So you're saying you turned down a proposal to mate with an honorable wolf from a good family because it wasn't the 'Clan way,' and now you're on your knees full-on presenting for the witch daughter of Death Eaters? Isn't that a little hypocritical—not to mention stupid? She'll never be able to give you what you want, not like a real wolf could.
"How dare you, you know next to nothing about the situation between myself and Joey - and I will have you know that the "Clan Way" is our way and the least she could have done. It is about the disrespect she showed me when others in our community were more than willing to do the same to secure alliances -- You know what, I don't have to explain myself to you. Joey made the wrong choices time and time again even after I voiced every time what I needed from her and she still ignored me! Still wanted to take the choices and decisions and my feeling out of the equation - she isn't the girl I fell for. Joey isn’t... she isn't what I want anymore."
"You are crass, and a coward and weak. You talk behind a curtain of anonymity because you're scared what is going to happen if I find out who you are. I may be a semi-functing pacifist but I will still kick you ass out of self-defense. Or at the very least tell my "death eater girlfriend" who I am sure would be more than happy to chat with you."
What's lighting a fire under your belly at the moment?
"The fact that some Auror Commander got killed and suddenly poof! All the investigating stops, and the cute little 'hunt for the serial killer' is paused. Once again, proving that unless they need a ratings boost, they don't actually care that we are being killed, that we are being hunted through the fucking streets. Our deaths are ignored, and our maiming and murder are put on the back burner. It's unfair, unwarranted, and will only cause more attacks and suffering. I know more than a few werewolves are thinking about forming their own vigilante group - which I am sure is going to be so much cause for concern. They'll focus on our 'militarization' instead of the fact we are just trying to protect ourselves and our community."
"It's disgusting, and hear my full rant on it my radio show!"
"Never, I was not chosen to be blessed to become a werewolf. Unless there is some accident like with my cousin Eudora, then I will remain a plain halfbreed. But my place in our community, in my Clan, is still cemented. I am just as useful to my Clan as a non-wolf; I can go places they cannot fight back in ways they cannot, and continue to prove the negligence and segregation that schism my people from the rest of the population! Even though I am considered 'normal,' I am still barred due to my blood, treated monstrous and different, and therefore in a way, I am always 'wolfed out'. My blood is still filth, and I will never be enough - wolf or wix - to please anyone. That's fine; I know who I am, and I don't need to wolf out to be enough or lesser than anyone."
What was your first heartbreak, and what happened?
"She asked me to marry her," Penny whispered, "and I asked her to do it the right way - the Clan way - and she told me to run away with her. Not ask - told. Told me to leave my family, my friends, the Being Movement. How in the world was I supposed to say yes to that?"
"Also, she kept sleeping with people when we were on breaks and then breaking the bones of the people I slept with."
Yes, she had asked for it—demanded it, even. Yet still, Maeko was not fully prepared for what the onslaught of Penny’s senseless babbling, beautiful and desperate as the words were whined into Maeko’s ear, did to her body. She felt a rush of hot air like helium fill her up from the tips of her toes to the end of each coiled spring of black hair on her head, lifting her up up up to the crest of the horizon; the same rush she’d chased atop her broom as she careened like a comet in a blur of red and gold after the Golden Snitch, the same high she’d reached for as she climbed to the rooftop of the Gryffindor Tower and stood at the very edge of the world, like she might kiss the clouds.
Penny’s supple thighs strained against Maeko’s hold, and Maeko tightened her grip and stretched her calf, holding the halfwolf open despite her struggle for release. “I know you do, pretty girl…” Maeko cooed, consolatory, as she nosed along Penny’s neck, nuzzling, intoxicated by the sweet sylvan musk that overtook her senses like wild-growing flora. It opened up Maeko’s synapses like a nicotine high, and she opened her mouth at the juncture of Penny’s neck and shoulder, sucking a lovebite beneath the press of her lips and teeth. “…and you will, soon, I promise…”
Maeko stroked her fingers along the plush wet crease at the center of Penny’s spread legs, invigorated by the way her body spasmed every time Maeko so much as lightly grazed her sensitive clit, like touching an exposed wire, as she labored at the edge of release. Maeko traced a path in the opposite direction until she could curl two fingers inside of the blonde, stroking those soft inner walls just deep enough to still Penny’s incessant squirming. “You’re doing so good, sweetheart,” Maeko praised in a low drawl, thrusting her fingers in just a few centimeters farther, “But I need you to hold on just a little bit longer, for me. Do you think you can do that?”
Penny let out an anguished sound, but gave a shaky nod, and Maeko slowly pulled her fingers out from inside of Penny and helped her to stand upright despite her wobbling knees. Maeko followed, scooting her ass off the edge of the desk to stand on solid ground, and was about to wipe her hand on her own denim-clad thighs when she noticed the way Penny’s eyes were locked on where the moonlight caught in the slick that coated Maeko’s fingers and palm, wide and wanting. Mae’s head lilted to one side and she smirked, holding up two fingers in offering. “Go on, then—see how good you taste.”
The halfwolf’s eyes flashed hungrily and without hesitation, she opened up her mouth and swallowed around Maeko’s fingers, eliciting a low breathy moan from Maeko’s own throat. “Fuck…” Maeko practically growled as a surge of adrenaline pulsed through her body. She’d wanted to take this slow, to not get caught up in the frenzy like she always did and to make every moment count, but fuuuckin’ hell—Maeko needed to be fucking buried deep inside the tight wet heat of Penny Hawkins, and she needed it now.
She felt fucking mad with ravenous desire as she pulled her fingers from Penny’s throat and crashed their mouths together, claiming, maneuvering them both back several clumsy steps across the tiny room until Penny’s back was at the arm of the long-suffering leather couch that listlessly sat guarding their space like an old junkyard dog. She pulled Penny’s blouse up and over her head and tossed it off to one side, then yanked off her own tee shirt and discarded it as well, for good measure. Penny reached between them to undo Maeko’s jeans, and Mae allowed her to get as far as unfastening the button before she grasped the Ravenclaw firmly by the arms and spun her around again, gently but decidedly coaxing her body to bend forward over the arm of the couch.
Penny’s back arched by some unspoken instinct, her ass poised up in the air to give Maeko the most enticing view right up her skirt. “Merlin, you are so fucking sexy, Penny—you know that, right? So good, such a perfect pretty girl…” She slid Penny’s white knickers down her legs, and then she couldn’t help herself—Maeko caressed her palm over the curve of one silky round cheek that was presented so beautifully before her, while the other hand she teased along Penny’s still-sopping slit. Penny mewled and writhed beneath Maeko needily, and Mae held her hand still long enough to ask, “Is this what you want, then? You want me to fuck you hard and fill you up?” Some choked-out words of insistent consent, and then, looking and sounding every bit a true domme, Maeko said, “Good. Then whenever you’re ready, I want you to come,” before plunging three fingers deep inside of Penny’s waiting cunt.
Penny couldn't think. It was as if Maeko had found the off-switch in her brain and clicked it, leaving Penny swimming in the mire of pleasure, following the incessant need to continue chasing the pleasure of Maeko's hands and teeth and tongue. Her heart was hammering like a war drum, charging out of her chest, and making her head swim. Penny felt altogether fuzzy and warm, slipping against Maeko's insistent hands, crying out for her touch.
The Gryffindor had a mocking edge to her voice, one that in other circumstances would set Penny off. She'd rail and growl about respect, she'd be frankly turned off by the cooing in Maeko's voice had this been a pub or bar. Penny didn't like people to know she enjoyed the teasing, the mockery, the coos and whispers in bed. Some folk had no class and could sing their bed prefrences over breakfast, with strangers, giggling on walks around the wizarding villages. But Penny couldn't, thougy Helle and Iris made their jokes, having walk in on her with Joey more than the Ministry put out a propaganda piece. The Ravenclaw guarding her preferences and muffled her voice, but Maeko was dragging her moans put, her whimpers and whines. The Gryffindor had no qualms about ruining Penny's mouth with her fingers and the halfbreed was happy to recieve.
