WILD & WICKED / © yllwjckts
039 ⸻ Queen of the Clouds

Lux, Remus and Sirius had the 7th year boy's dormitories to themselves for the next three hours before classes ended, according to Remus. He'd set an alarm on his watch with a quick spell so they wouldn't lose track of time, and the moment his wand was set on his bedside table, Lux was leaping across the bed to embrace him.

"Bloody hell, I've missed this," she murmured against Remus's lips, followed by a gasp as Sirius snuck up behind her, placing kisses on her neck.

"It's been two days since our last shag," Remus said with an incredulous disbelief.

"Yes, two days too many," Sirius agreed, moving to tug her shirt over her head from behind her. He tossed it to the ground near the edge of Peter's unmade bed, before his hands were on her again, feeling every bit of skin she had.

By the time they were finished, over an hour had gone by, with all three of them inhaling deep, shuddering breaths as their sweaty bodies clung to each other.

"Was that all alright?" Remus asked, and though it was directed at both of them, Lux knew it was aimed at her. "We got a bit..."

"Intense?" Lux suggested with a soft, breathless laugh, turning around to face him.

He nodded.

"It was perfect," she promised with a kiss on his lips. From behind her, she felt Sirius twisting his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. And while Lux knew she was in desperate need of a shower, she couldn't bear to leave the comfort of Sirius's bed, nor the arms her boyfriends had wrapped around her like they were afraid she might bolt.

"I talked to McGonagall today," she began without prompting, her mind having gone numb from the pleasure previously inflicted upon her, now having no filter to contain her thoughts.

"Oh?" Sirius began, a hand absentmindedly stroking her bare back, fingers tracing the ridges of her scars. "How'd it go?"

"Fine. She's going to talk to Slughorn about what happened with Mulciber." Against her, she felt both Remus and Sirius stiffen, and swiftly moved to change the subject. "I dropped out of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

This time, neither boy seemed shocked.

"Because of Elias?" Sirius clarified.

She nodded, leaning into Remus's chest. "It's not fair to either of us to stay. There's too much of a history."

"You're not still..." Remus began, voice suddenly trailing off. From her other side, she could practically feel Sirius glaring at the boy. "Sorry. I didn't...sorry."

Lux bit down on her lip, knowing exactly what words he was about to air. "You can ask, you know. I won't be upset."

For a moment, silence passed.

Then, just above a whisper, Remus mustered, "Are you still in love with him?"

She shook her head, expecting it to feel like a betrayal. Somehow, it didn't — if anything, Lux thought as though for perhaps the first time, she was grasping at the concept of closure. "No. I care for him, I always will, and I reckon he feels the same, but...I'm with you two, aren't I? I wouldn't be here if I wanted him."

When she'd first found out Elias hadn't died that night, her instinctual emotion had been jealousy, but as a little bit of time ebbed on, she could see now that it was best for everyone. That he deserved someone who could provide him with everything she couldn't — a future, children, a life spent basking in the light, not buried in the dark. Now, all she could dig out of herself was a hope for happiness on both of their ends.

Remus seemed to believe her, moving to kiss her cheek. "Okay."

She smiled.

Then, as she moved to look at Sirius and kiss him as well, the door to the dorms flung open.

There was only a second to spare for Lux to pull the blanket they'd been sharing over her bare body before a blurred James Potter stormed in, slamming the door behind him. His face was a shade of red unlike anything she'd ever seen before on the boy, his anger outweighing even that day where he'd read those letters.

Through his thin framed glasses, his dark eyes scanned them for the briefest of moments as he begun to pace back and forth in front of them, hands wringing.

"Marlene's quit the team," he said to no one in particular, a tremor in his voice from either anger or finding himself on the verge of tears. Perhaps both. "After me, she's the best player we've got — no offense, Padfoot, and she's just quit? How can she do that? What ever happened to Gryffindor loyalty?"

"Ahem," Remus cleared his throat. "James, mate, I get you're upset, but...we're a bit...preoccupied."

The pacing boy didn't still his movements for so much as a second, waving a dismissive hand in their direction. "Yes, yes, I see that. But you don't understand, the team's gonna collapse without her! You saw how good Ravenclaw played, how the hell are we supposed to beat them now? This is my final year, I need to win the cup!"

Lux and Sirius exchanged a glance.

Then, James's head pivoted towards them, a snap in his demeanor. His gaze zeroing in on Lux, he rushed up to the edge of the bed with a doglike eagerness. "Actually, Marlene said to talk to Lux about taking her spot."

