Care of Magical Shippers Episode 22 - Happy Shipuary! A Collection of Lovey Dovey Fanfic! (Part 1)
4:48AM Feb 13, 2022
Speakers:
Care of Magical Shippers Podcast
Megs
Music
Nathan
Keywords:
seamus
regulus
remus
james
laughs
sirius
dean
ginny
luna
fic
head
smile
kiss
snow
fluff
harry
eyes
episode
read
peter
Hey there listener Fancy seeing you here. Look, sometimes due to the things we discuss on the pod, it might contain potentially triggering content. But the good news is you can always review the episode description for a full list of the warnings applicable to this episode. Oh, and just so you know, this episode is rated R for really filthy. It includes adult themes and explicit content. So if you're an adult, buckle up, Gird your loins and prepare to flood the basement because we are going down with these ships
[You're on the canon ground, I'm up in crack ship space. Let's start a shipping war, don't care if I get hate. Don't like my pairings, well, then you can hit the bricks. This is my OTP, I'll go down with this ship. I don't care, I ship it! I don't care. I ship it. I ship it.]
Welcome back to Care of Magical shippers, a Harry Potter ship culture Podcast. I'm Megs.
And I am Nathan.
And we are here because we couldn't get enough of the reading of fanfic for Christmas. We decided to have fun and do a Valentine's themed episode around like love and just like all just I mean, it's ships so obviously love is involved, so why don't we celebrate it? So? Yes, we're really excited to read even more for you. Sorry, if that wasn't something you liked. Too bad. We loved it. So...
We just decided that we liked it. And clearly the listeners liked it because they sent us stuff to read. So again, so yeah, so we should we should preface this as well by saying that we haven't actually sat down together to record anything in a while. And this we thought this would be a great way to sort of ease ourselves back in gently to the process of getting back involved with the pod because you know, this is our first recording session back after the New Year's break. So we'll see how well it goes. We're both tired. We're both woefully underprepared. But you know what else is new
should only make more make it more fun. I mean, I always get loopy tired. And I'm pretty much there already. I don't know how much oxygen has actually made it to my brain? It's you know, it's just a whole thing. So to get us started, what ,let's see, we have how many? We've got 1234567 fanfics for you guys, which is so exciting. This is probably gonna be long again.
Oh dear. Well we have seven fic one for each Hogwarts year, which seems appropriate.
Very appropriate. Absolutely. Okay, so Nathan is going to get us started with something he's already read, which is good.
I have I have read my stories. I haven't read yours. So I have no idea what's gonna happen.
Perfect.
We'll see!
Hey, you know what, it'll be fun. There we go.
So this first story I'm really excited to read to you because it is Ginny/Luna, and is written by phenomenalasterisk. Our friend Phe that guested on the Hagrid episode. And she has decided to gift us some beautiful drabble, it's very fluffy. I can't wait to read it to you. It's a little short one, but I think it'll, it'll break the ice nicely.
Perfect.
Okay, I haven't decided if I'm going to do a Luna accent but we'll we'll see.
Just go with it.
Okay.
Nathan's not sure if he's gonna talk like Luna like this
[Laughs] I don't think I could get away with doing it like that. Definitely, definitely comes across more creepy than is necessary. So the summary is Ginny carries Luna to bed soft, sweet, and a short bit of domestic fluff. So the fic is called Sleepy Smiles. And I'm just going to dive straight in. Ginny grins as the credits begin to roll. "Honestly, I love that," she says, turning to smile at her wife. Luna, however, is dead to the world. Tucked into the corner of the couch with her feet in Ginny's lap. I'm just looking at your face, cuz I'm presuming that you've seen what I've seen... well anyway. All I saw was "Luna, however, is dead." And I iust... look, I know she's not dead but it was funny to me. Okay, I'm gonna try that again.
It makes me it makes me think of Christmas Carol "Marley was dead."
"Luna was dead as a doornail at least to begin with." Okay.
Sorry Phe, sorry.
Sorry we're trampling all over the story but you gave us gold. I will get through it. "Luna, however, is dead to the world tucked into the corner of the couch with her feet in Ginny's lap. Her head is resting on a pillow at the armrest, her face slack with sleep. Ginny's grin fades into a quiet smile. That silly woman. Luna had been yawning before they started but when Ginny prodded her to go to bed. Luna had protested with a sweet smile. 'But I'd rather be with you.' Ginny.
We're doing it.
I guess so. I've started now so I'll have to I'll have to continue. "Ginny reaches up to touch Luna's hip softly trying to rock her awake. Luna doesn't stir in the slightest and Ginny waits a moment more before gently moving Luna's feet from her lap and standing. She potters around the room tidying up for bed, hoping the soft sounds of her movement will wake Luna. Back in front of her sleeping wife, Ginny pauses a moment. Her eyes tracing down Luna's body. A smile grows as she sees her hand resting on a small bump at her tummy. She can't begrudge Luna a little extra sleep. She squats down, sliding her arms underneath the petite woman one arm carefully gathering her legs and the other beneath her shoulders. She stands smoothly so as not to jostle Luna too much. Lifting her wife is no trouble at all for the professional athlete and Ginny easily moves to the stairs cradling Lena securely to her chest. Luna's legs brush against the wall as Ginny climbs the stairs. And halfway up she feels Luna nuzzling her neck. Peeking down her she sees Luna's eyes are still shut, though the corners of her thin lips are just barely quirked into a smile. 'You missed the movie Love,' Ginny says quietly pressing her lips against her hair in a brief kiss. Luna tucks her head further into Ginny's neck and murmurs back, 'I woke up for the best part.' Ginny smiles. It's not unusual for Luna to enjoy her wife's strength in the bedroom and otherwise, though she has never asked for something as indulgent as being carried to bed." Now. I find that hard to believe especially since in the text in the in the canon of this text. She said she enjoys her wife's strength so I think she'd be being asked to be carried all over the place. That's just me.
Maybe doesn't ask, it just happens. like it's just Ginny's thing. She just like well, we're going we're going to bed. Whoop!
I hope that she does it with that sound effect as well.
Yep, whoop! Added a little pop in there that time. Whoop!
It's magical. Perfect, okay. "Luna is still smiling sleepily is Ginny lays her down on the bed. She immediately snuggles into the pillow and Ginny quiets a laugh, tugging on her wife's tunic. 'Come on love. You can't sleep in this.' 'I'm sleeping now.' Luna's body is already lax as sleep creeps over her face once more. Ginny huffs a laugh and cradles her wife's cheek, getting a happy sigh from Luna. 'Silly goose,' Ginny murmurs, pushing a bit of that beautiful golden hair back from her wife's face. She moves to Luna's waist and peels the soft jeggings down off her body. She carefully moves Luna's arms trying to get the gauzy tunic she was wearing up and over her head. Content that Luna can sleep comfortably in the camisole and knickers she's left in, Ginny pulls the covers over her and makes quick work of her own bedtime routine. Tucking herself under the blankets and snuggling up close to her sleeping wife, Jenny runs a fond hand over Luna's small bump and twines her arm around her waist. Nuzzling into her neck, she presses a kiss to the pale skin there and settles in for sleep." What has you giggling?
