#murphy mcnully imagine

[unknowncountrygirl]

Curse Breaker’s Gambit Ch.6

How Iris managed to get Badeea's spark back, and get Tulip's anger to simmer down... He wasn't sure, but that night they managed to have another practice.

With that said, Iris had given him a stern talking too that he had to treat them with kid gloves and if he started to act up she was going to elbow him in the ribs as a reminder to calm down.

He managed only three elbows. They practiced every night the rest of the week as their schedules allowed, weather it was thirty minutes or two hours. Thankfully Iris and Murphy were able to practice together in the Common room, and Tulip and Badeea were able to do the same after curfew.

It was Thursday night, they were leaving in the morning to head to Diagon Alley, and instead of playing chess Murphy and Iris were both in the library hunched over their respective books. Murphy had his nose in a chess theory book he had only recently discovered, and he managed not to chide Iris as her's was currently in a book about David Austin roses.

“So are you packed yet?” Iris asked as she looked up from her book.

“I'm 91.7 percent packed, all except my toiletries.” Murphy told her not looking up from his book.

“I still need to pack, honestly I should be doing that instead of reading.” Iris said as she flipped her book shut. “I still have no idea what to wear. How are you dressing for this?”

“I'm just wearing my slacks, and my usual button up, but I'm wearing a chess piece pin instead of my snitch pin Mum sent me.”

“Hold the presses! Murphy is switching up his pins!” Iris joked. “So like, if I wear a dress or a skirt I'll be fine? So long as I don't wear anything to distracting?”

Distracting. Murphy suddenly got a brilliant idea and he wasn't sure why he didn't think if it sooner.

“No... I think distracting is perfect.” He said slowly.

“Have you gone mad?” She asked, looking at him oddly.

“I think distracting them would be beneficial, like in a subtle way that won't make everyone think we're trying to distract our opponents.” Murphy told Iris quietly.

“Oh? You think?” She leaned in, excited to hear what he had come up with.

“You know that skirt you wore to the party in the boathouse-”

“You remember that skirt?”

“Everyone remember's that skirt.” Murphy told her pointedly.

“Was it... That ugly?” Iris asked. Murphy gave her a look of someone disgusted, and bewildered.

“You're joking, right?” He asked, “the black skirt? With that matching blouse that showed just the slightest bit of your ribs? With the pompom fringe?”

“Yeah, I thought it was cute.”

“It wasn't cute.” Murphy said bluntly, and Iris's eyes doubled. “It was sex appeal at its finest. Take it from someone who is ass level with the world, your bum is the bum everyone wants, and in that skirt you made a lot of people very jealous... And or horny.” A blush crept across her cheeks and her ears.

“Well now I am most certainly not wearing that skirt!” Iris shook her head slapping her book shut.

“Fine. How about your high waisted jeans? With that blue cropped sweater you have?”

“Murphy!”

“Like I said, I'm ass level with the world and I consider myself fairly qualified to judge bums.” He told her pointedly. “Again, yours is a top quality bum.”

“Well I wouldn't know, I've never seen it.”

“Shame.” He shook his head with a smile, “so will you consider the jeans-”

“You're on thin ice pal.” Iris shot him a mock angry look, but the two both chuckled lightly. “Honestly though, I should probably go pack.”

“I'll head back to the tower with you, so long as you don't mind the company.”

“I never mind your company.” Iris told him sincerely and that same little part in his chest that felt warm, felt warm all over again.

“Well, thats very kind... Usually people get sick of me talking.” He told her honestly as he slid his books into his bag as Iris collected her books that she had checked out.

“I feel like with other people you seem to have diarrhea of the mouth-”

“Iris that's disgusting!” Murphy shook his head at her imagery. She laughed and explained herself more.

“Hear me out, with other people you're constantly on analytical alert, and it just seems like with me... You're more relaxed and aren't always thinking about numbers and trying to impress me. If you don't mind me saying, it feels like you're the most comfortable around me then anyone else.”

“It's because you are.” He told her honestly. If Iris had figured it out, there was no reason to hide anything from her at this point. “I've said it before, and that's that I have to put all of me out there al the time so people don't just see the guy in the wheelchair. You came into my life and for the first time I didn't have to do that, because you actually just saw Murphy McNully. The chair was secondary to me.” He and Iris stopped in the hallway, looking at one another, and truthfully Murphy had never felt more vulnerable.

“You have a lot to offer the world, Murphy, and the people who don't see that don't deserve your attention or your effort.” She told him wholeheartedly.

I'm going to marry this girl, and I'm going to protect her from all who mean her harm, Murphy told himself in that moment. No one else had ever said that to him except his Mother and his Gran. Iris could preform magic without a wand, she could conjure a full corperal patronus, she was an animagus, she had broken the six cursed vaults that haunted the school and broken the chains of bondage that lurked everywhere. She stared down evil witches and wizards and kept her ground, kept fighting and yet never lost herself. She had some of the top marks in their classes, she was a jack of all trades when it came to Quiddicth.

Peacemaker. Breaker of chains. Reliable. Honest. Breaker of curses. Saint. Steadfast. Faithful. Will of iron. Resolute. Unyielding. Unbending. Forged in fire, with the face of a doll.

Then he had a thought, and wondered...

“I could say the same thing for you. Your worth is intangible, and I wonder if you understand just how precious you are.” He told her, and by the look on her face... She had not heard such words spoken to her before. “Your friends, including me, have failed you if you don't know that about yourself.”

He could almost see the last remaining wall between them come crumbling down in front of him. The wall that kept whatever this was between them platonic, and opened him up to a whole knew world of possibly gaining what he thought of was ultimate happiness, or ultimate destruction.

“You've never failed me.” Iris said so quietly he almost missed it. “In my deepest darkness, you were the only one there.”

“I'll always be.” He promised her, and in the most heartbreaking confession he had ever heard-

“And I believe you.” How many broken promises had people made to her that she had to acknowledge that she believed what he was saying? “Thank you, Murphy.”

“Thank you, Iris.” There was a few moments of silence before Iris broke it.

“I have to tell you something... About when we first met.” He felt his heart speed up, wondering what it was she was about to tell him, “in truth, the first thing I saw was a pretty face.” She smiled, lightening the mood. He couldn't help but smile back just as bright.

“Are you saying you think I'm a pretty boy, Iris?” He placed his hand over his chest, and wiggled his brows at her.

“It's the least I can do, since you told me I have the best bum.” She smiled, slapping her butt. “It is pretty good isn't it?”

“Absolutely!” He laughed. “I know my butts.” The two laughed together, just enjoying the moment and being purely happy.

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

The plan was to meet in the courtyard around 8am, and head together to the Three Broomsticks, and use Madam Rosemerta's floo to get into Diagon Alley by way of the Leaky Cauldron. McGonagall had made plans for them to stay in the Inn at the Leaky Cauldron on Friday night so that they didn't have to travel back and forth Friday night and Saturday morning for the tournament.

Murphy was the first one in the courtyard, thirty minutes before the meeting time because he was so excited to get going. Badeea and Tulip arrived together with their overnight bags. The three chatted for a few minutes before Iris arrived.

Murphy had to smile when he saw Iris walking down the hallway to meet the team, wearing the high waisted jeans... And a cropped white cardigan. Her makeup was done and her hair was done up in a half up high ponytail that made her already thick hair look even more full.

“Fuck, Iris looks hot.” Tulip whistled.

“Yeah she does.” Murphy nodded in agreement before he realized it was Tulip who had commented on Iris's looks. Oh my God... A realization suddenly hit Murphy, and that was he was not the only one to see Iris for her beauty and her mind, and that didn't just include the male portion of the dating pool.

“Iris is always as lovely as a painting, you seem as though you are just now realizing her beauty.” Badeea pointed out to Tulip.

“Trust me, I'm not just now realizing it. If Iris played for the other team I'd be all over her.” Tulip admitted to Badeaa and Murphy. “She made it clear to me though before, that she is very much heterosexual and we are just friends.” Murphy felt like he could breathe again, it was worrisome enough to think about competing against the guys, let alone the girls as well.

“On the topic of Iris's beauty, do you think her hair has magical properties?” Badeea asked the two of them.

“What do you mean?” Murphy asked her.

“Well Veela's have magical hair, other countries use Veela hair as wand core.” She told him.

“I would assume so, considering that Iris's own wand core string has her own hair in it.” Tulip mentioned. Badeea looked stunned for a moment.

“Iris's wand is made from her own hair?”

“Yeah, Ollivander doesn't work with pure Veela hair, but he suggested trying Iris's since she's half Veela and it worked amazingly.”

“Iris is half Veela?” Murphy was less interested in her wand and more interested in that portion of information.

“Uh, yeah? Have you ever like even looked at her?” Tulips laughed loudly. “Typically people don't have hair that white without there being something in their blood.”

“Who's blood are we talking about?” Iris asked as she came up to the three of them.

“Yours.”

“Mine?” Iris questioned Badeea as the four of them began to head towards Hogsmead.

“About how you're half Veela, and your wand.” Tulip told her.

“Ok, that's not really interesting.” Iris chuckled.

“It is for people who had no idea you were Veela.” Murphy told her.

“Oh really?” Iris asked him, “people gossip about me so much I figured everyone knew. I'm sorry you're the last to know.”

“Honestly, I should have put it all together. Veela's are harpy like creatures when they're mad, I mean the puzzle just fits itself.” He joked and she narrowed her eyes at him, but had a smile on her lips. “It brings a whole knew meaning to the fact that you're a Harpy Eagle in your animagus form.”

“Oh my gosh I never thought of that!” Tulip laughed loudly. The conversation was light, and they shared a lot of laughs on their way to the Three Broomsticks.

Murphy though was waiting for his moment to comment of Iris's choice of clothing. It was rather funny to him that they were all dressed more scholastically and Iris had opted for her jeans.

After Badeea and Tulip had disappeared into a green blaze, Murphy took his moment.

“So uh... You're wearing the jeans-”

“Sod off... These happen to be my favorite jeans.” Iris cut him off, a grin on her face. Oh... She knows exactly what she's doing, he thought to himself.

“Mine too!” He laughed loudly, enjoying their flirting. Yes, flirting, this was exactly what it was and he was not going to act like it wasn't. Their little flirtations had changed the night previous in the library, this was just plain out loud flirtation and if Iris was willing to dish it out just as much as he did... Who was he to stop.

Murphy had to smile, but leaned back just a little to admire her bum as she grabbed a handful of floo powder.

“I saw that.”

“I meant you to.” Where that answer had come from, he had no idea.

“Oh you're cheeky today.” She wagged a finger at him accusingly.

“Haven't a bloody clue what you're talking about.” He grinned up at her.

“I'm surprised you don't slap it for good luck.” Iris turned around, floo powder in one hand and hand on the hip.

“Is that an option?” Murphy grinned, holding his hand up, wiggling his fingers.

“Murphy!” Iris shrieked, shaking her head. “Leaky Cauldron!” She smashed the floo powder to her feet and disappeared in a blaze of bright neon green.

#hphm #murphy mcnully x mc #Murphy mcnully #hphm murphy #murphy mcnully x jacob's sibling #murphy mcnully imagine #Iris Rosewood

[barnabyjr]

Hello, I wanted to ask. What are the reactions of our hphm boys to the birth of a child???

i've always wanted a mini-me: charlie, ANDRE, barnaby

ultimate dad mode™: MURPHY, rowan

how do i hold this thing: diego, orion, JAE, talbott

scared shitless: bill, BEN

#i've done a few of these but they're always so fun #hp hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery #harry potter #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #harry potter hogwarts game #hphm imagine #hp imagine #andre egwu #barnaby lee #ben copper #bill weasley #charlie weasley #diego caplan #jae kim #murphy mcnully #orion amari #rowan khanna #talbott winger

[ardent-musings]

Fluffy Blurb: Murphy McNully

This was inspired by @palettes-and-prompts ‘ smut dialogue but I turned this one fluffy for the queen of all things fluff @kc-needs-coffee

88. “Mmm, good morning to you too.”

Moments like this were everything to you; the smell of sea salt the the gentle roaring of the ocean waves threatened to lull you back. The silk sheets beneath your fingertips were slick, making you cling to the warm body against yours. Sunlight was peaking through the willowy curtains, they moved with every breeze from the sweet summer air.

You would’ve fallen back asleep; however the soft graze of Murphy’s lips against your cheek tickled you awake. Even with your eyes closed, you could tell that he was grinning like a love sick fool and it made you hum with a smile.

“Mmm, good morning to you too.”

Murphy preened in the glow of the sun, his hair looked like pure gold and his stormy eyes looked crystal blue for a moment. A soft chuckled rumbled in his tired chest.

“Morning, love.”

#murphy mcnully fluff #murphy mcnully imagine #hphm murphy #hphm

[ardentmuse]

Chalk and Leather (Murphy McNully x Reader)

DISCOVERING AMORTENTIA SMELLS LIKE MURPHY McNULLY TO YOU

Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery - Murphy McNully x fem!Reader

A/N: Since we just finished up the valentine’s day quest, got to give some love to the characters we can’t date. :) 

Masterlist

“What do you smell, Y/N?” Skye asks you as you stand what should have been a safe distance from the cauldron Snape has bubbling in the middle of his classroom. Streams of pink smoke loft occasionally into the air as your professor’s voice continues to cut through the crowd, droning on about how you need to study amortentia to know how to identify it and therefore avoid it. A better policy seems to be just don’t touch any potions you don’t know.

You try hard not to lean forward but it is intoxicating. Skye elbows you and raises her eyebrows; clearly hoping your nose might provide some juicy gossip.

“I smell chalk and freshly cut grass and—“

Your eyes find the real thing you are smelling on the other side of the room. Murphy McNully, one of your dearest friends, is beside Rowan, the two chatting in hushed tones about something or the other. He laughs — the kind of bright, full laugh that consumes his whole face — and you feel the warm trickle in your chest you haven’t been able to explain for weeks, at least until this very moment.

“Leather and shoe polish,” you finish with a whisper. The words flow from your mouth like they’re the solutions to a riddle because they are. You are in love with Murphy McNully and somehow you hadn’t put two and two together until it was right under your nose.

You take another whiff and enjoy the fragrance you associate only with your rambling friend. It’s a pleasant blend of masculine comforts, rustic and warm like the boy himself. McNully catches your eyes across the room. He smiles, always so friendly, though something in your face must be off because he frowns soon after, returning his attention to Rowan and the rest of your class on his side of the room.

“That’s an odd collection of scents,” Skye muses. “I just smell the pitch.”

“Predictable. Maybe I’ll give those bludgers some amortentia next practice and see if they’ll chase after you like some lovesick puppies so I can take the day off.”

Skye cackles even though your joke wasn’t that funny and Snape snaps at the both of you.

“Is this stuff getting to your head, Parkin? Making you dumb?”

“No, Professor.”

“Then I advise you keep your voice down and pay attention,” Snape says, speaking to Skye but looking at you as well.

“Yes, Professor.”

Snape turns on his heels and heads back towards his desk. Skye lets out a breath, shaking off her scolding. You wish you could shake off your feelings, too: joy, fear, anxiety, doubt, hope, and love above all the others. 

As the class ends, your quidditch crew prepares to leave and head to the pitch for practice. McNully usually never misses an opportunity to come with you all and practice his announcing skills but when Skye calls out his name in the corridor of the dungeon, he mumbles something under his breath. He doesn’t even meet your gaze as he rolls down the hall and out of sight.

“Someone’s a little grumpy.”

The worry fills your chest like a balloon, making it hard to breath. 

“Isn’t that odd, though? He’s always chipper.”

“So are you and you look like a house elf denied her supper,” Skye laughs, patting you on the back as she runs ahead to catch up with Orion and the rest of the gang. But you can’t join in the joyous run. McNully is somewhere less than pleased about whatever he saw on your face during potions.

You arrive at the locker rooms and change into your quidditch gear, a little slower than usual. Your brain won’t stop replaying images of the dinners spent playing wizard chess with the dimpled blond currently getting situated in the announcer’s booth, the late nights in the common room, your legs up on his lap, memorizing quidditch strategy, and the after-match hang outs where you often found excuses to be close to him, grab his hand, and congratulate him on commentary you arguably didn’t hear given your focus on the match. How had you not seen before just how much he meant to you and just how many of your tiny fantasies about how nice it would be to have a boyfriend involved soft blue eyes just as you closed your eyes to be kissed or running your hands down crisp white collars as you snuggle close in front of the fire, or the pleasant warm laughter of mirth-filled lungs as warm hands run through your hair, just as soft and strong as McNully’s? Everything you hoped for had been right in front of you for well over a year.

When the team assembles and takes to the air, you heard the faint calls of Murphy’s voice from the booth as you bat at the first bludger. He had come to practice after all, just not with you.

“And Y/L/N whacks the bludger away from Parkin with a—“

There is an odd and long silence that follows and it seems the whole team notices. The entire friendly slows, each broom taking to a lazy bob as your team’s statistician stands in stasis. 

“… some level of accuracy,” he finally says with a cough. 

Murphy is struggling with numbers? That’s odd, you think and it seems everyone else is as confused as you, that is at least until Orion screams for you to focus from the other end of the field, clearly not wanting to lose practice time. But he doesn’t even need to call you from your daze. A rogue bludger is already heading for your team’s latest addition, Oliver Wood.

You fly as fast as you can, swooping down towards the goal posts in hopes of intercepting the ball as the rest of the team resumes play. With a great push, you dangle down from your broom and swing low, just hitting the edge of the wall and knocking it back towards the pitch below.

“And with an impressive show of athleticism, Y/L/N managed to protect our young keeper from a bludger that was—“

Murphy coughs like there is a frog in his throat. It’s alarming and your heart pulls for him. Without a thought for anything but wanting to make sure he is okay, you fly down towards the box where Murphy is sitting. His head is in his hands and his face is redder than it normally is. When he sees you, his eyes bug out a little, but he looks away. His attention is back on the game. He straightens his shoulders and begins commentating again.

“And Parkin shoots for the upper left and misses! A rare miss for the ace chaser, whom this season alone has scored 92.4% of shots on open goals in sunny weather.”

Wait, how come that stat was not an issue?

You hover a bit and stare at the boy who is proving quite the enigma. Your chest heaves a bit as you consider what might be happening, but out of the corner of your eye a stream of black comes barreling through. 

Instinctively, you press forward and swing your bat just as the bludger enters into Murphy’s commentary box. The bludger flies away to the east just as McNully covers his face, prepared for a sure to be painful smack right to the noggin. Your momentum however doesn’t stop just because you managed to knock the ball away. You pull up on your broom but can’t stop and land right down on top of Murphy, curling up in his lap as his wheelchair slides back into the wall. His arms wrap around you protectively, covering your head as the house banners fall down upon you in a giant crash. 

Once your crash ends and the chaos subsides, you realize exactly where you are; seated on Murphy’s lap with his arms wrapped tightly around your waist, canopied in the privacy of fallen tapestries. Murphy’s breathing is hard as his hands curl into the flesh of your back.

And for the first time since potions, he smiles.

“Y/L/N with the greatest save of the day,” he whispers, his hand reaching up to wipe a bit of dust off your cheek. 

You face is hot as you look deeply into Murphy’s eyes, unable to stop the smile on your face, too. And somehow, suddenly, everything feels right.

“And what were my chances of making it?” 

He slides his hand into your hair as he tilts your face up to him.

“I haven’t a bloody clue.” 

He shakes his head and laughs, his cheeks turning the brightest red you’ve ever seen. You start to speak but his voice interrupts you.

“I can’t think of a single thing but you when you’re near, you know that?” 

“I— I can’t either.”

Murphy laughs, the hearty kind you missed just a little, and the matching smile on his face only makes it better. He pulls you closer to him, letting you rest your head against his chest. He takes a deep and stabilizing breath.

