#like draco malfoy let death eaters into hogwarts yeah that was pretty terrible but harry full heartedly just left that guy to die

[brainjuicey]

the bathroom scene in harry potter 6 is my personal equivalent to the baseball scene in twilight

#bitch boy crying HOTT #harry not stopping to care that he survives #the stareoff with snape #snape being the half blood prince!! #the countercurse #snape once again being the only person who cares that these kids don't feckin die every 2 seconds #the INJUSTICE of it all #like draco malfoy let death eaters into hogwarts yeah that was pretty terrible but harry full heartedly just left that guy to die #its one of those climactic moments where things make sense only with foreshadowing and general knowhow of the rest of the series #knowing snape was actually good and that james bullied him at school #watching harry repeat that role in his harassment of draco malfoy #who everyone knows the circumstances of his evolvement of becoming a death eater #snape is evil imo #but not draco malfoy #i think his story is really compelling. family right and wrong duty trust loyalty terror guilt love suffering torture and envy #ill never forget how draco and harry are just two sides of the same coin

[prongsandhisfoot]

what's your opinion on draco malfoy in general, both canon and fanon? I read your post on hp ships and was just wondering

thank you so much for asking! this is a tough one, mostly since i have a lot of opinions about draco malfoy--and not very many are original.

for reference, here's the parts with malfoy in them from a post i made a few months ago. i don't agree with everything i wrote anymore, but the parts about draco are pretty consistent with my current thoughts.

2. DRARRY - 0/10. i had a drarry phase at the start of this year. it’s regrettable. some good fics, yes. toxic, terrible, horrible relationships? yeah. i can’t even take AUs where draco is good now. even those where he’s raised by sirius or andromeda or something.

3. DRAMIONE - 0/10. called her a slur, (genuinely) hoped she died. very much bullied her. weird as fuck as a whole. though it’s fine to read it! i’ve read worse, i’m just opinionated and picky. i also can’t see him as anything but gay, which is kind of sad since i hate him.

i think the first thing to mention is that i have an irrational hatred of him. it starts like this: i become obsessed with harry potter fanfics and get sucked into drarry fanfiction. and then i realise huh, this isn't that great of a guy, after i reread the books. and then i keep seeing content of people loving him and fics centered around him and a reasonable dislike skyrockets into irrational hate. i don't hate him as much as snape, but i can easily admit that i dislike him more than is necessary.

so. onto my perception of him as a character! starting with canon. one of the things that bugged me about the hp reunion was how much they emphasized draco malfoy's terrible childhood. so let's start with his childhood. malfoy grew up loved, extremely loved. that's an incredibly important part of his character and the part most often bastardized--because of the movies, i assume. both lucius and narcissa malfoy loved him, and very important parts of the books (narcissa betraying voldemort! draco's attempt to kill dumbledore! lucius didn't have as much of a plot-relevent love for draco, but throughout the books it was shown--his actions at the battle of hogwarts are just one example) are because of his parents' love for him and his love for his parents. the malfoys were loving. that does not make them good or good parents, but draco absolutely had a happy childhood. all he could want and love; the problem, of course, was the beliefs inflicted on him.

this will be way too long. anyway, draco's actions don't make him evil--i don't believe that. it's true he was a kid, and while two months ago i would have argued loudly that he deserved to be locked up in azkaban for at least a year after, i disagree now. always, though, i agree: his person and his most deadly faults were the result of the bigotry he was taught. that does not excuse it; draco did terrible things and wasn't a good person, whether or not he was taught. i have no doubt that his parents and their parents and their parents all learned their bigotry not through evil but through being taught it--that doesn't make them not bad people. lucius was willing to kill an eleven-year-old girl. he voluntarily became a death eater. narcissa did crappy things too, death eater or not. they deserve to be held accountable, and draco does too.

my present/past tense sucks with these things, lol.

let's see...i have a lot more to say, but i'll pick and choose!

draco malfoy was a bully. and a bigot. that doesn't just change. another thing i often see that i disagree with: he didn't ever change his bigoted mindset during the war. there's two main "good" things he does--first, not kill dumbledore (lol). second, let harry have his wand. people often interpret that as him...liking muggleborns suddenly? the entire dumbledore fiasco was because of his love for his parents and that he didn't want to kill, or wouldn't have been able to. dumbledore was offering him a way out; it doesn't mean anything fundamental about him changed. when malfoy manor comes around, that kid is fucking afraid. and he's still not "good," which is to be expected. it is very, very good that harry got malfoy's wand. otherwise voldemort would be alive. so yes, malfoy played a (very very small) part in voldemort's death--and no where does he ever change his mindset. no where (nowhere?) does he stop being a bigot or a bully.

ok, fanon stuff...i think i brought up a bunch of fanon stuff through that. "fanon" definitely butchers his character, and even if you like draco there's important parts with him having a happy childhood and etc. that it doesn't make sense to ignore. but there's good fanon ideas of him too. no hate to any draco lovers or etc., his character can be done well and even perfectly.

the movies definitely made it worse. but that's true for everything! draco, snape, hermione, and ron were the worst victims of the movies, imo.

and lastly, as for drarry. like the snippet i pasted mentioned, i once had a drarry phase. i now exclude the pairing every time i search for a fic. that mostly comes from my first mention--my dislike of him being irrational. because people keep liking him so much, because he's so distorted--i tend to hate hate hate him and can't bear reading stuff that's draco-positive. draco-neutral, i can get with. bashing isn't necessary.

i still have three drarry fics in my bookmarks, though! (i'm at 109 right now, so please ask for recs on literally anything!) i will happily rec https://archiveofourown.org/works/473335/chapters/819506. i read it a while ago, but i still remember it, since the concept is so fucking cool and (as far as i remember) the execution was great.

but yeah--i don't like when people change his character completely, too. like when it's basically an oc, when they have it so he was always good or something--i can't bear it. just out of irrational annoyance.

so there you go! thanks so much for asking, again. i doubt anyone will read this whole thing, but if you do--wow, thank you! i forgot about tumblr lol, but just posting my opinions here (in a hopefully shorter fashion) sounds fun to do again, since i have a lot more.

tldr--i find him incredibly annoying. a bigoted bratty bully. but not evil. and not unredeemable--just redeem him away from me!

#draco malfoy #drarry #harry potter #i feel like this is the wrong post to tag drarry but eh #harry potter fanfiction #draco malfoy fanon #harry potter headcanon #harry potter fanon #harry potter opinions

[malfoygrass]

I never talk about an ot3 for Draco and Astoria, so...I interrupt my regular programing to talk about my first ot3 Headcannon for Draco and Astoria and Harry. Because I figured if Draco and Astoria ever decided to go in that direction, Harry would be 100% there with them. 

Hear me out:

At first they don’t have anything in common, there’s Harry who feels so out of place in a world that practically worships him that it’s funny. Draco who’s coming to terms with the fact that he needs to change his old ways and Astoria, the morally ambiguous girl who was suffocated by her family's hypocrisy and refused to let Draco wallow in self pity.

Astoria was trying to run away from home when she accidentally found Draco hiding in her train compartment, they're not even friends, just two perfectly sad people who feel better together than apart after the battle of Hogwarts. But they run away together, because he's an ex death eater and she's a broken pureblood, both trying figure out how to build up their lives from scratch, now that Voldemort is dead.

Just two halfway rebellious teens trying to make sense of a present in which they are called adults. (Astoria refuses to call herself or Draco blood traitors, since there was nothing to betray in the first place)

And that’s how they find Harry Potter, in between house hunting in Muggle London, shopping in muggle malls, Draco's panic attacks out over his dark mark and the hallucinations of her survival guilt. they find Harry Potter, who goes to the same cafe each afternoon and also has a lost look in his eyes that Astoria is familiar with. Harry who for reasons of his own also wanted to run away from a world that doesn't really see him. Harry who feels alone after losing so much and yet finds peace in his own company.

So being the person she is, Astoria invites him over to Draco’s new muggle house for posh tea and crap takeout and when the night is over and the mutual apologies are exhausted. Draco tells Harry he's welcome to stay in his guest room whenever he wants.

Astoria's presence is a joy to find comfort in, a blank slate of opinions for Harry to talk to, she makes it easy for Harry to adapt to Draco, to understand his former arch enemy and find himself in places he never thought to look. their lifestyle isn't demanding or ambitious. To Harry, it seems like all they want is a quiet place to heal and figure out who they are, before the future Lord Malfoy and the youngest Greengrass heiress, can assert their true voices in Magical Britain again, and so he stays... because he needs to figure that out too.

Harry teaches Draco how to use a coffee maker and discovers a new appreciation for every old museum in the UK. Once Astoria learns to sew clothes with magic, Harry and Draco find themselves in too many fancy suits for their liking and being made to judge between all her dresses. They visit all the dance clubs Harry ever wanted to try. Draco proves to be an excellent dancer in every type of muggle music much to Harry's amazement, while Astoria makes them both laugh whenever she tries.

Harry exhausts himself teaching Draco and Astoria about the joy in the simple things of life. While Draco and Astoria try to convince Harry that using money to make life easier is the Muggle version of magic. And the thing is that, the three of them don’t notice when love comes into the mix.

Sure Astoria likes Draco, he’s dramatic and stoic and he’s the closest thing she knows to a mirror, he can read her entire volumes of pretentious books and never gives in to her whining when she’s sick, and she likes Harry, because he’s funny and down to earth and a fierce protector over the people he loves, which includes her, she knows Draco enjoys it, she enjoys it too, how Harry makes them feel safe. She likes them both and they are attractive and she knows they like each other so it’s okay to love them like a friend, until it’s not. (And she doesn't know what to do)

And sure Draco likes Astoria and Harry, Astoria because she’s soft and forgiving and she’s got hope enough for the two of them and he’s pretty sure she’d support him even if he turned into a monster and Harry because he’s Harry and past history aside, Harry is just as forgiving as Astoria, he doesn’t put up with Draco’s moods and he gives as good as he gets, Draco likes Harry’s raw honesty, his sarcasm, his sense of humor, if Astoria feels like home, then Harry feels like adventure without leaving home, they both make him happy, Harry and Astoria know enough about muggle culture to lose themselves in London with him, pulling him out of his shell and tag teaming his defenses until he gives in, he is happy to have them both, until he wants more (but he doesn't know how to tell them he wants them both)

And Harry, well he feels like Draco and Astoria are a perfect combination of kindness and spite. He likes Astoria, probably more than he should, given that she’s the archetypal white princess to Draco’s black prince, she’s understanding and patient, warm, mischievous and strong in her fragility, and Harry has never met someone who can speak about caring for one’s enemies like Astoria does, she’s simply the kind of girl who brings comfort wherever she goes and Draco, Harry has learned to like Draco, underneath the pretentious idiocy, there’s actually a good person. Draco is mean, and stubborn, but he’s also smart, ingenious, terribly generous and stupidly indulgent with people he cares about, which are not many, so Harry likes him. They are both more innocent than they should, too prone to overspending, he always feels like they don't know enough of the Muggle world to avoid being swindled, he finds it endearing, and it’s okay to be their friend, until it’s not (he knows he's inlove, but nobody's ever told him it's okay to love two people at once)

It starts when Astoria's nightmares return. Dreams of dead people blaming her for surviving the carnage that make her scream herself awake, Usually Draco is used to awkwardly climbing in her bed and soothing her until she falls back asleep. But this time Harry gets there first and he's much better at it than him (Astoria responds better to Harry's reassurances than she does to Draco's). So Draco lets her calm down in Harry's arms untill she's well enough turn around and seek Draco's more stable and familiar presence.

