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thebestofoneshots · 6 months

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Gilded Constellations | wolfstar x reader

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 6.9 K Warnings: None Prompt: It's finally time... the Quidditch Match. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it.

Chapter 19: Silver Bird

When you come home, my crazy heart will greet those silver wings Your pet dog will remember you, and I'll carry your things We'll catch a runnin' make-up, and you will look just fine And you'll remain my friend, my friend until you're mine

It was finally Saturday, James had you arrive at the pitch an hour and a half before the match was going to start, so you could warm up properly. You still had thirty minutes to get there, and you were rummaging through your neverending chest to try and find the stupid blue undies you’d promised to wear.

“Is it this ones?” Mary asked, as she sat next to you.

You looked at the piece she had in her hand and you shook your head, “Those aren’t very comfortable for flying.”

She nodded and continued looking through the chest. Lily, who was looking through your dresser asked “You said cute, baby blue, matching set, right?”

“Yeah,” you responded, not looking at her yet.

“I think I’ve got them.” She said, taking the pair out and showing it to you. You beamed and got up from the floor towards her, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead “It’s perfect, thank you!” you said as you took them from her hands and went inside the bathroom.

“That was a very Sirius thing to do,” said Marlene from her bed as she laced her shoes.

Mary agreed “Sometimes they’re so alike it’s scary.”

“I don’t think so,” said Lily, with a hand on her chin. “She’s not that much like Sirius, if anything I’d say she’s more like Remus.”

“Remus? How?” Asked Beth, she had dropped by to get ready with the girls, they were all planning to use some coloured paint on their faces, along all the Gryffindor memorabilia they had gathered.

“Well, she’s responsible and caring. And she always helps everyone in the study clubs. And even if she hangs out with the boys all the time, she’s never gotten detention. Remus almost never gets detention either. They both know their way around it, somehow.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

Finally, the door of the bathroom opened and you walked outside, your thick quidditch pants on, along with a simple shirt you were planning to wear underneath your quidditch sweater. You looked out the window, it was getting greyer and grayer “You think it’s gonna rain?” you asked.

“On the forecast, it said it wouldn’t,” said Beth, who had revised it on the papers at breakfast.

“But the current climate divintor is really bad,” complained Marlene “The other day I planned a picnic with Holden, and it said it would be sunny. We were in the middle of the way to the spot we’d found when a storm broke out, we had to use charms to stop the rain from ruining our day.”

“Better take the anti-slippery gloves then,” Beth said, as she picked out a pair from the ones you had laid out on the bed, “just in case.”

You nodded, and took them in your hands, before placing them on the small duffle bag in which you were packing the rest of your equipment. Including the Quidditch robes and anything other than the sweater and the pants. “You’ve already eaten right?” Mary asked.

“Yeah, like 2 hours ago,” you said with a nod “I wanted enough time to digest before flying.

“Brilliant idea!” she said with a smile “Last time Marlene ate last minute she was puking when the game ended.

“That’s because I got a bludger on the edge my broom and spinned around like 30 times,” she huffed, and then turned to you “Ready for your first game luv?”

“Born ready,” you said, with a little smirk.

Marlene mirrored your expression, “That’s exactly what I expected to hear.”

Once in the pitch, you spotted James and Teddy talking to each other, Davis and Gale were sitting on a bench, and you weren’t sure where Sirius was, that was until you felt someone hugged you from behind and planted a kiss on your cheek “You look stunning in those clothes Starshine,” he said as he tightened his grip around your waist.

Sirius was still hugging you when James asked everyone to gather closer to him. And he didn’t let go of you even as James spoke “This is the first match of the year, and we must give it our all! Ravenclaw has a fierce team, Holden is a brilliant seeker, Tobias and Penelope are fierce with the bludgers, they will try to hit every single one of us, and even if we have Sirius and Marlene to protect us, you need to keep an eye on the bludgers at all time. Especially you,” he said, giving you a look “They will try to throw you off your broom.”

You nodded as you took a deep breath, the seekers and the keepers always got the worst of the bludgers, you knew that already, but the seekers had a wider moving area, while as a keeper, you’d have to stay closer to the goals “I’ll have your back,” Sirius whispered in your ear as James continued his speech.

“Their chasers are good, I don’t know much of the newer kids but Adrian is fast, not as fast as you Gale, but fast regardless, keep an eye on him at all times, the further we keep their ball from our goals the better, even if we have (Y/N).”

Teddy intervened later “Just pay full attention to your surroundings at all times, we can beat them, we’ve trained enough.”

“Time for warm-up,” James said then, and had you do a couple of exercises before allowing you to go up in your brooms for a few laps around the pitch.

When you had 10 minutes left, James had you all come down to fasten all the quidditch protection equipment accordingly. He handed you a bag, with a thick brown helmet and a chest plate as well. “I forgot the keeper’s equipment was some of the less glamorous,” you said as you looked at them, he laughed.

“You know how to put it on, don’t you?”

You nodded, and dragged the items to the side, starting with the shin and knee protectors and slowly moving your way up to the chest.

Sirius, who had a lot less things to put on, was done before you and he walked closer to you “Need help?”

“I’m good,” you said as you continued fastening your arm protections. When you put on the breast protector, you started struggling with the fastening, and Sirius closed the gap between the two of you.

“Let me,” he said, his hands over yours, fastening the sides of the thing with ease “It’s that too tight?”

You shook your head, still grasping the fact that you weren’t alone anymore, that you could depend on him, on your new friends. You grabbed the helmet and turned to him “How do I look now?” you asked with a teasing smile, the helmet still held between your hands.

Sirius smirked before he answered “Ravishing.”

You laughed, tilting your head back as you let yourself completely indulge in the fun. Sirius was looking at you adoringly as you tittered, at the way your eyes would crinkle and your smile grew wide. He stared, shamelessly, until he heard someone calling for you from the side, he placed his hand over your shoulder and nodded to their way. You were still smiling when you turned to look at the direction Sirius was pointing at, it was Nina and Sybil.

“Hey, girls!” You said as you approached them happily, almost skipping towards them, Nina had a Gryffindor scarf on and Sybil was holding a pair of red and yellow flags in her hands “You’ll get jinxed by your house members,” you told them motioning to the Gryffindor memorabilia they had on.

“We’re not really close to the players,” Sbybil said with a shrug, of course she wouldn’t care.

“But we do know you.” Nina said with a smile “We brought you something,” she added before bringing her hand inside the messenger bag she had hung across her shoulder and taking out a blue ribbon. Something blue.

“For me?” You asked with a small smile.

“So you remember not all Ravenclaws are against you today,” Nina said. “Sybil says it’s for good luck too.”

“It is,” Sybil confirmed. “Why do you think ladies used to tie something on the lances of the men they liked before a joust? If a person who really cares about you gives it to you, it will be infused with a special kind of magic.”

“Well then, you may tie it wherever you want,” You said with a smile, walking a little closer to the girls, Nina was the one to attach it, lacing it through the thinner side of the chest protection you had on, carefully tying it into a neat little bow.

“I feel like I should say something…” she said with a little smile, you nodded, prompting her to speak “Oh fair lady,” she stated, in a very theatrical tone, even faking a strong Scottish accent “May this token of…”

“–Of affection,” offered Sybil.

“Of affection?” Nina asked with a frown, turning back to her natural voice. Sybil nodded fervently and Nina shrugged, clearing her throat before continuing “May this token of our… devoted affection… deliver you from all evil and take you to victory…” She turned to Sybil, who gave her a thumbs up, and finally, she pulled her hands from your chestplate, a little blush showing on her face.

You smiled, and leaned a little, “Thank you, my lady,” you said in the tone a true knight would, and then looked up at the two girls with a cheeky grin, still mid bow.

You got a soft punch from Nina on the arm “Don’t make it even sillier.”

“I’m not being silly!” you said in between laughs “I’m truly happy you came to support me today.”

Sirius finally came over and placed an arm over your shoulder, bringing you a little closer to him “Can you believe our little Starshine just got a lady’s favour?” He asked James, who was just a couple of metres behind “When have we ever gotten one of those? And from a pair of Ravenclaws nonetheless.”

“It’s for good luck,” Nina said reproachfully. “It’s her first match, don’t tease her so much about it.”

“It’s all right Nina,” you said with a cheeky little smile “Sirius is just jealous.”

He pouted, “Can’t I get a cute ribbon too?”

“Has to be given by someone who really cares about you,” Nina said casually.

“Auch,” Sirius said dramatically.

Nina opened her eyes wide “I didn’t mean that I didn’t ca…”

“He’s just teasing you luv,” you said reassuringly. “Here, lean a little closer,” you told Sirius, when he did, you placed a soft kiss on the corner of his lips. “How’s that for your lady’s favour?” you asked with a teasing grin. Nina averted her gaze from the two of you and Sybil gave her a sympathetic glance.

“Hm… Not sure,” Sirius responded “Might need it to be a little longer, for good measure, you know?”

Finally, Sybil cleared her throat “We’ll go find a good place to sit,” she said with a smile.

“Good luck!” Nina told you with a tight smile before turning to go.

You walked out of Sirius’ grasp and towards her and Sybil “Girls wait!” you said as you grabbed onto Nina’s shoulder “Thank you,” you said earnestly, “for everything.”

Nina smiled, seeing as how you had run to catch her “It’s nothing, really. We wanted to be here.”

“Yeah,” Sybil said, “You do your magic, we’ll be here, rooting for you.”

You smiled at the two of them one last time and they took off towards the bleachers. “Ready for the match?” Remus’ soft voice came from behind, startling you in a good way.

You turned to him and nodded “James had us warm up and even gave us a team spirit speech. It was inspiring.”

Remus caught the slight sarcasm in your tone and chuckled “You’ll be wearing that?” he asked as he motioned to your helmet still in your hand.

You nodded “Keepers are one of the main targets of the bludgers. James wouldn’t let me play without it. Merlin forbid something happens to one of his players,” he chuckled again, leaning down just a little to take the helmet from your hands and place it over your head “What are you doing?”

“Making sure James’ little star-keeper is as safe as she should,” He said casually as he fastened the straps under your chin.

“I was waiting until the very last minute to put it on…”

“Why? You get too hot with it?”

“Not at all, I just think I look like an egg,” you said with a pout.

Remus stepped back just a little, too look at you better “Well, I think you look cute.”

You laughed, and hit him on the shoulder playfully “Sure thing Rem,” you said dismissively, then you heard the blow of the whistle. “Game’s calling,” you said with a dashing smile before walking back to the pitch, Remus stared at your receding figure as you walked towards the pitch.

As you gathered around everyone you managed to see the rest of your friends walking over the bleachers to find a seat. Tom was wearing face paint, just like the rest of the girls, a few stripes of red and gold painted across their cheek. Lily had a banner in her hand that had a fierce-looking lion roaring, and it had written down the names of all the members of the team. Some other people in the crowd had reused the memorabilia from the race, so you even saw a couple of people wearing some of the pins with your faces on them.

Another blow to the whistle and you were walking alongside James to the centre of the pitch. “Captains, step forward!” Said a young Professor you hadn’t met before, but that you’d seen around meals, he must be the flying instructor, you thought. Both James and Lionel did as told, he turned to Lionel “Ready?”

“Ready!”

He turned to James and the boy responded “Ready!”

The teacher nodded, and then gave you a look “Keepers, positions,” he said. Both you and Lionel mounted your brooms and flew toward your places. The wind howled in your ears as you hovered in front of the goals. It was a cold day, and you were thankful you had so much protection gear on since it was enough to keep you a little warm, at least until the action started.

You saw the Professor release the snitch, you could see it glistening with the bit of sun that the clouds allowed to pass through, it circled around James and Holden, taunting them before disappearing into the air. Everyone mounted their brooms. The crowd cheered as the game was just about to start. The atmosphere felt electric and thrilling, the wind pushing you towards your hoops as you steadied your broom to maintain your position.

The Chasers jockeyed for position, determined to outmanoeuvre each other and score those crucial goals. Gale, Davis and Teddy were already in the position they had planned, and the three of them kept their sights on the quaffle that the Professor still held in between his hands. Sirius was flying close to James, while Marlene was flying just above you, ready to stop any bludgers coming your way, as James had instructed.

Marlene tightened her grip on her bat, and with another blow of the whistle the game finally began, the Quaffle soaring into the air in an instant. Gale flew straight to it, managing to size it in the air, and flew straight towards the other team’s goal. But after Sirius hit the bludger towards Lionel, Penelope Linwood, the other team’s beater, shot it straight at Gale, who had to pass the quaffle to Davis to out-manoeuvre the bludger that wouldn’t stop following him.

Davis took the ball and went for a shot, but Lionel managed to catch it just before it went inside the goal hoop to his left. The ball was with the other team, your heart pounded in your ears as adrenaline rushed through your body, you knew the quaffle could be thrown your way any minute now, so whatever you did, you had to focus. You felt the wind blowing even stronger, your broom moving with it a little more than you’d expect it to.

Sirius managed to catch up with Davis and batted the bludger away from him, launching straight towards the chasers of the other team, disrupting their formation and buying you some time. The way they were flying, one against the other, they were probably planning to corner you in between the three of them. One of them, a boy with short red hair, who flew like a lightning bolt to avoid Sirius’ bludger –and who you assumed was Adrian– was dogging absolutely everything and everyone as he flew straight at you.

You smiled confidently when you saw him throw a short glance at one of his chasers, a small girl with neat braids through her entire head. It was Cynthia, you realised, from one of your classes. They were going to faint. So even as you kept your head in Adrian’s direction, you made sure to keep Cynthia in your line of sight at all times. You saw the other bludger be beaten in your direction.

“Focus on your thing!” Marlene shouted, flying straight towards the bludger and batting it fiercely to Adrian, but he managed to dodge the ball and it started following the other chaser instead. The redhead was already reaching the zone, his move would be any second now. He smiled, pretending to throw the ball to the left hoop before throwing it straight to Cynthia. That had been a sick faint, but you had seen it coming, so you didn’t even bother going to the left and instead went straight to the direction Cynthia had thrown the ball, efficiently getting it in between your hands before it even got close to the goals. The audience cheered as you flew a little higher, trying to find Anne Davis. If she got the ball now, you were sure she’d get it across the field and through Lionel.

Once you spotted her, you plunged down and launched the ball at her when she was just a couple of metres away, continuing your way down before doing a sharp turn and going back to your goals. When the ball was in her hands she started dogging the bludgers, that seemed like they were only following her until Marlene flew straight towards one of them and threw it to Lionel.

Davis had to shoot the ball to Teddy for a second but he threw it straight back at her and she launched it toward the goal, Lionel wasn’t fast enough to stop it, and it went straight through. The crowd erupted in cheers. Anne was grinning as she went back to position. As everyone cheered you felt a strong jolt in your broom. You frowned and looked down, studying the broom as you steadied it. You squint your eyes when you feel it again, a lot weaker this time. You turned to the bleachers then, narrowing your eyes in case you spotted someone. The jolt had felt exactly like the one that had thrown you and Sirius off your brooms a couple of weeks ago. You took a deep breath and tightened your grip around your broom. I’m not falling today, you thought before turning your eyes back to the quaffle.

The jolts didn’t come back, as if the person trying to throw you off the broom had given up on them completely, but your grip on the broom did not loosen at all, you had to keep your ward up, at all times now. The quaffle was now in Cynthia's hand, and she had thrown it to a strong-looking boy with a blonde fringe, their last chaser. He came straight to you, looking imposing since he was a lot bigger, perhaps as tall as Remus, but with a wider back, which made him look threatening.

Thank Merlin he’s not a beater, you thought. He came straight onto you, paying no mind to the bludger following closely behind him. You did not keep your eyes away from him until you felt a light hitting straight onto your eyes, blinding you from how bright it was. The blond boy did his shot and you weren’t fast enough, it went right through your right goal, there were cheers from the Ravenclaws, and groans from the Gryffindors.

You went to get the ball and threw it straight at Teddy, who moved further away with it. And you took the time to look around the bleachers, trying to figure out what the hell had blinded you when the light hit you again. You placed your left hand over your eye only to realise a very small dot of light reflecting on it, moving frantically trying to find your eyes again. “A mirror,” you whispered to yourself, “They’re trying to use a bloody mirror.” You then remembered you had Sirius’ goggles, and placed them over your eyes, hoping the sun protection spell they had on them was enough. They were indeed! Just reflective enough to bounce the light off your eyes. You smiled, whoever was trying to sabotage you, and you had a pretty damn good idea who it might have been, would have a bloody hard time doing so.

Finally managing to focus on the game again, you noticed Sirius throw a hard shot towards the blonde boy, managing to hit just on the back of his broom and having him spinning out for a good minute before he managed to get back control.

“Brilliant Black!” you shouted from your spot, not so far away from him. He gave you a little wink, boasting for a good second before ducking as one of the other team’s beaters had thrown the bludger straight back at him. That made you chuckle just a bit, before you saw the same blond boy, doing a daring dive towards you and your goals. This time, when he shot, you managed to stop the quaffle with ease, even if the strength of the hit had you pull back just a little, the impact reverberating through your body as you held on tight. You heard the Gryffindor supporters erupting into cheers, and you felt the same euphoric feeling you felt when you caught a snitch and ended a game back in your old school. With a graceful smile towards them, you sent the quaffle hurtling back into the game.

