#like hey maybe we should at least pause and listen to Merlin | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

strawberri-blonde · 3 years

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Daisy - Draco Malfoy

Summary: You have a secret admirer who gifts you your favorite flower, after three times he reveals himself but it doesn’t go as planned.

Warnings: None

Laughter filled your body as you listened to Ron go on and on about how Hermione will never feel the same as he did. “What are you all talking about?” The beautiful Gryffindor nudged your shoulder making you giggle as the boys instantly shutting their mouths to scared to get caught. Rolling your eyes at Harry’s widen eyes and Ron’s shuttering you replied.

“We were talking about how Ron absolutely sucks at potions and he is too intimate to ask you for help.” Ron gave you a look but Hermione tilted her head. “You know how boys get. Their egos are fragile.”

“Hey.” The red head threw a crumb at you while Harry laughed along with Hermione.

“I’ll help you Ron.” Seeing the blush appeared on his pale face you picked up your cup to shield the smirk that was to evident if you didn’t try to hide it.

“Pssh, if you think Granger can help you, you’re crazy Weasley.” Hearing that familiar voice that caused chills to run down your spine. You quickly brushed off the feeling as Ron spoke.

“Ah, shut it Malfoy.” You set your cup down then reached for your fork and rested it in your hands.

“Please, Draco can we have one day without you terrorizing us?” The blonde looked at you and his stature stiffened. Luckily, no one noticed it and he was able to concentrate on the real reason he was here.

“Honestly, Y/n.” He leaned down placing his arms on the either side you, making your heart race but you kept a straight face. “I don’t know why you hangout with these mugbloods.” And just like that you rolled your eyes and turned to him making it so your lips were only inches apart.

“Because they’re my friends Draco. You should try to get some other than your minions.” Sucking in a breath as his eyes trailed down your face towards your lips. “That’s not a friendship.”

“Hmm.” The two of you stayed in that position until the boys spoke up.

“Back off Malfoy.”

“Yeah just leave her be.”

Clearing your throat, Draco leaned back and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his robe. “When you’re ready to be around your on kind you know where to find me.” You rolled your eyes again then turned back, not facing the boy then dropped your fork to pick up your cup to take a sip from it.

“Not in a million years, Draco.” The golden trio plus others that couldn’t help but listen in snickered at the platinum blonde. The pure blood only rolled his eyes and turned away but not before sparing you one more glance.

Harry and Ron carefully watched the Slytherin walked off to sit with the members of his house. “Good, he’s annoying.” The Weasley snipped before taking a bite of his food.

Letting out a sigh, you put down your cup and went to grab your fork but when you did something else was in its place. A white daisy. “What in the-”

“Y/n, did you do that?” Picking up the delicate flower you turned to Hermione and shook your head in confusion.

“No, I...” you paused to inspect the beauty, quite literally in shock. “I didn’t do it.”

Harry squinted his eyes at the flower. “Maybe you did it on accident.”

Ron nodded in agreement. “Or someone could’ve cursed your fork?” This caused all of you to turn to Ron in disbelief. “What?”

“I don’t think someone would curse my fork to turn into something like a flower.” Hermione grabbed onto your arm and let a smile cover her beautiful features.

“Maybe someone did it because they have a crush?”

Your eyebrows rose and eyes widen at this. “I don’t think so Hermione.” Feeling her hands slip off your arms you brought the flower closer towards your face and smile at it. “But I have to say I do enjoy the sweet surprise.”

The crowds roaring echoed in your ear lighting up the fire inside as you yelled with them. Hermione and you were jumping up and down from the Gryffindor team scoring a point tying with Slytherin. “Merlin, we need to win this.” Hermione nodded in agreement clenching her hat onto her curly long locks. “Go, boys!” Surprisingly enough, it seemed as though Draco somehow heard you through all the ruckus and y’all locked eyes for a brief moment. He was the first to look away and knock a Gryffindor off his broom. Smirking towards yourself you hated that you found it hot.

“What was that?” Hermione’s question startled you a bit causing you to grab at your chest in shock.

You pushed back some of your hair as you kept your eyes onto the match, not daring to look the girl in the eye. Because you knew that if she did, the girl would know your secret. “What are you talking about?” Gryffindor blocked a goal causing you to scream but Hermione crossed her arms over her chest giving you her signature look.

“Oh don’t give me that?” You sighed making a cloud surround your face because it was so cold. “You like him. You like Malfoy-” insanely you turned around and covered her mouth with your hand.

“Don’t.” Your voice came out very squinky making you wince. “Please Hermione, not right now.” The brunette squeezed your biceps in comfort and when you let go of her mouth a smile had taken over.

“Okay, but later-Y/N!” Hermione pulled you toward her as a golden snitch came flying your way. You lifted your arms up to cover your face and flinched expecting to feel pain but it never came. Instead you felt the slightest touch. Slowly you moved your hands away from your face and looked down to see a daisy. Hermione bent down and picked it up to hand it to you. “Someone just saved your live with a daisy.”

Your breath got caught in your throat as you reached out to grasp the flower. Looking at the beauty, it looked the same as the one that appeared in the dinning hall. “I guess I’m lucky.”

After that, Slytherin had won the match, with Draco scoring the winning point for his team. Of course you were upset that your house had lost but seeing Draco’s smile made it a little better.

Walking down the main hall, you took off your hat and ran your fingers through your hair still holding onto the white daisy. “Y/n.” Surprised to hear the voice you turned around quickly to look over at the platinum blonde.

“Draco? What are you doing?” His hair was pressed to his forehead from the sweat and his cheeks were flushed from all the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Surprisingly, he smelt amazing despite having sweat all over.

“I-I was wondering if you were okay.” A sweet smile danced its way onto your face as Malfoy neared.

You took a step forward making it so you were only a few distances away. “Well,” you said as you twirled the daisy in between your thumb and pointer finger. “I didn’t get knocked out by a snitch sooo I think I’m doing okay.” Draco laughed at this and stepped a little closer.

“Well that’s a good thing.”

You grinned at him before replying. “Was the great Draco Malfoy worried about little old me?” The boy dragged his tongue across the inside of his cheek to the bottom of his lower jawed under his bottom lip. His eyes never left yours making you giggle. You reached forward with the hand that held the daisy, you grabbed the collar of his green rob and pulled him until his body was touching yours. “It’s a good look on you Malfoy.” And just like that all the confidence the Slytherin had was gone. You seeing how flushed the boy was, laughed in response and pulled away from him. “Have a nice night Malfoy.”

Cursing at himself for being so weak, Draco smiled at you one last time before you turned around to turn in for the night. “You too.”

Frustrations ran high as you stared at the piece of paper going over every ingredient, every little detail trying to get this potion right but for some reason it just wasn’t working. “Fuck me.” You groaned tugging on your roots.

“Is that an invitation?”

“Merlin.” You gasped turning around in shock. The moon shined through the window causing some light into the library but the fire did most of the work. You really didn’t expect for anyone to be in the library this late but here you were. “Draco? What are you doing here?” His slider body made his way over to where you were sitting and pressed his hands against the table.

“I was terrorizing 2nd year mugbloods and I lost them. Then I saw the light in the library and got curious.” You rolled your eyes then rested your chin into your hand.

“You know curiosity killed the cat right?” Now it was Dracos time to roll his eyes as he pulled out the wooden chair to sit across from you.

“Now it’s your turn.” You both had a mini stare off as you finally let out a sigh in defeat. You reluctantly turned the book around and showed it to the Slytherin.

”I cant figure out this spell and Snape has been giving me hell.” Draco’s eyes watched as you palmed your face in distress and his heart became heavy. “I’ve read everything at least seven times and I keep messing it up. And if I don’t get it right in class Snape will quite literally have my head.”

Chuckles filled the room as Draco grabbed onto the page. “We can’t have that can we?” Reading over the potion Dragon Dung Fertilizer. You watched carefully as his eyes gazed over the ingredients and looked at the materials. “Okay put it together like you have been because I think I know what you’ve been doing wrong.” You gave him a look but he just laughed. “I did the same thing too.”

“Whatever.” You laughed out then started to put all the ingredients together then at the last step toasted dragonfly thoraxes you grabbed your wand and lightly burned them. Before you could even put them in the bowl, Draco clicked his tongue against his teeth. “What?”

“I know it says toasted but you basically have to fry them.” You gave Draco a look but he rested his hand onto his chin. “Just trust me.” Giving the boy one last look you enknighted the spell that caused fire to spew from your wand and you burned the thoraxes to a crisp. Gently you set the ingredients all together and mixed them perfectly. Once everything seemed set you picked up the dead plant that came from Harry’s and Ron’s room and applied the fertilizer to the soil. At first nothing happened but then the golden potho came alive and grew a foot long in leaves.

“Draco!” You squealed out, dashing from your seat to grab him into a hug. Draco was stund but quickly adapted placing his arms over yours. “Thank you.” You mumbled a thanks into his chest giving the boy butterflies.

“Yeah no problem.” You pulled away first to look over at the plant and that’s when Dacro noticed the daisies in your book of spells. You were trying to see who was sending them. “I have to go it’s late.”

“You’re right.” You nodded while tidying up. “I’ll see you tomorrow Draco. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Y/n.” You listened to his footsteps until they disappeared then as you lifted up the pothos plant that’s when you saw it. A daisy.

“Oh it’s so Draco.” You let out a scoff as you pulled up your skirt then turned to your dorm mate. “I don’t know why you deny it so.”

“I’m denying it, Mione.” You looked back towards your mirror to brush your hair. “I’m denying it because I don’t want to get my hopes up.” Granger jumped up from her bed and walked behind you to comb your hair for you.

“So you like him.” Sharing eye contact through the reflection you nodded shamefully.

“Since second year. I know he’s mean to you and the others and I shouldn’t; but I see through all that. He’s going through pain and instead of standing up to his dad he takes it out of others.” Hermione gave you a soft smile, finishing up your hair.

“And that’s why we love you Y/n. It’s because you care for others who really don’t deserve it.” Shrugging your shoulders you turned to face the beauty. “But if you like him, Ron and Harry will get over it.” Her comment made you scoff. “It might take a while but they will.”

You stayed quiet but decided to shake the comment off. “I have to get to class.” Not giving Hermione a chance to start the conversation back up you threw on your robe and grabbed your wand, and books for class plus paper and a quill. “We’ll talk later. Promise.” You raced out the door not really looking at to where you were going. Once you turned a corner your body seemed to crash into something. “Bloody hell.”

“I’m sorry.” Looking up you were surprised to see the infamous Draco Malfoy.

“What-what are you doing on the girls dormitory floor?” You both bent down to pick up your stuff but once Draco handed you your book he grabbed your quill. He was the first to stand back up then lended a hand to help you up. Without hesitation you took it, and he helped you onto your feet. “Thanks, it’s seem quite the morning.” Draco let out a laugh and watched as your eyes landed onto your quill. Nervously, the platinum blonde grabbed his wand and pointed at the pen and whispered a spell.

Tears formed in your eyes as you saw the pink daisy. “Are you trying to joke with me Draco because it’s not funny.” Instantly the boy gapped and began to stutter making you push at his chest. “You saw the daisies or either heard about it from someone and thought that you could turn my pen into one pretending to be someone who might actually like me?” You pushed him again but Draco tried to grab your wrist but it didn’t work. “That’s low even for you Malfoy.” Quickly, you turned on your heel to flee from the boy but he grabbed your wrist.

“It was first year and you were talking with Hermione about how daisies were your favorite because that’s what your father gave your mother.” Hearing his words caused your heart to swell in your chest, and your eyes widen as you looked into his. “So I wanted you to know how I felt by giving you white daisies like your father.” He lifted the pink daisy and sighed. “I did it in secret because you make me nervous and I knew I would mess up.” You continued to stay quiet as you watched Draco put the flower behind his back and not even a second later he revealed a new set of a dozen white daisies. You smiled sweetly as you grasped them into your hands. “I like you Y/n Y/l/n.” A blush formed on both of your cheeks. “And I was wondering if you would company me on a date?”

You inched closer to the boy and stood on your tippy toes to press a kiss on his cheek. “I’m free tonight at 7.” Collecting yourself you moved past the boy to start walking down the hall. “And Malfoy don’t be late.”

#draco x y/n #draco x you #draco malfoy #draco fluff #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy imagine #hogwarts imagine #hogwarts

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15-dogs · 4 years

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something like this |s.b.|

pairing: sirius black x reader

summary: sirius always seems to have something to say about your boyfriend, but maybe it’s because his words are powered by another emotion

warnings: light swearing

guide: (Y/N) = your name, italics = flashback

word count: 2229

a/n: hi hello I’m a HUGE new girl fan and I was rewatching some episodes the other night (specifically oregon s4e16) and then I had an urge to make a fic?? off of the episode?? so yeah that’s what I did lol I hope all of you like it!!

“Sorry,” Remus said as he placed a letter before you, “it’s not from him.”

You groaned and threw your head in your hands. You could feel everyone’s eyes on you― specifically Sirius― so you regained composure, meeting everyone’s sad eyes with a smile.

“It’s fine!” You shot a glare at Sirius who hid his smirk with a long sip from his mug. “Don’t start with me, Sirius.”

“I haven’t said a word, love.”

You rolled your eyes as you got up from the table. “He’s coming, I know he is.”

“I bet he’s just busy, (Y/N),” Peter assured you.

“Yeah, you’re right, Peter. He’s just busy.”

“Or maybe he just doesn’t make time for you,” Sirius interjected.

You rounded on the raven haired boy, finger pointed at his chest. “I thought I said not to start with me,” you sneered.

Sirius raised his hands in defense, standing up so he towered over you. “I’m just saying, Ben’s your boyfriend, he should be spending his summer with you here. Or at least he should write you. When did he say he was visiting us? Four days ago, was it?”

You scuffed your feet against the wooden paneling of the little home you shared with the three boys. You suddenly felt ashamed; you didn’t want to admit that Sirius had a point, but he most certainly did. Ben hadn’t bothered to contact you since you moved in. When you two went long distance, Ben had promised he’d at least stay for a bit to help you unpack but there you were, living in your new flat with Remus, Sirius, and Peter for a couple weeks now, nearly fully unpacked and ready to move on. But you weren’t ready to move on from Ben.

And then you were back under Sirius’s gaze, his eyes softening as your shoulders drooped. “Six days ago. He said he was coming six days ago.”

Sirius cursed himself for falling prey to your doe eyes. He grabbed you by the arms, ducking to meet your gaze. “Hey, look, I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” You wiggled out of his grasp and waved him off as you stalked towards your room. “It’s...it’s really fine, Sirius.”

He ran his hand through his hair in distraught. “Shit, no-”

“It’s fine, Sirius, it’s fine.”

As you disappeared into your room and shut the door behind you, Remus clapped Sirius on the back. “So smooth, Pads. Really, I think she might have fallen in love with you already.”

Sirius shrugged out of Remus’s hand and stormed off towards his room, leaving Remus and Peter stifling snickers behind him.

Sirius flopped onto his bed, throwing his head back onto the pillow. He groaned at his actions, recalling what happened months prior, before you got together with Ben.

“Listen, I can’t just kiss you like this!” Sirius cried. A cocky grin tugged at your lips. Sirius’ eyes went wide and he shook his head fervently.

“What does that mean?”

“N-nothing.”

Sirius Black was nervous. And it was all because of you.

He started to stammer our poor excuses before promptly shutting himself up and darting off towards his dorm. You called after him, feeling terrible for making fun of him during the little drinking game. Something about the way he looked at you made you feel like he wasn’t joking when he said he didn’t want to kiss you like that, but still wanted to kiss you.

And Sirius wanted to. He wanted to since he met you but you were too blind to see it.

―

You paced around the kitchen, awaiting an owl from Ben. Remus almost felt sorry for you, watching you pause every few minutes because you thought you heard a hoot or a flap of wings.

But for the hundredth time that day, you paused at the sound of wings. And so did Remus.

You ran to the window to catch the owl, seeing that it was Ben’s tawny. You squealed with excitement as Sirius exited his room. He felt instantly filled with regret as he saw you petting the owl, bouncing up and down.

“Sirius, look! I told you he’d write, I told you!”

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and feigned happiness. “Well, you proved me wrong, (Y/N).”

“What does it say?” Remus interjected.

You ripped open the letter, your eyes scanning over the sweet words that your boyfriend wrote you. You read it once, twice, three times, your face falling with each individual read. Sirius furrowed his brow and placed a hand on your shoulder. You gasped at his touch and looked up at him, tears in your eyes.

You let out a watery chuckle and forced a smile on your face. “Ben’s not coming,” you explained. “Too busy. He says that we’re probably already unpacked so it wouldn’t make sense for him to buy a Portkey and travel from America and whatnot, so…”

“What?” Sirius looked appalled. “You’re joking.”

“I guess you could say I can’t be Sirius.” Even Sirius couldn’t laugh at your joke. You shifted your weight and looked at the floor. “Go on, Sirius, tell me how shitty of a person Ben is. I know that you’re dying to.”

Sirius sighed, looking over your shoulder to meet Remus’ knowing eyes. Remus shrugged as if to tell Sirius that whatever he would say he had to mean because you could see right through him.

“Listen, you’re probably right. He’s just busy.”

You nodded, feeling the tears start to stream down your cheeks. “I’m gonna go to my room.”

“Wait, (Y/N)!”

You dropped the letter at Sirius’s feet as you ran towards your room and shut the door behind you, collapsing on your bed in a ball of sorrows.

Sirius picked up the letter and read it once over, scoffing at his poor excuse of an apology. Remus stared at his friend amusedly, sipping coffee from a mug. Sirius slammed the paper on their table, rolling his eyes.

“I can’t believe he would do that!” Sirius hissed.

“You can’t? Because I most certainly can.”

“She deserves someone who actually cares about her, someone who wants to be with her, someone-”

“Like you, Sirius? She deserves someone like you?”

Sirius froze. Remus raised his brows awaiting Sirius’s response, but nothing came. That was as much an answer as any.

―

You had been crying in your room for the past couple days. Remus would occasionally bring you chocolates, Peter crafted little toys like fortune tellers, and Sirius? Sirius hadn’t shown up so much.

He would check in on you, sure, but he never brought you anything like the other guys. You weren’t necessarily upset about it, but you were confused as to why he seemed to be more distant than the other guys. Not avoiding you, just distant.

Maybe he wasn’t good at comforting people. But you knew that wasn’t true, Sirius had always been with you, always been there for you. What would have caused this change in behavior?

As if he could sense your thinking, there was a hesitant knock at your door.

“Come in,” you called out as you brushed used tissues onto your end table. Sirius entered, waving at you awkwardly.

“Can I sit here?” He pointed towards the blank spot on your bedsheets.

“I cleaned it off just for you.”

“How thoughtful.”

You tugged the blankets up to your chest as Sirius laid beside you. You continued to stare at the ceiling, feeling Sirius’s stare on you. You sighed; nothing good was about to come out of that boy’s mouth.

“Say what you’re gonna say, Sirius,” you whispered. “I know you didn’t come here to just check on me. Just spit it out-”

“Okay! Fine! I will!” You were taken aback by his abrupt change in demeanor. “You need a guy who shows up, love, and Ben is not doing that!”

You sat up and rolled your eyes. “Say what you really feel,” you shot under your breath.

“When are you going to see that you’re stuck dating a wall, (Y/N)? You have to know that you’re too good for him!”

“Oh, but I’m not too good for you? In fact, I must be just perfect for you!”

You weren’t exactly sure where those words came from, they just came. Maybe it was that drunken night he was dared to kiss you and you hadn’t stopped thinking about it. Maybe it was the way he acted more like a boyfriend than your own boyfriend had. Or maybe it was the way he gave you butterflies when he smiled. Maybe it was the way electricity shot up your spine he rested his hand on the small of your back. Maybe it was the way that you wished you never dated Ben in the first place, but rather dated Sirius but you were too damn stubborn to admit it, even to yourself.

“What are you on about?”

You rolled out of the bed and opened the door, hearing Remus and Peter scatter back to their rooms. “Leave.”

“But, I-”

“Please.”

You choked back a sob and Sirius then knew that he went too far. He got off of your bed and stumbled towards the door, pausing to look at you.

“I’m sorry-”

“I can’t help that I’m a hopeless romantic, Sirius. I want things to work out, and they will.”

“You’re wasting it on the wrong guy.”

You sucked in a sharp breath, mumbling an excuse as you shut the door in his face.

But, Merlin, was he right.

―

A week later, Sirius sat out by the pond that stood about 100 feet from your flat. He tossed a pebble in between his hands, debating what he could do to make it up to you.

Little did he know you were on your way to join him.

“Hey, Sirius.”

His eyes snapped up to yours and he began to grab his things to leave. “I was just heading out, actually-”

“We really need to talk.”

His heart sank into his stomach as his steps slowed to a stop. You picked up a rock and skipped it across the pond.

“I broke up with Ben, actually. You were right.”

Sirius tried to fight the feeling of excitement that rose up in his chest. “How did he take it?”

You nodded thoughtfully. “Really well, actually.”

“He didn’t respond yet?”

“No, he hasn’t responded.”

You let out a wry laugh and Sirius joined in, feeling some of the tension flood from his body. You picked up another rock and skipped it across the pond.

“Is it bad that I’m relieved?” you said, interrupting the silence. Sirius’ eyes went wide. You met his stare and he quickly attempted to save face by clearing his throat and picking up another pebble.

“I don’t think so. I think that you did the right thing.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that.”

That sense of dread crept back into the forefront of Sirius’s mind as you picked up yet another rock.

“You know,” you began as you moved closer to Sirius, “my friends back home would always play this game; there was a little pond by our houses that we’d go to on weekends. We’d talk about whatever, but it was usually boys. So we developed a little tradition: you think of your crush’s name and you toss a rock across the pond. Depending on how many times it skips, your fortune with your crush would be told.”

Sirius eyed you skeptically. “Has it ever worked?”

“Merlin, no,” you chuckled. “But I’d still like to do it.”

He nodded dutifully as the both of you retrieved your rocks. You glanced up at Sirius, thinking of his name as you skipped it across the pond. It skipped two times before sinking, causing you to frown.

“What’s that mean?” Sirius asked.

“It means it’s not up to me anymore.”

Sirius snorted. “And you made these rules when you were a kid? That’s quite depressing.”

“Oh, shut up. Just skip yours.”

Sirius did as he was told, skipping the rock across the pond three times. You gasped before turning to him with a gentle smile.

“Three times? What’s that?”

“It means they fancy you back.”

He was thinking of you, who else would he be thinking of? But he couldn’t tell you that just because of some silly game you made up when you were a kid. There was no way you felt the same― you just got out a relationship!

Sirius smiled back at you, nodding with faint confidence. You nodded back and made your way to leave but Sirius wouldn’t let you.

The moment he had admitted that he wanted to kiss you back in school stirred in his mind like nothing else he knew. He thought about you constantly but he had to hide it. That was, until, that very moment. He couldn’t keep waiting.

“Listen, I can’t just kiss you like this!”

He grabbed you by the wrist and tugged you towards him, connecting your lips. You didn’t even hesitate to clasp your hands behind his neck, his own trailing over your body like a dying man to the prospect of life.

As you pulled away, both of you were panting messes. He rested his forehead against yours, placing a peck against your lips again.

“I meant something like that.”

#sirius black #sirius black x reader #sirius black headcanon #sirius black x you #sirius black imagine #harry potter #harry potter imagine #fanfiction

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your-1up-girl · 3 years

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Once Upon A Dream (Hera x Ventus)

Uhhh....okay so this wasn't supposed to post until the 31st but I must have gotten the queue wrong soooooo. Have an early gift.! I dedicate this fic to the very lovely and absolutely gorgeous @sammilimyy! Why do you ask? Because it’s her birthday (I'm early sorry)!!! I was so inspired by your royal/fantasy AU with Hera and Ven that I just had to write a fanfic for it. Now this is basically inspired by a certain movie from a certain company that shall not be named out of fear they will take this down, but if you know the song then you know the movie. I hope you like it Sam (and I hope that I got it on time for your b-day) have a happy and wonderful birthday!

Word Count: 4339

Pairing: Hera (OC)/Ventus (Kingdom Heart)

Warnings: Nothing but pure fluff! I hope you have a good Dentist Sammi, cuz this thing is gonna give you cavities!!!

It was happening again. This dream she found herself in was coming to her with much more frequency now. Always in this dream, Hera would find herself wandering through a forest where the birds graced her ears with beautiful melodies and the way the light filtered through the trees was practically angelic. In this dream, she would always wear a tea-length dress so it would not drag against the soft grass and dirty the pristine fabric. Said dress was adorn in mute yellow skirt and bodice with pale pink trimming and a bow in the back. It flowed with grace as Hera continued barefoot down the unmade path. A path she has taken several times before.

At this point she would reach a clearing where the trees created a canopy of sorts and the brush and wildflowers bloomed and grew with no outside interference. Standing in the middle of this clearing was a figure. It always looked like the spirit of a young boy. Someone who Hera would guess was about her age but taller than her. He had spiky hair and clothes that looked different from that of what she had seen in the nearby villages of the kingdom. As he turned to face her, she could see the phantom of a smile on his face but never his actual features. Soft music would fill the air as they approached each other and they began to dance. The soft whips of his fingers held her waist as they twilered and glided across the grass. They could never speak to each other but they could laugh. And Hera thought his laugh was better than any orchestra in the world.

Despite never speaking to this boy and only sharing these dances, Hera had fallen for this mysterious stranger. It was a dream, but in her heart, it all felt completely real. This boy was out there. At this point, after they had their dance, the music would end and Hera would wake up to the knocks of her Lady in Waiting telling her to start the day; but this time was different. For just a brief moment, when Hera looked up and faced the spirit, she could see him. It was still in a ghost like form but his features were there and she took it all into memory. The bangs across his forehead, the goofy yet loving smile he wore, and most importantly the shadowy blue eyes that looked back at her. He had never appeared tangible to her once during these late night rendezvous but after seeing him in this apparariton form, Hera knew. She was completely in love.

Hera woke with a start in her bed. The sudden movement had scared her Meow Wow Polly and her friend Naminé who was drawing the curtains to let light enter the room.

“Your Grace, you’re awake.” The Lady in Waiting spoke once the initial shock faded. “I knocked on the door to wake you, but you didn’t respond. Then, when I came in, you had the most peaceful smile on your face that I didn’t want to wake you just yet.”

Hera held her heart as Naminé spoke, remembering the dream once more. “Did you have another dream about him?” Naminé sat on the bed next to the princess as Polly let out a small whine and cuddled back into her owner.

“Yes, I did. We danced like we always do. But this time,” Hera paused as her smile became more giddy, “This time I saw him, Naminé.”

Naminé wore a similar smile at this development, “Really! That’s wonderful Princess. What did he look like?” Hera adjusted herself on the bed so Naminé could begin taking her hair out of the braids she wore to bed.

“Well, he still looked like a ghost of sorts but his facial features were there and not just a blank face. He had the most beautiful blue eyes, Naminé.” A love-struck sigh left Hera’s lips, “It was like looking into the night sky itself.”

“You are absolutely smitten with this boy. Do you think he’s real?”

“Why else would he appear to me in this dream? And remember, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him.” Hera got out of bed and walked out onto the balcony. She leaned on the stone railing and gazed out into the horizon; her nightdress flowing in the early morning breeze. A sigh of doubt escaped her, “Naminé?”

Her Lady approached, “Yes Princess?”

“Answer me honestly, please. Do you think that boy is out there? Am I foolish to think that he could exist?”

Naminé’s eyes softened at her friend's sudden realization that this could all just be a dream. She held Hera close and spoke, “I think that in a world where magic exists and mythical creatures are a prominent part of our lives, having recurring dreams about a mysterious boy is calm by comparison.” This made Hera laugh, “I think he’s out there my Princess. If this truly is love that you feel, then you will both find your way to one another.”

After that, the day continued on as normal. Naminé helped Hera get dressed for the morning. Hera went to her lessons with Eraqus, the king. His lessons involved looking after the kingdom when she eventually came to rule. She had Keyblade training with Young Master Riku, Naminé would always remain close by during these lessons as the Lady in Waiting was very smitten with the Keyblade Master. And on this particular day, she ended her training with Master Aqua. The sworn protector of the Princess, Aqua specialized in magic and was well versed in wielding a Keyblade. She would teach Hera about combining magic into her basic attacks. However, Aqua took notice that Hera was not as focused as usual.

“Is there something bothering you Hera?”

“Huh? No Master Aqua, what makes you say that?” Their keyblades dissipated into the air signalling that they were done for the evening.

“It’s just that you haven’t been as focused as you should be during your lessons. And it’s not just with me, the King has noticed you’ve been more aloof with your teachings. Merlin has taken notice as well and so has Riku.” Hera hung her head in shame, should she tell Aqua about the dreams and the young boy? No, surely she would think the Princess crazy for looking into something like dreams. And falling in love with an apparition whom you don’t even know the name of would get her a lecture from the King. Hera couldn’t come up with a response quick enough but Aqua took the silence as something different. “You seem so worn out. Maybe you haven’t been getting enough sleep?”

At that, Hera’s head shot up, “Yes! Yes Master Aqua, that’s exactly it!” The sudden change in demeanor startled the blue haired Master from her train of thought. “I’m just so tired as of late Master Aqua. I think it would be best if I went off to bed now even. I had my dinner sometime before training so I’m not hungry.” Aqua blinked a few times. Hera seemed...excited to go to bed? It was an odd development in her attitude for sure but it seemed to be an improvement to what it was before so Aqua let it slide for now.

“Of course Your Grace, I’ll send for Naminé to meet you in your chambers to assist you for the night. Sweet dreams Princess Hera.” It was hard for the young girl to contain her excitement and Aqua could have sworn she heard a whispered, They will be as Hera passed.

Naminé carefully brushed Hera’s hair in the large bed of the royal chambers. Both girls wore their nightgowns and were discussing the events of the day. Polly sat comfortably in Hera’s lap, listening just as intently as if she were to join the conversation at any moment.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you were paying extra attention to Master Riku’s lessons today.” Hera jested with her best friend; a smirk proudly displayed on her face.

“At least one of us was.”

“Hey! Naminé!” The Princess turned to push the blonde girl as they both laughed in the empty, fire lit room. “He likes you, you know.”