“Lilac,” he says more to himself than you, “And fresh clean linens.” 

And now it is your turn to smile as you realize Murphy knows your scent, too— two people attracted by nothing other than each other. It’s impossible to resist the urge, just like this morning in Snape’s classroom, to draw closer to the source of such joy. Every part you longs to lift upward, to taste the thing you’ve been craving so intensely, the thing you didn’t know you needed.

“Y/N! Y/N! Are you okay?” Skye is screaming from somewhere near by. You hear the scrambled sounds of brooms dropping onto the deck and footsteps rushing to your aid.

But McNully doesn’t care. His hand takes your chin and he kisses you full on, not wasting a moment to seal your newly-declared affections. And all you can do is melt into him.

A faint breeze hits your face and you look up to see Skye standing now under the banners, her eyes filled with mischief as she takes you in.

“That chalk smell makes a whole lot of sense now.”

Murphy’s eyes bug out of his head as he pushes back on you.

“I smell… like chalk to you?”

“Among other things.”

He laughs, “I’ll have you know my spell for the chalk board reduces chalk use by 68.3% over traditional writing methods.”

You can’t help but smile. He’s back in all his quirkiness and something about the fact that he can be himself with you in his arms, open about your feelings, brings you more joy than you can say. And that joy is the kind of joy you hope to have every night moving forward with the boy who smells like chalk and leather by your side and loving you fully.

All tags: @fangirlandnerd, @aerdnandreaa, @thisisbullshytt,  @cancerousjojian, @whovianayesha, @themarauderstheoutsidersandpeggy, @luna-xxxxx, @sleepylunarwolf, @starryrevelations, @potter-thinking, @all-by-myself98, @bananafosters-and-books, @cutie-bug, @igotmadskills, @hazelandcoconuts, @yallgotkik, @amberkay284, @the-new-galahad, @13ofjuly, @daft-not-punk

Harry Potter tags: @tessimagines​, @0-lost-in-stereo-0, @whysoseriouspadfoot, @eldritchscreech​, @luckyvirgo​, @hellizhelusive2​, @lexrius, @sapphireorchid​, @amazingwonderlandnapkin, @garbdump​

#hphm #hp hogwarts mystery #hphm imagine #murphy mcnully #murphy mcnully imagine #hphm murphy #mcnully #hp hogwarts mystery imagine #harry potter #hp #reader insert #x reader

[adellovesrowan]

m!rowan x murphy my beloved

oh my god nonnie youre so right

#just. chatty guys being chatty dudes #im jokign theyre boyfriends actually LMAOOO #also in my hc m!rowan plays for seeker so just imagine murphy cheering on him yk. actually i know he probably wouldnt be biased in commentar #commentary but like thats his boyfriend hes going to announce how good he looks up there #rowan khanna #murphy mcnully #rowan x murphy #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #asks #anon #mine

[navybluehues]

The Letter Pt. 1

summary; a game of wizard’s chess with one of your closest friends is interrupted by a devastating letter. 

there’ll be fluff eventually, but it’ll be a slow burn with some angst along the way. ;)

scribbler’s note; i’ll be honest, i have no idea whether i should make this barnaby/fem!mc,  murph/fem!mc, oor … someone else??  idk idk let me know what you think!

warning; people throw hands. that’s about it

word count; 1,500ish

-----

“Queen to G5. Aaand … Checkmate.”

“Really? Again??”

You couldn’t help the smug smile that crossed your lips, finding some amusement in Murphy’s exasperation. “I bet you wish that you hadn’t borrowed me that book on Wizard Chess stratagem.”

Murphy crossed his arms as he mulled over the last several moves that got them to that point. He finally recognized the maneuver as one from the book, albeit a little too late. You set the trap and he had fallen right into it. “Well, I didn’t think you’d actually read it ...”

You snorted.  “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

Murphy couldn’t deny that you had a point there. You were known as a voracious reader when it came to learning a new skill that you had an interest in. It was one of the qualities that landed you in Ravenclaw, despite being born into a family of well-known Gryffindors. He should’ve known better than to gamble with that. Sighing, he threw up his hands in defeat. “Fair enough. Care for another round?”

“I have to go to class in a bit, but sure. This shouldn’t take long.” The implication of the statement wasn’t lost on him and he chuckled sarcastically, resetting the board. “You’re right it won’t, because now that I’m onto you and your tricks. I’d say the odds of me wiping the floor with you in 5 minutes is at a staggering 98.5%”

Just as you had started sorting out your first move, your thoughts were interrupted by the flutter of wings. You looked up in time to recognize the unmistakable plumage of your father’s Eagle Owl as it came soaring in. It settled on the table next to you and much to Murphy’s vexation, knocked over many of the game pieces in the process. You smiled apologetically, “I’m sorry, he forgets his size sometimes.”

The massive owl trilled contentedly when you stroked him, releasing the letter into your grasp. It had been months since you last heard from your parents. They had adamantly discouraged you from  digging into your brother’s affairs over the last few years but as persistent as you were, they’d come to expect it from you. In the end, they simply resigned themselves to asking that you be careful. However, after the last letter you’d sent as an update to your progress, they had gone silent. You had been wondering if you might’ve gone too far and so you couldn’t deny that you were relieved to hear from them finally. That was, until you opened the letter …

Murphy craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the letter and its contents. “Well? What does it say??”

You were silent, taking in the words. You didn’t even react when the owl flapped his massive wings and took his leave. Murphy frowned. “(Y/N)...?” He was interrupted when he heard someone trip on his chair at the end of the table. He instinctively turned to apologize, as it was a fairly common occurrence for people to accidentally stumble on the chair if they weren’t paying attention. Expecting to find some hapless student, he was surprised to see Ismelda’s delighted smirk instead. She gave the chair another firm kick and it managed to distract him enough not to notice Merula as she came up behind you. “What’s this…?” She inquired, snatching the letter from you.

“Merula!” You snapped, grasping at the letter as she held it just out of reach.

“What are you so worried about, (L/N)? Got something here that you don’t want us to know about? Good.” She snickered, unable to hide her growing amusement as her eyes flitted across the script.

Murphy rolled his eyes at her and reached for the letter when she made her way around to his side of the table. Unfortunately, Merula had stepped back just enough to dodge his attempt. “Merula, will you just bugger off, already? Don’t you have some sorry first year to bully out of his  galleons?”

“Sure, but I’d never miss out on the chance to share my condolences for [Y/N]’s late brother. So sad …” Merula pouted, her voice dripping with malice as she pretended to dab at her eye with the corner of her sleeve. You pursed your lips, staring hard at the Wizard Chess board in front of you. The edge in Murphy’s voice softened when he turned to look at you from across the table. “[Y/N]? What is she talking about?”

“Haven’t you heard? Everyone thinks that Jacob’s dead. Even her PARENTS!!” She grinned, waving the letter triumphantly. “Everyone, except for [Y/N] here. You really are the stupidest Ravenclaw there is.”

Merula and Ismelda laughed amongst themselves while Barnaby exchanged a concerned look with Murphy. He might have been a little dense, but even he seemed to understand that this would not end well. “Uh. Merula, we’re going to be late for Charms. Let’s go-”

The Slytherin scoffed. “Please. I wouldn’t miss this for all the House Points Hogwarts had to offer. Go on, be a gentleman and say that you’re sorry for her loss.” Barnaby stiffened, glancing from her to you and back again. “I … Merula, if we’re late again, Flitwick will have our heads.”

“We’re not leaving until you say that you’re sorry for her loss.” Merula sneered at him. He didn’t appreciate her tone, but the more he thought on it … if [Y/N]’s brother were truly dead, wouldn’t that actually be the decent thing to do? Barnaby scratched the back of his head and turned towards you. “[Y/N], I -”

Before he’d had the opportunity to finish his thought, you had shot up from your seat. By then, the attention of the entire hall was on your table, hushed murmurs rippling through the room as you drew your wand and aimed it right at Merula. She was clearly taken aback by the gesture but with the eyes of the other students upon her, a good portion of them from her own house, she managed a hollow laugh. “W-what’s wrong, [L/N]? Don’t you want the support of your mates during these trying times?”

There was a cruel look in your eye, one that neither Murphy nor Barnaby had ever seen before even when you dueled.  It made the normally demure, even-keeled Ravenclaw that you were nearly unrecognizable. You said nothing, grip tightening around your wand. Undeterred and with her reputation on the line, Merula pulled out her own wand. “Come on then, [L/N]. Let’s see what you’ve go-.”

You sent a blast of energy towards her and she had to stumble out of the way to avoid it. Merula looked over her shoulder to the smoking black spot on the wall behind her. “HEY! That's not fair! I wasn’t ready!”

“Merula!! Look out!” Ismelda shouted. Before she could register what was happening, you had bounded across the table and landed a punch square across her jaw. Merula reeled backwards from the blow, catching herself on the table behind her where the students had already scattered to get out of the way. She gaped at you. “[L/N]! What the hell?!”

Your response came in the form of a shove, which threw off her balance enough to bring her to the ground. It was in that moment, standing over her, that your family’s reputation for having a mean streak was actualized. You felt fire in your veins when you straddled her, landing blow after blow across the disarmed girl’s face. Merula grabbed at your robes in a feeble  attempt to defend herself, managing to claw at your face enough to redden the vision in your right eye. You still didn’t relent, pouring every sleepless night, every holiday without your brother, every ounce of bottled-up guilt, grief and anger into mercilessly pummeling Merula. Not even Barnaby could manage to pry you off of her. It took the combined efforts of both him and Andre  to wrestle you away from her and by then, she was teetering on the edge of consciousness.

You struggled against the boys as they forced you backwards into the uproarious crowd that had gathered. It was all that they could do to put distance between the two of you. You tearfully shouted and cursed until your throat was raw, though you couldn’t begin to comprehend what you were saying. Any attempt to coax you out of your frenzy only seemed to anger you further until finally, you managed to twist around enough to slap one of them. You froze when you saw Barnaby staring at you, his opposite hand held against the red mark on his cheek. All at once, the fire in your veins was extinguished and all that was left was a pitiful, smoldering ember of a girl.

Without another word, you shook them off and pushed past them. You had taken off in a sprint out of the Great Hall before anyone could stop you. Where were you going? You couldn’t say. Anywhere was fine, as long as it was far, far away from there.

#duelling club is the fight club of the wizarding world #hp #hphm #hp imagine #hogwarts mystery imagine #charlie weasley #murphy mcnully #andre egwu #barnaby lee #bill weasley #penny haywood #merula snyde #ismelda murk #hogwarts mystery #ben copper #fanfic #harry potter #jacob's sibling #hphm mc #murphy mcnully x mc #barnaby lee x mc #charlie wealsey x mc #bill weasley x mc

[rosapeachhogwartsmystery]

Focus and Balance are the Key to Succes (Fictober day 3 - fem!Reader x Orion Amari)

Masterlist  (To view my Masterlist, visit my Tumblr page)

Words: 3k

HPHM Fictober Prompt day 3: Quidditch

Summary: Keeping up with everything is hard when you are dealing with the Cursed Vaults, Detention, Curse-Breaking activities and Quidditch. However, Orion seems to know the answer to your struggles. If only you could actually figure out how to focus and keep your balance…

@hphm-fictober

_______________________________________________________

“Are you feeling unbalanced today, Y/N?”

  You looked towards the Quidditch Captain, who also was one of the other Chasers on the team: Orion Amari. It was like he always seemed to know something was up, even though he might express it quite vaguely most of the times.

“Is it that obvious?” You asked him, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Your thoughts seem to be elsewhere. It’s not hard to see someone is distracted by something.” Orion said honestly. “Besides, your face was kind of giving it away.”

You blinked, wondering what he meant.

“The frown on your face that keeps appearing when you are thinking. I have seen that one before.”

Oh, you must have been frowning when you were thinking about the recent events. It was hard to combine everything. You were trying to keep your grades up; you were working on finding the next Vault and you sometimes had detention in the Kitchens. It definitely wasn’t easy to keep up with everything.

“There it is again, are you sure you are up to play the match tomorrow?” Orion asked, sounding slightly concerned.

You quickly nodded. “Of course! Sorry, I will focus during the rest of our practice.”

“Good, because your focus and balance are what we need during our match tomorrow.” He gave you a small smile before he called everyone over for the Quidditch Friendly.

  The Quidditch Friendly went all right, but you knew you were probably a bit off. You could see Skye and Orion giving you some glances every now and then. You wondered if they were glancing at you because they were annoyed or worried. You wouldn’t be surprised if it was in annoyance.

Once you were dressed in your regular clothing, you looked at your broom and Quidditch robes. Maybe it was foolish to think you could do combine everything you wanted to do. Maybe playing Quidditch was just too much this year. When you first joined the team, you didn’t have to deal with detention and the things you had to do for the Cursed Vaults seemed to be less intense and less dangerous.

Perhaps you needed to quit?

“Y/N, I know you have got a lot on your mind, but could you try to clear your mind a bit more tomorrow?”

You turned around and saw Skye Parkin standing behind you, rubbing the back of her neck a bit. “Sorry, Skye. I will do better tomorrow.”

“It’s fine, I just want us to win the match against Rath, you know? And if you are too distracted, she might play a little rougher just to knock your off your broom…” Skye grimaced a little. “I don’t think Orion and the rest of the team will like it to see another player with a Quidditch injury after playing against Rath.”

“Well… I suppose that makes sense. She has tried to do such a thing before.”

  “Good, I mean, you know how she plays Quidditch.” Skye said and then she grabbed her stuff. “I will see you tomorrow, Y/N.”

“Yeah, I will see you tomorrow.” You said before she left the Quidditch dressing room. You sighed softly and then you grabbed your stuff. You were ready to go back to your Common Room and probably head to bed.

On your way back to the Castle, you were once again thinking about everything that was going on this year. It was definitely going to a hard year. You would have to take your O.W.L.s, go to detentions in the Kitchen once in a while, breaking the Portrait Curse, going to Professor Rakepick’s extracurricular classes to learn more spells and tricks of a Curse-Breaker and then there was Quidditch… So much to do, so little time… If only you had a Time Turner…

“Do you want to walk back to the Common Room together?”

You snapped out of your thoughts and noticed Orion was walking beside you. “You startled me, Orion.”

He grinned lightly. “Did I really?”

“You did.” You told him honestly. “I mean, I was thinking so hearing you talking to me out of the blue definitely was surprising.”

“I understand.”

  “I thought you were already back to the Common Room.” You told him.

“I was just checking if we didn’t leave anything behind at the Quidditch Pitch.” Orion said honestly. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?” You were slightly confused.

“If you wanted to walk back to the Common Room together.” He grinned. “Or did I startle you too much you didn’t hear my question back then?”

“Oh…” You said, blushing slightly. “We can walk back to the Common Room together, I mean, we are in the same house, aren’t we? We would have to go the same way anyways.”

“That’s true, although, I thought I should ask, because you were pretty distracted by your own thoughts.”

“Maybe a bit too much distracted…” You mumbled softly.

“Everyone can be too distracted by something from time to time. You just need to learn how to manage these distractions and make sure you can still focus on the things that are important to you.” Orion said with a smile. “Basically, it’s all about finding your focus and balance.”

“Are you saying balance and focus are always the answer…?” You raised an eyebrow.

“In a sense, yes. I think they are quite helpful to keep things in order and make someone at ease.”

  “Anyways, we haven’t talked a lot this year, Y/N.” Orion pointed out.

You blinked a little again, feeling confused again. “What do you mean? We talk every Quidditch practice.”

“I meant as your friend, not your Quidditch Captain.” He gave you a serious look. “I know you have been busy with other things like the Cursed Vaults, but you haven’t been talking about how you are feeling. Your mental wellbeing is just as important as your physical wellbeing.”

“I’m fine, Orion. I’m just busy, that’s all…”

Orion didn’t seem to believe you, but didn’t say anything about it. The rest of the walk to the Common Room was quiet. You knew you weren’t telling him the truth, but what would he do with the information you give him? It’s not like he could just change everything. This year was just stressful and you would just have to figure out how to manage it.

When you both reached the Common Room, you were ready to immediately go to your dormitory. Before you could go, Orion grabbed your hand.

“You can talk to me if you feel like it, Y/N.” He said honestly. “Also, get some good rest, okay?”

You nodded to him, giving him a small smile before you headed to your bed.

___________________

“It’s time for one of the most important matches of the year! The Y/H team versus the O/H team! Definitely a 93.3% chance of edge-of-your-seat excitement!” McNully’s voice was heard throughout the Quidditch Pitch. You could hear the excitement in his voice, knowing he was rooting for your team. “Madam Hooch is about to kick off the match. Both teams look eager to get underway.”

Madam Hooch walked onto the field and looked at both teams. “I want a nice, clean game from all of you.” She said before the trunk opened and the balls flew out of it.

“The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch.” McNully said before Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle in the air. “And the game begins!”

You, Skye and Orion were ready to get the Quaffle before the other Chaser would get their hands on it.  You just hoped you would keep your head in the game. You managed to get a good night rest, but you couldn’t really control your thoughts that well. Especially when more and more students were getting trapped in the Portraits.

“Y/N Y/L/N has the Quaffle, will she score?” McNully said when you caught the Quaffle.

You dodged some of the other players and then you scored.

“10 points for Y/H!” McNully said excitedly. This meant your team was in lead right now.

  If looks could kill someone, Erika Rath would probably have killed you with that glare she gave you. Luckily, you didn’t have to look at her face for too long. Your teammates were giving you smiles and some thumbs up. If things are going right the rest of the match, your team might win.

You quickly had to focus on getting the Quaffle again, so you, Orion or Skye could score again. It was only the beginning of the game; a lot of things could change throughout the game. You couldn’t afford thinking about anything else besides the match, because it was way too intense and you would make mistakes if you did. Things were going fast and you needed to think fast if you wanted to have a shot. After a few years of playing, you definitely realised that.

You definitely were saved a couple of times by the Beaters of your team. They definitely had to work hard with Rath out there. Rath might not always play too nice, but she definitely wasn’t a bad Beater. She just happens to hit Bludgers well enough to seriously injure other players from time to time.

  Skye flew next to you. “Keep an eye on Rath. She doesn’t seem too happy about our team being in the lead.” She told you seriously.

“I have noticed that.” You told her, before you both were trying to get the Quaffle out of the hands of the O/H Chasers. It definitely wasn’t an easy match. You just hoped no one of the team would get injured, because it would definitely would lower the chances of your team winning the match. Unless the Seeker of your team would catch the Snitch soon.

“Skye Parkin has the Quaffle and she passes it to Y/N Y/L/N….” McNully commentated on what was happening now.

You once again had the Quaffle in your position and then you passed it to Orion, who seemed to be in a better position to score.

“Y/N Y/L/N passes it to Captain Orion Amari.” McNully said, sounding a bit excitedly.

You definitely felt confident Orion would score another 10 points. You kept your eyes on Orion, always enjoying to watch him fly so smoothly to the goals.

“Watch out!”

You turned your head when you heard Skye warning you, but you were too late to do anything. A Bludger hit your shoulder, making you lose your balance. You fell from your broom, losing your conscious when you hit the ground.

___________________

You slowly opened your eyes, knowing you passed out during the match. You were certain you were in the Hospital Wing, like most players who got injured during their Quidditch matches.

“Finally, I was wondering how much longer you would be out.” Skye said with a grin.

“She did make quite a fall, Skye…” Penny said honestly and then she gave you a concerned look. “Are you feeling a little okay? How is your shoulder?”

Oh, that’s right. The Bludger hit your shoulder. You flinched when you slightly moved your shoulder. “Just… Peachy…” You said, gritting your teeth a bit, to prevent your self from yelling in pain.

