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Aaaah anon you've made my day! Thank you so much for taking the time to find my blog and let me know, so glad the fic resonated with you and that you like my writing! <3 Timebomb has my heart forever and ever.

(And has been for the past three weeks... oops)

TITLE: Burning Shadows and Shallow Graves

TAGS:

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: Gen

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Characters: Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Original Characters, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Dean Thomas, Justin Finch-Fletchley, James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Chapters: 5/?

Words: 14618

SUMMARY:

In a world where the war is never far from people’s minds, who died is not who you think and neither are those who will save the day.

CHAPTER 5 TITLE: “Back to Where We Were”

EXTRACT:

“Hi,” [James] said when they got out of Sirius and Moony’s chimney. Both men were up, still in their pyjamas, wands in hand and wild looks on their faces.

“What happened?” Moony asked, hurrying to relieve him from April’s weight and take her in his own arms. James didn’t feel relieved at all, but he let her go without opposing resistance.

“We don’t have time,” Lily answered when he failed to find the words to explain. She seemed to have regained some of her composure – at least her voice was steady. “Sirius, can you go to the Department of Mysteries before you check in at the Aurors’ office, and tell them I won’t be able to make it this morning?”

“It’s Sunday,” Sirius said, bewildered. “You and I don’t work on Sundays, Lils.”

“Oh.”

She rubbed her face and shook herself.

“Right. Sorry. I – we’ll be back in a couple of hours. Probably. Thank you.”

She turned around, grabbed a handful of Floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, said “Headmaster’s office, Hogwarts” and disappeared.

James looked at his disheveled best friends, their wide eyes and their pallor and their raised wands and the way Moony was holding April tight with just one arm. They looked like they had been taken back ten years ago, in the middle of the war, and to be honest, he kind of felt that way too, even though he knew it was not like that. He opened his mouth, then closed it.

“It’s not like that,” he said, and when the only thing that answered him was more shocked silence, he turned on his heel and Flooed away.

TITLE: Burning Shadows and Shallow Graves

TAGS:

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: Gen

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Characters: Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Original Characters, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Dean Thomas, Justin Finch-Fletchley, James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Chapters: 4/?

Words: 10150

SUMMARY:

In a world where the war is never far from people’s minds, who died is not who you think and neither are those who will save the day.

CHAPTER 4 TITLE: “The Great Lake”

EXTRACT:

“Firs’-years! Firs’-years over here!” 

They went in direction of the voice, and [Neville] nearly fell as the three other kids stopped dead in their tracks in front of him. The man who had called was twice as tall as any other man he’d ever met, and at least thrice as big. He looked scary indeed, what with the huge beard that ate most of his face, but his voice was friendly.

 “C’mon, follow me – any more firs’-years? Mind yer step now! Firs’-years, follow me!”

“Who is that?” Hermione whispered in his ear, as they followed the man out of the station and down a steep path. It was too small for them to be walking as a group, so they went one after the other – Dean first, then Neville, then Hermione, then Justin.

“I’ve no idea,” he whispered back. “Wasn’t it mentioned in Hogwarts, a History?”

“The staff isn’t mentioned, no,” she scoffed.

“I think it’s the gamekeeper,” Justin said. “He’s called Hagrid.”

Both of them turned around, raising an eyebrow.

“How do you know?” Hermione asked.

Justin shrugged: “That’s what they’re saying back there. But keep walking, everybody’s pushing me now!”

They turned back around and stayed silent for a while. Neville’s teeth were chattering, and Dean frequently looked back at him, worried.

“Alright, mate?” he asked after a while.

“I d-don’t think I’ve ever b-been this cold in m-my entire life.”

“Where do you come from?” the boy laughed. “It’s not even autumn yet.”

Neville shrugged and gathered his cloak around him in hopes of keeping a little warmth. The path wasn’t so narrow anymore, so he went back to shielding himself with his group of friends, reckoning that if penguins could survive blizzards that way, he could survive a Scotland’s end-of-summer evening.

“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in just a sec,” the gamekeeper said, “jus’ round this bend here.”