But Cynthia Abbot intercepted your throw and launched the ball straight onto your goals again. You threw yourself towards the quaffle again, but realising your hand wouldn’t be long enough to stop it, you did a sharp turn and used the back of your broom to bat the ball away from the hoops, accidentally sending it straight towards James’ head, who wasn’t looking. “Prongs! Watch out–“ you tried to warn him but it bounced off his head and Davis managed to size it, diving straight towards Lionel and the Ravenclaw post.

You flew closer to James, still keeping an eye on the quaffle as you did “You ok?” you asked preoccupied “I didn’t mean to–“

“-That was a brilliant save!” He said, turning to you with a smile, “Hurt a little though.”

You winced when you realised the boy was rubbing the back of his head, “Sorry…”

“I’m good, you keep up that amazing work going, don’t worry about me, all right?”

“Suddenly you saw a gold shine pass right in front of your eyes, and you followed it with a short gaze, before turning back to James “Did you see th–“ You didn’t even finish, you knew the answer when you spotted James’ wide grin and his hazel pupils following the snitch with precise movement, “Go get her tiger!” You said as he started flying in its direction.

“Back to your goals,” he said with a smile before flying off towards the snitch. You smiled as you saw him chase behind it, and flew back to your place, the Quaffle was still on your team’s hands, so you were relatively relaxed as you kept your eyes on James, who darted through the air, waving and looping through the players, dodging bludgers and following the snitch’s every move. Holden wasn’t too far behind him, but Marlene and Sirius were making sure he had many flying bludgers to dodge, both also protecting James, so he could reach for the snitch. You admired the way Marlene threw the iron balls at her boyfriend as if he was just some random seeker she had to throw off her broom.

Suddenly the ball was back with the chasers of the other team, Adrian darting towards you while one of the beaters from the other team batted a bludger straight to your face. You knew exactly what you had to do, James hadn’t had you practise handstands and pull-ups so much for nothing, so you went straight for it. Holding yourself up to allow the bludger to pass through as you hit the bludger with your leg, flipping yourself back into your broom with a sharp turn. The crowd cheered again, many had heard of the movement, but they hadn’t seen it, but that wasn’t the end, you dived straight down to catch the quaffle and flew straight towards Gale, passing it on his hands in a quick manoeuvre before flying back to the goals.

Gale, in turn, went straight to Lionel and shot, earning another 10 points for Gryffindor, which had the crowd of Gryffindor supporters standing on their feet as they cheered on for Gale, even you joined them, screaming “Thomas! Thomas! Thomas!” with one of your arms extended out in a triumphant first. He turned to you with a little smile, it was his first goal since he joined the team, he must have been feeling ecstatic, as much as you were whenever you stopped one of the Ravenclaw’s advances.

Time seemed to blur as the match continued, each passing second a testament to your teamwork and determination. The score remained close, both your team and the Ravenclaw had a hard time scoring. Aldrige had been a keeper since 4th grade, so it wasn’t surprising he was such a brilliant player. Which is why you felt a little triumphant at the fact you had stopped more of the balls shot your way than he had. Even if the blonde keeper had probably hurt your left index finger from how hard they had shot the ball one time. You had only cursed under your breath and shot the ball back to Teddy.

Sirius had seen it, and flew your way “You alright luv?” he asked, a little frown on his face.

“Sirius!” you screamed “Behind you.” The boy turned around sharply and barely managed to bat the bludger away from his face “Focus on your bludgers, not on me!” you told him sharply.

He gave you one last look before nodding and flying towards the bludgers. You took a deep breath, yes, it was nice to see him so worried for you, but he could’ve gotten hurt had you not been keeping an eye around you and drowned yourself in the stupid blue of his eyes, which wasn’t hard with the way he had stared at you. James was right, it was better to keep Marlene as your main defender instead.

Cynthia orchestrated a swift series of passes, bringing her team within striking distance of Gryffindor's goalposts. Your heart raced as you braced yourself for the impending shot, a deep breath as you focused your gaze on the ball and their faces, attempting to decipher exactly what it was they were going to do. And then she shot, sending the quaffle towards the hoop that was the farthest from your reach. You lunged yourself towards it, your fingertips barely grazing the smooth surface of the ball. You heard the crowd gasp, and then erupt in cheers as the ball ricocheted off your fingers and veered off course, missing the hoop by inches. When you realised you had managed to stop it, you were breathing heavily, and gripping onto your broom again, a lot tighter than you thought you were. Realising only after that you had almost fallen off your broom when you veered the quaffle odd course.

The final minutes of the match were a whirlwind of adrenaline and emotion. The Seekers soared, the Chasers battled, and the Beaters continued their relentless bludger assault. Every save, every pass, every point earned or lost had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Marlene was hovering close to you as Sirius struggled to keep the bludgers away from James, and as soon as the quaffle was in your team’s hands, you flew closer to her “Go help Sirius!” you shouted.

“But I’m supposed to defend you!” she argued.

“Leave it, I can dodge, just make sure Prong’s fine so he can get the snitch!”

Marlene looked at you apprehensively, as if she was deciding whether it was a good or a bad idea “Trust me, Mars, I can handle them. They’re all over Potter anyway!”

She took one last glance at you and dove straight to James and Sirius, beating the bludger they had off course and towards Lionel. He managed to dodge by a millisecond and looked shocked when he realised he too had been left alone in the goals. The four beaters were all over the seekers, defending their own house and trying to throw the opponent off his broom.

The redhead chaser came at you again, the quaffle in his hand, one last attempt to score. He was thrilled when he figured Mars was gone and he placed his hand on his mouth, whistling effortlessly, one of the Ravenclaw beaters turned around and batted the bludger straight at you. At the same time, Adrian threw the quaffle in the same direction.

You tried to look at the score, but you were still way below the safe line. If Holden got the snitch, which you hoped wouldn’t happen, your team would lose. So you didn’t move, ready to take the hit of both the bludger and the quaffle at the same time. And you did, catching the quaffle first and using it as a shield to loosen the punch of the bludger, but the blow had been heavy, and even as you tried to stop it, the bludger’s momentum caused the quaffle to sink into your gut with such force that it not only took your breath away but pushed you back a few feet as well. You heard a choir of “Ooos” and “Ouches” from the audience, and you coughed a couple of times, using the same quaffle to throw the bludger towards the other side.

Sirius turned to you, a worried look on his face, James had been too focused on the snitch to notice. But he had the other two beaters on him. “Focus on Potter!” you shouted, however you could, and he hesitantly turned back to James. You were sure it was going to bruise, it had been a harder hit than Barty’s, probably because it had been a bludger the one that pushed the quaffle into your stomach. Panting, you turned around and spotted Teddy just a couple of metres away, an expression of awe on his face, evidently impressed by your display of determination and slightly stupid bravery. You gave him a half smile before throwing the quaffle his way, “Let’s get another 10 points shall we?”

Teddy smiled at you and nodded, catching the quaffle and diving straight to the other side of the field, Gale and Anne easily following behind him and creating a formation, they were going to use one of the plays, and since the other team’s beaters were focused on James, they had the upper hand. A couple of passes and they managed to score.

Then there were cheers from all the Gryffindor supporters, but it wasn’t because of the points they’d just gotten, in fact, high above, at about the same time, James had lunged forwards and wrapped his fingers around the snitch. The game was over, the Gryffindor cheers were so loud, that they made you smile even if you still felt like you wanted to puke, from the stinging pain of the hit.

As you soaked in the cheers of the crowd, you knew that this victory was more than just a game; it was prove of how strong the Gryffindor team was now, how, even if you had so many new members, including yourself, the constant training and early mornings had been of good use. You smiled brightly as you finally managed to land back on the ground, heart still panting as you used your broom to hold yourself up.

Everyone was cheering, you saw the entire team wrap around James, and bring him up in the air as he held the snitch, the crowds still cheering in the background. You finally stood up, smiling as you tried to forget the sharp pain on your stomach and ran towards them, to cheer on. Sirius was the first one to approach you, placing his hands on the sides of your face and scanning it carefully.

“Are you ok?” He asked with a frown.

“Yeah, totally,” you lied with a half smile, but he saw straight through you and pulled you into a hug.

“Please don’t do that again, I wanted to drop the bat and go see what the hell had happened to you because of the way everyone gasped.”

“You didn’t see it?” You asked, pulling back to look straight into his eyes.

He shook his head “When I turned to you, you had the quaffle in your hands and were screaming at me to get behind Prongs again.”

You nodded, “It was just a hard blow, I’m sure people were just being dramatic–“

“–What the hell (Y/N)!” James interrupted. Shit, he knows. “You’re supposed to avoid the Bludgers, not get in their way!”

“Whoever told you, I’m sure they were exaggerating.”

“Lionel Aldrige came over to tell me I had the bravest keeper he’d ever met, that he’d never seen anyone try to stop the goddamned bludger with a quaffle! And that he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to do it himself!” James pretty much shouted.

“Is that what you did?!” Sirius asked, raising his voice at you as well.

“I had to– I had to stop the quaffle somehow.”

“We could afford to lose ten points!”

You shook your head “Not if you hadn’t caught the snitch, we weren’t 160 above them yet!”

“There was no way in hell you had the strength to stop the quaffle with your arms, that’s why we use bats!” Sirius argued then.

“Where the hell was Marlene anyway?” James chimed, pinching his nose.

“Covering for you, I told her to go, you had the beaters all over you, I was free.”

James stared at you in disbelief, “For how long?”

“The beater actually shot from where he was, still trailing behind you, the deacceleration from–“

“What deacceleration? It’s literally an iron ball!” James said, interrupting you again, he was clearly riled up.

“It was reckless!” Sirius said then.

“You can’t do it again!” James added.

“What if it’s all it takes to win a game?”

“I’d rather lose a game than lose a friend!”

You huffed, biting your cheek to avoid saying the retort that came to our mind, how James was being overly dramatic. But it would be useless, it wouldn’t change their minds. “Fine, but let’s just leave this subject behind, we should be celebrating not–“

“Are you ok?” You heard Remus ask from behind “The way the bludger pushed you back almost all the way into the hoops I–“

You sighed, just when you’d gotten James and Sirius off your back, “I’m fine! I’m not some delicate flower that can’t stand the hit of a bludger in the gut!”

“You think we’re worried because you’re a girl?” Remus asked, quick to catch on to why you were being so stubborn about it.

“Is that not it?”

“No, you dumbass! I’d be just as worried if Sirius had gotten hit by a bludger in the gut!”

“You would?” Sirius teased, “That’s so sweet of you Moons.”

You laughed at Sirius’ silly answer, “Fine, maybe it was a dumb thing to–“

“–it was,” Sirius interrupted, emphasising the “was”.

“Whatever, it won’t happen again, case closed, let’s go to the party.”

“Wouldn’t you like to see Madam Pomrey first?” Remus asked.

You shot him a look and walked towards the rest of the team, they were still cheering and celebrating along with their friends.

“She’s so goddamned hot-headed!” Sirius huffed as he stood next to the boys, watching you walk towards Marlene and Lily. You’d probably get a scold from them as well.

“Reminds me of you,” Remus added, looking at Sirius from the side.

Back in the common room, there was music and drinks and somehow even snacks for everyone as they cheered on. When Peter started talking about the things you’d done again, he and Tom had started a motion for you to be carried into the air for a couple of seconds, everyone agreed and you ended up in the air, being shoved up and down a couple of times before they finally let you down. They thought of you as a hero, and you felt like a rockstar. It was something you weren’t used to, but being cheered on by so many people was undoubtedly nice. Even if at some point you had to step away from the crowd and onto a quieter area of the common room, sitting down on the sofa and feeling the pain kick in as the adrenaline started to fade away.

Sirius was next to you a couple of minutes later, placing his arm over your shoulder and dragging you closer to him “With the whole bludger incident, I think I forgot to tell you how freaking amazing you were today on the game,” he said, mouth close to your ear as he spoke, “You barely allowed the Ravenclaws to get any points.”

You leaned into him too, allowing yourself to bask in the warmth he emitted, “You were brilliant too Puppy! No one got hit by bludgers on your watch.”

He turned to you, placing his hand on your waist, but you winced, and he looked at you with a shrug “Does it still hurt?”

You shook your head, not daring to open your mouth, and leaned in to kiss him instead. If it worked to distract him in the restricted section, I’d work to distract him now. But Sirius was hungry today, the adrenaline of the game and the fact that you looked so fucking good in those quidditch pants, had him feeling all sorts of things, so when he kissed back, you could feel the neediness on the kiss.

And he, oblivious to your pain, dug his hands under your sweater and tightened his grip around your waist, pressing his fingers to your warm skin. That had you wince again and he separated from you, his hand still under your shirt.

“It still hurts!” he said accusingly.

“Sirius, I’m fine,” you said, attempting to drag him back into the kiss, but he shook you off.

“I’m gonna lift your sweater, kay?”

“No, I’m–“ He did it anyway, only a little at first, but then a lot more when he realised.

“–Sweetheart, look at this!” he said reproachfully. You looked down, wincing as you saw the various shades of purple and green your stomach had gotten.

“I guess that’s why it hurts…” you muttered, with a little smile, trying to lighten the mood. Sirius just looked at you sternly. “Fine then, just don’t touch that area and then–“

“We’re going to Poppy.”

“But the celebration party.”

“Look at me straight in the eyes and tell me it doesn’t hurt.” You took a deep breath, looking at him and then averting his gaze, “Thought so.”

“I still wanted to make out,” you mumbled under your breath as you let him guide you toward the portrait, his hand neatly wrapped around yours.

“We can make out all you want once Poppy has checked up on you,” he told you, turning back to give you a small wink.

“Where you up to?” you heard Remus’ deep voice from the side.

“Sirius insists on taking me to the infirmary.”

“She has a terrible bruise all over her stomach,” Sirius added what you’d left out.

How did he find out? Remus wondered until it dawned on him. Right, they’re dating.

“It’s not that bad,” you tried to argue, but Sirius threw you another look.

“Mind if I tag along?” He said walking beside the two of you “I need to restock some of my medicine.”

Full moon must be soon, you thought “You don’t even have to ask Rem,” you said as you nodded for him to come along.

Series Masterlist | Next Chapter

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A/N: It's a quidditch episode! What do we think? Personally, I had lots of dun writting it, espeially the pre and post game scenes hehe. What can I say, I've got a flare for the dramatic.

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solitaire-addict · 6 months

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A deep dive into Solitaire, its Characters and Relationships

Solitaire is a deep, complex and entertaining book. Once opened, it becomes very hard to put down and it is the type of book you would read multiple times, listen to the audiobook version, and create a blog fully dedicated to. Solitaire has that kind of seasonal feel like when it snows for the first time and your feet are cold no matter how many blankets you put on or you’re nose keeps running because you’re outside waiting for someone to come pick you up and you’re putting your hands in fists because they might just freeze off. Solitaire isn't romanticized winter, it's the gross parts that make people hate the cold seasons but you still like them because it still has a nice feeling to it, even though it may be the end of you. Personally I have read solitaire in every season but Solitaire can't be beat in January, when everyone is stupid depressed and there isn't a point to living anymore.

Victoria (Tori) Spring portrays this deep depression and bitter feeling that everyone feels at some point and she is the embodiment of the term “pessimistic complex”. While being a relatable character to everyone, I've found that she really strikes a chord with the Asexual/Aromantic community. In recent events, it has become canon that she is Asexual and most suspect she is on the Aromantic spectrum which seems reasonable due to her behavior around one Micheal Holden. Micheal Holden, who is Tori’s friend and co-investigator in the Solitaire mystery, is (at first glance) an upbeat and strange character. Micheal holds the role of curious, and a bit mysterious and his and Tori’s friendship forms from the fact that they both got curious and did the exact same thing. In many ways, these two are very similar and when thrown together by some force, Tori ignores this and uses some freakish defense mechanism that (to anyone else) would drive away the opposing force, however, Micheal is not an opposing force, or any kind of force for that matter. He’s just a guy who happens to be a little strange and who ice skates and is secretly mad all the time. When Tori and Micheal first interact, Tori does not in any way want to talk to this guy, in fact i bet she would rather have thrown herself out the nearest window than exchange more than two sentences at once. Michel wants to be friends with Tori, so much so that he will not stop showing up out of nowhere even if he doesn't mean to. Keep in mind that Micheal has no friends and Tori has one friend and that isn't even going well.

Becky (who has been Tori’s best and only friend for quite a while) is popular. Not in the sense that everyone knows her, more so that everyone knows of her and a couple extending details, this leaves her feeling alone in the world and her only support is Tori, who frankly, is not doing well in the slightest. And of course they’re drifting, not quickly but over time, like a call that gets worse in audio quality over time. When Becky seeks support from Tori and wants to share things with her, Tori is disengaged, I'm sure she doesn't mean it but that still sucks when you’re the one who needs to talk. There are many versions of the book and in the first one when Becky tells Tori that she just had sex with her almost boyfriend. Tori is disappointed, she even goes on to say that it made her respect Becky more for being a virgin up until now. Now remember that the first addition of this book was released in the early 2010’s so it's a bit desensitized and there are probably better words to put it other than not respecting her as much anymore but it's still a good example of Tori’s distance and self isolation from the rest of her public life, which brings us back to her relatable self destructive tendencies.

