#my friend screamed so loudly when the dementors came out

[i-gave-all-my-stds-to-charity]

Just saw Daddy Issues The Play™️

#harry potter and the cursed child #scorbus is so real #HE MIGHT ALWAYS BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON #my friend screamed so loudly when the dementors came out #it hurt #BUT IM HARRY POTTER IM TOO AWESOME TO FUCK THINGS UP LIKE THIS #i refuse to believe Ron and Hermione raised Rose #STAIRCASE BALLET HAD ME CRYING #i made eye contact with the dude playing albus and it scared me #the cast was so good #the bathroom at intermission was so crowded i got afriad #my friend was screaming NOW KISS at scorbus when thry were bowing #it was so funny #okay #im done now

[keijislove]

Happiness: Harry Potter X Muggle!Reader

Ding dong

The bell at Number Four, Privet Drive rang.

‘Boy, scurry off!’ Petunia growled at Harry; afraid he would do something to the person who was at the door.

Harry hid inside his old broom cupboard.

Even after spending two whole years at Hogwarts, and about to start his third, the Dursleys never let him come and see whoever was at their door.

It’s not like I’d stun them, Harry gloomily thought. I’ve got better things to do.

In truth, he really hadn’t.

Which is why he peeked through the small crack in the door to see who was there.

Petunia opened the door.

‘Er, yes?’ Harry heard her say.

‘Mrs. Dursley, good afternoon!’ a voice spoke.

The voice was gentle and sweet, a great variation from the Dursleys’ harsh, barking tones towards Harry.

It was the voice of a girl; one he did not know.

‘How may I help you dear?’ Petunia smiled.

‘Er, well, Dudley took my maths book yesterday, and I-I have a test coming up day after, so could you please ask him to lend it back?’ the voice asked.

‘Of course.’ Petunia smiled. ‘Come in, dear.’

That was when Harry finally saw the owner of the calming voice.

It was you.

Looking ever so beautiful and elegant with a halo of politeness surrounding you.

Petunia went upstairs to retrieve your book.

He did not know why exactly, but Harry felt like he had to talk to you.

He had to.

And if he didn’t, then the chance would be lost forever.

He walked out of the cupboard.

‘Oh!’ you exclaimed in surprise.

‘Er, sorry.’ He muttered, feeling foolish.

‘No, no... quite alright... I’m Y/N. Y/N L/N. you are?’ you asked, holding out your hand.

‘Harry. Harry Potter.’ He said, shaking your hand.

You frowned slightly. ‘Potter... I’ve heard that before... you’re Dudley’s cousin, aren’t you?’ you asked.

‘Er, yeah.’ Harry awkwardly said.

For a moment, a small flash of fear took over your face, but you tried your best to hide it.

Harry noticed it anyway.

He felt anger bubbling up inside him.

‘I don’t go to St. Brutus’ if that’s what’s scaring you.’ He said with more venom than intended.

You looked positively nonplussed. ‘Oh? Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry. It’s just that... Dudley says such awful things about you... I’d started thinking you were a mad hooligan!’

‘Dudley says a lot of things that aren’t true. For instance, he beat up a toddler and told me he’d won a boxing match.’ Harry shook his head.

You giggled slightly.

‘So... you’re his friend, then?’ Harry asked.

You looked down. ‘Uhm... well, no. I’m afraid he’s not very nice to me. I don’t think he likes me much.’

Harry felt yet another wish to strangle his cousin.

‘Why’d you lend him your book, then?’ he asked in confusion.

You sighed. ‘I didn’t. He took it from me when we were out during recess.’

‘Prat.’ Harry muttered.

When they heard Petunia’s footsteps, Harry jumped back inside the broom cupboard.

She was wiping fake tears, mumbling.

‘Diddykins, always such a gentleman. Asking for a girl’s book so politely.’ She mumbled.

You had to look away in order to roll your eyes.

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

Needless to say, you and Harry became friends since that day.

The Dursleys would always kick him out, and this used to annoy him, but now he had somewhere to go, so he used to leave without a word.

You two would meet up in the nearby playground and do one of the things Harry considered a big privilege.

You’d talk.

Nothing in particular, you’d sit on the swings and just talk.

Harry deeply wished he could tell you about Hogwarts, how Voldemort was a huge threat to his existence, but what would you think?

You’d call him mad.

You still followed the same routine.

You’d talk, everyday you’d talk and talk and one day he would leave, leave you behind, lonely.

Things however, changed quick after that.

He had just gotten home from third year, and was spending the summer there.

You had met up as usual, and he’d excitedly told you how his best friend, Ron Weasley, had invited him to stay over that Sunday for the rest of the vacation.

‘Oh... you’re leaving so soon?’ you had asked, and Harry thought he had heard the slightest bit of sadness in your voice, but that couldn’t be.

You wouldn’t be sad if he left, he wasn’t even on your priority list.

Which is what he thought.

To you, Harry was that cute boy whom you could consider one of your closest (and only) friends.

So, upon hearing that piece of news, you were jealous of this Weasley person.

No, that wouldn’t be right. You thought. He’s been at that school for three years; you’ve just met him. Why would he want to stay because of you?

You had been lonely that summer, and when Harry came back, it was unusual.

When he came back from his fourth year, he was a mess.

He’d jump at the slightest things, like a cat or a stray dog, and would hyperventilate a lot.

One day, he’d had a particularly bad panic attack.

You were on your swings, as usual, when Harry started rolling around on the floor, clutching his head.

You had gotten used to this, so you crouched next to him.

‘Ssh, Harry, breathe.’ You’d soothingly whisper. ‘Focus on your breathing, take deep breaths. Yes, that’s better, isn’t it?’

Harry was more grateful to you than he could have been.

Despite you not knowing the reason his scar hurt, you didn’t poke in further.

You left it at that and helped him whenever he needed help the most.

Your heart sank when Dudley’s gang came marching.

You hurriedly propped Harry up on the swing, before sitting down yourself.

‘Come on a date with a girlfriend, have you?’ Dudley sneered at Harry, his mates laughing loudly.

Yet another surge of anger passed through Harry’s body. ‘Beat up another ten year old, Dudley?’

‘This one deserved it.’ Dudley nonchalantly replied.

‘Five against one... that’s nice.’ Harry snapped.

Dudley’s lips curled over his teeth in a snarl. ‘At least I’m not afraid of my pillow! Don’t think I don’t hear you moaning in your sleep!’

A muscle was jumping in Harry’s jaw.

‘Leave it.’ You whispered.

‘Oh, don’t kill Cedric!’ Dudley mocked. ‘Who is Cedric, your boyfriend?’

More laughter issued as you held onto Harry tighter.

‘Mum, he’s gonna kill him!’ Dudley went on. ‘Where is your mum? Where is your mum, Potter? Is she dead? Is she dead?!’

You had released Harry; however, it was not him who went up to Dudley.

‘Pathetic!’ you snarled in his face. ‘What do you think you’re playing at, joking about his mother’s death? Absolutely pathetic!’

Dudley had given you a half smile, gesturing to his friend.

One of the boys held you and slammed you against the roundabout, making you hit your head as you groaned.

Harry jumped up and pointed his wand right at Dudley.

It was at that moment, that the skies darkened, as if a storm was ahead.

In mid-summer.

You and Harry walked home, Dudley following behind.

Suddenly, you felt cold.

Not because of the lack of warmth, but because it became really, really cold.

You heard a scream as your vision darkened.

Harry choked for air as a Dementor held him in place, desperately searching for his wand.

He saw you collapse to the floor, panting heavily.

With great effort, Harry grabbed his wand and managed to croak out.

‘EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!’

A silver stag rose out of Harry’s wand tip and fought off the Dementor holding him in place, before heading to you.

The Dementor instantly dropped you, almost scowling, which it would have done if it had no face, and glided out of the alleyway.

Dudley looked sick, but Harry didn’t care.

He rushed to your side immediately.

‘Oh my god, oh my god, cloaks.’ You whispered. ‘Cold air, c-cloaks, I saw my father die... all o-over a-again and i-it was so c-cold, all over...’

Harry shushed you, smiling understandingly at your rambling, disgusted at whoever sent those stupid Dementors to harm somebody as innocent as you.

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

‘So... he’s a wizard.’ You clarified, looking at the batty woman whose living room you were sprawled across.

‘And a ruddy good one at that, I mean, a corporeal Patronus at his age-’ she said.

‘Mrs. Figg.’ You interrupted. ‘He’s... he’s going to come back next summer, isn’t he?’

‘Of course, dear, whyever not?’ she looked at you as though you’d gone mad.

‘Those things... Dementors, as you said... were they trying to harm Harry?’ you tentatively asked.

‘Yes dear, sadly, yes.’ Mrs. Figg distractedly muttered. ‘Mundungus Fletcher, when I get my hands on that little squat again, I swear!’

You were trembling.

Something was after Harry, something terrible.

And you were in no power to help him.

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

‘Is something the matter?’ you asked, trying hard to keep a straight face.

‘Have you ever tried macaroons; I reckon they’re brilliant.’ Harry mumbled, ignoring you.

You rolled your eyes. ‘Harry.’

Sighing, Harry looked at you. ‘Hm?’

‘What’s wrong?’ you repeated.

‘Nothing.’

Lies.

‘Harry, something is very much wrong, and you know it.’ You disapprovingly said. ‘What is it?’

Harry sighed. ‘Its just... he’s growing stronger, you know. I... I fear there might be a day where I go to Hogwarts and never come back.’

Your heart sank into your stomach.

‘Its... cmon, Harry.’ You spoke. ‘We can’t... if you think like that, then, you’re not going to fight very well, are you? I’ll have you know, I am always here for you, and I have absolutely no intentions of letting whoever kills you live in peace.’

Harry chuckled at your scathing threats.

‘I’m gonna miss you, Y/N/N.’ Harry mumbled, intertwining your fingers with his.

You sighed. ‘I’ll miss you too Harry.’

More than you can imagine.

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

‘Harry Potter, open this door!’ you screamed, banging furiously, not caring it was raining and you were sopping wet.

‘Harry, I swear, I WILL BREAK THIS DOOR!’ you yelled, ripping your throat raw.

The door hesitantly opened, as a certain boy stood before you.

Choking an enormous sob, you pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

Sobbing into his shoulder, you melted into his touch.

‘Ssh Y/N, ssh.’ He mumbled soothingly.

‘Harry Potter.’ You croaked. ‘You had best returned from this war ALIVE.’

‘I’ll try Y/N/N.’ Harry whispered. ‘I’ll try.’

Your sobs were growing uncontrollable, and Harry did the only thing he could think of to shut you up.

He kissed you.

Slowly and carefully, his lips took in your own, as you melted into the kiss.

Not caring about the salty tears you could taste, you gently stroked his cheek.

When you pulled apart, you sniffed. ‘Good luck, Harry.

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

The rain beat down on your house heavily, as you sat near your window.

Something was wrong, you could sense it.

He’s alive... God, no, he’s alive, please.

Each thought, each dream, showed you endless ways Harry would be dying.

You hated it.

After many days of crying, a knock on your door made you jump.

‘Y/N!’

That voice.

That amazing voice.

Trembling, you opened the door, seeing a messy haired Harry standing there, tears painting his face.

‘My God.’ You gasped. ‘You’re alive. Oh, Harry!’

After yet-another hug, Harry came inside.

‘I reckon I should’ve made this more special.’ He said seriously. ‘But I can not wait any longer.’

You watched, confused, as Harry took your hands.

‘Y/N L/N, the moment you came into my life, I have felt nothing but pure happiness. I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?’

You gasped, hand flying to your mouth.

Sobbing harder, you hugged him.

‘Yes.’

#harry potter #harry potter x reader #harry potter x you #muggle #muggle reader #harry potter x muggle reader #lo #romance #angst #fluff #hp

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 48: The Patronus

The place was not even lit, which hadn't boded well the past few times for them, so Remus was quick to wave his wand and light the candles along the wall. It revealed nothing more than a desk with a suitcase on top, the rest of the room was cleared.

At first they all relaxed, recognizing an unused Hogwarts classroom, the view outside a crystal clear night, the moon newly waning. Then they heard the suitcase rattle.

"I swear to Merlin's sack if it's another three headed dog, I am out!" Frank hissed to no one.

"Thankfully we didn't have to deal with that one," Peter tried to offer, his voice too high pitched to convey any real comfort. "Plus, I've got a nice falsetto-"

"Someone summon the damn book and get us out of here before we have to find out!" Lily snarled, their wands all pointed either at the suitcase or at the door for the threat, but none seemed willing to activate anything. Finally Lily took a breath and followed her own advice, the suitcase went sailing into her hand.

She dropped it as if it had burned her.

"Evans?" James at once asked in concern, but too late, it fell open right in front of her.

A new girl now stood before them all, carefully set blond hair and pale fishy eyes in a neat pink dress, her face scrunched up in pure disgust. Eyes locked on Lily and storming even closer with a ranky, perfumed air she sneered, "I can't believe you did that freaky magic again Lily, mum and dad will kick you out for sure this time-"

James froze with no idea of what to make of this, even as the red heads eyes filled with tears and her wand began to lower, but Remus leaped forward and shouted, "Riddikulus!"

The image flickered for a moment, eyes still locked in on Lily. For just a moment, a boy now stood before them with long greasy hair and a hooked nose, but then it changed to a cartoonish looking dog trying to balance a bone on its nose.

Sirius could only muster up a very small laugh in surprise, but that only drew the boggarts attention onto him next, blank eyes focusing in and already beginning to change into a woman, except this time with haughty dark features and claw like hands as she shrieked at her eldest son what a disgrace he was, in a voice they all recognized from frequent Howlers in the Great Hall.

Padfoot blanched in disgust and tried his own form of the banishment, but then it only grew worse again at the weak attempt, flickering to Prongs, then Moony, and then Wormtail all with looks of horror and disgust upon their faces and spewing even worse things of betrayal and a friend they couldn't trust, all words they'd already said to him.

James pushed him out of the way and, ignoring the change to a skeletal snake-like face appearing from nothing, this time said with purpose, "Riddikulus!"

It changed to a yellow balloon and made a farting noise drifting lazily around the room. Peter made a forced attempt at laughter and they all tried to join in this time with understanding. It landed, flickered feebly between a rat, a pool of blood, a griffin, then settled on an erumpent, rearing onto its hind legs and horn pointed at Alice.

She shrieked and backed away in surprise, but gathered her wits back just as quick, all of them on guard now. She repeated the incantation and watched it shrink down to a fuzzy kitten chasing its tail. They all laughed this time with feeling.

It tried one last feeble attempt, rolling onto its back and nearly locking eyes with Regulus who backed quickly away with a truly horrified expression. Lily stormed forward with a vengeance. The image blurred, taking the shape of a person once more before she shouted at the top of her lungs, and then there was a fish flopping on the floor and singing some tune none of them recognized, but they all laughed anyways in surprise.

Finally, it vanished, the silence left behind though labored with still startled breaths was almost calm thanks to the way it had ended.

Lily very cautiously peeked back inside the suitcase, to find the book sitting innocently inside. "Well," she whispered, still breathing the heaviest. "I guess Harry gets those lessons from Professor Lupin."

They all shuffled for a moment back into more casual stances, everyone looking at someone with worry for this experience.

"Err, Evans, you sure you're okay?" Potter still asked her even as he was looking at his best mate, expression sallow to the extreme and twisted up, still glaring where the boggart had vanished.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and scooped the book up without comment to get to her place.

"An erumpent?" Frank put his arm around Alice and politely asked her. "I feel like there's a story there."

She made an awkward attempt at a giggle to fight off the full memory. "My dad took me to a sanctuary once, it did not end well. What's with you and griffins?"

"A wild one went onto our property once," he grimaced. "I'd be cat chow if my mum hadn't stepped in. Needless to say, I'm quite proud I didn't wind up in Gryffindor for that alone."

She did laugh that time, but both were now done soothing each other and watching Lily with still more worry. They wanted to say something to her, find some way to really make her laugh this off like they had, but she'd just found her place and read out the chapter title, causing an inadvertent but welcomed distraction. "That's not really the way Harry's going to stop this dementor problem." She turned accusing eyes on Lupin, who looked politely puzzled himself. "That's a seventh year charm, I only know of it because I accidentally did a practice quiz for a N. E. W. T. instead of an O. W. L last week. You can't expect a third year-"

Three Marauders decided to keep to themselves they did in fact know that charm, even if they weren't dementor tested, because there had been a study done on correlations between the form they took and similar animagus'. One, did not think that through.

"Do you know any other way to make a dementor piss off?" Black snapped at her, visibly swallowing but puffing up and nearly shouting. "You want Harry to be hearing you scream in his head for the rest of his life? At least Moony's trying something, I don't see any other Professor-"

"Padfoot," Potter placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Breathe mate, she didn't sick that boggart on you, or what came out of it, which was complete bollix."

He took a deep breath and blinked a few times, whatever he'd been yelling at in his mind finally being replaced with her vivid red hair. "Right, sorry Evans."

She just nodded without comment and tried to read on, putting the tid-bit away for later on how, interesting, it was Potter always seemed able to calm all his mates down. What would they be like when he wasn't around to do that?

Sirius had even less interest hearing Harry arguing with his friends, as if he hadn't lived through that enough. So he grabbed Regulus by his shoulder and began towing him to the farthest corner away.

He went stumbling along, but willingly, and straightened his robes and drew himself up imperiously when released. "The hell Sirius? You know you can just ask to have a word with me like normal?"

Sirius huffed and muttered for a moment about the kid before he asked in an almost gentle voice, "your class done boggarts yet?"

Regulus sucked on the inside of his cheek for a moment before answering, "no, at least, not like that. None of my Professors have ever mentioned them, certainly not Liz if it was supposed to come up this year, but Dad actually found one in his desk the day before Christmas Holiday ended. Told me I was going to practice on it this summer," he finished in a small voice. "Guess, now I'll be better prepared for it?"

Sirius had only wanted to somehow brush off the horrible things that boggartWalburga had said if his little brother had questions, but now he felt like he should ask more, for once. He'd flat refused anymore lessons like that with his parents after fourth year when they'd given him several dozen different lectures on not just how to do certain spells, but who they should be targeted towards, and that wasn't even getting into how they talked about beasts like trolls, goblins, and werewolves.

He'd tried to convince his little brother to join him and stop going to these as well, but the little brat had refused and told Sirius he wasn't going to disappoint his parents like that, then asked him to go outside and play a game. It was pure insanity! How long did Regulus think he could keep walking the line between appeasing their disturbed parents and keeping whatever moral compass he still claimed he had?

There was a small distraction from the discourse James was serving by Wood trying to work Harry off the team because of this dementor problem, his best friend shouting loud enough for the whole castle to hear, "Moony, if you don't get Harry a solution to those dementors, I'll banish them all from Earth myself!"

Wormtail gave a wild laugh for his usual antics, the both of them discussing loudly how they'd go about doing that when classes swung around to mentioning said professor again. Sirius looked up and around properly in concern when Hermione displayed, well, not a response they appreciated.

Regulus watched his brother eye Lupin with concern when the little Muggleborn girl seemed to know what was wrong with their newest teacher. Regulus felt affronted for a moment, he hadn't a clue if it was some disease he had or he was just consistently under the whether, but he also hadn't spent much time looking into it. Seemed the nosy little girl had done so and was now lording it, typical behavior of those less fortunate. He shifted his weight uncomfortably to the Muggleborn reading all this, the image of her fiery hair jumping to his defense and tackling the creature, and without permission guilt flooded him for the vicious thoughts. He slumped away from Sirius in confusion and sat by the desk as he tried to sort out all these conflictions in him. The boggart's shape for him, everything he'd thought he'd known being a lie, and still who to believe.

Sirius let him, as he didn't have a satisfactory answer for his own problem yet, and turned to enthusiastically egg Evans on with 'interest' of this new spell they clearly hadn't heard of!

Lily ignored their idiocies, but did stop curiously when the name of the incantation was given and how to invoke it. She hesitated, searching through her mind for something that might work.

Frank didn't have to think twice, summoning forth when Alice had agreed to go out with him and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" A white burst of light did indeed spew forth, but to his disappointment it merely faded away just as fast.

Alice waffled on anything to use. Her life had been quite mellow, nothing would really stand out in her mind that would give her much of anything to work with. She got more frustrated the longer she tried, thinking there must be some high point in her life as she flickered through memories with her parents, friends, and even Frank, but there was no peak producing silver to be found.

The Marauders all, 'gave it a go.' They all had great bruises on their prides to only produce very thick and consistent vapors of smoke without letting their true patronuses take shape, but they'd resisted the urge to brag to the world about their years too early practice in becoming animagus', they could hold off bragging on this too. Sirius turned to Regulus and called, to try and push some attention away, "come on then, give it a go! See if you and Harry are on the same level?"

'I'm nothing like that half-blood' he wanted to snap back, instinctively insulted, but took a deep breath and instead tried to respond to his brothers enthusiasm. He recalled the time he and Sirius had built a fort out of blankets in the study and Kreacher brought them snacks all night, the two whispering about all the adventures of the future, home alone as their parents went to a dinner party all night. A very substantial silver something began to materialize before him, but he was so surprised it faded away just as fast. He looked wildly over to see his brother beaming with pride.

James was watching Evans sadly, advice or something to help on the tip of his tongue. She was red in the face and muttering the enchantment with purpose, but barely a whisp was visible. Usually the ruler of the Charms room, he'd half expected her to be able to flawlessly enact this one, but she was clearly struggling with some aspect. When she opened her eyes and saw him staring, she looked even more angry and frustrated, turning back to the book with a despicable look, muttering about practice later.

She didn't exactly feel better that she was doing worse than Harry, or the fact that the boy had to create a fake memory just to produce results! She flushed with shame as she suddenly realized she may do better trying the same, nothing she'd come up with seemed to be working. Not the earliest ones of the first time she'd done magic, nor the more recent of her and Sev trying to create spells and jotting them down in his mums old potion book. She stamped her foot in frustration of what she was doing wrong.

The lesson was going brutally, and Evans' clear displeasure at her inability to do the spell wasn't helping things along. Constantly having to hear of your last dying words on top of lacking in magic her son was getting only half decent results in this same spell, more than her. At least Harry had an excuse for his lackluster work, his secret desire to hear his mother's voice, the only time in his life he would.

Then Peter fell back against the wall, clutching his ears in pain rather than keep hearing her stutter in surprise over James' last words. You-Know-Who closing in, and his brave, loyal, stupid friend standing his ground against everything. He should have ran, why didn't he run? This wasn't some animal that could so easily be tricked and fooled, this was a tyrant even Prongs couldn't face!

He watched his friend for several long moments, looking as if he were seeing a ghost in Evan's hands, but then his chest puffed up and he drew himself to his full height as if fixing to go ten more rounds with everyone in the castle. "Damned right!" He declared with actual pride.

Sirius and Remus looked on the verge of tears hearing of this, but then they too threw their shoulders back in pride for such a response. Peter wished the castle would swallow him hole in shame as he couldn't bring himself to do the same. His eyes flickered to where the Boggart had vanished, the tiny little rat that had appeared mocking him. He'd always been weak and small compared to them, even his fears, and the self-loathing only grew stronger for what he was, what his first reaction would always be.

Lily had just been given a whole new perspective of this future smacked into her face. There was still the loathsome image of being married to Potter for all of this to even be occurring, but for once that was the most insignificant bit. She held, in her hands, proof that James Potter, cared for her. Like she'd watched him do for his friends in the past few days alone, like she'd seen him even trying to do for her, now magnified in an action he clearly had no regrets for. For this one second, his last breath, he was not some arrogant prick trying to win her affections.

"Lily?" It was the quietest, most gentle way he'd ever called to get her attention. The reason he called her Evans was too rile her up and see her face him with that challenging look ready to go, but that's not what she needed now. "I don't regret it." The calm he infused into that, spluttered something out of her.

