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emeritusemeritus · 8 months

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Turn back the hands of time. [Weasley twins x Reader]

Title: Turn back the hands of time.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader, (George Weasley x Reader later)

Timeline: Set six months after Fred’s Death.

Summary: What if you got the gift of time just to relive a moment with your deceased beloved one more time?

Warnings: Fred does the big sleep. Death. Grief, tears, emotional trauma. Use of a time turner (setting my own rules here). Mentions of marriage and kids. So much pain. McGonagall being a queen. Reader is implied Gryffindor.

I apologise, this one hurts. 🥀

The six months that had passed since the love of your life died had been the most intolerable, excruciating months of your life. Nothing brought you comfort anymore; every single thing in your life was attached to memories of him, bittersweet and painful memories you were forced to relive each and everyday by simply existing. Each day from the second you woke you were reminded of the painful fact that you had to carry on living whilst he couldn't. There was no future for you anymore, no more dreams of small weddings and long honeymoons, no blessings of little ones or fantasies of being an author, holed up in a small little cabin hidden away in the forest like you'd always planned with Fred.

He would aparate into the shop each day and you would have a home office with a big, fancy writing desk placed directly in front of a large window to view the scenery around you as you wrote. After closing the shop and settling up for the night, Fred would return home and you'd cook together, spending evenings on the decking under twinkling lights as you appreciated your simple life. You'd had it all planned out in fine detail, the future you were no longer destined to have.

George was naturally devastated too, utterly broken by the loss of his twin brother. You two, being the closest people to Fred, had found just a smidge of comfort in each other initially but over time Fred's loss had built a wedge between you both, each of you only serving as a reminder of what you had both lost.

You'd not only lost your soulmate but also your best friend along the way and the family that had taken you in and loved you as one of their own.

You'd pulled away from them all the same week of Fred's funeral, finding it unfathomably hard to be around them all, the missing piece constantly highlighted in the sea of familiar red hair.

A good day for you these days meant accomplishing something as mundane as showering or eating some sort of meal. You knew you'd lost weight, the clothes you always wore hung off your body now the same way Fred's clothes used to. But you couldn't seem to stomach anything, the lingering pain and grief creating a sickness in you that couldn't be soothed.

The pain never truly ever left you but it did come in waves. Most the time is was like a background noise, a constant humming that ran through you like a curse but sometimes it was panic inducing pain, taking away your ability to breathe and function as haunting sobs wracked your body until you were crippled with agony, regret and hopeless longing.

You'd had a good day, as far as they went, managing to crawl out of bed and into the shower before trying to distract yourself with some muggle tv when a simple letter, delivered by owl, took your breath away once more.

Dear y/n,

I hope this letter finds you well, my thoughts have been with you each and every day since the battle. In Dumbledore's honour, we are conducting a memorial for the fallen and I would like to personally invite you to celebrate in the life of the loved ones we have lost. Fred's life will be celebrated by his staff, friends, family and fellow students as we pay respect to their bravery and sacrifice.

I would be honoured if you would join us.

With profound sympathy,

Minerva Mcgonagall.

You couldn't breathe again, tears streaming down your face as you read the letter through misty eyes, having to blink away the tears constantly to refocus your vision.

You didn't want to go. Your initial instinct was to burn the letter and hide from it, isolating yourself further and further until no one of your past life could ever find you again, lest contact you by owl. But you couldn't do that to Fred. He deserved everyone he loved and that loved him to celebrate his life, to tell stories of his triumphs and notorious endeavours in his time at Hogwarts. You couldn't be selfish this time, not for your Fred.

——

As you stepped into the all too familiar castle alone, you felt a dichotomy of feelings barrage you all at once. This had been your home since you were 11 years old, the place where you finally had a sense of belonging, where your best memories had been made, the place that you had met and fell in love with Fred Weasley and the place he'd died.

The castle had undergone extensive repairs and looked better than ever since the destruction from the war. Walking through the halls you felt both soothed and conflicted, the trembling of your hands never once leaving as you anticipated seeing everyone again.

"Y/n/n?" A familiar voice called from behind you, making your eyes close momentarily from the pain in their voice. You turned to see Ginny stood there, staring at you with a worried look on her face. She looked well, pretty, in sharp contrast to you.

"How?" She began to say as she walked towards you, thinking better of the statement before throwing her arms around you, "I'm so glad you're here."

You hummed a reply, already feeling an invisible weight tugging at you as you held your friend, the sister in law you'd once anticipated.

"Everyone's through here," she says, taking you by the hand as she led you towards the great hall, before you could protest. Your stomach roiled with nerves as you tried to keep your eyes down, not ready to see everyone again.

"Y/n?" A voice called out, the tone of shock and worry so intricately laced in the maternal tone it was hard to hear it. Molly. You raised your eyes just in time to see her move quickly towards you and embrace you tightly, the all too familiar smell of her and their home encasing you entirely. You bit your lip hard to stop the tears from falling, already succumbing to your overwhelming emotions as hard as you tried to deny them. Each Weasley took the time to give you a warm hug, even Arthur who had cradled you in his arms surprisingly tight.

When the last hug didn't come, you looked up with tear stricken eyes towards the body that had made no effort to walk towards you, George. He looked just as haunted as you, tired and frail as he looked upon you with sad eyes, tears silently falling down his face. You stared at each other for a moment, unsure of how to proceed until your lip quivered and a small sob escaped you. George rushed forward and pulled you straight into his chest, neither of you caring about the tears and sobs that fell from you both, too fixed upon each other to give a single care about the onlookers.

"I'm so sorry," you both said at exactly the same time, earning a little chuckle from you both at the ridiculousness of it all.

You and George never left each others side the entire time, clutching hold of each other's hand as you navigated the painful memories and eulogies, each giving a squeeze intermittently to let the other know that you were still there.

Mcgonagall had called you away some time before the official memorial had began, walking with you towards the office she now held that was once Dumbledore's. George had reluctantly dropped your hand with a quiet, frantic whisper that you'd better be back soon.

"It's good to see you y/n," she says, gesturing for you to step towards the desk. You'd always felt a kinship with you previous head of house, both of you having a flair for transfiguration and underneath the sometimes harsh exterior, she had a wicked sense of humour.

"You too professor," you replied, trying to force an honest smile onto your face, not having used those muscles in months.

"Oh professor," she laughs, "call me Minerva," you says, scandalised at the notion of you calling her professor. You smiled warmly, this time not having to force the smile, feeling surprisingly comforted by her.

"You know, I always knew you and Mr Weasley would become an item, right from the day he turned your water goblet into a rock," she smiled, taking her seat as she gazed up at you fondly, "I am so sorry for your loss."

You chuckled at the memory, for once not feeling complete anguish at the thoughts of you and Fred. It was your first transfiguration class and you'd been tasked with turning your pets into water goblets as every first year is expected to do. You'd succeeded first try and Fred had then turned said water goblet into a small rock before your very eyes. To his surprise you had barked out a laugh instead of cursing him out for the ridiculous prank and you'd been firm friends with both the twins ever since. Only in your third year did you begin to catch real feelings for him and by your fourth year you were completely smitten. Before fifth year began, just before the Weasley's trip to Egypt, you were officially dating, finally saying I love you and the rest was history, never parting from each other once you'd found your person. You'd attended the yule ball together, been hand in hand for every task, even as the twins gambled their way through the games. You'd spent hours upon hours inventing, perfecting and packaging their inventions with them and had been been included every step of the way in designing and opening the store. You smiled in pure nostalgia as Mcgonagall's comment triggers a pool of memories for you.

"I've never told anyone this, except for Albus, but when I was a young woman, I lost the love of my life too," she says, bringing you back to the present. You look at her with a sympathetic look though with wide eyes, shocked by her revelation. "He didn't die so it's not exactly the same but he might as well have." Her eyes begin to cloud over as you can see painful memories coming to the forefront of her mind.

"I was a much younger woman then, having graduated from Hogwarts and securing a position in the ministry, the department of magical law enforcement. Before I left for London, I returned home and met a local farm boy, a muggle. Fred Weasley reminded me a great deal of him, perhaps that's why his passing has been so hard for me aswell. He was handsome, clever and so terribly quick witted he even gave me a run my money".

You huffed out a little laugh, knowing how fierce and funny she could be underneath the professional exterior. She sent you a warm smile as you listened intently to her story.

"He proposed not long after our whirlwind summer, right in the middle of a ploughed field owned by his father. I didn't hesitate for a second and said yes straight away, blindsided by love. After I'd accepted, I realised that the future I would be creating for myself would cut me off from the Wizarding world completely, just as my mother had when she married my father. I realised I couldn't live a life the only place I felt like I belonged, having to lock my wand away for ever, unhappily drifting through a life in which I'd rejected the gift I'd been given. Three days later I left for London alone though I never stopped loving Dougal."

"What happened to him?" You asked quietly, not wanting to upset her. She sighed in return, looking down at the desk.

"My mother informed me years later that he married the daughter of another farm owner in Caithness, I never heard anything else after that."

"I'm so sorry Minerva," you said honestly, feeling a tightness in your chest at hearing her story. Truthfully it had been your own form of distraction from your own pain and you were immensely thankful for that.

She sent you a sad smile, nodding her head gently as she looked up at you.

"You're probably wondering why I told you all of this," she says with a smile. Before you can protest, she raises her hand warmly like a mother would and smiled, "I have two points to sharing this personal story with you. The first, is that time truly does heal wounds. You may feel as if you will never be rid of this pain, not knowing how to go on or feeling as if you don't want to, and that my dear is perfectly understandable but every month will get easier, every year you will begin to feel less pain and more pleasant nostalgia until you find a version of yourself that had bloomed from the pain."

Your eyes had filled with tears again at her kind words. Something in her tone made you truly believe that this was true and that you did have a chance of healing eventually, but nothing was comforting enough to immediately relieve the pain, nor set your mind at ease.

"The second, is a gift of sorts," she says, reaching into the top drawer of her desk which she unlocks with a wave of her wand. You frowned gently, not knowing how to respond as she pulls out a little wooden box. She casts another spell and the box opens with an intricate unravelling of the wooden box.

Your breath catches in your throat at you recognise the contents immediately; the time turner that Hermione had been given by Dumbledore all those years ago.

"I'm sure you remember this, as I believe yourself and miss Granger made excellent use of this in your third and fifth respective years." You could do nothing but nod, overwhelmed at the sudden implication of the possibilities of the gift.

"As you know, nothing can be altered by reversing the time, everything will always happened exactly as it always had. I know how tempting it could be to try and fix the projection of our lives, but consider this a gentle warning as to why it is not practical to do so," she says, handing you the time turner. You feel the cold, heavy weight of the time piece in your palm as you inspect it, remembering every detail.

"I always wish I'd gotten more time with Dougal, even just to relive a singular moment or to see him one last time but I was never brave enough, never wanting to jeopardise how far I'd come in my healing. But for you, the gift of time could be invaluable."

You began to cry silently, tears unable to be held back any longer at her kind gesture.

"Thank you, so much," you said through the tears, struggling to hold back your sobs. She immediately stood and moved to wrap her arms around your shoulders, her cape falling over you as if she was protecting you entirely.

"You always were one of my very favourite students," she says, rubbing your shoulder. "Despite the trouble, the mischief was usually rather funny," she admitted. Both of you laughed for a moment at her words, your free hand coming up to wipe at your eyes.

"If I were you, I'd chose a memory that you weren't originally around for, you'll get more time with him. Unless you want to watch from afar," she says, straightening herself out, though keeping a firm hand on your shoulder.

You wracked your brain for a time that you weren't around Fred, finding it hard to think of any specifics. Showing up randomly at the burrow would only pose deep, unanswerable questions that you couldn't explain, everything had to fit to the exact projection of exactly what had happened.

A vague memory of Harry popped into your mind, a tale he'd told about the twins that had been endearing to say the least. You remembered him telling you about seeing Fred and George comforting a young boy in the courtyard that had been victim to Umbridge's unorthodox punishments whilst you were in detention with Snape. Perfect. There was no chance of you accidentally showing up, knowing that you'd gone straight to the common room after that particular detention and it wouldn't interrupt the greater timeline.

You closed your eyes and estimated how many turns you'd need, settling on a little over three full turns, praying it would be enough as you fixated on a certain point.

Immediately your sense of space and time began to shift as you broke through whatever dimension you were entering as the time turner rumbled in your hand.

You were immediately met by the sight of Snape's classroom door which was thankfully sealed shut. You ran immediately out to the courtyard, desperation and adrenaline coursing through your body as you fought to get to your destination quickly, not knowing how much time you'd have.

Your knees nearly buckled upon hearing hushed whispers around the corner from you, tucked away in one of the corridors.

"It's not as bad as it seems, see, it's fading already."

"You can hardly see ours anymore and the pain stops eventually,"

"Yeah."

You walk around the corner and your lip instantly quivers at seeing him. You had to act strong, be strong for him so he wouldn't worry, knowing you couldn’t change the trajectory of time but it was so hard.

He was crouched on the floor beside the stone bench where the young boy sat sobbing with George sat next to him trying to comfort the sad boy, showing him his own scars on the back of his hand.

Fred's hair was a little longer than it had been when he died, something that you had always loved on him, secretly preferring when his hair looked a little overgrown and shaggy. He wore a blue striped polo shirt with a mustard yellow long sleeve shirt underneath and his dark trousers, all of which complemented him so well. In the time between the current events and his death, you'd rarely seen him wear anything other than a fancy suit when he worked at the shop or a simple pair of sweatpants when he got home, usually exhausted. It was so refreshing to see him look so perfectly Fred, reminding you of the boy you'd fallen hopelessly in love with all those years ago.

George also looked great, wearing a matching outfit with contrasting colours that complimented him just as well. He looked well and happy and you had to hold back another quiver of your lip at seeing the boy you loved like your own brother be so different to how you knew him now.

Fred noticed you almost immediately as you walked around the corner, stood silently observing him beside the stone pillar and the wickedly playful grin spread all over his face upon seeing you. He sprang up from his crouched position and raised his eyebrows at you in surprise.

You immediately flung yourself into his arms and he caught you seamlessly with a little 'oof' at the sudden impact. Your eyes filled with the tears you were trying so hard to stop as the familiarity and comfort of being in his arms surrounded you. Nothing felt like this. You fit so perfectly into his arms that he had once mentioned that your body must have been moulded from his own, your head resting perfectly on his chest, directly over his beating heart. His scent surrounded you like a delicious fog, the familiar scents of sweet marshmallow and dark notes of whiz bang smoke clung to your nostrils as you took deep breaths in trying to fill your body with his scent so that you'd always remember.

You felt like you could finally breathe again, finally home where you belonged.

His arms had locked around your shoulders, keeping you firmly against his body, no doubt sensing your need for him in that moment. His hand played with the strands of your hair as he bent down to kiss the top of your head.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asks quietly, only loud enough for you to hear, considering you still had an audience. Hearing him address you, calling you sweetheart had your world shattering and you could no longer stop the tears from falling down your face.

"F-Fred?" You said with a shaky breath, trying desperately to hold back the sobs that built up within your body.

"I'm here, I'm right here," he said soothingly, rocking you both back and forth gently as he pressed another kiss to your head.

"What's happened? Did Snape do something? Umbridge?" He says, pulling you back slightly so that he can look you in the eye, his worry clearly evident on his face, the protective side of him coming out as he considered that someone had hurt you.

You shook your head quickly, knowing you couldn't say anything that would work as an excuse.

"No, I just, I just needed to see you," you said honestly, the innocence and the weight of your words tugging at your heart, knowing he would never know how much you meant it.

His brown pulled together quickly in a slight frown before it disappeared off his face as he reached up to brush a strand of hair behind your ear.

You tried to push away all the intrusive thoughts that plagued your mind, things that only propelled you to feeling sadder, things you wanted to tell him and all the things you missed about him but you couldn't.

"I love you Freddie," you said, looking directly into his eyes, watching as they sparkled and an honest smile pulled at his lips.

"Not as much as I love you sweetheart," he replied, pulling you in for another hug, though this one was more playful as he squeezed you, making a laugh erupt from your mouth.

You suddenly pulled away and looked towards George who looked on in equal parts confusion and worry. The young boy had gone, no doubt feeling awkward about the whole interaction, leaving you with just the twins.

You broke away from Fred and moved towards George who stood instinctively as you approached him. You threw your arms around his neck and he fumbled awkwardly for a moment before moving his hands to wrap around you, holding you to him.

"I love you Georgie," you said. He chuckled against you.

"What the bloody hell happened in that potions room?" He jokes but suddenly squeezes you tighter and replies that he loves you too.

"Trying to steal my woman brother?" Fred says from beside us, his tone just as joking and playful as you'll always remember it to be.

"Maybe, I am the better looking one after all," George jokes as you slip out of his hold.

"My future wife disagrees, don't you sweetheart," Fred says, pulling you back over to his side.

You felt your heart shatter at his words and you tried desperately to act neutral under the circumstances, knowing that he had referred to you that way since fifth year. It had always filled you with pride and giddiness each and every time he would call you his future wife, the butterflies in your tummy fluttering wildly at his determination to marry you.

Somehow you found your strength and like magic you slipped into the moment, casting all thoughts aside as you spent your time wisely.

"Sorry George," you smirked, turning back to face Fred to really look at him, knowing that your time would soon be up.

"You think I'll make a good wife?" You ask Fred, who beams down at you with a smile as he slips his arm around you again.

"The best, only one I'll ever need," he smirks, his hand wandering on your waist to reach down and pat your bum.

"I'd do anything to marry you," you said, your voice breaking slightly towards the end as your emotions overcame you once again at the deeper, more painful meaning of your words.

"I have to go," you said to Fred, knowing that you couldn't linger around much longer. "Don't mention this again please, I don't want Snape to know I snuck out of detention," you lied. He nodded in understanding and you moved forward to give him a kiss, pouring your heart and soul into it as you clutched onto to the collar of his polo shirt, his arms wrapped tightly around your waist.

"I think you should get detention with Snape more often," he says, still holding you tightly to him. You laugh and nod enthusiastically as you spend your last moments really looking at him, trying to commit every inch of his skin to memory.

The little scar above his eyebrow, the mark on his nose, the curve and little bump on the bridge of his nose, the way his hair shaped his face perfectly.

His greeny brown eyes, always glittering with mischief, that's what you'd always remember of him.

"Bye Freddie, I love you" you said, barely able to contain your tears as you walked quickly away, hiding around the corner as you started to sob. You flicked the time turner back just the right amount and tolu felt yourself once again being pulled in every direction until you landed back in McGonagall’s office.

She’s still sat at the desk, signing some papers when you return and she offers you a kind smile, seeing your tear stained cheeks.

