See part 1 here.

(I take it back. This is less of a part 2 and more so just like a note pad as I rewatch the first few episodes or so and come up with some details)

- Girl dad!Billy is actually everything to me. His hair length has gotten him to a place where he can braid Max’s hair like a pro, if he were to say so himself. Thank you very much

- I like the idea of each sibling set has a way of communicating immediate urgency. Like for example, when Billy realizes that they might be in a dangerous situation, he calls Max by Maxine, warning her without drawing attention and showing her he’s serious.

- I kind of like the concept of Jane and Kali calling each other Sister when they need to lock in.

- Nancy, Mike, and Holly would have a code word system that the rest of group insists is impossible to understand.

- Lucas and Erica think more alike than they care to admit, so they basically can communicate telepathically without actually doing it and yes, it weirds Kali and Jane out.

- Steve, Robin, and Dustin for sure would use code names and they change every time. Although, I like the idea of Robin teaching Steve and Dustin some other language enough to have a private conversation in public.

- Johnathan and Will honestly wouldn’t even need a signal or anything. Johnathan counts his blessings every day that Will is a good kid who tries to stay out of trouble when his friends complain about their younger siblings’ antics.

- I’m so sorry, but I cannot stop thinking about how they wrote a dog into the pilot and that dog is just basically forgotten about?? In this AU, Johnathan and Will do not have a dog. The dog is a stray that each sibling set ends up interacting with or feeding, leading to the dog becoming an ally for later. THATS what they could’ve done! Or just make a damn sticky note that reads something like “you wrote a dog into the pilot that AIRED, remember the damn DOG” or get an editor for fucks sake

What was I talking about?

Oh, yeah.

- Will gets powers sooner. Because why did it take so fucking long? (I’m sorry. I’ll try to stop swearing so much) Will gets saved from the Upside Down, he gets possessed, things get creepy, they exorcise him. Within 27 hours of that happening, Will gets a vision of Billy crashing his car. Later that night, Billy almost crashes his car with the teenager inside on their way to, idk some party, while Steve is babysitting. They get to the house where the party is at, call Johnathan’s house, and 👏 ticky tocky 👏 they find out Will can “see” through the eyes of Henry’s creatures

Also, I just started watching The Walking Dead—

*dodges the personification of everyone’s utter disbelief that someone is watching The Walking Dead for the first time…in 2026….which aired 16 years ago*

Who the fuck threw that?

Anyway, I’m at the part in season two, episode five where the survivors pre-Rick, on the highway, and it made me think of how much the teenagers might or might not tell their younger siblings.

Like for example, Kali has a tendency to not tell Jane the whole truth, because she thinks she’s protecting Jane. But Nancy, as a different example, would rather that Mike and her are on the same level. It isn’t until Holly is a little older that they stop candy coating and leaving out unpleasant but necessary details.

I like to think that Johnathan includes Will like Nancy does with Mike but leaves out details he doesn’t think are productive. Like with the whole thing with Barbara; Nancy and Johnathan get a lead on where to find her thanks to Will’s sight, which concerns the Number sisters (Kali and Jane. Don’t come for me, they do not have last names, you guys) very deeply because they weren’t able to find shit

And they find Barbara…’s half eaten face. And Johnathan doesn’t think that’s necessary for Will to know. Johnathan doesn’t even want to know, dude. Would you tell your kid brother about something like that?

…you would? Wow, ok. What’s dinner like at your house?

Yeah. It was somethin’.

….

Wanna hear about my “everyone is raised by their siblings AU”? Alternative title; “The parents are useless” or “Welcome to Hawkins” but like sarcastically? Whatever, who cares? If someone has a better idea for the name of the AU, feel free to suggest it.

Basically, in this AU, Johnathan, Nancy, Billy, Kali, and so on and so forth, raise Will, Mike, Max, El/Jane, and so on and so forth.