They reached the bend and let out an amazed “oh”. Under an ink black sky, over the ink black water of the Great Lake, was Hogwarts. Warm lights were emanating from every window, contrasting against the darkness as towers and passageways appeared in front of their eyes. For the first time since the train had departed, Neville felt the tension in his chest relax a little. Everything might feel foreign, from the coldness of the air and the smell of the forest to the way people acted and the absence of his loved ones, but Hogwarts – Hogwarts – of which he had heard tales from the youngest age, really did welcome him with all its wild and wise heart. And for a moment, as he stood on the shingle, surrounded by the forest, the quiet breathing of the crowd around him and the castle overlooking them, his homesickness seemed to melt.

“No more ‘n four to a boat,” said the gamekeeper, his voice a quiet grumble that almost seemed loud in the stillness of that moment.

The four students climbed onto one of the boats, and soon enough, Hagrid was ordering: “Forward!”, and the whole fleet started to glide onto the surface. No word was uttered, but Dean leaned closer to Neville and pointed to the centre of the lake; there was nothing to be seen, exactly, but the young boy nodded. It may have been a simple ripple or an inaudible clapping sound, or maybe his imagination after hearing so many stories about the Giant Squid but he would have sworn a languid tentacle had caressed the surface from below.

Sirius models for Andromeda

Part 1 | Part 2

Reference: Paper magazine

With US Musician and Actor Ezra Miller as Sirius.

(Part 1) (Part 2)

As we all know, some time during her Hogwarts years, Andy falls in love with a Muggle-born named Ted Tonks and is shunned from her family when the two elope. So hear me out. The Blacks aren’t going to let such an offense go unpunished, right? They’re already involved with the Death-Eaters to a certain point, and from what we’ve seen of Bella (even though it’s no doubt exaggerated by her insanity and loyalty to Voldemort) they wouldn’t wish much good upon Andy. Which means she has to go into hiding: she can’t be seen in the wizarding world anymore, word would travel fast and reach her family’s ears and then... who knows what might happen.

So this is how Andromeda moves in with her new husband’s family. Of course, protection spells are placed on the house by them both, and possibly Dumbledore - they would probably have come to him for help, right? But the point is, Andy starts living in a Muggle house, in the Muggle world, surrounded by Muggles and trying to act as one. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that she’s changed her mind about Muggles and Muggleborns and all, but the cultural shock must be huge. Years of prejudice take a long time to get uprooted, even by the most persevering hand, and differences in upbringing will lead to clashes.

I don’t think this is a very happy time for poor Andy. She’s lost her whole family, even though she’s still in contact with Sirius through Euphemia Potter - who keeps her updated on the situation and is her last contact with her home-world - she is trying to adapt to a world and a culture she knows next to nothing about...

But there are, of course, several highlights. Her husband, for instance, that she learns to love more with each passing day. His family, who went out of their way to take her in. And, last but certainly not least, there is their shop. She works there in return for their hospitality, and because she can’t stay idle - in the Muggle world, you cannot not have an occupation. And this shop - this shop! - is a tailoring shop.

The Tonks are tailors.

She gets to work in the one job that has appealed to her her whole life. She learns the Muggle way to sew (sewing machines are as magical to her as her spells are to her parents-in-law), knit, embroider and crochet. She learns about Muggle fashion.

The production increases a lot with her help; not only is she gifted and eager to learn, but she loves experimenting with her magic to work on several pieces at a time or add a unique twist to her creations. She subtly alters the fabrics with Transfiguration so that the colour will last longer, be brighter or harder to stain; she Charms the scarves, hats and jumpers to be warmer; she embroiders her pieces with hidden Runes to give some level of protection to the wearer; she brews Pepper-Up potions during flu season and sprinkles it on the clothes.

And the clientele loves it. The Tonks get more customers, and they give her more space to be creative, so she starts incorporating a little bit of wizarding and Rajasthani fashion, here and there. An Indian family, passing by, recognises the patterns in the shop window and comes in to ask for a custom order for the approaching holiday of the Eid al-Fitr - and that is only the beginning of such custom orders from several different communities in London. She researches the topic as well as she can and can’t help but realise how her style gets influenced by these orders, and how much more diverse her clothes are getting. This attracts new customers and defects others; but the Tonks, who are aging, leave the creation space mainly to her.

Then Voldemort is defeated. The war is over. Bella is sent to Azkaban. Cissy is married but the Malfoys are keeping a low profile. Her parents die of old age.