It's a dynamic that neither Harry or Draco mind, much to Astoria's embarrassment. Truth be told the three of them have nightmares, but only Astoria is held and cuddled by the two of them anytime she so much as whimpers in her sleep. So when Harry wakes up in cold sweat and pretends to be checking up on Astoria only to find that Draco had the same idea, they don't make a big deal out it.

Because Harry has PSTD episodes almost as often as Draco and turning the house into a safe place to heal is what they've been trying to do since the beginning.

Harry needs Draco to remind him how to act normal and sarcastic and he needs Astoria to soothe him into a state of calm. Draco knows they need each other a little bit more at night, and Harry thinks it's nothing to be ashamed of. So Draco isn't. Astoria is weak, Harry is a protector and Draco is a provider. Aside from falling inlove with a classmate's little sister, It's natural to be so close with the boy who used to be your school rival...right?

Astoria's room becomes neutral ground. It eventually gets filled with Harry's things and Draco's things of course. After all her room was meant to be the biggest anyway (Since Draco in all his sexist assholery thought Astoria owned a wardrobe as big as his mother's so she should have the biggest closet) besides it's saves them all time to have Draco's hair products on hand instead of going trough all the trouble of stealing them from his room

Eventually Draco's room turns into an office for Harry and the guest room becomes the potions lab Draco always wanted....

Aaand after a few months of living together, healing together and learning to fit in the muggle world. They decide it's time to go back to face the magical world and their responsibilities.

It turns into a panicked discussion about everything their families and friends are going to expect from them once they rejoin the real world, and in a true Griffindoor fashion Harry makes the first move and tells them he wants to stay together.... But romantically, because at least he is trying to be brave cue the two emotionally constipated Slytherins admitting their feelings.

So there's a lot of talking and more than some kissing involved in that whole emotional confession time. They decide that if they are going to be together then it's going to be them against the world and thats going to be an uphill battle but they're willing to, if it's with the other two.

And yeah that's how I imagine an Ot3 between Draco Harry and Astoria would go

Ps: could someone tell me what this ship is called? Drastroriary? Drarryoria? Haroriaco?

#Drastoria #astoria greengrass #draco malfoy #Harry Potter #draco x Astoria x harry #ot3 <3 #ot3 au

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Yeah, so I read your HP headcanons/analysis and I found it really well put. I was wondering about your thoughts on Dumbledore and who he really was as a person. (It’s okay if you don’t really want to reply :> )

We’re just getting all up into The Carnivorous Muffin headcanon land, aren’t we?

Well, this one’s probably obvious to anyone who reads my work.

I fall on the manipulative Dumbledore side of things and then some. Dumbledore is not only a bastard man but is a raging misogynist and extremely classist (which is funny because I don’t see too many people calling him out for those last two when to me canon all but shouts it at you). 

Basically, what it comes down to, is even taken in very good faith I simply cannot read Dumbledore’s actions as benign in pretty much every single goddamn decision he makes ever.

God, where do I even start here? I guess we can go chronologically.

Well, there was Dumbledore’s Wizard Nazi youth with an oddly Dorian Gray flare to it with Gellert. I think it’s fairly obvious why Dumbledore’s not exactly... good there so I’m going to skip past it. Suffice to say, it took his sister’s death (and maybe murdering his own invalid sister) for Dumbledore to stop planning world domination. Even then it wasn’t so much that world domination was wrong, but because his sister died and he was an asshole.

I’m going to go ahead and include CoG and Fantastic Beasts because I can (CoG, while a terrible movie, actually does entertain me in many ways). Anyways, before the films came out I always considered the younger Dumbledore far more stoic and brooding. He doesn’t get his eccentric persona until after the defeat of Grindelwald and was before then angsty mcangsts and an academic at heart. 

Well, per CoG, apparently he was a budding spy master long before defeating Gellert/Voldemort popped up. We see him manipulating Newt, sending him to Paris as his own agent, WHEN NEWT DOESN’T WANT TO GO AND HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT DUMBLEDORE USED HIM INTHE LAST FILM. Dumbledore writes off having used Newt for his own agenda with a charming smile but none the less it paints a pretty grim picture that Albus has always been... Albus. There has always been a greater good out there somewhere and the man is always using someone as a pawn.

Cut to canon and his treatment of Tom Riddle. Frankly, Dumbledore’s treatment of the young Tom Riddle, and even Tom Riddle just before he came Voldemort, is insane. The thought experiment I like to run is “replace Tom in those scenes with Harry Potter”.

Harry was a poor orphan, whose guardians would more than match what Mrs. Cole said about Tom Riddle, who had spurts of accidental magic now and then and enjoyed when his bully cousin was discomfitted. Now, imagine Dumbledore giving Harry his letter, and then pretending to light all of Harry’s possessions on fire to “teach him a lesson”. What the fuck?

Now, am I saying Tom Riddle wasn’t creepy here and that killing a rabbit was terrible. No. But I am saying Dumbledore had a horrible reaction to it and is proud of it years later. (Also, the fact that he uses this memory to convince Harry of how evil Tom is, is hilarious to me. Dumbledore, you were the shit that lit people’s wardrobes on fire. If I was Tom, I’d be upset too). 

Dumbledore is always like this with Tom Riddle. He thinks the worst of Tom even in points where Tom hasn’t done anything. I’m not talking about later when, yes, Tom did live up to Dumbledore’s fears but when Dumbledore treats him like garbage and actively sabotaged Tom’s career.

Anyways, cut to later when the Marauders are in school. One of the big things is that Dumbledore puts up a guerilla resistance gang OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. While most members are older, James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are all only just out of Hogwarts. “Well,” you say, “It’s their choice and they did graduate. Surely Dumbledore wasn’t actually recruiting school children.” I point you towards canon, where Dumbledore convinces three actual school children that the fate of the nation rests on their shoulders and to go fight the good fight. So yes, Dumbledore canonically uses child soldiers and has no regret for doing so.

The other is letting James and Sirius off the hook for the Lupin incident. While Dumbledore talks the talk this showed that he was not willing to walk the walk. True, while getting them into major trouble would have involved outing Lupin (who was innocent in all of this) at the same time they were nearly responsible for the murder of another student. It’s very convenient that Dumbledore lets off the rich son of a lord, two individuals who later end up in the resistance movement (Potter likely funding part of it), and tells the impoverished half blood to sit down and shut up.

And in canon, yes, I believe that Dumbledore absolutely knew what Harry’s home condition was like. While the blood wards are an excuse they aren’t a particularly good one as for most of Harry’s childhood the Death Eaters were all accounted for. Harry was in no extreme danger from them. To not have had an inkling of Harry’s home life (when Harry even hints at it when wanting to stay over the summer, Harry runs away from home in third year, Fred and George see the bars on the window, and he even visits Harry’s home in sixth year) would be such laughable incompetence and stupidity it’s right out.

With that, I absolutely do believe what Snape showed us in the memory, the Dumbledore behind the scenes as it were. That Dumbledore knew fairly early that Harry Potter was a horcrux and began grooming Harry for suicide. Specifically, that’s what sixth year really is. All those memories of Tom Riddle, the pretext to get some memory from Slughorn, it’s an excuse for a smear campaign designed to convince Harry that Tom Riddle is inherently evil and must die at all costs, even Harry’s own life. 

Dumbledore didn’t need that Slughorn memory. Sure, it was useful to know Tom intended to make seven but think about it. How did Dumbledore know there’d be anything remotely useful in there? He doesn’t know that Tom actually drops a number on Slughorn. Even then, he doesn’t know whether Tom actually goes and does it. All of it felt like, “Harry, I have a super secret important mission that only YOU can do. Can you handle it, Harry? Because without this the country is surely doomed” And in that I mean it was an effort to win back Harry’s favor after the previous year meltdown, keep him busy, and start in on the excuse to show Harry some pretty damn innocuous memories of Tom Riddle and go, “See, HE IS EVIL!”

Due to this, I frankly think that the train scene was a hallucination on Harry’s part. Wishful thinking for some gentle explanation of how Dumbledore had not cruelly used him for years and intended his death. 

Well, that and it never made much sense that Dumbledore could predict Harry’s a) becoming the master of death b) miraculous second resurrection.

In the first case, Harry becomes master of death because of wand lore bullshit and happenstance where Harry happens to save Draco’s life. Dumbledore had no idea such a thing would happen. Dumbledore’s plan was for there to be no master of death, as the wand would default to having no owner when Snape defeated Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders. That Draco got the wand is a sort of Deus ex Machina. Sorry guys, Dumbledore intended Harry to die.

More, even then, while Dumbledore was very into the occult of these things we leave canon without any idea if these things are even responsible for his resurrection. They’re just relatively nifty objects with a legend behind them. There was nothing concrete to suggest that, should Harry happen to get all of them, he would be able to rise from the dead.

Otherwise onto the misogyny and classism parts.

In terms of misogyny this is from every time Dumbledore talks about Lily Evans or Merope Gaunt. In the case of Lily, she’s this weird Madonna figure whose love for Harry was so powerful it saved his life. That she also happened to make these blood wards Dumbledore cannot reproduce and extended her protection to Harry wherever he went is irrelevant. It’s her love that counts. That feminine, maternal, love purer than all others.

Basically, Dumbledore seems to be of the belief that women are flowers. The best of women are these demure, selfless, brave women who sacrifice themselves for their children. Yikes, Dumbledore.