“Madam Pomfrey will probably ask you to take a Potion to mend your bones.” Skye said with a small smile. “It tastes awful, but it’s a lot better than a Skele-Gro potion.”

“Skye, I don’t think that will make Y/N feel better…” Penny said softly.

“Ah, relax Penny. Y/N is used to me talking like this.” Skye winked. “Besides, she has had Bludger against her face before. Injuries happen during Quidditch and I think Rath could have injured her a lot worse if she had been in a better position.”

“Skye is right, she has injured people a lot worse.” You told Penny honestly.

  “You were doing pretty well during the match, Y/N.” McNully said with a smile. “The chances you had during the match were pretty high. I think about 93.3%. Too bad you only had like 3.3% chance to dodge the Bludger Erika Rath sent your way.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you would have been able to dodge that one. I mean, you just passed the Quaffle to Orion and Rath had hit the Bludger in your direction a second after you passed the Quaffle.” Skye said honestly. “Although, you probably should have kept a better eye on Rath when you played the Quaffle to Orion.”

“Don’t be too hard on her, Skye. She did well.” Orion said with a smile. “I mean, we still won the match.”

“Oh, that’s good!” You said excitedly, although you regretted it a second later. You winced, feeling your shoulder again.

Madam Pomfrey quickly hurried over to you and asked everyone to get out of the Hospital Wing for now. “Miss Y/L/N will be able to head before you know it.”

You noticed Orion gave you a sweet smile and a wink before they headed out of the Hospital Wing, making you wonder what that was about.

  Madam Pomfrey performed a couple more tests and then she gave you some potions that would make you feel better. You would have to wait and rest a couple of hours in the Hospital Wing before you were allowed to leave again. Waiting to leave the Hospital Wing made you wonder about some things. Why did Orion just wink at you? And why were you staring at him when you passed the Quaffle at him? Sure, you liked watching Orion play, but did you ever stare like that at him before? Also, you were certain he has never winked at you before either. It was pretty confusing…

All this thinking about Orion almost made you forget about the Vaults and everything else. Perhaps it was one of Orion’s techniques to keep your head in the game? He asked you to focus during the game so you would keep your balance. You still did think about the Portrait Curse, but it was less than during your practice and Quidditch Friendly. Also, it didn’t explain why you seemed to be distracted by your own Quidditch Captain and friend… There must have been something you overlooked.

Late in the afternoon, you were free to leave the Hospital Wing again. Your shoulder was feeling slightly sore, but it wasn’t broken anymore. Madam Pomfrey asked you to be a little careful with your shoulder for at least a day. You supposed that would be fine, because you wouldn’t have a Quidditch Practice soon.

As soon as you walked out of the Hospital Wing, you were startled again. “Hello, Y/N.”

“Orion, are you trying to startle me on purpose?” You said when you turned to him.

“Not really, but you are easily startled when you are thinking so deeply.” He said with a grin. “I can almost see the thoughts that are crossing your mind.”

“You just happen to find me whenever I am thinking a lot, Orion.” You rolled your eyes with a small grin.

“I suppose that is true. But maybe that’s a good thing.”

You blinked a bit. “Why would that be a good thing?”

“It might prevent you from overthinking things, Y/N.” He said honestly. “I’m not saying thinking deeply about things are a bad thing, but you tend to think a lot of things and be pretty stressed about it.”

“Well, not everyone can be as relaxed as you are, Orion.” You said with a sigh.

  Orion chuckled softly. Did you say something stupid? Why was he laughing? Oh Merlin, you probably said something stupid…

“It’s not like I am never stressed about something, Y/N. I just have found a good way to deal with it.” He said with a sweet smile. “There is no need for you to look so embarrassed.”

Embarrassed? Did you look embarrassed?

“Your cheeks, they are red.”

You put your hands on your cheeks, feeling they were indeed warm. You were like an open book, your face definitely showed everyone what you were thinking.

“It kind of suits you, Y/N.” He said with another smile. “It makes you look pretty cute.”

Cute?! Did he just say blushing makes you look cute?

“Why are you so surprised? I mean, you are pretty cute in general.” Orion grinned.

You were still blushing and then you rolled your eyes. “Very funny, Orion. I almost fell for your words.”

“You don’t believe what I said?”

You gave Orion a look like you were saying ‘are you serious?’ “Of course not. I’m basically the opposite of cute. Who would think someone who is busy with solving the Mysteries around the Cursed Vaults is cute? If anything, you must think I am a complete lunatic!”

  “I suppose that means I am a complete lunatic as well.” Orion said seriously.

You shook your head. “No, you are not.”

“Well, I must be one if the person I fancy is a complete lunatic.” Orion said with a grin.

…..

“Excuse me… Did you say you fancy me?” You asked him looking even more surprised.

“What else could I have meant, Y/N?”

Your face became flushed and you just stared at him.

“So, it is possible for your cheeks and face to look even more red.” Orion grinned.

You began hiding your face against your hands. “Shut up…” You muttered.

“Does this mean you fancy me too, Y/N? Or do I have to prove it to you I actually fancy you?” Orion definitely sounded amused.

“Knowing you, I think you are actually being serious right now…” You said, still hiding your face.

Orion laughed softly and then he gently wrapped his arms around you. “You seem to get it right now.”

You took a deep breath and then you wrapped your arms around him too, relaxing slightly.

“That’s better, there is no need to be so tense and embarrassed around me.” He chuckled.

  You slowly looked up at him and pouted. “I wouldn’t be so embarrassed and tense if you didn’t keep surprising me like this…”

“I can’t help the fact you are surprised so easily by my words.” Orion laughed softly. “I don’t know whether to feel flattered or not.”

“That’s up to you.” You said with a grin.

#hphm fictober #reader x orion amari #fictober 2019 #hogwarts mystery Fictober #hogwarts mystery #Harry Potter Hogwarts mystery #imagine #hogwarts mystery fanfiction #hogwarts mystery imagine #jacob's sibling #fem!reader #mc #orion amari #skye parkin #murphy mcnully #penny haywood #erika rath #quidditch #day 3 #day 3 quidditch

[madelineorionswan]

A Royal Queen: The journey of a young duchess.

Chapter I: The Abdication

Summary: Life was going great for Madeline as the Duchess of Rosewood from the country of Lornesse. But one signature made by Jacob on a piece of paper changes the entire course of her life.

Warning: Crying, mentions of horse racing accident, maybe some dark stuff? amateur writing of horse racing commentary, angst, swearing and blood.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All of the characters in mention (Except the ones from history) are fictional. The relationships mentioned among these characters aren't real. I am not an expert on history and politics hence the mentions and portrayal of these two subjects are based on my imagination. Events that take place in this story are a work of fiction.

A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! this is my Christmas gift for everyone. And boy was this painful to write. Hope everyone enjoys this.

"And off they go! Competing for the Yorkshire cup of 1980."

Madeline felt the adrenaline course through her veins as she took off with her horse Star Acer. All of the horses galloped through the race track; all riders were keen on winning.

Madeline whips her reins slightly, signalling Star Acer to gallop faster. In front of her, Madeline could see a fellow racer, Patrick slowing down slightly. This is my chance she thought and kicked the heels of her shoes on the sides of Star Acer who proceeded to close in on the other horse.

"Star Acer no.3 weighted by her Royal Highness, Duchess Madeline of Rosewood closes in on Zepher Breeze No.1 weighted by Sir Patrick Brown," the commentator, Murphy Mcnully announced.

Madeline and Patrick were now neck and neck in the race

"Looks like it's you and me Mads," Patrick yelled over to Madeline. She didn't care. She had known him long enough to know his guileful tricks to topple over other racers.

"I see you've decided to ignore me huh?" Patrick cocked, infuriating Madeline even more.

"Let's just keep to our own rides yeah?" Madeline said, smirking.

She kicked Star Acer's side and the horse strode forward. Cheers erupt from the crowd as Madeline crosses the halfway point.

She was in her zone, the only thing on her mind was the end of the race.

Suddenly there was a scream. Madeline whipped her head around for a second but couldn't make out what was happening. All she saw was Zephyr breeze on the ground

She didn't have to worry for long to find out though.

"Oh looks like a bad hit for sir Patrick Brown's ride Zephyr breeze No.1, there's an 87.9% chance that he won't make it." Murphy, the commentator announced.

Madeline, for a second, wanted to stop. You see, while she might have been competitive as hell, she was also a person who would risk her life to help someone.

"And he's DOWN ladies and gentlemen. Sir Patrick Brown and Zephyr breeze are out of the race." Murphy burst into the mic, startling Madeline slightly.

She returned to her senses and jolted the reins, gripping them tighter whilst Star Acer galloped against the wind.

"Looks like her Royal Highness Princess Anne is closing in on her fellow royal! There's a 78.56% chance that she'll be in the first place, but there's also an 89.7% chance her Royal Highness Duchess Madeline will end up in first place!" Murphy announced, almost literally bouncing on his wheelchair.

"Looks like it's you and me, Anne," Madeline smirked at Anne who mirrored her competitor's expression.

"We'll see who's on top, Orionswan," The young princess cocked back.

"Oh we shall see Windsor," Madeline muttered, still smirking.

"Oh, the pressure is ON. The two royals might be good friends but the competition between them is undeniable," Murphy announced. A lot of "whoops" and "oh"s were heard from the audience, whose eyes were glued to the intense race between the two ladies.

Madeline and Anne turned at the final curb, 250 metres away from the finishing post. Madeline narrowed her eyes and leaned forward slightly keen on winning the Yorkshire cup.

"They've crossed the 250 metres, mark ladies and gents! Looks like it's between these two ladies to win the Yorkshire Cup of 1980!"

Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Madeline could almost feel the tension between the stands and her fellow riders.

"They're almost there ladies and gents! Any second we'll know the winner!"

"Almost there buddy" Madeline grunted into her horse's ear, who snorted.

"Any second now..."

Through the corner of her eye, Madeline saw Anne getting closer to her. She focused on the finishing post, which was almost a feet away.

"3... 2... 1!!!"

Madeline and Star Acer blazed through the finishing line.

"AND she's done it, ladies and gents! The winner of this year's Yorkshire cup is Her Royal Highness Duchess Madeline of Rosewood! The princess Anne finishes closely behind at second place followed by third-place held by Sir Richards!" Murphy announced.

The crowd hadn't stopped cheering ever since Madeline and Star Acer crossed the finishing line. The moment the both of them came to a stop and Madeline realised that she had won, she let out a cheer, despite being quite worn out and breathless.

"Save some for the next race will you," Anne said raising her brow, a smirk on her face.

"And thank you to you too Anne," Madeline chuckled and she dismounted her horse. Anne trotted away with her own ride, possibly to her family.

"Gosh, you were BRILLIANT!!" Madeline turned around and saw a young lady smiling widely.

"DI!!!! you made it," Madeline let out a laugh as Diana, her cousin wrapped her tightly in a hug.

"Honestly, didn't think so myself but I had Sarah let me out for an hour and well, here I am!" Diana chuckled.

"You do know you need to stop doing little favours for Sarah right?" Madeline said and swung her arms across Diana's shoulder who smiled shyly.

They didn't have any more time to converse, unfortunately. The moment Madeline walked up to the stands a tsunami of photographers and members of different press companies swarmed her, all keen to know about her opinion about the victory, amongst other things.

"Wankers," Madeline muttered under her breath. Being a second-born daughter of the Lorneese royal family, who lead her own life, the press had always been an absolute pain to her.

"Madeline!" Diana gasped.

"Sorry, it's just... never mind. I'll talk to you soon." Madeline muttered to her younger cousin. She nodded and wedged herself out of the crowd.

Madeline didn't have any time to even breathe before cameras and mics were shoved her way.

"Sorry no comment," was the answer she gave to all of them Sometimes she had the urge to answer some of those questions, but she knew the consequences of a royal expressing their views in the open.

So she just kept her mouth shut.

Madeline finally managed to get out of the stadium without any major issues. When she came out she was met by a dark-haired bespeckled lady in a formal business uniform. She recognised this person as her secretary and best friend Rowan Khanna.

"There you are Madie! Congratulations on the win!" Rowan said smiling gleefully.

"Thanks, Ro!" Madie smiled. But before Madie could give Rowan a hug they both heard a bunch of screams and lots of footsteps.

Both the girls gave each other a slightly terrified look before breaking into a run.

"See this is why I told you to go out of the other gate!" Rowan whisper yelled.

"I didn't have any opportunity to!" Madeline retorted.

The girls turned sharply at a curb and ran into a dark and dingy street, momentarily throwing the paparazzi off track. Moments later they spotted Madeline's chauffer sitting in a black Mercedes.

The man spotted the ladies and 20 other people running after them with cameras and letter pads in their hands.

"Your royal highness, Ms Khanna, this way," the chauffer ushered the two girls inside the car just in the nick of time.

He pressed on the gas peddle and steered the car towards the left and the car dashed outside the alley. Madeline and Rowan looked through the window a few minutes later to see that they had left the paparazzi left to the dust. Both of them sighed in relief.

"Now, what's on the agenda today?" Madeline asked Rowan.

She turned to Rowan and saw that her face was crestfallen. A pit formed in Madeline's stomach as her eyes widened. She had never seen Rowan with such a serious expression.

Whatever was coming, was bad.

Jacob's POV

I nervously fiddled with the cuffs of my sleeve. It was finally happening. Despite everyone being against my decision, I was finally doing what I had wanted to do.

I was denouncing the throne.

"Your Majesty we're ready for you," Rakepick said.

I turned around and saw my secretary, Rakepick, The prime minister and my grandparents were all standing surrounding a desk.

I sighed and walked up to them. With a curt nod to all of them, I sat down.

"Your Majesty is well aware of the procedures and requirements," Rakepick asked me coldly. I'd never really like Rakepick.

I nodded. The Prime Minister sighed and looked at me grandfather Leonardo. The pair seemed to have a silent conversation before the Prime Minister handed me a long piece of paper.

"These are the abdication papers if his majesty wishes to abdicate..." the prime minister hesitated to continue,

I put up my hand to make him stop. It all felt too gruesome for me. Slowly all of the people, except my grandparents left although all of them still left lingering looks.

I sighed and picked up my pen. Scanning through the papers, I felt a hand on my shoulders. I looked up and saw my grandfather, an earnest look on his face.

"You're absolutely sure about this?" he asked me solemnly.

Suddenly the weight of this situation finally dawned on me. I stared at the papers; specifically at the end of the papers where I would be signing.

I sighed and nodded my head. I looked at my grandfather, who nodded in understanding.

I took a steadying breath and then signed my name in the papers. Finally, it was done. Both my grandparents went outside, probably talking about other business things.

Soon there was the loud booming of thunder. I looked up and saw the sky darken and rain pelted down. Then I was reminded of my baby sister. Well, not exactly baby but to me, she was still my baby sister.

I remembered; she'd be queen. The guilt started to chip its way through. I felt terrible about dumping the heavy burden of a country onto her shoulder, unprepared.

I shook my head dismissively, I knew that she would be a great Queen. I had always known about it. Anyways, I can't change my actions.

What was done is done.

Author's POV

The Eallesborough castle was eerily quiet. Darkness was filled in every single corridor. Rain was pelting on the windows.

Jacob was silently staring out of the window in his room, looking at the gardens, twirling a pen in his hand.

All of a sudden, He heard some commotion and a door bursting open with a loud bang. he whirled around and saw his sister, Madeline.

Madeline's face was flushed, her expression one of fury, her eyes glassy and brimming with unshed tears.

"How could you?" she almost growled to him.

"I-" Jacob looked dumbfounded.

"Did you have any fucking idea of what you were doing?" Madeline asked and grabbed a hold of her shirt collars tightly, pulling him down to her height.

Jacob's eyes widened as his sister glared at him. It would seem funny to some, but he was fucking TERRIFIED of his sister when she was mad. But he wasn't going down without a fight.

He freed himself from her grasp forcefully. Frowning he told her calmly, "I'm doing this for the monarchy."

Madeline scoffed, "you're just gonna fucking put that off like that?"

Jacob groaned and ran his hands through his hair in an exasperated manner.

He was about to reason with his sister, but she didn't give him a chance to reply.

"Jacob, do you have any basic fucking idea of what you did? Do you have any bloody idea about how you changed our lives, MY LIFE?" Madeline yelled, her voice threatening to break, but she continued.

"YOU'VE CHANGED MY ENTIRE BLOODY LIFE JACOB! FOR THE WORSE! DID YOU EVEN GIVE THAT A SINGLE FUCKING THOUGHT? NO! YOU JUST GO YOUR WAY AND WALTS INTO ROOM AND JUST DECIDE OUT OF NOWHERE THAT YOU WANT TO ABDICATE?!!?" she screeched, tears now falling freely from her eyes.

"Pip don't you bloody understand? This life is not for me!" Jacob tried to reason but Madeline just scoffed.

They both stared at each other for a few minutes, their minds blank but also full.

Finally, Madeline broke the silence by sighing deeply.

"Did you want it?" Madeline asked referring to his decision of abdicating.

Jacob sighed and nodded, " More than anything."

Madeline let out an inaudible gasp but nodded nonetheless. She took a breath and walked outside. Once she saw the coast was clear, she ran outside and entered the gardens.

She burst into a run in the gardens, not caring whether she was tripping on the bushes. Tears slid down her flushed pink cheeks as she ran. She didn't know what she was running from.

Her life? Her fate? Her family? Her name? Position?

Oh, she wanted to run from EVERYTHING. Her mind was clouded yet blank. The world seemed to be closing in on her.

She was too distracted to notice a stone Fountain in front of her. She blundered into the fountain, hitting her elbow on a marble statue.

Madeline shook her wet head, releasing her brown locks from her tight ponytail. She let out a strangled wail, not caring about who was hearing her. She was so distracted, she failed to notice, blood gauging off her injured arm, filling the pool with red liquid.

She felt numb. But what was she to do?

As Jacob had said,

What is done is done.

#harry potter #hogwarts mystery #hphm mc #fanfiction #hp fanfic #madeline orionswan #bill weasley #jacob's sibling #hphm jacobs sibling #Jacob orionswan #royalty au #royalty #hphm characters #murphy mcnully #hphm Murph as a real commentator!!!!!

[the-al-chemist]

When Stars Ignite - Chapter 16

HPHM Rockstar AU

A/N: Katriona Cassiopeia belongs to the wonderful @kc-and-oc

General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.

Specific Warning: Language, Alcohol, Smoking (cigarettes), Innuendo/Suggestive NSFW content

~~~

Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.

~~~

This work is a collaboration with @lifeofkaze

Taglist: @slytherindisaster @night-rhea @carewyncromwell @thatravenpuffwitch

All the black inside me is slowly seeping from the bone.

Everything I cherish is slowly dying or it's gone.

Little shaking babies and drunkards seem to all agree,

Once the show gets started it's bound to be a sight to see.

~ Kings of Leon - Pyro ~

A week previously, Artemis wouldn’t have imagined that she would be relieved by the prospect of a conversation with Charlie Weasley of all people. Then again, she wouldn’t have thought that he would have persuaded her to join the band and the rest of the crew at the hotel pool, either.

Thankful for the excuse to leave Lizzie Jameson’s condescension and false friendliness behind, Artemis rose from the sunlounger. Conscious that Charlie’s large burn mark was exposed, she determinedly kept her eyes forward as he steered her away from Lizzie, whose overly chirpy demeanour had given way to a thunderous expression on her usually smiley face.

At the other end of the pool, next to where Orion was reclining on a sunlounger, scrawling in his notebook, KC and Murphy were deep in conversation, talking to each other more flirtatiously than Artemis had ever seen them interact before. As he and Artemis approached them, Charlie cleared his throat, and they both looked up at him.

“Sorry,” he said, “I just wanted to have a chat with you two about some pyro related stuff.”