Here’s the details I’ve written down so far:

Johnathan and Will - Lonnie takes off, Joyce is working or passed out drunk, so Johnathan raises Will, struggling to make things work whilst keeping the authorities from finding out about their situation

Nancy, Mike, and Holly - Karen abandons the family and Ted is rarely around, so Nancy is left to care for Mike and Holly. She doesn’t have to work like Johnathan does, but she does have to see to meals for the entire family while staying on Mike for his schoolwork and responsibilities and arranging care for Holly so she can get her own education. Steve babysits all the kids but Holly the most

Billy and Max - Instead of hating Max, Billy finds himself being very protective of her against his father, who shoves them out and tells Billy to take Max if he wants her but to get lost. so Billy becomes Max’s guardian and they flee to Hawkins. Billy gets the story almost immediately about the gang and warns Max to stay away from them as he doesn’t think they’re safe to be around. Also Billy isn’t racist in this AU because was that really necessary? No, no it wasn’t.

Kali and Jane - Kali escapes and takes Eleven with her, helping her find her mother and learn her real name. Kali raises her as Jane and they move around for years until Kali decides it’s finally safe for them to settle in Hawkins. By then, they both have proper speech, if Jane isn’t quiet most of the time. Kali attends Hawkins High with the other teenagers, making friends with Billy, who agree that the boys aren’t safe for their sisters and are delighted when Jane and Max become finds.

Dustin helps Steve advertise his babysitting service, which gets to Billy and Kali right as they have the opportunity to go to a party. For the teenagers who are indirect or direct guardians, it’s a much needed night out.

So they all check with Steve if he can watch six children all night and he agrees but only if they’ll agree to him having the assistance of Robin, who isn’t much for parties and needs Steve to help her with a book report on a book she finds far too boring to stand

Also, because Adrien and Felix are Sentihumans, they either need what I refer to as their tokens (or what the Amok goes into to create them) with them in tact or they won’t survive. Also also, because Gabriel and Emile are not the true holders of the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous jewels AND they split Adrien’s Amok into their matching rings, Adrien isn’t “complete” so when he’s “born” and Plagg’s spirit connects to his, they become dangerously wrapped around each other. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but because it’s the miraculous of destruction, not only can Adrien not survive without his miraculous, but his curse is basically he’s easily sick/injured and he becomes confused and forgetful. I love protective!Felix so this means that Felix is constantly standing up for his cousin and looking out for him.

Speaking of Felix, because he’s known from an early age that he’s a Sentihuman and he got hold of his token, he’s stronger with his miraculous. This basically means that his curse, which is to always be outside of surrounding emotions and slow to empathy, has been easily subsided by his willingness to help Adrien. He often considers Adrien to be the one of them that is the most human, having the sensitivity and thoughtfulness that Felix is often too cold and calculated to grasp.

Marinette has the miraculous of creation, of course, and while I struggled for a very long time, with this post just collecting dust in my drafts, to figure out what the details of her curse and situation would be. I’ve landed on the conclusion that her parents own their own business, Marinette is very Peter Parker coded, and angst is delicious. So Marinette’s curse is basically that she cannot control her creations. What this means is that when Marinette focuses too much on something that’s causing her a lot of stress, like an exam for example, she’ll wake up in the morning and be surrounded by flash cards in a language she doesn’t even speak. Or if she’s having a really hard time, she’ll wake up normally but go to school and her locker will be filled with fifty copies of War and Peace or something. Basically, she can’t get her abilities to do what she wants them to, but when in battle or when it’s really important, she can make an ancient sword that has been linked to the Ladybug Holder since the beginning. I’m playing with the idea that every Miraculous has an ancient weapon or something of that sort that the worthy Holder can eventually find a way to harness. Because I said so. I know Peter Parker isn’t Percy Jackson - just let me have this!