Merope’s the really bad one though. Merope’s tale is how she drugged and raped a defenseless muggle for months and then he escaped. Dumbledore spins it into this Victorian tale of woe where Tom Riddle Sr. THE KIDNAPPED RAPE VICTIM is the asshole here who abandoned Merope to the merciless cold world. How dare he. 

It’s very clear that Dumbledore doesn’t see Merope, or women in general, as people. Instead these weird Victorian ideals who can be tragic victims of circumstance.

As for the classism.

While Dumbledore’s very against the pureblood culture we see in the Malfoys a lot of his treatment of Tom Riddle feels very... classist. The big one, which is a little tangential but I say it counts, is Dumbledore’s theory that children of rape are incapable of love. Granted, he’s saying this while convincing Harry to kill himself for the good of the cause and there is a real world parallel in that alcohol/drugs while pregnant is a very bad idea that can lead to extreme mental and physical health disorders. That said, we’re talking love potions at conception, and it always read more as “rape babies” vs. specific drugs. And that is... just yikes on so many levels.

Now, do I agree with manipulative Dumbledore we see in many fics? No, because Dumbledore’s not that stupid.

He doesn’t need to borrow money from Harry’s vault, he doesn’t need to pay off Hermione and Ron to be Harry’s friends, he doesn’t need to choose Harry’s friends for him, he doesn’t need to manipulate Harry’s memories directly. He doesn’t need to do any of this because he got what he wanted just fine in canon.

Dumbledore is one of the smartest characters in canon, far smarter than Harry, and he doesn’t have to stoop to such outrageous schemes to get what he wants. Poorly concealed smear campaigns convincing Harry to commit suicide are more than enough.

#ask #anon #headcanons #albus dumbledore #manipulative dumbledore #dumbledore is pretty damn evil guys #as in there is pretty much not a single action you can point to where i'll say it was reasonable and not in some way underhanded #except maybe his choice in wardrobe #the man has some elton john style

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

How’ve you never been a Draco anti? Just cause he was a teenager doesn’t mean he had the right to make disgusting racist comments and do other ignorant shit. Age is just a number. I don’t mean that in a creepy sexualising way or anything but there’s never an age where it’s okay or acceptable to be racist and just be a terrible person overall. Sorry I’m all for respecting opinions and whatever but I really can’t comprehend how you apparently didn’t go anti for him. You called him insufferable in the Malfoy TLSQ but that wasn’t even him at his worst 😒

(Going under the cut, this became a #LongPost)

Did I say that? I don't doubt it but I have no memory of this and I don't really think I'd agree with that description anyway. Because he really wasn't insufferable during that quest, you're right. He was pretty spoiled for sure, and if anything I was pleased to see that side of him which the films could occasionally downplay. Like, don't get me wrong, Jason Isaacs is amazing, but he has specifically talked about his motivation during interviews, how he wanted to build sympathy for Draco by being such a cruel father. Which is just...not the kind of dynamic Lucius and Draco had, and I've talked about this before, but Lucius abusing Draco is just very out-of-character if you ask me. It's also the secret backstory of every cheesy Draco redemption fanfic ever and by no means is that limited to his character, but he's a prominent example of the trope. Ben Solo is another.

As far as the books go, Draco is another character like Snape where he gets downplayed. In the early books, he was such a pain in the ass, but I never took him seriously as a threat even as a child. I knew enough about bullying to recognize how small he felt on the inside. In no way does this make it okay for him to behave the way he does in books 1-5, I'm just saying that he was scarcely a character that I would even argue earned the title of "villain." He was Harry's school rival. The worst thing he did, by far, was the entire framing of Buckbeak. Painting this narrative of him being the innocent victim of a savage monster, with Hagrid as the negligent fool who let it happen. Draco felt humiliated and wanted revenge, and he saw an opportunity to try and get Hagrid fired. And amazingly, despite an entire classroom of witnesses who can verify that Hagrid did everything by the books and that Draco's own arrogance got him just a minor scratch....he is still, even next year, telling people like Rita Skeeter about the Hippopriff attack. How is he getting away with that? Well, I say this, and then I remember that the man behind the "Anti Vaccine" study had his license revoked after it was debunked and yet he continued to give lectures about the dangers of vaccines...

Boy, I'm getting off topic. Draco's character just doesn't bother me that much because I don't take him seriously. The Buckbeak Incident was his worst moment by far, but he remains a stagnant character for the first five books. And god damn, how can I not empathize with him starting in Half Blood Prince? Voldemort selects him for a mission that he fully expects to result in his death, all to punish Lucius. It is made very clear to Draco that he must murder his school Headmaster, Albus freaking Dumbledore. I have already on many occasions, documented how much this world reveres him as an all powerful, omniscient force of nature. I doubt I need to reiterate just how daunting and impossible this task would and did start to feel for Draco. But the consequences for failure were plainly stated. Either Dumbledore had to die, or Draco and his parents would die. He was all of sixteen years old, and he was cornered by Voldemort, when his family was already deeply involved with the Death Eaters.

I hold nothing against Draco for any choice he made in HBP. What was he supposed to do? He was trapped. He had no reason to trust Snape or Dumbledore, and they were probably his only lifelines. Even if he had managed to escape Voldemort, his parents would still have been in danger. Dumbledore offers them protection up in the Astronomy Tower, but how does Draco know he's telling the truth? How does he know that to be a promise that Dumbledore can keep? In the end, he couldn't do it. He didn't have it in him to take Dumbledore's life. Despite all that pressure on him. I think that means something. The stress of trying to carry out the mission was making him physically ill. Oh, and this was the year that Harry hit him with Secumsempra. Probably the stupidest thing Harry ever did, and I'd say it leaves them even for Ron and the poisoned mead, however indirectly. After Snape kills Dumbledore, Draco just tries to keep his head down. All he can do is nod or shake his head whenever Voldemort addresses him at Death Eater meetings.

When The Golden Trio is captured and taken to Malfoy Manor...Draco's fear, and his growing moral conflict, show themselves again. He cannot commit to identifying Harry, even though we're meant to assume he knew damn well that it was Harry. Now, sure. You can argue that he wanted to wait and be absolutely sure before they went as far as summoning Voldemort. Or you can argue that he just didn't want Voldemort to show up because he was frightened of him. I think that's more likely. Because Harry under a stinging hex is one thing, but Hermione? When asked if Hermione was who they thought she was, he once again gives an evasive "Yeah, it could be." Like it's not clear as day. Draco flip-flops a lot during Deathly Hallows. He does try to capture Harry during the Battle of Hogwarts...and a childhood best friend dies before his very eyes. Ultimately, Harry's choice to save Draco winds up being a positive inversion of his choice to save Wormtail. Saving Wormtail guaranteed Voldemort's return. Saving Draco, on the other hand, ensured Narcissa's cooperation, and thus, it bought enough time for Neville to kill Nagini, and doom Voldemort once and for all. Harry saving Draco made all the difference.

In canon, Draco is little more than a sleazy coward. His story echoes that of Regulus, and sometimes I like to imagine what it would be like if he had taken on a more heroic role toward the end and had a more complete redemption. That said, I don't strictly speaking, mind that he didn't. I love the image of the Malfoys just huddled together after the battle, unsure if they're welcome or not, but no one is actually sparing them a thought. I also like final shot of them in the film, where they just up and leave. That works for them. There was apparently a cut scene where Draco was supposed to throw Harry his wand and properly defect...and while that would have been pretty cool, again: He didn't need a full redemption necessarily. The books kind of ran out of time, especially since there was no eighth year. Draco was not emotionally ready to do the right thing. But he had learned enough about himself and the world to know that he was uncomfortable doing the wrong thing. It's easy to parrot the slurs you're taught from the cradle, but as you get older and are expected to start participating in hate crimes and things of the like...you might begin to realize just how fucked up it all is. Even if the realization is slow. Even if you're not brave enough to take a stand.

TL;DR: Early books Draco is annoying, but no more so than a fly. I just kind of brush him off. Late books Draco is actually a very compelling character and he has my sympathy.

#Draco Malfoy #Harry Potter #Harry Potter Analysis #Lucius Malfoy #Narcissa Malfoy #Lord Voldemort #Harry Potter Books #Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince #Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening! I'm writing for Drarropoly for @gameofdrarry this year along with my girlfriend so I hope you guys check my stories out and have a good time reading them! 

Position: The Burrow | Theme: Gryffindor. 

Things are always easier in groups. Unless someone is keeping a secret.

Choose one of the following: Group Project Group Date Group Vacation

N.E.W.T.s Level:     + Include non-linear storytelling.     +Include the Established Relationship trope OR the Secretly Pining trope.

Min-Max Word Count: 3333-4444 words

Rating: Teen Audiences 

Tags: Harry Potter, Drarry, Relationship - Drarry, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Hogwarts, Drarropoly 2.0 - A Drarry Game/Fest, secretly pining, Non-Linear Narrative, non-linear storytelling 

Word Count: 3,350

Summary: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter have never gotten along as everyone in their lives will attest to. That's about to change when their so called 'friends' betray them and force them all to go on a group vacation together. 

It goes better than they would have expected.

                              what will this change? (everything)

Harry breathed in the crisp night air sharply, collapsed on the ground and still trying to regain his breath as he shivered at the cold, wet sand pressing against his bare back as warm palms dug into his shoulders. The heat of the palms only grew more prominent as fingers grasped at his skin even harder, Harry’s attention soon shattered and shot as he felt chilled, bare thighs pressed into the skin just above his hips. 

The silence of the night was only broken by crashing, breaking waves of the ocean only a few dozen feet away and the whisper-soft words of, “You’re staring.” Harry, who made absolutely no move to look away, couldn’t help the amused quirk of his lips as his hands moved. Sand still stuck to his palms, but instead they pressed into those chilled thighs, Harry feeling a thrill at the shiver that wracked through the body of Draco Malfoy.

“I could say the same thing about you, you know,” Harry finally said, only absently feeling his heart pounding away as he watched Draco’s eyes flutter, long lashes only just brushing the edges of his cheeks. “The others are probably wondering where we are by now.” 

It was barely a token protest, Harry’s own eyes starting to fall shut as Draco leaned in towards him, whispering a soft, “Probably.” The word brushed against his lips, Harry panting around warm breath as those lips swayed even closer. “We should probably head back.”

“Probably,” Harry repeated, fingertips pressing into soft, cool skin. It was more effort than it should have been to cut himself off with a sharp bite of his lip, watching as Draco breathed out a long, slow breath, thighs shaking on either side of him. “Draco.”

Those lips, chapped and bitten and dry like his own, were so close. Harry could just tilt his head up the smallest amount and… Draco’s shivers echoed against him, the other’s breathing heavy and hot as his hands clutched at him even more tightly, nails scraping against his skin. 

