all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au

lucius branwen / 10 — fox
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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Jan 9, 2023 13:49:39 GMT -5

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Post by lucius branwen / 10 — fox on Jan 9, 2023 13:49:39 GMT -5

U L Y S S E S

You leave the private potions store room at night, two pilfered jars of boomslang shoved into your robes, and suddenly Marcus Spencer's leaning against the door frame, face twisted into a grin that feels utterly brutish. Hm, so he'd followed you out of the dungeons.

"What were you doing?" The tone he uses isn't to your liking. His smile grows slicker, posture relaxed.

"Your mother."

Marcus grabs you as you push by him. There's a snarl on his face now. His voice is a low hum in the quiet of midnight, eyes flickering to the storeroom and then to your pockets. He reaches his hand towards them, "Oh, you're in fucking trouble."

You are. Your jaw tenses at the grip on your shoulder.

He ends up in the hospital wing with a crushed hand and a curse that ties his tongue into a knot. He's fed two tablespoons of skele-gro for the broken bones. Then, the healer on duty finally manages to untangle his tongue after six failed counter-spells that left it more and more grotesquely tied.

Marcus whimpers your name as soon as he can speak.

The boomslang, however, is safely tucked away in your room.

You get detention for the next month. Which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that you had it with, of all people in this fucking school, Yan Li.

Professor Cao walks a few paces ahead towards the sprawling woods, glancing at you two in intervals, a certain expression on his face that reminds you of a rat in some odd way. Maybe it's how he scurries about the halls. Maybe it's the way he squirms in discomfort when another professor speaks over him.

He had said your punishment would be to collect sage and mallowsweet in the forest for class, and you'd retorted with "I thought it was Forbidden."

He'd only given you a quelling look.

The sun is setting over the grounds, golden yellow and orange across the lawns. The castle is silhouetted by light, the towers looming tall and solemn at dusk. You pass the herbology greenhouses, and the beams shifts as the trees start to thicken.

"What are you here for?" You admit you're curious. You speak under your breath to Yan, eyes still on the swish of the professor's robes as he walks. Cao doesn't turn around. You raise your voice a little. "Torturing some poor first year to do your bidding?"

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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Jan 9, 2023 15:52:41 GMT -5

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Post by tick 12a / calla on Jan 9, 2023 15:52:41 GMT -5

Y A N

Divination, you have long since decided, is the reason that this school is going to the dogs. So, in the middle of class, you say so. Quiet loudly, actually. Professor Imago is used to your distaste for the subject at this point, he hears the same speech every Friday, and so he doesn't do much besides sigh and let you get through your tirade before finally clearing his throat.

"Detention, Mr. Li." He says, the usual, but he won't quite look you in the eye. He's been doing that lately. You think it has something to do with the nasty way Janice Lee went around telling everyone you were a Half-Blood. You'd turned her hair into a terrible shade of yellow that ranked of piss to return the favour, but still, the rumour got further than you would have liked it to. But it's not as if you don't hold yourself like anything other than a Pureblood. Most people are still none the wiser.

Imago shakes out his tea cup again, preparing to launch into what exactly makes his particular pattern of leaves so ominous for his weekend plans.

"Did you have to apply for this position, Professor? Or did you just tell the school board that you saw yourself in the job?

"Detention for a week, Mr. Li." He goes to turn away again, but there's a tick in his jaw that you notice now. You've found a weak spot. Job security, then? A insecurity about his competence?

"Were there any prerequisites you had to take? I assume the only experience one would need is a quick stint in the Janus Thickey Ward-" There's that tick again, accompanied this time by a vein beginning to bulge in his temple and- "Although I imagine some time in a Muggle looney bin would do just as well-"

"A MONTH!" He explodes, but he's finally staring down at you now, red and furious.

You grin.

"Sorry, sir."

❂

"What are you here for?" He asks, "Torturing some poor first year to do your bidding?"

The curiosity in his voice makes you giddy.

"Professor Fuhui hasn't gotten to the Imperius Curse yet." You say lightly, only half-joking, but Cao still chokes from ahead of you. "Besides, I don't need to torture them. Some of us don't have to brutalize people in order to get what we want."

You bounce as you walk, feeling light despite the fact that you're headed outside. Imago had never actually told you what your detention would be, just that you would be stuck with Cao for it. You told him that would be just fine, assuming you'd be stuck on cleaning cauldrons while getting to ask him needlessly specific questions about his personal life.