She bobbed her head down on Maeko's fingers, closing her eyes with pleasure as they stroked her curling tongue and poked the inside of her cheeks. Her eyes flew open when the fingers left her mouth and she mewled against Maeko's insistent tongue, opening her lips to be plundered, wilting against her lithe strong body, knees nearly giving out.
The werewolf girl was quick to follow Maeko's silent orders, happily letting her shirt be she'd though she covered her stomach with her hands. It was easy to wear clothes, to disguise the rolls on her stomach, the softness of her arms and thighs. But Maeko didn't seemed to care or take notice as Penny shuffled closer to yank off her pants, but Maeko had other designs. A firm hand between Penny's shoulder blades ensured she'd stay still, and she arched her back, showing off her sodden center.
"Maeko please stop teasing me," her gasp fell on deaf ears as the Gryffindor continued to take her sweet time, pulling down her knickers and tracing the outline of her puffy outer lips. Maeko was in her ear, practically cooing, and Penny whimpered her hips twitching desperately until Maeko's grip tightened and she held very very still.
The very idea of Maeko filling Penny's tight hole was enough to make her spread her legs more, to try and entice something. Anything. She felt as if she were going insane, useless pleading babbles falling from her mouth until she felt the fingers at her entrance, pressing in and in, deep until Maeko's fingers were wiggling.
"Mae! Mae!" The other woman's name falling off Penny's lips like a desperate mantra, her hips rolling back, and pressed up on her tippy-toes, the halfbreed tried to ride her fingers. There was a small laugh as Maeko pulled back then slammed back inside, and Penny screamed as a thumb pressed hard on her clit. Her head spun as Maeko set an inconsistent pace, all at once driving her mad with quick shallow thrusts, then pushing deep and hard inside. Penny let out a gasp as Maeko bit her neck, sinking her teeth into soft skin, then soothing the bite with a tongue.
"Maeko please I wanna cum," Penny pants, tiny moans and uh uh uh falling from her red mouth, "please fuck me," she twitched her hips, ans Maeko's fingers slid against that Sweet spot inside her cunt and she let out a moan, needy and soft. She laid over the couch arm, and felt Maeko's hand in her hair and gasped when it tightened. "Please fill me up I need to cum for you Mae please," she looked over hee shoulder, eyes welled with tears and face flushed red from her wanton begging, "I'll be so good for you, pleasepleaseplease let me cum Maeko. I'll do anything you want--" Penny let herself fall forward further, toes barely grazing the ground, letting herself be at the mercy of the dark haired beauty behind her, "I just wanna cum so bad."
As Maeko hummed in pleasure, the pale column of her throat stretched and vibrated beneath where Penny’s mouth was opened over it, the halfwolf’s tongue stroking long, wet stripes along the skin that seemed to draw the rhythmic thumping of Maeko’s pulse. Her fingers tightened over the curve of Penny’s hips as she pulled the girl’s body against her own, the ache for skin-to-skin contact heightened by the few layers of fabric between them, the grooves of the corduroy and the top hem of Penny’s skirt digging angry creases into Maeko’s palms with the strength of her grip.
Maeko was so caught up in the heated fervor that Penny’s moaning of her name didn’t immediately register as something requiring a response. ‘Please…’ Penny was pleading, asking her something, and Maeko eased out of the fever-lust slightly, her grip on Penny loosening as she reached back to press a hand against a crumpled airing schedule on the table and sit up a little. “Sorry, I shouldn’t’ve…” Maeko began, thinking that perhaps she’d gotten some wires crossed, read a few signals wrong and gotten carried away.
But Penny was gazing at her, flushed and keen and wanting; there was no mistaking that look, as she hung off of Maeko’s every breath. What are you asking me? Maeko wondered as Penny squirmed in her lap, her ears turning red.
‘Please, tell me…’ Penny said, and at last some slow-grinding cogs slotted into place inside of Maeko’s head.
Maeko was plenty used to being in control during sexual encounters, but it wasn’t ever something that she consciously, actively thought about. More often than not, a maddening buildup of well-laid teasing smirks and grazing touches would crescendo into a frantic tussle, a madcap release of passion and hormones wherein clothes were torn off and skin was scraped and bruised in their frenzy to fuck fast and hard, like some feral depraved beasts. That’s the way Maeko always drove it, when she and Justin would chase each other through the woods and tumble for dominance like animals in the dirt; when Tucker would press her up against the wall and she’d rip her own stockings into scraps in her haste to wrap her legs around his back and ride; when she’d pull a stranger by their shirt scruff into the darkest, dankest corner of the club so they could shove their hands gracelessly down Maeko’s pants while their teeth clacked together over the heavy thumping of the bass.
So to some degree, Maeko enjoyed driving people crazy with wanting her, and she was quite good at it. But as she looked at Penny watching her, waiting and so willing to be commanded at a single word from Mae, a new sensation stretched and warmed deep within her belly. Something hot and fierce and powerful spread through Maeko’s body, stalking like a lion and in no hurry. Her pupils dilated, and a feline expression crossed over her face; it felt intuitive, rising to the occasion of being truly dominant, like it was something that had always been dwelling within Maeko in hibernation, lying in wait until the right person called it forth.
“Oh, I know what you want…” Maeko drawled, her voice a low and raspy, commanding thrum. She dragged her fingers along the curve of Penny’s flushed jaw, over her glistening pink lips. “You’re pretty when you beg…” she said, and then, “…turn around.” Maeko shifted on the desk and let her legs hang over the edge of it before maneuvering Penny flush into her lap, her back pressed to Maeko’s chest this time. She trailed her fingers feather-light around Penny’s kneecaps, up and into the crease between her soft inner thighs before she coaxed the halfwolf’s legs wide open.
She wrapped one hand around Penny’s thigh, just above the knee, and held it back in place, while Penny’s opposite leg Maeko held still by pressing her ankle to Penny’s calf. Her other hand Maeko traced further up still, until it circled over the fabric of Penny’s knickers, which was damp beneath Maeko’s fingertips. “You’re so wet…” Maeko muttered; at first she was just making an observation, but at the way Penny whined and shuddered in her lap, she felt desire dripping through her, pooling low in her body, and a smirk spread over her lips. Intentional and sultry, Maeko said, “…did you get all wet thinking about me, Penny?” She held Penny’s legs open while she spoke, her fingers teasing along the inner edges of the underwear that clung to the highest points of Penny’s thighs. “…about how badly you want me to touch you?”
Penny let out another whimpering sound, and Maeko moved her lips to the Ravenclaw’s ear and said, “…then let me hear that pretty beg again.” Immediately, without a second’s hesitation, Penny cried out, “Please touch me, Maeko—” and the rush that flooded through Maeko was so satisfying and intense that she exhaled hot, heavy breath over Penny’s neck in her haste to acquiesce the girl’s plea, shoving the knickers to one side and dipping into the sweet, slick crease of Penny’s lips, pressing her middle finger to Penny’s swollen clit and radiating with want as Penny yelped and rutted against her hand in response.
...
When Penny met Maeko’s eyes, her eyelids damp with sudden tears from the sheer need balling up in her belly she froze. These weren’t the eyes of a girl shoving Penny into a wall, not those of a man hauling her ass up on the bed, both their eyes betrayed a need for her body. But never that hunger that shone between the lust and possession, when their partner became a feast for them to consume. For a moment Penny forgot Maeko was pure wix, and instead found only the eyes of a dominate alpha staring down at her, and out of instinct averted her eyes and bared her throat with a whimper letting Maeko move her arouud, letting her skirt and shirt hike up to bare the soft pudge of her belly and the lace of her bra, corduroy skirt tucked into the waistband and her white panties practically sheer and clinging to her sopping cunt. She widened her legs, wanting nothing more than present herself to Maeko, show off how wet she was, how willing, how obedient - all that any alpha wolf would want from Penny.
Penny let out a sob as Maeko opened her up, like a flower blooming in the spring, petal soft and ripe to be picked by someone who found her pretty enough. The blonde let Maeko move her legs and body, how could she do anything but listen? Maeko’s voice dropped a few octaves, it rang with command and surety. Something at this moment Penny lacked - control. Her entire body a nerve, her chest fluttering, cunt flexing at the sheer emptiness it felt. Penny’s partner was here, she was around her, ordering her - Maeko’s orders rang true like a bell. Penny was a ball of desperation and wonton lust, Maeko’s taunts struck her brain like an ice-pick and caused her to pose herself so nicely. She would contort herself as Maeko asked, thrusting her chest out, widening her knees so Maeko could take whatever she wanted from her body. Penny just needed her hands, and her orders.