She is able to come back to the wizarding world.

And so the shop expands to welcome another type of customers; and this is how the first Muggle/Wizarding Tailoring shop in all of England opens its doors.

[Bonus 1: this where Tonks gets her very... special... style.]

[Bonus 2: Narcissa never throws her dolls and their wardrobe away. She locks them up in a box that she keeps in her vanity and, sometimes, she brushes her fingertips against the dark wood when the urge to open it gets overwhelming. Then she breathes in, breathes out, and the urge is gone.]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Face claim: EUPHEMIA MITTAL POTTER

Euphemia’s parents moved from Rajasthan to England before she was born. One day I’ll know and write her whole story because GAH.

I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT MY PRECIOUS BICULTURAL WITCH. JUST LOOK AT HER I DARE YOU NOT TO FALL IN LOVE.

“The [Potter] Manor had always liked welcoming its owners with music, and it had taken a distinct liking to Rajasthani traditional rhythms from the moment his mother had moved in. When Fleamont told that story, he always seemed mildly surprised and impressed; in his childhood – or so he said – the Manor had been too posh to ever consider playing anything but classical music. (Euphemia then scoffed asked him what he meant by “classical” and Fleamont answered with “old”. It earned him a smack across the head and a laugh. “If you had paid attention during your music classes and learnt to respect it,” she said, “maybe the Manor would agree to play something you like from time to time.” But it was no use. Fleamont Potter was as clueless about music as James was about Potions, and Euphemia had taken charge of her son’s artistic education before her husband could do any damage.)“

-- Moving into Memory Lane

(Part 1)

Andy finds a new, living model to replace Cissy when she starts baby-sitting her cousin Sirius during the summers. It’s her first male model, but he’s so young and idolises her and her creations so much that neither of them care too much about gender-appropriate clothing. She experiences with both styles of wizarding robes and dreams of one day becoming a tailor; unknown to her parents, she buys books on the topic and learns as many spells as she can.

When Sirius enters Hogwarts and meets James, he’s instantly fascinated by the traditional Rajasthani clothing his friend wears sometimes, and mixes it with his English robes. It’s the first thing he tells Andy when he sees her: “you should see his Pagri - that’s how he calls the turban - it is spiffing!”

(Yes, Sirius is terribly posh. He’ll lose the accent during his Hogwarts years, though it returns when he’s particularly emotional, and he and James work hard to learn how to cuss under the guidance of Peter and Remus.)

Euphemia Potter started receiving very detailed question about clothing from her son, and ultimately starts corresponding directly with Andromeda and sending her fabrics and advice on how to incorporate Rajasthani fashion to her outfits (ornaments! colours! patterns! textures! ACCESSORIES!).

And this is the story of how Andy’s last years at Hogwarts are spent less focusing on her OWLs and NEWTs, and more on designing an entire wardrobe for four growing boys.

I love imagining the Black sisters as children. They’re already so different from each other, and yet still close and sisterly.

One of the activities I like to imagine they do together is playing dress up: they go to the attic where all the old clothes are stored (or Bella steals their parents’ outfits from their wardrobes) and have a blast there for hours.

Cissy, of course, is their model; she parades around the room and shows off her sisters’ creations to the House-Elves. Bella, most of all, likes to cut through the clothes, but Andy’s the one who plays with the fabrics, the colours and the tones, and assemble them to create a new piece. The House-Elves help her sew everything together and make it fit - they’re no tailors so the result isn’t perfect, but this is how she learns the basics.

As they grow up though, their parents don’t approve of the activity as much: it does not suit young ladies to work with their hands, or to parade with torn and patched-up clothes in front of the Elves. Bella still secretly “arranges” her party clothes to show off more skin; Cissy takes to strutting around in designers’ clothes instead of her sisters’ creations, but still asks her older sister to design a similar wardrobe for each of her dolls - they do it in secret since Cissy is also supposed to be too old to play with them.

I’m a day late this week for the update... so sorry! Real life has been chaotic this week - yesterday especially. But the next chapter will be up next Friday, pinky swear!

TITLE: Burning Shadows and Shallow Graves

TAGS:

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death

Category: Gen

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Characters: Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Original Characters, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Dean Thomas, Justin Finch-Fletchley, James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Chapters: 3/?