When with Micheal, Tori continuously keeps him locked out of her life. When Micheal tells her that he wants to be friends, Tori goes on a tangent about how she doesnt know why he wants to be friends and says “i'm not some manically depressed psychopath” and they get into a fight that ends with michael saying “well maybe you are a manically depressed psychopath” and everyone ever is disappointed because Tori cant let people care about her. There's a point where Tori and Micheal finally accept each other as people and decide not to question one another, they both care and they both are okay with that, Micheal is there when Tori needs him and Tori is there when Micheal needs her, it's one of the most beautiful things and their friendship and care for eachother is deep and true and it's my favorite thing in the universe. When Tori is about to get killed by a firework, when she's literally standing on the edge of death, when she's sat at home after Charlie's relapse Micheal Holden is there. Micheals constant anger has noticeably taken a toll on him and he has said “i'm always angry, other emotions just overrule it” he means that Tori’s presence is the emotion that overrules, not in a cheesy love story way but in the way that when you’re having a bad day and then you go home to your bed and take an advil and drink some water, it makes you feel better. Tori is Micheals bed, Advil and water, no matter how cold the bed is, or how gross the Advil is or how unfiltered the water is. She’s still there, overriding the constantly lingering aggravation with himself. When Tori’s about to kill herself, Michael is there to save her, pull her back into reality and even though Tori isn't okay in the slightest afterwards, Micheal is still there, and they still care, even if the water is muddy.

In between the 4 month gap between Solitaire and Heartstopper, nothing is technically canon on what happens between them but 4 months later Micheal has proposed the idea that they confirm their relationship status as girlfriend and boyfriend and this scared Tori. Not because she doesn't like him in that way, but because she doesn't want him to get bored of her. Along with Tori’s asexuality being confirmed, it's also confirmed that Tori and Micheal had sex and Tori was sent a confirmation email for her ticket for the asexual train. Charlie and Tori’s conversation about this is very touching, Charlie brings up that he once said that if Nick never wanted to have sex with him, he wouldn't want to either and it wouldn't change how he felt about Nick in any way. This is an example of why Asexuals FLOCK to Alice Osemans writing, it focuses on the emotional connection between characters, not the sex and tension between them. Charlie reassures Tori that Micheal will understand and he most definitely will not get bored of her (considering that they canonically stay together for at least like 10 more years) Tori’s fear of a labeled relationship is an important factor within the idea that Tori is on the Aromantic spectrum, as an aromantic person, when a relationship that I’m in is labeled, it stresses me out. It creates this internal fear of commitment and that might be what Tori is experiencing. At the end of the page, Tori and Micheal are shown talking probably about her being asexual. My hopes are that Tori and Michaels relationship remains unlabeled because it's very important that different types of queer relationships are shown in mainstream media, especially ones that aren't labeled or inside queer norms. There's nothing like queer erasure from other queer people.

#solitaire #alice oseman #tori spring #micheal holden #sprolden #heartstopper #charlie spring #nick and charlie #nick nelson #solitaire by alice oseman

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sugar-omi · 8 months

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NAH HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT ITS CLICHE AS FUCK BUT MC THROWING HANDS WITH SOMEONE IN SCHOOL CAUSE THEY WERE BULLYING COVE

(And to clarify just in case not like with Jeremy during step 2 where the mc can push him or hit him once or smth I mean like full on fight fight)

I just like to imagine everyone’s in the principals office and MC mom’s are all concerned and angry with MC cause they just beat up their classmate but then they’re like “Well they hit Cove first I was just returning the favour” and moms immediately FLIP cause why is the other kid just getting away with bullying why is their kid the only one getting punished?????

YEAHHH AND IT DOESNT EVEN MAKE SENSE WHY THEY TRIED TO FUCK W COVE BC IF HIS BIG ASS WASNT GONNA FUCK EM UP, YOU WERE BC YOURE CRAZY ABT EACH OTHER N IT JUST DONT MAKE SENSE BUT THATS OKAY, YOU DELIVER WHAT THEYRE ASKING FOR!!

ITS A WHOLW FUCKING RIOT AND IN THE END THE OTHER KID GETS PUNISHED AS WELL BUT UNFORTUNATELY MC GETS THE LONGER SENTENCE

and when they finally get home n your parents stop fretting over you, cove is all fidgety and when it's time to change any bandage, no matter how small, or add ointment to a bruise, he's all "wait! let.. let me help you" when you go to ask your mom's for help w it

and he's all gentle, but he looks sad so you ask what's wrong

"I just hate seeing you hurt"

taking coves face into your hands, squishing his cheeks, "I'd do it all over again. and I'd beat them up even more for even looking at you, I'd jump em even before they hit you if I could've."

cove is teary eyed n crying a bit prbly

"don't ever feel bad if I get into a fight. if it's for you, I'd get into 10 fights! no, a thousand!" you throw your arms wide in the air at that. "no one can touch you like that without getting fucked up twice as bad. so stop fretting okay" you smile and cove cries a fucking river bc you have a bandaid on your cheek, and your knuckles are still flushed/inflamed and have a scrape from missing one of your punches

"you're an idiot.." cove laughs, still crying

"ya know you love me, holden." you smile, wiping his tears.

he nods, "yeah, I do"

and you're stunned bc he just confessed???? omg???

and cove kisses your shocked face, you slap a hand on your cheek bc "KISS?"

n cove just laughs at your expression bc you're so surprised n it's so fuckin cute

so after that sometimes, during your suspension cove will give you a kiss on the cheek for defending his honor if you ask<333 (or don't, he'll do it one more time or so unless you ask him to stop ofc)

if anyone tries to fuck w him after, they're fucked once again

cove does try to keep you outta fights but I mean... if you do turn around n jump em, he won't stop you

giving very much Heather's "fight for me" but you're not deranged like JD

also Liz teases yall bc cove does admit that he loved watching you jump em LMAO

your friends would also be concerned, randy n Terri especially bc they saw it but they'd be like "FUCK YEAH!!!"

no one fucks w cove either while you're gone, OMG GOING TO PICK COVE UP EVERY DAY

the teachers are like "You're suspended you can't be here!!"

like I'm not here for you I'm here for HIM, n you ride off together laughing bc everyone is whispering but fuck em 👐👐👐👐

pls this is making me wanna zoom n like go crazy omg my head is spinning I love this sm

#olba #cove holden #cove holden x reader

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filtharchives · 6 months

Text

just something short and spicy to indulge myself after a long day of cramming ♡

summary: cove x reader - your boyfriend is popular, but you won’t let anyone forget that he’s yours (basically that one ramble with @/sugar-omi but extended)

tags: suggestive, fem/afab reader, possessive reader, rockstar!cove, panty thief cove but not really thievery since you threw it at him, idk what else to put

cove had just finished his second-to-last song of the set and he was giving a heartfelt thank you to the audience before closing out. however, a cove holden show couldn’t be tame forever, and someone on the floor had flung their bra on stage, making the crowd go wild as cove picked it up from the stage by one of its straps, chuckling into his mic.

“this has never happened before,” cove muses to the crowd, holding up the bra for everyone to see. “believe it or not, i’m serious–never happened until today. not once.” the crowd cheers meanwhile, from stage left, you stand with your arms crossed, weight shifted to one leg. it was amusing, you admit, for your boyfriend to experience the cliche male artist experience of a fan throwing a bra on stage, but you couldn’t help the sour taste in your mouth. even if this was a part of his career, and you shouldn’t be surprised by the wild behavior of fans, you still had every right as his girlfriend to not like it. even worse, that first bra seemed to be a catalyst as half a dozen more were tossed towards cove.

“hey, i didn’t say i wanted these!” he laughs, throwing the one in his hand back into the crowd before picking up another and repeating the action, not caring if they went to the rightful owners or not. “take them back. they’re probably all sweaty from how you’re all crowded together like that. nasty.” the audience laughs and hollers as cove throws back a few more before sighing into the mic.

“know what? i’m not returning the rest of these. that’s work i’m not getting paid for and it’s your own fault if you gotta stay braless the rest of the night.” despite his threats, a few more bras make it to the stage, making him shake his head with a smirk. deciding enough was enough, you carefully shimmy out of your panties, slipping them off from under the short skirt of the dress cove all but begged you to wear tonight, and ball them up before throwing them at your celebrity boyfriend.

the panties land on his shoulder and he picks them up with his free hand, carefully shaking them in the air to reveal what they were. when the shape of the panties are revealed, the crowd goes wild, screams of surprise resounding throughout the arena.

cove looks over at you, eyes half-lidded and dark with a smug smile on his face as he brings the crotch of the panties up to his lips and kisses them. even if this was your doing, heat rushes to your face as much as it does to your lower belly and you barely even notice the crowd losing their minds. cove gives you a wink before returning his attention to his audience.

“that’s my signal to start wrapping things up,” he grins, stuffing your panties into his back pocket. “everyone remember to keep your underwear to yourself–i’ve already got the only pair i’ll ever want.”

why is uni so hard i'm literally only writing to cope 😭

#olba #cove holden #cove holden x reader #cove x reader #i wrote this #drabble

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theunstuffedpepper · 7 months

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Got in some solid movement yesterday! Packed the boys into the wagon for an hour ride around the neighborhood in the morning. I opted for the wagon because I couldn’t find 1 necessary piece to get the double stroller working, and it was kinda wonky with the car seat in the wagon, but it was fun! Then after finding that missing piece, we did a double stroller walk in the afternoon. Holden was digging it. Derrick seemed pretty cool with it too. Having them both all by myself is still slightly intimidating and very exhausting, but I like to think I’m getting better at it.

In the spirit of losing weight, both B and I weighed ourselves this morning. We’re gonna try and do it together now. I’m still hovering about 3 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight and very much looking forward to seeing that number drop more. I updated my apple watch activity goals in the hopes of not just ignoring them every day like I did while I was pregnant and up til now. 😅

I’ve been in a “sprucing” mode around the house.. new porch leaner and some fall decor. I ordered some things to make the main bathroom more efficient space-use-wise. B has to fix our pantry shelves that are sagging and I ordered some pantry organizers to complete that little project. Photos to come; that’s todays project.

B put some flooring down in the laundry room and threw up a coat of paint. We had ordered a new washer/dryer because my MILs house didn’t have a set. We gave her ours, which were dated but working great otherwise, and got a new set for ourselves. It took about two weeks to have them installed because the washer arrived not working, but anyway now they’re in. B built a butcher block folding table over them and I love, love the look.

We’re finally winding down projects around the house.. We decided the other day to pare down for a while and focus on saving some money. It’s music to my ears, really. I’m a saver by nature.

Aaaand off I go to vacuum again, because I just made direct eye contact with a 2-year-old while he crumbled an entire handful of Chex into my living room carpet. Having kids is a trip.

#i love my children #but hot damn #momblr #09192023

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differenteagletragedy · 4 months

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Oh my god not a request but the dad x2 Cliff/Big Brother Cove nonnie here and oh my god all those HCS were so so cute(and also I definitely see the vision for Cliff wanting another kid too as well now) and this isn’t so much of a request but a concept™️ (So Obviously if my math is off here please ignore) but the best man sibling concept had me thinking, if we’re talking that the nugget is born when Cove is 19-20ish they would be a toddler around Cove and MCs wedding right? So I raise you, Cove’s baby sibling being their flower child. Also along the bestie Kyra vein, Kyra is an absolute godsend here because not only are you trying to wrangle a toddler and a wedding(a feat in and of itself), but you also have Cove and Cliff who are in big feels about the wedding too; so while she’s definitely there for Cove whenever need be, when Cliff needs to focus on being there for Cove with best man stuff she is absolutely there helping with whatever you need with you and the little one, whether just giving you a breather or helping cart around things you’ll need for them, Kyra absolutely has your back.

And don’t even get started on Cove, he’s in getting ready with his party and he’s canonically pretty nervous before the whole thing and every time he’s sitting down and a little pale (he’s getting married, he’s so happy he’s getting married but, in true cove fashion /oh my god/ he’s actually getting married.) his little sibling runs up and tries to give them their little basket or a handful of petals/confetti/tiny shells to cheer him up and they’re so determined about it he just can’t stop laughing. (And if Cliff gets to see this good luck, because they haven’t even hit the venue and here come waterworks. But those are his kids and they’re buddies! Thank you very much.)

And with some luck the wedding goes over without a hitch(other than Cove almost fainting, but it’s okay that’s part of his charm) but of my god the photos, while in my hc Cliff’s lockscreen is definitely some candid of his partner on the beach, there’s a picture of Cove and (canon!)Mc holding his little sibling together all in their lovely outfits and that’s literally going to be his homescreen until the end of forever, because once again those are all his kids and he’s so so happy and proud of them, Thank You Very Much. And for the next holiday/birthday/event please get Cliff a nice framed/printed version of the family picture the wedding photographer took with the two of you, Kyra, Cove, MC and the baby. Like no joke it might be one of his favorite things, he just? Sometimes looks at it and has to take a moment to let it sink in that, wow that really is his family, and that’s so amazing for him.

But anyway! Sorry for the long ask, but the idea bug bit and I thought it would be fitting for Cliff Appreciation hours, plus I just think this whole concept of the Holden(+Last&Preece obviously) family is the sweetest thing ever.

THANK YOU I LOVE IT ALL WHAT A GIFT

Yes yes yes Cove's little sibling being in the wedding, of course! And man, Kyra really is that great, isn't she? Kyra is so crazy about Cliff and his new partner, she's so happy he found love again and that he has someone to take care of him. There would never be any weirdness at all, it's just really nice.

Oh and Cliff's poor heart every time Cove and new kid interact! His lockscreen is a candid of MC on the beach stoppppp he's so in love!

Do more do more!

#our life beginnings and always #cliff holden #our life cliff

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soleminisanction · 2 years

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If you ever have the time/interest, would you break down the canon surrounding Stephanie’s economic circumstances/home life? It seems like a lot of people have chosen to take it a specific way so I’d love to see your reasoning

Sure. Thanks for asking, it's honestly a fun topic.

Y’know it’s funny—I actually happen to own something that I think most people, even most Steph fans, haven’t seen: Steph’s first appearance. Not her Robin first appearance, her Detective Comics first appearance, her actual introduction. I happened to pick them up by accident at a con a few years ago because they’re also some of Tim’s first cover appearances.

Other people might disagree with me on this, but I like to go back to the characters’ origins whenever I can to find the baseline of what they were originally intended to be and try to bring later interpretations in line with that. I like to think of retcons as new revelations, new plot twists in an ongoing story, and not a way to reset aspects of the past just to fit your story. It works especially well for this because Steph’s socio-economic status doesn’t actually change, there’s just kind of a game of telephone that happens across the decades that leads people to misunderstand.

One thing worth noting in these early issues is just how much Steph, a 16-year-old girl, has at her disposal before she ever even glimpses Batman and Robin. Literally the first shot we ever see of the Spoiler is this:

And because I am, in fact, that kind of nerd, I have gone in a couple of times and dug out old era-appropriate electronics magazines to figure out what that piece of equipment would cost you in 1992. Baseline for a parabolic microphone is $600, and that price is for much larger, more delicate pieces of equipment meant to be used for like, outdoor nature shoots, which wouldn’t be able to hear through glass. Steph probably dropped $1,000 on that microphone alone.

Remember also that her costume is homemade—she doesn’t have any other way of getting it. She’s also shown using some pretty elaborate climbing and painting gear, with no indication that they were stolen or borrowed or anything, and you can see that she’s got a pretty well-stocked utility belt there.

Again, for some reason people tend to forget or overlook this but, right up until she demanded Bruce make her Robin, Steph operated as Spoiler with zero Bat support. She got some hand-to-hand training from Cass late in the game and tagged along on some of Tim’s assignments, but was otherwise being actively discouraged from vigilantism for most of her career. She made her own costume, bought her own equipment, and maintained her own motorcycle, all without the financial support of either Batman or her parents.

So right off the bat we know she’s a teenage girl with a not-insignificant amount of personal disposable income, the only hinted source of which is the implication she works a part-time job somewhere—which I don’t think is ever brought up again when she reappears in Robin.

We all know minimum wage went further in 1992 than it does now, but it didn’t go that much further. So it’s reasonable to assume that Steph has access to at least some money from her parents to support her vigilante habit, whether that’s in the form of an allowance, gifts that she carefully manages between Christmas and birthdays, or money that she’s able to just, take from Crystal without her noticing.

But this page is more important to our current interests because it’s also when we see Steph’s neighborhood for the first time. We’re told here that Steph and her mother (who is called Mrs. Agnes Bellinger in this comic, although it’s possible she was using a fake name to visit her ex in prison) live in what is described as “115 South Holden Street, in Manchester.”