Murphy and KC shared a slightly concerned look.

“Is there an issue?” KC asked, her dark blue eyes flicking towards Artemis briefly.

“Not exactly,” replied Charlie. “I think we need to rethink some of the effects now that we have Artemis with us, that’s all.”

“In what way?”

Charlie opened his mouth to answer again, but he was interrupted by Jason Everett, who had left his own sunlounger to get into the pool.

“Don’t tell me you lot are having a meeting on your day off,” he drawled, leaning against the edge of the pool with his elbows on the side. “Really, Charlie. Did no one ever tell you not to mix business with pleasure?”

His eyes fell on Artemis and gave her the same swift up-and-down look he had on the first day they met. Artemis scowled, and turned back to the others.

“Maybe we should have this conversation another time,” said KC, with a scathing look at the band’s frontman. “It’s not like everyone in this room has an opinion that is relevant or respected.”

“Personally, I would like to be at least eighty percent dressed if we’re going to be having a tech meeting,” Murphy added, resting a hand on his wife’s forearm. “Why don’t we all discuss this over dinner later? Say nineteen hundred hours?”

“Let’s make it eight, McNully,” KC smirked. “I’d like to freshen up before dinner.”

“You always look fresh, love.”

KC leaned down to place a kiss on Murphy’s forehead, and Artemis averted her eyes, looking back across the room to where Lizzie was still standing. She and Skye were deep in what looked like a quietly heated discussion, and their eyes kept darting across in the direction of Artemis herself, with looks that weren’t always friendly. Skye muttered something to Lizzie, who pulled away from her and waved across the pool to Charlie.

“Who’s for another round of water polo?” she called out, brightly.

Artemis sighed and walked away before Lizzie could try to persuade her to join in again. As Charlie, Lizzie, Skye and Andre returned to the water, she took a seat in the corner, one sunlounger between hers and Orion’s.

“It would seem that the heart is not the only lonely hunter today,” Orion muttered into his notebook.

“Are you talking to me?” Artemis asked him, wrinkling her nose. Orion bowed his head. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t mean anything. I was just acknowledging the strange coincidence that you and I of all people should be sitting here together. The two hunters.”

“I’m not hunting anything.”

“Aren’t we all hunting for something, in our own way?” Orion asked. He placed his notepad and pen down on the sunlounger beside him and turned to face Artemis. “However, in this case, I was merely making reference to the goddess Artemis and her hunting companion, Orion.”

“You do know what Artemis did to Orion at the end of the story, don’t you?” Artemis said, raising her eyebrows.

“I am fully aware of the tale’s tragic ending, of course. But as I recall, the two of them were in love with each other, and while I don’t doubt that you’re harbouring a good heart underneath your armour, I very much don’t see that happening any time soon.”

With that, Orion turned away and picked up his notebook once more, leaving Artemis to look at him in confused disbelief.

She left the pool earlier than everyone else, and returned to her room until it was time to meet for dinner.

“I’ve booked us a table at a fantastic looking place,” KC informed the other three technicians once they had climbed into the taxi, her hand resting gently on Murphy’s knee.  “I hope you all like sushi.”

The restaurant wasn’t far from the hotel, and it was more upmarket than Artemis had been expecting for a location for a dinner meeting. Subconsciously and ineffectively, she ran her hand through her hair as if trying to neaten it. A waiter showed them to a table in the back corner of the room, and handed them a set of black and gold leather bound menus. They each ordered in turn, finishing with KC.

“And I’ll have a spicy tuna roll, please,” she informed the waiter, “and for the table, some maki rolls, a small platter of mixed sashimi, and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, thank you,” she folded the menu, handed it back to the waiter, and turned to face Charlie. “So, you wanted to discuss the pyros?”

“I did,” Charlie nodded. “I think now that we have a permanent technician for the rest of the tour, we could change the effects a little, add a few extra, make the ones that we have a bit more extravagant, that sort of thing.”

“That’s a bit unorthodox,” Murphy frowned, and started pouring glasses of water for everyone, “re-doing all your pyros on the last leg of the tour. What’s brought all this on?”

Charlie said nothing, but his eyes drifted over to Artemis and he gently jerked his head in her direction. Artemis frowned.

“Is this because I called your pyros basic at my interview?” she asked Charlie, who smirked slightly.

“Yes and no. They are pretty basic, you were right. And I think we could do better. Well, you could. You’ll be the one doing it, I’ll just supervise. Only if you’re keen, of course.”

Artemis nodded enthusiastically, her head already filled with images of the stage fully alight with fire and fireworks.

“I’m in,” she said. She reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and pulled up her saved images onto the screen, showing one to Charlie. “You see this? We could definitely do something like that. And here? This flaming piano? We should do that, set Merula’s piano on fire.”

“As an effect, right?” Charlie asked, jokingly. Artemis didn’t reply; she was too busy scrolling through her camera reel, looking for more ideas. Charlie repeated himself, his voice louder and with a note of concern in it, “As an effect, right?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Sure.”

“I think we need to talk about the practicalities of this before we start getting carried away with setting musical instruments on fire,” Murphy said. Artemis looked up and glowered at him over the top of her phone. He shared a furtive glance with KC. “We need to talk about budgets, too.”

“Surely there’s money in the budget for a few extra pyros,” said Charlie, leaning back in his seat as the waiter returned and set plates of sushi on the table. “Thanks, mate. We’ve been frugal all tour.”

Murphy and KC looked at each other again.

“That’s because the budget was cut,” KC admitted.

“What?”

“The label cut the budget for the tour.”

“Why would they do that? This was meant to be the biggest tour Equinox have ever done.”

“Yeah, but those in charge have doubts,” said Murphy. “You can hardly blame them. They’ve got new blood coming through - look at that Winger bloke that’s on the up at the moment - and Everett has been causing them some headaches, too.”

“Everett is just a headache generally,” Artemis muttered.

“I’m not disagreeing. But he’s been worse than ever recently, and the label isn’t happy. It’s bad publicity.”

“Is that why the band keep doing all this promotional work?” asked Charlie.

“Yep. Ethan’s strategy is to try and fill the media with what he wants everyone to see, try and outweigh the bad press.”

“And the charity gig tomorrow is all part of that plan,” Charlie shook his head. “I should’ve realised something was up. Since when has Ethan ever done anything out of the goodness of his own heart?”

“He does have an ulterior motive ninety percent of the time, that’s true.”

“What charity is the gig for tomorrow?” asked Artemis.

“It’s for a children’s charity,” KC answered, with a sad sort of smile. “Supporting disadvantaged kids. Afterwards they’re doing a meet and greet sort of thing with some of them; ones who have been through the foster system. You can see why Ethan’s done it, what with Orion and Merula’s history.”

Artemis nodded her head, unable to think of anything to say. She took a sip of wine, hoping that the glass would hide the tension in her face.

“Tell you what,” KC continued, “why don’t I talk to Ethan tomorrow after the charity event? If it goes well, he might be in a good enough mood to consider giving us a bit more money to invest in the pyros.”

“We’d better make sure they go off without a hitch tomorrow, in that case,” said Charlie.

“Or not,” Artemis muttered.

“What?”

“Maybe we just shouldn’t have any pyros tomorrow. Show Ethan how much they add to the performance. That way he might let us have more going forward.”

“I don’t think-”

“And, besides, it’s hardly a good idea to be setting off a shit load of explosives in a room full of children.”

The other three technicians stared at Artemis, who avoided engaging in the conversation further by becoming engrossed in a piece of sashimi on her plate. Eventually, Charlie broke the silence.

“Fair point,” he said. “Alright, no pyros tomorrow. They’re wasted on children anyway. Let’s show Ethan what he’s missing.”

“And then we can talk to him about the budget,” KC said, reaching across the table to pick up a drinks menu. “The label are sending some of their people over to watch a show in a couple of weeks. He might be persuaded to up the ante for their benefit. Excuse me,” she said to a waiter walking past their table, “please could I get an espresso martini? Artemis, would you like one?”

Artemis looked over a drinks menu herself, and ordered a cocktail, whilst the two men each ordered a pint.

“What in the name of all that is holy is that?” Charlie asked, as the waiter lowered a bright magenta coloured cocktail onto the table in front of that.

“It’s called a Cherry Bakewell,” said Artemis, sipping the incredibly sweet cocktail.

“It looks like Type 2 Diabetes in a glass. I thought you were into cool shit like whiskey, not sickly sweet cocktails.”

“I can be into both. You’re just jealous because you decided to be all manly and get a beer, when you could have had a cocktail that tastes like the best pudding in the world. You can try it, if you like.”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

“What are you so afraid of, Charlie?”

Artemis looked at him daringly, and he exhaled, before picking up the glass and bringing it to his lips, sipping the cocktail. Artemis raised her eyebrows at him as he lowered the glass back down.

“Yeah, alright. That is delicious,” he admitted.

Once the meeting was over, the sushi eaten, and the drinks finished, the four of them started to make tracks. KC called another taxi, and outside the restaurant, Artemis started rolling a cigarette. Just as she lit up, the taxi pulled up in front of her.

“Don’t worry,” she said, waving the others on. “I don’t mind walking back.”

Charlie closed the door of the taxi, still standing on the pavement.

“I’ll walk, too,” he said.

“I’m perfectly capable of walking home alone,” muttered Artemis, as the taxi drove away. “I don’t need you to protect me.”

“I was actually hoping that you’d be able to protect me, what with you being a hardened criminal and all,” Charlie replied. “Nah, I just didn’t fancy being a third wheel with KC and Murphy.”

“They’re good fun, as bosses go.”

“They’re great. And, knowing KC, she’ll soon have Ethan wrapped around her little finger when it comes to the pyros, just you wait.”

“What do you have in mind for the new effects?”

“Nothing, I was planning on letting you take the lead.”

“Really? So I can do whatever I want?”

“Sure, as long as it’s within whatever budget Ethan deigns to give us.”

“I’m not brilliant at budgeting.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that you’re working with a supervisor then, isn’t it?” Charlie shrugged. “You come up with what you want, and I’ll help you crunch the numbers, go over your plans, help you with any equipment you’re unfamiliar with, that sort of thing.”

Artemis frowned.

“Are you sure? That’s going to take up a load of your time.”

“Oh, come on. I thought we were friends now, don’t tell me you’re backing out on spending a bit more time with me.”

“No, I just meant…” Artemis looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed. “And what about Ava? You’re not meant to be doing pyros anymore, remember?”

“Well, I won’t be. Not really, anyway. You’ll be doing most of it, and I’ll just be doing the same stuff I’m doing already, only checking more equipment. I’ll only be physically working with the effects if it’s strictly necessary,” Artemis stared blankly at Charlie, who pulled a sheepish looking face. “Or maybe I just won’t mention to Ava that I’m handling the actual explosives.”

Artemis shot him a dangerous look.

“Do you make a habit of lying to your girlfriend?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“What? No, I just… I’m not going to lie to her, I just don't want to worry her, that’s all.”

“Do you tell yourself the same thing about Lizzie, or does Ava know about that?”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, Lizzie obviously fancies you.”

Charlie laughed out loud.

“What?” he exclaimed. “No, pal, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.”

Artemis did not think that she had gotten the wrong end of the stick.

“So there’s nothing going on with you and Lizzie?” she asked him.

“No! Absolutely not,” Charlie looked genuinely baffled by the accusation. “For a start, I’m in a relationship. A happy relationship. Lizzie knows that. For fuck’s sake, she was the one who introduced me to Ava!”

“She was?”

“Yeah, Lizzie and I go way back, her parents are family friends. I’ve known her since she was in nappies. Christ, it would be like shagging a cousin or something.”

“Well, you are from Devon.”

Charlie put his hand on his face and shook his head as he chuckled, not looking at Artemis. She couldn’t help but believe him. Perhaps he was just oblivious to the way that Lizzie acted when she was around him.

“Lizzie is just very friendly,” Charlie said, eventually. “Over friendly, sometimes. As you’ve experienced.”

“She seems like she’s being fake.”

“I know, but she’s not. She’s just trying to win you over. Maybe lighten up around her, yeah? You know, most of the people we work with are pretty great once you get to know them. You don’t have to keep on locking yourself up in your hotel room all the time.”

“I went to the pool earlier, and for dinner just now, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, and I’m glad you did. It’s nice to see you letting down the walls, just a little bit.”

Artemis frowned. They had reached the hotel now. She put out the end of her cigarette on the wall and left the stub on top of a rubbish bin.

“I’m just not good with people,” she said, looking out at the street. “Either that or they’re not good with me, I don’t know.”

“I think you’re better with people than you think you are. Maybe give the others a chance.”

“A chance to what?”

“To get to know you,” said Charlie, and he half-smiled.

Artemis considered this as they quietly walked through the hotel, stopping when they reached her room.

“That one yours?” Charlie asked, and Artemis nodded. “Right. Well, I’ll see you at the charity gig tomorrow.”

“No, you won’t,” Artemis replied. Charlie tilted his head, and she realised how abruptly she had spoken. Before he could ask her any questions, she put on a smile, and said, “I’ve got a whole concert worth of pyros to plan, and budgets to work out, haven’t I?”

Charlie looked unconvinced, but Artemis smiled even wider, and he backed away, inclining his head. She bade him goodnight, and slipped into her room, closing the door behind her, leaning against it with her eyes screwed tight, breathing deeply.

#when stars ignite #hphm rockstar au #hphm #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #artemis hexley #lizzie jameson #charlie weasley #orion amari #skye parkin #murphy mcnully #katriona cassiopeia

[lifeofkaze]

Pumpkin Pies

Murphy McNully x Reader

 A/N: A little surprise for my lovely friend and wifey @kc-needs-coffee​, I’ve wanted to write a little Murphy story for ages, so here you go. Somehow, it ended up a lot fluffier and less smutty than I meant to, but whatever 😊

Warning: NSFW, +18 only, oral sex (female receiving), mentions of food

Word Count: ~ 2.500

You stirred in your sleep, turning from one side to the other. Reluctantly, you opened your eyes and stared at the ceiling, before covering your face with your hand. You had no idea what time it was, but the faint, blue tinted light washing into your bedroom from the open French windows indicated that it was nowhere near any time to get up.

And on your birthday of all days.

You turned around to snuggle back into your blanket, extending your hand to find the comfortable warmth of your husband’s strong back next to you. But all your fingers touched was the fabric of the sheets.

Confused and now fully awake, you sat up. And really, Murphy’s side of the bed was abandoned; and had been for some time judging by how pleasantly cool the bed felt in the hot air of the summer night.

Now, the sound that had initially awoken you reached your ear again. It was a high whizzing noise, drifting up into your bedroom from some place downstairs. It was followed by a suppressed string of curses.

You chuckled as you swung your legs out of bed and reached for your dressing gown. What was Murphy up to at this ungodly hour?

Leaving your bedroom, you shivered as your bare feet touched the wooden floor in the hallway. All the windows were opened wide, the curtains gently swaying in the breeze coming in from the garden. As you pulled your dressing gown tighter around you, you sighed languorously at the sensation of the cooling touch on your heated skin. It was a welcome change from the unnatural heat wave that had hit Wales this summer.

As you reached the landing of the stairs, you stopped and contemplated for a moment. Looking around searchingly, you finally reached for one of the small, patterned carpets lining the floor. Setting it to the very edge of the landing, you jump on it, gracefully surfing down the ramp next to the stairs.

You giggled as you came to a halt at the bottom. That never got old.

Another flurry of curses drew your attention again and you continued in its direction. It seemed to come from the kitchen.

On your way towards the source of the noise you passed the entrance to the dining room, where the table was already set for your birthday breakfast. You stepped closer and felt a smile steal onto your face. Like every year, Murphy had gotten you a huge bouquet of flowers in every shade of blue imaginable. They were arranged in your favourite bronze vase. You leaned in and closed your eyes to smell their sweet fragrance, evoking memories of your wedding day all those many years ago.

Your eyes came to rest on the two gifts already displayed next to the flowers, cards propped up against them. Your fingers trace the neatly wrapped yellow-and-black one, a stark contrast to the messier one of them both in green and silver wrapping paper.

You were a little bit sad your children weren’t able to celebrate together with you this year, but they were spending the first half of their summer break with their godparents and you knew from their letters just how much fun they were having.

You continued on into the kitchen to finally get to the bottom of the racket your husband was making. It was all you could do not to laugh as you found Murphy with his back to you, angrily shaking the blender he had been trying to use. It’s knives were clearly blocked with something, explaining the loud whizzing noises. Upon closer inspection, you were able to discern what Murphy had been trying to blend. It seemed to be raw pieces of pumpkin.

“Babe, I think you’re supposed to cook those first.”

You bit back a laugh at his shocked face as he whirled around in his chair, almost dropping the blender. He managed to catch it at the last moment before it could clatter to the floor.

“Oh no, did I wake you up?” His face fell and he set the kitchen instrument back down on the counter. “I wanted to bake you a pumpkin pie so we could have it for breakfast while it’s still warm,” he confessed. “Sorry I botched the surprise.” He rolled over to you and you bent down to place a tender kiss on his lips.

“Happy Birthday, darling,” he muttered against your mouth.

You straightened up again, taking in the mess he had made in your once pristine kitchen.

“There is still time before breakfast,” you smiled. “How about we finish it together?”

His face lighting up again, Murphy produced another pumpkin from out of nowhere and the two of you set to work. Before long, you shoved the delicious looking pie into the oven and clapped the flour off your hands.

Turning around to Murphy, you began to chuckle. His usually perfect hair was ruffled and his shirt was dusted with flour and sugar. A bit of mashed pumpkin was stuck to his cheek and you pulled him closer to kiss it off him. He chuckled upon feeling the tip of your tongue against his skin as you tasted the sweet flavour of two of your favourite things in the world.

The spicy aftertaste it left in your mouth left you wanting for more.

You wrapped your arms around him, nuzzling his neck with your nose.

“I think I want my present now.”

Excitedly, Murphy grabbed your hand, pushing his chair in the direction of the dining room with his other hand. “Of course, you’re going to love it!”

You stopped him and turned his chair around again, chuckling lowly. “That’s not what I had in mind,” you purred into his ear seductively.

Murphy leaned back, eyeing you up and down with a smug grin. He put his hands on your exposed thighs, slightly pushing up the hem of your silk chemise. You shivered at his touch.

“Who would I be to deny the birthday girl her wish?” he whispered hoarsely. “Have you been a good girl this year?”

You sat down on his lap, straddling him. “You tell me,” you cooed into his ear.

His fingers started exploring your body, casually relieving you of your dressing gown. He put his lips to your collarbone; the grazing of his teeth against your sensitive skin drew a small moan from your mouth.

“Such a good girl,” Murphy hummed against you. “But it is your birthday. Tell me how I can make you feel good.”

“Touch me,” you groaned into his ear, while pressing yourself against him, your hand stroking the bulge in his pants. He let out a low growl at the stimulation before crashing his lips onto yours with force.

You opened your mouth eagerly for him, welcoming his dancing tongue. His moans intensified as you started rubbing his already hard cock faster through the fabric of his trousers. With a dirty smile, you bit his lower lip and pulled away, eyes teasing him.

“You like that, babe? Do you want some more of that?”

His eyes were overflowing with lust as he accepted your unspoken challenge. He gripped your chin with his hand, pulling you closer towards him, firm but gently. His grey eyes bore into yours, making your heart beat even faster than it was already.

“What I want is to see you perfectly wrecked, my dear,” he growled from deep within his chest. “I want to fuck you so thoroughly you’ll never forget this birthday.”

He underlined his words by grabbing the hem of your chemise and pulling it over your head. Left in only your panties, your nipples hardened instantly at the contact with the cold air.