Anyway-

-Kagami, as the holder of the miraculous of perfection, is cursed to always be perceived as she will be. That’s a bullshit way of saying that she has no control of what other people think of her. Except, Adrien and Felix aren’t technically people. So when she meets them do the first time, they see how she really is, which is an overwhelmed teenage girl. Since Adrien is the one she meets first, she almost immediately has an attraction to him. It isn’t love, more of a strong friendship. But she doesn’t actually know that right away because she’s never felt that close to anyone before. Later, when she meets Felix, the two of them connect on a stronger level, since her perfect nature breaks through the barrier that prevents him from feeling empathy. Kagami is the first person Felix has real empathy for. It’s not like what he feels for Adrien’s situation. What he thought was empathy was really just constant, valid concern. Since it’s no secret that Adrien might die young and will suffer when and until that happens. No, Felix understands and relates to Kagami and while his curse isn’t broken, this is the first time any miraculous holder realizes they may have a chance.

Time out, team! Yes, it’s true; I’m still alive and writing this weirdly angsty little AU of mine!

I know it’s been several months a minute since I updated this AU, so here’s the other 4 parts if you want to remind yourself of the storyline or maybe I’ve lost the interests of everyone who interacted with the earlier parts and now you’re a new reader. Either way, welcome and I’m sorry. I love you by the way, internet stranger. And I want you to know that I’m going to try to try to be better at updating these kinds of things in the new year. That wasn’t a typo.

Anyway! Here’s the links to first four parts, followed by part 5.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Branch and Poppy are off to find that Bergen! Yay, change!

But… Branch doesn’t actually know how to…affect? Infect? A Bergen, or anything else for that matter, with the power of the perfect harmony.

And Poppy isn’t helping by rambling on about the existence of magic and all of her strange theories.

“Okay, okay, okay, so! It’s obvious that your magic comes from your emotions. Since music is your only outlet for all the screwed up stuff you got going on,” Poppy theorized, using a found stick to hold vines out the way for Branch to get by.

“It isn’t magic. It’s…I don’t know. But it isn’t magic. Also, you don’t have to point out the level of screwed up my stuff is. I know that already,” Branch stated.

Poppy’s conscience finally caught up with her mouth and she felt terrible. “Sorry, I’m an idiot and idiots tend to say idiotic things. So, uh, if it’s not magic, what are your theories then?”

But Branch won’t be sharing his theories until later. Because pain and grief and all that.

When they have to stop to make camp, Branch is faced with the reality that he’s been sheltered and cared for his whole life. Poppy is able to make them a fire, hunt for their dinner, and prepare and cook said dinner.

“There we go,” Poppy exclaimed as she hopped down from the tree to gesture to the suspended tent she made. “This will keep you safe and comfortable throughout the night while I keep watch.”

Branch set his plate of giant bug meat aside. “Don’t be silly. You’re the princess. And you did all the work. Get some rest. I can keep watch.”

Poppy was uncharacteristically soft and reserved. “If anything happens to you and we have to return to the others, we may never get this chance again. I have the training for this. You don’t. If you get taken or hurt, or anything, we’ll never see if the perfect harmony can be used to eliminate the threat of being eaten.”

And things go on like this for a couple days; they hike, camp, rest, getting to know each other.

Poppy gets to know Branch a little further one night when she hears him having a nightmare about his parents.

She wakes him up and the conversation somehow settles on how Poppy’s mom has passed. She explains that the queen was eaten and asks Branch if that’s what happened to his parents.

But Branch tells her that it was the harmony that killed them. That his mother had the ability and her love for his father gave him the ability. But as she had child after child, she began to worry. That worry turned into distrust and her harmony turned into chaos.

Perfect Harmony. Perfect Chaos.

“What happened to her,” Poppy asked. Branch sighed and brought himself to a place to answer.

“She went insane. She was going to hurt herself, so my dad tried to find a cure. He accidentally poisoned her. He couldn’t handle what he had done, so he poisoned himself too.”

Would it help her if I cried too? Could I cry? For her, I think I could do anything.

“It’s not that I hate my brother, but I don’t love him. Not now that he’s,” she stammered to find the words. “Well, y’know breaking Martha’s plates and telling Jodi and Ryan about his colorful life as a space pirate. That bar shut down four years ago. If I have to hear him tell one more stupid story that isn’t even true-!” She cut herself off to calm down, signing thank you as I had already prepared her a bowl.