“Thank you,” you said, owing her all the gratitude in the world for gifting you the opportunity to see your beloved once again as you placed the time turner delicately back in the box on the table. She nodded warmly and smiled again.

“It’ll be here for you whenever you need it,”

She says, placing it back into the drawer desk, “now, shall we begin the ceremony?” She stands and gestures for you to join her and you do, already feeling stronger by the minute, like your brief visit with Fred had recharged you and given you enough strength to continue.

George slipped his hand into yours the second you were reunited, both of you sitting together as Mcgonagall lead the remembrance ceremony. It was hard to hear Fred’s name and the memories of him shared around the room, but you’d found a strength you didn’t know you had. You cried, you laughed and you celebrated him in every way you could, in the way that he had always deserved.

Epilogue

As the years drew on, you’d visited McGonagall’s office numerous times to visit Fred as it were, only doing so when you felt you desperately needed to, which happened to be less and less over the years as you found your strength. Sometimes you watched from afar as you both interacted, seeing the love between you and sometimes you intercepted memories so that you could interact with him, smell him and feel his skin against yours.

You never dated, feeling no pull or desire for another man in your life, never able to commit to anyone else, knowing that they would always come second to your true love. George had become something to you which you could never explain, a love of sorts which teetered between friendship and more, though it was hard to cross that line, knowing that anything you did would be irreversible. Years passed with you both stuck in limbo, until one day the line was crossed and you found no guilt or pain on the other side of the line but instead found comfort and love. You’d moved in together to a little cabin in the woods, the dream that you’d once had with Fred that George fulfilled for you and one sadness filled night had changed everything when you both sought comfort in each other, needing to feel like you weren’t alone anymore.

It was a natural progression to love George, and you both found that the only way of moving past your pain was to accept that Fred would always be the other half to both of you, with the rest completely dedicated to each other. You both knew you were the only ones that would be able to have this together, that somehow the gap left by Fred would remain but it would be comfortable, like an additional blessing to your relationship. No deciding between the two, no competition and no guilt at loving both.

You married a year after moving in together and you were happy, finally a Weasley just like you’d always wanted. You’d expected to be conflicted and initially you had been, but you and George were perfect for each other and you started a new life together, always keeping Fred in your hearts but finally putting yourselves and your relationship first.

When your first son arrived not a year after your wedding, you’d both cried tears of utter joy when he was born with fiery red hair and little freckles, a complete clone of both his daddy and his uncle Fred.

You didn’t name him after Fred, nor Gred or Forge as George had somewhat jokingly suggested throughout your pregnancy, but instead chose to give him his own name, letting him forge own legacy in this calm world, one where he would always know about his uncle Freddie and how he died a hero.

#emeritusemeritus #harry potter #fred weasley #fred weasley x you #emeritusemerituswrites #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley masterlist #george weasley x you #george weasley #George Weasley x reader #angst #Fred Weasley angst #weasley twins x you #george weasley imagines #weasley twins masterlist

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starlingflight · 2 months

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Ginniversary drabble 11

Prompt: N31 - When in doubt go to the library

AO3 or read below:

Her footsteps echoed obnoxiously loudly in the silent, battle-scarred corridors. Ginny's gaze caught on the crumbled piles of stone; the scorch marks that lined the walls from misaimed spells; the pool of blood, thick and congealing, beside the staircase.

She kept walking.

Moving, unseeingly, between the hospital wing, Professor McGonagall's office, the various common rooms people were using as living quarters. Anywhere anyone deigned to send her.

The great hall was half-full. She found her father at the Gryffindor table, Bill sitting to his right, and Ron and Hermione directly across from him.

She held the scroll she'd been sent to deliver out wordlessly.

“Where have you been?” Dad asked as he took it from her.

“Everywhere.”

His brow furrowed in concern. “When did you sleep last?”

Ginny shrugged. She had no idea. She couldn't really say how many hours, or possibly days, had passed since Tom Riddle's body had hit the floor mere feet away from her with a definitive thud.

“You look exhausted,” Bill said.

She didn't feel anything.

“Maybe you should go to bed,” Ron suggested. His voice was familiar, and yet completely alien to her. “Mum's in the common room with Percy and Charlie… and George.”

And not Fred.

The thought pierced the stupefied haze she'd been carefully cultivating with her ceaseless movement as sharply as a dagger.

“I have to take this to Kingsley,” Ginny said breathlessly, holding up the second scroll McGonagall had given her.

She turned on her heel, prepared to flee the anxious looks on her family's faces, and lose herself to the task at hand.

Slender fingers curled around her wrist, halting her escape.

Ginny paused. When she turned again it was to find Hermione staring at her apologetically. She released Ginny's wrist, instead filling her hands with a thick book that had been resting on the table next to a milk jug.

“Can you take this to the library for me, please?”

“Is that really urgent right now–” one sharp glare from Hermione and Ron's mouth snapped shut.

Ginny took the book from her, accepting the task with a silent nod.

She left the great hall, passed the precious gems spilled across the floor of the entrance hall, dodged the holes that had been blown in the staircases; sped through the oppressively silent corridors.

The library was untouched.

Madame Pince's desk still stood, neatly ordered, feet from the door. The shelves were all perfectly aligned, systematically arranged in the way Ginny had always known them to be. The tables were utterly devoid of the scraps of parchment and broken quills that would usually gather upon them over the course of a day.

She'd planned on leaving the book on the desk, but something beckoned Ginny further into the library's depths. Her footsteps echoed in here too, but the sound didn't grate against her nerves like it had outside.

Absently, she placed the book on one of the empty tables and continued down the shadowy aisles formed by the tall stacks. Her fingertip ran smoothly over the leather-bound spines of the nearest shelf. She was halfway down it when she stopped abruptly, her back met the shelf, and Ginny slid to the floor, legs finally giving up.

Her head fell back against the books, she wondered idly if she might be able to absorb the vital answers she so sorely lacked just by being surrounded by such a wealth of information. She knew she wouldn't. There were no answers to the things that plagued Ginny. Her eyelids drooped closed and even the overwhelming strength of her grief struggled against the depths of her fatigue.

She remained there for an unknowable amount of time, suspended in a stupor of exhaustion. The ruined world outside seemed distant enough in here that she could stop and breathe.

Until footsteps sounded from the next aisle along. Ginny's eyes snapped open as they came closer.

She didn't need to turn her head towards the end of the aisle to know who approached; she did it anyway.

Harry looked only marginally better than she felt. A tapestry of cuts and bruises wove over the exposed parts of his skin; dark circles shadowed beneath his eyes, and his shoulders sagged as though he was still carrying the weight of the world upon them.

“Sorry,” he said; for a moment, the word hung in the air between them, too small to contain the multitude of meanings it was meant to convey, and then Harry regained his voice, “I was just returning a book for Hermione – I thought I'd take a walk around… I don't know why, it's just –”

“The silence feels right in here.”

Relief washed over Harry's face; whether it was simply caused by Ginny speaking, or because, even now, they were still on the same page, she couldn't be sure.

“Do you want to sit?” She asked.

“I should go,” Harry said at the same time.

Their eyes met. A lifetime ago, one of them would’ve told a joke. The thought turned Ginny's stomach.

Harry closed the space between them. “I can stay.” It was a simple statement; it stole what little breath remained to her. He slid down the shelf until he was sitting beside Ginny on the library floor.

He was so close. She could feel heat radiating from him. Her fingertips seemed to be hyper aware of his, resting inches away on the floorboards.

“I'm so tired,” she said without really meaning to. Her head fell heavily against his shoulder just as easily.

Harry's head instantly came to rest on top of hers. “Me too,” he said wearily.

#hinny #harry x ginny #post-battle

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sctumsempra · 2 months

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going insane and i need to infodump about severus snape’s patronus being a doe for a second. i personally don’t think it changed, or lily necessarily influenced it- i think it’s always been a doe, casting the charm in dumbledore’s office was meant to show that he and lily were supposed to be viscerally aligned with each other and he knows he fucked it up and that’s why he’s spent almost two decades trying to atone for what he did. on a representative level, the doe symbolizes peace, protection, and innocence, and no three words could possibly represent severus snape more.

all he wants is peace: a peaceful life for himself, a peaceful world, a peaceful school. everything he’s ever done has been to create as much peace as possible. some of it can be considered misguided from a black and white moral standpoint, but it’s what created peace for himself. for example, aligning himself with the purist views of his housemates made him less of a target for bullying- he’s not a pure blood, and they’d know, and having powerful ambitious students on your side instead of alienating yourself from everyone means you have at least a semblance of protection from harm some of the time. he becomes a double agent for dumbledore to help bring about peace from voldemort’s reign. it might not have been peaceful for him per se, but it was still with the intention of peace in some form. he tries to give other people peace- he takes a vow with narcissa to protect her son because she’s crying and scared for him, and it gives her peace. he doesn’t throw draco under the bus to save his skin when voldemort accuses him of being the elder wands owner, giving draco and narcissa peace even if they weren’t aware. it’s either for himself, or for others.

he’s the most protective teacher at the school- would mcgonagall have thrown herself in front of three kids facing a wolfsbane-less werewolf? would flitwick take the burden of an unbreakable vow to protect draco malfoy from voldemort? would any of the DADA teachers have run towards the sound of a screaming woman? he consistently vows to protect everyone and everything he can. and, leading into his innocence, when he realizes he’s only been protecting harry for him to die, it breaks him.

he’s not necessarily innocent in that his hands are clean and he’s never done anything wrong in his life, but he’s innocent in that he’s naive. he trusted voldemort enough to be drawn into the death eaters, he trusted dumbledore enough to be manipulated into his bidding. it feels like he forgets that dumbledore screws him over constantly, dangles things in front of him and takes them away, makes crude assumptions, and has left him to fend for himself essentially their entire relationship. the times that dumbledore abandons him- physically, mentally, metaphorically- he gets very upset. like it’s new information to him that dumbledore treats him like shit. from an abuse perspective, he probably had to spend his childhood mentally erasing what his parents and home were like so he could feel safe and normal, so the constant ebb and flow/back and forth of his and dumbledore’s relationship is familiar to him. when dumbledore draws him back in with whatever method, he’s right back to behaving as dumbledore wants, doing what dumbledore wants, and believing what dumbledore believes. the times that he remembers that dumbledore doesn’t care that he let the guy who’s tried to kill him or assault go, or that dumbledore thinks he wants only lily saved because he desires her romantically or sexually, or that dumbledore has only been using harry and, by extension, him (as he’s been the one protecting harry) to play the long game of destroying voldemort are the times that he’s emotional in the books. he cries, he’s vulnerable, he raises his voice, he begs and he pleads and he defers. he doesn’t do that any other time, other than when he found harry watching his memories. he trusts and he forgives (or he forgets, or he feels safer pretending he doesn’t care what’s been done to him/how he’s been treated.) a doe is perfect for him. reducing it to something like tonk’s patronus being changed as soon as she’s in a relationship with lupin or that it’s only a doe because of lily evans completely erases his entire way of thinking and behaving and being.

also, in a self indulgent addendum, it’s a very feminine animal, and severus is consistently aligned with femininity. hermione calls the half-blood prince’s writing feminine. he wears his mother’s clothes as a child, and lupin encourages neville to dress his boggart as his grandmother. he’s quiet and docile and tries to be non-violent unless he’s pushed to his breaking point, and even then it’s screaming or crying or getting animated. he’s emotional and frequently painted as hysterical. he gets the “woman character treatment”: to the average viewer who doesn’t think about him long enough to understand otherwise, he only desires lily. the consensus is that he chases her, he only thinks about her in the context of attraction. the line about looking at her greedily is constantly understood to be lust, and not a desire for love or a desire for a peaceful relationship for once in his life (and a relationship that only ever seems to be platonic at that). he even backs off and all but disappears from her life when he’s asked to, while james (the one with the stag patronus, the classic triumphant male character) harasses her and pursues her and behaves in a way that makes his son decades later wonder if he forced lily into a relationship. he’s behaviorally aligned with what femininity in the eyes of misogyny is supposed to be. he keeps to himself, he’s quiet, he sacrifices every bit of himself for students and coworkers and superiors and expects nothing in return, he pushes his students to be the best they can. (i’d say nurtures with my whole chest, but as the narrative comes from harry, we can’t really be sure. in my view, his house won the house cup for several years in a row which was only interrupted by dumbledore awarding a fuck ton of points to his gryffindor prize pony, his classes are seen as high performing and advanced by even dolores umbridge of all people, he only tries to punish students albeit a bit violently after several attempts of getting them to understand why what they did was wrong, which seems to be pretty nurturing in comparison to what other teachers allow and do). whether he’s trans, or had been influenced more by eileen, or he was intended to be deeply complex and contradictory and that meant that he had to have these traits, or any other of the multitude of reasons for snape being an inherently feminine character, it’s there. his patronus wouldn’t be a stag, he wouldn’t be anything overbearing and he wouldn’t be anything aggressive. it doesn’t make sense with his soul and his personality and his life. the peaceful protective innocent/naive doe, however, does.

#severus snape #snape #pro snape #patronus #snape meta #severus snape meta #i’m going insane #i wrote this at work. i couldn’t sit with all of this in my head anymore #he’s the character ever #he deserves the coziest quietest little life ever. i hope he gets it in his next one #he’s so tragic and misunderstood and villainized. i might be crying a little #i could literally talk about him and all of this for hours i just figured i should stop where i was #she’s giving novel

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turvi · 9 months

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Glimpse of You

WARNING: CANON DEATH

The cold wind whistled against her ear as she begrudgingly made her way to Hogwarts. Y/n held Severus’ long black cloak tighter against her frame as the cold wind picked up its pace. She walked past students sans her usual cheery greeting. Some looked at her with pity, some with concern, but she didn’t pay attention to any of them. Hogwarts seemed to have embraced the change quickly… as if nothing had happened.

Y/n walked through the corridor. Not paying attention, not wanting to look at the familiar paths where the memories that she shared with Severus were still fresh. She continued walking but accidentally collided with McGonagall. Startled, she nearly stumbled but was caught by the elder professor's supportive grip. "Y/n, what happened to you?" Minerva's voice trembled with concern. She had always regarded Y/n as a capable and resilient witch, and Y/n had never failed to prove her right. However, the person standing before her now was not the same strong witch she had known. Instead, she saw a shattered woman who appeared drained of life.

"I…I… I am here to get….Sev’s belongings." Y/n spoke, gripping Severus’ cloak tighter around her frame. Her eyes teared up. His scent was fading. She quickly started to make her way towards the potion class, with McGonagall right behind her, trying to keep up with her.

"Oh dear, don’t worry, I have kept his belongings aside. I was just waiting for you to come back…Y/n, wait." McGonagall tried to get a hold of Y/n.

Y/n frantically entered the potion classroom that was in session. Slughorn was teaching the class, and the students looked at her. Severus was not here...he is no longer here. Minerva entered the classroom immediately. "I am sorry, Professor. I am just trying to find my…my…

Slughorn interrupted. "It’s alright, Professor L/n. I understand. Why don’t you come after the class is over? I will make sure no one touches a thing."

Y/n thanked him. McGonagall gave Slughorn a kind smile. "Thank you, Professor. I apologise. She didn’t mean to barge in like this and interrupt you."

Slughorn ruefully chuckled. "You don’t need to worry. I understand. She needs you right now, and don’t worry about the class."

McGonagall showed her approval with a nod and escorted Y/n to her office. "Please have a seat. I will prepare some tea for you," she said before hurrying to her side table with her back turned to Y/n. While making tea, Minerva bit her palm to suppress a sob that threatened to escape. She gripped the table tightly as her hand trembled. She immediately wiped her tears after the tea was ready.

"Here you go, dear." Minerva decided to keep the cup on the table instead handing it in her hand, seeing how they were trembling. Minerva started to make her way towards her chair when she felt Y/n’s hand grip her wrist. Y/n held her hand tenderly, looking at her apologetically. "I’m so sorry, Minerva. I am deeply sorry. I don’t know what came over me…I just…" Minerva stopped her rambling by cupping her cheek.

Y/n broke down crying as soon as she felt her comforting touch. McGonagall held her closer, trying her best to hold back her tears. McGonagall herself felt so empty. For the newcomers, she gave her best smile, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t miss Dumbledore and Snape.

McGonagall kneeled in front of Y/n. "I should be the one apologising. My…I...called Severus coward. I didn’t check up on you for the last three months." Her voice cracked as she tightly held onto Y/n’s hand, looking at her in guilt.

Y/n immediately shook her head. "You wouldn’t have known. It's not your fault. And honestly, I didn’t realise I needed anyone’s help. I was trying to get used to not having Severus around. I....I miss him so much." Y/n cried as she held Minerva's hand. Her heart broke at how distant and broken Y/n looked.

"Would you like to come back and teach students again? It will take your mind off, and you can come to talk to me whenever you want." Minerva asked, subtly hiding her cry for help.

"I will try Minerva… I honestly don’t even have the energy to eat food…I don’t know how I will be able to teach." Y/n didn’t think she would even be able to visit Hogwarts. It felt empty, like her home without Severus. "But I will try."

Minerva patted Y/n’s shoulder. "I’ll drop you off at the office, come on, get up." She tried to cheer Y/n up as she smiled at her, who couldn’t help but smile back at her.

McGonagall opened the door and saw Slughorn in front of her. "Ahh, Professor L/n. I was looking for you only." Y/n looked at Slughorn with guilt. Her grief had driven her to madness. They must think she is crazy for trying to find her boyfriend's belongings as if she were looking for a treasure. Yes, she might have gone crazy trying to find anything that reminded her of Severus’ presence, as if he never left her.

Y/n was brought back to reality when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Professor Slughorn looked at her in concern. "I hope you find something." He handed her the keys, which felt cold in her palm. She smiled thankfully at him as she walked towards the potion classroom. Minerva held onto the doorframe as she cried, and Slughorn patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her. He provided his shoulder for her to cry on and be vulnerable for once. "We should go with her." Minerva nodded and composed herself before following Slughorn to the potion classroom.

—

The classroom’s door opened with a creak. Y/n noticed it felt colder, or maybe it was always cold, and she never noticed because she was always so full of adrenaline and excitement at the idea of meeting Severus.

When she entered, she looked around, almost expecting his voice to call out her name, to feel his arms around her waist and his breath on her skin. She closed her eyes, trying not to break down in tears as she made her way towards his desk. Slughorn led Y/n to a worn cupboard. "I have put all his stuff in here. If you need us, we are by the entrance." Y/n nodded and waited for Slughorn to leave.

She ran her hand over the worn cupboard, feeling the small cracks and holes under her touch. Y/n saw two drawers and opened the first to find question papers and assignments. She opened the drawer and found his Advanced Potions book. Her palm brushed away the dust that had started to collect on his book, and she opened it and immediately recognised his handwriting.