Murphy smiled appreciatively, running a thumb over your nipple. He inclined his head and took it into his mouth, running his tongue over it, while his other hand gripped your waist firmly. Your moans were growing louder by the minute.

He suddenly let go off you, pushing you off his lap. He pointed to the countertop.

“Sit.”

You were all too eager to comply and hoisted yourself on the countertop. Murphy put his hands on your knees, spreading them apart. You supported your weight with your hands as you lifted your butt up from the counter once more, to let him strip you off the last piece of clothing you had left. Leaning back in ecstasy, you gasped as he ran the tip of his skilled tongue over your clit once, twice, three times.

He smirked up at you with a devilish smile. “Now, who is the one wanting more?”

You only whimpered in response, desperate to get his sweet mouth back to where you needed it.

But Murphy only chuckled in response. “Is my birthday girl very eager, yeah? Shouldn’t let her wait then, I want her to be ready for me.”

With that, he buried his face between your legs once more. He hadn’t had a chance to shave yet and the traces of stubble on his cheeks deliciously scratched the inside of your thighs.

You pushed your palms into the surface supporting you to arch your back towards him even more. The circles his tongue was painting on your clit almost drove you insane. You felt the heat building inside you, as Murphy gently started sucking it. He slid two fingers inside you and started pumping them in and out of you, his fingertips massaging your sweet spot. He could’ve found it in his sleep.

Sure enough, your breath began growing more unsteady with every pump of his fingers. He could feel your orgasm approaching and smiled to himself at the sweet sounds he was coaxing from you. The slight shift of his lips against your clit did you in. With a gasp you buried your free hand in his blonde hair, shaking from the tension that released from your body in a wave of passion.

You closed your eyes for a moment, relishing your high, as you felt Murphy retreating from you. Raising your head, you saw your sweet boy looking smug as ever at what he had just put you through. He opened his mouth to say something, but you were having none of it.

Despite still feeling shaky from your orgasm, you slid off the counter in a smooth motion and put your hand on his chest, pushing his chair back against the kitchen island.

“Shut up.”

You pulled his shirt over his head, Murphy eagerly holding his muscular arms up to speed things up.

“Time for the main course,” you breathed into his ear, before pulling down his pants and straddling him once again.

Murphy didn’t respond, but the desperate look in his eyes was all you needed to see. He took his cock into his hand, pumping himself a few times before you lowered yourself onto him. He groaned as he felt the wetness he had caused you, and your determination to repay him in kind.

You let your hips swirl slowly a few times until you had adjusted before you started grinding against him. Murphy dipped his head back, mind numb with pleasure, and drank in the sight before him. The person he loved the most in this world, her beautiful breasts bouncing up and down as she worked for him to reach his high.

Still sensitive from your last orgasm, you quickly felt the tension building in your core again. You arched your back further to give Murphy an unobstructed view of you whining and moaning in sweet agony on top of him, as the both of you chased your highs.

You could feel you were almost there. You quickly angled your hips differently without even missing a beat. The sudden change in stimulation did it for the both of you. With a cry you gripped Murphy’s broad shoulders, your nails leaving deep marks in his skin. He buried his face against your throat as his orgasm shook him violently and you could feel his chest heaving against yours.

Both of you were silent for a moment, nothing but your ragged breaths audible in the room. Finally, you pulled away from your embrace, looking deep into Murphy’s eyes, nothing but love written in them.

“Happy Birthday,” he whispered.

You placed a loving kiss on the tip of his nose and got up. You shrugged back into your dressing gown, not bothering to tie it up again.

“Coffee?”

 *

Steaming mugs of coffee in hand, you and Murphy relocated into your living room, sitting in front of the open window leading onto the terrace. You sat on the ground leaned against his shins. His fingers absentmindedly stroked your tousled curls as you watched the sky lighten in the east, bursting into a firework of reds and pinks and oranges as the sun came up, heralding another beautiful day.

You shifted against his legs, hands wrapped tightly around your favourite mug in the form of an owl. Breathing in the smell of French roast, you craned your head around to look into Murphy’s beautiful face and raised your mug.

“Here’s to another year, my love.”

Murphy clanked his mug against yours. “However many there may be, I want to spend every single one with you.”

You got up your feet to give him another longing kiss, but an awful, burning smell stopped you in your tracks. Your eyes went wide.

“Murphy,” you whispered, “you set the alarm on the oven, didn’t you?”

His face went pale at your words. “No, I thought you did!”

You exchanged looks before racing back into the kitchen. There was smoke rising from the oven, whatever was left of your pumpkin pie reduced to an unsightly black mass.

You waved away the smoke as you opened the door and had to cough violently, tears stinging in your irritated eyes.

“Well, I think I’ll pass on pie for breakfast,” you remarked sardonically.

Murphy looked mortified as he observed the burnt catastrophe that was supposed to you birthday pie.

“I’m so sorry, darling,” he sighed. “I know pumpkin pie is your favourite; I just wanted you to have all you could ever want for your birthday.”

Your eyes softened and you didn’t think your heart could hold any more love for him than it did at this exact moment.

You sat down on his lap, snuggling up tightly to him, and breathed in his smell of hairspray, coffee and pumpkin pie.

“You silly,” you murmured. “I certainly got better than anything I could have ever imagined.”

#murphy mcnully smut #murtriona #wifey k #that is a lot longer than it was meant to be #oops sorry

[unknowncountrygirl]

Curse Breaker’s Gambit Ch 8

Final Chapter 

The team clanked their glasses together.

“Thanks for the drinks, Murphy!” Iris smiled after taking a sip.

“I should be the one thanking you, I still can't believe we're wizard chess champions! When we set out to compete, our odds were 10.6%!” Murphy cheered.

“Shows you how far those predictions will get you.” Tulip chuckled. “Because Celine and her team have been unseated, and we're the ones with the large trophy.” She patted the five foot tall trophy that was sitting on the table. “It really is large, isn't it?” Iris laughed looking up at the large trophy.

“I wonder if it was hand sculpted or if they used a mould.” Badeea pondered as she ran her fingers over the joints of the trophy.

“Either way, it's ours! And I think we can all agree, it's all thanks to Iris.” Tulip cheered.

“Thank you Tulip, it wasn't easy to defeat her, but somehow I pulled it off and I think the only reason is because of the three of you.” Iris lifted her glass of butterbeer. “To our chess team.”

“Here's to you Iris, and those lucky enough to have you at our side.” Tulip cheered as they all raised their glasses and clanked them together again.

“Badeea outfoxed her opponents by using her imagination.” Murphy said. “Tulip proved playing from the heart is as important as playing with your head.” He looked to Iris, “and you helped me realize my dream without letting my enthusiasm get in the way of the team.”

“And just like those fickle little pieces on the chess board, we needed a leader, a Queen if you will, who understood our unique abilities well enough to turn them into strengths.” Badeea added happily, looking towards Iris.

Just as she was about to say something, the door opened, and a bunch of Hogwarts students came in, cheering loudly, Penny leading the way.

“Your Patronus said you won! I thought you guys deserved a party!” Penny smiled as she walked up and gave Iris a hug. “It's party time!”

The party was loud, everyone was happy that Hogwarts had brought home another trophy for the case and had taken it away from Beauxbatons. Murphy talked t anyone who would listen about how the team had managed to come up with a way to counter the dreaded Dragon defense, and how Iris had executed it beautifully.

Skye was currently drinking the Slitherin boys under the table with spiked butterbeer, and Iris was chatting with a few of her female friends, along with Tulip and Badeea. Murphy's eyes happened to be burning and he more then likely had bloodshot eyes to match how lousy he was feeling at the moment.

There was a lull near the fireplace, and he took the opportunity to roll himself near the fire. Murphy parked himself in the corner by the fire, and transferred from his chair to the booth, and leaned back. He had hardly slept the night before and just wanted to close his eyes for a moment.

“Sleeping during a party?” Iris asked him, and he peeped one eye open.

“Well, I didn't exactly sleep well last night.” He admitted to her as she slid in next to him. “I like your skirt.” He grinned.

“I know you do.” Iris smiled, taking a sip of her extra sweet butterbeer before pulling at the bottom of her sweater, pulling it over her head to show that she had worn the matching top underneath. “I also know you like this top too.” She winked, and Murphy could do nothing but smile like a fool. His favorite outfit, on his favorite person, in the glow of a fire... It all was just everything he could have ever imagined it would be. He was just about to lean in and try to give her a kiss when she said, “you know. I wish it would have been you.”

“What?”

“That faced Celine. It was you who had the dream of playing in the tournament, and you were such a fan of hers. I wish you could have had your moment in the spotlight, to show everyone how great you are for once.” She told him.

“Well, regardless, you took her on and you won with grace.” He told her, “and I'm proud of you for being not just my friend, but for making your name in the Wizarding chess world.”

“I wouldn't have done it without you-”

“Iris!” Murphy and Iris's attention was pulled from each other to the wizard coming their way. Archie Brewer, captain of the Slytherin team, beater, six foot five inches of muscle, and hair of a golden retriever. “You're looking good as ever.” He greeted, pulling up a chair to sit across from her and Murphy.

“Hey, Archie.” Murphy said through pursed lips. He knew that Archie had a thing for Iris, well, most people had a thing for Iris so that wasn't the only reason he didn't like the guy. It was he was charming, and handsome, and the kind of guy that all the girls swooned for.

“What's up?” Iris asked kindly.

“We're about to take this party upstairs, gonna' do spin the bottle.” Archie smiled at her.

“That's a problem, since I can't go up the stairs.” Murphy pointed out.

“I was talking to Iris, not you.” Archie explained further. Murphy felt Iris let out a long huff and sat her drink down with a clank.

“Now, Archie.” She began, and Murphy saw her sit up a little straighter and place her mug of butterbeer down. “Why would I go upstairs, and take a chance of kissing the guy I want, when's he's right here?” Archie's smile grew from ear to ear, and Murphy felt increasingly uncomfortable. “Murphy?” Iris looked over at him, leaning towards him, “you want to snog?”

His brain. Shut. Down. He knew he sat there for a second, lips flapping in shock at the blunt question, before his brain caught up with the rest of him.

“Yeah.” He nodded, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her to him. He had heard the ballads of first kisses feeling like fireworks and the palpable energy one feels and he thought that it was all just blowing smoke.

Until he kissed Iris. He swore he saw stars.

He felt one of her hands on his chest, and then the warm fingers of the other caress his face. He tried not to get distracted by that, and focus on her soft lips. With that said, he also had to squelch any temptation to open his lips and french her straight away. So he pressed his lips against her's, alternating between light brushes of and more powerful kisses, the latter Iris seemed to enjoy a bit more.

Murphy's head spun when he felt a light brush of Iris's tongue along his lips, a non-verbal way of asking permission to take the kiss further. He weighed the response of continuing in public, or if he wanted to sneak away somewhere a little more private.

“Do you... Uh, want to-” he tried to articulate the words he was looking for but found himself just starring into Iris's blue eyes.

“Do I want to...?” She asked.

“Uh... Privacy. You want to find somewhere more private?” He finally asked.

“Well,” Iris looked around the tavern. “It looks pretty dead in here since most everyone went upstairs.” Murphy peered around and indeed, there was just a few people in the pub, none of which were looking their way.

“Well then.” He cleared his throat, “before we get back to that, does this mean... You and I are... Ya know....”

“Well I sure would like to think so.” Iris told him, running her fingers over his cheek, her nails lightly tickling his skin. “You?”

“There is nothing I would like more, my Queen.” He winked, wrapping his arms around her tightly, just enjoying being close to her.

“Just so long as you never call me that again.” She said in his ear.

“No guarantee's, afterall, chess is what finally brought us together.”

“Then it's only fair I call you the King.” She joked.

“I think it's fitting since the Queen is more powerful then the King.” He pulled back enough just to press a kiss to her forehead. She smiled, but shook her head, instead of keeping the conversation going, Iris pressed her lips against his again. They sat cuddled in the corner until Madam Rosemerta kicked them out and they had to return to Hogwarts, trophy in tow.

In Murphy's mind, he had two trophy's to show off to the world, one was meaningless metal, and the other was Iris.

His Queen.

#hphm #hphm murphy #hphm murphy mcnully #hphm hphm murphy mcnully murphymcnully #murphy mcnully imagine #hphm mcnully #Murphy mcnully #murphy mcnully x jacob's sibling #murphy mcnully x mc #Iris Rosewood

[carewyncromwell]

Next Cinderella AU part’s here...and forgive me, but I need to take a minute and coo over my babies a bit!! Eeeee!! *~*

When it comes to hairstyles during the Renaissance, Carewyn is actually atypical, as women by and large didn’t wear bangs. Large foreheads were considered very attractive in the 16th century, so one can often find portraits and records from the era of women brushing their hair back into styles that showcased their foreheads, or even plucking their hair in the front so as to make their hairline recede. It was also common to braid and coil their hair and/or wear small head coverings or snoods. Men, on the other hand, did often wear bangs -- facial hair wasn’t popular in the early 16th century, but by the time Elizabeth I became Queen, groomed beards were considered more stylish. Typical hair length for men early on was about chin length, though once beards became more mainstream, so did shorter haircuts -- so yeah, Orion’s kind of both in and out of step with Renaissance fashion. XD But hey, this is only a fantasy based on history, not a strict historical recreation, and I actually feel both choices do suit both of these characters, considering that Orion sort of walks to the beat of his own drum and Carewyn (despite being someone who loves fashion and values appearances) is disinterested in appealing to the opposite sex with what’s considered conventionally attractive.

Orion’s outfit (especially from the waist down) takes some inspiration from this costume that Joseph Fiennes wears in the film Shakespeare in Love. There are plenty of historical inaccuracies in the film, especially with a lot of Fiennes’ shirts, as honestly, any man of stature in the Elizabethan era wouldn’t be leaving his shirt and doublet unbuttoned so much, given that collars signified wealth and status. But peasants of the pre-Renaissance era and beyond did wear puffy, looser-collared shirts like the one I gave Orion, so there you go. And for the record, Shakespeare in Love is still a really fun movie.

Previous part is here -- full tag is here -- and Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee!

x~x~x~x

It took a moment for Carewyn to recover from her surprise.

“...I’m -- I’m fine --  ”

She immediately launched herself off of Orion with enough force to hoist herself back up onto her heeled feet. Then she wobbled back around on her heels so she could face him.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she couldn’t help but scold him. “It was incredibly reckless...”

Orion blinked up at her in muted confusion. “I shouldn’t have tried to prevent you from getting hurt?”

“Not by using your own body!” said Carewyn.

She secured her hands on both of his arms so as to help him up -- Orion winced slightly, holding the side of his chest, but was able to get onto his feet.

“See?” said Carewyn, her eyebrows knitting together in both reproach and concern. “Now you’re hurt yourself -- ”

“It’s not that bad, my lady,” Orion tried to reassure her. He felt his side and slowly twisted his upper half. “Only a bruise, I think.”

Carewyn didn’t look at all comforted. Her eyes drifted down to Orion’s side, rippling with something oddly like shame.

“You should get it looked at, all the same,” she said in a low, but very firm voice. She bent down to pick up her skirts, looking over them with a deeply troubled, thoughtful frown. “We can merely consider ourselves fortunate that it wasn’t worse -- ”

“Certainly,” said Orion with a slightly wry smile. “I could’ve not caught you.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Carewyn shot back.

Dropping her skirts with an exasperated shake of her head, she wobbled back up onto her feet so she was standing up straight again.

“I do,” conceded Orion calmly, “but I must confess, my lady, I’m intrigued about why you’re so determined to scold me for helping you.”

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed, hovering vaguely over Orion’s shoulder rather than focusing on his face.

“What happened was the fault of my own carelessness. Any consequence that comes about is one I’m not afraid of taking on myself, but I couldn’t abide it if someone else got hurt on my account. You could’ve suffered far worse injuries -- I’m not exactly light, and I was being thrown off with a lot of force -- ”

“Enough to break a leg, at least,” Orion said serenely. “Though I admit, that could still happen, with your choice of footwear.”

He shot a look down in the direction of her feet obscured by the long, wide skirt of her dress.

Carewyn pursed her red lips. “I was reaching into my saddle for a more comfortable pair when I was thrown off, I’ll have you know.”

She sighed tiredly. It was going to be a real headache, trying to get her horse back in a timely fashion while wearing such pinching, uncomfortable shoes...

“...Still...I should thank you for your consideration for my well-being,” she said with her best attempt at a polite smile.

Picking up her skirts, Carewyn turned on her heel, glancing back over her shoulder.

“Please excuse me, I must be going...but please, have your injury looked at, and don’t strain yourself further.”

With this, she started to stride quickly away up the street. The shoes pinching her feet and forcing her to walk into her toes made it so her steps were very uneven and lacking in grace -- rather like she was walking on a precariously moving and very rocky surface, and thus having to constantly catch herself before she fell over.

Within seconds, Orion had caught up with her with relative ease.

“Do you have attendants nearby that will help you reclaim your horse?”

Carewyn avoided his eye. “...I do not ride with attendants.”

Orion quirked an eyebrow, interested.

“I don’t require any assistance or monitoring,” said Carewyn in a faintly haughty voice. “My cousins require such things far more than I. They’re the ones seeking out romantic matches -- thus they’re the ones who should care most about following such protocol.”

“I suppose that’s also why you ride a horse yourself, rather than ride in a carriage,” surmised Orion.

Carewyn just barely managed to fight back a snort. There’s no way Charles would ever let her ride in a proper coach.

“I like riding on my own. Coaches...well, they’re led by their drivers, who in turn are forced to follow the whims of their rider. Why have someone do something for you, when you’re perfectly able to do it yourself?”

“An interesting thought process to belong to a lady from the wealthiest family in Royaume,” said Orion. His voice amazingly wasn’t at all confrontational, however -- on the contrary, he looked almost pleased.

Even if the man’s words weren’t any sort of challenge, Carewyn still had trouble taking it in stride.

“I’m well aware that I have much to be grateful for,” she said, her voice hard with pride and some defensiveness. “I simply don’t like to demand more than what others are willing to give me.”

Orion couldn’t manage to keep the smile off his face. “...You truly are a wonderful contradiction, Lady Cromwell.”

Carewyn fixed him with a confused look. “A ‘wonderful contradiction?’”

“Yes. You’re Royaume born and raised, and yet you don’t fear magic. You’re someone who clearly puts great stock in appearances, given your clothing choices and manner of speaking, and yet you ride your own horse with no escorts and no care of how you’re viewed for it. You’re kind enough to help a complete stranger and expect nothing in return, and yet you’re greatly upset at the thought of someone doing the same for you. You say you don’t like to demand more than what others are willing to give you, and yet you only thanked me after having spent three times as long worrying about my well-being than I had yours. You come from a family with a reputation akin to dragons, hoarding their wealth and being capable of great cruelty -- and yet you have such a selfless and generous heart that I do believe you were considering ripping apart your gown, just to try to bandage my chest.”

Carewyn was so taken aback by how spot-on his guess was that she actually felt herself blushing. Had she really been so easy to read? Surely not...

“...Just the petticoats,” she mumbled, her eyes drifting off in the opposite direction. “Velvet brocade would hardly have made for good bandages.”

But ripping up a set of petticoats the Prince made himself for me to wear? That would’ve only made things worse.

Orion’s black eyes sparkled with something both amused and almost charmed.

“If I offer my assistance to you in retrieving your horse, will you accept it?”

Carewyn looked incredibly uncomfortable. “You needn’t do that -- I can manage.”

“I do not question that,” said Orion. “Will you accept my help anyway?”

“It’s not your responsibility, to fetch my horse. You don’t owe me anything -- you’ve more than thanked me for the other day already.”

“One could have a debate on that...but regardless, I’m offering you my assistance. Will you accept it?”