In what I could only imagine was a soul-crushing mix of emotional and physical exhaustion with one too many dashes of minor inconveniences - all of which had led to up me and Penelope Cress hiding in the attic of her family’s guest house at her own party - she collapsed across my lap.

When she reached for her bag on the other side of me, I felt her ribs on my knee and I couldn’t move.

Maybe it was the brownies Ryan brought, but it occurred to me in the same second that I was acting like Penny was a cat and if I moved, I might spook her.

“What does your mom think,” I asked, matching her volume.

She shrugged. “That’s just it; she wants to keep Oliver at the guest house. I tried getting her to stay in the main house, away from him and the stress he’s putting on her heart. But she just tells me to ‘give him a chance, Nellie. Your older brother isn’t as strong as you.’ Which, you know, is just…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say it. She was able to reach her purse and checked her phone.

She sat up. “Damn it, Oliver is trying to jump into the neighbors pool. Hang on. This will be fast. Dr. and Mrs. Merroway have had that place since before our parents were born. They know Oliver is…himself.”

I stood up. “I should go with you. You know, in case you need help carrying Oliver to my car so I can drive you guys to the main house.”

She hugged me. “Thank you for being my best friend, Benny.”

“No problem, Penny.”

First up, how shifting into animals works in this world: while a family line can all have the same animal forms, that isn’t the case for everyone. Mostly what your form depends on is aspects of your personality and/or traits that may be positive or negative depending on your actions.

That being said, Hikaru and Kaoru are foxes. Mysterious, mischievous, and witty. These two are most in control of their forms (being able to transform and change back at will while always usually able to control whether they shift at all in the first place) as they would often turn into foxes as a form of escapism as children.

Honey is a wolf. Attentive, empathetic, intuitive. His brother is too. But Honey is in extreme control of his form because he would rather die than turn into such a dangerous and scary creature. Also wolves typically eat smaller animals like rabbits, birds, dogs, cats…do wolves eat foxes? Could a wolf eat a fox? Whatever, you get it.

Mori is a bear. Protective, caring, strong. He’s in control of his form as much as Honey is but he doesn’t shift unless absolutely necessary because he doesn’t want to make Honey (or anyone else) uncomfortable.

Tamaki is a dog. Loyal, caring, energetic. While his father’s family line have all been lions, his illegitimate son was born with the form of a black dog. Tamaki’s grandmother deemed this as a terrible omen, while his mother smiled and said how much she loves dogs.

Kyoya is a cat. Independent, clever, calculated. Specifically, he’s a black cat - seen as a symbol of his own bad luck.

Now, about Haruhi. Despite being called a dog, a piglet, and a “stray kitten without a pedigree”, she’s none of those. I have it narrowed down to either a rabbit whose a broken harlequin rabbit or something (just not a white rabbit because that would be too “pure” and I really want her form to emphasize her being out of place in a rich kid school) or a swan who’s sort of in the “ugly duckling” part of her form. So basically a cygnet.

Here’s my notes on the two forms:

Rabbit: quick, cautious, associated with innocence

Swan: Beauty, transformation, associated with romance

Here’s a poll!

Also just a quick final note before two where I discuss the results of the poll (or my final decision if no one votes but PLEASE VOTE).

All of the host’s forms are predator animals, while Haruhi’s is prey. It’s important to know that in my AU, the host club is meant to be a place where all animal forms are welcome. I like the idea of the culture day thing in Beastars, as Ouran is specifically a school for those who animal forms, where each group (dogs, wolves, sheep, etc) are meant to spend at least some time in their specialty rooms with their fellow animals.

Okay, so as I discussed in part 1, Solaria is the mother kingdom of the rest of the land and kingdoms within our story.

And the golden, gleaming kingdom of the sun, the stars, and the moon is ruled over by the young queen Stella. She’s good to her people and considers even those in the shadow ridden colonies of Peradyn and the humble village of Gardenia to be the subjects she adores and cares for.