Harry bit back the sharp hiss of what was certainly not pain, instead looking up as he noticed stormy grey eyes looking into his own. They truly were a storm in their own right, swirling with magic and emotion and apologies and explanations and begging and so much. It was the most Draco had ever spoken to him and it was all said without a word. 

“What will this change?” Draco’s question, soft and whispered and immediately whisked away by the summer night breeze, was the question that Harry had been avoiding thinking about — the question they had both been avoiding. 

“I-” Harry shuddered as those lips were so close again, the breath they shared the exact same. Finally, miraculously, Harry managed to choke out, “I don’t know.” But… But, but, but- 

Draco started to lean away, and Harry had a hand on the back of the other’s neck before he could move more than a breath away. Draco froze in his grip and Harry was overcome with the same feeling he always had when he was on the verge of doing something stupid and incredible and overwhelming.

He was standing in front of fierce flames with enough potion for only one person to pass safely through. He was speaking in a language known only to a few, ready to find the truth to the answers kept from him all year. He was staring at himself across a lake, knowing he was about to lose everything and yet safe with the knowledge he wasn’t.

It was the feeling of facing down dragons, and Death Eaters, and mermaids, and the corrupted Ministry, and Tom Riddle, and Dumbledore’s plans, and Death, and it was the feeling of not yet. I’m not ready to let go yet. 

Draco was tense against him, hands shaking from where he had been trying to push himself up before Harry had pulled him back down because Harry really didn’t know what this would change in the end, but… “But isn’t it worth it to find out?”

“Is it?” A hand slipped up to press against Harry’s cheek, Draco’s gaze harsh and heavy. His eyes showed a storm that was ready to break; to rage and scream and destroy. “Is it really worth it?”

Harry was silent, watching that storm grow as excitement beat away in his chest. Finally, somehow, he managed the breath to speak, answering with a soft, “No.” Harry met Draco’s eyes, breathless as he finished, “But you are.”

The storm broke. 

⁂

“Pansy, my dear, you know I care deeply for you, but are you absolutely mad?” It was a terrible enough fate that Draco had been forced into agreeing to spend a summer vacation with Hogwarts’ Golden Trio of all things, but this? This was asking too much of him. “Why can’t I simply room with Blaise? We shared a dorm for seven years!”

“But Draco, darling, Ron is rooming with Blaise on this trip, remember?” Pansy’s sickly-sweet tone was a threat just as much as it was a warning and Draco cursed the day she had made friends with Hermione bloody Granger. Granger, on her part, only seemed as pleased as Pansy, the two standing with their arms linked together and identical smiles on their faces. Bloody harpies. “And there are only a limited amount of rooms available.” 

Draco opened his mouth to argue because like bloody hell that was true. Their little ‘group vacation’ was taking place at the beach house of Pansy’s aunt, and if that woman was one thing it was extravagant. Unfortunately, before Draco could craft an argument that would get him his way, Granger stepped in.

“Oh, that’s right, you were just telling me about that! Your aunt is doing renovations in most of the bedrooms here at the moment, right?” Granger was smiling but the look in her eyes was pure evil. Pansy, the little tart, seemed to get off on it, beaming. 

“Right you are, darling. I’m so glad someone seems to remember the things I tell them.” Pansy snapped her gaze to Potter, who had until that point been silent. Shame it wouldn’t remain that way. “Harry, darling, you’re content sharing a room with Draco, aren’t you?” Ah, but the anger in those shimmering green eyes was always so nice to admire. 

Draco had half a hope that Potter would actually throw his weight around for once and get them out of the mess they were about to be stuck in, but then he looked at Granger. Potter heaved a sigh, tone dull as he responded with defeat, “I’d be perfectly fine with it, yeah.” 

“Excellent!” Pansy clapped her hands together before whisking Granger away to another part of the house to no doubt seduce her into more misdeeds. Weasley, vapid git that he was, didn’t even seem bothered by the Pansy and Granger bonding. 

Instead he just gave a low whistle followed by an idiotic, “Rotten luck about the renovations, huh?” 

Blaise glanced to Draco, a clear look in his eyes of, He really can’t be that stupid, can he? There’s simply no way someone can be that daft. 

Draco, reasonably, turned his own look to Potter, a very, very clear, Of course he’s that bloody stupid. What do you expect? He’s friends with Potter of all people. 

Potter, for one shining glorious moment, looked as if he actually regretted choosing the weasel as the one he was stuck with as a friend for the rest of his life. As it was, he sighed and turned towards the prison cell they were stuck sharing together, “Let’s just settle in. We don’t have to be in these rooms apart from when we’re sleeping.” 

“That’s the part I’m worried about,” Weasley snorted, the heathen. He then glared at Draco, who made sure to give his own nasty glare back. “Perfect chance for a ferret to slit some throats-”

“Why you-!” Draco dropped the bag he had been carrying and stalked forward and so what if the girls had confiscated their wands as soon as they had arrived to teach them a lesson in ‘restraint’? Draco didn’t need magic to teach irritating little weasels a lesson-!

Blaise turned traitor and grabbed him before he could add one more murder to his long life of mistakes, sighing and half-laughing with a cheerful, “Well, this is going to be a fun trip, gentleman, don’t you think?”

“We’ve been here for two hours,” Potter said, stating the obvious as he always did. Honestly, he was good for nothing except brute strength and looking not completely bad. “I’m pretty sure you already made some blood pact with Hermione about something and Draco’s about to kill Ron.” 

“Draco?” Blaise asked before Draco could because since bloody when had he been Draco to that prat? As far as he was aware, they were Malfoy and Potter to the bitter end of the world. Honestly, acting as if the two were friendly after… well, everything. “Since when has he been Draco?”

Potter looked back at Blaise and then at Draco, those bright green killing curse eyes locking with his own. There wasn’t hatred like there had been for so many years — there wasn’t even annoyance and frustration. There was- Merlin, Draco didn’t know what to call those emotions. Breathtaking, perhaps, for a start. 

As Harry spoke, he didn’t look away from him. “You two may feel differently, but we’ve all lost enough after this war and fighting. I think I’ve had enough of enemies and burning bridges for a lifetime.” 

With that he was turning and walking into their room, Draco’s mind spinning a million different ways a minute because that- What had that been? Was he saying that he didn’t want anything to do with Draco anymore? Was he saying he wanted more to do with Draco? Did he, perhaps- Well, did he mean… Was it possible…? 

“You know,” Blaise whispered quietly, finally letting him go. “I think this little ‘vacation’ of ours just got a lot more interesting.” 

⁂

Harry sighed softly against warm, pink skin, lips twitching into a grin as he felt the body pressed against his own give a small shiver, followed by a groggy, “This is a terrible idea, you know.” 

“Absolutely awful,” Harry agreed, lazily shifting on the gritty, sand-covered bed before ducking down to press his lips against more of that smooth, soft skin. His tongue edged out to trace against bright red marks and slowly forming bruises. It was more than gratifying to hear Draco Malfoy give a wrecked, quiet moan that bordered on a whine. “Probably the worst idea we’ve ever had, huh?”

“The worst,” Draco agreed around a soft pant, tilting his head up to allow Harry just the access he needed to nip at already bruised skin. Harry had thought the man had been beautiful in the light of a full moon, but he was now certain that there was nothing more beautiful than Draco Malfoy groggy and half-asleep and hopelessly turned on in the early morning slips of sun that fell over their shared bed. “It’s just going to end in tragedy.” 

“Mhm,” Harry hummed, kissing at the sunlight touched skin and only stopping when fingers were tangling through his hair and tugging sharply. Harry laughed but followed the pull, lips slotting easily against Draco’s own. The kiss was already dangerously familiar, as was the way Draco’s hands dropped down to the back of his neck, pressing him closer — as close as they could get. “Probably use us an example of who not to fall for for years.” 

“Probably,” Draco repeated absently, those grey eyes warm and soft and still edged with sleep. “Harry…” The soft call of his name had shivers running down Harry’s back before he could even try to stop them. He was pretty sure he had never heard a better sound than Draco Malfoy calling his name like that. “It’s… It can’t be this simple.” 

“Why not?” Harry knew what Draco meant. It shouldn’t be so simple for them to just fall together so easily. There should have been far more kicking and fighting and screaming. It should have taken weeks or even months to realize there was something there between them, and even longer than that to act on it. That’s how it should have gone, but… in some fucked up way, Harry was pretty sure it already had gone that way. “Why can’t it be this simple?”

Draco’s hands clenched against him, annoyance starting to filter back into his eyes as he glared at him, muttering a sharp, “You know why. I’m- I was a Death Eater and you’re- You’re Britain’s Golden Boy! You-!”

Harry cut Draco off in his new favorite way, smothering the words with a kiss that Draco slowly but surely fell into. It was not long enough, in Harry’s opinion, when Draco pulled away with a pout, “Stop that. It shouldn’t- It shouldn’t be so simple.” 

“Maybe,” Harry allowed, going back to pressing soft kisses against wherever he could reach, grinning when Draco relaxed into the touches. “You wanna hear what I think, though?”

“What’s it matter what you think. You’re utterly daft,” Draco complained, tilting into the kisses before tapping at Harry’s shoulder blade, a clear message for him to continue. “Well? I’m listening, Potter.” 

Harry snorted, shaking his head and pulling back. He moved a hand to cup Draco’s cheek, grinning when he saw the other’s eyes flutter shut. “I think that I’ve had well enough of the world telling us who we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to do. So… I gave it some thought and you wanna know the answer I came up with.” 

“Mm?” Draco cracked his eyes open, seeming to almost study him before he was pressing his cheek more against Harry’s palm. “And what answer did you come up with, oh brilliant one?” 

Not even trying to smother his laugh, Harry leaned forward until his forehead bumped Draco’s. The sudden heat and craving in the man’s eyes had a shiver crawling down Harry’s own spine. “I decided… that I don’t care.” 

“You- What?” Draco blinked, some of that heat slipping away in favor of confusion. “What do you-”

“I mean that I don’t care what the world thinks or what it wants of me. I defeated their bloody Dark Lord, so now I’m going to do whatever I want — I’m going to chase after whatever makes me happy.” Harry ducked in to press a soft kiss to Draco’s lips, something sweet and short and simple. “And, God help me, you’re the one that makes me happy, Draco Malfoy.” 

Ah, there it was. Draco finally seemed to realize what Harry had been trying to tell him all night. Honestly, he shouldn’t be surprised that Draco was immediately trying to hide his face, cheeks flushed an even brighter red than they were when Harry had him on his back and was pounding into him. “You-! You can’t just-! Bloody prat-!”