Carewyn finally was forced to stop walking and take off both of her shoes, leaving her in bare feet. Her toes were pulsing with pain, but there was immense relief at being out of the shoes, even if it meant standing on bare cobblestones.

“I don’t wish to burden you with my problems, sir,” she said firmly, picking up her skirts as best she could around the pair of shoes still clasped in her left hand. “I’m certain you have plenty of your own, and a full day of your own to contend with.”

“On the contrary, my schedule is quite open,” said Orion, his voice amazingly patient in the face of Carewyn’s pride and stubbornness. “I’d merely like to see if I can do some good, with that open time, by helping a thoroughly fascinating person retrieve her horse. If she doesn’t want my help, all she need say is that she won’t accept it, when I ask. If she won’t, I’ll leave -- and she would only serve to become even more of a wonderful contradiction, this time because she’d be contradicting her own word.”

His black eyes were sparkling with something like mischief as he extended a hand to her.

“So? Will you accept my help, and let me hold your shoes while we look for your horse together?”

Carewyn stared at Orion for a moment. She opened her mouth, closed it, and sighed before finally answering,

“...Very well. Thank you.”

She let Orion take the heeled shoes from her. With her newly freed hand, she reestablished her grip on her skirt and walked more quickly and comfortably than before on her bare feet, Orion keeping perfect stride next to her, his arm at his side with his fingers looped inside the heels of her shoes.

“I must say, though, Mr. Freeman,” Carewyn said without looking at him, “for a man who speaks of contradictions, you seem to have a few yourself.”

“I find most people do,” said Orion with a small smile. “Which one of mine in particular caught your attention?”

“Your hands. They have the wear of one who has known hard labor, and yet they’re so clean. Your clothes are the same way. Perfectly modest materials, and yet not nearly as dusty and stained as one usually sees. I’ve seen shirts worn by nobility that are treated as well as yours. Your hair is longer than one normally sees, and yet it’s free of debris or tangles and your beard is well-trimmed. Then there’s the fact that you said you wish to be free, and yet you have the freedom to upend your whole day to help me retrieve my horse. So it seems to me that you either 1, were poor and then recently came into wealth, or 2, come from wealth, but wish to obfuscate it, whether because you no longer have access to that wealth, you actively no longer want it, or for some other reason entirely.”

Orion raised his eyebrows, impressed despite himself. “You have an eye for detail, Lady Cromwell.”

Carewyn was reminded of Andre having said the exact same thing and couldn’t keep an amused smile from her face. “...So I’ve been told.”

Orion followed Carewyn’s example and turned his own focus to the road ahead.

”How do you define freedom, my lady?”

Carewyn raised an eyebrow. “...Well, being free, I should think. Free to make your own choices, chase your own dreams...live your own life.”

“And would you classify yourself as free?”

Carewyn’s expression darkened.

Of course not. But...I made that choice. As much as I wish I could be free...it’s not meant to be. Not for me.

“...Few women can, Mr. Freeman.”

Orion’s expression was rather neutral and difficult to read, but his dark eyes seemed to soften as he glanced at her out the side of his eye. Then he turned his focus ahead again.

“...For me, freedom isn’t just being free to do. It’s being free to be. Free to be happy. Free to be at peace. Free to be on your own, or with others, or something in between. Free to be yourself, for everything you are...and not be immediately judged by your name, or your face, or your heritage, or your class or wealth -- by what you are -- rather than who you are.”

Despite the calm of his face, there was something oddly sincere there. Something so subtle, it was like a shadow...but Carewyn felt sure it was there all the same.

The ginger-haired woman tilted her head slightly to better look at him, her blue eyes welling up with compassion.

“...You’ve been hurt a lot in your life, haven’t you...by people who’ve misjudged you?”

Orion looked at her, startled. In that moment when their eyes met, both of their guards had been down enough that it was like they were seeing each other more clearly than they had previously -- it was vulnerable and kind of intimidating, and yet striking, all the same.

Both Orion and Carewyn pretty quickly looked away, instantly uncomfortable. Truth be told, as confident and unflappable as both of them often acted, neither of them was much the sort to wear their heart on their sleeve. Carewyn’s expression had become proud and stoic again as she determinedly focused on the road -- Orion’s had once again become very placid and hard to read, even as he shot a few more covert glances in Carewyn’s direction.

They rounded a few more corners together, until the two finally caught sight of a familiar white horse being backed up into a corner by several townspeople, no doubt trying to prevent it from running any further. It was still skittishly kicking and padding at the ground anxiously with its hooves, which made the surrounding people too hesitant to get much closer.

With a gasp of relief, Carewyn immediately dashed over, Orion right behind her.

Orion managed to maneuver his way through the crowd and seize the horse’s bridle, holding it down with enough strength that the horse couldn’t rear back again. Once Carewyn was able to get through herself, she reached out her hands and took hold of her horse’s face, stroking its nose gently.

“Shh, shh, shh...it’s all right...it’s all right...”

She rested her face beside the skittish horse’s long neck as she stroked its mane and whispered reassuringly in its ear. Gradually the horse calmed down and finally relaxed enough that it went still.

Orion offered Carewyn the bridle. “You have a way with animals.”

“Not at all,” Carewyn said modestly as she took it. “I’m simply glad he’s all right.”

A female shopkeeper with dark skin and a curly black bun came over to greet them.

“Ah, then this horse is yours?” she asked, her hands on her hips. “Thank goodness -- we were really quite concerned, seeing him running about with a saddle on and no rider...”

“Thank you for holding him in one place,” Carewyn said kindly. “I’m sorry I can’t give you proper compensation, but -- ”

“No compensation needed,” she said brusquely, though she was smiling slightly. “Just be sure you don’t let him loose again -- that poor thing’s as skittish as they come!”

Carewyn glanced at her horse with an awkward smile. “Yes...yes, I know. I am sorry for the trouble. Thank you again -- truly.”

She led her horse away from the crowd, stroking his mane as they went. Once they’d reached a far enough distance, she reached into her saddle with one hand, taking out each of her worn old shoes and dropping them on the ground so she could then slip them on under her gown.

Orion raised an eyebrow at the worn brown slippers, and Carewyn shot him a rather cool and sardonic smile.

“I know they’re not particularly pretty, but they’re more practical for walking in, and I think my poor horse would appreciate me walking beside him a bit before riding him again.”

Orion smiled wryly. “They do look more comfortable than the alternative.”

He handed her the pair of off-white cloth heels, and Carewyn packed them in the pocket of her saddle. Then she looked up the street, which appropriately enough ended right at the palace gates.

“I’d best return to the palace,” said Carewyn. “They’ll be expecting me.”

Orion looked at her with renewed interest. “...You’re staying in Royaume’s palace?”

Carewyn raised an eyebrow at his reaction. “Yes...”

Something like an awkward wince flickered through Orion’s expression, but he recovered very quickly, inclining his head respectfully.

“Forgive me, I...I was merely surprised. You said you were disinterested in courting, so I presumed you’d have no reason to be part of the royal court.”

Carewyn’s eyes drifted up toward the castle rather than shifting over to Orion.

“I’m not courting the Prince or anyone else, I’m merely...something of a representative, for my grandfather. And my cousins -- they’re the ones who fancy the idea of marrying into royalty.”

She couldn’t completely mask the faint scoff in her voice at the sentiment. Orion cocked an eyebrow, smiling amusedly.

“I see. Well, my lady...I asked if you would accept my help before, and now I shall offer something else -- would you accept it, were I to offer to escort you to the palace?”

Carewyn looked at Orion, her eyebrows very high over her sardonically narrowed almond-shaped blue eyes.

“I already told you I don’t require an escort,” she said coolly.

“So you did,” Orion said just as coolly, and his black eyes sparkled with amusement. “Will you accept?”

Carewyn’s red lips turned up in a wry smile too. “...Very well.”

So the two walked up toward the palace together, talking leisurely the rest of the way. Although it’s very likely one could have made the trip in the span of twenty minutes, Carewyn and Orion took their time -- Orion had never seen the palace of Royaume up close, and he was quite impressed by its construction.

“So many triangular roofs,” he said absently. “Rather like many small pointed hats, decorating each tower...”

The comparison made Carewyn stifle a giggle behind her hand. “I...I suppose they do look like that a bit, yes.”

“Carewyn!”

Carewyn and Orion both looked up, to see scarlet-haired, sapphire-blue-dressed KC skipping up to them.

“I didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” KC said to Carewyn. “Andre said he wouldn’t have his ‘model’ back until tomorrow -- ”

Her eyes fell on Orion and she blinked.

“Oh -- hello,” she said, glancing from him to Carewyn confusedly.

“Lady Katriona, this is Mr. Freeman,” Carewyn said very quickly. “I let my horse get spooked in town, and he caught me when I got thrown off. He then proceeded to help me retrieve my horse after he ran off...”

KC’s eyes went very wide as she looked from Carewyn to Orion again. “You were thrown off your horse? Sir -- I’m grateful you were there...Carewyn, you could’ve been seriously hurt!”

Orion inclined his head politely. “I’m glad that you feel I did the right thing, at least, Lady Katriona, to try to prevent Lady Cromwell from being injured.”

His level, pleasant tone was betrayed by the mischief that danced in his black eyes. Carewyn gave a loud huff.

KC herself, though, definitely took note of what Orion had called Carewyn. Her dark ocean-blue eyes once again skipped from Carewyn to Orion and back.

“...Yes, well...thank you, Mr. Freeman. We certainly are glad you brought Carewyn back to us safe and sound.”

“It was my pleasure,” said Orion. “But I believe I’m overstaying my welcome. I offered to escort Lady Cromwell back to the palace -- now that I’m here, those terms have been met.”

He turned to Carewyn, and gave her a respectful bow.

“Thank you for your company, my lady. Hopefully our stars will align again in the future.”

Carewyn smiled. “I’d like that. And now that you know my first name,” she inclined her head in KC’s direction respectfully, “you may simply call me ‘Carewyn.’“

Orion’s lips spread into a full, handsome white smile. “And you, my lady...may call me ‘Orion.’”

Once Orion had left, KC walked with Carewyn back inside.

“He doesn’t know you’re a maidservant, does he?” KC asked lowly.

Carewyn looked down at the floor, but tried to keep her face stoic.

“When we first met, he was very mysterious about who he was,” she said softly. “He still is, in a lot of ways. So I’ve merely...followed suit. I never told him anything that wasn’t true.”

“But you held back a lot of explanation and context?” surmised KC with a knowing expression.

Carewyn didn’t reply. KC gave the other girl a sympathetic look.

“I suppose if he hasn’t been upfront with you, it’s a bit hard to tell you to do so,” she said logically. “But at the same time, it might feel better to be honest and get it off your chest.”

Carewyn once again didn’t reply and pointedly avoided KC’s gaze.

She just didn’t understand -- honesty was all well and good, when the truth wasn’t something you were actively ashamed of. Ever since she’d gotten to the palace, Carewyn had never been completely honest. She wasn’t just being a good servant: she was doing things for her grandfather that could help him find a way into the royal family through marrying off her cousins. And that wasn’t even touching her constant sneaking into the library after dark, scrounging through whatever war documents she could, trying to find any information on troop movements or rosters of soldier names and chain of command. That was a lie she was not only telling to the Prince and the entire castle staff, even her friends...but to her family, as well. And she told it not only because she knew secrecy was the only way she might find out where Jacob was...but also because she hated who she had to be, just to try to help him.

Carewyn...was a liar, plain and simple. She hardly knew if she even knew how to be honest anymore.

“...Or maybe not,” said KC.

The Prince’s cousin gave a deep sigh.

“Well, for what it’s worth, he seems like a pretty nice man. If you’d like, I can let you know if he ever comes courting.”

Carewyn looked up, startled. “What? Oh -- no, Lady Katriona, that won’t be necessary.”

“KC, Carewyn,” the noblewoman reminded her pointedly. “If you’ve given in enough to call Andre by his nickname, you most definitely will use mine.”

“KC,” Carewyn relented, “it’s...very kind of you to offer, but Mr. Freeman and I are friends, nothing more. I have no interest in courting anyone, especially when there’s so much work to be done.”

Jacob will always come first. Romance is a pittance, compared to his well-being.

KC looked a little doubtful, but she shrugged nonetheless. “All right, if you say so. But I reckon even you could do with a day off with a friend now and again -- particularly since you don’t seem to even want to take a day off at home with your family.”

Carewyn looked at her, to see him smiling knowingly.

“I don’t blame you, you know,” she said sympathetically. “There are plenty of people in my family I try to give a berth to, too. My mother and I, for instance...she’s tried to get me to marry your cousin Arsen for years.”

Carewyn couldn’t fight back a cringe. KC burst out laughing.

“Oh -- you reacting like that is so validating! I only met him once at a private ball, and I was just...revolted! I’ve never met someone who takes such joy at making other people unhappy, in all my life...”

The freckled noblewoman’s face creased into a softer, more sympathetic smile.

“Truly, Carewyn...I have no idea how someone like you could be related to someone like him.”

Carewyn looked away uncomfortably.

“Blood ancestry, I’m afraid, is the only real thing we have in common,” she admitted under her breath.

KC smiled. “Well, I’m certainly glad for that. Now here...why don’t I help you get out of that dress, so you can get into something a bit more comfortable? I doubt Andre wants you to sleep in it.”

Meanwhile McNully had caught up with Orion, just in time for them to skip back across the border before it got too much darker. As Orion sat down in the carriage and looked out the window, he was smiling and his black eyes drifted over the darkening clouds with the kind of determination one might see on a sailor who’s set to spot land on the horizon.

“You seem rather pleased, Orion,” said McNully with both a smile and a curious eye. “I’m stuck between thinking you either found out something useful, or you met someone who might be helpful. I’d say there’s about 40-60 odds between the two.”

Orion’s lips spread into a very broad, bright smile.

“Both, my friend. I have found a truly fascinating person, and she happens to reside in the palace of Royaume as a courtier.”

McNully’s eyes grew very wide. “You’re kidding!” 

“I am not,” said Orion in a very satisfied voice. “I have my opening, McNully. A woman who might be able to be my eyes and ears inside their palace and help me find a way to broker peace.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #carewyn cromwell #orion amari #murphy mcnully #katriona cassiopeia #angelica cole #my art #my writing #gaaaaaaah my KIDS #I'm actually really kind of pleased with how this drawing turned out #these two are both so manipulative and deceptive in their own way but they're both so noble in their own way too ARGH #I friggin' love them #now one can see why they're both slytherins #at least in my canon XDD #hope I did your girl justice kc-mun :3 #barnaby isn't from royaume in this story (he'll be popping up somewhere else later) so I substituted arsen for barnaby in your canon #where kc's mum likes the thought of kc marrying barnaby for his family's blood status and stuff #at least barnaby's likable -- arsen is 110% the LAST person who should ever end up with kc #I basically imagined pearl's sons arsen and kain to both kind of like unpleasant dudebro bully types who love flaunting their privilege #and are also sexist AF #XP #cinderella au

[ardent-musings]

Manipulation and Mechanics

           A Murphy McNully Smut

           Warnings: NSFW 18+

            You had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you first decided to start teasing Murphy on the daily. One week you had accidently missed doing your laundry, leaving you with a tiny selection of clothing for you to choose from. Most of the items you wore on the daily were comfortable sweaters, something cozy and laidback. However as you shuffled through your unimpressive amount of clean clothes, you were forced to wear a slightly more risqué top than you usually did. Having to wear it didn’t bother you, but you did miss the simplicity of your common style.

           At some point when you were wearing a low cut top and hugged Murphy you couldn’t help but notice how his eyes lingered on your chest as you dipped down. You hadn’t noticed it before, but his wandering stare only amplified every time you chose a plunging neckline over any other. It became incredibly fun for you to bend down to give your handsome boy a kiss, his cheeks glowed a cherry hue each time you did so. This newfound discovery felt like a superpower, and Murphy was beginning to grow more and more frustrated, watching as you so effortlessly turned him on day after day.

           Murphy was always a sweet and giving lover, but you wanted something more. You wanted him to absolutely lose control over you, but he remained composed no matter how many times you teased him. No matter how low or tight your shirts became he would stare but otherwise he went on about his day like normal.

           Nevertheless, when Murphy returned home one day, you went to give him a kiss as usual; the blouse of the day was low cut red silk. The color and fabric made you feel powerful, even if you were starting to question your effect on your favorite boy.

           You bent at the hip to kiss him and was about to pull away until you felt his strong fingers rake through your soft hair, making you gasp as his fingers tugged at your hair, holding you face close to his. Murphy’s soft gray eyes were dilated, his glare was so intense that you let out an involuntary whine. He hummed at your expression and smirked knowingly.

           “What little game do you think you’re playing, my sweet?”

           His words were loving like always but his tone was downright condescending as he licked his lips and once again ogled over your ample chest. The sweet boy that would always treat you so kindly was replaced by something stronger, something darker.

           You were about to answer him, but his hand trailed from your hair down to the base of your throat, he started to test the waters a bit as he gripped lightly. Murphy pulled you in by your neck, just ghosting his lips over yours.

           “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I’ve been watching you all week, love,” he chuckled lowly which made your eyes roll back, his grip tightened a bit making it even hard for you to catch your breath. “You are stunning, my girl.”

           Even though your mind was buzzing at the words he was saying, you revealed to him a gentle smile at his compliment. He pulled you to him and kissed you deeply yet so slowly. This flip in him was everything you wanted from Murphy and from his smug expression, you could tell he was living for it.

           “But you already knew that,” his voice growled as his lips took the place of his hand, his teeth grazed at your neck which only made you even more desperate.

           “Murph-“

           “What do you want?” He groaned at the way your chest was heaving each and every time he nibbled on your collarbone. “Cause I won’t go any further until you tell me.”

           And like that he rolled back from you, almost making you tip due to your wobbly knees and racing heart. He looked so cocky, slouching in his chair with his head tilted to the side as he awaited your answer. Every second that passed where you tried to collect your thoughts was filled by his hungry eyes as they took in the sight of you.

           “I want you to touch me,” you admitted with a tiny smirk, looking bashful yet flirty. This was so new and exciting, you never wanted it to end. And it had barely even started.

           “Do you want me to make love to you?”

           His answer was met with silence as you took a moment to breathe, ultimately shaking your head no.

           “Interesting,” he began to nibble at his lower lip while staring at you admiringly.

           Your body grew warm under his gaze and while you loved the intensity of what was happening, you needed more of whatever he was willing to give you.

           “So what I’m hearing is you want to get fucked, yeah sweetheart?”

           Without hesitating you nodded your head, eyes glowing at his question. His words were unbearably nasty, each word and lustful look made it harder for you to stand. It made you feel dirty, but so incredibly empowered at the same time. Maybe it was because it was Murphy saying all of this that made you believe every word.

           “Okay, honey. I can do that. But don’t think you’re off the hook for teasing me all week. If you wanna get wrecked, we’re doing it my way. Understand?”

           Once again, you nodded enthusiastically, almost shaking at the boy’s crude warning.

           “Good. Now, I want you to be ready for me: go to our room, strip down entirely, and lay on the bed.”

           You all about ran to your bedroom, tearing off your clothes as quickly as possible. It wasn’t everyday where Murphy got so domineering. Shaky hands ripped at the debauched low cut top that started this whole game. Once every thread of fabric was on the floor, you lied down on the bed, trying your hardest to catch your breath. Your body felt like it was on ice as you shivered each time a gust of air passed over you.

           After a few minutes of waiting for your boy, he returned with a tempting smirk once he noticed your bare body wanting and ready. It made you groan, just seeing him creep up on you with nothing but pure lust in his eyes.

           “Good girl, baby,” he cooed as he rolled himself to the side of the bed closest to you. “But let’s not forget how badly you’ve behaved all week.”