"How do you manage to- I don't even like-"

"That's alright," he actually shrugged, still looking like this of all things was a casual conversation. Not the birk that was blindly defending his friend, the arrogant idiot who couldn't see any opinion but his own, just his declaration this was a satisfying enough end. She didn't understand it one little bit. She turned slowly back to the book, because for once she didn't know what to say to him. Thank you didn't seem proper enough, when she couldn't return she'd do the same.

She almost, sympathized with Harry coming to tears over hearing of this. She'd tried, and failed, to put distance between the idea of this child being hers, and for the first time was again struck by just what the boy would think watching this. The first thing he'd ever heard in his parents voice was their life ending for his, and here the two of them couldn't even hold a civil conversation! The lad would probably cry ten fold if he was forced to hear this instead.

Some of James' confidence wavered when Remus, or Professor Lupin whatever, refused to elaborate on their friendship. He had no idea why his friend had been going out of his way these past thirteen years to not care for Harry, and dancing around the answer now was making him feel sick. Just what had happened?

Sirius and Remus exchanged terrified looks for the same, now watching Prongs as he finally looked worried about this future like hearing his own last words hadn't managed. Sirius roused himself, and in a fit of solidarity to chase that away shouted, "oi, who's up for round two with that Boggart! Professor Lupin's slacking, only letting Harry have three goes!"

Remus swallowed uncomfortably rather than admitting he wanted to quit again from this bloody story, but the other two looked relieved and laughed just like Padfoot had been hoping, even if both sounded extremely forced.

There was rising hope in everyone now as Harry finally got a good attempt off! Professor Lupin still had to step in, and it didn't seem encouraging the man who was teaching this couldn't even produce his own patronus to do it, but they'd take whatever they could get at this point.

Professor Lupin's even more cryptic comments about Sirius had the two shuffling closer to each other with unease, wishing more than ever there was some way to just get an answer already rather than all of this foul run around nonsense. Harry pausing to reflect on all of this was making them sicker by the moment, it took everything they had not to grab each others hands in front of everyone just for some comfort in this dreadful situation.

Thankfully the book lightened up from there and the moment passed without either having to acknowledge it. More chats of Quidditch and fond laughter at the little third year whining about homework between all the OWL students was really what everyone needed.

Time dragged on for Harry, Frank and Alice looked out the window curiously as if they were going to see the sun zipping by along with Lily's words, though thankfully they were saved from that experience. When the book did go back to talking about Harry in those lessons, Lily couldn't help her voice shaking again, not needing a repeat to know how much Harry needed this, and yet finally understanding why he'd never want them to stop. Her dismay at this was nothing to the Blacks reaction of finding out the oldest one was to be Kissed.

Sirius would have fallen if his friends hadn't caught him, his face a silent scream of fright, which set Regulus' blood boiling. No one and nothing made his brother look like that! "They can't do that! It's been outlawed- it's never even been allowed it's so beyond words! Just who the bloody hell is trying to hide what doing this to him!"

Hearing his little brother throwing a fit, over him, snapped Sirius out of it like nothing else could have. He'd stood there and watched in wonderment for a moment like everyone else before finally going over to him and wrapping a reassuring arm around his shoulders. Regulus immediately tried to shake him off, still muttering profane things Sirius was a bit proud to hear coming from his young mouth, but held tight. "I want you to remember this moment Reg," Sirius said with conviction. "Purebloods are not any more safe than anyone else from the bad things they do, or are framed for doing." He'd only been trying to distract the both of them from this future horror, but now his kid brother looked even more aghast.

"-But, Sirius, don't you see! This is why the Dark Lord's plans should be followed! He wouldn't let this happen to you!"

Sirius flushed in anger, his arm tightened painfully around the kid, but he remembered how shocked and afraid he'd been when hearing the news of You-Know-Who's real name and birth and forced himself to keep going reasonably. "No, Regulus, it wouldn't. I'll never follow him or what he wants, and he'd do much worse to me because of it. You've got to stop letting others tell you what to do-"

"Like you're doing!" He snapped, finally pulling away. "Both you and our parents just keep saying things, how about giving me a chance to see it for myself? All I've seen so far is someone deciding you're going to get your soul sucked out because you killed a bunch of Muggles! Who cares about them, but under the-"

"Shut up!" Sirius snapped back before he could say it again. "Do you even hear yourself? Murder's okay now, so long as it's not someone who can do magic? What next then, killing Muggleborn's will be okay because it's not you?" To his surprise, Regulus' eyes flinched to Evans and away, it was the first time Sirius had seen him even acknowledge her. "Then who, hum? Wizards without pure blood lines can go to? Then there will just be You-Know-Who's minions, and even those might some day choose to not agree with who goes next, and there won't be anyone left to stop him!"

He took a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm when Regulus just stood there, pale faced but with that insufferably stubborn look still set. He didn't seem to have a rebuttal for that though, for once. "Fine, think whatever you like," he muttered, stamping back to his friends.

Lily felt like backing slowly out of the room so as not to draw attention towards her and invoke another fight like that, even as she'd been unable to look away from the whole thing, completely riveted. The brothers were much more of a spectacle than her and her sister were, she was sure, but still she couldn't help but find herself sympathizing with Sirius Black of all people. She was full of that today apparently, as she wanted to consul the sibling who couldn't get through to the other. It made going back to reading feel ten times more awkward as she kept shooting him anxious looks, an apology or words of understanding on the tip of her tongue for him that he was clearly ignoring even from his own friends.

They were all so distracted it took a few moments for McGonagall's words to sink about Harry's Firebolt being returned to him, than Lily's good mood vanish as fast as it was back for those Marauders. They were a ball of pure energy and excitement Harry got the broom back while she just wanted to chuck it in the trash, considering Harry and Ron even went so far as to rub it in their friends face they'd been right all along. She still remembered Harry nearly being thrown from a broom once, was it beyond her son to admit it could have happened again and better safe than sorry?

She'd thought they were going to end on that high note for Harry, for once, but then another bomb was thrown into the mix for all parties. Hermione's cat had finally eaten Ron's rat. More than one relationship might be irreparable now.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #PoA #wolfstar #jilly #Regulus Black #Remus Lupin #Marauders #James Potter #Sirius Black #Peter Pettigrew #Lily Evans #Frank Longbottom #Alice Smith

[bush-viper-cutie]

“Tea and Omens” || YEAR 3 – Ch.9 (HP au)

                              Chapter List

<-- Last Chapter                          Next Chapter -->

Day posted: 8/7/2020

Word count: 4,560

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

-----

A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

-----

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

Heather woke with a start, realizing it was officially the first day of classes. She quickly ran to the bathrooms, took a bath, brushed out her hair for once, and brushed her teeth all before anyone she knew was actually up. She exited just in time for Pansy to wake up and walked out into the common book with her bag, successfully avoiding her entirely.

She was heading to the door when she spotted Marcus talking to two Slytherin boys she didn’t recognize. She spotted an open seat close to Marcus and sat down, taking out her new potions guide to pretend to look through.

“– Right. That shouldn’t be a problem. They’re usually the first to hold them. I doubt the Gryffindor captain will hold any this year since no one’s left, so I’ll see soon enough. Probably after the Hufflepuffs hold theirs.”

“Can’t wait.”

The three boys passed by and Heather’s mouth fell open. It was Graham Montague and Cassius Warrington who were talking to Marcus. She was pretty sure they were fifth years now, and they were huge. They must have been working out all summer long. She was puny compared to them and probably had better chances at becoming the next Seeker than being a Chaser again.

Draco walked out of the boys’ dormitories, so she quickly put her guide away and caught up to him just as he exited the door with his friends.

“Draco! I think Graham and Cassius are going to try out for chasers this year,” she walked beside him waiting for him to say anything, but he just shrugged. “What, you won’t help me?”

“Potter, just face it. You can’t beat any of them. You should be glad, actually. We’ll have better chances at winning this year,” he laughed and walked on with his friends.

“Fine. I don’t need your help.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed over to Gryffindor tower.

After a few minutes of waiting by the portrait hole, Hermione, Harry, and Ron came out and they walked down to the great hall for breakfast. There were less spots open but Heather managed to squeeze into the Gryffindor table like always.

“Oh man,” Ron put several muffins on his plate and started picking at all of them. “I hope our schedules aren’t awful this year.”

Heather giggled, “They weren’t bad last year. You and Harry just need to do your assignments not last minute.”

Hermione nodded and covered her mouth, “I agree. This year we’ll make sure you two – ”

“Hey, Potter!”

They turned towards the Slytherin table.

“Don’t forget a pillow in case you feint again!”

Draco laughed at his friend’s joke and pretended to feint onto Crabbe.

Pansy stood up. “Oooooo! Careful! The dementors are out to get you, Potter!”

Hermione knocked on the table, turning their attention back to her. “Ignore them. They aren’t funny.”

“I don’t know how you can stand to be a Slytherin,” Ron glared down at his half-eaten muffins.

“Slytherin isn’t the problem. It’s just stupid Pansy and Malfoy.”

Harry put his hands up, “We all know that. They’re trying to make us mad. We can’t let them make us mad.”

Hermione smiled, “Precisely. Oh! Here come our schedules!”

Professor McGonagall went by handing them out to her Gryffindors and walked back to the High Table. Professor Snape was much slower with his, and she had to stand up to go get hers. She cleared her throat behind him and caught the paper as he dropped it over his shoulder.

“Were the Weasleys out of flying cars this year?” Professor Snape looked over his shoulder at her, glaring.

She held her head up higher and mumbled a thank you before returning to her seat to unfold the schedule. She looked over her shoulder again and sighed, “I’m never going to beat Malfoy.”

Ron laughed, “You should just face the fact that no one can kiss Snape’s shoes better than Malfoy, and focus on other classes like Harry and me.”

“And what classes are you two focusing on?” Hermione laughed.

Harry unfolded his schedule, “Magical Creatures looks promising…”

Ron shook his head, “Fred and George tell me Divination is the class we’ll like. They said it’s the easiest class – ”

“Hogwarts classes aren’t EASY. I bet Divination is going to be challenging and very informative.”

They all ignored Hermione’s intense optimism for classes. Heather unfolded her own schedule and was very happy to find all their classes lined up. She bit her lip and reached for Hermione’s, looking at all the classes listed one after the other. “How many classes are you taking?”

She pulled it back before Heather could look too closely at it, “All of them. They all looked so interesting I couldn’t pick and…”

Ron snatched the schedule from her, “You’re sounding like Percy when he – hey! Some of these you can’t even go to – ”

Hermione pulled it away again and stuffed it in her bag. “Will you two stop worrying about my classes? I talked to Professor McGonagall and she approved all of these.”

Heather and Ron looked at each other but left Hermione alone the rest of breakfast. What did she care if Hermione’s schedule was all messed up? If anything, Hermione would be putting less time in herbology and potions which would mean less competition.

They had to venture into a part of the castle they hadn’t yet seen or been in before. They went through corridor after corridor trying to ask portraits for directions and it was a suit of armor that finally pointed them the right way.

They found the north tower stairs and started their climb all the way to the very top. It would have been much faster if there were only one set of spiral stairs, but there were at least four. One of them led half way up and then took them back down, the other one started on a different second floor corridor and led to a third one that only went to the other side of the very same tower. The fourth one had steps that retreated into the wall, so they had to quickly descend to the landing at the halfway point.

“Who built this castle!” Ron sat on the landing and huffed hot air out, trying to cool down.

“We should just ask for directions,” Harry pushed everyone back down the steps.

They stepped off at the third floor and looked for a painting. Heather spotted one and called everyone back. A tiny knight on a horse rode passed yelling and screaming half-intimidating things until he calmed down after getting flung of his horse.

“Err… how do we get to the top of the north tower?” Harry pointed up as if to let the knight know he knew the direction they should be heading was ‘up’.

The little knight rubbed his metal gloves together and nodded, “Indeed! Follow! Lost children, follow me!” He hopped back on his horse and ran to the left and disappeared.

They stood around until they realized they could follow the sound of clanking metal and bolted after what they assumed to be him. There were a few paintings where they could spot him momentarily, glad to see it was still him they were chasing. They ran across the corridor to the fourth floor and to a new set of spiral stairs in a much more contained and compact chamber that looked to lead all the way up.

“Our quest is now complete! Good day! And should you need Sir Cadogan…” he rode off, his voice trailing quietly behind him.

They took a break at the base of the stairs until more third years sounded around the corner and before they got stuck in a giant crowd on the tight stairs, they started the climb for the fifth time. They rested against the white painted stone walls of the landing and looked around as more students made it.

Heather looked over some heads and spotted Neville looking confused and disoriented. “Neville!” she waved at him, “Here!”

He made his way, looking relieved to find them. “I thought I was going to be late. My shoelace got stuck on a stair when it pulled in. You’d think there were six north towers…”

Ron pat his shoulder, still unable to say anything until his breathing regulated.

Harry looked at the time on his watch, “Class is soon but… where’s the door? Is it going to reveal itself when the clock chimes or – ”

A shabby brown door above their heads opened inwards and a shiny silver ladder fell onto the floor with a thud right behind Neville. He jumped back and looked up.

“Well go on…” Hermione pushed him up.

One by one they climbed and stepped into what looked like a circular attic with tiny windows all over the wall like picture frames, letting in odd colors of light. There were circular tea tables everywhere with two chairs per table and a circular base in the middle that reflected as clearly as any mirror. The windows all closed suddenly and lamps turned on, glowing dimly behind sheer red scarves.

They squinted and made their way into their seats next to one another. Ron and Harry in one, and Heather and Hermione in the other. Everyone waited for something else to happen but for a long minute nothing did, except mist seamed to be coming up from creaking floorboards.

“Class! Welcome!” a woman’s voice boomed loudly.

“Where is she?” Ron looked around and almost jumped out of his seat when one of the colored curtains moved and revealed their teacher.

She waved her arms as the curtains slid off her on her way to the center of the circular room. She adjusted her glasses and folded her hands in front of her, smiling widely at everyone. Her glasses were huge on her head and very think and round. She looked like an owl that had been dropped in expired glitter and vintage streamers.

“So, we physically meet,” she looked every student in the eyes. “Let’s sit and let our spirits converse!” Being the only one standing, she sat down on her small cushioned reading chair and drank some tea off her table. She moved her beady necklaces around to jungle and closed her eyes, breathing in some of the mist.

“Hmm,” Hermione tilted her head at the teacher.

“Hmm?” Heather wanted to ask what on earth that meant. Hermione was frowning and had her arms crossed in front of her.

“I am Professor Trelawney and I will be teaching you the very serious art of Divination.” She took out the divination textbook as if to talk about it but set it back down. “I must warn you all. Before we get into this class, you must know just how serious and difficult this art is. In fact, I would say the most difficult.” She pushed up her glasses again. “Some of you,” she looked at several students, “will have the necessary ability like me. Some of you… have the Sight. So, no matter how hard you study… many of you will not be able to venture into the field of divination ever.”

Ron and Harry looked up at them and raised their brows. Heather and Hermione stuck their tongues out and told them to turn around and pay attention. Heather couldn’t believe it was day one and she might already be doing worse than others just because she’s used to studying things hard. How could the textbook not be enough?

Professor Trelawney stood up and looked around. “Let’s allow for your physical beings to meet your partners for the class, although spiritually I’m sure we have all met. Go on.”

Heather turned around to Hermione. “Hello, this is my physical being talking.”

Hermione crossed her arms again, unamused. “What did she mean about the studying bit? Why would she make us buy a textbook that wouldn’t help?”

She shrugged, “Maybe it’s just required? Like for potions?”

“Oh my,” Professor Trelawney approached Neville. “Your grandmother is looking quite ill.”

Neville shrunk back in his seat, “She was fine yesterday…”

“I’d check on her.” She tapped her chin and pressed her lips staring at Neville. She turned her attention away, continuing with class. “This term we will be covering many things… Beginning with Tea leaf reading, which will likely be very difficult for many students – ” She turned to a Gryffindor girl near the front and bent down close to her table. “You should beware a red-haired man, dear.”

The Gryffindor girl turned to look at Ron with the rest of the class.

Ron’s ears went red. He frowned. “Technically my hair’s orange.”

Harry’s tried muffling his laugh, “But in certain lights…”

Ron gave him a mean look as Professor Trelawney took the center of the room again and everyone but the very concerned Gryffindor girl turned their attention back.

“The next term we will be looking at crystal balls. Palmistry will be a very interesting subject. And I hope to finish fire omens – they’re very, very insightful – but with the flu everyone will be dealing with in February who’s to say. Of course, I’ll lose my voice which will be another interruption and some time around Easter someone here will leave us forever.”

Heather looked around at everyone else who, too, were scanning the room for any hints of who that might be. She looked at Neville and he shook his head, but she wasn’t so sure. Last year Professor Snape said they’d be brewing more explosive potions this year and she doubted he’d have suddenly gotten less clumsy over the summer.

“Now, we should get ready. You dear,” she pointed at a different Gryffindor girl, “Please pass me that silver teapot just behind you.”

The girl looked relieved and stood to grab it, handing it carefully as if coming into contact might trigger a prediction. Unfortunately for her, it looked like Professor Trelawney already had a prediction ready for her.

“I see that you’re dreading something. Well I’m so very sorry to say but on Friday the sixteenth of October, it will happen.” She smiled and took the tea pot down to her table by the fireplace and cushioned chair, sitting and sliding her teacup nearer. “Now, there are teacups on that shelf so please everyone collect one and come down to the teapot to fill it.”

Heather stood up with Hermione and followed Harry and Ron up to the teacup shelf with everyone else.

“Can you believe anything she’s saying?” Ron whispered, looking back at Professor Trelawney who was staring down at her teacup, swirling her tea. “Now everyone’s going to hate me and my hair isn’t even actually red!”

Heather put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Very unfortunate prediction.”

“You looked at me when she said someone would leave forever,” Neville leaned into them.

Heather sighed, “Just be careful this year with your ingredient labeling, ok?”

The line was moving fast and they managed to all get their teacups, fill them from the floating teapot by Professor Trelawney, and return to their seats.

Harry leaned back and whispered to Heather, “What if it has to do with Black.”

“What?” Heather groaned and shook her head violently. “Harry don’t start now. If we stay in the castle how could we get hurt?”

He shrugged and turned back as Professor Trelawney as she stood and continued on about how to properly prepare the leaves. Heather drank until the leaves were lightly coated in tea and swirled it around three times with her left hand like she had instructed. Everyone placed their teacup upside down on the saucer and waited a few minutes for more liquid to drain down.

“Please switch with your table partner and interpret the patterns. Page five of the textbook will be helpful for this if you do not yet have the Sight. Oh and,” she turned to look at Neville again, “make sure to grab a blue teacup after you’ve broken that one. Thank you.”

Neville nodded and reached over to give his cup to his table partner but it slipped out of his hands and toppled to the floor, breaking into several sharp pieces. The class started laughing, and Heather did her best to hold it in for him out of support which Harry and Ron couldn’t manage to do even when Hermione give them very stern looks. Neville stood to get his second teacup and start all over.

Heather swapped cups with Hermione and laughed, “What if it tells me something really embarrassing? Should I pretend not to have noticed?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “It won’t tell you anything. They’re just tea leaves.”

Heather opened ‘Unfogging the Future’ to page five and ran her finger down to look for any familiar clumpings. She stared at the tea leaves that were slowly gathering back at the center bottom from being tipped upside down and she wasn’t sure if she should wait for them to settle.

From her chair Professor Trelawney cried out, “Look past the ordinary of the world and into the extraordinary! Broaden your minds!”

Hermione huffed and frowned into Heather’s cup trying to search for something. Heather turned the cup around and spotted a clump that looked a bit like a blade of grass or maybe a curved stick or string. She looked for any type of swirly line resembling that and found at least five that could work.

“So… I think maybe you’ll fall down or something? Or something will fall around you… making you sad? And,” she looked for two clumped circles to the left of the cup, “and something about running.”

Hermione sighed and set the teacup down, “According to this you’re going to get swallowed up by something small.”

“Right. I’ll look out for that.” She glanced down at Harry and Ron who were doing a very poor job at stifling their laughs. “Will you two take it seriously?”

Ron covered his mouth with his arm and Harry half snorted and nodded, trying to look through the options again. Unfortunately for Harry, Professor Trelawney heard him and came up to see what all the fuss was.

“Let’s see your prediction, dear.”

Harry cleared his throat and looked down into the teacup. “This lump here means trials and suffering,” he checked the book, “and this one is happiness… so he’s going to suffer… but be happy about it.”

The class started laughing quietly and Professor Trelawney took Harry’s teacup from Ron. As she studied it everyone looked over intently. She moved her fingers over the mouth of it as if counting and muttered to herself.

“The great falcon, my dear. You have a deadly enemy.” She set the cup down and pressed her lips shut into a line.

“But everyone already knows that. Everyone knows about Harry and You-Know-Who.” Hermione sunk further into her chair under the eyes of the whole class and Professor Trelawney.

Heather stared at her wide-eyed. She couldn’t believe Hermione had just spoken out like that. And to a teacher, no less.

Professor Trelawney looked back down at Harry’s cup, ignoring Hermione’s outburst, and turned it clockwise. “I see here the club, meaning you’ll face an attack. And, oh dear, this is a very sad cup.” She leaned in closer and frowned. She turned it one more time and gasped very loud and sharp suddenly. She twisted it slightly and screamed, almost throwing the cup back down on the saucer. “Oh dear, dear boy… no… I shouldn’t say… It would be better that way.”

Harry took his cup and looked into it, shrugging at Ron.

One of Harry’s dorm mates, Dean, raised his hand but spoke anyways. “What is it?”

Several people were leaning over trying to look into Harry’s cup. He placed it back upside down on the saucer.

“What I saw… My dear, you’ve received the Grim.” Professor Trelawney shook her head sadly and picked the cup back up to examine it more.

Some people were looking around confused and others had clapped their hands to their mouths.

“What’s the Grim?” Harry looked up at Heather who shrugged.

“The Grim? Dear, it’s… It’s a giant spectral dog that haunts churchyards! It’s a very serious omen! It’s… the worst… It’s an omen of death!”

Heather closed her eyes and sighed. Of course Harry had to get a death omen. And of a scary dog like the one they’d seen. Now she was sure he’d be overthinking everything again. She turned to look at Hermione and saw she was gone from her chair. She looked back down and saw Hermione looking over Professor Trelawney’s shoulder.

Hermione shook her head. “It doesn’t look like the Grim at all.”

Professor Trelawney set the teacup down and crossed her arms, looking Hermione up and down. “Your aura… it’s very small and weak. That would explain why you are unable to be receptive around the art of divination. I would suggest meditation to increase your reception of the future.”

Dean was squinting into the teacup pulling it away and bringing it back, “No I see it. There, like this… but then again if you hold it out here it looks like a donkey…”

Heather stood up and took the cup from him to inspect it herself. She looked down and saw a clumpy mush of wet leaves. “I don’t see anything.”

Dean turned the cup around for Heather and pointed. “See those ears?”

“Are we done deciding if I’m gonna die or not?” Harry took back his teacup and hugged it tight so no one else could see inside it.

“I think we shall finish this class early today. Pack up and put the teacups in the back.” Professor Trelawney looked at Hermione one last time and walked back to her chair.

Everyone packed up and silently left the classroom.

Hermione still looked very upset as they were making their way down the spiral stairs. “It wasn’t the Grim. It was a mushy clump. She only said that because she’s heard of you and would have known about last year and the year before.”

“I agree.” Heather bumped Harry encouragingly.

He nodded but kept quiet the rest of the way down. They stood outside the transfiguration class in silence until more students gathered and Professor McGonagall let them in. Harry immediately sat down in the back and Hermione grumbled but didn’t say anything.

As class went on it was hard to pay attention to Professor McGonagall when Harry was looking so down. She took extra detailed notes for him since all he was doing was doodling in his notebook. Class was coming to an end and Professor McGonagall got to the last listed subject they would learn about.

Professor McGonagall circled the last word on the chalkboard and turned to the class, “Animagi. That is the name for wizards who can transform into animals, at will.”