The wolfgirl whimpered as Maeko called her pretty, focusing on that single word until it became a mantra in her brain - pretty, pretty begging, pretty voice, pretty girl, pretty. Whatever amount of shame or nervousness, or hell even brains that may have been left, melted out of her ears when she heard Maeko’s voice rough voice, head lolling back so her nose could inhale the scent of Maeko’s hair. Penny felt no shame in the way her mouth opened, her tongue licking up the salty sweat building on her partner’s skin, wishing for a moment that Maeko had three hands - one to hold her open, one to touch her pussy, and one to shove into her mouth.
So when Maeko asked Penny to beg, she answered, begging and panting and whining and praying she was pretty enough, good enough, sweet enough for Maeko. The reward of Maeko’s fingers on her clit was enough to make Penny arch, squirming in Maeko’s iron grip, thrusting against the touch. There were actual tears building in Penny’s eyes from the sudden onslaught of pleasure, a rush of wetness dripping from her slit.
“Oh fuck- fuck...” she pressed up against the continued pressure on her clit, Maeko ple-please,” Penny humped the fingers pressed against her clit, eyes closing, stars forming behind her darkened eyelids as her voice broke around the syllabes of Maeko’s name as she circled her clit. “Maeko... please fuck me, fuck me please.” She needed to be filled, legs widening as she tried to show Maeko how good she’d be, how flexible she was, that hindbrain turned on that ordered Penny present like a good girl. “Maeko I need you. Don’t tease me, I need you to use me, please Mae -- fuck me miss, I wanna cum please fuck me I wanna cum for you so bad.” Penny was babbling now, riding on prayers and Maeko’s fingers.
In an act of desperation Penny grabbed Maeko’s hand, slick and sticky and attempted to press her down into her hole, “Please fuck me I wanna cum miss, lemme cum, fuck me.” a tear slipped from her eye as she searched for a release only Maeko could order or give.
A wry smirk stretched itself across Maeko’s face as she watched Penny squirm and avert her gaze, observing the lovely primrose shade that blossomed all over the Ravenclaw’s exposed skin. Was she actually flustering Penny Hawkins?
And she didn’t mean to tease, but the request surprised her enough to elicit a light laugh, and Maeko said, “Reckon I’ve never known anyone polite enough to ask my permission before trying to jump my bones…” But she didn’t want Penny to think Maeko was making fun of her—and she sure as fucking hell wanted to get the Hawkins as close to her body as Maeko could possibly get her.
So Maeko reached out and lifted up Penny’s chin with the crook of her finger, raising her downcast eyes until their gazes met; Maeko’s own eyes sparkled like opals in the pearlescent moonlight with a look that was both mischief and earnest affection—unique and compelling and off-putting in a way that only Maeko Burke could pull off. She gave a jerk of her own chin and said, “Come on, then,” before dragging Penny up onto the desktop by the hand. She scooted back a bit, giving not one single thought to the papers that were shoved off the table’s edges by the movement to flutter toward the floor as she ran her hands up the backs of Penny’s thighs that straddled either side of Maeko’s legs.
It felt natural to lean all the way back, to feel the flat wood pressing against her shoulder blades, sending another waterfall of loose papers cascading toward the ground. Penny was hovered above her, perched atop Maeko’s thighs, and Maeko was struck by the luminous sight of her, framed by the skylight and backlit by the glow of the moon like a mythical goddess.
“Merlin…” Maeko breathed out on a wisp of captivated breath, and then caught herself and scolded, Let’s not lose our heads here, Burke, before reaching up and pulling Penny down to kiss again. She coaxed Penny’s lips to part with her tongue and licked into her mouth, as the hand that had tangled in the thick hair at the back of Penny’s head wound itself around a rope of blonde until she could tighten it into a fist and pull. Maeko’s other hand found the curve of Penny’s hip and she squeezed at the sumptuous flesh that padded the bone, hard enough to leave a finger-shaped bruise, while Maeko chased friction by grinding up into the maddeningly enticing heat between Penny Hawkins’ legs.
.
Penny could not help the tiniest of whimpers that exited her lips when Maeko took a hold of her chin, moving the young woman like a pliant thing. The halfbreed was focused on how Maeko’s curls felt against her cheek, the sharp lines of her shoulders and the coolness of her palms. Even tucking her cheek against the sudden familiar touch.
The Hawkins girl had always been a touch easy in bed, easy to tease, easy to make blush, easy to get her squirming. Helle said it was a product of her ‘blatant self esteem issues considering how much of an ugly duck you were’ while Iris would snap spells at their shared cousins brain for saying something Penny always believed - she was the least pretty of the Hawkins girls and boys. Something about Penny always so awkward and flushed, always unpolished in the most social situations, always unsure where to put her hands or how to act outside of a fit of political passion or werewolf gathering. She never fit, her clothes, her skin, her bloodline, even Hogwarts. Penny was always a bit too much, a bit too loud, too angry, too proud - take your pick and Penny always had been.
As Helle said, ‘you’re such fucking bottom cause you can’t help but be the loudest bitch in the room so someone has to fill your mouth’ which always got her dumped in a river. But goddamnit, sometimes her terrible cousin was right, and Maeko’s hand winding her hair was enough to stop her brain and let herself be steered.
Her legs over Maeko’s lap, her blue corduroy skirt hiking up around Penny’s thighs as she was pulled closer, hot breath wafting over her mouth before being plundered by the Gryffindor. She fell easy into her arms, letting one hand knot the front of Maeko’s shirt in a desperate gasping hold and the other found itself pressed against the wall for balance.
Until Maeko pulled her fucking hair and Penny obediently opened her mouth, Mae swiping her tongue along hers fingers grasping. Penny couldn’t help arching into the hard touch, enough to bruise, enough to leave proof of their encounter. The Ravenclaw let out a sharp moan as Maeko’s hips jerked up and she couldn’t help her own hip roll, the gentle brush of Maeko’s jean against her cotton underwear making her head grow fuzzy as she chased that feeling.
“Mae...” Penny panted as they parted, but her eyes were growing hazy as Maeko’s fingers continued to hold her hips steady and rough, “...Mae,” it was just her name. Should she move her hands now? Should she continue this desperate grind? Was she being too obvious, not obvious enough? What if she was too heavy? Was Maeko grabbing her so tight because she put too much pressure on her thighs? Her brain flashing between a lovely haze of arousal and the sharp understanding that Penny might be mucking up, and it was too much to bear. She didn’t want to be too much or too little, just right, she needed to be just right. Penny, still matching the movements of Mae’s hips, let out a pitiful moan before kissed up Maeko’s wonderfully slender neck and sucking a tiny hickey into a lovely pulsepoint that fluttered like a rabbit’s heart beneath Maeko’s jaw.
“...please,” Penny finally asked, hoping for some level of guidance as she rutted against Maeko’s lap, “Mae please... tell me...” the sharp pain from the hand tangled in her hair made Penny’s eyes roll back as she continued her desperate grind, her panties soaked through and sticking.
Her immediate instinct was to protest Penny’s assessment. After all, Maeko had painstakingly cultivated her entire personality, since the very first day she’d set foot in Hogwarts and been deemed an outsider by her peers, on being wild and untamable and free—Maeko Burke, ever aloof and unknowable with her smirks and her secrets. I am the sea and nobody owns me.
But she was not sixteen and indestructible, anymore. Looking back on it, Maeko could see the deep cracks in her own facade, more clearly than those that lay upon the crumbling foundation of her empty, ancestral home, standing like a lone sentry at the end of a gloomy alleyway. Even in her childhood years that preceded her time at Hogwarts, during which Maeko had scampered in and out of every nook and cranny of Knockturn Alley like some feral little beast—that hadn’t been true freedom, but merely another cage that Maeko had been too young and wild to comprehend; a creature kept in captivity may have been fooled by the smell of the outside air, but it would never be truly free. And a lack of supervision, many years of consistent neglect and indifference from those that were charged with raising her, had fooled the creature that was Maeko Burke into believing wholeheartedly in her own fierce independence—so much that she had hurt people she loved, pushed away people who had tried to get close to her, in her efforts to cling onto that lie that she’d locked deep inside herself: that she didn’t need anybody, and therefore didn’t want anybody.