Other than that, there were just assignment papers and class notes. Y/n let out a disappointed sigh as her frantic hands tried to find something amidst the bundle of paperwork. Suddenly, she felt a velvet box under her finger. She immediately started taking out all the papers and placing them on the floor when an envelope flew out of the bundle and landed on her foot.

She bent down to see that it was addressed to her. Her fingers immediately tore the front of the envelope, taking out the letter. Her eyes widened when she recognised that Severus had written this letter. She sat on the cold floor, reading what he had written.

Dear Y/nn,

I have disappointed you. No amount of apology will correct my actions. I have always been a liar, a cheat, and a threat. Yet I don’t understand how you can love me. You always gave me comfort and warmth when I tried to push you away. You know, whenever you were lying on my chest, claiming that you were listening to my heartbeat, or when you would make soup for me wherever I fell sick, or when you held me close to you whenever I had a nightmare, I questioned my fate. Where have you been my whole life?

My time with you feels so brief. I don’t know how long I have or if I will even get to see you for the last time before I die. I have more chances of making it out of this war dead than alive. I have committed too many sins to stay alive. However, any good deed that I may have done in my life was rewarded when you came into my life.

I may not be around for this, but I wanted to do this ever since that day when we just couldn’t stop laughing. I want to marry you, Y/n. I want to keep holding your hand, keep making you smile, and keep loving you even if I don’t deserve it. Some selfish part of me wishes I could find you before this letter does and put that ring on your finger myself. But if I don't, then know that I will always love you, and I am always with you, holding your hand when you need me. If I am granted a last wish, I hope you can accept me as your husband. I am not good with my words, which have led to so many fights between us, so if I don’t make it, I hope you know how much I love you, and if I am counting my last breath, I will hope you can forgive me and accept me.

Yours,

Severus Snape

Y/n held the letter to her chest as she sobbed. The sound of her wails worried McGonagall, and she immediately was by her side, letting her cry on her shoulder. Minerva got up to close the drawer but stopped when she saw a velvet ring box. Her eyes clouded with tears when she opened the box to reveal a diamond ring. Severus was planning to propose Y/n. She sat beside Y/n, who held onto her tightly. Her hands caressed Y/n’s back as she tried to calm down the younger witch.

Once she calmed down, Minerva handed her the ring box. Y/n took out the ring and wore it. "I love you so much, Severus." Y/n mumbled against the ring, a silent promise that they would see each other soon and that she would love him. Always.

A/N: Another sorry attempt at writing angst. REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

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meowders · 7 months

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Remus Lupin x reader

pairing: !professor Remus Lupin x !professor reader

Word count: ca. 1600

Warnings: brief mentions of deceased mother, Remus slightly angsty, fluff ending

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

The Hogwarts school year was starting today, the giddy students having lively conversations with each other, exchanging their summer stories, and you, a professor of Muggle Studies for several years, who had become acquainted with many of the staff members, particularly Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape, was sat at the teachers' table enjoying the familiar atmosphere here at Hogwarts. You shared a unique bond with Severus, stemming from your mutual interest in Muggle literature. It was a cozy night in the Great Hall, and you were discussing a Muggle novel Severus had ironically recommended at the end of last year.

"I can't believe you enjoyed it," Severus remarked, a hint of surprise in his tone.

You chuckled and took a sip of your tea. "It has its own charm, Severus. You should give it another chance."

Before he could respond, Headmaster Dumbledore rose to his feet, and the room fell into a hushed silence.

In his speech, Dumbledore introduced the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. As the name left his lips, you noticed Severus tensing slightly. It was a subtle reaction, but it did not escape your notice. You glanced down the table and spotted an unfamiliar face, having a rather sheepish look adorned on his face.

After dinner, the heads of houses followed their students to their respective common rooms, leaving some teachers behind, including you. The group of teachers gathered around in a small circle, each taking turns introducing themselves to the new professor.

When it was your turn, you couldn't help but feel at ease with Remus. There was a warmth to his smile and an openness in his eyes that drew you in. The conversation quickly turned into lighthearted banter, with Dumbledore having told Remus about your "obsession" with tea, thinking you'd get along well. His presence was both calming and intriguing, and you couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity about the man who was now your colleague.

In the days that followed, your fondness for Remus grew. You looked forward to your daily interactions with him, sharing stories and experiences from your school days at Ilvermorny, where you had attended school. You talked about your childhood, explaining that you had grown up mostly in the Muggle world after your witch mother had passed away when you were young. It was your Muggle-loving father's influence that had led you to teach Muggle Studies.

Remus, too, shared stories of his past, and you discovered that you both had a deep appreciation for Muggle music, literature, and general culture. The connection between you two was undeniable, and your conversations became a highlight of your day.

One evening during tea in Remus' office, you mentioned your meetings with Severus, where the two of you would discuss Muggle literature. You suggested that Remus might join your discussions sometime, but his reaction was hesitant.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Remus admitted, his eyes troubled.

His response was a reminder of Severus' peculiar behavior, and you couldn't help but wonder what had transpired between the two of them in the past. You respected Remus' boundaries, deciding not to push the issue and directed the conversation in another direction.

A few days later, you found yourself in Severus' office, having offered to assist him with a potion. The thought of Severus's mysterious tension toward Remus was beginning to gnaw at you, and you couldn't help but ask what was bothering him.

"Severus, what's bothering you about Professor Lupin?" you inquired, not wanting to create conflict but genuinely curious.

Severus sighed, his dark eyes intense. "You should stay away from Lupin, y/n. He's not who you think he is."

You furrowed your brow, caught between your loyalty to Severus and your budding friendship with Remus, torn between trusting your friend and not seeing how the kind and gentle Remus could be anything other than what he appeared. "Severus, he seems like a very kind person. I can't imagine why you feel this way."

A tense silence hung in the air, and it was clear that Severus was grappling with his own emotions. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and strained. "He and his dunderhead friends tried to kill me."

Your heart raced at Severus' revelation and you recoiled in shock, unable to comprehend what had led to such a drastic act in their past.

Feeling conflicted and desperate not to lose the relationships with your two friends, you decided it was time to confront Remus. You couldn't allow your friendships to unravel due to an unspoken and unresolved conflict, you simply couldn’t imagine such a kind soul being able to do something so gruesome.

One evening, you found yourself in Remus' office, the two of you sitting in comfortable chairs by the fireplace, sharing stories from your past. You were drawn to the kindness in Remus' eyes, and as you spoke, you revealed your knowledge of Severus' behavior, his animosity toward Remus.

Remus' expression darkened as he hesitated, but he decided to open up to you, an act of trust that made your heart pound with affection. "I have a condition, y/n, a condition I can't control," he began, his voice tinged with vulnerability. "I'm a werewolf, and it's the reason Severus and I have such a complicated history."

You listened intently as Remus recounted the night when Severus had discovered his secret, a night when his former friend Sirius Black decided it would be a hilarious prank to convince Severus to come to the Shrieking Shack without the knowledge of the young werewolf, a night that almost ended drastic.

Moved by Remus' story and astounded by Sirius' reckless behavior, you showed no signs of distrust toward Remus. Instead, your empathy for his whole being only grew stronger. After the confession, the conversation took a lighter turn, filled with laughter and shared anecdotes.

As the evening came to a close, it was time for bed. You thanked Remus for his trust and told him that you were there if he ever needed anything. The hug that followed was more intimate and longer than one would expect between two friends, and you left his office with a smile on your face.

The following day, you sought to mend things with Severus. He agreed, albeit hesitantly, to accept your friendship with Remus. It was a small step toward reconciliation, and you hoped that, with time, the wounds of the past could begin to heal.

During one of your evening strolls around the castle, past curfew, you stumbled upon Remus taking a quiet walk as well. The moonlight bathed the castle in a soft glow, the full moon drawing closer and you could only imagine the emotions Remus must be feeling. The both of you decide to continue your once seperate strolls together and your fingers brushed against each other as you walked side by side, neither of you being brave enough to just hold the other‘s hand.

As you reached the Whomping Willow, Remus turned to you, a hint of vulnerability visible in his eyes. "There's something I want to show you."

Intrigued, you agreed, and he raised his wand, freezing the violent branches of the tree. Then, taking your hand in his, he led you toward the secret passage that led to the Shrieking Shack.

While the two of you looked around the abandoned building, Remus shared the story of his school days, the secret of the Animagi his friends became, and how his friends had taken on the risk to protect him during his transformations. It was a tale of loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice. Inside the Shrieking Shack, you sat down on an old sofa, hands still intertwined, gazing into each other's eyes.

As the conversation deepened, the space between you seemed to disappear, your fingers remaining intertwined , Remus couldn't help but open up about the doubts and guilt that had plagued him for years.

"I've always felt so guilty, y/n," he confessed, his eyes filled with guilt and sadness. "They risked everything to become Animagi to protect me during my transformations. They went to great lengths just to ensure I was safe, and I've never felt like I deserved it."

Your heart ached for Remus as he laid bare his inner turmoil. You tightened your grip on his hand, offering him a comforting and understanding smile. "Remus, you are more than worthy of the love and care your friends showed you. What they did, they did out of love and loyalty. They saw the goodness in you, and they believed in it, even when you struggled to see it in yourself."

Remus' eyes glistened with unshed tears, and you continued, your words filled with conviction. "You're not defined by your condition, Remus. You're a kind, compassionate, and incredibly intelligent person. You have so much to offer the world, and it's time you start believing in yourself the way your friends did."

Moved by your words and the emotions that had welled up within you, Remus couldn't fight the urge any longer. He leaned in, capturing your lips in a kiss that was both tender and passionate. Pulling away slightly, Remus apologized for kissing you, fear of rejection evident in his eyes, accompanied by a hint of longing. But you silenced him by pulling him close once more, letting your hearts speak the words that had remained unspoken for far too long. You wanted him to know that he deserved love, that he was worthy of the affection you were feeling for him and you showed it with the emotions you poured into many shared kisses that night.

The night turned into morning, and as you made your way back to the castle, fingers intertwined, you couldn't help but grin at the young professor, thinking about what the future possibly holds for the two of you

#remus lupin x reader #remus lupin x y/n #remus lupin #remus lupin x you #harry potter #hp fandom #hp #professor lupin #professor remus lupin #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin imagine

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darkenedreaper · 11 months

Text

The Pain of Patronus [2]

Pairing: Professor Severus Snape x Female!Professor Reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, bloody descriptions

Summary: After finding Snape after Nagini's attack, you go to great extents to get him help. When he recovers, you've changed. And to find more information Dumbledore makes a decision, one you're unhappy with.

A/N: I changed the story plot because Deathly Hallows traumatised me. Enjoy.

Part 1

Several weeks after your arrival with the lifeless body of Severus, you were headed to the Medical Wing where Madame Pomfrey was watching over him. Minerva, Albus, and Hagrid never full recovered after hearing your cries and seeing how weak you were, they were worse when they saw Snape.

That day you brought him back was the day Hogwarts was not a home. You were taken straight to Dumbledores office, where he comforted you and forced you to sleep with a potion. Several weeks later, Hogwarts was on the mend, due to the powers of magic. Students could sleep back in their dorms, some teachers chambers were repaired and so were classrooms.

That day when you woke up from bringing Severus back, you opened your eyes and ran to the Medical Wing. You stood up so fast you nearly fainted but you ran to Severus. Minerva heard your frantic steps and grabbed a hold of you before you could do anything. She held you in the doorway and you looked as you could see a body in a bed, Madama Pomfrey close to the body, Hagrid at the side of the body, Harry on the bed next to the body, and Dumbledore at the foot of the bed.

"Did he make it?", you begged Minerva for an answer, she watched as the tears formed in your eyes, your hair still damp with blood and wet from the wain, your cheeks still stained with blood and tears. She stroked your arms and said, "Madame Pomfrey is doing all she can dear... she says your timing may be the thing that saves him from further intoxication from the venom". You panted heavily and when McGonagall thought you were calmer she let you through. Dumbledore watched as you slowly walked over, Harry stood up from the bed and greeted you as Professor, you looked down at the boy and patted his head.

There he was. He was clean, free of blood and damp. His chest and stomach lifted up ever so slightly when he took a breath. He was of course, unconscious and still in a state internally. His neck and other wounds were wrapped up and Madame Pomfrey had dressed him in a spare black sweater. You took a breath and exhaled deeply when you saw him. You could've stared at him for what felt forever.

Back to the current time, you went to Madame Pomfrey for your usual and frequent update on him. You didn't teach at the minute, Dumbledore wouldn't allow you to. As you walked into the wing, you eyes went to some students who were in because of night terrors, you told yourself you'd check on them a little later, let them sleep for now. Severus had his own section of the wing, so he wouldn't be disturbed as and when he did wake up. It had been 5 weeks now. 5 weeks since you heard him, 5 weeks since you looked him in the eyes. You scoffed to yourself; you'd missed him more in 5 weeks than 15 years. You heard familiar shoes and Pomfrey gently laid a hand on your shoulder, not wanting to scare you. She told you she suspects most if not all the venom to be gone, meaning it shouldn't be long before he wakes up. As she got up to leave you to see him she took one last look at you, you were thin, your eyes were droopier and the bags under them were blacker; she felt exhausted for you.

Each day you spent 22 hours out of 24 hours with Severus. You sat close to him on a chair and stroked the back of his hand. You whispered 'I love yous' to him, you also told him quietly about your day, what was happening at Hogwarts. You took a book every time you saw him as you would stay with him, in 5 weeks you'd read 12 books. You got up to stretch your legs and to calm your racing mind. You peeked over at the students who were in for night terrors and saw one was shaking. You walked over towards the young lad, alerting him of your presence, and you took a place on his bed beside him. He looked at you with fragile eyes, silently pleading you for a remedy. You scanned his table beside him and saw the box his wand was him. Carefully you removed the wand and handed it to him with a ghost of a smile on your face and whispered to him, "Cast a Patronus". He took his own wand with a shaky hand, waited a few minutes and on the first try, a blue butterfly emerging, lightly fluttering past the students sleeping and over the two of you. It fluttered at the end of his bed until it saw a smile on his face, and it flew off into the wild. He looked at you with a shine in his eyes and smiled.

The next morning you woke up from you sleeping position being resting your head on your arms that laid on Severus' bed. You looked at him peacefully sleeping but there was still no sign he had woken. As on cue, Madame Pomfrey walked up to you and asked how you slept. In the nicest way, you weren't interested in her conversation but when she mentioned Dumbleodres fiddling with your head your tune quickly changed.

That day you brought Severus back, Dumbledore had giving you a sleeping potion. Whilst you were sleeping he took the traumatic memory from your head of you finding Severus to when you entered the castles doors, and copied it into some sort of crystal ball. You had argued with him about it once Minerva told you, but he argued that it was for important information on Harry and the attack on Severus.

"Dumbledore tells me when Severus wakes, he will go through your memory of that day", she spoke with a soft voice. You could only reply back with a harsh, "When he does I won't be here". It still pained you to think about it. You didn't know what other memory Dumbledore had stolen but you were embarrassed and hurt that Severus would have to watch it, It would be bad enough for him to see himself being attacked and relive it... but on top of that, see your pathetic attempt of a rescue, you cradling him and crying in the rain. You refused to sit and watch. Madame Pomfrey spoke, "If Severus wakes Dumbledore won't wait that long before he shows him". She spoke tapping your knees, and unlike any other reaction you'd had you got up and walked off quietly.

As you got back to your chambers you went into a fit of rage, you swiped your desk clear of anything that was on it. You knocked over the 4 chairs that sat at your small dining table. You ragged books from your small library, throwing them across your room hitting other objects, or ripping out the pages. You soon cried yourself to sleep. But as usual the night terrors kept you from sleeping. You wanted to see your happy place, see and hod your home; you made your way to the Medical Wing. It was around 10:30pm at Hogwarts, the students were tucked asleep in bed, even the paintings were asleep. As you walked to turn the corner you heard the voice of Dumbledore, Minerva, Harry, Hagrid, and there was another noise but you could'nt tell what it was from around the corner. While Dumbledore was there, you refused to see him, still unhappy about the memory business. You peeked your head around the corner, Harry was on the bed, Hagrid and Minerva in a chair, Albus standing and... Severus was moved up the bed. You took a closer look and his eyes were open, his hands were moving and so was he. Slowly and weakly of course, but the noise you heard was him. You froze, you just froze. "Where is she?", the voice of the love of your life finally spoke. You didn't have much time to treasure his voice as Albus spoke, "You'll see her soon Severus".

Part 3 is coming

#severus snape #severus x reader #snape #professor snape x reader #snape x reader #hogwarts #harry potter #harry potter x reader #professor snape

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mysticmoaning · 1 year

Text

Tension - rab

Request:

Regulus Black and reader and they can be rivals whether it’s quidditch or academic pls

Description:

You and Regulus hate each other...mostly...always competing in everything. Now you’re forced into a train car together.

Warnings:

Slight angst / Fingers in V / Mentions of V Penetration / Virgin!Regulus / Abandonment? / Gif below the cut

A/N:

This ends very abruptly but there’s a point to that! (Lmk if you figure out what it is ;) ) I’m planning on at least one other part to this as I feel like I can get a lot more out of the reader & Regulus’ relationship with this concept. I know this part isn’t super rival-y but others will be more so...

Also ! I assumed this request was for smut but just in case, the smut starts after the cut so stop reading if you’re not comfortable ♡

xx Bly

"You've got to be kidding me...” You ran a hand through your hair as you left McGonagall’s office, groaning internally. She’d just doomed you to nine hours stuck in a train car with the person you hated most in the world...

Regulus Black.

As thrilled as you were to receive the position of Head Girl in your final year, it was made less special when Regulus managed to become your counterpart. Now as part of your duties you both had to take the train to King’s Cross to pick up a group of bloody muggle-born first years who’d managed to miss the trip. Normally you’d be more sympathetic, being muggle-born yourself, but forced to be with your rival for so long and finish your welcome-speech to inform the first years of everything they’d missed was the worst torture you could think of.

Over the years, your wit and determination had quickly marked you a top student at Hogwarts. You managed to be athletic as well, adopting the Keeper position on Y/H’s quidditch team. Perfectionism was your fatal flaw and forced you to do everything in your power to be the best at everything you did.

The only problem with that was Regulus’ ability to keep up, and even surpass you in some areas...dumb Seeker...

You might be less bothered by his talent if he wasn’t so caught up in his family’s ideas about bloodlines. There were even rumours (well, at this point they were more than rumours) that he was an official Death Eater ⎯ Dark Mark branded on his forearm and everything. Part of you was sympathetic because you’d heard about how shitty his family was from his older brother Sirius. On the other hand, Sirius hadn’t fallen in with that crowd and you couldn’t totally forgive his prejudice, regardless of where it was coming from.