“Oh please, I’m just a maid, he wouldn't like me.”

Hera thought about this for a moment as Naminé worked an intricate updo into the Princess's hair for the night. She could tell her friend was discouraged by this separation of class so she tried to lighten the mood, “If he rejects you, I’ll have him beheaded.” Naminé nearly choked on her own saliva and snorted out a laugh. Having accomplished her mission in making her friend laugh, Hera joined as well.

“As kind as that is, please Hera, don’t kill anyone on my behalf.” Naminé was grateful for the joke and Hera enjoyed the lack of formalities with her best friend. The conversation continued in this matter but before Naminé got up for the night, Hera asked her a question.

“You want me to draw you a picture?”

“Yes, please, if it’s not too much to ask?” Naminé, not wanting to refuse her friend or the Princess, took a piece of parchment from the desk, some graphite, and a flat board to give her some stability and joined Hera back on the bed.

“Alright Hera, what is your request?”

“I want you to draw the boy from my dreams.” Big, pleading blue eyes met confused blue ones as Naminé took in what Hera asked.

“I-Your Grace-Hera, you know that I don’t know what he looks like, yes?”

“Oh, I know. That’s why, you’re going to sit next to me and I’m going to watch you draw as I describe him to you.” Hera grabbed the pillow next to her and made room for her friend and tapped the spot. A small smile adorned the Lady’s face as she made herself comfortable and ready for the long night ahead of her.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the Kingdom, some yards away from the borders, a young farm boy sat upon the roof of his home looking at the horizon as the sky changed from warm tones to cool blues and the stars greeted him for the night. He came to look out into the sky when he needed to clear his head. And after having a busy day of training, fram work, and running errands, Ventus was in need of a small break. Not to mention that this moment alone gave him some time to think about the spirit girl he saw in his dreams. At first, Ventus just blew it off. Strange dreams happen all the time, take ‘em with a grain of salt. But then, she kept coming back, the same girl, in the same forest, with the same dress, and the same beautiful smile. God that smile. It was barely noticeable with the form that she took in his dreams but Ven was in love with it nonetheless.

He chuckled to himself. There I go again, Terra would have a fit if he could hear me. Falling in love with a forest spirit just because she danced with you in a recurring dream was ridiculous. Right? Ventus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, groaning when he had to pick more sticks out from when he fell herding the animals earlier. That girl made sleeping more exciting yet also somewhat frightening. Why did he see her all the time? Was she some sort of nymph? Was she even real? Would she love him back? And, why did he feel such disappointment if the answer was no? He didn’t even know this girl, and yet? Ventus put his hand over where his heart would be and gripped that part of his shirt. This girl had his heart and he didn’t know what to do about it.

“Ven? Ventus? Where are you?” Terra stepped out of the house to call for the young boy. It made Ven laugh just a bit. No matter how many times Ventus escaped to this spot, Terra never thought to check there. “Come on Ven, you’ll never get to be a royal guard if you don’t get a good night’s sleep!”

“And you will never be a detective if you don’t think to check in the obvious spots for the suspect.” Terra turned to see that Ventus was in fact, on the roof. They both shared a laugh and Ven made his way down. “If you keep yelling then you’ll wake the Tama Sheep and the Electricorn.” They both made it back inside the house and Ventus sat with a warm tea Terra had made. The young blond sat and stared at the tea with a look that was both focused and unfocused all at once.

“Hey Terra, do you believe in love at first sight?”

The brunette sat across from the boy and pondered the question, “I think it’s possible. I think that if someone really is the one then you’ll just know.”

“Hmm.”

“You thinking about your dreams again?”

“Yeah. It’s always with the same girl. She comes to that forest, doesn’t say a single thing to me, just laughs, and we dance. They’re getting more frequent and-” Ventus paused a small smile creeping onto his face.

“And?” With raised eyebrows, Terra waited for a response.

“And...I saw her face.” Ven couldn’t hide the smile or blush at this point and Terra’s eyes widened, not expecting that to be his response. “It was all ghosty and weird like the rest of her but I could see her eyes and the way they had so much life to them. I saw her and I just fell for her, Terra. Even more than I already am in love with her.”

“Does she look like anyone you know? Maybe it’s someone from the marketplace?”

“No, her clothes look different from that of the marketplace or even from the nearby towns. I could be wrong but they kinda look like a type of nobility.”

“Wow, look at you; dreaming about a Duchess.” It never crossed either of their minds as they drank the tea that the mysterious girl could have been a princess. Terra listened more to Ven’s recounting of dreams as it got a bit later. An hour had passed and the tea was all gone and both boys sat at the table trying to figure out what to do about the spirit girl.

“I think you should go talk to a woman who goes by Fairy Godmother. No one knows her real name but she is really good at figuring out people’s dreams. She lives on the far side of Traverse Town near the kingdom borders.” Ven listened closely. “If anyone can help you out, it’s her.” It was discussed that Ventus would take one of the Yoggy Rams and travel there tomorrow morning.

By early morning light, Ventus did just that. It was a long ride but not too tedious. Around mid-afternoon Ventus arrived at Traverse Town and began asking for this Fairy Godmother. Some people lead him to the back of the town where, in the middle of a water well, there was a house that was similar to that of a doll’s but less childish. Ventus carefully walked over the rocks with his Yoggy Ram to the front door and gave it a pensive knock. He waited no more than a minute when a kind looking older woman answered the door. She smiled at him like she was his grandson and enveloped him into a hug.

“Oh hello young man, it’s good to see you. Please, please, come in. Let your Ram drink from the water around my house. I don’t mind. I just prepared some warm milk if you would like some.” Fairy Godmother brought him into the quaint living room and he lifted the milk to his lips taking a sip. It tasted faintly of vanilla and hazelnut; it made Ventus smile. “So,” Fairy Godmother sat across from him in her own plush chair, “How can I help you dear.”

“My friend told me that you could help me with my dreams?”

She lightly laughed and placed her tea cup down, “Yes, he is correct; dreams tend to be my specialty. Tell me everything my dear.” Ventus did just that. From the smiles, to the laughs, and all the joy he felt in between. When he finished, he sat anxiously for the answer. “Hmm, this sounds like a very special girl.”

“She is Fairy Godmother.”

“But you have never seen her before?”

He hung his head, “No I haven’t Fairy Godmother.”

“And yet you’re in love with her.” There was no malice in this question and she asked knowing exactly what his answer would be.

Ventus sighed, the milk long finished as he searched for his answer, “I-Fairy Godmother, I know it sounds crazy to love someone you have never met but, my heart tells me that she is someone who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I don’t have much to give. I am a stable boy who is training for a guard position and doesn't have much control of his Keyblade yet and I can be kinda naive but I love her. More than anything.”

The Fairy Godmother smiled at his answer; it had exceeded her expectations. “That’s even better than what I had expected you to say.” She stood up and went to a bookshelf and handed him a map. A map of the kingdom more specifically. “You see this area?” She pointed to an unnamed forest that was about halfway to the castle and his ranch. “There is no name on the map but people call it The Somnium Forest. It’s a magical forest where people go when they need help in their lives. They say that it feels like time stops when you enter and no one leaves the forest unsatisfied. The inside of the forest, they say, never looks the same for one person.” She held Ventus’ hands in hers, “Tomorrow young man, I want you to go to the Somnium and walk around for a bit. I’m sure it will help you with your dreams.”

Ventus wasn’t sure how a forest would help, but he was willing to try. He gave the Fairy Godmother one last hug and left with his Yoggy Ram.

Returning to the castle once more. Hera walked around the grounds with more disdain than usual. Why? She didn’t dream about the boy. His picture was carefully placed in her tea-length dress pocket (courtesy of a very late drawing session with Naminé) but having the paper wasn’t the same as seeing him in her dreams. It had only been a day and yet it was enough to put her in an upsetting mood. It was to the point that she didn’t want to hang around the castle anymore. That was how she found her way to the library asking Merlin for his map of the kingdom.

“Any place you want to go, in particular Young Hera?” He asked with his usual chipper tone.

“No, just want to explore, get out for a bit.” Hera held her head in her left hand as her right hand grazed over the different locations of the map, pointer finger out. She could go to the castle town? No, that was far too close to home. She could go to the outskirts and explore the hills that acted as the land border on the west side? No, if she was gone for too long Aqua would have a fit. Her eyes noticed a forest and that peaked her interest. “Merlin, what’s this place?”

He adjusted his glasses, “Ah! You mean The Somnium Forest? It’s a place where dreams come true as they say.” He takes a sip of his tea, “People go in there and not one person leaves upset. Forest is magical.”

“A magical forest?” Hera could use some more magic in her life. And even if it wasn’t, having the comfort of a forest setting could give her some semblance of her dream. “Thank you for your help Merlin, could I trouble you to watch Polly while I’m gone?”

“Oh it would be no trouble at all Princess! I love the little thing after all. Come along Polly, let’s see what potions I can make to help Aerith in the garden.” The Meow Wow and the Wizard walked in tandem as Hera packed the map and made her way to the stables. As much as she wanted to leave with no one’s notice, the brunette unfortunately ran into Aqua.

“Oh Princess Hera, why are you heading to the stables?”

“I just wanted to take my Pegaslick and explore for a bit. I’m not sure when I will be back so can you tell Naminé that she has the rest of the day off? Maybe tell her to have some sweets with Master Riku.”

“Princess, by yourself? Are you sure you don’t want me to join you? I could quickly-”

“No, Master Aqua, I’m fine.” Hera didn’t feel good about brushing her Master and protector off but she needed to go to this forest. It was calling her the same way her dreams did.

She got to the stables and had the royal stable boy Prompto helped ready her Pegaslick. “The reins are all good, Your Grace, enjoy your ride.”

Hera took off after a quick thank you and without a second thought. It was difficult to ride while holding the map but after an hour, Somnium Forest greeted her. She got off the Pegaslick and decided to walk the remainder, her companion close to her side.

Upon entering, the Princess did feel different. There was a strong happiness that washed over her. The fresh smell filled her nose and the grass seemed so soft that she took off her riding boots, hanging them on the saddle and continued barefoot. Eventually, Hera found herself walking deeper into the trees but she couldn’t find it in herself to worry about getting lost. A part of her knew that she wasn’t. In fact, the way the trees and flowers created a path. And the light through the trees. Her dress flowing in the soft breeze and the birds. It all made her stop to pinch herself.

“This has to be a dream.” A whisper that she barely heard left her lips but the muzzle of her Pegaslick acted as a reasurace that this was all real. With a new found fervor, Hera kept going.

On the other hand, Ventus was having the same feeling of déjà vu; only he bounded into the forest with reckless abandon. All these trees, flowers, and rocks he rode past were familiar to him. And as he approached a clearing, he knew this was the moment of truth.

They stared at each other on either side of the clearing. Both shook with excitement but neither moved out of fear of breaking this perfect scene. Ventus had to get off his Yoggy Ram but his eyes never once left hers. Carefully, they approached and once they met in the middle?

“You-are you-?” Hera couldn’t speak. So overwhelmed with joy that he stood before her as a flesh and blood person and not just some apparition. Rather she took out her drawing from the dress pocket and held it up. “It is you.”

Ventus held her face and she leaned into his touch. He wiped a tear that fell from her eye and nodded his head. “The boy from the dreams? Yes, that’s me.” Hera dropped the picture and hugged him. Her arms around his middle and his holding her head into his chest.

“I thought you weren’t real. I thought the universe was playing a horrible trick on me.”

“I promise I’m real. My name is Ventus, and I have wanted this moment ever since that first dream we had.” The dropped drawing was retrieved and put back into her pocket.

“Ventus,” What a beautiful name, “I am Hera. Your voice is so wonderful! I’m so glad to finally hear it!”

“The Princess? I’m so stupid for not recognizing you sooner. I must say Hera,” Ven brushed her hair behind her ears, “The dreams don’t do you justice. I didn’t think there could be a blue more clear than the sky, yet your eyes puts it to shame.” Hera blushed and smiled, wiping some tears from her cheeks. “There is just one thing missing to make our dream a reality.” Hera tilted her head. What more could they want? “There may not be music but, may I have this dance?”

He was right, no music played in this forest, but Hera happily accepted his hand as they moved across the grass. The laughter sounded even better than any of the nights they shared.

Off behind the trees, Aqua watched with the purest expression. Against her better judgement, she followed the young Princess to see if she was alright. Once she saw Hera with this young boy she knew everything was fine.

“So, you followed her I’m assuming?” Aqua looked and saw Terra approach as he went to the spot next to her.

“Yes, and I take it that he is yours?”

“Yeah, less ‘mine’. I’m more of his friend slash guardian.” They watched the kids dance and laugh and converse in the clearing. Terra broke their silence again, “Ventus, he’s training to be a royal guard.”

“Is he now?” Aqua smiled as she knew where this conversation was headed.

“Yes, I’m just a stable boy like him but I did undergo some training as well. I teach him everything and he is a very fast learner. I don’t want to overstep my boundaries but, perhaps the Princess could use another personal guard?”

Aqua laughed and didn't take her eyes off of the lovely couple as, "Yes, I'm sure Her Majesty would love that."

#I hope I did your baby justice Sammi #I feel like the ending was kinda a let down but I hope you like it Sam!#I took what you said about Ven being inspired by Link and kinda added to that.#The only Link I know is from Twilight Princess so that is my inspiration. :)#but this was so much fun to write #as you can tell #I love fantasy/royal aus #and I am Hera's aunt so I thought this was fitting #Plus i wanted to do something nice for your birthday since you drew something for me #I'm just glad I wrote it on time #Hera x Ventus #kingdom hearts #ocs #original character #not my oc #my writing #OUaD #enjoy

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theroundbartable · 3 years

Text

Dragon Island

“Absolutely not.” Sometimes, Arthur Pendragon was not only a prat, he was a downright Clotpole. Not that Merlin ever failed to mention it.

“Arthur, I am going with you!”

“And what exactly can YOU do against dragons, Merlin? This is THE dragon Island! My father has been searching for this place for over a decade! There are rumors that there will be dragon lord's there as well! Do you even know how many knights have died since the purge started? Since my father fought these monsters and erased them from this part of the world? If we find this Island, we can end this war! But this is too dangerous for a servant. I can not waste my time consoling you, when the sea is making you sick, Merlin. I have battle strategies to discuss.”

Merlin huffed and crossed his arms. They were standing at the shore, far far away from Camelot. Uther Pendragon had a ship army remaining here in position. He regularly send out spies to find the home island of the dragon lords. Not that there were any actual dragon lords with dragon lord powers left. They were wiped out in the war. But their families remained. Those who valued their traditions and taught each other magic. But weren't the first son's and therefore had none of the abilities their kind was so proud of. But magic was another reason to have them wiped out.

About a week ago, one of Uther's spies had found a trace that lead them to an underwater cave. Barely shallow enough to have a narrow boat sail through. They had found runes engraved in the walls. And the spy was pretty ecstatic that this MUST be the entrance to the secret island.

Well... Since Arthur was the only knight known to have actually killed a dragon (which he didn't), his father found it absolutely logical to send his only son and heir on another suicide mission. Into unknown terrain, with unknown enemies and not one dragon, but a whole army of those impossible-to-kill-except-you're-a-dragon-lord creatures.

It was truly perfect. Arthur could finally proof his worth as crown prince.... again. And almost die.... again. Heroically of course. Uther was a genius.

And apparently Arthur was just as smart, because the idiot prince had decided to go on that mission WITHOUT Merlin. The only ACTUAL dragon lord left in the entire known universe. Not that they knew about that.

“Just so you know – I do NOT get sea sick. And I already know how to use the sails and stuff. Will and I often went out with the fisher of our town. Other than you who grew up in a fancy Castle with perfect temperature in every single room and hundreds of servants working for you. You may train, but you have NO idea how to deal with the weather, with the tides. You barely know how to dress yourself!”, as Merlin exclaimed the last part, he could basically feel the steam of anger from Arthur's nostrils flaring at him, while a few knights were snickering behind them.

The knights were, by the way, currently occupied readying the boat.

“Fishing on a boat and Sailing on the open sea is totally different.”, Arthur argued, causing Merlin to roll his eyes and facepalm himself. “Fisher's... sail, Sire.”, he muttered, causing Arthur to frown as if that confused him for some reason.

“I don't care. You cannot stop me. I'll come with you.”, Merlin's expression was final.

“I'm the crown prince of Camelot, Merlin. You have to do what I say.”

“I never listen to what you say. Why would I start now?”

In the end, Gwaine and Leon were ordered to drag Merlin away from the boat. All while Arthur ignored the very obvious argument (provided by Merlin and confirmed by at least two other knights), that he NEEDED Merlin. If as a servant or a navigator or maybe a warning radar for obvious danger that Arthur was certain to ignore. He NEEDED him. So, Merlin would definitely find a way.

“Hey, buddy. I gottcha.”, Gwaine winked at him, while Merlin was still trying to make up a perfect strategy, how he could sneak on the ship. Merlin blinked up at him, while Leon just rolled his eyes and pretended not to listen. “What?”, Merlin asked, confused.

“I got a few barrels of water and wine and stuff for the ride. Leon and I have already prepared an empty one for you. You get in and we'll sneak you on.” Merlin had never wanted to hug Gwaine more. “Thank you!!!!”, he beamed at them. “Wait, Leon? You're IN on the plan? You're not going to rat me out to Arthur, are you?”

Gwaine cackled. “It was HIS idea.”

“Huh?”, Merlin looked at the blond knight in confusion.

Leon was still looking away, as if embarrassed by his treason. “If you're not there, Arthur will focus all his attention on US. And I did not sign up for this.”, he was frowning. As if he was already dreading the following days.

“But... how long have I to stay in the barrel? I mean... If I step out too soon, Arthur will insist to turn around.”

“I can survive five days of Arthur being a whirlwind of emotions. You have FIVE days. Gwaine will sneak you out at night. Lancelot has agreed to help. I can distract Arthur, until you're in. Other than that, I was never involved.”, Leon was grimacing the entire time. He seemed exhausted, as if he had already had five different yet similar arguments today and wanted to throttle someone.

“Wow, thank you Leon.”, Merlin looked at him amazed. But Leon's frown only darkened. “Don't thank him.”, Gwaine whispered. “He originally asked, if we could dress you up like him, so he can stay in Camelot and have a vacation until we're back. You may not get sea sick. But HE does.”

“Why.... And he's still allowed on the ship? Wait, why don't we try that? Doesn't sound like a too bad plan. If Leon's sea sick anyway, people would leave him alone to suffer in silence, right?”

Leon sighed with exasperation. “As if that ever stopped Arthur from discussing battle strategies.”, he made a dramatic pause. “If I don't make it -”, Leon made a sound that reminded Merlin of a creaking door. “It was nice knowing you.”

“Don't be so dramatic, Leon.”, Gwaine rolled his eyes. “Honestly, what's with you? Since Uther announced this mission, you've been nothing but a drama queen.”, he scolded. Leon pouted a little. “I'm being realistic if anythikng. If the sea doesn't drown us, we don't freeze to death or a sudden storm destroys our boat, and we don't get horribly lost in that strange cave and starve to death, then we arrive on an island full of dragons who probably hate Arthur for killing the great Dragon. And being the son of a man who ordered the murder of all dragon kind. Not to mention him indirectly causing the death of the last dragon Lord as well. So we either die, or we die. I'm just planning ahead.”

“So dramatic.”, Gwaine mumbled. But Merlin frowned. Leon got a valid point.

“Be positive. What if we meet a bunch of mermaids?”, Gwaine winked at Leon. Leon frowned even further. “Which kind?” “The hot kind, duh.” “Which is?” Gwaine blinked. “Not this again. You're no fun.”

“No, no, Gwaine. Go ahead. Tell me. Which is the hot kind of mermaid? The Siren one's that lure you in with magic voices and then drown you, so they can rape your dead bodies and make more Sirenbaby's; The manatee's that only start to look appealing when you're so starved and Vitamin C deprived that you start hallucinating right before you pass out and die or the classic one's with boobs and a fish tails that make NO SENSE in their anatomy. Which I will be hearing you complain about for days. When all I want is peace and quiet.”, Leon closed his eyes – yet again- dramatically.

Gwaine was about to open his mouth to counter, when Leon added: “Also, we're knights of Camelot and mermaids are magical creatures. It's your job to kill them, regardless of how hot they seem to you.”

With that, Leon had set Gwaine's brain check mate and left him and Merlin standing there with their mouths comically wide open. Half in shock, half with laughter and amazement. “Holy shit, I think he's finally lost it.”, Gwaine laughed as he watched Leon slump down at the next tree and saying goodbye to the dry unshakable ground.

“Maybe we should ask George to come as well. Or convince Arthur to get him off the ship.”, Merlin muttered. After all, Leon was always a lot calmer when George was around. Maybe because George didn't bully him, did what he was told and was also a good person to be quiet with. George also seemed to prefer Leon as the one ordering him around, because Leon wasn't chatting endlessly. He was precise in his orders and didn't talk around the bush. They got along well. Because they didn't have to get along at all. They had the ultimate work-efficient dynamic. It was horrifying.

“Are you kidding? This will be hilarious.”, Gwaine grinned.

“Don't you think Leon deserves a break?”, Merlin asked, still startled by Leon's obvious irritation. “From work? Yes. From me? NEVER!”, Gwaine winked again. And Merlin already pitied the poor knight.

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

Leon was indeed... sick. The moment the ships left the haven, Leon was slumped over the reeling and holding on for his life. He was suspiciously green in the face and tried to avoid Arthur. Who was continuously ignoring Leon's condition and decided to ask him for how many days they had planned to be on sea. How many weapons they had and discussed whether or not they were actually suitable to kill dragons. And if there was enough food and water and so on and so forth.

He did not realize that the barrel Gwaine had decided to sit on had a few holes in it, that should not be there, were wine in it. Gwaine was chatting with Lancelot and occasionally Merlin, albeit in third person like... “I wonder what Merlin would think of this.”, and then get a hushed answer from underneath him.

The sea was relatively calm for the first three days. And Elyan, who was assigned to steer the ship, had no trouble finding the right path. Arthur seemed content too and left Leon alone on day two.

Leon was hardly eating. And if he ever did, he puked it out ten minutes later. By the third day, he was leaning against the reeling once again. Eyes closed with an obvious headache and ready to drink poison to free him from his misery.

Merlin was still sitting inside the barrel. Except for at night, when Lancelot would let him out, while Gwaine annoyed the prince. It worked surprisingly well. Yet, Merlin was a bit worried. Not necessarily to be found out. That was kind of part of the plan. No... By the way Arthur behaved.

The first two days, it was hardly noticeable. Arthur had focused on talking to Leon. Or Elyan or Gwaine and Lancelot. But after they had run out of conversational topic, Arthur had started to isolate himself. Merlin could see him through the holes of his hiding place. He was often standing at the reeling and staring out towards the horizon. He was eerily quiet. And appeared to be melancholic. If not slightly sad.

“Hey, Merlin.”, Lancelot whispered at an afternoon on day four. Merlin was still shocked that his disguise had apparently worked well so far. Then again, Arthur was terrifyingly oblivious to most of his secrets. “Can't you like... use magic to heal Leon's sickness?”

Of course. If anyone had it bad these days it was Sir Leon. Gwaine was currently occupied with drinking. Otherwise Lancelot would not have dared mention Merlin's illegal existence to him. “Do you think that's wise? What if they all notice? After all, Leon has been sick for three days now. If he was suddenly fine, wouldn't they ask?”

“And you think they'd explain it with magic? Merlin. Leon could have just gotten used to the sea. I'm sure no one will notice.”

“Are you sure?”, Merlin asked back and tried to focus on Leon's pitiful form. “I'm positive. Even if they think it's magic, they don't even know you're here. And what sorcerer would just appear on this ship, just to heal Leon?” “Good point.”

Merlin took a shuddering breath, as he strained himself to look through the barrel once again. Leon had his eyes closed and he was breathing harshly. Arthur was standing right next to him. Deep in thought. As if on cue, he suddenly straightened up, pushed himself from the reeling and went under deck.

Merlin nodded to himself. And then whispered a silent spell in Leon's reaction. There was a flash of gold for barely a second. But in that moment, Leon opened his eyes and looked at Merlin. Merlin froze. They locked eyes. Merlin caught his breath. “Lancelot. I think he saw.”, Merlin muttered, panic was slowly sinking in, along with the realization of the situation. Lancelot frowned. “What?”, he asked. “Lance, I think he knows.” “Merlin, stop mumbling. I'm certain you're imagining things.”

Leon's eyes flickered shut for a second and he took a deep breath. Then he held his head in slight irritation, before looking in Merlin's direction again. He ….. sighed in relieve. Slowly, he pushed himself up. Still holding his head, as he took a deep breath. He nodded at Merlin. Like he was... thanking him? Was Merlin really imagining this? But Leon smiled, stretched himself and rubbed at the dark circles under his sleepless eyes. As if to say: “finally.”

Soon enough, he was gone as well. Merlin opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head to himself, while Lancelot had a firm hand on his barrel.

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

It was night, when Merlin was finally let out of his barrel. The knights were asleep. All but the one on watch. Which was Gwaine, fortunately. Meaning, Merlin could safely leave the barrel, chat with him and eat in peace. He had slept through the day mostly. He trusted that Lancelot and Gwaine would stop anyone from opening this particular barrel during the day.

And if anyone got to close, he could always hear one of them say, this was the “victory wine.” Like this was the finest wine of them all and reserved for the day they managed to defeat the dragon lords. It was a good excuse. Albeit difficult to maintain, because nobody believed Gwaine could hold himself back from wine for that long.

Either way, for now it was fine. Merlin's legs were dangling off the watch tower, while Gwaine leaned against the rod behind him. The sails were up, because the wind was in their favor.

It was then, that suddenly, someone crawled up from under deck.

Even in the dim moonlight, Merlin could make out the shine of Arthur's armor. Everyone had already told him, wearing armor on a boat was absolutely insane. If he ever fell off the boat, he'd drown immediately. Because the weight would just drag him down. But the clotpole was too stubborn to listen. And right now it was as useful as a warning signal to them. 'Why is he up?', was all Merlin could think, as he nearly shrieked through Gwaine's mindless chatter and hid underneath a blanket that lay around behind them. Gwaine, surprised at his reaction, finally noticed the prince as well and waved at him, while Arthur gave him a startled expression. Merlin could have kicked Gwaine for drawing Arthur's attention to them.

“Gwaine? What are you doing?”

Gwaine rose both his eyebrows in amusement. “Oh, I'm on watch. You know. Talking to myself. Looking at the stars. Nice weather out, don't you think?”, he laughed suspiciously.

Arthur frowned and sighed, before climbing up the ladder with a sigh. He shook his head, as if used to these antics and hardly caring for them at all. Merlin hurried to shuffle behind Gwaine, so that Arthur wouldn't notice him. And Gwaine did his best to position himself in a way that Merlin was mostly covered by his frame. In a practiced manner, Merlin steeled his heart and his breathing and went completely still. A method he had accustomed to during his time out in the barrel.

By the time Arthur got up to them, Merlin might as well have vanished. That's how invisible he was. Though, to himself, he felt extremely obvious.

“So, er... Sire. Can't sleep?”, Gwaine asked. It was pretty late. Too late to still be up. Too early to have woken up again. Gwaine pat the ground beside him, so Arthur could sit down. It would be suspicious if he send him away. But Merlin was certain Gwaine did it to taunt him. “Not really.”, Arthur said and yawned. If Merlin could see through the blanket, he would see that the circles under Arthur's eyes were nearly as dark as Leon's had been.

His voice didn't really leave room for conversation. He sounded tired, as if he really didn't want to talk. And despite Gwaine's usual annoyance, he didn't press the matter. He hummed instead. For one, because it was Gwaine. Who would he be, if he wasn't drinking ale and doing noisy things all the time? However, this also served the purpose of covering up all unintentional noises Merlin could have made in the dead silence of the still night. It was too still. But they weren't used to the ever changing weather of the sea. Else, they would have been alarmed.

“It's funny.”, Arthur said after a moment of hummed silence. “What is, Sire?” “I would have thought Merlin would have sneaked on to the ship and come out by now.”

Gwaine laughed comically. Startled by the sudden comment. Arthur ignored him, but Merlin nearly smacked Gwaine for that obvious reaction.

“Well. That surely sounds like Merlin. But we would have found him in no time.”, Gwaine assured him.

“Yeah I know. Still.”, Arthur sighed and shook his head, before running a hand through his face. “I mean... Now that he's not here, I can't stop thinking that I basically left him alone with my father. You know my father. If Merlin doesn't behave, the king will certainly have him flogged. Or worse. I mean... he has these moments when he accuses random people to be sorcerers. What if I left him to one of those antics? Did I make a mistake leaving him home?”

Arthur sounded worried and he was suddenly found playing with his own hands.

Gwaine opened his mouth in surprise. “Huh?”, he asked. “I thought you didn't want him to come? ”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “He's still saver with my father than he is raiding a dragon infested island with us, isn't he?” That was.... an actual question. Not a rhetoric one, like one would expect. No. Arthur was seriously asking. His tone was probably supposed to be rhetoric, but he sounded too emotional. Too concerned. Too guilty.

Gwaine's mouth dropped open. Merlin's heart stilled. “Since when are you so worried about Merlin?”, Gwaine asked and sat up straight. After all... Arthur had never really shown his emotional side to Gwaine. Not like this. Not verbally. There would be lots of teasing, surely. Later on, of course. And Arthur should know that. But Arthur was sleep deprived and concerned and he needed to vent. That may not be wise. But since when do people do reasonable things?

“I'm not worried.”, Arthur denied immediately. Gwaine raised an eyebrow. Which Arthur noticed. “Look -”, Arthur started. “I couldn't take Merlin with us on this trip. Merlin is a servant and he's always unarmed-”

“That never stopped you from taking him on hunts.”, Gwaine raised both eyebrows now.

Arthur groaned. “That's different. We're knights. We can protect him from bandits. Dragon's are.... a whole different story. I faced one and I passed out and I still don't know HOW we survived. I know I killed it, but it was incredibly close. And this mission... I'm not sure we'll make it.”, Arthur let his head sink.