However, as the daughter of the late moon goddess and a fallen king, Stella has many, many responsibilities. Not only must she mediate feuds and oversee trade, she must also monitor the cosmos and their celestial bodies so that their simple planet isn’t destroyed in the cross fire.

So she appoints a trusted set of fellow royals to have their own domains to keep the harmony of their world.

As princess and heir to the throne of the powerful kingdom of Andros, Aisha is entrusted to be a sort of deity of war, empowering worthy soldiers with strength and endurance to be the best among them.

Speaking of Aisha, she returns home from a recent meeting to her parents telling her that she’s been betrothed to the prince of a small colony that is in desperate need of the military and financial support that only a union with Andros can provide. Aisha denies this, stating that Andros has more than enough to go around and no marriage is required to assist the colony.

But her parents seek to reign in their wild and independent daughter and they inform her that she has no say in the matter.

Meanwhile, Stella appoints her cousin, the young Prince Sky of Arachleon, to oversee trade between the major kingdoms and the smaller villages, towns, and colonies they trade with and care for. This gives him the opportunity to not only travel the world, but escape the cruelty of his father, who despite his best efforts, has yet to twist Sky up into an equally authoritarian king.

He decides he needs a guide and Stella directs him to the heir of the family Salazar, whose grandfather is the professor of history at Alfea Fountain College (did I not mention that I merged Red Fountain and Alfea to being a co-ed boarding school) and whose father developed the modern mode of transportation known as a powerful, magic infused train that mostly functions to get students from all over the world to the central city of Magix, home to the campus. Yeah, so Helia is honored to join Sky and basically acts as his tour guide bc dude, Sky has never stepped foot outside of Arachleon (other than to visit Solaria) ever in his life.

And Sky, in his travels, comes to Lymphea and Gardenia, where he finds Flora and Bloom training together. Bloom is cautious of the arrival of such a powerful prince, Flora just as concerned as taking over Lymphea would be as simple as breathing for the favorite cousin of the sun queen Stella.

But Sky bows to them, offering only good intentions. Helia introduces himself like a normal person, Sky realizing he’s just scaring the girls by being so formal.

And at the exact same time, Bloom’s father collapses and Helia reacts immediately, revealing he’s had healing magic this entire time and thanks to him, Bloom’s father is perfectly okay.

I’ll go into more detail about Sky and the other boys later, but for now, I want to quickly discuss Tecna and a bit about Timmy but I’ll go into more detail in the next part.

Tecna and Timmy are technically from the same place, but not really.

Zenith is a technological innovation of a kingdom, but its newest invention is a community that is entirely housed within a hierarchy system that is literally stacked together. A life sustaining circuit of rings, made up of machinery and magic, it’s a unique entity that circles a hub that powers it by taking power from each ring. And the five communities are categorized by what they contribute. The leaders and their families, the team that created the tower of rings, live in the highest ring, the Capitol ring. The wealthy and high society consist of competitive inventors and innovators in the second highest ring, the Circuit ring. Then there’s third ring, the Society ring, where bankers, old money, and major businesses keep to themselves. The fourth ring, the Wire ring, houses the poor who try to make the best of what they have. These people are examples of what happens when those in the rings above them fail the Capitol ring, falling from grace in a way. Finally, the fifth ring, the Rust ring, those have lost their places in any society, usually criminals, rebels, or those in the wrong place at the wrong time, who were unlucky enough to birth children, struggle to breath in the polluted air and drink dirty water.

Tecna is the daughter of two zealous inventors in the Circuit. And when an attack organized by aspiring rebels explodes her neighborhood, Tecna is badly injured. And her parents decide to try to rebuild her.

And they actually do it! But they put so much into their work that they lose profit and are effectively dropped down to the Wire. Driven half mad by what’s become of them, Tecna’s parents are usually lost in a daze or stay up for days working on the same project that goes absolutely nowhere. And they don’t hear their daughter when she tells them that one of her legs needs to be adjusted or the biocomponents seeing to the function of her vital organs needs repairing.