Heather’s ears perked up. That definitely sounded cool.

Professor McGonagall continued, “The transformation process is very dangerous and any wizard who wishes to attempt it should have a healer standing by. Animagi are registered with the Ministry for safety. We shall touch more on this later in the year.”

Out of the corner of Heather’s eye she saw Harry drop his head on his desk. She looked around and saw several eyes looking over at him. Even sitting in the back he was getting lots of attention. She turned back to Professor McGonagall and just caught her mid-transformation from a cat back to herself.

“Really? Not that it matters but this is the first class no one has clapped…”

Hermione raised her hand. “We’ve just had our divination class and – ”

“Ah.” Professor McGonagall leaned on her desk and shook her head, fixing her hair. “And, may I ask, which one of you is it that’s supposed to be dying?”

After a minute Harry broke the silence, “I am.”

“Of course. Well let me inform you all… Professor Trelawney has predicted the death of a student every year. Not one of those predictions has ever come true. Seeing death omens is her way of greeting each new class. I don’t speak ill of colleagues… so I will leave it there.” Her nostrils flared as she sighed and shook her head. “There are some branches of magic that are incredibly imprecise. True Seers are very rare to find, and Professor Trelawney – Well.” She looked over at Harry, “You look in fine health, Mr. Potter. And I shall expect your homework in on time, however, if you die, I won’t take off points from Gryffindor for your late work.”

The class laughed and spirits were higher than they’ve been in the last two hours. Harry was back to talking as they made their way down to the great hall and Heather was sure Professor McGonagall had fixed whatever Professor Trelawney had done. They sat down for lunch together, but Ron was still looking unsure.

After they had all started eating, Ron turned to Harry. “And you’re sure you haven’t seen the Grim anywhere?”

Heather groaned.

“I have.” Harry set his fork down.

“What!” Ron stared at him.

“He has not! We saw a stray dog. And I didn’t even recognize it as a dog when I saw it.”

“There are lots of strays everywhere, Harry.”

Ron shook his head, “If he’s really seen a Grim then that’s very serious! My uncle died of one!”

Hermione laughed. “He died of seeing a Grim?”

“No he died after.”

“Look. Divination seems like its all guesswork and coincidences. It’s no different than with muggle fortune telling.”

“Sure. If you don’t have the Sight.” Ron stabbed his stew.

Hermione huffed, “You didn’t even see the Grim when you read his tea leaves! Divination is all nonsense.”

“You just don’t like things you’re bad at. Professor Trelawney said your aura was too weak for divinations.”

Heather and Harry stared at each other.

Hermione stood up from the table, “If being good means pretending to see nonsense in wet clumpy leaves then I’m not sure I want to study it any longer. My arithmancy class was way better!” She took her bag and walked away out of the great hall.

They all stared at her as she turned the corner out of sight.

Heather turned back. “Did she say she’d been to her arithmancy class?”

Ron frowned, “She can’t have been.”

They continued eating in silence. Heather went over Hermione’s schedule in her head. She couldn’t have been to arithmancy. That was at the same time as Divinations. The rest of the day studying and doing homework with Harry and Ron was very boring and quiet. Ron was upset, Harry was thinking to himself probably about that Grim, and Heather couldn’t figure out when Hermione would have had the time for her extra class.

By the end of the day Heather was extremely tired with all the worrying and thinking from the most eventful first day they’d had yet. She hadn’t seen Hermione since she left and wished she had asked more questions about her classes. With a groan she dropped to the floor after everyone in her dorm was asleep and did barely any exercises before crawling back into bed. She closed her eyes and hoped classes tomorrow would go smoother.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

                          Chapter List

<-- Last chapter                       Next chapter -->

-----

@lokilover-39

@halcyonrogers

@krazykatkay456

@lady-of-black-roses

@writingmi

-----

#harry potter #heather potter #pro snape #severus snape x oc #severus snape x reader #severus x reader #severus x oc #snape x oc #snape x reader #snape fanfic #snape fanfiction #snape fan fiction #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fiction

[itsyourchoice-hp]

Year 2: Dementors

Author’s Note: I do not support JK Rowling’s trash opinions!  _______________________________________________________   “But did you see the look on his face?” Draco howled, keeled over in the middle of the Corridor. “It was like-” he did an awful impression of somebody being afraid, and then proceeded to cackle, clutching a stitch in his side. Harry pulled his cloak over his head, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. “Honestly, Draco, you were just as frightened,” Hermione said. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone scream so loudly before,” Ron snickered. Draco stopped laughing long enough to shoot him a glare. “What happened?” Ginny asked, joining the group. “Nothing!” Harry groaned. “I have to go to Quidditch practice…” “Watch out for Dementors!” Draco called after him, still laughing. “Draco, honestly…” Hermione rolled her eyes as he continued imitating Harry. It had already been two days since Cath had returned to for her second year on the Hogwarts Express. During the ride from King’s Cross to Hogsmeade Station, the train had been stopped by ghostly black figures cloaked in tattered robes - Dementors. They had inspected each compartment, opening the sliding doors with spindly, rotting hands. Their cold breath sucked the life out of everything around it. It was a horrible feeling. Nothing like that had ever happened on the Hogwarts Express - it was a shock to the whole student body. “Somebody, please tell us what’s happened,” Cath demanded. “When the Dementors came aboard the train… Harry didn’t take it too well,” Hermione began. “He sort of passed out-” “And screamed,” Draco put in. “I don’t blame him - it was an awful feeling,” Ron defended Harry. Everyone was quiet for a moment, remembering the cold dark feeling that the Dementors had brought to the train. “I still don’t understand why Dumbledore’s letting them be at the school all the time,” Draco said, frowning. “I’d rather have Dementors here than Sirius Black,” Ron pointed out. Everyone agreed. It had been all over the news that summer - a mass murderer named Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban prison after twelve years of imprisonment. Black had murdered about a dozen people at once, using a very dark and dangerous curse. Nobody knew how he had managed to escape the prison, but Professor Dumbledore had announced at the welcome feast two days again that the Dementors, who were guards of Azkaban, would be on Hogwarts grounds for safety reasons. “Dad said the Ministry was nearly in pandemonium when the news came out,” Ginny remarked. “My father doesn’t think that Cornelius Fudge has what it takes to catch Black,” Draco drawled. “He says Fudge is too used to everything going smoothly. When Black escaped, he had no idea what to do. Father had some excellent ideas on how to catch Black.” “Your father should just become Minister for Magic then…” Ron muttered. Malfoys and Weasleys didn’t typically get along too well. the Weasley’s father as well as Cath and Draco’s father worked at the Ministry of Magic. Cath and Draco had been raised in a family who was very proud of their Pureblood status, and though Cath didn’t much understand why it was so important, Draco adopted nearly every one of their father’s opinions even if he didn’t understand them either. “Father wouldn’t make a good minister either,” Cath said, giggling. “He’s got an awful temper. And he couldn’t do anything without Mum.” Just then a tall man approached their group. He looked worn and tired yet had a mysterious sort of aura, and wore dress robes in muted tones. Professor Dumbledore had introduced him as Professor Lupin, their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. “Harry,” he said. “Could I have a word?” Harry followed him down the corridor, out of ear shot from the rest of them. “What do you think he wants?” Cath asked. “He was in our compartment on the train when Harry had his… episode,” Draco said, still biting back a smile and earning a slap on the shoulder from Hermione. “I suppose he’s just checking in. Cath and Ginny checked their timetables. “Damn,” said Cath. “I don’t have Defence until tomorrow!” The bell rang and Ron groaned, slumping his shoulders. “Ugh,” he said. “Divination… it’s torture! Enjoy second year while you can.” Cath and Ginny walked to the dungeons where Potions class was held. Looking out the windows before they descended the last flight of stairs, she could see Dementors floating around the castle grounds through the fog. “Five points from Gryffindor,” Professor Snape said as soon as Cath and Ginny entered the Potions dungeon. Cath sighed as they found a seat with a few Hufflepuff students. They had hardly been five minutes late to class, but then again Professor Snape was not likely to show sympathy to a student. He was moody all the time, and hated Gryffindors the most of all the houses. “Open your textbooks to Chapter 1. We will begin with the Sleeping Draught technique,” he instructed them. “I heard that Sirius Black was spotted in Croatia,” said Margo Peterson, a Hufflepuff student, leaning forward and whispering seriously.  “Where’d you hear that?” Ginny frowned skeptically. “My father is friends with a special correspondent from the Daily Prophet,” she replied. “Was he looking for a nice, sunny vacation?” Cath said sarcastically. Professor Snape interrupted their whispering conversation with a whack of his metre stick on the blackboard. “I have already taken five points from you both. Unless you would like to continue your conversation in detention, I suggest you listen while I am instructing you,” he said, glaring at Ginny and Cath. A few students stifled their laughter while Ginny and Cath quickly busied themselves by finding the right chapter. “He’s probably looking for more people to murder,” Margo whispered before opening up her textbook. *** Ginny and Cath walked to the Great Hall together during their lunch break and joined a cluster of students at the Gryffindor table who were all engaged in excited chatter. “…we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet,” Fred Weasley was saying. “Zonko’s Joke Shop,” George cut in excitedly. “A pranksters haven… Fred and I are their most loyal customers.” “I heard Honeydukes has every candy and sweet imaginable,” said Ron, who was listening with wide eyes. “Everything you can imagine and more, dear brother,” Fred replied. “What are they talking about?” Ginny asked Cath. “Hogsmeade, the wizarding village,” Cath replied. “Draco’s been going on about it all summer. Third years get to visit on weekends.” “That’s not fair,” Ginny pouted. “There’s an excellent Quidditch supply shop too,” Draco put in. “Father got me my Nimbus Two Thousand One from there this summer. We visit Hogsmeade every now and then.” “Your daddy must really love you, Draco,” Seamus Finnigan said in a patronizing voice. “He loves the Slytherin Quidditch team too,” Draco replied with a smirk. Cath rolled her eyes. “What’s he on about?” Fred and George demanded to her. Both were Beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, whose biggest competition was the Slytherin team. Cath sighed. “Draco begged father to buy the team new brooms.” The twins mouths dropped open in outrage. “New brooms can’t rival the skill that Gryffindor has,” said Hermione absentmindedly, engaged in a textbook. Cath saw her glance at Draco with a smirk, who returned it with a grin. “I suppose your team must be that desperate to win the cup this year if they had to beg for new brooms,” said Harry. “We’ll see about that, Potter,” Draco replied. “Draco!” Everyone turned and looked around. A few Slytherin third year students were looking at the Gryffindors with disgust, waving for Draco to come over as though they couldn’t believe he was sitting with them. Draco frowned, going red in the face. The others began helping themselves to food, the conversation coming to a halt. “See you later,” Draco said, quickly taking his school bag and joining the other Slytherins. Hermione looked at him over her shoulder until he sat down at the Slytherin table and then busied herself with her reading again. “Slytherins will be Slytherins,” George shrugged. “So, Hogsmeade,” Cath quickly changed the subject, grabbing a sandwich from a silver tray. The conversation about Hogsmeade began again, and Cath noticed Harry looking glumly at his plate, pushing a half-eaten sandwich around with a fork. “Are you going this weekend, then?” she asked him. Harry looked up at her and shook his head. “No, I - er, can’t.” “Why not?” Cath asked. Harry looked back down at his plate, scowling. “My aunt and uncle didn’t sign my permission form.” “You could send it to them by Owl post,” Cath suggested. “No, they wouldn’t sign it,” he replied. “They’re Muggles. They hate magic, and anything to do with Hogwarts. They nearly tossed the permission form in the fireplace before I grabbed it back from them. So, I suppose I’ll be staying here at the castle.” “Oh,” Cath said. “Well, you can hang out with Ginny and I then.” “Thanks,” Harry replied, smiling.

#harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hpff #a03 fanfic #a03 writer #a03 feed #hermione granger #draco malfoy #dramione #fanfiction #original character #severus snape #ron weasley #writing #mine #it's your choice #hp aesthetic

[imaginemedreamingstuff]

Dancing in the Moonlight || Fred Weasley

A/N: Hi! this is me again. I know I haven’t uploaded anything in a while but I ended up writing this and decided to post it here. I know it’s not who I usually write about but maybe you’ll enjoy it! Also I’ll probably post a little life update soon. 

Summary: When Fred catches what he thinks is Y/N and Ron kissing, he suddenly realises that he has a crush on his little brother’s best friend.

Word Count: 3.1K

Masterlist

„Why haven’t you asked her to the dance yet?” Y/N asked as soon as she walked into the boy’s dorm where Ron was already waiting for her. The sun had already set behind the castle and it had gotten quiet around here.

“I don’t even know who you are talking about” the redhead answered defensively. Of course he knew, that dimwit. Everyone knew.

“I’m talking about Hermione and the way you stare at her whenever she is not looking.” Ron’s ears immediately grew red as soon as those words met them.

“I don’t do that!” he retorted but they both knew Y/N was right.

“Don’t be a coward and just ask her. You are a Gryffindor after all” she encouraged her friend. She had a feeling Hermione would surely say yes.

“Okay…I’ll ask her” Ron finally gave in “But can you please show me how to dance first”.

“Fine” Y/N chirped satisfied with his answer. Ron and Hermione were so obviously into each other it was almost in insane that they weren’t together yet. Y/N had been waiting for one of them to make a move for months now, but it never happened. But then Ron came up to her at breakfast in the Great Hall today and wanted her to show him how to dance for the Yule Ball. She instantly agreed and so they decided to meet in the boy’s dorm during dinner time so it would be empty, and they would have the time and space to practice.

“You know that I’m only doing this so you can dance with her” Y/N told her best friend before she positioned herself in front of him.

“Now put your hand on my hip” she instructed while she put her own onto his broad shoulder. Ron did exactly what Y/N told him while she continuously counted to three to help him find the right rhythm. After a while they managed to sway together in the silent room. Y/N had to remind him where to step a couple of times, but it wasn’t too bad. Just when she thought Ron had finally gotten the hang of it, it happened. Actually, a lot of things happened all at once.

Although it was Ron’s turn to step back and Y/N’s turn to step forward he also moved his left foot toward her. Their legs collided, causing them to stumble. Ron’s broad figure crashed against Y/N’s. The impact of his weight made her fall back and because they were still holding onto each other he came crashing down with her.

“Oh my god” Y/N squeaked before she landed on the carpet floor with Ron on top of her, their faces only centimetres away from touching. The air was pushed out of her lungs just as the door to the dorm room was pushed open.

“Hey Ron, can I borrow your-“ Fred stopped in the middle of his tracks as soon as he saw them. The embrace the were in must have looked quite intimate. It was a real ‘it’s not what you think it is’ moment. Fred stood in the doorway as if his feet were glued to the floor. His mouth hung open and his eyes jumped from Y/N to Ron and then back to her. Friends usually weren’t that close.

“I-I am sorry” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to interrupt”.

Ron’s ears were dark red when he climbed off Y/N’s body. Her cheeks matched that colour quite well but to her surprise Fred also seemed flustered.

“I’m already leaving, just act like I was never here” he spoke quickly and was already out of the door before Y/N could even get up.

“Well that was weird” she said as she took the hand that Ron was holding out for her.

“You know that he thinks we just… uh did some very friendly things to each other”.

The thought of it was so weird that they both shook their head in disbelief and disgust even.

“I know but still. It’s Fred. Why didn’t he make fun of us?” Y/N asked confused about what had just happened.

“You are right…That is weird” Ron admitted.

As soon as Fred backed out of the room, he felt like a dementor had sucked his soul out of him. He knew he liked Y/N and enjoyed her company. And yes, he was hoping Ron would invite her to the Burrow for Christmas. But he didn’t know he would feel like this after seeing her being close to somebody else. Only now it dawned on him. He was in love with his little brother’s best friend, who was after the latest developments also snogging him. A wave of sadness hit him and for the first time in his life Fred was jealous of Ron.

‘Maybe’ he thought to himself ‘if I had realised my feelings for Y/N sooner she would have chosen me over my little brother’. Fred hated himself for thinking like that, but it didn’t matter anyway. She was already with Ron.

“What’s up? You look like a ghost just walked through you” George asked as soon as he was back in the common room.

“Nothing” he mumbled, knowing that his twin brother wouldn’t believe him for even a split second.

“Are you sure because your face is as pale as Nearly Headless Nick’s bum” George said still examining his twin.

“Like I said it’s nothing” Fred answered, not willing to reveal that he was into his little brother’s girlfriend- or whatever they were.

“Okay, what the hell happened up there? Was Ron dancing around in his underwear again?” George wanted to know with raised eyebrows.

“No, he wasn’t. Can we please change the topic now? I need to get the image you just reminded me of out of my head” Fred responded and forced himself to grin in order to be more convincing.

“Fine. Who are you gonna take to the Yule Ball? I’ve been thinking about asking Katie”.

Fred wanted to scream ‘Not that topic!’ but he didn’t.

“I don’t know. Actually, I don’t feel like asking anyone” he admitted, his voice low.

“Okay who the hell are you and what have you done to my brother?!” George asked loudly and jokingly pointed his wand at Fred. Just as the tip of George’s wand touched his chest, he heard a door open and steps coming their way. Y/N and Ron were walking down the stairs to meet an almost empty common room since everyone except the twins were still at dinner. Fred glanced at the pair before quickly looking away again. George just observed the three of them with wide eyes. A grin was now plastered onto his face.

“Oohh, now I get it” he smiled. “Did you interrupt Ron’s first attempt at wooing a girl?” George had to supress a laugh but instantly grew silent when he saw Fred’s pained face.

“Hey guys!” Y/N greeted the twins with her signature smile, like nothing had happened. While George returned her greeting, Fred just shyly waved and avoided looking at her and that’s when the younger twin put two and two together.

“Holy ass of Merlin!” You have a crush on Y/N!” George whisper screamed as soon as Ron and Y/N headed to dinner. His mouth was opened wide as surprise was written all over his face. Fred could feel his face getting hot, something like this had never happened to him. He had talked about girls he found attractive with his brother before, but Y/N had Fred blushing like a lovesick mess.

“How did I not notice that?” George asked unbelievingly. Normally they knew each other like the back of their hands.

“Because I didn’t notice it either until I saw Ron make out with her” Fred almost shouted.

“So, what are you gonna do now?” His brother asked, looking at him with pity.

“I will just push my feelings away and you will not tell a single soul about it” he explained. If only it were that easy…

“Y/N I fucked up!” Ron came rushing towards her. She was currently sitting in the library since she needed a book for her potions homework.

“What did you do?” She asked while trying to keep her voice low. Ron quickly sat down next to her almost knocking over her jar of ink.

“Hermione is going to the Yule Ball with someone else” he squeaked, looking completely devastated.

“What?! Who?” Y/N stammered. Why was it so hard for those two to accept that they were completely in love with each other?

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me, but she’s definitely got a date to the ball now and it’s not me” he sighed in despair.

“I thought you were going to ask her?” Y/N tried not to yell at him while she closed the potions book. She had just decided she was done for today.

“I know, I was planning to but then I got cold feet and now it’s too late” he explained obviously mad at himself. Y/N felt sorry for her redhaired best friend and at the same time she felt like punching him.

“Now you gotta go with me” he said almost nonchalantly.

“Oh, hold on. What?!” Y/n couldn’t believe her ears.

“I can’t show up without a date, right? And you are my best friend so…”

“I can’t believe you Ronald” she sighed heavily. Ron looked at her like a beaten puppy, even batting his eyelashes at her.

“Okay, fine I’ll go with you” she gave in, unable to say no. There was no chance that the person she was into would ask her out anyway. Especially not after what had happened.

“I can’t believe I taught you how to dance and made Fred think we kissed for nothing” Y/N buried her face into her hands. This whole Yule Ball thing was not going too great for her.

“Why do you even care so much about what Fred thinks? You have been talking about it nonstop” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No -I haven’t” Y/N retorted and suddenly she was very interested in her homework again just so she could avoid her friend’s nosy gaze.

“Bloody Hell! You are totally crushing on Fred!” Ron exclaimed so loud that Madame Pince shushed them.

“Ron!” Y/N whispered sternly and hit his shoulder with her book as hard as she could. Fortunately the library was empty at this time of the day, it’s not like the whole school needed to know she had a hopeless crush on Fred Weasley.

“If you want me to be your date for the dance, I’d not say a single word about it” she threatened her best friend and hoped Ron would really keep his mouth shut.

 “Fred look! There she comes with Ron.” George whispered and nudged his twin brother. As Fred turned around his heart skipped a beat. Y/N was walking down the stairs to the Great Hall where countless of students were already waiting for the ball to start. She was wearing a floor length dress that hugged her body perfectly. Fred couldn’t help but stare at her. He was so mesmerized by her beauty that he almost didn’t see Ron who’s arm she was holding onto. Somehow, she managed to make a few changes to Ron’s dress robe and it almost looked good now.

“Beautiful” Fred breathed inaudibly, still not able to pull his eyes away from her.

When Y/N passed the twins on her way in, she shot them a quick smile, admiring the sight of Fred while doing so. The Great Hall looked absolutely breathtaking. There were Christmas decorations, magical ice sculptures and floating fairy lights everywhere. Soon after they arrived music started playing and the champions of the Triwizard Tournament officially lead the dance.

“Oh my God there she is. She’s here with Krum?!” Ron shouted into Y/N’s ear as he spotted Hermione on the dance floor.

Y/N had to blink twice. She couldn’t believe Hermione didn’t spill that her date was Krum. But she also didn’t tell Hermione that Ron was planning on asking her out and now she ended up being his date. Y/N couldn’t help but think that things got a little bit messed up on the way.

Ron and Y/N mostly spent their time close to the buffet, having some drinks and some of the delicious food that was prepared for them. Every other minute though, Y/N had to calm down Ron who was losing his mind whenever he saw Hermione and Krum in the crowd. All in all, Y/N was not mad about being here with him. They joked around and even goofily danced a bit. She could tell that Ron needed her support tonight and that’s why she was gladly there for him.

It was around midnight when Hermione sat down on a table close to them and Krum was nowhere to be seen. Y/N immediately knew that this was their chance.

“Go over and ask her if she wants to dance with you” she told Ron excitedly. He looked frightened at first but then he seemed to realise that this was all or nothing. If he wanted to be with Hermione, he would have to ask her now or she would be with Krum.

With a little push from Y/N he made his way toward her. She saw him fidget with his hands out of sheer nervousness but after what seemed like an eternity of stuttering Hermione’s face lit up and Ron held his hand out for her. A slow song was playing as the pair made their way to the dance floor and Ron gently placed his hands onto Hermione’s hips. Y/N proudly watched them from afar but was soon distracted by a tall figure approaching her. George was currently holding two drinks when he stopped next to Y/N.

“How’s it going?” he asked her, probably on his way back to his date.

“Absolutely perfect” she smiled happily and pointed to where Hermione and Ron were slow dancing. He stared at his younger brother in surprise before he examined Y/N’s face again.

“I’m so confused” he stated shaking his head. “Aren’t you here with Ron?” George asked, narrowing his eyebrows.

“Yeah…?” Y/N started but then she realised what he was implying. “We are here as friends!” she then immediately explained as George’s eyes widened.

“Oh. Well that’s interesting because Fred is convinced you two are dating or something” he told her trying to make sense of this.

Y/N’s cheeks started getting hot out of embarrassment. “Oh my god. Did he tell you that he caught Ron and I making out?” she asked him for confirmation and George immediately nodded, interested in where this was going.

“Well we didn’t! It just looked like it” Y/N explained. “Where is Fred anyway?” she then asked, scanning the room for the tall redhead.

“He said he needed some fresh air. But that was more than half an hour ago. Why don’t you check up on him? He hasn’t been able to get his eyes off you all evening.” George told her nonchalantly but there was a little smile on his face as Y/N almost choked on the air she was breathing.

“W-hat” Y/N stuttered unable to believe her ears. She wanted to ask the twin a million questions, mostly about what he meant by his comment, but George interrupted her racing thoughts.  

