#babysit all the time. like if lily and james ask someone else to babysit over them they’re offended | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

harryissuchalittleshit · 3 years

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Molly and Arthur's relationship with their children and significant others. Ik Molly didn't like fluer at first and I get the feeling she's one of THOSE mother-in law's even though I love her to deatg

Bill&Fleur:

Bill is the oldest

The younger four saw him almost as another parent, being so much older and often having been asked to babysit them

So both Molly and Arthur have a soft spot for him

They remember the two years that was just the three of them

As we know Bill started to rebel once he was out of school and went to Egypt

He made a strong stance on it when he returned to England during the war and even after

Okay, so Fleur and Molly did have a strain relationship, but after Bill was attacked, a respect was formed between Fleur and Molly

You can’t see someone you love and care for almost die and not bond

Arthur has never had a problem with Fleur and recognizes that she is a seriously gifted witch

And Fleur has a great relationship with him

Molly and Fleur get along a lot better once Victoire is born

And Molly and Arthur help them get the hang of parenting their rebellious children when they’re older

They have a LOT of experience in that field

Charlie:

Charlie is a mama’s boy

He gets along well with his parents, but living so far away is hard on all of them

I like to think that Charlie starts making sure to come home at least every other summer and every Christmas to stay with Molly and Arthur and spend the summer with all of his nieces and nephews

He spends a lot of time writing letters to home

When Molly and Arthur’s health start to fail he moves home permanently to take care of them

He’s a good son to them, but the distance is what hurts their relationship

Percy&Audrey:

Percy is a definite mama’s boy

More so than Charlie

If he would’ve had to see Molly at the ministry instead of Arthur he would’ve returned home a lot sooner

His relationship with the family as a whole is very difficult after the war, but between Molly, Charlie, and George everyone else accepts him eventually (except Bill, big thoughts on that)

Audrey is the perfect daughter in-law

Molly adored her the second she met her and Arthur knew her from the ministry before she and Percy start dating

She knits with Molly while pregnant with her daughters

She is also Muggleborn, so she indulges Arthur’s curiosity a lot

They remind her of her own parents and the simple life she had before she went to Hogwarts

All in all, Audrey is the reason Percy fits in with his family so well after the war

George&Angelina:

It’s hard after the war

George eventually moves out of the Burrow and back to the flat over the shop

He puts a show on for a long time, but then he and Angelina reconnect

It’s not a “she fixed him” story, it’s a “we were both hurting and misery loves company, but now we feel better” story

She brings George back to them and they are forever grateful to Angelina

George becomes part of the family again and he becomes really close to Arthur

But he only talks about Fred to Molly, and she starts sharing stories about her own brothers

Angelina and George have the first family wedding after the war and they make it a very joyous event

It’s exactly three days after Molly and Arthur’s wedding anniversary

Angelina is also a half-blood and answers a lot of Arthur’s questions about Muggle medical equipment and practices

Angelina is Arthur’s favorite of his in-laws

Ron&Hermione:

Ron is Arthur’s son

Out of all their children, Ron is Arthur’s kid, the one that can be depended on to want to spend time with dad ALL the time

He is the kid that gets dragged to the ministry all the time, as he can be expected to behave and not wander off (at least not too far)

But he is also Molly’s kitchen buddy

Pretty much when he was little, he would hide in there when Fred and George hanged up on him, and molly gave him a bit of work

He asks his parents if it would be a good idea to propose, as he values their opinion on the matter

Molly and Arthur love Hermione so they push Ron to propose and make her an official part of the family

Things do fall apart a little after Rose is born and Hermione goes back to work and Ron steps back and becomes a mostly stay-at-home dad

But things are patched up by the time Hugo is born

Harry&Ginny:

The baby girl

Ginny gets away with a lot when she’s little

She grows closer to her parents while in hiding

She sees them age so much during that time and after the war

She writes home every week of her seventh year, mostly to Arthur

Ginny has never been “girly” enough for Molly, but after the war that falls away

They all realize that it’s time to let go of perceptions and to just love one another for who they are

Molly is the only one to go to Ginny’s very first match with the Harpies

She’s benched the whole game, but Molly is so proud of her that it doesn’t matter

So Harry is Molly’s favorite of her in-laws

He can do no wrong and it’s obvious to everyone that she thinks this

He was family long before he asked Ginny to marry him

He did ask permission just because he thought it was the proper thing to do

He got told to go through the brothers

James is their first grandson and that cements Harry as Molly’s favorite

Bonus, relationships with the grandchildren:

Victoire:

She’s the first grandchild

She has a special place in their hearts

She is the first in so many ways and when she runs away to France they are the only ones she writes too

She is the oldest by quite a bit, so she gets to remember a lot of time with just her, Molly, and Arthur

She will always be close with them

James:

The oldest grandson

He reminds them of Bill

He has a trouble streak that breaks when he’s made Head Boy

They see so much potential in him and that ever goes away even as he gets older

He makes them hopeful in a way they hadn’t been in a long time

Freddie:

The second grandson

Despite being named after Fred, he’s a mini George

He holds so much in and then explodes

He gets on well with Molly and Arthur, and his other grandfather Micah

While he’s good with jokes and puns, it’s his facial expressions that really make him funny

He’s also always willing to help out with anything, and enjoys degnoming the garden

Roxanne:

The second granddaughter

She’s beautiful and witty and funny even as a child

She goes to Arthur for cuddles and Molly for sweets

She has a way of getting out of any trouble, even if she is the instigator

She’s a lot like Ginny when she’s younger, one of the boys and never too fussed about anything

She goes to them for comfort

Rose:

Rose is just like Molly

She is a mother hen, she loves to cook, and she loves spending time with Molly

The feeling is very mutual

Rose always finds Arthur first at any family event to give him a big hug

After she loss her Grandma Jane, she clung on tighter to Molly

After she loss her Abeulo Javier, she made sure to always tell Arthur she loved him between visits

She write them at least twice a month at Hogwarts, and she leaves out no details

They were very proud of her becoming Head Girl

Al:

Just like Arthur

They both like to sit at the edges and just watch the chaos

Al goes out of his way to learn about Muggle things so he always has something to talk to Arthur about

When he’s older he gets really interested in the space program and that becomes their thing

Molly loves how close Arthur and Al are

Molly:

Remember that Percy is a mama’s boy, well Molly is named after both of her grandmothers

She adores Molly and Arthur

Her other grandparents were killed in the war, so she only knows them

In the summer holidays, she’ll go over every Sunday morning for tea

It’s her time to spend with them alone, just by herself

She picks up knitting from Molly and really enjoys it

Molly is the one to carry on the family legacy, she has seven kids (six daughters, one son)

Lucy:

She is also close to her grandparents

She is often found tucked beside Arthur at family events

Just like Al, she finds something specific and Muggle to talk to Arthur about

Hers is travel, and they end up talking about trains a lot

When Lucy gets pregnant with her oldest, she goes to Molly with questions

Every Monday she makes sure to visit and usually brings along her children

Dominique:

She doesn’t write her parents, but she writes Molly and Arthur

She feels like she was always pushed off onto them

Between Victoire’s rebellions and Louis’ autism, she was the one pushed onto others

When she gets pregnant at sixteen, she tells Molly and Arthur first because she doesn’t know who else to tell

She always has dinner with them every Wednesday

Hugo:

He reminds them of Fred

He has an endless amount of energy and talks constantly around them

He constantly spews knowledge and always wants people to know what he knows

Because he sees Rose always helping in the kitchen, he helps in the kitchen and learns how to cook from Molly

When his Abeulo Javier dies, it really affects his relationship with Arthur

He’s scared to lose another grandparent and he actively seeks out Arthur at family dinners

When he finally has children, he makes sure to let them know Molly and Arthur and have a real relationship with them

Louis:

He loves the Burrow

He likes to visit when he knows no one else will be there

Molly and Arthur are just happy to have him, they’re not used to quiet though

He makes a portrait of them for their fiftieth wedding anniversary and one of the Burrow for their seventy-fifth anniversary

Louis very much is about presence and not words, so while he doesn’t know much about his grandparents, he knows them as much as he needs to

When Molly and Arthur pass, he gets all the old family photos

Lily:

She’s the baby of the whole family

She will always be the baby in their eyes

She dances before she walks, and it’s while she’s “helping” Molly at the Burrow

Molly tells Harry and Ginny to put her into dance classes and that changes her life forever

Lily always seeks out Arthur at every family dinner, even if it’s just to give him a hug and a kiss

The summer before her seventh year, she goes to the Burrow almost every day

She wants to know everything she can, about them and their life

She keeps a journal of all their stories and after her oldest graduates from Hogwarts, she writes a book of their life

It brings her and Hugo closer and they are the only ones who have signed copies by both Molly and Arthur

Teddy:

He is the oldest, but he had Andromeda until she passed when he was four

He had been living with Harry for about a year by then

He is the reason why Molly goes by ‘nana’ and Arthur goes by ‘grandad’

He is their grandson in every way but blood relation

He makes time every week to spend time with them and writes to them every other week while at Hogwarts

When he’s down, he goes to the Burrow

His children know Molly and Arthur as their grandparents

Send me a Weasley and I’ll give you a fic, a couple of head canons, or my opinion on them in both canon and fanon!

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sxveme-2 · 3 years

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blueberry pancakes // bucky barnes

MASTERLIST

Description: A single mother. Juggling being a mom, a full time pediatrician, and a difficult ex who believed now would be the best time to finally be a father. A soldier ripped out of time. Ex-assassin turned superhero. Learning how to balance a new domestic life with handling demons of his past, while facing the trials of the future. a love story began over something as simple as chocolate chip pancakes with hidden blueberries.

Disclaimer: I do not own any original Marvel characters! All canon plots and canon characters belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. This is an original work. You may not publish it anywhere else

Status: Edited

Note: Takes place after endgame. I have elected to ignore Tony's death and Steve's leaving. Did not happen. Quick Reminder! My works are only published here, AO3 and on Wattpad, thank you.

Chapter Five: The One with the Burnt Pancakes

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 2516

Coming out of a divorce unscathed was more uncommon than its counterpart. Typically, a bit of baggage attaches itself to one or both parties. No matter whether or not divorce rates are through the roof in today's modern era, it still hurt more than words could describe. Especially when it's due to an affair. It creates this sense of unworthiness, and as though you weren't good enough. And when the pair has a child, it makes it ten times more difficult. Knowing that you'll have to break it to the child that their parents will no longer be together, and that they will most likely spend more time with one in comparison to the other.

But, when your child already has a bit of distaste towards your partner, it can make the blow a little softer. Sure, every mother wants their child to have a relationship with their father, other mom, etc. Whatever the situation is, parents, want that. They want to be able to see their child's face when they see their ex-spouse, but sometimes, there's nothing you can do about it. Especially when your ex never put in the effort, to begin with.

Above all, your perception of love changes. and that's exactly what happened to Lily. She lost all belief in herself and didn't believe she could ever find someone who would love her, along with the baggage that she carried alongside her. And that broken heart that she has yet to mend, and honestly, she wasn't sure if she'd ever find someone who could help. To cup warm hands around the two halves and hold them together until they combined once again.

Other things she deemed impossible, was her sitting in a kitchen with the avengers. Earth’s mightiest heroes. The people that destroyed an entire army. travelled to space. Some even having been ripped out of time and thrown into different roles and periods. These people had stories people couldn't even dream of, lived lives people only wished to be able to experience. And here sat Lily, a single mother of an 11-year-old boy, who lived in a domestic area, and worked as a pediatrician. She was minuscule in comparison to the Gods and soldiers that sat around her.

"So, is Hunter’s father around?" a soft voice asked, an accent dripping from the words. It had pulled Lily out of her thoughts of astonishment, as she tried to wrap her head around what was currently happening.

"Hm? Oh, no," Lily spoke, her voice as soft as the gentle ripple of a pond, while she sipped the coffee they had given her. Glancing up, a few of the superheroes looked at her with inquisitive eyes, wondering where he may be, or if he even was to be anymore, "We uh, we divorced four years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the girl continued. Lily had placed her as Scarlet Witch, or Wanda Maximoff. Hunter adored her. He ranted and raved about how cool her abilities were and how she could probably take down an entire army by herself if she wanted to, "He's cute. I've always wanted kids."

Lily nodded along as the conversation continued around her. She stayed as silent as a sleeping lamb, her green eyes glancing around as she tapped her fingers against her coffee mug. She wasn't sure what they wanted her to say. It had been proven time and time again that Lily was the farthest from a talker. Deep inside of her mind, the little voice of self-doubt had convinced her that no one cared about what she had to say. That the only reason people even spoke to her, to begin with, was because it was polite. But she's also been told that the world around her found that shy demeanour endearing, and mysterious. As if she held secrets behind those sealed lips when in reality, Lily was scared that if she spoke, she'd create secrets. Letting the world in on the pain she hid, that she kept locked away in a vault deep within her mind. protecting herself from being destroyed again.

"...So if you ever need a babysitter," Wanda’s voice sang again, yanking Lily away from her deeper thoughts once again, as though the two were tethered. the young blonde's attention perked up as the young girl continued speaking, "I'm your girl."

Was the Scarlet Witch, offering to babysit Lily's eleven-year-old? As in, seriously? Like to pick him up or come down from upstate New York to deliberately take care of him? If it weren't for the fact Lily rarely left the house, and if she did, it was with Hunter, she may have considered the idea. But Lily wasn't one to go out. The noise that came along with the idea of partying or going out on the town always got Lily's heart beating at a much too fast pace. If she was going out, it was to gen's cafe, or with three glasses of wine down and a whole bottle to go. The world was loud and intimidating, and could easily crush Lily's fragile heart and mind with a simple touch. And where would that lead her? Nowhere good, that's where.

"Oh that's sweet, but I don't typically go out, and when I do, he comes with," Lily stated, lips forming a tight smile as she ran her finger along the circular hole atop her mug.

"Really? A girl that's as beautiful as you must get tons of guys and go out on dates. and I see no ring on that finger," the infamous Tony Stark teased while shifting his weight to look at the blonde, "unless there's already a lucky fella."

A laugh of almost disbelief escaped through Lily's full lips as if the idea of Tony Stark calling her beautiful was too good to be true, "Oh no. my best friend tries but I don't date. Already have my hands full with work and Hunter."

"Where do you work?" Steve's voice now chimed in, pushing off the counter he leaned on as Bucky worked away, staying silent. He hadn't spoken a word to Lily since Steve walked her through the threshold of the kitchen, merely a gruff hi before returning to the feverish work he was doing on the pancakes. It was as though he was trying to make them perfect.

"I'm a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital down in Manhattan," Lily answered, her eyes averting from looking at any of the intimidating people around her. Why were they so interested in her? Why did they seriously care so much about her personal life? She just brought Hunter here for a tour, not an interrogation...was this what people did? Like...they wanted to learn more about her? It didn't make sense, she was pretty basic. There was nothing special to her, Lily thought.

"Oh, that's awesome. I have a few-"

"SHIT!"

The large outburst caused everybody to immediately turn their attention to where it came from. Behind the counter, Bucky was waving smoke away from his face that seemed to be billowing from the pan on the stove. He burnt the pancakes. Lily felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips as she watched him throw a towel at the counter, his face turning a crisp shade of red, like a cherry. The moment his eyes landed on her though, his entire body lit up in a hue of pink it seemed. He grew flustered, biting down on this ever so soft lips he had. Lily was only human, she couldn't help but avert her eyes down to the thin layer of skin. And as if on cue, Wanda let her voice ring through the kitchen.

"Damn it, Barnes! I told you not to cook, and you decide to challenge your abilities in front of our guest?" The ginger exclaimed while standing from her chair, going to help the built man clean his mess.

A few of the others in the room whined, and Lily guessed they had been waiting for a bit to eat. She felt a twang of guilt deep within her, as though it was her fault. But it really wasn't, she wasn't the one making the pancakes. no, she was merely answering the personal questions they all seemed to have for her, as well as constantly glancing at the hall or behind her to see if Hunter was on his way back. Instead, he was now outside with Sam, looking at all of the different artifacts and things that weren't able to be kept inside of the compound.

"You much of a chef, Lily?" James Rhodes (Warmachine, she reminded herself), asked. No matter the amount of mental effort it took, Lily couldn't help but allow the tinge of rose to decorate her full cheeks. They seemed to want to get to know her, and she felt almost...accepted? No, maybe more so welcomed, by these beings of immense power and ability. She allowed her shoulders to relax, and her grip on her mug lessened.

"Nothing impressive, but I do know my way around a kitchen," she responded, tilting her head to the side, causing her blonde locks to dance across her shoulder, "Most nights, I try to make homemade meals for Hunt and I. It's important for a child's development." she finished but noticed how all of their eyes were glued to her. Raising her left eyebrow ever so gently, she let a giggle escape from her throat, "but sometimes I give in and order pizza."