She drew her slender fingers up to her lips and took a slow drag, the glowing orange end of the cigarette crackling faintly in the studio’s dim lighting, reflecting off of Maeko’s sharp features at unusual angles. Quietly, she admitted to the middle distance amidst a steady exhale of smoke, “…no, I suppose they didn’t.”
Her eyes flickered over to Penny—guarded, distancing herself behind all those thick walls, as if anticipating pity from the other woman for how disappointing Maeko’s life had turned out, and preemptively shielding herself from it.
But instead, Penny surprised her by expressing anger—not at Maeko, but for her. A crease formed between Maeko’s dark brows as she felt something inside of her flicker to life, in response to Penny’s indignation for her. It was—kinship, maybe, or something like it.
Because Maeko felt angry, too, she realized—so fucking angry, and resenting, and restless, and she had for a long time. She had always tried to throw water on those embers within her, laughing off anything that was tossed at her like she didn’t care, like she was hedonistic to her core and couldn’t be touched. Because being fickle and flighty, running away from things that were big and meaningful instead of settling—that was better, that was safer than letting the anger overtake her, than feeding that ravenous black pit that trailed Maeko like a shadow, just waiting for her to give it enough power and agency to take her over, again.
But here in the dark with Penny Hawkins, Maeko was being given permission to feel it. “I’m angry, too. That they keep so much from us, that they pit us against each other on some stupid fuckin’ pretense of prejudice—I’m angry that I closed my eyes for one bloody second and that fucking thing, whatever it was, went after Oz and tried to take him from me. And no one’s doing shit all about it. Merlin, if I had even half a minute with that fucker I swear I’d—”
She closed her eyes, not willing to allow that simmer to bubble up into a boil. She waited until the heat in her blood cooled—and then Penny took her hand, and it wasn’t so much the mood changing as the whole world shifting, creaking on its axis. Maeko opened her eyes and watched the Ravenclaw, listened to her talk, not knowing what to think or how to react. The faintest hint of a pink blush, rarer to find on Maeko’s features than a precious gemstone in an excavated mine, dusted over the highest points of her cheekbones. It’s not like Maeko had never been complimented before, she was well-aware of the power of her own enigmatic allure, but this was…different. Penny’s endorsement of her was so humble, so lacking in frills and flattery—the sort of praise that didn’t ask for anything in return.
The offer crackled through Maeko like a smoke flair. She wanted to wrap her fingers around a wand that was made just for her by the magnificent Penny Hawkins, yes—Maeko wanted that more than she could even fathom right now, but—that newly unearthed desire that pressed against the fortress-lined walls of Maeko’s heart was second, in this moment, to a desire of another sort. The air between them felt charged and electric, and a strange but not entirely foreign feeling shimmered to life inside of her. Maeko had felt this before, with Tucker—this inexplicable, tangible connection with someone, a magnetic pull to be close to them. But with Tucker it had always scared her; she’d wrestled against it, pushed him away in favor of chasing something easy and shallow, dwelling in her surface-level senses rather than allow herself to drown. And when he’d finally had her—as close as it was possible for Maeko to give herself to someone else—Tucker had overcompensated, he’d held on too tight.
And in the end, the weight of expectation, of fears and needs and desires that were left unspoken and repressed, had crushed them both.
So why didn’t Maeko feel that need to flee, now? She could have easily pivoted into her old routine, tried to stamp out these feelings she felt for Penny, been selfish and inconsiderate and gone for some easy, meaningless fuck, like Glaucus. Bury this thing—whatever it was—where it stood, before it even had a chance to breathe.
But instead Maeko turned off all those needling fears inside her brain and let the feeling lead her. She abandoned her cigarette in an ashtray, a smirk curling across her face, and raised her tobacco-stained fingertips to brush along the line of Penny’s jaw, pushing back the thick tresses of blonde in her path. She held eye contact with the halfbreed and said, low and playful, “Back atcha, Hawkins…”
And then Maeko leaned in from where she was perched on the table and kissed Penny Hawkins, without a hint of shyness or trepidation, on the mouth.
.
A younger, more foolish, less radical, and weak Penny might’ve recoiled at the vitriol dripping off of Maeko’s tongue. Might’ve come back with a retort about violence and vengeance and how it was not the way. But that younger Penny hadn’t quite realized how attractive it was to see someone willing to fight for what they deserve in life against the many powers that attempted to strike them down. Penny understood that anger, though she kept hers bottled and clothed and tied under with ink stained hands and peaceful rallies.
Penny reached out to touch that fire that sparked under Maeko’s skin - she wanted to be kindling, consumed utterly. Even Maeko’s hair reminded Penny of coal, of bonfire logs that still burned white hot beneath the char. All that was wonderful in the forest come forth after a wildfire, the world had a way of righting itself after it burned. As Penny cupped Maeko’s cheek with a shaking hand, she wondered what they’d bloom if they allowed a match to strike.
Penny stilled as Maeko’s mouth covered her own, sighing softly into the kiss and letting her shoulders and spine go pliant. Her free hand thumbed Maeko’s cheek, curving over the apple of her cheek and the sharpness of her jaw. Flint, Maeko was flint, and Penny’s last fleeting thought was finding the perfect core to match before she moaned into the Gryffindor’s mouth.
Her other hand tangled in the front of Maeko’s tee-shirt, fisting it with a gentle abandon even as her nails lengthened a tad, overexcitement, as her face was dusted scarlet which raced across her nose and down her neck. Maeko was intoxication, the taste of cigarettes and beer, and an underlying sharpness that cut through it all. That was what Penny needed more of. She needed Maeko's scent on her clothes, her lips on her skin, Penny needed to be buried into Maeko's neck and nestled between her hips. It was a need so palpable it nearly pulled Penny straight from the press of their mouths. She scooted closer to Maeko, hoping for a second that the other woman would press her against the wall or the ground or any flat surface to claim her with the reckless abandon that Penny would expect of any wolf.
The idea alone was soaking the inside of her thighs, and Penny whined a bit when Maeko gently bit her lip. But Penny pulled away, with cheeks flushed and eyes half lidded, chest heaving with the lack of oxygen.
“...Mae?” Penny whispered with a sharp need, “can I...” the question died in her throat, but this angle side by side, wasn’t doing it, she wanted to feel the sharp lines of Maeko’s body against her own softness, “...can you...” one of Pennys hands scratched at the lovely pasted on denim that Maeko called pants, before flushing and stammering through the most embarrassing ask beg, “...can I sit in your lap, this isn’t a comfortable angle and you’re a bit taller than me and its just very--” Penny rambled quietly, her eyes downcast, hips squirming, and focused on Maeko’s lap that she’d very much rather be in.
Piper smiled fondly at the teasing exchange between the housemates. She could see now why Maeko liked it here, surrounded by this magnetic, intangible force that neither Maeko nor Piper had grown up exposed to—family.
And yet, with a blooming feeling of warmth and pride right in the center of her chest, right where her heart was, Piper realized that’s exactly why she, too, was here now. Ainsley was her family, through and through, and her fidelity to that idea, only so recently nurtured into a sproutling’s existence, is what Piper was here for. Perhaps she wasn’t so out of place after all.
She waved off Penny’s apology graciously. “No, please—how could you have known, really? Besides, I haven’t wanted to be a bother, so soon after everything that happened, it’s just…” Piper hesitated, her eyes flitting down to the floor, falling back into natural instincts instilled in her through years and years of compulsively cautious, repetitive behavior—the impulse to avoid revealing more than she ought. But this was different; they weren’t at Hogwarts anymore, surrounded by wix who would never understand. She was in Hawkins Territory, for Merlin’s sake—in a den of wolves. Piper could sense the Being in them just as she knew they could sense it in her. There was no need for her to fear being seen for what she truly was.