Words: 7796

SUMMARY:

In a world where the war is never far from people’s minds, who died is not who you think and neither are those who will save the day.

CHAPTER 3 TITLE: “The Hogwarts Express”

EXTRACT:

The door opening suddenly made [Neville] startle, and his fingers instinctively reached out to the wand in his pocket.

“Hey there!” a young black boy said joyfully. “Can we seat here? Are you expecting anybody?”

“Um, no,” Neville mumbled. “Come in.” The boy was accompanied by another one, who was slightly taller, had perfectly styled blond hair and a vaguely disdainful expression that was probably meant to look aristocratic. Before today, Neville had only seen this expression on his grandmother’s face, but several other people on the Platform had worn it as well – he could only guess what it meant, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Thanks,” the first boy said, his face totally exempt of aristocracy. “We could use a hand with that trunk though, Justin filled it up with rocks or something…”

“BOOKS,” the other one grunted, pulling the luggage inside. “I told Father I absolutely didn’t need to bring half of his library to school, I swear…”

Neville couldn’t help smiling, and he relaxed. Aunt Katie would have scolded him for judging a book by his cover and the thought was enough for him to forget his made-up assumption about the blond boy. He got up and the three of them hauled the trunk into the luggage nets, puffing and huffing, and at the end of the task, Justin’s hair was not so perfect anymore, there were patches of red on his face and neck, and he looked much more sympathetic.

“Do you think the nets will hold?” he asked, out of breath.

“They’re probably magically reinforced,” Neville answered.

The other two looked at him in wonder.

“Well, of course they would be!” the black boy said.

He slumped down on the bench in front of Neville with a short laugh, and Justin followed suit with more dignity.

“I don’t know how I’m going to get used to all of that. I’m Dean Thomas, by the way! And this is… Justin Fetch-Something.”

“Finch-Fletchey.” Justin shot Dean a bad look, before smiling back at Neville: “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Neville smiled hesitantly. “I’m, um –“

Well, there was no way around it, was there?

“– Neville Longbottom.”

“Malfoy Manor

2nd of May, 1999.

Dear Andy, In the last few months, I often found myself taking a feather and sitting at my desk in front of a blank piece of parchment, and never found it in me to write anything. Today though I feel compelled to write to you. Today, on the anniversary of her passing, I feel painfully the loss of our sister. We might not have been close in her last years, the decade she spent in Azkaban having altered her mind considerably, but I still remember the teenager who defended me against Mother's wraths, and her fierce nature then. Mother and Father are long gone, and so is she now, and even though I have a family of my own - you don't. I cannot imagine the pain of losing my husband, son, and daughter-in-law all at once. I ache for you, sister, and I ache for what our family has become. One thing I learnt during this war is how futile are the values we hold onto as a society, and how much more I value my loved-ones. Once before I've let my beliefs cut me from my family. I hope it is not too late to tell you how much I regret, and have regretted this decision. I hope it is not too late for you to forgive me. I can never take back the pain I caused, and I still feel great sorrow that you yourself chose your husband over us - I will admit I still do not understand, or approve of your views. I know you don't understand or approve of mine. I ask only that we put these differences aside, and go back to being sisters.

My condolences on this painful day,

This is the song that inspired The End of a Story:

This was my soundtrack as I wrote Those Little Things... such a beautiful song.

“The people you’ve been before

OC Face Claim: EVANNA (EFFY) BLACK

“The brown-eyed girl let go of Lily’s hand to take Moony’s, looking around with wide eyes. Effy always looked around with wide eyes. The adults often said it made her look adorable, and Harry often said it make her look like an owl.“

-- Burning Shadows and Shallow Graves, Chapter 2: Platform Nine and Three Quarters

Outfit Claim: SIRIUS BLACK

“ ‘You really thought you could escape, huh?’ the man who had called him out chuckled. His long black hair was tied back in a low bun, and he wore a ridiculously large button-down orange shirt on top of his printed green harem pants. ‘There’s no way you’ll get onto that platform before we’re here to see you gawk.’ “

-- Burning Shadows and Shallow Graves, Chapter 2: Platform Nine and Three Quarters

With USA Musician and Actor Ezra Miller as Sirius Black