“Just go find him!” he exclaimed and before Y/N knew it she was already heading for the door. “Oh, and don’t tell him I told you that!” George shouted after her while her heart was beating out of her chest.

Fred looked over his shoulder when he heard footsteps right behind him. To his utter surprise Y/N was walking toward him, holding her dress up so she wouldn’t stumble over it.

“Hi” she breathed as soon as their eyes met.

“What are you doing outside?” he asked her, wondering why she wasn’t dancing her feet off with his little brother.

“I was looking for you” Y/N admitted quietly. It must have been almost an hour ago that Fred decided he couldn’t stay at the ball any longer and went to the Black Lake to be alone. He just felt down and all the happy faces around him did not match his mood. He was watching Y/N and Ron the whole time and just couldn’t deal with how much he wanted her to be his.

“What? Why?” Fred asked eyeing her up and down.

“George told me you left, and I did not want you to” Y/N told him as she sat down on the bench he was sitting on. The moon was almost full as it brightened up their faces. Fred could not make sense of what she was saying so he just stared at his feet searching for words.

“So… are you and Ron officially dating yet?” he asked, already afraid of her answer.

“Certainly not. We are still just friends.” Y/N explained. Suddenly there was a spark of hope for Fred and he turned his head to look at her.

“But what about the kiss?” he wanted to know still confused about all of this.

“We never kissed. I was teaching him how to dance so he could ask Hermione to the ball but we tripped and fell over and that’s when you came in” Y/N was talking quite fast now but at the same time Fred felt like she was talking in slow motion.

A heavy weight fell off Fred’s shoulders at her words. Suddenly his body felt like it was on fire and he was searching for a way to tell her how he has been so jealous of his brother and that he was so totally into her.

“Is it too late to ask you to be my date for the ball?” he then carefully asked her full of hope.

“Not at all” Y/N giggled as she felt like she was stuck in a dream.

“Do you want to dance?”

Fred had gotten up from the bench they were sitting on and held his hand out for her. She gladly took it and he pulled her onto her feet. She immediately slung her arms around his neck and at the same time he held her by her waist. The music from the Great Hall sounded from the castle and although it was muffled, they could still hear it as they started to dance together.

Y/N’s chest was touching Fred’s and she enjoyed being so close to him.

“You look absolutely beautiful tonight and every other day actually” Fred whispered, making her smile. 

She looked up into his brown eyes and felt her heart beat even faster. Just then Fred started to lean in, sending Y/N’s heart into a frenzy. She got onto the tip of her toes to reach him and in the matter of a second Fred’s lips crushed onto hers. They melted into each other as their bodies were glowing with warmth in this cold night. And as they kept kissing in the moonlight, they both couldn’t believe how a confusing mess lead to something that enchanting.

#fred weasley #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley imagines #fred weasley one shot #fred weasley fanfic #fred weasley fanfiction #imagine #imagines #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter imagines #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #fanfic #reader #y/n #love #romance #fred and george #fred and george weasley #weasley #imaginemedreamingstuff #fred x reader #fred x y/n #yule ball #story #my writing #mywriting

[im-up-to-no-good]

I solemnly swear ( Part 3 )

Summary: Y/N Potter is the twin-sister of James Potter and the current teacher for Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts during Harry’s third year.

As the news of Sirius Black breaking out ouf Azkaban start to spread, her life is turned upside down as it gets harder and harder to keep their feelings for each other hidden in the dark.

What will happen when Harry finds out about his aunt’s long kept secret?

A/N: this part took me a little bit longer than the last one, I’m sorry. I’m a little bit busy right now because of an upcoming exam but I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

Please feel free to critisize, it only helps me to improve my style and the story!

Word count: 2492

________________

Deep down you had a really terrible feeling about what happened with Harry and the Dementor. Probably most of all because you knew what these dark creatures were capable of. You could imagine how terrifying it must be to see them everyday in Azkaban, to feel the cold consuming you day by day and the fear that rises up inside of yourself over and over again. Only the thought of it gave you an uncomfortable shudder. You tried really hard to get your own thoughts under control but you couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that they attacked Harry in particular even if their only order was probably to search for Sirius. But that fact even affected you the same way as far as you can tell. You knew that Dementors weren’t able to distinguish between the good and the bad, between innocent people and criminals, but nevertheless their attempts seemed odd to you.

You didn’t have much time to think about it any further right now as the train came to an halt and you finally caught up to Remus. He nodded his head as you handed him his little suitcase.

“How’s Harry feeling?” You took a deep breath and forced a smile to form on your lips. “He is as fine as he can be, I assume. It’s not common to have an encounter with a Dementor at such a young age, is it?” Remus laughed at your comment and pulled you out of the train with him carefully.

“I wrote a letter to Dumbledore to tell him what happened as soon as I got to the driver.” You turned your head to look at him. “I hope he can explain why they attacked Harry in the first place. They must have had another destination in mind.” Remus nodded again and lowered his gaze. “Maybe we shouldn’t discuss it any further for the moment.” He pointed towards all the kids who left the train eagerly. “I believe not everyone in Hogwarts has to know that Harry fainted, right? And - You know..” You chuckled slightly and looked around you. “I understand what you mean, I’m sorry. But we should probably hurry up right now, we’re already too late.”

You both fastened your pace a little bit and - thanks to the carriages - reached Hogwarts within a good few minutes afterwards. “Welcome home.” You smiled to yourself and nodded at Remus.

“I always knew that you would make a great teacher.” - “And I always told you that this is totally ridiculous.” You looked at him with a smile playing on your lips. “Seems like I’ve been right, after all. Here you are. I told you that you shouldn’t doubt me, Moons.” He couldn’t help it but laugh and elbowed you playfully. “You wish, Y/N/N.”

You entered the castle and quickly parted your ways to put your suitcases down in your own rooms before you met in front of the Great Hall again. You put one hand on Remus’ shoulder. “Are you ready, Professor Lupin? Cold feet or something?” He laughed slightly and opened the door for you. “I’m ready as i’ll ever be, Professor Potter.”

You entered the room together and walked to the table at the end of it where the other teachers already waited for you. You sat down in between Severus and Remus and waited for the students to finally fill the room.

“I see you have some company this year, Y/N.” You turned around slightly to look at Severus. “It’s nice to see you too.” You gave him a sarcastic smile but nodded nevertheless. “But indeed, I really can’t complain about the turn of events.” He rolled his eyes slightly and took a glance at Remus. “Talking about turn of events.. Seems like your friend had a rough night though.” Your body tensed up immediately. “I don’t believe that this is part of your business.” He seemed a little bit taken aback by your sudden outburst but he should’ve known better. “And it surely isn’t the right place to talk about this topic. As a so called competent teacher you should probably know that, don’t you?”

He let out a low laugh but nodded anyway and turned his attention to the students without another word. You glanced back at Remus and gave him a reassuring look while he smiled back at you thankfully. “It seems like some things will never change, don’t you think?” You laughed silently. “You would be surprised.”

Your gaze wandered off as you felt a pair of eyes watching you. You turned around to look at Dumbledore who slowly walked towards you with a somehow serious look on his face. You slowly stood up and met him halfway.

“Can I assume that you heard what happened today?”

He nodded and put one hand on your shoulder. “I got the letter a few minutes ago. Are you alright?” You nodded and turned your head to the side to look at Harry. “I am. But I don’t really know how he is feeling right now. He still seems to be in shock, kind of. I mean - I don’t blame him.” Dumbledore followed your gaze and hesitated for a short while. “I don’t know why the Dementors came so specifically close to Harry, but I will make sure that it won’t happen again.” You shook your head slightly and faced Dumbledore. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to guarantee it. As far as I know you, you have some bad news to tell.” He took a deep breath and forced a small smile. “You should sit down now, Y/N. The sorting will begin soon.” You shook your head but did as he said and went back to your place next to Remus without another word.

He leaned forward a little bit and looked at you expectantly. “What did he say? Your face is literally screaming anger.” You crossed your arms in front of your chest and shook your head again. “Are you sure you can’t imagine?” He nodded in understanding and stopped to ask any more questions.

Short afterwards the Sorting Ceremony began and you watched the new students curiously. They all were extremely nervous at first - thanks to all the people watching them - but right after the Sorting hat shouted their house they all visibly relaxed and sat down with a smile spread on their whole face.

After everyone got sorted Dumbledore stood up and walked towards the students to hold his speech.

“Welcome to a new year in Hogwarts.” Everyone’s gaze was now fixed on him. “I would like to say a few words before you all lose your attention to our beautiful feast.” You could hear laughter all around the room now, but it died down as soon as Dumbledore raised his hand.

“First of all, we all want to welcome Professor R. J. Lupin who was so kind to become our new teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts. I wish you good luck, Professor.” Remus stood up with a smile on his face and bowed as all the students started to cheer and clap loudly. You watched him with a big grin on your face and clapped for him too. Severus next to you seemed to be less excited for him though. He sat down again after a few seconds and Dumbledore continued his speech.

“And now, I want to inform you all that at the request of the Ministry of Magic - ” He paused for a short amount of time and looked around the Great Hall until his gaze shortly stopped on you.  “Hogwarts will play host for the Dementors of Azkaban until Sirius Black is captured again.” You could see the pity in his eyes but the terrified faces of all the students stuck out to you even more. They just stared at him in disbelief. Harry did so too. You could see the shock covering his whole face and bit your bottom lip slightly to hold back your anger. Dumbledore turned his full attention back to the students in front of him.

“They will be gathered everywhere on the grounds, searching for him. I have to warn you all that they are not capable to differentiate between the ones that they haunt and innocent people who stand in their way.” Your breath got stuck in your throat immediately after that. How does Dumbledore want to keep Harry save if the Dementors are just around the corner everyday and everytime? It seemed typical for him to make promises just to break them again after a few seconds.

You shook your head slightly and looked up at Harry again whose face was as pale as the snow in winter right now. Your heart ached badly as you saw the fear in his eyes. “So, please be careful and don’t give them a reason or the opportunity to harm you.” They all nodded in agreement. “But there is one positive thing you should not forget. Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times - ” With a wave of his hand the fire of the candle next to him faded away. “If one only remembers to turn on the light.” He lit the candle again and sat down afterwards. The students and the teachers stood quite until the feast finally began and they all started eating.

You tried to take a bite or two but you just couldn’t swallow anything. The situation around you affected you pretty bad and you couldn’t wait to go for a walk as soon as possible to clear your head.

As the feast was over the students hurriedly walked out of the Great Hall together with their Prefects and you did the same on your own after all of them were gone. Right as you left the room you saw a person impatiently waiting for someone in one of the dark corners of the corridor. You slowed down until you saw who it actually was and forced a small smile to appear on your lips.

“Harry? What are you still doing here? You should go to your common room, the others must be - ”

Harry quickly cut you off with a hug all of a sudden. You were a little bit taken aback but you wrapped your arms around him tightly without any further questions. After a few seconds you let go of him and took his face in your hands. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, sweetheart. You know that right?” He smiled at you and nodded slowly. “You don’t have to be afraid in any kind of way. I’m always there to protect you if anything happens.”

You hugged him again even tighter if this was even possible. “Let’s walk you back to your dormitories, you should get some sleep.” He nodded and silently walked beside you all the way to the portrait hole. You looked up at the Fat Lady and said the passwort. “Fortuna Major.” The portrait hole swung open and you waited for Harry to finally enter the room, but he didn’t.

“Harry?” You watched him carefully as he tried to form the right words.

“Have I ever said ‘thank you’?”

Silence slowly spread between the two of you. You just stared at him for what felt like ages until some words found their way out of your mouth. “What do you mean?” He let out a shaky laugh but continued.

“Have I ever thanked you?”

Your confused stare didn’t vanish. You didn’t understand what he wanted to tell you. “Have I ever thanked you for always being there for me? Even if the ministry told you not to be? I mean, come on - they told you that you could be send to Azkaban if you’ll ever try to visit me, but.. But you did.” A small smile appearead on your lips as Harry went on.“ I just want to thank you for being the best aunt I could probably ask for. You know..” He stared at the ground, his voice was barley above a whisper right now. “For being my true family.”

You stood there in silence again, no words seemed to form in your mind.

“I’m sorry, it’s just.. There aren’t just the Dementors out there. There’s a murderer who wants to kill me. And who is problaby right on your heels too. I - Maybe I’m just afraid that I could lose you. Like mum and dad.” You looked at him with so much sorrow in your eyes. You closed the gap between you two and embraced him tightly again.

“Listen to me, Harry. Nobody will tear us apart. I can take care of myself pretty good, even -” You took all the strength you had inside of yourself to continue this sentence. “ - even against a heartless murderer. You won’t ever lose me.” He smiled back at you sadly and nodded his head. He believed you, deep down he even knew all of this. You are a powerful witch, he knew that you wouldn’t get hurt. But he didn’t knew that you weren’t completely into believing that Sirius was bad. You still believed that he was innocent. You didn’t saw a murderer, you saw nothing but your husband. So for you there was no reason why he should ever hurt you. But that’s the thing you were too afraid of to say to Harry. And that’s the reason why he couldn’t help it but be afraid of him.

“Now go and get some sleep. You don’t have to worry, okay?” - “Good night, Y/N.”

He walked into the common room and up to the dormitories straight afterwards. As the portrait hole closed in front of you, you decided to just go back to your own room instead of taking a walk. You closed the door behind you and fell down onto your bed. You were more than just exhausted and wanted nothing else but to finally sleep.

You made your way to the bathroom where you brushed your teeth and changed your clothes as fast as you possibly could. Afterwards you crawled into the bed but you just couldn’t get to closing your eyes. You stared at the window right across from your bed as an uncomfortable feeling rose up inside of your chest. You stood up carefully and made your way to your window shelf. In your hurry you didn’t notice the picture that was laying in the middle of it earlier.

A picture of yourself and Sirius where you both jump into the Black lake. It was one of your favorite ones. You took a look around the room and shook your head. How did it get here?

You walked back to your bed and laid down again to examine the picture further. You turned it around and your heart dropped immediately as you found a short note at the back of it. You recognized Sirius’ handwriting without a second thought and a small tear escaped your eyes while reading it.

#hogwarts #hp #harry potter #sirius x reader #sirius black #remus lupin #albus dumbledore #severus snape #ron weasley #hermione granger

[useless-slytherclaw]

Chapter 24: Connection

tw: mentions of child abuse

The sound of laughter brought out Harry and his friends.  Regulus managed to get himself straightened up and helped Iset to her feet.  Sirius was grinning like a maniac, and four teenagers were staring at them from the end of a hallway.

“It’s good to hear you actually laugh,” Sirius said.  For once, Regulus didn’t feel the need to come up with a snarky response.  “All you needed was to almost die!”

“Almost die!” Harry gasped.  “You almost died!”

There was the rattle of curtains and Mrs. Black’s portrait started to scream.  “Filth! Filth in my house!”

“Merlins balls,” Sirius swore, striding forward.  Regulus followed him.

“Mother,” Regulus strode to stand in front of her.  For once, he didn’t feel intimidated.  This wasn’t even her, it was a painting.  “You’re embarrassing yourself.  You should act with decorum befitting a Black.”

There was silence, her mouth hung open as she stared at him.  Before she could gather herself for a new onslaught, Sirius waved his wand and the curtains slammed shut.  Then Sirius started laughing, not a single harsh, barking laugh, but really laughing.  

“Never,” Sirius was having trouble speaking, he was laughing so hard.  “In my life, did I imagine that happening.”

Regulus could hear feet on the stairs and the creak of the loose floorboards.  Glancing over, Regulus saw that Mrs. Weasley and Lupin had joined the crowd in the hall. 

“You’re back!” Mrs. Weasley pushed herself past the kids.  “I was so worried, I didn’t even know where you had gone.  The order is out of their mind sending kids off like that.”  There was genuine worry in her voice.

Then, to Regulus’ vast surprise, she hugged him.  She grabbed Iset’s arm and pulled her in too.  Her hug was warm and comforting.

“Now,” she said, releasing them.  The look she gave him was full of motherly concern.  “You two just come in the kitchen and I’ll make you some tea.”

To his horror, Regulus felt tears burning his eyes.  He’d walked through this door hundreds, if not thousands of times, and never once had he been greeted by a mother’s hug.  He tried to turn away, but Mrs. Weasley saw.

“Oh, dear,” she said and hugged him again.  Regulus closed his eyes.  

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” Sirius said, maybe a bit too loudly.  “I can tell you all how we broke into my cousin’s house.”

“You’re okay,” Mrs. Weasley said gently and let him go.  Regulus rubbed his eyes hard, trying to force back the tears.

“I’m sorry,” he said.  He could feel heat in his cheeks.  This was so embarrassing.  

“Nonsense.” Her voice brooked no argument.  She gave the curtains of Walburga’s painting a dark look.  “You just take your time.  I’ve got to go finish dinner.  I’ll see what we have, maybe I can make something special for dessert.”

Mrs. Weasley was at the stairs down to the dining room and kitchen when she stopped and looked back.  “I’m always here if you need anything.”

Regulus felt Iset’s hand on his shoulder and turned to her.  

“That was embarrassing,” he said gruffly.  

“When I went to the US, I was studying with this little old woman.  When I finished the first chapter of my thesis, she hugged me.  She told me that I’d done it really well and she was proud of me.  I burst into tears; I cried for maybe 10 minutes.  I just couldn’t stop.  No one ever said they were proud of me before. So, don’t worry about it.” 

Regulus squeezed her hand.  “We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

“A little bit,” Iset gave him a smile.  “Come on, we need to send Dumbledore a message before dinner.  And I should put the cup somewhere safe.”

“I’ll try a Patronus message.  It’d take an owl forever to get there.”  Regulus moved to the drawing-room to cast the spell.  He didn’t want one of the kids in the kitchen overhearing his message.

“Expecto Patronum!” The silver fox burst out of his wand.  It was much easier to do without three dementors standing in front of him.  “Take a message to Professor Albus Dumbledore,” he told the fox.  It sat and tilted its head, which Regulus took to mean that it was listening.  He’d never really done this before.  “We have the Cup. Unfortunately, we were discovered.  We left behind a decoy, but there’s a good chance that the Dark Lord may know that it’s been stolen.”

The fox hopped up to its feet before streaking off in a flash of silver.  It seemed to have worked.  Still, if he hadn’t heard from Dumbledore by nightfall, he would try the floo network.  

Regulus made his way down to the dining room, but he stopped in the hall when he saw Kreacher standing in front of his mother’s portrait, apparently polishing the frame.  Regulus could see that he was talking, though, to himself or the portrait, Regulus didn’t know.  Kreacher turned away from the portrait and saw Regulus.

“Master Regulus!” he rushed forward and practically flung himself at Regulus’ feet.  “Kreacher heard that the Master had gone after another one of those things.” The way he said ‘things’ left Regulus in no doubt that Kreacher meant Horcrux.  “He didn’t even take Kreacher with him this time.  Kreacher was worried.”

Regulus knelt down so that he was on the same level as Kreacher.  “I’m sorry for worrying you.  Last time I put you in danger, and I didn’t want to do that again if I didn’t have to.”

“Master is too kind to Kreacher!” There were tears in Kreacher’s eyes.

“Nonsense,” Regulus said.  “You’ve been looking after me my whole life.”  Regulus put his hand on Kreacher’s head for a moment before getting to his feet.  He considered thanking Kreacher but was afraid it would send the poor elf into hysterics.  So instead, he just gave him a smile before he walked away and down to the dining room.

Regulus couldn’t help but think about how the room hardly seemed to be the same place that he had grown up with.  The lively chatter of Sirius, Lupin, and the kids filled up the room.  It seemed to chase away the oppressive shadows of the place.  Sirius appeared to be in the middle of telling a story about his time at Hogwarts.  To one side, Lupin was laughing and a bit pink from embarrassment and on the other the kids were split between disbelief and amusement.  

Bill and Fleur had arrived while he was out.  Glancing at his watch, Regulus saw that it was a bit after six.  Regulus moved to sit across from Bill and Fleur.  They were discussing something about the goblins at work.  Regulus didn’t interrupt.  Instead, he sat in silence and watched Sirius animatedly tell his story, which seemed to be one of the times they had tried to break into the Slytherin common rooms and nearly been caught by Filch.  Regulus just hoped that he didn’t mention Iset giving him the password.  

As if his thoughts had summoned her, Iset appeared in the doorway.  Her eyes swept the room until they fell on him.  She smiled and started towards him.  Regulus felt warmth fill his chest.  He was used to being overlooked, especially when Sirius was in the room.  He was familiar with the way people’s eyes seemed drawn to Sirius.  Even when they were looking for Regulus, their eyes would snag on his brother.  But Iset was different; her gaze slid right over Sirius to Regulus.  

“Done?” Iset asked as she sat next to him.  Regulus nodded and reached out for her hand.  She seemed a bit surprised but didn’t say anything.  It felt odd to display even this small amount of affection.  Regulus had never seen his own parents so much as hold hands, let alone embrace or kiss.  But he’d seen that these people were different.  Across from them, Fleur was hanging off of Bill’s arm and fiddling with his hair.  And when Mr. Weasley came home, Regulus knew that Mrs. Weasley would greet him with a hug and a kiss.  Part of Regulus was jealous of such easy affection.

Mrs. Weasley appeared, a large pot of stew and a fresh-baked loaf of bread were floating in front of her.  Kreacher had put out the tablecloth and trivets for the food.  

“Ron, Harry,” Mrs. Weasley said.  “Will you two set the table?  Ginny and Hermione did it yesterday.”

Just then Mr. Weasley walked in.  “Molly, dear,” he called heading towards the kitchen door.  Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway.  He leaned down to give her a kiss.  “I’m afraid that I can’t stay for dinner.  Some chaps in Sheffield have been enchanting dustbins to chase muggles and I’ve got to deal with it.”

Mrs. Weasley scowled, “What are people thinking these days? I'll leave you some stew.”  

Mr. Weasley headed out, and the rest of them settled down to dinner.  They had just begun to tuck into their food when they heard the front door open.

“Wonder who that is?” Mrs. Weasley said, looking up.  “Are you expecting anyone else?”

“Dumbledore,” Regulus and Sirius said together, then frowned at each other.  Regulus sighed and set down his knife and fork.  He had best go and talk to the man.

“Ask him to stay for dinner,” Mrs. Weasley called after Regulus.  

“We will,” said Iset, who was also standing up.  Sirius started to get up as well, but Regulus waved for him to sit down.

“Let’s get this over with,” Regulus said to Iset as they stepped out into the hall.

Read the next chapter on AO3

#good slytherins #regulus black #sirius black #kreacher #harry potter #fanfic #fan fiction #harry potter fanfiction #ao3 #ao3 link #regulus deserved better #regulus lives #multichapter #chapter 24

[hope-mikaelson]

Hope conjures her patronus  - an untitled Hizzie drabble

I was writing this as part of a massive AU headcanon/RP plot I wrote with @quinntanas. I just wanted to surprise her because this was in my head and she’s asleep. So some of it might not entirely make sense to all of you but I figured I’d post it here if you wanted something about as close to fluff as I’ll ever write. 

All you really gotta know for background is this follows two years after the Triwizard tournament AU she and I came up with. Lizzie and Hope are out of school now training to be aurors after there was a death eater uprising. 

It’s mostly Hope’s POV cuz when we RP I write Hope and Liz writes Lizzie. 

If she’s said the words once, Hope has said them a thousand times; I’m okay, I’ve moved on, I’ve accepted it. I’m fine. But if there’s one universal truth to magic it’s that it never lies. Maybe she could fool the Hogwarts student body when she was there. Maybe she can fool her friends and the ministry and even Alaric now. Hope has always been a skilled puppet master in that sense. She can fool anyone, sometimes even Lizzie, often even herself. But she can’t fool Magic.