Piper took a breath, gathered her nerve, and looked back up at Penny. “…well, I don’t know how much Ainsley has told you, but we’re—we recently discovered that we’re kin, as it were, and…we’re still figuring that out, of course, and I would never want to push—a-and I know how much your family means to her, and I would never, ever dream of downplaying the importance of that, or try to replicate it, I just…want her to know that I’m here, too—here for all of you, whatever you might need, if anything…because Ainsley made me a promise, to back me up if things got hard, and I—I want to do the same, for her…” She took another breath, and shifted on her feet, aware that she’d been rambling. She gave a warm, genuine smile and then added, “…I’m sorry if this is all very untoward. I appreciate you welcoming me in like this, I’m—I’m kind of new at this, if it wasn’t obvious…”
.....
Penny let her brows knit together, didn’t bother hiding any sort of emotion on her face. It was useless with most Beingfolk who could pick up on the tinest emotional responses in another - like recognizing like - though the difference between wolves in comparison to Veela or Vampires was stark.
“I should have asked at the very least, to see if she needed me to contact anyone else. I was just to caught up in all of it,” Penny finally offered, it was weak and she felt bad that Piper had been left in the dark so long. Anyone who loved Ains the way she ought to be loved was welcome in her house and on her lands.
So Penny blinked once, then twice.
Then with a swiftness grabbed up Piper’s hands, enclosing them in her own, “That’s wonderful news!” Penny exclaimed, her entire chest cracking out with sudden brightness and emotion - joy. It was joy. “Oh this is amazing. My Morgana ! - yes please sit tell me everything. I think Ainsley must have not told me quite yet. If it’s so new and the work that has been happening with the Station! We hardly are in each others pocket they way we used to be at Hogwarts of course - practically attached at the hip we were. Things fall through the cracks - would you like some pie?”
Penny dragged Piper over to a seat and pushed her into it with enthusiasm, before coming around to pull a freshly warm blackberry pie from the windowsill.
“I think you’re doing a fine job for someone who isn’t used to all this,” she waved to the claw cut walls and bobs of blonde-brown-black hair milling through the doorway and peering inside. None were straining to hear, and none of them holding back a single grin, the front door was flapping open. Likely someone had run off to find Ains in the woods and bring her post-haste. “Besides us Hawkins are an aquired taste, we’re always in each others pockets and hair and clothes and making a mess altogether. You’ll take a while to adjust if you decide to come around often- which you can, anytime you’d like and I'd be glad to have you.”
“Our Clan has always been open to home Ainsley - she’s one of ours, which means you are too if you’d like,” Penny panted in a fervor slicing up the pie for Piper and reaching for a flask of watered down wine to pour into a mason jar, “We Hawkins have always been one for picking up strays - be it birds, puppies or bats.” the blonde joked lightly, before leaning forward on the butcherblock countertops, “Of course we’ll take your aide if we ever need it... but if you ever find yourself in a tight pinch call a Hawkins and we’ll take care of you. If you’re part of Ainsley’s family then you’re part of ours!”
Maeko smiled with quiet admiration as she observed Penny bathe herself in moonglow, totally at ease and confident in a way that Maeko hadn’t remembered the Ravenclaw to be during their Hogwarts days. But then again, maybe Maeko had just been too stoned to notice.
Still, she liked Penny Hawkins—simply, naturally. Penny wasn’t as audacious as some of the others from the clan that Maeko had met, who grabbed at attention with reckless abandon and made public shows of dominance when they saw something they wanted. Penny, on the other hand, was self-possessed and clever; she was willing to take her time, to not take easy shortcuts. She endured.
Maeko sipped her beer, listening to Penny’s story, smirking along with Penny’s contagious, candid laugh. “I reckon only Iris could make a naked mole rat aesthetic look like high fashion,” Maeko said wryly, feeding into her automatic instinct to deflect the conversation away from her own past, which she knew would just bring the pleasant mood down.
But patient, clever Penny just waited—not pushing, but leaving the floor open indefinitely for Maeko to talk, whenever she felt ready. So after a few minutes, Maeko sighed and stuck a cigarette in her mouth, lit it, and prepared herself for opening up a little. And she knew, at this point, that the Hawkins’ were the trustworthy sort; Maeko’s hesitation was simply the result of deeply ingrained old habits. Penny leaned toward Maeko a little to listen, and Maeko took a drag before she began, “My wand—my first wand, anyway—well, it wasn’t ever really mine. Blackthorn and dragon heartstring…it belonged to my godfather, Donovan Pryce. It was his wife’s, before she died—and Oz tried to use it for a bit, unsuccessfully, of course—though we didn’t put that together for a long time. And the thing about that wand was…well, you’re a wandmaker, yeah? So you know how Heirloom Wands that get passed down over many years hold on to magical residue, and old allegiances…and Isla—my mum—she knew Ollivander wouldn’t issue a wand to a kid under ten, but she didn’t want to deal with me, either, so…she asked my godfather for the wand, and she gave it to me, and I never questioned it…” Maeko took a long, contemplative drag, and exhaled fully before continuing. “…it worked fine, as far as I know. Intuitive…but rather hair-trigger, too, and reactionary…I’d find myself firing off hexes and whatnot without even knowing what the spell was. I didn’t think it was dangerous, back then—I just figured the wand knew me, or something…I was naive, I s’pose. And then…you remember that protest a bunch of us snuck out to go to, in fifth year? When things got intense there, I panicked, and…something happened. With my wand, with me, it sort of just…took over. I dunno how to describe it, but it’s like…I didn’t feel in control, anymore. Whatever echoes of dark magic were imbibed in that thing were so strong that they started driving as soon as I had a moment of fight-or-flight, and then…I was just this vessel, outside myself, hypnotized by all that power…I almost killed my best friend, and then I—I snapped it. I broke a wand that had been in my family for generations in half…”
Maeko smoked for a few minutes in silence, letting the weight of her shadowy tale sink in. Then, finally, she extinguished her cigarette butt on an ashtray and said, “…obviously, I needed a new wand for school. I went with the head of Gryffindor to get one, but I…I held back, when I chose one. I settled for a wand that didn’t feel fully right, because I thought it would keep a lid on…on me, I guess. I got one that wasn’t capable of too much power because…I was scared, honestly—” She let out a self-effacing, diffident chuckle, and brushed a hand over her dark curls. Then, on impulse, Maeko pulled her wand out of her pocket and laid it in between her and Penny, for the latter to observe, if she wanted. “—scared of what I might do, if that kind of power was put into my hands again and left unchecked. That darkness inside me, that’s always been there…I feel like I have to keep it locked up, like Richard and Isla and Donovan in Azkaban, because if I don’t—if I give in to that temptation, to see what I’m really capable of, I…I don’t trust myself.” A final beat of silence, and then: “…do you know what I mean?”
....
No, Penny didn’t know what Maeko meant. Penny wand had been molded for her, by her, made to her hand to her temperament, to the style of magic her family saw the shape of in her heart and grew with her into a companion that she’d be buried alongside.
“I’ve never understood Heirloom wands,” Penny answered honestly, leaning forward to perch her elbows on her knees, “they are stupid and vain and a idiotic product of the pureblood politics and patriarchy.” The Ravenclaw reached over for the cigarette, plucking it from Maeko without even asking, and took a short drag before spewing the smoke from her nose. It was never her proffered habit, that of smoking, she did it rarely and often during quiet moments like these when she needed to gather her thoughts and stop her mouth from waggling off as it was wont to do.
Penny handed the cigarette back to Maeko and leaned back on her hands, letting Maeko’s story turn over in her brain. It made sense in a sick sort of way. Maeko was like her - magical to their bones - raised in their world, subject to the worst parts of it, but so vividly belonging to the tapestry of magic, they were a stitch within it, but not added along the edges as muggleborns were, sewn into the pattern. They were the pattern, and Maeko never seemed as ease with her magic as Penny would have expected. She never noticed Maeko at Hogwarts, outside of parties and her pretty face. It was a hard time, a learning time, an era where Penny was at her most selfish and self-centered. Except she did, and just didn’t want to act like she would flush when Maeko looked her way, and scurried away from a girl far too out of her league.
