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3laxx · 3 years

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A Fate Like This

It hadn’t taken long for the demon to be attracted to her emotions. Strong and dark, a true feast. In the early morning hours, they had slipped into her room, taken Luz’s form, with pointy witch ears, but it had been enough to fool Amity. It wasn’t like she had protested much, though. --- When their relationship hits an abrupt stop, Amity gives in to the dark side. It's just too unfair how tempting it can be.

Yeah, I literally just wanted to write a little Creepy!Luz and Villain!Amity. Kinda inspired by the "Say My Name" animatic on YouTube, by HiroyukiAnimation YT, I just really liked Amity's dynamic with turning evil and imagined Luz getting desperate about her girlfriend to pair them. So, I just decided to chuck out this Oneshot xD Enjoy!

Ao3 / FF.net

---

A sense of confidence immediately filled her.

Amity brushed through her hair and loosened her ponytail before the hairband fell to the floor. Her messy bangs fell into her face.

Maybe she shouldn’t have made a deal with the demon. After all, her parents had warned her about people wanting to profit off her position and wealth.

But their arguments had just been too alluring. They had promised her the confidence to stand up to them, to her bully friends, and to protect Luz. They had said she would finally step out of herself. Reach the potential she was meant to have.

The twins had always belittled her about their skills. How they had excelled at everything before her, better and faster and more impressive than her.

Her parents had always called her the black sheep of the family, behind her back, but she had heard the staff whisper. That she had been an accident, that the twins had been born lucky while she had been lucky that she was born.

She knew all the talk. That she had to study a lot just to be good at school. Her private tutoring to excel. That she was dumb and not worthy to be called a Blight.

It had all just gotten worse when Luz had arrived. Well at first, she had only embarrassed her, but then she had fallen in love with the human, the degenerate wannabe witch and somehow, the elite circles around her had found out.

The twins had looked cool for flirting with Luz, all the while keeping out of reach, but when Amity had started flailing around the human, and blushing, and spending time with her, she had only been downgraded more like a witch, as a person and as one of the Blight heirs.

Fallen in love with a human, such a klutz, too.

She heard that it had to be expected that she wouldn’t keep her head leveled, that she would fall in love like a fool and not keep her emotions at bay. That it served her right to be called a disappointment to her esteemed family.

It had started projecting onto Luz as well. She had been followed, threatened, and even beaten up, without ever being told a reason. Amity knew it was to put a dent into her facade. She was bad news and had tried telling Luz that, but the girl had ignored that and continued to be with Amity.

Even when she had patched Luz up in a dark classroom, softly dabbed the blood from her upper lip, and cried at how badly a beating Luz had taken. Luz wouldn’t back down and Amity knew immediately, that she would be too weak to be with her as well, just like with Willow.

That she would push her away to have her stop hurting. That she would give in to the bullies and the bad voice in her head. That she would give up on Luz just like she did on Willow.

Luz hadn’t let her.

That stupid, stupid human had just kissed her out of nowhere, in that dark classroom while outside, it had been pouring and thundering. Disregarded all the bruises she had received from the bullies and the cuts she had gotten from running away from them. She had just kissed her.

Amity had tried pushing her away but Luz hadn’t let her, instead chased her lips again and at that moment, she had been too weak to resist.

Too weak again.

Tears had flown down her cheeks and Luz had flinched back, asked if it had been her fault when she had felt the salty taste on her lips. Titan, she was so sweet and naïve.

Amity had pulled her back in and desperately pressed their lips together as if Luz had been her oxygen. Outside, it had been thundering, storming, the boiling rain hitting the protective shield around the school, and they had been alone in the classroom while Amity had gotten above Luz, pushed her to sit on her lap and hold onto her, hold so tightly because she had thought she’d lose her again.

For a while, it had gone well.

They had managed to keep their relationship a secret, only getting intimate when they were sure they could not be caught. It had caused them to long for each other, to go deeper each time, to crash their lips together whenever they got the chance.

Amity hadn’t ever anticipated such a fire burning inside Luz, especially with the secrecy surrounding them, but she had explained to her that she never would’ve expected a romantic relationship for herself and had longed for one ever since she had hit puberty.

Even when Luz got beaten up again, they stayed together. Amity patching her up, them assuring each other that they wouldn’t stop, just because some guys had it out for Luz. But Amity knew the truth. They were after her. Hurting her. Showing her that what she was doing was wrong.

Luz hadn’t wanted to hear a word. Every time Amity had tried explaining, Luz had just shut her up and let her hands wander under Amity’s shirt, successfully rendering her a mess. After a few times, the Latina had quickly perfected her technique, learning to be able to take Amity out of commission within a few seconds.

She didn’t exactly know how Luz did it, nor did she care. All she cared about was that Luz was strong enough to be with her.

Until their enemies had gotten stronger.

A picture of them kissing had leaked. The whole school had known within minutes. The whole of Bonesborough within an hour. Her parents had been at school almost immediately, to pick her up. The media had plucked the story apart and the picture had been posted all over social media by the evening.

Not that Amity would’ve gotten the chance to explain herself. Her parents had just locked her into her room, for further notice. And once again, Amity had gotten weak.

To play along, not to fall out of line, to go back into the shadow of her siblings, and to continue to attempt lying to herself, that she was the top student, the most skilled witch and worthy.

When Luz’s light glyph had hovered up to her window, she had been too weak to open it. Even when her twins had knocked on her door and begged her to go to Luz, to be strong enough to rebel, she hadn’t managed to. She was too weak, too caught up in herself, too scared.

Luz had been chased off the property again, and Amity’s heart had broken at her begging, screaming for her.

She had been too weak.

It hadn’t taken long for the demon to be attracted to her emotions. Strong and dark, a true feast.

In the early morning hours, they had slipped into her room, taken Luz’s form, with pointy witch ears, but it had been enough to fool Amity. It wasn’t like she had protested much, though.

The Luz-shaped demon had brushed up to her, voice thick and sweet like honey. They had sympathized with Amity, had whined how unfair it was for her to be born into such a cruel family, such a hopeless situation, and had offered her a deal. Amity had tried to block the demon, locking them out, but her emotions had been too delicious for the demon to ignore.

They had promised things to her.

The necessary confidence to stand up to her parents.

The amazing skills she had trained so hard for but only been able to use a speck of what she had dreamed of.

The power she had sought to have.

The power to herself from ill talking, from her status and her family.

The demon had changed their face, Luz’s face, added bruises and blood. Had tempted her, talked sweet, had promised her that she would never have to see Luz like this again.

She had been weak again.

Too weak to withstand the pressure.

Had shook hands with the demon.

Her back cracked when Amity straightened up, then she grinned. Her eyes changed color, got dyed darker. Until they were redder, darker, less like gold, and more like fire.

Suddenly, she stood taller. Her shoulders weren’t pulled up in self-doubt or hanging like she didn’t care. She kept them squared, asserting her newly established confidence. A grin played around her lips when the demon slipped into her mind and pushed away any doubts. All her emotions were gone in an instant. The demon had sucked them up like a festive meal and only left their control. Amity felt as confident as she had never before.

The smirk that had played around her lips before now turned into a smug grin.

She would no longer let her parents tell her what to do. She was of age and they would not force her to do their bidding anymore.