Aww. No, I'm not giggling. I'm like cuted out I'm like, trying to hold back like squeals of how adorable this is. Like I'm sorry my smile just like... I just. Oh! And part of me - okay, part of me, let's... okay, I'm being honest here. So part of me giggling is the fact that I, you know, hearing this written by Phe which is absolutely fluffy and cute and adorable. And then I think about her Harry/Hagrid and I'm what happened?
It's a very different tone. I'm sure we will link both in the description. In case you need something a little bit spicy to just, you know, just a little bit of something else. But for the pod, we're keeping it nice and fluffy and gentle. This was this was really tender, chaste and, and just nice. It was it was lovely. I love little moments like this. It reminded me actually of you know, when we did the Christmas episode, and that was that story. The Draco and Harry anyone with the blanket fort and the descriptions of the snow?
Yes, and the snowy day? Yeah.
It had it had that energy to it, about it for me. I really, really enjoyed this. And, you know, just a short little introduction to what I hope is going to be a phenomenal episode.
Yay! All right. So what I have to read is actually is one of mine, of course it is.
[Laughs] What? No. You're reading one of your own? On this podcast? This has never happened before! This is brand new information. Okay, right, what do you have for us?
[Laughs] I'm a really shy person. Like this is really branching out for me, so be kind. And... So the funny thing about this is I actually wrote this for my friend, Sam, Samunderthelights. They love Wolfstar. Like, love Wolfstar. And over and over and over again they'll be like, 'when are you going to write Wolfstar? When are you going to write Wolfstar?' And they love fluff too. And I'm like, Okay, I'm going to try and do something fluffy. And we'll start and we'll see how it goes. And so this is what I made. Um, at first when I got through it I'm like, I still wasn't sure it was fluffy. But luckily people read it. And we're like, oh, yeah, like this is, this is fluffy. So all of my tags are like fluff and angst. Is this fluff? Probably not. I tried. [Laughs]
[Laughs] Amazing. I'm so excited because you don't normally do fluff. You're normally all about the, you're normally about the line where smut meets angsty introspection. Would that, would that be a fair characterization? So I'm interested for my ears to hear what you've prepared for me.
Yeah, well, yeah, cuz this is an older one. So it's not one I would have had you read over or anything.
Nope.
From... I mean, yeah, May I don't know, May I guess, huh? But, okay, so this one is it's rated teen and as I said, it's a Wolfstar. So it's Sirius slash Remus. And let's see if there's any... Okay. So there's implied sexual content. So, of course there is. [Laughs] I mean, it's, I'm me,
The listeners know. At this, by this stage, the listeners know, yeah.
Okay. So the name of the fic is called "Howl Be Waiting" by me. [Laughs[ Who knows where I came up with it. It just happened and I committed. So okay. So the summary is "Remus never should have written those things in his textbook, now Sirius had it and would discover the truth. He couldn't imagine anything worse, but he never considered to imagine the best."
Oh, well, I'm excited.
"'Moony let me borrow your transfiguration book.' Remus responded with a non committal shrug, as he focused intently on his defense essay. If NEWT prep was this exhausting, Remus had nightmares regarding the foul tests themselves. Remus would be lying to himself if he didn't acknowledge his aspirations after Hogwarts would be close to impossible to obtain due to his circumstances. He'd be damned if he didn't try nonetheless. 'You should really take a break, Moons,' said James leaning over his shoulder. 'That looks ghastly.' Remus rolled his eyes. James couldn't understand. How could he? The potters were an old wizarding family with several connections. No doubt James would come out with no, come out. No doubt James could come out with no NEWTs and land some cushy job somewhere. It wasn't James's fault though. 'Just another hour or so,' he mumbled rubbing the bridge of his nose. 'That's enough Moony. You know we've got class soon,' said Sirius, closing Remu's DADA textbook. Remus let out a resigned sigh as he leaned back in his chair. When it came to Sirius, he couldn't say no. Had Remus really been working for four hours? He looked up at the boy's handsome, smiling face and Remus' stomach fluttered. Would the day ever come when a flash of a smile from his best friend didn't take his breath away?"
Oh! Oh you didn't write that, did you? I was not expecting those words to come from you!
I'm telling you this is weird for me.
This is full on Berlin like [singing] "Take my breath away." I need Remus to have his like '80s montage. This is so good. Please continue.
"'Thanks for the books,' said Sirius, lifting the text. 'I'll give it back after class. Hope Binns doesn't notice.' He shot Remus a wink before heading toward the portrait hole. The butterflies in his stomach died instantly." Oh my god death of butterflies! Here we go! [Laughs]
No! [Laughs]
"The butterflies in his stomach died instantly, replaced by complete terror and dread. Sirius had Remus' textbook, the textbook he mindlessly wrote little notes in its margins of everything he couldn't ever bring himself to say to Sirius, because he was a fucking idiot. Now Sirius had it. Remus wanted to die."
Yeah, I just wanna- I just want to point out you almost said Severus I noticed that little slip!
I did!
Yeah, that is your brain with some wish fulfillment going on there. [Laughs]
Can you tell I don't read and write Wolfstar? [laughs]
[Laughs] If I couldn't before, I know now.
It's because I was so allured by Snupin when we read that- when you read me that fic at Christmas so yeah, just automatically went there.
Of course
"Bring himself to say to Sirius passage of time. Remus snuck a glance at Siirus seated next to James. He nearly broke his quill in half from nerves, his fist clenching tighter with each sharp breath. Sirius pulled out the book and rested it on his desk. Remus was about to be sick. 'Mooney,' whispered Peter. 'You okay? Is it you know that time of the month?" [Laughing]
[Laughing] "That time of the month"? Oh no! Of course, he wouldn't have come up with a better code for it than that because it's Wormtail! Of course he's gonna say it in that way, but that is just.. That's funny. I just wasn't expecting. This is just it's a different side to you I'm getting to appreciate today.
Yeah, there you go. Hey, you know, we never know. I just did a thing. "Remus shook his head. 'Stomachache.' 'Should you tell Binns?' Peter looked nervous, but he always looked nervous. Remus gave a forced smile. 'I'm fine. Really.' When Remus' gaze fell on Sirius, the boy was writing in the book. 'Oh Merlin,' he whispered under his breath. 'It's okay Moons' said Peter, patting him on the back. 'You'll feel better eventually.' He didn't think he would. It took every ounce of willpower to ignore the continuous sprawls of Sirius' quill flipping through the pages as Binns drawled on about... Remus had no idea. Willpower indeed. When Binns had finally dismissed them, Remus had shredded his notes into ribbons. Peter had stayed his hands a few points throughout class, but soon realized that there was no stifling Remus' evident discomfort. Remus didn't look up when Sirius placed his transfiguration text on the desk in front of him. When he turned toward the retreating figure Sirius was already walking out the door. Peter tapped him on the shoulder, rucksack thrown over his shoulder. 'Ready to go. We can swing by the hospital wing.' Remus shook his head. 'Just want to sit for a minute. Don't wait for me. I'll head up in a few.' Peter shrugged. 'Alright then.' Remus stared at the front cover. Dare he open it? Binns had already disappeared through the wall, leaving him utterly alone in the classroom. Just a peek. He lifted the cover. The first page was blank. Remus let out a breath.
