you're nobody until somebody loves you (261-270/∞)
100-word drabbles for a range of ships. *Requests always welcome! Repeats allowed~*
Chapters 261-270: [FFN] [AO3] | ← → | start from the beginning
Pairings/Characters: Oliver Wood/Terence Higgs, Victoire Weasley/Hannah Abbott, Regulus Arcturus Black/Frank Longbottom, Luna Lovegood/Blaise Zabini, Alecto Carrow/Narcissa Black, Theodore Nott/Draco Malfoy, Amelia Bones/Alice Longbottom, Harry Potter/Cedric Diggory, Percy Weasley/Penelope Clearwater, & Lily Luna Potter/Scorpius Malfoy
Rating: K
Words: 1,000 collectively
Additional info: romance, slash, femslash, cross gen, angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, AU fic, Marauder era, Harry's era, Next Gen era, 2nd person POV, 3rd person POV
Summary: Song by Sammy Davis, Jr., 100-word drabbles by mew. So is unrequited love always unrequited? | Various pairings, eras, etc. Includes het, slash, femslash, cross-gen, next-gen, but nothing too bad. Read it all or only what you like!
261: OliverTerence
Chasing his dreams takes a giant dose of courage, more than Oliver thinks Gryffindor instilled in him. Quidditch flows through his veins, but there's a big difference between House rivalries and the professional league. That's why few choose it after school.
The first familiar face he meets is Slytherin's Higgs. Terence is just as stunned to meet him again, here at Puddlemere. He's still got that polite streak that undoubtedly still spills over onto the field, though he grumps a bit, seeing Oliver again. He's at odds with himself—how cute.
Suddenly, Oliver's a bit more relieved to be here.
262: VictoireHannah
They are Diagon Alley acquaintances.
Victoire never planned on being the bride for Teddy that her family hoped she'd be. She loves being independent and managing herself, studying under Malkin's tutelage at the robe shop.
Hannah and Neville quickly fizzled out, because romantic affections borne of war don't carry a marriage. But taking over the bar from Tom was her mad idea and she's embraced it ever since.
Victoire's lunches and occasional dinners here with the talented Hannah lead to a relationship borne of kindness and friendship, a bond formed from constantly disappointing those around them…
…except for one another.
263: RegulusFrank
You only have a few years left at school. Sirius makes things at home a walk through the Forbidden Forest, and you think you can talk him into behaving. You want to finish school with your brother.
But Sirius mostly stops talking to you, and it hurts. The Marauders look on, the Prewetts look on, and you struggle to hide yourself in your brother's shadow.
It's Longbottom who approaches you later, a dopey smile on his round face. He doesn't ask if you need a friend, just greets you with a secret magic—a Frank Longbottom embrace.
And it heals.
264: LunaBlaise
It was four in the morning again. Luna knew because she'd taken to securing her watch on her wrist as well as her shoes on her feet before bed. She wondered where her sleepwalking had brought her tonight. A breeze rustled her hair. Ah—the Transfiguration Courtyard.
"And here I thought I'd seen all the ghosts of the castle," someone murmured off to her left.
Luna spied Blaise before he slinked out of the shadows. "I assure you I'm as real as you possibly aren't."
He softly chuckled. "Then care for this specter to join you on your walk back?"
265: AlectoNarcissa
The Carrow name carried a long history, long enough that Alecto had trouble making friends at school. Amycus loved her, of course, but even younger brothers didn't want to be around their sisters all the time, nor did they stand their sisters' company all the time.
Yet…as the years went on, Alecto noted that Narcissa Black eventually stopped shying away from her in the Great Hall, occasionally came and sat beside her fellow blonde, making for a rather pleasant (quiet) meal.
Alecto hadn't had any expectations of anyone until then. But Narcissa was a glimmer of hope for her.
266: TheodoreDraco
"You're moping around the castle a lot lately."
"Leave me alone, Nott. Don't raise your eyebrows at me."
"I did nothing. Come on, Malfoy. Out."
"What? Why? Where are we going? I mean—where are you taking me?"
"Stop with the hostility, princeling. You need some air, and you're not going to find it in the dungeons or anywhere in the castle."
"…"
"…"
"…the Viaduct? This was the best you could think of?"
"It's got fresh air, Draco. So sue me. Just—take it in. …I won't ask what you've been doing in secret, but hopefully your jitters stop."
"…Theodore. Thanks."
267: AmeliaAlice
Amelia kisses Alice's hands when they rest on the grass between classes, since Hufflepuff and Gryffindor don't have much overlap in their fifth year. "Just think—another two years and we'll practically be taking over the Ministry," Amelia declares.
Alice giggles. "Sounds good to me, Ames. You run the place; I'll keep the law and order. Let's say, by the time we're twenty?"