Gwaine paused for a moment. “Wait... you think we'll all die?”, he asked, eyes wide and suddenly terrified. “Of course not.”, Arthur said absently. But it was clearly a lie. “Jesus. You're in a good mood.”, Gwaine mumbled to himself. For the first time, he sounded worried too.

“So... you left Merlin in Camelot because -”

“I don't want him to die.”, Arthur confessed. Albeit reluctantly. “But … you said you thought he'd be here?”, Gwaine pointed out. Arthur breathed. Then he turned to look at Gwaine. “Is it selfish to wish he had ignored my orders?”

Gwaine blinked. “Huh?” To be fair, he had wanted to tease Arthur about the fact that nothing Arthur just said opposed the idea that he was – indeed – worried about Merlin in any way. But that last comment confused him and changed the focus of this conversation.

“I don't want him to die with us. But -”, Arthur bit his lip. “If I die, I'd rather die at his side. Is that weird?”

Gwaine glanced at the blanket, where Merlin strained his ears to hear every word Arthur was saying. Merlin's breathing was getting rigid. This conversation.... was unusual. Very... unusual for Arthur.

Gwaine blinked, then he forced himself to grin and make a more joyous expression. As he always did. Because positive energy was his thing. “Now now, princess.”, he put an arm around Arthur shoulder, which Arthur let him do with a disapproving frown. “Sounds like someone here got a small crush on our dear Merlin.”

Merlin fought the urge to kick him yet again, worried that this would reveal him from underneath the blanket. Gwaine was clearly overdoing it. He was clearly out to annoy Arthur. Merlin knew that. And he really wanted Gwaine to stop. This was humiliating and mean.

Arthur stared at Gwaine. At the laughing face. The poking and joking and attempt at humiliating him expression. But Arthur's stare didn't waver. And Gwaine's expression lost itself on the realization that he actually hit a mark.

“Wait – seriously?”, he asked and pulled his arm back. Merlin behind him froze. Merlin's inner turmoil was at Gwaine's antics. He had been so focused on cursing Gwaine, that he was completely startled by that sentence. He had not expected for Arthur to just.... not deny it. Which was basically a confession. Merlin's eyes widened. And he stared at the blindness in front of him. Once again, he was completely still. 'Huh?', he thought.

“You think it's weird.”, Arthur turned away, still fumbling with his hands. And had the little snide remark from Gwaine not been, maybe they could have pretended this sentence didn't mean so much. That this was simply about hoping his friend was here. That they just continued their conversation from before, without the additional information that Arthur – indeed – liked Merlin more than he ought to.

“I- what? No!”, Gwaine was quick to retaliate. “Of course not. I'm just surprised, is all. I mean... it's Merlin.”

“And?”, Arthur was frowning. As if ready to defend his friend. Which in itself was news to Merlin. Since when did Arthur defend him behind his back? Either way, this was Merlin they were talking about. And it was Gwaine he was talking about him with. There was no need to get defensive. “I didn't think you'd admit it! Especially to me.” The 'everyone loves Merlin, so of course I'm not surprised' was left unsaid. Needless to say. It was only Merlin who didn't recognize that implication.

Arthur let his shoulders slump. “Yeah well. If we're dying anyway, even you teasing me and telling everyone can't make it worse.”

“First of all. Rude. You underestimate me, Sire. You have no idea what I'm capable of. Second of all. Why are you all so dramatic these days? First Leon, now you? We haven't even arrived at the island yet and you're all planning our funerals! Who is to say we even find the island? Or the dragons?”, Gwaine flailed his arms, before putting a soft hand on Arthur's tense shoulders. His tone turned soft. Very unlike Gwaine. But it was not the first time he had worn that expression. He'd acted like this before. Tender and soft and fond. Mostly for Merlin, because Merlin was his first and therefore best friend. And he worried about him too. “And last, but not least. You'll see Merlin again, Sire. And even if he found out, he wouldn't tease you for this. Merlin has a good heart.”

Arthur looked up. Surprised by the comforting tone of Gwaine's voice. After all, Gwaine was not exactly the go to type, when it came down to emotions.

People often underestimate the clown friend. Radiating joy and fun doesn't always come from ignorance and obliviousness. It doesn't always mean they are secretly depressed either. Often, these kind of people have gone through much more than they let on. Often, they have learned to deal with their own emotions and come to the conclusion that having fun, being truly blissful brightens not only the world of others. It brightens their own as well. That doesn't make them less empathetic. It doesn't make them less understanding. Quite the contrary. They have a deep understanding of such situations and decided not to take it seriously. Because not everything has to be. And sometimes it's smarter not to think about stuff too deeply.

“You think?” Arthur's own voice was strangely hopeful. Like knowing he'd see Merlin again was all that mattered. Like the other comfort about surviving wasn't nearly as helpful. Or dare say, important.

“I'm certain.”, Gwaine grinned knowingly. Arthur smiled in relief at that. There was a pause between them, before Arthur added. “If you ever tell him about this conversation, I'll drown you in the ocean.”

Gwaine laughed at that. “No promises, princess.” Truth is, he could. He could easily promise it. But he wouldn't be Gwaine if he said that. It would be too obvious that he was hiding something as well. Arthur laughed.

“Nuts?”, Gwaine asked, suddenly and held out a can full of salted nuts. Startled by the question, Arthur almost bend over from laughing. “You're unbelievable.”, Arthur shook his head. Suddenly embarrassed that he confessed all this to Gwaine. But he accepted the nuts anyway.

The rest of the night was spend almost quietly. Which wasn't for long and Gwaine did his best to just distract Arthur. Which meant, it was just Gwaine and Arthur chatting about Merlin. It was mostly Gwaine. Because Gwaine's mindless babbling often meant talking positively about Arthur's servant. Arthur was already used to this.

For once though, Arthur was just as deeply into the conversation. “I think, if Merlin was here, he'd feel guilty.”

“Why is that?”, Gwaine asked, encouraging Arthur to continue. He barely concealed his grin, because Merlin was witness to all of this. Unable to move which would lead to exposure.

“Well... the last dragon lord died for him. And now we're visiting the last remains of his culture. Even if they have magic. I can't imagine Merlin be anything but devastated, when he meets them. I suppose the idiot would apologize to them. Like it was in any way his fault! Merlin can be such an idiot sometimes. One would think he wants to die, so often as he drinks poison for others or jumps into mid battle, unarmed. I'm honestly glad he has the decency to hide most of the time, while we handle things. I don't think I'd be able to concentrate on fighting, if he just -”, Arthur exhaled a deep breath and flailed his arms to imply Merlin running into knifes. “He's too brave for his own good.”

“Merlin is the bravest.”

“The bravest man I ever met.”, Arthur agreed and got a chuckled clap on his shoulder for that. “Look at you, Sire. Saying all these nice things about Merlin. Wait till I tell him about it.”

Arthur immediately recoiled. “Seriously, don't.”

“Why? What's so bad about him knowing that you care?”, Gwaine frowned in amusement. Thinking, that Arthur was just shy.

“He knows that I care. I'm pretty damn obvious about it. No need to put any more attention to it.”

Gwaine scoffed in disbelieve. “YOU? Obvious that you CARE? Really? This is what you call obvious?”

“What do you mean?”, Arthur frowned, honestly confused, while Merlin was trying to breathe even slower. Because somehow Arthur had shifted closer to the blanket. A hand was put on it. If Arthur himself made the wrong move, he'd accidentally pull the blanket off of him.

“Arthur. I don't think Merlin even knows you appreciate him at all.”

Arthur was stunned with silence. “You're joking.” Merlin blinked underneath the blanket. Just what on earth was Arthur talking about?

Gwaine stared at him. “Sire... what exactly do you understand about being obvious about this?”

Arthur frowned. “Well... Erm. I'm the prince of Camelot. My father has never allowed me to have friends that are not royal enough to be of knightly status. Merlin is a servant. Yet, he's my best friend.”

Gwaine stared back at him. “Have you told him that?”

Arthur blinked. “No... because my father would ground me, if I ever did. But I have...”, he slowly swayed to the side, searching for the right words. “I treat him like a knight. I take him on hunts where servants are not allowed. I used to punch him, too, like I would a knight, to cheer him up. Though I stopped that, because he said he doesn't like it. And I mean... I stopped. I wouldn't do that for just anyone!

My guards have been ordered to let him into my room, even if I ordered them to let no one in. If I don't want him around, I have to tell them that specially. I er... let him steal my food. He loves blackberries. So do I, but he doesn't need to know that.

He's always insulting me or my father behind his back, but I don't really throw him in the stocks for that. Which I should. That kind of talk is treason. He could be hanged for that, you know?

I give him unnecessary chores, just so he has a reason to hang out with me. And he doesn't get punished, though what he does is a really shabby job. Now that I think about it, I think I mostly pay him for insulting me.

I've defended him in front of my father. I have used my word as knight for him more than once. I have trusted him with my life and drank poison because he told me it was a good idea. Or because the choice was either him or myself. And I trusted him with the antidote or with taking my royal seal back to Camelot to whoever I want to precede me. I have saved his life and protected him in battle...”, at this point, Arthur was counting on his fingers and it looked like he was about to go on for hours.

However, Gwaine looked at him oddly, which made Arthur pause as soon as he noticed. “What?”, he asked, clearly confused with Gwaine's reaction.

“Well... just. I see what you mean.”, Gwaine was talking slowly. Realizing that yes... from Arthur's point of view, all of that was actually extraordinary behavior. But for anyone else... “But you do realize that most of that is just... Look. The things you describe...

Half of the stuff happens behind his back, which you don't tell him. So how would he know? Other stuff is like.... Merlin probably thinks he's just stealing your stuff. Defending someone innocent is not something you do for someone you like. It's something you do for strangers, if their life depends on it. It's something Merlin himself would do for anyone.

And... treating him like a person when he argues with you and taking him seriously is hardly an expression of love, Arthur. I know in your position that's different. But to anyone else. Jesus christ, how do I put this?

The only extraordinary thing about all this, is you risking your life for him. Which he would do for you – for anyone really – without even thinking. And YOU would die for your own people too. I hardly think he sees a difference in your behavior towards him and your general behavior to your people.

Merlin would risk his life for anyone. He doesn't even demand thanks for it.

What you do, is... for a prince.... extremely … er... let's say affectionate. But for Merlin, it's... how do I put it … less than the minimum.”

Arthur blinked. Finally Merlin shifted underneath the blanket. His eyes blinking rapidly now. Gwaine was right. This WAS how he saw things. But the way Arthur described the way he acted.... that wasn't just Arthur trying his best to be a good prince or person. This was Arthur trying his hardest to show he cared! Cared for Merlin! Merlin felt... touched? Kind of. The crush thing aside. That was a whole different level of work in process. (1) He felt his own face heat up with the knowledge that these things... These things that Merlin had guessed were normal for Arthur... that Arthur had done them on purpose. That he had actually thought about Merlin to make sure he was cared for. That this was a far as he could push himself and did it despite the risk of being scolded by his father.

Arthur's mouth was open now. Unable to retort or add on to his previous examples. “But -”

“You do know, Merlin still doesn't believe us, when we tell him that you risked your life getting him a flower, because he thinks we're messing with him, right?”

“That's ridiculous. That flower was needed for an antidote! What is there to doubt about it?”, Arthur exclaimed, almost furious. Merlin shuddered in surprise. 'Huh?', he thought to himself, his face flushing hard.

“Yeah. I know. He does not.”, Gwaine nodded eagerly.

“But... I thought I was so obvious? I mean... Even my father noticed! He's told me I was getting too close to Merlin. So I tried to hold back, but... I thought Merlin knew.”, Arthur appeared shocked. Like someone had just turned his entire world upside down.

“The king noticed?”, Gwaine raised both eyebrows in shock.

“Yes, I mean. When I came back with that flower, he threw me in the dungeons for it. He keeps reminding me that I'm not supposed to be friends with Merlin. He keeps offering me new servants! I've turned down five offers last week!”

Gwaine's mouth dropped open. “Woow.”, he made impressed. “If Uther thinks THAT's a lot. What kind of childhood did you have?”

Arthur looked up, surprised. “I dunno? A normal one I guess? I mean. I didn't have a mom and my father was always busy and Morgana and I were fighting all the time, so....”

Gwaine's eyes squished a little. “Have you ever even been hugged?”, he asked with suspicion.

Arthur straightened his back. “I'm.... not supposed to get close to people until I get married.”, he muttered. Gwaine stared and his mouth dropped open again. “I meant Uther. Did you father never hug you?”

“Was he supposed to do that?”

Gwaine's jaw dropped. “And here I always thought you just were a stuck up royal like anyone else. But your father abandoned you. No wonder you have no idea how to deal with emotions.” Arthur flushed and tried to retort, but then he closed his mouth. Embarrassed.

Gwaine hurried to correct himself. “I mean... considering all this, you're doing a lot, actually. You're a good man, Arthur. I wouldn't be your knight, if I didn't think you were worth dying for. Just. God damn it, I'm getting so mad right now. Your father is an asshole. I mean, I already knew that. But holy shit.”

Arthur frowned. “Don't talk about my father like this!”, he growled, but Gwaine stopped him again. “Nope. You don't get to decide that. You're in denial. He abandoned you. He keeps sending you on quests that could get you killed. He didn't even show you that he cares if you come back!”

“He cried when he thought I was dead though!”, Arthur commented, remembering the troll Catrina accident.

Gwaine blinked. “Good to know where he draws the line. What the fuck, Arthur.”

Arthur bit his lips. He felt defensive for his father. But... wasn't it bad... that he couldn't see a single flaw in Gwaine's accusation?

“Merlin is your exact opposite, you know.”, Gwaine suddenly said and slowly patted Arthur's shoulder. This time highly aware of the fact that this was probably the closest contact Arthur allowed for anyone. Apart from the fact that Arthur had a crush on Merlin and Merlin was the guy who dressed him.... Let's not get into that.

“I know.”

“He grew up with a mom who hugged him every day. Arthur, Merlin is the most affectionate person I know. He's extremely emotional and he's not afraid to show it.”

“I know.”, Arthur said again, but this time softer.

“Compared to that your way of dealing with things probably looks more like you're pushing him away.”

Arthur's head sank and his shoulders dropped. He grabbed the blanket tighter. “I know.”, he said yet again. Frustrated this time. 'I'm trying.', he didn't say, but they all knew it.

“You should talk to him.”

“I know.”, Arthur was defeated.

It was quiet between them once again and Arthur stared out on the sea. And from the distance, you could see the first sun rays of the day illuminate the wooden deck of the ship. Arthur stared at it, as long as it was possible to look into the direction. While Gwaine watched him with worry. Gwaine had almost forgotten Merlin was still there. Merlin, who was trying his hardest to appear invisible. And quiet. And still. Nobody could hear his loud heart beat, but Merlin himself. Though he could swear someone had to notice at some point.

“Rise and shine.”, Arthur suddenly said and smiled to himself. For the first time, the conversation went beyond Gwaine's understanding and he could just stare at him in confusion.

But Merlin could hear what Arthur was actually saying. It was the sentence Merlin always woke Arthur up with. In this context, it meant, Arthur was thinking of that. Of early mornings and Merlin in it. The way his smile slowly fell, Merlin could feel that Arthur was actually missing him. And hoping he was here. Unaware that his wish had already come true.

It took Merlin everything he had in himself, to not jump up from underneath the blanket and just hug him to death. Which he now knew would equal a marriage proposal to Arthur. Oh god, all those love potion incidents …. where Arthur hugged and kissed random women. The boy must have had a mental breakdown afterwards. Now that Merlin thought of it, Arthur used to behave really strange after those incidents.

Meaning, he wouldn't talk to anyone. He would excuse himself a lot. Would be anxious around everyone he was forced to talk to. And he'd be especially awkward around Merlin. Merlin's eyes widened once again with a start and it paralyzed him as he realized precisely WHY that had been. He flushed. And he was glad Arthur couldn't see him like this.

“Sire?”, Gwaine finally asked, still uncharacteristically gentle. Arthur shook his head. “Nothing. I'll go back to sleep. Leon should be up soon. I think he's already feeling much better.” Arthur sighed and pushed himself up. He let go of the blanket, making Merlin exhale a deep breath. Then he took the ladder down again.

One last time, he was stopped by Gwaine. “Wait, Arthur.”

Arthur stopped for a moment. “What is it?”, he asked.

“You like Merlin right? As in, you're in love with him.”

Arthur flushed, but he answered with a hesitant “yes.”. Which was like a major blow in Merlin's guts. Because being in love was an entirely different thing than having a crush. And yet, to have this confirmed... Merlin struggled to breathe.

“What will you do, if he doesn't like you back?”

There was a pause. A heavy one. Then Arthur sighed. “Gwaine... It's not like anything can happen between us anyway. Even if Merlin did like me back. I can't tell him. Merlin is the best friend I have. I couldn't bear to loose him. I won't let anything or anyone, not my father, not a potential wife, not even my own feelings get in the way of that. I won't ruin what we have. I couldn't live with myself.” And with that, he disappeared under deck. Leaving Gwaine behind, completely stunned.

Finally, Merlin pulled the blanket off of himself and dramatically breathed the fresh air around him. It had started to get really stuffy under that.

Gwaine turned around, almost startled. As if he had truly forgotten that Merlin had been there. They looked at each other for a moment. Unsure what to say.

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

The storm hit the boat without any warning. Maybe, if they had known about the “calm before the storm”, they would have noticed that there was – indeed – a warning. But they didn't. Because Uther didn't care that these knights had no idea about sailing. Or rather, most of them. The one's who did know about it, had been asleep, as Arthur had assigned none of them to keep watch.

They were lucky they made it in time to get the sails in. But as soon as the storm was raging, they had to hold on to everything for dear life. They had no time to fixate any of their belongings to the ship. Which meant that now, barrels and bottles and cups and knifes and anything they had lying about, was now thrown around their ears.

Those who had the great misfortune to get knocked out by a barrel, got thrown of the ship. But through all that, you couldn't hear the screams and the shouts. The storm was so loud, it deafened everything that was further than two steps away.

In a strange way, the storm came over them silently. Merlin had never managed to get back into his barrel. But he had shushed Gwaine to bind himself to the watchtower. The entire thing was about to be blown off, was it not for Merlin's magic.

In fact, while Gwaine closed his eyes, praying the storm to be over, Merlin used his magic to keep his friends safe. Albeit, there were too many of them. He couldn't safe everyone. But he DID manage to keep Arthur safe. Who was running around in that blasted armor and shouting orders to his subordinates. He was not lucky to be okay. He was lucky to have Merlin to keep him that way.

That was, until Merlin saw his own barrel being thrown off the ship. And Lancelot saw it. But Lancelot didn't know Merlin wasn't in there. Oh fucking hell no.

Lancelot screamed his name. And he managed to shout so loud, that Arthur turned around, totally confused why one of his knights would shout out the name of his servant in the middle of a storm. But Arthur, foolish, kind, love deprived Arthur, made the connection. And when Lancelot shouted at him to explain that Merlin was supposed to be IN that barrel that was now about to drown on the ocean. Arthur did the most foolish thing a prince could do.

He gave Leon the authority.... and – in a panic- jumped after Merlin.

Who was not in that barrel, but on the watch tower. Who watched and stared and couldn't believe what he saw. Because Arthur had just JUMPED of the ship for him. Fully armed with his sword and knife and wearing armor.

'That fucking idiot.”, Merlin mouthed and now panic washed over him as well. In a moment decision, Merlin yelled at Gwaine to stay where he was. And then he slid down the ladder. Not even bothering to use the steps. His hands already burned from the heat of the fraction. And splinters of the cold wood edged into his skin. But he didn't give a damn.

He ran over the deck, seeing panicked and confused faces everywhere and then he directly jumped after Arthur.

The storm wouldn't stop for another five hours. Thanks to Merlin, the casualties were little to none. But even after the storm had calmed and the sea lay still around them, while the knights tried to catch their breath.... Merlin and Arthur could not be found among the wrecks. And Leon's headache was returning. (1) The sentence: work in process is a mix of work in progress and processing something. I found that creative. It’s intentional :)

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sweetcherrypie1967 · 3 years

Text

Sweet Tooth

Now to anyone else this wouldn't be a big deal but to those that knew her, they knew she wasn't one to get very confused. After all, they don't call her the brightest witch of her age for nothing. She was always trying to find a logical explanation for everything she encountered and dealt with it accordingly.

But this had her stumped.

Every week her parents would send many sweets to her to share with her friends. While they were dentists and protested excessive amounts of candy, they trusted she was responsible enough not to use them in excessive amounts. They also knew that Hermione's friends enjoyed sweets very much so they felt no guilt in sending so much. It was a sweet gesture that Hermione looked forwards to every week but this week, however, she had put the sweets in a bowl in the Heads Common Room so that others were free to have some and the next morning they were gone.

She hadn't even had any of her friends in the Common Room since putting this week's batch there. So where could it have gone?

Hermione was contemplating this staring at the empty bowl when the Head Boy came out from his room. His blond hair still wet from just taking a shower as he cheerfully bounded down the steps.

"Good morning Hermione," Draco Malfoy said.

"Good morning, Draco," she said, "you wouldn't happen to know what happened to the sweets my parents sent me, would you?"

He paused mid-stride, looked at the empty bowl and pretended to think hard. "Nope, not a clue," Draco said shrugging before continuing in the room with a spring in his step.

It was a shock to Hermione when she found out that she would have to share the Head Dorms with Draco. It really did make sense why he was chosen as Head Boy, so she shouldn't have been surprised. He was second only to her in their year and earned the position just as much as she did. Hermione was so worried about it that she almost went to McGonagall on the verge of asking to be demoted to Prefect. The more she thought about it though, the she decided that she'd worked too long and hard to get to be the Head Girl so she wasn't going to give it up so easily. So, they put up with each other as neither was willing to back down and they eventually became somewhat friends.

"Well you seem to be in an awfully good mood today," Hermione commented

"You're right, as usual. I am in a fantastic mood today," Draco said plopping down on one of the couches by the fireplace.

"May I ask why?" Hermione said amused. While she did find him a lot more pleasant to be around, it was still rare to catch him in a particularly good mood.

"Because, dearest Hermione, today is the day that I am going to ask out that girl I told you about to Hogsmeade this weekend," he said grinning.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Hermione said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

As they were getting closer and trusting each other more, Draco confided -or more like Hermione caught on and he confessed- that he had a secret crush on some mystery girl. He went on about how beautiful and smart and wonderful she was, though Draco refused to reveal her identity. At first Hermione was excited that he was trusting her enough to tell her something so personal, but couldn't help feeling a pang in her chest. She hadn't the slightest idea why until a few weeks ago while talking to her good friend Ginny Weasley.

Hermione has her own crush on the blond boy.

Still, she wouldn't allow it to show, he obviously didn't feel the same as he was so occupied by this other woman. And why should I even hope for anything else? Just because we're friends now doesn't change that he's Draco Malfoy and she's Hermione Granger, they'd never work..

..could they?

"Hey? Hermione?" Draco said bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh sorry, what were you saying?" Hermione said embarrassed.

"I was asking if you were alright, you kinda zoned out there," he said with a charming smile that made her melt.

"Yeah I'm alright, just lost in thought I guess," she explained.

"Ok," Draco said before launching into all his different ideas of where to take this mystery girl. Hermione listened while secretly picturing him and herself going to do these activities, even if she knew they were never going to happen. "I don't know, Hermione..maybe I'm getting my hopes too high," he said sadly.

This snapped her back to reality. Draco Malfoy, aka sexiest boy at Hogwarts, worried about some girl rejecting him? She didn't know whether to be proud he wasn't being too egotistical or worried he's gone mad.

"You're not ill, are you?" Hermione teased.

"I mean it, Hermione. What if she says no?" He worried.

"Where's that Malfoy confidence of yours? Of course she'll say yes," she told him encouragingly.

"I don't know...after all I've done? Me and her haven't had the best track record, I wouldn't blame her," Draco said looking at the fire.

"Draco Malfoy, do you care for this girl?" Hermione asked.

"I think I made that pretty clear," he said rolling his eyes.

"Yes or no," she said bossily.

"Yes," Draco laughed.

"Do you think you could fall for her?" She asked.

Draco looked at her for a moment and thought about what she was asking. "Yes," he said honestly.

"Then that's all that matters. If she rejects you then that just means she isn't the one who's meant for you, you have proven that you've changed time and time again this year so if she can't see that then thats her loss," Hermione said firmly, "besides, would you rather go on without knowing how she'd answer? Without being able to say you tried?"

"You're right, as always. I'm being silly aren't I?" Draco said cracking a smile.

"Yes, yes you are," she told him to which they both laughed.

There was a part of Hermione that selfishly wished this mystery girl would reject to his offer but another that wished she would agree, just so Hermione can see him happy. Only time could tell.

"So when are you going to tell me who this girl is?" Hermione asked him.

"After I ask her," he promised with a twinkle in his eye.

"And when when will you be asking her?" Hermione asked.

"Not telling," Draco said.

****

It was dinnertime in the Great Hall. Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Harry Potter along with Ron and Ginny Weasley while Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table with Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Daphne Greengrass. He's been fiddling with his hands nervously the entire time, too anxious to eat anything.

"C'mon mate, why are you so worried? Who in Merlin's name would reject you?" Theo said.

"Any girl that's got a brain," Blaise teased to which Daphne elbowed him, "ouch!..bloody woman...I mean, yeah what he said."

"Really Draco, could you at least tell us who she is? It might be easier for us to help if we knew," Daphne urged.

"No, you'll find out soon enough. I don't need help I..just need a minute," Draco assured his closest friends.

"Dinner will be over soon, you'd better make it fast. Especially if you want to get something to eat," Blaise said.

"Yeah, ok. Here I go," Draco said more to himself than anyone else before standing up and striding across the Great Hall.

Right to the Gryffindor table.

He shook his head as if to rid himself of his nerves and show his famous Malfoy confidence as he got closer. As he approached, Draco could feel all the eyes on him but he paid them no mind.

Not until her eyes were on him.

Draco sat down next to her as if he did it everyday, and he had done this on occasion throughout the current year.

"Hey Hermione, you remember that girl I was telling you about?" Draco asked, knowing everyone within earshot would be listening.

"Yes..oh! Did you ask her? What did she say?" Hermione asked intrigued.

"No actually, I haven't asked her yet," Draco told her, "I'm kinda getting to that."

"You'd better hurry if you want to do it today," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I should," Draco agreed. Hermione went back to her food, expecting him to go off and ask the girl, not wanting to see what would happen.

"Hermione," Draco said trying to regain her attention.

"Yeah?" She said not looking up.

He gently put his hand on her chin and tilted her head to look at him. "Would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" He asked.

"But I thought you were going with that mystery girl?" She said not piecing it together.

Draco sighed dramatically, "for the brightest witch of our age, you really can be . You're the mystery girl. I'm asking you on a date to Hogsmeade."

Her mouth dropped, along with almost everyone else's. Everyone else was still getting used to the idea of Hermione and Draco being friends and now he was asking her on a date?

"Oh! Yes, yes of course!" Hermione said excitedly before crushing him in a hug.

Draco laughed, "and by the way, it was me who ate the candy from your parents," he admitted in a whisper.

"It was you?" She exclaimed but somehow managed to keep the same volume.

"Yes, but don't worry I'll make it up to you," he promised.

And Draco did just that. The first activity the two did together in Hogsmeade was go straight to Honeydukes and let Hermione pick out all the sweets she desired. Draco, of course, picked out many as well for himself and paid for all of it.

"Draco Malfoy, how many sweets did you buy? The whole shop?" Hermione said surprised.

"What can I say? I guess you could say I've got a sweet tooth," Draco told her.

"That's an understatement," Hermione laughed.

They spend the rest of the day doing various things around the small town. Draco took her to a bookshop, the Three Broomsticks and anywhere else she wanted. Back in their Common Room they ate and exchanged their sweets while talking about their day.

All was well.

#dramione #harry potter #dhr #draco malfoy #draco x hermione #hermione granger #dhr fanfiction #dramione imagines #dramione drabbles

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sincerlypadfoot · 3 years

Text

Tumbling Downhill (4)

~During the time of transfer Harry from 4 Privet Drive to the borrow everyone is stressed out, especially you, losing Mad eye,everything spirals, but a new curse strikes you and changes your life.

Word Count-1309

Send Requests Here

I pushed open my closet, soaking wet, tired and not caring, just franticly tossing everything I had brought to the Borrow back into my bag, getting ready to leave at any second.

“Your really leaving,” Remus said making me jump and turn around, my wand was in my hand pointed at him, now with his hands up in the air.

“Yeah I have too, I promise I will come back alive, but I have to do this Remus, and you’ll see why when it’s over,” I said dropping my wand on the floor. “I love you though,” I cried out dropping everything else that was in my hand and ran over to Remus, almost making the two of us fall over once again.

“I love you too Lia,” Remus whispered in my eyes, hugging me tightly. “Is there anyone else in the room with us?” I turned my head and looked at Regulas and Sirius who were sitting opposite of each other on my bed, Lily, Mad-Eye and James sitting on the floor talking amongst themselves.

“They’re all in here, but I don’t think their interesting in us right now,” I whispered back leaning my head on his shoulder. “But i’m glad this happened, and I would do it again,”

“Promise you’ll be back in a couple months,” Remus whispered not letting me go. “Promise that you won’t die or so help me i’ll curse myself and kill you,” Tears fell down my face and I let out a bit of a low laugh.

“I promise Remus that you will see me again,” I mumbled trying to get myself from crying. “You need to stay here, with your fiance, im seventeen, and I won’t drive myself insane,” I paused smirking a bit. “Maybe i’ll come back a bit insane,”

Remus laughed loosening his grip and looking at me. “You have to stay safe out there, i’m sure that whatever your going to do is important, but please remember that nothing is more important than your life,”

“You have to come see this!” Tonk shouted rushing into the room. “Oh ugh sorry but the twins are saying there is something in the field,” Remus shot his head back in my direction.

“I’ll be gone before you come back,” I whispered letting Remus’ go, I stood up and looked around the room, it was only the three of us. Remus nodded his head and followed Tonk out.

I had felt sick to my stomach and tears still flew down my face. “Regulas i’m doing this to save your life, where are you?” I mumbled looking around.