"Er..." Lux began, tugging on the blanket until it was up to her chin.

"Mate, really, now's not the time," Remus said through clenched teeth.

James frowned, gaze shifting down to the blanket, then back at them, realization slowly seeping into his expression. "Wait, were you all shagging?"

Lux thought she might just die of shame on the spot. Remus seemed to be in the same state, face growing more and more red by the second.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "No, we just took off our clothes and hopped into bed to work on our History of Magic essays."

James blinked, clearly unsure whether or not his best friend was being sarcastic. Placing a hand against the post of the bed, he shook his head, shaggy black hair flying about. "Right. Well...Lux, would you fancy taking Marlene's spot on the Quidditch team? She's a beater — so you'd get to hit things about with a bat. Sounds like something you'd enjoy, yeah?"

She shifted in the bed, careful not to let the blanket slip out from over her. "Er...I don't really know anything about Quidditch."

"I can teach you! And so can Sirius, he's the other beater. Reckon he'd whip you into shape soon enough."

Sirius snorted, muttering something under his breath about having already done that.

"Maybe you all could discuss this later?" Remus urged, voice wavering. "We've got...essays to finish."

"Ah, I see." James clapped his hands together. "Don't let me get in the way. Lux, I'll be speaking with you later. Have fun, you three. And use protection!"

He vanished through the same door he'd come in, shutting it behind him and leaving the three alone once more.

"Fucking hell." Remus exhaled a breath, running a hand through his hair.

Lux bit down on her lip, glancing between the boys. "James won't tell anyone, will he?"

"Of course not," Sirius said, snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her tight against him. She melted into his touch as he assured her, "He's kept much bigger secrets, trust me. Besides, he already suspected as much was going on."

"Bigger secrets than this?" Lux raised her eyebrows, glancing between the two. "Like what?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a glance, before the former shook his head. "Nothing you need to worry about."

Her lips parted, but Remus was speaking again before she could get a word out.

"Speaking of what James said, should we be using protection?"

"I don't have any diseases," Sirius said with confidence. "And Remus, you were a virgin before us, so..."

Both boys looked at Lux expectantly.

"I don't have anything," she promised, unsure if vampires could even get those kinds of diseases. "And it's not like I can get pregnant, so..."

Sirius blinked, shock taking over his expression. "You can't get pregnant?"

Against her, she felt Remus shift, as her breath caught in her throat. "Well, obviously not. Pads, she's a vampire."

"Well yeah, I know that, but...I didn't know vampires couldn't have kids."

For perhaps the first time since she'd entered a relationship with the two, Lux found herself at a loss for words. Moments of silence passed between the three, an uncomfortable sort of quiet she couldn't imagine Sirius or Remus enjoyed any more than she did, before she mustered enough courage to push the blanket off of the bed.

"I've got to go finish some homework," she proclaimed, climbing over Remus and stumbling towards where her clothes lay discarded across the floor. She paused for a moment, stumbling to grab her discarded glasses off of the nightstand and shoving them onto the bridge of her nose hard enough to scrape her skin.

"Lux," Remus sighed, shifting so his lower half was concealed beneath another blanket. "Don't go."

"I'm not upset," Sirius managed when she was silent, though the wavering in his voice suggested otherwise.

Lux didn't look at him, too busy tugging her clothes over her body as fast as she could, suddenly hating the way they could gaze on her naked body.

It was shame, she recognized, something she'd yet to experience in front of her boyfriends, with her bareness only adding to a sense of inadequacy. Shame that she wasn't human enough, wasn't woman enough.

"Luxie, really, I'm not," he urged, stepping out of the bed and grabbing a hold of her forearm. Stark naked, he shouldn't have had any authority over her, but something about the gentleness of his touch had her stopping halfway through pulling her skirt up.

"It just caught me off guard, that's all. I'm not upset," he promised.

"If you want children someday..."

"I can live without them," he assured her, moving to push back a stray curl that had fallen in front of her face. "You two are all I need."

"I don't want kids anyways," Remus added.

Lux gave them a wavering smile, head turning between them. "I just don't want to stand in the way of something you want. I don't want to be the reason you don't have something as life changing as children."

"We want you," Sirius said, kissing her cheek before moving to sit down on the edge of the bed. Unlike Remus, he had no shame in keeping himself fully revealed, and it took everything in Lux to keep her eyes locked on his rather than straying downwards. "Now, do you fancy joining us again?"