“I can do whatever I want,” Harry teased, guiding Draco closer so the man could hide his face against Harry’s chest like he so desperately wanted. Harry wasn’t too upset about it. He had a feeling he would be seeing Draco’s flushed face far more in the future. “Haven’t you heard? I’m the Chosen One.”

Harry laughed as Draco cursed and squirmed against him, doing nothing whatsoever to actually get free or move away — and, really, Harry wasn’t stupid. He knew it wasn’t that simple and that the real world was still out there waiting for them, but… 

Surely it wouldn’t hurt for the two of them to be just Draco and Harry for just a bit longer. After all… they had time.

⁂

Pansy, the little harlot, had waited until Draco had taken a sip of his tea to tell him and Blaise her latest bit of news. As it was, while Draco hadn’t spitten his tea out because he was a gentleman, thank you, he did immediately start choking. Blaise didn’t even attempt to help him, in shock himself — not that Draco could blame him. It wasn’t everyday that their former best friend turned traitor was telling them that she had sold them out to Gryffindors. 

“Are you bloody mental?” Blaise shook his head, paused, and then shook it again. “Is this punishment for something? Have you been imperioused?” 

“It’s a vacation, Blaise,” Pansy lied to their faces, rolling her eyes as if she was in the right. “It’s not as if I’m signing you up for your deaths — besides, we’ll be going to my aunt’s beach house! Draco, darling, you love it there!”

“I do, yes,” Draco agreed, voice harsh from where he had almost died. “It just so happens that I also like it when it’s the three of us and not the three people in this world who most want me dead.”

“Honestly, Draco,” Pansy scoffed, settling back with her own cup and a disappointed cluck of her tongue. “You simply must get over this delusion that you hate Potter when we all want to know you want nothing more than for him to shag you silly-”

“Pancella-!” Draco hissed, and oh, she was never going to hear any good gossip from him ever again! “I am not going on this little suicidal mission you seem so intent on putting together with Granger of all people!”

“Hermione, darling, is perfectly pleasant.” Draco looked to Blaise, who looked just as disturbed as Draco felt over the matter. “And we agree that it’s time we put all of this school rivalry nonsense behind us and, since all of our schedules have lined up just so, we thought it would be great to vacation together!”

Blaise was the one to take up the fight, edging in with a hesitant, “Pansy, you know we love you. Truly, we do. We’ll fight any number of light-loving fools for you, but…” Blaise glanced to Draco, who made sure to show an expression that conveyed how properly upset he was with the matter. “Is this really such a good idea for all of us to go?”

“Honestly,” Pansy tsked. “Potter already agreed to the trip and you know that Weasley will do whatever Hermione asks of him-”

“He agreed?” Draco was surprised to find that he was the one who had spoken since he hadn’t actually meant to voice his question out loud, but… “Potter, knowing full well that I- we’re going to be there still agreed to go?” 

Pansy looked at him, something like sympathy warming her expression. It was far worse than any mocking she could have done. “Actually, Hermione mentioned to me that he hadn’t wanted to go at all until he knew you- Sorry, ‘we’ were going.” 

“Of course,” Draco scoffed, looking away sharply. “The fool probably just jumped at the chance of tormenting me, no doubt.” Still, though… For a moment, just a moment, Draco had heard Potter was going and he felt something like… 

A fool. Draco was an absolute fool who hoped for things that would never happen far too easily. Flights of fancy, as his mother would call them. He had no reason whatsoever to agree to this trip, and, for as much as Pansy seemed to believe she was in charge, she couldn’t make him go along with it.

“So, then.” Pansy sounded close to laughing, Draco firm in keeping his gaze on his empty tea cup, faint memories of tea leaves and their meanings stirring at the back of his mind. “Do you want to go on a vacation with us, Draco?”

She couldn’t make him go. Nothing would change. They would never get along. This was doomed to end in disaster. Draco was not going to go and simply make things worse. He was going to say no. He was going to, but… 

Well… 

“You know, Pansy, dear… A little vacation to the beach sounds lovely right now.” 

Surely, just this once, the world could keep spinning in the face of Draco Malfoy’s hope. 

#harry potter #drarry #draco malfoy #drarropoly #my writing #my moodboards #original

[rons-hermiones]

Come Find Me

Come Find Me

by rons-hermiones

Summary: Unplanned, Hermione is forced to spend Christmas at the Burrow due to her grandmother falling very ill. After being ignored by Hermione for weeks, Ron is determined to show her how much she means to him. Just before he gets the chance to tell her, Bellatrix Lestrange shows up with other plans for Hermione. Can Ron get to her before it's too late? (Ron/Hermione Half-Blood Prince AU)

Rating: M for language & dark themes in later chapters.

Chapter Thirty Six

Hermione’s been doing it on and off since last night. 

By the grace of all things mighty, Jamison and Ron’s parents allowed him to remain vigil by her bedside, watching over her.

He was able to convince them over some bullocks that he’d be able to detect if her mind was really at ease. Which wasn’t a complete lie, but the only thing on his mind was her. Seeing her. Never letting her out of his sight again. 

And it sounds mad, but he knows somewhere deep within himself that her mind’s okay. She’s way too fucking brilliant and too strong to let the likes of those Death Eaters take away her greatest strength. 

She has to be okay. 

And when he isn’t spending his time worrying himself about her in here, he’s worried about what’s out there.

The Death Eaters could come back for her. Surely they would try. Bellatrix fucking Lestrange was infamous for holding grudges. 

Not to mention, Hermione somehow is in possession of Narcissa Malfoy’s wand. A Malfoy’s wand! No doubt Draco and Lucius would be on a warpath about this, just furthering the issue. 

Oh yeah, and with You-Know-Who in the bloody fray. Well, let’s just say Ron was beginning to understand the true feeling of constant vigilance that Mad-Eye’s always dragging on about. 

But despite all these worries, despite being nothing but a seventeen year old wizard, he was determined to protect Hermione from this. To ensure nothing, nothing, will ever happen to her again. No matter what the cost. 

And he doesn’t care what Harry, his Mum, his professors- anyone, have to say about it. There’s no argument. 

He realizes now, a life without Hermione is empty, almost purposeless. Even without her presence, the very thought of this moment kept him going. Not birthdays, chocolate frogs, or quidditch. Just her. 

His eyes rove over her face. And he doesn’t know why, but he suddenly has the incessant need to vocalize these thoughts to her. The same he’d been doing all night. 

“I know if you can hear me you’re probably damn tired of hearing it, but you’re safe now darling. Just open those pretty eyes and come back to me, alright?” 

He watches her chest rise and fall at its steady pace. He knows she’s in there somewhere, she’s just a little lost right now, but he would find her. 

He’ll always find her. 

“Come on love, I miss you. I can only take so much of reading this book to you.” He jokes lightly, lifting Hogwarts, A History from the bedside table. 

He had the idea of reading it to her last night, thinking it might awaken something, even if it’s not, well- awakening Hermione herself. 

He wonders if she ever got the copy he gave her for Christmas… 

“There’s so much I need to tell you Mione, that I should’ve told you ever since, well, since first year, I reckon. Since that day when-“ 

“Have you slept?” A voice calls from behind, making him jump slightly. However, he recognizes it instantly and decides not to turn around. 

He hasn’t. 

He’s so tired he can’t even manage to be embarrassed about the fact someone else heard him having this one sided conversation. 

“Of course you haven’t, neither have I.” Ginny whispered as she lurched closer, closing the door as she came. 

“Cissy.” Hermione groans painfully before Ron can answer his little sister. 

And just like that, Ginny springs to life, “Sissy?” she questioned, “What’s that about? Hermione didn’t have a sister did she?” She almost feels stupid asking. 

“No.” He answers quickly, “No she didn’t.” He reconfirmed, eyeing her sleeping form. 

“Odd.” Ginny said quietly as she leaned over to inspect Hermione closer, “Has she been doing it all night?”

“No.” Ron answered quietly. 

And it was true. But all this down time sitting, worrying about her, he has noticed a lot. One thing is that whenever the door squeaks or closes Hermione groans that damn word. It’s like her brain has some sort of unconscious reaction to the sound of the door, no doubt some trigger from that place. 

Merlin, if he didn’t get his hands on one of them soon, he would-

“Ron?” Ginny said, studying him worriedly. 

He shook his head, forgetting his thoughts, “Only when the door sounds.” He told his sister. 

“What?” 

“She only does it when the door makes noise, I dunno, must be something from there, I guess…” Even vaguely hinting at what she may have endured makes his chest ache. 

Ginny seems to be blocking him out, just staring blankly at Hermione’s battered form. He manages to peel his eyes away from the brunette long enough to direct his gaze to his sister. 

She must feel him piercing a hole into her, because she says, “This is the first time I’ve seen her.” Ginny whispers throaitly. 

He gulps. 

“By the time things had settled a bit with the Healer and Mum and Dad, Harry came to say you fell asleep in there. Mum thought it best to let you both rest. We stayed in some stuffy Ministry Overnight Room Kingsley set up. This was the first time I’ve been in.” Somewhere along the way a tear slides down her cheeks. Followed by another. And another. 

They’re silent. She’s not heaving. Her shoulders barely shake. 

Ron knows now that her long ramble about not seeing Hermione was merely a ploy to fool herself into some sort of distraction. 

He slowly places his hand on her shoulder, making Ginny jump a bit, but she soon relaxes, “I don’t think it gets easier.” That definitely wasn’t what he was supposed to say. 

Ginny seemed to realize as much too, face turning to meet him with a scrunched brow.

“Sorry,” He says, pulling away to rub the base of his neck, “I just mean, the longer I stay in here the more angry and sad I get, you know?” He sighs, “I’m angry that this happened to her and I’m even more pissed off that even though she’s here, it feels like the universe is taunting me. She’s here now, but she’s still… not.”

Sensing her older brother's rare outpour of vulnerability, Ginny now takes it upon herself to comfort Ron, “She’ll come back to us, I know it.” Her green eyes move back to Hermione’s closed ones, “You have so much waiting for you, I hope you know that Hermione.”

And it’s true, she does. She has Ron, Harry, Neville, all the Weasley’s, The Order, and so much more. 

But Ron couldn’t help but think, with her parents gone, would it be enough?

...

“Excuse me, can I please talk to you two?” Healer Jamison asked Molly and Arthur. 

Quickly, the woman stood up, frantically nodding, “yes, yes of course.” 

Arthur soon joined them as the caretaker ushered them into a quiet corner. 