“Y/L/N!” An unfortunately familiar voice called, bringing you to a halt to spin around with a little too much anger in your movements.

“What do you want, Black?” You sneered.

For a brief second, his face flickered with something you couldn’t read. He quickly recovered, eyebrows lowering in disgust. Despite being generally soft-spoken in nature, Regulus could easily slip into a snarky growl, something you suspected he’d learned from his parents. You’d noticed Sirius do it on occasion too.

“Since being in a train car together for any amount of time is the last thing either of us wants,” He gave you a pointed look, making you scoff, “I’ll finish up the first-year presentation.”

Despite the insult laced in his words, you were still surprised at the offer.

“Fine by me.” You shrugged, turning to get away from him as soon as possible. At the end of the corridor, the feeling of being watched made you glance back to where Regulus still stood, eyes trained on you.

✪✪✪✪✪

As the sun finally fell below the horizon outside the train window, you grew restless. You’d spent the last few hours distracting yourself with the passing scenery. No matter how many times you took this trip, you never grew tired of the beauty surrounding you.

Now, though, you had nothing to keep your mind off the speech you needed to give to the first years. There was no way Regulus was doing as good a job as you could...

Cursing your inability to let things go, you begrudgingly made your way back through the train to the car Regulus sat in. Before you opened the door, you glanced through the glass to catch a glimpse of him.

He sat alone in one of the seats to the left, his back to you but his focus clearly trained on the darkness enveloping the train outside. From the sliver of profile you saw, his lips were turned down, a light crease forming at the corner of his mouth.

Brushing it off, you slid the door open.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Your attention flickered back to him as he spoke, his words lacking the bitterness you expected.

A scroll and quill rested on the table in front of him, clearly unused.

“So you’ve been hard at work...” You scoffed, sliding into the seat beside him and gathering the material closer to you. “That’s what I get for trusting you, I guess.”

He rolled his eyes but his expression remained soft. What was going on with him?

If you were being honest, your back-and-forth with him was something you enjoyed. You didn’t like Regulus, of course, but you couldn’t ignore his easy appeal. His mess of black hair and those dark eyes trained on you always turned your frustration with him into something more. There was something in the way the anger in his face never reached his eyes that made you think maybe he felt the same way.

Sirius had been even more attractive, but he was too aware of it. Everyone flocked to him, wanted to be with him. And most of them succeeded. Regulus didn’t have the same reputation. In fact, you weren’t aware of him having any reputation at all. Sometimes you wondered...

“Y’ can do it if you want,” He picked at the sleeve of his jumper, one you were surprised to recognise was his brother’s. “You’ll probably do a better job anyway.”

Your shock at his almost-compliment sent your next question flying from your lips with more aggression than you intended ⎯ “What’s wrong with you?”

Regulus sighed and rolled his head back, angling himself towards the window again. It didn’t afford him the privacy he wanted, the reflection allowing you to see his brows knot together and his eyes close almost like he couldn’t stop them. When they opened, his gaze found yours, a blush finding its way up the pale skin of his neck onto his cheeks.

He whipped his head around, expression gone sour.

“You,” he sneered. “You’re my bloody problem. Everyone’s always up your skirt, kissing your ass because you can do a little magic. Y’ don’t even belong at Hogwarts.”

Your jaw clenched. You worked to quiet the voice in your head that said the same thing, glaring at him.

Suddenly, a loud screech bit into the air, the train stuttering as it slowed for something on the tracks. Your hands flew to hold the edge of the table. Regulus stuck one palm against the window, the other falling to grip your thigh. Whether it was to steady himself or you, you weren't sure. Either way, it sent a bolt of electricity to your core.

He didn’t seem to notice until the train resumed its pace, gently pressing you back into your seats.

His dark eyes flickered to where your skin met, his thumb absently brushing against the knitting of your thigh-high socks. He was hopeful you didn’t notice his trousers tighten.

You studied his face. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously, his breath catching in his throat. The dark rings of his irises grew smaller as his pupils dilated under his lowered brow. When he met your gaze to find you watching him, his flush returned and he started to move his hand. You quickly gripped his fingers in yours. The tension of earlier was easily lending itself to the new moment.

Raising your brows in question, he nodded softly.

You uncrossed your legs, guiding his hand between them until the pads of his fingers met the warm, damp fabric there. He bit down on his bottom lip to stop the audible intake of breath.

Pressing his fingers against your clothed wetness, you let out a soft moan. This encouraged him to press harder, moving in a gentle circle to feel more of the plump flesh there. You removed your own hand and Regulus took it as an opportunity to slip his fingers under your waistband, his eyes flicking down to where your skirt had flipped up and widening slightly. The sight of his hand clearly outlined in white cloth and the slick that coated his fingers as he trailed them through your folds had his cock pulsing, desperate for attention.

Meeting your eyes again, his skin grew pink with pleasure, your attention drawn to his lips as his tongue darted out to wet them.

You threw your head back as he inserted his middle finger into you, the heel of his palm brushing against your clit. When he paused his movements you shot him an annoyed glance. You were surprised to find his eyes full of concern, studying your face.

“’S good, Regulus, keep going,” You sighed out, unable to help the smile that lighted your face at his inexperience. The corners of his mouth quirked.

He slipped his finger further in, a soft groan sounding in his chest as his thoughts drifted to how good you would feel wrapped around his cock. Rocking his finger in and out, palm still pressed against your clit, his breathing stuttered. How bloody long had he been thinking about kissing you while he insulted you instead ⎯ and now here you were writhing under his touch? Un-fucking-believable. He knew he was supposed to hate you, but damn.

“Hmm, Reg,” You moaned as his pace quickened and he added a second finger. He couldn't help it, he leaned forward and caught your lips in his.

Tasting Regulus on your lips made you whine, his tongue dancing its way around yours. He separated from you for a moment, glancing from your eyes to your lips before connecting them again, his teeth running gently over your bottom lip. This elicited yet another moan from you.

He definitely had practice with his mouth...

The thought sent an unexpected sting down your throat to rest in your stomach.

Ignoring it, you focused again on his fingers - now three of them - pumping in and out of you. You gripped his wrist, pressing his palm down harder against your clit and bucking your hips to get the friction you needed.

As your moaning increased, Regulus moved his lips to your jaw. He nipped softly, moving down towards your neck and placing kisses below your ear. This had your pussy pulsing, clenching around his fingers as you whined his name.

Sensing you were close, he pulled his fingers from you, making you cry out at the loss. When he started using them on your clit, however, all sense fled from you.

Your hands flew down, one to grip the seat and the other on his own thigh, anchoring yourself as your orgasm rocked through you.

Regulus groaned as you came, burying his head in your neck. You squeezed his thigh harder as the heat traveled through you and he bit down on the soft flesh of your shoulder, only increasing your pleasure.

You both were breathing heavily, his face still buried in your neck. His hair was soft, the waves tangling in your fingers as you raised your hand from his leg to his head. A light laugh rumbled in your chest and you were about to speak when he suddenly started pushing you towards the end of the seat.

"Reg, what⎯”

“Get out.” He snapped, “Move.”

You stumbled to stand, almost tripping in his hurried rush. He forced past you, throwing you a not at all happy look. Stepping forward, you reached to grab his hand, confused at the sudden change in mood. He snapped it away and quickly left the train car, slamming the door behind him.

You stared back at the table, mouth open. His abandoned parchment had fallen into the other seat, his quill now on the floor. You picked up both and sat down, staring at the way he’d left.

After almost an hour, you realised he wasn’t coming back. So he is just a pureblood asshole after all...

You sighed, brushing your hair behind your ear and forcing yourself to focus on the first year presentation, trying to quell the twisting of your stomach and the ache in your chest.

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tomjamesavery · 1 month

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Reconciliations (Part One) Written for the Ginnyversary Bingo with the prompt: #O69 — "With her faded dress and worn shoes, she knew she couldn't go."

This is Chapter One of a two-chapter story, I will post over the coming few days :) Read on: AO3

Ginny stepped into the headmistress’s office in Hogwarts, as McGonagall greeted her with a curt nod. She was in a great mood. The weekend at home would bring her some much-needed relaxation, even with the whole wedding commotion.

“Miss Weasley,” McGonagall exclaimed in greeting. Her blue eyes observed her with what Ginny liked to call, The classic McGonagall look.

“Professor McGonagall,” Ginny replied, smiling at the Headmistress.

“The Floo is ready for you, and like we agreed, I expect you to be back on Sunday, no later than 8 pm. Is that clear?” The teacher sternly declared as Ginny nodded in confirmation.

“Well with that out of the way-” McGonagall gave Ginny one of her rare smiles. “-I wish you a nice weekend at Mr. Percy’s wedding. Please send him and Ms. Audrey my dearest regards.”

“I will! Thank you for letting me go!” Ginny replied, grinning at the Professor, just before disappearing into the flames.

A second later she was stumbling into the burrow living room, quickly dusting herself off in the process, struggling to get the soot out of her long hair.

Preparations were already in order, even though Percy and Audrey wouldn't marry at the Burrow like Bill and Fleur did, the whole kitchen and living room were filled with precooked dishes, desserts, and cakes for tomorrow. The smell was heavenly, and Ginny could basically hear her stomach yelling for something.

But that wasn’t on Ginny’s mind right now, she was glad McGonagall had let her go early since she still needed an outfit for tomorrow. Her dress for Bill’s wedding last year, had been destroyed in the fighting, and with the rest of her faded dresses and worn shoes, she knew she couldn’t go.

And there was another thing Ginny was nervous about. Harry would be there. And while they had mostly made up after what had happened before the battle, and over the time where he was on the run with her brother and Hermione. There was still palpable tension in the air between them.

The last time she had seen him was over a month ago when he had come to visit Hogwarts to help with some of the last bits of repair work that had to be done after the battle had destroyed large parts of the castle.

But the two of them had only exchanged some brief words, a heavy tension lying in the air throughout the whole conversation.

But right now Harry needed to wait, first Ginny needed to visit London for a dress new dress. There was no dress code for the wedding, Audrey-, to Percy’s dismay, -wanted to leave the choice up to each individual liking's, stating that it was just more fun, with which Ginny wholeheartedly agreed.

After Ginny had greeted her mother, who had been working in the garden, she quickly threw her bag onto her bed. Before taking the Floo to the leaky cauldron, where she met up with Fleur who would help her with picking out a fitting dress for the wedding.

The two women had quickly grown closer after the battle, as Fleur had been there for the family every single minute after they had lost Fred, and Ginny would be forever grateful for that.

Ginny greeted the older women with a wave, as Fleur stepped into the Leaky cauldron. Squeezing past a group of slightly tipsy goblins.

“Hello Ginny, you look great, I am happy to zee you!” She called out, quickly closing the distance before the two hugged tightly. Ginny could smell Fleur’s familiar lavender perfume, and it reminded her of the many evenings her sister-in-law had sat with her in the Burrow living room, listening to Ginny sharing all her favourite memories of Fred.

“Hi! I am so happy to see you too.” Ginny told her. “Thank you a lot for doing this, I would’ve been totally lost without you, dresses and I don’t go well together.” She chuckled, only making Fleur shake her head.

“Zis is so wrong! On mine and Bill’s wedding, you looked more than stunning in your dress!” Fleur honestly told her. “You have become a beautiful young woman, Ginny!”

Ginny slightly blushed under the praise as they made their way outside, and Ginny almost stumbled over a dancing Goblin.

They talked about Hogwarts and how the Wizarding and Witching world was recovering from Voldemort’s tough reign. Fleur and Bill had been promoted, and now both lead new rebuilding and subsidising departments at Gringotts. Things were looking up all around.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and Ginny used the chance to take in the muggle architecture of the big city, still not feeling comfortable while these blasted muggle machines raced past them. Brooms were so much more convenient she thought.

They stopped in front of a red light at a crosswalk and Fleur stared at her for a second, before she spoke up.

“What is with Harry? Have you spoken to him rezently?” The blond woman observed her carefully and Ginny only stared out into the distance as she spoke up.

“No… Not really.” She paused for a while.

“I guess things between us are still complicated…” She started. “It’s just… I guess…” Ginny paused again.

“So much happened while he was gone, and we both went through so much, it takes time. We both still love each other, that I know. But we don’t want to rush things now.” She sighed, staring at the traffic light which had just turned green, as the two women crossed the road.

“See, I understand that.” Fleur began. “But there is taking things slow, and there is basically not doing anything at all.”

They had reached the other side and Fleur stopped to look at her as Ginny met her sister-in-law’s clear blue eyes. “Ginny, it has been eight months since the battle, you two can’t keep avoiding each other.” Fleur pointed out. “You two are made for each other, you love each other, you need each other! Every day you aren’t together you’re missing out on so much love and happiness.” She finished.

And Ginny knew she was right, she loved Harry, and she knew Harry loved her just as much, they had this bond, this connection neither of them could explain, they were drawn towards each other, every second of every day, every moment that passed her heart yearned for him.

But they needed to speak, and neither of them was especially great when it came to talking about their feelings. Ginny sighed, as she brushed her red hair from her eyes, the wind was blowing strongly and she was struggling to keep it under control.

She met Fleur’s gaze again before she spoke up. “You’re right…” Ginny admitted. “But how? We are just so bad when it comes to talking about what moves us and goes on in our minds.” She asked, making Fleur chuckle.

“Ginny, think back, your bond was so special, you told me that you and Harry could share anything, and there was nothing you two couldn’t talk about. You two just understood each other! Being able to talk about anything is so rare, and it just shows how much you are made for each other.” Fleur explained bluntly.

“You just both need to get over this mental blockade that things are suddenly different. Because they aren’t, you still love each other, you still get each other.”

Fleur was quiet for a second as she seemed to think before a grin crossed her features. “I think you are both just scared to discover that things between you have changed, that you have grown apart, and that you don’t love each other anymore. But all of that couldn't be further from the truth! You still are so alike, you still are so in love, and I think those months of hardship you both endured will just bring you two even closer together than you have ever been before!” She finished, looking at Ginny in understanding.

And Ginny knew Fleur was right. She had been scared to find a different Harry, a Harry she couldn’t love anymore, a changed Harry. And she was scared Harry would see her differently, and maybe would lose interest, moving on to someone else. But that was all wrong, those months of darkness had infected them with doubt and insecurity. Fleur was right, they needed to talk, as soon as possible, he was the love of her life, every day they weren’t together was a day without the person she loved most on this planet.

Her face broke out into a wide grin as she spoke. “Fleur, You are so- “-Right. I know!” The blond woman cut her off, smiling, making Ginny roll her eyes as she couldn’t contain her laughter.

“Yes, yes, you are right,” Ginny admitted. “Me and Harry need to talk, as soon as possible-” She stared ahead, the early spring sun bathing the houses in a slight tinge of orange. “-because I love this man more than anything else…”

#hinny #harry potter fanfiction #ginny weasley #harry potter #harry x ginny #fluff #ginny lovers #post war hinny #fleur delacour

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tealeafgrimm · 1 year

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hii againn!! if requests are still open, could i have a adult neville longbottom and adult reader (theyre both professors) who start out disliking each other but gradually fall in love?? and the students love to tease them about the other all the time and its hilarious?? plus points if neville is confident and smirky bcs most fics potray him as nervous and all?? Thanks!!

Prof!Neville Longbottom x Prof!Reader

Words: 1.6k

A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long. I had great difficulty with this one and to be honest it isn't my best work, but I hope you still enjoy it. Also I started a new job about a month ago and my time to write is very limited. So just know, that if you request something I will eventually get to it, but I can't promise you it will be anytime soon.

It felt strange to walk down the empty corridors. You had never been here before the start of the new school year. The castle seemed even bigger than usual, the silence almost oppressive. You had hesitated when McGonagall had asked you if you wanted to take the job as Herbology teacher, but now that you were finally here, you could hardly wait. Professor Sprout had truly earned her retirement.

You stopped in front of the statue, behind which you knew the stairway to the headmaster's office was hidden. You gave the password and began to climb the stone steps.

"Come in," the familiar voice sounded and you entered the large office.

"Hello Professor I wanted to...", you paused in your sentence "...report for duty." You were not alone. Next to Professor McGonagall stood a young man, whom you could only identify as Neville Longbottom after a closer look.

You hadn't seen Neville since you left school. Surprised, you looked from one to the other, not sure what exactly to say or do.

"Ah Y/N, I've been waiting for you. As I explained to Neville here as well, there was a bit of an overlap, I'm afraid. One of the owls was so late that I sent a second one out. And...then you both accepted, so you were both hired as Herbology professors." You had never seen Professor McGonagall so distraught. She was blushing and you could see how uncomfortable she was with the whole situation.

"I thought...you might be able to share classes. This year we are expecting more new students than ever before. The classes will be unusually full, so it won't hurt to have two professors in one lesson. Especially if the position is newly filled." You didn't know what to say to that. And neither, it seemed, did Neville. Professor McGonagall knew how to take advantage of your speechlessness. She clapped her hands, looked from one to the other and smiled.

"Great, now that that's settled, I'll let you go. Get your offices and rooms set up and I'll see you at the Welcoming Feast tomorrow." With that she gently but firmly pushed you both out of her office. Wordlessly you descended the stairs.

You didn't know what to think, what to feel or what to say. Holding class with Neville Longbottom was the last thing you wanted to do.

Normally you would say that you were a very nice, sociable and open-minded person. And you got on well with most of the people in your life. Neville was not one of them. Quite the opposite. There was an abysmal mutual dislike between you that had begun in your third year.

You couldn't say exactly when or why. You just didn't like each other. Probably it had something to do with the fact that you had been the two best in your year in Herbology, which had sparked off a real competition between you.

On the other hand, you were both older now and wasn't it time to leave the past and the old feelings behind you?

"I can't wait to hear the kids say that my teaching is a hundred times better." This statement snapped you abruptly out of your thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?" Had you heard right? Neville looked at you with a sneer.

"Oh come on, we both know which one of us will do the better lessons. Me."

Your blood began to boil. Had you really considered jumping over your shadow for even a second?