It isn’t until she’s slumped against the wall of a shabby confectionery factory in a dirty alley that Timmy comes across her.

He knows almost immediately that the machinery her body is made of comes from the upper rings. And he knows that scavengers will steal her parts while she’s still breathing. So he approaches her cautiously and tells her that he can help.

The other thing is that Tecna is only 14 and immediately sees that Timmy is only 13, so these two children are basically trusting each other; Tecna needs repairs and Timmy needs someone to watch out for scavengers and marauders.

Yeah, that’s the other thing; I’ve decided that Alfea-Fountain-Tower, have the following school years:

- First year: Ages 14-15

- Second year: 15-16

- Third year: 16-17

- Fourth year: 17-18

- Fifth year: 18-19

- Sixth year: 19-20

- Seventh year: 20-21

- Eighth year and additional training/academic programs for military/magic studies: 21-26

And Timmy’s brilliant enough to be allowed to skip a year and be admitted as a second year.

Here’s a breakdown of what year everyone is at the beginning of the story for my rewrite:

- Bloom, 15, first year

- Stella, 17, third year

- Helia, 16, third year

- Sky, 15, first year

- Brandon, 17, first year (I’ll explain that in the next part)

- Aisha, 17, third year

- Musa, 16, repeating second year (I’ll explain that later too)

- Flora, 16, second year

- Tecna, 14, first year

- Timmy, 13, second year

- Riven, 16, first year (explained later)

- Nabu, 17, homeschooled until his third year

Okay, well, more for me then. Heh. Ok, whatever, moving on-

-I just think adding a little depth and balancing out the ethical implications of the different sides as well as weaving more lore and backgrounds into it would be interesting.

Also this is part 1 so look out for part 2 when I can get around to posting it. I might try to make art of my versions of the characters but I’m no artist so we’ll see.

Let’s start with Bloom bc as much as I do agree that Bloomix was fucking ridiculous and by the fourth or fifth season they seriously just made it all about Bloom with her friends being basically background characters, I do like the idea of a human-raised fairy having to adjust to the reality of magic and possibly a dark destiny awaiting her.

But I’m not going really based off of the show, but you’ll see that as we go on.

First things first, the magic universe doesn’t consist of planets. Instead, everything takes place on one planet, within a collection of countries that mostly all have their own rulers but the collection itself is oversaw by the oldest kingdom, Solaria. This will make more sense when I get to some of the other characters, but for the discussion of my rewrite of Bloom, you just need to know that Bloom wasn’t raised on a planet called Earth, but instead, she was raised on the tiny village of Gardenia, which is actually under the rule of the kingdom Lymphea. The people of Gardenia do not normally possess nor use magic and they’re usually farmers and healers, living off the land they care for.

When the kingdom of Domino is attacked, Daphne secures infant Bloom on a trade cart to Lymphea, intending on her to be found there and raised in the natural defensive walls of the floral kingdom. But Daphne couldn’t have known that the cart Bloom was hidden on wasn’t stopping in Lymphea, but was actually going through Lymphea and to Gardenia.

So no one actually knows that the princess isn’t lost to her people forever and was just raised by a medicine man and his wife who grows the most beautiful flowers from even the driest of soil.

And Bloom grows up watching her parents and her friends and neighbors struggle to get by while the tall, thick grass gates of Lymphea keep its people fat and happy.

So when she gets the chance to go to Alfea and she meets Flora, she isn’t exactly quick to be friendly to her but she knows it’s for the good of her family that she is anyway.

Speaking of Flora, she quickly realizes that the Lymphea royal family lied about their generosity towards the “little community of Gardenia” and that while she was training and earning scars and bruises in order to be able to defend her little sister and community from invaders, she was actually protecting the people who didn’t care if that “little community” starved or froze to death.

So she begs Bloom for her forgiveness and expresses that while she was lied to her whole life, it doesn’t excuse her ignorance.

