! You all mean so much to me, and Remus is my lil baby too. I can’t even express how much I appreciate and love you all <3

Word Count: 5k

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven

Part Eight

****A Stag, a Rat and a Dog***

Remus POV

“That was-” Peter couldn’t even finish his sentence, he just laughed, he laughed so loud it was hard not to join in with him. James pat his back and nodded, wiping some of the blue glitter off on his shirt.

“Right, mate.” he agreed. Sirius was bouncing in his spot, none of our smiles breaking or dimming. “Another notch under the belt of our legacy of awesome,” he all but sang, all of our cheeks still flushed from this morning. He hit Sirius’s arm and they began to race up the stairs, Peter and I followed, jogging after them. “Lily loved it too!” he added, smiling even bigger at just the thought of her, he was beating Sirius.

We all stopped running and Sirius was scowling, he lost, we all stood at the portrait when Sirius turned to me. “Worked well on (Y/N) too,” he stated, smirking at me and making a sexual motion with his hips, James laughed and I pushed him. “Ew, your palms are sweaty.”

“We’ll excuse me, ABBA sweats no doubt after giving the performance of a life time.” I say while James says the word and the painting opens for us. “Besides, it has worked for now. But they are still oblivious to the truth. I might lose them all over again, once they know.”

The mood seemed to darken at this realization. Not everyone is as understanding about my condition as the boys. That’s the real reason I couldn’t stop sweating, and if the boys looked close enough they’d see I couldn’t stop shaking ever so slightly too. I just got (Y/N) back, I’m not sure how well I’d be able to cope with losing them a second, and final time. My heart broke just at the thought, and at the very realization that I might have to prepare myself for such an outcome.

“Mate, (Y/N) is one of the people in this world that loves you most. Besides us of course,” James smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood whenever he could, “I doubt, that anything could make them think differently of you. You’re not just your condition. You’re Remus feckin Lupin!” The other boys cheered in agreement as we stepped into our dorms, Peter even went as far as rubbing my shoulders to build up my confidence, he saw a trainer do it to a wrestler on muggle TV once.

“And we’ve got a romantic feckin plan!” Peter cheers, still excited about what is yet to happen. I swallow thickly once more, this day could be one of the best in a while, or the absolute worst. I guess we’ll know tonight.

“Yes, and are you guys sure you are okay with this?” I ask, for the fifth time. James rolls his eyes, and Sirius bangs his head on the dorm room wall.

“Yes, Moony. Yes. Yes. Yes. We are okay with this for the millionth time. (Y/N) is our friend too, and all we want is to see the lot of ya happy again, so will ya shut up about it. We already agreed, mate,” Sirius says, looking up just barely lifting his head from the wall.

“And we don’t like lying to (Y/N) either,” James says, Peter nods with each word falling from their lips, as he tugs on pants and grabs a new, not bedazzled, robe.

We were still talking and going over plans for tonight when we left for first period. The common room was quite expect for our meshed whispers and loud footfalls, it wasn’t until the painting door swung open that we heard another sound. An all too familiar sound.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat before us. Her hands folded in at her chest and her pointed eyes trained on us, unblinking. We all swallowed thickly, our fear and respect for her almost overwhelmed our courage and friendliness towards her. Almost.

“Did ya enjoy the concert, Minnie? I was singing just for you.” Sirius said, smiling and trying not to laugh as her expression remained unmoving. James joined in and I nearly rolled my eyes, but a smile found it’s way onto my lips nonetheless.

“Yeah, we saw ya a-tap-tap-tappy your toes!” He says, doing a little dance. I was amazed by her ability to not even crack a smile at our enthusiasm, but then again, this was nothing new to her. “ABBA gets to the best of us doesn’t it?” As if on cue, Sirius was speaking again. I fought my smile and faked a sullen expression, fingers crossed behind my back, this was the part where one of us tried to weasel our way out of trouble.

“Exactly, our hearts were in it Professor, truly we had good reason and we weren’t hurting anyone. Shame. Just a shame Dumbledore gave us detention, any more severe punishment just wouldn’t make any sense.” She raised a brow and in a last attempt I put in a word of my own.

“But you’re always so sensible Ms. McGonagall. I’m sure your punishment for us will be well-deserved. Perhaps our outfits were too flashy?” Peter chuckles beside me, and shows her the inside of his robe.

“But this one isn’t at all. Ya see?” He shows her adamantly until she raises a hand and we are drowning in silence, she made us sweat in our palms and neck before speaking.