"Well, we'll see about that. But don't be sad if none of the students will listen to you or talk to you. It's only because they'll be more focused on MY lessons," you replied, hissing, turning and walking towards your assigned chambers, robes billowing.

~~~

If you thought teaching together with Longbottom would be hell, you weren't mistaken. It was an absolute nightmare. From the first second, your old competition was reignited. Only now it was no longer about which of you got the better grade, but about who taught the children more and which of them was better liked.

Moreover, you had started blaming each other for everything that went wrong in class.

"And make sure your earmuffs are on properly. I don't want to carry anyone to the hospital wing." You rolled your eyes at Neville's comment. In a way that only he could see you had, of course.

It didn't take long. Already on the second Mandrake, one of the Slytherins toppled over backwards.

"You did a great job Longbottom," you grumbled as you rushed past him to the boy.

"Why is this my fault now? You're just as responsible for the children," he whispered in a heated tone as he knelt beside you to help the boy.

"This was your lesson, so it's your responsibility to make sure they have their earmuffs on properly before it starts."

"As far as I know, this is YOUR class too, and you don't seem to have noticed either!"

With a final death glare, you summoned a cot to take the still fainting student to Madam Pomfrey.

~~~

But if you thought that was the worst of it, you didn't reckon with your students. They quickly realised that you and Neville didn't like each other very much, and they had fun egging you on.

"But Professor Longbottom told us to do it this way," a Hufflepuff fifth year complained in one of your lessons. You had to pull yourself together not to roll your eyes at her. Half a year had passed since the start of school. Even though you had come to terms with your situation, you were still not friendly with each other. At least it seemed that way, because every time you thought you were making progress, there was some comment that set you off.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Neville stifle a laugh. How you wished you could wipe that smirk off his face. And to make matters worse, by now you had to admit to yourself that you found him attractive. Time and time again you found yourself unconsciously staring after him or thinking about him. Just like now!

"Well, then perhaps Professor Longbottom should look at his book again too. Anyone who can read would see that you do it the way I just showed you. Try it and you'll see it works much better." With these words you went to the next student. To your amusement, you saw the grin disappear from Longbottom's face.

"Don't worry about it, maybe you'll learn someday," you smiled sweetly at him as you walked past him.