A smirk slid across her lips, a brief respite for her. "As tempting as your offer is, I really do have an essay to finish."

"You're no fun," Sirius complained, tossing a pillow at her. It landed against her knees, falling to the floor with a soft thud.

She rolled her eyes as she moved to tug her socks over her calves. Even so, the shame burning in her gut had yet to be fully extinguished. "I'm sure you two can find a way to entertain yourself without me."

Half of her wanted them to protest. But when she slipped out of their dorm without a word from either boy, part of Lux found that perhaps it was for the best.

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January 4th, 1978 ✦ Hogwarts

Getting blood from the forest was a far more lonely experience now that she didn't have Fulk to keep her company. It felt significantly more brutal, the capturing of animals and subsequent draining of their blood without someone to share in the lack of humanity, a mirror she could look at to remind herself she wasn't alone in what she did.

She'd buried herself deep within the trees, opting to skip out on the lunch hour. It wasn't like she'd be missed, the Gryffindors who didn't know of her vampirism were already used to her frequent absences.

Staring at one of the trees, Lux pretended Fulk was leaning against it, imagining what he would say to her if he was. Something wise and verbose she didn't have the energy to explore, about Elias and how she no longer needed to feel guilt.

And she didn't, half of the time. Lux had found herself in a curious sort of limbo in which every time her mind crossed Elias and his re-emergence into her life, a new emotion came with it. Sometimes, it was relief. Then anger. Then guilt. Then shame.

The shame was the worst.

She hadn't been able to protect him, not how she should have been. She'd been a fool in every aspect of their relationship, stupid enough to believe they could last any further than they had, stupid enough to believe that a vampire could be loved for more than a few months, a fraction of the eternity she was bound to live.

Stupid enough to try again with Remus and Sirius, when she knew the end couldn't be any less painful. If Philip didn't come between them, her own biology would.

At least Fulk would be back soon. The letter she sent him had to reach him soon enough, and he'd return.

Assuming he wanted to. Maybe it was all an excuse to leave her behind, forget she ever existed. Maybe, like everything else in her life, he was meant to be a passing figure, never holding ground for too long.

"Sulking again, Erzsebet?"

She didn't have to turn to know who was emerging from behind her, daring the Forbidden Forest on their own. "Following me again, Snape?"

"You've got a bit of rabbit on your chin," he said when they made eye contact, motioning towards a spot with a humored look.

Grumbling under her breath, she used the sleeve of her cloak to wipe it away, the spot of red melting into the black fabric.

Leaning against the very tree Lux had envisioned Fulk resting on, he drawled, "You know, your self hatred won't get you very far in life. It's a bit pathetic, really, listening to you drone on and on about how awful you have it."

"There's an easy solution to that, you know. It's called staying out of my mind."

He gave her an exaggerated eye roll. "Or you could just work on blocking me. Use months of lessons for good, rather than moping about."

"Is there something you want, or have you just followed me into the cold to be an arse?"

"I just figured we hadn't worked on Occlumency much in the past few days. We should get on that. Best you get good at it before we graduate. Who knows if we'll ever see each other again once we leave this place."

Lux shifted. She had a feeling wherever it was she went, Snape was sure to follow, in one way or another. "You want to try to do this in the freezing cold?"

He shrugged, and if he read the thoughts lingering in her mind, he didn't address them one way or another. "You'll have to learn to carry your blocks everywhere — including poor weather."

"Right. Try me then." She leaned against the tree, eyes pouring into his.

No more than a second went by before Snape was surging into her mind, breaking the door keeping him out from off of its hinges.

The memory he flung himself into was one so far separated from the Lux who stood before him, she wondered if perhaps in the time that had spanned between its occurrence and now, she'd truly morphed into someone different. Because there was no way the Lux in the memory could possibly be her, the Lux feeding a little boy soup with a spoon as he lay on their bed, sweating up a storm.

"You'll be alright, but you've got to eat," she told the boy with a gentleness she'd never known herself to have. The boy didn't have the energy to respond, instead parting his lips to make way for another spoonful of soup.

Her brother, she recalled moments later with a stabbing sensation in her chest. Elijah Erzsebet.

She'd forgotten what he looked like. Forgotten that he'd been sick in the days before she'd been torn from her home, that she'd looked after him day and night while her dad worked and mum cared for the animals and two little sisters tended to the crops.

Lux was so preoccupied with a glimpse of the past, she forgot she was meant to be forcing Snape out. That this wasn't meant for him to see.