“I’m right here” Regulas’ low voice said from behind me. “We’ll have to go to a place first, I need something, to destroy something before I come back, I promise it’s important,”

“Regulas,” I whispered placing my hand on my forehead. “I’m not feeling so well,” I closed my eyes hoping the room would stop spinning but nothing helped, unable to control anything I had leaned forward feeling cold hands catch me.

“Hey your gonna be okay, let me just place you down right here,” Regulas placed me down on my bed, Sirius popped up infront of me. “I can stay dead a bit longer, you need to rest, your not looking so good,”

“Hey pumpkin,” Sirius smiled placing his hand on my forehead. “You’ll be fine, we’ve done this before remember, breath and hold my hand, this’ll be over in a second.

I kept my eyes closed listening to Sirius’ words, hoping that the pain would be over, but it kept going, over and over.

“It’s normal so you can’t freak out brother,” Sirius moved his hand from my forehead to my hand. “She gets like this, you’ll have to do this, set her down and hold her hand, just wait for it to be over,”

The pain stopped and my eyes opened, looking over at Sirius. “Your not coming with me?” I asked frowning.

“I have to watch over Remus, protect him, Regulas will be with you the whole way until you get to him, you can trust him with your life,” I rolled my eyes still frowning.

“Yeah well I don’t think anyone else has stopped my shaking but you, but I trust you with me life, Regulas if you let me die i’ll kill you myself,” I mocked the words Remus had said to me earlier.

“I can do it,” Regulas said grabbing my other hand. “I won’t like you die Lia, over my life, I just wanna be free,”

“We need to go,” A burst of energy washed around me. “I need to finish packing my stuff then we need to go, Merlin knows how much Death Eaters i’ll have to fight just to get around town,”

Lily stood with my bag in her hand. “Done, it was the least I could do,” She smiled holding my wand in her other hand. “You take care of my Harry if you see him, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid when things go back to normal, i’m not sure how long you’ll see me but I would just like you to know that,”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around Lily. “I promise until the day I die that I will protect Harry with all my might,”

Regulas placed his hand on my shoulder. “If we wanna leave before sunrise we should get going,” I turned around and faced Sirius, wrapping my arms around him.

“You watch over Remus, he is the last family I have left,” I whispered holding him close. “I’ll think of you,”

“Go on Lia, you need to go, I don’t need you dying on me,” Sirius whispered in my ear then let me go. “Regulas if you let her die i’ll make sure you never come back,” And for the first time they both truly hugged each other like brothers, not counter earlier in the night.

“Come on,” I smiled grabbing my bag and wand from the ground, looking at my dress that laid in the corner of my room, now wearing just simple jeans and a baggy sweater.

“See you when i’m alive,” Regulas winked walking out the doors and followed me down the stairs. I stopped in the middle of the stairs, Regulas bumping into me but I didn’t budge, but looked down at the Weasley family who stood together in the dining hall.

“Lia,” Regulas whispered in my ear. “Whats wrong?”

“Nothing, come on,” I smiled walking down the rest of the stairs. George shot his head in my direction and gave me a sly smile.

“Where are you going Lia?” Molly asked walking out of the room and looking at me. “Rons gone,” Her smile she usual had one her face was gone.

“I have to go Molly i’m sorry, if I see Ron i’ll send him home, he should be with his family in this time,” I tried smiling but nothing came, Regulas had his hand on my shoulder.

“You should be with your family Lia,” Molly cried out bringing me into a hug, Regulas was caught off guard and bumped into me. “Be back soon dear, I won;t stop you but you have to be safe if you’re gonna go alone,”

I smiled letting go of Molly and looking over at Regulas who stood beside me. “I won’t be alone Molly, I promise i’ll come back safe,” I said smiling and picking my bag up from the ground. “Goodbye,” I gave her a small wave then walked out the door with Regulas beside me.

“Ready?” Regulas asked turning to me as we stood on the grass. “Because honestly I feel like this is really dumb to risk your life for me, so if you’d like to turn back I won’t stop you,”

I smiled and grabbing Regulas’ cold hands. “If I have a chance to save someone's life I will, now come on i’ll race you,” I let my hands free, tossing my bag over my shoulders and running into the field, Regulas laughed following me.

#RegulasBlack #Regulas Black #Regulas Black x you #Regulas Black x y/n #Regulas Black x oc

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eleven-times-lively · 4 years

Text

The Conversation

In which Fred and reader attempt to heal their wounded marriage. 💕

Summary: You and Fred finally meet again, and begin to reconcile... or so you thought. Word Count: 2205 Note: I tried to make this one longer but I seem to really be in a slump with this? I just feel like it’s horrible??

You took a deep breath in before apparating to Diagon Alley. He most likely wouldn’t have gone to work, but maybe George knew where he was. They were twins after all. Meanwhile, halfway across the continent Fred had apparated back home.

You took a step into the shop, hands shaking. “Y/n!” George yelled, stepping out from behind the front counter. He pulled you into a hug. “Was wondering where you and Fred were! Wait,” he looked around, “Where is Fred?”

“You don’t know?” He cocked an eyebrow at you. “I was hoping he was here.” You looked down at the floor, cheerful expression falling.

“Fred’s missing?” George’s voice was laced with concern.

“No. Well, not exactly.” You stared up at him, lips pressed into a thin line as you selected your words… carefully. “We’re having a… situation at the moment. Apparated off last night and I was hoping you knew where he was.” By the end your voice was reduced to a whisper, staring dead into George’s eyes, trying not to cry.

“Oh,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, y/n.” He placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, trying to console you. “Have you tried the burrow?”

“Spoke to mum earlier, he isn’t there.”

“Hmm.” He pondered for a moment. “If there’s one thing I know about Fred, he likes to be alone and isolated when he’s upset. Maybe that helps?”

You thought for a moment, when an idea clicked in your head. “Actually, I think it does. Thanks, Georgie!” You began to head out the door.

“Wait! Y/n, where are you going?”

“Romania.” Without another word you apparated away.

***

Fred searched around the entire house before determining that you certainly weren’t there. He thought for a moment, deciding to head to the shop next. If there was one thing he knew about you, it was that you’d want to keep order no matter what. Continuing to go to work was the best way to do that.

Fred found himself standing in front of the store. His own store and he was nervous to go inside. He stepped inside and was met with a confused George staring at him.

“Fred!”, he exclaimed, though it sounded like more of a question.

“Hey, mate, sorry I didn’t show up today. Is y/n around?”

George stared at his twin for a moment, eyes narrowing. “Is everything okay Fred?”

“She isn’t here?”

“No, she’s not. Left about ten minutes ago. Came here in a flurry trying to find you.”

“She was looking for me?” George nodded. “So she didn’t actually show up for work today, either?” George shook his head. “Any idea where she went?”

“What’s going on Fred?”, George pressed.

“We had a fight, George. I need to talk to her.”

“Seems that way. Romania.”

“Romania?”

“She went to Romania.”

“Funny. I just left Charlie’s.”

“Wow,” George rolled his eyes, “It’s like you’ve known each other for twenty years and she knows your habits.

“Sure, mate,” Fred forced a laugh. “Thanks.” Fred apparated away, headed back to see Charlie for the second time that day.

***

You lightly rapped on Charlie’s door, not sure if he was even home or who would answer the door.

You heard muffled words and shuffling from inside the house. You could have sworn you heard him say, “Back already, Fred? Don’t have to knock you know.” He was mid sentence when he opened the door. “Oh! Y/n.” He stared at you for a moment, sporting a completely blank expression. There were small cracks in his visage that you were trying to figure out, but you were mostly just confused.

“Is he here?”, you asked, slightly annoyed.

Charlie took a deep breath in, eyes widening. “Hello to you, too.” He looked you up and down, as if deciding what to do. “If you mean your husband, then no. He left about twenty minutes ago to go find you.” He still hadn’t moved from the doorway.

“Fantastic,” you muttered. You looked back at Charlie’s unimpressed expression. “Any ideas where he went?”

“Look, y/n, I don’t know what is going on with the two of you, and I would love to help, but I’m not in Fred’s head. You and I both know I’m not the brother you should be talking to. Merlin, even Ron might be a better bet. My best guess is that he probably went back home.”

You sighed, “I was just there.”

“How long ago?”

“About twenty minutes ago.”

“Apparating barely takes one. I’d go back.”

“Thanks, Charlie!” He nodded, sending you on your way.

***

Fred opened the door to Charlie’s house, peering inside. “Charlie? It’s Fred, I’m back.”

“Merlin!” Charlie shouted, walking out from the kitchen. “I moved to Romania for a reason, you know!” He softened, smiling at his younger brother. “What’s up?”

“Where is she?” Fred asked, pushing inside. “I’ve been searching all day and I just want to talk. Yet we can’t seem to cross paths.” Fred scoffed and rolled his eyes upon realising you were no longer there.

“Again, hello to you too. Y/n went back home.” Charlie looked down at you, lips pursed. “Once again, to find you.”

“Merlin,” Fred groaned, “How long ago?”

“Not even a minute. You just missed her. If you hurry, you’ll probably catch her before she apparates off to find you somewhere else.”

Fred profusely thanked his brother before apparating away, hopefully for the last time that day.

***

Fred apparated into the living room, just in time to see you grabbing your broom and heading out the front door. “Wait!”, he shouted.

You turned around in shock, dropping the broom when you saw him. “Fred,” you said, face going dark. You surprised yourself, not expecting to feel so upset and angry when you saw him.

“Hey,” he said meekly, gesturing towards the living room. You both sat down, staring at each other expectantly, each waiting for the other person to speak first.

“Did you mean it?”, you finally asked.

He blinked at you, trying to find the correct words. “Y/n, I… I don’t know.” He stared at you for another moment, realising his answer wasn’t sufficient. “I was angry, y/n. And to be frank, I don’t know what I want right now. Would you be lying if you said a small part of you wants it as well?”

“I-... Fred, I don’t know. Maybe?” You glanced at him, pain in both of your expressions. A tear began to fall, despite how hard you tried to stop it. “Fred I don’t even know you anymore. I don’t know when we changed, when we grew apart, but I know it was long enough ago that we didn’t notice when we had a chance to fix it.” Your face pinched together, hoping he’d say something.

“Are you saying we’re past being fixed?”

“I-... no, I just think that maybe if we’d have paused and actually looked at our relationship, we wouldn’t have had that fight.”

He nodded in agreement. “Y/n, I don’t know what to do. We were parents first for eleven years, and I guess we forgot that we were husband and wife.”

Your eyes narrowed as your mouth contorted into a frown, trying to fight back more tears. “We forgot that we were husband and wife,” you repeated, choking back a sob. “Deep down, I still love you Fred. That isn’t something that goes away overnight.”

“Somewhere inside I still love you too, y/n. I think we need to try and find each other again.” Fred looked down at you, features downcast as he fought the urge to inch closer.

“I don’t want to lose you Fred, not now. Not after twenty years, not after the war, not after having our kids, I can’t lose you.”

He began to cry, so many bottled up emotions started to soar out of him as he processed what to say to you. “I’m not ready to lose you either, y/n. I have faith in us, and while we may not see it now, I know we can get back to those teenagers that fell in love.”

You gave him a weak smile, some of your restored faith shining through. “If nothing else, at least for the girls. At least for Christmas.”

“For the girls,” he repeated, gently taking your hand. He squeezed it lightly before letting go and standing up. “I’m not sure where to go from here, y/n, but at least we’re on the same page.”

You stood up to meet him. “Thank you for talking, Fred. I was worried you’d never want to speak to me again,” you forced a light chuckle.

“I was just angry, y/n. I needed some time. I was always going to come back, if nothing else but to talk.”

You nodded your head, casting your gaze at the floor.

“On the other hand,” he spoke, “I think I should stay at the burrow for a bit. We aren’t fixed yet, and I don’t know when we will be.”

“Forcing ourselves together isn’t the right thing to do right now,” you muttered. “What will we tell the girls?” You blinked up at him in concern.

“We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, let’s try and enjoy Christmas, yeah?” He smiled down at you weakly, trying to convince himself to be happy. “I mean, no one but George and Charlie know, right? We can tell them not to bring it up.”

You stared at him, questioning whether you should even bring it up. “I spoke to your mum.”

“Damnit, y/n!” He ran his hands through his hair, stressed as he paced in the living room.

“Pardon?”, you said, turning to him.

“You just had to go and tell mum?! I mean, seriously! For twenty years it’s been nonstop dramatics with you!” His face was bright red as he looked at you, keeping his distance.

“What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?”, you nearly whispered. You were hurt.

“I mean, everytime something minorly inconvenient happens you go and cry to the nearest person that will listen!”

“You left me! You went and cried to Charlie and you left me! Your mum was here and noticed something was wrong! Which, if you weren’t aware, was something you haven’t been able to do in years!” You were now yelling, face red as you tried not to cry.

“You really think that?” His voice was hush, color returning to his face.

“What?”

“You feel like I didn’t notice you, your emotions, for years?” He was crying again, but this time he was upset.

“Well, I mean you never seemed to notice when I’d… slip away.”

“You were just yelling at me for this, y/n. I was being a parent.”

“I know that Fred,” you sighed, shrugging, “And that’s exactly the point. That’s the point of all of this. We forgot to be married for the past eleven years.”

He let out a heavy sigh, realising you were right. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “We had a huge fight, realised the cause, then I’m such a bloody idiot that I started another fight over the same thing.”

You stared up at him, not saying anything. “You should go,” you whispered, now staring down at the ground.

“So that’s it?” He started to pull out his wand.

You nodded meekly, repeating yourself, “Go, Fred.”

“What are we going to do? Christmas is in three days.”

“We could’ve made it work, but you did… that all over again. Go.”

He let out a terse breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. Without another word, he apparated away.

***

Fred landed just outside the burrow’s front door. He quietly pushed inside, trying to not be noticed.

“Fred?”came his mother’s voice when she saw him.

“Hey mum,” he whispered, sitting down next to her on the couch. She stared at him expectantly, already fearing what he would say. “I fucked up. Bad.”

“What happened, Fred?” She placed a hand on his shoulder, noticing his tears that threatened to fall.

“We had another fight. It started as a conversation, and for a second I thought we’d be fine, but then I went and started another fight.” The tears lightly streamed down his face.

“Oh, Freddie,” she pulled him into a hug, “I’m sorry.” She separated, looking up at him. “You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you need, dear. And I hate to pry, but what are we doing about Christmas and the girls’ birthday?”

“Merlin, their birthday,” Fred’s eyes went wide as he remembered. “What do I do, mum?”

“I don’t know, Freddie.” She looked up at him sympathetically. “I don’t know if this can be fixed in only a few days. Do you think you can act civil without having another fight?”

“Thanks, mum,” he scoffed, standing up.

“I mean it, Fred. You know where you went wrong. Make sure she knows that, and don’t do it again.”

He looked at her, nodding in agreement. “We need help, mum.”

“I know you’ll figure it out, Freddie.” She looked up at her son, smiling. “I have faith in you.”

He returned the warm smile, heading upstairs to process and make a plan. ***

Taglist: @slytherinlovesgryffindor @girl22334 @dralf0yy @it-was-three-am

#fred weasley #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley one shot #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley series #fred weasley angst #marriage story

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slytherinprincess03 · 4 years

Text

Heartbreak

Hello everyone. Welcome to my first fanfic on Tumblr.

Just so you know, besides this being my first one shot on Tumblr, it is also one of my first stories in English. You see, English is not my native language. So please bear this in mind if you come across any spelling, grammar, etc mistakes. And please let me know if you find any. Oh, and if you have any tips about writing, please let me know that as well. I really want to improve my (English) writing.

Anyway, on to the story. Happy reading y'all 🙂

After all of my classes, I decided to look for my boyfriend, since I haven't seen him all day long. Normally he walks up to my house table with breakfast, wishes me good morning and kisses my cheek. But today he was nowhere to be found.

Instead of finding my boyfriend, I've found his friends, chatting away in a corridor.

"Hey have you guys seen Liam? I've been looking for him all day, I have a surprise for him." I ask them, but as soon as I walked up to them, they didn't dare to look me in the eyes.

"Guys? What is the matter with you?"

"Uh sorry Melody, we have to go. Detention with Snape. Bye talk to you later!" They all hurry off "wait!" I call after them and manage to grab one of their wrists.

"Please, Anna, tell me what's wrong. I'm starting to worry."

She bites her lip and shoots me a sympathetic glance. "I'm sorry Mel, but Liam should tell you that."

"Can you at least tell me where he is?"

She looks over at her friends doubtfully, who are watching us carefully from the end of the corridor.

"I guess, he's in the Room of Requirement."

"The Room of Requirement? W-" before I could finish my sentence, Anna already took off and disappeared around the corner along with her friends.

"Weird" I mumble to myself.

I shrug it off and head towards the Room of Requirement.

Once I stand in front of the wall, I think about Liam and walk a few times up and down the hallway, until a door appears in the wall.

Hesitating I walk towards the door, something tells me I won't like what is behind the door.

I decide to ignore the feeling and walk into the room. At first, I don't see - or hear - anything out of the ordinary, but once I walk further into the room I notice clothes lying on the floor. When I listen carefully, I can also hear moaning, coming from my right.

Once again I hesitate to walk further, but I know Liam, he wouldn't cheat on me, right? There must be an explanation for the moaning and the clothes, which are scattered all over the place.

When I turn around the corner, I can hear my heart breaking into little pieces. Now I understand why his friends were acting so strange. I never thought Liam would cheat on me and yet here is the evidence, right in front of me.

For a moment I am frozen on my spot and can only watch in horror at what is happening in front of me.

“Liam?” I whisper in shock, my voice cracking.

His movements stop once I call out his name, and he turns around shockingly “Mel, I-” he begins, but I cut him off, shaking my head.

Tears gather in my eyes and I feel my bottom lip starting to tremble, before he can say anything else, I turn around on my heel and hurry out of the Room of Requirement. Faintly, I hear him calling my name, but I just keep on running.

Tears blur my sight and at some point I don’t even know where I am any more, just when I wipe my tears away to see where I am, I bump into something hard and solid. “Sorry” I mumble without looking up and start to walk away, but at that moment the person I bumped into, grabs my wrist. “Melody?” I hear a familiar voice call out softly, I look up into a pair of grey eyes which I haven’t seen for a while. “Draco” I breathe out, “are you alright?” he looks at me questioningly. I nod lightly, while trying to avoid his gaze because I know he could read me like a book if I were to look at him.

Pausing for a few seconds, he sighs, contemplating what he should do. “You know Mel, even though we haven’t-” he pauses for a minute, searching for the right words “-talked nor seen each other for months, I can still tell when you are lying” “I know we didn’t part ways well” he continues, “but I want you to know you can still talk to me, if you’d like that of course.” I peer at him through my eyelashes and notice he looks at me concerned, yet sincere. For a moment I hesitate if I should tell him about what I just witnessed, but then I realize he wouldn’t judge me, even though he warned me about Liam.