“Yes. It appears your shenanigans are over. But Lucy is still in the hospital wing scrubbing at her skin, the smell is pungent and unmoving. It seems, Sirius,” She turns to face him, his adam apple bobs, “You did hurt someone. The real shame is that you don’t seem bothered by that fact. Follow me, boys.” She said, turning on us, her robes nearly swinging up and hitting our shins. We follow wordlessly and with our heads down, her words bothered us a little, what really stung was the disappointment on her face and in her frown. (Though Sirius swears he heard her singing along).

She went to Peter’s class first, he went to follow her inside but she raised a hand and said “Oh, you won’t be going to class this morning, Mr.Pettigrew.” She excused Peter herself, whispering into the teachers ear. My heart sank at the realization that I would not be seeing (Y/N) again this morning, James eyes me, my mood obviously changed. I couldn’t even spend any time with them before tonight, our lunch would serve as detention as well. I might never get to see them again after tonight, couldn’t even enjoy this little time I have before the truth is out. I won’t be able to be at peace until tonight or maybe even after, because who will love a monster?

For the rest of the morning we were locked in McGonagall’s empty classroom, writing out letters of apology to be given to Lucy in person later that day. And attempting to come up with a charm or some potion that would reverse the long lasting affect of the Stink Bombs that we have created. Wouldn’t be a marauders prank unless everything was well crafted, would it? But now, our little spell seems to be our downfall. Luckily, we found the right reversion potion, and it was taken to Madame Pom. immediately. By the time we were allowed to leave, the bell for second period had just rang.

I sat through my classes with sweaty hands, and bouncing legs. I agonized in the silence of detention about all that could go wrong, several times I re-debated whether I should really tell (Y/N) the truth, but it was clear that I needed too. I have lied for too long, and it has cost me too much. The truth will set me free...or at least I hope it will. I sat through my very last classes feeling both sick, and determined. Before we knew it, it was dinner time and James, Sirius, Peter and I snuck out of the castle for our final act of salvation. Our last attempt to make things right.

Your POV

The ground was rocky and uneven below my feet, between the clumps of dirt and hidden rocks this trip to Hagrids hut felt more like a mountain climbing experience than anything else. But my breathing was not ragged and exaggerated because of the walk, no, it was because ever since this morning my heart has been beating out of control. I’ve been breathless and filled with both anxiety and warmth since Remus kissed my cheek and handed me this note.

Tonight will mark either the end or the fresh start of our relationship, of our friendship...of our love.

My head is spinning as I stumble over a pumpkin root. What has he been hiding from me? Is it something bad, or big, or maybe something he is just blowing way out of proportion? What if the truth pulls us apart even more than the lies?

I shake my head in an attempt to free myself of this anxiety that swells in my stomach like a churning sea. Whatever it is, I will face it with patience and love, but also self-respect. I repeat this to myself until before I know it, I am at Hagrids hut. The walls of his house seemed to mountain over me, it smelled strongly of firewhiskey, burning firewood,rich dirt and sweet pumpkins. The smell did wonders in calming my mind, but I rather large frown makes its way onto my face as I look around. There was absolutely no one in sight.

I cuss under my breath. Maybe this is the wrong place. Maybe Remus is late? I chew at my bottom lip and take a few large steps around the hut, my eyes keep going back to analyze the trees of the forest. The shadows of the forbidden forest seemed to reach for me. It called for me. As if it was a whirlpool sucking me in I stepped towards it, staring into the layers of dark, large trees.

I held my breath as a bush by the very edge of the forest shook, rustling leaves and snapping twigs filled the brisk night air. I shivered, whether it was from the cold or the sudden fear I was not sure, but I did not have time to debate my feelings because suddenly, a canopy of dark green vines, hanging from the trees shifted.

Large, cream horns parted the vines and drooping tree leaves, a particular branch got stuck on the intricate swirling of the horns and snapped completely as the creature stepped further from the shadows, revealing itself to me.

A beautiful Stag stood proud, it’s thick coat shone under the moonlight, it’s chest puffed out at me with pride. The horns only added to it’s graceful height, but it’s eyes are what truly took my breath away. Those round, warm eyes they were so human. So familiar. Before I could debate it any further, the Stag stamped it’s hoof in the dirt softly, it snorted and white air swirled around it’s soft face. Only then did I notice the beautiful yellow rose, plucked from a bush and resting at it’s front legs.

I bring a shaky hand to my mouth, barely able to comprehended the wave of emotions that nearly knock me to my feet. This was of Remus’s doing. But...how? The Stag inclines it’s head curiously at me to the right, it’s large ears flicking with some sort of impatience, or unrest. Only then did I fully seem to understand the familiarity of this creature.