Her siblings could suck it. She felt the powerful magic surging through her body, enhanced by the demon who feasted on her emotions, and felt that she could do things they would not ever have dreamed of.

And she would teach everyone at school a lesson for beating Luz up.

As for Luz herself, she was better than that. She was a Blight. She only associated with a selected few, and she would not let herself be slowed down.

Rolling up her sleeves, Amity brushed through her hair and mustered herself in the mirror. Suddenly, she showed a whole other self of her and she began to like it. A more confident self, who wouldn’t let others walk around on her anymore. This was going to be fun.

---

It began with Amity walking out of her room despite being grounded. She had blasted the door out of its hinges and continued down the hall as if nothing had happened.

She wouldn’t care if her parents would tell her to go back into her room. The world was hers now. She wouldn’t let them torment her any further.

The twins busted out of their own doors, attracted by the explosion, ready to fight, but merely stopped at their little sister sauntering past them, leaving a smoking door behind her. They looked at each other and ran to the railing of the manor’s big staircase, watching Amity descend and march towards the door. Their parents closed the entrance off by standing in front of it and told her to go back upstairs, her ban hadn’t been lifted yet.

But the witch didn’t care. She grinned at them and snapped her fingers to encircle them in fire, so hot and high that their hair started getting singed.

“You can’t tell me what to do. Get out of my way or I burn you alive.”

The twins ran down the stairs, already readying water spells, but Amity merely snapped her fingers again, making the stairs tremble beneath their feet and finally collapse, to trap their feet and then wrap them into the carpet that had formerly covered the stairs.

Horrified at their daughter’s sudden change of behavior, Odalia and Alador Blight stepped away through the little way Amity had granted them in their ring of fire, followed by the flames when their daughter walked past them.

With a slam, the big entrance door opened and Amity walked through, releasing the spells with a wave of her hand. Coughing and spluttering, the twins fell to the stairs and heaved, and the Blight parents just stared at each other when the fire was distinguished.

Amity, on the other hand, never felt better. She wore the smirk on her lips confidently when she sauntered through Bonesborough while heads turned after her. Whispers emerged.

But she wouldn’t pay them any mind. They were not worthy to get a place within her head.

Soon, the people of Bonesborough changed their chatter to something more sinister, talking about her affair with the human, especially some colleagues of her parents, and she made short process of them. One who raised his voice too loud she simply engulfed in flames. It was just for a moment, enough to burn his skin and let everyone see, all the while never even stopping to walk.

From that second, the crowds parted for her and she didn’t even spare them a second glance. They were right to treat her like a queen and she wouldn’t accept anything less.

Arriving in school was no less amusing.

Word hadn’t spread yet that she had set a person on fire, but she was sure they’d see it soon enough. Smirking to herself, she held her chin high and walked past all of them. They gossiped and whispered among themselves, that she had been pulled from school the day before, for what had happened.

But Amity didn’t care. She would prove them today. She would never let them think less of her anymore. She was powerful and she was scary. They would learn to fear her.

Grinning and ignoring all of them, she sauntered past, her appearance entirely changed not by her outfit, but by her posture, by her aura.

Rounding a corner, she finally found the goal of her search. Luz was standing with Willow and Gus, holding her books close. Apparently, she had taken the day before quite hard, if the bags under her eyes were any indication for that. But Amity didn’t care. She’d show her what she really meant to her.

Luz noticed her first of the group and immediately dropped her books to approach her, not sensing the danger cursing through the hallway the closer Amity got.

“Amity, I was so worried, I thought-”, she began, but the witch merely lowered her head while lifting her shoulders and walking faster, never letting her eyes leave the human. As if she was getting ready to pounce on her prey, her fingers parting like claws.

Willow noticed first that something was going on with her, but her warning cry didn’t reach Luz in time.

In a second’s notice, Amity had roughly grabbed Luz’s jaw and pulled her into turning, before pushing her legs out from under her body and letting go, having Luz crash into the ground. Amity stood tall while eyeing Willow, enjoying her face changing to a shocked one.

Then she looked down to her former lover, chuckling while a ring of students gathered around them. Conjuring up an abomination hand from the ground, she lifted the human up to her, but never let her hover higher than Amity’s eyes. She stood over her. The hand wrapped around Luz’s body and she heard a satisfying crack. She hadn’t broken anything, but the grip was so tight, Luz was struggling to breathe.

“Come close to me one more time and I’ll make sure you don’t stand up again, got it, cutie?”, she sang but Luz’s face showed nothing but confusion. That disappointed Amity a little, after all, she wanted her to cower in fear. But Luz had never been the fearful kind.

“A-Amity-… What happened to you?”, she asked, pleading, and Amity brushed through her hair, chuckling at the stupid question.

“I grew a spine. Quit being stupid or I’ll break yours with ease.”, the grip around Luz tightened threateningly and she gulped.

“Amity…”

The witch leaned down to her with an insane grin, then she buried a hand in her hair and clenched a fist, making Luz yelp, before roughly pressing her lips on hers, before straightening up again and pushing her head back.

“What, don’t like it anymore? That’s just a shame.”, with a wave, the abominations hand dropped and Luz coughed, trying to get up, before Amity stepped closer and already lifted her hand, conjuring up a fireball, before Willow stepped in and stopped her with a vine, catching her wrist.

“What the hell happened to you, Amity?!”, she yelled, before kneeling to help Luz. The human accepted the helping hand and got back up to her feet while Amity easily let the vine disintegrate, before mustering her fingernails. “I woke up from a deep slumber. A deep slumber that lasted all my life.”, she explained and Willow squinted her eyes at her, before suddenly, a hesitation went through the students around them, before they stumbled back, staring at their phones. Smirking, Amity supposed they had found her fiery morning action.

One broke from the line.

“Yo, she’s crazy!”, he shouted and ran down the hall. Amity let him. That’d be fun.

By then, word had spread and voices got louder, while Luz kept staring at her. She was so confused and admittedly, a little scared. What had happened to Amity in the twelve hours that she hadn’t seen her?

Even Boscha seemed to hesitate at the power radiating from Amity, Luz noticed, her keeping away from her friend by a few meters, but Amity had finally spotted her.

“Ah, there you are.”, she growled and Boscha sank into herself, stepping back.

“W-What?!”, she tried but Amity just snapped her fingers and caused Boscha’s legs to be frozen to the floor while she approached her.

“You’re one of the many reasons I finally snapped. I wanna thank you!”, unsure, Boscha looked back to Willow and Luz somehow hoping they would help but they were just as clueless as her.

“What are you talking about?! You’re crazy.”, Boscha exclaimed while Amity grinned at her, before cupping her cheek. She did not like where this was going.

“Maybe I am crazy.”, Amity sang in an alluring voice, then she smiled at Boscha, “Hm… I will catch you later. But never forget that you were the one to lick my boots before turning on me, hm?”

She patted her cheek, then she turned and waved her hands, freeing Boscha’s boots before waving again. Suddenly, an abomination grabbed Boscha and threw her against the lockers, leaving her crumpled body on the floor and sinking back into the ground where it came from.

Shocked silence filled the hallway while Amity sauntered away, cackling to herself.

---

For the rest of the day, nobody dared to speak to Amity again. They didn’t exactly know why she was that way, but Willow had figured he had finally snapped under the pressure of her parents.

Over the day, the bruises she had given Luz started appearing in blue and purple colors on her jaw, just from gripping her.