“Alright” I let out a sigh, I know I can’t keep lying to him, “but not here,” I say while grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the Slytherin common room.

~~~~~~

Once we arrive at the Slytherin Common room, I drag Draco up to my private dormitory. I wouldn’t want anyone eavesdropping on our conversation. I quickly close the door behind him and kick off my shoes, crawling on my bed and grabbing a pillow, cuddling it hard against my chest.

For a moment, neither of us uttered a word, enjoying the surrounding silence. I feel content and at peace, before remembering the fact that Liam has been cheating on me, for Merlin knows how long.

Looking up at Draco I can see him staring at me with a questioning glance in his eyes. I let out a sigh before muttering “you were right” “I’m sorry, what?” he shoots me a confusing look, as if he didn’t quite hear me.

“You were right. About Liam” I clarify “what did that tosser do?” he looks at me angrily, although I know the anger is meant for Liam. “Lately, he has been distant, I figured he was sad about something, so I wanted to cheer him up with a surprise. But I couldn’t find him, so I asked his friends, who were acting all strange, and they said he was in the Room of Requirement. I found him there, but he was naked with another girl. He was cheating on me Draco and Merlin knows for how long” I sob in my pillow, wanting to just disappear and never face Liam again.

I heard Draco shuffling around, but I didn’t dare to look up, afraid he would laugh in my face for how stupid I have been. For how stupid I have been to not listen to his multiple warnings. For how stupid I had been to let Liam drive us apart, to let him ruin the friendship we had. Seconds later, I felt his arms sneak around me, holding me against his chest. “It’s alright, I’m here” he whispered while kissing the top of my head.

At that moment I realized Draco Malfoy was one in a million. After all I’ve done, no matter how much our friendship had been ruined, he still was there to comfort me. I realized Draco is a much better person than Liam, I realized I wanted our friendship back and I realized that I was utterly in love with him. After denying my feelings for Draco for years, it finally came to the surface. I couldn’t deny it any longer. I pulled a bit back, to be able to look him in the eyes, drying my tears in the meantime. “I’m sorry Dray, I should’ve listened to you. Instead, I pushed you away, I shouldn’t have let Liam ruin our friendship”

“It’s alright, Mel. I understand, love can be blinding and what matters the most is that we found each other again” he smiles softly at me while caressing my cheek.

For what seems like minutes, we lock eyes with each other before I can even comprehend it, I feel a pair of soft lips being placed on mine. At first, I’m not sure what to do, but then I start to give in, never wanting to get rid of this feeling. I snake my arms around his neck and pull him as close as humanely possible to me. Playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck, I slid my tongue inside his mouth, pulling him on top of me.

Before we can go any further, Draco quickly pulls away as if stung. “What's wrong?” a questioning look in my eyes. “This is wrong, you just broke up with that wanker and here I am, kissing you. I’m so sorry Mel, I didn’t mean to. I-” Draco keeps on rambling until I cut him off. “I appreciate you thinking about my feelings, but you’ve got it all wrong, Dray. You see, I kissed you back for a reason” I confess, feeling my cheeks heat up.

He stares at me, mouth agape. Even in that moment, he looks like the cutest boy I have ever seen and I’m practically melting on the spot. I can’t stand the silence any more and blurt out the first thing which comes to my mind “I love you Dray, I always have and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner” “y-you w-what?” he stutters, which makes him adorable. I smile softly at his confusion “maybe this message is clearer” I lean in and plant my lips on his, softly biting on his lip to allow me entrance again. This time our tongues are dancing fiercely, a soft moan escaping my lips. When we pull back for air, I giggle slightly at the sight of his flushed face.

“I love you too,” he tells me while enveloping me in a kiss yet again.

A/N

Well, this was it folks. I really hope you liked it :)

I’m not completely satisfied, so I hope you guys will give me some feedback to improve my writing even more. Also, I take requests as well, so if you have any, just message me.

Bye for now lovelies.

Edit:

I’ve added the keep reading function, as I didn’t know how to do that before also I came across a few spelling mistakes, so I fixed that as well :)

#draco #draco malfoy #one shot #harry potter #draco x oc #draco malfoy x oc #fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #draco malfoy imagine #harry potter oneshot #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco fanfiction #draco oneshot #draco malfoy one shot #draco fluff

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mischievousmoony · 4 years

Text

Time

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: As your days at Hogwarts are coming to an end, you decided it is finally time to tell Sirius Black about your feelings for him. However, you chose to do it on the busiest night of the year: the night of James’ birthday party. Things seem to keep getting in your way, but will it stop you from telling Sirius?

Warnings: drinking

Requested by anon

Masterlist

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Unrequited love. When you read about it in literature you always found yourself captivated by the story. There was just something so alluring about it.

Too bad in real life it sucked.

You’ve had feelings for Sirius Black for years and at this point, you should go into a career as a spy because of how good you’ve gotten at lying and hiding things.

But, as mentioned, it had been years so it wasn’t hard for you to ignore it for a little while. Especially when you had other things on your mind.

For example, helping plan what was supposed to be the biggest party of the year: James Potter’s birthday party.

You had spent seven years at Hogwarts and within those seven years, traditions formed. For the Gryffindors, one of those traditions was James’ birthday party.

Every year, on the last weekend of March, a party was held for James in the Gryffindor common room. It was one of the most looked forward to and talked about parties of the year. Its reputation even leads to a few gatecrashers from other houses.

But this year it was supposed to be special. It would be the last of James’ parties and that meant it had to be the best. The Marauders had recruited you, Lily, and Marlene to help. The more minds the better, right? Well...

“Balloons? Balloons! Sorry, I misunderstood, I thought James was turning eighteen not eight,” Marlene said sarcastically, “I mean, he is turning eight, right Peter? I can’t imagine him being any older if you think we should have balloons.” With the way Marlene said it, you’d think “balloon” was the ugliest word in the English language.

The more minds the more opinions. Very different opinions.

“We have to cast some spell so nobody can crash the party. This is exclusive to just Gryffindors,” Sirius decided.

“What? Gatecrashers are half the fun! Not only are they a sign of success but do you know how satisfying it is to kick them out?” Marlene smiled as if reminiscing about her favorite memories.

“Maybe we should just invite the other houses.”

“Shut up, Peter.”

It was like all you guys knew how to do was argue.

“Too much firewhiskey? There’s never too much firewhiskey!” James shouted excitedly.

“Do you know how much leftover alcohol we’ll have if we buy that much? It’s a waste!” Lily protested.

“We want leftovers! The more we have left over the more I get to keep for myself!”

Marlene shook her head, “I swear, you’re going to be an alcoholic one day, Sirius.”

Even you and Remus, the two people who found these specific arguments trivial and a waste of time, were arguing nonstop.

“I’m sorry, but that sounds like the biggest disaster of a cake ever known to man,” you said, a disgusted look on your face.

“What do you mean?” Remus erupted, looking back at his rough sketch, “James is like the biggest Gryffindor ever a lion cake would be-”

“Coated with too much frosting and fondant that nobody likes?” You finished for him snidely.

The entire group had never been so insulted by each other. You didn’t even know some of you could be that rude. Eventually, it was decided that after James decided on something it wouldn’t be argued or discussed again. It seemed to work pretty well, because from where you were standing the party had met all of your greatest expectations.

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There was only so much time.

There were so many things you wanted to do! There was someone you wanted to do - Merlin, no! That’s so not the point. The things alcohol does to your brain... anyway–there was someone you wanted to talk to (that’s better!). Actually, had to talk to. You’d been sitting on your feelings for far too long and now that you realized how little time you had left, you were going to do something about.

But not without a little bit more firewhiskey. So forty minutes and two glasses later you think you might, possibly, be somewhat able to speak to Sirius.

You could see him across the room talking to Remus. You took a deep breath, giving yourself a pep talk as you slowly, very slowly, made your way over, “You got this. You got this. You got this. He’s one of your best friends, you can tell him anything. You can tell him.”

“Tell who what?” Lily unexpectedly obstructed your path, making you jump a little.

“Huh? Nothing, I- nothing,” you paused to take a breath, calming yourself down, “What’s up?”

“There’s an issue with the cake, we put Peter in charge of getting it from the elves and... well that explains the problem enough, doesn’t it?”

“You put Peter in charge of the cake? Why would you do that!” You scolded Lily for the poor decision. Peter wasn’t very good with big tasks, he got very anxious and tended to mess them up because of it.

“I know! I know! Listen he was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago, will you please help me find him?” Lily asked, intertwining her hands together to beg for your help.

You shifted your glance away from Lily’s begging eyes to Sirius just feet behind her. You figured you had the whole night to talk to him, you could do this one thing, right?

“Alright, lets go. And make it quick, okay?”

“Thank you! C’mon let’s start at the kitchen.”

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“What did you do to make the head elf so angry?” Lily asked, dumbfounded, as you helped her carry the cake back to the common room.

Peter followed behind closely. His eyes were wide with fear, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

You almost laughed, but held back. You had never seen a house elf angry before. They were always so eager to please. It made you really want to know what Peter could have possibly done, but you knew that you should leave it alone for now.

“Leaping toadstool,” Lily said as they approached the Fat Lady before she could even request the password.

As they entered, Lily shouted, “Who wants cake?” and they were swarmed by hungry party people.

They placed the cake on the table and James strutted over with a lit candle in his hand, “Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, I say it’s cake time, blah blah blah, let’s eat!” He blew the fire out and tossed the wax rod to a random person nearby.

As people got their slices, you found Sirius. The night would end at some point and you were determined to tell him before then. But when you found him, it seemed he was just determined to eat cake.

“Hey Sirius-”

“Cake!” He shouted, jogging past you.

“After cake, then,” You said to yourself, plopping down on the nearest chair.

You were so lost in your thoughts you didn’t notice Sirius’ return with two plates, “I’d say we really did it this time, hm?”

Your eyes snapped up to look at him. He was watching the party, marveling at the success it was.

“Yeah, it’s almost perfect,” you said softly.

“Almost? This is perfect! Why’re you saying almost?” Sirius spoke as if you had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

You took a deep breath. This was it, “Sirius, there’s something I have to-”

“Y/N!” A drunken James shouted, approaching you two at the table, “Dance with me! You’re the only person I must dance with tonight that haven’t danced with yet! So we have to dance right now!”

You glanced at Sirius, who nodded for you to go, “See you later.”

“One song, and then I think we should get you some water,” you giggled as James took your hand and lead you to the dance floor.

However, you ended up on the dance floor for much longer than a song. Pretty soon the clock dipped into the AM without your awareness until someone nearby made an exclamation on how fast the party was going by.

“Is it really that late?” You gasped, “I have to talk to Sirius, James. I’ll catch up with you later. Happy birthday!”

You weaved through the crowd, looking for the dark haired boy in every corner.

“Remus, have you seen Sirius?” You shouted over the music. To save his breath, Remus pointed in his direction.

You turned around to see Sirius leaning against the fireplace cooly, flirting with some sixth year. Your heart sunk. It was clear he wasn’t interested in you if he was flirting with someone else, so what’s the point of telling him?

All of a sudden the party was too much for you to handle. It was too loud and too fast and an overload on all you senses. You needed to get away, so you found your way to the nearest balcony for some fresh air.

“Idiot,” you muttered to yourself, “I can’t believe I was gonna tell Sirius.”

“Tell me what?”

You jumped so high that you’re surprised you didn’t fall off the balcony.

Sirius placed a hand on your back in attempt to calm you, but it just made your heart pound harder, “I saw you come out here, you looked upset. Everything alright?”

You forced a smile to overtake you features, “Peachy,” you tried to say it as genuinely as possible, but it seems you didn’t have the energy for it, “Sorry to pull you away from your friend. You can go back if you want.”

Sirius had a confused expression, “Who? Ava? Merlin, I don’t think she wants to talk to me.”

“Why’s that?”

“I just rejected her.” He shrugged, looking out at the grounds.

“Really?” You're eyebrows rose in surprise, “You seemed to like her.”

Sirius looked at you, “I’ve got my eye on someone else.”

You turned away from him, struggling to keep your face expressionless, “You should talk to her then.” If you couldn’t be happy with Sirius, you figured you’d at least help him be happy even if it was with someone else.

“Yeah?” he questioned

“Yeah. It’s almost April. And then it’ll be May, and then June.”

“That is how the months go, yes,” Sirius joked, flashing you a cheeky smile.

You shoved him a little for that, “I mean to say the year is almost over! Pretty soon we’ll be done with Hogwarts and on to whatever the hell is next. We’re running out of time, Sirius, so don’t hold back. If you like this girl, do something about it.”

“Do something about it, hm?” Sirius questioned, watching you as you stared at the ripple in the water of the Great Lake.

“Yes, don’t hold back just-”

You were interrupted by Sirius suddenly pressing his lips against yours. After the initially shock, you responded to the kiss and let your hands find his hair. His arms snaked around your waist, holding you tight as he disregarded the concept of air to keep his lips on yours. Eventually, though, the need for oxygen won and you broke apart.

“That was... unexpected,” you panted.

“You told me not to hold back.” Sirius smirked, removing one of his arms from your waist to cup your cheek, “Was that okay?”

“That was perfect,” you smiled, leaning into his hand.

All of a sudden Sirius remembered what he heard when he found you out hear, “Didn’t you have something to tell me?”

You smiled, “Just that there’s this guy I like.”

“Oh...” Sirius’ eyes widened before he put two and two together, realizing who that guy was, “Oh!”

You giggled at Sirius’ surge of giddiness as a boyish grin stretched across his face and he leaned closer to touch his nose to yours.

But before he kissed you again, he wanted to say one more thing, “You know, about that running out of time thing? Well we may only have April and May and June here,” he looked out over the Hogwarts grounds before focusing back on you, “but even after that, I’m still gonna be right here.”

Your heart swelled and you felt as if you could cry, in a good way of course. You didn’t know what to say, so you leaned in and captured Sirius’ lips in another kiss.

It no longer mattered to you how much time you had left at Hogwarts because all that mattered is you had all the time in the world with this boy. Your boy.

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Note: It’s sad cause we all know what really happens after Hogwarts for Sirius...

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bxoken-heartss · 3 years

Text

PAIN: Cedric Diggory (C.D)

Pairings: Lyra Lestrange (oc) x Cedric Diggory.

Genre: It's a surprise. Trust me I won't disappoint you.

Warnings: None.

Word count: 4.3K+

Prompts used: 2) ‘will you shut up?” 29) ‘Shut up and kiss me’ (Did a bit of changes in the prompts, I hope you don’t mind it. Prompts used in BOLD)

A/N: Hey guys! This is my entry for @wandsandwheezes ‘s writing challenge! Congratulations on the 300 FOLLOWERS lovely! Your works are absolutely amazing! So this is my first ever Harry Potter work. So I understand if the work is a little rusty. I don’t really have much to say. I really hope y’all like it and don’t forget to leave this work a heart, a comment or a reblog if you enjoyed it! I have a few works related to my OC, so if you want to know about her, I’ll be more than happy to post more about her! Constructive criticism are always welcome and just tell me your honest opinions on it!!

Here’s a small CyRa (Cedric x Lyra) based moodboard:

Lyra laid back on the mat beneath her, feeling absolutely peaceful. A soft smile decorates her lips as her eyes fixated on to the night sky which was littered with infinite stars, beside her boyfriend Cedric Diggory who seemingly looked preoccupied with his racing thoughts.

"The stars always have this..unexplained feeling of..calmness...just some kind of mesmerizing charm to it..don't you think so Ced?" Lyra asks, her eyes brimming up with a sense of calmness, her gaze still fixated onto the stars.

"Yeah of course..they're beautiful..they're absolutely spectacular." Cedric pauses uneasily, his gaze nervously shifting between the night sky and Lyra

"Are you alright Ced? You've been awfully quiet the entire time..Are you sick or something?" Lyra asks as she looks at him, her chin resting on her arm.

"NO!" Cedric shouts a bit too loud "I mean no!! Nothing's wrong!! I'm fine! Completely okay!!" Cedric answers a bit too quickly

"Are you sure? You sound extremely nervous..like really nervous..Are you absolutely sure you're okay?" Lyra asks again, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looks at him.

"I'm fine Lyrie..I'm all fine. I'm just..Maybe I'll let you know after sometime? " Cedric asks, his tone nervous as Lyra nods reluctantly but seemingly understood.

"Okay..yeah I understand. Just talk to me when you're ready..or only if you do want to talk about it. You don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to." Lyra replies as she squeezes his arm in reassurance.

"Well actually maybe on second thought..can we just go there?" Cedric asks as he points at a spot on the other side of where the two of them sat.

"The moonlight looks absolutely pretty and perfect there..and..it's getting stuffy just sitting here..maybe we should take a small stroll?" Cedric finishes as he lets go of her hand, further confusing the dark haired witch.

"Well of course..if you say so.." Lyra replies, slightly confused and annoyed at his rather odd behavior.

/ / /

The both of them begin walking towards the spot Cedric had suggested. Cedric had been awfully quiet throughout the entire stroll. Cedric kept trailing behind her slowly and practically refused to look at her..

which had unexpectedly infuriated her for some reason. What did she do that he had to completely ignore her and act absolutely abnormal?

She knew he had his personal issues and would come around when he was comfortable. But he was constantly distracted and inattentive the entire day. What was it..that was so huge that bothered him? She wanted to help..but she..didn't know to.

She walks ahead a bit quickly and finally stops in front of a small lake, the moon's reflection beaming onto the lake. She stared at it, her arms crossed not bothering to wait for Cedric to join her. Maybe he just needed some time alone..and maybe after he was done sorting his problems as such. So she just did what she had to do..give him the space and time he needed to clear his thoughts. Lyra sighs as her gaze fixates on to the lake that laid in front of her.

"Lyra..Lyra..?" Cedric calls out from behind her

"You can come to me when you're ready to talk. I don't want to have a one sided conversation without any actual response as such. If you were having a bad day then we could have easily cancelled this and stayed home. You came up with this idea yourself Ced. I would have understood if you told me you weren't feeling great. I wouldn't have complained." Lyra replies, crossing her arms, her gaze still firmly fixated on to the lake.

"Just listen. I know this is going to sound absolutely weird but how many last names do you actually have Lyra?" He asks as Lyra rolls her eyes

"It's..Lyra Cassiopeia Black Lestrange.. So that's two last names..and one mid- -" Lyra pauses for a split second "Wait..why ar- " Lyra begins again,her tone laced with frustration only to be interrupted by Cedric once again.

"Do you perhaps..have the space to fit just one more?" Cedric asks, his tone clearly nervous.

"What in Salazar's na- -" Lyra begins as she turns behind freezing instantly in shock as her gaze fixates onto Cedric, her mouth slightly agape.

He stood on his one knee, a small box in his hand as he awkwardly looked at her. He quickly passes her a small awkward smile with all the leftover courage he could muster up.

"Cedric Diggory..what in Salazar's name are you-- -" Lyra begins halfway, her tone uneasy and nervous

"I'm extremely nervous..please don't question me any further Lyra.." Cedric interrupts her

"Let me just go on with this..Just don't talk. Just listen and nod..okay?" Cedric pleads.

"Don't tell me you're - " Lyra begins again

"Just please..don't interrupt..just let me down with this?" Cedric pleads as Lyra nods awkwardly.

"Well..first things first, I'm not going to go straight to it..but I don't want to drag on with it for too long..there are some things I want to say..but I'm not sure what or where to start with. So just let me finish it and then you can do or say whatever you wish to.

Lyra..the first time I had met you which I don't remember when exactly was it..I mean, I had seen you hanging around with Malfoy, who still can't stand my presence even now. What's his issue with me? I mean sure I'm dating his cousin sister but does he forget the fact that the feelings are mutual? I wonder if he'll ever warm up to me...sounds highly unlikely but I can still hope.

Okay so like I was saying, yeah I thought you were like a part of Malfoy's posse or something..and Malfoy had less than attractive traits…well I admit..maybe at the first glance..I might have perhaps over generalized..but when we actually interacted..it was less of an actual conversation...all I did was help you with your books...but you didn't see it as a kind act..and just rolled your eyes at my actions..when I had asked you if being helpful was a crime, instead of shoving me off your way or..you know, being snarky and walking away without a reply..You stood there and calmly responded to all my sarcastic comments with even more sarcastically snarkier ones...To say, I was awestruck and amazed would be a downright understatement. After that incident as such, I decided to put behind my judgement..and wanted to see the real you..the you behind all that sarcastic gestures, the fake smiles and the hard exterior.

Witty banters with you have always been entertaining because you challenge me in so many ways...and I've enjoyed them thoroughly. I realized that the more you tried to contradict me..the more drawn I was to you.

Well, I remember helping you with your flying lessons..and through that we sort of turned into good friends..or at least acquaintances the bare minimum. Though you learnt flying the hard way..I'm still very SORRY for that sprain! It still bothers me till date.But looking at the bright side..you turned out an excellent flyer and a phenomenal chaser! So you're welcome.

We eventually grew closer..well not really, I used to come and bother you in the library…we'd meet each other in the hallway..I'd wave at you at the Great Hall..we'd engage in small talks here and there..and yet all you did was resist me? How could you do it Lyra? I was..well still am the most appealing person ever..Okay don't glare at me Lyra..I was just stating facts.

Well..you see..You just have such a beautiful personality..like this magnetic aura that automatically gets everyone around you to feel almost instantly safe..and comfortable. You're just mesmerizing. Anyone you know..if they ever felt an ounce of uncertainty about themselves and just feel that maybe no one cares, you shower them with all the love and affection you've had on to them. You make them feel..worthy and deserved.

You're smart, independent, brave, warm hearted, spectacular, amazing and for the plus point..you're super cute and pretty at the same time. I mean..I just want to squeeze your cheeks whenever you're mad...cause it's so evident...when you're annoyed or pissed with someone..but again you're adorable when you're mad..but again, it's fun to get you all agitated and then further fuel that energy to something stea- - Okay I'll stop. Would you stop disintegrating me with your glares? I'm just a baby." Cedric pauses as he catches his breathe.

"No..wait! I'm not done yet!" Cedric counters as Lyra closes her mouth and nods slowly.

"Yeah..so again, like I was saying..after all that effort, you managed to acknowledge my presence and decided to be friends with me! And slowly..we had finally got close..We spent our free afternoon with small picnics filled with the most random sets of goodies, stargazing..I clearly remember the times when you'd point at weird patterns..what were they- -oh yeah constellations! Yeah so you'd show me the stars and explain about their origins as such..and I'd have no clue about it but you always seemed so..interested and enthusiastic about it that I let you ramble on. Your rants about things you were highly informed about as such were really fun.. especially when I didn't know about what in Merlin's name were you even talking about..it was just fun to see you get all excited and geeky about it.

And what else? Oh of course! My extremely spectacular and creative love letters..and how you'd just roll your eyes at them..I'd put my entire heart and EFFORTS on to them…and yet you'd be the only girl who'd SHRUG away my letters...but I'm sure you internally appreciated it. Okay most of them were amazing pick up lines and small weird poems I came up with during the classes but..it was pretty sweet..you're so lucky that I wro- -Lyrieee!! Okay okay..but you have to admit they were good..at least MOST of them..half of them?! Oh come on Ly!! Stop hurting my poor pride." Cedric rants, a playful pout on his lips

"As time went on, I started to feel… something weird around you. Your presence felt necessary and I found a solace in your company...I wanted to be around you, not like in a creepy obsessed way but an aching feeling to just be around you whenever I could..Suddenly your smile seemed more precious, your presence a bit more necessary, your actions..a bit more meaningful.

I started to notice little features of yours I barely never did...like the serious look you have when you read a book with utmost concentration, the way you furrow your eyebrows together when you're thinking hard, the smug look you have throughout the entire Quidditch matches you play, the way your eyes gleam with a brightness when you talk about things you like, the way your gaze shifts quickly whenever you want to ask someone a favor because you hated asking anyone for any types of favors because it made you feel helpless and dependent, the way you roll your eyes whenever people mildly try to prove you wrong especially when you know you're right and they aren't and just that infamous smirk would get my heart fluttering like it had some wings as such. I know that's not really possible..but that's how it felt.

The thing is that I didn't realize that I was slowly starting to fall in love with you..fully and thoroughly. Maybe it was always there..a part of me always fancied the idea and the concept of being with you..but I had no idea it would escalate into such strong feelings..like it has turned into what it is till date.

You made me feel loved, deserved, happy and somehow whole in a way. You showed me that every problem had solutions…and you helped me find the solutions to mine. You corrected me whenever I was wrong, stood beside me,supported me before anyone else did and when no one else would.

Everything started to make sense around you..and that's when I finally realized..oh no! I'm in love with my..best friend! The thought terrified me..The thought that I could potentially call you mine forever or lose everything we've ever had.

I obviously didn't want to admit it to myself and you..because then it would be entirely awkward. I needed you in my life..and if I did tell you that I loved you more than a friend and if you thought our relationship was purely platonic, then it would evidently ruin things between us no matter what. I didn't want my petty feelings as such to come in the way and tear the bond we shared.

But my love for you was..just absolutely evident...it was just the truth and it just wasn't platonic in any sense whatsoever no matter how hard I tried to convince myself. I tried really hard but I couldn't hide it for long.

So after a lot of thinking..by lot I mean a lot. I decided to write a letter to you after the numerous failed attempts to tell you in person how I felt about you because I always chickened out..and that's why I'd talk about the most random things especially when you'd ask me basic things like..how my day went...or how my classes were and I'd awkwardly talk about the weather...and you'd give me a confused look and shrug it off without much questions.

So I finally set up my mind and decided to confess my feelings by writing you a letter.. and then all that drama related to that letter followed by. But when you decided to be the mature one and by that I mean when you very practically yelled out that you had feelings for me..I was..just so flustered,happy and excited and everything! I mean.. I expected a cute speech, roses and chocolates of some sort whilst a confession..but yelling them out too wasn't a bad idea..It was a very.. natural way of confession. So again thank you for that. I don't ever want to think what would have happened if you didn't drag me and force me into that conversation.

So even though there was the brief period of unnecessary- unspoken argument which could have been avoided if I wasn't so afraid to tell you how I truly felt about you! But it was all..at the end of the day for the good…not really. It was terrible not being able to talk to you about everything and anything...but things turned out for the best. It made me realize that..without your presence in my life, there was an evident part of me that was missing.

It was either all I could have ever wanted..or it would be my biggest regret. So back then..my reasons in a way..was understandable.

After we began dating, there was this sort of awkward phase..where we didn't really know how to act with one another. But slowly and carefully..we did get used to it. It was fun..exciting and amazing. Picnic dates, honest love letters and just the love and affection that came out of our relationship, to think all of it was real and not platonic anymore..it was a dream come true. Of course, we've had our ups and downs..but at the end of the day, we had each others' backs and loved each other thoroughly.

And then I graduated off but we stayed in touch through letters and surprise presents. I've grown to love and cherish all of them with all my entire heart! We made up for the distance by meeting up at the holidays and despite the distance, we still could make up time for one another. Thank you for tolerating all my amazing pick up lines, all the flowers I've gotten you, all the very silly things I've done for you…for the record you liked them..well at least most of them at least.

Lyra, you push me off my comfort zones.. speaking of which, I also remember that one time you quite literally pushed me off those stairs. I know it was a mere accident..but considering the fact that you hadn't left my side until my minor sprain had healed..it was kind of like a win- win situation for me.

You bring out the best in me, stayed beside me even after seeing the worst in me...not a lot of people do that. They're quick to leave when things go downhill.. and quick to stay when you're at your best.You stayed even when there were millions of reasons to leave.

We've had a fair share of arguments and disagreements. A lot of them weren't our greatest memories but at the end of the day, we solved them together and sorted out our differences and misunderstandings. We came out stronger than before.

It's just that..Lyra when I'm with you or around you, nothing else really matters to me. I feel so free and comfortable around you and I just..you just mean so much to me! I can do all the most imaginable cliché things but somehow it doesn't feel all awkward and weird...when it's with you.

You aren't just my girlfriend..you're my best friend..it's like finding my soulmate in the form of my best friend..You mean, a lot to me. I don't think I can ever elaborate on how much your presence and your love makes me feel. You bring in the best version of myself and I'm always happy when I'm around you. You complete me..make me feel like maybe I deserve it..

You add meaning and color to my life..and despite your flaws and how much ever you emphasize on it..All I see is a beautiful mess. Well..ten times beautiful inside out and...a tad bit of mess. Just a small bit..your sweet smile makes up for those irrelevant little flaws. So just beauty and perfection with a lot of sass and sarcasm.

I just love you so very much. I want to wake up beside you every single day of my entire life..just spending all my good years and bad ones beside you..maybe have a child or two? Only if you want to..I mean maybe later! I want us to grow old together..and spend our lives together.. forever and ever! And the point is that I can never picture any of this happening with anyone else apart from YOU!

So what I'm trying to say is that, Lyra Cassiopeia Black Lestrange..will you make me the happiest wizard in the ENTIRE wizarding world by getting married to me? Wait..we marry each other..I sounded narcissistic for a split second. Do you want to marry me? Will you marry me? Dear Merlin- -what am I even saying?" Cedric rants out as he breathes heavily.

"Uhm..Lyra? Lyrie….Ly?! Why aren't you replying? Was it that terrible? Is this perhaps not the right time? Why are you tearing up?! Love, are you alright?! Oh dear Merlin! I shouldn't hav- " Cedric begins nervously

"Oh would you do me a favor and shut up for a split second Diggory?" Lyra asks as Cedric stops his incoherent nervous ramble halfway

"You get to ramble out an entire speech, give me less than a minute to comprehend all of it and just continue rambling on and making illogical assumptions?" Lyra asks rhetorically as she quickly wipes a few careless tears that fell on her cheeks.as Cedric remains silent.

"Why?" Lyra asks clearing her throat breaking the short lived silence

"Why as in?" Cedric asks, a bit confused

"Why..do you want to marry me?" Lyra asks barely above a whisper

"YOU'RE asking ME why do I want to marry you?! I prepared an entire written speech and practiced it in front of the mirror...more times than I can count only to forget half of it..but the point is that my speech covered up all the reasons I love you and I just..Lyra..You just matter so much to me and I just thought that it'd be the right time to bring this up...but I guess it wasn't..." Cedric replies as he looks down, a disappointed sigh escapes his lips.

"I- -I-- I'm sorry for making this awkward.. let's just go home.." Cedric replies as he runs his hand through his hair

Lyra walks up to Cedric as she crouches down. She softly lifts his chin with her hand as her gaze fixates onto Cedric.

"Hey it's fine..you don't need to- -" Cedric begins his tone upset, his eyes gleam with a tint of pain.

Lyra rolls her eyes as she presses her lips against his..cupping his cheeks, Cedric's face heating up in the process. Lyra pulls away as she presses her forehead softly against his.

"What..are- -" Cedric whispers, his heart pacing quickly

"Can I at least talk now?" Lyra whispers as he nods softly

"I..well..this..your speech..I'm moved. It's just..I'm not used to this..Okay? Well you see, I'm- -I'm..I'm just awestruck with how much effort you put into it..and all of it.. just for me? No one has done so..much for me." Lyra says as she clears her throat

"Why wouldn't I? You mean so much to me!" Cedric replies.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to marry..me?" Lyra asks softly, her face brimming with a mixture of both doubt and confusion

"Of course I am..I always have and always will love you and ONLY you Lyra. I've never been more sure about anything else." Cedric replies, his eyes brimming with sincerity "I understand if you aren't ready for it.." Cedric adds as he presses her hand in assurance.

"Yes.." Lyra replies a bit too quickly

"It's completely alri- -wait..what?" Cedric asks, his tone laced with confusion.

"I do want to marry you...but only if you're sure..and only if you're ready to tolerate me.."

"More like you tolerating me..but whatever you say love.." Cedric replies chuckling lightly

"But are you like..sure sure? Maybe you don't really want to marry me? Maybe I'm a bit too much for you? Maybe- " Cedric begins again nervously as Lyra shuts him up again with a kiss, a small smile on his nervous face

"Lyra I don't want to force you into getting married as such. It's completely your de---" Cedric begins again as Lyra interrupts him again with a kiss

"Lyra would you - -" Cedric begins again as Lyra presses a kiss onto his lips shutting him up for a brief second