           Murphy bent down to collect the discarded red blouse and he waved it in front of you, “I don’t want this to go to waste. Hands up, love.”

           You were surprised by his command, with a shaky breath you complied and brought your hand over your head, resting them on your pillow. Murphy then took your shirt and used the sleeves to tie your wrists together and then to the headboard. It wasn’t too tight, but tight enough for you not be able to escape. Your eyes widened when you gave an experimental tug, whining at thought of not being able to touch your strong boy. In this position your breasts were pushed higher, begging for the attention of your boyfriend.

           He looked so damn good, smugly staring down at your chest which made him wiggle in his chair. Air was harder to come by once he began placing gentle kisses to your cheek, grabbing at your jaw to hold you steady.

           “I want this to be good for you,” his harsh façade dropped for a second, his thumb rubbing at your bottom lip, “If at any time things get too intense, you’ll tell me, yes?”

           You nodded lazily at the beautiful blonde boy, but that wasn’t enough.

           “Use your words, darling,” he mocked lightly. “I need to hear you say it.”

           “Yes,” you gasped as his calloused hands began to trail down your throat, then down your collarbone, barely grazing your hot skin.

           “And you remember the stoplight system?”

           “Green means go, yellow means slow down, red means stop,” you gasped as he began to kiss at the side of your breast.

           “Good girl, my perfect little slut, huh?” A shiver spread throughout your whole body once his arrogant persona returned.

           It felt wrong to be entirely naked while he was still fully clothed, his light blue shirt was pulled taut around his strong shoulders. His hair was perfectly placed and if your hands weren’t bound to the headboard, you would surely be gripping his biceps or tugging at his blonde locks.

           “I’ll have you know, darling, that because of you, I have a newfound appreciation for some things that are muggle,” he chuckled as his teeth nipped beneath your breast, admiring the way your hands struggled against the binds. “The muggles really have some fascinating inventions that I had to get my hands on.”

           You had absolutely no idea what he was going on about, the only thing you could focus on was his dark gray eyes that bore into your own as he rubbed your hardened nipple with his nose. Before you could enjoy the small touches, he pulled his head away from you entirely.

           From behind his back, Murphy revealed to you a bright purple vibrator, which made you squeeze your legs together in order to get any bit of friction. This was not something you’d ever imagine your boyfriend picking up on his own and you moaned at the mere idea of what the strategist was planning for you.

           “Grabbed this bad boy when I went into town the other day,” he chuckled as he placed the toy down on the bed before lifting himself to lean beside you. Having him pressed against you was sinful, and you could do nothing to him. “I’ve been fantasizing about using this on you.”

           He grabbed the toy once again, turning it on and pressing it against your stomach. The vibrations were already so strong and your hips bucked at the feeling it brought. Murphy held himself up on an elbow, laying on his side as he watched your body’s reactions and chuckling every time you shook.

           “This whole week you’ve been parading around the flat, looking positively gorgeous,” Murphy groaned, dragging the toy further up your chest, resting it between your boobs. “I’ve wanted to rip off those goddamn shirts you’ve been wearing. You know how much I love your tits.”

           You whined loudly once he held the tip of the vibrator against one of your nipples while Murphy wrapped his perfect lips around the other and started to suck gently. Once again you pulled at the restrains, you would do anything to touch him and yet knowing he was in full control made your head spin.

           “Is this what you had in mind, my good little whore?”

           He laughed against your nipple at your relentless wiggling beside him, you looked exquisite with your chest turning red with his biting and sucking. Like a masterpiece.

           “Can you,” your breath hitched when he brought the vibrator down between your legs, just not where you needed it.

           “Can I what, sweetie?” Murphy started trailing the toy along your inner thighs, tortuously allowing you to feel the vibrations without being able to enjoy it as intended. A rather surprising bite to the underside of your breast caused you to scream out his name, which made your boy smirk cockily.

           “Please, baby, please take off your shirt,” you gasped as he started biting at the side of your neck, not caring if little bruises would be left behind for everyone to see.

           “Yeah? And why should I do that?” He taunted, “Do you think you deserve it after what you’ve been doing to me?”

           You didn’t deserve it, but god, did you want it. His body was gorgeous and it felt even better when you could grasp and scratch at his skin, unfortunately that wasn’t going to happen tonight. This was supposed to be your punishment, and after teasing him like you did, you knew you didn’t earn it.

           With a pout you shook your head sadly, crying out when he brought the vibrator back up to play with your nipples, “No, baby, I don’t deserve it.”

           He hummed approvingly at your answer and dipped down to nibble below your ear, “That’s right, sweetie. You don’t.”

           God you hated how badly he was teasing you, and yet you prayed that it wouldn’t end anytime soon. Seeing him so confident and in calculated made you crave him even more. It was like how he commanded the whole pitch when he announced a game, he spoke with such assurance and skill that it was impossible to not be charmed by him. That also meant that you couldn’t help how turned on you were becoming at his gruff tone.

           “But since you asked so sweetly, I think I’ll award you this one thing,” he sat up for a second, before smirking darkly at your needy body.

           Murphy took the vibrator and laid it between your legs, letting the head of it press up against your clit. You yelped loudly, arching your back at the sudden sensation after being denied for so long.

           “Fuck!” You moaned as you thrashed your head to the side, watching him as he slowly began undoing the buttons of his crisp shirt, his eyes never left yours. It was sensory overload, with him displaying more of his toned chest and strong biceps as the toy teased you mercilessly.

           “Like what you see, darling?” He asked as he pressed down on the vibrator once his shirt was off, reveling in the way you screamed out. Your moans sounded so frustrated and needy, which only spurred the boy on even more.

           “Yes, fuck,” you could hardly breathe with how impactful his small acts were on your body, crying out as he was now holding the vibrator in one hand as his other cradled your face.

           “God you’re such a pretty mess, aren’t you?” he mocked as he dragged his thumb across your bottom lip again, except this time you greedily took into your mouth and began to suck on it. It was the smallest act of defiance you could display given your position, and you felt alive once his eyes rolled back at your sucking lips. The move made him growl lowly at you, which felt like electricity against your skin.

           Before you could celebrate for long, he took the vibrator away from your clit, making you whine at the loss. Murphy loved when you got like this, so pretty and pouty as your hips tried to find the toy.

           “What is it, baby?” Murphy laid back down, his now naked chest pressed against your side as he held your wrists in one of his large hands. He smirked down at you, your skin was glowing and sticky, burning up from head to toe as he committed to teasing for as long as he wanted. “You have no idea how hard I am for you, honey. Seeing you so wrecked from this little toy is perfection.”

           He brought the toy back down to your clit, holding it there firmly, which made you cry out from the teasing. Murphy chuckled next to your ear, sending sparks down your body. You didn’t think it could get any better; that was until he started nibbling at the base of your neck as he rubbed the vibrator in tiny circles against you.

           The constant vibrations and biting was overwhelming, a tear had escaped your dazzling eyes; you hadn’t even noticed you started crying, but Murphy did. When he saw the mascara drip, he brought his attention back to you, wanting to check in for a moment.

           “Are you enjoying this, my love?” His eyes were heavy, drunk off the pleasure he was able to bring to your body. This was punishment, sure, but he needed to know that you were okay.

           “God, yes,” you began to chant breathlessly, which eased any concern in your dominant boy.

           “Good,” he grinned down at you cheekily, “cause, I think it’s about time you cum, yeah?”

           All you could do was nod, your hips were already bucking, trying to get as close to the torturous hum that the toy provided to you. It was a marvelous sight, seeing how Murphy’s muscles flexed with each ministration he made to the toy. You turned your head to press soft kisses to his hard chest, moaning against his skin as the vibrator kept bringing you closer to the edge.

           “That’s it, baby doll. Roll your hips for me,” he whispered in your ear, leaving no room for disobedience. “I wanna see my beautiful girl cum for me like the dirty little plaything she is.”

           It was too much. His words, the smell of his skin, and the rumble of the toy against you made your back arch, moaning desperately as you came with a cry. Your heart felt like it was going to pound out of your chest, it felt too good.

           But Murphy didn’t stop. He grinned confidently, finding the look on your face when you came the most beautiful sight in the world. And he made it his mission to see it again.

           “You didn’t think I was done with you did you?” Murphy tutted at you as you pulled against your binds. He placed one final kiss to your lips, enjoying the moans you let escape as he shuffled down the bed, resting between your legs as he removed the toy from your clit and began rubbing the wet toy along the insides of your thighs. “No, darling, I am going to worship this sweet pussy until you can’t take it anymore.”

           And he lived up to his promise, wrapping one of his strong arms under your thigh using that hand to hold the vibrator against you while the other hand rubbed up and down your wetness. His smile was beautifully wicked, elated in the way you couldn’t stay still even for a second.

           “Baby, your dripping for me. You might be enjoying this too much,” he groaned disapprovingly, once again removing the vibrator from you. But before you could protest, he dropped his head and nudged your clit with his tongue. He braced himself, lapping at your clit lick a starved man as he brought the toy up to your breasts, teasing one nipple at a time. “Wanna feel you squeeze my fingers, sweetie.”

           Your back arched almost painfully, his fingers now pumped into you, hooking and rubbing filthily as he sucked on your clit and played with your tits. Never before had you felt so taken care of, so wrecked by the hands of your love. The familiar feeling of another orgasm was quickly approaching and you couldn’t stop yourself from tensing your legs around Murphy’s head which made him growl into you, making you shudder. Chanting his name like a prayer was the only thing you could do, his name was all you could remember as he took his tongue off your clit to bring back the vibrator.

           “Shit you’re gonna cum again aren’t you? Dirty fucking angel, you are,” he smiled sweetly despite how brash his words were. “Let me see you cum again.”

           Looking down at him in between your thighs was a mistake. The boy was staring at the way your tits were bouncing from your bucking hips, which only made him crave your release that much more. It was sinful how gorgeous he looked as his fingers kept massaging you perfectly as he rubbed the toy expertly against your clit, continuously encouraging you to let go. You wished you could take a snapshot of this moment to relive at another time, but you couldn’t think about that for too long as you could feel yourself growing too sensitive.

           After a few more rubs at your clit and swears from your sweet boy’s lips, you grabbed at your restraints, and let go. Murphy found the image of your shaking and writhing body both the most delicious and dirty thing he had ever witnessed. He turned off the toy and began to massage your legs, helping relieve the tenseness there after how hard you had come.

           Focusing on anything but the regulation of your own breath proved to be hopeless. The way Murphy knew how to tease and tweak your body never failed to amaze you, and you had to will your body to calm down.

           Murphy began to shift up the bed, placing kisses to both sides of your hips before biting down on the soft flesh and then calming the bruising skin with baby kisses. He continued to pepper kisses up your stomach, between your breasts and to the muscle in your neck. Murphy hummed against your sticky skin, inhaling the scent of you as he turned your head to kiss his neglected lips.

           It was soft and languid, the way your kisses molding into each other. You couldn’t touch him, but you angled yourself so your aching chest pressed against his. Murphy held your body firmly against his own, loving how you instinctually hitched a leg over his hip and began to rock against him.

           “Damn, darling,” he choked as you started to grind over his trousers. “You truly are desperate aren’t you?”

           At this point, you should’ve been done; called it a night after getting off twice Your body was already tired and sore from his unbelievable teasing and yet you craved him more than ever. It didn’t matter how often you got off on his tongue or in this case a toy, you yearned for him to claim you.

           “Fuck me, Murphy,” you whimpered, getting lost in the friction of his pants against your naked body.

           His eyes widened at your demand, and within a second his soft kisses disappeared and instead he grabbed your chin firmly, enjoying the way your lips pouted the more he squeezed. “Oh, trust me,” Murphy growled against the column of your throat, “My plans always included pounding your pretty little pussy into the mattress, baby.”

           “Goddamn!” You whined, it was extraordinarily filthy the way he could effortlessly turn you on with his words alone. His body was an extra bonus, and you couldn’t help but marvel at it.

           Murphy released you from his grip and began to undo his belt, quickly chucking his clothes off. Your eyes fell to his strong thighs, the sharp v-line that led to your favorite sex toy. No manmade thing could ever compare to the way his cock could rip countless orgasms from you.

           Your staring didn’t go unnoticed, so Murphy gripped himself with his strong hand, slowly beginning to pump himself. The most desperate and almost jealous whine escaped you which made your boy chuckle against your throat.

           “I bet you wish you could be the one touching me right now. But unlucky for you, but fun for me, your just a bit too tied up.”

           His joke made your eyes roll, but the sound of his low groan only reminded you how badly you wanted to feel him again. Murphy’s body was an addiction.

           After a few more strokes, he brought your leg back over his hip, pulling his body flush against your own breathless one. He was so close and yet so far.

           “I think it’s time, my love. I need to fuck you. God, I’m gonna fuck you so good.”

           Without missing a beat, he positioned himself at you, just grazing your pussy which felt cruel. It wasn’t enough. Your desperation hit an all-time high, so you used your leg to push him further into you. The feeling of him was perfect and even Murphy couldn’t take his own teasing anymore. The game was over.

           With your hands still tied above you, Murphy grabbed at your back, making you arch your chest onto his wanting tongue. He nipped and bit and sucked on your breasts like a man starved while you rocked yourself against him. You adored how overwhelming his love was, it was in everything he did. But you didn’t want his love at the moment. You wanted Murphy to wreck you.

           “Please,” you whined as another tear escaped you.

           “Please?” his eyes darkened even more as he groaned against you. “Please what? Does my pretty little slut want more?”

           His charming smile was cut short by your harder grind which made his whip his head back. Given the opportunity, you latched your teeth into his skin, hoping your act of disobedience would get him to lose all inhibitions.

           “Fuck. Alright, my girl,” he chuckled, “If my baby wants to get fucked, then who am I to deny her?”

           One of the arms that was wrapped around your back now grabbed at your soft thigh, bringing your leg up higher, giving him the leverage he needed to fuck you the way you needed. His usual never ending dialogue halted as he placed all his attention to the rhythm of his thrusts, noting what made you scream his name. He didn’t stop for a second, his own need to get off battling with his want to tease you.

           It was dirty, quick, and rough, something that you didn’t know would be so earth shattering. But your quickly returning high was building back up, and it was almost unbearable how good he felt fucking you like he promised. It was so intense that you didn’t even notice Murphy untying you. Your arms just instinctually wrapped around his strong shoulders as they flexed after every thrust. He couldn’t use his legs to help bounce you on his cock, but his impressive upper body had no issue grabbing at your shoulders to drive you deeper into your high.

           Your eyes rolled back, whines dripping from your mouth which made Murphy smirk with pride. His hips were reckless, doing his best to hit that spot that made you beg and pout for him. You almost complained when he let go of your leg until he told you to hold it up yourself. Denying him was not an option, since your orgasm was so damn close.

           “Let’s get you there, my girl,” he moaned in your ear. Without warning, you screamed at the buzzing vibrator that once again returned to your overstimulated clit. The only thing you could do was run your fingers through Murphy’s hair to grip as he toyed with you so well.

           After a few more pumps, your back arched into him, shaking in pleasure as he chased his own high. He looked beautiful as he did it: his mouth was panting, searching for air as he continued to buck into you wildly. You were almost too achy for him, but you wanted nothing more than for him to get off.

           With a few more slaps of skin against skin, he came down whining with his lips around your abused nipple. Murphy was breathless, moaning against your chest as you raked your nails through his now ruined blonde hair.

           Both of you were left speechless which was more surprising considering your boy could talk for hours on end, spewing stats and percentages. But right now, you admired the way he nuzzled his face on your chest, using you as a pillow with a satisfied smile on his face. It was such a stark difference to the boy who taunted and mocked you earlier; he was now opting to hearing your calming heartbeat.

           “Was that good?” he sighed against you with a smile.

           A tiny giggle sounded from your sore throat, “Baby, that was unbelievably good.”

           “Perfect. And now we have a fun toy that we can bring out whenever, darling.”

           You hummed at his excitement, bringing your hand to cup his tired face, “You know, we can always pick up more if we need to.”

( @kc-needs-coffee I hope this lives up to your expectations wifey. Had a lot of fun with this one.)

#murphy mcnully smut #murphy mcnully #hogwarts mystery #oneshot #smut #just filth yaknow

[ardentmuse]

Hello, lovely humans! 

This blog is officially ACTIVE. And I couldn’t be more excited to getting back to writing for pleasure.

As many of you know, a few years ago I took a leap into writing professionally and now I am a full-time interactive fiction narrative designer, writer, and editor. While I adore my job, I also spend most of my time writing things based on storylines designed by others, few things solely of my own invention. And writing begets more writing. The more you do it, the more you want to do it, the more you are stimulated by the act itself. And so, even though my writing schedule is more busy than ever, I need to counter it with writing that is strictly for fun, otherwise I am going to burn out completely.

So thanks for your patience on this journey. I am SO THRILLED to celebrate with you.

To celebrate, we’re going to do some stories based on prompts and add some new fandoms to the mix.

(yes, the good place gifs are back)

The Rules:

Must be following me (@ardentmuse)

Must submit me an ask with a number of a prompt and a character

Must like this post

Please reblog, but this isn’t required :) 

Only one submission per person, please!

Block “#ardentmuse welcome back” if you don’t want to see these for whatever reason (though some of my best work comes from prompts)

Each ask will become a reader-insert imagine. Aiming for ~1k words for each of these, but we’ll see where the spirits take me.

Note that these will be slower than my previous turn around on these. My goal is one per day, to be cut off in ~3 weeks, so it is likely I won’t get to every prompt. I’ll do my best.

Character list and prompt list below the cut.

Hugs, Lia

Characters:

Note: all responses will be reader inserts (no x ships). Also, this list is off the top of my head so if I missed anyone that you really want to see, let me know.

*Bold represents characters I am absolutely in love with writing at the moment, so those requests would make me so happy

Harry Potter:

Bill Weasley

Charlie Weasley

Percy Weasley

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Ron Weasley

Harry Potter

Neville Longbottom

Draco Malfoy

Cedric Diggory

Oliver Wood

Severus Snape

Sirius Black

James Potter

Remus Lupin

HPHM:

Bill Weasley

Charlie Weasley

Talbott Winger

Barnaby Lee

Murphy McNully

Orion Amari

Andre Egwu

Jae Kim

Diego Caplan

ASOIAF / Game of Thrones:

Ned Stark

Robb Stark

Jon Snow

Bran Stark

Tyrion Lannister

Jaime Lannister

Robert Baratheon

Stannis Baratheon

Theon Greyjoy

Gendry (Waters)

Podrick Payne

Sandor Clegane

Petyr Baelish

Kingsman:

Harry Hart

Merlin (Hamish Mycroft)

Eggsy Unwin

Tequila

Whiskey (Jack Daniels)

James Spenser (Lancelot)

Love Island: The Game:

Jake Wilson

Bobby McKenzie

Gary Rennell

Henrik

Lucas Koh

Ibrahim

Noah

Bruno

Will

Lovelink:

Antoine Dawson / Noah Cruz

Brett O’Hara

Cianán Ó Faoláin

Dr. Vile

Jay Perry

Gabe Scott

Garrett Brown / Rory O´Brien

Hugo Hornsby / Marco Bottazzi

Taylor (Hugo / Marco’s route)

Nicholas Adley

Nick Klaus

Nori Cove

River Nightshade

Salvatore Luciano

The Prompts from Futurama:

Good news, everyone.

At the risk of sounding negative, no.

I love Y/N, always and forever.

This is it. The moment we should have trained for.

For a split second, my common sense was overwhelmed by pity.

I never even told her I loved her.

Well, you obviously won’t listen to reason. 

It’s when women are polite to each other you know there’s a problem.

...plus some other emotions which are weird and deeply confusing.

When you look this good, you don’t have to know anything.