But now, getting to pick apart and prod Ulysses Xie instead is more of a reward than a punishment.

"I heard about the fight you got in." You say, side-eyeing him. And then you pout at your shoes, keeping that sly look in your eyes, "Poor Marcus. I went to see him in the hospital wing you know, we were greenhouse partners last year. They said he wanted me there while they undid all that nasty cursing, just to keep him calm. He really is a gentle giant, it was barbaric what you did, I'm surprised you didn't end up killing him."

A stick snaps under your heel.

"Professor Cao?' You call ahead, and he only gives the slightest look back over his shoulder, "What's the punishment for one student killing another?

Cao barely even breaks his stride, if anything he starts to walk faster. Like he's trying to get away from the pair of you.

"Professor? What's the-"

"Expulsion." He squeaks. Then, even shorter, "Azkaban."

And it's enough to make you look at Ulysses smugly.

"What were you fighting about?"

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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Jan 9, 2023 17:49:20 GMT -5

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Post by lucius branwen / 10 — fox on Jan 9, 2023 17:49:20 GMT -5

U L Y S S E S

"You expect me to believe you simply use your charm and your wiles?" You roll your eyes, "People still call Janice Lee piss-head because of you."

Yan only smiles wider at your words. He's nearly strutting towards his punishment like it's a reward, and you suspect that he's enjoying that he has an opportunity to push you into a tree full of bowtruckles and call it an accident.

"I heard about the fight you got in."

He speaks lightly, like a spider laying down its sheer web.

"Then you would've heard he started it." Professor Cao expresses some kind of noise between a sigh and a sharp inhale ahead of you. He walks rigidly, still staring straight forward.

There's a moment where you dwell on what your father might say about your month long detention. You shake off the thought. The trees grow thicker now as you near the edge, forest shaking like a lung as the wind moves through it. It would've been nice, the quietness.

Instead, Yan continues speaking beside you. You wonder how much more detention you could get if you tried to knot his tongue. Surely, you would be doing the world a favour. You cannot see anyone minding a quiet Yan for once. Your fingers itch for the wand in your pocket. But you look down at the ground where the plains of green slowly become dotted with wildflowers, mouth pressed into a grim line.

"He really is a gentle giant," he intones.

You snort at that. "Well, perhaps next to you, then yes. That oaf would seem like a gentle giant."

Somehow, it's entirely impossible to ignore him and your chin snaps back up. You keep your voice even. "Yes, poor Marcus. Didn't know he was plagued by you for a whole year. That would've been punishment enough. Should've said your name and he'd have gone running."

But he's not yet satisfied. He calls out to Professor Cao. You almost feel sorry for the man as he squeaks out an answer. He doesn't even turn back, as if he's afraid he might witness a disaster if he does.

Yan turns to you, smug. You don't look at him, and instead pull at a thread that's come loose on your sleeve. "I'm more surprised no one's tried to kill you yet. I think most people would prefer a dementor to you."

Cao is nearly jogging now.

But Yan doesn't stop – Yan never stops. He's this impossible person. He could drive you mad. He prods a little further and you hear his voice go up a note in curiosity.

The boomslang is hidden in your drawers with a disillusionment charm casted. You've already acquired most of the other ingredients after months of reading in the restricted section late into the night. The potions master had signed your note without even looking. Marcus Spencer wasn't about to stand in your way.

"His mother," you answer dryly.

Cao abruptly stops at the entrance to the forest.

Last Edit: Jan 9, 2023 18:10:08 GMT -5 by lucius branwen / 10 — fox

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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Jan 9, 2023 19:39:13 GMT -5

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Post by tick 12a / calla on Jan 9, 2023 19:39:13 GMT -5

Y A N

”You could use a little charm and wiles. Maybe you'd stop breaking innocent people's bones." Cao's cloak gets caught on a low twig and you snicker. "And Janice Lee deserved it."

You glare at Ulysses anyways. It's not his place to call out all your little lies about Marcus. He's just another little piece on the board - you barely even know the kid's name, but he becomes painfully eager to please when you dangle something like prestige in front of him. You make things happen. You could uproot the entire social order in this school if you wanted to. He knows that. He's a good boy.

"Marcus likes my company.” You say, affronted. But then it's still not enough, Ulysses bites back, most people would prefer a dementor, you snap your teeth at him, "Marcus likes a lot of things about me."

He particularly likes the fact that you haven't ruined his social standing yet.