"Don't you get it? Why do you have second thoughts about my answer? I said yes..and when I say yes..I mean it. So the more you try to let in your doubts consume you and ask me if I'm absolutely sure with my decision, I'll keep interrupting you until you decide to finally shut up and accept my answer!" Lyra states as she gives him a firm look.

"Lyra..I love - -" Cedric begins as Lyra presses a kiss onto his lips again, earning a cheeky smirk from Cedric

"Okay...that was impulsive. I'm sorry for that. You can be such a manipulative jerk sometimes you know?" Lyra replies, her cheeks tinted with a bit of pink

"Don't apologize..it was intentional. And again..I'm a manipulative handsome jerk Lyrie.." Cedric replies as he smiles.

Cedric sits down, Lyra following the same as he opens the small black velvet box, a diamond ring inside it. Cedric takes it out as he takes a hold of Lyra's hand softly.

"So I'm guessing you can make space for another last name too?" Cedric asks, his eyes gleaming with joy.

"Well..I don't mind it." Lyra replies as a small shy pout rests on her face, as Cedric's face beams with a bright smile, as she lets out an unconscious smile.

Cedric lets out a shaky breathe as he looks at Lyra one more time, his grip uneasy on her hand.

"You're sure right? Once I- -" Cedric begins as Lyra presses his hand in reassurance.

Cedric nods softly as he slides in the ring onto her finger as Lyra lets out a smile as she stares at the ring. Cedric stands up as he helps her up.

"This..is beautiful. And to think I was annoyed at you for this. I'm sorry I snapped at you..I just didn't know.." Lyra replies looking down

"It wasn't your fault..I was just insensitive. I didn't mean to..I was just really nervous. Really really nervous..But you weren't supposed to..know too. So it's all good." Cedric says as he smiles at her

"It was..good. Really good. I appreciate it. So well I guess..you're stuck with me forever.." Lyra replies

"Well..You're stuck with me too so I guess we're even..I love you."

"I love you too Badger.."

"I love you more Stargirl.."

"I love you the most pretty boy."

"Damn you're absolutely right about the pretty part!" Cedric replies cheekily

"I said petty.."

"No you didn't.."

"Well..whatever. But seriously how many times did you have to rehearse that speech?" Lyra asks curiously

"Oh..let's not go to that now..Literally spent a solid week or two trying to rehearse it in front of the mirror..The confidence I possessed there was..immense. But the moment I had to..say all that in front of you..I lost all of my confidence but somehow I made it through. Pure luck and a bit of practice perhaps." He replies

"It was a rather..unique proposal." Lyra comments

"Oh..well I tried." Cedric admits as he rubs his neck awkwardly

"And also..for the record, I practically love you more" Cedric replies

"You wish you did! I'll hex you right here, right now..and prove you wrong you - -" Lyra begins as Cedric leans down a bit and interrupts her with a kiss.

He pulls away for a split second as his gaze fixes on to Lyra.

"You were saying?" Cedric teases as he looks at now flustered Lyra.

"Shut up and kiss me.." Lyra mumbles as she looks away.

"Gladly.." Cedric cups her face with both his hands as he presses his lips against hers.

A/N: I’ll be a very evil person and tell you that the reason for the title. Well, in accordance to my Harry Potter Fanfic, it follows the same plot line as such (but the only difference is that, this is set in a post Hogwarts time line. So, Cedric does die in the Triwizard but this is kind of like an AU sorta thing which would have happened if Lyra and Cedric had a bit more time together. The original ship in the fanfic is Harry Potter x Lyra. So..I’m sorry?

#harry potter #harry potter oc #harry potter moodboard #harry potter edit #cedric #cedric diggory #Lyra lestrange #Lyra #cedric x oc #fluff #angst #hufflepuff #slytherin #W&W300wc

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queerpsychopomp · 4 years

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A/N: Written for bi visibility day, featuring bi!nb!Sirius figuring out he’s bi, bi!Marlene, and supportive Marauders! Partially inspired by this art by @gin-draws

AO3 | Masterlist

Sirius knew something was off with him while hanging out with Benjy Fenwick. James was busy with quidditch practice, and both Remus and Peter landed themselves in detention after completely buggering up what should have been a simple snack run the night before — served them right for not bringing him back some brownies — so Sirius found himself spending the morning with the Ravenclaw boy.

They hung out in the library of all places, Benjy trying to finish his Charms essay while Sirius was flicking through his history of magic textbook, trying to get himself to care enough about the giant uprising of 1305 to start his essay, which technically was two days late, but Binns forgot to ask the class for them and no one bothered to remind the ghost so it wasn’t really his fault.

Benjy looked over when he sighed for the millionth time and grinned a little. “You were just bragging that you were the top student in your year, but here you are being defeated by one tiny essay.”

Sirius looked over, something witty on the tip of his tongue, before faltering. Maybe it was the way that the sunlight filtered through the window to make Benjy’s brown eyes light up, or how when he grinned he had a dimple on his right cheek, but Sirius’ tongue felt heavy in his mouth and he just shrugged lamely in response.

Thankfully Benjy just raised an eyebrow and let it drop without comment, possibly thinking that flipping through the textbook had made his brain foggy the same way history of magic lectures did.

The interaction haunted him for the next week and he thanked Merlin and Morgana that the professors started their tirade of assigning extra homework in preparation for the NEWTs, which meant that they couldn’t hang out for a few days while Benjy drowned in the mountain of work.

Sirius thought about it long and hard. He knew something was always a little different about him, but did he fancy blokes? What even qualified as fancying someone? Sure he had thought of people as attractive in passing but he never really found himself interested in dating. It wasn’t like people didn’t think he was attractive, quite the opposite, it spurred many a rumor about his love life in the past, but he never really had a girlfriend before. Or a boyfriend. He never felt the same way about someone that James felt about Lily, as obnoxious as he was about it.

He needed to talk to someone. Not the boys. He was sure that they’d be alright with the whole maybe-liking-blokes thing but he wasn’t absolutely certain and it would kill him if they reacted badly. He couldn’t get rejected by them, he would never recover. So when Marlene asked if he wanted to work on their potions essay together, he agreed. Partially to try and talk to her about the mess he found himself in, and partially because he missed her; Marlene being friends with Lily, and James being, well, James meant that their friend groups couldn’t quite hang out together without risking someone getting hexed.

Besides, she was gay, she wouldn’t judge him for being gay too.

So that’s how he found himself lounging on the couch in front of the fireplace in the common room after supper, Marlene swatting at his legs every time he stretched out too much and knocked at the textbook on her lap. Chocolate frog boxes littered the table, sacrificed to fuel their essay writing. He was fiddling with one of the cards — Morgan le Fay again — when he mumbled, “I think I might be gay.”

“That’s nice,” Marlene said, scratching her head with her quill, clearly not having heard him properly.

“Marlene.”

That got her to look up from her parchment. Noticing the look on his face, she closed her textbook, tossing it and her half finished essay aside. Turning to face him properly, she set her head on her knees, brown eyes looking into grey in a way that made Sirius feel like she was picking at the fabric of his very being, pulling the threads apart and examining them thoroughly before weaving them back together. The light from the fireplace flickering in her eyes and casting shadows on her brown skin made her look like she was some ancient all-knowing witch in a play doing just that. It should have made him nervous but Marlene proved time and time again that she wouldn’t hurt him even though she could. Besides, James trusted her and that was enough for him.

She nudged him with her foot, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Hey, what’s up?”

“ I think I fancy Benjy but I don’t know because I don’t really fancy people and it’s confusing because maybe I’m gay and I don’t know how they boys will react and—”

“Oi, slow down a little,” she said. “Take a breath. What were you saying about Benjy?”

He took a deep breath before trying again. “I mean we were just studying together and I looked over and it felt like I had cotton in my mouth. Obviously he’s a good looking guy and I like hanging out with him but I wanna do more than just hang out with him. I wanna take him to Hogsmeade and hold his hand and snog his stupid face when he grins and that fucking dimple shows up,” Sirius ranted, keeping his gaze fixed on the card in his hand.

“So you fancy blokes.” No question, no judgement. Just a statement.

Sirius shrugged a little, running a hand through his hair. “I mean- I fancy Benjy. And Puddlemere’s captain is fit. Guess I do fancy blokes,” he mumbled. “So I’m gay?”

Marlene shrugged a little. “If you just fancy blokes, yeah.”

“Like how you fancy girls.”

She blinked, tilting her head a bit to the side. The corner of her mouth curled up a little and there was an amused glint in her eyes that confused him. “I’m not gay Sirius. Yeah, I fancy girls, but I fancy guys too. Well, I can fancy anyone. Stuff like that doesn’t really factor into who I like all that much.”

It was his turn to tilt his head. He imagined he must look something like Padfoot in that moment, the gears in his head churning. “That’s an option?”

Marlene laughed, but there wasn’t any malice behind it. “Yeah, it is. People aren’t just gay or straight. They aren’t even just boys or girls, though that’s an entirely different conversation. They can be bisexual, like me.”

Sirius nodded a little, thinking it over some more. Marlene watched him, not saying anything as this revelation threw him in for another loop. “I think Benjy Fenwick’s fit the same way I think Angela Wilson is fit.”

“Angela Wilson’s out of your league.”

He laughed, the tension he didn’t even know he was holding in his shoulders melting away, and kicked Marlene gently. “Rude.”

“I’m rude? You kicked me!” she laughed, shaking her head. When their laughter died down a little, she asked, “Would you shag Angela Wilson?”

“Course, she’s stunning.” He set his head in his hand, thinking for a moment. “I liked what you said, that you can fancy anyone. I mean, I’ve fancied girls before, and guys but I never thought it meant anything. I didn’t think you could like both. I’m bi.” It felt good to put a word to how he was feeling, that other people felt like he did and — and it wasn’t wrong.

Marlene smiled, grabbing a chocolate frog from the table and tossing it to him. “Welcome to the club Sirius.”

He caught it easily, smiling a bit. “Thanks Mar. I owe you one.”

“Great, you can help me finish this stupid essay then.”

After cursing Slughorn for assigning the stupid essay at least a hundred times, Marlene and Sirius said their goodbyes and made their way up to their respective dorms once it was finished. Sirius paused outside the dorm, sighing a little as he listened to James and Peter arguing about who ate the last cauldron cake in their collective stash, neither of them suspecting Remus, whom Sirius had seen snatch the cake before going on his prefect rounds yesterday. He knew that they wouldn’t look at him differently and that he could wait to tell them, but he was rubbish at lying to James and they would notice that he was a bumbling mess around Benjy soon enough. Besides, he wanted to tell them, wanted them to help with how to ask Benjy out, wanted to listen to Peter and Remus shoot down all of James’ ideas because they’re too over the top.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside. His face must’ve looked serious, because the bickering stopped when James looked at him. “What happened?”

Sirius shook his head as Remus looked up from his book, setting it aside. Kicking off his shoes, he went to sit beside James on his bed, facing the others. “I, uh, I need to talk to you guys. Everything’s fine, it’s just—”

“Never thought I’d see you tongue tied mate,” Peter teased in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable. He gave him a quick smile before running a hand through his hair.

“You can tell us anything you know,” Remus said gently.

“I know. I’m, well, I’m bi. I’m bi and I’m almost certain I fancy Benjy Fenwick and I really don’t want anything to change between us because you guys are the only family I’ve got and… yeah,” he finished lamely. The dorm was quiet for what felt like ages as what Sirius said sank in and with each passing moment he could feel his heart sinking until—

“We can finally tease him about fancying someone,” James said, bumping his shoulder. “After all the grief you gave me-”

“To be fair, you deserved everything you got Prongs.”

“Oi! Uncalled for Moony!”

Sirius smiled to himself as another round of bickering started, this time between Remus and James. When he finally looked up from his hand, Peter gave him a small smile.

“You know we love you, right? Nothing’s going to change that.”

“I know. Thanks Pete,” he smiled before nodding to the other two. “Right, should we break this up?”

Peter sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not sure we can.”

Sirius smirked a little and quickly said, “Remus ate the last cauldron cake,” just to see the chaos unfold. The result was immediate.

“Moony!”

“I can’t believe this betrayal— I told you I wanted that!”

“How could you Padfoot! They never would have found out if you didn’t say anything!”

The fight lasted well into the night, resulting in a very rushed morning, which was usually fine, but this time it meant that they were sprinting to the Great Hall to snatch whatever they could before booking it to McGonagall’s classroom.

Once again, that would have been perfectly fine if Sirius didn’t forget that McGonagall had warned him twice before that he would get a detention if he wasn’t wearing his uniform properly.

“Mr. Black, this is the third time in the last two weeks I’ve had to talk to you about the dress code,” McGonagall sighed when he walked in, wearing a Led Zeppelin shirt that the boys had gotten to him for his birthday last year. “I’m afraid you’ll be having detention with me tonight after dinner. If your uniform is not up to code tomorrow, you’ll have detention for the rest of the week, is that clear?”

“Yes professor,” he said, waiting until they sat down before elbowing James, who was barely stifling his laughter. “Shut up.”

“I’m not saying anything—”

“Mr. Potter, please refrain from talking while I’m teaching, unless you wish to join Mr. Black in detention.”

“Sorry professor.”

Sirius smirked at him before paying attention to the lesson, the inklings of a plan forming in his mind.

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

“Are you sure about this mate? You could end up with a week’s worth of detention,” James said as they walked to Transfiguration the next day. Sirius shrugged a little.

“Well I’m wearing the uniform properly, it should be fine,” he said, shrugging a little.

“If you get away with this, I’m eating my bloody tie.”

“I’d like to see that,” Remus mumbled to Peter, who chuckled a bit.

“Where did you even get the uniform?” Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I asked Marlene if she’d loan one of hers to me.”

The three boys walked in ahead of him, Sirius waiting a moment before stepping inside.The usual background chattering before class stopped at the students saw him before McGonagall did.

The woman turned around and was met with the sight of Sirius wearing the girls uniform. “Mr. Black, what did I say yesterday?”

Sirius shrugged a little. “You just said my uniform had to be up to code… and it is.”

Now, he would swear until the day he died that McGonagall cracked a smile at that before turning to the blackboard to start the lesson. He was already in a good mood after his victory, and Remus and Peter continuously making jokes about James now having to eat his tie, but the thing to push him over the edge happened as they were walking to lunch.

“Look who’s coming our way,” Remus mumbled, nudging Sirius.

James raised an eyebrow and looked around before grinning and elbowing Sirius. “Look out lover boy-”

“Lay off James. Come on, both of you walk ahead,” Peter said, pushing Remus and James towards the hall and away from Sirius. He was confused only for a moment more until Benjy came into view.

“Hey Benjy.”

“Hey,” Benjy grinned a little, running a hand through his hair. Curse him and his stupidly cute dimple. “So it’s true.”

“What, the uniform?” Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. “Does the whole school already know?”

“Well gossip does spread quickly,” he said, shrugging a little. ”I wanted to see if it was true. It’s a good look.”

“Well I do have the legs for it,” Sirius shrugged with a grin, heart skipping a beat.

Benjy laughed and Sirius could tell that he was absolutely gone for this boy. He’d have to figure out if the Ravenclaw was interested soon, because this was killing him.

“Right, well, I won’t keep you from lunch anymore. I can still sit with you lot for the game, yeah?”

“Course, the boys won’t mind.”

Sirius was in such a good mood afterwards that he didn’t care that the boys were teasing him about the dumb look on his face, or that he got some less-than-friendly looks from some of the students. And if he was being honest, he liked the girls uniform, but there was no time to unpack that. Not when he had to figure out how to ask Benjy out.

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

The Christmas holidays were fast approaching and for once, Sirius was excited for them. For starters, he would be going home to the Potters to celebrate as a family. Marlene was going to visit around the same time as Remus and Peter so he’d be able to see all his friends without having to sneak out of his bedroom window.

Oh, and he and Benjy had been dating for three weeks now. So yeah, things were going very well for him.

But the uniform incident was still stuck in his head.

“Sometimes I wish I would wear girl clothes,” Sirius mumbled as he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. It was two days until they were going home for the holidays, so the boys were all in the dorm, packing their things. Well, all of them except Sirius.

“You can if you want,” Remus said, glancing up from his trunk.

“And we’ll hex anyone who’s an arse about it,” James added.

“No, I mean it’s more than that,” he sighed, frustrated with himself and trying to figure out how to say what he was feeling. “Sometimes I feel like, well, like a girl, but sometimes I feel like a boy, and then sometimes I don’t feel like either, that I’m just me and — nevermind, this is dumb.”

Sirius pushed himself up and, ignoring the calls of his friends, went for a walk to get rid of his pent up energy. The boys didn’t talk about his outburst earlier and Sirius appreciated it. James chucked Benjy’s scarf at his head to remind Sirius to pack it and everything was forgotten.

Well, he thought everything was forgotten.

He knew something was up when James hovered at his door after Christmas dinner, fidgeting like he did when he was hiding something. Sirius raised an eyebrow, looking up from his magazine about motorbikes they’d picked up during their last trip into town. “You can come in Jamie, no need to look like I’m going to toss you out.”

“Right, sorry,” James said, coming to sit on the bed with him, hiding something behind his back. “Mum and Dad are gonna call us down to open presents once the rasmalai is done, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, looking at him carefully. James was never this unsure and it was starting to worry him. “Mate, if something’s wrong, you can talk to me, okay?”

“Yeah! I mean, no, everything’s fine with me, I just needed to— ugh,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all directions, looking much too stressed for someone wearing snitch pajama pants. “Remember what we were talking about before the holidays?”

Sirius furrowed his brow a little before realizing what he was talking about and nodding a little. “It was nothing Jamie, don’t worry about it—”

“No, it was obviously important to you,” he cut across, shaking his head. “The boys and I did some research and think that what you were talking about sounds like being nonbinary. Like, your gender changes and your pronouns change— or maybe not! And— fuck, Moony would’ve been better at explaining this,” he muttered. “But does that sound right?”

Slowly Sirius nodded a little as he thought about it more. “Yeah. I mean, most days I just feel like me, y’know? I don’t really think about myself as a boy or a girl until I do and, well, I don’t know.”

“Right. Would you maybe want to go by, shit, what did Moony day? Oh! By they/them pronouns instead of he/him?”

“Sometimes.”

“Okay,” James said before shoving a box into Sirius’ hands. “It’s from all of us. I figured you might want to open this up here.”

Sirius just raised an eyebrow at him before looking down at the box. It was small, which meant it was probably another ring to add to his collection. Opening it, he found a black ring with a clear stone set into it. “It’s a ring.”

“Put it on.”

“Alright, pushy,” he teased a little, sliding it on. It was a perfect fit of course; the boys probably nicked one of his to make sure it was the right size. “It’s nice, thanks mate.”

“Hold on, it’s special. Think about what you want to be called.”

He raised an eyebrow, but did just that. As he did, the clear stone turned red, like a ruby. All he could manage to say was, “What?”

“We enchanted it. Red is they/them, blue is he/him, and purple is she/her,” James explained quickly. “This way we don’t have to bother you all the time asking what you want to go by. We made a bunch of little cards that explain it too, so you can give them to other people without repeating yourself—”

Sirius cut him off by pulling him into a hug, smiling into his shoulder. “Thanks Jamie, it’s perfect. Remind me to thank the boys when they come over.”

James smiled and hugged them back. “Course mate, you’re family. We’d do anything for you. And if you want, we can go to Diagon Alley this week and get you another uniform. My parents are gonna be supportive, so don’t worry about that.”

“I’d like that.”

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

Sirius made their way to McGonagall’s office the first evening they were back from the holiday break, knocking lightly. They let out a breath when she said, “Come in,” and stepped inside.

Now that they were here, doubt was starting to creep in. What if McGonagall thought this was all a lie? Or that they were being dramatic, or that this was a phase? Sure, the boys, the Potters, Marlene, and Benjy all took it well, but this was different.

“Ah, Mr. Black. Sit, have a biscuit,” McGonagall said when they stepped inside. Setting her work aside, she looked at Sirius while they sat down, noting that they were once again wearing the girls uniform. “What can I do for you?”

Sirius fiddled with their ring for a moment, trying to figure out how to start. “Well, I figured out over the break that I’m nonbinary and sometimes I have different pronouns. James, Remus, and Peter enchanted this ring to change colours based on what I want to be called. Here,” they said, handing one of the cards the boys made to her.

“I see,” she said, looking at the card before looking at their ring. “I’ll make sure all the professors are notified. If you run into any trouble, you come straight to me, understand?”

Sirius couldn’t hold back the grin that spread on their face. “Of course. Thank you professor.”

McGonagall waved off the thanks. “Now, take another biscuit and head to your dorms. You have my class first thing in the morning and I expect you to be on time.”

“Yes ma’am.”

When Sirius showed up the next morning and said, “Good morning professor,” they weren’t sure what to expect. They didn’t exactly want to be called Mr. or Ms. Black, but what else would she call them?

McGonagall took a moment to look at their ring before responding, “Good morning Sirius. Make sure Mr. Potter doesn’t fall asleep in my class, will you? It looks as if he’s already drifting off.”

Sirius grinned a little and nodded. “Of course professor.”

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imaginejamesandsirius · 4 years

Note

Prompt: Can I get a pov of harry over the years having two dads? Like instead of getting scolded for a prank, he gets a reward or advices on draco?

and “Im not sure if you’ve already receive this because I sent a prompt two months ago. Prompt: Harry’s POV growing up with two dads”

Harry was laying face down on the floor, feeling miserable. Dad didn't seem to care, because other than an, "I'll listen to you when you have a better tone," he just let Harry be sad. Pop would save him, right? Because laying on the hard, cold wood was only making him feel worse, but if he got up, he'd be proving Dad right when he'd first said that all Harry needed was a little quiet time.

The front door opened and closed, and Harry waited. "What's happening here?" Pop asked in a whisper.

"Harry was getting overwhelmed, and when I reminded him that he couldn't yell at me, he decided the floor was his best friend."

"Ah," Pop said, and Harry figured that this was the time where he'd step in. But all he did was pat him gently on the head and keep walking.

Harry made a noise of frustration but didn't move. Now he was mad again, and he didn't want to get in real trouble if he screamed again. After ages and ages of listening to them walk around and move the chairs, he pushed himself up and shuffled off to his room. He'd still have to be quiet, but at least he could do it sitting on his bed.

Hey Dad, can I go to Ron's tonight?" Neville was supposed to be there too, but his parents said it didn't really matter unless it was a whole bunch of people.

Dad didn't look up, bringing the paper closer to his face to peer through his glasses at something (probably on the Quidditch page). "Go ask your father."

Harry shuffled off and made his way to the garage. He opened the door and stepped onto the cold concrete steps, then looked up and saw Pop working on his motorbike, hair tied back. He said that Harry had to get older before he was allowed to ride it, but he'd said that years ago too, so Harry wasn't sure he'd ever be allowed. "Hey Pop, can I spend the night at Ron's?"

"Go ask your father."

"I just asked him."

"And what did he say?"

"To ask you."

Pop nodded. "Uh-huh. Go ask him again, prongslet."

"Okay." It didn't make any sense, but fine, he'd go back and ask Dad again. He went back in the house and walked to the living room again where Dad was now holding the newspaper a few centimeters from his nose. "Hey Dad? Can I go to Ron's for tonight?"

"Er," Dad said, clearly not paying attention as his brow furrowed. "Go ask your father."

"I just asked him," Harry said, a little annoyed. This wasn't a big thing he was asking, he'd been to Ron's a hundred times before.

"Ask him again."

"He told me to ask you again."

"Well go ask him one more time Haz, just for good measure."

Harry scowled at his father, but he still wasn't looking. "Fine," he said, throwing up his hands and turning towards the garage. This time, he opened the door but didn't step down. "Pop, can I go to Ron's?"

"I thought you were going to ask Dad?"

"I did, and he told me to ask you again."

"How rude," Pop commented idly, clearly not meaning it. Harry kinda meant it. "When are you wanting to leave?"

"Before dinner?"

"And when will you be back?"

"Before... lunch?"

Pop nodded, finally looking up at him. "Sounds good. Let me know when you're ready and I'll bring you over."

"Pop," Harry whined, blushing a little. "I'm not a little kid anymore, I know how to use the floo."

"I know you do, but I don't let you wander the streets all by yourself, so you don't get to use the floo all by yourself."

"I'm old enough to do both of those. I'm going to Hogwarts next year," he said, hoping that it would convince Pop to let him go by himself. It was so embarrassing to have his parents dropping him off every single time when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Pop said, making a face. "I'm not happy about that either, but it's not like you'll be traipsing about the town by yourself; you're going to be in school, and it's only once you're thirteen that you're allowed to go to Hogsmeade weekends. I can handle you doing that at thirteen. Not ten. You're too young. Oh Merlin how are you already ten this is ridiculous."

"But I can go?" Harry asked. If he didn't stop Pop, he'd just keep going and going.

"Yep. And don't even think about popping over by yourself because I will come get you back if you try it."

"I won't," Harry sighed. The memory of the time he'd tried that was burned permanently into his brain, and he never wanted to be that embarrassed again.

Dear Dad and Pop,

I got detention. Professor McGonagall looked pretty mad, but you don't think she hates me now, right? She let me on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, that must mean she likes me a little? Wait do you think she'll kick me off? No jokes, I need to know because now I'm freaking out. It was only fifteen points and that's not NEAR enough to get rid of me. I think. Maybe? Merlin, I'm panicking. She doesn't HAVE to keep me on because she was already breaking the rules to get me on in the first place! My quidditch career is over before it could get started :( I'm going to end up, like, writing on an endless piece of parchment for the rest of my life until the day I die.

Anyways, I got detention because Malfoy (Draco, you remember him? What a prick) challenged me to a duel and I said yes only we had to do it after curfew because you're not allowed to duel, and instead of showing up he told Filch and I got caught out of bed. So yeah, Ron's got detention too, which isn't fun but at least we'll be writing lines together. It's supposed to be with Professor Quirrell, and I know he doesn't may that much attention so we'll be able to pass notes or something instead of dying of boredom.

Homework is awful. I can't believe I have to do this for SEVEN YEARS, I'm not sure I'll survive another month of this.

Love you! Harry

James read it, then laughed and handed it over to Sirius. "Your son is a drama queen."

"Our son," Sirius corrected. "Our son is a drama queen." Sirius got further down and snickered. "A very big drama queen. Why did he agree to a duel? Does he even know any spells that he could use?"

"They're eleven, so he could probably use the Jelly Legs Jinx and win," James said automatically, then paused. "We should tell him not to accept any future duels, right? That's something responsible parents do?"

"I think so," Sirius said, grabbing a sheet of parchment for their reply. The responding letter mostly consisted of a mini confetti explosion in celebration of his first detention, an assurance that McGonagall wasn't going to kick him off the team over fifteen measly points when James had easily cost Gryffindor three hundred points in his first year and still made it on the quidditch team in second year, and a reminder to not accept duels until he was at least fifteen and knew what he was doing. They may or may not have attached a list of possible pranks for Harry to use on Draco as payback for narcing on him, but they were merely suggestions.

"I'm going to wrap you in a bubble charm and keep you home so you'll be safe," Pop said, practically suffocating Harry in a hug. He'd hugged him as soon as they came into the Hospital Wing, and he still hadn't let go. Dad had given him a very tight hug, then sat on the bed looking all worried. Harry had thought that was going to be the worst part-- the worried faces-- but Pop was still clinging to him.

"You're choking me," Harry said.

"Yeah and I don't think we can realistically keep him in the house that long. He'd pull a jailbreak, and then where would we be? C'mon Si, let the kiddo breathe," Dad said, tugging on Pop's arm.

Pop finally let go, but it was very reluctant. Then he walked around the bed and cuddled up to Dad, looking like a sad puppy.

"Look Harry, me and Pop talked about it and... maybe we should homeschool you next year."

"What?"

"Last year was fine, you know? Unique sort of situation, you were trying to do the right thing, and it was just the once. But now, well now it's starting to feel like a pattern. I know you're not creating the trouble or summat, but this is the second time in two years that you've had a completely once-in-a-lifetime thing happen and it nearly killed you both times. Last time it was a philosopher's stone, this time it was a sodding basilisk, what's going to happen next year? Dumbledore's phoenix goes rogue?"

"James," Pop said quietly, and Dad shook his head, expression turning half-worried, half-determined.

"Right, just er, we think it would be safest this way. It's not set in stone yet or anything," he added when Harry realised they were being serious and not joking around, "but we- well, we're thinking about it for next year."

"How is that any different than keeping me in a bubble?"

"Lots of kids get homeschooled, it's not that strange. You'd still be able to leave the house and everything."

"What about quidditch?" Even if both his parents and Uncle Moony played with him, that wouldn't be enough for a single team, let alone a game.

"Like I said Haz, it's not decided yet."

"But you're thinking about it," he muttered petulantly, picking at the white sheet covering his legs.

"You almost died. Twice. That's not normal, so we don't get to treat it like it is."

Harry wanted to cry because it wasn't fair, but Dad's voice was getting that edge to it that meant he was getting all emotional and wasn't going to be swayed no matter how much Harry tried to talk him out of it. Oh Merlin he was actually about to start crying. He scrubbed at his face, and now Pop was hugging him again but he didn't mind as much this time.

"I know it seems like the end of the world, Harry," he said quietly, just for Harry's ears, "but all we want is for you to be safe, happy, and healthy. We'll figure it out together, okay?"

Harry sniffled and didn't respond.

"Hey, erm, can Draco come to dinner this Saturday?"

"Yeah sure," Dad said, then paused, whipping his head around comically to look at Harry. "Draco Malfoy?"

"Er. Yeah? Do you know any other Draco's?"

"I thought you hated him."

"Back in like, first year, when he was a total prat," Harry said, shifting awkwardly. He'd known this was going to be awkward as all hell when he asked if Draco wanted to come, but having to deal with it was a whole new level of mortifying.

"Is not a prat anymore?" Dad asked, but it's not as though he had a personal stake in this, he was just confused. All he had to go on was the Malfoy name-- and therefore what he knew about Lucius and Narcissa-- and what Harry told him. Harry had been a touch, er, in denial about his obsession with Draco, but Ron had set him straight (as it were).

"He's not that bad when you get him to use his brain." Once you pointed out the issues with blood purist logic, he started to get over it. It was a bit of a work in progress, but he was trying. He had even apologised to Hermione for calling her slurs, and after it became clear he meant it, they'd started getting along. Sort of. They both liked to be the smartest person in the room, so they had a tendency to butt heads. "You'll see, he's great."

"Okay," Dad said slowly, peering at Harry in a way that made him shift again. "Oh." Dad's eyes went wide, and he had a little smirk on his face.

Harry's face flamed in embarrassment.

"Of course he can come."

Harry was wringing his hands, waiting for the yelling to start. His fathers had never yelled at him before, but more and more often they'd been yelling near him, and with everything going on recently, they might actually yell at him this time. He'd broken into the Ministry, brought his friends with him, nearly died again, gone toe to toe with Death Eaters when they didn't think he should even be dueling yet, and... he'd had his arse saved by them and the other Order members showing up. They were going to be so mad at him for not only getting into this mess, but for dragging his friends into the trouble too. Sure Neville, Ron, and Hermione were all used to this by now, but this was a first time for the others. Ginny and Luna, for example. And Luna had gotten a cut on her leg so bad that she couldn't walk. Ginny had gotten sand from the time turners in the cuts on her hand and now she was having issues with her memory. Not the mention that Draco had specifically not been invited to help the situation with his family, but he'd come along anyways and gotten a bludgeoning spell right in the arm.

And it was all his fault.

Almost all of them had gotten hurt, and it was Harry's fault. Buggering hell, he deserved to get yelled at. Maybe next time he'd be smart enough to leave them all at Hogwarts, where they'd be safe.

Dad came over to him, but Pop was still talking (more like arguing) with the aurors. "You hurt?" he asked.

Mutely, Harry shook his head.

Dad pulled him into a one armed hug, his other hand still clutched tight around his wand. "Let's go home."

"My friends-"

"Are going home too. You'll be able to check in with them tomorrow."

They started to walk, but Harry stopped. "What about Pop?"

"He'll meet us at home when he's done."

"I... okay," Harry muttered.

Voldemort was dead again, and Harry felt guilty for everyone that had died. Felt guilty for everyone that had gotten hurt. He felt... a lot, and none of it was good. Dad had almost died, and Pop hadn't been able to stop crying for three days. When Dad got out of hospital, he'd done a lot of crying too.

Harry moved out, thinking it would help.

His fathers kept calling him to make sure he was still eating and getting rest; he wasn't. They asked him to move back in, and he did because all moving out had done was make him feel worse. His nightmares had gotten worse and he never wanted to leave the flat, let alone cook himself anything decent. Living back at home though, Dad was cooking to deal with stress, and Pop forced him to come along for errands just so he'd get fresh air.

"Hey Pop?"

"Hm?"

"What would you say if I told you I fancy women?"

"I'd ask if there's a particular woman taking up your attention."

"And if I fancy men?"