“I remember thinking during classes you weren’t nearly as powerful as you should be.” Penny finally breathed out. “I’d watch you cast and think ‘she is hiding her power’ and I guess in a way I was right. You’ve never been allowed to run free have you Maeko?” The wolfchild asked, gently, softly. “They’ve never let you really see what you can do, never let you learn how to control your magic, never let you trust yourself.”
Penny paused, one beat, then two “-- I think I hate them for it actually, for ruining something that I’ve always admired about you. How pure your magic is, how powerful you are, and how you shine when you did it right. Merlin did you shine during our practicals. I was so jealous.” Penny laughed.
Then with the speed of a hummingbird’s wings, Penny plucked Maeko’s dominate hand, the one she saw on a wand, reaching for a cup, lighting a cigarette and held it by the wrist. “You have a hand made for a wand,” Penny whispered, “so obviously born for our world. With your slender fingers and that wonderfully creased palm, and the way your wrist turns. You could be the finest duelist anyone has seen - us wandmakers always know.” Penny knitted their hands together, feeling a rise of heat up her spine, and she held their clasped hands to her chest. “There isn’t any darkness in you Maeko, just what others have projected onto you.”
Penny inched forward to Maeko, breathing in the musk of ash and smoke, the spice of cinnamon entering her nose. It made Penny’s head swim, it clogged her brain. Faintly she wondered if this was what a proper Veelan charm felt like. No wonder everyone fainted after Ainsley whenever she walked by. “I want to give you a wand - make it for you, make it perfect, make it yours. I want you to have your magic back Maeko.” Penny said, stars in her eyes, head turning - what core would suit Maeko best, what wood color would shine against her skin, what design could she carve into it? How can she give this wonderful creature beside her her birthright back.
“I trust you Maeko.” Penny said finally. “I trust you with your magic. I trust you with your power, and no-one should have ever made you fear yourself.” Penny gulped, blue eyes flicking up to get lost in Maeko’s, her mouth went dry ‘fuck I’m never gonna make fun of someone tripping over Ains again...’, and her stammered through her last comment, “...I th-think you’re f-fair w-wonderful.”
Xi was gripping her new wand so tightly that she was feeling the heat rising in her cheeks again, and she had to put her hands up in her hair to steady herself, inhaling and exhaling. She’d been spooked, yes. But Penny wasn’t taking it away, she wasn’t being judged, her wand wasn’t being snapped again. So she breathed, then nodded away the magic that had gathered in her mind, bringing her hands down from her hair to hold the wand higher, with a lighter grip.
She tucked it into her sleeve like she used to, then folded her arms, her left hand pressing against its weight in her sleeve. Xiomara ignored the mess she’d made, given the Unnamed Bar was in a perpetual state of it, and instead slid the wand box closer.
Xiomara pursed her lips at the lecture. She’d always believed in strong government, in a Ministry willing to regulate things in need of regulating- until she became the subject of scrutiny. Xi was still getting her mind around it, working out how she felt. Merlin, she’d even switched to writing about Quidditch instead of politics to avoid the topic. She dodged it again.
“I don’t get what your angle is, here,” Xiomara admitted, narrowing her eyes a little. “You have literally no reason to help me. Did Nate pay you?” The ‘how’ was implied- they certainly weren’t rolling in money.
.
Penny drew her finger over the top lid of the wand case, the other wand vibrated with annoyance over not being picked, ticking against it’s velvet casing. Good thing Winters hadn’t chosen that one, it was liable to eat her alive. The halfbreed waved away the mess, just because the bar was perpetually dirty didn’t mean she had to sit in it. She watched as Xiomara stored her new wand, jealously keeping it from Penny’s gaze, as if she hadn’t done the rush order herself and knew ever facet of the conduit pressed up against her perfect skin.
Penny took another sip, and didn’t look away. Because Xiomara did have lovely skin, and eyes, and face but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going make the other woman ow her. Nate had ponied up the money, she had one favor in the bag and here was Xi walking into her own.
“You’re short sighted then,” Penny settled on, leaning back in the booth, crossing on knee over the other and straightening out her top, pulling the fabric down over her breasts but her eyes never left Xi. “I have every reason to help you. One, your lover is becoming a rather good friend.” She ticked off a finger, “Two, I love fucking up the Ministry.” Another finger. “Three, it’s a business opportunity - Hedges see you with a wand, they can get their own done with us.” Then Penny smiled, “Four, Nate did pay me.”
There was no reason for Penny to play a close hand, Xi had the deck stacked against her. It was a stark difference to most of Penny’s life, who’d always been with her back against a wall. This sudden feeling of power might’ve been sobering, but not for someone like Penny, who was normally so paralyzed to the power that be. “The cost of your wand on normal black market, with my talent and as a rush order would come out to...” Penny made a show of pausing, “around 107 galleons, fifteen sickles and two knuts.” The halfbreed grinned, “But Nate and I made a deal. He paid 10 galleons, and will owe me one favor in the future to be cashed whenever I want. You owe me nothing, I simply gave you back your birthright, and Nate paid for your freedom. You can leave this bar scot free.”
“Remember this girl, intelligence without ambition is a bird with clipped wings - you must have both if you mean to fly. But ambition without temperance ... that is disaster.”
Xiomara dragged her hands down her face, still covering her mouth to eye the wands on the table as Penny described them. She was drawn to the latter, at first, but then her gaze flickered back to the first wand. Xiomara’s magic had been erratic and unstable since her wand had been taken away; bursting out of her in moments of panic. She needed a helpful wand. Eventually, Xi let her hands drop down to the table, spreading her fingers over it before having another sip of water.
Then, she reached for the Olive wood wand, and picked it up. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Xi pointed it at her empty glass, and cast, “Aguamenti.” The glass filled immediately, but then spilled over, water spilling all over the table. Penny reached to take the wand, and Xi shook her head, cinching it closer to her chest before reaching for the napkins piled on the table, frantically mopping up the water, “No- No! Don’t worry! It’s just me, I’m… I’m rusty, I’m… Don’t take the wand. It’s fine. It works, it’s perfect. I can make it work.”
.
Penny eyed how Xiomara flinched, it reminded her a bit of herself, eyes always watching her six. Keeping her hands open but spine clenched, waiting to spring away from a shot off spell or wayward curse. The Ravenclaw let out a huff of air from her nose. “I was going to fix your grip, like I said the wand is lighter,” Penny pulled her own out, and showed to Xiomara how high her grip was on the Mountain Ash wood, “Hold it higher, further up the hilt.”
“My wand is also light. Olive wood is normally dense and heavy, but I lifted this wand from a newly sprung branch. It’s on the light side, and young.” Penny pulled the napkins out from beneath Xi’s shaking fingers. “Let it be helpful, let it grow with you. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you might not remember getting your wand the first time, how much accidental magic we all did figuring out how to tune into our conduits. It’s not uncommon and with you being... erm, well blocked off. I don’t expect you do be doing 7th year spellwork all over again.
The water was dripping off the side, puddling beneath their feet, it had spilled over Penny’s skirt, staining the light blue dark. She wrung it out a bit and shook her blonde curls into a messy halo around her face. “I don’t believe in removing our rights, and you have a right to a wand, to your magic.” Penny tapped the little puddle with her boots, the tiniest of splashed hitting her calves. “When it comes to the Minstry they are gutless pigs with a private army they use to suppress the people, remove our birthrights, set doctrine and sweep all facets of their wrongdoing under the rug.”
Penny pushed the box towards Xi, clicking closed the second one and storing it back into her bag.
So the catch was that she just needed to try them? Xi looked down at the wands longingly, and allowed herself to want them. Her fingers twitched, she practically drooled. Glancing back up at Penny, certain the other would snatch them away as soon as Xi even reached for them, she was slow as she reached for the first box, fingers brushing against its velvet lining.
Her breath was shallow as her fingers ran over the dark wood of the first wand; she practically held her breath when she picked it up. Xiomara blinked, steadying herself. Don’t cry. Don’t you dare fucking cry. The pure fucking… Exhilaration she felt, excitement, left that familiar fiery feeling in her belly- and she panicked.