His parents are picky about that sort of thing. An old tradition type of family. If Marcus wasn't so terrified of his father, if that Pureblood rigidness hand't be so engrained into him, then he'd probably be a mama's boy. That's probably why he takes it out on the first years, but that's not exactly your problem. If that's what Ulysses picked a fight over - well, he's got good aim.

You appraise him for a moment, and then Cao goes still.

"Why are we stopping?" You demand.

Cao turns around with the strangest little look on his face.

"Professor?" You peer around him, see the darkness of the trees, and your heart drops a little. "Did you go the wrong way or something?"

His mouth pinches and from the billows of his cloak he pulls two pouches.

He hands one to you, "Sage." And one to Ulysses, "Mallowsweet."

You consider chucking it back at his head, but you're pretty sure that even Cao would reprimand you for that.

"You can't be serious. Do you even know how dangerous it is in there?" And you don't rebuke because you're scared. You're just cautious. And Cao is just stupid. Who's going to help poor little idiotic Marcus navigate the seating hierarchy at the Great Hall tables if you perish dramatically in the Forbidden Forest? No one. That's who.

Besides, it's right there in the name. It's forbidden.

"Does the Headmaster know about this? Does he know you're trying to kill students?"

"The only thing that could possible kill the two of you in there..." Cao pauses for dramatic effect, but he takes too long and it's just kind of awkward instead, "- is each other."

You wonder how much he values his ankles.

"Now go."

Last Edit: Jan 9, 2023 19:39:45 GMT -5 by tick 12a / calla

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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Jan 9, 2023 23:56:30 GMT -5

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Post by lucius branwen / 10 — fox on Jan 9, 2023 23:56:30 GMT -5

U L Y S S E S

Marcus likes a lot of things about me, he declares.

"Being liked by Marcus is hardly a compliment," you quip back.

But something about it does bother you, an infinitesimal thing in your chest that vanishes when Yan opens his mouth again.

It's funny – you've never seen Yan Li afraid. So he didn't know they were going into the forest?

You hear the slight, dissonant chord of panic beneath his disbelief. He juts out his chin and straightens his spine indignantly, but Cao doesn't relent. The man merely stands there with his hands folded.

Perhaps Cao is smarter than you thought.

Perhaps he's hoping one of you won't make it out alive and that would conclude the six year rivalry that saw one professor resign and move to the shores of Northern Ireland. Or so the rumours go. Neither you nor him had denied it.

It doesn't matter. You want to return to the castle, impatient to finish the research you've been doing. You stroll towards the path into the forest. The sky mellows to an ominous blue. You flick your wand. A light appears. Yan lingers behind you, and you turn to look at him over your shoulder.

"Are you scared of the dark?" Your voice is coloured with amusement. Maybe you'll enjoy this. The wind whistles through the leaves again and shakes the ragged branches. The shadows look like teeth. "Come on then. Before a Blood-Sucking Bugbear gets you."

The path parts the trees and fades into a sprawling, dense darkness. The forest floor is still damp from the last rainfall, mud sticking to the soles of your shoes. Carefully, you step over a growth of nettles, looking for the leafy green leaves of mallowsweet in the dark. You wonder what would happen if you filled the bag with the stinging nettle instead.

The time passes dreadfully slowly. It's forty minutes along the path before it disappears entirely between tree trunks. You summon the last few plants from the soil near a knotted elm, tying the sack – now full – shut. It'll be another forty to leave this place and you're growing tired of how Yan never shuts up.

"I heard there's an Acromantula colony in the forest," you say airily. You glance at Yan in the corner of your peripheral. "I heard they're attracted to noise."

Barely had the words left your mouth, that a loud, resounding snap ahead breaks through the eerie hum.

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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Jan 14, 2023 1:48:38 GMT -5

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Post by tick 12a / calla on Jan 14, 2023 1:48:38 GMT -5

Y A N

Cao leaves. You watch with your mouth hanging open, completely caught off guard.

Well, shit.

"Are you scared of the dark?" Ulysses teases, and your mouth snaps shut. You glare at him, knowing that he knew.

This whole time, he knew you were being led to your imminent deaths and didn't do a single thing about it. Cao is too stupid for this to be some grand plan. Ulysses has to be involved.

"Come on then. He says, already turning to enter the murder forest, "Before a Blood-Sucking Bugbear gets you."

"Those aren't real." You mutter, but it doesn't make you feel much better.