Yeah, Bloom feels terrible and forgives her and while she isn’t ready to be friends with Flora, she’s comfortable enough to share a dorm suite with her when everyone gets their room assignments.

Also, this is a quick note for my own reference but also to qualify it for later; but Musa and Tecna room together, Flora and Bloom, and Aisha and Stella at first share their own suite, but Stella uses her magic to make a loft so that she has room for her own miniature observatory and all her star charts and work, so Aisha converts what was Stella’s side of the room into a small war room.

I’ll go into detail about Stella and Aisha and some of the boys in part 2.

She laughed at me, rummaging through her CDs. “What? The Smitten is not the greatest. They’re great, but what about Paul Katpond? And you can’t even talk about heart-wrenching artists without first acknowledging Tony the Wolf.”

I sat up and signaled that I didn’t want anymore while I coughed up a lung. When I could breathe again, I recognized her point. “You beat me; I will admit that The Smittens are apart from Katpond. But can we agree that Tony the Wolf is just The Smittens but with a sepia filter on and maybe more bass?”

“We could,” she shrugged.

She loves being right. I’ll be wrong for the rest of my life if it means I get to see her smile like that all the time.

(Also, I’m very sorry, Nyx Rising, if this offends you. I totally respect why you took those videos down and this in no way diminishes the truth of the damaging effects the terf author lady whose name doesn’t not deserve to be said had on us all. And Nyx Rising, if you want this taken down, I will do that. Thank you for all you do and the art you have given to us and will hopefully continue to do so for a long time)

Okay! Here we go:

“How did she say this works,” Fiona asked her wife as she tried to find the button that turned the video camera on.

“It’s already on, babe,” Lydia said as she pointed out the power button Fiona had accidentally pressed.

“Awesome,” Fiona nodded, acting like she already knew that. Brandishing her wand, she stared at the camera intently. “Let’s try…” she made the camera float, but it kept turning upside or looking in the wrong direction.

“Need some help,” Lydia asked from the kitchen. “I’m just throwing in the enchiladas to warm them up before everyone gets here.”

“No, Dia, I’ve got this,” Fiona replied confidently.

She cast another spell to make the camera follow the person it was filming and it stopped turning.

“Perfect,” Fiona declared.

The camera followed a little too close, hitting her shoulder. “Almost,” she sighed.

But before she could figure out what was wrong, the door bell rang.

“I got it,” Fiona called, jogging to the door.

She opened the door to Steven and Lexie.

Lexie immediately ducked into the kitchen to drop off wine and say hello to Lydia.

Steven nodded in the direction of the camera. “What’s that about?”

“Lydia’s little sis is taking Muggle Studies at uh, the French one,” Fiona trailed off, struggling to remember the name.

Steven raised an amused eyebrow. “Beauxbatons Academy of Magic,” he named.

She gave him a suspicious look. “Of course you remember the name of the all girls school, Stevie.”

He sighed as he followed her into the den. “Don’t call me Stevie.”

Lydia and Lexie started carrying out drinks and appetizers, which Steven took and set down for them.

Lexie sighed at him, nudging Lydia. “He thinks a plate of tapas will put too much strain on me and the baby.”

“I do not,” he replied a little too quickly, sounding like a child. He cleared his throat. “I just think any girl of mine shouldn’t ever have to carry anything. Ever again.”

She laughed as she kissed him. “Oh, so that’s the rule now?”

“Yes,” he decided with his arms crossed, looking official and dramatic. “No power on Earth can change it. I’m sorry.”

They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. As Fiona ran to answer it, Steven frowned at Lydia. “Who else is coming? I didn’t think you were still in contact from anyone from school besides us.”

The Ravenclaw smiled sheepishly. “Yes, well, we work together and they don’t have anywhere to go for the holiday. So I thought-“

“-Dia,” Steven addressed seriously. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Lexie put a hand on his arm. “Steven?”

“Steven Derry,” an all too familiar voice greeted.

The Slytherin snarled. “Calliope Ambrose. It’s Derrin.”