[Laughs] Was it a breath he didn't know he was holding?
No! I avoid that. So the things that I do to avoid that phrase is hilarious even though it is actually very beautiful to use. It's just, you just, it's too funny. Like it's just like, like it's very dramatic. But now it's to the point of like, it's so extra that you just can't like...
I do - I do love seeing it. I love seeing things that you read in fanfic all the time.
Yeah!
And I could just tell like, because I know you, I could just tell that that sentence was specifically sculpted that way.
"Remus let out a breath. He flipped the page and he froze. A flood of emotions rolling through him as he gazed down at the messy handwriting accompanying his own. Sirius, has there ever been a name more perfect? Remus. What does your hair feel like? Why don't you find out? I'm sure you have a girlfriend, many in fact. Who would bother when there's you? Sometimes when you look at me, I think maybe you feel the same. But I know that's only wishful thinking. Your wish is my command.
Oh, no, Sirius!
[Laughs]
I could just I could just hear cheeks going [whistling sound].
Yup! My cheeks are [whoop]! "When you touch me my soul catches fire. But I'd never tell you that. I want to burn you alive."
Oh that's... [laughs] Out of context: terrifying. In context: romantic.
"I know I'll never have you. I'd never be worthy. I'm the one not worthy of you. So many nights I've dreamed of you just out of my reach. Then take my hand. Maybe without my scars. You wouldn't look at me regardless. I can't seem to look away. Maybe one day. Why not today?"
Oh, oh. Things are happening!
"Remus slammed the book shut tossing it into his bag as he ran out the door and into the empty corridor. There was a sharp cough and Remus spun around, staring at Sirius casually leaned against the wall. He smiled and leaned forward pushing off the wall. 'Hey, Moony.' Remus only gaped at him. He couldn't speak. With a labored swallow he managed 'Siri- I...' Sirius grasped Remus' face and kissed him. Kissed him with such desperation Remus nearly lost his breath. After a slight hesitation, Remus dropped his bag, its contents spilling on the floor. He wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck, allowing the boy to wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him in close. It was intoxicating. His taste. His smell. Remus had only dreamed of this moment. Their tongues and limbs intertwined his fingers threading into thick wavy hair." Stop laughing, get over it. [Laughs]
[Laughs] Intertwined. I'm just visualizing tongues intertwining like [makes sound]
[Laughs]
Sorry, I'm taking you out of the moment. Please continue. This is beautiful.
Tongues are hard to write, okay.
They are.
Clashing or they're twisting together. They're wiggling around who even knows.
At least you didn't say crashing which is always the one that makes me laugh the most. Crashing into each other.
Crashing into each other. Their whole face, bam! I don't need my teeth, it's fine. "When the kiss broke Remus was left breathless and panting. 'Why didn't you say anything?' asked Sirius, grazing his thumb across Remus' flushing cheek. 'How could I?' 'Let's see. Hey, Pads. I think I want to snog you senseless. Fancy a go?' Remus' face fell. 'Is that all this is?' Sirius' eyes widened. 'No, of course it isn't. Moony, how could you think?' Remus dropped his gaze biting his lip. Sirius lifted his chin to meet his dark eyes. 'I want everything. All of it. You.' Remus blinked in response before managing to take his next breath. Sirius' lips pressed against his, softly this time. His hand braced the nape of Remus' neck as they melted into each other."
Yeah, they did.
[Laughs] "'It's yours.' breathed Remus against Sirius' lips. 'Everything.' Sirius' dark eyes flashed with heat. 'Fancy an early visit to the Shrieking Shack?'" [Laughs]
[Laughs]
"'But what about our homework?' 'It can wait,' said Sirius huskily. 'I cannot.' Remus blushed furiously. 'If that's what you want?' Remus leaned forward to reclaim Sirius' mouth. 'Everything. Give me everything.' Sirius brandished a mischievous grin, his eyes sparkling with delight and anticipation. 'You best prepare yourself, Moony. Because this mutt mates for life.'"
Oh my goodness! [Laughs] He's going in hard that's the sense of part of this fic, I'm assuming.
Oh god. I just this is so much porn and it's hilarious. Just reading ahead and I'm like 'Good god, Megs what?'
This is what the listeners want. This is- this is our... You know, this is- you remember when Gilderoy Lockhart decorates the Great Hall for Valentine's Day in Book Two and he has those like cherub-gnome things? Yeah, like this is this is how saccharine we can afford to get this episode. In, in universe, in character so I'm fully prepared. Hit me with the sugar please.
[Laughs] "Remus couldn't help but grin as he pressed another kiss against Sirius' soft lips. 'Call me the moon because I'm about to make you howl,' said Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows. Remus couldn't help but laugh as his blush deepened. 'Really Pad?' 'About damn time!' Remus and Sirius spun around to find James and Peter striding up to them. 'I swear if you two weren't going to make it official by Easter, I was going to do something drastic,' said James. 'Yeah,' asked Sirius with a smirk. 'Like what?' James walked up to Sirius and kissed him. Then before either boy could react he turned and kissed Remus. 'Bloody hell Prongs!' spat Sirius, wiping his mouth. Remus only gaped at James as he flashed a cocky grin. 'Now I don't have to do that. You really dodged a bludger there!' 'But you just did it!' bellowed Sirius. Peter led out a nervous squeak causing James to turn his head towards him."
Is this background Jamesagrew?
"'What, feeling left out Wormtail?' James grabbed Peter's face, pulling him in for a rough kiss. When he pulled back, Peters eye's rolled back and crumpled to the floor."
Oh, just his eyes? Wait! Is his body crumbling to the floor with his eyes? [Laughs]
Yes, his eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the floor. [Laughs]
Ok, his eyes rolled back and just deteached from his skull! He's just so overcome with the feeling of shock that he's like, his eyes have like, left his body! [Laughing].
[Laughs] Instead of bulging out they just literally crumple out of his skull. Oh wow. "'He fainted,' said James, staring down at Peter's limp form. He prodded a leg with his foot. He flashed the two boys a guilty grin as he shrugged his shoulders. 'Whoops.' Remus smacked his forehead. James was a menace. 'I'll take him to the hospital wing.' Sirius grabbed his wrist. 'Oh no you don't.' 'I can just-' 'That's the prefect talking. Prongs can well clean up his own mess.' James gave another shrug before bending down to lift Peter's slight form. 'We'll be off then,' he said, holding Peter tight against him. This damsel requires destress.'"
It is background Jamesagrew!
It is!
I love that!