Closing her eyes, she pushed with all her might, attempted to stack that brick wall between her and him.

He withdrew before she could succeed. "I don't know what was more pathetic, Erzsebet, that memory or your incompetence."

She glared at him, concealing a shiver as a harsh gust of winter wind slammed into them, rattling the tree branches overhead and sending a dusting of snow atop the two. "I wasn't trying, not properly. Go again."

This time, she was ready, bracing herself with that brick wall.

Snape toppled it down with ease, breaking through the barrier and bursting into another memory.

Words echoed about in the air, nothing Lux cared enough to listen to. She knew where she was, knew what was being shouted at her. Philip's hand, striking her across the cheek, drawing blood as his nails dug into her skin.

The Lux of the past just took it.

And if only to battle that never ending sense of shame, the Lux of now wouldn't.

She shoved with all her might at Snape, standing in the background of the memory, expression unreadable. Shoved and shoved against his chest until he was forced out, her stumbling with him, returning to the realm of the real.

"Better," Snape said from his position on the ground — they'd both fallen over from their efforts, limbs stretched out in the snow. He moved to stand, then without warning, leaned down to pull on her arm.

She allowed herself to be helped up, but even as her balance steadied, the hand he held on her forearm lingered.

"I've been looking into it," he began, inky eyes not looking away from hers for so much as a moment.

Lux blinked. "Looking into what?"

"The Coven nonsense. Whoever sent that vampire your way over Christmas, leaked your location."

She sucked in a breath. Right. Somehow, amidst all the Elias chaos, she'd forgotten about that. "Oh. And...have you found anyone?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't Liam Mulciber. His mind is as pliable as a sack of hair. He doesn't even know you're a vampire. Suppose he wouldn't have attacked you if he had."

She shifted. "How do you know about that?"

The lift of his eyebrows told her all she needed to know.

"Right. You know about Elias too, then?"

"Shouldn't you be calling him Professor Hyde?"

Her eyes narrowed. "He isn't my professor. I dropped the class. I start Divination tomorrow."

Humor danced in Snape's expression. "You're taking Divination? Tell me you're kidding."

"It was the only available class." Lux crossed her arms. "Besides, what's wrong with Divination?"

"Well, other than Professor Larkin being a bloody lunatic? It's all make believe. Prophecies shouldn't be taken seriously."

She shrugged, not quite sure whether or not to believe him. There were stranger things in the magical world, she supposed, than people predicting the future. "Bullshit or not, it's better than sitting in a desk and being taught as though I'm a child by someone I've..."

"Shagged?"

Heat flashed across her cheeks. "I was going to say fallen in love with, but I suppose shagged works just as well."

"For what it's worth, Hyde feels the same way."

"What way?"

"That it would be weird for you to be in his class. That you're a child."

Her nose twitched, the only sign of heartbreak she'd allow herself to show. Instead, she released a breath, forcing an apathetic expression that she knew Snape could see straight through. "Right. Of course he does. How couldn't he?"

"You are technically still seventeen," Snape pointed out. "I've done more than enough research on vampires to know that. Your brain's quit developing alongside your body. You'll be like that forever."

Folding her arms over her chest, she struggled to maintain eye contact, instead opting to look down at where her shoes dug into the snow. "Yeah, well, maybe I don't like the reminder."

For a moment, Snape kept his mouth shut. Then, in a tone that he attempted to keep cool, though carried a hint of emotion, he said, "Slughorn's mind is awful guarded."

"Slughorn?"

He nodded. "I don't know. It could be nothing. But he's a clever man, even though it might not seem like it. Got into Dumbledore's good graces, anyways. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew what you and Ingelger are, be it from Dumbledore's loose lips or his own suspicions."

"He invited me to that club of his," Lux recalled, voicing her thoughts out loud. "For special students of his. Fulk as well. He never explained why it was we was so special."

Snape sniffed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he knew. Slughorn's always looking to get a leg up in the world. Allying himself with the Coven could've just been a business venture gone wrong. I doubt he'd intentionally try to get anyone killed, but it very well could've been an accident."

Lux ran a hand through her hair, releasing a deep sigh. "We don't know it was him, though."

"We don't," Snape agreed with a dull, uninterested nod.

"Keep looking into others," she ordered. "I'll do digging into Slughorn."

He gave her a look.

"What?"

"You could at least say please."

It was her turn to give him a look, but when he didn't let up, her shoulders slumped. "Fine. Please?"