It’s been nearly two and a half years since the Triwizard tournament that changed the course of the modern wizarding world. The same tournament that brought Lizzie Saltzman into her life, furious and intense in harsh, hollow blue heels, fresh off the carriage from Beauxbatons. She still trains too often with Alaric, she still sneaks away from the ministry to quiet rooms with her girlfriend in between, sweaty and frustrated only to return just as sweaty but a little less pent up. 

None of them will let the patronus thing go, especially not Lizzie. And Hope can’t blame her. Once upon a time Lizzie Saltzman had famously rescued her from a pack of dementors and neither of them had forgotten it. For entirely different reasons. Hope always remembers that glowing, winged white horse, Lizzie teary eyed on her knees with Hope’s robes clenched in her fists. Lizzie remembers it different. She still wakes up now and then screaming Hope’s name, shaking Hope awake or simply rousing her with the desperation in her sleeping voice. Which is why Hope has promised, as Lizzie asked, to train until she got it. Because Hope refuses to let Lizzie become an auror without her and Lizzie refuses to let Hope follow her into the ‘political hellfire that is the current state of the wizarding world’ without the shield a patronus provides.

At first, she’d done this with Lizzie, practicing over and over into the morning hours to no avail. Hope would take deep breaths and close her eyes and Lizzie would run her hands over her shoulders, with assurances that ranged anywhere from bossy and coaching to gentle and cautious. It always ended with Hope defeated and even more quiet than usual. Or frustrated an explosive. The kind that could only be solved running in the woods and not in the other ways they’d gotten so used to. 

Now, she’s moved on to practicing with Alaric, afraid of the toll it was putting on things with Lizzie. Hope can’t help but be frustrated. Because it should have worked. Lizzie Saltzman is the safest person she knows. All she has to do is come near her to feel the same ease they’d felt their first night together, their sudden unexpected one night stand, vulnerability and Lizzie’s hungry looking gaze, the satisfied grin on her own face the echo of Lizzie’s frustrated ‘I’m going to be really annoyed at you tomorrow.’ All she has to do is stand in the same room as her to remember watching her dance at the Yule ball, the moment Hope knew it wasn’t friendship or loyalty in her chest but something more. All she has to do is feel Lizzie’s hands on her shoulders to remember each of their exchanged vulnerabilities, all of the ways they were the same underneath it all, the first time they’d held hands under their robes, sweet and real despite the impending terror of the world around them, the pleased, proud smile on Lizzie’s face when she’d busted out an entire collection of research because Hope had mentioned maybe tying each other up for fun... one time.

“Wait -- “ 

Hope stops Alaric mid-lecture. He’s encouraging her to think of a memory, any memory. And stubbornly, for years, Hope had heard those words and begged herself to conjure a memory of her father that made her happy. Truly happy. The ministry’s auror therapist had told her that none of those memories would make her truly happy until she’d come to terms with her grief. And Hope had insisted she had but magic knew -- magic always knew. The happiness wasn’t strong enough. All of Hopes memories, for as long as she has ever had them, had always come with sadness. Until she realizes the one thing she’d forgotten. 

And Hope could kick herself it’s so obvious. 

Alaric stops, looking at her, waiting. He can probably see the odd epiphany on her face but doesn’t want to ask. “It’s not in the past,” Hope mumbles, to herself more than Alaric. He pushes with a what but she doesn’t answer. Instead, Hope sets her feet on the ground, she closes her eyes. She starts again, back at the memory of Lizzie’s hands on her shoulders just three nights before, of the room of requirement when they were kids, of that perfect day at Hogsmeade, of every night since then. Each memory comes out of it easily from there. It warms her chest and fills her with the very thing she’s looking for; happiness, so unfamiliar and so much so that Hope nearly cries. Clearing her throat, she covers the choking sound it makes with the shouted words of the spell she’d been too terrified to embrace for years. “Expecto Patronum!”

She shouts it so loudly, and with so much confidence that Hope is sure they can hear it in every other office in the ministry. The image of Lizzie and her patronus plays over it in her head, the sound of the same words in Lizzie’s proud inflection. And Hope is sure her mind is playing tricks on her when she opens her eyes and sees the white light, an image not entirely unlike the one Lizzie had conjured standing in front of a stunned Alaric. It’s a thestral. Hope would know the figure anywhere. But this one isn’t frightening or chilling. This one is white, glowing, warm. Hope stares at it, wide eyed with her wand extended still until it gallops away and out of sight. 

Without thinking, Hope follows it. Not to chase after it per say, but to find the happiness that brought it again. She doesn’t see the beaming look on Alaric’s face or hear him asking where she’s going. Hope just keeps running, out of his office, through the winding halls of the ministry to where Lizzie is holed up in the library, no doubt searching for a solution to this very problem. Hope doesn’t say anything when she all but pulls her out of the chair by her robes, not entirely unlike the thousand times Lizzie had pinned her or pulled her just the same. Hope kisses her still without speaking, against the books on a towering shelf, burying any questions with the desperate intensity of the gesture and her fingers refusing to let up on their grip. Her chest begins to ache, and it isn’t warmth or happiness this time it’s the sheer lack of oxygen and Hope finally releases the kiss but doesn’t let go of Lizzie. “It was you,” she whispers, breathless and heavy but the smile on her face is light and bewildered. 

“Oh no,” Lizzie stares back, wide eyed “it’s finally happened hasn’t it? You’ve lost it. Or was it my dad? Did you hit your head? Did he hit your head? I’ll stage an intervention if you’re going to start cracking up on me. I might only listen to half the things you say but I’d still like your head in one piece.”

Hope doesn’t stop her. She only shakes her head, her own lower lip tucked between her teeth to keep from grinning too much. “No -- no I did it,” she finally answers. “I finally found the right memory, ones that were really happy, ones that worked. They were of you -- It’s you Lizzie.” 

It takes a minute. No snarky, deadpan retort follows. Lizzie’s eyes change like she’s processing. Confusion to understanding to something glossy eyed and choked up. “Of course it was me. How could you not have tried that sooner?” The words are watery, entirely not serious but she has a go at humor anyway and Hope laughs all the same. Hope kisses her again, finally takes her fingers from their grip on Lizzie’s robes and wraps them in her hair instead, pulling their bodies tighter together. Lizzie kisses her back this time, far less caught off guard but still definitely reeling. 

“What was it?”  It’s Lizzie who finally breaks up their moment. 

“Huh?” 

“Your patronus. You’ve seen mine. What was yours? Wait -- no. I’ll guess. A terrier.”

Hope lightly shoves her shoulder with the palm of her hand. “Hilarious. No. It was -- “ she stops, unsure if somehow this ruins the brilliance of it, if Lizzie has eve even seen a thestral. But Hope’s certain she at least knows what they are. “It was a thestral,” she answers a little less proud. 

“No freaking way.” 

“What? Yours is a literal winged horse, Lizzie.”

“You one-upped me,” Lizzie retorts fast and scoffing. “You even had to one up my patronus.”

She’s laughing, thankfully. For a brief second Hope worries it’s not a joke. But their competitive nature is a part of them now, and Lizzie stopped measuring them against one another a long time ago. This is just a game and Hope is happy to play along. Grinning, she kisses Lizzie again, presses her back just a little harder against the bookshelf on her tip toes and closes her eyes, filing this memory away for the next time. 

#hizzie #hope x lizzie #hizzie fanfic #hope mikaelson #lizzie saltzman #dont say i never gave you anything liz #r: hizzie #o: fic #my fic #listne i just got obsessed with the angsty idea that hope can't conjure a patronus

[anendofeverything]

Green and Red Make Gold

Part One of the When a Snake Loves a Lion series

Read on AO3

——

Chapter Four

March 1994

With March came the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match, where Marcus was stood with Warrington, Montague, Adrian and Higgs as they cheered on their Gryffindor friends much to the chagrin of the rest of the Slytherins. But when the Captain of the Quidditch team is one of the ones cheering for Gryffindor, none of the other Slytherins were brave enough to protest Adrian’s screams of delight when one of the girls scored, or Warrington yelling “Go, Harry. Get the Snitch!”

Marcus, and the rest of the Slytherins, were startled to hear Cho Chang screaming, pointing at four Dementors that had floated onto the pitch. Marcus watched in awe as Potter pointed his wand at the creatures, roaring “Expecto patronum!”

Something silvery-white shot out from Potter’s wand, knocking the Dementors to the ground. Chang was frozen in place, staring at the Dementors in horror, and Potter inched forward slightly, wrapping his hand around the Snitch.

“Guys!” Warrington yelled. “Did you see that? Did you? Harry’s got the Snitch!”

“What?” Montague looked back up at the teams on the pitch. ��When-”

“Just now!” Warrington interrupted excitedly. “It was quick - can’t have taken more than ten seconds.”

Montague whistled. “Holy shit.”

“Um, Flint?” Adrian tugged on his arm. “Look.”

“What-” Marcus turned to when Adrian was pointing to, and his blood ran cold.

“Oh my God.” Higgs whispered. Lying in a crumpled heap on the floor were the Dementors, which were actually four students in plain black robes with pointed hoods. “What the hell were they thinking?”

“Obviously they weren’t.” Marcus said dangerously.

The quartet of ‘Dementors’ were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson. McGonagall was stood over them, her face like thunder, and Marcus could hear her bellowing from all the way at the bottom of the pitch.

“Higgs, how do you feel about the Slytherin teams chances playing against Hufflepuff at the end of the month?”

“Er, good.” Higgs shrugged. “I think.”

“Good.” Marcus nodded curtly. “Because you’ll be Seeker for that match.”

“You’re kicking Malfoy off the team?” Montague questioned in surprise.

Marcus sighed. “I should. But I’d never hear the end of it from Malfoy Senior if I did. So no, I’m not kicking him off the team. He’s benched.”

“Flint.” Warrington turned to his Captain. “I’m gonna check on Harry, alright?”

“We’re all going.” Adrian said, stony faced.

—

When they got to the bottom of the Quidditch pitch, McGonagall was still chewing out Malfoy and his ‘Dementors’. Dumbledore was there too, and Snape, the latter trying to placate the livid Transfiguration professor.

“Minerva, I said that I’ll deal with this.” Snape didn’t quite yell, but his voice carried loudly across the pitch.

“I know very well how you would deal with this, Severus!” McGonagall shrieked. “A slap on the wrist and no repercussions.”

“Minerva, really-”

“Excuse me, Professors.” Marcus cleared his throat. “I’ve something to add.”

“Ah, Mr Flint.” Dumbledore smiled crookedly. “How are your team faring to prepare for your match against Hufflepuff?”

“It’s going well, Professor.” Marcus nodded. “I’m making a slight alteration to the lineup.”

He turned to Malfoy, narrowing his eyes. “Higgs will be Seeker for our next match.”

“You can’t kick me off the team!” Malfoy protested.

“Flint,” Snape started. “Is it really wise to go with Higgs? He hasn’t played for two years.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Higgs bristled.

Adrian pulled his boyfriend back. “Terry,” he soothed. “Marcus has got this.”

“Higgs is our reserve. He trains with us, as do all of our reserves. He’s playing.” Marcus said firmly, before turning back to Malfoy. “I should kick you off the team after the stunt you just pulled. But I’m not, so count yourself lucky, Malfoy. You’re benched.”

“You can’t-”

“Protest one more time and I will kick you off my team.” Marcus thundered.

“Marcus.” That was Oliver’s voice. “You’ve made your point, okay? Breathe.”

Marcus took a shuddering breath and sent one last glare in Malfoy’s direction. “Get out of my sight. And don’t bother coming to practise until after we’ve won against Hufflepuff.”

Malfoy swallowed nervously and gave a small nod. He glanced unsurely at the Professors, but ultimately decided not to further add to Marcus’ ire and scampered off, followed by his little group, Snape and McGonagall.

“Congratulations to your team on their victory, Mr Wood.” Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon spectacles. “Harry, my boy, you played excellently.”

“Thanks, Sir.” Potter grinned sheepishly.

“Good luck, Mr Flint, for your team’s match against Hufflepuff later this month.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Marcus scratched the back of his neck.

Dumbledore just smiled crookedly again, nodded once more at Potter, and left the students to themselves. Warrington immediately rushed over to Potter and started fussing.

“Harry, are you okay? Are you hurt?” He fretted.

“I’m-”

“Do you need anything?”

“Cas-”

“Do you need to go see Madam Pomphrey?”

“CASSIUS!” Potter yelled. “I’m fine. Stop fussing.”

“I am not-”

“Yes you are, Warrington.” Higgs shook his head in amusement. “You’re like a mother hen.”

“Cas, I promise I’m okay.” Potter chuckled.

“Fine.” Warrington said reluctantly and slapped Potter upside the head.

“OI!”

“That’s for not telling me you know the Patronus charm! You’re thirteen, where the fuck-”

“Lupin’s been teaching me, alright? Because the Dementors affect me more than most of my classmates.”

Warrington’s face dropped. “Jesus, Harry, how bad is it?”

“I- I hear them. My parents. I hear their deaths. I hear Voldemort killing them.” Potter said sadly.

Warrington said nothing and pulled the Gryffindor into a hug. Adrian and Higgs were still wrapped up in each other, Montague looking amusedly at the pair. Oliver had gravitated over towards Marcus.

“Hey,” the Gryffindor Captain said gently. “Are you okay?”

“Peachy.”

“I can’t believe they did that.” Oliver sighed. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Benching Malfoy. I know you would’ve preferred to kick him off the team for that stunt. I know why you can’t though.”

“It was nothing, Ollie. Really.”

“No, Marcus, it wasn’t nothing.”

“Harry, you’re not still out here, are you? We should be celebr- What the hell?”

Ron Weasley was staring flabbergasted at Potter and Warrington, who pulled away from each other. Weasley’s face turned bright red - angry - and Potter flinched as his best friend started yelling at him.

“What the hell, Harry? I knew Wood was now consorting with Slytherins, but you too? I didn’t think you would stoop so low!”

“He’s my friend, Ron!” Potter defended.

“He’s a Slytherin!”

“So what?”

“They’re evil! They-”

“Don’t say what I think you’re about to.” Warrington said coldly. “I’m not a Death Eater, Weasley.”

“I bet your parents were.” Weasley sneered.

“Ron!” Granger, who’d been trying to interrupt Weasley and Potter’s argument, shouted. “You can’t just accuse people of something like that.”

“They were Slytherins.” Weasley argued, as if that was a valid point.

“Yes, and Professor Quirrell was in Ravenclaw. Sirius Black was a Gryffindor, like us.” Granger countered. “Your house doesn’t determine whether you’re a bad person. Being in Slytherin doesn’t automatically make you a Death Eater, or mean you believe in or follow You-Know-Who’s ideals.”

“My mother was a Slytherin.” Warrington admitted. “My father, however, was in Ravenclaw.”

“That proves nothing.” Weasley muttered.

Warrington glared at Weasley, and when he spoke his voice was like ice. “No, it doesn’t. But they got murdered because they refused to convert to Voldemort’s cause. That proves everything.”

Warrington stormed pass Weasley and Granger, Potter and Montague chasing after him. Weasley went to follow Potter, but Granger held him back.

“We should leave them be.”

“Hermione! Harry-”

“Ron, you’ve aggravated Warrington enough.” Granger frowned. “Harry’s his friend. He’ll be fine.”

“And Montague?” Weasley demanded.

“Graham’s Cas’ best friend.” Adrian piped up. “Him and Potter have become friends, and he’s our friend, too. He’ll be alright, Weasley.”

Weasley huffed and walked away furiously, making Granger sigh in frustration.

“Thank you.” she addressed Adrian. “I know Harry’s been preferring sitting with you over dealing with me and Ron bickering.”

Granger look tired - exhausted, even - and Marcus couldn’t help wondering if that was all down to her spats with Weasley. It was possible, but Marcus had an inkling there was more to her exhaustion.

“Well,” Oliver paused, unsure if the others would agree with him. “If you wanna get away from Ron sometime-”

“Absolutely, you should sit with us.” Adrian nodded.

“The more the merrier, right?” Higgs added.

“Johnson, Bell and Spinnet sit with us, too.” Marcus tried to smile reassuringly, though he wasn’t sure how successful he was at it. “So it’s not like you’ll be sat there only knowing Potter, Oliver and Weasley.”

“Percy.” Oliver clarified.

“Mm.”

Granger smiled unsurely. “I’ll think about it.”

The younger Gryffindor left, leaving Adrian, Higgs, Oliver and Marcus stood in the middle of the pitch.

“We should probably go, too.” Adrian said. “Looks like it may rain.”

“I should really shower.” Oliver plucked at his uniform. “And change.”

“So you don’t miss the Gryffindor party?” Higgs raised his eyebrows.

“What kind of Captain would I be if I missed the victory celebrations?”

“A shitty one.” Marcus declared.

Oliver grinned. “Exactly.”

—

The next two-and-a-half weeks brought with them intense training practically every day to prepare for their next match. It paid off - the Hufflepuff team scored twice, and their Keeper only blocked one of the Slytherin team’s nine attempts to score. When Higgs caught the Snitch, Marcus heard Adrian yell in delight, crying out, “That’s my boyfriend!”

Marcus snorted, noticing that Adrian was with the Gryffindors, jumping up and down excitedly, clutching at Potter, as he, Potter, Oliver, Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Granger, and Percy Weasley (reluctantly), started a chant of “Higgs, Higgs, Higgs!”, much to the amusement of the rest of the Slytherin team, and Professors Dumbledore and Lupin, who were chuckling away to themselves. Marcus watched as Higgs and Warrington flew to the Gryffindor stand, only for Adrian to pull Higgs into a snog, which made Warrington and Potter wolf whistle in unison.

“So it’s true then - Warrington’s best friends with Potter now?” Bletchley said, pulling up next to Marcus.

“Sure Montague’s still Warrington’s best friend, but yeah. They’re close.”

“Like you and Wood these days?” Bletchley questioned. “Apart from the fact Warrington doesn’t fancy the pants off of Potter?”

When Marcus whipped around to face the Slytherin Keeper, Bletchley just raised the eyebrow. “What? You think you’re subtle, Flint? You ain’t. Anyone who knows you can see you’re good for Wood.”

“Who’s gone for Wood?” Bole asked as he stopped by Marcus and Bletchley, Derrick right beside him.

“Obviously, Flint.” Derrick rolled his eyes.

“Oh.” Bole blinked. “That makes total sense, actually.”

“Shut up, Derrick.” Marcus hissed. “Unless you wanna discuss your crush on Cedric Diggory?”

Derrick blushed, biting his lip as his eyes travelled downwards to where Diggory was dismounting his broom. Macavoy, one of the Hufflepuff Chasers, elbowed Diggory and pointed up at the group of Slytherin players. Diggory followed her eyeline and noticing Derrick, started waving enthusiastically and gestured for the Beater to come over. Derrick blushed deeper, and headed down to the bottom of the pitch.

“Seriously?” Bole’s eyes widened as Diggory pulled Derrick into a hug. “Are they- Is Derrick- With Diggory?”

“They’re not together.” Bletchley said. “Derrick’s got a crush on Diggory a mile long, and I know they’re friends, but they ain’t together. Don’t even know if Diggory likes blokes. I heard he asked out Chang.”

Bole shook his head. “Nah, I saw Chang and one of the Patil twins kissing yesterday.”

“Which one?” Bletchley questioned.

“Er…” Bole mused. “The Ravenclaw one.”

“Padma.” Bletchley said.

“Right.” Bole nodded.

“Guys.” Marcus’ eyes were darting around the pitch. “Where’s Montague?”

“Maybe he’s gone back already?” Bole suggested.

“Right…” Marcus sighed. “We should shower, I have to go over a few plays before we start celebrating.”

“We’re not playing against Gryffindor for ages.” Bole protested.

“Yeah, but Wood’s been training his team against our tactics and the Hufflepuffs since they beat Ravenclaw.” Bletchley countered. “Though now he’ll only train his team against us.”

“I suppose.” Bole frowned, following Bletchley to the changing room.

Marcus looked one final time around the pitch, an uneasy feeling filling his gut, before he reluctantly followed Bletchley and Bole to the changing room.

—

Marcus tried to shake the uneasy feeling lingering in his gut. Montague hadn’t made it to the changing room like the rest of his team. Even Derrick had made it, still blushing profusely, Marcus had sent his team on ahead to start the victory celebration. He needed to re-go over his notes for the Gryffindor team’s plays, only briefly, otherwise he’d miss the party. He didn’t notice the door to the Quidditch Captain’s office was already unlocked, slightly ajar. Marcus pushed it open, stepped inside, and-

Shit.

Shit. shit. Shit.

Montague was in there. With Weasley. Kissing. Marcus stood there, dazed. Frozen. He needed to get out. He should turn tail and leave right now before-

“Flint?” Montague gasped, staring in shock at his Captain. “Flint, I can explain-”

“I can’t do this.” Marcus said flatly, taking one look at Montague’s pleading face and the scared expression on Weasley’s face, before turning and fleeing.

Marcus barely made it out onto the grounds leading back up to the castle before he heard Montague yelling.

“Flint! Wait.”

I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this. I do not want to-

“Flint. Please.” Montague was right behind him now. “I can explain.”

“Explain what, Montague?” Marcus demanded, rounding on his fellow Chaser. “That you’re shagging Weasley? That you’ve been shagging him since at least December?”

“How did-”

“I saw you, okay?” Marcus admitted. “I saw you kissing him just before Christmas break.”

“Why didn’t you mention anything before now?”

“I didn’t know how, Montague. I didn’t know how to confront you about being with Weasley when he was already seeing someone.”

“What are you talking about?” Montague demanded.

“OLIVER!” Marcus yelled. “I’m talking about Ollie, okay?”

“I still don’t understand.” Montague whispered.

“I think I do.” Weasley had caught up with the pair, standing next to Montague. “Flint… Ollie and I aren’t together.”

..… What….?

“What?” Montague asked. “You think Percy… and Wood?”

Marcus turned to Weasley. “You and Ollie. You’re not-”

“Ollie’s my best friend.” Weasley said gently. “I love him, sure, but I’m not in love with him.”

“I can’t believe you thought-”

“Graham. It’s alright.”

“Like hell it’s alright. Flint just-”

“I know, Graham.” Weasley said, slipping his hand into Montague’s. “But I understand. Wouldn’t be the first time someone mistook me and Ollie for a couple.”

“I- I- I’m s-sorry.” Marcus staggered backwards. “I- I f-fucked up.”

Wealsey smiled. “You’re not subtle, you know Flint. About your feelings for Ollie.”

“What?” Montague turned to Marcus. “You fancy Wood?”

“You’re about the last person to figure that out.” Weasley chuckled. “Apart from Ollie himself.”

“I- I don’t-”

“He has feelings for you too.”

“What?” Marcus breathed. “Ollie doesn’t-”

“Yes.” Weasley nodded. “He does. He loves you.”

Marcus’ heart started beating wildly, and his hands started shaking. Oliver… loved him back? Ollie loved him back? He couldn’t, he just couldn’t. Nothing suggested his feelings were reciprocated. Except…

“One day,” Oliver started, slightly apprehensive. “One day you’ll be Captain of the Magpies, and I’ll be Captain of Puddlemere, and we’ll look back on our time here and laugh about how dumb our rivalry was.”

“Sounds nice.” Marcus slumped into his armchair. “We’ll be the best of friends, huh?”

“Yeah.” Oliver swallowed thickly and wiped his eyes.

Ollie looked like he was about to start crying when Marcus mentioned them being the best of friends - why? Unless he was saddened by the prospect of only friendship? Marcus’ head hurt, and he took one last look at Weasley and Montague, and ran off, heart pounding.

What do I do? What do I do? What the fuck do I do? 

#flintwood #my works #green and red make gold #garmg #when a snake loves a lion #percy weasley x graham montague #hucey #marcus flint #oliver wood #percy weasley #graham montague #adrian pucey #terence higgs #cassius warrington #harry potter #minerva mcgonagall #severus snape #albus dumbledore #draco malfoy #ron weasley #hermione granger #miles bletchley #lucian bole #peregrine derrick #enemies to friends to lovers #marcus flint centric #slytherin quidditch team #misunderstandings #canon divergence #leave it up to hermione to be the voice of reason when ron is mouthing off

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Salvation In Ink

It has been way too long since I worked with my girl, Bella and I’ve been meaning to do something with this headcanon of mine.