Luz didn’t know how Amity had gotten that strong, but when she had looked into her eyes, she had immediately known something was wrong.

This wasn’t Amity.

Something must’ve happened, over the night, something else than her snapping.

Luz softly rubbed her shoulder, where she felt another bruise forming. Something had massively gone wrong. Something that had given Amity unimaginable power and confidence.

Luz doubted that had come from the witch herself, because as much as she loved her, Amity was unsure and always let her own head block her potential.

Cowering behind a corner, she saw Amity confronting some guys who had beaten Luz up a few days back. She caught them in vines and pulled their face close to her, before caving it in with an abomination fist. The students around her flinched back while the second bully tried freeing himself from ice pillars, but Amity was faster. She kicked his middle, then she conjured another abomination and beat him unconscious, before leaving.

Luz held a hand over her lips while Amity came her way and thankfully walked past her, seemingly not noticing her hiding behind a doorway.

She hadn’t once used a circle to do magic. Her magic came from somewhere else. Amity had done the movement, sure, but there had been no conjuring up with a circle. Luz had seen it.

Suddenly, the witch stopped and her ears twitched. Biting her tongue, Luz pressed herself tighter into the doorframe, but it was of no use. Amity stood next to her faster than she could scream. Pushing the human into the door, Luz recognized the classroom they had first kissed in.

“Amity, wh-whatever you wanna do-”, she began, but the witch merely drew her fist back, engulfed it with abomination goo, and punched. The rock-hard, enlarged fist connected with her chest and robbed her of all air. Luz felt her body flying through the air before hitting the blackboard at the front of the room, then she dazedly fell to the floor.

“You’re the human.”, Amity snarled, and Luz immediately felt reassured that Amity wasn’t herself at the moment, “You’re the degenerate who tricked me into thinking she was more than she was worth.”

Luz softly shook her head, then she conjured some vines to dodge Amity’s fist, breaking the abomination. Amity summoned a fireball and Luz finally got to her feet enough to roll out of the way before bringing an ice pillar between her and the witch, feeling the heat of the fire blasting around her shield and melting the ice.

“A-Amity, please-…”

But the witch wouldn’t listen.

Instead, she let an abomination rise up in front of Luz and throw a punch at her, but the human rolled out of the way just in time. Her ice pillar exploded in a thousand pieces when the abomination sunk into itself, only to resurface behind Luz and grab her.

Amity let it throw Luz across the room and a satisfied grin grew on her face when she crashed into some tables, breaking them. The human slapped a plant glyph on the ground and let some vines wrap around Amity’s feet, but she was faster.

With ease, the witchling burned the vines, before conjuring up a fireball to throw after Luz who jumped out of the way and hid beneath a table. A light glyph emerged from there, so big that Amity had to turn away, then he felt some hands grabbing her but she was too strong for Luz. The human was thrown past her when she turned, her hands losing the grip on Amity’s clothes, and crashed against the blackboard. Immediately, Amity followed suit and tried throwing a punch at her, but Luz ducked and the blackboard broke at the force of her fist connecting with it.

Groaning, mity held her hand, then she turned after the human who conjured some ice spikes to keep her on distance, but Amity merely drew another circle and et an abomination rise between them. The creature turned off its head and threw it after Luz who ducked again, the tables and chairs behind her getting crushed in the force.

“Amity, please! Stop!”

The witchling just grinned, another fireball appearing in her hand. “Not interested.”, she hissed, then she threw it after Luz and hit her back when she tried running, making her scream in pain. The human fall to the floor and could only just so roll out of the way when the headless abomination tried stepping on her head.

With quite some effort, Luz got back up again, creating a fireball herself to hit the abomination and make it disappear, before using another plant glyph to try and trap Amity, grabbing her wrists with the branches of a small but sturdy tree, but Amity merely broke free with demonic strength, taking a quick step and grabbing Luz’s hair to throw her to the ground and land a punch in her face. Screaming, Luz broke free and kicked Amity away, conjuring up an ice pillar to stand on so the witchling couldn’t get to her, before searching for another fire glyph. A kick from Amity let her ice pillar crack and she quickly jumped before Amity kicked it again, successfully letting it fall into itself while Luz rolled off the ground and came back up to her feet.

Growling, the girl turned back to her.

“Amity, you have to stop, please!”, Luz cried, but Amity just growled louder, screaming as she drew a big circle and conjured up spikes to trap Luz. She could just so escape them by protecting herself with a wall of vines, then she jumped out on top before Amity could reach her, letting another fireball appear in her hand to stop Amity’s steps as she threw it in front of the witchling, running to the other side. She grabbed after her and caught her uniform, pulling her close and making her stumble, then Luz just so dodged another fireball and freed her shirt from Amity’s grip, kicking against her legs to make her fall.

An abomination suddenly grabbed her from behind and Luz screamed again, feeling herself getting thrown. Thinking fast, she threw a glyph to make an ice slide, coming to her feet somewhat unscathed, before Amity lunged at her and punched her stomach, making the human sink to her knees, completely exhausted and glyph-less. Most of the room was trashed by now and she had nothing else to give She could only hope Amity would get close enough for one last resort.

She groaned when Amity lifted her up with an abomination hand, before using some vines to grab her face, thorns digging into Luz’s skin.

“You’re the dirt beneath my feet.”, Amity hissed and slapped her, before turning away, leaving Luz helpless in her prison.

“Amity, please, just listen to me for a second, please.”, she begged but the witch just cackled, “What happened to you?!”

“What happened to me?”, she asked and turned with a manic grin, “I got some welcome help. I got more powerful than my parents ever planned for me, more powerful than the twins could imagine. I’m the Blight I was meant to be now.”

Luz grimaced at the pain before Amity snapped and left the vines and abomination to disappear, allowing Luz to breathe again.

“It’s not you.”, Luz then stated, just getting to her knees again, brushing some blood off her lips with the back of her hand, growling. At that, Amity flinched, “This isn’t the Amity I know.”

The witch looked back to her and smirked, kneeling as well to grab Luz’s jaw once more.

“The Amity you knew was weak, Luz. I’ve replaced her now.”, she brushed over the corner of her mouth with her thumb, wiping away some blood, “And now, everything will be perfect for me.”

Luz wouldn’t accept this. Something bad had happened and she had to snap Amity out of it.

“If you won’t tell me what went down last night, I’ll be forced to do this.”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Amity finally let go of her jaw again and gave her an arrogant snort.

“What do you seriously want to do to me? You’re pathetic.”

Luz surged forward and caught Amity’s lips, grabbed her head tightly with one hand while her other flew to Amity’s waist, her fingers finding a way to her bare skin before cupping her waist with her palm and slipping upwards softly.

This had usually rendered Amity a blabbering mess in the past, so it should hopefully be enough to snap her out of this. The witch fought back, but not with the power she had possessed before. Luz pressed closer, pulled Amity’s middle to her, and kept her neck in a tight grip, nuzzling closer to her and kissing her lips desperately.

Amity’s fighting died down before something cold wiped over Luz’s face. The witch in her arms collapsed against her, her face falling against Luz’s shoulder. Her body went slack and Luz had to bring up all her strength to catch Amity, roll her off slowly and bring her to a halt on the floor.

The witch was out cold, not necessarily something Luz had planned for, but it was a good sign Amity hadn’t been able to withstand her.

