SPEW Story Updates

[ElectronicQuillster]

Title: Sanguine
Rating: 3rd-5th Years
Warnings: Sensuality and Suspense
Summary: Good vampires do not exist, and if humans had any idea what the color red did to a vampire, they would eradicate it from their lives, from the very face of the earth.
Link: Sanguine

William had his mark. All he needed to do now was wait for the precise moment of opportunity, set the game in motion, and watch as the pieces fell into place, for they always did, even if it was messy. But after more than a hundred years, William had all of it down to an art, and there hadn't been a mess to speak of left at his hands for a very long time.

I wrote this quite a while back for a previous Spooky Swap, but I realized I'd never posted it to MNFF. So, yay October!

[coolh5000]

Title: The Balancing Act
Rating: 1st-2nd Years
Warnings: None
Summary: Eleven-year-old Teddy always finds himself stuck in the middle of his Grandma and Godfather. While he knows they both love him and only want what's best for him, he can never seem to please them both. Can a trip to Diagon Alley for school supplies finally get them to see that he loves them both equally?
Link: Here!

He always felt like there was a competition going on between Harry and his grandma, as if both of them wanted him to say he loved them more than the other. Why could they never understand that he loved them both equally? He looked at his wand – it was so stupid! Why did it have to have something in common with his godfather, why couldn’t he just have had his own, unique wand?

I actually wrote this for part of SPEW 007 and even though it was finished in time, for some reason I never had it betaed/posted until now!

[Indigoenigma]

My Spooky Swap was posted!

Title: Little Man
Rating: 6th-7th years
Warnings: None
Summary: Little boy, you're a man. Little man, you're a king.

This is the story of how Regulus came to realize that even little kings can fall.
Link: Right here!

You watch the flames grow until they have engulfed the scepter, which begins to melt. Molten green glass flows down your fingers and puddles on the floor - still aflame. You watch in horror and agony as it continues to drip from your fingernails. The puddle changes into Potter’s smiling face, with flaming red hair and a glass face.

Snape stares at it and then at you before smirking.

“Little king,” he says. But it is not his voice. It is, most horribly, your brother’s.

“Little king of Slytherin,” he says mockingly.

You shake as you stare up into Snape’s black eyes which have taken on an eerie green glow. Potter’s glass face speaks next.

“Even little kings can fall.”

[dory_the_fishie]

Title: Mistaken for Strangers
Rating: 3rd-5th years
Warnings: None
Summary: Teddy Lupin must fight to keep those he cares about - and himself - from danger. But what must he sacrifice?

“Teddy,” says Harry, standing up now, too. “You can’t go looking for them. It’s important that you lie low until we can catch them.”

“I’m not the only one in danger,” says Teddy, stopping. He looks fiercely at Harry, who takes a step forward and places a hand on his godson’s shoulder.

“I know that, but you’ll only be putting yourself” – Teddy makes to move away, but Harry tightens his grip – “and the people you love in more danger.”

Title: I Still Let You In
Rating: 3rd-5th years
Warnings: None
Summary: Sometimes love isn't easy, and "I'm sorry" isn't enough. Sometimes love is insecure, and there are regrets.

Sometimes. These are some times between Scorpius Malfoy and Lily Potter.

He looks down. He knows that she loves him. He’s known it all this time, they both have, but he can’t help resenting her resistance. “I’m sick of hiding from everyone,” he whispers to the floor. He turns around to face her, causing her hand to drop from his arm. “I’m sick of pretending like I don’t love you.”

[HARRYHARRYHARRYs_twin]

Title: Leaves Are the Song of Change
Rating: 1st-2nd Years
Warnings: None
Summary:She is everything that I am not.

What happens when you are the one left out?

The one not good enough?

The one that doesn’t compare?


What if you are me?

I don’t fit there; never have. Never as talented, quick, witty. Slightly different from the others, apart. Disposable.

My tree accepts me. Holds me in its safe arbours. Wizened bark welcomes me, real, true. No illusions. No magic. Takes me as I am, no bitterness, no comment.

We do not match. She is all that is bright and beautiful, popular. I am the one who carries the train, always behind, hidden behind the legend, shadowed.

Chattering, laughter. Jokes I don’t hear. Can’t hear. Far away, too far away to hear, enjoy, be heard.

I peer out, sweep aside the trails of leaves like frail spirits, watch. Lazy words fly, no worries haunt their hearts.