"You should help Bucky out, he's never been the best cook. Got used to boiling everything in the forties, so he makes a mean hot dog," Steve teased, sauntering over in all of his Captain America excellence, "Anything else? Completely lost on him."

"It's a good skill to have. But difficult to master, I suppose." Lily shrugged, crossing her legs over one another as she rested her elbow on the glass table, cupping her chin as she sipped the hot liquid in her cup. She couldn't seem, however, to take her eyes off of the culprit of the burnt pancake smell. The way the muscles in his neck rippled whenever he clenched his jaw. How his metal arm glinted as a small stream of light entered through a window, creating a bright reflection. How his scruff along his chiselled chin seemed to be a bit overgrown underneath.

Her mind began to wander momentarily, a gentle and soft vision dancing itself into her brain. Him sitting on a chair in her bathroom, Lily sitting comfortably on his lap, facing him. His eyes sleepy and his hair unkempt. Her skilled and nimble hand resting on the side of his face as she trimmed underneath his jaw, getting those areas he seemed to miss. His lips parted as he seemed to slowly drift off again, as though Lily's gentle hands were willing him to...

A hand waving in front of her face snatched Lily out of her odd fantasy land. She cleared her throat and looked around her, eyebrows knitting together in confusion, as though she had been paying attention to the whole conversation she just missed. Holding her lips inside of her mouth, Lily shifted once again in her seat, attempting to play it cool as the blush that had formed on her cheeks seemed to grow rapidly.

"Sorry, could you repeat what you said?" she asked, her voice weak as her eyes shifted to look at the man behind the counter once again. She couldn't help it...he was beautiful.

"I said you should help Buck out making the pancakes. Most of us haven't eaten, and if you're as good as you say, maybe you can help." Steve grinned, a knowing glint in his sky blue eyes. The way he looked at Lily, as though he could see inside of her head, sent a shiver down her spine. The idea of anyone knowing where her mind just wandered was basically mortifying for her. Being such a conservative person, the idea of that getting out? Yeah, no.

"Oh no I shouldn't...I'm positive he's capable of making pancakes." Lily chuckled, her voice cracking halfway through. This caught everyone's interest, and Lily had to hide her face with her mug as the dark liquid slid its way down her throat.

"He isn't. We don't normally let him in the kitchen. C'mon Lily, show us whatcha got." Steve continued to pry, leaning back in his chair as the others encouraged the entire idea.

Lily's head turned back to where Bucky stood, an almost pleading yet bashful look gracing his perfectly sculpted features. Just the way his eyes seemed to call out for her, was enough to allow the eldest Osborne to give in to the peer pressure of her new acquaintances. That was something Lily believed to be impossible, being friends with these heroes. These people that laid their life on the ground multiple times, saving her and her son by protecting the world around them. She was in debt to this group, everybody was. They've kept them protected for countless years. But how would one even begin to thank them?

"Okay okay, I'll do it," Lily mumbled, finishing her drink before pushing herself out of the chair that probably cost the same amount as her dog. She pulled a hair tie from her wrist and securing the blonde locks at the nape of her neck as she gracefully floated towards the kitchen. Glancing around, she couldn't help but let out a laugh at how expensive the items around her were. Sure, she didn't live in a house with run-down appliances, but these were top-of-the-line, high-end, see-on Food Channel things. A far reach from Lily's budget, "Well, first of all, Bucky, you need to turn on the fan."

After preparing everything to ensure not only safety but also to optimize space and time, Lily turned towards the man she had just moments ago daydreamed of. For a moment, she found herself lost in those steel-blue eyes he had. As though he had captured the moon and made them his own, adding a tinge of the blue from the sky above. How with every flicker across her face, a story was told. The pain and suffering he had endured etched into the dips and creases of his face, especially around those beautiful orbs. A part of her wished that the other members of the group were gone and that she could grip the sides of his face and kiss those lips he kept licking. His tongue darting out to wet them, creating a slight chapped ring around the pink layer of skin.

"Hey if you two are done gazing into the eyes of each other and looking like Hollister models, the rest of us are hungry." Starks’s voice rang, snapping Lily out of the trance the ex-soldier had put her under for a few seconds.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, coke can," Bucky muttered while turning his gaze away from Lily's and focused on washing the blueberries, "I'm just cleaning fruit."

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tctteredwings · 3 years

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[ HOLLY BERNE. 28. DEMIGIRL. THEY/THEM ] is here! They’ve lived in Silver Lake for [ 6 YEARS ] and are originally from [ DUBLIN, IRELAND ]. They are a [ SERVER AT MILK/BLOGGER ] and in their downtime love [ DANCING ] and [ ARCHERY ]. They look a lot like [ LILY JAMES ] and live [ IN OASIS APTS ].

Name: Holly Joy Berne Nicknames: Hol, Hols Age: Twenty-eight Date of Birth: 25th December 1992 Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland Occupation: Server at Milk and Blogger Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Grey-romantic/pansexual

tw: death

They’re an Irish beauty who grew up in Dublin as part of a massive family.

Middle child of six (along with their twin brother).

Born on Christmas Day... full name’s Holly Joy, brother is Joseph, you can see where this is going. Their mom really loves Christmas!

They wanted the spotlight from a young age, desperate to be heard and seen, they took dancing and singing lessons, even attempted acting at one point and figure skating.

Wanted to attend Juilliard in NYC so spent their teen years working their ass off, cleaning in the ferry port, a paper round, babysitting and dog walking. If they could fit it in, they’d do it.

Sometime during sixth form they came to terms with their gender confusion, coming out as a demigirl and asking everyone around them to use they/them pronouns. They won’t be offended if you use she/her as they’re very much in touch with their feminine side still, but they is their main preference.

It was another couple of years before they discovered that they were also greyromantic, romance just didn’t come easily and they weren’t all too bothered. One night stands and fwbs was the way to go.

At 19 Juilliard came a calling! It was a shock but one they’d been so desperate for, so they packed up and moved to the states... a couple of grand short.

Freshman year went well, they lived in halls and embraced everything the city had to offer. Second year came around and they found themselves with no money, living in an apartment with four other people, infested with roaches and so run down it was a health hazard.

A little over a year later they were forced to move out and drop out of college, moving in with family they had in Silver Lake (including @mateomercer).

Eventually set up a blog, telling tales of their time in NYC, their discoveries in gender and sexuality. They attempted YouTube as well, but it was a bit of a fail, they never had the patience to actually make the videos.

Their father passed away in September 2019 and they were forced to go home for a couple of months. Brought half of their family back with them when they returned, including their twin brother.

Dog mom to a pack of rowdy dachshunds (Wednesday, Morticia, Sally and Mrs Lovett) and is usually found fighting to control them early in the morning before work.

Hates to admit it, but sometimes they come across as kind of dim. They’re also hyper af, constantly bouncing around the place and dancing (they never gave that up), talk way too much and are too loud for a lot of people.

Lived:

1992: Dublin, Ireland 2011: New York City, New York 2014: Silver Lake, California

Wanted connections:

- cousins; they moved in with their family when they first got to Silver Lake, so a cousin here would be awesome. @mateomercer - twin brother; their twin moved in with them a year ago, would love to have him around (I’ll send a wc in for him soon). - ex boyfriend from NYC; one of the only people they’ve ever really loved. - time to try again; someone they made an effort to be in a relationship with since arriving in Silver Lake, but it just didn’t work out. - and then there was you; someone they begin to develop genuine feelings for... for the first time in 6 years. - fwb; it’s about all Holly does these days, so either current or sometime in the past 6 years. - one night stands; as above. - fitness buddies; they’re pretty lazy, but they do love zumba and “fun” exercise. - drinking buddies; do they drink too much? yes. should they stop? probably. either way, these people often join them when they’re out. - friends; anyone they’ve gotten to know well since moving to Silver Lake. - partner in crime; these two are stuck together like glue, best friends who can’t resist getting into trouble together. - neighbours; they’re in the Oasis Apartments.

anything else at all! hmu!

#slintro #( about. )#this is a little late but here's holly!!

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imaginejamesandsirius · 4 years

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Soulmate au where Sirius has James's name on his wrist, James thinks he has no soulmate, until BAM! He finds it in some unusual place for a soulmark and there's Sirius Black's name.

Young Sirius Black had a name printed on his wrist, a thick cuff bracelet to cover it as all soulmarks were, and a belly full of hope: James Potter. His parents tried to tell him that soulmates didn't make them automatically allies, but he knew that was only because the name on his wrist was someone from a family they didn't like. Regulus didn't have to deal with any of that, and when they thought Sirius wasn't listening, they told their second son all about soulmates and how they'd always be there for him. So yeah, Sirius knew they were lying to him in the hopes that he'd manage believe them this time.

When James Potter introduced himself, with a large grin and thick rimmed glasses and messy hair standing out like they were too big for the rest of his body, Sirius smiled back and said his name, hoping for a reaction of some sort. He didn't get one.

They talked on the train ride to Hogwarts, and it became increasingly obvious that James didn't recognize him. It was a terrible feeling, realising that James didn't have his name. Sirius belonged to James, that much was clear. It was like a deep feeling seeped into his bones, this knowledge that he belonged to James. He wished that it went both ways, that James belonged to him too.

That would've been nice.

"D'you have a soulmate?" Sirius asked out of the blue one day.

"Nope," James admitted easily. He didn't seem very down about it, but Sirius definitely would've been in his place. Maybe that was because he knew who his soulmate was, though.

"Do you wish you had one?"

"Eh." James shrugged, frowning at a blot of ink that landed on his parchment. "I guess? It sounds nice, the way people talk about it, and my parents are soulmates, but it's hard to miss what you've never had. What about you?"

Sirius blinked. "I have a soulmate." It would be easier if he didn't maybe, but he also wouldn't give up James's name on his wrist.

"Really?" James asked, more surprised than he should've been considering how close they were-- Sirius ignored the fact that this was his first confirmation that James didn't have a soulmate so there was no reason for James to know anything about his.

"Yeah." He tried to inject enough casualness into his voice that James wouldn't pry further, and it worked.

It had been six and a half years since Sirius met James. And with every buggering year that passed, it became more and more bloody obvious that James didn't have Sirius's name for a reason. James readily admitted that he didn't have a soulmark, but that wasn't what did it; Sirius kept fucking up. Because Sirius wasn't a good person. If he had one main trait, it would be selfishness. He kept pulling James into pranks even though he was Head Boy-- and okay, it's not like James really fought him on it, but he also wasn't instigating anymore, which meant that if Sirius didn't suggest it, they didn't do anything-- he did that thing with Snape a couple years ago that had nearly killed Remus and James, and he kept sabotaging James and Lily's relationship. It's not like he put it in his mind to do it, but that's always what ended up happening. Which sucked. Because James was getting mad at him, and Lily was actually pretty cool which just made it worse (she seemed to think it was a sort of hazing that she had to endure to prove she could be part of the group, and that was the same way Sirius attempted to justify it to himself before Remus had flat out said, "Stop trying to break them up, James is still your best mate and that's not going to change because he's dating someone. Sirius could have stood for his subconscious taking it to heart but whatever).

Anyways, James didn't have his name because Sirius was a complete and absolute berk who didn't deserve being shackled to him for the rest of his life.

"Sorry," Sirius said as soon as he sat on the couch.

"Should I be worried?" Lily asked, her tone flat as she showed how clearly she wasn't worried.

Sirius snorted. "This is going to be the beginning of a great new friendship."

"Between you and...?"

"You."

Lily looked up from her book at that, blinking at him guilelessly.

Fuck she really didn't know. Sirius thought by this point everyone knew he was in love with James, even though neither Remus nor Peter had come out and admitted as much to his face. And if she didn't know that, did she have a reason for why he was being such an arse, or did she just think that's how he was? Either way, that behaviour was coming to an end. Sirius gave her a smirk that looked more like a pained grimace; he wasn't used to apologising even though he had plenty to apologise for. "I've been an arse and I'm sorry. Worried you were going to take James from me, y'know?"

"Not judging, but that's kinda stupid. I'm his girlfriend, you're his best mate. It's not like we're both dating him or summat."

That hurt more, but if she hadn't noticed before, she wasn't going to notice now. "Yeah I figured that out. Rather," he added with a dramatic eye roll, "Moony got so annoyed that he whacked me over the head with his History of Magic essay until I listened to him. I haven't been very nice to you. I'm surprised he hasn't killed me for it yet, to be honest."

"I didn't take it personally," she said with a shrug. "I'm not sure you like anyone other than James. And occasionally Peter and Remus," she tagged on thoughtfully. "Anywho, you will be forgiven shortly, just as soon as I believe it won't keep happening."

"Well here's hoping I don't reclaim being a dumbarse."

Lily chuckled. "Here's hoping."

James showed up on Sirius's doorstep, one hand stuck in his hair like he couldn't bear to be in a normal stance. There was a nervous energy about him, but it wasn't tragic like they'd lost somebody else in the war. "What's wrong?" Sirius asked when he came in, barely finishing the second word before James was blurting out an answer.

"Lily's pregnant."

Sirius's heart stopped. When it started again, it was painful where it beat in his chest, like his ribcage had shrunk at the same time his heart grew and now it was strangled but trying desperately to continue on like nothing had changed. "What?"

"So we're- y'know- getting married only she wants to have it soon, like before she starts to show at all, so I was thinking you could help."

"What?"

"To, y'know, throw the wedding together. I have no idea what goes into it, but you're my best man so you'd have to help anyways, right? And you always pick good flowers and shite, so it makes sense to apply it to weddings, y'know?" James was saying 'you know' a lot, like maybe if he said it enough, Sirius would stop being confused.

"Best man?" Sirius repeated dumbly. He'd never felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest before. He wouldn't recommend it.

"Lily's kind of freaking out, so Marlene and Mary and Dorcas are all at our place comforting her, and they sorta kicked me out, so like, I dunno, maybe they're planning it so you won't have to?"

Did James think the best friend of the groom was traditionally the one to plan the wedding? Or did he assume that Sirius was going to do it because he was used to Sirius taking care of things? "James," Sirius said, and James looked over at him like he was hearing him for the first time since showing up. "Pregnant?"

"Hmm? Yeah, apparently condoms aren't a hundred percent effective, who knew? And her birth control pills aren't very reliable, guess we had an unlucky night, you know? She's only two months in, so we've got a month to the wedding, if that helps."

Pregnant. And all James had to say about it was that they had an unlucky night? Sirius frowned. "James, do you want to marry her?"

"We're having a kid, we're going to be a family." He stated it like fact, and Sirius took a grounding breath and let it go. If he argued this and won, then what? Lily would have to raise a kid by herself, James would be miserable with guilt, and for every minute afterwards, Sirius would have to wonder if he did it for James's sake or his own.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Unfortunately, now that James was paying attention, he was really paying attention. He caught the strange note in his tone and asked, "What do you mean?"

Sirius shrugged, the lie coming out of his mouth before his brain thought of it. "Her soulmate."

"Shit. I didn't even think about that." James rubbed at his forehead, but he wasn't dissuaded from the whole idea, Sirius could tell that much just from looking at him. "We'll deal with it when she meets him, but right now there's a baby on the way and we have to think of the sprog first. Besides, she probably won't meet him for years, so we'll be out of the war and the baby will be older and- I mean, everything will be easier, then, you know?"

No. "Sure." Things weren't going to be easier in three years or twelve, but at least there wouldn't be a war on. Their issues would be smaller, but it wouldn't feel any better for James to be dealing with it.

Lily and James were both in hospital, and Sirius was taking care of Harry while the remaining Death Eaters were rounded up. It was pretty easy since he'd learned all his babysitting talents alongside James's self imposed parenting lessons while Lils was pregnant. Harry was easily entertained by Padfoot, but getting to sleep and waking up were the absolute worst. Harry knew Sirius, no question, but he always wanted Lily when he woke up, and he wanted one of his parents (sometimes both) when he was going down. Sirius wasn't getting much sleep, but it was more than he'd gotten while pulling shifts at the Auror's office in the day then running for the Order at night.

Harry's soulmark was barely starting to develop, on the bottom of his right foot. It was little more than a grey smudge at the moment, but by his second birthday, the name would be clear. Harry would learn first how to write his name, then how to write his soulmate's. That's how Regulus had learned, and Sirius knew he would've done the same had their parents not been so hellbent on him not attaching himself to James. As always, the thought made him snort in amusement; they'd never been able to control him, not from the moment he was five years old and decided their rules were stupid and outdated.

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair as he played with two stuffies, his hair already dark and thick on his head.

James was gingerly getting out of the shower when he saw his soulmark for the first time in his entire life. Lily was probably still on the couch, too weak to make it further on her own. He'd offered to help, but they'd separated while hiding from Voldemort in that small house, and things were still awkward between them. Knowing that they cared about each other but weren't in love was just... it made sense but he was never going to admit that to her.