Instead, Luz was facing herself.

The pointy ears and the smug grin on her face were the only things differing from Luz’s appearance, the bruises as well but Luz didn’t count them. Furrowing her eyebrows, she remembered King’s lesson about demons.

There were emotion-sucking beasts, out there to make deadly deals with desperate people. Amity must’ve fallen for a demon like that, and made a deal to exchange her emotions for power. Luz felt a chill running down her spine when the demon laughed.

“Are you surprised?”, they asked smugly while sauntering around Luz and the unconscious Amity, circling them.

“Not that much…”, Luz replied, keeping close to Amity, “But you lost. Now scram.”

The demon merely cackled and gestured to its former vessel on the floor, smirking.

“I haven’t had my payment yet.”

Luz growled, cupping Amity’s cheek.

“You won’t get her back. You better leave or I’ll kick your ass, you understand?”, she tried lashing out but the demon merely let her hand wipe through their appearance and laughed.

“I don’t want her back.”, they cackled, then they focused back on Luz, kneeling and cupping Amity’s other cheek. Luz clenched her teeth at that, “I just want a vessel, not necessarily hers.”

She knew what the demon was playing at. Exchange her for Amity.

Normally, she would’ve taken this deal immediately, out of sheer panic for Amity’s wellbeing. Hell, she would’ve taken it now, if there wasn’t some little problem with that.

“I said leave.”, Luz gritted her teeth, clenching her fist when she glared at the demon, “You used Amity to bring so much pain. I won’t let you do that again, not with her, not with me, not with anybody.”

The demon was almost impressed at that but didn’t back down.

“I could make you powerful, Luz… I could give you native magic. I could make you create a portal to the human realm, see your mother again.”

Luz gulped but merely lowered her gaze.

“I don’t want your empty promises.”, she growled, then she slowly reached for the emergency light glyph she always kept on her person. It wasn’t that useful in a fight, but to scare off a demon, it might just work.

“But Luz, my promises aren’t empty.”, changing forms, the demon now took Amity’s face and stood up, “You could be with Amity. I could help you stand up to her parents and your bullies. I could make you so powerful to mess with them all.”

But she wouldn’t back down.

Luz huffed, then she got up.

“I said LEAVE!!”, she screamed, before pulling the light glyph and conjuring it in the demon’s face to blind them, before getting up in their face, “Or I’ll annihilate you because the Owl Lady is my mentor and she taught me to kick demon ass.”

She was just bluffing, after all, Eda hadn’t exactly taught her how to defeat possessive demons, but they apparently understood. They squinted their eyes at first, but when Luz didn’t back down, they huffed.

“You’re too much effort.”, they growled before leaving in a puff of smoke. Contently, Luz leaned back and smiled to herself. These demons feed off of self-doubt and if Luz didn’t give an opening, they’d give up soon enough. After all, there were weaker targets to go after.

Behind her, Amity groaned and Luz turned, seeing her girlfriend sitting up in the trashed classroom before looking around, her eyes widening.

“… Luz?”

The human kneeled down and softly brushed over Amity’s cheek, smiling.

“Hey, are you okay? Sorry for using that on you.”

Looking around, Amity took in the mess, her eyes asking if they had really done that, but another few things burned on her heart first before she could ask.

“… I-I-… I’m so, so sorry, Luz… I didn’t mean to hurt you, or anyone for that matter! I didn’t know what came over me, suddenly there was so much power and-”

Luz sat down and pulled her closer, sighing against her shoulder.

“It’s okay. We understand. Please don’t feel guilty, you were taken advantage of.”

Amity slowly began sobbing, before full-on wailing into Luz’s shoulder, while the human held her close. She would always be right there to catch Amity, and she would never judge her for something like this. The demon had found her in her weakest moment and hit a sore spot. It hadn’t been her fault.

“I-I hurt s-s-o many pe-eople-”, she cried but Luz shook her head and rubbed over her back.

“We’ll fix this. It’s okay, Amity, we’ll make sure they understand.”, the witch leaned against her and continued crying until there were no more tears left. Luz parted softly and brushed over her cheek, “I’m just glad you’re okay… I really wouldn’t have liked to lose you to a possessive demon.”

Amity groaned, then she tried hiding her face, but instead, Luz nudged her nose and softly kissed her.

“I’m so sorry…”, Amity whispered and Luz smiled.

“I know. That’s a start, okay?”

She nodded before falling back against Luz and keeping her close, sighing into Luz’s shoulder and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

“Th-Thank you for staying… A few hours more and the demon would’ve devoured me.”

Luz nodded and weaved her fingers through Amity’s hair, holding her close, making her feel as protected as she could.

“I wouldn’t ever leave you to a fate like this, Amity.”

---

Let me know if you liked it! It's kinda short, I know, but I won't write more for it, it was just to relieve my headcanon x)

#toh #the owl house #fanfic #amity blight #luz noceda #villain!amity #creepy!luz #lumity #angst #violence #fighting #hostile language #just some mean amity blight #just wanted to explore #oneshot

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detectivejigsawpines · 4 years

Text

Relatively Relativity-part 1 (if you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise)

The Pineses go on a hiking trip one nice sunny day, and return...not quite how they were when they left.

Major thanks to DarylStorey for helping me brainstorm this story.

“WHOO-HOO!!!! YEAH!!!! LET’S DO THIS!!!!”

Mabel burst out the door of the Stanley Mobile like a multicolored comet, surging towards the trailhead at a speed that nearly broke the sound barrier and barely even being slowed down by the massive purple backpack she was wearing. It wasn’t until she’d reached it that she turned around and realized that her family was still taking their time catching up to her.

“C’mon guys, what’s the hold-up?” she pleaded, sprinting back across the parking lot to them. “We’ve got an adventure to go on, and lots of cool plants and animals to see! Let’s put some hustle in it, people!”

Stan stepped out of the car at a far more leisurely pace, looking less than thrilled about having to be awake at this ungodly hour of the morning (Ford had insisted that they go as early in the day as possible to avoid the heat and mosquitos). He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and muttered, “Hold up, sweetie, not all of us’ve got young legs like you.”

“Ugggghhhh, you guys are so slow!” Mabel ran over to Dipper and tugged his hand impatiently. “C’mon, let’s see if we can get to the main trail before the old fossils!”

“Who’re you calling an old fossil?!” Ford demanded in mock indignation. “I can easily get there before you, missy!”

“Five bucks says you can’t!”

“You’re on!”

Seconds later they were both racing into the woods, leaving Stan and Dipper in the dust.

Stan glanced down at Dipper. “Surprised you’re not getting in on that.”

The boy grimaced. “You kidding? There’s no way I’d beat either of them. Mabel drank a whole pitcher of Mabel Juice this morning, and Ford’s...Ford.”

One bushy gray eyebrow raised, but Stan couldn’t help feeling a little pleased that the kid seemed a lot less insecure about his physical deficiencies than he would have been the summer before, when he was obsessed with trying to become more “manly.”

Now, though, he seemed content for the time being to trot along at Stan’s side, looking around for any unusual creatures that might be in the underbrush and absentmindedly clicking a pen with his thumb, while his other hand already had his pine tree journal open in case he saw something worth sketching.

Up ahead, they could hear excited crashing and whooping; seconds later there was a loud humming noise, followed by Mabel yelling, “Hey, no fair!”