Summary: AU where Bellatrix has been banished to the muggle world to get salvation. In order to fill her itch for pain, she takes up a job as a tattoo artist. A job made harder when Hermione walks in.

It buzzed in her hand.

She was growing used to the hum.

It was a constant and daily noise.

And it comforted her.

Bellatrix supposed that the comfort came from a sense of stability. At finally having at least one constant. For as much as she hated her predicament, she accepted resentfully that it was probably doing her some good. For the first time in a long while, her head was mostly clear. Her mind was mostly lucid. And she supposed that it wasn’t so bad, her line of work.

She got to do what she loved.

Even if it wasn’t via her usual means.

These days, muggles came to her seeking pain. She obliged without having a single beat missed. Today’s victim was a man in his late forties. A burly looking man with a bushy red beard and a biker jacket. She knew him well enough, he was loud and rowdy as she and had a habit of asking what business a woman had in this industry.  

She tied her hair back, a task much easier vocalized than put into action. Eventually, she had her collection of unruly curls, remotely tamed and away from intruding upon her sight. With that done, she washed her hands thoroughly. And after that she checked on the needles, they had been sitting for awhile and she decided that they are sterile. She motioned for the man, Kyle to seat himself. He did so after barking another thing or two about how it wasn’t right that such a skinny, scraggly looking woman could do his tattoos better than the best of the men he’d been to in the past.

“And yet you keep coming.” She commented as she brought the tattoo gun to his bicep. Today she would be touching up a tiger tattoo--an old work from a less talented friend. It was a gaudy thing, but she would make good work of it. He may not be a fainter nor a crier but paid her generously to make up for the lack of entertainment he provided.

The orange ink she put under his skin is much more vibrant than what he’d had before, with a tinge of gold ink, it truly stood out. She had a feeling that he wouldn’t be making many more comments about how she wasn’t suited for the job.

All in all, it was good work.

So long as she didn’t think about how she had been stripped of her magic.

How she had been barred from the wizarding world and was confined to this muggle hellhole.

She began sterilizing the needles in preparation for another client. She didn’t have another booking for a few hours. An unusually slow day. Should she get a walk in, she would prolong the consultation process until the needles have been cleansed to her liking.

Bellatrix didn’t expect that drawing out a simple, ‘what kind of ink are you looking for’ would be so easy. Usually people just plopped themselves down and got straight to the point. Occasional someone would ramble on about how, such and such was a depiction of their ex or a tribute to their dead mother and other interesting matters. But the woman who walked in wasn’t that sort.

The former witch was busy drumming her fingers upon the countertop and eyeing her own tattoo. She’d done it herself, turning her dark mark into a reaper with curvy and gnarled scythe and a snake curling around it.

The action had bought her a chance to re-enter the wizarding world should she live out her exile without causing too much of a stir.

Some nights she woke with a faint dread that her master would come to berate her for her disgusting act of disloyalty. For the blasphemy of defacing her dark mark. But he was gone, and for permanent this time.

It was time to release herself.

It was time for freedom.

Bellatrix didn’t notice her until she cleared her throat. “Relax, mudblood, I’m just doing my job. Any screams you’ve heard were completely voluntary.”

“I’m not here to check up on you.” Hermione replied. “That’s not my job.” She folded her arms over her chest.

“Then what are you doing here?” Bellatrix frowned, almost certain that she was about to be on the receiving end taunting and mockery.

“This is a tattoo parlor isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Bellatrix confirmed. “Why are you standing in it.”

“To make flower crowns and cupcakes.”

“Down the street.”

“I want a tattoo, Bellatrix.”

The pure blood quirked an eyebrow.

The humor had drained from Hermione’s face. “You’re going to fix what you’ve done.”

“They tell me that, that’s why I’m here.” Bellatrix returned. “Something, something, atone for your crimes and live a... saner lifestyle.”

Hermione’s expression grew duller still. She held out her arm. “You’re going to fix this.” The scar was still heavily prevalent. “Make it into something meaningful and empowering.”

Bellatrix wrinkled her nose, it was one thing to sit idly doing a muggle’s work and another entirely, to actively right a specific wrong she done. Her stomach lolls unpleasantly. She hated the smirk on the younger witch’s face. The smug, triumphant smile. It would seem that just coming into the  shop was a victory. Making demands of someone who ought to be above her was another, larger conquest. Bellatrix did what she does best and retreated behind a wall of jesting and sarcasm. In a falsely cheerful sing song she replies, “the more you pay the more empowering.”

But the mudblood wanted to draw things out and make things as mentally painful as Bellatrix had dealt her physical pain. “You’re going to do it free of charge.” Simple. Clean. Cutting. Such was the nature of her demand.

Bellatrix scoffed. “You’re going to have to pull your wand out and utter an unforgivable if you want me to do that.” She wouldn’t specify if she was referring to crucio or imperio.

“No.” Hermione refused. “You’re going to do it because I told you to.” She fixed Bellatrix with a hard stare.

“Is that right?”

“It is.”

She looked at the clock. The needles should be clean. “I suppose that I can, since you flashed that gryffindor courage of yours. It’ll be nice to see you cry again.”

Hermione followed her without another word and sat herself down.

“So what are you looking for specifically?”

“Nothing so long as it gets rid of this.” She rubbed at the scar with her thumb.

“You’re really going to trust me with full creative control?” Bellatrix perked up rather deviously.

“I trust that you won’t do something that will ensure that you’ll never hex another house elf again.”

Bellatrix frowned. This mudblood was really sucking the life out of her. Hadn’t she a solid form, Bella might have thought her a dementor. She took a moment to work out a sketch. “Do you want to see it?”

“Surprise me, and make it a good one.” Hermione replied. “You getting your wand back depends on it.”

What a vexing human being. “Just sit still and scream very loudly if I hurt you.”  She picked up her tattoo gun and drank in the soothingly familiar buzz.

The mudblood was annoyingly quiet as she dragged the needle across her skin. The only indication of pain or discomfort was a contortion of her face every now and again or a reflexive tensing of her muscles. Once or twice she hissed in pain, a small thing that Bellatrix relished in. At least it was something to tickle her humor.  It was another two hours before she declared, “you’re all done, nice and pretty. You better refer your muddy and half-blood friends.”

Hermione held her arm out in front of her, inspecting the fresh ink. Where blood once marred her skin was an elegant owl. Bellatrix drew the ‘L’ up and connected it to the ‘D’ of ‘blood’ to form the owl’s head and ears. She used the first ‘O’ as an eye and the second to shape the beak. And the circle of the ‘D’ became a second eye.

“An owl?” Hermione questioned.

“You think that you’re smart so I gave you an owl.” Bellatrix shrugged.

She held her arm to the light. Bellatrix clicked her tongue as she decided how she wanted to approach the next part of her work. It had been harder to make something of mud so she took the easy route and drew a few aesthetically placed swirls amid a few feathers and flowers. She replicated the design on the other side of the tattoo.

Bellatrix hadn’t expected Hermione to smile. “This is actually…” she trailed off. “It’s really pretty.”

“If you’d like to put that down, I can wrap it up and send you on your way.”

Hermione held her hand out for Bellatrix to dress. There was something so nerve grating about tenderly caring for and helping cleanse a wound she formerly created. Something degrading, that sent tingles of repugnance resonating up and down her vertebrae. It was appalling.

“Why flowers?” Hermione asked.

“Do you want me to tell you that it was just a random pattern or do you want me to make up some story about how the flowers represent something beautiful budding from something ugly?”

“I’m going to pretend that you put some thought into it.” Hermione smirked. “It almost looks like  you put a lot of effort into this.”

“Believe it or not, I take pride in my work, mudblood.”

“Thank you.” Hermione said.

Bellatrix furrowed her brows. “I only did this because you told me to.” But was that entirely true? There was something satisfying in completing that one. Perhaps it was the same brand of satisfaction that came with redoing her own dark mark.

The prospect of new freedom.

Of making her own decisions, ones that aren’t tainted by her master’s will.

Perhaps it came with her newfound semblance of clarity and semi-peace.

“Wash it thrice a day. No swimming, no excess sun...you have an owl on your arm, I’m sure that you can figure out how to care for a tattoo.”

Hermione took a picture of her new ink. “Do you want to take one?”

Bellatrix gave an indigent sniff. “What is with muggles and taking pictures of everything.”

“It’s called building a profile, Bellatrix.”

“Word of mouth is my profile.”

Hermione inspected her arm again. “You have a very distinct style.” She noted.

Bellatrix nodded. “In most aspects of my life, I do.” She knew that she wasn’t making it easy for the muggle born to compliment her. But she didn’t know if she was ready to accept praise from such a low place. Ready or not, there was a small prickle within her that took well to the prospect. She didn’t return Hermione’s parting words nor gestures. She merely watched as the girl walked away, untethered from past injury. Moving forward in full with aid from the one who’d set her back in the first place.

Victorious, indeed.

Another client stepped in to take her place.

Bellatrix had a feeling that the mudblood would be back.

To her own dismay, she wasn’t entirely off put my the prospect.

#Harry Potter #Bellatrix Lestrange #Hermione Granger #One Shot #Fanfiction

[keijislove]

Pretty boy: Cedric Diggory X Reader

‘Y/N.’ your friend mumbled.

You ignored her.

‘Y/N!’

‘WHAT?!’ you hissed.

Maxine gave a mischievous laugh.

‘Diggory is totally staring at you.’ She whispered, giggling.

You scoffed. ‘There is no way that prat is-’

You were cut off as you saw a certain boy’s eyes on you, hazy and unfocused.

‘What?’ you mouthed at him, irritated.

He snapped out of it and shook his head, looking away.

You rolled your eyes.

‘He’s a just another pretty boy, Max.’ you muttered.

‘Well, you’re right about the pretty.’ Maxine whispered. ‘Can I have him, then?’

You scoffed again. 

‘Go ahead!’ you said sarcastically.

Moments later, a soft voice caught your attention.

‘I am quite sure, Mr. Diggory.’ Snape’s voice silkily rang throughout the class. ‘That your newt tail is not latched onto the back of Ms. L/N’s head.’

You disbelievingly turned around.

Cedric had turned bright red and was muttering, ‘I wasn’t...’

‘I’m quite sure you were, Mr. Diggory.’ Snape sneered. ‘No silly infatuations in the middle of my lesson, Diggory. Get back to your potion, if I see you again, it’s detention.’

Cedric looked down, still muttering.

You fought the urge to scoff loudly.

After the class, Maxine and you made your way out.

‘L/N!’ a voice called.

You recognized it, so you sped up.

‘L/N! Hey, Y/N L/N!’

You felt a hand on your shoulder.

Groaning, you turned around.

‘What do you want, Diggory?’ you snapped.

He turned red again.

‘Ah, well, I-I, w-w-wanted t-t-to ask y-y-y-you something...’ he stuttered.

Maxine giggled.

‘Well, I had best leave you two alone.’ She said, smirking and walking off.

You fought another strong urge to rush after her and slap that smirk off her face.

‘Yes?’ you impatiently asked Cedric.

‘Well, I was wondering....’ he said. ‘I-If y-you wanna go t-to Hogsmeade this weekend? W-w-w-with m-m-me?’

You raised one eyebrow. ‘Are you asking me out, Diggory?’

He flushed. ‘NO! I mean, ahem, no. I just wanted to get to... know you. Make friends, you know?’

You were silent.

‘Oh.’ You finally said. ‘Hmm....’

He looked hopefully at you.

‘Well, there’s one thing I want to tell you too.’ You began

He got excited. ‘Yes?’

‘Go bald, Diggory.’ You deadpanned, walking away, leaving the poor boy perplexed.

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

Cedric kept trying to get you to change your mind, to no avail.

Even when you bumped into him.

You were walking and suddenly collided against something hard, dropping your books.

You bent down to retrieve them.

‘Sorry.’ A voice said.

You looked up and once Cedric saw you, his eyes glinted.

He scooped up all your books and held them way above your head.

‘HEY!’ you yelled.

‘Come with me to Hogsmeade, I’ll give you these.’ He said.

You rolled your eyes.

Kneeing him in the stomach, you watched, satisfied as he sunk down.

You took your books and left without another word.

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

It was another Quidditch match, and you were playing against Gryffindor.

You were a fair chaser, so you zoomed across the pitch, scoring goals with your Quaffle.

It was going alright, until you felt darkness close in on you.

You heard your father’s scream and a menacing laugh, and your stomach twisted into knots.

‘It’s just Dementors.’ You muttered, shaking your head and zooming ahead.

That was, until you saw the young Gryffindor Seeker fall from his broom.

‘MADAME HOOCH!’ you yelled. ‘A PLAYER IS INJURED!’

After making sure they took Harry off the pitch, you tried flying, but a whistle sounded.

You looked down, to see Cedric panting with the Snitch in his hand.

You descended.

‘Hey, wait, that doesn’t count.’ You said to him. ‘Potter nearly had it, he just got out of the way.’

‘I know.’ Cedric muttered.

Madame Hooch came over to you.

‘Madame Hooch, we need a rematch.’ Cedric said before you could open your mouth.

She looked surprised. ‘Well, my dears, you won-’

‘It wasn’t fair.’ Cedric interrupted. ‘The circumstances were unfavourable, Professor. Dementors cannot just appear at a match.’

It seemed that Madame Hooch had no reply to this, for she stalked off.

Cedric and you made your way to the changing rooms.

When you were done, you saw him heading out.

‘Er, Cedric!’ you called out, making him freeze in place.

He stiffly turned around, with a weird expression. ‘What did you call me?’

‘Erm, Cedric?’ you said, shrugging.

‘Whatever happened to ‘HEY DIGGORY’?’ he asked, doing a terrible impression of you.

You scoffed.

He laughed. ‘Yes, Ms. L/N?’

‘I was... uhm, I accept your offer.’ You mumbled.

‘Of...?’ he asked.

‘Becoming friends.’ You replied. ‘You’re... you’re alright, I think.’

You expected him to laugh and leave, but to your surprise, he smiled.

‘Well, that’s good then.’ He said. ‘Cedric Diggory.’

He held out his hand.

You giggled, shaking it.

‘Y/N L/N.’

#harry potter #cedric diggory #cedric diggory x reader #cedric diggory x you #cedric x you #cedric x reader #cute #friendship #series #harry potter x reader

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Here’s a fun little prompt: Saerys x MC where the MC is a witch (like from Harry Potter: maybe a muggleborn?). She tells the retainers about the wizarding world. And then MC tells them about dementors. (I imagine the demon souls being pretty freaked out by soul sucking creatures who literally can’t be destroyed; only driven away with the Patronus Charm). I’ve had this prompt in my head since I started reading Haven Raised.

OH YEAH, WE HAVE AN HR FAN!!! I am like so happy about this you DO NOT understand. I love getting comments on HR and I love hearing people like my stuff!! Seriously- you want to rant about HR, send a comment. Have a prompt? Boom.

MC= Melody Conner. As she is a copy of the WQ, the headcanon here is that she was adopted by her parents because she was a little kid when she ended up in Chicago. She went to Hogwarts cause it turns out her adoptive mom was from a squib line.

 Melody had always been more of a potion person than a wand person. Her adoptive dad had been a chemist and had helped her the most with her homework. She was good at potions and had a really good hand at herbology as well. 

 Still, she knew enough she was a force to be reckoned with in battle. Hogwarts may have been safer when she went thanks to the fact that Voldemort was dead but the memory lingered and they were drilled in their forms relentlessly. But as well, she knew many worthwhile potions to make for battles.

 “Don’t touch that,” said Melody as she carefully measured out a cup of willow root. Saerys sighed from where he had been about to pick up what looked like a slug.

 Or was actually a slug but given she made them drink her potions and drank them herself he pretended he wasn’t aware of what went in.

 “What is this potion for?”

 “Helps with healing wounds caused by ice,” Meldoy said. “Don’t worry, we don’t drink this one.”

 “Thank the Gods,” Saerys muttered as Altea and Iseul came into the room that the couple was in.

 “Oh! Melody! You are working on that potion you mentioned?” Altea asked. Melody hummed, dumping the roots into the potion.

 “Yes I am,” she said. Altea looked pleased even as she wrinkled her nose at the potion ingredients. “It’s a salve.” Melody sighed.

 “Oh, good.”

 “You know, there’s a reason I said ‘Don’t look at my potion recipes’. Ignorance is bliss.” Melody told her friend, pausing to kiss her boyfriend’s lips. Saerys kissed back happily.

 “You two are very upfront with your love at times,” Iseul said.

 “Oh, my fault. Even with just potion making my magic goes a little crazy.” Melody said. “It’s a bit of a high for me and I think Saerys feels it through our bond. So we get a little…” she giggled, unable to help herself. Altea and Iseul also laughed, fluttering their eyelashes as Reiner and August came in. “Reiner, that potion for minor injuries is ready and I made enough for the healers.”

 “Thank you, Melody, though I feel I will not ask what is in it.”

 “Seriously- stay out of the books.” Melody rolled her eyes. Saerys just laughed at them, hugging his girlfriend, still a little high from all the magic.

 “How do you know this recipe Melody?” August asked, leaning forward to look at the potion she was making.

 “Well, it’s cause of the war- again,” Melody said. She had spoken of the war a few times, telling the stories of meeting the ghosts who died during the war and the stories her teachers had told. August lived for the tales. He loved hearing of them and felt sad hearing of the ghosts who lived on. “Dementors were particularly hard to deal with before and after. After the war no one trusted them and they had to be destroyed as they kept going after people. Not everyone can do a Patronus charm to ward them off after all.”

 “What is a dementor?” Altea asked.

 “A creature that the old Government used to guard a prison. They’re hooded figures that can suck the souls out of people.” Saerys froze and Melody cried out as she heard the demon souls inside Saerys scream. Melody clutched her head.

 NO, WE WILL NOT BE TAKEN. OUR VENGEANCE WILL GO ON!!

 “Merlin’s Pants! There are no dementors here!” Melody cursed. “No fog, no random deaths-!”

 “Can you fight them off?” Altea asked, eyeing Melody and Saerys worriedly.

 “Yes. I know the charm and there is something called a bottled sunlight potion. Really it’s for vampires but it can affect Dementors to. Would you stop shrieking if I make it!” Melody demanded of the spirits who did calm down much to her relief. “Thank Merlin.”

 “What’s a vampire?” August asks.

 “An immortal being who sucks blood. Some just like take sips from people but a lot drain people dry. So sunlight potion- sunlight kills them or drives them off depending on how long they spend in the sun.” Melody said. “Let me finish the cold potion-”

 NOOOO

 “UGH! I HAVE A SECOND CAULDRON!” Melody threw her hands up and huffed, loudly, giving Saerys a look. He looked at her apologetically. “You’re lucky I love you.” she told him. He kissed her.

 “I know.” The moment was ruined by cooing from Altea and Iseul, but it was a very nice moment still.

#writing prompt #love & legends #love and legends #harry potter

[dhwty-writes]

On Chocolate Frogs and True Friendship - Part Four

The first day in Hogwarts starts differently than expected.

Sirius Black did not turn up or class the entire day. As soon as he had left the Great Hall he had made his way over to the hospital wing (and had lost his way at least three times until he had found it). Once inside he had put on his best impression of a cruel stomach ache and told the mediwitch (who informed him most politely that her name was Madam Pomfrey) that he felt too sick for class.

The look of compassion and pity made him almost throw up on the spot and he nearly fell out of his role as she told him: “The heart is located a good bit above of your stomach but I will let that count. You don’t have to go today-“ Sirius’ face lit up with joy. “-as long as you promise me to have spoken with the head of your house until the end of the week, Mr. Black.”

He quickly promised that he would, in fact speak with Professor McGonagall and really felt sick from the thought of it. For a moment he considered going to class instead of facing the stern looking with but the thought of the look on the faces of his dorm mates convinced him otherwise.

Madam Pomfrey forced him to swallow some disgusting potion and wanted to get him to eat some chocolate too but he politely declined as he was convinced that the lingering taste of the potion would ruin chocolate forever for him. Nevertheless, she gave him

With the rest of the school in class Sirius walked up to the Gryffindor tower again, determined to stay there for the rest of his life. If I just would stay in bed for all eternity, he wondered as he pulled the curtains around his four-poster shut, could they force me to get out of here and go to class? Or to go home?

 Sirius spent a very big part of the day in his bed trying to sleep and trying not to cry even though treacherous tears kept creeping up into his eyes.

At some time he got hungry. He was sure that it was past lunchtime and he wondered whether or not there would be something to eat for him in the Great hall. He contemplated it until he heard voices seeping up from the common room and then he didn’t dare to go down. Because if he went down he would surely meet his fellow Gryffindors and James and Peter and Remus and they would surely ask if he was okay or at least see that he wasn’t. When the hunger became overwhelming he pulled out the chocolate Madam Pomfrey had given him and wolfed it down.

Even as he was sure that it was time for dinner because the voices in the common room had died once more and he was so unbearably hungry that he consumed for chocolate frogs at once without even looking at the cards he did not dare to go down to eat. He still hadn’t come up with a masterplan how to deal with all this mess he called his life and he had only until the next morning to think of one.

No, not quite. He had only time until the other three boys came up again because they would of course ask questions and try to talk to him. Or they wouldn’t talk to him at all. Sirius didn’t know which one of these thoughts it was that made him finally cry, not holding back his tears anymore. He cried so hard that he didn’t even hear the steps outside of the door that stopped next to his bed.

“Sirius?” Remus asked.

Sirius suddenly stopped crying, wiping his sleeve aggressively across his face. “Yes?” he answered but even then his voice broke.

“Can I come in?”

Sirius breath stopped. A nasty hiccup escaped his mouth. He tried to dry his tears with his sleeve once more. “I-I don’t know,” he answered.

But before he had even finished his sentence Remus had pulled the curtains back with a worried look on his face.

“I-I’m not crying!” Sirius claimed with red eyes, snot still hanging from his nose.

“No, of course not. I’ve got you the notes from today.” He held out a pile of parchment. “Peter and James wanted to help too but, uh-“ He shrugged helplessly as he handed him another pile filled with doodles depicting their teachers and fellow students, exaggerating their most unpleasant features. Sirius had to contain himself in order not to stop feeling sorry for himself and start laughing.

“Th-thank you,” he stuttered. “I-I didn’t-“ He didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t think you would still want- you know after what happened- I just-“

“I know,” Remus said. “But here I am. There are worse things than a weird mother.”

He sat on the edge of Sirius bed. “Scoot,” he ordered and Sirius obeyed. They crawled together under the blanket just as they had done the night before and fell silent.

Sirius didn’t know what to tell Remus. He felt stupid for calling in sick, for not going to class. But still he felt ashamed. Ashamed for what his mother had said, about him but also about his friends. He wanted to apologize, but no sound left his mouth.

“I just wanted to check if you’re okay. That was pretty nasty of your mom…” Remus said finally.

“Nah, that’s just how moms are, I guess.”

Remus eyes went wide. “My mom’s not like that”, he breathed. “Not that I would know many other moms but mine always says she loves me and hugs me and gives me sloppy kisses I don’t want.”

Sirius shook his head. He didn’t have a mom, not a real one anyways. He had a mother, a strict pureblood lady who had a reputation to lose and a son apparently determined to do only that. His mother told him that he was a disgrace, she scolded and hit him at the worst.

“Is that why you say that your family was bred from banshees and dementors?”

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“Well banshees are pretty nasty, aren’t they?”

Remus could only agree. Not that he had met any but it was commonly known that they were.

“And dementors… You know what they say about Azkaban? That the dementors suck all of your happiness out? It’s the same with my place. There’s no smiles or hope at Grimmauld Place. But the chocolate helps.”

“Yeah, it sure does.”