How he hated you! Your stupid smile that gave you little dimples. Your sparkling eyes that narrowed as your smile took over your entire face. Your hair that flowed around your face. What was he thinking? He hated you. Abysmally. Most of the time, at least. Much of the time. Sometimes. Admittedly, it got less, but that didn't matter.

~~~

The longer you worked together, the more you had to admit to each other that the other was not quite as bad as you had thought at the beginning. The school year was almost over and your lessons were running more smoothly than ever.

It was the second to last week and Professor McGonagall had called you both in to discuss the next steps to be taken.

"Thank you for coming. As you know, I want to discuss the next steps for the next school year with you. I know that it was not easy for you to structure the lessons in this way. But I must say that your students' grades speak for themselves. We haven't had as many outstanding Herbology students as we have this year for a long time."

"Thank you very much Professor. I think we were able to complement each other quite well after all," you replied to her and Neville beside you nodded in agreement.

"So? We have the following options: Either we leave it at this constellation next year, or we have to decide which of you will give up the job. Professor Binn's class, could also do with a bit of fresh air. If I remember correctly, you Y/N were always very good at History of Magic too?"

"Oh..ehm..yes, but admittedly, I would hate to change jobs. I think our students have become so good because we complement each other well Professor." You had only ever been good at History of Magic, because you had the ability to memorise things quickly, not because you found it particularly interesting.

"I agree with Y/N. I think we should leave it at that. The students are used to us now and when I remember how hard it was for us to get a new defence teacher every year, I think it would only hurt progress after all."

"All right, if you're so united, I won't interfere." And with that, surprisingly, you were dismissed quicker than you thought.

On the spiral staircase, Neville turned to you.

"You know I saved your neck in there, don't you? She was going to ditch you. You might not be as good as me after all."

"Oh yeah? If it wasn't for me, the class would have been a disaster. Maybe half the students wouldn't have made it to the exams at all because they would have died beforehand. You should thank ME," you replied.

"Would a meal at the Three Broomsticks be thanks enough?"

You stopped abruptly on the bottom landing. Had you really just heard what you thought you had heard?

" Pardon?" you asked him, your eyes wide open.

"I asked if dinner would be enough of a thank you? Tonight?" You hadn't seen Neville blush like that in a long time. Suddenly he reminded you much more of the boy you knew from your school days.

"For a start, perhaps. Eight o'clock and be on time. And don't you dare get dirt on your clothes." With that you strode past him and disappeared around the corner with an idiotic grin.

#neville longbottom x reader #neville longbottom fanfiction #neville x you #neville x y/n #neville longbottom x y/n #neville longbottom x you #neville longbottom #neville longbotton x reader #prof!neville #prof!neville x reader #requested #request #reader insert #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter series

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dracolilhoe · 22 days

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Temptation (Severus Snape x Y/n)

Chapter 2 - Settling in and Surprises

Severus Snape x Y/n Evadne

Main Masterlist here -> DracoLilHoe

Harry Potter Fandom Masterlist here -> HP Masterlist

Temptation Masterlist here -> Temptation Masterlist

Warnings: Female reader, use of Y/n, Professor reader

Words:+1.5k

Summary: Y/n's first day back at Hogwarts and a few new friendly faces.

A/N: (h/c) =Your hair color

If you find mistakes please tell me! I'm not a perfect writer so please just let me know. Happy reading! :)

August 30th, 1993 7:30 am

I toss and turn in my bed, but it's no use I can't fall back asleep. I sigh and glance at my alarm clock. "Shit!" I exclaim, realizing I overslept.

I throw off the tan bed sheets covering my body and feel the cold morning air send shivers down my spine. I quickly sit up and rush to the bathroom. "Merlin, how could I be so foolish!" I say as I begin my morning routine.

8:00 am

I make a mad dash to my wardrobe and choose the first outfit I lay my eyes on. A raven turtleneck, a dark green skirt, and raven stockings.

I run my fingers through my (h/c) hair making sure the small curls aren't knotted. "Okay," I say as I glance at myself in the mirror, "this isn't that flawed. I suppose." I sigh as I turn around and continue to gaze at my body. I should probably change... This isn't that flattering on me... "Screw it. I don't have time for this." I mutter as I walk toward my kitchen.

I grab a slice of bread and put it in the toaster. I strode over to the hallway closet and put on my jet-black cloak and black boots. I make my way back to the kitchen, taking my purse off the counter and placing it onto my shoulder.

I glance up noticing the toast is ready, I grab it and quickly apply some butter. "Damnit," I mutter as I realize I sliced my finger a bit. I sigh and walk over to my living room. I'll worry about that later...

I eat my toast as I take a handful of floo powder and step into the fireplace. "Headmaster office," I say and drop the floo powder.

8:30 am

I stumbled out of the fireplace and look up to see the familiar office of the headmaster. "Ah, Miss Evadne. On time as usual." the headmaster says as he steals a glance at the clock on his desk. "Hello Professor," I say as I brush the dust off my skirt.

"As we discussed before your arrival, Professor McGonagall will be helping you settle in before the students arrive for the start of term," Dumbledore says motioning toward McGonagall. "Hello dear," she says giving me a warm smile. "pleasure to see you again."

I return her gesture and give a small wave. "Well, Miss Evadne, I trust you will have a great start of term. I will see you at the welcoming feast this Wednesday," he says as he walks further into his office.

"Well, come along dear," Minerva says as she places a hand on my shoulder and guides me out of the headmaster's office. "Pardon me, professor..." "Hmm?" "Dumbledore told me that lessons were already planned out for my convenience, and I was just wondering if you happen to know where he put them?"

"I'm not quite sure, I believe everything should be in your classroom or your chambers. Oh, and please, call me Minerva, as long as students aren't present, of course. We can't have them thinking I've gone too soft, can we? Besides it's only appropriate for you to call me by my first name, considering you are now part of the staff. " She says giving me a small wink. I chuckle softly and smile. "As you wish, Minerva."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your finger?" Minerva asks as she takes hold of my hand. "Oh, I just cut it this morning. It's not as bad as it looks." I say giving her a reassuring smile.

"Come. I'll take you to Poppy." "Minerva, that is not necessary. I'm fine." I say placing my hands behind my back. "Nonsense dear. I was already planning on taking you there anyway. There is someone I want you to meet."

9:00 am

We make our way down a hallway and stop at a big brown wood door. "Poppy," Minerva says knocking on the door softly. The slight sound of heels clicking on the floor can be heard as the door creaks open. "Oh, Minerva," Madam Pomfrey says her eyes scanning the both of us. "is something the matter?"

"Nothing major, Miss Y/n sliced her finger this morning, and I figured we could also introduce her to Miss Dalia," Minerva says. "Please, come on in. I'll be back in a moment." Poppy opens the door wider motioning for us to come take a seat as she heads toward a door at the back of the room.

I walk in behind Minerva and sit on one of the beds. A few moments later Poppy comes back with a young woman who seems to be about my age, maybe a tad older.

She has dark brown hair pulled into two French braids that flow down her back, darker skin, and gorgeous bright hazel eyes. "Dalia Morland," she says as she holds out her hand for a handshake.

I give her a warm smile and shake her hand. "Y/n Evadne." "You're the new Herbology professor, right?" she asks. I nod. "I'm an assistant for Poppy. I'm training to be a Healer. I asked Dumbledore if it would be alright if I could get some first-hand experience before I start the real job." she says as she looks over at Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm assuming you went to school here then?" "Yes, I was in Ravenclaw. I'm assuming you were in Hufflepuff?" "Oh, um," I say giving her a nervous grin, "I was actually in Slytherin." Her eyes widen slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry I just, well, I um just assumed..."

"Alright, enough chit chat let's get that cut of yours healed, shall we?" Poppy says as she diffuses the uncomfortable tension by taking hold of my finger and turning it back and forth examining it. "Alright, not too bad..." she mutters as she takes a small jar from her pocket and rubs the contents onto my finger.

"Okay, should be fine by tonight." she places the small jar in my hand, "If it starts to scar or the cut deepens, rub a bit of this on your finger, it should feel better in no time." "Thank you," I say placing the jar in my bag.

"Okay! We best be-" Minerva starts to say, but Dalia cuts her off. "Minerva, would it be alright if I went with you and Y/n? I think it would be a good chance for the two of us to get to know each other."

"I don't see why not. Would that be alright Y/n?" Minerva asks as the three of them turn to stare at me. "Yeah, that's fine," I say shrugging my shoulders.

9:47 am

"Sorry about earlier," Dalia says as we walk down the corridor away from the hospital wing. "I didn't mean to come off as rude or anything. You just didn't strike me as a Slytherin." "Yeah, I get that a lot. Apparently, having human decency is a Hufflepuff thing or whatever," I say as I roll my eyes. "But don't worry, you didn't come off as rude." She laughs softly as we continue walking.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you the youngest professor?" "Well, I was until you showed up," Dalia says giving me a little smile. "There is a new DADA teacher, Remus Lupin. I haven't met him yet. He's supposed to come at the start of the term. He might be younger." I look over at her, she's staring right back at me a smile forming on her lips. "He's the same age as Severus," Minerva says from behind us.

"Severus?" I ask. "Severus Snape. He's the Potions professor and head of Slytherin. He's scary as hell," Dalia says as the three of us start heading down a flight of stairs and make our way outside. "We like to call him the dungeon bat. Just don't say that to his face." Minerva says a small grin forming on her lips. "Wait, I thought Slughorn was the one in that position?" I ask as the three of us stand in front of the door to the greenhouse. "Well, he was, he retired a while back."

"Well go on in and check it out," Minerva says opening the door for me.

As I walk in I scan the numerous plants dangling from the ceiling and decorating the walls. The vines against the windows allow light to seep in, casting small, colorful smudges on the objects in the room. "Hmm... they changed it up since I was last here..." I mutter as I caress a flower and stroll over to my desk placed in the front corner of the room. I look down seeing all the lesson plans placed neatly in different piles according to each year, the keys for the greenhouse beside them.

"Everything I need seems to be here," I say placing the keys in my bag. "Come, we'll show you where your chambers are and help you get situated, then we can come back here and help you decorate your classroom!" Dalia says excitedly as she heads for the stairs.

"Well, she seems excited," I say turning toward Minerva. "Yes, she has always had a great interest in anything related to art or interior design. Just don't let her use glitter...I still have PTSD...," Minerva says as she shakes her head slightly. I smile softly as we follow Dalia back inside.

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#severus snape x reader #professor snape #pro snape #severus snape #snape #harry potter #sev snape x fem!reader #severus snape x fem!reader #sev snape x y/n #sev snape x you #severus snape x y/n #severus snape x you #severus snape imagine

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wastelandmoony · 11 months

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Déjà Vécu: Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen : Hollow

Summary: Feelings are happening =)

Characters: Remus Lupin/Reader, Sirius Black/Reader (no use of y/n), James Potter, Petter Pettigrew, Regulus Black, Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, Lily Evans

Warnings: Minors DNI, 18+ only!, angst, anxiety/overwhelming feelings, language, mentions of death and self harm, mentions of abuse, mentions of drinking.

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June 22nd, 1973

She was delusional to think she had made progress with Sirius Black. After everything that had happened, everything that had come to the surface; after his birthday when he shared his scars, and when he confessed his parents cruelty amongst the seclusion of his bed curtains. At the end of the day, they were opposing forces, her pulling and him pushing away. No amount of spilled secrets or clandestine confidence would change that.

James was upset by how Sirius had acted under the quidditch pitch, apologizing to her on his behalf incessantly.

“You’re not the one that needs to apologize, Jamie,” she said in-between bites of toast at breakfast one morning. She’d been sitting at her house table ever since Sirius’ comment. She had been reminded of her place, and it wasn’t amongst them.

James raked an exasperated hand through his unruly hair, “He’s just…stubborn, and kind of an idiot, I’m sorry.”

Before she could add on more negative adjectives to describe Sirius Black, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat at the lectern at the front of the Great Hall.

“Good Morning students, your attention for just a moment please. As the end of term is fast approaching, could I have all rising Third through Fifth year students see me to receive their Elective Selection Form. Please return these to my office no later than June 28th. A reminder: think hard about your future career path, this will determine which classes to pursue.”

She rose quickly out of her seat as soon as McGonagall took her place on the dais, James following close behind and still trying to talk her down.

Engrossed in the paper chart in her hands, she returned back to her seat and began to read through the course offerings. After a few moments, she felt the familiar lingering presence of James Potter sitting back across the table. Doubling down on the effort to focus on her own selection form, she ignored him entirely.

Third-years were able to choose two new electives, the first of her choices being Care of Magical Creatures. She was re-reading the descriptions of Divination and Ancient Runes when the boy across the table pushed his chart towards her.

“What’d you pick?” The voice did not belong to James Potter.

She looked up, brows furrowed at the familiar yet unexpected voice of Remus, “How long have you been here?”

He shrugged, “Ten minutes, give or take.”

“Where’s James?”

“Went back to our table, mumbled something about Sirius being a prat. Any idea what that’s about?”

She couldn’t tell him the truth, she had made a promise to the rest of the boys to keep the animagus plan a secret. “I mean…he’s always being a prat, so it could be anything.”

Remus smirked, reaching over to grab her chart, “So what’d you choose?”

“Care of Magical Creatures, but I’m stuck on whether to choose Divination or Ancient Runes…”

“If it helps, I chose Runes as well…we could help each other study? Divination is a joke anyway.”

She laughed, “You don’t think it’s interesting?”

Remus scowled, “Predicting the future with tea leaves and cards? It’s absolute rubbish.”

Looking back down at his chart, she looked at his other choice, “…Arithmancy? That’s supposed to be really difficult.”

His eyes flicked to hers, flashing gold briefly in the morning light, “Luckily for me, I love a challenge.”

Looking past his head, she groaned, “Ugh, speaking of challenges…”

Snape was drawing closer with Regulus by his side. He was explaining something to the younger boy, Reggie listening intently and nodding along. As the two Slytherin’s passed, Severus spun around, face filled with unsettling amusement.

“Ah, look Regulus,” he drawled, “the muggle convention is having their monthly meeting!”

Reggie let out a dry laugh while she rolled her eyes.

“Very original, Severus. Truly, some of your best work…” she droned.

“What’s that? I couldn’t hear over the sound of Lupin’s incessant panting over you.”

She looked up at Remus’ face, blushing red and staring intently at the wooden table.

“At least they’re mating with their own kind,” Regulus snarked.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

“Don’t you have something else better to be doing, Reg?” She looked him in the eye, choosing to ignore the comment altogether.

Regulus’ face hardened, “What did I tell you before about speaking to me directly, mudblood.”

Remus was standing before Reg could take another breath.

“What the fuck did you call her?” His scarred hands were clenched so hard they were white. The Hufflepuff prefect heard the commotion, quickly walking over to stand between the boys.

“You two,” he pointed at Severus and Reg, “go to your house table. And you,” he motioned to Remus, “if you cannot behave in a civil manner, I’ll have to ask you to leave as well.”

Remus sat back down, fuming as Reggie and Snape walked to their table smirking.

She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes as Remus turned his attention to her.

“What was he talking about?”

“Hmm?” She hummed.

“Regulus said ‘telling you before’. What happened before?”

The tone of his voice made her breathing quicken.

“He uh…we had a run in on the train…after winter break…”

“…He’s called you that before, hasn’t he.”

The protectiveness in Remus’ voice raised the hair on the back of her neck.

Snapes words echoed in her head: Lupin’s incessant panting over you.

She shook it off, all of it. Snapes comment, Remus’ tone, the increasingly overwhelming question of where to place the emerging feelings in her chest.

Nodding a confirmation, she watched Remus clench his jaw.

“Please don’t say anything, especially to Sirius,” she begged.

“You need to tell him, he needs to know what his brother is doing—“

“It won’t change anything, it’ll just hurt him. Please Remus, don’t say anything.”

He shook his head, gazing over towards the Slytherin table, “If he comes near you again, I’ll kill him.”

———

September 1st, 1973

Remus wrote her constantly. So much that her hand had started to cramp halfway through the summer from holding a pen almost every waking moment. She’d begun to try to respond with her non-dominant hand, teaching herself to write with both just in case. For each full moon that summer, she sent Remus drawings and the usual poem. Doodles of constellations and celestial bodies filled the pages, the stars watching over a sleeping wolf, a crown of wildflowers on his head.

She didn’t hear from Sirius all summer, something that didn’t come as a surprise after what he had told her in secrecy after Christmas, but it still hurt nonetheless knowing they hadn’t spoken since before school let out. The anger was still there, though it was now being clouded by worry. He could hate her all he wanted, call her every name in the book, but at the end of the day she would still lay in bed and hope that he was alright.

James and Peter invited her to Diagon Alley again, shopping for their third year supplies with the help of Mrs. Potter. From the window of every shop, she looked for Sirius.

Little progress had been made in the animagus plan, with James explaining their difficulty in finding dew that had not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet. She didn’t say anything, having already said her piece last year. They were going to do it regardless, but a part of her was little happy that they were finally getting a taste of how difficult the process actually was.

———

The walls of the train compartment were closing in on her. Remus sat beside the window, reading quietly while she tapped her foot nervously. James, talking to Peter about quidditch or something (she stopped listening ages ago), would dart his eyes over to her anxious body every few minutes like he was waiting for a bomb to explode.

Sirius wasn’t there yet. Flashbacks from last year ran through her mind on a loop. Walburga’s pinched expression; Regulus’ cold stare; Sirius’ scars. She wanted to cry, the sensation of which was beginning to choke her to the point of taking strangled breaths.

Remus reached across the compartment and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly, “He’ll be here, I promise.”

You can’t promise that, she thought, but the words were stuck in her throat. She didn’t know what time it was, but from the way James was checking his watch, it had to be close to 11. Maybe Sirius’ parents had kept true to their word, maybe they really did send him away this time. How would they even know? She couldn’t ask Regulus, not after Remus’ threat from last year, (not that he would tell her anything anyway).

As the crowd on the platform began to thin, the compartment door flew open.

Sirius was grinning from ear to ear.

Like a dam breaking, air filled her lungs.

“Alright lads?” He smiled at them, never landing on her. She didn’t even care, the only thing that mattered was that he was okay.

The atmosphere in the compartment eased greatly, the boys falling into jovial conversation immediately as Sirius sat down next to James. She didn’t involve herself, just happy to sit amongst her friends.

“—I have to say mate,” James laughed, “You seem a lot more…relaxed than you usually do after spending time at home.”

This made Sirius smile even bigger, “I think I’ve turned a corner.”

“…with your family?” Peter chimed in skeptically.

Sirius nodded, “When I first got home, it was the same thing as usual,” he rolled his eyes, “but by the middle of July…it had all just…stopped.”

“They just ignored you?” James furrowed his brow.

“Not entirely. They spoke to me whenever necessary, but the rest of the time they just let me do whatever I wanted.”

Remus shot her a concerned look from across the compartment, “What brought this on? What did you do?”

Sirius crossed his arms smugly, leaning back against the seat, “I may or may not have…redecorated my room a little…”

The four of them stared at him.

“…I put up some Gryffindor quidditch banners with a permanent sticking charm…”

James’ expression was somewhere between shock, alarm, and pride.

“…as well as some…muggle posters,” Sirius’ smile was borderline unhinged, something that wasn’t lost on Remus.

“What kind of muggle posters, Sirius…” he asked slowly.

Sirius waggled his eyebrows, “Muggle women. They’re wearing rabbit ears, Mum had a fit when she couldn’t take them down.”

Remus’ eyes almost shot out of his head, “YOU PUT PLAYBOY CENTERFOLDS ON YOUR WALLS PERMANENTLY?!”

James and Peter were both staring between them confused while she sat in the corner trying to stifle a laugh. Sirius met her eyes for a split second, sparkling with mischief before he quickly looked away.

Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair, “You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.”

Sirius shrugged, pulling some money out of his pocket as the candy trolley stopped outside of their door. He bought them all sweets without asking, tossing boxes around the compartment happily. The last package he threw was to her.

Peppermint Toads, her favorite.

———

As the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, the five of them stood and began to collect their various bags and items, quickly throwing on their robes in the process. Swinging a leather satchel strap over her shoulder, she gave the boys a small wave as she headed out into the corridor, “See you lot tomorrow or something, yeah?”

Sirius stared at her with mild confusion, following her outside the compartment “You’re not sitting with us for the feast?”

She turned around, mimicking his confused expression, “I—I didn’t think you wanted me to?”

Sirius scoffed, “What?”

“Sirius, we haven’t spoken in months…”

He raked a hand through his hair, which had grown even longer over the summer (an obvious choice to piss off his parents, no doubt).

“I know, I was a complete arse to you, it was unfair of me. I just…talk before actually thinking through things…”His face softened as his eyes fell sheepishly to the floor.

“You can’t keep taking your emotions out on other people, Sirius,” she whispered, and his blue eyes snapped up.

“…I know…” his voice was soft, but an edge of annoyance was begging to break through, “Please, sit with us, it’s not the same without you.”

Any leftover anger she had for him melted away. Sirius seemed to have a way of softening her that none of the others did, not even Remus, and she couldn’t figure out why. It was alarming sometimes, how easily she bent to him, how often she found herself gravitating towards him like a magnet.

The corner of her mouth twitched upwards in a smug grin, Sirius gingerly pointing his wand at her robes and transfiguring them scarlet, and the five of them reconvened to make the journey up to the castle together.

———

To an outsider, you’d never know she wasn’t a Gryffindor, not by the way the rest of the house greeted her when she sat down with the boys. Marlene practically shoved Remus out of the way to occupy the seat beside her, wanting to hear all about her summer, while Lily leaned over to participate (much to James’ pleasure). Just as they all got settled, Mary came over and squeezed in beside Sirius, whispering something in his ear that made them both laugh. The sound caused her to divert attention away from Marlene and Lily, glancing over just in time to see Sirius brush Mary’s hair behind her ear.

The sinking feeling in her stomach from last year came back immediately.

Maybe once she ate something she’d feel better, the only thing she’d had so far was the chocolate on the train.

Mary met her eyes, “Hiya! Good summer?” Her voice was like honey, smooth and sweet.

She nodded, returning a friendly smile as Dumbledore rose to the podium for the start of year address. Every year he gave a speech to kick off classes, mostly a bunch of fluffy sentiments about friendship and academic excellence, but this year it was different. He spoke of unity, of coming together and working towards a harmonious future. The hall was silent as he spoke, the majority of students faces solemn as the headmaster implored them to seek out the light and follow it passionately.

They all knew the implication.

They couldn’t escape the war, not even at Hogwarts.

———

November 3rd, 1973

Mary was becoming a more prominent fixture in their group. It wasn’t a problem, it was just…a lot. It had finally become public knowledge that Sirius and Mary were an item, and soon after, the PDA began. Sirius it seems, had been reduced to a one handed man, his less dominant appendage always attached to her body in some way, shape, or form. When they did separate, which was rare, the other was not so far removed, leaving only a few fleeting moments of normal conversation until they were all over each other once more.

The worst was the snogging.

It started at Sirius’ birthday party, which happened to fall on a Saturday, meaning that he was on another level knowing he didn’t have to wake up early for classes the next morning. After a third go-around of his new record (a band called Queen, who were beginning to make waves in the muggle music scene), the rest of the common room had had enough for the night and were begging for someone to replace the album with something else. Because she had gifted the vinyl to him, she took the responsibility to try and sneak some new music onto the record player. Pushing through the crowded Gryffindor common room, she searched for Sirius to ask if she could go dig through his collection. After two trips around the room, sifting through bodies and dodging drunk 7th Years, she realized he was gone.

“I’m just going to look through his records and ask for forgiveness later,” she said to Remus over the back of the couch.

He looked up from his game of exploding snap with James and Peter, “Do it, I’m sure he won’t care. Dorm door is unlocked.”

She nodded, weaving her way upstairs towards the boys room.

The music was too loud, the fourth rendition of Keep Yourself Alive ricocheting off the stone walls. It was so loud in fact, that she didn’t hear the noises coming from the top of the spiral staircase.