“Completely fair!” Ford retorted, “You brought out your grappling hook, so I get to use the anti-gravity application on my watch!”

Stan and Dipper rolled their eyes in unison.

“Yeah, I’d definitely lose,” Dipper sighed in resignation as they rounded the bend in time to see Mabel trying ineffectively to slow Ford down by leaping from the branch she’d grappled onto and grabbing him around the legs.

********

Eventually all members of the Pines family were back on solid ground, and they began their hike. Stan and Ford told the kids stories about some of their adventures on the high seas, and in return the kids talked about what junior high school was like (mostly pretty terrible, since junior high is one of the greatest sources of evil since the Spanish Inquisition). Both old men sympathized with their struggles, remembering all too well how difficult being a teenager was, even when you’d just barely joined the world of angst and acne.

“Of course, it has its good points too,” Ford pointed out. “You don’t have to be in old creaky bodies like we are.”

Dipper harrumphed. “I’d take dealing with that over puberty any day of the week.”

“Yeah, at least then I wouldn’t have to be worried about starting my period,” Mabel said with a grimace.

All three men glanced at her uneasily out of the corner of their eyes.

“...Have you…?” Ford started to ask.

“No, but Mom says I’m old enough that I’ll probably get my first one soon.” Despite how uncomfortable a topic this was for her, she had to smother a giggle at how her grunkles and her brother all looked like they were seconds away from running away screaming.

At last Dipper cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Besides, if I was a grownup then I could go into stores and buy pretty much whatever I wanted.”

“Yeah!” Mabel brightened. “Like age-inappropriate romance novels, or a bunch of puppies from PetsMart!”

Stan snorted, and affectionately rubbed his knuckles against her head. “Just so long as you never grow up too much.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she promised, before gasping in delight and going over to the side of the trail to admire a particularly vibrant flower.

“Hey, Grunkle Ford, do you know what kinda flower this is?”

Ford came over to see it, and his eyes widened behind their glasses. “...Oh my. I’ve never seen one of those before.”

Stan and Dipper peered curiously over their shoulders at it.

It was, indeed, an exceptionally beautiful flower; it looked kind of like a wild rose, except that instead of being pink, its petals were a deep royal blue, and glowing faintly in the pale morning light.

Almost in unison Ford and Dipper grabbed their journals and started sketching it.

“It looks similar to some of the plants I saw in this one dimension,” Ford murmured, “except those were sentient, and generally tried to eat anyone who got too close.”

Dipper looked uneasy, and after a second he tugged on Mabel’s shoulder, pulling her back from getting too close to it. She was a little annoyed, but didn’t shove him off like she would have the year before.

“Do you think it’s magic?” Dipper asked. “I’m pretty sure the fact that it’s glowing means it’s gotta have some kinda magic, right?”

“In this forest, I wouldn’t doubt that it does,” Ford agreed. He sighed in annoyance. “I knew I should have packed my thaumometer for the hike! Why didn’t you remind me to pack my thaumometer, Stanley?”

“Probably cuz I was thinkin’ about more important things like how much I wanted ta go back ta sleep,” Stan retorted.

“Uh, is it just me, or is the glow getting brighter?”

It wasn’t just Dipper.

What’s more, as the four of them watched, the petals began to move, waving back and forth even though there wasn’t that strong of a breeze. As if that wasn’t weird enough, the petals started waving a little faster, and as they did, the glow that was on them started to...rise from them.

No, really; before their eyes it lifted into the air as a sort of pollen, doing a little dance in the beam of sunlight above the flower and growing into an ever-increasing spiral, showing a lot more pollen than you’d think would be possible from one single flower.

Dipper blinked, and swallowed nervously.

“Um, guys? In situations like this, this is when really bad things start to happen. Maybe we should-”

The pollen cloud hit him right in the face.

********

Apparently it had smacked into everyone else too; as Dipper closed his eyes and coughed and sneezed, he could hear his family making similar noises.

It was everywhere, getting in his hair, on his clothes, even inside his clothes and making him even itchier than usual, oh come on!

Dipper stumbled back, scratching frantically and trying to spit out some of the stuff that had somehow landed in his mouth, gross!

“Ugh, what the heck?! That stuff tastes like mothballs!”

Dipper froze.

...That voice didn’t belong to anyone in his family. It was a voice belonging to a young boy, probably someone about his age.

“...Who said that?”

Dipper clamped his hands over his mouth with a frightened squeak when he heard his own voice; it sounded...wrong, somehow. Like it had actually gotten deeper, like in that story he’d told about drinking a potion that made him sound like a TV announcer!

Hesitantly he opened his eyes, blinking away any traces of the pollen that were left, looking for his family-

And came face to face with a startled-looking old woman in a baggy purple sweater.

“Aaaah! Who are you! What did you do to us?!” he demanded, lurching back and putting up his fists. Then he quickly slipped off his backpack and whirled to pull out the knife he kept in there-he didn’t know what use it’d be against a witch or whatever she was but it was better than nothing-but then two things happened at once.

One: a sudden sharp pain locked up in the small of his back, nearly pitching him to the ground with how bad it was.

Two: he got a good look at his hands.

Something was wrong with Dipper’s hands.

They were twice the size he remembered them being when he first woke up this morning, and all weird and wrinkly-looking, with a few blue veins standing out against the knuckles.

Dipper let his backpack fall to the ground, stammering in horror.

“What-what the-”

“...Dipper?” the old woman’s voice quavered behind him. “Is that you? It’s me, Mabel.”

Dipper slowly turned back around, managing to straighten up with an effort, and looked at the woman again, more closely this time.

She looked just as frightened and confused as he was right now, with a lock of her long gray hair clenched between her fingers on the left side of her head and being wrung in her hands. Her sweater looked a lot like the one Mabel had been wearing, except older and less sparkly.

Dipper looked into her eyes.

“...Mabel?”

“Yeah, it’s me, bro-bro.” She tried to smile.

Just then something moved in the corner of Dipper’s line of vision, and he turned his head to see two boys standing there and rubbing pollen out of their eyes.

One of them was wearing a tiny tan trench coat and a red woolly beanie, and when he opened his mouth to cough out some more pollen Dipper could see he had a tooth missing. The other one wore a red turtleneck with a blue coat over it, and had a pair of large spectacles perched on the end of his nose. He staggered a little, and pushed them up with two fingers. Allowing Dipper to see that his hand had an extra finger on the end.

The boy saw Dipper staring at him in dawning horror, and his eyes widened.

“Dipper? Are you-are you and Mabel old?!”

“Grunkle Stan?! Grunkle Ford?!” Mabel crouched down and stared at the boys slack-jawed. “Are you guys young?!”

********

There was a moment of silence.

Then a flock of birds was startled by four voices all screaming in unison.

#gravity falls #grunkle stan #grunkle ford #dipper pines #mabel pines #cousin to relativity falls #age swap #next summer in gravity falls #humor #hiking trip gone horribly wrong

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brightestwitchxmionee · 6 years

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task 002 - childhood memories

Childhood

Best childhood memory?:

Hermione’s favourite memory would have to be the day she first realised something was different about her, which happened to be the day before McGonagall visited her home. All her life, since she could remember, Hermione was never like the other children, especially when attending public muggle school. She was outcasted, maybe because of her smarts, but even then she was always despised when she tried to not be smart to make friends. It was a month before her 12th birthday in September, and she sat quietly in her room reading Matilda by Roald Dahl for the hundredth time.