They sat next to each other, nibbling at the chocolate Sirius had generously provided them. There was nothing to be said but it felt good not to be alone.

Their silence was only broken as Peter and Jams stumbled into the dorm, loud and messy as always. James boasted about the Gryffindor Quidditch team and that he was sure to join this very week while Peter tried to explain to him that you can’t join while you’re a first year. And besides – what is Gryffindor to the Holyhead Harpies?

When they saw Sirius their façade cracked for a moment but then they were on his bed talking about Quidditch and stuffing them with his chocolate as if nothing ever happened.

“Man, how did you manage to skip class on the first day?” James suddenly asked and it was like the four boys froze.

“Umm”, Sirius said. “I told the mediwitch I wasn’t feeling good?”

Peter started laughing. “Yeah, sure thing! Be serious, how did you manage it?”

“I am serious!” Sirius exclaimed seriously.

The others blinked. Sirius cackled loudly. “Oh. My. God”, Remus said as he hit his forehead with his palm. “Never. Say. That. Again.”

But now neither Sirius nor James could restrict themselves, they were lying on their backs holding their bellies laughing. “That”, Remus said sternly. “Is the worst joke I have ever heard in my entire life.” But still he had to fight a smile.

“No, really”, Sirius tried to explain after his laughter had died, “I told her that I didn’t feel good and she let me skip class if I promised that I would see McGonagall.”

The boys stopped laughing and exchanged worried looks. “Did you do it?” Peter asked anxiously.

“What?”

“See McGonagall.”

“No”, Sirius confessed.

“You should better be going”, James insinuated. “She is really strict.”

Sirius frowned and he started feeling sick again. The image of the witch peering over her rectangle glasses quickly turned into his mother yelling and throwing curses. “Will you lot be coming with me?” Now it was him who sounded anxiously.

Less than thirty minutes later Sirius found himself standing in front of McGonagall’s office, freshly showered and groomed with surely half a bottle of Sleakeazy, properly dressed in his best robes, trying to remember the script Remus had quickly written for him. “Remember”, he was now whispering to Sirius, “You knock and then you apologize and tell that something like this won’t happen again. And then you stay silent and say ‘Yes, Professor. Good night, Professor.’ and leave. Got it?”

��Yeah”, Sirius said. No, he thought.

“Good luck”, James whispered before the three of them disappeared behind a corner.

Sirius took a big breath and raised his hand to knock. But before his knuckles could touch the door it swung open and a stern-sounding voice said: “Come in, Mr. Black.”

Warily Sirius stepped inside. It was a big room with a stone floor and a fireplace, windows showing the Quidditch field. Behind a desk sat Professor McGonagall looking down on scrolls of parchment, an enchanted quill moving over it.

“Professor, I am very sorry for –“

“If it would please you, come here, Mr. Black. I do not intend to lead this conversation screaming at you.”

Sirius stepped closer to the desk. “Please have a seat.” As if daring that the chair would hex him he sat on the very edge of it, hunching his shoulders up.

“Look, Professor, I figured that you are angry and I am ready to accept any punishment that you deem adequate but please do net expel me. I promise that something like this will not happen again, I do not know what I was thinking and I am so so-“

“Have a biscuit, Mr. Black.”

“sorry that – Have a what?!”

“Do I stutter? I think that I articulated myself quite clearly. Please, have a biscuit.”

Reluctantly Sirius reached for the jar offered to him, pulling one biscuit out but being too stunned to eat it.

“I am sure that you understand that I will not tolerate laziness or absenteeism in my house. I reckon that Gryffindor is not deemed the most hard-working house but it values old chivalrous behaviour and one has to be educated to achieve that. I also gather that we are not the most ambitious but I do not want to lose the House Cup another year. And we are also not the most companionable house but I am sure that you will find friends here.”

“Yes, Professor”, Sirius said, thankful, that he could follow Remus’ script again.

“But I also care for the well-being of my students. If there is any problem I trust that you will come and speak with me about it.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“There is a problem, isn’t it? The reason why you were absent today?”

Sirius swallowed. “It is just-“, he started but broke off.

“Yes?” Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow.

“It is not befitting for the heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black to be sorted into Gryffindor”, he said with a voice he barely recognized as his own.

“Mr. Black, if I may remind you that your house, the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black indeed, does not matter here as you were sorted into a new house. You were sorted into Gryffindor where you will surely find a new family.” She glanced at a pocket watch. “It is nearly past bedtime, you should head back to your common room. And be sure to take Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Pettigrew with you, if you would be so kind.”

Startled Sirius stood up and bowed gracefully as he had learned. “Yes Professor, of course Professor.” He hesitated. “There will be no punishment, Professor?”

“If I am informed correctly Madam Pomfrey considered you sick. I can hardly punish you for that. Good night, Mr. Black.”

“Good night, Professor.” Quickly he walked over to the door but right before he could slip out side he heard once more: “Mr. Black?”

“Yes, Professor?”

“I would like to remind you that your illness is no excuse for me not to do your homework. I expect that you will hand it in tomorrow, just like anyone else.”

A cold shiver crept down his spine. “Of course, Professor.”

And then the door slammed shut behind him and he was surrounded by his friends.

A small smile crept across his face.

He, Sirius Black, bred from banshees and dementors had been raised in a house of green and silver with neither warmth nor happiness nor hope. But he was only more than willing to exchange it for Gryffindor with red and gold, warmth and laughter and family.

#Harry Potter #HP #marauders era #hogwarts #sirius black #Remus Lupin #James Potter #peter pettigrew #minerva mcgonagall #jily #wolfstar #fanfic #hp ff #hp fanfic #otp #brOTP

[halothenthehorns]

GRYFFINDOR VS RAVENCLAW

"I really think we should go to bed after this chapter," Lily voted, glancing at the clock for a moment and taking a worried glance over at Remus, who was rubbing furiously at his eyes; and not for the fate of Scabbers she knew.

"It's a bit early," Harry disagreed, clearly not noticing the same thing but still eying the book with undisguised hope. She could tell something was bothering him, but the fact that he hadn't voiced it out loud meant whatever it was he knew he couldn't fully discuss without having a headache. She didn't press him for it, but instead said, "well, it would do us all some good to turn in for the night, we've had a rather long day I think." Knowing it would come up again at the end anyways, she went on and started her chapter without anymore protest.

Ron and Hermione's friendship seemed to be over.

They all winced in horror at what this could really mean. If Ron and Hermione really never did makeup for this then that would mean that Harry would have to choose one of his friends in the end, a fate no one was hoping for. Harry was so distracted by this that it finally clouded over his annoying little insistence Scabbers wasn't dead at all and gave him something new to focus on.

They were so angry at the other, Harry wasn't even sure how they could begin to make up.

"Can't rightly blame Ron," Sirius frowned, "but I really hope he cares more about Hermione's accident then Scabbers fate."

"You saying if I'd let my owl eat yours you'd forgive me?" James couldn't help but tease.

Sirius pretended to deliberate for a moment before asking, "did he try to attack mine several times before he'd done it?"

"Yes," James agreed at once.

"Then absolutely not!" Sirius cried in mock outrage, turning away and crossing his arms as dramatically as he possibly could.

"You two put on a good show," Remus snickered, "but I'm afraid the two who needed that lesson aren't here. Good try though."

Ron was insisting it was all Hermione's fault for never having taken Crookshanks trying to eat Scabbers seriously,

"Which she really should have back when she bought him," Lily sighed loudly before Sirius could say anything.

and Hermione told Ron to try looking under his bed rather than blaming the rest of the world.

"Really Hermione?" James groaned. "She can't really believe that! You don't think Ron tried that before he came tearing down the stairs?"

Hermione was insisting Ron was overreacting, those hairs could have been there since their break,

"Yeah, I'm sure Ron just cuddles with those in his bed, never would have made sure to get rid of them," Remus rolled his eyes.

and how Ron had hated her cat ever since it crashed into his head at the store.

"Well yeah," Harry scoffed, though his own distil at how daft Hermione was being was minimal to how upset he really felt at his two friends possibly losing their friendship.

Harry was on Ron's side, and tried to give Hermione the facts, but then Hermione lost it at Harry too.

"Urho," Sirius winced, already knowing Hermione's attitude was likely to spike.

She screamed at Harry for always siding with Ron, that everything was just her fault.

That left all five of them shrinking into themselves a little, realizing they may have been picking on Hermione a little too much this year on top of everything else she's been dealing with.

Ron was very torn up about his pet,

"Saw that coming," Lily sighed in pity, knowing quite well how much someone could care for their pet.

and Fred chose the wrong way to cheer him up by reminding Ron how he always called him useless,

"Ron was just doing that to complain, I highly doubt he meant it," Sirius winced, the twins clearly weren't doing a very good job of cheering their brother up this time.

and how he'd been getting old for how long? It was kinder this way, one bite and he hadn't felt a thing.

"Merlin, none of the Weasley's really know what comforting someone means do they?" Lily sighed.

Ron was still depressed as he reminded Harry that Scabbers had once bit Goyle.

"I do," James brightened at once with a wide grin.

"The rats proudest moment to date," Remus agreed fondly.

Fred agreed that the scar on the Slytherin's hand would be a testament to his life.

Sirius couldn't help but snicker, feeling like now the twins were on the right track to making Ron feel better.

Then Fred added on Ron could just go and buy another rat whenever he wanted.

"And that just killed it," Sirius huffed.

Harry decided to get his friend's mind off of it by giving him that promised ride on his Firebolt.

"If that doesn't cheer him up nothing will," James perked up at once.

Ron agreed he'd like to try and shoot some goals,

"Wonder if Ron's going to try out for the team next year?" Sirius grinned, remembering how Wood was going to be gone at the end of the year which would leave a place open for a bodily enthusiastic player.

and so they left for the pitch, finding Hooch who was just as keen at Harry's new broom as anyone.

"But of course," Remus nodded in complete understanding, "she's as much a nut as any of us."

She spent quite some time fantasizing about some of the other models as well, telling how a flaw of the Nimbus line was that they began to drag after a few years,

"Something I've noticed," James agreed with a roll of his eyes, a few things coming to mind he'd like to try and improve upon that.

and an older model called Silver Arrows, which they'd stopped making.

"Really?" Sirius asked in surprise. "Guess that must have stopped not too long from now."

"Better cling to them while you can then," Remus frowned.

She kept going for so long that it took Wood cutting in asking if they could get to their warmups.

"Oh, but she was enjoying herself," Lily giggled, finding this just as mundane then if James had gone on like this, but at least it was keeping their mind on more pleasant things.

Wood began by telling Harry about the startup Ravenclaw team, the Seeker of whom was Cho Chang.

Harry felt a funny sort of swooping feeling in his gut, quite apart from the little tick of his memory being replaced with yet another name he was sure he felt some kind of connection to. The feeling was so foreign though that he didn't think long on it.

He hadn't been expecting that, as she'd been in the hospital wing for something, but Wood scowled as he told of her recovery in time clearly to his displeasure.

"The horror," Lily scowled, her annoyance at Wood still managing to grow the longer this carried on.

He then said that the best model that team had was a Comet Two Sixty, which paled next to Harry's Firebolt, then he got them all in the air.

"What an enjoyable pep talk," James rolled his eyes.

Harry finally got to live his dream and soared through the air, where his broom responded to the lightest of touches, and went so fast the rest of the world blurred.

All four boys sighed, more pleased than they could ever put into words that such a broom could exist, and also silently agreeing Lily was hardly putting the right amount of enthusiasm into describing this momentous event.

He flew around so fast, he spun from one end of the field to the other, dive bombed the ground, then shot off into the air just as fast.

"Mom," Harry half groaned half laughed, "nothing happened, I didn't fall off. Quite sounding like you're reading about me riding on a dragon."

Lily gave him a maternal glare, like 'I'll worry as much as I want to young man' but she did marginally relax, which is why she may not have noticed Harry's odd little frown, trying to understand why he'd used that particular comparison.

Wood released the Snitch then, and Harry gave it a few moments head start before darting around and catching it seconds later.

James was bouncing around in unrestrained glee, unable to put into words how happy this was making him. His son finally being able to properly enjoy flying around on the best broom like he should have been able to do all the way back during his first year.

He released it, turned away again, and when he came back found it not moments later and made another easy catch.

"That's it," Sirius declared, "Lily needs to give up the book now, there is no way you should be able to read in such a bland tone of voice about something so momentous."

"I'm proud Harry's doing so well," Lily rebuked, "but I'm not going to feel any better about this until he actually manages to get through one bleeding game without something awful happening."

Sirius huffed and grumbled she was missing the point while Lily decided to ignore him.

Wood was nearly crying in pleasure, saying if they played like this there was no way they could lose, then he hesitated and asked Harry about his dementor problem.

"He's certainly in more control of it," Remus nodded encouragingly when he saw Harry look hesitant at the question.

Harry agreed, keeping to himself he wasn't at the level he'd like, but saying aloud he could handle it.

"You'll do fine," James soothed at once. "I am positive that shouldn't happen again, but if it does you are more than prepared for it this time."

Fred convinced the lot of them it wouldn't even be a problem, Dumbledore would go mad.

"And there's that," Sirius nodded in agreement, his ill feelings towards the headmaster not lingering too much on this subject, he liked to think he still had faith in the man to do this simple task.

The rest of the team turned to leave, but Harry stayed out a bit later so Ron could have his go, while Hooch had fallen asleep in the stands.

"Oh she's doing a great job at guard duty," Lily scowled in annoyance.

"You're in a bad mood," James noted lightly, "you do know there's nothing for Harry to be guarded from."

"I know," Lily snapped, "I just don't appreciate her taking her job so lightly."

Ron looked like he was going to explode from happiness as Harry handed the broom over,

"Perfectly understandable," Sirius nodded.

and spent as much time as possible flying through the air, only stopping when Hooch woke up and told the boys off for not waking her up and telling them to get back to school.

"Well she's quite the killjoy," Remus smirked, noting Lily only looked marginally happier at this.

They walked off, still chatting happily, when Harry spotted the eyes.

Sirius couldn't help but startle happily, suddenly wishing Ron wasn't there, suddenly hoping against hope he might finally be getting his chance to really talk to Harry.

Harry froze as he looked at the glowing orbs, but Ron dragged out his wand and used the Lumos spell, spotting Crookshanks.

"Damn," Sirius scowled, his anger possibly a little more than was necessary at his want being dashed because of that cat, his actions in eating Scabbers not exactly one hundred percent forgiven even if it was in his nature.

Ron lost his temper at once, trying to chuck the nearest available rock, but he hadn't even swung when the cat disappeared again.

"Least he was smart enough not to do that," Remus sighed, knowing it would only make problems worse if Ron really had hurt Hermione's cat.

Ron stamped off in a temper now, exclaiming how Hermione still wasn't handling this, and that cat had probably been eating someone else's pet as dessert. Harry wasn't really listening anymore, too ashamed at his automatic reaction in thinking that had been the Grim.

"If only," James grumbled, knowing he'd have much rather that been another Sirius sighting then a rekindling of annoyance.

The next morning Harry went down to breakfast encircled by his team while he carried his broom, all of the players seeming to think the Firebolt needed an honor guard.

Sirius' bad temper only increased when he realized yet again he was getting skipped off of a Quidditch chapter.

When they entered the Great Hall, Harry's good mood increased when he caught sight of the Slytherin team.

James was willing to let it go that he hadn't gotten this chapter just to hear about this one small moment of pleasure.

They made it to the Gryffindor table, where Wood had Harry put the broom in the center of the table.

Lily couldn't help making a little 'tsk' of annoyance at these boys fawning over a broom like this, admittedly projecting a lot of her bad feelings of Harry and Ron continuing to treat Hermione the way they were on anything associated with the game.

Several admirers from other houses came over to have a look, including Percy's girlfriend from Ravenclaw house Penelope. Percy made the joke she shouldn't sabotage the broom while she looked it over.

"Well if she does, then Percy's dating a girl far more interesting than he is," Sirius snorted.

"You're an idiot," Remus told him pleasantly.

He told the others that they had a bet running on today's game, ten Galleons to the victor. Before he joined Penelope at her table though, he quickly told Harry that it would be good if he won, because he didn't have ten Galleons.

James couldn't help snickering a bit at that, having no doubts in his mind his son would win and that wouldn't be a problem.

Then a less welcomed person arrived, asking if Harry could handle that broom.

"Far better than you could," Sirius sneered.

"Sadly I wouldn't be all that surprised if Malfoy actually came to school next year with a Firebolt as well," James frowned.

Harry returned he was more than confident he could, and Malfoy shot back that he hoped they'd installed a parachute on the broom, so that when dementors appeared he wouldn't fall as bad again.

"And that joke is still not funny," Remus rolled his eyes in contempt.

Harry wished Malfoy could install an extra arm on his broom, to catch the Snitch for him.

Which caused all four of them to release a gale of laughter for that comment. Lily couldn't deny hers one bit, as even if she is agitated at her son for the way he was acting, she'd be a right hypocrite for not admiring his mouth right then as often as she shot back at anyone who annoyed her.

Malfoy sulked away, and the Slytherins converged on him, probably to make sure that was a real Firebolt over there.

"Damned right it's real," Sirius puffed out his chest in pleasure.

They left for the stadium then, the weather absolutely perfect for the gameday,

"Lily I don't think you truly understand how lucky you are," James huffed, a touch of envy gleaming in his eyes at his wife getting this match.

Lily was still studiously ignoring them all.

but it didn't stop Harry from keeping his wand on him as he dressed in his Quidditch uniform.

"Something you really should do more often," Remus nodded in approval.

"Still blows my mind they don't do that at all," Sirius chuckled.

Lily eyed them for a moment before explaining, "I'm actually quite happy Harry's never had to do this but once before. Remember that the schools not living in the same era as we did."

Sirius and Remus exchanged a curious look before nodding in understanding.

Harry couldn't help but wonder if Lupin was in the stands today.

"Well I should hope so," James scoffed, "as far as I could tell, he's not got a reason to miss it this time."

Remus grinned as well at what he only hoped was an absurd question, of course he would want to come, or he would now. In this rather bleak future where he hardly seemed able to hold a conversation with Harry, well if Harry didn't catch sight of him it would only chalk up to another heartbreak.

Wood tried to give his speech, but all he could really manage was to encourage them to play like they had in practice the other day, then they went out.

"Wood's pep talks have actually gotten worse over the years," Sirius snickered.

Harry sized up the other team as they met on the grass, and couldn't help but notice his opponent Cho Chang had long dark hair, and was rather pretty.

Lily's tone finally changed from mild indulgence, to outright joy and glee at this. That was calm though compared to the boys reactions, who lost it and began laughing at once, despite Harry's berated face and mutters that they could shut up now.

"Sorry Harry," James gasped, rubbing at his ribs and hardly looking sorry at all. "I won't deny I've been dying to find out the first girl that would catch your fancy."

"Epically since one of your friends is a girl," Remus nodded in agreement with a stupid smile still plastered in place.

Harry blinked for a few moments before going even more red and spluttering, "wh-Hermione? No, no way. She's like my sister or something, it's nothing like that."

"Alright," Sirius waved him off, hardly sounding like he meant it as he said, "we get it, just amused us is all."

Still giggling slightly herself Lily decided to keep going while Harry was still more embarrassed than argumentative on the subject.

She gave Harry a friendly smile when she spotted him, which caused Harry to have quite a different nerve jump then the game.

"I'm positive it is," James muttered in agreement, giving Harry an obvious wink Harry chose to ignore.

Then the whistle was blown, and they were in the air, Lee Jordan doing his normal commentating.

"Always worth the listening," Remus nodded happily, easily remembering this boy's previous commentaries.

Jordan started off by commentating about the Firebolt, noting it was a world class broom, but McGonagall cut him off by snapping that he was supposed to be talking about the game play.

"I find this very relevant for the match," Sirius snickered.

Jordan didn't pay it much mind, still talking about some of the many perks the Firebolt had, and McGonagall cut in again.

"I never get tired of that kid," James laughed, knowing he'd be just as bad about endearing this broom if he was commentating.

He relented then, stating the score. Harry was only half listening as he followed his own job, finding Chang was keeping on him rather then doing her own search.

"Tailing's never a bad idea," Sirius nodded, his eyes narrowing as he continued mentally mapping out the game with every little detail Lily gave.

Harry could tell she knew what she was doing, always cutting him off and keeping him from making any kind of beeline.

"And keeping him off guard to boot," Remus praised at the girl's obvious skill.

Then Harry spotted it, a flash of gold near the center field.

Lily couldn't deny it anymore, her voice was spiking with just as much excitement as any of the boys as her son continued to show his prowess at yet another swift sighting of such a tiny little object. Yes, she was still ticked at her son for the way he'd been treating his friend, but she could never deny how proud she was of something he was so obviously good at.

Harry tried to go for it, but a Bludger forced him to swerve away,

"Oooh," all the boys groaned, the couch nearly shaking with them they were all bouncing in place so much.

"S'alright Harry," James said at once when he saw how annoyed his son looked, "you've still got the better broom, you'll still get there in the end."

and the Snitch took its chance to disappear.

"Rats," Sirius muttered, snapping his fingers but low enough Lily had no reason to stop.

Jordan couldn't help but notice all of this, returning to talking about how the players just couldn't match up against Potter's superior broom, and McGonagall lost her patience as she shouted at him he wasn't getting paid to advertise brooms!

"For some odd reason, I think McGonagall's a little upset herself," Remus snickered.

"What on earth would give you that idea," James cackled.

Ravenclaw was starting to win out in points, and Harry was starting to get jumpy as he realized if Chang got the Snitch first, they'd lose.

"Come on Harry, you can do this," Sirius muttered with absolute faith.

Then he saw it again, the Snitch was fluttering around their team's goal post,

"It's got to be a sign," James grinned wickedly that his son must have just set another record for spotting the snitch again so fast.

Harry made to go for it again, but then Cho was there right in front of Harry and he had to madly swing out of the way to avoid her, much to Wood's displeasure as he yelled at his Seeker to stop being a gentleman and knock her aside.

"He really is a lovely one," Lily grumbled in just as much agitation as anyone when Harry was once again cut off from his victory.

In the mayhem though, their ball was once again gone. Harry changed tactics then, deciding if she wanted to try and keep up with him he'd make it a chore.

James didn't hold back his laughter one little bit, going wide-eyed as a child at the mental joys of watching his son soar through the air like this.

Then it happened again, a flutter of wings and his eyes locked onto the Snitch on the Ravenclaw end, and Harry pelted towards it, and so did Cho.

"She's lucky she didn't smack into the ground," Remus muttered in admiration of the girls own skills at keeping up with Harry for so long.

They were racing forward, but Cho was a little bit closer when something caught her eye, and she screamed in fright as three dementors,

"Are you kidding me!" Sirius howled in outrage, nearly getting to his feet and all enjoyment gone in a single moment of frustration. "Dumbledore couldn't bloody-"

Lily wasn't listening, wasn't giving him the chance to go on a full blown rant for two reasons. Mainly, she was too anxious to see the results, to make sure Harry would get to the ground safe and sound again. Also because, she randomly noted Harry had felt them before seeing them every other time, why hadn't he this time? Were the effects finally beginning to wane?

were coming towards them, but Harry hardly gave them notice he was so focused. He yanked out his wand, performed the Expecto Patronum spell as something with a distinct silver shape came shooting out,

All five of them couldn't help but beam with pride, Harry hadn't been able to produce something so substantial since his first try, and this time he hadn't even felt the side effects of it!

but didn't glance at his handiwork as his hand still holding his wand curled around the Snitch in victory.

"Yes!" The room cried with such jubilation the parents felt lucky someone had yet again thought to silence their room from the baby's so that it wouldn't wake him. They couldn't help it though, it felt like it had been far too long since they'd really had a chance to just be truly happy about something, and the winning of Harry's game was definitely something worth celebrating. The boys spent quite some time interrogating Harry on every little detail he remembered that the book may not have said. Lily watched on with great enthusiasm and her two cents in whenever she could, but it was also she who demanded they get back on track and finish this chapter. Even Remus, who looked ready to fall asleep before she even finished, looked like he wanted to protest but Lily kept going anyways leaving them to forcefully fall silent.