Mine matches the tree. Ordinary, boring, from beyond. Unnoticeable. Silent. Inside, different. Eerie. Ancient, troubled. Rough, unchanging. Haunted sounds curl around the trunk in the night. Worries disturb me, frighten me. The future is so far away, so close.

[jenny b]

Title: The Kurrawong Academy for Young Witches and Wizards
Rating: 1st-2nd Years
Warnings: None
Summary: In the middle of a mountain range in eastern Australia lies a secluded school that is very rarely seen by anyone other than the staff and students.

And then Albus Dumbledore visits.

‘Nearly there!’ Ben cried, and then he went into a dive, closely followed by Albus. Glancing at the landscape that was whizzing past him, he realised they were headed into a deep canyon that had waterfalls cascading over the edge. They flew past the sprays, rather too close to the water residing at the bottom for Albus’ liking. But soon they were heading upwards again, and at the edge of the gorge spread out over a large grassy area surrounded by trees, was Kurrawong Academy. Ben led him to land on the very edge of the cliff face, facing the school.

‘I thought I’d take the scenic route,’ he said, smiling at Albus as they dismounted their broomsticks. Albus removed the Disillusionment charms with a flick of his wand, and then turned to look out at the waterfalls once more.

‘That is Kurrawong Gorge,’ Ben said, gesturing at it. Then they turned to face the school, and Ben grinned again. ‘And this is Kurrawong Academy.’

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Title: A Promise to Keep
Rating: 6th/7th Years
Warnings: Mild Profanity, Sexual Situations, Slash
Summary:

Ginny Weasley Potter is newly married, but matrimony was proving to be more difficult than she had ever expected. Harry was nearly always working, and her dreams of wedded bliss were slowly slipping though her fingers.

And then came Gabrielle Delacour, an incidental acquaintance and an unlikely ally. Gabrielle tries to help Ginny mend her soul and her marriage, but slowly, Ginny realises that there is more to this newfound friendship than he had ever thought possible.

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Title/Link: The March
Genre: Poetry
Rating/Warnings: 1st-2nd Years - Character Death, DH Spoilers
Summary:

When he realises the deadly plan set before him by Dumbledore, Harry's heart goes through an incredible journey to find calm in the eye of the storm.

This sonnet was written for The Diamond Challenge on the Poetry Anyone forum. The prompt that inspired it was 'Loyalty'.

Excerpt:

With mum and dad and godfather and friend,
He strode into the clearing, head held high;
They stayed with him until the very end,
For he knew he was going there to die.

Title/Link: Diary of a Black Widow Woman
Genre: Dark/Angsty
Rating/Warnings: 6th/7th Years - Abuse, Character Death, Violence
Summary:

Lucia Zabini thought that her sixth husband would be her last, but events unfolded that sent her to the altar once more. She was weary of the old vicious matrimonial cycle, and she had fully intended for this to be the last.

Will her new husband find the out the truth of her past, and would he believe that she truly means him no harm?

Excerpt:

27 May, 1991

I know what people are saying about me. They think I killed them all. Well, even if it weren’t true, I should resent the implication nonetheless. It could severely affect Blaise if word of this were to get out and be proven true.

Oh, I wouldn’t go to Azkaban, of course, because I’m a pure-blood and have far too much money for that. But the consequences would have more of a meaning for my son, since he does start Hogwarts this year. The last thing he needs is people asking him if his mummy dearest really did kill off six husbands.

Truth be told, I didn’t kill all of them, but one in particular sticks out in my mind as the one that I’m least likely to forget. You see, my sixth husband, Ference, was the founder of the newest type of Floo powder (the kind that lets you talk through the fire instead of having to go all the way through it). He became famous for something huge—certainly bigger than him—and I don’t think he knew how to handle that sort of pressure.

Knowing me, of course, I loved being the wife of one of the richest, most powerful men in the world, but I think he would’ve traded places with me in an instant. He was a tinkerer at heart, and his true love was not me; it was playing in his laboratory, blowing himself up, and creating the next new bits of genius that he was known for. He just wanted to be left alone, and I think I understood that pretty well. It just didn’t give me a chance to see what was really happening to him.

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Title/Link: The Note He Left
Genre: Harry/Ginny
Rating/Warnings: 1st/2nd Years - Mild Profanity
Status: One-Shot - Completed
Summary:

A note was discovered in the aftermath of Harry's capture at Malfoy Manor. It's sweet, it's romantic, it's...complete fluffy rubbish.

What will happen to this heartfelt missive? Will it find its intended recipient, or will it be lost in the wreckage of Voldemort's former occupation?