Pressed against the railing was Mary, Sirius seemingly eating her face alive. Their hands were everywhere, and the sight made her stomach flip. Averting her eyes as best she could, she slipped past them unnoticed, sneaking into the boys room and picking up the first record she saw: Aladdin Sane. With the image of her two friends intwined, she ran downstairs and quickly threw the record on, returning to sit beside Remus on the couch.

“Alright?” He looked over, having removed himself from the game with the other two.

She nodded quickly, “Yeah, why?”

“You’re breathing heavy, and keep glancing back at the stairs. Did something happen?”

Feigning ignorance, she shook her head, “No, I’m just—I ran down here, I couldn’t listen to Great King Rat again…”

Remus chuckled, throwing an arm over the back of the couch as they watched a card explode in Peter’s face.

She’d begun to doze off towards the end of Side 1 of Aladdin Sane, sinking further into Remus’ heater-like body on the couch. At some point, another student must have flipped the record, because a short time later Sirius came bounding down the stairs when the opening chords of The Prettiest Star began.

“This is my song!” He leapt over the back of the couch, landing aggressively close to her sleeping body.

The sudden assault jolted her awake, Remus (who was half asleep against the arm of the sofa) reached over to punch the birthday boy in the shoulder.

Sirius laughed, dodging the hit, “Oh come on! There’s no sleeping at my party!”

He began to jump on the cushions, leading to a low groan from her.

“Come on, Yellowjacket, dance with me!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her unwilling body off the couch while she held back a smirk. She could never say no to him.

Her limbs felt heavy as they wound around his neck, the beckoning call of sleep echoing from the couch. Sirius began to sing out loud, though it might as well have been directed at her by the way his eyes never left her face.

“Where’s Mary?” She mumbled sleepily, resting her head on his shoulder as they swayed.

“Went to bed, she’s like you lot—her fun energy expires at midnight.”

She swatted him lightly, “Not all of us strive to live like rockstars, Sirius.”

He laughed lowly, “Damn right!”

Spinning her one last time as the song drew to an end, he placed a kiss to her forehead before they separated.

“Happy birthday Siri,” she whispered before retreating back to Remus’ side.

———

She’d like to say that Sirius’ birthday was the only time she had stumbled upon him and Mary snogging.

She’d like to say that it was a one-time thing and that the two of them had learned their lesson.

But she couldn’t.

It seemed like almost every other day, one of them was running into Mary and Sirius sucking face behind a statue, or in a vacant corridor, or even on the common room sofa. Even James was becoming annoyed, which didn’t happen often, especially with his best friend.

“I need him focused,” he grumbled as he sat down across from her and Remus in the Great Hall for lunch, “He almost fell off his broom the other day during practice because she showed up in the stands. We have a big match against Ravenclaw in a few weeks, he needs to get it together.”

She didn’t contribute, just kept her head down and picked at the food.

“I just wish there was a way to know where they were, like a map of safe hallways, that way I wouldn’t have to walk into them practically eating each other’s faces off,” Peter groaned.

Remus’ perked up beside her, “Pete, that’s…that’s actually a brilliant idea.”

Peter beamed across from them, as Remus dug through his bag for something, eventually resurfacing with a folded up piece of parchment.

“Remember last year, when I told you all about my…problem?” His voice tapered into a whisper as he glanced between her, Peter, and James, who all nodded in response.

“Sirius had said something about wondering if there were more secret passageways throughout the castle…and there are,” Remus unfolded the parchment to reveal a map of Hogwarts, sketched out roughly, with random annotations and comments scribbled throughout in different colors of ink.

The four of them absorbed all of it while Remus continued to speak, “I’ve been working on this since then, adding things as I find them, just for fun—definitely not for nefarious purposes—“ he gave her a quick glance before smirking devilishly, “but Pete, what if we could find a way to add location markers to people in the castle? What if we could actually track where people are coming and going?”

She met his eyes and smiled, “A homonculus charm might work.”

Remus grinned wildly, “You’re a genius.”

“I just—“ she let out a resigned sigh, “—I need you to solemnly swear to me that you’re not going to use this just to cause mayhem all over the castle.”

The three boys looked at each other, telepathically choosing their next words wisely.

“I can promise none of it will be traced back to you,” Remus shot her a wink, the other two giddy with excitement, “there’s actually a new finding I want to test out, if you’re all interested…”

James looked at him through his lashes, clearly intrigued, “What’s your theory Mr. Moony?”

“I think there’s a passageway to Hogsmeade…and if I’m correct, it leads directly under Honeydukes.”

Peter almost jumped out of his seat, James’ eyes sparkled.

———

“I can’t believe you did all of this without me,” Sirius hissed from under the invisibility cloak.

They finally had the chance to tell Sirius about the map, after he had returned from what was clearly another rendezvous with Mary. Though ecstatic about the map idea, he was visibly put out at the notion of the four of them conspiring in his absence.

“Stop whinging,” James shushed him from the front, leading them towards the third floor, Remus squished close behind with the map in his hands.

“…maybe if you came up for air once in a while, you’d be included in things,” she whispered to Sirius beside her, who proceeded to stick out a foot and trip her. Stumbling forward, she quickly grabbed onto Remus’ jumper, who angrily spun around.

“Oi! Knock it off, both of you!” He growled, causing her to shrink back in embarrassment.

“Sorry Moony…” Sirius grumbled, she glared at him.

“Jealousy isn’t a good look for you,” he whispered.

She scoffed, mouth agape as she turned towards him, “Jealousy? Is that what you think this is, Black?”

The smug grin on his face said it all.

“All you do is snog your girlfriend in your free time now, you’ve completely abandoned us, this has nothing to do with jealousy.”

As the words came out, she prayed he believed them.

She prayed she believed them.

———

January 2nd, 1974

After winter break, James called an emergency meeting. They all knew what it was about before he even opened his mouth. The mood had grown incredibly dark, mimicking the desolate icy landscape outside of the castle windows; the war was drawing closer.

“He’s gaining followers at an alarming rate,” James spoke lowly from the end of his bed, the rest of them piled around the dorm room, faces grim as he spilled everything he had found out about the war from his parents.

“There��s been more attacks, more than the Prophet is reporting,” Peter chimed in from his bed, gripping a pillow tightly to his chest.

“Dad thinks they’re afraid to write anything more, scared of retaliation,” James frowned.

Across the room, Sirius was staring at him, stone-faced. She knew he was thinking of his family, and whether or not they were involved in any of this. The urge to go over and sit with him surged forward, but her legs felt like cement, her body heavy with dread.

“What about our side? Can we help?” She frankly had no idea what kind of use a bunch of teenagers would be, but she had to try.

James shook his head, running a frustrated hand through his unruly hair, “No, I ask Mum and Dad constantly. They tell me to focus on school, and enjoying my time at Hogwarts.”

After a few quiet minutes, Peter shifted uncomfortably on his bed.

“Is it true what they’re saying…that you-know-who is recruiting…dark creatures?”

From behind her, Remus bristled, sitting upright from his lounging position on the bed.

She’d never wanted to kill anyone more than she wanted to kill Peter Pettigrew in that moment.

James shot him a reproachful look, and from Pete’s expression he had clearly realized his mistake.

“What do you mean by ‘dark creatures’…” Remus asked cautiously, eyes narrowing.

She reached over and placed a calming hand on his leg, mentally pleading with him to relax.

James cleared his throat awkwardly, “He’s been reported to be recruiting vampires, some giants, and…”

“Just say it, Potter,” Remus growled.

“Remus, please,” she whispered.

“No, I want to hear him say it. I want to hear what other dark, dangerous creatures we should be on the lookout for.”

James held up his hands in defeat, “Mate, it’s not like that—“

“Say it!” Remus stood up, and she could see that his hands were shaking.

“…werewolves. He’s recruiting werewolves. There’s been an increase in attacks—“

Before James could finish, Remus was storming out.

“Way to go, you fuckin knob,” Sirius chucked a pillow at Peter’s head.

She quickly jumped off the bed and followed him down the stairs, calling his name while he exited through the portrait hole.

“Remus, please, wait!” She was out of breath from trying to keep up with his long strides.

“Leave me alone,” he grumbled, never breaking gait to look at her.

She let out a fake laugh, “We both know that’ll never happen.”

Continuing on, she jogged to finally come within arms reach. Launching forward, she hugged him tightly from behind, forcing him to stop walking. They stood in the empty corridor silently, with her face pressed against his back, arms snaked around his middle, while he stared ahead fuming.

Eventually, she felt him soften, hands finding their way to grip hers. She let go, and he spun around to face her, pulling her back in for a proper embrace.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair, “It’s just…hard to be reminded of what I am sometimes…”

“…and what exactly are you, Remus?” She pressed her cheek into his chest.

“Dangerous. A monster—a dark creature…something that certainly shouldn’t be allowed in functioning society—“

“Remus John Lupin,” she looked up at him, eyes hard and demanding, “You are the antithesis of all of those. You’re my safe person, the one I trust more than anything. You’d never let anything happen to any of us.”

“Those people…the ones they’re attacking. He’s trying to build an army,” Remus’ voice was strained as he said it.

Her blood ran cold.

Forcing herself to speak, she gripped the back of his shirt for stability, “He can’t guarantee they’ll join him though, just because they were changed doesn’t mean they’re automatically on his side. They’re still people, they still have free will and a good conscious—” she looked back up at him, “—even if they’ve been dealt a shitty hand.”

“Regardless, he’s ripping their lives out from under them. There’s no resources for them, there’s no future. It’s not like the ministry is lining up to hire people like me,” his laugh was dry and emotionless, “The only option is to find any semblance of stability and hope it sticks.”

She felt him hug tighter, knowing that along with the other boys, they were the only stable thing in his life. She thought of four-year-old Remus, transforming alone for the first time; his tiny screams of agony ricocheting off the walls of the cage a father built to contain his son. The confusion he must’ve felt, the fear; she didn’t understand how he had survived, more so—she didn’t understand why the rest of world had no sympathy.

“It’ll be different, I promise,” she whispered, burying her face into his chest to stop the tears from forming, “I’ll fix it, I’ll fix all of it.”

Remus shook his head, “You can’t promise that. Werewolf Support Services at the ministry are almost non-existent, and you can’t reap any of them unless you’re registered anyway, which is problematic at best.”

“I know that, which is why I’m going to fix it,” the statement was punctuated with finality as she pulled back to look at her friend, “After school, I plan on working for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, specifically the Being Division. I want to reform the entire Werewolf Support branch, I want to make the actual change that is so long overdue.”

Remus stared down at her, eyes searching hers for any bit of humor or anything to let him know she was joking. He found nothing but sincerity.

“When did you decide this?”

She shrugged, “Last year. You saw my elective choices, remember? How did you not put it together?”

He grabbed her face in both hands, “You don’t need to do this for me…”

“I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for all of them, all of the innocent lives altered by this terrible affliction, but also by the stigmatization the ministry enforces.”

Remus smiled slowly, kissing her forehead, “How did I get so lucky to have someone like you?”

“Right place, right time, I guess,” she giggled, wrapping him into another hug.

———

March 9th, 1974

“Ugh, gross—“

“How long is it going to go on for?” “Are they even breathing?”

Sirius and Mary had been going at it by the fireplace for the entirety of Remus’ birthday party, much to the disgust of the rest of the common room. The only person who didn’t seem to mind was James, who was too preoccupied in planning his next move on Lily Evans. From the sofa, he stared dopily at her across the room. She was with Marlene near the entrance, laughing at a joke that Frank Longbottom was currently enchanting them with. When she caught James staring, her entire expression dropped into an icy scowl, spinning so that the only view he would get was the back of her head.

Watching the entire thing, Remus patted James sympathetically on the shoulder, “Tough luck mate.”

“Little does she know, I could stare at the back of her head all day and never tire,” nothing fazed James Potter. He was hopeless.

She rolled her eyes just as Mary shifted to straddle Sirius on the rug, “I need to get out of here, there’s too much…obsession happening in this tower.”

Remus rose when she did, “Wanna go upstairs? I’ve got a hidden stash of Honeydukes.”

“Oh! That sounds great, I can give you your birthday present too!” She grabbed her bag off the floor and followed Remus upstairs.

Flopping down on his bed, she searched the contents of the bag for a carefully folded parcel. From the foot of the bed, Remus tossed boxes of chocolate onto the quilt as he found them buried in his trunk.

Finally procuring the expertly folded bundle of parchment, she held it out excitedly to him as he sat across the bed.

Remus shook it jokingly, “What is it?”

“Just open it, dummy.”

He carefully unfolded the parchment to reveal an intricately inked map of Hogwarts, including the hidden passageways they had found. He traced his finger over a delicately drawn picture of the Whomping Willow.

“No offense, but the original map was extremely chaotic. I figured if you’re going to make it more advanced, the foundation needed to be cleaner and cohesive…none of that frantic sketching you had done,” she explained, reaching over to open a chocolate frog.

Remus stared at the map, speechless. After a few silent moments, he mustered out a muted question, “How did you do it?”

“Oh, easy. The library has tons of maps and illustrations of the layout of the castle and grounds, obviously without the tunnels we know of. I added those in from memory.”

“This is…this is brilliant…” he was still tracing the hallways diligently.

“The best part,” she leaned over to point at Gryffindor Tower, “Look at the common room.”

Tiny dots were inked near where the fireplace would be, each one labeled with a name of their friends: James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. She watched as his eyes searched for the dorms, smiling when he saw their names as well on two matching dots.

“I just did us, to see if it would even work. You lot can do the rest, I’m not going to start cataloging the entire student body,” she laughed.

Remus looked at her in awe as he laid the map between them.

“This is amazing, you’re—you’re amazing…” his eyes gleamed in the dim light of the dormitory, the music downstairs seeping through the crack of the door as she beamed back.

“It’s not much but—“ she started.

“—shut up, it’s fantastic,” he grinned, “I love it. I love you.”

“I love you too, Rem, happy birthday.”

Even in the low light of the room, she could see his eyes flash gold.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, causing a blush to creep into her cheeks.

Her heart began to pick up speed, as Remus leaned closer.

“Can I try something?” He spoke softly, eyes searching for a confirmation.

She nodded slowly as he placed his lips to hers.

Remus was warm. He was steady, with a mix of delicacy and restrained strength that put her heartbeat at ease. Chocolate swirled with cinnamon and butterscotch. He was solace. He was familiar. There was no rush, no urgency to the kiss. But most importantly: there was no substance. There was no spark.

They pulled back simultaneously, staring at one another in question.

After a few tense seconds, Remus spoke, “Did it—“

“—Feel like you were kissing a sibling? Yes.”

They both burst into laughter.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, “I do love you though, that’ll never change, even if it’s not…romantic.”

She smiled, leaning over to place a chaste kiss on his cheek, secretly thankful that their relationship wasn’t in danger of changing. For a fleeting moment, she thought of Sirius.

She wondered if he felt as hollow when he kissed Mary.

#remus lupin x reader #remus lupin angst #remus lupin fanfiction #remus lupin fluff #marauders era fanfiction #harry potter fanfiction #marauders fanfiction #marauders fic #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black x reader #remus lupin x y/n #remus lupin x you #remus lupin imagine #sirius black x you #sirius black x y/n #sirius black imagine #marauders imagine #marauders era imagine

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phoebe-delia · 1 year

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My Year in Fic (so far)

I have at least a couple more fics to go until I'm done this year, but I wanna do this now. Because. I'm impulsive like that I guess lol. Huge thanks to the legendary @wolfpants for the tag! See Wolf's incredible list here.

If I'm honest I don't feel like I wrote all that much this year. I feel like last year, my writing stamina was much better. But I'm still proud of what I've done so far.

I will not be doing this in any particular order lol. But I have but a * next to the fics I'm particularly proud of. And no-pressure tagging @phd-mama, @lqtraintracks, @basicallyahedgehog, @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm, @rockingrobin69, @makeitp1nk, and anyone else who wants to play! Also these are Drarry and Jeddy fics. I tried to make it clear which are the Jeddy fics based on the line lol.

*Just Between Us

It’s subtle, the way the band seamlessly slides into the song, but Draco’s breath catches with the first note of the familiar tune. He twirls the champagne flute in his fingers as he feels tears prickling in the back of his eyes. His heart thrums, trying to keep pace with the rhythm of young love, a dance not forgotten but perhaps too fast, too intense to follow, after everything.

*Daylight: A Collection of Microfics

Phoebe note: this is a collection of Drarry microfics made into a podfic by the incredible @krah18! Read the fics at that link, and/or listen to the podfic—WITH INTERLUDES OF A TAYLOR SWIFT SONG!!!—at this link!

funny how those memories they last

He assumed Teddy was, well, a child. Not some blue-haired, smirking suave sex god with dimples and an endearingly crooked nose who just waltzed into the kitchen with his tight jeans and sweaty shirt and opened the fridge like he lived here, while James stood there in a ratty t-shirt and boxers with snitches on them.

The Real Winner

“You called Rachel Bernstein’s mother a ‘tasteless harpy.’”

“Only after she insulted Lily’s costume! She deserved that and more. I was kind enough to refrain from pointing out that she has a face like a toad.”

Come Back, Be Here

‘By the end of the day on Saturday, exactly four months from now,’ James had said before he’d left. ‘I promise.’

*Goodnight, and Have a Pleasant Tomorrow

The announcer’s voice rang throughout the room. “It’s Weekend Update with Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter!” The words were followed by perfunctory yet enthusiastic applause from the audience. Draco tuned it out, focusing on the cameras that swung easily towards where Harry and he were sitting at the wooden desk.

all i need is you next to me

"That cloud kinda looks like a dick," James said, his head cocked to the side as he squinted up at the periwinkle sky.

Knew It All Along

"Thank you—thank you so much," Draco held the mobile to his ear—grateful the Wizarding world had adopted the Muggle technology so the person on the other end wouldn't see the wild grin on his face. "Yes, I look forward to it. Thank you, again. Alright—yes, you too, goodbye."

*We Like Fighting Most

“I run on spite and Earl Grey, but thanks ever so.”

I'm Only Me When I'm With You

They dated in secret until the day McGonagall announced the Spring Ball, and Harry noticed Marcus Flint chatting up Draco in the Great Hall. Harry saw red, stormed over, and pulled Draco into a heated kiss. He broke away and said, "So we're going to the ball together, right?" Draco's face shifted between shock, fond exasperation, and then amusement. "Yes, of course, Potter."

*the I Knew You mini-series

It’ll be a race to the end, in a contest with no winner.

I’ll see you at the finish line, Harry.

Phases

"Malfoy," he says with a slight nod as he passes me in the corridor.

I choke on nothing, spinning around and watching his retreating back.

"Hi Potter," I whisper to the now empty hallway.

I kick myself the entire way back to my office.

Little Bit of Love

James’s head rested in the crook of Teddy’s neck, and it was everything Teddy could do not to cry with the overwhelming force of affection he felt for the man in his arms. He closed his eyes against the onslaught of it all, the bewilderment at how lucky he was, how fortunate he had to be to get here.

take my hand, wreck my plans

We were at the supermarket, and you were holding a jar in your hand and talking to me, and it hit me with the force of a stunner that there was nowhere else on the planet I'd rather have been at that moment.

*Daylight: A Collection of Microfics

Phoebe note: this is a collection of microfics made into a podfic by the incredible @krah18!

#drarry #jeddy #oh man what a crazy year lol #and i still got two more fics to write PLUS the Hanukkah series drabbles lmao

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snortinglavender · 9 months

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Draco taking away Hermione’s pain after a Death Eater attack

As Draco worked his legilimency through her mind, that warm feeling that he had experienced with her during their Unbreakable Vow crept back up. The heat swirled around his veins, coating him in comfort and a welcomed sense of familiarity as he used their bond to take away Granger’s pain.

He wondered if it was the same for her, if she had felt that warm and comforting heat between them during their Unbreakable Vow. He wondered if this is how it would always be for them now if their magic was somehow linked in their minds and magic.

Ever since that day in McGonagall’s office,something had changed between them that Draco couldn’t put his finger on. Hermione had resolved to make nice and work with him, which was part of it, and he obviously didn’t want to end up in Azkaban, which answered the question of why he was acting differently towards her.

But still, that didn’t explain the new thrum of familiarity and connection between the both of them. It didn’t explain how Draco just knew something was wrong when he hadn’t seen her in the Great Hall this morning, and it didn’t explain the panic that rose up in him when he ran to find her in Hogsmeade.

He wondered if this is how it would always be between them. Was it simply a forced familiarity because their lives were now intertwined due to magic, or something deeper than that?

With his mind lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even see Granger reaching towards him, suddenly pressing the pad of her finger to his temple. He was taken aback by her touching him without being prompted, his heart suddenly racing within his chest as his eyes met hers.

“See something interesting, Granger?”

Read Bound by Blood on Ao3 here.

#dramionefanfic #dramione #Draco Malfoy #dramione fanfiction #draco x hermione #draco fanfiction #draco angst #hermione fanfiction #Hermione Granger #hermione x draco

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turvi · 1 year

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Promises- 3

They soon arrived at Hogwarts and Severus introduced her to Professor McGonagall. The professor offered tea and biscuits to her. As Y/n was taking a sip of her tea Minerva interrupted "So Severus is a fine man don't you think?"

Y/n choked on her tea this woman met her seconds ago and now she wants to know whether she thinks Severus is a fine man or not?

"He is a nice man" Y/n awkwardly coughed out the words.

Minerva smirked "Not a lot of people share that same thought here Y/n"

"Well honestly I don't know much about him other than the fact he is saving my life"

Minerva hummed at Y/n's admission. "Severus mentioned to me you were having trouble sleeping?"

"Yes that was until last night, I used to have nightmares"

Minerva scooched her chair closer to Y/n "what were they about?"

"They were all different yet somehow connected to the dark lord. Sometimes he will be there sometimes just a mention of his name. I always hear him calling me by my full name like he always used to."

"Do you remember any spell he used on you? Maybe something you are familiar with?"

"I honestly don't remember much. Most of my time with him I can't remember, just a few events. I always felt fatigued like I have been sleeping for a long time."

McGonagall sighed as she finally connected the dots. "You stay right here dear I have to go and talk to the headmaster. Eat the biscuits" She offered a warm smile to Y/n which she responded with a warm smile of her own.

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

Severus told only a limited version of what Y/n was actually doing here. Of course, he trusted her to take Y/n under her wing if things get too tense, he might as well drop her off right now. He could have his humble abode all to himself but Y/n didn't complete the story of her childhood about how she stole the neighbor's dog because they were not treating him well. Severus doesn't know this woman well, but he knows one thing. This woman can't tell a story to save her life because as she was telling how she befriended Fluffy she goes off at a tangent telling what a terrible cook her father is.

Right now Severus knows almost everything about her other than how the heck did she save Fluffy. Normally Severus wouldn't care about Fluffy but the anticipation would make him insane if he doesn't get to know the ending. Yes, this is the only reason why Severus has not dropped her at Minerva's home.

Minerva offered Y/n to stay in her office because she soon realized she need to talk to Severus. The older lady soon realized that Y/n might be in more danger than ever since the dark lord had recently possessed Ginny. Severus was in his classroom teaching the 4th years when she burst into the classroom and told him that they need to discuss important "school matters".

"What is the meaning of this Minerva" Severus whispered as soon as they were outside his class.

"Severus there is no other way of saying this but he will try everything to get to her, she doesn't realize it but he is already looking for her"

"How- what do you mean?"

"She told me about her nightmares, she thinks it's just nightmares but he is somehow still connected to her but for some reason, he cannot connect to her fully"

"How do we stop that?" He asked quickly

"I don't know but we need to talk to Dumbledore quickly. Meet me in Dumbledore's office after your class is over."

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

"Ah, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Dumbledore asked already offering his favorite sherbet lemon.

"It's about Y/n" Minerva offered the answer solemnly.

"Oh" "What is it about"

"Y/n mentioned to me about having nightmares about the dark lord. She mentioned how she doesn't remember most of the things that happened there and she felt fatigued most of the time."

"She fainted in the kitchen too. Twice" Severus revealed, he remembered the day vividly. She was just standing there silently mixing some ingredients in her mortar and pestle. When all of a sudden she collapsed luckily he was close so he got hold of her before she hit the floor. That was when he noticed bruises on her chest and arms.

Severus thinks she looks way healthier than before. Did she even eat?