“James?” I gasp. The Stag seems to stand even taller at me, and...smiles. With my mouth still hanging wide open I let out a boisterous laugh. “James!” I almost yell, the Stag snorts again and leans it’s head down, using his nose to push the rose towards me. The movement doesn’t help me get over my shock, but it stirs me into action. I begin to cautiously walk forwards, and as I do the Stag er, James, picks up the rose between it’s teeth, when I am close enough he softly nuzzles it into my hand. I grip it tightly, it has already been de-thorned.

Carefully, with my free hand, I reach it out just a few inches in front of me and James places his Stag head onto my palm. I pet him softly, he stares up at me and it was as if I was staring at James himself.

“You clever bastard!” I exclaim, I knew how hard becoming Animigus is, but why would he do such a thing? I was broken out of my trance when the Stag (James) begins to walk, slowly at first, he looks back at me and inclines his head first and it was as if I could just hear him saying, in his cheeky manner ‘Ladies first, of course,”

I swallow thickly and fight another bout of paralyzing shock, and instead smile, following James through the forest. His hoofs sinking softly into the ground, the sound was methodic and helped with the strange over pour of emotions I’m feeling.

What happened next, is actually quite embarrassing. It started with a little scamper by my feet. Considering how far we’ve walked into the forest I was more than a bit concerned for my safety, but the large, strong Stag beside me cast most of my fears to the side. Then, through a break of moonlight through the trees I saw it. A large, fat rat!

I screamed so loud, dark ravens flew from their slumbers in the trees. James beside me stomped his feet, and checked the perimeter with analyzing eyes, searching for the danger. But they only found the rat. I never thought a Stag could give such an amused, disappointed expression, yet here I stand. Clinging to a deers ass for dear life, and he is looking back at me with said expression. My cheeks flush and I let go of his furry back, then the Rat very slowly inches towards me.

It’s sharp nose lifting and dancing from side to side, it’s soft brown eyes sparkling up at me. I’d say it even looked a little cute, friendly even. But what unusual behavior, and what unusual eyes. It’s tail glowing under the white light like a plump, pink worm...

“Wormtail!” I realize, laughter bubbling from my chest. The Rat lets out a gleeful squeak and James besides me snorts once again, seeming to laugh. The Rat scurried off into the shadows, and I can’t help but berate myself. Did I hurt his feelings?

But then he comes bounding back into sight, he stands on his back legs and his little Rat face seemed to glow with excitement as his pink hands unveiled a small little white wildflower. The same kind Remus would pick for me on walks we took together. My smile only grows bigger as I do a sweet curtsey and pick up the flower mid-bow, lifting it up to my nose as I stand straight again.

“My apologies, you know I don’t like rats. But I suppose I’ll have to make an exception for you.” I smile down at him, and he reveals two yellow buck teeth, smiling up at me with as much of a smile any rat can muster. I fail to hold in my laughter but extend my arm to him, he climbs up it and perches himself on my shoulder. I hold the two flowers in one hand, and rest my other on James soft shoulder, so I can be led through the dark forest, I knew by know, they were leading me to Remus.

Peter climbs down my other arm and onto James back, then up his head. I laugh as Peter holds on for deer(hehe I’m funny) life as James jokingly waves his head back and forth, Peter almost falls off but I help him back. We all seem to laugh in our own ways, when suddenly a loud bark cuts through the sound of laughter and owls and even the rustling of the woods around us. It was loud and impatient and yet humorous, it reminded me of someone I know well. I smirk, raising a brow I turn to the equally amused Stag and Rat, James and Peter.

“Wormtail. Prongs,” I say, motioning to the Stag who only inclines his head again, “And Padfoot. Let me guess... Sirius is also some animal wandering these woods, finding us by chance? A wolf, perhaps? A dog?” They don’t say a thing, they only begin to walk again. Turning us towards the sound of the echoing bark.

I was on the ground before I knew what was happening. We’ve walked just a few more minutes and then a cloud of black overcame my sense and tackled me to the floor. Black, Sirius Black, was a dog and on top of me. He was barking right by my ear and cuddling me, it wasn’t until two little Rat hands attempted to push his leg that he got off.

I was laughing uncontrollably, this was all too much. Too crazy. I knew they were geniuses, but this... becoming Animagus and though the reason was unclear I could feel it, something to do with Remus. With Moony. The nickname had a new meaning to me, and I wasn’t sure what yet, but I was sure I was about to find out.

Sirius was racing around me in circles as I stood up. His black tail wagging wildly, and his fur rustled and tossed under the wind. I wanted to coo and awe, though his eyes were human and mischievous, the rest of him was adorable and strong. A proud, handsome looking dog. It was clear, by his behavior, that he was just as excited to reveal this big secret, as I was to know the truth.