Excerpt:

I miss you so very much. I know I said that already, but considering just how much I miss you, it bears repeating. Though I know you’ll never read this, I’m going to come out and finally say it. I love you, Ginevra Molly Weasley. I’ve been ridiculously in love with you for over a year, but I’ve never been man enough to admit it. Well, now things have changed. I’ve changed, and while I’m not sure that it’s for the better, I do know that what seemed like such a challenge for me last May just rolls off of my tongue now. I don’t know if absence really makes the heart grow fonder, but from where I’m standing, it does.

I suppose that’s all for now. I probably can’t write anything else, what with being short on supplies and all, so I’m going to leave this with a hope that some day, you’ll actually find it.

All my love,

Harry.

* * *

Draco stared at the letter in his hand. While it was the sappiest sodding letter that he had ever read in his life, something inside of him made him feel bad for reading it. Potter had penned this letter to the Weasley girl while he was out trying to kill the Dark Lord, but he had never got the chance to deliver it.

...And, yes, Amanda, this one is yours. ♥


Title/Link: The Vindication of James Potter
Genre: Next-Generation
Rating/Warnings: Professors - Abuse, Character Death, Non-Consensual Sex, Sexual Situations, Strong Profanity, Substance Abuse, Violence
Status: Chaptered - COMPLETED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Oh my Prongs, it was longer than I'd thought it would be, lol)
Summary:

"James Sirius Potter, it is the judgment of the Wizengamot that you have been found guilty. You knowingly, in possession of sound mind and body, used the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse in the intentional torture and murder of one Gregory Goyle the Third."

James Potter was going to Azkaban for the rest of his natural life, and his whole family was in shambles. His wife and child have fled the country, his sister was missing, and his parents were a wreck. However, James knew that he had larger problems: his guilt was coming more and more in question.

Though he knew that James was withholding information about the circumstances of the murder of which he had been found guilty, Harry had secrets of his own; however, even he could not handle this torrent of trouble alone. Can Harry trust his darkest confidences to anyone? Even family?

How will the Potter clan stop the downward spiral into pain and disaster, and can they recover what they've lost?

Excerpt:

James was about to explode. He had never felt such anger coursing through him in all his life. His normally altruistic nature was rapidly losing its battle against a raging, primal beast in side of him—a beast that wanted to tear Goyle limb from limb. “Let her go, Goyle. This will be your last chance to turn back.”

Lily had other plans for Goyle. Channeling her mind to concentrate on wandless magic, despite having all the air choked out of her, she pointed her palm at Goyle’s foot and thought, Incendio. Goyle’s boot caught fire, and as he recoiled in surprise, she elbowed him in the midsection and ran behind James, who was the one with the wand.

Once Goyle extinguished the fire on his shoe, he looked up at James Potter, who was staring down at him over his outstretched wand. A crooked smile crossed James’s face as he regarded his slightly smoldering prey.

“I’m guessing you were ignorant of that particular talent of hers. Kind of shortsighted of you, considering she was your housemate for seven years. Then again, you always were an ignorant dolt.” James knew that taunting Goyle was probably overkill, but he was enjoying it way too much to stop.

Riled further, Goyle threw a Stunning Spell at James, who deflected it with a casual flick of his wand. James knew that they would not continue dueling with the curses and hexes of schoolchildren, so he turned to Lily and barked, “Run, Lily. You have to get out of here.” Turning forward again, James barely managed to deflect another of Goyle’s curses.

Lily stood her ground and stuck out her chin, the way she normally did when she was not stopping short of getting her way. “I’m not leaving without you, James, and that’s final.” She crossed her arms defiantly.

James wheeled around, agitated almost as much with his sister as he was with Goyle. “Lily, please go! I’ll meet you back at your place as soon as I’m finished here.” When she made no motion to leave, James shouted, “Now! Lily, I-“

James was cut short by a curse hitting his back. He fell over in a heap, barely conscious. Lily stared, horrorstruck, at her fallen brother and then back to her soon-to-be attacker.

[TheCursedQuill]

Title: Petals in the Moonlight
Genre: Remus/Tonks
Rating/Warnings: 1st-2nd year; none
Status:One Shot - Completed. And finally accepted!
Summary:

After yet another failed attempt to convince Remus his disease would not affect their relationship, Tonks takes a walk to be left alone in her thoughts and calm down her sadness. When she finds a wild flower in the grass, she attempts to tell the future of her relationship with the love of her life and possibly end her misery by knowing the truth.