A satisfied smirk slid across his lips.

"I'll keep you updated." He turned his body away from her, directing himself towards the castle. "We should get going. Classes start soon, and I don't want to explain that I was late because I was spending my time with a Gryffindor."

"Right," she agreed with an almost mischievous gleam in her eye, moving to follow him through the snow. "People might actually think we're friends."

"Horrifying concept."

"Ghastly, really. I have a reputation to uphold."

"Your reputation? Consider my own. Half the students in Slytherin would have a fit if they knew."

"Knew what, exactly? That you actually like me?"

"I don't like you, I tolerate you," Snape corrected, but she knew he was lying.

They parted ways as they entered through the door to the castle, Snape headed towards the Great Hall to have a final few minutes for a meal, whereas Lux made a beeline for the Charms classroom. Her mood had been significantly elated in the process, finding her mind no longer sulking on thoughts of Fulk and Elias and whatever it was that had gone down with Remus and Sirius, but a delicate sort of humor only Severus Snape had managed to add to her life.

"There you are!" A voice exclaimed the moment she turned the bend of the corridor, brushing bits of snow off of her shoulder with her hand. When she turned around, James Potter was running towards her, a bead of sweat dripping down his face.

"Is everything alright?"

"Tryouts," he mustered as he came to a stop in front of her. "Tonight. Six. At the pitch."

"Tryouts..."

"For Quidditch." Through his glasses, he stared at her as though she were an idiot. "You said you'd take Marlene's spot as beater."

"No, I said I'd think about it."

"Right, well, unfortunately no one else wants the spot, something about me being a tyrannical captain with no moral compass, so you're kind of stuck with it."

"How do you figure that?"

He gave her a sheepish shrug, evidentially having not thought that far ahead. "I mean, I suppose I could blackmail you, but Lily'd kill me in my sleep if I did."

She rolled her eyes, beginning to turn around once more.

"Lux, please," James began, more desperation in his tone this time. He reached out, gently taking a hold of her arm, tugging until she spun back around to face him. "Just try, alright? See if you're any good. You might find you enjoy it."

Pressing her lips together, she inhaled a deep breath and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "What makes you think I'd be any good at it?"

"You've got a lot of rage," he said with a shrug, which she found she couldn't dismiss. Glancing around to confirm they were alone, he leaned in and added, "Don't vampires have like, super strength?"

Lux bit down on the side of her cheek, but there was no judgment radiating from James Potter's gaze, only curiosity. "We're a bit stronger than humans, but not exponentially so. Besides, isn't that like...cheating?"

At this, he looked offended, retracting his hands from hers in favor of grasping his heart. "It's not cheating. It's using all of Gryffindor's assets. And you're a tried and true Gryffindor, I see that now."

"...right."

"Come on, please? I'll do anything."

"Fine," she settled, if only to get James to stop looking at her like a wounded puppy. "I'll try out. But I can't promise I'll be any good."

He looked as though Christmas had come early, and before Lux knew what was happening, his arms were wrapped around her in a tight hug. "Thank you!"

And as much as Lux was dreading the concept of getting on a broom, something she hadn't done since flying lessons in her first year at Hogwarts three hundred years ago, she sucked it up and dragged herself to the Quidditch pitch once her lessons were over.

Sirius had gotten wind of James's plans, and not only decided to come along to witness her inevitable humiliation, but dragged Remus along with him.

"You'll do amazing," Sirius promised with a squeeze on her shoulder as they approached the field, and when he confirmed no one was looking, kissed her on the cheek.

She mustered back a smile, glancing over at Remus, who hovered at Sirius's left with his hands fidgeting, as though unused to having nothing to do. "You didn't have to come watch, you know."

"I wanted to," he said, and while she knew he was lying, she didn't press it further. It was sweet, Lux decided, that he'd go to something they all knew he had no interest in.

The three parted ways, the boys heading into the otherwise empty stands while Lux aimed towards James, who was located in the edge of the pitch, tossing a snitch back and forth between his hands.

At her arrival, he grinned at her through the setting sun, showing off all his teeth. "I didn't think you'd actually come."

"I didn't think I would either," she admitted, glancing between James and the broomstick hovering a few inches above the grass — she figured an enchantment had been made to prevent snow from landing on the floor of the pitch. "What am I meant to do, then? Do laps on the broom or something?"

"Well, first we've got to see if you even can get in the air. Then we'll get around to the rest," James said as he reached down, taking a hold of the broom and extending it towards her.