Now keep in mind, the Gotham City map can be extremely fluid and tends to change depending on the needs of the story. But there have been attempts to map it, and “Manchester” has never been on any of those maps, so we have to do some extrapolation. At the very least, we can tell the neighborhood is clearly not in the city, given the very deliberate angle there in the first panel to show that they’re well away from the crowded downtown Gotham skyline.

This implies that Manchester is intended to be one of the mainland suburbs that feeds the island city of Gotham, similar to Bristol Township where the Wayne and Drake Manors are located. It’s not nearly as nice a neighborhood as Bristol—note the fenced-in front lawns, the broken shutters on the neighboring houses, and the vaguely racist lawn ornament on the Brown’s property—but it’s also not some rundown slum. People aren’t afraid to let kids play in their front yards or leave their garage doors standing open. And you'll note those aren't trailers, either, they're decently-sized suburban homes.

Also worth noting: Crystal seems to keep this house perfectly fine on her own as a single mother. Arthur doesn’t live with them; when he’s shown having residences it tends to be apartments in the city by himself, and it’s not like he could support them from prison or with his ill-gotten criminal gains. And yet, we don’t see Steph or Crystal worrying at all about bills or mortgages or anything like that throughout any of their appearances. We see the interior of their house on several occasions and, while it’s often messy, it’s not in disrepair or neglect.

This is a constant portrayal throughout all of Steph's appearances, from Robin through even her run as Batgirl. So, with that in mind, where does the idea that Steph is poor come from? Well, I’ve got a couple of theories.

One is the usual comics fandom problem: canon is huge, nobody can keep up with all of it, and some people go out of their way to be assholes about it, so misinformation gets spread like wildfire, in no small part because Steph is a character that a lot of people use as a self-insert and therefore she must be the misunderstood underdog in all things.

But on the more-interesting-to-talk-about front… I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Steph’s first big storyline was her pregnancy. Yeah? Like, it’s the first story involving her that really started getting critical attention. Whether it deserves that attention is more open to debate—personally, since reading Icon & Rocket for the first time, I’ve come to view it as Dixon pulling the comic book equivalent of white guys repackaging black music and watering it down—but the important thing right now is that it’s the first time people would’ve been specifically reading the Robin comics for Stephanie Brown. And in those comics, Steph’s house is shown as visibly run-down, covered in cracks and disrepair.

Thing is, there’s a context that people miss if you’re reading for the baby storyline and nothing else: this storyline plays out over the last days of “Aftershock” and early months of “No Man’s Land,” the storyline where Gotham is racked by a destructive earthquake that nearly levels the city and is abandoned by the federal government.

Again, we get the reinforced confirmation that Steph’s house isn’t actually in Gotham because it’s not destroyed in the quake—the neighborhood is damaged and briefly evacuated due to a gas line rupture in the immediate aftermath, but once that’s cleared up they’re free to return home, and their suburb is not part of the federal government's evacuation. Nearly every building in Gotham is shown with similar damage during this time, including Drake Manor.

This storyline also plays into, I think, the stereotypes that people jump on when it comes to Steph’s socioeconomic status. Like I’ve mentioned before: Arthur is a criminal, Crystal is a drug addict, and Steph is a teen mom. Therefore, they must be poor, right? Because good middle class families supposedly don’t have those kinds of problems.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, that’s an inaccurate stereotype that ignores reality: plenty of drug addicts, criminals and teen moms live in the suburbs. And the Browns’ specific circumstances are distinctly atypical of the stereotype—Arthur’s not some down-on-his-luck thief pushed to crime by economic hardship, he’s an arrogant former gameshow host who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else and resents the world for not handing him the success he feels entitled to. Crystal’s not some crack addict, she’s a working nurse who used to get her doctor friends to write her scripts for prescription painkillers. And Steph is just a teenage girl who slept with a boy and got pregnant, with the costs of prenatal care and/or childrearing never seeming to be a factor in her decision to bring the child to term and give it up for adoption.

I could go on but that’s pretty much the long and short of it: Steph is simply not shown as being poor in the comics. Ever. She’s not rich, she does clearly rely on her fists much more than any gadgets or fancy gear and lives with her mother rather than moving out on her own for college, but she’s also never shown worrying about student loans and can apparently pay for all her classes with some government assistance and a part-time job alone.

People just assume that she’s poor because they’re misinformed, or they’re projecting, or they’ve got biases they haven’t examined, or they need her to be an underdog to justify their argument against one of the other characters, or they really want her to be buddy-buds with Jason for some reason.

Or, y’know, they just don’t want to acknowledge that they’re rooting for a middle-class white girl from the suburbs who commutes into the inner city to pick fights for fun.

#stephanie brown #is this critical? I honestly can't tell I don't think it's criticism to point out that she's not poor #dc comics #batgirls #robin #detective comics #meta #ask me stuff #anon ask #crystal brown #dc #arthur brown #the cluemaster

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milaswriting · 1 year

Note

"what must it be like to grow up that beautiful?" with B?

“What should I get?” B asks as they slide over a book to flick through. You lay the book in your lap and take in the scene around you: a piercing parlour.

B Holden and gold jewellery is a stunning combination, one you’re used to seeing, and now they’re even more comfortable with you, you’re used to seeing them jewellery-less too. Despite the latter, the two of you are patiently waiting for B’s appointment slot.

“I thought you’d have decided on what piercing you want already,” you say, letting your gaze flit over B’s features under the bright lights.

They give you a soft smile. “I’m way too spontaneous for that.”

You arch a brow. “And you’re sure you want me to decide?”

B leans forward a little, so much so that your noses are touching, and you’re almost certain that they’re going to plant a kiss on your lips until they swerve at the last moment and lean into your ear.

“You’d be surprised at how much I trust you,” they whisper, their lips brushing your ear before they pull back and give you a sweet grin.

B’s called up next, and as the piercer readies their equipment and sterilises B’s ear, the werewolf holds out a hand towards you, and you begin to realise why.

“Scared of piercing?” you question with a teasing smile.

They chuckle. “Not my first rodeo,” B answers as they wiggle their fingers towards you in anticipation.

“Then why do you want me to hold your hand?”

“When have I ever needed an excuse to?” they shoot back, and after a pause, you’re slipping your hand into theirs.

“Good point,” you answer before giving B’s hand a little squeeze.

The process of another piercing barely affects B: they don’t wince or grip your hand incredibly tight, they just sit there as they’ve done many times before whilst admiring the new addition of gold in their ear.

It’s when the two of you leave that you throw a question in B’s direction.

“How did you get into piercings, anyway?”

The two of you are walking down the street now, still hand in hand, your arms swinging back and forth a little.

B shrugs. “It was when I turned, it was weird, I wanted to see what my new pain tolerance was like now I’m a werewolf. And then I couldn’t wear silver anymore, and I literally feel naked without jewellery, so piercings gave me the best of both worlds.”

You mull over their words, and tilt your head a little as you both cross the street. “I think you look great without it,” you tell them and B teasingly raises an eyebrow at you, enough to make your eyes playfully roll. “The jewellery, I mean.”

A short laugh escapes B after moment. “Don’t tell anyone how much I paid you to say that.”

You pull them in a little closer and wrap an arm around them. “I’m being serious,” you say with honesty. “I’ve seen your baby pictures, even the ones that you hate. You’ve grown up beautiful, B.”

They don’t respond verbally, but the grin on their face shows that it’s a compliment that they appreciate — one that they probably can’t force themselves to accept — but appreciate all the same.

“I’m going to stop showing you my baby pictures,” B mutters to you.

You smile. “Do what you like, I know where you hide them.”

#ask #b holden #drabble

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blazingstar29 · 3 months

Text

this is a bit different but i haven’t written poetry in a very very long time but after going to a gay club for the first time (i live in the middle of no where lmao) i’ve had a lot of feelings about who i am versus those around me and the life style i live in a conservative area

i am a cowboy

i wear my cowboy hat and my cowboy boots

i’ve got the jeans, i’ve got the look

i’ve worked the farms, i’ve ridden the horses

hand me a great northern and a fishing hook

i’ll sink them both before you know it

i am a cowboy

the sky is my map and my forecast

i’ll nurse a horse through colic and make it strong again

then i’ll change a flat and without a nap the day will end without a friend

it’s a lonesome life for a cowboy,

especially one like me

i’m all alone watching the herd, there’s

not an ally as far as i can see

i am a cowboy, i’ve made friends with the sky

it’s been the only one to ever see me cry

my boots are covered in the same dust

i’d be pushed into if they knew

it don’t matter if my ute is full of rust, or my jeans are wrangler too

my hat could be akubra or stetson, if it’s all the same to you

it’s not as lonely as it seems

i have friends are in the town

having fun and dancing

as i watch the sun go down

they’re no cowpokes, but they do their best to under stand

this life i have crafted, with these beaten and calloused hands

when the work is slow, and the cows are quiet

i take off my cowboy boots and cowboy hat

i turn the key in my old ute

the city don’t care for these jeans like i do

i am a cowboy in the city but

none of them would know

no one knows these hands, what these calloused hands have done

they’ve brought life into the world, and ended it all the same

someone take these hands, please show me the way

the only stars in the city, are the ones in my eyes

it’s no place for a cowboy under neon lights

glen cambell told a lie, i’m no rhinestone cowboy

but damn, i really try

there’s more friends here, ones just like me

its just one night, how hard could it be?

i wear my ringers tee and shoot my shot with whisky

they feel my callused hands, worn from the day

it’s hot and sweaty, i’m used to that, it’s okay

i am a cowboy, i’ve seen flesh and blood

this is new, something strange

i do not fear it, it’s cowboying all the same

by day break these calloused hands turn the key

of this rusty holden ute

the cows need checking, a fence mending

my good mare will drop her foal any day

i pass the live stock agent on the highway

the hay contractor too

the butchers wife drives the van

all these people that i knew

but i can scarcely wave my hand

they don’t know who i am or where i’ve been

i’m a cowboy, we’ve all got secrecy

the live stock agent gets a commission from the abattoir

the hay contractor gets free hay

the butchers wife had an affair with a lawyer near geelong bay

i am a cowboy, i work all alone

no one knows my knows my secrets

just the land that i’ve sown

i am a cowboy, i work the land too

i am a cowboy, pleas let me love like you

#poetry #cowboy poetry #queer poetry #i haven’t tried writing poetry in like five years LMAO

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thebestofoneshots · 8 months

Text

Gilded Constellations | wolfstar x reader

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 10.3 K Warnings: none Prompt: You finally throw the magical party that you'd been planning for Marlene. The night gets even more bewitching as you engage in a series of party games, including a daring game of Potion Pong and a spirited game of truth or dare. As secrets are unveiled and dares become more challenging, the first sparks of romantic tension begin to ignite. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it. THIS EPISODE CAN ALSO BE READ AS A ONESHOT

Fooled Around and Fell in Love

Thanks to Peter’s retellings of the Gryffindor try-outs, you’d gone from the new girl in sixth year, to a little bit of a quidditch celebrity. Some smaller kids would go see the Quidditch Practice, and according to James, he’d even seen some of the players from other groups trying to get a glimpse at you when you were in the Great Hall. Trying to measure if the stories had actually been real or if it was all just school gossip.

A smaller Gryffindor girl even approached you once, to ask if it was possible that you taught her how to do the triple backflip you’d done last Friday. You had to awkwardly explain to her that you hadn’t done a triple backflip, but that you would be happy to help her get more confident on her flight technique someday. She’d gone back to her friends with a huge smile, her friends squealing when she told them the news.

“Peter made me into some kind of celebrity,” you complained to Mary as the two of you walked to the courtyard together. You had teamed up with her for your Herbology project, and you were on your way to the garden to find some dried leaves to turn into fertiliser.

“No-uh,” she said, shaking her head “You did it yourself, love.”

“I didn’t go around telling everyone about the tryouts,” you responded as a pair of young boys passed the two of you, looking at you with wonder.

“But you slayed those tryouts by yourself! You did that backflip trick, not Peter. And he’s not the only one who’s been retelling the story all over the school. I heard Teddy tell his friends about you a couple of days ago in the common room.”

“Well, either way, it’s hard to get used to all of this attention. In my older school, I wasn’t so popular.”

“And you thought coming here and making friends with James Potter and Sirius Black of all people would let you blend into the background?!”

“I kinda brought it onto myself, didn’t I?”

“You’re gonna have to take that new-fund popularity and embrace it.” She said “Or you can just do whatever Remus does, he can somehow be a hot shot and still blend in the back when he wants to.”

You raised your eyebrows, it was true, even when he was with the boys all the time, he tended to stay in his own little friend group rather than talking to everyone the same way Sirius and James did.

“I’ll ask him sometime…” you said as you crossed the gates with Mary. Then leaned onto her, “Isn’t that Holden Crawford? Next to Alexander Wood?”

She nodded, “you should invite them now that they’re together.”

“Yup,” you said, giving her a small pat on the back and walking towards the Hufflepuff head boy.

“Hey Alex,” you said with a smile.

He turned to you, and smiled when he identified you “Gryffindor, aye?” He pointed at your tie.

You nodded “I guess so,” you replied “I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me on my first day.”

Holden, who stood next to him, raised one of his eyebrows “Ahh.. so you must be the infamous (Y/N) everyone’s been talking about.”

“Infamous? Hope not!” You teased with a smile and handed him your hand to shake “(Y/N)(Y/LN), nice to meet you.”

“Holden Crawford,” he replied, shaking your hand.

“The Ravenclaw… seeker?” You asked with a bit of a smile. He raised his eyebrows in response “James told me all about the other teams. Gotta know who you’re going up against.”

“And… you’ve done your homework.” You nodded.

“Anyway, I gotta go…” you said pointing at Mary, and after a couple of steps, you turned back to them “Actually boys–“ you said walking back towards them “–this Friday the Gryffindor Tower is having a party. I’m helping plan it. It’s for Marlene’s birthday.”

“Your beater…” acknowledged Holden.

You nodded eagerly, Holden knew Marlene, that was perfect. “Yeah exactly! Anyway, I’m in the planning committee along with Mary over there,” you pointed at your friend “and I think it would be great to have you guys there. You know the more the merrier,” you said that last bit with a smile.

“I’ll come if you come,” Holden said to Alex. Who seemed to be thinking about it.

“Come on,” you animated him. “It’ll be super fun, I promise! I’ll help pick the music out.”

Alex finally nodded “Ok, we’ll see you there.”

“Brilliant! 8 PM, Gryffindor Tower. Don’t miss it!” You chimed “Anyway, I am in the middle of picking up some dried leaves for herbology so I’ll leave you boys to your things,” You said before walking back to Mary.

“So...?”

“They’re coming,” you said with a proud smile. “And Holden knows Marlene. As in, he instantly identified her as Gryffindor’s beater.”

“Oh, she’s so gonna shit herself when she sees him at her party.”

You nodded and the two of you walked inside the small green area to pick out some dried leaves, levitating them from their place on the floor and placing them on the satchel Mary had brought. You then walked together to the greenhouses and started the spell that would turn the leaves into a very potent fertiliser, even if it took some time. Professor Folly would evaluate you based on how efficient the fertiliser was in the end. And you’d found the recipe on an old book in the library, that promised to both potentiate the growth of plants and maintain them.

September 10th, 1976

When the day of the party arrived, the air buzzed with anticipation. You were in the Gryffindor tower, along with Remus and Beth, attempting to decorate the area. Beth had asked her mom to send some streamers and she was magically sticking them all over the ceiling. You sat on one of the coaches and used your wand to blow some balloons that she’d also gotten from her mom. You had the idea to fill some of the balloons with glitter, and you’d blow them up when she arrived, leaving a trail of sparkly glitter all over her, and everyone else.

“We’ll be finding glitter in our dreams after today,” said Remus as he sat down next to you with a box of tapes. You finished timing one of the balloons and leaned over the box to take a look at the stuff he had. Led Zeppelin, Bowie, The Clash, Queen, Abba, they had it all.

“What will you choose?” You asked him, he pulled out a cassette with Sirius’s elegant handwriting and handed it over to you. “Marauder’s mix tape?” You asked.

“It’s what we call ourselves,” he said “Sirius invented it back in the third year, it’s still a thing now.”

“Fitting,” you said with a smile. And turned the tape to take a look at the songs. Smiling when you saw Rebel Rebel in the list. “

“He made this one over the summer,” he said pointing at the cassette, “and he brought a music player too,” he stood up “I’m going to go get it now, wanna help?”

You nodded and stood up, walking behind him towards the boys’ dorm. “Excuse the mess,” said Remus as he let you into their room. He was being silly, there wasn’t much of a mess. Maybe some candy packaging on the floor and one of the beds wasn’t done. You saw a Queen poster on top of said bed.

“Lemme guess,” you said pointing at the bed “That’s Sirius’.”

Remus nodded “It was an easy guess.”

You took that as a challenge and started scanning the rest of the beds, the one to the left of Sirius’ was well done, and it had a hard case for glasses on the nightstand, you pointed at it “James’” Remus nodded, with his eyebrows raised. You kept looking. Now there was a bed lousily made and one that was neatly done. The lousy bed had some parchments on top, along with a bag of chips. The other bed had a nightstand with some books, and a sweater folded over near the pillow, very neatly placed as well. You pointed at the one with chips “Peter’s, and the neatest one is yours, obviously.”