She pursed her lips, putting it down quickly and shaking her head, “I… I don’t have a licence. If I get caught-” Xiomara pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes, elbow resting against the table. She remembered her time in Ministry Custody, a dirty memory she’d locked away, deep within her. She remembered the spell to keep her mouth shut. She remembered the chair, with restraints slowly tightening; and Nate’s lecture, her explosion after…
The glass of water rattled next to her. Xi reached out to settle it, holding it still against the table. Breathe. Fucking breathe.
Merlin, Nate had really dragged Penny Hawkins into this. She was really about to have a fucking breakdown over a stick of wood in front of the former bane of her existence?! Xi covered her face with her hands, pressing the heel of her palms over her eyes. “Are they traceable? And what are they made of?”
Penny had the honor of seeing her second and third cousins pick up a wand for the first time, and she loved to sit back on her heels and watch as the magic danced around their fingers, sunk into their bones, a bond form with a conduit in hand. She immensly disliked that she had a similar feeling of pride and smugness as Xiomara picked up the wand, and Penny instantly patted herself on the back for having built two wands and already one was very much in tune.
“Fuck the Ministry,” the words were as common as ‘pass the butter’ or ‘close the door’ in her house, and especially out of Penny’s mouth. She’d been saying it since she realized no one was going to chide her for her language, and stopped saying it so unintelligently when she realized that no-one took such a statement without a sharp look when she was but a shy but rough wolfchild in too-big Ravenclaw robes. “You think that it’s my first time making a wand for someone without a license?”
“Untraceable unless you register it. Which will get it snapped.” Penny pointedly ignored Xiomara’s overfull eyes, feeling a seed of annoyance at herself for wanting to pat Xiomara’s back. Instead the halfbreed poured out more water for her and flipped open the second case. “This is an Olive wood wand, see how the branch is a little gnarled and the weight is lighter? It’s core is salamander spine, bendable but strong, with the essence of fire and protective magic. 10 inches, rather whippy. It’s a more versatile wand, casts protective charms more easily, but great offensively. It’s easier to master because it wants to try and be helpful.” Penny pointed to the one in Xiomara’s hand. “That is the more aggressive of the pair. Fir wood, a common type but the tree I pulled the branch from survived two lightning strikes so I’d say it’s resilient. It’s got a Firedrake tongue making it great for curses, fire magic and transfiguring. At 12 inches it’s a bit on the long side, and stubborn, you can’t demand things of it, the wand wants a partner.”
Penny took a sip of her water, flushing a bit along the bridge of her nose and cheeks at her little speech. “As you know, I talk alot which you detest, but I take my work seriously.”
If Nate knew Penny Hawkins was the latest vendor the Free Traders sought the services of, he surely wouldn’t have sent her- Xi had to reassure herself of that. It wasn’t just that she was such a vocal advocate of werewolves, nor that she was biologically related to them. The blonde just ground Xi’s gears. Always had.
She sucked her teeth, eyeing the witch as she sat in her booth. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Stay calm. Regulate. Xi sipped her water.
Xiomara eyed the boxes slid across, making no move to take them- and her lips pursed into a very thin line at Penny’s explanation. He told her about her wand being taken away? Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
She must have looked odd- but Xiomara Winters had long since given up on presenting mentally well to the general public. She did what she had to do to keep herself together. And now, it meant a long silence, where Xi’s hand curled around the cold glass, rubbing the condensation, her gaze staring almost through the boxes. Breathe.
“Is that what these are?” She eventually said, dragging her gaze back up to Penny’s face, the most cordial she could manage. “… What’s the catch?”
Penny leaned back in her chair, idly tapping a single finger on the wood, tugging up veneer with a single hardened nail. Xiomara’s heartbeat was elevated, denoting a stressor which Penny has proudly been her whole life, her hands flexing on the cup of water. Penny lifted a hand - they’d need a refill before their conversation was over. The halfbreed was used to backdoor deals and in much worse locations, could keep calm when nose-to-nose with those who’d see her hunted or at least sterilized if they didn’t want to seem inhumane. She bit her way through toothy smiles when insulted, and pinched her thighs purple to keep from lashing out.
Penny wanted blood, that inane instinctual predatory salvation she wished to justshutoff. But it would make things worse, and she longed to make things better instead. So she smiled at Xi and refilled her glass, then her own.
“I wouldn’t look a purebreed Abraxan in the mouth and simply see which fits, if I were you.” Then opened the boxes so both wands glowed under the dim lights, the halfbreed leaned forward, smiling proudly at her creations.
Penny sipped her water, “the real catch is that if neither works then I gotta make another. If that happens you’re paying, and you won’t be getting the friends ‘n family discount.” Penny leaned forward, propping her chin on a fist. “But I think I got you pinned magic wise, we did have classes together and your magic has a certain... flare and taste, distinctive.” It was rather nice if Penny had anything kind to say about Xiomara.
The last few days had been… Stressful, to say the least. With the Hedges so focused on the anomaly who strolled through their front door on Halloween, the Unnamed Bar was dead. Nate had decided it was the perfect time for Xi to go out and fetch a parcel.
At first it had infuriated her- she was no errand boy. They could send one of the teens, surely. But the roar from the creature downstairs? No, thank you. Xi took advantage of the opportunity and left as soon as the bar opened.
She sat alone at a booth, sipping on lemon iced water and waiting for whatever delivery she was meant to bargain for.
Penny hadn’t seen the light of day for at least a week, holed up in their wandmaking cabin she’s been bent over a table long enough that her back ached when she straightened out her spine. Wandmaking was tedious work. The sort of work that resulted in more broken attempts than not, the sort of work that was better taught from the cradle. The Hawkins had been making wands for centuries, and Penny was bred with fine fingers that held tweezers to pluck shard of splinters, and found the roughest of grain to be smoothed over.
She liked Nate, that’s why she was putting so much effort into making sure the two wands she had to offer were perfect. She liked Nate, that’s why she even took the job. She liked Nate, but she loved screwing over the Ministry more. Helping Xi out was just a necessary evil.
The bar was quiet, in a deadly way that denoted something was wrong. But Penny wasn’t involved in the Hedge business, she’d be notified when they decided to involve her. Penny slipped into the booth across from Xi, and pushed two velvet lined boxes from her handbag.
“The wand choses the witch,” Penny greeted Xi, “and the Ministry never should have taken yours from you. Nate has asked me to remedy that,” the blonde twisted her hands above her head, the edge of her cardigan raising with a yawn to exposed a strip of her tummy below lazily drooping back into the booth.
“When will my reflection show who I am inside?”— Mulan (Mulan)
X Hawkins Territory, 2005 X
Penny clung to her Dad’s wrist, wrapped up in one of his old blue jumper shy away from her cousin’s roughhousing. Helle was already buck naked, running from an equally naked Glaucus both thrusting pointed sticks at the other. Granny was in a thick fur robe, her wrinkled skin peeking as she stepped through the crowd of nearly 50 strong. Her hair had gone silver and shone under the rays of a dying sun.
Penny watched as her cousins were rounded up, hovering beside parents and siblings, skin bare and streaked with dirt and mud. The adults striped of their finery, only bodies readying for the shirt, skin unadorned by anything except ink and the occasional thin robe. Granny waked through to the center of the crowd who parted for her, Granda Asher behind her donned in thin shorts. The crowd hushed, even her cousins quieted as Granny stepped onto a stone waving away hands to steady her balance.
Granny regarded the crowd, and smiled, “Welcome Clan, tonight we welcome the blessings of the Moon and the Shift that has graced out bloodline for over a thousand years.”
There was a short cheer, and Penny tilted her head back to mimic her Dad’s howl. Virgil was standing beside her mother, his free arm wrapped around her Mum’s waist. Mum was holding her hand, fingers tightening around her wrist. Penny tugged a little, and Mum’s fingers loosened with an apologetic smile.
“Tonight, we welcome more of the of the next generation who will carry out Blessing’s into the future. Please step forward my children.” Penny dashed forward, grabbing Iris’ thin wrist while Itzil tagged beside them dressed in a loose poncho. The trio stood before their grandmother, grinning, and shaking with slight elation of getting to join the pack, run alongside their cousins and siblings, to feel the Shift and be blessed.
“Persephone Hawkins, Iris Hawkins, Itzil Hawkins,” all three stood up straight, straightening their loose clothes and neatening their hair, “tonight you may Shift, as is tradition for werewolf children. Do you know why?”