"Of course I can get in the air. It can't be that hard. You can do it, after all." Lux snatched the broom out of his hand before he spout the protests she saw brewing within him.

Her confidence didn't last long. She swung her leg over the side, now feeling awkward as she struggled to figure out how she was meant to sit on the broom without the wood riding into places it shouldn't.

"You're not doing it right!" James proclaimed as her face began to flush red, rushing over to grab onto the top of the broom. "You've got to ease onto it! Otherwise you'll bruise your...lady bits."

Somehow, he'd spoken loud enough for his words to waft out to the stands, or Sirius had enchanted the pitch so sound carried despite the distance.

Either way, Sirius rose onto his feet, shouting, "Oi! Only Remus and I can talk about her lady bits!"

Lux tilted her head back, running a hand through her hair with the hand she didn't have gripping the wood. "For Merlins's sake, you can say the word vagina."

Remus let out a snort.

Turning to James, she begrudgingly allowed him to show her the proper way of mounting a broom, which she mimicked. To her surprise, it didn't feel half as awkward as it had on her attempt, and she mustered a smile. "Right. Now do I just...fly?"

He nodded. "Just push up with your feet."

Lux inhaled a breath, gathering the Gryffindor courage James had claimed she had just hours prior. Then, she pushed herself off the ground.

"Steady, steady," James assured her with a hand on her back. She'd only levitated a couple feet, her height only just passing his own, but an giddy sort of excitement had taken control of her.

"I'm flying!" She exclaimed, grinning ear to ear in disbelief.

"Do you think you can try a lap?" James said, glancing between her and the empty pitch.

She nodded, tightening her grip on the end of the broom. In that moment, she thought she might be able to do anything.

"Okay. Steady, yeah? Take it slow." He reminded her again, before giving her a nod that urged her to start.

Lux promptly threw his advice out the window.

Not that it mattered — she was barely three feet in the air, and had Remus watching her like a hawk, wand in hand in case anything were to go amiss. Either way, she circled around the pitch with ease, returning to James's side a minute later with her heart rattling in her chest, a bursting sensation she'd never felt before. There had been no fear of falling, or looking stupid, simply a glimpse of freedom, like she could simply fly away and never come back.

"Your technique could use some work, of course, but that's to be expected from a first timer," James commented as she came to a stop. "You've got a natural flow."

She beamed.

The rest of the night was spent with Lux learning the basics of Quidditch, a sport she hadn't realized was as complicated as it turned out to be. When she questioned the logistics of a ball worth one hundred and fifty points, James had dismissed her with a wave and told her to do another lap, timing her this time.

"We'll start with learning how to hit bludgers tomorrow," James told her as he took the broom back. "You'll meet the team on practice this Saturday."

James split from her to put the broom away, where Lux rushed over to Sirius and Remus, who were descending from the stands.

"You did brilliant," Sirius said as he embraced her, arms wrapped tight around her torso.

"I thought I'd hate it," Lux responded breathlessly, slipping from Sirius's grasp to hug Remus. Long gone was any shame she'd felt from the day before, any feelings of inadequacy. All negativity that had brewed within her was replaced with something far more joyful as her arms wrapped around her other boyfriend. "It was amazing!"

Remus let out a reluctant sigh, even as a smile slid onto his lips. "Does this mean I'm going to have to come to Quidditch matches now?"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

CHAPTER 40 SNIPPET:

"Brother."

Fulk jerked, the familiarity of the voice ringing in his ear having his heart plummet. A voice he'd gone one thousand years without hearing, yet never once forgot.

Ever so slowly, he looked upwards, to find the man hovering above him staring down with those blue hues, not at Fulk, but at his closed hand.

"Where did you get that?"

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───

OKAY SO first things first i've decided to start teasing the next upcoming chapter at the ends of these chapters because it seems fun! i've seen a few people do it and i wanna hop on the bandwagon.

ANYWAYSSS early chapter because i felt bad that nothing's been happening in the past few ones (including this one, lmfao). i swear, plot is coming, this is just the (ridiculously drawn out) buildup or whatever. this + a few more chapters are mostly introducing the plot points i have planned for the rest of the school year + stuff that bleeds into post graduation! i'm so sorry it's been so slow lmfaooo. the next few chapters will also be lacking i fear BUT a fulk pov is coming very very soon which has some fun bits im excited for :))))

anyways, who do we think the coven leaker could be? do we suspect sluggy or is he a red herring?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───