Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: So for anyone who is wondering, Harini has multiple meanings but one of them is a flowering shrub in India/Pakistan. Also, this is the very first time that I wrote a Lily Lives AU that didn't end up with a Celestial Petal ship.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 13); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Puppy Love; True Colours; Writing with Music; Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Magical MC (x3); LEO MC; Neurodivergent; Rowl in Her Grave; Rian-Russo Inversion (x2); Ethnic & Present (x2); Tiny Terror; Setting Sail; Hold the Mayo; Gender Bender; Lunar Era; Old Shoes (Y); Skittles [Bi Masc]; Short Jog; Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Greatest Gift
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 13 – Assignment 02
Subject (Task No.): DIY & Home Repair (Task#1: Write about a connection or combination of something that makes things better.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [536](Lime Green); Words [204](Mischievous);
Herbology Club [3-9](Apnapan); Auction [1-2](Kingsley Shacklebolt); Ferragosto [07](Character with Flower Name)
Other MC4A Challenges: SuB [1C](Fire); AU [5C](Creature); Hunt [Sp Items](Fidget Toy); Garden [Rose Types](A Secret to Tell); Fire [Hard](Cutlasses); Ship (StarSt)[SpMed1](Parent/Teacher); TWT (NB Sirius)[Task 4](Green); Chim [Limu](Sharing)
Representation(s): Desi Potters; Depressed & NB Sirius Black; Co-Parenting Marauders; Pre-Starry Storms
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Grease Monkey; Lyre Liar; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Abandoned Ship; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Zucchini Bread; Middle Name; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Car in a Tutu; Deadliest Catch; Lovely Coconuts); Chorus (Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi; Fizzy Lemonade; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; No Touchy)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: TY (Ntaiv; Kulonbozo; Enfant); T3 (Toad); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Satisfaction; Evolution); O3 (Ox)
Word Count: 1031
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A Secret to Tell
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Kingsley managed to keep from rolling his eyes as he walked away (and it was definitely walking, not fleeing) from yet another mother who was obviously flirting with him. He had to remember that this wasn't a normal case where he could react to any of the annoying things that people did. There were kids about who were looking to him as a role model. If they saw him being disrespectful, then they were bound to mimic him.
Next time the Auror Corps were contacted about teaching basic self defense to pre-Hogwarts children, Kingsley was going to find some critical mission out of the country or under deep cover. Maybe he would fake a serious illness. Hell, maybe he would find some way to actually contract a serious illness. Anything to save him from desperate mothers who couldn't stop cackling like the Muggle stereotypes of witches.
Maybe he could fake an alarm calling him away?
The class itself was already over. This was just the meet and greet reception afterwards. So it wouldn't really be skiving, even if Amelia probably wouldn't buy that when Rufus wrote him up for it.
A soft hissing sound drew his attention to the table he was standing beside. The pale green tablecloth had been moved aside nearest the wall. The cartoon carrots printed on the fabric were running away from the spot on spindly orange legs. The motion distracted him for a long moment before another hiss recaptured his attention.
The large eyes that took up most of the brown face he found looking at him were the greenest he had ever seen, even if they were vaguely familiar. The little girl gave him a grin that would have been toothy if her front teeth weren't missing. He vaguely remembered her from the class as one of the few who knew British Sign Language. He had had to bite back laughter a couple of times as she sassed the other kids in it. He thought she had introduced herself as Harini.
When she gestured for him to join her under the table, Kingsley did not hesitate.
His mother raised him with more manners than to keep a lady waiting, after all.
Kingsley was fully under the table before he noticed the huge black dog that the girl was leaning against like it was a backrest. He supposed that it belonged to the girl because not only was the dog tolerating her shoving at it until she had settled comfortably but it was also wearing a lime green collar. The dog watched him with an uncanny awareness in his gray eyes as the girl pulled out a ball from somewhere and began passing it from hand to hand.
"Don't mind Paddy," Harini told him. Unsurprisingly, her words came out a bit mashed. It was better than he would have expected with her missing teeth. "They don't bite unless you ask nicely. At least that's what they tells Moony."
"They speak?" Kingsley asked dumbly. He blamed the lack of caffeine in his system for how long it took him to figure out that Paddy had to be an Animagus. Well, maybe he could also blame having to deal idiots all afternoon. "They've got a collar, though?"
"Uh-huh," the girl agreed with a series of jerky nods that made her black curls bounce around her head. "Moony says that they've got to wear it if they're gonna be a dog in public. It's 'cause they're so big. People would be afeared of them."
"Afraid," Kingsley corrected automatically, used to how his niblings tended to mispronounce things. It was difficult to tell exactly, because the girl was so small, but he thought they might roughly the same age. If so, then Harini was very small and slim for being nearly eight. Maybe she was younger, despite the way she was acting. "Your dad spends a lot of time as a dog, then?"
"Paddy is not my dad," the girl replied. She sounded as if Kinglsey was being ridiculous to even suggest that they were. Her expression suggested that she might think he was a bit dim as well. "Paddy is my Paddy, just like Moony is my Moony. And they are only a dog some of the time, like Moony is. Mummy says that they've got the deeps and being a dog helps. They're still a person, though, which is why they can take me places. Sometimes we just have to hide for a little bit."
"So you have three parents?" Kingsley asked. He was only getting more confused. While polyamory was not uncommon in the wixen world at large, it was relatively rare in the British Isles where they seemed to be stuck in the Victorian era. Then again, the girl might be speaking with a British accent, but her features screamed that she was from one of the families that had immigrated from the Indian subcontinent. Maybe such configurations were common there like they were in his own African heritage.
"I have five," she chirped happily. "Tante Marlene and Aunt Rhiannon finally made an honest man of Moony. Mummy says it took 'em so long because of Moony's condition. He didn't believe that they would really like him because he gets all grouchy once a month. He's always better after his napping day, so I don't know why he thinks that. Paddy says Moony is just an idiot and always has been."
The dog made a chuffing sound like they would have been laughing if they was in their human form. The girl elbowed them hard enough that Kingsley winced sympathy. Then she got a very mischievous look on her face.
"Wanna know a secret?" she asked like she was planning something. Kingsley hesitated as Paddy squirmed nervously. He was feeling a little nervous himself. Despite his misgivings, Kingsley finally gave the girl the nod she obviously wanted. "Paddy thinks you're pretty and they really likes your butt."
Kingsley choked on his tongue as the dog let out a long whine and covered their nose with their paws.
Even without seeing Paddy's human form, Kingsley had the feeling that he wouldn't mind any flirting nearly as much.