I didn't realize it but I think I need to add that tag. Oh man! Okay, where am I? Oh. "'It was Sirius' turn to smack his forehead. 'Oh, for the love of- just get out of here Prongs.' 'Yeah, yeah. Okay. Don't be out too late.' Peter let out a loud snore just as James rounded the corner and out of sight. 'I mean, really? Is he ever going to-' Remus' words were cut short as Sirius claimed his mouth. He pressed Remus against the wall. 'Sorry, I just- I don't want another man to touch you. Or girl. Never again.' 'There was never anyone to begin with,' said Remus sheepishly. 'Yeah, there was. Me.' Remus pressed his cheek into Sirius' palm. 'Only you,' Sirius smiled. 'That's right. Now about that howling?' And oh, did he howl."
Oh my god. Of course you had to end it that way.
[Laughs]
Yeah you did. I would recognize a Meg's ending at 50 paces.
So there we go. There was my, um, fluffy, weird, corny, something, whatever that was. So yeah.
Thank you much for that. That was, like you've often said to me, I don't know if I can write humor. If that doesn't prove to you that you can write humor, well, I don't know what will. Because that was- I mean, I was expecting fluff. I wasn't expecting funny. And it was. I just- I love the two of those.
Yeah. I think that's how I can merge. Like, I can do humor and like make fluff happen is if I'm like going in. I'm like, Okay, it's gonna be funny. Like, if it's funny, it's like, more upbeat and light hearted. And then the fluff kind of goes into it. That's why when I went into Erised, like, I was like, 'Oh, this is gonna be super fun. And I want to be goofy and silly and have extra Draco!' And then everything. I mean, yeah, angst and stuff got in there. But for the most part, I was like, I'm like, "Wow, there's so much fluff in here that I did not know I could do!" And yeah, but I have- I have a lot of fun. So that was... oh, that was fun to read! Cuz it's been a while. So there we go.
I love how you were surprised by your own side pairing.
Yes! I know I was just like... Oh, I just- Yeah. It's obviously there.
That was a pairing I didn't see coming. But I'm not sorry that I've seen it. My ears feel sufficiently treated by that surprise addition to the story. I'm really happy about it. And speaking of pairings that I didn't know I needed. But now that I have it, I'm so glad I do. I'm going to take us on this mystical, Valentine's journey a little further with a story called L.O.V.E. by Jeldenil, who has given us some Dean slash Seamus. And I'm very excited to read that to you because it's, well, it's a sort of a medium-size fic. But it's broken up into kind of four small chapters. And each one of the chapters is a letter from like L.O.V.E. It's rated... let me see whatis rated... It's a G.
It's a G.
It's rated G for general audiences. And it goes something like this. Oh, by the way, I have to prefix this by saying that my Irish accent is incredibly awful. So I may, I may attempt to do one and then decide that it's crap. Scrap that and you can edit it out and post.
[Laughs] Just and literally just have the fic be Dean like, just remove Seamus from the entire story.
Just! Well, there's not- there isn't much of Seamus actually speaking, so I'm thinking that I might actually get away with it. But we'll, we'll see. Anyway, I'm just going to get on with it and it will be what it is. Okay, so obviously it's- it's based off of the song by Nat King Cole. And each chapter takes a line from the song. So I'm just going to begin Chapter One with [singing] "L is for the way you look at me." [reading] "Seamus was used to seeing Dean with a sketchbook. He would bring it to the breakfast table in the Great Hall and arrange his food into a still life, making Sheamus laugh because he'd balanced a crumpet against an apple. He'd bring it to the Quidditch pitch when there was a match, sketching the teams in action. To the Great Lake, sketching the giant squid, or painting the different colors in the water. To the common room, painting the fire in the hearth after their homework was done. To the dorm in the late evening, to finish up what he'd been drawing that day. Seamus would try to stay awake to see the work when finished. But he would often fall asleep cuddled up against Dean in the artist's bed. Dean would just leave him there and somehow find enough space to sleep too. But sometimes Dean would ask Seamus to pose for him. And those were his favorite times."
Vogue! Vogue! Vogue! Vogue! [Laughs]
[Laughs] That's all I was seeing, too! I'm so glad.
[Laughs] Dean is just he's posed, he's posed, he's posed. He is living!
Oh, I can I could just see Seamus doing that as well.
I know.
"The Irishman didn't mind sitting still for Dean. In fact, Dean was the only person in the world who could make him sit still for more than five minutes. Whether he had to sit still in an empty classroom chair turned backwards and his legs on either side of the back or poised in front of the fireplace, so Dean could capture the way the flames were reflected in Seamus' eyes. It didn't matter."
Aw!
"Hell, he didn't mind posing in some ridiculous outfit." Artwork, please.
Right? Yeah, we need fan art. What do you think these paintings look like? We need them.
Exactly. "Pieces of armor combined with a sash and flowers, whatever. Because when Dean was sketching him, Seamus got to stare back unabashedly. And Dean was completely focused on him. Seamus was gorgeous."
Oh, my heart.
"Dean's eyes lit up." He's not the only one. "His eyebrows knitted together seriously. He was thoughtlessly nibbling on his bottom lip or pursing his mouth. Sometimes he would suck in his cheeks, or chew on the end of a pencil in concentration. He'd get flustered, agitated when a detail was giving him difficulties. He'd narrow his eyes, take a step back, lift a pencil in that telltale manner that meant he was checking proportions, composition and depth. Occasionally, Seamus would shift or make a face just to see Dean sigh and shake his head in mild annoyance. Because everything about Dean was mild. He was amazingly calm. The cool water to Seamus' fire. And even his annoyance was beautiful and sweet and in sync with Seamus' heartbeat. Seamus loved the way Dean's eyes would flick to him when he'd made a joke. One of the rare brilliant quiet jokes he'd made checking whether Seamus was smiling or better laughing. He loved how Dean looked at him when he made jokes - about ten every minute. He loved the look in Dean's eyes he's when he'd set something on fire again." [Chuckles]
[Laughs]
[Singing] "This girl is on fire!" [Laughing] I'm so sorry. Jeldenil, this is beautiful. And I'm completely spoiling the moment with my inane childishness. I'm so sorry! "Most of those incidents were honest mistakes, accidents. But sometimes Seamus would do it just so Dean would look at him with his eyebrows raised, amusment in his beautiful brown eyes and a grin spreading from cheek to cheek. He loved it when Dean looked at him all seriously." I love how Seamus is prepared to set things on fire just to get Dean to look at him seriously. This is commitment right here. "When they were discussing homework, and Dean was testing whether his theories sounded right to his ears, when he would get fired off about his silly Muggle sport football, when they'd have an argument and Dean would get annoyed or angry. And then, then Dean could have the fire, which matched Seamus' own. Passion. Awesome to behold. But it didn't scare Seamus. Not in the slightest, because Seamus knew he would never see hate or rejection in those eyes, ever. Just like Seamus would never be able to hate Dean. Not for anything. He just loved him too much."
Ahhhh. Oh, wow. Oh.
So then we go into chapter two. So we go [Singing] "O is for the only one I see. Everything about Seamus was perfect. I'm sure Ron..."
Oh! So we're getting Dean point of view now. Ah, oh, I love this. Okay!