"I'd ask if there's a particular man taking up your attention."

"And if I fancy both?"

Pop looked over at him and blinked. "I'd ask if you're dating two people at once, because that can be dangerous. Do they know about each other? Cause it's fine if they do, but if they don't, that's playing with fiendfyre, Haz."

Harry laughed, shaking his head. "No, there's not anyone. Not a man or a woman, and certainly not one of each. I was just... I dunno, I guess I was wondering if you were okay with it?"

"Course I am." Pop tilted his head a little. "Were you worried?"

"I dunno. A little."

"Has it escaped your attention that I am married to your father? Another man?"

Harry rolled his eyes, giving Pop's shoulder a shove as he started to feel a little silly for being nervous. "Yeah, I noticed, thanks. Do you think Dad will care?"

"He'll probably ask you the same questions I did."

"Why would you both think there's someone I'm interested in?"

"There was a certain Draco Malfoy that you were eyeing, if I remember correctly."

"You knew about that?" Harry squeaked, cheeks reddening.

"You aren't very subtle, prongslet. Did that ever go anywhere?"

Harry thought about the almost dates they'd been going on, and his blush deepened. He cleared his throat, and Pop chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo, I'm just taking the piss. Dad won't mind that you like one or the other or both anymore than I did."

Harry cleared his throat again and willed for his cheeks to go back to their normal color. "Thanks, Pop." He'd won a war, been in more fights than he could count, but telling his fathers that he was bi was still embarrassing.

#prongsfoot #james potter #sirius black #harry potter #fanfic #marauders #filled #james lives #established relationship #married #post first war #second war #raising harry #siriuslystarbucks #finallyoldenoughtoreadsmut

53 notes · View notes

insufferableknowit-all · 4 years

Text

a lucky night

summary: What happened in the Gryffindor dorm the night that Harry took Felix Felicis, the night that both Lavender and Ron, as well as Dean and Ginny, broke up? What conversations might have happened between Ron and Hermione, late that night in the common room?

Ao3

“What are you doing up there with her?”

Lavender Brown’s shrill voice filled the stairwell from where she stood, a few steps up towards the boy’s dormitory. In the common room, students froze: a few began to clear out, sensing a row, and others stayed around to watch.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger stood on the stairs as, unbeknownst to Lavender, Harry brushed past her, leaving his two friends behind to face Ron’s current angry girlfriend. Hermione froze, taking a step away from Ron and moving into the shadows. Ron wished he could do the same - simply slink away into the shadows and disappear into the dorm. But at this point, it seemed like an opportunity, his way out - he swallowed hard and figured, if he was going to break up with her, it was now or never.

He’d never broken up with anyone before - he wasn’t even sure how to begin the conversation. But lucky (or perhaps, unlucky for him), Lavender was already fuming.

“Well?” she spat, stomping up the stairs towards the two of them. “What the hell were you doing up there? Alone? With her?”

“Erm, just...homework,” Ron said, glancing at Hermione. It was the truth, and it was much less conspicuous than it looked to Lavender, because they’d been up there with Harry. But Harry had to go sneaking off underneath the invisibility cloak, and they couldn’t tell her about that.

“Oh really?” she hissed, “You’ve been avoiding me for weeks, and now I find you up in your dorm with her, you never even took me up to your dorm, and - don’t you dare sneak away!”

Hermione, bright red in the face, had attempted to slip past Lavender and leave the couple to their spat alone - but Lavender grabbed Hermione’s wrist and stopped her in her tracks.

“I know what you’re doing,” she said, glaring at Hermione, “Suddenly he’s all interesting, hmm, because he’s been poisoned? And he’s talking to you again, so instead of wooing him with your personality, which has clearly failed miserably for the past six years, you’re...you’re…”

Hermione spoke quietly, her voice shakier than she wanted it to be: “Honestly, Lavender,” she said slowly, “You’ve...you’ve lived with me for nearly seven years. If you think I’m really that, well...if you think I’m really going to throw myself at him the minute we start talking again, than you must not know me at all.”

Lavender opened and closed her mouth a few times, resembling a fish out of water, and then said darkly: “If you expect me to believe that, then you’re daft. I see the way you look at him - I’ve seen it for years.” Then, she wheeled on Ron, releasing Hermione’s wrist from her grip and poking her finger at his chest. “And you!” she screeched, her voice raising at least two octaves, “You’re falling for it! She’s just using you, to get what she wants!”

Hermione half expected Ron to back down in fear, and was surprised when she saw him stand taller, a look in his eyes that she recognized from years ago, from the time Malfoy had called her a mudblood and he’d stepped up to her defense.

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Ron growled. Hermione, who had been ready to escape the minute Lavender had released her, froze on the spot once again at the sound of Ron’s voice.

“It’s true!” Lavender squeaked, tears forming in her eyes. Hermione almost felt bad - she could hear the chatter in the common room, worried whispers and gossip. But then, Lavender continued speaking, and the pity completely disappeared. “She’s using you, Ron, she’s acting like a little wh-”

Lavender never got a chance to finish her sentence - Ron had stepped down a few stairs to stand between Lavender and Hermione, eyes flashing red. “I said don’t,” he said, his voice eerily low.

Lavender stared at him for a long moment. Hermione stepped down another stair, walking slowly, only staying within earshot to make sure Lavender wasn’t about to hex Ron horribly.

Then, Lavender spoke. Her voice was thick and she was fully crying now, tears dripping down her cheeks. “I should have listened to Parvarti,” she said quietly. “I should have...she...she told me not to go for you.”

Ron didn’t say anything back to her; instead, stood there awkwardly, not sure of whether or not to comfort her, not sure if he would make it all worse.

“She warned me,” Lavender continued, “She told me that you...that you’re in love with...her.” Lavender’s eyes flashed up at Hermione, who stood a few feet behind Ron with her mouth hanging open.

“But I didn’t listen, I thought since...I mean, it’s been six years, I thought that you two would have gotten together by now if you were…if you were going to. But I should have...I should have known.” She sniffed loudly. Though Ron was facing away from her, Hermione could see the back of his neck turn bright red, could hear him wince as he lifted a hand in an effort to comfort Lavender in some way, but she moved away from him.

“It was obvious, wasn’t it?” Lavender continued quietly. “You only wanted to be with me in front of her, and once you started talking again, you...you didn’t want to be with me at all, you had her again, and…”

“Lavender,” Ron said, his voice cracking and dripping with guilt. He reached out and she let him hug her, which Hermione took as her cue to leave. Hermione snuck down the steps quietly, but was slow enough to hear the last bit of their conversation.

“Are you going to deny it?” Lavender whimpered. “Can you?”

There was a pause, and then Hermione heard Ron say quietly, as she stepped into the common room: “No.”

She wasn’t sure how the conversation ended: she heard Lavender ask Ron something along the lines of: “So you choose her?” and she didn’t hear Ron’s answer.

Below, the common room was nearly empty - most of the students that had been down there before had cleared out. A few gaggles of younger Gryffindors sat in the corners, quickly turning away and whispering when they saw Hermione. Parvarti stood at the bottom of the stairs, giving Hermione a shy and apologetic smile. Hermione returned it, blinking quickly to keep the tears that threatened to fall at bay. She was relieved to see Neville, who remained sitting by the fireplace, tending to a plant. Her grinned at her and patted the seat next to him, and she quickly took up the cushion by his side.

“All right, Hermione?” he asked.

She nodded quickly. She knew he must have heard the entirety of the conversation, for Lavender had been shouting most of it, and was grateful that Neville didn’t dare ask questions. Instead, he tended to his plant, and asked an off-handed question about studying for exams, which Hermione answered as briefly as possible, her ears still strained to hear bits of Ron and Lavender’s conversation.

“I’m ending it, then,” she heard Lavender say, her voice returning to a shout. Hermione wasn’t sure whether to cry or jump for joy - she was tempted to do both. However, she didn’t get a chance to hear any more of their conversation, as another row had broken out in the common room: Ginny and Dean, who had been talking quietly by the portrait hole, were now yelling. They appeared so engrossed by their conversation that Ginny hadn’t even glanced up at Hermione, hadn’t even noticed the other fight going on in tandem.

“You’re always doing this!” Ginny shouted, her face just as red as her hair, “I’m done! I’m ending it!” Then, Ginny stomped off towards the dorm room, leaving Dean looking like he’d just been hit in the head with a bludger.

Hermione couldn’t help but wonder if this had something to do with Felix.

Neville, in typical Neville fashion, smiled up at Dean, who slouched into the chair across from him. “All right, Dean?”

Dean grunted in response and sniffed loudly, eyeing the stairwell to check if it had cleared out. Lavender let out a loud sob and then emerged in answer to his question. Immediately, Parvarti wrapped her arms around the girl and guided her towards the girls’ dorm, with another apologetic glance towards Hermione. “Come on,” Parvarti said, steering Lavender toward the other set of stairs. “Oy!” she yelled back, waving at a group of younger students in the corner, “Mind your own business, quit gossiping!”

The girls disappeared up the stairs. Hermione quietly decided she’d avoid the dorm at all costs, at least for one night - perhaps instead, she’d check on Ginny.

Ron didn’t emerge for a few more minutes. When he did, his cheeks were still red and his eyes were wide. Hermione gave him a small smile, and the minute his eyes met hers, the fear left his face and he returned her smile with a grin.

He made his way towards the fire, sitting in one of the empty seats. “Hey, Ron,” Neville said, glancing up from his plant, “You...you all right?”

Ron grunted and shrugged. “She chucked me. Or maybe I chucked her. I dunno…”

Neville looked back and forth between Ron and Hermione. Dean snorted from his seat, clearly disillusioned to love. “And are you...upset about it?”

Ron shook his head quickly. “No. Nah. I’m…” he glanced around, as if afraid Lavender would pop up behind him, and lowered his voice, “Relieved.”

Hermione rolled her eyes while Neville nodded and said, “Well, good for you mate.” Ron dared a glance at Hermione, who flushed slightly when they made eye contact, but kept her face neutral nonetheless.

Dean let out another loud groan and then stood. “Seamus up there?” he asked Ron, not daring to look Ron in the eyes (perhaps, because he’d just been dumped by Ron’s little sister.”

Ron shook his head no.

“Well, if he gets back, tell him I just got chucked and need some of that Irish whiskey.”

Ron nodded, and then the moment Dean was out of earshot, turned to the other two. “Ginny chucked him?!”

“Yeah,” Neville replied, staring after Dean with a sorry look on his face.

“Well, thank Merlin, I was getting real tired of running into those two, reckon she can do better…”

“Tough day for romance all around, I suppose,” Hermione muttered.

Ron shrugged and made eye contact with her, chancing a small smile in her direction. She returned it, though not without shaking her head.

Neville loudly cleared his throat and then began to pack up his things. “Gonna go make sure Dean’s okay,” he muttered, “Harry up there?”

Ron and Hermione both shook their heads no.

“All right. Well, might want to give him a warning if he comes back...reckon Dean and Seamus are both gonna be pretty drunk by the end of the night...you won’t report them, will you?” he glanced nervously at Hermione, as if suddenly remembering she, as well as Ron, was a prefect.

“Not this time,” Hermione said back, smiling at Neville. “Think you boys deserve a break tonight.”

“Thanks. Night, you two.”

Neville glanced back and forth between them one more time, as if pondering whether or not to say something, and then bounded off up the stairs without another word. Hermione looked after him, frowning, but Ron only shrugged in response.

The air was heavy between the two of them. In the silence of the common room, Hermione could have sworn she could hear Lavender’s soft sobs and Parvarti’s words of comfort. She tried her best to block it out, focusing on the crackle of the common room fire.

It was Ron who broke the silence. “I…’m sorry she said all that ‘bout you.” HIs voice was quiet and he stumbled over a few words.

“Hmm?” Hermione cocked an eyebrow, turning to face him directly. He’d gone red in the face once again, but kept the eye contact.

“I’m sorry she said all that stuff. Lavender. It was, well, it was bloody out of line, glad to be rid of her, shouldn’t have said that shite to you, she was wrong, you’re not like that, she…”

Hermione waved her hand and shook her head, willing him to stop talking. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” he replied fiercely. She couldn’t take it much longer - the look in his eyes was far too vulnerable, more vulnerable than she’d perhaps ever seen him. She looked away, staring into the fire once more.

It had been a few rocky months for the two of them, but when he looked at her like that, she couldn’t help but fall back into the same feelings, the feelings she’d been falling into for the past five years, no matter how hard she tried not to.

“Thanks,” she finally muttered, stealing another glance at his direction. He was still watching her intently, and raised his eyebrows in response.

“For what?”

“For...for standing up for me. Thank you.”

“Oh. No, don’t thank me, reckon I have a lot of standing up to make up for this year, I mean, I’ve been a prat, Hermione, I should be thanking you for still talking to me…”

“Of course I’m still talking to you, Ron. We’re friends, and I wasn’t particularly pleasant towards you either, I mean...it’s in the past now, right?”

“Right.”

He grinned at her and she smiled back, then proceeded to pull a book out of her bag and onto her lap. “I don’t suppose Harry will be back anytime soon,” she explained, rifling through pages, “May as well get comfortable here.”

“We waiting up for him?”

“I figured as much. I’d like to know how Felix works for him. And besides, it’s probably best we keep him away from the dorm for a bit, he might accidentally jump for joy when he finds out Dean and Ginny split, and with Dean in that state…”

Ron was frowning at her. “What d’you mean?”

“Oh, honestly, Ron, if you don’t know by now…”

Ron sat there, dumbfounded, staring at Hermione as she continued to flip pages. “You don’t mean Harry...Harry wouldn’t...you think Harry fancies Ginny?”

Hermione looked up and stared at him with an amused expression on her face. “Oh, please, Ronald, it’s quite obvious, he turns pale and stammers nearly every time she so much as brushes his arm.”

Across from her, Ron looked as though he was going to be sick. She couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on his face.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not. You’re just oblivious.”

“That would...Merlin, Hermione, if you’re right…is that why he’s been dodgy around her and Dean? I thought it was just ‘cause she’s my sister, but...oh my god...you’re right.”

She smirked at him as he continued to stare, open-mouthed, as if his entire world has just been turned upside down. She was afraid, for a moment, that he’d be angry, but then he grinned. “If Ginny knew, she’d be ecstatic, remember her in our second year? Head over heels, she was barmy...how...how come you noticed?”

“I told you. He’s very obvious.”

“Not to me he’s not, and he’s my best mate!”

“Yes, well, you’ve never been particularly observant in the feelings department, Ronald - ”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, really?” she narrowed her eyes, as if daring him to prove her wrong.

He swallowed hard. “Yeah. I mean, I notice...things. I just...I just doubt what I notice, I reckon...how can I get better at that?”

“At what?”

“At...at noticing feelings stuff. You know.”

He was looking at her with an expression that told her they weren’t talking about Harry’s feelings for Ginny anymore, not one bit. It made her nervous, and she glanced down at her lap. “Well,” she began, but was saved by Seamus’s entrance, who was walking into the dorm with a couple of fifth year Gryffindors with a wide smile on his face.

“Oy! Seamus!” Ron called, waving him over. “Dean wants you up there.”

“Huh?” Seamus, for some reason, had turned his own shade of red - something that Ron, of course, did not notice, but Hermione clued into immediately.

“Apparently, my sister chucked him, now he wants some of your Irish whiskey. Just don’t let it get out of hand, alright? I am a prefect.” He clapped Seamus on the back and then said goodnight. The interaction gave Hermione enough time to avoid Ron’s question by burying her nose back into her book and taking out a scroll.

Ron watched her for a moment, sighed, and then joined in. They stayed like that for at least another few hours, chatting every once and a while to compare answers on their homework and on Ron’s part, occasionally crack a joke.

By one in the morning, they both decided that it was far too late to bother staying up for Harry any more.

“Reckon Felix is doing his job, if Harry’s still out,” Ron acknowledged as he packed up his things, “We’ll get all the answers from him in the morning.”

“I just hope he’s all right…”

“It’s Harry. Of course he’s all right.”

Hermione gathered her things and glanced nervously up towards the stairwell. Ron, as if reading her mind, spoke up suddenly:

“Hey, you gonna be all right up there?”

She nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want her to say anything else to you. I told her not to, but if she does, come get me, I mean it…”

“I’ll be fine, Ron,” Hermione smiled, placing a hand on his arm and noticing how his ears glowed red at her touch. “I...I actually reckon I’ll go check on Ginny, see how she’s doing. Maybe sleep in their dorm for the night.”

“Prob’ly a good idea.”

She let go of his arm and turned to leave, but came to a stop when he grabbed her back: “Hermione, wait,” he said, turning her around.

“What?”

He was staring at the ceiling, eyes searching for the words he was looking for, and then met her gaze. “I...I dunno how much you heard, but - “

“I heard quite a bit.”

“Right. Well, sorry about that, but I...I know I said she was wrong, ‘bout the things she said about you, but...but not everything she said was wrong.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes and cocked an eyebrow, making Ron falter a few more times before finishing his sentence.

“I mean, she was right about...what she said at the end, about...about me being in...about why I got with her.”

He stumbled over every word, entire face the same color as his hair now, glowing in the fire light. Hermione felt her own face turn a comparable shade of red, goosebumps rising on her skin underneath Ron’s hand.

“S’no excuse,” he continued, breaking eye contact and speaking quickly, “No excuse at all, just thought, I mean, you know I’m rubbish at all this stuff, just thought you should...know.” His voice got very quiet at the end and he released her arm, twiddling his own fingers.

Hermione smiled at him kindly. “I...thank you, Ron.”

"No, don’t thank me!”

She shook her head and let out a laugh, trying to ignore the butterflies dancing around in her stomach. “Really, thank you,” she said again.

He shook his head, and then outstretched his arms. “Hug?” he asked.

She responded by throwing her arms around his neck, holding on for a few moments longer than “just friends” normally do, and then planting a quick kiss on his cheek. “Goodnight, Ron,” she whispered, releasing him and moving towards the stairs.

“Night, Hermione,” he said back, a lopsided grin on his face.

While perhaps it hadn’t been a good night for teenage romance according to Dean and Lavender, for the rest of them, it had been a particularly lucky night.

#my writing #harry potter #Harry Potter fanfic #ron x hermione #romione #ronmione #one shot #fluff #and angst #literally the only two things I ever write #canon compliant #rhr #ffn #ao3 #I wrote this all in one sitting #I felt like a zombie afterwards it turned out way longer than I planned #but we love our awkward idiots

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beeautifulbeeb · 4 years

Text

How to read a map.

Harry's never been able to read a map. Then he met Draco.

Harry's still working out his sexuality and then Draco comes along and fucks it all up.

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationship: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy

Words: 8489

(I haven't written in a while, please bare with me.)

Read on AO3 here!

To Harry, Sex was an enigma. He understood it. He liked it. But he didn't want for it.

He distinctly remembers those conversations in the Gryffindor dorms, late nights, guy talk. Boys talking about people they found sexy or hot - large breasts and nice bum or big biceps and thick legs. He remembers those conversations because he didn't understand. In theory, he knew what 'sexy' was. He knew what made someone attractive because he had heard others talk but when he tried to think of it, tried to comprehend it - he couldn't.

"Do you think Lavender's hot?" Ron had once asked. And Harry had thought about it. But why should he know? She was just some girl.

So, "I don't know, I guess." He'd responded but it came out more inquisitive than he'd intended. Ron had hummed in agreement as if Harry had made a very interesting counterpoint in some intellectual debate.

"I think," Ron began, sounding like he was adding an important argument in this discussion, "she's really hot."

"Why?" Harry had asked before even considering the repercussions of his inquiry.

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Well... I -" Harry had not prepared for this, he felt like he was rapidly losing the debate, "Why do you find her hot?"

Ron paused, looked at Harry, opened his mouth, closed it again and then looked away. Harry remembered it so clearly as Ron had looked at him with a face of utter bemusement. That face represented everything Harry felt when he tried to comprehend 'Sexy'. Ron had begun to gesture vaguely in front of him as if he had a graph that he was using as a reference.

"Well," his gestures continuing, as if to direct Harry's point of view to the statistics of 'hot', "she just is, ya know."

He sighed, despite Ron's obvious confusion, Harry had still felt as if he was the one losing this debate and resigned himself to this loss, "Yeah, yeah."

He remembers those conversations. He remembers that situation because he remembers feeling lost. He felt like Ron and Neville, Dean and Seamus, and everyone it seemed; they were following a map when Harry had never been even taught to read a map. Harry was just following their lead and as soon as he was by himself, he was completely lost.

This map was 'sexy'.

Yes, this map had a big bum and nice arms.

No, that's not what he meant. He meant that the map showed the route to 'sexy' and he had no idea how to read it.

But that didn't matter. He didn't need a map. He didn't need to know the route because he had spent most of his teenage years trying not to die. And Harry would have rather had a map to the horcruxes than to sexual appeal. Now that Harry isn't running into life threatening circumstances at every corner, he's starting to wonder if he'll ever learn to read that map because now, he doesn't feel lost. Harry feels like he's not even on the map and its almost more confusing than before.

He's currently sitting in The Leaky Cauldron at a booth in the corner. On his left is Ron with his arm thrown around Hermione followed by Luna who is grinning across the table at Ginny. Between Harry and Ginny is Neville and most surprisingly, with a chair pulled up to the table and a hand over Ginny's is Parkinson. And it still surprises Harry anytime she shows up, arms linked with Ginny or Luna and he always has this reaction to draw his wand, to protect.

But he doesn't. Because they're not in danger, there is no confrontation. They’re happy and he doesn't understand how but if Parkinson is making his friends happy then who is he to stop her. It just adds another thing to his list of the incomprehensible. Right under sexual attraction.

It's at that very moment that the entire table turns to look at Harry. Ah, he probably should have been listening.

"What?"

"Ginny'd asked if you'd finally got yourself a shag?" Parkinson gracefully answers and Harry forces a smile that he thinks looks more like a grimace.

"Uh, that would be a no. I'm- no." Harry stutters out. He had considered, in the past, to try and fake reading the map but remembered those conversations and situations and realised it's awfully difficult to fake something you know little about.

"Come on Harry, you could get anyone you wanted." Ron adds. Harry's fleeting hope, that the conversation would move on, swiftly dissipates as Neville adds the helpful comment,

"There's a cute guy at the bar. If you got any good pickup lines, we could remedy that tonight." Ron holds his hand for a high five over Harry and Neville smirks and claps Ron's hand.

"Yeah, we'll be your wingman!" Ron adds, far more excited for this than Harry is.

"No, no, no, no, no, no." Harry pleas as his friends start to pull him up by him arms. Before anyone can move to let them scramble out from behind the table, Ginny stops them,

"Oh no," and for a brief moment Harry believes he is saved, "if anyone's going to be his wingman, I think I'm far more suited to the job."

Maybe not saved, but given a window of opportunity as the table begins to debate which of them would make the best wingman. He sits back down and lets them talk, hoping that the longer he stays silent, the more time he has to work out an escape plan. He considers for a moment how big the windows are in the men’s loo but then decides he not quite that desperate. He takes a moment to look around the table and breathes as he soaks up the energy radiating from his friends. The love. He smiles. He realises that maybe he could just ask how to read a map. Or at least ask why he can’t. They are his friends after all.

"Guys, guys." He starts, but seemingly not loud enough.

"GUYS."

The table pauses and all eyes are on Harry.

"Although I appreciate your attempts to hook me up with someone, it's not what I want. And I don't just mean this guy. I mean... anyone?" He tries to explain but quickly realises that he's made it sound even more complicated.

"Ohhh," Ron starts, as if he's cracked a code, "you want more than just a one-night stand! That's fair mate."

"No! Yes? But no." Harry has really dug himself a hole now. He's starting to regret opening his mouth.

"Why thank you Potter, it makes so much sense now." Pansy adds and Harry thinks he can see the sarcasm dripping from her voice. Ginny precedes to whack her on the arm and smiles at Harry,

"Go on."

"I think what I'm trying to say is, I don't find people 'sexy'. I've never found anyone 'sexy'. I feel like I don't know what it even means sometimes." Harry manages to finally form the words and then the table falls into silence and he feels like he's made such a fool of himself. What a stupid thing to say, he should have stayed quiet, he's not even making any sense. Or at least that's what he thinks until Luna breaks the quiet.

"You might be asexual, Harry." She suggests with a gentle smile.

Harry looks back at Luna with a blank stare as the term goes over his head and a loud bark of laughter is heard from his side as Neville seems amused,

"Sorry Luna, I think you've got mixed up, that's like plant and micro-organism stuff and I don't think Harry's a plant."

"No, you're both right." Hermione adds, "Asexual reproduction is what you're talking about Neville but I think Luna's talking about the sexuality."

Harry is feeling awfully confused and turns to Hermione and then back to Luna and laughs gently,

"I'm sorry, I'm a little lost here, what is Asexuality?"

"The asexual spectrum is the spectrum of sexual attraction. People who identify as asexual don't experience sexual attraction." Hermione explains.

"Huh, maybe," Harry thinks for a moment. Asexual. It sounds like it might fit. He just doesn't know how to tell if it's right. How is he supposed to know? And then the topic passes as Hermione asks Ginny about the Quidditch season. Its something that he's sure Hermione knows little to nothing about and he silently thanks her for the distraction and the night continues as normal.

---

It was at breakfast the next morning when harry began to properly consider what Luna had mentioned. In Hogwarts, he'd never had a chance to explore or experiment his sexuality - he'd found he was a little preoccupied. But it wasn't like he'd tried to find time to or even wanted to find time to. The little dating he did do was fine. But it was just fine. Sex was never at the forefront of his mind but he’d never thought that it should be, or should it?

What he didn't get was that he liked sex? He just didn't understand 'sexy'. After the war, in the brief period when he and Ginny had been together, he had finally had a chance to explore his sexuality and he found that sex was good. He liked sex. He liked it a lot. But not because it was Ginny. He didn't want Ginny. He just liked feeling good.

Oh Merlin, this was getting awfully confusing, and now his tea was cold. He gets up and goes to the sink, tips out his tea and decides to up the caffeine intake as he boils the kettle. He makes a coffee and checks through his phone. Maybe it was time to call in for some help.

"Hey Luna! You free today?"

---

Harry's sitting in his favourite seat in his favourite café with his favourite coffee - a caramel macchiato, for reference - whilst convincing himself that he'd had a late night and that this much caffeine was completely acceptable. It was only his third? coffee of the day.

He likes this seat because it is right in the corner and has the perfect view if the entire café. Ideal for people watching. It's quiet today, which makes sense as Monday morning isn't really prime business time, but it means there are not many people to watch. He scans the room to see a couple of teenagers at one table by the window pointing with excitement at the small dog sitting outside. The only other person in the cafe is the barista behind the counter, who is taking a chance to clean the coffee machine in the quiet. He checks his phone to see if Luna has messaged him but alas, no notifications. She's probably got stuck on the tube or the bus, Harry thinks, he did ask her to meet at short notice. Then he begins to feel guilty for taking up her time, this isn't worth her going out of her way. It seems so minor, maybe he should cancel and work it out by himself?

The bell chimes as someone enters the coffee shop. He lifts his head expecting to see a stranger or Luna. He's wrong. It's a different blonde and he can't quite believe his eyes. He feels stuck as his eyes follow none other than

Draco Malfoy.

It's not like he hasn't seen Malfoy since the war. He has. But only passing glances in the Leaky Cauldron or at Luna's birthday. Not in a quaint cafe in muggle London. And now his glance is much more that passing as he feels like he needs to take in every inch of the man ordering his coffee.

Harry blinks and shakes his head, he's just another bloke on this Monday morning and Harry tries to ignore the fact that he's finding it remarkably difficult to look away from how the tight denim stretches over his rather lovely arse. But he does and begins staring straight into his coffee. Some small hope that maybe if he doesn't look maybe Malfoy won't notice him. He's starting to lose the staring contest with his macchiato when he's gets interrupted,

"Potter?"

It seems like the 'if you can't see them, they can't see you' tactic is failing; so, Harry slowly lifts his head to meet stunning silver eyes and he almost slaps himself to remind him that this is Malfoy.

"Malfoy," Harry croaks and feels like a teenager again as his voice breaks, "what a surprise."

"It is."

There's a significant pause before anyone speaks as Harry is unsure how to converse with his ex-rival-come-acquaintance. What do you ask someone who you haven't spoken to for literal years?

"How are you?" He goes with, hoping by some miracle that the café gets robbed and then they'd both be saved from this horribly awkward encounter.

Malfoy begins to speak but it immediately interrupted by the door swinging open and Luna rushing in. A miracle Harry thinks. Luna hurries over,

"Sorry I'm late Harry, I still find the underground ever so confusing," Luna pauses and looks at Malfoy, "oh, Draco! How lovely to see you."

"Luna, what a pleasure," Draco returns with the most genuine smile Harry thinks he's ever seen from Draco and he decides that it rather suits him.

"Would you like to join us for coffee?" Luna asks and Harry is about to object as this is not what he signed up for but luckily Malfoy beats him to it.

"No, no, I ought to be going. Lovely to see you Luna," he turns and gives her a half hug with the arm not preoccupied by coffee and then gives and awkward wave to Harry and nods,

"Potter."

And then he is gone as swiftly as he entered, and Harry isn't even sure if he saw him leave as he stares blankly at the door. All he can think is, what just happened?

"You alright Harry, you look like you've seen a Nundu?"

Harry hums absently, pretending that he knows what a Nundu is. He slowly draws his attention back to the table, Luna smiles at him and puts her bag down,

"I'll just get a drink!"

By the time Luna returns, a tea between her hands, Harry thinks he's finally recovered from his unexpected encounter enough to articulate a sentence.

"I didn't realise you knew Malfoy that well," Harry began.

"It would be rude not to get to know my girlfriend's best friend." Luna smiles and takes a sip from her tea, "and besides, he's been helping me do research for the quibbler, it's been so helpful."

"Oh," Harry feels slightly dejected at the fact he knows so little about Malfoy and surprised that he hadn't heard about his help earlier, "that's nice, I guess."

Luna hums, "It is. So, what did you want to talk about, Harry?" Then Harry feels horribly awkward,

"It's not that important really," he says, scratching the back of his head, "sorry you came all this way, you just seemed like you knew what you were talking about yesterday and I thought, maybe, you could help?"

"It's alright Harry, I quite like the underground, it makes for such an interesting adventure - so much more interesting than apparating!" Luna beams at Harry and some of the tension melts away. He takes a deep breath and begins to speak,

"Yesterday, you said you thought I could be asexual? And when Hermione explained, for a moment, it made sense, but I thought about it this morning and realised that, that I like sex? So would that mean I do feel sexual attraction? I just don't know how to know what I am." Harry catches his breathe as he feels that all the tension, that he even didn't realise he was holding, falls.

"It's okay not to know, you don't need to choose a label if you don't want to." Luna pauses, "and I don't think liking sex is the same as sexual attraction."

"Right?"

"I've met people before who are asexual and sex-repulsed and asexual people who are sex-positive." Luna continues, and Harry feels like his head might explode with all the different terms.

"Okay," He breathes, "so what you're saying is I can be asexual and still like sex?"

"Yep."

Harry huffs and smiles at Luna, although the smile ends up sort if lop-sided as his brain is still processing,

"You seem to know an awful lot about, all this stuff?"

Luna hums absently,

"I guess I do." She thinks for a moment, "I've met a lot of people in the community and when me and Ginny wanted to get with Pansy, we had to learn a lot about sexualities and relationships to make it work."

"I still can't get my head around it."

"Around what, Harry?"

"You and Ginny, and Pansy? I'm glad you're happy but -" Harry feels like he's stuck his foot in it, he shouldn't judge.

"But we make it work. And you're right, I'm happy. We're happy. I guess that's all that matters." Luna smiles gently at Harry.

He's thankful for her, for her understanding and he thinks that he's got some stuff to figure out.

"Thank you, Luna."

---

Harry's cooking dinner that evening, glad for his day off, when his mind starts to wonder. He can't believe he saw Malfoy again. Spoke to Malfoy. It feels like it's been years and to just bump into him in a coffee shop, a muggle coffee shop at that. It must have been 2 years? since they'd last spoken and he can't help but wonder what he's doing now. He's barely heard from him, about him, since. What was he doing? Where was he working? Where did he live? Did he have a partner? And could he smell burning?

Oh, shit. He's burnt his eggs. Harry quickly tries to scrape the eggs off the bottom of the pan and tips it onto some toast. Burnt eggs on toast. Lovely. If he puts enough salt and pepper on maybe it'll be edible.

He spends the rest of his evening drifting in and out of his thoughts, mostly filled with his ex-rival. Harry finds himself wanting to know him and talk to him. And what is he thinking? This is Malfoy. He is just some guy and he shouldn't be preoccupied thinking about him and even if Harry did want to see Draco - sorry, Malfoy - the likelihood of bumping into him is so slim that he probably won't see him for another year.

Or so he thought.

It's exactly one week later and Harry is back at the Leaky Cauldron with everyone but Neville, who had got caught up at work late and might not be able to make it. Somehow, they were discussing the best food they had used as ammunition in their years at Hogwarts and all is normal. Harry starts making his argument for profiteroles working as mini cream cannon balls when that blonde that Harry has been trying to push out of his thoughts saunters right up to their table and smiles that stupidly perfect smile, acting as if it is totally normal for him to be there.