“Almost perfect, I’m next to Pads.”

“But the glasses case?” You asked confused.

“They’re for reading, my eyes get tired at night.” He then walked towards a dresser “Mind giving me a hand?” He asked, you nodded and walked toward it. It looked slightly heavy, but you placed your hands on the other side, ready to help him pull “Just make sure nothing from the top falls, m’kay?” He then pushed the dresser, with an ease that had you stunned. Maybe it just looked heavy. Behind the dresser, there was a small hole in the wall, filled with all sorts of things. From hand-rolled cigarettes, to prank supplies, and scary-looking vials with labels on them.

“You’ve got a secret stash?!” You said surprised, kneeling down to look at it better “How? Does my room have one too?”

“James blew up the wall while practising bombarda in 4th,” Remus explained “We didn’t want anyone to find out so we rearranged the furniture to hide it. Sirius figured it’d be a good place to hide stuff.”

“Do you mind?” You asked, nodding towards the little hole, he shook his head and you grabbed one of the bottles “Shrinking solution?”

“We brewed it last year, Prongs and I stole it from Slughorn’s office.”

You grabbed another one “And…” you looked at the label “Vanishing Solution.”

“Sometimes you gotta get rid of the evidence.” You laughed, Moving some things around, you found some dungbombs, neatly stacked. And behind them found a box of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. “Oh, and you’ve got some good stuff in there too,” you said as you grabbed a Magazine with a very dotted young woman –with nothing to cover her chest–, she had a seductive stare and blew kisses at you.

Remus snatched it from your hands “Sirius must’ve put it there,” He said all too quickly, throwing the magazine under a bed.

“Hey! I don’t judge,” you said, raising your eyebrows “It’s a boys’ secret stash after all.”

“But I don’t–“

“–you don’t need to excuse yourself, Remus.” You said and pointed at the back “That’s it, isn’t it? the cassette player?”

Remus nodded and pulled it out, dusting it off “We left it here all summer.” You helped him put all the things back in their place. Except for the dirty magazine that was still under the bed somewhere, and stood up, going back to the side of the dresser to push it back to its place.

You tried to push it before he grabbed onto the side. But it was impossible, the dresser was heavy. At least for you, for Remus, who pulled it with ease back onto its place, it seemed like lifting a feather. You stared at him as he turned to grab the cassette player, he was tall, the tallest of the group, and he did have nice broad shoulders. Again, the sexy pirate analogy came to mind, but he didn’t seem particularly strong. He didn’t have thick muscles like James or Teddy. Which completely clashed with what you’d just seen him do. You shoved all those inconsistencies to the back of your mind and followed him towards the door.

The two of you walked downstairs again, finding Beth still working on the streamers, as Remus went to set the cassette player on the farthest section of the recorder you went back to your balloons, levitating those that were ready all over the common room. As you were doing, you saw Lily and Mary arrive, they both carried snacks and other food things in their hands. Mary had a huge bowl and she placed it on the table Lily was arranging it, and she set herself to prepare a punch. “It’s Mary’s signature punch,” explained Lily “She makes it for every party, everyone loves it.”

“I’m looking forward to trying it,” you said with a smile. When you were done with the balloons you rushed towards Lily and helped her finish the refreshments area.

Sirius and James arrived later. Carrying several bottles in their hands. “Are you sure those are safe?” Lily asked, frowning at the bottles.

“Yes Lils,” said Sirius rather exasperated and turned one of the bottles around for her to see the label was still on “They were purchased in Hogsmeade.”

“By who did you say?”

Sirius smiled, “Nice try Evans, it’s still top secret.”

“When is Marlene getting here?” You asked as you helped James with some of the bottles.

“Tom is distracting her,” said Beth from somewhere. “She’ll be here at around 8:30.”

“Well then, everything looks ready,” Sirius said with a clap of his hands “Imma go put on some nicer garments.”

James, who was still wearing some Quidditch gear from practice, also left the room. You’d been allowed to skip after saying you felt bad, that way James entertained Marlene and you could focus on decorating the common room.

Remus was already wearing casual clothes, while Lily, Mary and yourself went up to change.

Once in party clothes, with glitter all over your eyes –that Mary had insisted you had to put on–, you went back down, finding some people were already making it to the party. You identified a couple of kids from your classes that were from other houses. Holden and Alexander were both already in the party too, which made you smile, nudging Beth so she was aware too. Then she smiled wickedly and leaned into you “I’ll go make some arrangements for later,” she said before disappearing in the swarm of people.

“What’s she up to?” Asked Sirius, who somehow had ended up beside you.

You shrugged in response “I wish I knew,” you said and saw him drinking from a black mug. “What you drinkin’?”

He licked his lips “Mhm.. this?” He asked, raising his cup “Wanna try?”

You raised an eyebrow and grabbed for the mug, feeling his cold rings as your fingers brushed over him to take a hold of the mug, and pulled the mug up to your lips. You winced once you’d taken a sip, you were not expecting for the liquid to be straight-up iced vodka.

“You didn’t even try to water it down,” you complained, handing the mug back to him.

He just shrugged “I like it, cools your throat down.”

You rolled your eyes and pushed him gently “At least put some juice on it or something.”

“It’s the expensive stuff, you’re not meant to water it down.”

You rolled your eyes at his remark when Mary came out of nowhere and pulled your arm "Sorry Sirius, I’m taking her with me,"

You raised your eyebrows at that but followed alongside Mary, "What’s wrong?" You asked her preoccupied. She looked like she’d been running and had a blush on her cheeks, well perhaps running wasn’t it, you thought as you noticed her slightly dishevelled stance.

"Nothin’," she responded casually, "I brought you here because I wanted to introduce you to someone," she pulled you into a corner "he was at the bleachers when you were on tryouts. I got good word he’s been wanting to meet you ever since."

Your eyebrow rose, yes the try-outs had been the talk of the castle for the past week, but someone wanting to befriend you after it… perhaps it wasn’t so incredible "Who is it?" you asked.

You felt a looming presence from behind and the two of you turned around, a very tall boy, probably as tall as Remus, was there, with a huge smile on his lips "(Y/N), this is Minho Yun, Minho this is (Y/N)."

You smiled and held your hand out to shake his, "Nice to meet you.”

He shook your hand “Nice to meet you too.”

He started to talk again but Tom came rushing through the door like a madman “Everyone HIDE!” He roared as he jumped behind one of the coaches. No one moved, he stood up again “Marlene’s coming you whackheads, find a freaking hiding spot!”

“Shit,” you said before running towards a small closet-like spot hidden behind one of the wall rugs you’d found a couple of nights before after your quill sharpener fell out of your hands. But once inside you found yourself sharing the spot with someone else. “Puppy?” You asked when you smelt the same cologne you’d felt before.

“(Y/N)?” He asked “What are you doing here? This is my spot!” He whispered-yelled.

“Well then, move over so the two of us can fit comfortably,” you retorted, he adjusted himself a little, and you managed to fully enter the small space “Shouldn’t be long.”

You could feel his hot minty breath near your forehead “So… how’s your potions essay going? Remus a good partner?”

You nodded, realising later he probably couldn’t see you. “Great, he’s brilliant, I don’t regret switching with James.”

“You switched with James?” He asked shrugging “But Slughorn said–”

“–We switched before,” you explained. “didn’t make a fuss about it like you. Sorry, you got paired with Slime-head tho. How’s it going?”

“We split the tasks,” he sighed. “That way we don’t have to see each other more than necessary.”

“And quidditch practice today?” You asked.

“Oh good, we missed you though.”

You nodded again, perking your ears to see if Marlene had already arrived. Nothing. “Do you mind if I ask you why they call you Pads?”

“Short for Padfoot.”

You raised your eyebrows, looking up at him with “Yeah, I remember that was your nickname, but why?”

“Sort of an inside joke, can’t really tell you without the boys all agreeing on it.”

“Oh,” you said with a nod, turning your head back to the door, “must have to do with everyone’s nicknames then.” He nodded. You took a deep breath. You did not expect Marlene to take so long to arrive. “Do you still have the–?”

“–here,” he said, handing over his mug, "you took a sip, and then another.

You gave him back his mug and exhaled “Sorry to take your spot.”

He shrugged, you did not see it, but you felt him, that’s how close you were standing “No problem,” he said honestly “I don’t mind you being all over me,” he teased.

“Sirius!” You reprimanded, he chuckled.

“But, in all honesty, love, I’m really happy that you came to Hogwarts.”

You looked up at him again “I’m really happy I came too. You weren’t joking when you told me how amazing your friends were.”

He bit his lips as he smiled, god he was stunning, even in the dark “They are, aren’t they?”

And then you heard the portrait door open, giving Sirius a complicit look as the two of you jumped out of the hideout, alongside everyone else, Marlene was taken aback by seeing so many people “One… Two… Three!” You counted.

“Happy Birthday Marlene,” everyone screamed, you waved your wand and half of the balloons blew up, sprinkling glitter over every single person in the room. You smiled when you realised the stunning shower of glitter. Some of it fell over Sirius's hair, he shook it off, like a dog would, causing more to drop over you. You closed your eyes tightly and nudged him “Sirius! It’s gonna get on someone’s eyes.”

He gave you a look “Remind me, love. Whose brilliant idea was to have glitter shower over every single one of us?”

You averted your gaze, annoyed, and nodded “Just be careful!” You said before running towards Marlene, holding her gift in your hands. You’d gotten her a Holyhead Harpies jersey, you remembered she’d mentioned it being her favourite before.

When she looked at you, all filled with glitter she pointed an accusing finger “You weren’t sick!” You shook your head with a smile.

Remus, who had walked closer to the two of you, smiled and placed a hand over your shoulder “She helped with the decorations.”

“And Potter just… let it happen?” She asked.

“He didn’t have much of a choice,” you said with a half smile “Happy Birthday Mars! I hope you have lots of fun!”

Both you and Remus hugged Marlene and then retired to allow the people who were crowding her to give her their own hugs and gifts. You walked towards a less crowded area alongside the boy, and when you turned to him, you realised he had a piece of glitter over his lash, so you placed a hand over his shoulder, “something wrong love?”

You shook your head, “Lean down a little, yeah? You’ve got some glitter over your lash…” he complied and bend his knees until he was about your height, you carefully grabbed his head with one hand, to steady him, and used your other hand to take a piece of glitter away from it, looking at Remus so close, you realised how pretty he really was, he had beautiful chocolate eyes, with golden sparkles, that looked absolutely surreal, inhuman almost. He wasn’t pretty like Sirius who had a very ethereal, fae-like look to him, he had a more haunting and enigmatic look. But after a second, he gave you a questioning look, as if to ask if you were done, you nodded and pried your hands off him with an awkward smile “It’s done!”

“Thanks.”

After that some girl took Remus away from you and you went to sit alongside Lily, who was talking to Peter.

“I think we succeeded,” you said sitting next to Lily, who scooted over to give you some space.

“Totally!” She smiled, “Peter said he’ll bring the cake at 10:00 pm,”

You leaned over to look at your friend “Need any help with that Pete?”

He shook his head, “This… This 5th-year girl will help me, actually.” Both you and Lily rose your eyebrows.

“Oh… Our Pete’s got a date…” you teased.

He instantly went red “It’s not a date…”

Now you shared a look with the redhead “Want some advice?” She asked, placing a hand over his forearm.

“No… don’t worry about it,” he said, almost thinking if he should ask “We’ve been talking a bit, that’s all.”

“That’s how it starts,” you said.

Lily leaned back on the couch “Ah… young love, how beautiful it is.”

You laughed “What are you, 80?” You teased, “What about your young love?”

“I don’t have any young love,” she said, standing up straight and turning towards you.

“Yeah sure,” you scoffed. “There isn’t a messy hair, hazel-eyed boy pining for you at all.”

Lily went red now “(Y/N),” she said, dragging out your name “We don’t talk about that!”

“But we should,” you told her, “don’t you like him back? He’s handsome! Not my type of handsome but handsome nonetheless.”

“Oh yeah,” she teased “I know your type of handsome all right,” she said, eyeing Sirius, who was talking to Remus.

“Evans! Don’t you dare change the subject!”

She laughed at that “He’s just so… sometimes he can be exasperating!”

You laughed, in the short time you’d known James Potter, sometimes might have been an understatement. He had his mind pretty much set most of the time, he was thick-headed and maybe a little unhinged, but he was kind, and so full of love for his friends it was hard not to imagine him making a lovely couple with Lily.

“Hm… maybe he can make up for his bad traits in another way,” you suggested, the other way implicit in the tone you used, and she right up hit you with one of the pillows.

“All right guys!” You heard Beth shout as she came down with a box in her hands “It’s playtime!”

“Oh no,” you heard Lily whisper.

Beth finally reached the bottom of the stairs and placed the heavy box on a long table that you set out with some drinks “It’s time to play potion pong.”

“Potion Pong?” You asked Lily, who looked distressed.

“All right, gather up, we’re making two teams of four people “Marlene Love, you’re the birthday girl, so you’re playing yes or yes.” She then turned to you “(Y/N), this is your first time in a Gryffindor Party, so you’re also in. I’m playing duh, and Evans,” she said to Lily “You playing today, yeah?”

“Last time I got a vomiting potion!” She complained.

“No vomiting potions this time, don’t worry about it.” Beth said dismissively “Potter, you’re in, cause you let lovely (Y/N) out of practice to help with decorations, you, Ravenclaw boy,” she said as if she wasn’t well aware that Ravenclaw boy was Holden Crawford, Marlene’s crush “You’re playing too!” She looked around then, “Minho? Where you at? You said you wanted to play last time in the first round, yeah?” She asked out to everyone “He actually holds the resistance of potion pong title,” she explained, “and… Sirius? Wanna play?” She asked last. Sirius nodded, and you all gathered around the table. Beth divided everyone into two teams, She, Marlene, Holden and James, against Minho, Sirius, Lily and you.

“All right, the rules!” She said as she started setting the table, bringing lots of vials with different colour liquids out of the box, opening and placing them in a triangle position in front of each side of the table “Simple game, each turn a player gets a ping pong ball, and you have to try and make it enter one of the vials with potions by bouncing it on the table at least once. If it goes in, someone from the other team has to drink the potion it fell on.”

“What kind of potions–˝ you started to ask.

“–Well if I tell you then where’s the fun?” She said placing her hands over her hips in a reproaching manner “The team that drinks all the potions first loses. If a player is disabled, for whatever reason it might be, he still has to take a shoot in his or her turn. There’s no skipping players, and no cheating, so hand over your wands.” Everyone complied with her demand and she placed them all in a jar on the mantel. “Excellent, if we don’t have any questions, let’s get started.” She pulled out something from her pocket and opened her hand in front of everyone “These are magic beans, each of you gets one of them, you can take it if you can’t stand the effects of the potion, but only after you’ve spent three turns with the effect on you. And… you only get one,” she said with a wicked smile “so if you use it up with a potion that’s not that bad, then you’re gonna have to suck it up and deal with the next potions by yourself, sorry.”

“And how did she come up with the game?” You whisper-asked to Lily.

“Beth is pretty well known for her party games,” she responded, leaning into you “and she has the resources to make them all happen too.”

Everyone walked closer to the table and picked a bean from her hand. Since you didn’t have where to put it, you handed it over to Sirius “Mind keeping this for me?”

He nodded and placed it in his pocket. Beth spoke then “All right! Witches, wizards, It’s time to start. Mars, it’s your birthday, which means you shoot first.”

Marlene nodded and grabbed the pig pong ball, shooting it towards the table and having it bounce very close to one of the vials, but failing her shot in the end.

“It’s ok Mars, not everyone gets it in the first round,” Beth reassured her.

Minho took the ball next, bouncing it and shooting straight into a cup with light blue liquid. He smiled cockily while everyone who was watching cheered. “It’s gonna be you, love,” he said pointing at Beth “It’s only fair since you brought the game.”

Beth shook her head with a bit of a smile and gulped the mixture down in one go. “Hic–“ she started, “I think it’s –Hic.”

“Hiccup haze,” you concluded.

James raised an eyebrow at you and mouthed “How do you know that?”

“I used it on a teacher I disliked once,” you said with a shrug.

Lily looked at you with her eyes open wide and her hands covering her mouth “Please remind me not to make you my enemy!” She said and you laughed.

It was now James’ turn. He grabbed the ball and had it bounce against the table twice before it landed right on a cup, he made a small victory dance and looked straight at you, “Bottoms up, darling.”

You rolled your eyes but picked up the pink-coloured cup from the table and took the potion in one go. Soon enough all the content in your mouth was turned into jelly, along with the liquid of the potion, “Uggh, I hathe thees slimy feelin’. ”

Everyone laughed, it was your turn now, so you bounced the ball on the table and somehow scored. “It's payback mopherfugher!” You said pointing at James, who took in the yellow potion in one gulp.