She always enjoyed the story, connecting with Maltida in ways she never thought she could. Not that her parents treated her poorly, but rather the students, and how Matilda never enjoyed Miss Trunchbull just like Hermione never enjoyed her time in public school. Halfway through the book, reading about Matilda doing some magic in class, Hermione shut the pages and let out a sigh of frustration. If only she could do magic.

For a moment, she wanted to play pretend like she would do when younger. Rising from her cushions and detangling herself from her bed covers, Hermione walked across the room, amusing herself as she imagined herself moving objects with her fingers just like Matilda. She reached her shelf and slid the book back into its place, her finger tracing down the spine before she curled it back as if trying to jerk it towards her. She laughed at herself, finding it stupid and awkward-- magic was not real. As Hermione turned away, she heard a quick shuffling behind her and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Turning, Matilda was pushed out a tad from the slot she had slid the book into. She pushed it in once again, but the book fought back and nudged itself out against Hermione’s hands. It shot out and fell at her feet. Her heart rattled in her chest as she tried to make sense of what happened, trying to logically put together why the book moved. Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was her that moved the book with her finger. Feeling silly once again, she pointed her index at the shelves, directly at the spot where Matilda was slid into, and quickly Hermione dragged the finger away towards herself.

There was a rattle around her as all the books flew out of their sockets and pelted themselves towards Hermione. She screeched and cover herself but they all missed and landed around her. Her heart beat faster, breathing ragged as she lowered her arms to look at the scattered books and pages. “Hermione--” she heard her parents call, but there was just a big smile on her face, too shocked to speak, and too happy to finally understand something was different.

The next day, a strangely dressed woman with cat-like features approached the house but Hermione already knew why she was there. It was obvious, she was a witch, and her life was going to change for the better.

ooc; dunno why i wrote this memory like this. also this is a mild rewrite of a larger self-para i have of hermione reading matilda. this is based off of some tumblr post i saw years ago about younger hermione doing magic like matilda.

Worst childhood memory?:

Her first couple of days at Hogwarts when she wasn’t fitting with the other students, which reminded her of muggle schooling when she was outcasted for no particular reason. It especially didn’t help when she first discovered the different opinions based off of magical blood and knew she’d be discriminated towards for most of her life by pure-bloods or traditional wizards.

What were they like as a child?:

Hermione was a very calm child when growing up, always following the rules her parents set for her and never acting out when in public-- or acting out in general. Her mother constantly referred to her as ‘an angel child’ whenever she spoke to her grandmother or any other relative. She wasn’t fussy as a newborn and even surpassed the ‘terrible twos’ stage as a toddler. Of course, that all changed once she started muggle school, her parents constantly notified about the ‘strange’ things Hermione would do in class, and even during her times at Hogwarts they were always aware of all the things her, Harry and Ron went through.

Any crushes growing up?:

She was never much for crushes and romances, but she did adore Professor Lockhart during his time at Hogwarts before they found out he was a fraud.

Did they know/like their parents?:

She adores her parents, possibly more than anything in the world. It has been hard on her since the war, their memories still modified and still unaware they even have a daughter, never mind just not having them around. Her mother was one of her closest relationships besides Harry and Ron.

Best influence on them as a kid?:

Professor McGonagall, without a doubt. She always looked up to her Head of House, and she was also the one person she went to or owl’ed during her first couple of weeks in the magical community. McGonagall always pushed Hermione towards achieving more advanced studies, not that she needed much pushing, but she fought for the time-turner so Hermione could take more classes during her third year, and always treated the young witch as if she was one of her own.

Worst influence on them as a kid?:

Probably Harry and Ron, but only in aspects of getting into trouble and having that ‘hero-complex’ of always trying to save the school. Not that she was innocent as well, there were moments where she would be the instigator and provoke the other two. When she brewed polyjuice potion during their second year to disguise themselves as Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent, for instance, or when she continued to do research on Nicolas Flamel and countless of other things.

Did they have a lot of friends?:

Growing up in the muggle world, no, but attending Hogwarts, it is well-known she is best friends with Ron and Harry, and from them Hermione grew close to Ginny Weasley and the rest of the Weasley family. She also has a good relationship with Neville Longbottom, always sticking up for him even on the first day of school. A lot of her fellow Gryffindors are also good friends.

Type of discipline (ex. strict, lenient):

Her parents were mildly strict whilst growing up but that never bothered Hermione since she wasn’t one to act out towards her parents. As she grew older and made friends and entered a world that they weren’t apart of, they became more lenient about certain things, especially when she would spend summer and winter holidays with the Weasleys and Harry.

Were they overprotected as a child? Sheltered?:

Not really, they let Hermione grow from mistakes and venture out into the world to appreciate and learn.

Did they feel rejection or affection as a child?:

From her parents, there was nothing but love and affection. They adored their only child and loved her endlessly. She also received the same love from the rest of her family members, including her grandparents and cousins.

Were they an early or late bloomer for puberty?:

She was either ‘early’ or ‘regular’ bloomer when it came to puberty. Around 13 or 14 did she finally start developing, especially around the time of the TriWizard Tournament and Yule Ball.

Do they still know any of their childhood friends?:

Not so much the muggle ones, not that she had any, but she’s still very close with all of the friends she made at Hogwarts while growing up.

Describe their childhood home:

The floorboards would creeky in the living room right behind the couch, if one wasn’t careful and minded their step. The air always smelt clean, of bleach, since her mother was very proper and stingy towards sanitation, being a dentist, but during the weekends it would always smell of baking-- either a cake or cookies, maybe even pastries. Her father loved to bake, but cooking was his speciality, and he always made the best potatoes for their roasts. Her room walls were a faded lilac, almost white, and her bookshelf was so old and groaned whenever she added more books to her collection. The wood and paint chipped from it, yet it matched with the mismatched furniture in her room. There was always a lot more blankets scattered around than anything else. The lawn out front was trimmed neatly and a little sign hung from their fence to remind their neighbours to not litter and to curb their dog. Occasionally they held little garden tea ‘parties,’ the three of them, within the fence of their front yard since they did not have a backyard, but that was only when she was a child.

What was the economic status of their family?:

They were very well off as muggles, both her parents being very successful dentists.

Their childhood career choice:

She always wanted to be an activist for magical creatures, noted in her third year when she created Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.

#postwargoldentask #task 002 #[ tasks ]#[ character development ]#// this took me so long i'm so over it

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dreville · 7 years

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Torpedo

This is for the March trope challenge issued by the @hprarepairnet and the @slytherdornet. The pairing is Draco and Neville, the trope is Shipping Torpedo. Fanfic, 3k words, general audience. This is chapter 3 of ?. Previous chapter is HERE.

Neville tried not to look at the clock on the wall every five minutes, but only managed to restrain himself from peeking every eight minutes. Ron kept giving him speculative looks. The day would have gone by much faster if they’d spent it chasing down dark wizards and witches, but this was one of those rare occasions when they had to spend most of their time doing paperwork. Harry had worked hard to come up with a plan to overhaul the Auror office, and while he had Kingsley Shacklebolt’s support, the Wizengamot would need convincing. Harry and Ron and Neville were working on presentations and doing research and basically a lot of stuff that reminded Neville way too much of schoolwork. Hermione would love it.