While in hospital, they'd shaved his head so they could do some sort of surgery or potion soaking, he had no idea. One of the side effects was getting the chills at all times of the day, so he'd had a hat on the whole time. No one that talked to him had seen it, which was why he was frozen in shock when he saw dark writing on the side of his head in the mirror.

He shuffled closer, tilting his head and leaning in until he was nearly pressing his face against the cool surface. It was hard to read from this distance and with it backwards, but it was a name he knew as well as his own: Sirius Black.

Sirius? But-. It made sense-- it definitely did, the knowledge that Sirius was his soulmate clicked into place like it had always been there-- but why hadn't Sirius said anything? Sirius knew where his soulmark was, he knew who it was, and he hadn't said anything. James had thought he didn't have a soulmate, but with his name on his wrist, Sirius had proof that he did, so why didn't he tell him? Sure they'd been eleven at the time they met, but Sirius didn't know that James thought he was without a soulmate until they were fourteen; that was three years of being best mates, where Sirius could have told him and didn't.

He wanted to grab his wand and apparate over to his flat and demand answers, but even with all the healing potions and the two week long stay in hospital, he couldn't move very quickly. It took him far too long to towel dry, and even longer to get his fumbling limbs through the proper sleeves. He pulled the hat on automatically, paused, then pulled it further down. He wasn't ashamed, but he was still too damn cold all the time and if Sirius hadn't told him, he must have a reason.

James made his way out of the loo and over to the living room. Lily was sitting on the couch, but she'd changed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I nearly got cut in half," she said, because that was basically what had happened. How she survived it long enough for help to arrive was a mystery to everyone, including the healers. "You?"

"Like I'm walking through ice." Both for speed and the bloody temperature. "You okay if I go visit Sirius?"

Lily shifted, then grimaced and held a hand to her stomach. "Try calling him, I'm not sure travelling that far is a good idea."

They'd both been banned from floo travel and any apparation up to a certain range. Flying was, of course, out of the question. James sighed, knowing she was right. "Yeah." He turned and started hobbling towards his room. It took a while, but he made it, landing on the armchair with more force than he should've allowed himself. He tapped the mirror and waited for Sirius to answer. Harry should be in the middle of his nap, so hopefully there wouldn't be any way for Sirius to get out of talking to him.

"Hey, what's up?" Sirius asked, his smiling face replacing James's in the mirror.

"Who's your soulmate?" he blurted out, not wanting to deal with small talk when he could only think about this one topic.

Sirius blinked, smile fading quickly. "What?"

"Your soulmate, who is it?"

"It doesn't matter."

It doesn't matter. His soulmate was James, and he was saying that it didn't matter. To his face. Well. A little disconnected, but it was still to his face. "How can it not matter?"

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "It just doesn't. Since when do you care? We've talked about it, like, twice and it was ages ago. Nothing's changed. At the end of the day, everything is just as it was when we first met, and nothing's every going to come of-"

"You're full of shite."

He blinked, taken aback. "I- what?"

"You heard me, you're full of shite. You have my name, that changes things."

Sirius's eyes went wide, and he broke the connection.

"Wait, don't-"

His face faded entirely from view, and all that was left was James scowling at himself.

"Bugger." This is why he'd wanted to speak in person. Disapparation was going to be better than trying to floo, so he stuck his head out his door and yelled, "Lily, I'm going to talk to Sirius!"

"Can't it wait?" she called, only she was smart and used a spell to amplify her voice instead of trying to shout.

"No!"

"Fine, but I won't visit you in hospital, I just got out!"

"That's fine!" Then he closed his door and turned on his heel, appearing in Sirius's living room with a pop. He turned in a circle looking for him, and he stumbled to a halt when he saw him in the kitchen, hands planted on the counter and looking half furious, half miserably sad.

"You know James," he said, voice low and hurt, "when I ended the conversation, it meant I didn't want to talk about it. It didn't mean 'come over and bother me when you should be home resting'. What are you doing here?"

"I think it's pretty obvious."

"You could've hurt yourself. Go back home."

"And risk hurting myself further? That's not a very good plan."

Sirius glared at him, but his expression still had that edge of being indescribably upset with him. James had no bloody idea why he looked like that, and that's why he was here.

"I'm not leaving until we talk about this."

Sirius swallowed thickly, and even from this distance, James could see his adam's apple bob with the motion. It looked like he was going to say something, so James waited. It took him another minute to figure out what he wanted to say, and his voice was hoarse as he asked, "How'd you find out?"

James blinked. Of all the things he'd expected to hear, that was not one of them. How the hell did Sirius think he knew? There was only one way for him to know, and Sirius wasn't stupid.

"I never told anyone," he continued, staring down at the empty counter with unseeing eyes, "and it's not like you've talked to my parents about it. Did you just- figure it out? I was obvious, right?" He gave a humorless laugh. "Too obvious. There's- there's no way you barely figured it out. You must've known for a while." He swallowed again. "Are you taking Harry?"

James blinked, tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about, then blinked again when nothing came to him. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He walked closer, then pulled the hat off. It felt weird to have his head so uncovered, but it was important for Sirius to see his soulmark. James turned so the mark would be facing Sirius and tapped his finger against it. "I thought I didn't have one."

Sirius blew out a harsh breath. "Yeah that's because you d-" he stopped abruptly. He must have looked up and seen what James was showing him. "What is that," he whispered.

"Soulmark." James glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, then put the hat back on to face him. "I never saw it, obviously. By the time it formed I had hair and I never had any reason to chop it all off." He rubbed at the spot on his head through his hat.

"So- what? You're here to tell me that we should hook up?" Sirius asked incredulously, tears brimming in his eyes. "Did you forget that you're married? You have a family, remember?"

"Lily and I split."

Sirius scoffed. "Right cause that's so much better. Being your soulmate rebound." He wiped harshly at his eyes. "No thanks."

"Months ago. We split before the attack," he added so it made more sense, "months ago."

"You don't want me James," he said, the admittance sounding too much like heartbreak. "You didn't want me before, and you don't want me now. Go back home. Nothing's changed."

"Home is where you are."

Sirius started shaking his head, and when he looked up again, he was angry. He was crying, but he was pissed off. "You're a fucking liar James. I've always needed you a hell of a lot more than you've needed me and everyone's always known that. You moved on. You got buggering married and had a kid, you bought a house, you- and look at me!" he yelled throwing his arms out to gesture to his flat. It was the same one his uncle had given him his last year of Hogwarts, and he'd never bothered to make it truly his. It had his shit in it, and that was it. He didn't redecorate, he hadn't hung up any art or bought a different couch from the one that had been in it since the beginning.

"There was a war, you didn't have time to-"

"I had time," Sirius cut in, expression twisting, "but I kept hoping you'd come back and tell me we should get a place. Getting everything I want, aren't I?"

James walked over and pulled him in a hug.

"What're you doing?" Sirius asked, pushing weakly against him.

"You were making me sad," James mumbled, holding him tighter. "You talk like I don't care about you, and you're a second choice to the family I wanted."

Sirius sniffled and didn't say anything.

"Like I didn't choose you first. Before we got married, Lily, she- she told me that she knew you were first to me. She didn't even care, can you believe that? It's been obvious all along that we weren't going to end up together. Hell, the only reason we got married was because she got pregnant."

"Yeah well. That's great for you." Sirius raised his arms to hug him back and turned his face into James's shoulder.

James sighed, knowing that he'd have to admit something he'd planned on keeping to himself for his entire life, if he wanted Sirius to believe that this wasn't some instant love soulmate bullshit. "I never told you how I felt-"

Sirius snorted, and James ignored that.

"-because I knew you had a soulmate. You told me what it meant to you, and I just- I didn't think I could handle that: having you only to lose you the moment you met them. I thought it was for the best."

"Liar," Sirius said, but it was less accusing than it had been before. "You- you never- it-."

"I love you," James whispered, and the words hung in the air as tangible as an owl.

Sirius shivered. "You can't be kidding, James. Not now, not about this."

"I'm not. I love you, and we don't have to jump into this, but I missed you so buggering much. Not getting to see you every day was torture, please let me stay. Actually," he amended a second later, "you should come home. Me and Lily have missed Harry, and I know you like our place better than this."

"I don't think Lily would be okay with me moving in," Sirius protested, but it was weak; he wanted to be convinced.

"Lily likes you better than me," James said. It was a little strange that that was true. "If I'm still living there, you can definitely live there."

Sirius said, "You're such a prick," but he relaxed against James.

#prongsfoot #marauders #fanfic #james potter #sirius black #lily evans #harry potter #brief james/lily #filled #getting together #soulmates #first war #post first war #james lives #siriuslystarbucks #awkward-ame

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livesofthenextgen · 5 years

Text

the next gen, in truth

Teddy Lupin: twenty-five, long cream-colored jumpers and sweater paws, morphs his face to make others laugh, perpetually changing hair (though he likes turquoise best), everyone’s older brother, dances through empty streets, unaware, unassuming of the danger lurking in the empty alleyways, visits all the owls in the Owlery so none of them feel left out, licking his lips to get the last taste of chocolate, restless fingers drumming across table tops, jittery legs bouncing up and down, clumsy falls down the stairs, nervous ruffling of the hair, sympathetic understanding behind every word, ready in an instant, always there for everyone, even before he’s there for himself Victoire Weasley: twenty-three, perfect hair, perfect eyes, perfect lips, surpasses perfect expectations, blood rushing behind pale cheeks, tidy room, long days cuddled by the fire, weaving flowers into crowns, always conscious of everything and everyone, twirls hair when thinking too hard, cries into her pillow at night, floaty pink dresses at red carpet premieres, media’s little princess, delicate, like the first dandelion in a field of weeds, like the quiet wind bristling through trees, like the butterfly landing on a flower, but strong, like the ocean pounding on the sand and her mother’s steady smile Molly Weasley: twenty-one, stays up late to look at the stars, dreams about taking off, flying, soaring into the bright light of the sun, drinks hot chocolate in the summer, finds safety in her friends, purple bruises under her eyes, looking out for her sister, breathing out smoke during late nights on the Astronomy Tower, working harder than her father, playing piano on rainy Sunday afternoons, feels her heart beating out of her chest, blood pumping through her blood, mechanical smile, pretends everything is okay, muted, like a smothered fire, a flower protecting itself from sunshine, like blooming red disappearing from your cheeks James Potter: nineteen, an easy laugh that makes people fall in love, unruly black hair that has never sat down since his mother tried to comb it when he was four, bruised knuckles and glittering eyes, running laps around the quidditch pitch before the sun begins to rise, presses a kiss to his sister’s hair to show he loves her, ruffles his brother’s hair to show he cares, an easy, carefree smile that stops the heart, made of reflex, of instinct, of guts, of daring, made of throwing himself head first in front of any challenge, even if it kills him Fred Weasley: nineteen, dark hair, dark eyes, freckles dusting across his nose, quick wit that pierces the soul, lying faceup on the grass to enjoy the sun, brainstorming new pranks for the store, always beside james, forever hums new music under his breath, pours firewhisky down his burning throat, visits late night at his uncle’s grave, leaves flowers every time he goes, shoes and expectations too big for him to hope to fill but he tries nevertheless, a practiced sense of carefree that doesn’t quite reach eyes (but oh he tries) Dominique Weasley: nineteen, long eyelashes and a look that could kill, biting french mumbled under her breath, fiercely protective over her brother, full of nerves and fear, consuming her, but she hides with a wink and a smirk, pretends she’s above it all, dyes her long red hair to rebel, runs away to her uncle Charlie in Romania for four weeks before her parents bring her back home, still dreams of dragons and fire and freedom, smokes outside her parents’ cottage to try and calm her shaking hands but the shaking doesn’t stop Rose Weasley: seventeen, curly hair she wraps around her finger when she’s focusing, sneaks into the kitchens at midnight to procrastinate from studying, reads books under her covers but not books of facts, reads books of adventure, passion, and heartbreak and falls asleep dreaming of an exciting life, not her mother - would you please stop asking - but loves them more than anything, but she hates her family’s name, hates that she has to see the toll it takes on her cousins, hates that she has to see them fall apart while she has to hold strong, like the shore that refuses to break under the ocean’s waves Lucy Weasley: seventeen, tracing constellations on her wrists, stays up too late because of thinking too hard, spends nights flying through the sky on her broomstick, wakes up with dark circles under her eyes, plays music like it’s her lifeline, strums on the guitar until her fingers bleed and mumbles lyrics under her breath until she’s mouthing them in her sleep, spends her holidays in Muggle villages visiting her mother’s family, lives on the outside edges of her family, glossed over in a sea of cousins brighter, more confident than she is, desperate for a way in Louis Weasley: seventeen, blond hair, blue eyes, body and bones sculpted by the gentle hands of the gods, the most beautiful boy you’ve ever seen, the most unhappy boy you’ve ever seen, forever smoothing down his hair with trembling fingers, almost-there snark covered in a shroud of uncertainty, breathes deeply to remember where he is, floats on his back in the ocean until he feels like he’s dreaming, kisses boys against cool sheets in the dead of the night, presses his lips to their fingertips when the morning comes, closes his eyes hoping he wakes up in someone else’s skin, opens his eyes realizing this is the only thing he’s ever going to get Albus Potter: seventeen, green eyes often accompanied by “you have your father’s eyes” which he knows, thank you very much, different from everyone in his family but tries so hard to keep it in, uneasy panic that keeps him awake at night, falls in love with best friend and tastes the stars in his mouth, presses kisses on his shoulders to tell him i love you, sometimes wakes up screaming in the middle of the night so panicked he thinks he may as well be dead, calms down when scor pulls him in close and whispers i love you, thinks that it’s not now but one day maybe this will all be okay Roxanne Weasley: sixteen, emits joy and brightness unlike anybody else, a giggle and cheeky smirk that’s often accompanied with a small explosion somewhere, loud, confident, unabashedly herself, the kind of comfortable in her own skin that’s magnetic, draws everyone in the room towards her, defends her family with unmatched love and ferocity, dancing in the rain until her feet feel like falling off, kissing the girl and holding her hand in the hall because she’s proud of who she is, Paris, Rome, Japan, new and exciting adventures every day, always moving, never stopping Lily Potter: fifteen, sparkling hazel eyes and a shock of red hair, unbridled joy for seeing the world around her, but a strong appreciation for the little moments, helps her grandma knit sweaters during Christmas holidays, spends summer afternoons babysitting for Muggle children in the nearby village, relaxes by the Black Lake to bask in the sun, picks flowers from meadows and gifts them to her family and friends, loves the feeling of wind going through her hair as she’s flying through the sky, breathes a little easier when surrounded by the ones she loves Hugo Weasley: fifteen, quiet, observant, in his own world, skinny elbows, knees, and ribs that peek from behind his skin, chews on his bottom lip when thinking, wrings his hands under the table when he thinks no one’s looking, reserved but ever present, like the cool fog on early spring mornings, or the birds perched at the edge of the windowsill, dreams of running away and freedom and leaving everything behind, spends late nights at the library pouring over potions and creatures and spells, feels like banging on the tables and screaming asking when he’s going to get noticed but slips by, unnoticed

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fruitquake · 5 years

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I didn’t know i actually shipped Jegulus until i started writing this. I actually really love these nerds.

“Never have i ever needed glasses!” Sirius said, followed by a short laugh.

James scowled as he took a drink. “Now that’s just a direct attack, Padfoot. Never in my life have i experienced such-”

"News flash, mate. You’re not alive.” Sirius responded, the casual tone not quite fitting the words.

“Right.” James grinned. “Well, never in my life and afterlife have i experienced such a brutality.”

“Get over it, Prongs.”

“No.”

Regulus scoffed, rolling his eyes at his… well, his friends. That’s what they were, even if he wasn’t gonna admit it to them.

“My turn.” James said, putting down his glass. “Never have i ever…” He looked around, lips curving up into a satisfied smirk as his eyes went over Sirius and Remus. “Been in love with a guy.”

“Ugh, fuck you.” Lily glared at him, taking a sip from her glass.

Sirius and Remus both drank, followed by a make-out session as if they had to prove to everyone else that they really were in love.

Damn it, Regulus though as he picked up his own glass and hesitantly took a sip.

Sirius audibly gasped. Regulus sighed, looking down.

“Really?” Sirius said, his voice almost... fascinated?

Regulus shrugged.

“How come you’ve never told me?”

“I don’t have to tell you everything.” He muttered.

“I’m your brother.” Sirius said, clearly offended. “I should know.”

“Well, now you know. Happy?”

Sirius moved closer to him, clearly trying to catch his eye, but Regulus kept them stubbornly at the ground.

“Who is it?” Sirius asked, clearly bursting with excitement and curiosity.

“None of your fucking business.”

“C’mon, Reg, don’t be like that.” Sirius said. “Is it someone you went to Hogwarts with?”

Regulus sighed and nodded, figuring he might as well play a long, just for a little bit.