Out of literally nowhere, James Potter turned into a cow. You laughed historically as you heard him Mo, almost choking with your jelly mouth. “Thers a coow pothion?” You asked in between laughter.

Everyone in the room was laughing along, except for Lily next to you who looked mortified and James –the cow– who just mooed pathetically. And he would have to stay like that for a while.

Beth was next, she didn’t score. Sirius followed, and he didn’t score either. Marlene’s turn came again and he finally scored, having Minho take the potion this time. He got a potion that made his voice come out in a series of high-pitched squeaks and chirps, like a bird. You giggled along with everyone.

Sirius shot next and scored, having Holden take the potion, he drank the greenish liquid and shrugged, shaing his head as if nothing had happened. But when he opened his mouth a bubble floated from it, popping after it was just above everyone's head “I don’t think It had any effect,” the bubble said, finally letting Holden’s voice out. Everyone laughed. Then it was James’ turn. Beth moved a little to let the cow close to the table and placed the ball in its mouth. He let it go and it rolled pathetically on the table.

You pulled a face to him and grabbed the ball “Zorthy djaaames!” You said with a shrug and shot. You didn’t score. Beth took the ball and shot herself this time, scoring.

“You’ve-hic– been safe so far Lils –hic,” he said “Go –hic– ahead love!”

Lily looked at the yellow potion with a frown and reluctantly drank it. Then she started staggering, as if drunk “Everything’s spinning,” she complained, so you walked towards her to hold her. Maintaining her steady. She grabbed the ping pong ball and somehow scored, this time Marlene drank the potion and she started glowing, literally glowing, shining like a lightbulb.

A bubble came out of Holden’s mouth and popped “Wow Marlene! You really are the star of the party!” You laughed, your mouth was finally getting back to normal, and James turned human again, ending up sitting on the floor and mooing as he turned human.

He quickly stood up, stretching slightly before he grabbed the ball and shot, having it go straight into one of the cups, he then looked at Sirius “You haven’t taken anything, have you Pads?” You exhaled, thinking he would target you after you made him turn into a cow.

Sirius looked to the side but grabbed the vial with the black draught, drinking It in one sip. His hair suddenly turned red. He looked at James with an extremely distressed face “What have you done to me Prongs? You ruined my hair!”

Everyone stared quietly and you handed the ping pong ball to Minho, who probably tried to say thanks but chirped instead. He shot and missed. Beth took the ball next, and shot, right into a purple draught. He gave you a look. “How’s the jelly mouth love?”

“Almoth gone.”

“All right, go ahead then.”

You grabbed the mysterious looking potion and downed it in one go. Your face instantly lit up. giggle brew, you thought as a giggle escaped your mouth, you’d felt this before. A ticklish sensation spread all over your body, which caused another giggle to come out. Lily, who was still dizzy, turned to you with concern.

But her concerned face looked so hilariously amusing, that it caused you to burst into fits of giggles, too difficult to contain. Then, then you saw Sirius, the beautiful Sirius Black with his hair bright red, oh he’d hate it if someone took a picture. Someone should take a picture, you thought and looked around trying to find someone who would. And there you saw it, Alex, your Hufflepuff friend, had a Polaroid in his hands. So you turned to him with a smile and shouted “A picture–“ you said, bursting into a breathy laugh in the end “Take a picture Alex,” you said, turning to him, holding Lily and having Sirius and Minho turn to the camera. By the time Alex clicked on the camera button to snap the shot, you had managed to place Sirius’ arms over yours and Minho’s shoulders, your cheeks flushed with joy, and eyes sparkling with mirth.

When Alex handed you the picture you laughed again, you felt so much joy. The picture was absolutely hilarious and you laughed again as you looked at it. “Who’s turn is it now?” Asked James. Sirius grabbed the ball from your cup and took a shot, it landed right on a cup, splashing the two other cups left on his table, and you giggled again, finding it amusing.

“Who’s drinking it?” Asked Minho, he’d finally gotten his voice back, you giggled remembering the squeaks and chirps.

Beth did, and suddenly she was in slow motion, every movement seemed like it’d been slowed down, which only made you laugh even further. She took a shot and failed. Minho took the next shot and it landed on one of their cups. Marlene drank it and her tongue suddenly transformed into that of a snake. Hissing as she tried to speak. You tried not to laugh, you really did, it was her birthday after all, but you couldn’t suppress the wave of amusement that’d hit you and bursted into laughter again.

Lily shot and missed. Beth shot, in slow motion, and it hit right on the cup. You laughed again. Minho downed it since he was the only one not affected by a potion at the moment. Well, Sirius only had colourful hair, but he was making a drama about it. Minho started tap dancing the moment he took the drink and you giggled yet again.

Eventually, it was your turn again, and you landed the shot, effectively finishing the game. Beth walked towards you and placed a potion-shaped pin on your shirt. It said “Potion Master,” you giggled as you imagined yourself in Slughorn’s clothes, you couldn’t help it, all you felt was a state of sheer merriment and delight.

Everyone started to take the beans Beth had given them at the beginning. Lily went straight to sit down to try and get a sense of stability and Sirius’ hair turned back to normal. You got close to him and grabbed a strand. “It was cute in red too.”

He rose an eyebrow cockily, of course he would “Was it?”

“Yeah,” you said in between breathy laughs.

He grabbed your jaw in between his hands, you giggled when you felt his cold rings against your skin. “Open your mouth,” he ordered.

“Kinky!” you responded with a smile, but complied “AAAhhh.”

He instantly put the bean inside. You munched on it. Finally coming down from the high the potion had you in.

Then Sirius leaned closer, still with his hand on your cheeks “Now love, do you still want me to be kinky?”

You playfully pushed him back and used your finger to warn him “Don’t play games with me Black,” you said before walking towards Lily on the couch.

When you were finally sitting down you saw Peter coming in through the portrait with a huge cake in his hands. A girl making sure he didn’t trip accompanied him.

You smiled and started singing loudly “Happy birthday to you…”

Everyone started to sing along “Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday dear Marlene, Happy birthday to you…” Marlene hadn’t taken her bean, so she was still glowing like a fairy as she blew on the candles with everyone around her, you noticed a flash from the camera and once everyone was back in their seats as Peter and Remus helped cut the cake, you took the photo they’d taken during potion pong again.

You stared at it for a while, you looked so bloody happy it was insane “Did you like it?” Alex asked, approaching you.

“I absolutely love it!” You told him with a smile “ You can really tell I’m drinking giggle brew tho.”

He frowned, “I don’t think so,” he said, pulling out another picture from his pocket and handing it over. In this picture, you weren’t holding Lily yet, James was a cow and Sirius’ hair was black. Definitely, before you took the potion, but your smile, it was just as bright as in the other picture. You blinked a couple of times, looking at the picture and back at Alex “I regretted not being chosen to play,” he told you “You guys were having so much fun.”

“I’ll make sure Beth picks you next time. Can I keep this one too?”

“Hold up,” he said, grabbing it from your hands “Gemino,” he whispered, the picture split in two, creating identical copies. “I need to keep them for the yearbook.” He explained.

But you looked at him surprised. “You just… you just used a Gemino Curse.”

He smiled proudly, “You’ll see it in charms on 7th, It’s sooo useful.”

“I bet! Is it too hard? Could you teach me now?”

He seemed to think about it for a minute and nodded. Eventually, Mary came looking for you and dragged you to the table to get some more pictures taken along with the rest of the Gryffindor gang.

Once the party was over, most people were gone except a few of the older kids. That’s when Beth came down with another small box in her hands. “It’s time for the last game of the night,” she said with a smirk and pulled out a potion from the box.

“Is that… Veritaserum?” Asked Lily.

Beth nodded “Welcome to truth or dare, where absolutely no one can lie.”

Your draw dropped in shock “For real?” You asked, and Beth nodded.

“Come on, we’ll sit in a circle.” she said with a smile “Those brave enough, of course.”

“HOLD UP! What kind of dares?” You asked.

Lily turned to you. “Any kind of dare. Last time I had to levitate every single one of the objects in the room.”

“Yeah, this time might be a bit different. See everyone will write 3 dares and 3 questions on a piece of paper. And we’ll place them in these bowls,” she lifted a blue and a red bowl. “Then each turn you’ll choose truth or dare and pick one.”

“Aha,” you said and walked towards her “What’s your plan?” You mouthed.

“I’m playing matchmaker today,” she replied mischievously and nodded towards Marlene and Holden who were talking in the corner.

“I see,” you said with a smile, you decided you’d become her accomplice, making sure all the dares and questions you wrote were relatively romantic. Little did you know your matchmaking would bite you in the back. “Who else is playing?” You asked.

“I’m in,” said Lily walking to fill up some papers “Mary, Marlene?”

“We’re coming,” said Mary. Holden stayed by Marlene’s side and took some paper to fill out as well.

“I wouldn’t miss a good truth or dare,” said Sirius, pulling Remus along with him.

James and Peter joined you next, and eventually around 12 people had gathered along, all sitting in a circle. You sat right in between Lily and Sirius. Beth grabbed a glass and poured all the veritaserum inside, taking a sip and handing it over to the person next to her so they could do the same. Once everyone had taken a sip, the game started.

“Marlene, you’re the birthday girl, which means you go first,” she said looking straight at your friend, “truth or dare?”

Marlene, who was sitting in between James and Holden responded “Truth,” and then went to grab a paper from the red bowl “It says, Which Deathly Hallow would you choose if given the chance: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, or the Invisibility Cloak?” She seemed to think about it for a minute. “Easy, all the other brothers died, I’ll take the invisibility cloak.” She turned to her right “Holden, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he said and grabbed a paper “Take a sip from the mystery potion left over from Potion Pong… How do I find that?”

“Oh,” said Beth pulling something out of her pockets “Here it is,” she handed it over with a smile.

Holden grabbed it and did what the potion told him “I think it did nothing,” he said, but then Marlene accidentally brushed her arm on his and he started laughing “Oh, stop, please! No tickles!”

Everyone looked at him confused and once he finally stopped laughing Beth spoke “Oh, Maybe it was Ticklemania.” She then turned to Tom, who sat next to Holden “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he responded and grabbed a piece of paper “Make a floating sculpture with items around the room, All right then, not that hard,” he said and started lifting random objects until he made a floating dolphin. “Your turn Beth.”

She went ahead and grabbed a dare “Take off a piece of clothing and switch it with the player next to you.” She nodded and took off her scarf, switching it with Lily’s headband.

Lily grabbed a dare “Kiss the player to your right –on the mouth– for 3 seconds.” She then turned to you “To kiss… to kiss her?” She asked, shocked.

Karma, you thought, you’d written that one. But if you called this one kiss off then all dares could be called off and your matchmaking would fail. So in order to succeed in this ordeal, you would have to kiss Lily. Not that you minded too much, Lily was very pretty, and she always smelled really nice too.

“It’s what the dare says.”

She exhaled but nodded “Ok,” she turned to you “Are you sure you’re ok with it?”

You nodded and you both leaned in, locking lips together. It was over quite fast and all you could think of after, to lighten the mood, was to joke about it “Great kisser Evans.”

She scoffed and lightly hit you in the arm “And you expected me to be bad? I’m offended!” You both laughed along after that. But it was your turn now.

Everyone seemed to be avoiding truth so far, and to be honest you also wanted to avoid it, especially since you’d written some of these questions and you definitely did not want to respond them. So you went for a dare. “Perform a spell or charm that can entertain the other players in the room.” You nodded and used a spell to puncture the balloons, causing them all to make a funny sound as they blew all over the room, you leaned down when one of them passed over your head. You smiled when it was done and made a bit of a bow before sitting back down.

“Sirius, Truth or dare?”

“Truth?” He said before grabbing one of the papers “Have you ever used magic for personal gain or to break the rules at Hogwarts? If so, explain the situation.” He laughed right after reading “Which one do I even say?”

“Oh, tell them about the clock,” said Peter.

“No, tell them about the time you got Peeves to help on a prank.”

“Yeah guys, go ahead please, continue telling everyone about ALL the pranks we DIDN’T get caught doing. What could go wrong?” Remus said exasperated.

“I know,” said Sirius “One time, we created a rainy cloud and enchanted it to follow around some disagreeable Slytherin students.”

Minho, the only Slytherin in the room, laughed first “Oh! That explains so much. Severus was so pissed that day, but he had no way of proving it was you.”

Sirius nodded, surprisingly, even if Minho was a Slytherin they seemed to be pretty good friends. Maybe it was because they were both beaters. What you didn’t know is that Minho had been the one to help them get the alcoholic beverages, since he was in 7th and had already turned of legal age, all the Marauders had become his friends like that.

“All right, Moons, your turn,” Said Sirius.

“Dare,” he responded without beating an eyelash and grabbed a piece of paper “Give a 10-minute foot massage to the person on your left?”

You laughed when Sirius threw him a teasing look.

“A FOOT MASSAGE FOR PADFOOT?! WHO EVEN WROTE THIS DARES?”

“Who cares? I get a free massage,” said Sirius as he was unlacing his boots. Remus sighed. Finally, Sirius took his boot off, showing a pair of colourful Gryffindor-themed socks. That’s what you call commitment to a brand, you thought. Sirius then turned his feet towards Remus and let his head fall on your leg “Do you mind?” He asked looking up at you, you could see his dark lashes framing his stunning icy blue eyes, but also noticed how he asked after he had already gotten himself all comfortable.

“No really,” you replied, and he nodded in response, closing his eyes as Remus started rubbing his feet. And damn were you a little jealous as you saw Remus pressing his strong hands on Sirius’s feet, he was clearly, really good at massaging. Sirius’ face told you everything.

Then it was Imogen’s turn, a Hufflepuff girl you’d shared classes with before. She was very smart, you remembered. She picked truth and grabbed a paper “Fuck, Mary, Kill: Slughorn, Kettleburn and Nightshade.” She said, “Ummm… I’d murder Slugorn, fuck Kettleburn and Mary Nightshade.”

“You’d fuck Kettlebrun?!” Asked Beth shocked.

“Between him and Slughorn? Every single time!” Imogen responded.

“And you’d marry Nightshade?” Asked Peter.

“Who wouldn’t marry Nightshade?”

You nodded to what Imogen was saying “No, no, Imogen has a point,” you said pointing a finger at her “Seraphina is stunning.” Sirius looked at you with a raised eyebrow, he still lied his head on your right leg “She has this grace to her, she’s like a ballerina.”

“She was a ballerina,” Said James as he munched on something.

“Really? How do you know?”

“She’s friends with our parents,” explained Peter, and grabbed a paper himself. He also chose truth “Do you like anyone? If so, say who it is.” Peter was instantly red and looked around as if checking if a particular person was still in the room, he took a deep breath once he was sure, and let himself speak “Yes there is, it’s this very pretty Ravenclaw girl from Fifth called Annabeth.”

“Annie Doxon?” Beth jumped from her seat “You have a crush on my cousin?!” Peter nodded, still shy. “Ok then, you break her heart, I break your nose.” Peter nodded, he knew Beth wouldn’t be too excited about it anyway “But I’m happy, at least you’re a good guy, I’m sure you’ll treat her well,” she cheered “Potter, you’re up.”

James grabbed a dare and after reading it out loud he tied his shirt over his belly and started belly dancing as best of his ability allowed him. And surprisingly, he was actually pretty good at it, which had everyone laughing. You leaned over to Lily, careful not to disturb Sirius, whose hair you’d started playing with at some point and whispered “Bet he’s got some sick moves in the bedroom too,” she gasped and hit you lightly, turning red as a tomato. Which just caused you to laugh even more, Lily was definitely going to end up with James Potter. And they’d probably have the cutest children.

Eventually, it was Marlene’s turn again, she chose dare and ended up giving Holden a massage, and Holden had to hold hands with her for the rest of the game when he got his dare. By the time Mary was taking her paper, the sand clock you’d set to measure the 10 minutes Remus would rub Sirius’ feet was over and he shoved Sirius’ feet off his lap.

“Oi, a bit more careful there Moony!” He complained as he finally sat up straight again.

“Yeah?, well I’ve had enough of your stinky feet,” Remus retorted.

“Take that back, My feet are NOT stinky!” He then turned to you “Are they Love?”

“Sirius, no matter how much I appreciate you, I will not be smelling your feet.”

He pouted and was about to speak again but got interrupted by Mary “Fuck James, marry Remus, Kill Sirius,” she said carelessly.

“Who put our names in the–“ Remus started.

“–You’d kill me? But I’m beautiful!” Sirius gasped.

“I wouldn’t wanna deal with the drama,” she responded simply.

“And I’m certain I’d be a better lay than Prongs too.”

“You wish,” James snapped and threw a pillow he had at Sirius’ face.

“LOOKS LIKE IT’S MY TURN!” Said Tom with his hands extended to the sides to get everyone's attention. He took a truth as well. “Name a teacher you’d hate to see naked and a teacher you’d like to see naked. WHO WROTE THIS?! You guys are sick. I’d hate to see Slughorn naked. I’d like to…” he shuddered “I don’t want to see any teacher naked.”

“You have to name someone,” argued Imogen.

“But–“

“Name it, Name it, Name it,” everyone started to choir.