After what seemed like an excruciatingly long time, the clock finally showed that it was 5pm. As eager as Neville was to shoot out of his chair, Ron and Harry were at the door even faster. They both had looks of eager anticipation. Neville trailed after them as they all headed to the elevator. Harry looked over at Ron. “So, Hermione is meeting us there?”

Ron nodded. “Yeah. Is Ginny already on the pitch?”

“Yeah, they had to get there early to warm up and practice. Where’s the rest of the family going to be?”

“Dad wanted to try some muggle tradition called a tailgate party. Not sure what a tailgate is. Do you know?”

Harry frowned. “I think that’s an American thing. Is he branching into No-Maj rituals now?” Ron shrugged. As they got on the elevator, Harry looked over at Neville. “Ginny’s really bummed you couldn’t make it tonight, Neville. But hopefully you can catch the next game.”

Neville cleared his throat. “Actually, I will be there tonight.”

Ron gave him a quizzical look. “But I thought you had plans with your Gran. She wanted to go see that muggle play, Macbeth. Because she likes the three witches.”

Neville nodded. “Yeah, she thinks it’s funny. We’re going to see it tomorrow night instead.”

Harry shook his head. “Hang on. When we talked about it a couple weeks ago, you said that you asked her if she’d switch dates so you could go to Ginny’s first game, and she was adamant that it had to be tonight.”

The elevator reached the main level and everyone shuffled off. They started walking towards the fireplaces. “Oh, she was adamant, said she wasn’t going to change her plans so I could run off with friends to a game.”

“Well what changed her mind?”

Neville started walking faster. “This time I said I had a date to the game. Courtship is very important to Gran, so she agreed to switch.”

Ron walked faster to catch up. “You have a date? Neville, that’s brilliant! Why didn’t you mention this before? Is it someone we know?”

Neville walked even faster. “Well, I didn’t want you quizzing me about it all day. And yes, you do know him. I figure it’s better if you wait to see who it is at the game. In a public place like that, you might not do as much shouting. Bye!” With that, he jumped into a fireplace, which whisked him away in a whoosh of green flames, leaving Ron and Harry to look at each other in bewilderment.

When Neville apparated at his flat, he showered and changed and had a quick dinner. He spent the rest of the hour pacing up and down his bedroom. His friends were probably mystified at his secrecy, but they’d realize why once they saw that his date was Draco. He knew they would go ballistic. Especially Ron. It wasn’t really the ideal circumstance for a first date. Neville spent a lot of time last night trying to decide if he should turn Draco down for the game and suggest something else. But the tone of the note, “Better not stand me up,” seemed to imply that this was Neville’s only chance, and any counteroffer would be summarily rejected.

So he went through the first hurdle of approaching his Gran to switch the date of the play, which turned out to be a piece of cake. Gran was delighted. She’d been worried that Neville wasn’t going to ever date again after the Battle of Hogwarts. She was less enthusiastic about his choice of date, but she trusted his judgment these days much more than she had when he was a child, and he was able to convince her that he knew what he was doing.

So now the second hurdle was going to be his friends. It was bad luck that Draco chose a game that happened to be right after Ginny Weasley joined the Holyhead Harpies, so of course his closest friends and the whole Weasley family were going to be there. Neville wondered if they would end up torpedoing this courtship just when it’s been launched.

He wasn’t sure why he was calling it a courtship, it was barely a date. Except, something in him knew that this was going to be special. He hadn’t felt this attracted to someone in a long time, and he couldn’t ignore that. He felt…hoped…that Draco wasn’t just interested in a fling. That wasn’t Neville’s style. Never had been.

The time finally came to leave and he was outside the arena at 6 o’clock sharp. Looking around for Draco, he had a moment of panic where he wondered if this was a trick. What if Draco would be standing him up? Maybe he chose this place because he knew Neville’s friends would be there (Ginny’s selection to the team had been on the sports page of the Daily Prophet after all), setting Neville up for maximum humiliation. Maybe those smiles he saw were all fake and the praise Draco gave him was a secret joke between him at that girl. What if he hadn’t changed at all and he was the same terrible bully that Neville had known at Hogwarts?

These thoughts swirled through Neville’s mind, paralyzing him. Even his lungs felt frozen and he couldn’t breathe for a moment. Then he finally saw Draco. He was wending his way through the crowd, resplendent in a black suit. Of course he was wearing a suit to a quidditch match, it was very Draco. He was gorgeous. How had Neville not ever realized that until now? It was probably for the best, imagine how much more confusing his puberty would have been.

He made his way over to Draco, who spotted him when he was a few feet away. He looked Neville up and down, and his lips widened into a grin. No, that was not a fake smile. It was genuine. Draco was genuine. Somehow he was changed, and Neville basked in his beautiful transformation. “Hello, Draco.”

“Hello, Neville. I see you had the good sense not to stand me up.” Draco chuckled. “And you’re wearing a flannel shirt.” Seeing Neville’s confusion, he shook his head. “Sorry, it’s just that my cousin was saying that she thought you’d look good in flannel. And she was right. You look very good.”

Neville blushed. “Yeah, I uh…I wear it a lot. I like how it’s so soft and comfortable.”

Draco raised one eyebrow. “Oh, is it?” He reached out his hand and rested it on Neville shoulder, then ran it up and down Neville’s arm a couple of times, stopping at his elbow. “You’re right. It is soft.” Neville felt goosebumps where Draco had caressed him. Here was something he’d never known about Draco before - he was an unabashed flirt.

“No! No, no, no, no, no! You’ve got to be kidding me. Merlin’s Beard, please tell me this is a joke.” That was the voice of Ron he heard behind him. And so it begins. Draco had apparently caught sight of Ron, because he dropped his hand from Neville’s elbow. Neville already felt bereft of his touch.

He turned and saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing a few feet away with mouths agape. Neville heard Draco next to him say, “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Golden Trio. I guess it was too much to hope that you’d catch dragon pox and wouldn’t show up.”

Ron stormed up to them. “Neville, what the bloody hell is going on here?”

Harry came up and put his hand on Ron’s shoulder. “You need to stop jumping to conclusions, Ron. Just because they’re standing next to each other doesn’t mean that Malfoy is Neville’s date. Obviously they just ran into each other. Right, Neville?” He looked at him expectantly.

Neville looked him in the eye. “No, Harry. Draco is my date.”

Ron exploded. “How could you? It’s been two years, Neville, and the first person you date after…”

Hermione clutched his arm. “Ron…” she said warningly. Neville knew what Ron had been about to say and he was glad that she stopped him.

Ron took a couple of deep breaths. “I guess you must be really lonely to go out with this tosser. But did you even stop to think how it will look for an Auror to be seen with a Death Eater? The Prophet will have a ruddy field day.”

“I’m not a Death Eater anymore,” ground out Draco through gritted teeth.

Ron scoffed. “Oh really? There’s a dark mark on your arm that says otherwise. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater.”

Smiling grimly, Draco pushed the sleeve of his jacket up past his elbow, unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt, and peeled it back to expose his lower arm. “Dark mark? What dark mark?”