“Werewolves shift in the Spring of their Fourth Year,” Penny piped up, Iris bumping her shoulder while Itzil nodded, “that way wolves of the same generation can become pack together!”
“Exactly right,” Granny’s fingers twitched, probably to tweak her nose and Penny was happy that Granny didn’t it was childish and tonight she was going to be a wolf, “remember to stay close to our family, and if you do not Shift just know that you are still pack, still Hawkins.”
But it meant they weren’t Blessed, and as Penny watched the Moon Rise above them, she let the moonbeams warm her skin. There was an electric current running beneath her veins, just like when she practiced her magic with Da’s wand, shifting rocks and sticks into bigger or smaller rocks or sticks, or when she threw sparks at Glaucus and Helle when they decided to play chase.
To her right Iris doubled over, growling a low noise from between her lips. Penny reached out where Iris’ spine was cracking.
“Iris?”
“It…” her panting was low and before Penny could say anything Itzil was standing ramrod straight, their jaw clenching tight while sweat pooled around their hairline.
“Itzil?”
“Holy shit,” Itzil panted out, dropping to her knees, fur sprouting from her hands and along her brown legs, thick and curling, near black, “Oh!” There was a pop as bones began to break.
“Penny?” Granny was looked down at her, her body was covered in thick silvery fur, eyes growing further apart.
“Grandmother, I don’t—I’m not,” Penny shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself as growls began to grow in the clearing, filling the air with a sort of primal heat. The howls began to rise towards the Moon and Penny’s throat was clogged with only a girlish scream.
This was not how this was supposed to go.
Iris was whimpering, low in her throat now, her body still moving, bones cracking as thick dirty blonde fur sprouted. She watched as if submerged into a pensieve, looking within a dream as Iris emerged fully formed, snout twitching, small and thin, fur patching in places. Iris shuffled forward, nosing at Penny’s palms while the girl tucked her fingers into the thick ruff of fur around her neck. From her right Itzil was standing, shaking out black curling fur, their body heavy with muscles and Penny twitched, she looked closer to what Glaucus did with his heavy shoulders and hindquarter.
But Penny stood under the Full Moon and watched as Itzil and Iris were pulled along into the forest, and Penny stood beside her Grandmother who bumped her great head into her chest.
Penny’s eyes were misting over, tears growing in the corners and spilling over baby fat cheeks. Granny bumped her again, the thick head causing small and she buried her face into the warm white fur of her grandmother, sobbing gently as the pack took off. Her father’s form hovered behind Granny, and when she pulled away he trotted forward and licked at her cheek, Mum’s sleek dark form coming to her right as if she were a shadow to Da and Penny.
She wished they would talk to her, but as the howls of the Clan grew they pulled away and Da looked up and to her left. Uncle Nestor was there, his broad face twisting with a sort of understood grief and he held his arms out for the little girl. Ma pushed Penny forward with her nose and Penny sighed.
“’lo Uncle Nessie.” her cheeks cracked with dried tears.
“Penny-fer-yer-thoughts,” Nestor scooped the little girl up, tucking her tear stained face against his neck, running a heavy hand down her back “things are going to be fine. I swear, you’re going to be fine.”
Behind him Eudora stood, leaning against her broom and to her left was Leander. Damon, a year older than her was napping wrapped up in one of Attie’s sweaters lightly snoring through the yips and growls that grew further and further away, deeper into the woods. Penny was settled down beside him, pouting even as she yanked the sweater to cover her little legs.
“It’s not so bad, not Shifting pup,” Eudora plopped down beside her while Uncle Nessie hopped onto his broom and floated around the clearing, his eyes on the territory edges, “I promise, you’re not any less Hawkins than the rest of ‘em.”
Penny nodded, miserable, straining her ears to hear the howls in the distance.
“Once Damon wakes up we’ll take off. You can fly with me,” Leander grinned as he began to pluck and trim his broom, oiling it down with careful strokes, “we can go very fast.”
Penny smiled and slumped against Eudora’s side, her cousin stroking over her hair and down her back, her bones not crack, skin furless and hands not baring a single claw.
This was not how tonight was supposed to go.
X Hawkin's Territory, Spring 2020 X
Penny sat on a tree branch, Grandmother Andromeda was above them on a rock in the Clearing. Delia the Younger was the only child in her generation so far, dark hair swept back from her thin freckled face, grinning up at her Great-Grandmother. Eudora was standing below her, back to the tree that Penny was posted up against, Leander was missing and Damon was far away at some Dragon Reserve with his boss Turner something or other. A few of her second cousins were scattered around the clearing, seated on brooms, heads together. The Bellcrys and the Gilligans, the Greenpools. But Penny stood alone as the lone Hawkins Halfbreed in the clearing.
The Moon rose and she watched Linus’ curly haired form leap into the air to snap at a stray butterfly. Iris began to chase down Eudora and Helle, the triad running off into the woods. Mum was standing beside Jay’s dark form, the pair looking like Mother and Child before they both walked off into the woods without a spare glance to the girl in the tree.
It’d been a long time since Ma decided to talk to Penny before a Full Moon or come to her at all.
Penny climbed back down from the tree, watching as little Delia shifted from girl to cub. The girl wiggled out from beneath the blanket that she was using for modesty, claws ripping the pink wool to shreds and mournfully she noses the wreckage. Delia the Younger was a golden curly haired pup with bright green eyes and tiny canines who bolted straight for her father, a Halfbreed who knelt and cuddled his wolf-child close. Their blonde curls intermixing together until Delia the Younger ran straight for Delia the Elder who yipped taking the cub deeper into the forest.
Granny was standing on her rock, watching Delia with fond eyes, eyes that Penny once hoped would turn onto her.
“Are you asking for a Bite Persephone?” Beside Grandmother, Rita Gilligan’s eyes snapped to her, dark red fur popping along her limbs, but Grandmother was still serene and human. The control Grandmother had over her shift was legendary, and Penny always admired that, Attie stood off to Grandmother’s right her body vibrating as her bones grinded down. The two women had been following Grandmother Andromeda’s example longer than Penny cared to remember.
“Penny, do you want one of us to Bite you?” Attie took a step forward, her eyes shining with excitement. “Me, or maybe Rita?” The redhead nodded empathetically, and came to Attie’s side, the pair in matching spikey leather jackets they’d shuck off when they couldn’t stop their Turn any longer.
“No I…” Penny stopped, “I wanted to wish you a happy Shift, I’m taking to the sky tonight,” her Cosmos 7000 leaned up against her oak tree.
“Are you sure?” Attie reached out, her clawed fingers dragging over the meat of Penny’s cheek and Penny leaned into the touch, closing her eyes, “There isn’t any shame of asking for a Bite, asking to shift. It’s your birthright. You deserve to run with us.”
Penny let out a shuddering sigh and nodded.
“N-no, it’s okay. I’m okay, maybe another time. When I’m more ready.” Attie nodded withdrawing her hand, still shaking and tossed her leather jacket and loose shorts onto the ground, Rita joining her and both turned, dropping onto all fours. They were sleek muscled wolves, dirty blonde and red, fully formed and beautiful.
Grandmother still waited, standing atop the rock.
“Persephone.”
Penny stood straight up, looking to her Grandmother, “Yes?”
“You are still a blessing for this Clan, no matter your choices in life and your ability to Shift.”
Penny nodded and stepped back, her Grandmother waited for her to say something – anything really. But when Penny stood silent the woman nodded and leaped, her body shifting midair and a sleek wolf stood in her place, her once blonde fur gone silver. Her eyes were lightly clouded over, signs of blindness creeping up, her body littered with scars and spell marks. Penny watched her trot into the forest and Penny walked to her broom, the other halfbreed second cousins already far ahead chasing after the pack.
Penny stood alone in the clearing, and let her body shudder under the Moon, letting Her power fill up her veins. With no one looking the girl drew her magic around her body, tugging on the wellspring of magic in her belly and throat, then focused and flexed her palm, claws sprouting where nails once were.
“One day,” Penny whispered to herself, “you’ll join them, on your own terms.” Mounting her broom Penny took to the sky and let the Moon rays shine over her body, and followed after the Clan.