Her companion laughed as he shrugged off his coat. When he did, his shirt shifted and a jagged scar could been seen stretching across his chest and collarbone.

Only the Hogwarts alumni in the London apartment knew that the scar reached a short ways across his shoulder and kissed his spine.

“Right. Steven Derrin, from Derry,” he recalled. He smiled at Lexie. “And who is this lovely creature?” He kissed her hand. “Oliver Wallace. A pleasure.”

“He means himself,” Steven warned.

Lexie took her hand back. “I’m Lexie. Steven’s wife.”

Steven smirked as Oliver stepped back.

Lydia tried to smooth things over. “Calliope, Oliver, would either of you care for some wine?”

Calliope beamed. “Always. But none for Oliver, I’m afraid.” She frowned pointedly at Steven and Fiona. “He can’t drink. His…injury…It put too much stress on his body, I’m afraid.”

Fiona crossed her arms. “I’m sure he can get by just fine. He can’t drink. Big deal. It’s not like he has to live with a life-long condition he can’t control or change.”

Steven shifted uncomfortably and she dropped her cold, sharp attitude.

“But none of that matters now,” Calliope shrugged. “It’s in the past.”

With the two of them in the kitchen with Lydia, Fiona spoke softly to Steven while Lexie satisfied her pregnancy cravings via the tapas.

“Are we okay,” she asked.

He rubbed his face and sighed into his hand. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I haven’t told Alexia.”

Unsure of whatever else she could do, Fiona jabbed her thumb in the direction of the door. “Fancy a smoke, then?”

When Steven told his wife he and the Gryffindor were stepping out for a cigarette, Lexie gave him a warning look that more resembled a pleading one. “Just try to stick one, though, please, darling? We promised to quit together.” She smirked as she kissed him quick. “And don’t you dare use the whole “growing a human skull inside me” thing for leverage.”

He cheered up a little. “Never. And yeah, just one stick. Unless Crimson is willin’ to split one?”

Fiona scoffed at the idea, giving her answer.

Outside, with two cigarettes lit as their only source of light, the 25 year olds took calming breathes.

“I didn’t know she invited Oliver,” Fiona told the werewolf.

“I know,” he mumbled. “It’s still hard. Lexie knows about my lycanthropy. But she doesn’t know how it happened. Or what I did.”

Fiona looked him in the face. “You listen to me, Derrin. That wasn’t your fault. We both know that Oliver was stupid enough to go out there-“

“-And I was stupid enough to follow him-“

“-You saved his life-“

“-I know, I get it. I know.”

That shut her up. They awkwardly took a couple drags, Steven running out of cigarette faster than Fiona. She gave him hers to finish.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

(Seriously, comment and share and TELL ME YOUR OPINIONS please)

But for context, here’s what I’ve already determined.

Izzy is the last unicorn. Frenchie is the butterfly. Lucius is Schmendrick, which means Black Pete is Molly. Okay? Okay.

This leaves:

- The Red Bull

- King Haggard

- Mommy Fortuna

- The henchman who works for Mommy Fortuna

- The harpy

- Prince Leer (that cannot be how his name is spelled, right?)

- That random farmer who can’t see a unicorn as a unicorn but instead sees a white mare

- The creepy talking skeleton that rats the team out to Haggard after getting the weird memory wine

- The cat

- The tree

- Molly’s husband who she literally just abandons forever bc she decides to go with Schmendrick after disappearing to go on a long ass quest

- and maybe the two hunters at the beginning of the movie who establish that the unicorns might be all gone

I’m probably forgetting a character but

-

UPDATE

I have decided that Molly will be Black Pete and her husband (Cal…Cutty? Is that his name? Cal-Cutty? I refuse to consult the internet on this matter at this time) will be Blackbeard. Or at least, Black Pete claims that his husband is Blackbeard. (Cuz yk he claimed to have worked for Blackbeard?)

I mean I seriously have no chance of keeping anyone around after they meet my family unless I find someone with a family either equally or more fucked up than mine.