"I will try to find out how is he planning to get her. If he is trying to get her in control then he is closer than before"

Dumbledore agreed "You do that Severus because if he does get her in control then not only she will be in danger we all will be."

"But why does he want her?" Minerva asked

"He used her powers to protect himself maybe he is trying to do that again."

Severus frowned at this new information. "How did you know?"

"She told me that night at the dinner"

The headmaster provided the information so nonchalantly that Severus couldn't help but roll his eyes. He beelined towards the door when Dumbledore interrupted again.

"Where are you going?"

"It's getting late if she stays outside any longer the dark lord will have a better chance of getting hold of her."

Minerva cooed at his statement and the headmaster smiled like a Cheshire cat. Severus didn't bother with them and went off to do his duty.

A/N: I hope you like this. If you don't. It is what it is. REBLOG AND FEEDBACKS PLEASE IF YOU LIKED THIS

#severus snape x reader #pro severus snape #severus snape fanfiction #severus snape #harry potter series #severus x reader #severus x y/n #severus snape x you #pro snape #snape #professor snape #snapedom #snape fanfiction #snape love #severus snape x y/n #snape fandom #snape community #snape x reader #snape imagines

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the-al-chemist · 1 year

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Artemis Hexley and the Return to the Riddles

Chapter 10: Apparition and Disapparition

A/N: The mystery of the letters at the Whomping Willow continues, and Artemis seeks help from new and old allies to help her solve it. Warnings: Peril, intrigue, and mentions of death.

The Thestral-drawn carriages returned to Hogwarts castle in the first week of January, bringing with them the students who hadn’t decided to stay at school over the Christmas holidays. The spring term had begun, and it was so far keeping Artemis even busier than the first.

The Quidditch season was in full swing, and Murphy McNully had the Hufflepuff team practising twice weekly in preparation for their second match of the year. They would be up against Gryffindor, who would, according to Murphy, be their “most challenging opponent, statistically speaking”. Artemis was training harder than anyone; their best chance of winning involved her catching the Golden Snitch before Charlie Weasley, and she knew for a fact that Charlie had never failed to catch the Snitch in a house game before, nor in any of the friendly games she had played with him. Still, there was a first time for everything, and she was determined that this would be it.

As for lessons, the workload had increased in all five of her subjects, with each of her teachers stressing how many - or rather, how few - months remained until the start of the N.E.W.T. exams. And the N.E.W.T.s were not the only exams that Artemis would be preparing for; having missed the Apparition classes her friends had taken the year before, she had re-enrolled on the course in the hope that she would be able to take her exam at Easter with the current sixth years.

She had assumed that she would be the only final year student taking the classes, but when she arrived in the Great Hall for the first one, she saw that Corey Hayden was also there, having spent half of the previous year as statue. It was lucky that they were friends now, Artemis thought, as Corey waved to her from across the hall and she went over to join him.

“Now that we are all here,” said the wizard at the front of the hall, whose wispy pale hair was instantly familiar to Artemis, though she wasn’t sure where from, exactly. “Welcome to your first Apparition lesson. My name is Wilkie Twycross, and I will be your instructor for the next twelve weeks.”

“Oh!” Artemis said out loud, now realising whe she had seen the wizard before. Corey gave her a quizzical look, and she whispered to him, “I met him in the Magical Transport office when I was there for the morning in the summer.”

“You mean the morning the Japanese Ambassador’s Portkey was stolen?” Corey asked, and Artemis nodded. “Do you reckon he had something to do with it?”

“No, it was a wizard in disguise. Burke. He’s a Metamorphmagus, remember?”

“I know, but he probably wasn’t working alone. From my extensive reading of crime novels, I’ve realised that criminals often work with accomplices. And usually, things are quite as they seem. Often, it’s the person you’d least expect that is the one who is actually behind the crime,” he lowered his voice as Professor McGonagall frowned at him. “For example, in one of the Conebush and Persimmons stories-”

“Shush, Mr Hayden,” said Professor McGonagall, and Corey fell immediately silent. Artemis waited for McGonagall to look the other way before whispering back:

“I really don’t think it was him. I mean, I just can’t see him being a criminal mastermind.”

“And don’t forget the three Ds of Apparition!” Twycross was saying. “Destination, Determination, and Deliberation!”

Artemis raised her eyebrows at Corey, who frowned.

“Yes, okay. You have a point,” he whispered to her.

Professor McGonagall gave them both another firm stare, and so they stopped talking for the remainder of Wilkie Twycross’ lecture. Once he was done, Twycross set all the students about practising how to Apparate into hoops a few feet away from them, though not many students were having much luck so far. Even Artemis, who had experience with side-along Apparition thanks to Jane Court, Bill Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt all having Apparated with her, had to admit that it was a much harder feat when doing it without someone else’s help.

“Remember, fix your mind on your destination,” Wilkie Twycross called out, his voice monotone. “Then make sure that you are determined to be present at said destination. Then, when you turn, move with deliberation.”

Artemis rolled her eyes. So far, she had been staring at her hoop with what she thought constituted both determination and deliberation, but had yet to enter it despite four attempts at doing so. Did Twycross not have any more useful advice than reciting words beginning with the letter D?

“Miss Hexley,” Professor McGonagall said as she walked past. “Perhaps I might remind you that Apparition is a form of self-Transfiguration?”

She pursed her lips into a tight smile, and after a moment’s consideration, Artemis grinned. She had always been good at Transfiguration, after all. And McGonagall had a point; if she thought about it, Apparition was just Vanishing and Conjuring. She could do both of those things. So, for her fifth attempt, she stopped staring at her hoop, and instead closed her eyes, envisioning herself disappearing and reappearing inside it, and immediately turned around on the spot.

BANG!

A sound like a firecracker echoed in Artemis’ ears. She opened her eyes and looked down at her feet, and found that she was standing in a hoop. Delighted, she looked up to meet Professor McGonagall’s eye, but as she did, realised that she was standing not a few feet, but several metres away from where she had started, and was currently occupying the hoop of a sixth year Ravenclaw girl.

“Sorry,” she muttered, stepping out of the girl’s hoop and walking back across the Great Hall to her own, Wilkie Twycross already droning about the first D as she did so.

“How did you do that?” said Corey, swaying slightly from all his so far fruitless turning on the spot.

“The fourth D,” Professor McGonagall said quietly, giving Artemis an almost imperceptible wink. “Deviation.”

Between Apparition lessons, N.E.W.T. revision, and Quidditch practice, Artemis was busier and more tired than she had ever been before, however, there was at least something fun to look forward to. The first Hogshead weekend was approaching, and having finished his most recent placement with Gringotts Bank and having a few weeks off for study leave, Bill Weasley had arranged to meet Artemis in town.

In Jacob’s absence, Bill had always been like a big brother to Artemis, and with him having been out of the country since the beginning of the summer, she was excited to catch up with him. After all, a lot had happened since they had last seen each other in person.

“Wow,” said Bill as Artemis finished recounting the events of the previous six months, his blue eyes wide. “You weren’t joking.”

Artemis shook her head. “I never joke, Bill. I’m always very serious.”

“Okay, but let me get this straight,” he replied, blinking hard. “One of the members of R is a Metamorphmagus and stole an international Portkey in order to transport an escaped convict from Japan into the country.”

“Shiratori, yeah.”

“And since then, Shiratori has been leaving messages for R in Japanese, disguised as white quills. And you saw someone in a cloak take one of the messages from the Whomping Willow on New Year’s Eve.”

“That’s about it,” Artemis nodded. “They had Sickleworth with them. He snuck under the tree and got it for them. We found another white quill on him before, as well.”

“Right,” Bill frowned. “Where is Sickleworth now?”

“My uncle came back from South America at the start of the year. I’ve given Sickleworth to him to look after. Hopefully he will cause less trouble in Dorset.”

“He might. Gringotts will probably want him back eventually, though. Or not. That Niffler is a menace. I swear the poor bloke who lost him was actually relieved to finally be rid of him.”

“How do you lose a Niffler, anyway?”

“You’re asking me. Sickleworth’s keeper was called to visit the Head of the Department of Magical Artefacts back in the summer, and the Niffler did a runner. Ran down all the way to the Department of Mysteries, and no one was able to catch him.”

“I remember that, actually. Charlie told me he was trying to steal crystal balls.”

“Well, they are shiny.”

Artemis nodded, and though she laughed at Bill’s comment, her mind began to wander back to the black door she had seen on the second lowest level of the Ministry of Magic.

“Bill,” she said, frowning deeply, “do you know what they do in the Department of Mysteries, exactly?”

“No, no one does. It’s why they call them Unspeakables.”

“That’s what Olivia Green said. Jacob’s old friend, she was at the trial,” Artemis explained, seeing the quizzical look on Bill’s face. “She works in the Department of Mysteries now. Something to do with prophecies. Maybe she’s in charge of the crystal balls!”

“Maybe. All I know is that no one really applies to work in the Department of Mysteries. They send out letters to the people they most want to join them the night before they get their N.E.W.T. results,” Bill told her. “It’s always the people with the highest grades the next day.”

“Did they write a letter to you?”

“Yes. I considered it, actually.”

“You did?” Artemis’ eyes widened. “But you’ve always wanted to be a Curse-Breaker! You had a job already lined up at Gringotts.”

“A job Rakepick helped me get. The letter came through just after she betrayed us in the Buried Vault, so I thought maybe I’d be better off without it. But then I decided that I wasn’t going to let her stop me achieving what I’d always wanted, so Gringotts it was.”

Bill gave Artemis a wry smile, which Artemis didn’t return. As the two of them walked past the Shrieking Shack, they stepped off the curb to allow a grey haired witch in a St Mungos uniform to pass them on the pavement. Once she passed, they stepped back up again.

“Talking of Gringotts,” continued Bill, “you know the application deadline for the Curse-Breakers’ training scheme is the end of this month, don’t you? Have you sent off your application for, yet?” Artemis shook her head, and Bill sighed. “Why not? What are you waiting for?”

“A professional reference.” Artemis pulled her rucksack off her back and held her form out to Bill. “I thought you might like to write one for me.”

“Really? I’m not sure-”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to."

“That’s not it,” laughed Bill. “I just don’t know if I’m the best person to write you a professional reference.”

“Why not? We’ve broken curses together, we were apprentice Curse-Breakers together, you work for Gringotts now…”

“In a very junior role!”

“Yeah, well. It’s not like I can ask Rakepick, is it?” Artemis muttered darkly.

“I guess not. Go on, then.”

Smiling, Artemis handed Bill her application form. “I’ve filled out everything else. You just need to do the last page and then I can send it off.”

“I can hand it in for you later.”

“Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.” Artemis wrapped her arms around Bill’s waist. “I’ve really missed you, you know.”

“I’ve missed you too, little one.” Bill ruffled Artemis’ hair, and for once, she didn’t stop him. They broke out of their hug and he frowned at her as he asked, “Are you worried about all this R stuff?”

“Sort of.”

“What about the others? Penny and Tonks and Charlie?”

“Um…”

“You have told them all about this, haven’t you?”

“Not really,” Artemis bit her bottom lip. “I mean, Tonks knows a bit because she was doing work experience with the Aurors, and Charlie knows about Sickleworth because all the prefects had to help find the thief. It’s just that Penny said that the Cursed Vaults are all finished with now, so we should try to forget about R and all that.”

“Not if they’ve been passing messages to someone on the school grounds you shouldn’t,” Bill shook his head. “Have you been able to talk to anyone else about it?”

“Yeah. Kingsley Shacklebolt is in charge of the investigation, and I said about it to Corey Hayden who got turned into a statue. He was there with me when we saw the person getting the messages from the Whomping Willow on New Year’s Eve.”

“So, whoever has been sending these messages was at school during the Christmas holidays,” Bill nodded. “Okay, that narrows things down. Who was there?”

“Me, all of the Circle of Khanna except for Barnaby, Corey Hayden - but he was with me when we saw the messenger - and then some of the teachers. Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Flitwick, Sprout, Hagrid. That’s it,” Artemis frowned. “But none of them would be working with R. We know we can trust all of them.”

“Can we?”

“Yes. It wouldn’t have been any of them. Anyone might have walked into the grounds that night-”

“You said that they were walking from the castle.”

“Or Apparated!”

“You can’t Apparate on Hogwarts grounds.”

“I did it just the other day.”

“They lower the enchantments for the Apparition classes,” Bill said, his face grim. “Artemis, I know these people are all people we know, but think about it. We all thought we could trust Rakepick, Jacob thought he could trust R…”

But Artemis shook her head, stubbornly refusing to consider what Bill was telling her.

“No. These are our friends. There must be an explanation, someone must’ve come in by a secret passage or…”

As she spoke, Artemis noticed two flashes of red hair outside Zonko’s joke shop. The Weasley twins must have snuck out of the castle again. She had an idea.

“Never mind,” she said to Bill. “I just know it wasn’t anyone in the Circle of Khanna. No one would betray Rowan like that.”

“But-”

“Don’t you think it’s a weird place to leave messages for someone, right under the Whomping Willow? It seems like you’re asking to get Whomped.”

“Are you changing the subject, Hexley?”

“I might be, Bill. I might be.”

Bill may have given up on trying to persuade Artemis that she may not be able to trust one of her friends, but she had not given up on the idea that someone else may have entered the grounds that night via one of the castle’s many secret passages. At dinner that night, she made a note of where the Weasley twins were sitting, and as soon as she saw them leave the Great Hall (their pockets looking suspiciously stuffed full), she followed them out towards the grand staircase.

“Fred! George!” she called after them, and they both struck overly nonchalant poses.

“Hey, Artemis, what’s up?” asked Fred, his voice consciously casual. Artemis rolled her eyes.

“I don’t care what you two are up to with the Zonko’s products you bought earlier,” she told him.

“How did you-”

“Never mind that. Do you two still have the map you found in Filch’s office last year?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I need to know more about the passages in and out of the school,” Artemis told them. “Didn’t you say there were a few even Filch doesn’t know about?”

“There were four,” muttered George, with a dark look. “But after your brother used the one in the lake house last year, we’re down to three.”

“And one of those we can’t even use,” Fred sighed deeply.

“Why not?”

“Because it goes from right under the Whomping Willow.”

Artemis’ eyes widened. “What?”

“The passage goes from under the Whomping Willow,” George repeated his brother’s words. “Really, Artemis. Do try and keep up.”

“Where does the passage go?” Artemis asked, ignoring the twins’ dramatic eye rolls.

“We don’t know. It disappears right off the edge of the map.”

“So, you’ve never tried to find out where it goes?”

“Of course we haven’t!”

“You have seen the Whomping Willow, haven’t you? No way we’d go down there.”

George shook his head. “We can be reckless-”

“And over-ambitious,” Fred chipped in.

“-but we are not…”

“We are most definitely not…”

“Stupid.” The twins finished their sentences in perfect unison.

“Well, you could’ve fooled me,” Artemis sighed. “You don’t happen to know of anyone who might know where it goes, do you?”

“No,” George shrugged his shoulders, looking a little like Charlie as he did so. “Sounds like a pretty good way to get killed, if you ask me.”

“So maybe you should try asking the ghosts,” said Fred. “We’ve got stuff to do right now, anyway.”

Already tired of the twins, Artemis sighed heavily and left them to whatever it was they were doing with their bag of Zonko’s products, which smelled suspiciously like dungbombs.

The following weekend, the third Quidditch match of the year was taking place, with Ravenclaw playing Slytherin. Having taken on the Slytherin team earlier in the year and experienced their new Captain’s strategies, Artemis couldn’t say that she envied the Ravenclaws, nor fancied their chances. It didn’t appear that Andre Egwu, the Ravenclaw Keeper and now Captain, did either; Artemis had never seen him look so nervous as he did at breakfast on Saturday morning, though his robes were as pristine as always.

Artemis made her way down to the Quidditch stands with Penny and Tonks - Chiara already stationed on the pitch, having volunteered to help Madam Pomfrey provide first aid if required - ready for the start of the match, but as the girls walked through the grounds, she noticed someone walking in the opposite direction, away from the Quidditch pitch and towards the Whomping Willow. As they had been on New Year’s Eve, the person wore a hooded cloak, which completely obscured their face.

“I won’t be a minute. Save me a seat,” Artemis told Penny and Tonks, before disappearing under the stands to transform into her Animagus form and, cat-shaped, running across the grounds in pursuit of the hooded stranger.

From a slight distance, she watched as they paused near the Whomping Willow, just out of reach of its moving branches. That was exactly what they had done on New Year’s Eve, Artemis thought, but that time they had sent Sickleworth in to dive beneath the tree. Now that Sickleworth was in Dorset, what would they do? Surely, no one would so stupid as to try to climb underneath the Whomping Willow themselves…

Luckily for them, the person in the hood had some sense, though Artemis herself could not make any sense of what they were doing. They removed their wand from their robes and used it to levitate a stick, which under their guidance floated towards the tree and poked it gently near the base of its thick trunk. Instinctively, Artemis moved backwards, but instead of lashing out, the tree stopped moving entirely. The cloaked stranger lowered their wand, walked straight up to the tree, and disappeared beneath it, the Whomping Willow not even stirring as they did.

Artemis looked over her shoulder before switching back into her usual girl-shaped form, and frowning, went over to investigate. She had never dared go so close to the Whomping Willow before, having always wanted to keep as many of her bones unbroken as possible, but now that it was motionless, she was able to walk straight up to it. Now that she was in close proximity to the tree, she could clearly see that its twisted roots looped around a hole beneath the base of the tree.

“Lumos!”

The tip of Artemis’ wand lit up, and she shone it down the hole. There seemed to be a tunnel in the ground beneath, though it was too dark to get even an inkling of where the passage might lead to, even with Artemis’ bright wandlight and winter sun illuminating its entrance.

A shadow appeared over the roots of the tree, and there was suddenly less light entering the tunnel. Something was blocking out the sunlight, and whatever it was, it was moving. Artemis’ heart skipped a beat, and she stopped looking down the hole, instead turning her face straight upwards. Above her head, the Whomping Willow was beginning to stir.

Quick as a flash, Artemis leapt away from the tree, and not a moment too soon, because a split second later, a clubbed branch slammed down to the ground at the exact point where she had just been standing. A second branch descended on her, and she jumped out of its way and began to run as fast as her feet could carry her, dodging every blow the Whomping Willow aimed at her. She was almost out of its reach when a whip-thin tendril-like branch caught her leg, and started to wrap around her shin.

“Diffindo!” she shouted, pointing her wand at the thin tree branch.

It broke, but her relief was short lasted. Another branch, much thicker and more forceful than the last, was heading straight for her. She flung herself out of its reach, landing heavily on the ground. Above her, one more branch flew down through the air, and she only just managed to roll out of its path. It struck the ground with a loud thud that reverberated through Artemis’ body, but did not hit her.

She scrambled to her feet and moved even further away from the tree, which seemed to calm down, as if it knew that she were now safely out of its reach. Her heart still pounding in her chest, she looked down at herself. She was filthy, covered in dirt and grass stains, she had a cut on her shin, a hole in the knee of her jeans, and grazes on her arms, but otherwise, she was unharmed.

Fred and George were right, she thought to herself as she limped back up the path away from the Whomping Willow, trying to get into that passage wasn’t just reckless, it was stupid. And yet, the stranger in the cloak had managed to make the tree freeze, and had descended below it without getting so much as scratched, let alone whomped. So clearly, it was doable if you knew how. But who would know how?

The answer came to Artemis almost immediately. Jacob. Her brother had uncovered almost all of the secrets of Hogwarts castle during his time at school. But, seeing as he was now in Azkaban prison, she would have to find the next best thing. She smirked to herself. Yet another thing Fred and George had been right about; she really was better off asking one of the ghosts.

Duncan Ashe, Jacob’s former best friend and erstwhile lover, now haunted the prefects’ bathroom on the fifth floor of the castle. He and Artemis were not on the best terms, and she would usually have brought Charlie along with her to mediate, but given that he would still be watching the Quidditch, she was just going to have to deal with Duncan by herself.

As Artemis predicted, Duncan was not all too happy to see her.

“What do you want this time?” he asked, glaring at her over the top of a toilet cubicle.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Go on, then,” Duncan sighed heavily. “Get it over with so I can get back to my haunting.”

“It’s about the secret passages around Hogwarts,” said Artemis. “I need to know where one goes to, and I thought you might know.”

“Why can’t you just go and find out for yourself?”

“I tried that, but the passage is guarded by the Whomping Willow.”

Duncan’s features froze, and his ethereal body seemed to stiffen.

“What do you want to know about the Whomping Willow passage for?” he asked, his voice almost hoarse sounding.

“I’ve been seeing someone coming and going there, leaving and carrying quill messages. I thought they might have something to do with-”

“The Cabal.”

“Yeah,” Artemis nodded. She tilted her head to one side, trying to read the expression in Duncan’s eyes. “You know exactly where that passage goes to, don’t you?”

“It goes to somewhere R liked to use as a meeting place back when they first made contact with your brother. It was close to the school, so close that they could keep watch on us, and it had a passage that went straight here.”

“Yes, but where exactly is it?”

“The Shrieking Shack,” said Duncan. “It’s a clever place to choose. After all, no one would have found them unless they knew they were there.”

“But the Shrieking Shack is right in the middle of Hogsmeade!” Artemis wrinkled her nose. “Wouldn’t someone notice something?”

“Not necessarily, no one ever wants to go there, not even the ghosts. That’s the beauty of it, I guess. It’s hidden in plain sight,” Duncan frowned, and cast a glance at the mermaid gently snoring in the stained glass window before turning back to Artemis. “You say that there have been quill messages and someone has been going in and out of there?” he asked, and Artemis nodded in response. “That’s not good. It means that they’re planning something.”

“It does?”

“Yeah. That’s how it started. After your brother discovered them, that’s how we first started making contact. We’d go there to meet one of their members.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, we always called her ‘The Director’. I got the feeling that she was their leader, or maybe second in command. Anyway, Olivia hadn’t been keen on us meeting with R from the start, and she really didn’t like the Director, so she left us. The two of us kept going, but then… Well, there was someone else sending messages, too. Not long after that, I died.”

“Duncan,” Artemis frowned. “How did you die, exactly?”

“We were instructed to prepare to fight the dragon in the Buried Vault, and Jacob suggested using a potion, as dragons have spellproof hides. We made one together from a recipe Jacob found, and I noticed that he was adding Erumpet horn instead of Bicorn horn. The cauldron was going to explode, and he was right next to it, so I pushed him out of the way,” Duncan shivered, and Artemis noticed for the first time that the ends of his hair were singed. “I saved Jacob, but I couldn’t get out of the way quickly enough.”

“You said before that Jacob killed you.”

“The potion was his idea, he came up with the recipe, he added the Erumpet horn. He even found me and apologised for killing me.”

“Because he felt like it was his fault, not because he actually killed you!” Artemis glared at Duncan. “It was an accident all along!”

“But don’t you see? He found the recipe, but he never said where he found it. And Erumpet horn wasn’t on the ingredients list. Jacob was good at potions, he’d have known not to put it in, and he’d have known the difference between that and Bicorn horn,” Duncan shook his head. “He came to apologise, he said he wished that things had been different, but that it was the only way. The Cabal said they needed a sacrifice in order to get what they wanted.”

“What did the Cabal want?”

“He didn’t say exactly, but I’m guessing they wanted whatever was in the final Vault, because he told me that he had found a way to break all the Curses and end the Vaults once and for all, he just needed to buy himself time to do it. Because until he’d achieved that they wouldn’t stop coming.”

“Coming for what?”

“Him. You. The school, and everyone in it,” Duncan’s expression was grim. “Whatever is in that final Vault must be powerful beyond imagination, because these people, the Cabal, they will destroy everything that is in their path in order to get it. They will lie and betray and hurt and kill, because they don’t care about anything but the Vaults and the secrets they hide. I don’t think there is anything that they would not do. They’ll stop at nothing, and they won’t stop.”

“Unless someone stops them,” said Artemis.

“No one can stop them. Even Jacob knew that. There’s only one way, and that is to break the Curses before they do,” Duncan replied.

“But what if-”

“There is no what if. They will not rest until the curses are broken, and while the Cabal and the Cursed Vaults are still out there, none of us can rest either. None of us is safe, and none of us will be truly free.”

Duncan let out a deep and mournful sigh and floated away, disappearing through the far wall of the bathroom, leaving Artemis with only the sleeping mermaid in the stained glass window for company.

#artemis hexley #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #hphm #the hexley saga #corey hayden #bill weasley #george weasley #fred weasley #duncan ashe

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