“Is everything okay?” Mr. Weasley asked anxiously. 

Jamison appeared to be at a loss for words, opening and closing his mouth, just furthering the pair's nerves. “I’m aware the two of you aren’t Miss Granger’s parents. I’d recognize Weasley’s anywhere.” He settled for.

Molly and Arthur exchanged a quick look before the former spoke up, “no we aren’t Hermione’s parents, but hers-“ she stops abruptly, not knowing what to say, or if she even has the heart to say it. 

“Hermione’s parents can’t be present at the moment.” Arthur finished, giving his wife a squeeze, “she’s of age though, but we are acting as her guardians. If there’s any issues you can contact Kingsley Shacklebolt through the-“

Jamison shook his head, “no, no that’s not the issue. It’s just, there’s no easy way to say this…” he fretted, rubbing at his brow. 

After another moment passed of tense silence, Molly spoke again, “I don’t understand. I thought you said that Hermione was stable, that reassessments on magical healing would be made once she comes to. Please don’t tell us-“ 

“Nothing like that, Mrs. Weasley, as of now I have no concerns that Miss Granger will enter such a state that could be fatal.” He assured, though the ‘as of now’ brought them little comfort. 

Bewilderment was still evident across the pair's faces. Jamison knew he couldn’t put it off any longer no matter how terrible what he had to say would be. 

“Miss Granger sustained a multitude of injuries, broken bones, multiple contusions, deep gashes, internal bleeding. Those were all things we took care of, or did our best to, without magic, upon her arrival. However, once we got the bleeding to slow down, we did some more testing.” 

“And what did you find?” Arthur whispered, sensing this man's dread. 

“It was evident that Miss Granger underwent sexual trauma.” Jamison told them quietly. 

At this, Molly moaned in pain as Arthur’s arm found its way around her. 

“She-she isn’t- right?” Molly asked through tears. 

Hurriedly, he shook his head, “no. There were no signs of…” he gulped, “pregnancy. Even if there was at one time Miss Granger’s body was in no state to support another life. She’s severely malnourished, weak, and wasn't being taken care of properly. It doesn’t seem her body is even in a fit state to menstruate at the moment, but we can only be sure when she tells us as much.”

Molly continued to shake a little with small cries that she was clearly doing her best to conceal. Arthur decided to take the initiative asking questions she’d be sure to have later. 

“I’ve heard some stories you know, about organs, and hers are…” he asked hesitantly. 

“Any damage done to her organs seems to be a direct effect of the cruciatus curse. There’s some bruising on her thighs and hips that were evident as well as some scratches we believe may have been a factor, but our scans only picked up on residual dark magic.” 

“Okay.” Arthur nodded slowly, “okay.” He said again. 

“It’s not so much about the physical effects I’m worried about, it’s the emotional toll something like this has. Especially on someone so young. She was looked at by another healer, a female, who specializes in these kinds of things. The damage indicated that Miss Granger’s virginity was taken against her own will.” He informed sadly. 

Molly cried a bit harder. Jamison himself felt a little blurry eyed. 

“Here, I’ll get you the information to reach out to Healer Evangeline. She can answer any questions you may have better than I can.” He said before writing something down on his pad and handing it to Arthur. 

“Thank you.” He nodded to the healer before ushering Molly to a chair. 

Once he sat her down she spoke, “I’m okay Arthur, I’m fine. It’s just, poor Hermione… she doesn’t-“ she stopped speaking and shook her head. 

“I know Molly Wobbles.” He said, kissing her forehead. 

“I’m gonna go to the loo and freshen up. I don’t want the children to ask questions. Hermione will tell the lot of them when she’s ready.” The older woman said standing. 

“Okay dear, take your time.” He said, rubbing her shoulder “I better go see Ron.” Arthur said throaitly, still not having processed what he just heard, “he'll be wondering about Narcissa Malfoy’s wand.” 

“Have you heard anything?” Molly asked through a sniffle. 

Arthur shook his head, “not yet, but I’m sure that’s what he’ll want to know for now.” He offered her a small smile before they parted ways. 

Mr. Weasley took the sickeningly familiar path to Hermione’s room, doing his best to shove aside the pit in his stomach. 

Horrible isn’t even a word that does the situation justice. No words could measure up to how terrible and vile such an act was. 

Arthur Weasley was a calm, level headed, caring man. But now, now there was hell to pay. 

His anger momentarily subsided at the scene he was met by, his emotions being replaced by nothing but sadness, pity even. 

Ron was hunched over, clinging onto Hermione’s delicate hand. Arthur swore he could vaguely hear his son whispering something to her as his fingers stroked her hair. 

“I’m gonna make this up to you, darling. I swear I’ll try and make this better if it’s the last thing I do Mione. Okay love? So please just come on…” 

From the sound of his voice Arthur would bet he’s been at this for a while. It makes his heart break even more. 

“Son.” He says, doing his best to not let his voice quiver. 

“Dad.” Ron breathes in relief as his glassy blue eyes find his fathers. 

“How is she?” He asked quietly. 

Ron shrugged as his eyes fell back on Hermione’s. Fingers moving on their own accord through her matted hair, “she says something whenever the door sounds. I try to talk to her, hope she won’t hear it. Other than that, nothing.” He informed regretfully

Arthur clapped Ron on the shoulder, “you seem to be doing a good job then, I didn’t hear anything from her when I came in.” 

“Yeah, at least I can do something.” He said miserably. 

His father opened his mouth to speak, but Ron didn’t want to hear someone else’s apology. “Anything about the wand?” 

“It’s definitely Narcissa Malfoy’s, we-“ 

Hermione twitched a little violently, “C-Cissy.” She groaned. 

“There it is.” Ron whispered sadly. 

Arthur’s brow furrowed. Something about it felt vaguely familiar. Like it meant something…

“Do you know how she got it?” Ron asked next, seemingly wanting to avert his fathers pity. 

He sighs, forgetting his prior thoughts, “I reckon that’s something Hermione will have to tell us son, I just don’t imagine it’s a pleasant story.” If she remembers, Arthur added, not wanting to break Ron’s heart anymore than it’s already been fractured. 

Like he can hear his fathers thoughts, he speaks confidently, “she’ll remember. I know she will. She’s right here Dad.” 

Arthur hangs his head sadly in both shame and sadness. 

“If there’s anyone who can bring her back son, I know it’s you.”

...

Ron wasn’t sure what day it was. A weekend maybe? It was a bit shocking no one has pestered him into going back to Hogwarts for his classes yet and Harry, Neville, and Ginny are still around. 

Well, at least he thinks. 

He’s pretty sure his arse hasn’t left the horrid hospital chair in over forty eight hours, save for a trip to the tiny loo connected to the room. 

It’s night again. He thinks tomorrow is Sunday. Or maybe it already is.

“Mione, I’m a little surprised you haven’t woken up yet and scolded me for missing Friday’s lessons.” He whispers to her still frame under the moonlight. 

Ron can feel the water building up in the backs of his eyes. Merlin, what he wouldn’t give to just hear her nag him again. 

“Do you think you can try that love? Please.” He practically begs. “I don’t know how much longer I have here until my parents-”

And it’s like something within her is triggered by his words. It’s almost a bit frightening how it happens, namely, why it’s happening now, he has been prattling off to her for days. But Ron pays no mind to that. 

Her eyes are open and sparkling. Still the same brown they’ve always been. He doesn’t know why, but for some reason, he thought maybe they’d look different. Like he forgot. 

Hermione starts to whimper and move slightly. If she wasn’t as weak she’d surely be thrashing about in the bed. 

Tears coat his cheeks before he can realize it, “Hermione, I’m here love, you’re going to be alright.” Ron swears, gently wiping the droplets streaming her own face. 

At first she flinches at the contact but soon melts into the touch. 

“C-Cissy?” She cries out, her voice mangled and not at all sounding like her own. 

Hermione’s mind is cloudy. All that resonates is pain. 

She swears she hears Ron, but that wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. When terrible nightmares don’t haunt her, whenever the exhaustion takes over it’s dreams of him calling out to her, Harry playing quidditch, of her parents… 

Ron holds off asking about that, “No, it’s me darling. It’s Ron. You’re back Mione, it’s okay.” 

But his touch, it feels so real, so soft. His hand feels exceptionally large and calloused against her cheek, not at all like Narcissa’s small smooth hand. 

It can’t be real. There’s no way. My mind is playing tricks, but please, let me feel it a bit longer… 

Her eyes fluttered shut and Ron’s worried he’s lost her again, “Please open your eyes love, it’s me. Let me show you please.” He croaks. 

Hermione’s instincts are telling her to open her eyes, but another part of her is saying not to, or else this, this feeling, will be gone. But like always, her thirst for knowledge takes over, she needs to know what’s going on. 

Oh my-

The blue of his eyes. The small scar under his left eye from a quidditch incident as a child. The smattering of copper freckles dotting his face. His hair, flaming and a little more shaggy than when she last saw him. 

It can’t be real. There’s no way. 

But he looks, feels, so real… 

She can feel her chin quivering at its own accord. Next, his large fingers push through her hair, away from her eyes. 

“Hey, sh, don’t do that. You’re gonna be alright.” He promises with a watery smile.

Then with a shaking hand she weakly presses it to his cheek. Ron revels in the sensation of her small hands on him and lightly holds it to him to stop the shaking. 

“R-real?” She cries. 

His eyes flutter open, searing into hers, “Real.”

And she believes him. 

Maybe that makes her stupid and naive. Maybe it’ll make it hurt all the more for when she wakes up and realizes this was all just another dream. But something just feels different. 

At his assurance, Hermione is more than ready to succumb to the sobs building up in relife, but she can’t. Not yet. Not until she knows. 

Dream or not, she needs to convince herself that what Narcissa told her wasn’t real and Ron would never lie to her. And that word, that’s what woke something within her. 

He can see her struggle, “What is it? What’s wrong Mione? Do you want me to get the healer? Or maybe my Mum-” 

“P-p-p,” She stutters. 

“That’s it love, you can do it.” Ron encouraged, squeezing the hand pressed to him. 

“Pa-parents.” She barely manages. 

“My parents?” He tries. 

Hermione shakes her head best she can manage before opening her mouth to speak again. 

“M-mine.” She whimpers. 

He realizes she doesn’t want his Mum, she wants her hers. Her dad too. 

Her parents. 

Merlin her parents- 

And the look in her eyes, the pain in her voice. Ron just knows she knows. 

It makes him feel sick at the prospect that the death of the Granger’s was used as some taunt while she was in that place. 

She can see his eyes drop and the tears glittering in them at her words.