“Ooh.” Sirius laughed. “Someone from your year?”

“Well.. No, not exactly.”

“Someone older than you?”

Regulus nodded, looking up at Sirius’s face. He didn’t look happy about this information, but seemed to quickly put that aside, as he continued his interrogation. “A Slytherin?”

“No.” Regulus said. “It’s a Gryffindor, okay? Now leave it alone, it doesn’t matter anymore.” It was like Sirius was always trying to make up for all the years they weren’t talking, the years after Regulus was left alone in Grimmauld Place with their parents, which in itself, Regulus thought, was very nice of him, but this meant that Sirius, for some reason, thought he had to know every little detail of Regulus’s life.

“Why doesn’t it matter? Please, i wanna know.” Sirius begged him.

“Well, he’s straight anyways.” Regulus muttered.

“It’s a straight guy from Gryffindor…” Sirius said in a thoughtful tone. “Do i know him?”

Regulus’s eyes quickly fell on James, who was watching the conversation with a very intrigued look on his face. With burning cheeks, he looked away. “I’d say you know him pretty well.”

“Alright.” Sirius looked like he was thinking very hard. “A Gryffindor, probably in my year. But also straight, so it can’t be Remus. Or me, since i’m your brother. Frank Longbottom?”

Regulus scoffed. “No.”

“It’s not Peter, is it? Because that fucking rat is not worthy of-”

“What? No!” Regulus shook his head, almost a little offended that Sirius could possibly think it would be Pettigrew. “No.”

“Who then?” Sirius asked eagerly. “Who else could it possibly be? The only other guys are-” Regulus looked up. Sirius was staring at him, an expression of shock on his face. “No way.” Sirius laughed in surprise. “James?”

Regulus glared at Sirius, his whole face burning. He was probably the exact colour of a tomato, all because of Sirius and his stupid need to know everything.

“You like James?” Sirius seemed to find it hard to contain his laughter.

“No!” Regulus quickly looked over at where James was sitting. He had worried that James might be mad or laugh at him, but was met with a mildly surprised smile. “I don’t like him.” Regulus said, quickly looking away. “Not- not anymore.”

“If you say so.” Sirius said. “But you’re blushing like an idiot.”

Regulus had never in life wanted to disappear or to punch Sirius, as much as he did right now. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, especially James’s. Stupid Sirius.

“Let’s play something else, shall we?” Lily suggested.

Regulus felt a rush of gratitude towards Lily for taking the attention off him.

Lily made Remus confess to losing Harry that one time he was babysitting him, and then Remus dared Sirius to kiss him, which made everyone else roll their eyes in annoyance. “You guys are together. You can kiss whenever you like.” Regulus pointed out.

“Truth or dare, Prongs?” Sirius asked, after exchanging very suspicious looks with Lily. Regulus knew what Sirius might be up to, and knew that he would never forgive him for it.

“Dare.” James grinned. “Hit me with your worst.”

Sirius glanced at Regulus, catching his eye. Don’t you fucking dare, Regulus thought, before Sirius turned back to James.

“I dare you... to kiss Regulus.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

Although Regulus had anticipated this, the shock mixed with utter annoyance towards Sirius still hit hard. Why couldn't he just leave the matter alone?

James looked at Lily. “Is it okay with you, Lils?”

Lily laughed and nodded. “Of course. Although i might get a little hurt if you leave me for Regulus.” She said jokingly.

“Don’t worry.” James laughed. “It’s just a dare.” He got up and walked over to Regulus, whose heart was trying to escape his chest. “This is okay with you too, right?” James asked.

“Whatever.” Regulus muttered. “It’s just a dare.”

James bend down to kiss Regulus, his dark mess of hair falling into his soft, hazel eyes.

Regulus stubbornly looked away, face burning, but James placed a hand on the side of his face and gently guided it towards his own.

It’s just a dare, it’s just a dare, it’s just a dare, Regulus kept repeating to himself as James’s face inched closer. Just a dare. Their lips met, and it was like they melted together in a brief, heavenly second, before pulling away. James smiled softly and moved a respectable distance from Regulus.

“Look, Reg.” He said, running a hand through his messy hair. “I’m flattered, and i think you’re really great but… Well, i’m married and-”

“Shut up, i know.” Regulus said with as much annoyance as he could muster. Of course he knew this, and even though a tiny part of him wished James would kiss him again, and for longer this time, he was happy with the way things were. James was probably better off with Lily anyways.

He turned to Sirius, who was bent over laughing and gave him the angriest glare he could. “I will never forgive you for this.”

#jegulus #james potter #regulus black #sirius black #remus lupin #lily evans #lily potter #writing #hp #afterlife

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i-writing-is-hard-i · 6 years

Text

Veela Blood pt2

Veela Blood

Sirius Black x Veela Blood reader (Part 2)

[Summary] I have no idea where this came from .... You are Fluer’s Aunt a Veela Descendent, The story is set after Sirius get’s out of Azkaban, you are tasked with ‘babysitting’ Sirius.

[Warnings] None. I don’t think there is anything to worry about

[Beginning] [Next]

you woke up early the next morning, with your alarm going off soon anyway, you just got up. Heading straight to the bathroom to get ready, then headed downstairs to the kitchen. Sirius was already there sitting at the table with a cup in his hand, staring into space. He flinched a little when you walked through the door.

“Morning,” you said, he grumbled in response. You helped yourself to your own cup of coffee. Sitting down, it was quiet. But it didn’t bother you, you had barely woken up anyway. After you finished your coffee, planning on grabbing food on the way. You said your goodbyes and left.

That evening when you arrived, there were others already there. You knew some of them, but the others you weren’t sure off. A few more people arrived after you, It was for a meeting. sadly there wasn’t much new to talk about and the meeting ended pretty quickly, but some stayed for dinner that was made be Mrs Weasley, it was delicious. After the food was gone and cleared up almost everyone left.

Remus and Tonks were the only ones to stay. Tonks and you had engaged in a conversation about animals, laughing and joking, as Tonks changed her face to match what you two were talking about. When they left, it fell quiet, you wanted to start a conversation with Sirius, but didn’t know how. Then he stood up

“Buckbeak needs feeding” he explained. Leaving you.

It was the same thing for a month now and it was getting lonely. You used to living on your own, and you never felt lonely then, but being around someone and not talking was different.

It was a Friday night, there wasn’t going to be a meeting today, as nothing had changed. when you left the ministry something caught your eye. It was the Quaffiler, it had an article on Sirius, your curiosity got the better off you, lifting the paper, flicking through quickly, trying not to make it obvious, that you were looking for a particular column. There it was, you quickly read the words a smile forming on your lips.

‘Sirius Black, tall dark and Handsome man, notorious murder? Well what if we told you that was, in fact, false, Sirius black is, in fact, Dolores Dickison, Elder woman from Sheffield in disguise’. You didn’t even bother reading further, buying the paper you left. Smiling to yourself.

Inside the house, Sirius was already sitting in the kitchen, dinner was being prepared.

“No visitors today?” You asked approaching him,

“No” He replied glumly, you couldn’t imagine what it was like being stuck here.

“Well this might cheer you up, or not, turn to page 5” you smirked handing him the paper. Sirius eyed the cover, a grin forming on his face. He quickly flicked to page 5 remained quiet for a moment, the started laughing.

“I am an elder woman now” he stated, as if this wasn’t the first ridiculous story written about him, you had to question it.

“Well, so far I have been a jester, a black, blob an elderly man, a muggle actor, and” he stopped, you were laughing cheerfully. You were beautiful, but not just because of your veela blood, he thought.

“Who is the writer of this nonsense?” you asked, your French accent coming through. It happened when you were particularly emotional.

“Lovegood, something Lovegood” Sirius smiled

“They are interesting at least” you looked back down to the paper, wondering why you had never read it before. The stories inside were rather fun to read.

With Sirius cooking, it gave you a chance to run upstairs to get out of your suit, replacing it with comfortable joggers and an oversized t-shirt. Heading back downstairs, quietly of course.

Sirius was rummaging around the kitchen, waving his borrowed wand, at the pots and utensils.

You watched curiously, offering to help, but he turned you down. Thinking about it this was the first time you saw him cook, and he seemed to be struggling a little, but he insisted that he was fine. So instead you sat down reading other stories in the Quaffler, you couldn’t help but smile at some of the stories, it talked about creatures that you were certain didn’t expect, but they managed to find ‘Witnesses’ you hadn’t noticed Sirius was watching you from the corner of his eye until you could smell something burning.

You looked up in time to see Sirius rushing over to the pot, that was boiling over saving it just in the nick of time. You could hear him mumbling under his breath as he plated the food placing one in front of you, you both tucked in, it was actually quite nice. In the few months you had been here, you had noticed a few things with Sirius. How his hair grew longer but didn’t look so tatted damaged, his skin no longer looked ashy, and his cheeks filled out more, all in all his physical appearance was much more healthy, even the purple under his eyes were lighter, but you could see his eyes the pain still, you had a feeling that would never go away.

“Remus not coming today?” You asked, putting down your knife and fork. You could see his expression stiffen, Remus was here most days unless it was around the full moon or if he had a particularly long mission. When he was here though he would spend it with Sirius, talking and sorting out the mess in each room. Sirius really enjoyed the company, understandable after so long alone, in fact you thought perhaps he was pretty happy with any companionship. There was always someone with him though and you would spend your time upstairs reading or something when they were here.

“No, he’s busy tonight and tomorrow” Sirius gruff voice replied.

“Okay, just us then” you waved your wand lifting the plates over to the sink, with a few more waves the dishes were clean and put away.

“What needs to be done?” you turned to him, he was staring into space. Only snapping out of his daze when he heard your voice. Looking up he looked a little sad.

“The piano room could use a clearing out” he groaned thinking about all the work that needed doing around the house.

“Okay, unless you want to do something else?” you suggested, he looked at you a little annoyed.

“Like what?” he asked

“Well, anything, as long as its inside” you pointed out, making sure he understood going out was a big no-no. he frowned.

“There isn’t exactly anything to do in this place” Sirius puffed out his cheeks.

You thought a moment,

“Well we could get to know each other, over some tea?” you suggested.

“Like what, how I’ve been locked up for 13 years, or my childhood?” Sirius stood up ready to storm out the room, but you stopped him

“Sirius there's more to you than Azkaban and your parents” you pointed out.

Sirius looked around to you, ready to say something snarky but your expression changed his mind, you weren’t looking at him like he was a victim or with worry or sympathy. You looked at him with a softness, that he hadn’t seen in a long time, even his friends around him didn’t look at him like that.

“Yeah like what?” he tried to fake annoyance.

“You must have favourite animals, sports, colours, music, all that” you explained.

“You want to know my favourite colour?” Sirius scoffed like it was stupid.

“Yes, mines Teal” you nodded. He watched you a moment, not sure what to do, getting to know you personally wasn’t a bad idea, but he didn’t know how to talk about himself, it was like he couldn’t remember what he liked and didn’t like, all his thoughts were of Azkaban, James and Lily. even his brother. He missed them so much, he lost more, what even was his favourite colour.

Sirius looked up to you meeting your eyes.

“y/e/c” he blurted out.

“It will come back to you, you know” you said, smiling reassuringly at him. For a moment he thought you had read his mind, but you couldn’t do that right?.

“Fine, ask away” Sirius sat back down at the kitchen table. You joined him sitting facing him. With a wave of his wand, the tea was being prepared. Though admittedly he would rather have had something stronger.

“Why don’t we play a sort of game?”, you asked. He raised his eyebrow,

“It was something we did in school, to get to know people, 1 person asks a question, they answer their own question then the others answer it. We take it in turns to ask” you explained.

“Fine”

“Is there anything you would like to know about me?” you asked, hoping for him to become more engaged with the situation. You could see him thinking about it, but nothing came to mind, what did he want to know about you?.....everything. He wanted to know everything, but what was he willing to share with you, it's not like he could ask about your parents without sharing his own. He asked you to go first, to get a feel for it.

You were careful as to what to ask, making sure not to touch on anything personal. Things you knew he wouldn’t be comfortable to share with you. You two managed to keep up the ‘game’ for a few hours, drifting off into separate conversations, Sirius was happy with this, for a moment his mind was off the chaos around him, the order was in the back of his mind, how useless he felt didn’t matter, at this moment he was free from worries talking about music, and books.

Sirius enjoyed listening to you passionately talk about books you had read, which was a lot, and the animals you had come across in work. Once again he thought you were the most beautiful ‘creature’ he had ever seen, and it was nothing to do with you Veela blood. Another hour had past when Sirius stood, he had to feed buckbeak, and it was probably time to head to bed. He made sure to keep thinking about the conversation between you and not everything else, maybe tonight he would sleep a little longer?.

You remained behind to tidy the little mess that had been created before heading on up yourself. You enjoyed tonight, you and Sirius had a lot in common actually.

[Tags]

@firekissedwitchbitch @in-diepop

#sirius black #sirius black x you #sirius black x reader #sirius x you #sirius x reader #sirius #sirirus x #lovelivelovesomemore #harry potter characters #veela #sirius x veela #x you #x reader

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samglyph · 5 years

Text

Original Content Ahead

Prologue | Chapter 1

Note: I will repost chapter one and the prologue with edits on a separate blog because there have been a few changes (the biggest one is that james is ten instead of eight). This is the last chapter that will be posted on this blog,

please validate me

tw: kidnapping, tiny mention of murder, children being ignored and rude adults in general

Chapter 2: Stranger Danger

“Pay up.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I won! I got the human! I won our game, so pay up!”

“You got the wrong one, idiot.”

James flicked his eyes back in forth between the two people involved in this exchange. He had been awake for awhile now, though he was starting to suspect the two in front of him either hadn’t noticed or simply didn’t care. He had woken up slowly, his head filled with fog, before everything rushed back to him all at once and he sat straight up.

The first thing he noticed was the lighting. It was weird… it wasn’t candlelight, it was blue, and it definitely wasn’t fluorescent, a word he had been very excited about when dad taught him how to say it.

Oh right. Dad. Tears had started to gather at the corners of his eyes again, but they stopped when the argument began. He hadn’t noticed the pair at first.

It was difficult to make out to many details in the low light, but he recognized his attacker immediately. Their long blond hair, and black eyes, and skin pulled tight over their abnormally long limbs, were all giveaways. The other one was different. They were shorter, and their skin didn’t look… correct. It was almost reflective in how smooth it was, and the color of it shifted when they moved.

��The Queen wanted the other one, Cicrow.”

“Well the other one never comes in the damn woods long enough for me to find him!”

“That’s a bad word.” James interjected before he could stop himself. Two pairs of inhuman eyes turned toward him.

“What?” His kidnapper, Cicrow, asked.

“My dad says that’s a bad word. He says it sometimes when bad things happen but he said it’s bad.” James couldn’t really tell, but he thought he saw their large eyes roll. The pair went back to their conversation, almost as if the boy wasn’t there at all.

“Look, no one caught the other one, he went back to the house before we even got the chance. Besides, I don’t think the queen cares anymore. But I still won.”

“Well, he’s awake now, so what should we do with him?”

“We can still give him to the queen. That’s what we always do, what are you even asking for?” Cicrow sneered.

“Is asking a question a sin now?

“Probably.” Cicrow paused and turned fully towards James, who leaned back. Their black eyes widened, and suddenly James’s alertness seeped away, until he felt very, very tired.

James woke up again in a different room, if you could call it that, one that was much less devoid of life than the last one. In fact, as he nervously turned his head to take in his newest surroundings, he could see many creatures, both human-looking and not. There were more people than he’d ever been around. It made him nervous. He sat up on plush grass, and noticed that the walls were made of trees grown so tightly together that there weren’t any gaps. People murmured quietly and glanced down at him, making him shrink a bit under the gazes. Before him on a raised platform sat a woman, and while ten year olds raised in the middle of nowhere don’t have a strong grasp on the standard of beauty, that was the only way to describe her. Beautiful. She sat relaxed on a throne made out of gnarled root, having an air of indifference that made everyone else in the room care more about her. Her long white dress flowed to the ground, and seemed to almost dissolve as it hit the ground. But once again, James realized, while her eyes were a more normal shape and size than Cicrow’s, they were filled with inky blackness. She peered down at him, then looked behind him. He glanced back too, only to jerk a bit when he realized Cicrow was standing right behind him, though he relaxed when he noticed the look on their face. It seemed that they were as terrified as he was.

“Changeling,” The queen spoke, and her voice flowed like honey that had lost its sweetness, “What have you brought me?” Cicrow coughed.

“Your majesty, I have brought you the boy who lives in the Woodward house,” Cicrow replied, polite yet clipped. The queen’s dark eyes widened in surprise, but not for long. She looked down at the boy.

“And what is your name?”

“J,” He replied, remembering the rule. Her eyes narrowed as Cicrow’s had, before returning to her casual demeanor.

“How old are you?”