Ulysses takes off and you follow, sticking close enough that the darkness of the forest won't make the back of your neck prickle, but far away enough that it doesn't look like you're hanging from him like some damsel. You fill the silence as you trail behind him, mostly because the more you do it, the tighter his jaw gets. The higher his shoulders rise.

You talk about everything and nothing. Rumours. Gossip. Idle subjects that you think will get on his nerves, then pivoting and switching whiplash-quick when they don't.

It's more of a distraction than anything. If you're going to die out here, you might as well get one last thing out of it.

You collect the sage carelessly, stripping the leaves with a small Diffindo spell to keep the smell off your hands. You make quick work of it, twirling your wand maybe just a few extra times whenever Ulysses turns his head. You've always been a little showy with magic, and charms just so happens to be one of your best and favourite subjects. You hate Divination because it doesn't make sense. You hate Potions because it ruins your hair and makes your robes reek for days. If the Choir doesn't count, then the only thing above Charms in your ranking is Transfiguration.

Your mood changes like a thunderclap, like a wave crashing and rolling in on itself. What you wouldn't give to be carrying out your detention right now in the warm, lit castle, Reparifarging the failures of the first years' matches to needles lesson.

The bit of your brain used to multitasking kicks in and keeps your mouth going while you daydream about transfiguring Cao's dramatic cloaks into something horribly unfashionable.

"I heard there's an Acromantula colony in the forest." Ulysses suddenly says, and you stop talking abruptly. It takes you a moment to catch up, you can't even remember what you were saying. Still, you tense, but otherwise don't move. It's like everything sharpens into focus again, without the soundtrack of your voice playing over and over the forest goes eerily quiet.

Except you know what he's doing. Oldest trick in the book.

Then,

"I heard they're attracted to noise."

You've already got a retort ready, loading it up you whirl around to face him because it's so much better when you can see his face-

SNAP

You feel your face freeze. In your haste to get the last word in, you've accidentally brought yourself very, very close to Ulysses. But your gaze fixes on a point just past his shoulder. It's too dark to really see anything, still a shudder goes through you.

It doesn't really feel like a time for dramatics, but that's never stopped you before.

"Orchids at my funeral." You hiss, "White ones. Expensive. Or I'll haunt you."

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all's fair in love & war — yan & uly magic au Feb 5, 2023 16:39:11 GMT -5

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Post by lucius branwen / 10 — fox on Feb 5, 2023 16:39:11 GMT -5

U L Y S S E S

Yan quiets very quickly. There's something very satisfying about that, the way his shoulders tense as you glance at his silver silhouette in the darkness. You stifle a laugh, instead turning away towards the path behind you. It's your reward for all forty minutes of his barely tolerable chatter. It's what will keep you from hexing him in the next forty back.

He could tease out that streak of vindictiveness in you, the pettiness that lay under your skin. As much as you hate to admit, he does have a certain way of picking out the threads of a person that not many possess.

The snap makes you turn around again.

Yan is suddenly inches away from you, almost colliding into your chest as you both turn. His voice is barely above a whisper. "Orchids at my funeral. White ones. Expensive. Or I'll haunt you."

"You're not going to die," You hiss back. There's an irritation in your tone that masks the shiver of fear. "Cao will think I did it."

The Acromantula colony's just a rumour the prefects would tell the first-years to keep them from trouble. Too many stupid Gryffindors, you thought, eager to prove their gallantry to their peers. The school wasn't keen on sending a search party for every eleven year old that thought rampaging through the woods would make them exceptional.

And yet, you draw your wand.

You hear the tempo of Yan’s breath in the stillness, the soft shuffling of robes as you steady your stance. The faint scent of sage comes off from his presence. Suddenly, the foliage rustles to your left. You back away, taking a step towards the narrow path, a knotted root hitting your leg. Running would be impossible this deep in the forest, the denseness of trees making it difficult to navigate.

Protego –

As the shield bubbles up, the force of the charm causes you to take a few steps back. Yan is closer now, within the perimeter of the charm, tense, his expression frozen in the dimness. You stiffen as the sound grows louder, breath caught in your chest.

He is not going to be the reason you die.

The leaves part – you raise your hand –

A reptilian face emerges, muzzle curving into a bony point. Its skin looks lustrous even in the dark, taut against its bones, its leathery wings tucked into its sides. The thestral snorts softly. The thing looks at you both, barely interested, its head dipping briefly towards the tip of light. Then, it straightens again, and brushes by.

You feel your shoulders slump, the breath loosens. You drop your stance. The shield dissipates.