Amelia barks out a laugh. When she calms, she runs a hand through Alice's short, soft spikes. "And if we don't?"
"Then a sabbatical to warmer climates, lovely islands. Places for two. Then we conquer the Ministry."
268: HarryCedric
At the graveyard, things go awry. The spare is never killed, and Voldemort takes Pettigrew out in frustration. Still Harry triumphs in the short term, and he brings Cedric back with him, alive and well.
It doesn't make the following days, weeks, and months easier. Even with a golden boy like Cedric supporting Harry's claims that Voldemort's back, the Ministry deems them both crazy. On top of it all, what they witnessed and experienced that night—
When they return to school, Harry leans on Cedric, and Cedric leans on Harry. Trauma brought them together…
…but it's the "together" that matters.
269: PercyPenelope
Percy wasn't used to this.
Penny smiled from across Flitwick's classroom and surreptitiously waved at him with her quill.
Percy blinked and produced a splotch of ink in his notes. He quickly dabbed at it, feeling his cheeks redden. He'd been allowing more and more of his waking hours to wander these days, all because of one Penelope Clearwater. But he wondered whether it was a bad thing or just… something new.
Penny was the first time he'd ever been all right with losing focus, with being distracted, and all because of that sweet smile and those dirty–blond curls.
270: LilyLPScorpius
Truth be told, Lily Luna didn't go out of her way to make trouble. That had always been her brother, James', role in school; there were detention records to prove it.
But there was a pull once Scorpius became Prefect along with Al. It was too irresistible, too tempting, too much fun, making mischief, though she had to rely quite a bit on the twins' ingenuity.
"LILY!" Scorpius finally was learning to raise his voice this year, although he turned pink in the face every time he did.
Lily laughed. He was so adorably frazzled whenever he finally caught her…!
Remarks for—
Ch264: :3c Well, sleepwalking isn't a curse if you cross paths with someone who piques your curiosity. ;D Also, I may be American, but I guess I read enough/too much Brit & Aussie lit bc "specter" looks so wrong to me??? I wanna leave it as "spectre," *lol*.
Ch265: Re: Carrows—A very interesting mythology to read would be my fic, at last, with you.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!
~mew
And if you want to support ynusly, please swing by its FFN and AO3 versions and consider liking and reblogging these posts on my HariPo fic tumblr!
Additional info: romance, slash, angst, Marauder era, 2nd person POV
Summary: Because there was one thing in your life you almost got right—and you actually did something about it.
Strange how Sirius is the "screw-up," but you can't help feeling he's got the best life in the world.
Being Regulus Black isn't a walk on High Street. No, being Regulus Black comes with expectations. So you'll blindly follow them. Why? Well, why not? It's not as though you have anything better to do. You don't have friends, mates…
You look on in the background, seeing your brother's friends. Yep, there they are, all four…
No, that's not quite right. Three are definitely his best friends. The last one…he's a friend, yet he isn't. He's one of the group, yet he's a stranger.
Oh.
You hadn't thought much of it at first. And why would you have? You have expectations to meet. You can't sit around wondering why there's a tiger in a den of lions. You won't let it get to you that his stripes make him stick out like a sore thumb. Your mind clearly ignores how his smile is just this more wan and this less genuine, how his laugh is less a laugh and more a forced chuckle, how his body language stiffens when he sits with them and the girls from their year and dorm.
Yes, you will ignore him, because you've got your heart set on becoming the nothing that you are expected to be.
Even as the years go by, you never give in to your curiosities. First year? You happened to learn his name—Frank Longbottom—by overhearing it. Second year? You glimpsed he was the only third year in the library not on his first Hogsmeade trip. Third year? You walked by accidentally as he rebuffed Alice Bulstrode's romantic advances. Fourth year? You tuned out Mulciber and Avery's snipes about Longbottom being a blood-traitor. Fifth year? You were already starting to feel sad, knowing what your future held, what his future probably held.
Maybe that's why, at fifteen, you decided it was high time to do one thing—something—for yourself and not for your family.
If he couldn't fit in with Sirius, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew… If you couldn't feel one-hundred-percent comfortable around your fellow Slytherins, especially the ones starting to call themselves "Death Eaters," then maybe… Just maybe… Maybe that tiger wouldn't mind being your friend.
It was an absurd thought. He honestly looked as though he could care less. However, though he tried to be apathetic about things, you just saw right through it. And your chest twinged.
Oh.
Frank, with his dark hair and dark eyes and slightly bumbling habits, was someone in dire need of care. Even if the words couldn't surface, it was plain on his face. And it bothered you that Sirius and his mates didn't see that in their roommate.
But you didn't mind too much, because all you needed was one moment, one bit of his time…and you knew he'd be hooked.
All it took was the right topic, the right sentence, the right word, and he was enthralled. It was a new world opening to him, and you smiled when he wasn't looking, that idea of the lonely tiger stalking the prey it'd never have banished now from your mind.