“I’m ten.”

She hummed in response. “And do you know where your father is?”

“I don’t know where I am, ma’am.” He spoke, clearly, as his dad would never want him to be impolite. She clicked her tongue, then turned to face someone standing next to her, who hadn’t been there before.

“Take him to Pieridae. My child could use an attendant.” The woman she was speaking to glanced at James’s frightened face and looked back at the queen, but said nothing. Cicrow felt differently.

“My deepest respect, your majesty, but this is simply a human boy,” They said, “I doubt he could even keep up with your child, much less properly attend to the prince.”

“I am well aware. Would you rather we killed him?” Cicrow and James eyes widened simultaneously. James opened his mouth to speak, no longer feeling very polite, but Cicrow beat him to it.

“Of course not your majesty. That would be a waste of a hunt.”

She sighed, a breathless, trivial thing, “Yes, I guess it would, wouldn’t it? Just,” In all her regality and aloofness, James thought the Queen seemed tired, “Take him to Pieridae,” she ordered to the attendant before whispering, “keep them both out of my sight.”

“Yes, my Queen,” The woman bowed, and began walking towards James, who in panic stood up and backed away, bumping into Cicrow. The woman paused and looked at the queen, as if awaiting a more specific order. The Queen closed her black eyes in what James assumed was exasperation.

“I guess I shouldn’t waste my own,” She said, “Cicrow, you will be in charge of delivering ‘J’,” She said the name with the tiniest hint of malice, “to Pieridae’s court, and in making sure he stays there.” James could feel Cicrow tense of up behind him.

“Of course, my Queen,” They said, obviously disagreeing. They reached up and placed their hands on James’s shoulders, “Right away.”

“You’re dismissed.” She said, and that was the end of the conversation. James could tell that if he attempted to speak now, the response would be negative, if there was even a response at all. So he allowed Cicrow to turn him around and push him out of the room. A doorway had opened between two of the trees when he wasn’t looking, but as they walked out it shifted closed again. James was busy taking in the details of the hallway, the stone arches that looked far to old and the tiny aliens mushrooms that littered the floor, when he heard the scream. He jumped when an animalistic screech left Cicrow, and he turned around to see them absolutely fuming.

“This is ludicrous,” They hissed, “I’m the best gods damned hunter she has and she’s wasting me on, on, what, babysitting?!” James could tell they weren’t talking to him, but he felt the need to add his thoughts anyway. Children raised with very little human contact don’t always understand when opinions are and are not wanted. Children raised with a lot of human contact still don’t.

“It’s sort of your fault, though,” He said, matter of factly. “When my dad isn’t home, he always calls Ms.Lisa over to take care of me. And when we go to the hospital, a nurse has to watch me when my dad isn’t there. And my dad isn’t here now, so now you have to watch me.” They looked down at him with hatred and muttered something angrily. Likely more bad words.

“Let’s go, you little leech.” They finally said, ushering James farther down the hall. It was a long trek, or at least it seemed to be. It was dim in the tunnel, the only light seemingly coming from the mushrooms, and lightning bugs that clung to the ceiling. James thought it was pretty, though there wasn’t much time to enjoy it. Cicrow moved quickly thanks to their height and James had to jog to keep up. Before long the hallway came to a stop before a large set of dark wooden double doors.

“Now, J,” Cicrow said, much more calm than they had been moments ago, “When you meet the Prince, be… better than you were with the Queen.

“What does that-”

“Just don’t be so… human. Be quiet.” James would have responded, said something about how he hadn’t said that much at all, and that he couldn’t very well stop being human, but at that moment the doors swung open, seemingly of their own volition. Cicrow and James entered the room, and James took in the scenery.

While the throne room and the hallway had certainly been fascinating, and far more interesting and intricate than the rooms in the Woodward family house, this one took the cake. James stepped through the doors, and his sneakers sunk into soft sand. The entrance was a small beach, that only went a few feet forward before dipping into calm water. Lily pads and other water flora floated undisturbed, and koi fish and frogs could be seen swimming or hopping near the shore. Stepping stones rose neatly from the water, and they led to a large stone island in the center of the room, if you could call it that. The lake seemed to be the size of the entire hospital parking lot, James rationalized, if it was round. There may have been more accurate descriptions, but that was the largest area that came to James’s mind in that moment. The island in the center was flat, dark gray slate, but appeared to be covered in plush pillows and blankets, and other unnatural trinkets James couldn’t make out. On the far edge, he could make out the form of a small figure curled into pillows with their back turned.

“Come on,” Cicrow called out to James, and began to step gracefully across the stones. James, on the other hand, had more trouble. He was much shorter, and ten year olds aren’t well-known for being graceful. He almost tumbled into the water on multiple occasions, but somehow Cicrow always managed to turn around and grab him before he slipped. Their irritation over having to do this was overwhelmingly obvious.

When the pair finally made it across the stretch of water, James watched as Cicrow knelt and lowered their head, making them roughly the same height as he was.

“Prince Pieridae,” They announced, in a similar tone to the one they had used when addressing the queen, “I have come on request of your Mother, Her majesty High Queen of the Fair Folk, Slayer of the Great Shade, Mistress of the Hunt, Lady of the-”

“Oh gods, would you shut up already!” A high pitched voice rang from where the figure was curled, and James watched as they stretched out and turned to face them, eyes half lidded and features filled with sloth.

Prince Pieridae was interesting to look at. He looked nothing like his mother, to start with, but gave off the same air of indifference and privilege that she did. His black hair was swept back and held in place with a silver tiara that spiked upwards. He was dressed in light green reminiscent of lichen, and black lines spread across the outfit like branches coming out of his middle. He sighed and pushed himself up from the ground and started walking over to the two at the edge of the island, opening his eyes as if to judge them. And that was when James noticed them. His eyes.

James had half been expecting the same black irises that Cicrow and the Queen possessed to adorn the Prince’s face as well, but to his surprise that was not the case. Pieridae’s eyes gleamed yellow in the low light, slitted like the feral cat’s that occasionally visited the Woodward’s porch.

Or perhaps they were snakes eyes, and perhaps the prince had a tongue to match, just like his mother had warned.

🧚🏼‍♀️🧚🏼‍♀️🧚🏼‍♀️🧚🏼‍♀️🧚🏼‍♀️

WHelp thanks for reading. Reblogs > likes but i guess since im gonna repost it doesnt really matter. Pls give me feedback.

#creative writing #my writing #fair folk #faeirie #my ocs #original character #original writing

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october31st1981 · 6 years

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Baby, I’m Trying

Originally written for Jily Secret Santa 2016 for the prompt “modern single parent AU.” I realized I never posted this fic to my own blog, so here it is.

She ought to know by now not to try to surprise James.

When they were twelve, she’d jumped out of a cupboard, intent on frightening James to get him back for unraveling the hem of her friend’s already threadbare uniform. He’d been so startled that he’d slammed the cupboard shut and Lily ended up with a bloody nose.

On his eighteenth birthday, she’d made the mistake of trying to throw him a party without telling him. She had half their year assembled in his house when he called to cancel their afternoon plans because his mother was taking him to Belgium.

Over the years, it’s become clear that James is far better at providing surprises than receiving them.

It’s probably foolish of her to think that this time will be different. But she’s just gotten home after studying in France during her summer and fall terms, and the only person that Lily wants to see is James Potter. They wrote letters, certainly, and talked on the phone, but it doesn’t compare to seeing him gaze at her with a warm smile or a smarmy grin from right in front of her face. He’d joked about her meeting someone while in France, but part of her thinks it was true, because she’s never been so eager to come home in her life.

And she’s missed him, missed all her boys, really. So she stands outside James’s and Sirius’s flat, knocking on their door with a grin on her face.

Sirius pulls open the door, wearing what looks like a bib and holding a plush toy in his hands. “Moony, if that’s you, you better have brought nappies—Evans!” His face breaks out into a broad grin.

Careful to avoid the mess on his bib, Lily steps into Sirius’s arms. “I’m back,” she says. “Dare I ask about the nappies?”

The smile on Sirius’s face dims. “Maybe I should let James explain.”

She releases Sirius, stepping past him into the flat. The room looks messier than usual, with an assortment of items she can’t begin to explain scattered on the floor. “Where is he? I know I should’ve called, but I thought it’d be a nice surprise this way.”

“Is that Lupin? Tell him it’s Code Yellow, false alarm,” James’s voice calls as he enters the room.

Lily’s heart speeds up a bit as he comes into view. His hair is longer, and he’s got a smudge of what looks like carrot on his cheek, but he’s still the same. She is so caught up in staring at his face that it takes her a moment to realize that he’s holding something. Someone, in fact. A baby, no more than six months old, clinging to him firmly.

Lily blinks, looking down at the child. She thinks the baby blinks back. “Are you… babysitting?” she asks. She knows Alice and Frank Longbottom had their baby not all that long ago, but it seems a bit odd that they would choose James to mind their son, considering he’s an only child and has probably never held a baby in his life.

“Er, no,” James says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. He wears an expression not dissimilar to the one he wore in Year 12 when he told he’d accidentally melted his Head Boy badge. “This is Harry. He’s… Well, he’s mine.”

Surprise, Lily thinks, feeling a little light-headed.

“Yours,” she repeats slowly.

“Mine,” he says, nodding. As if pleased by this announcement, the boy in James’s arms reaches out to him, using an impossibly tiny hand to grab at his glasses. James runs a placating hand over the baby’s hair.

Lily can’t stop staring. “You weren’t pregnant when I left.”

Sirius, who hasn’t spoken since James entered the room, scowls and mutters, “Lucy.”

Suddenly, Lily understands. When they’d been in secondary school, James had dated Lucinda Talkalot, whom he knew from his football league. Lily hadn’t liked her. Mary said it was because she’d fancied James something awful back then, but in truth, Lily had doubts about the girl. She wasn’t good at keeping friends, and to James, loyalty was more important than anything. At least, it had been. By the fond look James is giving the baby, Lily thinks that everything else in James’s life might be suddenly outranked.

“You and Lucy…” Lily trails off, looking at James significantly.

“At that Halloween party last year,” he confirms.

Her eyes drift to the baby again. Harry. He has a shock of black hair on top of his head, and his eyes are like James’s, but brighter. Hazel. Still, she feels compelled to ask. “And you’re sure?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“We talked on the phone,” Lily says weakly. She thinks of all the times where he’d hesitated in a conversation, saying he’d explain later. She supposes now is later. “You couldn’t have mentioned a baby?”

Shifting Harry to his other hip, James offers a one-armed shrug. “It seemed like in-person kind of news.”

There’s not much she can say to that. So instead, she asks, “Can I hold him?”

James looks taken aback, but he nods, approaching her slowly. “Mind his hands,” he says, placing the baby in her arms. “He likes to grab.”

And sure enough, as soon as the baby is in her arms, his tiny fists are wrapped up in her long auburn hair. Harry giggles, and Lily can see why James looks at this kid with such affection in his eyes.

Lily gives him her widest smile. “Hi, Harry.”

Over the next few weeks, the story tumbles out of the boys in pieces. How Lucy hadn’t told James about the pregnancy until Harry was already several weeks old. How she’d decided to give him up in the hopes of giving him a better life, but had hesitated at the thought of James, and shown up with the baby at his doorstep. How that day had been the last they’d seen her.

“Are you mad at Lucy?” she asks James one evening as they sit on the floor of his living room. She presses a stuffed lion against Harry’s nose, who garbles delightedly back at her.

James pauses, and then shakes his head. “Not for giving me Harry,” he says quietly. “For not telling me the first place, maybe, but I’d rather have him than not.”

“I suppose I never imagined you’d be a dad this young.” She’s only two months older than James, and she’s barely creeping up on twenty-one.

James looks at Harry. “I always sort of reckoned that when I did have a kid, I’d be married. Something for the long run, y’know.”

Lily can see it. James, in a cottage bustling with children, committed to one person for the rest of his life. He’d be happy like that. “You will be,” she says decidedly. “Just have to adjust the order.”

He raises an eyebrow suggestively. “Are you offering, Evans?”

She pulls Harry into her lap, resting her chin on the top of his head. “Sorry, Potter. My heart already belongs to someone else.”

James sighs wistfully. “Thrown over for a younger man.” He strokes a hand gently on his son’s face. “My fault for making you so handsome.”

“Thank goodness Harry has a father who’ll teach him modesty,” says Remus from the entryway. Sirius’s return from classes is flagged by the arrival of both Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

“That’s what you’re for, Moony.” James grins. “When you’re finished that teaching degree, I fully expect you to inform my son about the ways of the world.”

Remus groans. “If I finish this teaching degree,” he mutters. “Vector isn’t pleased about all the class I miss.”

“Cow,” interjects Sirius, pulling a face.

Lily frowns. “You can’t help that you get sick, Remus. She ought to be more understanding.”

Remus shrugs. “She’s big on attendance.”

“Had to drop her last year,” adds Peter, shuddering. “Missed four lectures and she threatened to fail me.”

James nods sympathetically. “After begging to switch to night class so Sirius can watch Harry while I’m at school, last month I had to tell her I was an hour late because Harry threw up on me. Three times.” He glances at Lily. “You sure you want to choose him over me? He’s well-practiced in the art of projectile vomit.”

Lily doubts Harry knows he’s being talked about, but he babbles when his father is looking in his direction. She turns her gaze downward. “Still him. No contest.”

James beams at Harry, or perhaps at the two of them. “Yeah, I’d pick him too.”

When Lily first notices the shift between them, they’re in a park. Harry’s too young to be able to run around, but he loves being outside anyway. Spring has arrived, and he’s growing like the weeds that are starting to make their way out of the ground. He twists and turns in his pram, eagerly trying to take everything in.

James trainers are undone, as always, so Lily is keeping her eyes on Harry as he kneels down to tie them.

An elderly woman passes by and tells Lily, “Your son is adorable.”

Lily blushes. “Oh, he’s—”

“How old is he?” the woman asks.

“Just coming up on eight months,” replies James, standing up.

The lady smiles, eyes crinkling at James’s boy. “That’s a good age. Before you can blink, he’ll be running around and it’ll be all you can do to keep up. Make sure you still make time for each other.”

James seems to realize the woman’s mistake, and he meets Lily’s eye. She thinks he’s going to correct her, but instead he says, “Good advice.”

Good advice rings through Lily’s head for at least two weeks after, and it has her flushing every time she has to look him in the face. She’s not fool enough to pretend what she was feeling when she was in France didn’t mean anything, but things are different now. James has Harry. Harry, the love of his life, who has shaken his world irrevocably. She’s not selfish enough to try to alter the life that he’s only just started to build.

But Sirius sees it. She knows he does. He can be annoyingly perceptive when it comes to things that concern James Potter.

He manages to hold his tongue for two weeks. She is watching Harry with Sirius during James’s maths lecture when he finally says to her, “So, how long’ve you been in love with James?”

Lily wants to say I’m not, but what comes out is, “France.”

Sirius picks Harry up and raises him up in the air. “So, not as long as he’s been in love with you.”

Her heart stutters, and she takes Harry from Sirius and spins him around so she has an excuse to hide her face. “James isn’t… his heart is occupied at the moment.”

Sirius laughs. “You don’t think Prongs has a heart big enough for all of us?”

Lily turns. Harry’s hands are tangled in her hair again, as they usually are these days. “I can’t ask him to make any big changes right now. Harry deserves the whole world.”

“That’s why.” Sirius says, with a smile that’s both sincere and smug. “Harry matters to you, and that matters to him.”

“I’m not going to tell him,” she says firmly. Her heart protests, but it quiets when she looks at Harry, who has burrowed himself in it as deeply as his father. “I’ll do it when he has more time to decide what he wants.”

Sirius won’t tell him either, Lily knows that much. Still, he gives Lily and Harry a lingering glance as they hold onto each other, “He already knows what he wants, Evans. This is it.”

Lily hesitates about what constitutes the right time, but she knows herself enough to be certain she wouldn’t even consider saying something if she weren’t in it for the long haul. Soon, it simply becomes a matter of finding a moment alone.

In the end, Harry is one who changes things once again. When he turns a year old, James decides to throw Harry a spectacular birthday party. There are dozens of balloons, paper stars on every surface of the flat, and a man in star-spangled robes who claims to be a magician (though he never does any tricks). By early evening, Harry is too exhausted to continue, so he is put to bed and the adults decide to open a bottle of wine.

When James is in the kitchen getting a corkscrew, she slips in, hands behind her back.

“I have a surprise for you.”

James grins, turning around. “It’s not another baby, is it?”

“I hope not, or he won’t be very comfortable in this box.” She moves her hands in front of her and hands him a neatly-wrapped gift. “When Petunia and I were little, we used to have a tradition. On our birthdays, we would give our mum a present, since she was the person who gave us life and spent the whole year looking after us. I thought, since Harry’s too young to know how much you do for him, I’d step in for him this year.”