“Professor Spellman?”

“Profesor Spellman!?” Asked Peter confused.

Tom shrugged, “I bet he’s ripped under those robes.”

Everyone laughed. On Beth’s turn, she had to do a cartwheel and then it was Lily’s turn, she went straight for a dare “Kiss for 30 seconds, whoever is in front of you,” she said looking up from her seat and discovering it was none-other than James Potter.

You tried to hold a laugh. And patted her on the back, she turned to Beth distressed “Can’t I just Kiss (Y/N) again?”

“Can’t stop thinking of me, huh?” You teased with your eyebrows raised, Sirius’ personality was rubbing on you. She gave you a reproachful look, as if asking for help.

“Rules are rules love,” said Beth and motioned for Lily and James to get closer together. She awkwardly did, James just stood in his place, frozen in shock.

“I– I’m gonna start, m’kay?” She asked James.

He nodded awkwardly, and in an instant, they were locking lips. Their kiss was nothing like yours and Lily’s, just a peck and then done, no, they were kissing. James had even grabbed Lily by the waist and pulled her closer at some point. Those thirty seconds were up, and you were sure they were still kissing. But eventually, Lilly broke this kiss off, clearing her throat and crawled back to her seat next to you.

You turned to her “You good?” You asked with concern. She nodded a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. You smiled and grabbed your paper.

“Sit on the lap of the player to your right for the rest of the game.” You read, with a bit of a frown “Seat on the lap of–?”

“–Sirius Black.” Finished Lily.

“Don’t you…?” You were about to ask, but Sirius had already accommodated himself and waited for you with open arms and a welcoming smile. Of course Sirius wouldn’t mind, he was Mr. Flirt after all. “Kay then,” you said and moved to his lap. He held you by the waist and set his head on your neck.

“Mind passing over a dare paper?” He asked.

You leaned in and grabbed one and opened it for him “Let a player draw something on your arm,” you read.

He shrugged and handed you his arm. “There you go love, draw me a Picasso.”

“I could just draw a dick,” you teased.

He nudged you with his head “Draw something nice, would ya? I’ll leave it on all week if you do.”

You raised an eyebrow and nodded as you used your wand to bring your quill and ink closer, dipping your quill in the dark ink and drawing on Sirius’ arm.

“We’re almost out of papers,” said Beth as she leaned over the two bowls.

“We should probably end soon anyway,” Lily said, stretching her arms, “It’s getting kinda late.”

“What’s it gonna be Rem? Truth or dare?” Asked Beth.

“Dare,” he chose again, not even thinking about it, he leaned over and grabbed a paper, looking visibly pale as he read. Not that you noticed, you were very focused on Sirius’ arm.

“Well then? What does it say?” Asked Beth.

Remus didn’t say a word. Imogen grabbed the paper from his hand and read it “Kiss the person to your left for one minute straight.” The second those words left her mouth your pen went completely sideways, leaving a straight line in the middle of your drawing, you looked up, alarmed.

“But… there’s two people on Remus’ left,” Imogen continued.

“Three people kiss?” said Beth as an option.

“Three people kiss? What on earth is that?!” Asked Remus alarmed.

“It’d be too awkward for a minute straight,” said Imogen as she shook her head with a soft tsk, she wasn’t convinced.

“Pick one then,” Beth said with a shrug.

“Well, it’s obvious, (Y/N), she’s the girl.” Said Peter.

“But I had to kiss her too, that doesn’t matter in this game,” argued Lily.

“And Sirius was to his left originally,” chimed Holden.

Remus’ eyes darted from one person to the other, looking further mortified at the second. “Let’s just wand, potion, spell it,” you intervened “Destiny chooses instead, how does that sound?” Remus looked at you and nodded.

“Well then,” you shifted on Sirius’ lap so you could see him directly, “Ready?”

“Do we do it in the first result or two out of three?” He asked.

“I– I don’t know… Rem?”

“Two out of three.”

“Well then, it’s settled.”

The two of you positioned your right hand on top of your left “Wand, Potion, Spell.” You said together. Sirius’ hand turned into a fist with his thumbs up, Potion, beating your extended palm, spell.

“Ok, again,” he said.

“Wand, Potion, Spell.” You repeated this time you chose spell, beating his wand.

You gave him a look, Remus was still holding his breath right next to the two of you.

“Again.”

“Wand, Potion, Spell.” You both choose spell. “Wand, Potion, Spell.” You both picked wand.

“Sirius!” You complained.

“Not doing it on purpose luv!” He argued back.

“Ok, this is the one, ready?” He nodded.

“Wand, Potion, Spell.” Sirius chose spell, you chose potion.

“(Y/N) Won,” said Beth, “It’s settled then, go ahead.”

You threw her a look “I’m gonna end up kissing the entire circle with this game,” you complained as you tried to move off Sirius, but he tightened his hold on your waist.

“Gotta stay here till the end of the game, remember?” He asked, not allowing you to budge. You turned to him with a frown.

“He’s right, if you get off you’ll get a penalty,” agreed Imogen.

You gave him a confused look and he just shrugged, “Rules are rules.”

Remus moved closer instead “You sure you’re ok with it?” He asked, sincerity in his voice as he stared at you, faces inches away from each other. You nodded and closed the gap between the two of you.

As your lips met Remus', you instinctively placed your right hand on his shoulder to steady yourself, Sirius' hands remained securely wrapped around your waist, you could feel his subtle shifts beneath you as you continued to kiss his friend. The nature of the situation made you wonder if you had ever found yourself in such an uncomfortable scenario before. No, not that –it was weird– but it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, in fact, Remus’ kiss was quite nice.

It was delicate and it was sweet. Remus tasted of chocolate and rum, and you let yourself enjoy the moment, you were sure Sirius was intently staring at the both of you, you wondered what he was thinking as you felt the muscles of his tights tense, and relax. As you explored the gentle rhythm of Remus’ kiss, any apprehension dissipated, replaced by a growing sense of ease, even with Sirius staring at the two, it was strangely enjoyable. The gentleness of Remus' lips against yours seemed to resonate both affection and curiosity, you wondered if he was being gentle because that was in his nature, if he was being gentle because it was you he was kissing, or perhaps because you were in the middle of a dare, and that’s what would be expected of him.

Eventually, the last drop of sand from the hourglass reached the bottom, and it emitted a soft sound. You and Remus finally separated, looking at each other with breaths slightly heavy, both attempting to regain your composure. Once you caught your breath you decided you had to do something to ease the situation, or something. So you channelled your inner Sirius Black and reacted as he would, you smirked; “Well then Remus, thank you for that delightful kiss, love that you put in an effort even if it was just a dare, anyway, who’s next? I really can’t be the only one who keeps kissing everyone around me, can I?” People laughed at your reaction, Remus was shaking his head with a small smile slipping from his lips, maybe he had kissed Sirius in the end.

Sirius leaned into your ear, whispering “Smooth way to divert the tension luv,” he whispered as Imogen grabbed a paper, and you gulped as Sirius' breath brushed your neck.

“It’s me,” said Imogen, still processing how you’d been so brave to kiss a boy while sitting on another’s lap. She wanted to be like you when she grew older “It says: If you could be anyone in this room, who would it be?” She seemed to think about it for a second “I mean… right at this moment? (Y/N), she’s gotten the most action tonight.”

You laughed, reclining against Sirius unconsciously, “Well, then, switch with me,” you told her as a joke, but you felt Sirius’ hold tighten, as if reproachful.

Peter leaned in for a paper “Give your best friend a lap dance.” He read. “What?! Who wrote this?” You laughed, at least you hadn’t gotten that one.

“Get up Jaaaames,” you heard Sirius say in a sing-song voice from behind. He pulled a chair with magic to the centre of the circle and set the record player to “Love to Love You Baby” by Donna Summer.

James sat on the chair with a smile as Peter stood up, walking in front of James and started to dance. Peter was not vibing with the song or the dare for that matter. But he pulled through, even with Sirius’ constant teasing “Come on Pete, you’re not getting tips tonight if you don’t put in an effort!”

You eventually joined the teasing too, whistling as Sirius continued talking. Once the song was over Peter went instantly back to his place, hiding his entire face between his hands and questioning all the life decisions that had led him to that moment.

There was only one paper left, and it was James' turn. He leaned in and grabbed the truth paper “Have you ever had a crush on anyone in this circle?” He read, and then he nodded “Of course I have. But you all know who it is already.”

Lily coughed several times “Well, game’s over,” she said as she stood up and pulled Marlene towards the fire with her “We should sleep soon, so go ahead, time to open the gifts.”

Marlene raised an eyebrow at her, she just shrugged. You, like the good friend you were, decided to tease her further, finally leaving Sirius’ lap and walking behind her “Wow, Lils, never seen you run from a situation faster than that.”

“Shut it, luv.” She Told you and pulled you to sit on the sofa, the rest followed you seconds after, all walking towards the comfortable living room-like setup in front of the sofa. Once everyone was comfortable, Beth urged Marlene to sit on the rug in front of everyone to open her gifts. She’d gotten a quill set from her parents, a magical chess set, an enchanted journal, some fun jewellery, the Jersey you’d gotten her and many other things.

You all sat comfortably in front of the fire as she continued opening her gifts.

You leaned down next to her when she opened a box with bright red wrapping “Is that quidditch polish set?” You asked with a smile “That’s brilliant!”

“Thanks,” said James, of course, he would have been the one to give her that “now you can be the fastest beater.”

Sirius looked at him with a shrug and hit him on the arm with the back of his hand in a reproachful manner “Way to drag your friend down, mate!”

“Hmmm… there’s only one way to find out,” Marlene said with a shrug “A race…” she smirked at the last bit.

You looked at her and then back at Sirius, eyebrows raised slightly and nodding along with Marlene “AND you know, Sirius Black does owe me race…”

He looked at you with an amused look on his face, his eyes shining at the dare “You’re on.”

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A/N: I swear this has been one of my favourite chapters to write so far. What was our dear Sirius thinking when he stared at you? What was Remus thinking? So much drama I love this sm. Some interesting things are coming soon, stay tuned lovelies <3

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georgiaswarr · 2 years

Text

tori and michael. they’re holden hands.

#osemanverse #solitaire #em’s fuckery

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sproldenlover · 8 months

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do you have a favorite solitaire quote?

i have loads but these are my top favorites.

1: “excuse me for having a memory like a sieve, i feel like i deserve credit for making the effort to come here.”- michael holden.

2: “i’m your friend tori. this is what we do” - michael holden.

3: But books–they’re different. When you watch a film, you’re sort of an outsider looking in. With a book–you’re right there. You are inside. You are the main character. - tori spring.

4: All I know is that I’m here. And I’m alive. and i’m not alone. - tori spring.

5: i swear to god there is something wrong with me. there really is. - tori spring.

6: For some reason he puts his hands on either side of my face and leans forward and says: “Tori Spring, I have been looking for you forever. - michael holden.

7: “you are now banned from saying no” -michael holden. “but that’s my catchphrase” tori spring. “make a new one” - michael holden.

8: He raises his arms above his head and screams: "I AM THE SOBEREST INDIVIDUAL ON THIS WHOLE PLANET!” - michael holden.

9: “facebook is for trivialities, such as what takeaways people are having. and how many lols they had the night before with their gals” - michael holden.

#michael holden #tori spring #solitare #alice oseman #i love michael holden #i love tori spring

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ohtobeleah · 1 year

Text

ToE

Jake Seresin drives an old 1992 Holden Rodeo when he’s in Aus with Amilia. It barely starts, it rattles like fuck and the gears get stuck more often than not when he shifts from first to second.

There a huntsman the size of his palm that lives in the passenger side sun visor but he knows well enough by now to leave it alone. He’s not hurting anyone. He doesn’t tell you it’s there.

The cab is rusted and the floor needs a good clean from the red clay that’s been stomped into the rubber floor mats but again he’s not fussed.

“Do you even know how to drive this thing!?” It may be the last thing you ever do, agreeing to go on a beer run to the local bottlo. Jake’s grinning ear to ear as he watched you clutch onto the roof handle for dear life as he swings around the roundabout. “Jake—!”

“Relax Fe, she’ll be right.” He can afford a better ute, but he doesn’t want one. It sits in the shed for three month stints when he’s back in San Diego.

“I can see why Amilia gave me that look of horror when I said I’d come with you—you drive like a maniac.” Jake chuckled at that, out of the two of them it’s Amilia who can’t drive to save herself. Jake usually drives when they’re together—he values his life and the life of others on the road.

“Took me a while to get the hang of the right side steering too.” You can’t help but to role your eyes as Jake pulls into the car park of the liquor land. “Alright we need a case of Great Northern, a six pack of Corona for Roo and a bottle of Gin for Oz.”

Jake Seresin is just so different when he’s in Australia than he is when he’s back in the states. It doesn’t matter where he is in the world though so long as his wife is by his side—so long as Amilia is around Jake is home. Home is where his heart is.

“Hey mate, how are ya?” You can hear the slight Aussie twang in his voice as he asked the eighteen year old kid staking shelves how he’s going. He loves Australia, he loves the culture and the laid back nature.

“Good man—this the sister you were talking about the other day?” Jake nods, watching as Sam stands from where he’d been crouched stacking the bottom shelf. “Nice to meet you, you’re brother here’s become a little bit of a local.” You shake the kids hands. “I’m Sam.”

“It’s nice to meet you Sam.” You smile softly. “And so I’ve heard.” You heard it from the older guys at the pub on Friday night. You’d heard it from the sweet old lady at the newsagents and the guy at the bakery who wouldn’t shut up about how Jake was just the best guy around. “I’m glad he’s made a home here for himself.”

“How’d you go in the rust bucket?” Sam asked with an all-knowing smirk smeared across his face as he looked over your shoulder and saw Jakes Rodeo in the car park. “That things held together by hopes and dreams.”

“And a few rolls of duct tape.” Jake adds as he rounds the corner with the slab of Great Northern on his shoulder. “She’s a walk in rego mate, as long as it still starts I’m gonna keep it around.” Sam scoffs in response and Jake tussles his hair. “You’re mother know you’re working late?”

“Sure does—“ Sam lived next door the the Fisher-Seresin household. He was a good kid. He confided in Jake a lot about things in life.

“She change your diper before you left the house too?”

“Yeah and your wife was there to kiss my ass when I didn’t kick up a fuss.” You couldn’t help but to laugh at the interaction, Jake would’ve been a good dad. The thought was forever in the back of your mind. He should have been a dad. Amilia should have been a mum.

“Speaking of my lovely wife, get me a bottle of Gordon’s and we’ll be outta here.”

You and Jake don’t stick around for much longer, he pays and tells Sam if he does end up needed a lift to call. Back in the car you can’t help but to ask.

“How come you and Amilia never ended up going through with that adoption?” Jakes too focused on shifting from first the second without grinding the gears as he drives with his knee and clips his seatbelt in to answer right away. But he answers. “You would’ve been a really good dad.”

“We didn’t get approved—“ It’s a hard topic but it’s the truth. “Fly in fly out work didn’t meet the criteria for stable living conditions.” Jake just kept driving, kept looking straight ahead. “But we’re fine with it, we weren’t meant to be parents Fe.” He shakes his head to will the idea from his mind. “Besides, we’ve got two beautiful nieces and two feral nephews that we’d die for.”

You leave it at that and decide that the suns far too bright for your liking. Jake can’t get the words out fast enough to stop you reaching up and out for the sun visor.

“Y/n Don’t—“ You feel your soul leave your body at the sight of it. It’s the biggest spider you’ve ever seen.

“Pull over before I jump out—“

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

Jakes Rodeo

#terms of endearment// bradley bradshaw #terms of endearment // Jake Seresin #jake seresin imagine #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin fanfiction

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theunstuffedpepper · 5 months

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I had to come brag about our second sleep through the night with Derrick. I got almost a full 8 hours last night! I put Derrick down around 8:30p and woke a few times in the 2:00a and 3:00a hours expecting him to wake me, but he was fast asleep. Holden woke around 5:30a so naturally that woke me as well, but I got to stay in bed and doze until Derrick finally woke at 6:50 this morning. Mind blown. He’s 15 weeks today and I can’t believe how well we’re doing with our night time routine.

What else? I made a parent friend at the playground this week. I met another stay at home dad with a 10 month old little girl. We met up another day at the park and we’re going to meet up at the library for story time today. It feels kinda weird that it’s a dad friend rather than a mom friend, but for no good reason? He’s a totally nice guy and he and his wife have the same dynamic as us (wife breadwinner and husband caretaker) and they’re also new to the area. After I return to work hopefully B can meet up with him too.

B has been keeping busy building a new shed in our backyard. I’m doing the mom thing and feeling a little better about juggling it all, maybe because I’m getting better sleep. Does anyone else do laundry every single day, though? Cuz I’m doing laundry in some capacity every day and I can’t ever seem to get ahead.

B and I had a little date night at home the other night after the kids went to bed. We played scrabble and had a glass of wine and talked and made eye contact and it felt nice. Too often we end the day next to each other on the couch but both with our phones in our hands and the tv on. We’re gonna try to do that more often.

