Sheltered 🦦

Mandrake (handcrafted)

Speechless mandrake

contemplating

That same evening, after supper, Draco enters the Slytherin common room, black robes billowing behind him in a rather impressive Snape impersonation.

"Snake meeting in the den!" Shouts his sonorused voice.

One by one all Slytherin students file into the common room. Draco waits, brooding in a corner, arms crossed. When they are all accounted for, Draco speaks.

"Flint! Why did you tell Professor Granger about the ring?"

"I thought..."

"Yes, in the future, please refrain from thinking. All of you."

The students lower their gazes.

"Your job is to talk about me when Professor Granger can hear you, not tell her I want to marry her! I have to at least take her on one date first!"

A seventh year raises her hand, Draco nods.

"We talked about how handsome you are, she was sitting beside us on the Quidditch stands when you were acting as referee. She ogled you after we said your arse looked good."

"Thank you, Avery. See? That's what I want from you! No more mistakes."

The way most autism literature describes "literal interpretation" is often not at all similar to how I experience it. Teenage me even thought I couldn't be autistic because I've always been able to learn metaphors easily.

In fact, I love wordplay of all kinds. Teenage me was fascinated to learn all the types of figurative language there are in poetry and literature.

But paperwork and questionnaires are hard, because there's so much they don't state clearly. Or they don't leave room for enough nuance.

"List all the jobs you've had, with start and end dates." What if I don't remember the exact day or month? Is the year enough?

"Have you been suffering from blurred vision?" Well, if I take off my glasses the whole world is blurred, but I'm fairly sure that's not what the intake form at the optometrist is asking.

Or the infamous (and infuriatingly stereotypical) "Would you rather go to a library or a party?" What sort of party? Where? Who's there? I work at a library. Am I currently at the library for work or pleasure? Does it have a good collection?

It's not common figures of speech that confound me. It's ambiguity, in situations that aren't supposed to be ambiguous.

“Mr. Potter, that gesture may be sweet and touching but please remember you two are in class and not in your own world. I do not tolerate sleeping in class so please wake Mr. Malfoy up. I’ll see the both of you in my office after class.” - Professor McGonagall

(scene inspired from wzxz/fake slackers 🥺🫶)

If you have not read this fic, please let this gorgeous bind (not by me, but for me in an exchange with another binder, @slbindery) convince you.

The fucking quotes! I suppose you could consider this a spoiler alert so I’ll hide them.

(Need I remind you to go look at this post of @littlewinnow’s now?)

I'm actually working on a typeset of the entire twenty-two cards series as a gift for the author, so at some point I will be sharing my own version. But for now, feast on this.

Clive & cub

The Malfoy heir

Together

Granger, what are you …