The POV alternates between the two of them. Yeah. I'm telling you Jeldenil has done some amazing things with this. I can't wait for you to find out what's coming. Because well, let's just see if I can read through it. So "Everything about Seamus was perfect." I feel the need to add a little footnote here and just be like this is something Ron would disagree with but we'll- from Dean's point of view- from Dean's point of view. We'll...
What does that mean?
I just mean...
Wait what?
They all should they all share a common room and they all didn't get along at one point?
Yeah.
So I'm just like, I'm sure Ron doesn't... Ron's like, "Shut up Seamus."
Yeah, but Ron's not perfect either because he was a dick too. [Laughs]
Nobody's perfect, but I'm just saying like outside of the love bubble, Seamus is not perfect. But within it, from Dean's point of view...
I think it's the same for all characters, you know what I mean?
Yeah
To their S.O. like, they're like everything. There's- they could be no different than what they are.
Exactly! Perfectly imperfect.
Yes!
"Everything about Seamus was perfect. His sandy hair, his white smile, his sparkly eyes, his short stature, the way his voice lifted around the jokes he made the way his magic would always explode..." [Laughs]
[Laughs] Pow!
[Laughing} Damn you!
So context, we're talking about how sometimes smut is written without like, any preparation for someone. And it just kind of like goes in, like pow?
Yeah. Just right the way in.
Running start, like zoom! Bam! Boom! In there! Pow! [Laughing]
So I don't know if anyone has ever seen- you know at the Olympics where they do the long jump? It's like that, but then you're, you're arriving at a particular place once you land. Okay. [Laughs] "The way his magic would always explode, the way he could never sit still." I'm assuming he couldn't sit still if his magic's always exploding anyway.
Boom! Pow! Bam! I just think of Fantasia you know, when he's like...
Yes!
He's on the rock. And it's just water! And things are flying! That's Seamus. He's Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. [Laughs]
"And because of this, Dean could not get enough of him. He could not get enough of looking at his best friend. Seamus was a feast. A sight for sore eyes. It was unfair, really, that there was someone as perfect as Seamus. Dean could never quite capture just how perfect he was on paper. But he didn't get enough of trying. At times Seamus would comment on the frequency with which Dean wanted to draw him."
Here we go!
For the purposes of this fic we're just going to say that Seamus is from Northern Ireland. Okay? It's- it's close enough. And I can actually do a passable Belfast accent. [Irish accent] "'Don't you want to draw someone else? Like for a change?' But Dean just smiled and shook his head. And it wasn't like Seamus was really complaining. He always did as Dean asked, in the end. He was just nice like that. And Dean thought about it really. He did draw other people at times when they asked for it. But Seamus, well, there was not possibly anyone as interesting a subject as his best friend, was there? Who else had so much personality? Who else had movement in every part of his body even when sitting absolutely still. Who else was fire turned flesh as much as Seamus was."
Oh my!
I know, isn't this such poetry!
A gasp! Okay!
"Fire turned flesh." We're getting alchemical with this. "Even in a room full of people even in the midst of Diagon Alley, the answer would always be Seamus. Dean's eyes automatically gravitated towards his best friend, no matter where no matter what. And whenever he caught sight of the shorter boy, Dean couldn't help the smile spreading on his face. It was like some of Seamus' fire would spread through him, making him feel warm and light. Dean was a naturally friendly, trusting sort of person, and he got along with most of his schoolmates pretty well, and he cared about them all - he really did. But if someone would ask him who really mattered, who made Hogwarts so special, there really was nobody else but Seamus. Of course, there was the magic, the feasts, his other friends, the intriguing lessons. Even the scary things Harry's squad got themselves involved in. But to Dean, nothing would have been quite the same without Seamus. Seamus made everything so much lighter, his jokes, his stubbornness, his hugs and cuddles. Dean could not imagine a world where Seamus was not around. He didn't want to. There was a brief period of time in which Dean got distracted, having fallen in love with Ginny Weasley. He'd spent most of his time with her and less with Seamus, his world became narrower, dates and snogging between classes were occupying his thoughts. Still, he knew for a fact that Seamus would be there whenever he needed him, unconditionally. And if Dean noticed the pain in Seamus' eyes, they didn't talk about it." Aw. "Afterwards, things were like they'd always been, but maybe just a little more clear. Seamus stood out from the rest in a new and even better light. Seamus was Dean's world. Seamus was his anchor. Seamus was quite clearly the best thing that ever happened to Dean and he knew his future would from now on always revolve around the friend he loved like life itself." Okay, I'm just gonna take a little breather before chapter three because that was a lot of words.
Yes, it was a lot of words. My heart though, with Dean being like "and then there was that time I fell in love with Ginny and I was focused on her."
I know.
"And I just, you know, even if I saw that he was hurting, I just kind of had to ignore it for a bit." It was just like, Oh God. Oh man. Oh, the pain. Oh, the pain.
Okay, so chapter three. "Dean had no idea how special he was to Seamus."
You gotta sing, dude, what are you doing?
Oh, my God. I can't believe, I.. Okay. [singing] "V is" No. V is very difficult.
[Singing] V is very, very extraordinary.
[Singing] Extraordinary. Okay, we'll just- we'll go with that.
There we go!
[Singing] Dean had no idea just how special he was to Seamus.
[Laughing]
Anyway. Anyway. "The point was, he didn't have a clue. Even if Seamus tried to tell him. Not with so many words, perhaps as his actions, he'd hook him firmly, jab him lightly with a teasing joke designed to make him smile. He'd spend hours talking to him. And listening when Dean needed him to. Dean was the only person he could be endlessly patient with. Frankly, Dean could read out a telephone book, and Seamus would hang on his every word. Dean was just special like that." You know, I'm getting the feeling that they have feelings for each other. Just...
You know, maybe?
Just possibly? It's very.
Yeah, I don't know. I feel like this could be going in that direction. [Laughs]
It's very subtext at the moment. Nothing's yeah. "Touching him was like coming home. Seamus had always been a tactile sort of person. Quick to clap his friends on their shoulder, give someone a brief hug or hold their hands a little too long after a shake." Okay.
Okay!
"But with with Dean, he felt a physical need to touch him. Even when there was no direct incentive." He's just walking into a room.
Right!
Dean is there.
Just puts his hand on his arm.
"I see my human scratch post, I'm going to walk over."
"And rub up on his arm. I'm just gonna shimmy on by." Yes.
[Laughs] Yes! "He'd lean into him on the couch in the common room, idly patting his leg while they talked or made homework or played a game of exploding snap. He'd hold his hand as they walked from one class to another, swinging their arms back and forth cheerfully. Tra la la la, I'm walking to class with my best friend! Nothing else to this whatsoever! [Laughs]
[Laughs] [Singing] F is for friends who do stuff together! U is for you and me! [Laughs] N is for anything and any time at all! Down here in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. [Laughs]
[Laughs] We've gone off the rails. It's fine. It's fine.
I told you! Loopy tired. Here we go.
Ah ha. "He's cuddle up with him in his bed, especially when the outside world became darker and more threatening. And Dean always let him, only ever sending him an occasional amused smile."