I’m going to get a haircut this afternoon and leaving everyone else home. I never spend any time away from the kids, really, and it’s so very needed. Afterward I think I’m just going to sit somewhere and eat a late lunch by myself and enjoy eating hot food that I didn’t have to cook at a normal, slow pace. It’s the little things.

#momblr #sleep routine #15 weeks postpartum #11172023

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maybankiara · 4 months

Text

PHONE SWAP (DREW STARKEY)

24: WHEREVER YOU GO NEXT

summary: Addie Mallory is just your average economics student when she meets Drew Starkey at her local Target in Atlanta. This is where the story is supposed to end – a short meeting and a picture to go – except Drew accidentally leaves with the wrong phone, and the story begins, instead. w/c: 3.5k a/n: the mallory family holds a christmas eve dinner. this one is also perfectly timed with the holiday season which i'm buzzing about!! (might be a few typos - i apologise in advance) read on wattpad previous part | series masterlist

When her phone buzzes, it’s Drew’s name flashing on the screen, alongside a photo attachment. Addie chuckles to herself—it could be literally anything—and goes back to writing the email for Wes and Raiden, attaching the files Holden had her look over. By the time she’s finished, Drew's sent about a dozen more messages.

Addie opens them to be met with a blond toddler, grinning at the camera while sitting on a tractor big enough to make him seem like an ant. He’s got Drew’s excited grin: slightly lopsided and a little mischievous. It’s a cute photo, and Addie would’ve told him so, if she didn’t have another two dozen photos to look through. They’re all of Drew, from a toddler to a teenager, sometimes with other kids or family members. He accompanies each with context (‘I was sixteen and my parents knew I’d drink in high school so they got me drunk home first and I didn’t know they took photos until this morning') and Addie finds herself laughing as she keeps going.

It’s cute. It’s funny. It’s weird, too, because Addie realises she’s struggling to accept that this little boy sitting in a tractor is Drew. She always just kind of pictured him at his current age, and anything else felt surreal.

So that’s what she texts him: ‘I know this is proof you were a kid once but I still don’t believe it’

Her dad knocks on her door a few moments later, leaning on the doorframe with his head tilted and a playful smile on his lips, even if his hands are crossed on his chest. ‘Don’t you think you should put work aside for a little while?’

‘Can’t do that,’ Addie says, spinning around in her chair to face him. ‘Grubson Law will fall apart if I do that.’

‘Right.’

‘Yeah. I’m pretty important there.’

‘Well, I’m not surprised. You’re pretty important everywhere.’ Zion winks at her. ‘Especially downstairs, because Donnie wants you to know that your checkers throne is, um, quaking.’

Addie chuckles. ‘Has he been practising?’

‘Well, Addison… I think today might be the day.’

The image of Donnie getting the whole family into helping him practise for beating her one day is endearing to say the least. She’s known about this for a while – Liyah has sent her photos of Fun Fridays that now include checkers as a staple. Checkers with Donnie have always been one of Addie’s favourite perks of visiting her family.

Addie smiles. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

As her father leans against the doorframe with his arms on his chest, Addie finds the resmblance to Dwayne Johnson again. He’s bigger than she’s last seen him and brighter, like there’s a spring to his step, even just standing like this.

‘You’re looking better, Dad,’ she says. ‘Gym and the new job look good on you.’

‘Thanks, Chione.’

Addie sighs at her father’s insistence to use her middle name instead of her first, but there’s no bite to it. The phone buzzes and she throws a glance—it’s Drew—before putting it in her pocket. She’s ready to go, but Zion is still standing there, looking around the room with fondness in his eyes.

‘You know,’ he says, ‘even though it’s been years since this was really your room, whenever I walk past it, some part of me still expects to see you hunched over your desk, studying.’

‘Really? That was ages ago.’

He shrugs. ‘It’s just not the same without you.’

‘Dad,’ she whispers, and then she’s hugging him like she’s six again, terrified of going to school for the first time, with only her dad’s arms to hold her. ‘You’re going to make me cry.’

‘Now that’d be a feat.’

‘I’m not joking.’

Zion chuckles, regardless, and kisses the top of her head. ‘I look at you and I see a woman that I will be proud of for the rest of my life.’

Addie feels herself tremble. Zion squeezes her harder, plants another kiss, and then he’s patting her back and letting go.

‘C’mon. You need to defend your throne from Donnie.’

‘I’ll be right down.’

The door closes and she’s alone again, her chest heavy with the emotions swirling around it. She takes a moment to compose herself and drinks some of her water, waiting to go down until her eyes don’t feel like they could betray her. Her phone buzzes with another text from Drew and she shoots a quick response, promising to send some photos of her own later.

Addie makes her way downstairs and tries to remember her best checkers strategies, to remember Donnie’s, to figure out how to beat him before the game’s even begun.

She doesn’t, though. It’s the best day of her brother’s life.

◇

Christmas Eve dinner is the tradition of the Mallory family and as such, is held every year at precisely seven o'clock, with the same roast chicken being served, the same homemade gravy and Liyah’s same precisely cut roast potatoes, amongst other constant elements. The latter is a recent addition – Liyah was twelve when she decided that she had inherited the Mallory chef gene, and started delighting the entire family and beyond with her ability which at this point, in Addie’s opinion, rivals Marianne’s.

Before the dinner, there is usually a speech. It’s similar to Thanksgiving, except they don’t go around the circle and say what they’re thankful for – instead, they speak of the good and the bad alike, and anything else worth for the entire family to hear. It’s one of the traditions Addie knows she’ll bring into her own family someday.

It’s the sight of all the people who make up her home at a table, holding hands while they wait for the dinner to begin, that makes her wonder if she’s ever truly appreciated the cards she’d been dealt.

Zion clears his throat, rising to his feet. ‘I believe it’s time for me to say a few words.’

Addie looks at her mother, only to find her eyes shining for her husband, with the gentlest of the smiles in the corner of her mouth.

Imani has always been the one with the knack for creating an atmosphere. From the soft jazz playing from her vinyl collection in the living room to the candles scattered around the dining room, replacing the main light for the main event. Even the evergreen-ivory theme of the table extends to the rest of the room, giving it a sense of home that grounds Addie.

She thinks back to the first Christmas Eve dinner she can recall, when she was five and an only kid. They lived in an apartment in the centre of Denver where the dining room was also the kitchen and the living room, and there was a small roast chicken and a candle or two, with her father’s potato wedges the only food other than the chicken. It was modest and it was the most magical thing Addie had ever seen at the time.

Looking over her family now, even with Donnie’s eyes very clearly hungry for those Liyah’s wedges, Christmas Eve still feels like magic.

Zion clinks a fork against his glass. ‘When you get to my age, you realise that everything you’ve ever done is so that your children wouldn’t have to go through the same things.’ His voice is kind and his eyes go from one child to another. ‘Every hardship your mum and I faced has been so we could be sitting at this table today, all five of us. I look at you and I see everything I’ve ever wanted in life.’

Every Christmas Eve, when Zion Mallory holds the speech, the house itself takes a breath, and the world slows to a halt. There is little remarkable about the man, Addie would have to admit, but that’s what she appreciates the most – even in moments like these, he is never trying to be anyone other than himself.

Her dad.

‘Everybody thinks they’ve got the best family,’ he says, ‘but I know I do.’

Liyah groans. Addie only hears because she’s sitting right next to her, and she gives her a light kick on the shin – she used to feel the same about Zion’s grand speeches, until she moved away and started hearing less and less of them.

Liyah will appreciate it more, one day.

‘We’ve been through a lot to get our family here today,’ continues Zion. He gripts the back of Imani’s chair, and his wife rests her hand on his. ‘We’ve gone through many jobs, many houses, many of everything to finally own this place. To be able to sit here and call this our home. For the three of you to have grown up here.’

‘Donnie hasn’t,’ Liyah says. ‘He’s still five.’

The boy in question puts. ‘Twelve.’

‘Same difference.’

Zion looks at them from underneath his brow, head tilted, menacing even if there’s a smile on his face. ‘Aaliyah. Adonis.’

The two apologise and Addie meets her mother’s eyes, both of them laughing quietly at the situation. There’s a running bet around the household to see who will manage to draw Zion out of his speech mood, yet for ten Christmas Eve dinners, no one has succeeded.

Not even today.

Addie listens to the speech with gleam in her eyes. If someone were to look at her from the outside, they’d see the love pouring out of her – she’s always been a daddy’s girl. She’s seen him hit rock bottom and build himself back up while raising three children and raising them well, and if he can do that, then she can get do anything, too.

She herself reeling in her father’s words and their delivery – in another life, he would’ve been a preacher. He would’ve been the one voice to manage to make the world a better place.

There’s always been something about Christmas that makes her want to take life by the reins again, to do the things she’s afraid of doing. She looks at her siblings and her mother and wonders if they feel the same.

She’s convinced they do.

She watches as Donnie grew three times in size when their father talks about his success in grade school. Donnie’s ADHD doesn’t come up but it’s in the back of everyone’s minds as he’s reminded of being the top of his class, of his fight against the odds, and of the fact that him keeping up with Liyah and Addie’s successes means he’s no less but more determined and adaptable than they were, because he has to be.

Donnie doesn’t say a word but he’s smiling, and Addie feels pride swelling in her chest. She’s missed out on so much of her little brother’s life and moments like these just remind her of it.

Zion spoke about her sister, too, even though she groaned and sighed her way through it. Addie knows that she’ll learn to appreciate it more someday, because she used to be all the same. Addie was just the first – Liyah is the one with a chance at Yale and Harvard and MIT, and Addie gives her a little squeeze on the shoulder. She won the state archery competition, too, which Donnie is most impressed by, and she even got promoted to Assistant Manager at their local pizza place.

Her siblings are growing up. Moving up in the world. And she’s given up seeing them do that – for what? For a carrer she’s unsure of? For a love that—

Zion calls her name, shaking the thoughts out of her head. ‘As I said before, I am beyond proud of the woman you’ve become. I see nothing but big thing in store for you. Whatever you decide to do after your internship ends, after you get your degree – whatever you choose for your career, wherever you go next, you are going to make the world a better place for everyone in it.’

Addie doesn’t even have the strength to say a thank you, just mouths it instead.

He moves on to her mother before Addie has had the time to process his words and most of what he says next goes past her head, but she catches the love pouring from his voice. She hears the pride for Imani’s long shifts at the hospital, and the hand on his starts to shake until Imani ends his speech by pulling him in for a kiss.

‘We're proud of you too, my love,’ says Imani as they sit down, hand in hand as her thumb strokes the back of his palm. ‘You are what holds this family together.’

Zion opens his mouth and Addie knows it’s to protest, except Liyah is faster. ‘You’ve always got our backs. And the reason why we keep fighting is because you’ve never stopped, and you show us that it pays off. You always push us to be the best versions of ourselves.’

There’s a moment of silence where Zion’s tiny smile is frozen except for the corner of his lips, where it’s twitching a little. ‘Liyah,’ he calls, extending the pause. ‘Your softie is showing.’

Donnie starts to cackle and Liyah throws her napkin at Zion, who keeps on teasing her. Addie wants to participate but all she can do is watch her family and just be thankful for the life she’s got, for the way she’s been brought up. Sometimes just existing alongside the people you love is enough.

When the playfulness ceases, the Mallory dinner commences. Addie thinks this Christmas just might top the first one.

◇

By the time Addie is finished wrapping up her presents, it’s nearly two o'clock in the morning. She knows it’ll be a pain when Donnie gets them all up before eight, but it’s nentirely on her. Hanging out with her family on a Christmas Eve until much later than any of them anticipated was worth it, though.

Now, Addie is in a tank top and pyjama bottoms, and she’s thankful that her fuzzy slippers don’t make noise on the floorboards as she walks down the steps. If Liyah catches her being bad at sneaking again, she’ll never let her live it down.

She's good, though – she gets to the Christmas tree without anyone knowing. There’s five gifts she slips under the ones already there, her maroon merging with the family’s traditional ivory- and evergreen-coloured, chess board-patterned wrapping paper. Her family went for ivory-coloured Christmas tree decorations this year, and the entire interior of the house is adorned in bits and pieces of ivory and green. Addie likes it. It’s a little bit tacky, a little over-the-top, but her mother knows how to make a place feel like home.

There’s warmth coming from behind her, a little to the right, and she’s half-surprised to see a lit fireplace in the middle of the living room wall. She comes closer and the heat blows into her face, raising some stray baby hairs, and she stares into the open flame until her eyes feel all dried out, and she’s forced to move away and keep her eyes closed for a little while.

When she opens them again, she rests her back on the bottom of the couch, enjoying the heat travelling through the floor, pecking at her bare feet. There’s always been a fireplace in this house, but it hadn’t been working for a long time when they moved in, and Addie kind of made peace with it being a decoration rather than a functional way of heating the place. She always liked sitting here when she was younger and couldn’t sleep – there was something grand about trying to picture what a fire would look like there, how it would feel.

Addie doesn’t think she ever pictured it this good. With the Christmas tree and presents underneath it, decorations scattered all over the place, and the finally lit fireplace, it looks like anything one could ever hope for in life. Or at least, in Addie’s case.

Her palm is lying open on the floor, and she puts it to her face; it’s warm and soft. Her mum would yell at her for doing this, because the floor is dirty, but Addie doesn’t quite care. There's a feeling within her chest that is at peace here – she thinks she could sit like this forever.

Some time passes, and Addie’s dazed train of thought takes her to memories, to photos, and the albums she knows her parents keep in the corner of the room. It’s an effort to go and get them, but she does, picking the one labelled 1994 first, and then grabs a couple more from the years that followed. She goes back to her little spot in front of the couch, gets comfortable with a pillow underneath her butt, and begins looking through the album. She hasn’t done this in a while.

There's a sense of comfort Addie gets from looking at pictures of her parents from when they were just a little bit older than her, perfectly in love, ready to take on the world together. She has a lot of her mother’s features but her father’s smile, and she’s glad there’s a lot of pictures of him smiling. Pictures of pregnant Imani are gorgeous, and Addie makes a note of telling her that in the morning. Even in the first picture taken after Addie’s birth, with the little baby wrapped up in a towel and pressed to her mother’s chest, Imani looks beautiful in a way that every mother does.

It’s not like Addie has baby fever, but she likes to think that someday, she’ll have kids of her own. She hopes that she gets the chance to be as good of a mother as Imani has been to her.

Little Addie in the pictures grows fast, and she’s doing everything a toddler shouldn’t. She made fun of Drew's photo of him on a tractor, but there’s photos of Addie on her uncle’s jet-ski, on the fence, even some of her with bloodied knees and a gash on her chin as she waves gleefully from the highest branch of a tree in their backyard, at barely three. She was a happy kid, and her parents always supported her wild and reckless endeavours. Later, when school came into the picture, she had a little less freedom, and the grazed knees became bruises from bumping into surfaces while waiting tables.

She takes a few pictures of the photos, turning the album so the fire would lighten them up enough to be visible on her phone camera. She sends them to Drew, with a few funny captions like his own had been, and sends some of the more embarrassing ones (like Addie crying because Zion smudged some of her fourth birthday cake on her face) to Marianne.

Her finger hovers over Holden’s name for a while. She thinks about sending him some of the ones she’d sent to the other two, but doesn’t quite know if...

Well. She sighs to herself, leaning the back of her head on the couch – she’s not sure what’s keeping her from sending the photos. Her fingers play with the corners of the page she’s on, twirling them around as she tries to come up with a logical explanation.

(Logic doesn’t always work. Marianne’s voice is in her head, and it’s telling her about the highs and lows of being with Tom, and Addie feels like her mind is telling her something that she can’t quite grasp. There is a clear sense of discomfort in her thoughts, in the idea of Holden being a part of this greater picture of Addie’s life, and it leaves a bad taste.)

Addie’s heart is a little heavy, now. She knows she’s tired and overthinking and her feet are starting to be a little too warm, but there’s been a funny feeling nagging at her for a while now. Being home is like a fairy tale – she’s thinking about family, about history, about love she has for people in her life, and about what she wants her life to be like someday, and... she isn’t really thinking about Holden. Not in the way where she feels like he fits into these little pieces.

Drew messages her back before her thoughts get anywhere further, though. It’s mostly him making fun of her in return, but he also wishes her Merry Christmas, and Addie realises she’s kind of already forgotten it's past midnight, so she writes a half-apologetic Christmas wish to him. It’s easy, talking to him, teasing him about the fact that he’s awake so late on Christmas of all days, and getting teased right back. As it turns out, both of them are up because they left the gift wrapping for the last minute.

The alarm clock on her bedside table reads 3:49am when she finally gets into her bed. She’s still warm from the fireplace, and she’s still chatting to Drew and promising to bring some of the albums up or at least some of the photos, and she falls asleep in the middle of writing a message.

She dreams of fireplaces, little kids with her hair running around, and a man whose face she doesn't get to see.

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25: MERRY CHRISTMAS (coming 23/12)

#drew starkey #outer banks #obx #drew starkey fanfiction #obx fanfiction #my fic #phone swap series #f: obx #drew starkey x oc

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