The game was called, and the stands erupted as everyone began screaming with pleasure.

Harry sunk back to the ground only to be swarmed by the fans,

Lily couldn't help but sound like the proudest mother in the world in that moment, for the first time in her life angry that Hogwarts didn't allow outsiders, like parents, to attend these games.

Percy could be spotted muttering to himself about finding his girlfriend who now owed him money,

"So glad that little issue was resolved," Remus' laughter doubled at that random little thing being picked out.

but one voice made itself known by whispering in Harry's ear that he had made quite the Patronus.

"Can't imagine who would praise you for that," James nearly vibrated in pleasure when he realized Remus had managed to make this game. He wouldn't even be too surprised if Harry managed to catch another shot of a black dog scampering away.

Harry turned to find Lupin, beaming but clearly shaken.

"Shaken?" Lily asked curiously.

"Maybe the dementors freaked him out too?" James offered with a clear shrug saying he really was guessing, mostly because they'd yet to seem to have that effect on him before.

Remus couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't in fact a little shaken up at seeing a ghost in the air after all these years. On a different position yes, but Harry would be nearly indistinguishable from James from that vantage point, he'd probably been having some happier flashbacks to sitting in the stands in his younger years, next to Peter and cheering their friends on.

Harry was bubbling as he said how he hadn't felt the dementors one bit, and Lupin looked almost disappointed to burst Harry's bubble as he told Harry those hadn't been dementors.

"What?" Was muttered all across the room, most of them still too excited to really be listening to what Lily was saying exactly.

He pulled Harry away and showed him that Malfoy was plenty put out now.

"He didn't," Lily muttered in disgust.

"He did," James nodded, his face twisting with dislike.

"Not that it really matters," Sirius said with bright-eyed glee, "because whatever stupid thing they thought was going to happen not only blew up in their faces, but I'll lose my damned mind if someone doesn't tell them off for that, like Remus for one."

Remus couldn't help but nod in fervent agreement with this, but couldn't help but wonder if someone else already was by his own rather laid back attitude about it.

Him, Crabbe, Goyle, and the Slytherins captain Marcus Flint were all dressed in the black hoods posing as dementors, but were now crumpled on the ground being told off by a furious McGonagall.

"Sweet justice," Sirius crowed, actually getting to his feet and bouncing around with unrestrained glee. Lily was too busy giggling at his antics to tell him off and they spent another long few minutes before Lily finally came back to reality and kept going breathlessly.

She was disgusted with the lot of them trying that stunt, and only slightly calmed down when she saw Dumbledore heading over.

James kept muttering things like, "beautiful," and, "perfect, sweet karma," under his breath with a manic grin still in place.

Ron had to wrestle his way out of the crowd to come over and see, and nearly fell down laughing as Malfoy was still half stuck in his robes.

"Perfectly understandable," Remus nodded with glee.

George called Harry back to the rest of them, telling that there was going to be a party!

"Oh boy," all of the old Gryffindors lit up with excitement. Even Lily, who never put much attention into Quidditch games, never denied the chance to enjoy one of their parties.

It was like they'd already won the Quidditch Cup;

"Well considering how long it's been since Gryffindor has really been able to celebrate like this, you can't really blame them for going a little stir crazy," Lily laughed.

every person from the house was buzzing in the common room, and after disappearing for a time, Fred and George came back with treats for everyone, dipping them out of a bag with the Honeydukes logo.

"Right out of me own heart," James praised, smacking his lips and suddenly having the childish desire to go back in time and relive his own similar parties.

Angelina asked how they'd managed that,

"Magic," Sirius said in a goofy tone of voice, making Harry laugh all the harder at their antics.

but the question got lost in the crowd and no one really seemed to care as they all dug in. Harry spotted one person who wasn't getting into the festivities, Hermione. She was curled away in the corner reading.

"Are you kidding me," Harry gasped. "How on earth could she- did she even go to the game!"

Lily was frowning all over again, all amusement drained right out of her as she once again was reminded of just how alone the poor dear probably felt right now. She didn't however turn any of those bad feelings towards Harry again, recognizing how truly upset he looked that his friend was so clearly out on her own like this.

Harry forced his way over, past the twins who were now juggling to the crowds amusement,

James and Sirius couldn't help but be just a little envious they'd never thought up to try that routine.

and asked her if she'd even come to the game? She said she had, though her voice cracked a bit.

"Stress," Remus frowned in concern.

While she was happy the house had won, she had to read her book by Monday.

"That whole book, by Monday?" Sirius demanded with a raised brow. "I somehow doubt Burbage assigned that."

"Wow, so Hermione is still trying to outdo everyone in the class on top of everything," James said in pity.

Harry tried to convince her to put it down and join the fun, hoping that Ron would be in a good enough mood to put their issues behind them,

"Well I certainly hope so," Lily grumbled.

but Hermione refused, saying she still had over four hundred pages left.

"Then why is she in the noisy common room?" Remus demanded, wondering if that wasn't perhaps her plan and she was actually trying to get her friends attention.

Then she scoffed that Ron wouldn't want her to.

"Then tell him to get over it," Lily snapped, "she needs to go over there and say it's high time they talk this out right and proper."

Ron picked that moment to say as loudly as possible that he wished Scabbers were still alive, he loved these treats.

"Timing," James scowled, personally thinking he may have even said that as a low blow at Hermione, he didn't think he'd put it past Ron at this point.

Hermione burst into tears.

All of the boys started, suddenly leaning away from the book as if it were a crying girl too. Lily took the moment to give them all dirty glares for that reaction before continuing with unrestrained pity.

Harry tried to say something, but she ducked the book under her arm and ran up the stairs.

"Damn," the boys cursed, now knowing Harry had no way to go after her and really comfort his friend, Harry was clearly at least trying.

Harry stormed back to Ron and told him off for that, and Ron shot back he might apologize if she even acted like she was sorry.

"How much more does he want, she bloody just burst into tears in front of everyone!" Sirius gaped.

"I'm thinking Ron might be holding a bit of a grudge," Remus muttered softly, at least catching Sirius' attention who nodded in understanding.

Harry couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't some kind of backstory to that comment since it also made James look away in a rather guilty way but Lily still wasn't giving them much of a chance to discuss anything.

The Gryffindors only ceased when McGonagall came in and told them it had been enough, and to get to bed.

"Well she's just a right killjoy, least that hasn't changed," James muttered sourly.

Harry and Ron went up the stairs, still happily dissecting the game,

"We would be too if Lily wasn't such a killjoy," Sirius snarked.

but they did eventually fall asleep, and Harry had an odd dream.

"Because your dreams have always been so pleasant before," Remus snickered a bit, wondering if this one would be Quidditch related, at least that wouldn't be so bad.

He was walking through a forest, his Firebolt over his shoulder,

"Now this is a strange dream," Sirius laughed, knowing in any normal circumstances Harry would be riding that any given chance.

following something silver through the trees, though it stayed too far ahead for him to see it properly.

"Guess Harry really wants to know what his Patronus is to," James smirked, this being the only thing that made sense to him.

He tried to run and catch up, but still wasn't making progress, the sound of hooves getting louder.

"Hooves?" Lily reread in surprise.

"Think he's chasing after Buckbeak or something?" Sirius wondered, remembering how Harry was supposedly helping with that beast in his free time.

He was jolted awake though, by someone screaming at the top of his lungs 'no!'

Lily may not have shouted that as loud as the book implied she should have, but it was definitely loud enough to startle the others who had just been so invested in that dream, Harry hardest of all. He had been trying to so hard all day to ignore this sickly feeling that something bad was going to happen on this day, and he'd even gone to bed so surely he must have been wrong this time, this didn't bode well...

He tried to pull back the curtains around his bed, and heard the sound of his door being slammed shut.

Lily felt a cold chill crawling up her spine, wondering who on earth would go slamming the door like that right then.

The other boys had woken as well, all of them calling out sleepily what was going on, while Ron was scrambling around in bed, part of his hangings torn.

"Torn?" Remus muttered, wondering if Ron had perhaps damaged them in his nightmare, what else could it be?

He was looking around everywhere, white faced with shock as he stammered it had been Black with a knife!

Sirius fell back against the couch for all the world looking like he'd just been stabbed himself.

Lily had to blink hard several times to convince her eyes she'd really just read that while ignoring the fevered chill that made her lean in close to Harry on impulse, but she was being stupid of course. Sirius would never really hurt any of those kids, least of all Harry, he'd obviously just brought the knife for defense while he finally figured out how to get in there and...and what? There truly no longer seemed like a logical explanation to explain away a mad man's actions for this nonsense, because no one would really think it a good idea to go into a crowded boy's dormitory in the middle of the night just to talk to Harry. That didn't even begin to explain why he'd rip up the hangings on Ron's curtain...

Remus came out of his shock first, taking a moment to give a glance at Sirius before snapping at Lily, "keep going, I'm sure Ron was just having some sort of nightmare," while rubbing furiously at his chest.

Lily swallowed hard, wondering if Remus really did believe that, but gave no counterargument and only hesitated another second because she wasn't even sure if James and Sirius were still listening, they looked like they'd just closed off from the world. Her only real reassurance was a glance over at her son, who was frowning in utter frustration. That look meant that he was trying to remember something though, there still wasn't a single trace of fear in her boy at this, so there must be something they were all missing.

They tried to tell Ron it had just been a dream, but Ron was adamant that he hadn't ripped up his bed, Black had been here!

Remus felt physically torn, wanting to agree with Dean that Ron may have just done that himself, as implausible as that was it was still better than the alternative. Then his mind kept reminding 'heard a door slam shut.'

Then Ron jumped out of bed and ran downstairs, waking every boy along the way it seemed as he reached the common room to find trash still littered about in the dying fire.

'The house elf's are slacking' was the first thought that finally reentered Sirius' mind, and that random little tidbit finally put some color back into his skin, though in no way seemed relevant to anything so he pressed his lips together hard to stop himself from interrupting what he kept hoping was just some really elaborate and not funny prank done by the twins.

The twins came stumbling in, rubbing sleep out of their eyes and asking if they were still going to party?

Then Sirius winced so horribly James and Remus had to wonder if his heart had just skipped one too many beats. This really did sound bad, nearly as bad as the time they'd stopped speaking to him all those years ago, but it wasn't the same thing now! Sirius had just, just... and none of them could still come up with a thing.

Percy barged in, telling them all to get back to bed while putting his badge in place.

"Trust me, I think we all know by this point," Harry muttered to himself.

Ron tried to tell his brothers Black had been in his room, had a knife over him, and Percy said that he was being ridiculous.

Remus quickly opened then closed his mouth, unable to break the long drawn out silence with some dumb comment in true Sirius style.

They stood there arguing for a few moments before McGonagall returned.

"How would she know so fast?" Harry blurted out a little too loudly, causing all of them to jump since Lily had nearly been reduced to a whisper by this point she was so fearful of what she was reading.

James startled hardest of all, he'd clearly still been in shock, but in an effort to brush it off he exclaimed, "I'm positive there's something so the Head of House knows when someone's in the dormitory who's not supposed to be. At least it would explain those times we snuck in and a Head of House would appear a few seconds after we left."

Lily waited a moment longer, almost praying someone else would have something to say about this that would delay her reading, but no one did and the sticky silence had returned the moment James had got done speaking.

She turned on Percy first and told him off for allowing this to continue,

Sirius gave a huffy little noise, like he dearly wanted to make some sarcastic comment to that, but his mind was still floundering over a nightmare of a future no one could answer and he just couldn't get the words out.

Percy huffed back he hadn't okay'ed this, it was just Ron having a nightmare.

Remus made an odd sort of noise. He dearly wanted to make the comment that he felt bad for Ron and nobody believing him, but that would mean that he did believe him, and he was still banking on the fact that Ron really did have a nightmare, because otherwise...

Ron shouted at the top of his lungs he hadn't dreamed that! McGonagall still told him it was impossible, Black couldn't have gotten past the portrait.

Sirius flinched like he'd just been struck. He wanted that to not be answered, would have given all the money in Gringotts for Lily to keep going and say of course that hadn't happened because he really didn't know the password, but already scenarios were running through his mind of all to easy ways he could spy on current Gryffindors to get that password. Surely though, if he was thinking like this now, he couldn't be so mad then that he'd even pull this stunt, right?

Ron was insistent though, so she stepped out to check herself.

This time it was Harry who had to fight back the impulse to mutter 'poor Ron' because he knew deep down that Ron hadn't been having a bad dream and he really wished these people did believe his friend. Of course that didn't help the current mood in the room one bit, who were all practically paralyzed at the endless implications to Sirius' mind set in the future.

She asked Cadogan if an adult male had come in recently, and Cadogan agreed at once.

Remus shuddered and leaned back into the couch, grumbling something that Sirius had no desire to make out the exact words of, because he either wouldn't believe them or he'd truly lose his mind in the next few seconds if this continued train of thinking really was leading his friend somewhere he knew he'd die before going.

McGonagall was as shocked as anyone to hear it, asking why he'd been let in. Cadogan explained he'd had a list of the passwords.

James said something so foul Lily's first instinct was to grab her wand and scrub his mouth out.

She didn't though, none of them did as they remembered not that long ago about how Neville had somehow gotten a list of passwords, and had somehow lost them. Then again, that begged the question how Sirius had gotten a hold of those? Had Neville managed to lose it on the grounds somewhere and Sirius had just happened to come across them? Circumstances of that aside, it still didn't answer the deranged question of what he was doing?! If his true purpose was to see Harry, then he was going about it in the worst and most criminally implicating way possible, which meant that the last line of reasoning really was Sirius had lost his ever loving mind. Lily had to suck in a long, deep breath and control every impulse in her not to continue throwing worried looks over at Sirius as she finished.

McGonagall stepped back in to ask which student had been stupid enough to write down passwords and leave them around.

Lily finally found a whole new emotion to scowl at, never finding it okay for a teacher to publicly call out a student and insult him like that. Of course it wasn't nearly as bad as when Snape had done it and she recognized McGonagall was stressed out of her mind right then but it finally gave her a chance to keep going without sounding like she was reading a death warrant.

Neville had no choice but to raise his hand.

"Give me that," James snapped at once, hands shaking nearly as bad as his voice as he violently flipped to the next page.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #James Potter #Lily Potter #Reading the books #PoA #Marauders

[authormitchel-blog]

P.O.A: Part 5

Harry watched as Seamus Finnigan paced back and forth in front of the Great Hall doors.

“All right, Seamus?” Harry asked when it was clear the boy would pace all day without some sort of interference.

            “Oh, hi Harry,” the boy said in an odd tone. “All right?” he asked.

“All right,” answered Harry. “Big game today?”

            “Yeah,” Seamus answered in that weird monotone. “Big game.”

“You’re not nervous, are you?”

            “No,” said Seamus too quickly. “Not nervous at all. It’s just Wood is very, very keen on winning today, and Ron and that darn cat have kept me up all night. Around four a.m. I was willing to sacrifice the rat myself, but Ron kept having to get up to block the door which meant we all had to keep getting up.”

            “Ah,” said Harry, wondering when Hermione and Ron were going to give up this ridiculous feud.

            Harry clasped Seamus on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Seamus, you know when you’re up there that the adrenaline will kick in.”

            “But Oliver,”

“Wood,” Harry interrupted. “will be happy as long as you do your best. You’re a great flier, Seamus, and besides it’s just Hufflepuff.”

            “Just Hufflepuff, my arse, have you see their seeker? Cedric Diggory is a beast.”

Harry had seen Diggory, but Seamus was his friend so, “Yeah, not exactly a seeker’s build.”

            Seamus seemed to consider this for a second. “That’s what Dean said.”

“See?” said Harry as if Dean Thomas’ words could affect the match and given the relieved look on Seamus’ face, maybe they could.

            Harry had thought that it was just a little bit of rain, but even sitting in the stands it seemed as if it were more than just a little bit. The rain pelted down on the crowd like tiny bee stings, and Harry could only imagine what it would feel like to the fliers. The stands were under large canopy like structures, supported by four posts near the corners, but the rain beat in on them sideways, and Harry knew that even with umbrellas and charms, that he would be soaked by the end of it. The wind was so strong he saw the players stagger as they made their way onto the field. The Slytherin team were sitting in close quarters to one another, Marcus wanted the team to take notes on the other team’s strategies, and Harry knew that the burly seventh year would demand to know what they learned from the match.

            Harry had been looking forward to the game, but now it seemed as if it was just going to be another lesson. Everytime he felt a chill Harry shuddered involuntarily. The sky was getting so dark it looked as if it were filled with dementors, cloak to cloak ready to watch the match like everyone else.

            Flint watched intently as the teams took the field, and Harry wondered where his parchment and quill were. The game started normally. The Hufflepuffs were putting up a good fight, and Cedric Diggory was indeed a great flier. Harry cheered loudly, in his head mind, every time Gryffindor got a goal. He didn’t really fancy trying to beat his friend one day, but he knew that it would be good for Seamus to get a win.

            Marcus, too, seemed pleased when Gryffindor got a point, though Harry was sure no one could tell but him. He was sitting so close to the seventh year and his Captain that he could see the slight upturn of his mouth when Wood managed to block a goal.

            Flint must be taking this whole thing seriously because he couldn’t keep his eyes off his competition. Harry would’ve been worried if it weren’t for the fact that he knew what Flint’s evil, I’m going to get you for missing that goal, smirk looked like and how he was looking at Oliver wasn’t that. No, he had never seen Flint look the way he did when he watched Oliver Wood.

Harry rubbed his eyes and cast an Impervius on his glasses for good measure. He couldn’t have just saw what he thought he did. Then, blinking, he saw it again. A black mass floated just in the peripheral of his vision, and Seamus Finnigan was flying straight toward it.

            In a moment, the dark shape seemed to multiply outward and the weather took notice. Lightening started to strike and Madam Hooch was trying to ground everyone, but the players too desperately absorbed in the game hardly seemed to notice.

            The storm seemed to pick up then, the lightning and wind seemed to whip the canopy above their heads like it was bent on taking it off. Then Harry saw it, a sky full of dementors. And one was chasing down Seamus Finnigan. The professors in their stand clamored for calm, but everyone was running ass the dementors feel down on them. Oliver Wood was being knocked about by huge gusts of wind. Flint, beside Harry tenses, as the game went on. Then people saw them. The dementors in clear view. Harry turned to tell Millicent to run when he was shoved backward. Millicent was swept away by the people around them and Harry was lost.

            “Harry!” she screamed, but her voice quickly faded. The fliers were hitting the ground. Oliver Wood was trying his best to get his team out of the sky. Angelina Johnson was zooming by Cedric Diggory and just barely managed to get him on her broom before his crashed to the ground. Fred and George had jumped for the nearest stand abandoning their brooms as they plummeted to the Earth. Harry tried to stand when he had space to move without being trampled, but his robe had caught on one of the bleacher’s nails. The canopy above their heads had come loose at one corner and Harry could tell that a few more gusts would knock it clear off.

            Then, Harry saw it.

The sound of an angry Bludger zooming close to him and Seamus Finnigan in front of it, trying to outrun it. The boy, unable to fly anywhere else, came barreling towards him. Harry caught only the boy’s freckled face as he flew nose to nose over Harry then into one of the canopy’s supports followed by the Bludger. Harry didn’t know which made the sickening crunch that filled his ear, Seamus or the breaking beam, but Harry knew his stomach would never be the same again. He wrenched himself free of the nail in just enough time for the beam to have its final say before it fell right on top of him. Harry landed in between the bleachers, but he was trapped.

            “Seamus! Seamus?” he shouted. “Are you all right?” Harry shouted, but the other boy didn’t or couldn’t reply. Harry lifted his wand, ready to cast the most powerful levitation charm possible, but when he looked up at the beam he was face to cloak with death. He felt the weight of the monster bearing down on him, sucking the life right out of him. And then he heard her screams.

            And Harry was met with darkness and dreams of white smoke.

&&&

            Harry woke up to someone tapping his cheek insistently with something cold and wet.

“Don’t do that you imbecile,” barked a familiar voice.

            “Sorry,” said another familiar tone. “I saw Madam Pomfrey do it earlier.”

“She was brushing the dirt off his face, not beating him with a wet rag, Weasley.”

            “I wasn’t beating him, Bulstrode,” said Ron insistently.

And before their voices got any louder, Harry opened his eyes.

            “Oi, Mate,” said Seamus, who was sitting on the bed right beside his.

“What a game,” he said, brightly. Harry moved to sit up, but Hermione put a hand on his shoulder.

            “Not so fast, Harry, Madam Pomfrey said that you might have a headache.”

The room started to spin as she said that so she figured she must be right.

            “What happened?”

            “Dumbledore was really angry,” said Hermione in a quiet voice. “I’ve never seen him like that before. He ran onto the pitch and cast several charms, saving everyone. Then, he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away.”

            “He was furious they came onto the grounds,” said Millicent. “Then he magicked you onto a stretcher, and here we are.”

            “Yeah,” said Seamus. “Everyone thought you were….”

His voice faded, but Harry hardly noticed. He was thinking about what the dementors had done to him….about the screaming voice. He looked up and saw his friends looking at him so anxiously that he quickly cast around for something matter-of-fact to say.

            “That was some great flying, there Seamus,”

“Yeah, Sea,” said Dean Thomas who bumped his shoulder into his best friends.

Seamus seemed to blush all the way to his toes, clearly pleased with the praise.

            “Thanks guys, but I’d rather not have a repeat of that ever again.”

“I’ll try,” laughed Harry. “Maybe I’ll ask Trewlaney for suggestions.”

            The group laughed even as Harry considered that might not be that bad of an idea.

Madam Pomfrey insisted that he stay in the infirmary that night, along with Seamus and Oliver Wood who had gotten the worst of it even as he managed to get the rest of his team to safety, other than Seamus.

            Harry was surprised when Flint, of all people, came to see him. “I’m just checking to make sure that you can still compete,” he said, but Harry was glad he came anyway.

            “Oi,” said Wood. “No tampering with my players.” 

Flint smiled from his chair in between Seamus and Harry’s bed, though Wood couldn’t see more than his back.

            “Don’t worry, Precious, I’m just making sure my player will be able to crush yours when we play you.”

            “No need to worry about that,” said Wood in a defeated tone. Flint turned to look at him.

“What do you mean?” Flint asked.

            “I mean, Hufflepuff won. Diggory caught the snitch in all the confusion. He wanted to call a rematch, but Madam Hooch said that those were the rules. They won, and I had to agree with her.”     

            Flint rolled his eyes, looking incredulous.

“You should have let that noble Hufflepuff call a rematch,” said Flint. “You needed that win.”

            “You know I couldn’t do that,” said Wood resignedly. “And besides you just want an easier team to beat for the Cup.”

            Flint looked as if that wasn’t what he wanted at all.

“And you’re just gonna give up?” Flint asked.

            “Of course not,” said Wood. “but..”

“But nothing, I didn’t know United took quitters, but then again if they do, you’ll be a shoe in.”

            “What do you know about it Flint?” said Wood, trying to rise from his bed, but the pain in his leg stopped him. Flint turning to see Wood’s struggle, stood a little too quickly and walked over to the other boy.

            “I know that it won’t mean a thing if I beat anyone other than you for the Cup.”

Wood scoffed.

            “Hate me that much do you?”

Flint didn’t say yes or no. He only started toward the door.

            “Well?” asked Wood in a huff. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to practice,” said Flint with a challenging smirk. “I expect to see you out there tomorrow.”

            After Flint left the room, and Harry listened to Madam Pomfrey insist that no way, no how, to Wood that he would be able to leave even for a quick fly around did Harry fall asleep, wondering if Flint even came to see him at all.

#Harry Potter #Harry Potter rewrite #Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban #rewrite #Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban rewrite #poap5