Narcissa never lied to her, but god, she wishes she had… 

And before she can realize it, control it really, Hermione screamed. 

A terrible, painful thing. Something she wasn’t even sure she was capable of when she can barely manage a sentence. 

Without a thought Ron carefully climbed into the small bed with her, mindful of her injuries. He then thought of the best way to embrace her without causing hurt. But, before he could get the chance, Hermione took the liberty.

The small brunette practically collapsed on his chest, placing her less aching hand to clutch as his shirt. 

Quickly, Ron grabbed it and held it tightly, then used his other hand to stroke her hair gently. 

Hermione wailed into him, body shaking at an alarming rate. And Ron didn’t know what to do but hold her, he couldn’t tell her it was okay, because it wasn’t. 

“That’s it love, let it out.” He encouraged, though he was sure his words fell upon deaf ears. 

Hermione was sobbing herself into exhaustion, just thinking over and over why?

At one point, without realizing it, she was muttering the word out loud best she could through her cries. 

She’d rather be in the dungeon being dealt the cruciatus day after day then experience this kind of pain. 

Hearing her whimpers and the strangled words, Ron couldn’t help but let tears slip himself, “oh darling.” He sighed sadly. 

And that’s how it went for an hour, even more. It was almost astounding how she managed to go on that long in her condition. Ron considered calling Jamison for a calming drought, but he knew she needed to do this, that some ruddy potion wouldn’t make her wake up and suddenly feel good as new. 

As minute eighty-four ticked on, Hermione just stopped. He looked down worriedly to see her asleep on his chest. 

For a moment he panicked, until he felt her shaky breath near his neck. He sighed in relief and tightened his hold on her. 

Part of Ron wanted to be happy to finally hold her this way, to have her here, and to know she’s completely safe in his arms. 

But he couldn’t be. 

Not like this. 

It was never supposed to be like this…

#Ron Weasley #Ron and Hermione #ron x hermione #rons-hermiones come find me #Hermione Granger #romione fanfic #romione #hp fanfic #hp #sixth year

[somekind0fmagic]

Chapter 6. Happy New Year

I do not own Harry Potter or the characters created by Rowling

So, I know in the first chapter I said that Anneliese has black hair, I actually meant to change that before I posted it, but I can be really forgetful. She actually had her hair dyed a reddish brown and by the beginning of Christmas break her hair was down to her shoulders and flipped out, kinda like Tracy’s hair from Hairspray (the 2007 version), and the hair dye had faded out into her natural light brown hair.

Plus, I wanted there to be a little bit of stuff from others POV, I was mostly doing a 3rd person with Albus, but I’m throwing some other people in there. It will be important for later dates

( Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 )

Chapter 6. Happy New Year

Albus sat on the couch in the living room. It was the 31st and he was waiting for Scorpius and Anneliese to arrive. He sighed as he flipped through the pages of the comic his aunt had gotten him. She tried to talk to him about Rose when she gave it to him, but he got out of the talk by claiming he was needed somewhere else. 

He heard the roar of the fireplace and he looked up, he saw the dirty blonde hair of his friend appear. Albus sat the book down and stood up, “Hey Scorp!”

Scorpius smiled and stepped out of the fire, “Hey Al, how’re you doing?”

“Good, you?”

“Same, so are we just waiting for A?”

“No, no you are not.”

“Oh my god.” Albus gaped at Anneliese. “Your hair!”

Her hand instinctively raised up to her hair. “Oh, yeah, asked my aunt to cut and dye it. You don’t like it do you?” The smile on her face fell slowly.

“No, I like it, it’s cute. It’s...you!” She smiled again, “Honestly, not many people can rock half shaved hair, but you look good with it.”

Scorpius nodded, “He’s right, it suits you.”

“Good because I like it.” She looked around, “What room are we in?”

“Our living room, c’mon, let me show you my room.” They followed Albus out of the room and up the stairs. He stopped when he reached the door. “So, my sister, Lily, will be home in, maybe an hour or two. That’s her room, she said that you can stay in there if you feel more comfortable, mum also said you guys can stay in the extra rooms as well.” He opened the door and let them in, “It’s not much, but it’s comfortable.”

“I like it, but it’s just so….” Scorpius started, but he couldn’t seem to find the right word.

“Gryffindor.” Anneliese stated easily, “So not you.”

Albus shrugged, “It’s been like this my whole life, I never really noticed or cared. Maybe I'll ask mum and dad if I can repaint it over the summer”

“It's up to you, and I'm not surprised that you never noticed, you never notice anything.” She walked over to his desk and picked up the radio, “I have one of these.” She turned back to Albus, “My mum always has been interested in Muggle things, anything that can play music she has fallen in love with. I have one in my room.”

Albus nodded, “There’s more muggle technology downstairs if you’d like to see.” They walked out of his room and back down the stairs. \

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

“I don’t understand muggle sports.”

“I don’t understand sports in general so I beat you. Well, that is unless you count dancing, gymnastics, ice skating, or ice skating a sport, then I understand it.”

Albus shook his head at his two friends, “Of course that’s all you understand L.”

She shrugged, “They’re less dangerous and make more sense then Quidditch, Futball, Soccer, Tennis, and other sports.”

Everyone jumped when they heard the front door slam. “Lily?! Is it you?!”

Soon later Lily came into the room, her face was red from running in the cold, tear marks stained her face. She ran over to Albus and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. “I hate her.”

“Who Lils?”

“Maria.”

“What happened?”

She sniffed, “She made fun of the fact that you and James go to Hogwarts, but since she believes it’s just a fancy private school, she said that it’s probably a centre for troubled youth and called you strange and then called me weird!”

“Oh Lily,” He murmured.

“Then she told me I look horrible and then said things about daddy’s scar and I wanted to tell her why he had it but she wouldn’t stop talking and making fun of me!”

“Lily, I’m so sorry that she did that to you...well, if it’ll make you feel any better, you can hang out with me and my friends. I’m sure they’ll be okay with it,” He looked over at his two friends, “Won’t you?”

Scorpius just nodded and Anneliese spoke, “Of course! Now I won’t feel alone as being a female!” Making everyone laugh, she walked over to Lily, “Us girls gotta stick together,” She held her hand out to Lily, “I’m Anneliese.”

Lily smiled, “I’m Lily!”

“What a pretty name.”

“I was named after my grandmother! Hey, do you know the muggle movie Barbie: Princess and the Pauper?”

“Of course! I babysit some of the little kids in the town near where I live and I’ve seen it about a dozen times! Wanna hear something cool?” Lily nodded, “My middle name is Erika. The movie came out the year before I was born and my mom has joked about saying that was why she named me that when in actuality she named me after her grandmother, my great-grandmother, and her brother, my uncle, his name was Erik.”

“Wow! That’s so cool!”

She nodded softly, Scorpius walked over to Lily, “I’m Scorpius.”

Lily shyly smiled, the blush that came to her face was only noticed by Anneliese. “Hi.”

Anneliese smirked and held back a small laugh. Little Lily had a crush and it was painfully obvious to the elder girl.

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

Everyone was getting their pajamas on before they were walking downstairs to watch the countdown for the next year. Albus and Scorpius were sharing Albus’s room while Lily and Anneliese were sharing Lily’s room (mostly because Lily begged for Anneliese to be with her). Anneliese was slipping a shirt on while Lily was reading a magazine. “Anneliese?” The other girl looked at her, “How...how is Albus doing?”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged, ���I don’t know, I just overheard my family talking on Christmas Eve night. Uncle Ron was saying things about Al being in Slytherin. I don’t get why he hates them so much, what did they do wrong?”

The black haired girl sat across from the small redhead. “How much do you know about the Wizarding Wars?”

“I know that many died and that it was a terrible event, why is that important?”

“Just wait, do you know what Voldemort’s followers were called?”

She nodded and Anneliese motioned for her to say, “Death Eaters.”

“Good, well, the majority of them were from Slytherin house. It’s a stereotype that all Slytherins are evil. I bet he’s upset because Al befriended a Malfoy, the Malfoy’s were big Voldemort supporters. Lucius Malfoy went to jail because of it. Draco Malfoy was tasked to kill Dumbledore, but he didn’t. But, Narcissa Malfoy, she saved your dads’ life. She lied to Voldemort and said he was dead, just because he told her that her son, Draco, was alive and okay.”

“But just because they were like that then doesn’t mean they still are.”

“I know, but some people can’t see past that.”

She sighed, “I’m happy that Al met you two, he seems happier than he was before he left.” 

Anneliese smiled softly, “I know, even on the train, he seemed miserable.” Then she sighed, “Has he always had a bad relationship with James?”

She nodded, “Yeah, they always fought. Never did it physical like it does now though. When mum and dad were talking about it when they started to happen-”

“Wait, physically? I just knew of their verbal fights, never did I know they got physical.”

Lily nodded, “Yeah, a few weeks ago James broke Albus’s nose even, apparently, according to James, that was because Albus ‘attacked’ Rose. I know she attacked him first, he was only defending himself.”

Anneliese let out a breath, “Huh, I never knew, Al just said that he ran into a wall in the dungeons, which isn’t surprising because well, it’s Al.”

Lily laughed, “Omg, we have a treehouse in the backyard and when we were little he fell out of it while trying to climb out and broke his arm. He also broke his leg from falling down the stairs.”

Anneliese began to laugh, “Why can I see that happening?”

Lily just shrugged her shoulders and died her laughing down. “What time is it?”

Looking at her watch she immediately bolted up, “11:58!”

Lily’s eyes widened and they both ran out of her room. They ran down the stairs, almost tripping on the way down. Making it into the room just as the 30 second countdown started. “You guys almost missed it.”

They rolled their eyes and Anneliese swatted at Albus’ arm. The 10 second countdown started and they all counted down. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1, Harry and Ginny shared a kissed, along with Victoire and Teddy, who decided to come over a few hours back. “A year closer to going to Hogwarts.” Anneliese heard Lily say softly while she heard Albus and Scorpius mutter, “A year closer to graduating.” She just rolled her eyes and the boys and gave Lily a side hug.

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

It was the next morning. Albus was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Reflecting on his last year. Getting accepted into Hogwarts, meeting the two best people, being put in Slytherin, his family hating him just because of his house. Sure, not all of it was fun, but the majority of it was.

There was a knock at his door and then it opened, “Albus? Are you and Scorpius up?” He sat up when Ginny asked the question, “Okay, well, if Scorpius isn’t up, then maybe wake him up in about 30 minutes. I’m making breakfast. Lily and Anneliese are downstairs playing Wizards Chess and James left about an hour ago.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s 10 am sweetheart.” Albus nodded and she left the room. He crawled over his bed and shook Scorpius’ shoulder.