Oh, gosh.
"Most of these times, Seamus didn't even realize he was doing it. His best friend was just so completely part of his life, that he felt entirely comfortable with him. And that was exactly why he was so extraordinary to Seamus, so irreplaceable. Nobody had ever made Seamus feel like that. So completely accepted. Not even his Ma. Not even his siblings, not even his other friends. Just Dean. It was absurdly hard to be separated from Dean. Every day of his dreadful seventh year was infinitely worse without him. Seamus struggled, almost lost his spark. And if it hadn't been for Neville or Ginny, he probably would have surrendered, hoping to be sent to whatever cell it was where Dean was being held. The fact that Dean's death was never announced gave him hope. And it was that hope alone that kept him going. When they were finally reunited, Seamus just completely forgot about anyone else. He could only see Dean, feel his arms around him, making him whole again, and it was only natural that he would kiss him, finally. Melting against him in a fleeting moment of utter bliss before the rest of the world came crashing back in. It was the best kiss Seamus ever had better than the awkward first kiss he'd shared with Lavender after the Yule Ball. Better than the ones they'd shared in the week or so since then, before they decided they weren't really into each other very much. Better than the secret rushed kisses he'd gotten from Niall back home who wanted to hide the fact that he was gay from his family. Better than the experiments he'd shared with Harry while Ginny and Dean were dating. Frankly, this kiss felt like the only kiss of his life."
Oh, okay. Was that, what? Was that what I thought it was?
Yeah, it absolutely was.
Oh, ok! "Better than that, you know, when Harry was just there and we just were like figuring out..."
Yeah!
You know, it's like "we were just figuring shit out." [Laughs]
Well, I mean, this is- this is in Seamus' head. And you know, why would Harry be center stage in Seamus' thoughts, even if they'd been experimentally sharing kisses quietly while Dean and Ginny were off doing their thing. Yeah, Seamus has been trying to get in some good kissing practice on his CV. And I feel like now he's meeting Dean again, he can put all that experience to good use, right?
There you go!
He doesn't even need magical mistletoe. He's just like, Yep, I know exactly what this moment was building towards. So "frankly, this kiss was the only kiss that was right. The only one that had ever been special enough for Seamus, the only one that mattered. Dean's lips was soft and eager under his own, and Seamus could just feel a warm smile on Dean's face, which got heated when they almost shyly deepened their kiss. Getting a mere two seconds of delicious tongue before someone nudged them apart. And they were made to listen to the instructions from Harry and the others." Rude Harry! Rude.
Right!?
How dare you interrupt this kiss that was destined to be the kiss to end all kisses. And you've just...
It's like Ron and Hermione kiss and Harry's like, Dude, why? Why now? There's things to do. It's like, Well, why not now? If it's not now, like it may not happen? [Laughs]
Exactly. Exactly. "The kiss was what made Seamus know he would live. Because he had the most special person on earth to live for."
That is so beautiful.
Isn't it! You aren't even ready. You aren't even ready as we we're about to go into "E." This is chapter four. And...
But unfortunately, it's not rated "E". So... [Laughs}
Well, well, I mean, I'm sure- I'm sure this author could be, you know, knowing the author as we do. We do we occasionally play Ministry Mayhem with this author. I'm sure if you requested like a continuance of this that was somehow more graphic and wholesome.
[Laughs] Yeah! A little more graphic. There we go.
Perfectly... perfectly possible. Anyway, so [singing] "E is even more than anyone that you adore." [Speaking] "Dean was over the moon with Seamus. Once they had finally gotten together, everything just fell into place. He had never known he could love anyone so deeply. Of course, he loved his mother and sisters. He would never not love them. He was in awe of his mother and treasured his sisters. But Seamus. For Seamus, he would do anything. Dean wasn't a violent person, but seeing Seamus in danger." [Laughs]
[Laughs] Wow, wow. Okay.
I just- Can I just say that this qualifier in this sentence... I read this story, but I'd forgotten that this sentence happened. Okay, so. "Dean wasn't a violent person. But seeing Seamus in danger made him kill a Death Eater on the spot."
"Stay away from my boyfriend! Avada Kedavra!"
[Laughs] "Not my boyfriend you bitch!"
[Laughing] Perfect.
"Honestly, later, he thought he might have been able to destroy Voldemort himself if the bastard had even dared to look at Seamus. It took them a little over a year to process the battle, find a place of their own and regain some semblance of normalcy. But Seamus was there with him every step of the way. And Dean was there for him. It was only natural. It was as it should be. And Dean knew he would always find happiness as long as Seamus was there to share it with him. So once they were more or less settled together in a small flat on Diagon Alley, Dean knew what would come next. He'd proposed in a packed Leaky with all of their friends and family gathered around them. Their mothers and siblings were in on the plan and had come over for the occasion. 'You are the only man, the only person I want to share the rest of my life with, Seamus,' Dean said, sitting on one knee and holding his boyfriend's hand.
Aw!
"You are my best mate, my muse, the love of my life. I love you more than anyone else. And I dare to assume it's the same for you. We belong together. I would never want to get separated from you again. Seamus Finnigan, the world's most explosive wizard. Will you marry me?' And when a teary eyed Seamus, for once in his life utterly speechless, nodded his consent. And everybody around them clapped and cheered, Dean knew their life together was going to be the best, happiest life imaginable."
Aw.
We did say before we did this episode that we wanted fluff to read.
Yeah.
I believe that this fic takes fluff and elevates it to an entirely new level of floppiness.
Yes. Aw. For once in my life, or our lives, we are utterly speechless. [Laughs}
This fic is the sort of the literary equivalent of a pygmy puff. It's fluffy and perfect. And you know, it's small, but it's beautiful. And I don't want to hurt it. I feel like too much commentary is going to like take away from the wonderfulness that is by itself. So I am just going to say thank you so much for that. It can... It's that level of fluff that I never felt like I could write myself. So being able to read it out loud, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is what that that looks and sounds like because I could just never... I would never do that justice myself. I'm so glad it wasn't me that attempted to write this. It would not have ended well. This was beautiful.
It was. Oh gosh, that was. And I haven't read a lot of Dean and Seamus and I just love that it... it was short, but it went through so much of their... It was like an express train through their time at school and how everything grew between them but it wasn't like it wasn't long enough. Like I feel like I got the full idea of how their relationship blossomed and became what it was even though it was in so few words. Especially like getting hit with like how Seamus was feeling when Dean was on the run and like wasn't, you know, couldn't come to school like it just was. I mean, oh gosh, and oh, just all the way to the end and then the you know, jump forward to the future and oh, it was beautiful. I loved it. It was wonderful.
So what have you got next for us?
Okay, so I have a fic that's rated G and it is a James Potter slash Regulus Black. And this is more like it's Christmas fluff. So it's you know Christmas-y. We're still wintertime-ish and whatnot.
Yeah!
But it's- we've got some fluff, and it's called snow falls by screamingfae and the summary is "Regulus has never seen snow in real life before. James wakes him up in the middle of the night to change that."