“Sirius! You dog,” I joke, a bad one on my part but he still barked with laughter and I shook my head, taking in the three of them. This was, Merlin, I didn’t even know what this was other than beyond surprising and impressive. Shocking.

Suddenly, Sirius makes one last dart behind me, he sends me in a spin and by the time I can control my footing he is back in front of me. He is sitting on his back legs, front paws up in the air and bent in a cute trick, his ears flopped forward. Just above his paws, drooping from the jaws of his mouth is a single daffodil. Daffodils, like the one written about in this favorite poem of mine that Remus would read me on bad days, I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud by William Wordsworth.

I sigh, tilting my head to the left, a soft smile on my lips. Everything about this was amazing and sweet. It was amazing that the boys had this whole other life I never knew about, which I’m sure there will be a reasonable explanation for my ignorance because ouch. But sweet, because this was obviously planned my Remus, but the boys were taking their own time to make it happen. I bend down and pat Sirius’s head, the only time he lets me touch his hair, I think, almost laughing. His tail wags as I pluck the flower from his mouth and he lets it fall easily into my hand.

I gather it with my other flowers, now forming a little bouquet and bring the whole lot of them up to my face and inhale. I close my eyes as I smell the sweet and powerful aromas, memories with Remus filled my head, and with it, a warmth filled my chest.

“I hope this hasn’t been all too much for you. I thought some truths would be better seen than told,” Remus says, walking up behind me. I spin around, I didn’t even notice the sound of crunching leaves behind me. But I couldn’t find it in me to speak, the moonlight dancing across Remus’s face, highlighting his eyes, and the soft curves of his lips with the ragged lines of his scars, I was astounded by the boy before me. Once again entranced. All the anxiety, all the fear has left me, as I stared at him clad in fancy pants and a button up to match.

He stops walking, unsure of where he stands with me. I step towards him, finding some clearing in the haze I begin to speak.

“It’s wonderful. They’re wonderful,” I say, turning with a thankful smile to the stag, the rat and the dog. They each in turn, show their teeth at me in an attempt of a smile. I laugh and beside me, Remus does too. With a nod of his head, they turn their backs on us and leave. I no longer needed guidance or safety. Remus stood before me and I felt something that has been missing for the past couple of days. And even though I was in the middle of the dangerous, forbidden forest, I knew that I was also home.

“I love the flowers. I must say, this night has already taken the most unexpected turn it could, but the nicknames definitely make more sense,” I attempt a bad joke, a habit of mine in a nerve wracking situation but Remus only seems to grimace slightly, before turning it into a smile, though it was a rather sad one.

“Well, you seem to be taking this well. Have you figured out mine yet?” He asked, his sad tone surprising me. We were so close his voice dropped low just out of habit it seemed, and because the short distance between us put us in a trance. I missed him. I missed him so much my body now seemed to come back from the dead and reach for him, I was alive again with dancing butterflies and buzzing questions. I glanced down to his lips, before taking a step back.

“No. But I can guess. It makes sense, once every month you seem to leave me. You change into someone who is distant, someone who doesn't seem to love me,” He steps forwards, looking pained by this realization, but as I speak it becomes clearer to me, but I can’t yet reach the conclusion.

“I will never become a person who doesn’t love you. I will change and grow but you will be the one thing that remains. You don’t have to guess anymore, but I want you to know that my love for you will always remain, even if after tonight, we do not,” he speaks with such reverence, like our love was something scared to him and deep down, I knew I felt the same way. It is my first love, and if I can help it, than he will be my only lover until the day I die. All I can do is nod as he steps forwards again, I can see a bead of sweat roll down the apple of his cheek, he was about to tell me. I can feel the shaking of his hands as he places them in mine.

Suddenly, his unbreaking stare leaves me, and in place, find the bright moon. Twinkling in the sky and illuminating us in its wake. I understood in that moment, Moony. A boy mapped with scars. Moony. A boy plagued by nightmares, and insecurities. Moony. A tough, but oh so scared boy who seemed to hate the very night itself. Moony. The boy who changes during the month, and is gone completely on the full moon. Moony. Moony, the Werewolf.

I pull on his hands and gather him into my embrace, pulling back only to kiss him sweetly. The world becomes ours as our lips dance with one another to a song we’ve heard before. It is the song of him making love to me. It is the song of the poems he reads me and the flowers he picks. It is the song of the moons very envy as she watches us together. The song of lovers. It moves us. It moves my hands up his neck and through his hair. It moves his lips across my cheek and jaw and then down my neck. It moves the wind, and the trees around us. It pulls the moans from our mouths and then the confessions.

