You didn't even fight to conceal your smile. Harry looked so much like a puppy with his wide eyes and toothy grin, it was impossible not to love it.
"I know."
"But we're above the clouds, love!"
"I know." You swallowed, battling against your ears, which seemed determined to stay popped. "I still can't believe you've been been on a plane before."
"Between apparating and portkeys, it's never really been necessary."
"Even so. You grew up with muggles after all."
Harry snorted. "As if the Dursleys would ever have taken me with them. Besides, they never spent very long in other countries, would have meant finding somewhere for me to stay."
"I hadn't thought of that," you muttered, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." Harry looked completely unperturbed, flashing you a grin before he returned to staring wistfully out the window. "Would you like a marshmallow?"
You nodded, watching bemusedly as he rifled through his backpack, pulling out a few small paper bags.
"What else have you got?"
"Harry paused, turning to you with a self-satisfied little grin. "Marshmallows, for clouds obviously."
"Obviously."
"Gummy planes." He pulled out a green one, offering it to you with such a joyful look that you couldn't refuse.
"I love you, Harry Potter."
"I love you too, but I'm not finished yet."
Biting a marshmallow in half, you gestured for him to continue.
"Jelly babies, for the passengers."
"Are you calling me a jelly baby?"
"Maybe." You couldn't even be mad at him. That smile was going to be the death of you.
"And the last one?"
"Chocolate ginger?"
"Right... and what's that meant to be?"
"Nothing. I just love chocolate ginger."
You leaned over, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek and stealing a gummy plane at the same time. "You're quite something, Harry."
"I am afraid to admit that there is no one here but us, yet you have nothing to fear from me. I have no ill intentions in mind. Please, don’t be alarmed – I am aware that the vastness of the empty castle can feel more like a prison than any brick cell, and that being away from home, alone and confused, can feel like torture. It is all that I can offer."
"I am afraid to admit that there is no one here but us, yet you have nothing to fear from me. I have no ill intentions in mind. Please, don’t be alarmed – I am aware that the vastness of the empty castle can feel more like a prison than any brick cell, and that being away from home, alone and confused, can feel like torture. It is all that I can offer."
Pairing: LokixReader (reader is unnamed, she/her)
Rating: Explicit
Tags: Beauty and the Beast AU, slow burn, castle life
Warnings: Blood, more tags will be added
Chapter 1: Prelude
“Shit!”
She pulled her hood further down to shield her face, but the torrent of ice was merciless and the piercing cold was creeping towards her bones. She wouldn’t survive the night if she didn’t find warmth soon – yet slowing down and setting up camp was no option.
They had followed her.
The thick layer of snow and the treacherous terrain that lay hidden underneath made it hard to keep up the pace, and with every step she took her wounds sent bolts of pain through her body; warm blood soaked her clothes and drained her energy. She was hurt, exhausted, hungry; dying. But she couldn’t give up. Trudging through the cold she left behind a trail that she knew would be followed but there was no time to cover up her tracks, and she hoped the dark night would hinder her pursuers as much as it was hindering her. The moon was barely visible through the canopy.
The underbrush grew thicker; thorny vines grabbed on to her pants and coat and scratched the skin beneath as she pulled herself free and continued, unrelenting. It wouldn’t be much further to the river and she would be able to escape with those who were waiting for her.
There, though the brambles – light!
Hope flared up and so did her pace as she slashed her knife at the vines again and again with every step forward and pushed and pushed through the thorny grasp. Heavy breathing turned into icy clouds and her frozen fingers clamped around the handle with the last bit of strength she could summon until she sliced through the last of the undergrowth and stumbled forward into the open.
“I’m here, I’m here! Please, we need to leave, they’re close behind-”
But the clearing was empty.
The biting wind raged on and through the whipped up flurry there was no light, no river. No camp. There were no friends waiting for her with food and warm blankets and lanterns to fight the dark; no boats to carry them downstream. Had she gotten lost? Had the night warbled her sense of direction? Had she been too afraid or too cold to think clearly?
Only the moon saw her sink to her knees while hope left her heart. Only the stars were witness of how her eyes fell shut, and how her side met with the snow. How blossoms of red mixed with the white.
And only the frost saw a creature of nightmares that had followed the scent of blood through the frigid forest, and which carried the body away.