Oh my goodness. These are gonna be happy screams I can just- I can sense it. Okay, my body's ready. Hit me with it.
"Regulus [Groans] 'Reg.' 'Go away.' 'Regulus, Griffyndor just caught the snitch two minutes into the match. You just lost the Quidditch cup.' 'What?' Regulus jerked awake, startled, and someone clapped a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. 'Shh!' James Potter snickered, putting a finger to his lips. As Regulus adjusted to being rudely awoken, he pulled James' hand away from his mouth and glanced over to where his roommates still slept soundly. 'What are you doing here?' Regulus hissed, but then he glanced at the crumpled bit of parchment that he was shoving into the pocket of his pajama bottoms. He'd heard James and Sirius whispering about their map, but they'd never let Regulus in on the secret. 'Nevermind. How did you get in the Sytherin common room?' James grinned and patted the bed to the side of him where his folded cloak sat. Regulus rolled his eyes. Of course. He'd spent many an evening huddled under that invisibility cloak with James before now. 'I hung around after potions today until I heard someone use the password,' James whispered. 'What are you doing here?' Regulus replied. 'I'm exhausted. Shouldn't you be in bed?' 'Sleep is for the weak.' 'Well, go away.' Regulus grumbled, leaning back down into the warmth of his bed. James grabbed his arm and yanked him back up, much to Regulus' annoyance. 'Get out of bed,' James muttered, pulling the covers away from Regulus' legs. 'I've got something to show you.'"
Yeah he does.
[Laughs] "Regulus grumbled as James dragged him through the Slytherin common room by the wrist, his invisibility cloak under his arm. 'Stop complaining,' James said as he reached the door to the dungeons outside. 'It's not like you have any lessons. It's the Christmas holidays.' 'I like my sleep,' Regulus muttered."
Same Regulus. Very relatable.
Same! I know, I'd be like "James LEAVE ME THE HECK alone. Can't we do this literally in like four hours? I swear to God." [Laughs] "You sound like your brother. He needs his beauty sleep, too. Once they were outside the Slytherin common room, they walked a little way down the corridor and James stopped at- and James stopped at a gnarly old statue from some famous potioneer that Regulus never bothered to learn the name of. James reached behind the statue and pulled out his broomstick and a huge maroon coat. 'Come here.' 'What is it?' Regulus moved closer to James, only to have a heavy parka yanked over his head and zipped up to the neck. 'James get it off.' 'You'll freeze to death out there. You haven't you haven't got enough meat on your bones.' 'What do you- I'm not going outside James!'" Same! Also same!
Yes! How dare you? The castle is warm. It's winter. It's the dead of winter in the middle of the night. These are also incidentally the same conditions in which Dumbledore dropped Harry off on the Dursleys' doorstep.
Yeah, right!?
So you know I have- I have PTSD from this moment in the books, you know, but I suppose- I suppose canonically relevant so I'm going to give the author a free pass with this one because you know... [Laughs]
"'I'm not going outside James!' Regulus gasped- as Regulus gasped for air as James..." Gasped is hard for me.
It is! It's just a difficult word! There's so many consonants all smashed together!
Yes! Gasp-ed. It's like my pocketeded.
Gasp-ped-ped-de-de.
Gasp-pe-de-pe-de-pe. "Regulus gasped for air as James pulled the fur-lined hood up over his face and fastened the buttons at the chin. 'There. Much better.' James took a handful of the sleeve of the coat. Regulus' hands were lost inside the enormous padded sleeves and gripped the handle of his broom with his free hand. He dragged Regulus out of the dungeons and up the stairs to the main quarters of the castle until they reached the drafty main doors of the castle." Okay, I'm picturing A Christmas Story when the little brother is put like in seven winter- like winter jackets and like snow suits. Are you familiar with the Christmas Story?
I do not know this. Yeah, I don't know this reference.
That's okay, well to everyone else. I'm just picturing Regulus as the little brother that can't put his arms down because his mom literally put like four snow suits and five scarves and just the most ridiculous amount of clothing on this child. [Laughs]
[Laughs] That is an incredibly cutesy image and I can absolutely see the visual without even like I don't even need the reference. I just- I get what you're- I get what you're driving at, even if I don't get the the character. So yeah, this is- Yeah, I'm very happy with this. Continue.
"'There. Much better.' James took a handful of the sleeve of the coat Regulus' hands were lost inside the enormous padded sleeves and gripped the handle of his broom with his free hand. He dragged Regulus out of the dungeons and up the stairs to the main corridors of the castle until they reached the drafty main doors of the castle. 'James we're going to get caught!' 'Shh!'' James shook the invisibility cloak out and threw it over his head and Regulus'. 'There. Let's go.' Regulus hesitated as James reached for the door. 'James Will you just tell me what's going on? It's the middle of the night. Why are we going outside?' James groaned. 'Can't you just have a little bit of faith in me and look forward to a surprise? 'I don't like surprises.'"
A surprise I woke you up for! Sorry to cut across you but like, like that "have a little faith in me" argument would be strengthened by the fact that you didn't just shake someone out of sleep to go and drag them out into the freezing cold in the dead of winter. I'm just like, this isn't going to be a fun surprise. If this is me...
I'm picturing- because of course he's like, he pulls out a parka, puts it over Regulus, but it's like, Did he force put on pants? Did he force put on socks and shoes? Like, how was he able to like get the bottom half?
No, it's just the parka!
It's just the parka and he's got bare feet and pajama bottoms. [Laughs]
[Laughs] Yeah, I mean, this is- this is all like in James' head, this is preparedness. You have to wonder where Harry gets it from.
Yeah, absolutely. "'I don't like surprises.' 'You'll like this one.' James threw open the door and Regulus shivered as a freezing gust of air swept through into the corridor. James dragged him through the open door and into the courtyard outside. 'Look.' Regulus blinked as he stood in the dark courtyard under the invisibility cloak with James. The cobbled ground beneath their feet was covered in a layer of glittery frost, the air was full of swirls and flurries of snow, and the roofs and turrets of the castle were blanketed with swathes of white. 'Is it?' 'It's snow,' said James happily and Regulus noticed the sparkle in his hazel eyes. He was really excited about the weather. 'The first snow of the winter just in time for Christmas. I remember you said you'd never seen snow before. When I saw it start this evening, I wanted you to see it before it was spoiled by everyone turning it into slush.' 'Mother and Father always took us to the south of Italy over Christmas,' Regulus murmured. 'By the time we got back to England, the snow was always gone.' James pulled the cloak off their heads and tied it loosely around his neck. Then lowered his broom." Man, so now is he like a like a disembodied like head?
Yeah, it's just head and then a lot of snow.
His head and then no body. I'm sure Regulus is just like woah! Like just all of a sudden, like moment broken, just pure terror. [Laughs]
Yeah!
I always wondered that because it's like, a lot of times they're just like, oh, they throw it over their shoulder or they're carrying it. It's like, does the magic not happen unless it knows it's like entirely covering your body?
Yeah exactly!