Neville stared at Draco’s arm in horror. He barely registered hearing a soft choking gasp from Hermione. Where the dark mark had been, there was now an angry mass of reddened scar tissue. It contrasted severely with the pale smooth skin on the rest of his arm. There was something…not right about it.

Ron exclaimed, “Bloody hell! What did you do to your arm?”

In a trembling voice, Hermione interjected, “How is this possible? I’ve read up on the dark mark. It’s very old, very dark and powerful magic. It’s said that the mark cannot be removed by any means. If a wizard even tries it will be a death sentence.”

Draco pulled his sleeves down. “I did some research myself. I found out that Riddle learned how to create the mark when he was traveling in China. They have the most ancient magic on earth. I went there myself and located the wizard who taught him how to make it. You’re right, typically it’s a death sentence if you try to remove it. Except that the magic has a loophole. It can be removed if the person who took the mark didn’t do it out of loyalty to the Dark Lord. I only took the mark to help my father. Also, at the time of the removal the wizard can’t have shed innocent blood. As long as those two caveats are in place, the mark could be removed without proving fatal.”

Harry spoke up, his voice soft. “It may not have been fatal, but it doesn’t look like it was easy to remove.”

Draco closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, his gray eyes haunted. “No, it wasn’t. The old wizard took great pleasure in informing me that the process would be extremely painful, and last for a prolonged period of time. It was the worst month of my life, but very much worth it. I’m no longer a Death Eater.” He cleared his throat, and with an effort he schooled his features into one of pleasantness. Turning to Neville, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two tickets. “Shall we go inside?”

“Yes of course.” Neville put his hand on Draco’s back and steered him quickly towards the entrance of the arena, not sparing another glance at his friends. Once they were inside, they headed up to the box that was listed on the tickets. Draco said, “You go ahead and have a seat, I want to go get some souvenirs to cheer on the team.” Neville nodded his assent, but as soon as Draco walked away, he felt the loss immediately.

Neville sat down in one of the seats. The box was half empty, there were still about a dozen empty chairs. It had a great view. The best seats in the house. He recognized a few bigwigs from the Ministry and other wealthy business owners. It wasn’t surprising that Draco had tickets for such a box. As he sat there staring down at the pitch, he heard a noise behind him and eagerly turned around. It was Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “What are you doing here?”

They walked over. Harry said, “We have reserved seats for this box. As soon as I knew this would be Ginny’s first game, I bought tickets for the whole family. They should be here, shortly.” Neville’s heart sank. It was bad enough they were going to be at the same game, but now it seemed that they were all going to be seated next to each other. Harry cleared his throat. “So, where’s Draco?”

“He went to get some souvenirs.”

Ron piped up, “Sure he hasn’t ditched you?”

Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. “Apologize to Neville for your behavior earlier. You know how difficult it must be for him.”

Ron’s expression was sour. “Look mate, I don’t get this at all, but I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Harry said, “And we promise to behave. We won’t give Draco any grief while you’re on your date.” Hermione nodded vigorously, Ron less enthusiastically so.

At that moment, Draco returned. He looked annoyed to see Neville’s friends there, but covered it quickly with a smile at Neville. “Here, I bought you a Harpies hat.”

Neville grinned. “Thanks! I like it!” He put the hat on. It let out a squawk like a harpy. “Did you get one?”

Draco shook his head. “No, I don’t like to mess up my hair.” Ron rolled his eyes at this. “I got a pennant, instead.” He held it up and waved it. The words, “Go Puddlemere!” appeared and little sparks shot off in all directions. Neville burst out laughing.

Ron was unable to contain himself. “You foul git! You’re rooting for the enemy?”

Draco raised one eyebrow. “Three of the players were in Slytherin, of course I’m rooting for Puddlemere.”

Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but Harry put his arm around him and squeezed his shoulder in warning. “Ron, it’s a game. We’re not at war. Puddlemere’s not the enemy. You know Oliver Wood plays with them, right?”

Ron grumbled and took his seat. Harry and Hermione quickly followed. Draco sat down on the end, next to Neville. Ron leaned over the railing to look down at the pitch. “Blimey, Harry, these are really good seats. Mom and dad are going to love them.”

Harry nodded. “I got lucky, the box was almost sold out. The ticket seller said that the Puddlemere/Harpies games always sell out quickly, because they’re such fierce rivals.”

Neville turned to Draco. “How were you able to get these seats last minute?”

Draco shook his head. “Oh, I’ve had them for weeks. I was originally planning to take my cousin Cass. She was the one at the Leaky Cauldron yesterday. Cassandra Picquery.”

Hermione leaned over. “You have a cousin named Cassandra? I don’t think I’ve heard of her. Did she go to Hogwarts?”

“Distant cousin from America. She’s going into her seventh year at Ilvermorney. We invited her to stay at Malfoy Manor for the summer. I bought tickets to the game because her brother Lucas plays quidditch and I thought she’d enjoy it. Turns out she doesn’t share her brother’s enthusiasm.”

Ron leaned over. “Hang on, you’re not talking about Lucas Picquery are you? The one who plays for the American national team?” Draco nodded. “He couldn’t possibly be related to you, he’s bloody incredible.”

“You seem to forget that quidditch doesn’t just run in the Weasley and Potter families. The Malfoys have talent as well.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that you were a seeker after your father bought your way onto the team. I also seem to recall you quitting the team 6th year. So much for talent.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH, RON!” Everyone jumped at Neville’s exclamation. He glared at Ron. “So much for your promise to behave.”

Ron looked mutinous. “I can’t help it, Neville, he provokes me!”

“Not tonight, he hasn’t! He hasn’t said a single bloody thing tonight that deserves this behavior from you. Keep it up and I will hex you.”

“Oh come on, Neville, I just don’t want you to get hurt. He’s no good for you, mate.”

Neville pulled his wand out. Hermione gasped. “No, don’t! It’s forbidden to use wands at a sporting event. You’ll get into so much trouble!”

“Thanks for the reminder, Hermione. Maybe now Ron will realize I’m dead serious. Say another word against Draco…”

Ron stood up. Hermione sucked in her breath. “I’m going to go find out where my family is. Don’t want them to miss the start of the game.” He stalked out of the box and down the stairs.

Neville put his wand away and looked over at Draco. There was an unreadable expression on his face. “You alright?”

Draco nodded. “Just trying to decide if I should be annoyed at your recklessness, or ridiculously pleased.”

Neville looked sheepish. “I’m sorry, I know you can fight your own battles. I just tend to be very protective.”

“It felt nice to be protected.” Draco’s smile was almost self-conscious.

The Weasley family arrived then. To Neville’s relief, they entered from the opposite side of the row, so they wouldn’t be shuffling past him and Draco. Once they were seated, Molly called over, “Hello, Neville dear. How are you?”

He nodded. “I’m fine, Mrs. Weasley. Thanks.” She smiled. Her eyes rested momentarily on Draco, but then went back to Neville without saying anything. The others leaned over and waved - Arthur, Charlie, Bill and Fleur, Percy, and George. He waved back. They all turned to watch the start of the game. Clearly Ron had warned them not to say anything.

Neville looked back at Draco. “Looks like we’re ready to begin. Looking forward to it?”

Draco gazed at him, a gleam in his eyes. “Yes I am.” On impulse, he reached over and took Neville’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Neville felt warmth invade every part of his body, but especially in his hand. Maybe this courtship wouldn’t sink just yet.

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