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 this is pure self-indulgent setup because I want to do nothing but lounge in a blanket nest while someone brings me tea & cookies.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 13); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Shadow HP Bribery (Y); Slytherin MC (x2); Magical MC (x2) (Y x1); Rian-Russo Inversion (x2); Ethnic & Present; The 3rd Rule (Y); Ship Sails; Hold the Mayo; Do It For Howard; Zed Era; Old Shoes (Y); Aces Wild [Sleeping Together]; Skittles [Pan Butch] (Y); Short Jog (Y); Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Greatest Gift (Y)
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 13 – Assignment
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [563](Tea); 365 [210](Mouth-watering); Herbology Club [4-4]("I'm not pregnant."); Auction [20-3](Daphne Greengrass); Pinata [Hard](Femslash)
Other MC4A Challenges: Su Bingo [2E](Lake); Hunt [Su WD](Pagan); Chim [Kinzie](Royal Purple); Ship (Emeralds)[Sp Med 1](Admiring the View); Fire [Med](Sapphic Shades); Garden [Plant Food](Seeds/Nuts)
Representation(s): Black Tracey Davis/Daphne Greengrass; PCOS Tracey Davis
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Abandoned Ship; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; Not a Lamp; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Teat Juice; Nightingale; Clio's Conclusion; Lock & Key; Lovely Coconuts); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Fizzy Lemonade; Delicious Lie; Fire Song; Larger than Life; Unicorn); Demo 1 (Fruit Fly; Under the Bridge; Sweetest Burn); Demo 2 (Sitting Hummingbird; Gingersnap)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Tether); SN (Rail; Intercept); FR (Satisfaction); O3 (Olivine); TY (n/a)
Word Count: 1296

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Crimson Tides
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Daphne woke up to Tracey groaning in her sleep. While nightmares were common for both of them, the pitch of the sounds coming from Tracey weren't her normal ones for nightmares. Then Daphne noticed the way Tracey had an arm curled protectively across her lower stomach. Like the flash of spell fire, Daphne knew exactly what was going on as well as how little she could ultimately do to stop the underlying problem.

There was plenty of things she could do to help manage the symptoms, though.

Of course, the fact that Tracey had started her period meant that Daphne's period would also be starting within a few days. Even before Daphne had stolen Tracey through the same old magics which had given her abusive father so much power over her, their periods had synchronized. The magical bond they now shared had only strengthened that as had their shared flat after Hogwarts.

(Pansy had once bitched about how her period would always sync up with theirs during the school year. When Daphne had told her that meant they were the dominant presences in the dorm, Pansy had turned a rather ugly shade of splotchy red. She hadn't complained about it again for the rest of their years at Hogwarts.)

Carefully, Daphne unwrapped herself from around Tracey. She didn't want to wake Tracey any sooner than she already would be waking. The cramps that Tracey always experienced would mean that she wouldn't be getting much sleep over the next few days and what little sleep she could manage would be tainted with the pain.

Her first stop after taking care of business in the bathroom was to their little kitchen. The first thing that Daphne did was to put the kettle on to start heating. Not only would they both want tea, but Tracey would need the water heated for her hot water bottle. Charms worked adequately for keeping the water heated, but trying to use magic to heat it was tricky and made the magic keeping it hot fade. It was just easier to not use magic to heat the water once.

Daphne then slipped down the hall to the linen closet and began pulling out the extra blankets they saved just for this time of the month or when one of them was ill. Once her arms were loaded up, she went to their living room to begin making the nest that both of them would want. It took less than ten minutes to get everything set up the way she wanted.

By that time, the kettle had started whistling. Daphne turned off the heat as she prepared their purple teapot (a housewarming gift from Blaise's partner Harry who shared Tracey's love of all things purple) with a few scoops of their favorite blend of catnip and lavender. She poured the water over the leaves and left it to seep as she pulled out their cookie tin.

Luckily, Harry had brought over a new batch of his chocolate covered blackberry jammy dodgers just that past weekend. He had also brought over his version of sausalito cookies as well. The chocolate chunks were dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate and in addition to the macadamia nuts, there was dried blueberries and dried cranberries. He also mixed in some oats into the dough. The result was a cookie that not only tasted absolutely divine but also was a great source of energy both from the sweetness of chocolate and fruit and in the protein of the nuts and oats.

The little Gryffindor was a constant source of surprisingly good recipes. Before she had gotten to know him, she would not have thought that. The only person in their year at Hogwarts who had had more accidents in Potions class had been Longbottom who was an absolute menace around a cauldron.

(Not that she held him at fault for that. Everyone knew the Longbottoms enhanced any plant-based ingredients they touched while the Diores could do the same with animal-based ingredients. If Snape had actually knew anything about potions beyond what was required to gain a NEWT or had been interested in actually teaching anything, there would have been steps taken to mitigate that aspect.)

Daphne finished artfully arranging the cookie selection on a plate just as the larkspur blossom on the teapot faded from purple to a pale blue. Not a moment later, the fat bumblebee that sat in the middle of the blossom buzzed happily, just like a real bumblebee would have. The charmed decoration was another thoughtful addition from Harry. It would only active when the tea had seeped the correct about of time. With a stroke of her fingertip over the back of the bee, she activated the charm to remove the tea leaves from the pot and vanish them without any need to mess with them directly.

She added the rest of the necessary additives to the tea tray, including each of their favorite mugs and spoons for stirring, and then levitated the tray to take it to the side table near the nest in the living room. She would have carried it but as loaded as it was, it would be easier to balance it with magic than trying to do so by hand. Tea taken care of, Daphne then makes quick work of feeling the hot water bottle that belonged to Tracey. Leaving the purple bottle in the nest on the side that Tracey will inevitably choose, Daphne finally returned to the bedroom to go check on her wife.

Tracey was beginning to wake up now. She had uncurled and partially rolled over onto her back. The purple camisole she had worn to be had shifted away from her purple sleep-shorts to show off the pale markings that covered her side and stomach like lightning from an unseen cloud. The lines shone against the dark brown of Tracey's skin. They would be extra sensitive for the next week or so, as Daphne knew from experience, and as soon as their periods had passed, she would be taking full advantage of that knowledge, too.

But for now, Daphne took just a moment to enjoy the mouth-watering view of her wife stretched out like an offering.

Tracey blinked open her eyes. The pale greenish gold color was hazy with lingering sleepiness as much as pain. They still lit up along with the rest of Tracey's face as they landed on Daphne. She swallowed around a sudden lump in her throat as just how much she loved the other woman hit her just as hard as it always did.

"Hurts," Tracey muttered, the edges of the word slurred soft with sleep. She lifted one hand to her forehead in order to shove her curls off of it. Daphne drifted closer, unable to stay away. "At least we know that I'm not pregnant." Her smile was as weak as the attempt at humor. "Do we have any of Harry's cookies?"

"Yes," Daphne told her as she settled on the bed near Tracey's hip. She brushed her fingers lightly over the exposed skin of Tracey's stomach. Tracey shivered but didn't complain. "I've got everything made up in the living room, including a full tea tray with your favorites of Harry's cookies. I thought maybe we could binge that new show you and Harry have been watching."

"That's a good idea," Tracey said as she sat up. "You'll love Teyla. I just know it."

"I'm sure you're right," Daphne agreed easily. "You do know my type, after all."

"That's because you have good taste," Tracey teased before getting up properly. Watching as Tracey left to do her own morning routine, Daphne couldn't help but think that Tracey was perhaps the best thing Daphne had ever chosen for herself.