Like it's really ambiguous. Like you don't know the rules or, you know, parameters of this said invisibility cloak.
Exactly.
Obviously not always- it's not always invisible. Because you can find it and you can see it and then you put it on and then it's fine.
Yeah, it's- maybe it's like that one-way glass where once you're on the right side of it, you can see out but other people can't see it.
"'Mother and Father always took us to the south of Italy over Christmas,' Regulus murmured. 'By the time we got back to England, the snow was always gone.' James pulled the cloak off their heads and tied it loosely around his neck. Then lowered his broom. 'Come on. We're going for a ride.' He straddled his broom and patted the handle in front of him. 'I could have just brought my own broom.' 'That wouldn't be very romantic, would it?' James grinned."
Oh, things are escalating now.
"Regulus rolled his eyes and made to climb behind James on the back of the broom. But James shook his head and shuffled back. 'You've got to sit on my knee, it's the rules.'"
What?! Okay, okay. Yes this James I can believe. This dubious consent like- weirdly like aggressive James. I'm gonna drag you out in the middle of the night to quote unquote see snow but it's really an excuse to get a lap dance from you on a broomstick!
[Laughs] "'You've got to sit on my knee. It's the rules.' 'James I can sit on your knee on a broom.'" Okay, so that's his issue. Like, I'm sorry, dude, this- I can't sit on your knee right now, but in another circumstance I could probably...
Yeah, exactly! If this was in the Gryffindor common room, I'd be going all Tina Turner's Private Dancer on you right about now.
[Laughs] "'Just get on.' James grabbed the back of the puffy coat and pulled Regulus onto the front of the broom, then reached around his waist to grip the handle in front of him. 'There. Lovely and cozy.' 'Why do you always have to make things difficult?' Regulus murmured but there was a hint of smile in his voice. 'You love it.' James kicked off the ground and they soared into the sky. Regulus couldn't hide his joy as James sped through the snowy sky. He laughed and cheered and tried to catch the flakes of snow, despite his hands being mostly obscured by the long sleeves of the coat. James rested his head on Regulus' shoulder as he steered the broom from the back of the broom. 'This is amazing!' Regulus called. 'It's the most beautiful thing.' 'It's not quite the most beautiful thing,' James said and lowered the broom to skim the trees of the Forbidden Forest. As they reached the grounds of the Hogwarts again..." What?
[Laughs] Sorry! I just like- I'm picturing him lowering it slightly too much and every tree they pass, it's just like ow, ow, ow, ow!
Bam, bam, bam! And of course,Regulus is in front so he's getting hit by everything. [Laughs] James! James! James!
[Laughs] And James is just like off in his own little world 'Isn't this romantic?' Doof, doof, doof, doof!
[Laughs] I know! Cause his head's on his shoulder from behind? Literally it's Regulus getting whacked in the front and he's like, Oh, yes, a romantic skimming of trees and it's like literally full on trunks. [Laughs]
[Laughs]
"As they reached the grounds of Hogwarts again, Regulus leaned forward to peer down at the space around the Whomping Willow. 'Is that a dog?' he called and James started to circle the tree, high up out of the way of its snow-tipped yet still aggressively swinging branches. There was a black shaggy dog barking furiously up at James and Regulus, standing up on its hind legs and pawing at the air. 'It doesn't look happy.' 'No,' James said and he laughed quietly. 'No, it doesn't. We better get back to the castle.'" The older brother is like James, what the hell are you doing with my little brother? [Laughs] "'Because of a dog?' asked Regulus. The dog barked so loud and suddenly that Regulus jumped, and James tightened his arms around Regulus' waist. 'Yeah, that dog is super pissed off with me.' James pointed the handle of the broom back towards the castle. Regulus tried to crane his neck around to get a look at the dog and noticed it was running through the snow after them. James took Regulus back to the Slytherin common room and Regulus shrugged himself free of the coat, handing it back to James. 'Thank you,' Regulus said, smiling. 'Are you sure?' James said with a smirk. 'You weren't too happy about me waking you up before.' 'That was before I knew what an excellent reason you had for waking me up.' James moves slightly closer to Regulus. 'I'll keep it in mind when I have other excellent reasons to wake you then.' Regulus grinned as James pressed their lips together, cupping Regulus' cheek as he did so. 'I'll see you at breakfast,' he murmured. 'I'd better get back to Gryffindor tower.' 'Yeah, you have to see a man about a dog, right?' James laughed. 'Well, maybe a man who is a dog.' Regulus watched him sidle back through the corridor disappearing into thin air as he pulled the invisibility cloak over his head. He really had no idea what James Potter was talking about half the time. The end."
Oh my goodness. That was- actually because we get nothing of Regulus in canon really. We had-
I know. Other than he sacrifices himself for Kreacher and is trying to bring the Dark Lord down at freakin 18. And you're just like, it's so tragic. And I just, ugh.
I love the idea of him getting together with James I- I didn't know I needed it. But this story takes a sort of a common-ish trope in fanfiction of like playing about in the snow, but elevates it to include a pairing that I never pictured. This is one of the things I love about this pod is it makes me think of character in totally different combinations. I am so grateful to you, screamingfae for that wonderful story.
Yes, it was so cute. And I love that it- even though we knew it was tagged as you know Jegulus, it was very slow moving as far as like oh James like showing up and just being like maybe like the troublesome like his brother's friend who's just annoying and Regulus is just like ugh, not James again. He won't leave me alone. But then you're just like, oh, Reg is just grumpy. Same. Like he's just he's just really pissed off that his boyfriend woke him up in the middle of the night to take him out in the cold. Like... [Laughs]
Also, we know that James has to be really skilled at sneaking about at night because they only put the invisibility cloak on just right before they're about to go into the grounds. And they open the door and the icy blast of wind comes in.
Yeah, they're literally going through the entire castle. Yeah.
Very, very good. I'm very, very happy with that.
[I ship it!]
So now that you've finished enjoying that episode, I'll bet you're wondering what we're going to be talking about next time. Will it be a ship? Could it be a trope? What about a character-centric episode? Editing Megs, put the listeners out of their misery! Next time we'll be focusing on...
We are going to be reading some Valentine's Day and love-themed fanfiction.
So come back to enjoy that at your earliest possible convenience. But you know, preferably sooner rather than later because we do make it so you listen to it, and we hope you enjoy it. Remember your Guncle Nathan's advice. Be kind to each other, manage your mischief, and we'll catch you in the next one soon.
While you're waiting for the next episode, all the shipping fun can continue online. You can head over to all of our social media platforms like magical ship pod on Twitter and Instagram, and Care of Magical Shippers on Tumblr. You can get in touch with us by email at CareofMagicalshippers@gmail.com. Or you can leave us a voice message with all of your ship and fic thoughts and feels and have the chance to be featured on a future pod episode. We are also live on Patreon. Patrons have access to early episodes, bonus content, extended uncut episodes with all of our nonsense, exclusive merch and a Patron discord. Another easy way to show your love for the pod is by leaving a review on Apple podcasts. And thank you so much for listening!