He falters, looking a bit flustered. “Evans…”

Lily looks at James fondly. He still has paper stars in his hair from the party. “You’re a good dad, James. I hope you know that. Harry’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have him,” says James, setting down the present. He hesitates for a moment, and then adds, “And you.”

She’s not sure if she steps closer or he does, but there’s less distance between them in the next moment. “I’m lucky that Harry’s in my life too.”

James reaches a hand to cup her cheek. “We’re all very lucky.”

And when he kisses her, Lily can’t help but agree.

#jily #jily*#james potter #lily evans #harry james potter #mine #that submission i received with jss 2016 fanart reminded me i never posted this here #at least not with me as the source lol #i have a follow up piece for this half written

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samgwrites · 5 years

Text

Prince

Prologue | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 2: Stranger Danger

“Pay up.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I won! I got the human! I won our game, so pay up!”

“You got the wrong one, idiot.”

Oh right. Dad. Tears had started to gather at the corners of his eyes again, but they stopped when the argument began. He hadn’t noticed the pair at first.

“The Queen wanted the other one, Cicrow.”

“Well the other one never comes in the damn woods long enough for me to find him!”

“That’s a bad word.” James interjected before he could stop himself. Two pairs of inhuman eyes turned toward him.

“What?” His kidnapper, Cicrow, asked.

“Look, no one caught the other one, he went back to the house before we even got the chance. Besides, I don’t think the queen cares anymore. But I still won.”

“Well, he’s awake now, so what should we do with him?”

“We can still give him to the queen. That’s what we always do, what are you even asking for?” Cicrow sneered.

“Is asking a question a sin now?

“Probably.” Cicrow paused and turned fully towards James, who leaned back. Their black eyes widened, and suddenly James’s alertness seeped away, until he felt very, very tired.

“Changeling,” The queen spoke, and her voice flowed like honey that had lost its sweetness, “What have you brought me?” Cicrow coughed.

“And what is your name?”

“J,” He replied, remembering the rule. Her eyes narrowed as Cicrow’s had, before returning to her casual demeanor.

“How old are you?”

“I’m ten.”

She hummed in response. “And do you know where your father is?”

“My deepest respect, your majesty, but this is simply a human boy,” They said, “I doubt he could even keep up with your child, much less properly attend to the prince.”

“I am well aware. Would you rather we killed him?” Cicrow and James eyes widened simultaneously. James opened his mouth to speak, no longer feeling very polite, but Cicrow beat him too it.

“Of course not, your majesty. That would be a waste of a hunt.”

“Of course, my Queen,” They said, obviously disagreeing. They reached up and placed their hands on James’s shoulders, “Right away.”

“Now, J,” Cicrow said, much more calm then they had been moments ago, “When you meet the Prince, be… better than you were with the Queen.

“What does that-”

“Come on,” Cicrow called to James, and began to step gracefully across the stones. James, on the other hand, had more trouble. He was much shorter, and ten year olds aren’t well-known for being graceful. He almost tumbled into the water on multiple occasions, but somehow Cicrow always managed to turn around and grab him before he slipped. Their irritation over having to do this was overwhelmingly obvious.

When the pair finally made it across the stretch of water, James watched as Cicrow knelt and lowered their head, making them roughly the same height as he was.

Or perhaps they were snakes eyes, and perhaps the prince had a tongue to match, just like his mother had warned.

#fair folk #original character #original writing #creative writing #james woodward #i finally get to introduce my favorite kid #cicrow #the fairie queen #fairies #my writing #pieridae

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marionetteblues · 6 years

Text

the future

JILY CHALLENGE | @marionetteblues vs @chierafied TV Show AU - "i am painfully in love with a woman who has been engaged to another man for 3 years, who she is marrying now because she is in denial about the fact she has feelings for me so honestly no i'm not okAY... my wife is marrying someone else" jim and pam the office au

what is this? who knows, not me soooo this is an eensy bit late because i’m an idiot but it’s just about on time! also i have no idea how security works in any shape or form so please don’t yell at me over it and let’s all call it creative license ok

Sometimes, James thinks he can tell the future. He gets these weird feelings - flashes, maybe - when he meets a person. He knew the moment he met Sirius that this person would become like a brother to him. He could see it spread out before his feet, scrolling through every second of his life.

He had the same feeling when he met Remus. He knew when he met Lisa how their relationship would end. It played out in a way that was eerily accurate to his own prediction.

He’s been wrong once - Peter, unfortunately - and it never changes. It usually happens in that first split second of looking into someone’s eyes and just knowing.

That’s why he never sees Lily coming. She kind of sneaks up on him.

The briefing has been steadily melting his brain all morning. He didn’t finish up last night until at least a quarter to midnight, because the band did three encores and then invited a bunch of people back to the green room.

Alastor Moody stands at the top of the room, and at least he looks as bored as James does. He’s crawling through a list of assignments in a drone, but his eyes never rest. They dart around uneasily. Nothing unusual.

He’s been at Moody’s specialised security firm for about a year now. Most of the guys are a lot like Moody - slightly older, grizzly looking guys who look like they could punch through cement. Having a missing limb isn’t a requirement, but Moody knows what he likes, and that’s apparently amputees who could kill you.

James is kind of an anomaly, if you think about it. But he’s good - he does a lot of tech stuff, a lot of crawling into tight spaces that no one else can fit in, a lot of pretending to be a hipster arts student to “blend in”. James doesn’t mind; he’s still a junior member of the team - a lot of the time, he just gets puts on a team because he’s on the payroll and Moody is going to be damn sure he’s going to use anyone he’s paying.

That feeling he gets? It makes him pretty good at his job.

“Potter,” Moody barks. “I’m putting you on Dawlish’s team to guard the ambassador’s family. We’re expecting it to be an easy job. Which is why you’re taking the new recruit with you.”

It’s some kind of magic, but that’s the exact second there’s a knock on the door. The girl who lets herself in is compact, a little on the short side. Her dark red hair is pulled into a sharp, sleek ponytail. She’s dressed in black, sensible clothes. Her expression makes her look like she could eat them alive.

A couple of the guys shift uncomfortably. There have been women before, obviously, but a lot of the team have been there for decades, and Moody doesn’t see any sense in replacing them while they’re still good and not dead. Which means that there’s not a lot of staff turnover.

“Alastor?” she says, easy and light, like she isn’t looking at one of the scariest guys anyone’s ever come across.

“Ah, Evans, just in time,” Moody mutters, clapping his hands together. “I don’t like late.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I got a little held up at your HR department.”

Moody blinks at her for a second - the rest of the room holds its breath - and then coughs out a laugh.

“Take a seat. Everyone, this is Lily Evans. She’s our new recruit, and she’s one of the best in the business. I wouldn’t cross her,” he adds with a wry smile, even a tiny, harsh chuckle.

“As I was saying, Potter, you’ll be staying with Evans until she gets acquainted with how we work around here. He’ll fill you in, Evans. Right. Back to work!”

And that’s how he meets her, giving her the details of a glorified babysitting mission, which involves a lot of walking while looking menacing, driving cars in tight packs so they get hit with the bombs or bullets or anything else that could be heading for the target.

“Is this your first time in security?” he asks her as they leave, geared up and split into pairs.

Lily walks alongside him with breezy confidence, turning her head to look at him sharply. “Well. I’ve been with MI6 and the CIA for three years, and I’ve got three advanced degrees in criminology and security management. Can you defuse a bomb?”

James can’t help but laugh, throwing his hands up in surrender. “Alright, I’m waving a white flag here. I didn’t mean to imply you had something to prove. Just making small talk.”

Lily grumbles something under her breath that he doesn’t quite catch, and she says nothing until they get to their car.

He takes one look at her and then nods to the driver’s seat. “I’m guessing you want to drive, then?”

James can see her, biting back her smirk. But she doesn’t quite manage it as she climbs into the driver’s side and starts the engine. James grins and follows her.

The thing is, James doesn’t see it. Not right away.

Here’s what he sees: this is the first co-worker in Moody’s entire outfit that is anywhere close to his age, so it makes sense for them to band together. They’d probably be partners a lot, and Lily would do that thing where she deflects his prodding and personal questions and keep it kind of professional, while at the same time they’re eating a mountain of chinese food out of cardboard containers while sitting in their car, maybe tossing cheetos at each other or something.

It doesn’t really start like that.

Lily is … quiet. She wears her sunglasses and stares at the windshield when they’re doing the more covert stuff. She stands much taller than she actually is and stares straight ahead when she’s on duty.

At briefings, she sits and takes notes and plays with a ring that’s kept on a silver chain around her neck, tugging it back and forth.

But slowly, Lily opens up, and they end up more or less exactly the way James saw. And that’s fine, because that’s how it works. James sees, and then the world sees.

They’re doing heightened security for some singer who’s convinced that someone is planning to kill him after his show. They’ve got people on every entrance, two on either side of the stage, plants in the audience. Moody says they’re making a fortune from this guy’s anxiety.

They’re kind of spares, here. They’re alert, they’re ready, but there’s not really much for them to do except sit against the wall under harsh fluorescent lights outside of the dressing room - locked, of course - and feel the bass vibrating through the floor, rattling their bones.

Lily’s got her head buried in her phone, toying with her ring. She wears it around her neck on a silver chain when she’s in the field - if you could even call this in the field - and James has seen her tug on it a lot, back and forth.

“Is there really something more interesting than me on that thing?” James says, poking her arm. His earpiece crackles like someone’s trying to get through, but no one says anything.

“Is this about your ego or about you being a Luddite?” she says with a wry grin, but she doesn’t look up.

James pouts. “Can’t it be about both?”

“Isn’t it always about both?”

“Sometimes it’s about your ego,” he points out, making her laugh.

She lifts her head, rests it against the wall and blinks at him. “It’s my mum.”

James snorts into his bottle of water. “Is she antiquing or crafting?”

Lily wrinkles up her nose like she does so often. It’s her signature move. “She’s not doing either. You’ll be appropriately horrified to find out that my mother has found an even worse hobby.”

“Something worse than antiquing?”

Lily nods gravely, letting out a deep, dramatic sigh.

James narrows his eyes. “Something worse than crafting?”

“Considering that antiquing is worse than crafting, obviously…”

James holds up a hand, resting his elbow on his knee before she can go any further. “Lily, I am not getting into this argument with you again, there is no way -”

“You said you weren’t getting into this argument again, you’re just -”

“I just can’t believe you think antiquing is more of a problem here -”

“You know, I think you’re more of a problem here -”

They both pause to take in a large breath at the same moment, and then burst out laughing. They’re sitting in the hallway that runs from the dressing room to the steps up to the stage. One of their guys pokes his head around from where he stands on the wings to peer at the commotion, and they just laugh when they try to silence the other.

They both go quiet, and in the silence Lily starts fiddling with her ring again, glancing at her phone.

“So, what is worse than crafting and antiquing?” James says, glancing at the phone. It hasn’t buzzed or lit up.

Lily groans. “Wedding planning.”

There’s a few beats of silence; whatever James was expecting, it was in the abstract. If he had to guess, maybe beekeeping or making her own shoes something else a little wacky. He hasn’t met Lily’s mum, but he’s seen a lot of pictures and heard a lot of stories.

He shifts his weight uncomfortably before he realizes he hasn’t said anything, and Lily’s looking at him with this sort of expectant expression.

There’s not a whole lot James can say back to that.

“Have you set a date? Did you deliberately not invite me?”

Lily doesn’t scowl the way normal people scowl. She scowls with her whole face, her whole body, her whole self - past, present and future. It’s terrifying.

She scowls now and James braces himself to scoot away from her.

“No, we haven’t set a date yet,” she tells him, her arms folded tightly across her chest. “Three years I’ve been waiting for Aaron to set a date. Now, I think he’s just taking bets on how long I last before my head blows up.”

James clears his throat. Lily talks about Aaron too. They met so many years ago, it’s like a whole other Lily. Before she ever got a qualification, before any of her training, she worked as a receptionist for a newspaper, and that’s where she met him.

Privately, James thinks that Aaron is trying to set the record for world’s longest engagement.

And then it hits him, jabbing him right in his stomach. He blinks over at Lily and he can see something else, something he never saw before. He swallows, his whole body going cold as Lily keeps talking about her fiancé. He can’t look away, but he can barely look at her. His heart is hammering and his insides are shaking, his entire body reeling from the gravity of … this.

Once he’s home, James lies in bed, wide awake for hours. He watches the sun crawl up from behind the horizon from his spot on the bed, he watches his room slowly lighten from pitch black to shadows and shapes.

This is what he sees now: the same arguments, crafting or antiquing or even something worse, only now they’re in his apartment instead of their work space. Instead of sharing his lunch because she never remembers to bring food, he makes them both lunch. Backing away when she scowls with her own body, but hearing her laugh when he does. Distracting her from her phone in other ways than poking her in the arm, much more exciting ways …

He alternates between lying on his sides, stomach, and back. He pinches his nose and stares at the ceiling. Every second he spends not sleeping, he grows more uncomfortable, and the less he can think about anything else.

He’s heard Lily talk about her fiancé dozens of times. He asked her about her ring once, and she said she didn’t want to lose it, and he felt nothing. He remembers feeling nothing.

Or maybe he just doesn’t remember feeling anything, so he thinks he didn’t.

Or maybe he remembers feeling something, but he never realized that this was what he was remembering.

It makes no sense, to see the trajectory of a relationship, to think you know exactly what’s going to happen and have no idea, all in one moment. And in the very next, you know, and you realize you knew nothing.

And that’s when James knows.

He’s been wrong twice.

He tries telling her. His first attempt is some ridiculous teapot scheme while they’re all passing out Christmas presents.

It doesn’t go according to plan.

But she likes the teapot.

“Maybe I don’t need to tell her,” he says to Sirius one day, over their breakfast. For James, that’s fried eggs and bacon. For Sirius, it is coffee as black as his name.

Sirius does not look impressed.

“All you’ve talked about for months is that you need to tell her,” he points out, his eyebrow drawn up delicately. “And especially before she gets married. Not that you couldn’t tell her after, but it might be a little more tricky. All things considered.”

“Yeah, but she wants to get married, right? I shouldn’t get in the way of that.”

Sirius takes a massive gulp of his coffee like he’s chugging a beer. “Look, I think if she really wants to be married, she’d be married.”

“She’s waiting for -”

“Oh my god, James, I physically cannot care about this anymore.”

“I know, I’m just saying that -”

“Don’t. Care.” James glares at him in complete silence until Sirius shrugs his shoulders again. “People make things happen when they want them to happen.”

“So you think I should make it happen?”

“I never said that,” replies Sirius, going back for more coffee, because he never learns.

“But you think I should?”

“If it makes you stop whining about the girl, tell her in skywriting, Potter, just do something.”

Do something. That’s never been something that James has had a problem with. He’s pretty good at getting things done. He’s pretty good at wanting to do things, even. He gets what he wants, most of the time.

But this? This feels different, and weird, and new, and he continues to do this dance with her, feeling his heart thud when she smiles at him across the table during their briefings, experiencing a consuming ache of disappointment when they aren’t on the same assignment.

He even convinces himself that he’s happy to do it. After all, he’s not the opposite of happy.

James picks the worst moment to realize that he can’t wait a second longer. He comes into the break room, and it’s a quiet day. He and Lily are charged with manning the phones, hopping with frantic calls from people with warbling voices who need more security than the local mall can provide.

Lily’s already in the break room, and she nods her head towards the tea that is sitting on the counter, steaming.

“For me?”

She nods distractedly. “It’s so you don’t mind that I’ve commandeered the entire table.”

He sits down opposite her - she’s right. There isn’t a single place to put a small cup of tea. He adds enough sugar to make Lily pull a face, since she’s a purist who doesn’t even put milk in her tea, and then sips on it happily.

“What is all this?” he asks her. It’s a lot of papers, bright colours and fancy fonts.

He peers, and has a sinking feeling in his chest.

“Wedding stuff,” she grumbles. She could have very well said ‘battle plan’ in the same tone. “I figure if I do some of the ground work, maybe Aaron will just ... “

“Just what?” he prompts her, frowning deeply.

Her own face starts to crumple. “What does it mean when someone asks you to marry you and then doesn’t for four years?”

It’s another one of those moments in his life where James thinks he can see the future. He feels the pressure of it laying in front of him, his feet fast approaching him.

“It means you shouldn’t marry him,” he says, his tone lighthearted.

But Lily’s eyes dart up to meet his, her face stricken. “What?”

James’ breath is unsteady; he needs to force his lungs to take in more air before he can speak. “I don’t think you should marry him, Lily.”

She says nothing. Nothing. James watches as she swallows hard, eyes boring into his.

“And why is that, James?”

She leans across the table, and he really sees it - he sees the outcome before it happens, he knows how this is going to work. She wants to hear him say it out loud.

So he does. He tells her exactly why, and he waits for her to smile and say that she loves him too, that they’re much better matched than she ever was with Aaron.