“My beautiful love,” Remus kisses the words into my skin, up to my lips. “My only love,” he mumbles into my lips, kissing me softly but his hands are bruising at my hips. As if I would leave him if he did not hold me close enough and for forever.

“I love you, Remus ‘Moony’ Lupin. I love all of you and all that you ever will be and all that you have been.” He pulls back from me, his eyes glazed with tears and a softness that makes my heart sing. He nods, and than he laughs. A tear falls from his eyes as his head leans back and he laughs, the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. It was as if all his anxiety, and self-hatred has left him and in their place my words have nestled in. I love him. I love him. I love him.

“I’m a werewolf ya know?” he says, still laughing, he knew I made the connection. At this point it was pre-caution, I roll my eyes and kiss him again. The world is forgotten as we kiss, as we rejoin as one and as lovers. I pull back and softly wipe away his tears.

“I know,” I whisper into his lips, he smiles, giving me a soft kiss. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Remus?” I ask, pulling away from him. He frowns now, his cheeks red with blush, and lips to match.

“I thought I’d lose you forever. That you’d think I was some monster, or- or beast. You always looked at me like I was the world, and I was terrified one day you’d see the real me, and just- well, stop loving me altogether.” While he speaks his eyes still glitter with the promise of tears, and my heart sinks at his words.

“I think I understand your anxiety about it. I can’t imagine how hard it must be. But I would never stop loving you for such a thing, merlin, I don’t think anything could stop me from loving you. I never want you to feel the need to hide from me again, okay?” Remus nods into my hands, I still haven't moved them since I wiped away his tears, it seemed like more keeps falling each time.

“The boys became Animigmus to help with my full moons. It can get pretty bad… but ever since they have come along things really got better, really they did.” he adds when seeing my sad facial expression. My heart felt broken all over again at just the thought of Remus being in pain, alone and suffering. I swore in that moment, I’d do anything in this world to help make things better for him. I nod my head. He continues.

“And Lucy, her older sister is a werewolf. She figured out that I was one pretty quickly, she said I could speak to her about it all, and that she could help somehow. It was nothing more, she just let me complain and even write some letter to her sister. I never even thought of Lucy like the way I think of you. She was always just a friend, but that remains no more. To hell with her,” he says. He can’t stop smiling, a real, golden smile. There was nothing holding him back, I could just tell he felt so much lighter. I took his hand and wordlessly led him to sit on the grass with me. We laid shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the stars together.

He told me in depth about how he was bitten as a child, about how it changed his life. Then when the boys told him they were becoming Animgus for him and all the little moments and adventures they’ve had since. He didn’t sugar coat a thing, he didn’t lie. He was bearing his soul before me for the first time, without any thin veil holding us back and I’ve never felt closer to him. It was well past curfew by the time I felt satisfied with everything he’s told me, I felt both heavy with this knowledge and yet free. I felt included and like I truly knew Remus, and I still did love him. More than ever, I love him.

We laid in silence for some time, my head has moved to lay on his chest and I can hear the steady, warm beating of his heart.

“Can you hear it?” he asks, out of the blue. I strain my ears to listen to the forest around us, I lift my head slightly and he laughs. “No. My heart, can you hear it?” I lean back into him and let out a little laugh myself.

“Oh. Yes,” I smile, “I can hear it.”

“Good. It beats for you.”mhe says, I look up at him only to find that he has already been looking at me. His eyes soft, and smile warm, his heart steady under the palm of my hand and loud within the stillness of the night. It beats for you. His words echoed in my head and I couldn’t help myself, I lean forward and press my lips against him. I could kiss him forever. I could be with him here like this forever, alone and in love, honest and unafraid.

I understood a lot of things that night, more than just about who Remus was and the secrets he has been hiding. More than the truths that he bared and the love that we had. I understood how after all this time of separation and uncertainty. After exhausting ourselves in a sea of sorrow and questions, we have finally found our peace. I have found my happiness. And I realized something rather important. Rapture is a boy. Rapture is love.

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@crazylokonugget @beyondprincess @1975weasley @nicodoesntexist @goto-hi-this-is-my-brain @yoyoitsbella @ftwert @sognatrice-as-a-hobby @dontjudgemyobsessionpls @blackpinkdolan

@holdenviolet @katie-lupin05 @acoustic-archie @trishizzl @accio-willtolive-lmao @ilistentotayswifttocope @kopheliablack

#young remus imagine #remus lupin #young remus lupin #remus lupin x reader #remus x reader #harry potter #harry potter fandom #the marauders #the marauders fanfiction #fluff #werewolves #pls im emotional this series is over #young marauders #i love yall

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