Sixth year? You came to love those stripes…
Oh.
You weren't stupid. Regulus Black was smart not because someone else did his work for him; he was smart on his own. So you wouldn't miss how your breath hitched when he was too near, how your body turned in his direction any time you heard his footfall, how you couldn't fight the tiniest of smirks from appearing on your lips whenever you heard him say "Regulus." It didn't have to be "Reg" or "Reggie"—somehow, he managed to personalize "Regulus" and make it all his own.
That was heaven.
But you knew the expectations that practically had been set for you at birth. You knew this heaven was going to come crashing down on you, and you wouldn't be able to stop it. The best you could do was grab hold of what you had left and savor it. Merlin, savor it 'til the very end.
At some random point—perhaps when studying for a test?—you overheard the girls in your House, giggling about kissing their boyfriends in the rain. It was supposed to be sweet and airy and just purely romantic—enough to make you sick. You looked out the window.
Fuck the sun and the blue, blue sky.
You won't deny you had the urge to try it. Even if Frank wouldn't accept, you could steal that chance from him. You could have the one thing you want before everything blew up in your face.
And…just like that…lead turned into gold. Tiger-striped gold, that is.
Lupin was whining at Sirius—how unbecoming yet befitting of such an effeminate half-blood—to clean up their last prank. At first, all you could think was Get a room, you two, but then… Then Lupin growled at Sirius, saying it would be horrid if Dumbledore found out it was the Marauders who'd spelled a bucket of water above his office door.
You took the chance and seized life by the reins for once, coming up with some excuse to get Frank out and about. What did you say, anyway? "Let's go snog by the headmaster's office"? "Wanna find out how I really feel about you"?
Ah, you tried the timeless "Let's go for a walk."
Frank complied, quite all right considering he'd been studying for N.E.W.T. exams. And so you wandered the halls and traipsed through corridors, and, when you happened upon ol' Dumbly's office, you pretended to be interested in something at the foot of the spiral staircase and—
Well, with that bloody sun out, you couldn't have kissing in the rain unless you made the rain yourself.
Standing drenched, shivering in soaked robes, you froze. You hadn't been expecting to be the only one drowned. And, by Salazar, it was embarrassing. At that point, you would've given anything in the world for a crowd, because for him to see you alone like this was the worst thing in the world.
He neared you, ready to say something, his face crumpled with concern and hurt on your behalf. Then he, too, was soaking. Go figure Sirius would never do anything half-arsed; the bucket had been spelled to spill twice as a precautionary measure. And, as you darkly chuckled internally, you thanked your brother for his delightful dimwitted cleverness…which wasn't too much a paradox if you thought about it.
Frank paused, looked at him and you and himself again…and then…laughed. A real laugh, too, not what he'd give his fellow Gryffindors, his fair-weather lions.
The sound made your heart crumble, and you hooked a finger in the neck of his jumper, pulling him down and tasting a dessert better than ambrosia.
He was hesitant for a second before leaning into it. You hadn't been too sure he'd do anything other than possibly hex or hit you…though, really, Frank isn't that type of person. But—but—the last thing on your mind had been for him to cup the back of your neck, his hand warm and soft. Dear Merlin, you could've died right there and been happy.
Then, just like that, the moment was over, and your eyes were open, and he was smiling at you just as always, as though nothing had happened. But something had, and it was so much better than needing any real rain, and you inwardly thanked your brother for the impromptu manmade downpour, and your mind couldn't have been fuzzier as Frank towed you along by your hand. His body language was all "friends," but his hand was something more.
So, did it mean something? Was it a joke to him or were things going to be a little bit better in your last few days in heaven? Had you made the move and would you now wait for him to make the next? But wasn't the hand-holding the next?
Oh.
…
Oh.
That was his move. You didn't mind, though, because it was the best thing in the world to you. Frank was always better at showing his feelings than speaking them aloud.
Ah-ha… Originally intended to be a drabble like so many of my other oneshots…but I loved this. And making a kiss in the rain happen… X3 They are irresistible…I have such a clear picture in my head, thanks to manga artist Miki Aihara. I was just picturing how she draws her boys… -w- Siriusly. Google 'em. …*lol*, "siriusly"—thank Merlin for Sirius' pranks, no?
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!
~mew
2017 note: …I honestly didn't know what to write about in my new A/N here until I reread my 2011 A/N and couldn't place that mangaka, but OH. The author of Hot Gimmick. XD Makes sense. I recall, now, thinking about the Marauders, Frank, and Reg and how they'd look in her style (my Godric, that'd be beautiful :O). *lol* Anyway, I looove Reg having secret romances when everyone else thinks he's just keeping to himself, tho my Reg OTP is Regideon, thanks to Morghen. -w-