This is when James realizes, for the third time, that he’s wrong.

It’s four a.m. in the morning, and James has given up trying to tell the future. Three strikes and you’re out, and he doesn’t want to find out what happens when you’re wrong for the fourth time.

But just like always, Lily has other ideas. She never fails to sneak up on him. Maybe she thrives on subverting his expectations. Maybe it’s just the universe.

But she shows up - and she doesn’t knock, she bangs, hammers, pounds, brings down the thunder on his door until he opens it - and she stands there, dressed in mismatched socks and her hair in these ridiculous braids that she obviously wears to bed.

And she glares and glares, her hands still balled into fists. “I broke off my wedding for you,” she says, her voice loud and clear. “I broke off my wedding, and you just didn’t say anything. After all the stupid things you said!”

“Stupid?” he repeats, frowning as he rubs sleep from his eyes. He works in security, so he’s got a swiss knife tucked between his fingers. He drops it on the nearest surface. “Technically, you didn’t have a wedding to break off.”

“I had a ring to give back,” she replies, stomping into his apartment. He shuts the door behind her, and finds there are no words inside of him.

“And you don’t even react,” she mumbles, her voice breaking a little bit.

“I wasn’t sure you wanted me to,” James admits, rubbing the back of his neck.

All the fight seems to leave her. She flaps her hands to either side as if she’s saying take a look around, idiot - she’s got a point. It’s four a.m. in the morning, and she’s here in his apartment, looking ridiculous, and yelling at him about wedding rings.

“James…” she whispers, shaking her head. Her eyes are so wide. James can tell she’s doing everything she can not to insult him right now.

And just like that, he can’t see anything. Well, he can see her, he can see the smile growing as the anger wears off to be replaced by something warm and hopeful and good. He can’t see the future. But he can feel it, somewhere deep down, he can feel his future standing in the room with them. This is it.

#jilychallenge #chierafied #jily #james potter #lily evans #harry potter #marauders #fics

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littlerose13writes · 6 years

Text

Sweeter Than Fiction Chapter 2: Brother Code

Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter have decided fifth year is going to be their year; the year everything falls into place for them both and the year they show the bullies they aren’t afraid of them. Scorpius receives a prefect badge and Albus is going to join the Quidditch team, if Scorpius can just convince him that he should try out.

It’s going to be the year everything works out for them, and if that means Scorpius keeping his huge crush on his best friend a secret, then that’s just what he’s going to have to do.

It’s just a crush. He can get over it well before fifth year is over, can’t he?

This is a completed fic. Updates will be every Monday and every Friday.

Chapter 2/27

Read on AO3 or FF

A few weeks later, it was Scorpius’ turn to visit Albus and stay with the Potters. He had been permitted to visit the year before, but only for the day, then he’d had to Floo home. This time, he was staying for a whole week.

Scorpius loved his father and he loved the Wiltshire manor he had grown up in, but it did sometimes get a bit quiet. This was perfect most of the time when he wanted to curl up with a book, but just occasionally, Scorpius felt himself craving the bustle of a full house. The Potters’ house always contained a stream of people in the summer when the children were home, but Scorpius liked to imagine it was like that all year round, a hub of activity and warmth.

“Be good, Scorpius,” his father said stiffly from in front of the Potters’ fireplace.

“Oh, he always is,” Ginny replied, brushing soot from Scorpius’ shoulder.

Draco watched her fuss over him as he stepped back into the fireplace to return home. “Send my best to Harry, won’t you?”

“Of course.” Ginny smiled weakly. “You know, Draco, you’re always welcome to stop by for dinner. We would love to have you.”

His father looked uncomfortable at this idea. “Thank you very much,” he said politely, and gave an awkward sort of wave as he span away.

Ginny placed her hands atop Scorpius’ shoulders and beamed up at him. “Goodness me, you’ve gotten even taller since the last time I saw you. And there was Al thinking he was catching you up.”

Scorpius chuckled and was taken aback when Ginny pulled him into a warm and motherly hug. It had been a long time since Scorpius had been hugged like this and he sensed that Ginny knew that, because she held on just a second longer.

When Scorpius’ mum had passed away, he knew immediately he wanted Albus at the funeral with him. He needed his best friend more than ever on that day to get through the proceedings. But what he hadn’t counted on was how supportive Ginny would be to him too. She had come to accompany Albus but had ended up being a literal shoulder to cry on when Scorpius found himself standing in the garden on his own, thinking about how he would never see his mother again.

Ginny released him and smiled warmly. “Congratulations on becoming a prefect.” She picked up his bag and waved her wand so it slowly took itself upstairs.

“Thankyou, it was a bit of a shock to be honest.” Scorpius stood a bit awkwardly in the kitchen. “Were you a prefect at school?”

Ginny chuckled and shook her head. “No way, I was far too outspoken, nor was Harry. I’m still not sure how we managed to produce a Head Boy but there you go. We’re blaming Teddy’s influence.”

As if on cue, James Potter came skidding into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast from the table, stuffing it into his mouth then spotting Scorpius.

“Mhi Corpius,” he said thickly, through a mouthful of toast.

“Hello,” Scorpius replied politely as James forced the large mouthful of toast down and stuck his head out of the kitchen door.

“AL! YOUR BESTIE’S HERE!”

Scorpius grinned at being referred to as Al’s ‘bestie’ and Ginny caught his eye and grinned too, but more apologetically than anything.

“Going to Freddy’s, bye.” James grabbed another slice of toast and headed for the fireplace, reaching for the Floo powder but not before Ginny could snatch it up first.

“Not so fast. Have you changed your bedclothes and hung up your clean washing?”

James looked guilty. “I was going to do it when I got back?”

“A likely story, go on, upstairs.”

“Just wait until I’m seventeen, then I can do it with a flick of my wand,” James muttered as he left the kitchen.

“I thought James was already seventeen?”

Ginny shook her head. “Not until Tuesday. He’s rather frustrated about it in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“It’s great that he’s Head Boy though!”

“Yes, hopefully the responsibility will do him some good,” she mused.

“Scor!” Albus had finally appeared in the kitchen, with a huge grin on his face, as if he’d been waiting for his best friend to arrive. Scorpius felt himself move closer to where Albus was without even meaning to.

They hugged in a friendly manner, wrapping their arms around each other for just a second and clapping one another on the back before letting go. It was Scorpius’ well-practised platonic hug.

“You boys, you’d think you hadn’t seen each other in months,” Ginny sighed. “Have you had breakfast, Scorpius?”

“Er, yeah I did, at home before I left.”

“Second breakfast then!” Albus grinned and pulled Scorpius over to the table. “You have to try my grandma’s homemade jam,” he said, gesturing to a jar on the table.

They munched at toast and the delicious jam companionably for a few peaceful minutes until it was interrupted by Al’s younger sister Lily arriving in the kitchen with a dramatic sigh. This was what Scorpius loved about the Potters; there was always something going on.

“What’s up, Lil?” Albus asked her curiously as she pointedly looked away from where they sat at the table.

“I’m all alone,” she complained, plopping herself down at the kitchen table and placing her head atop her folded arms. “Hi, Scorpius.” Her words were muffled by her arms.

“Hello, Lily,” he said kindly.

“You’re all alone?” Albus questioned her skeptically.

“Yes!” she raised her head and sighed again. “James has gone off to Freddy’s, you’ve got Scorpius here, Daddy’s at work, Teddy’s at work, it’s just me.” She sniffed.

Ginny scoffed from the sink. “Who am I then? Nearly Headless Nick?” Lily turned to look at her sheepishly.

“Oh yes, I forgot you, Mum.”

Ginny sighed and muttered something about only being the person who brought Lily into this world.

“Mum can Miss Emerson come round with Darcy? Please please?” She sat up excitedly in her chair. “I want to show Darcy the book I made for her!”

Ginny sighed and nodded and Lily sped off again as quickly as she’d arrived.

“Oh Merlin, we should make ourselves scarce then,” Albus muttered under his breath.

“Why? Who’s Miss Emerson?” Scorpius had no idea what was going on.

“She’s a teacher at the muggle primary school we all went to, she married a wizard and found out we were all magic too. She used to babysit for us growing up.”

“You mean she’s a muggle?”

Albus nodded and Scorpius grinned in delight. The idea of being babysat by a muggle growing up was just such a Potter thing to think of.

“Well, why do we need to avoid her?” Scorpius was keen to meet this elusive, muggle babysitter. He’d not met many muggles before.

“We don’t need to avoid Miss Emerson, she’s great.” He shook his head. “No, she’s not actually called Miss Emerson anymore, Lily’s just being stupid. She’s Isabella.”

Scorpius gave Albus a confused look and the dark-haired boy realised he still hadn’t explained his earlier comment.

“Scor, do you like babies?”

Scorpius spluttered - that wasn’t the question he’d been expecting. “Babies? Er, well, I was a baby once.”

“Wow, Scor, I never knew that about you!” Albus stared at him in sarcastic wonder. “Isabella has a daughter, Darcy, she just turned one. Lily is obsessed with her but I never know what to do.”

Scorpius tried to picture Albus holding a baby and failed. He then tried to picture himself holding a baby and failed even more.

“Quidditch?” he suggested because he knew Albus liked practising.

“Can’t. We can only go if Mum or Teddy or someone of age comes with us to shrink the brooms down for the walk over, otherwise the muggles might notice us carrying them.”

The Potters lived in a village in Hampshire that was home to only a few wizarding families and the rest muggles. It’s close proximity to its neighbouring county Wiltshire, where Scorpius lived, meant they could write to each other more than once in a day if they wanted to. It also meant his father wasn’t too reluctant to let Scorpius stay, as he was only fifty miles away.

At that moment, Lily returned to the kitchen with a large, brightly coloured book in her hand which looked homemade and was singing shrilly.

“I wish I’d never taught you that spell,” Ginny muttered as she winced at the sound.

“Let’s go outside.” Albus looked in a hurry to leave and Scorpius was quick to follow Albus outside, where he chose a patch of grass far from the house.

“Sorry, it’s always like that around here. I bet you miss the peace and quiet of your place already,” he sighed, twirling a blade of grass between his fingers.

“I think it’s brilliant. So alive!” Scorpius stared off into the distance, thinking of the silent halls of Malfoy Manor and not missing them one bit.

“You’re so weird,” Albus told him affectionately. “I like weird.” Scorpius grinned.

“I’m the weirdest person you know,” Scorpius said with false pride to his voice. “Does that mean you like me the most?”

It was a long-running joke between them, although every time, Scorpius’ heart swooped when Albus replied “you know I like you more than anyone else.”

There was a moment of silence as they contentedly lounged on the lawn, Scorpius aware he was much fairer than his best friend and couldn’t stay in the sun as long as Albus could without burning. Albus went brown and freckly and Scorpius went red and blotchy.

“How was your grandma’s birthday?” Albus asked casually, making conversation.

“It was okay. My Grandfather was unbearable as ever, he’s losing his mind, spouting even more of that pureblood nonsense. Dad says to ignore him when he gets like that but it’s difficult to.”

Albus nodded in understanding, not that he really could understand what it was like to have a blood-purity-obsessed grandfather. Scorpius was lucky his dad didn’t buy into all of that rubbish.

“I had to leave the room at one point, you know,” he muttered darkly and Albus sat up to look at him.

“Were you alright? You weren’t on your own were you?” He sounded incredibly concerned and Scorpius melted just a little bit before responding.

“Dad tried his best, it wasn’t too bad. He’s not as good as you are at calming me down though.” Scorpius was reliving the memory of his dad trying to follow the steps Albus had given him if Scorpius started having a panic attack.

Albus and his father were the only people who knew about how Scorpius was still suffering from their fourth year adventures. It had started with some horrible nightmares, in which he was forced to relive the feeling of being tortured, of the fear of finding out who Delphi was, of the loss and despair he’d felt as the Scorpion King in a world where Albus didn’t exist. Although unpleasant, he’d thought it was probably quite normal to have bad dreams about what happened. Albus admitted he was having them too, and they learnt to recognise when the other hadn’t had a good night so they could take their notes for them in class.

But for Scorpius, the lasting effects of their fourth year crept beyond his dreams. Most of the time he was fine, but occasionally he had these moments where he felt himself panicking for no reason, where he felt so anxious, his heart would thump out palpitations and he was unable to sit still, where he forgot how to breathe and he was convinced he was going to die. He’d first had one only a few days after they returned from Godric’s Hollow, but it’d happened again a few times since.

The first time it happened, Albus had thought he was going to faint and made him lie down on the floor with his legs raised and count to ten while he breathed in. That was how Scorpius learned he couldn’t breathe in properly. After that, Albus did some research and realised Scorpius had been having a panic attack. Together they came up with a plan of what to do if it ever happened again. Albus knew that, when Scorpius felt that way, he wanted to be away from other people, in a place he was familiar with, and then he liked Albus to give him actions to follow and talk to him about history, or Quidditch, or really anything at all that was mundane and would help Scorpius gain a sense of himself again.

It had happened a few times at Hogwarts, and never in class thankfully, but each time he had been so grateful he had Albus by his side. Just before they’d parted for the holidays, Albus made him write to his dad and tell him. Then at the train station, Albus had handed his bemused dad a list of instructions about what to do if Scorpius had a panic attack at home. Dad had tried to hide it, but he was clearly very grateful.

“As long as you’re okay.” Albus still looked concerned as he peered down at Scorpius.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just another thing about me which is weird.” Scorpius sighed.

“Scor, don’t be silly. Look, if it happens again, I really think you should go to a Healer. I worry about you.”

He sounded so sweetly concerned, Scorpius copied his actions and sat up too. “That’s what Dad thinks too. I will if it happens again, don’t worry about me though!”

“Can I worry about how pink your cheekbones already are?” Albus grinned and Scorpius instantly reached up to touch his face, feeling the warmth beneath his fingertips. “Inside, before you burn.”

They returned to the kitchen to find it even fuller than before. Ginny was sat at the kitchen table, chatting to a blonde, very smiley woman who could only have been Isabella. Everything about her just screamed ‘muggle teacher/kindly babysitter’. Behind the table, Lily was holding her homemade book up and reading from it dramatically with several flourishing actions, all for the benefit of a small child who was watching curiously while being held by a tall, young man with pastel-blue hair. He was holding one of the baby’s hands and making her join in with Lily’s actions, bouncing her up and down. He looked up when they entered the kitchen.

“Hey Al! And this must be the famous Scorpius!” He passed the baby to Lily and came over to the back door to greet them. “Teddy Lupin, nice to finally meet you.” He shook Scorpius’ hand and gave him a warm smile.

“Scorpius Malfoy, great to meet you too,” he returned Teddy’s smile. He’d heard a lot about Teddy from Albus, who considered him a brother even though they weren’t actually related by blood. He was a metamorphmagus and owned his own hairdressing business in Hogsmeade.

“I thought you were at work?” Albus asked him curiously.

“I’m on my lunch break, came by to see this little one.” He gestured behind him to where Lily was twirling around the room holding the baby; Scorpius noticed the hand he pointed with was stained faintly purple.

“This is Darcy! She’s Isabella’s daughter.” Lily came bounding over with the baby on her hip who squealed in delight. “Is! This is Scorpius, Al’s best friend,” she called over her shoulder to the blonde lady at the table, who gave Scorpius a friendly wave as he grinned at her.

Scorpius had never been around a baby before. He didn’t have any siblings and just one immediate cousin, his Aunt Daphne’s daughter who was older than Scorpius and went to Ilvermorny in America. Albus, while one of the younger cousins in his huge extended family, had been around babies a lot from the age of two when Lily was born.

Baby Darcy stared at Scorpius, as if she were mesmerised by him. He gave a nervous smile and she copied him, not taking her eyes off him for a second.

“She likes you!” Teddy exclaimed, watching the baby.

“Can I hold her?” Scorpius asked curiously. There was something really quite cute about a tiny human, especially one who was smiling so angelically at him.

“Sure.” Lily passed the baby over to Scorpius who picked her up under her arms and sat her on his hip just like Lily and Teddy had done. She sat very still for a second, evaluating the new person holding onto her, then she started to bounce up and down and squeal delightedly.

“Wow Scor, she really likes you.” Albus looked impressed and Scorpius felt very pleased with himself. He’d never held a baby before but he seemed to be doing a good job. He also noticed that, although Al had been reluctant about interacting with the baby earlier, he was holding onto Darcy’s hand and making funny faces to make her laugh. Scorpius thought babies might be another one of those things Albus was convinced he was no good at when in actual fact he was.

Darcy reached for Albus and he sighed and groaned a lot, but Scorpius noticed he quickly reached back before Lily could take her instead. He did a poor job of hiding the huge grin on his face as the little girl curled into him and rested her head on his shoulder. It was an adorable sight and Scorpius had to remind himself not to stare.