“Dude, wake up, moms making breakfast.”

Scorpius shot up, “Food?”

Albus laughed at his friend. His dirty blonde hair was sticking out everywhere. “Yes, food. It’s 10 am. Apparently James left and the girls are downstairs.”

Scorpius scratched the back of his head, “We probably should get down there then, should we?”

Albus shrugged, “It’s up to you man.”

He got up and off the blow-up mattress, “Then let’s go.”

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

It had been two hours since his friends left. He and Lily were playing a muggle game called Go Fish. That was until James’ voice appeared, “Are you done investing the house with snakes?”

Albus rolled his eyes, “Are you done being a dumbass?”

“Y’know, mum and dad are fighting with our family because of you. Did you know that? I overheard mum and Aunt Hermione complaining about dad and Uncle Ron fighting over your house.”

“Well at least I don’t pick fights with people who don’t do anything. 3s?”

“Go fish. 7s?”

“Are you just going to ignore me?”

“Actually, I’m being factual, something you don’t understand. Here.”

Before James could continue Ginny walked in, “Is everything alright?” She looked at Lily, “Lily?”

“Oh, James was just saying some stuff to Albus, but yeah, everything's fine.” Ginny nodded and left the room. “Y’know James, would it hurt you to be nice for once in your life?”

“Would it hurt you to take my side for once?”

“I take the side of those who are right and don’t deserve to get shit said to them.” Instead of continuing to argue, he stormed out of the room. “Baby.” Lily looked up at Albus, “You okay?”

He nodded, scared to use his words. Scared that if he did, he would cry.

#harry potter #harry potter next generation #harry potter next gen fic #albus potter #scorpius malfoy

[solemnlyswearrp-blog1]

I really don't understand how magic can't heal Kai. I feel like that doesn't make sense in the universe. Healers would be able to fix him. I just feel like there wasn't enough research done for that and wouldn't make ANY sense. Y'all should've approved that. And if you did, can you give the reasoning because I really don't get it.

First I want to start this by saying that I cannot stress enough that if you have some issue with anything in the roleplay, your absolute best bet is to come off of anon and contact the main in a mature and private fashion. When you do this, it creates a lot less awkwardness, stress and hostility on the dashboard, and it’s a lot easier for us as admins to address and workout situations when you come to us this way. I also want to apologize for the delay. You were clearly impatient for an answer and thought to go and contact the player about this instead of exercising patience, and for that I am sorry. One of your qualms is that you felt no research went into this decision. I felt the need to do a lot of research into what we know from canon about healing spells and dark magic in order to give you an educated response to something that you have legitimate questions about. 

To clarify, the detail in question was not something approved by the admins. While we do ask that players consider discussing large and ambitious plots and details with us, we also support our players having freedom to make decisions for the sake of character development. In this case, our Kai player had contacted the main about the attack and having their character seriously injured as a result, and this plot was approved. We have since spoken about the situation, and while some details have been changed to better fit canon, overall the storyline where Kai’s wounds are not easily healed is going to stay in place. My reasoning, as you so desire, is under the cut as to preserve space on the dashboard. If you have any more questions, consider coming off anon and we can have a discussion on it. Otherwise I think I explain this well enough in my answer below the cut:

Now onto the actual question that’s being posed here: Is it probable that Kai couldn’t be healed by magic? In short, yes… and no. One thing that is very irksome about the universe that JK Rowling created is that there really aren’t very clear rules and limitations to the magic system in her wizarding world. Before you come at me with your pitchforks and torches, let me explain this. While this is a fantastical universe and is in many respects realistic, there are also portions of this universe that don’t entirely make sense and lack proper laws to explain things. Healing Magic and the limitations of it are a huge example of this. 

We know that healing magic and potions can be used to fix a large number of things, such as: Broken limbs, illnesses like the common cold and the flu, some (and we stress some) instances of memory loss charms, as well as magical illnesses like Dragon Pox, Spattergroit and Vanishing Sickness. But we also know that there are cases of situations where magic couldn’t fix certain calamities and injuries - some of which kind of go with the aforementioned illnesses that are proven to be fixed by magic. 

Confusing? Let me elaborate. 

So we know that Hermione’s parents were obliviated by her in 1997 to protect them from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We also know sometime after the battle in 1998, that she was able to return their memories to them. This is an example of magic (to some capacity) being able to cure memory charms. However, we also know that Gilderoy Lockhart’s memory could not be cured after he used a mangled memory charm on himself. Magic couldn’t fix that case of a memory charm. Vanishing Sickness is an illness that causes a wizard’s body parts to disappear. We know that this is a magical ailment that can be healed, but then you have characters like Mad Eye Moody and George Weasley who lost limbs and weren’t able to regain them. 

You’re telling me that in a universe where a potion like Skelegro, which can literally regrow a person’s bones, exists it is also not possible for George Weasley’s ear to have been regrown? Or for Mad Eye Moody’s leg and eye to somehow been charmed back into place? Do you see what I’m getting at here? We’re told that magic can cure a lot of things, even fantastical things like vanishing body parts, but then we’re also told that Bill Weasley’s scarring was irreversible, even though Fenrir Greyback was at the time of the attack just a human man with sharp claws. That’s a mundane thing and yet somehow magic could not cure these scars? Or What about the Longbottoms? Frank and Alice Longbottom remain permanently damaged and legally insane because of magical torture, which cannot be fixed. I mean we also know that Luna’s mother, Pandora Lovegood, died because one of her own experimental spells went terribly wrong. Magic went wrong, and it couldn’t be cured. The point is - there are literally no limitations to what magic can and cannot do. In fact, it’s a very conflicting law because some situations are fixable with just a flick of the wand but then some other similar situations are written off as “incurable with magic”. 

But there is a common factor in a lot of these medical cases where magic was unable to fix them - a number of them were caused by dark magic. Suddenly there’s a new factor at play. 

So let’s talk the specifics here. Kai is unable to be healed by magic, following an encounter with a dark wizard who used a severing spell with an incantation we all know well - Sectumsempra. Let’s look at the canon and what we know about this curse. This is a curse that was invented by Severus Snape that operates almost like an invisible sword being unleashed from the wand and slashing their opponent in the motion of the wand movement. In canon, this spell was used two times - once against Draco Malfoy in Half Blood Prince and then again against George Weasley in the Battle of the Seven Potters. (the aforementioned ear-losing incident) Now going off these canon incidents, we can come to some conclusions that do in fact support the notion that Kai’s wounds from the curse are unable to be healed by magic. Let me elaborate on these. 

We know that when George’s ear was lost in the Battle of the Seven Potters that the Order of the Phoenix was unable to regrow his ear, and for two reasons: 

Curse Wounds, especially those in the nature of the Dark Arts, are unable to be healed

The counter curse was unknown

This is a curse invented by Severus Snape, this wasn’t a widely known curse at the time of its use in 1997 - there was no counter curse readily available to them, and wounds inflicted by dark magic are unable to be healed. This explains why magic can’t cure the Longbottoms, why they can’t cure the injuries inflicted by werewolf Greyback on Bill Weasley, and why they cannot cure Mad Eye’s missing limbs - because healing magic cannot heal wounds and injuries that are a result of dark magic. The Sectumsempra spell is dark magic. 

Now we have to look at another case where this was used in canon - when it was used against Draco Malfoy. From this encounter between Harry and Draco in Half Blood Prince, we learn a couple things about the treatment of the curse. First we know that the spell can be cursed by vulnera sanentur. Kind of. I’m going off of what I found online due to not having a copy of the book before me, but what we know about this spell as a counter to sectumsempra is that it works in stages. The first usage will stop the blood flow, the second will cause the wounds to knit and close, and the third will remove the “worst effects of the curse”. While this may appear as the end all to healing it, it’s also known that the victim will require further medical treatment even after this spell has been used three times. Scarring can only really be avoided if dittany is used immediately. 

This is where that conflicting law comes in. So we are told that the curse can be cured… But that certain side effects of it cannot be reversed. This is again because it’s dark magic, and dark magic has a lot of permanent effects. Once again, George’s ear vs. Draco’s body - One effect of this curse was non-reversible, the other was treatable. 

Now comes a question I think a lot of us ask when we discuss these issues - This roleplay is set in 2025 - shouldn’t they have figured out a way to cure it by now? Let’s discuss. This curse was created during Severus Snape’s time at Hogwarts, presumably around his fifth year. That was 1975 for all you Marauder’s Era fans. The curse was used again (twice) in 1996/1997. That’s about 21-22 years later, and at that point, no counter curse was found. Our roleplay takes place in 2025 - that’s 28 years after this curse had been used in those two canon occurrences. Given what we know about dark magic having permanent side effects that are irreversible (remember, the ear) and that 22 years after its initial creation there was still no counter curse…It’s actually not bizarre to assume that a counter curse hasn’t been discovered even in 2025. We’re told 19 years after the defeat of Voldemort that “All Is Well”. Considering this isn’t a well known curse and that shortly after its reemergence in the Second Wizarding War that this community ended up in this peaceful sort of euphoric state, it’s really not a stretch to assume that a counter curse was never created for this. It’s actually pretty accurate to assume this isn’t a very well known curse at all. It’s dark magic, it was invented in the late 20th century and it was rarely ever used. I mean there aren’t really counter-curses for the Unforgivables and they’ve been around (presumably) for centuries. And (once more) we know of occurrences regarding the cruciatus curse where the damage sustained was irreversible. Isn’t it therefore pretty safe to assume that a counter curse and full treatment for sectumsempra hasn’t been found even in 2025? Yeah, I think so. So no, it’s not at all unreasonable to assume that a counter curse hasn’t been found. 

Really, looking at canon alone, it’s not far fetched to believe that someone would have a hard time being healed by magic when attacked with a dark curse like that one. It’s actually canon to assume so. Therefore, it’s totally reasonable for Kai to have a tough time being healed, even by magic, after being faced with a dark curse like this one. Now as to whether or not it’s probable for a character to be absolutely incurable through magic - this is obviously a very different scenario. Magic can cure the mundane, but there are limits in response to illness and injury inflicted by magic.

In this case with Kai, we have spoken directly with the player and have made changes that don’t interfere too much with the established threads going on and still follow canon as we know it. Kai’s wounds are not going to easily be healed due to the nature of dark magic. I hope that this makes sense and clarifies any of your concerns. If you have more questions please consider coming off anon and we can continue the discussion.

#answered #faq #anonymous