Hey, sexy mama.

This is the worst kind of discrimination. The kind against me.

Thank you all for the inspiring advice, but I’m perfectly happy with my life the way it is.

Life is about decisions.

Oh wait, you’re serious. 

You leave me breathless.

Everyone, I have a very dramatic announcement.

We can all fight when we’re drunk.

It’s all so complicated with the flowers and the romance and the lies upon lies.

I’m feeling a strange new emotion I have never felt before.

You lost the woman of your dreams but you still have [xxxx].

Let’s knock this up a notch!

Gimme your biggest, strongest, cheapest drink!

I know who you are. You're the woman I've waited for my entire life.

You know what cheers me up? Other people’s misfortune.

I really ought to do something but I am already in my pajamas.

Valentine’s Day is coming up?

I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

Of course I'm being irrational, I'm in love!

Let's get the hell out of here already! 

What the hell is that thing?

You know, someone ought to teach you a lesson.

You should say something else.

It really makes me happy to see you right now.

What kind of party is this?

I can explain.

But of everyone I ever dated, you're probably in the top ten.

It's been quite a journey. 

What a thoughtful and considerate thing for you to say.

Look, I know it's not much consolation. But, I understand how you feel.

#harry potter imagine #hp imagine #hphm imagine #asoiaf imagine #kingsman imagine #game of thrones image #got imagine #litg imagine #love island the game imagine #lovelink imagine #kingsman #love island the game #litg #hphm #hp #harry potter #asoiaf #game of thrones #got #lovelink #ardentmuse welcome back #x reader #reader insert

[missnight0wl]

Is Helena and Jacob's mother language English? I think there are many buddies in our gang have other languages as their mother languages, such as Rowan, Chiara, Tulip, Ismelda, Andre, Jae, Badeea, Liz, Diego, Murphy and Rath. Are there any others?

Yep, Helena and Jacob’s mother language is English! Now, since Jacob Kowalski is their grandfather, I like to think that they know some Polish. We know that Jacob emigrated when he was young, but it seems that he was very close with his grandmother who passed on him the love for baking and cooking – and she most likely spoke Polish. Still, I’m not sure if Jacob would use Polish much in the future or teach it to his children and later his grandkids. That’s why I assume it’d be very basic. However, the Ellis siblings know a lot about Polish cuisine (and some other traditions, too).

Back to your question though. Hm, to be completely honest, I think that English should be the mother language for all of our friends, and that’s because of the technical aspect. I mean, I’m nit-picking here a bit, but there was that one interview with Rowling where she said, "Hogwarts just serves Britain and Ireland". That’s why you can always see on HP wiki the nationality being stated as “British or Irish” (unless more precise information was given somewhere else). Yes, Draco could’ve been sent to Durmstrang, but apparently, it simply means that Durmstrang is not as restricted in this area as Hogwarts. The wizarding schools can have different policies.

Of course, I see your point that all of those students seem to be from multicultural families. Still, I think that their mother language should be English if we assume that it was more relevant for the place where they lived – and considering that “the mother tongue is the language spoken most often to a child at home”.

But that being said, some of them might just have two mother languages, meaning that they’re simply bilingual. It’s hard to tell for sure, though, because people might have a different approach to it. Some parents will teach their kids two languages simultaneously; in other cases, a bilingual parent will teach their kids only basics. For some reason, I think that Diego is the most likely to actually be fluent in both languages. Not only because he’s quite stereotypically Spanish already, but more importantly because we learnt in the “Cook-Off” TLSQ that tradition is very important in his family. I imagine it could involve language as well. As for the rest, I’d say it could be either way.

Also, I admit that I’m stupid because I’ve spent like five minutes wondering why you included Ismelda in your ask. But then, I remembered my own post about a possibility of Ismelda being part French (because of Tulip’s comment about Bauxbatons), so… yeah. Still, I’m a bit confused by Murphy and Rath, probably because I don’t follow the Quidditch content. But could someone explain to me what I’m missing here, please? I assume that “Rath” might be German as my quick research suggests, and “Erika” is a spelling commonly used in German, too (though not only). But Murphy? Both “Murphy” and “McNully” are Irish, aren’t they? As I said, I might simply not know something from the game, so that’s why I’m asking.

Now, I think the only person I’d add to your group is Orion Amari. Although he became an orphan probably at a pretty early age, it’s also kind of hard to say how it might’ve looked like here exactly.

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #helena ellis #hphm jacob #jacob ellis #jacob kowalski #diego caplan #ismelda murk #erika rath #murphy mcnully #orion amari #ask #anonymous

[official-weasley]

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 5, Ch. 4

PART 5: THE YEAR WHEN EVERYONE FIGHTS Chapter 4 - The Friendship Dilemma

Charlie

I remember when I was six and I sneaked out of the house in the middle of the night to fly on Bill's new broom. I have never done it before and I knew I would probably get in trouble but I did it anyway.

I went to the garden and sat on it and I remember I didn't even know what I was supposed to do but I thought in my head 'fly high'. The broom obeyed me and before I opened my eyes I was above the roof of our house and I got so scared that I knocked myself off it, hitting the roof and falling to the ground.

My mum told me I was lucky to be alive. However, she couldn't wait for me to get all my bones mended so she could punish me. I still remember how much it hurt.

What happened yesterday by the Lake, when Penny let it slip that Nova fancies Murphy, hurt ten times more. My heart went from beating really fast to stopping completely and I felt as if I was about to suffocate.

What pained me, even more, was the realization of how Nova and I were drifting apart. We both had so much on our hands. If she wasn't at Quidditch practice, I was. She had Advanced Transfiguration almost every day. On our days off we were either doing homework or studying for our O.W.L.s and when I had the time and wanted to spend it just with her, she either said she wanted to be with the whole group because we barely had the time to hang out or she went to the Quidditch stands to meet with her team.

Now I know who she was meeting and I hated what my mind was creating for me. Images of them talking and having fun together. Nova blushing and giggling at Murphy's jokes. Them holding hands and kissing. My stomach turned every time and it has been happening all night. Needless to say how much sleep I got.

I was staring at the ceiling when I heard Jae wake up. I was trying to keep my eyes open as much as possible because my imagination ran wild the second I closed them. I would much rather just turn around and scream into my pillow but I didn't want to explain to Jae why I was losing my mind.

I knew it was going to happen eventually, that Nova would fancy someone. But I was hoping that someone might be me. Or at least that I wouldn't know about it. I was mad at Penny for telling everyone. I was mad that I had to find out that way and I was mad at myself for having these feelings.

“Just two more years.” I said to myself and got to the edge of my bed. Two more years and I can go to Romania and never see Nova again. It killed me just thinking about it and this was exactly what I was talking about when I told Penny that me fancying her will ruin our friendship.

How was I supposed to talk to her and take classes with her and study with her and act like everything was fine? I didn't see her since she ran after Penny yesterday and I was terrified of what would happen to me once I would.

“What was that, mate?” Jae's voice snapped me out of it.

“Wha-?” I almost forgot I was talking to myself out loud.

“You said something?” Jae said.

“Nah, forget it.” I swung my hand and got up.

“You okay, mate? You look pale.” He came to my bed, putting on his hoodie.

“I didn't sleep good, that's all.” I lied. I didn't want to talk about it. The only one I wanted to talk to was my best friend and I couldn't tell her she broke my heart.

“Want to go down for breakfast?” Jae shrugged his shoulders, believing what I told him.

“Sure.” I put on my jumper and we made our way to the Great Hall.

I was relieved to see that Nova wasn't there. That any of our friends weren't. I liked being just with Jae and I should've stayed with him since First Year and perhaps I wouldn't be walking around like a sad troll right now.

We sat at the Gryffindor Table and I looked at Jae as he was putting some eggs and bacon on his plate. Just thinking about eating made me want to vomit.

“You're not going to eat anything?” He frowned at me. I know he knew something was up as it wasn't like me not to eat.

“Nah. Maybe later.” I gave out a weak smile as I couldn't bear him asking me one more time if everything was fine.

He was looking at me for a few seconds then took another bite.

“Mate, I wanted to ask you something.” He said with a full mouth.

“Sure, ask away.” I knew it was bad of me not to sound interested in what he has to say but I really couldn't care less right now.

“You spend a lot of time with Nova...” he started. I swear if he's going to ask me if I fancy her I will go upstairs, pack my bags and apparate from this school if need be.

Of course, Nova's words immediately popped into my mind, when she told me you can't apparate on School Grounds. I shook my head. Perhaps there was a way to persuade Professor Flitwick to teach me the Memory Charm and I could perform it on myself and forget Nova ever saved me from those Slytherins in our First Year. I could then lie that I fell and lost my memory. It sounds like a good plan to me.

“Did she ever talk about me to you?” I came back to reality, completely forgetting why I was thinking about trying to Obliviate myself.

“To be honest, no.” I swear if he was going to say he has a crush on her, Gryffindor just might have one less student.

“Bummer. I was hoping you could tell me if Tulip fancies anyone.” His hopeful look disappearing.

“Tulip?” I asked, completely taken aback by his words.

“I fancy her for a while now. You reckon she fancies me back?” Sure, that's what I need, giving someone relationship advice.

“Dunno. You do spend a lot of time together.” I shrugged my shoulders. We didn't both have to have a broken heart. I really hope Tulip likes him back. Lucky bloke.

Jae opened his mouth to say something but closed them and looked behind me. I turned around and Penny stood there, nervously biting her lip. Just the person I wanted to see. I rolled my eyes.

“Morning Jae, Charlie.” She almost whispered.

“Good morning, Penny.” Beamed Jae. He was too positive to be around right now.

“Say, Charlie? Can I talk to you?” She asked softly.

“Sure.” I really couldn't care less. At this point, I didn't feel anything at all.

“In private.” She added. I sighed and got up. She gently grabbed my hand and took me to the Hufflepuff Table.

“I am so sorry for what happened yesterday.” Penny said as she sat next to me.

“I think you might be apologizing to the wrong person. You fought with Nova, not me, remember.” I let out a small grin knowing full well what she was talking about.

“I mean about me revealing her crush to everyone, especially to you. I know it was news to the others, but I think it was a rather big deal to you.” She frowned. Yeah, could've thought about that before saying anything.

“Penny, no offense, but I really don't want to talk about it.” I tried to ignore looking at her. I regretted telling her that I fancy Nova. Now she will feel sorry for me and remind me all the time just what a loser I am.

“I think it's healthy to talk about these things. Does anyone besides me even know you fancy her?” She put her hand on my back. I flinched. As if it mattered who knew. She already was one too many.

“Doesn't matter now, does it? Clearly, she doesn't like me back. McNully!” I snorted. “Where did she even find him?” My stomach twisted as I imagined them together again. I was hoping Penny would see how upset I was and just leave me alone.

“Well, she met him as he is the Quidditch commentator.” She said slowly.

“I know who he is.” I muttered. Haven't noticed him at all with his numbers and long sentences. What did she even see in the guy!

“Well, they kind of hit it off.” She started slowly. “But he doesn't know she fancies him.” She said quickly as I bestowed her a rather mean look. “She only told me a couple of days ago. If you ask me, it's going to go away sooner or later.” She squeezed my shoulder. Yeah, right. As if that could ever happen. Knowing my luck they will probably get married.

“And if it doesn't?” I asked. “What if they start dating?” My stomach turned again thinking about it. What would I do if I had to look at them snogging at breakfast? I think I might lose my appetite for good. And I thought there wasn't a thing in the world that could make me lose my appetite.

“Then I will be there for you.” Penny pulled me into a half hug in reassurance. “If that happens it will be pretty hard on you and I can't say that it won't be painful.” Oh, really. Yes, because I feel quite peachy right now.

“Painful?” I slammed the table with my fist. “I know that you can't control who you have a crush on but I didn't sign up for this. You know there was a time when all I could think about were Dragons and how I will become a Dragonologist?” Penny hit me with a look that said 'you don't say' knowing very well that was all I used to think AND talk about.

“Now...” I continued. “Now all I can think about is her. How is she, where is she, is she okay, what she is doing. I hate it.” I put my face in my hands. Why was I telling this to her? I just wanted to have breakfast with Jae.

“Well, that's all pretty normal when you fancy someone.” Penny said as if I asked if it was weird to have these thoughts.

“I know it's normal, I just don't want it happening to me. I don't want this. I have more important things to do.”

“Like what?” Penny almost chuckled then probably remembered that I am angry enough without her giggles.

“Look, Penny, you're a girl. Having a crush must be very exciting for you but I didn't ask for this.” I finally looked at her and wished I hadn't. Her eyes were full of emotions indicating just how sorry she is for me. Just as I predicted. Perhaps, I should've taken Divination.

“Is it really that hard to believe that you fancy her? You have a lot in common. She's your best friend...”

“That's exactly the problem, she's my BEST FRIEND.” I interrupted her. “Say that she by some miracle fancied me back and we started dating and I would do something foolish and we would break up? I wouldn't just lose a girlfriend I would lose my best friend. Penny, you have no idea what her friendship means to me.” I drowned my face in my hands again.

“I would rather be alone forever than lose her as a friend.” I shook my head. That was it, wasn't it? It wasn't so much about my broken heart. I don't care about that. I care about losing my best friend. Drifting apart, not finding time to spend together. Not reading books or care for creatures together. That's what I was losing.

“What makes you so sure you would ruin it? I think you would be quite good together. You make her laugh, you listen to her and you care for her more than just someone you'd date.” She started. “And Charlie, you're a better lad than you give yourself credit for.” She smiled at me. Well, not good enough for Nova to fancy me back.

“Thank you, Penny.” I smiled back hoping she would stop talking to me.

“Did you give any thought about telling her?” She asked suddenly.

“What good would that do? She fancies Murphy.” I looked at her puzzled.

“Well if you were there when she told me, or rather when I got out of her that she likes McNully, she was rather casual about it.” She said slowly. “And she said that she wasn't going to tell him how she feels or try to go out with him.” That made my ears stood up. She didn't want to go out with him? Perhaps it really was just a meaningless crush.

“She said that she doesn't feel like having a boyfriend and she said something that quite reminded me of you.” She smiled at me. “She said that she doesn't have time to think about stuff like that and that she doesn't really have control over fancying someone.” She was of the exact same opinion as me. Perhaps, there was a chance that we can still save our friendship!

“Tulip and I played this guessing game with her as she didn't want to tell us who she has a crush on.” Penny continued. What a fun game to play... “And we did ask her about a lot of boys and she never gave it a second thought except when it came to you.” I felt my heart skip a beat. She had to think if she has feelings for me? “Perhaps there are some hidden feelings there too.” She sounded way too excited for my liking.

“Penny, forget it. I am not telling her how I feel. I don't want a relationship, at least not right now.” The last part surprised me as I was sure I didn't want to date in any kind of scenario in the foreseeable future.

“You sound just like her.” She tapped my shoulder.

“Alright, I will leave you alone and not mention it again.” She gave me a hug. “However, do me a favor and at least think about it. I know that deep down you want more than just being friends with Nova. Even if you don't feel like that right now, you might in a few years.” She winked at me. Yeah, right! As if I could stand a chance with her in a few years.

“In a few years? My crush will pass by then, it can't take that long!” I looked at her incredulously. Even though I liked her for 2 years now, I was still hoping that this was just a phase and it will go away soon enough and I can go back to my peaceful life of thinking about Dragons and not a girl.

“Can't it?” She gave me a faint smile. “Listen to your feelings Charlie and just let go. You can have a successful career and still have a girlfriend.” She whispered in my ear and walked away.

I don't know in which Muggle fairytale she was living in but my life didn't seem like one. I went back to sit with Jae, who was snoozing with his head on the table. If I got something from my conversation with Penny, was the fact that I have to save my friendship with Nova.

“Mate, I'm going to the Owlery.” I shook Jae just enough to tell him where I was going and after a nod, he started snoozing again and that was the first thing that made me smile since yesterday afternoon.

I rushed to the Owlery, hoping Pip was there to send Nova a message to meet me by the Lake. I was trying to sound as urgent as possible as I was hoping she would not make some excuse again not to meet with me.

I was waiting for Pip by the Lake, trying to focus on my Charms notes but it was pointless. I saw someone walking towards me with the corner of my eye.

My heart started beating faster as Nova was making her way to me. I was so happy to see her but terrified at the same time as I realized at that moment, that I didn't really prepare a speech.

“Char?” My body went numb when she called me that. She was the one who gave me that nickname and was the only one who used it.

“Charlie, is everything okay?” I put my notes down and she hugged me tightly. I wish she didn't.

“Hi.” I said awkwardly.

“Your message sounded urgent.” She sat next to me. Well, at least I did something right. “Are those Charms notes? I was planning to study Charms today.” She grinned and gestured if she could take a look at them. I nodded.

“I was...” I scratched the back of my head. “I just wanted to hang out with you.”

“Oh.” Her face sunk. “I know. I am sorry for canceling on you so many times. It seems I don't have time for anything these days.” I bet she has time for Murphy.

“I know. We're so busy with Quidditch and O.W.L.s.” I wasn't sure where I was going with this, I just wanted to talk to her.

“I'm sorry.” She leaned on my shoulder and my body felt as if someone stupified me. “I promise I will try and find more time for you. I miss you!” She looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes. We were so close that if I would move a muscle, we would kiss.

“Well, it happens. People drift apart. I understand.” I wish I hadn't said that. The look of pain on her face broke my heart all over again. She moved away from me.

“What do you mean drift apart? Just because we are spending less time together doesn't mean your not my best friend anymore.” She frowned. The last thing I wanted to do was make her angry.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just with so much studying and Quidditch and your crush...” Sometimes, I wanted to smack myself in the head. Why did I have to bring that up?!

“What does my crush have to do with anything?” Now she really was mad.

“Well, I imagine you want to spend some time with him too.” Might as well go with it if I started it.

“I can't believe you.” She shook her head. “You really think I would spend more time with some boy than with you?”

“You are on the Quidditch pitch quite a lot.” Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking! That came out more judgemental than I wanted it to.

“Oh, yeah.” She glared at me. I have never seen her so upset. “Well perhaps I would like to spend some time with the boy I fancy, that doesn't mean I don't want to be friends with you anymore!” I knew I hurt her. I knew how much our friendship meant to her and here I was, questioning it.

“I'm sorry, I phrased it wrong. It's just I was so used to how things were and I don't understand what you see in that guy.” I knew that the tone of that made it worse without even looking at her.

“Why do you care anyway?” She barked at me.

“I-I don't. I'm just asking.” I hissed at her even though I didn't want to.

“Charlie?” She knew I was lying to her. Of course, she did. She was my best friend.

“I just don't see the point of it. Why date so young? You used to say that it was a waste of time.” I was getting irritated but I knew I was telling the truth. One reason why she was my best friend and not someone like Penny was because I could have meaningful conversations with her. She didn't gossip and she wasn't judgemental and was rather casual about everything. “I just thought you weren't into those sorts of things.”

“You know, Charlie. Sometimes things change and just because they do it doesn't mean everything else is lost.” She tried to calm her voice but I knew her too well to think this was going to end well.

“Yeah, right.” I muttered not really meaning to say it out loud.

“Fine, have it your way!” She stood up and threw my Charms notes at me. “You know, just because you don't have any interest in dating, doesn't mean we all feel the same way!” She said, turned around and she was gone.

#harry potter hogwarts mystery #hp #harry potter fanfiction #hphm mc #harry potter hogwarts game #hp hogwarts mystery #hphm charlie #charlie weasley #charlie weasley fanfiction #hphm #hogwarts mystery mc #the weasleys #hphm fandom #hphm au #hphm characters #hphm fanfiction #weasley family #hp imagine #charlie weasley x oc #hogwarts mystery imagine #hphm imagine #charlie weasley imagine #the burrow