“She likes Al best, we’ve never understood why,” Teddy joked with a grin and earned himself a withering look from the dark-haired boy.

It took a bit of getting used to the first time Scorpius had heard one of Al’s family members tease him like that. After years at school of seeing people like Polly Chapman make snide jabs at his best friend, he had to remind himself that Albus’ siblings were teasing him affectionately and what they were saying came from a place of love. It had probably been the only type of teasing Albus had experienced before he came to Hogwarts; this thought made Scorpius feel a bit sad.

The first few days of Scorpius’ stay went by and he quickly got into a routine of how the Potters liked to do things. Harry would always start cooking breakfast and Ginny would take over part way through, during which time, Harry would rush around the house gathering various pieces of paperwork together and muttering to himself. If James emerged still in his pyjamas, he wouldn’t speak to anybody and would stare sleepily out of the window. Other times, he came down fully dressed with his dark red hair brushed and would chat away incessantly. Lily danced around dreamily and liked to sing loudly wherever she went, particularly favouring a band she liked called One Incantation.

Of course, sharing a room with Albus was nothing new, but he was so much more relaxed when he wasn’t at school. He bantered easily with James (and Teddy who frequently popped by) and rarely sulked or acted grumpy. He was always sweet to Lily and humoured her eccentric nature. He was relaxed around his dad, and allowed his mum to tease him. It was lovely to see what Scorpius would call ‘the real Albus’.

It was the night before James’ seventeenth birthday and Scorpius was reclined on the camp bed, his nose in his book and waiting for Albus to finish showering before bed. The sound of the water was background noise, until a different sound floated over on top of it.

“Same lips red, the same eyes blue, same white shirt, couple more tattoos. It’s not you and it’s not me.”

Albus was singing.

Scorpius had never heard his best friend sing before; it wasn’t something that tended to come up on a day to day basis. But now, here he was, clear as day, singing his heart out in the shower.

“We’re not who we used to be, we’re just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me, trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat.”

He was actually a pretty good singer, his deep voice suiting the song he was belting out. Albus loved music and he’d introduced Scorpius to a lot over the years, this wasn’t a song Scorpius recognised though.

“Tongue-tied like we’ve never known, telling those stories we already told, ‘cause we don’t say what we really mean.”

It was strangely relaxing, listening to Albus singing away as he read the words on the page in front of him. He wondered how he’d never noticed Albus singing in the shower at Hogwarts before.

This summer, Scorpius had learned Albus was a skilled Keeper, a natural with babies and that he had a decent singing voice. It excited him to find new things out about his best friend.

Eventually, the singing stopped and so did the sound of the water, and Albus emerged from the ensuite bathroom wrapped in a towel with wet hair. He crossed the room to his chest of drawers and caught Scorpius grinning at him.

“That was a nice song,” Scorpius said politely.

Albus’ head jerked up and he looked startled. “You could hear me?”

“Was I not supposed to be able to? Sorry.” Scorpius hurried to apologise at the look on Albus’ face, who had grabbed tightly onto his towel and stalked back into the bathroom.

“I am going to bloody murder James!” he exclaimed from the bathroom and returned holding a small, blue sphere in one hand.

“What’s that?” Scorpius peered at it, trying not to think about the fact that Albus was still in just his towel.

“It’s supposed to be a portable, two-way silencing charm, you know for underage wizards like us who can’t always cast them.”

“What would underage wizards need to cast silencing Charms for?” Scorpius wondered aloud then realised when Albus just gave him a look. “Oh! Right, yes. That would be useful, I suppose.”

“It’s a Wheezes prototype, Uncle Ron gave it to me to test it out. But James has taken it and swapped it for this, its fake.” Albus sat down on the bed, tossing the blue sphere between his two hands. “I can’t believe you could hear me just then!” He covered his face with his hands, groaning in embarrassment.

“If it’s any consolation, you sounded really good.” Scorpius smiled genuinely at Albus, trying to convey that he wasn’t just saying that.

“You’re just saying that,” Albus replied, standing again and going over to his chest of drawers.

“I’m not! What was that you were singing?”

Albus eyed him as he pulled a pair of pyjamas from the drawer. “S’called Two Ghosts. I’ll send you it if you want.”

“Yes please,” Scorpius said.

Albus’ music had astounded Scorpius when he’d first arrived at Hogwarts, as he had only ever listened to classical opera until that point. But just like his choice in clothes, Albus’ musical preferences had rubbed off on Scorpius too. Although Albus preferred more upbeat tracks where Scorpius favoured slow, more melancholy songs, there were several times where their tastes crossed over and they found something they both liked.

Albus had a magical music box he used all the time at Hogwarts, and last Christmas he had bought Scorpius one too. He didn’t use his as much as Albus did, because when he was reading he liked silence, but it was one of his most treasured possessions.

“Don’t tell James please. He’ll be unbearable if he knows you heard me singing.” Albus had pulled the pyjamas on and was rubbing the towel over his wet hair, making it stick up all over the place.

“Not a word from me.” Scorpius mimed zipping his lips. “He’s seventeen tomorrow though, what couldn’t wait until the morning?”

“I’m going to go and find out,” Albus muttered and he stood up to leave the room. Scorpius shrugged and went back to his book.

Albus returned a few minutes later, a smirk on his face. “That was hilarious, if not a bit scarring.”

“What?” Scorpius sat up straighter at the look of glee on Al’s face.

“James. Turns out he was in the middle of using the portable silencing charm, he’s got a girl in his room.” They both fell about laughing. “Wait ‘til Mum finds out, she is going to go mental. I don’t even know how he snuck her in? I bet he used the invisibility cloak. Still, impressive. Our dad’s an Auror and he didn’t notice.”

“I didn’t know James had a girlfriend?” Scorpius wasn’t exactly close friends with James Potter, but his business tended to make its way round Hogwarts rapidly, very different to Albus who liked to keep things private.

Albus gave him a meaningful look. “Come on, it’s James. He doesn’t do girlfriends.”

“A boyfriend then?” Scorpius asked innocently, but he was scrutinising Albus’ reaction. Just to see.

“Oh Scor, you are naive sometimes.” Albus grinned. “James doesn’t do anyonefriends, committed relationships aren’t really his thing. Idiot’s gonna end up getting somebody pregnant soon if he’s not careful. I keep telling him.”

“But he’d have to be having-” Scorpius stopped himself abruptly. “Oh. The portable silencing charm.”

“Correct. You’re catching on, Scor.”

This thought was almost inconceivable to Scorpius and he hoped Albus was more on his page than James’. His romantic history consisted of harbouring a huge, secret crush on his best friend for two years and a shaky, failed attempt to ask Rose Granger-Weasley out last year. James wasn’t even a seventh year yet and he was already having sex?

Albus seemed to pick up on Scorpius’ inner monologue from his expression. “Don’t worry, I think it’s mad too. I’ve never even kissed anyone before.”

“Are you not counting your Aunt Hermione then?” Scorpius smirked and Albus threw a pillow at him.

“Shut up.” The pillow hit the side of Scorpius’ head. “I think I want to wait, y’know. Not for marriage or anything like that, but I want to make sure I’ve definitely found the right person before I ever, you know.”

Malfoy the Platonic nodded in agreement while Scorpius internally screamed and imagined Albus telling somebody they were his ‘right person’.

“Teddy waited and he and Vic are really happy together,” Albus continued, going to turn the light off and climbing back into bed.

“You’re so lucky to have brothers you can talk to about this stuff,” Scorpius sighed wistfully into the darkness.

“Believe me, most of the time I wish James didn’t talk to me about this stuff. He goes into way too much detail.”

Scorpius laughed and rolled over onto his side, hugging the pillow Albus had thrown to him as sleep started to take over.

James’ seventeenth birthday was marred slightly by Ginny grounding him for the rest of the month when she inevitably found out about the girl he had snuck into his room a few days beforehand. Scorpius and Albus overhead her giving him a very serious lecture the morning after about respect and responsibility and they exchanged amused looks until the topic turned to a detailed discussion about contraception and they quickly scarpered in bewilderment.

“He’s mad at me, he thinks I told Mum,” Albus admitted when they were far enough away from the kitchen.

“You didn’t, did you?” Scorpius was doubtful.

“Of course not! Brother Code. He wouldn’t have told Mum if I’d snuck somebody in to do that.”

At Albus’ words, Scorpius pictured, not for the first time, Albus with a girlfriend. Albus holding hands with a girl around the corridors at school, Albus snuggling up on the sofa in the common room with a girl, Albus sneaking off to snog a girl in secret, maybe not even telling Scorpius where he was going, Albus resting his head on a girl’s shoulder while she stroked his hair lovingly.

The thought made Scorpius feel a bit sick.

But then this was going to be their year. Albus was going to make the Quidditch team, he was sure of it, and then he’d be noticed by loads of girls who didn’t think he was cold and unfriendly. Lots of girls would want to date Albus if they saw him the way Scorpius did.

“Is Rose coming later?” Scorpius asked without thinking. He’d been focused on the idea of Albus having a girlfriend.

Albus scowled. “Yeah, she will be.” He brightened up a bit. “Actually, the whole Weasley clan will be here. I apologise in advance.”

Scorpius grinned. “You know I think your family are brilliant.”

“Brilliantly mad. I warn you now, they’re all going to be fascinated that you’re here.” Albus rolled his eyes as James sloped out to join them looking a bit miserable.

“Mum told me it wasn’t you who told her, Al,” he said, throwing himself down dejectedly. “So sorry about that.”

“I told you it wasn’t me.” He poked James in the side of the head. “How did she find out?”

“Fuck knows. She’s Mum, she finds out everything.” His voice was muffled because he’d pressed his head into his hands.

“It was pretty stupid of you James,” Albus said, shaking his head.

“I’ve gotten away with it before,” he said slyly and Scorpius’ eyes widened at this admission. “That time Mum went to Bulgaria for work.”

“Ah yes, when you only had the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to sneak past.” Albus smirked.

“Please, Dad didn’t even know I was having sex until this summer, he doesn’t notice anything.”

“I wish I didn’t have to notice either. Who was she this time anyway?” Albus questioned.

“Emily Stone, year above, Gryffindor. Not the first time either. She’s got this really cute freckle right on her-”

“We don’t need to know.”

Seeing James and Albus bounce off each other made Scorpius wonder what it must be like to have a brother. He sometimes felt a bit like he’d missed out on the feeling of having siblings.

James caught his eye. “Sorry Scorpius, hope I’m not tarnishing your innocent ears with talk of my rampant ways.”

Scorpius was chuckling but he could hardly deny he was innocent. “No, go ahead.”

“Right, so this freckle-”

“That’s not what he meant, James!” Albus punched his brother lightly in the side and grinned. “I was in the middle of trying to explain to Scorpius what an experience it’s going to be to meet all the Weasleys tonight.”

“Cracking! You’ll just love it, Scorpius. Al, have you told him about-”

“I was just about to. Okay, so if you’re going to survive the evening, there are a few things you need to know.” Scorpius gulped at the serious expressions Al and James were exchanging and he felt a bit like he was being initiated into a club.

“Number one: don’t accept anything from Uncle George or Uncle Ron. They like to prey on fresh meat and they don’t get fresher than you mate.” James clapped a hand on his shoulder as Scorpius sat eagerly waiting for the next rule. “Better add Freddy and Roxy to that list too actually.”

“Number two:” Albus took over, “do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to be in a conversation with our Uncle Percy unless someone else is present to act as your accomplice. If you go it alone, you will end up stuck there for hours. In fact, as you’re fairly unknown, you could pretend not to speak English but best to avoid it altogether.”

Scorpius snorted. He was really enjoying how seriously the Potter boys were delivering these rules. “I have a question.”

“Oh dear, and we’ve barely scratched the surface,” James looked off into the distance.

“How do I know which Uncle is which?”

“That’s easy, mate.” Albus held out his hand as if he were counting. He held his thumb up first. “Uncle Ron is the tallest and will never be far from Hermione’s side,” he put his index finger up, “Uncle George always smells faintly of gunpowder and laughs instantly at bad jokes,” his middle finger extended, “Uncle Percy is the only one who wears glasses, probably have a seven-year-old attached to him for most of the evening,” his ring finger, “Uncle Charlie is the freckliest, because he lives in Romania,” finally his whole hand was open, “and Uncle Bill will be the one shooting dirty looks at Teddy all evening whenever he’s with Vic.”

Scorpius nodded, trying to take this all in. He didn’t even know who ‘Vic’ was.

“That last one’s a joke by the way, Bill adores Ted. Look for a ponytail and you’ve found Uncle Bill.” James finished for him, looking pleased.

Scorpius felt overwhelmed with information; part of him wanted to get out a notebook and write this all down. “Are there anymore?”

“Yes, number three: if you’re related to any muggles, our grandad will accost you and ask you weird questions.”

“James, I’m literally a Malfoy.”

“Good point. In which case, he’ll be hellbent on getting you to join his craze.”

“You’d love that wouldn’t you, Scor?” Albus said and Scorpius nodded. “Number four: if anyone mentions karaoke, or Celestina Warbeck, get as far away from my grandma as you can. Unless you like shaky Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love renditions.”

“Number five:” James was really enjoying this, “if you’re not into board games, always look busy in front of Lily. She will use any excuse to get people to play with her because she loves winning and she’ll throw a strop if she loses.”

“And finally, number six: if my dad is drunk-”

“Which he will be,” James put in.

“-don’t take anything he says seriously. I mean anything. His drunk humour is to try and convince those around him of as many ridiculous things as he can and, well, you look a bit gullible, Scor.”

“That’s fair,” Scorpius rolled his eyes but was grinning too. “Anything else I should know?”

“Yes, Teddy might propose to Vic-”

“Shut up, James. He’s not going to propose at your birthday when I know for a fact he hasn’t spoken to Uncle Bill about it yet.”

James winked at Scorpius as if Albus didn’t know what he was talking about.

James’ birthday was a lot of fun. Albus was right, his family were all brilliantly mad and he was also right when he said they would be fascinated with him. Everyone was pleasantly amused at the idea of a Malfoy at a Potter’s birthday party but, as they all knew of his friendship with Al, it was all said in good taste.

Scorpius did manage to remember all of the rules for most of the evening. He avoided Al’s Uncle Percy but was less successful when it came to his grandad and ended up having a fascinating conversation about something called ‘the toob’ which apparently was a muggle train system buried under the streets of London. It sounded made up to Scorpius.

He approached everything Ron, George, Freddy and Roxy offered him with utmost caution until they realised he’d been tipped off and had a really enjoyable game of Wizard Guess Who? with Lily as it was the only two player game she had and he was the only person who agreed to play with her. He let her win and she kissed him on the cheek.

When Harry sat Scorpius down and started telling him a story about a time in his fourth year when Scorpius’ father had founded The Hogwarts Ballet Society, Albus dragged him away while Harry roared with laughter.

Nobody mentioned karaoke, or Celestina Warbeck, and James managed to make it to blowing out the candles on his giant Quaffle cake without Teddy popping the question and stealing his limelight. Him and Al’s cousin Victoire (who Scorpius had had a very interesting conversation with about Healer school) had left the Potters as boyfriend and girlfriend and not fiancés.

When the evening was winding down, and him and Albus were collapsed on the sofa, exhausted while a film played out and James and Lily chatted over it, Ginny sat beside him and gently placed a hand on his knee.

“I did invite your dad to come tonight, but I understand why he chose not to. We can all be a bit much when we get together. I hope you had a nice time though?” she asked kindly.

“Oh yes!” Scorpius replied enthusiastically, noticing that Albus had fallen asleep curled up on the end of the sofa. “I had a great time, you guys are brilliant! I wish I had a great big, huge family like that. Thankyou so much for having me to stay, Mrs Potter.”

“You are more than welcome, Scorpius. And please call me Ginny.”

“Thankyou for having me to stay, Ginny,” he repeated with a grin and she smiled.

“And you know where I am if you ever want to talk, about anything at all. Sometimes it’s easy to keep things inside, for fear of upsetting the person you want to tell, so I wanted you to know the option’s there. I’m only an owl away.”

Scorpius felt his eyes mist over at her words and he tried to communicate how grateful he was just with his expression. Ginny noticed and looked around sharply at her other children, who weren’t paying any attention. She pulled Scorpius into a one-armed hug.

“You’re part of the family now, Scorpius,” she whispered then squeezed his shoulder and let go. “We’ll get your dad at one of these one day, mark my words.” Scorpius chuckled weakly as he pictured James and Al explaining ‘the rules’ to his dad.

All in all, Scorpius went to bed feeling wonderfully content with life and thanking his lucky stars he had a best friend like Albus Potter.

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#scorbus #scorpius malfoy #albus potter #scorpius x albus #albus severus potter #albus x scorpius #scorbus fanfiction #sweeter than fiction #hpcc #harry potter and the cursed child #cursed Child compliant #multi chapter fic #ccsquad #swflr2

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