"Oh, hello Draco!" Luna beams at him and Harry remembers that these two were friends now and almost scowls at the thought. Not that it's bad that they're friends, he thinks, he must just find it weird seeing him around?

"I hope it's okay that I invited Draco," Pansy starts, "Luna mentioned that Harry and her had bumped into him and I realised that we never catch up all together."

Right, where one Slytherin goes the other one follows, and Harry looks around the group expecting some resistance but everyone is smiling and acting happy families - even Ron? - as if their childhood enemy hadn't just sat down at the table like they were best friends. Like their so called rival hasn't just sat across from Harry, perfectly positioned in his direct eyeline.

But as the evening goes on, it almost does feel normal. And despite Harry's immediate reaction of confusion and frustration, he finds that he isn't as opposed to the idea of having Draco around as he first thought. Being in a group prevents the awkward one-on-one conversations and Draco even buys a round for the table - a pleasant surprise. And Harry can't deny that he's enjoying the eye candy.

Eye candy.

EYE CANDY.

He really likes the eye candy. And he realises that he's never even considered using that phrase before. And without realising it, Harry is looking at a map. He's starting to read a map. He's never read a map in his life before, and he's not quite sure how or why he's started now but the fact that there even is a map is new to Harry.

Harry is looking intensely at his fire whisky and isn't sure he can look at Draco again after realising that he is, by Harry's limited understanding of the word, sexy. He can feel his cheeks heating up at the thought and silently thanks the dim lights and flowing conversation for hiding his face.

Yes, Harry knows that many people in the world are attractive. He knows that many people are 'sexy' to other people. But Harry has never had such a physical reaction to someone before and it makes it even more confusing.

Harry carefully raises his gaze and forces himself to look at anyone but Draco. But he really wants to look at Draco. He really wants to look at that shiny blonde hair and sharp jawbone, flawless skin, perfectly plump lips and those swirling grey eyes that could draw Harry in like a siren.

And he realises that he has been looking at those things and his attempt to ignore has failed miserably as those lips smile right at Harry and those endless eyes are smiling too as they return his gaze. Harry doesn't know how to react but what he does know is that, for whatever reason, he can't look away. It feels like hours staring. He's almost forgotten where he is until,

"Draco makes a killer veggie carbonara." Draco pulls his eyes away after hearing his name and begins talking to Pansy.

Harry glances around the group, cheeks burning now, but no ones eyes are on him and it seems their moment had gone unnoticed. But Harry noticed.

He finds it particularly hard to focus for the rest of the evening, he downs his fire-whisky and let's the world continue around him, only pulled from his thoughts as people begin to leave and talk starts of apparating home. He shuffles out of the pub and says his goodbyes as everyone disperses until only him and Draco are left. Harry turns to Draco and can't find any words so he looks at the sky. So does Draco. They stand in silence, surrounded by the chill breeze and the gentle rumblings from inside The Leaky Cauldron. Harry hears Draco take a deep breath,

"Walk with me?" Draco asks quietly, looking back to Harry for an answer. And he finds that he can't say no. That he doesn't want to say no.

So, they walk. And talk. Wondering along the streets around Charring Cross and Harry finds a chance to ask the questions he was so desperate to know.

"What are you doing now?"

Draco huffs out a laugh and a gentle smile,

"Don't laugh," he pauses and takes a breath, "I'm a florist." And Harry doesn't laugh because the image of him working somewhere so quaint shocks him, he almost thinks it's a joke.

"A florist?"

Draco hums in response. And Harry realises he is serious. Images of Draco in a delicate apron, handling beautiful flowers flood Harry's mind and he finds himself smiling.

"Why would I laugh?" He asks.

"Because you're "The Boy Who Lived", "The Chosen One", you're the best Auror of our time. And I'm a - flower boy."

Harry frowns, he doesn't want all those titles, he just wants to be Harry.

"I'm not the best Auror of our time. They call me that because they want to suck up to me. I'm clumsy and forgetful and I'm awful at paperwork. And being a florist, well it sounds... nice." Harry trails of and thinks he could have picked a better word.

"Nice?" Draco laughs and feigns offense.

"No, I mean it sounds calm and if you enjoy it, then that's all that matters."

Draco smiles and Harry thinks he wants to see that smile over and over again.

"I do enjoy it."

"How'd you start, anyway?" There’s a pause as Draco gathers his words.

"I needed money." He starts, "and no one would take me after the war. Especially not with this on my arm," he stops. Harry can feel the regret lacing his words as Draco lifts his sleeve to show a faded and scarred Dark Mark. Harry has an innate reaction to take his arm in his hands. So, he does. Draco's breath hitches as Harry starts tracing the mark and surrounding scars. He takes a moment to breathe before continuing,

"so, I decided to look for a muggle job. There was this part-time job as an assistant in a florist in London. I found that I loved the care and precision of looking after the flowers and picking the right ones for customers. And it turns out that plants don't care about who I used to be. Anyway, I kept working there and got promoted and here I am." Harry is still holding onto Draco and quickly comes to his senses when Draco stops talking. He drops his arm,

"Sorry, sorry, I- I don’t know why,"

"No, no, it's okay. Blame it on the fire whiskey." Draco smirks at Harry and Harry can't help but smile back.

"I'm sorry about the way people treated you for your past, it's not fair, you were only a child. We were all only children. But I'm glad you found that job, it sounds good for you."

Draco hums. They continue to walk in silence, brisk air against their skin as they walk through the streets of London. Taxis and cars passing every now and then. A few people out late walk past them but mostly it's quiet. Just the sound of feet on concrete echoing between the tall buildings either side of them. With Streetlights providing the only source if colour, Harry watches as Draco’s hair seems to sparkle every time they pass under one. You're beautiful. Is all Harry can think. Draco stops suddenly, directly under a lamppost; he turns and looks at Harry.

Draco is just staring at Harry as if Harry had said something and then he realises,

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Harry laughs awkwardly and looks at the floor, he brings his arm up and scratches his neck, almost attempting to cover his face. Draco nods slightly and Harry's not sure if he's blinked since his slip up.

"I- thank you." Draco says but can't seem to form any words so turns away from Harry and continues to walk in the direction they were going.

Harry is sure he's fucked up, now Draco is going to walk away, and Harry will never see him again because he forgot to shut his mouth. Just when he thought that they might even start being friends. That he was actually learning something. Draco's a few meters ahead when he stops and looks over his shoulder at Harry which had just been staring at Draco's back at a loss of what to do.

"You coming?" Draco calls back to him and Harry let's out a sigh. Maybe he hasn't fucked up, at least not yet.

He jogs slightly to catch up with Draco and they continue walking. Eventually, they arrive at a crossroads and Harry realises that they have no notion of where they're walking.

"Which way?" Harry asks.

"I don't know. I usually apparate home."

"Well we could apparate to mine and chat over a drink?" Harry says on a complete impulse and then worries he's pushing his luck, "or yours? Or neither? Sorry, just an idea."

Draco laughs, hard. His breathing begins to slow, and he smiles brightly at Harry. Yes, Harry thinks. Yes, that's a sight to behold.

"What, did I say something funny?"

"No, no," he starts, catching his breath, "it's just, I didn't expect the Saviour of the Wizarding World to be so awkward. It's endearing."

"Oh." Harry huffs out a laugh, "Thank you? I think." He pauses, looks around and realises that they are still standing in the corner of the crossroads, "so where are we going? Or are we departing for tonight?"

"I wouldn't despise having a drink before heading back. Yours it is."

"Mine it is." Harry agrees and holds his arm out for Draco. He takes his arm and in an instant they're twisted to Harry's front door. This is when Harry realises that he is certainly not prepared for a guest and it might be worth a disclaimer. Harry takes his arm from Draco and starts unlocking the door,

"Err, just a fore warning that I was not expecting anyone tonight and mess would be an understatement." Draco laughs at Harry's concern and promises him that he won't judge too harshly.

And then Draco is in his apartment, sitting on his sofa, drinking a glass of a random white wine that Harry had dug out from the back of the cupboard. Harry sits next to him with a glass of water in an attempt to focus his thoughts.

"So, Potter, what does the biggest name in the Wizarding World do for fun?" Draco asks.

Harry is taken aback for a second because he honestly blanks on his own hobbies, what does he do? He cooks, works, drinks coffee and oh,

"I guess I like to play quidditch every now and then, but sometimes it's hard to find an empty space to play. And everyone has full time jobs so it's only when I can drag someone to a random field." He explains.

"I miss quidditch, it was so freeing up there. So much space, no restraints." Draco added. Harry remembers when they used to play and despite the rivalry they had, he must admit that Draco played well. He put up a good fight on the pitch.

"We should do a seeker’s match sometime?" Harry asks on a whim, "if you're not scared I'll beat you." He teases. And Draco blushes. Harry thinks its adorable.

"’Sure it's not the other way around?" Draco smirks, "although I admit, I'm probably a bit out of practice. I haven't played since," he pauses, "since 5th year."

"I don't blame you. We were somewhat preoccupied."

Draco huffs a laugh. No one says anything for a while, they just sip on their drinks. Harry looks over at Draco and Draco is just staring into his glass, deep in thought. Harry takes a chance to breathe and wonder how on earth this happened. But he also finds that he doesn't care, he's just glad that it has because now Draco is here, and he feels thankful. He's not quite sure why, but it feels right.

"I'm sorry." Draco says almost a whisper, still looking away from Harry. And Harry thinks he sees a tear fall down his cheek.

"Why?"

Draco looks up now and he looks so confused,

"because of the way I treated you for 7 years? For fighting on the wrong side? For kicking you and berating you and for, for following him when," he breathes, "when I knew it was wrong." Draco's gaze is so intense, and he forces himself to keep looking at Harry. He is definitely crying now and Harry's heart hurts as he watches Draco's confident demeanour and strong facade crack. Harry leans forward rests his hand against Draco's cheek, he gently uses his thumb to wipe away the tears.

"I'm sorry." Draco repeats.

"I'm sorry too." Harry replies, "for hurting you, for not seeing the pain you were in. For not taking a minute of my time to consider what it was like for you. For being so selfish and for trying to hate you. But, I meant what I said before. We were only children. We were naive and things were out of our control. You did what you thought had to at the time and so did I. And it's in the past now. You've grown. You're not who you used to be." Harry stops, realises how much he meant what he said. He realises that he is also crying, and that he's still holding Draco's face. He drops his hand and then immediately pulls Draco into a hug.

It's an awkward angle but he thinks that this is what they both need. Draco shifts away to put his glass down and for a moment Harry thinks he's going to leave; that he's gone too far, pushed their boundaries. But he doesn't. He wraps his arms around Harry and rests his head in the crook of Harry's neck. They sit there and hold each other for what feels like hours. Silence but for the quiet sobs.

Eventually Harry's back starts to ache at the slightly twisted angle and when Draco's breathing softens, he pulls away.

"I'm not sure you're in the best state to apparate home." Harry laughs slightly and so does Draco.

"It's alright, I think I've cried the alcohol out of my system." Draco crooks out and smiles wearily.

"Are you sure you can get home safely? I don't mind you crashing here." Harry checks.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. But thank you." Draco stops and considers for a moment before looking away, "-maybe we can get a coffee sometime and catch up properly?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Harry replies.

"I'll promise not to cry all over you next time." Draco says as he stands and picks up his things of the table. He picks up his phone, unlocks it and passes it to Harry.

"Might make it easier to contact each other? Instead of waiting until we accidentally cross paths again." Draco suggests when Harry looks slightly confused at his action.

He takes Draco's phone, types in his number, and returns it to him.

"Alright, I'll talk to you soon?" Harry says. Draco nods and thanks him before apparating away and Harry is left staring at a blank space. He blinks and feels slightly lost. He almost feels as if this evening was some weird dream. But not necessarily a bad one.

He goes to bed that night with a mind full of blonde hair, grey eyes, memories of soft skin in his, the gentle scrape of hands on his back and a warmth rested against him. He goes to bed with a mind full of Draco.

---

Harry spends his week fairly normally but constantly feels on edge and checks his phone far to often as he waits for Draco's message. He feels like hitting his head against a wall. Why didn't he ask for Draco's number as well? What if Draco was just being polite? Why can't he stop thinking about him and his stupid sexy arse?

Despite being majorly distracted by Draco, he also finds plenty of time to be confused about his sudden realisation that there is a map and that he might even be on that map.

He thanks the heavens that most of his work this week has been admin as his mind is not on task and he's not sure he would have been the most helpful on the field. It gets to lunch time and Harry realises that he's completed less than half of what he should have. It's at this point he gives in, pulls out his phone and calls for help. Again.

"Hi Harry!" A soft voice picks up.

"Luna, hey! Are you free for a chat?" He asks.

"Yes of course, perfect timing really, just about to take a break."

"Ah, cool." Harry pauses, unsure of what to say next. He hears shuffling from the other end of the phone and takes it as a chance to think. The sounds quiet and Luna begins to speak.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, it's just," Harry takes a moment, "it's just about Draco? Kind of. And what we spoke about last week?"

"Go on, Harry."

"I thought that it made sense, being asexual as I've never felt like someone was sexually attractive. I've never thought of someone as sexy and then. And then..." Harry feels slightly awkward trying to explain this despite how supportive Luna is.

"And then?"

"And then I saw Draco again. And I've never reacted like this with someone. Like, I'm physically attracted to him. I want to fuck him? I've never actively wanted a person. I'm just, I was so happy that I finally had an explanation and now I've gone and mixed it up again." Harry breathes, he had spoken so quickly and forgotten to pause properly, "sorry, that was probably too much information."

Harry hears a gentle laugh from the other end of the phone. Not mocking but almost empathetic.

"It's okay Harry, it's not always easy. Sexuality is fluid and can change, so it could be you've just changed through your life. But Asexuality is a spectrum like so many other things. There are things like demisexual when the person needs a strong connection or romantic attraction before developing sexual attraction." Luna provides.

"Right." Harry thinks, "I mean, we did have a connection, I'm sure of that. But I think I was attracted to him before I had a chance to know him?"

"Well, there's also broader terms like graysexual which is more of an umbrella term. It sometimes suggests that you experience very limited sexual attraction, or it occurs in very specific circumstances."

"Right, okay. So, I'm not just going crazy?" Harry asks, laughing slightly.

"No Harry, not at all, in fact there are many people who are part of the ace spectrum. It's more common that you might think." Luna adds.

Harry smiles and feels somewhat relieved, "Thank you for helping, I really appreciate it."

"Any time, Harry!"

"I'll leave you to your lunch. Have a nice day!"

"You too Harry!" He puts down his phone and breathes.

Well, that’s a start at least. He mentally thanks Luna for her patience with him and hopes that it will all make more sense to him soon. Harry checks his phone one last time and decisively leaves it as his desk as he goes for lunch. He won’t let his life revolve around waiting on a text message.

But the first thing Harry does when he gets back to his office is turn on his phone. He squeaks and drops it back on the table as it vibrates in his hand. A message. It could be from anyone. It’s unlikely that it’s Draco, but it could be. And what if it is? What then? Harry is staring at his phone that is face down on his desk; it vibrates again, and Harry almost stands as he jumps in reaction.

Enough. There’s no point panicking about a message when it’s probably just Ron asking a bizarre question about the logistics of a fruit lasagne.

He carefully lifts his phone, unlocks the screen, and reads the notification.

2 messages.

One from Ron.

One from an unknown number.

He opens the one from Ron first.

Ron: if I made lasagen with bread instead of pasta, would it still be lasagne?

Harry laughs out loud unable to hold it back. Well, he wasn’t far off the mark. He answers Ron and mentally thanks him for unintentionally calming him down. He takes a breath and then reads the next message.

Unknown number: So, about that coffee?

It’s Draco. It’s actually Draco. He spent his entire week waiting for this bloody text. The first thing he does is add him as a contact and then he replies.

Harry: Took you long enough.

Blonde Buffoon: Well, I’m sorry that I have a life. So, how does this weekend sound?

Harry: I think that would be adequate.

Harry and Draco sent up a time and place and with a smile on his face, he finishes his work that he’s been neglecting the past few days. Suddenly, all the nerves and panic that has been brewing in him for the past week elevates and he is happy. Excited even.

---

The weekend comes and the calm state Harry had ended the week on quickly dissipates as he begins to worry about the million and one ways he is going to fuck up on his date. Date. Is it even a date? Did they clarify? What if Draco just wants to be friends? Not that he doesn’t want to be friends. He just thought there was something more. But what if Draco doesn’t see that? What if Harry’s finally found someone on his map and Draco doesn’t have Harry on his map? That would just… suck.

What if Draco finds out about Harry’s sexuality and finds it weird or wrong? He didn’t even consider that. He’s going to have to explain this whole – thing. Good god, he was overthinking this.

In the hours prior to the date (?), Harry has changed outfits at least 5 times; spent almost an hour trying to calm his messy curls; and has drank 3 cups of tea leading to a very urgent toilet break before heading out of his flat. Harry’s not sure he’s felt this nervous in his life – except maybe for the time he had to walk to his own death but that was very unusual circumstances. And, Harry thinks, that he might be walking to his own death depending on how badly he messes up.

By the time that Harry had arrived at the café of Draco’s choosing, his hands are literally shaking, and he can’t understand why he’s so nervous, but he is. He can’t see any signs of Draco inside but decides to go in, order a coffee – a caramel macchiato, of course – and sit down. He checks the time on his phone and as if like clockwork, Draco walked into the café - right on the hour. Harry watches Draco as he scans the room, presumably looking for Harry. When he notices him, Draco smiles lightly and waves awkwardly before gesturing to the small queue in front of him.

Harry takes Draco in as he is waiting to place his order and admires his coordination. His entire outfit is a combination of blues and greys and Harry notices a beautiful silver earing on Draco’s left ear. He never knew Draco had piercings. He realises that he’s still got a lot more to learn about Draco and he can’t wait to do so.

Draco comes over with his drink in hand and sits down opposite Harry.

“What’d you order?” Harry asks.

“Black Americano.” Draco answers with a small smile, “What about you?”

“Caramel Macchiato.”

“Is that just caramel in coffee?”

“Basically. Tastes good, do you want to try?” Harry moves his cup towards Draco and Draco looks at it warily. Draco picks up the mug and sort of inspects the top as it is about to jump out and attack him.

“It won’t bite.” Harry smirked.

Draco looked at Harry and then back at his coffee. He lifts it to his lips and takes a small sip before grimacing and sticking out his tongue. Harry starts laughing but can’t help finding the reaction endearing.

“Ugh, how much sugar is in that?” Draco passes it back over.

“Like 2 shots of caramel, and maybe a couple of sugars?” Harry explains slightly embarrassed.

“You’ll have no teeth in a few years, merlin.” Draco says but smiles despite it.

“Well I’m sorry that you obviously don’t like flavour.” Harry bats.

“What can I say, my coffee matches my soul.” Draco mocks, “Dark and bitter.”

“I don’t believe you.” Harry smiles, “I bet your soul matches my coffee, sweet and addictive.” Harry’s not sure where the confidence came from, but he then decides to wink at Draco.

“I’m not sweet!” Draco kicks Harry under the table and Harry bursts out in laughter. All the tension he was holding earlier falls and he feels relaxed, happy.

They spend their time laughing, chatting, catching up on the last few years. Draco tells him about his job and all the unusual customers that he’s encountered; Harry, in return, relays the weirdest Auror missions he’s been on. They gossip about their friends and exchange disbelief in the ongoing insanity of Prophet headlines. They talk about family.

“How’s your mother?” Harry asks gently after they’d lulled into a silence.

“She’s well. Thank you. I try and visit her often; I don’t like the idea of her being alone in the Manor. But she’s as happy as she can be. She’s redecorating actually, which is nice.”

“I’m glad.” Harry thinks of Narcissa, and thinks of how she helped him, “She deserves to be happy.” He pauses for a moment before sharing, “I don’t know if you knew that she helped me. In the war.” Draco shakes his head in response, his eyes meet Harry’s with a curiosity, “She lied to Voldemort, she protected me. She’s a good woman.”

“I – I didn’t know. But you’re right. She is good. She’s the best mother I could ask for.” Draco adds and Harry notices his eyes glisten slightly with a sheen of water.

“Um, I’d like to thank her properly, one day, if that’s – if that’s okay with you and her.” Harry stutters out.

“I think she’d like that.” He smiles a little. They fall into quiet again as they sip at their coffees. It’s peaceful, Harry thinks. He likes this.

“How are the Weasley’s?” Draco asks after a while, thinking of Harry’s family. Harry chuckles slightly before responding.

“Molly is as protective as always. She makes sure I check in regularly and I appreciate it really, even if I do moan.” Harry smiles to himself, “I see Ron and Ginny a lot as well, I’m sure you’ll see them more often, if you want to?” He shakes his head slightly as he corrects himself, “I mean, it was nice seeing you at the pub, you’d be welcome to join again – especially if you keep buying us rounds.” Draco laughs brightly.

“I’m not sure my bank account will be happy,” Draco jokes, “but I would like that, to join again.”

They return to telling stories, about nights at the Leaky gone wrong and their most embarrassing Hogwarts tales and even what they had for lunch in the week. They talk about anything and everything and before they know it, they’ve been sitting in the café for hours.

“We should do this again.” Draco says as he is gathering himself to leave.

“We should.”

They set up another meeting and part ways.

The next few weeks are filled with walks in the park, intriguing restaurants, and trips to the cinema – “Yes, I have seen a film before Potter, I’m not that naïve.” They even manage to play a game of quidditch - "Ha! I told you I'd win!"

It’s filled with subtle glances and sitting close enough for knees to tough It's filled with laughs and smiles and hands grazing as they walk side by side. Hugs before they say their goodbyes. It’s more that Harry expected. It’s better than he expected.

But Harry decides that he is greedy, he wants more.

It’s a Saturday evening and they are both slouched on Harry’s couch with a nonsensical film gracing the television screen. Harry is smiling and trying to hold back his laughter as Draco has a running commentary throughout the poorly constructed film.

“What is that outfit? She looks like someone tipped a can of paint over her.”

“Excuse me, that makes no sense, I thought they said she was a ghost? Why is she eating pasta like it’s no-bodies business.”

“And after everything, she does it anyway. Merlin, I wouldn’t trust this woman with a pair of scissors.”

“No one would ever do that. I take that back; you’d probably do that. No sane person would ever do that.”

Harry kicks Draco at this and Draco then kicks him back. So, Harry does it again but harder and Draco takes this as a challenge so whacks Harry back again until they are all but wrestling on the sofa, the film forgotten. They tumble back and forth: pushing, kicking, and laughing. Harry uses all his force to push Draco down onto the couch until he’s pinning Draco’s arms above his head and practically straddling his waist.

“Okay, okay, you win! Potter.” Draco replies, and sticks his tongue out and pulls a face at Harry. Their breathing is heavy, and Harry realises just how close he is to Draco. Harry thinks Draco notices too as a blush covers his cheeks and he looks away from Harry. Harry goes to release his arms and move away before he does something he regrets, before he ruins his new-found friendship, but is stopped as Draco tugs on Harry’s shirt and pulls him down into a kiss. Harry freezes for a moment and then relaxes. It’s soft and gentle at first but quickly becomes needy and heavy. Harry pulls away to breathe.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t – I should” Draco starts, as if he’s done something wrong but before he can continue, he’s interrupted with Harry’s lips and he’s pushed back down. This time it is quick but intense and Harry pulls away but leaves his forehead against Draco’s. He breathes heavily and looks straight into Draco’s swirling silver eyes. Enchanting, he thinks.

“Don’t apologise.” Harry smiles gently and then pecks Draco’s lips again. Draco looks shocked and now it’s Harry’s turn to second guess, “Is this okay?” He asks.

“Yes, yes – I just didn’t expect – I thought – Merlin.” Draco laughs and gives up speaking. He kisses Harry again. Harry smiles into the kiss. This is the start of something good, Harry thinks.

That night, Harry’s on the map. Harry’s navigating the map. And Godrick, is it the most beautiful map he’s ever seen. Harry carefully traces and learns every corner, every rip, every turning, and direction on his map. Harry wants to learn his map off my heart. To know all its secret routes, all its hidden gems.

And some days, Harry still struggles reading the map or doesn’t want to read to map or maybe he can’t even find the map. But Draco tells his that that’s okay. Draco tells him that he doesn’t care because even if Harry never had a map, he will be there. Draco teaches him that some relationships don’t need maps and that that’s okay too.

Some nights, Harry loves his map.

Every night, Harry loves his Draco.

#drarry #draco malfoy #harry potter #asexual #graysexual #ace harry #i haven't written in a long time #please bare with me #just self indulgent drarry #wholesome #soft #fanfic #fluff #the leaky cauldron #coffee shops

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ashes-and-ashes · 5 years

Text

Drarryland #9!

This was really, really fun to write! We have forced bonding, lots of fluff, a bit of angst and of course, Pansy and Blaise being Pansy and Blaise, the two biggest Drarry shippers in Hogwarts. Hope you guys like this - let me know please!

@gameofdrarry

Prompt: Forced Bonding: the fallout of this as told from the POV of either 1) Ron -OR- 2) Blaise -OR- 3) The Minister of Magic - Minimum: 576 words - Maximum: 1675 words.

Monday

It really was not Blaise’s fault.

Never mind that he and Pansy had spent 3 months planning this. Never mind that the actual spell itself took 2 weeks to take effect. Never mind that they used some incredibly complicated spell work that would have let them ace their NEWTS for sure.

No, it wasn’t Blaise’s fault at all.

He leans against the wall now, smirking down at Draco and Potter. Both of them are flushed, almost hissing at Blaise, and both of them now had a ring of pure silver wrapped around their middle finger.

It’s interesting, to think of Draco and Potter being together. Blaise had spent the last 4 years of his life listening to Draco, about how Potter was incredibly annoying, immature and infuriating, how just because he’s the chosen one doesn’t mean we all have to bow down before him. It was almost a daily routine - If Draco didn’t mention Potter at least once before breakfast, all of them grew deeply concerned.

Blaise isn’t an idiot. He’s known about Draco, known since 4th year when Draco’s gaze fell on Marcus’ body instead of Millicent’s, known since those awkward dates between him and Pansy. Draco had never told him, not officially, in a household where Gay was uttered right next to mudblood and blood-traitor. Blaise has always known, to some extent.

Of course, all the shagging they did in 6th year didn’t hurt either.

Blaise just leans back, lets that infuriating smirk settle on his lips. It’s winter break, empty courtyards and hallways, and no one wanted to mess with 3 angry 8th years anyways. “So. Here are the rules.”

“Screw the rules.” Potter glares up at him, hair dimples and glasses askew. “What the hell did you do to us?”

Blaise shrugs. “Magic. Unbreakable Connection. We bound you two together for about…” He cocks his head. “5 days. Starting now.”

Draco splutters. “5 days?”

“Yep!” Blaise winks. “Or, you know. However long it takes for you two to decide.”

Potter groans. “Deside what, Zabini?”

Blaise shrugs. “Decide if you two are going to start shagging, or go back to being mortal enemies.” He smirks at the dumbfounded looks that cross both their faces. “Oh, get over it. Pansy and I aren’t blind, you know. We’ve seen you two eye-screwing from across the bleeding hall.”

Draco swears. “Goddamn it Blaise, if I get my hands on you…” He starts forwards, fists clenched when suddenly he jerks back. The silver rings on both his finger and Potter’s glows silver, and Draco curses at the invisible string that binds them together. Blaise nods. “Well. We know it works now!” He sketches a mocking bow. “If you excuse me, I have to go meet Pansy in the library. She’s busy making sure that the potion we put in your breakfast this morning won’t give you some nasty disease. It prevents you from telling anyone, by the way.” He winks at them both. “Enjoy your week!”

Without a backwards glance, Blaise struts down the hall, ignoring the angry cussing from behind him.

Tuesday

He’s eating his porridge when Pansy plops down next to him.

He’s exhausted, onto his third cup of coffee. He spent the whole night chatting and plotting with Pansy and he’s regretting it now.

He scowls over at Pansy, chipper as always, delicately eating a chocolate croissant. “How the hell are you so cheerful?”

Pansy shrugs. “I’m always cheerful!”

Blaise shakes his head. “You don’t get hungover. You never get tired. You can eat whatever you want and you have perfect skin.” He groans. “Screw you, Pans.”

Pansy smiles, resting her head on his shoulder. “You wish you could screw me.”

Blaise sticks his tongue out at her, and she shrugs. “How’s the Potty and the Malfoy going?”

Blaise points across the hall with his spoon. “Been arguing for half an hour.”

Pansy follows his gaze, where Potter and Draco stood fighting. Obviously Potter wanted to sit with the Gryffindors, while Draco wanted to sit with the Slytherins, and neither of them were giving in. They stand in the middle of the hall, their tense whispers filling the room.

Pansy sighs. “Why can’t they just kiss already?”

Blaise shakes his head, watching the two bicker. “I don’t know Pans,” he says. “I don’t know.”

Wednesday

They watch them, from behind the trees, watches the two of them walk around the grounds. They’re far enough not to hear the conversation, but close enough to see the glances, the small smiles, the way Draco’s hand brushed Potter’s face as he adjusted his glasses.

Pansy lets out a quiet squeal. “Oh my god, they are so perfect together! I ship it so much.”

Blaise nods, watching. There’s something beautiful in their movements, the two of them, the way they knew each other so well. He supposed they did, having spent 8 years in a war together, wasting so much energy on each other.

The line between hatred and love was very thin. Blaise knew that painfully well.

He doesn’t think he’s ever seen Draco this unguarded before, this relaxed, hasn’t seen him like this since the war had started. Potter brought out something in him, something so different to the boy Blaise used to know.

Pansy steps on his toe, making him wince. “Crap Pans. Do you have to wear the Heels of Death everywhere you go?”

Pansy flips him off. “You’d probably wear them if you could get away with it.” She pauses. “Anyways, we need a ship name for the two of them.”

Blaise shrugs. “Harco, Palfoy, Motter?”

Pansy frowns. “Nah. I’ll think of it.”

Blaise just laughs, quietly, turning back to watch the two of them. “Take your time, Pansy. Take your time.”

Thursday

They sit on the tower together, watching them fly.

Close, so close together, in perfect and compete unison. Their brooms pressed next to each other’s, legs almost touching, flying in huge circles and arcs across the quickly-darkening sky.

It’s beautiful, the way Draco and Harry flew, the way they were able to dance across the air.

Blaise leans back, into Pansy’s shoulders. It was slightly chilly outside, the stars bright above them. Pansy rests her head on Blaise’s, her legs bare. The Heels of Death lie on the stones, Blaise’s feet dangling over the edge of the roof.

Pansy smiles. “You know, for someone who claims not to care, you seem awfully invested in this relationship Blaise.”

Blaise shrugs. “So are you.”

“Yes, but I wasn’t the one who dragged us up here just to watch Potter and Draco fly.” Pansy winks. “Turning into a fanboy?”

Blaise scowls at her. “Oh, shut up.” Pansy smirks at him, and he exhales. “I just want him to be happy, you know? Draco, I mean.”

Pansy raises her eyebrows, Blaise’s words stumbling over one another. “It’s just…” He swallows. “The War. We were too young, all of us. Every single one of us were too young. You know. You know what Draco did, what he was forced to do. You know what they did to us. You’re maybe the only person besides Draco who truly knows what the war stole from us.”

Pansy’s eyes darkened, her face draining of blood as she nods. Blaise sighs. “He deserves to be happy. We all do.”

“Who did you lose, Blaise?” Pansy’s voice is a near-whisper. “Who did you lose?”

Blaise lets out a bitter laugh. “It was a boy. It was always a boy. A muggle. And he died.”

Pansy closes her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Blaise just swallows. There’s a pair of letters carved into the stone in front of him, dark against the stone. It’s just two initials, RL + SB, and he presses his fingers into the indents. “Shit happens. We move on.”

Pansy shakes her head. “Do we though?”

Blaise’s throat has closed up, making talking, swallowing, breathing painful. He shrugs. “It’s the best we can do.”

They sit there in silence for awhile, watching the silhouettes of two boys against the setting sun, the memories heavy in their heads. Pansy clears her throat. “Well.” Her voice is hoarse, clogged, and she coughs before giving Blaise a small smile. “I finally thought of their ship name.”

Blaise raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Pansy just brings her lips close to his ear, and Blaise can feel himself starting to grin as she whispers it.

Friday

He doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry.

He’s back in the hallway with Pansy, both of them with their wands out and there’s Harry and Draco, against the wall, snogging fiercely.

Blaise sighs. “God, Pansy, I wish I could bleach my goddamn eyeballs.”

The two of them jump apart, both breathing heavily, and Blaise would pay money to see the expression that passed over Harry’s face again. “What. The. Hell?”

Pansy lifts her hands, exposing her palms. “Hey. We were going to reverse the enchantment, but, um, if you’re into that sort of...ropes and things, we can keep it on…”

Draco glares at her. “Traitor.”

Pansy smiles back sweetly. “You’re welcome.”

“Merlin’s saggy left - “ Harry thrusts his hands out in front of him, blushing furiously. “Can you undo the bloody spell?”

“No,” Blaise tells him, and Harry flips him off. He sighs. “Fine. Give me your hand.”

With a suspicious look, Harry places his hand in Blaise’s. He flicks his wand, and the silver ring around his finger disappears. Pansy does the same with Draco, and before long, the two of them stand there, pissed off and angry.

Blaise gives them a small salute. “And with that, we’re off before you guys start shagging. Thank us later. Invite us to the wedding!”

Pansy winks. “And your ship name is Drarry! Just thought you wanted to know that.”

They manage to flee down the hall moments before Harry’s wand flies down and hits the wall where their heads were moments before.

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