Rare Pair Shorts

Author: chimbomba
Recipient: absolutelybatty
Title: Black Hole
Pairing: James/Bellatrix, with a side of James/Lily
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2517
Summary: After several months, James was able to piece together Sirius’s story. ‘Unfair’ did not even begin to cover it.
Author’s Notes: Thank you to my lovely beta. This is slightly AU; Bella and James are actually nine years apart in age, but for the purposes of this fic I’ve made Bella a seventh-year whilst James is a first-year. This was a wonderful challenge… I hope you enjoy it, absolutelybatty! Happy holidays! :D

( Black Hole )

Author: captainpookey
Recipient: flyingtonowhere
Title: The Photograph
Pairing: Sirius/Lily
Rating: PG / PG-13
Word Count: 2,480
Summary: Sirius finds a photograph that prompts some curious memories and a revelation that just might change things.
Author's Notes: I really hope you enjoy this! You said you liked romance and angst, as well as “admitting you love each other” fics, and naturally a little snark was indeed included. ;) This may not, however, reached a super-duper happy place like originally intended. Happy Holidays! (& thanks to my usual beta, who is always appreciated!)

( The Photograph )



Title: Stake-Out
Pairing: Kingsley/Tonks
Rating: PG
Word Count: 260
Summary: Tonks hates stake-outs.
Author's Notes: Couldn’t help myself, so I wrote this little extra drabble for you. :)

( “Stake-Out” )

Author: myownmuggle
Recipient: luvscharlie
Title: A Witch, a Wizard, and a Lion
Pairing: Seamus/Hermione
Rating: G
Word Count: 1325
Summary: Seamus fancied himself a ladies man, but what he really needed was her.
Author's Notes: I’m so happy I got a chance to write this for you. I think everyone needs his or her other half, and I hope you enjoy this!

( A Witch, a Wizard, and a Lion )

Author: thanfiction
Recipient: phil_urich
Title: Open Range
Pairing: Percy/Angelina
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,489
Summary: Sometimes nowhere is the best place to begin.

( Open Range )

Author: stavvers
Recipient: humbuggirl
Title: Better things to do
Pairing: Ginny/Viktor, Ron/Pansy, Bill/Cho
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1942
Summary: Christmas at the Weasleys’ is a quieter affair than usual as everyone seems to have something better to do.
Author's Notes: humbuggirl suggested a load of pairings which looked really fun, so I took a few of them and tried to spin a story out of them! I had a great time, and I hope this is as enjoyable to read as it was to write!

( Better things to do )

Author: ceria_taliesin
Recipient: kcstories
Title: By Firelight
Pairing: Ginny Weasley/Viktor Krum (and another implied couple from the list as well)
Rating: PG
Word Count: Less than 2,000, I solemnly swear!
Summary: Slow seduction by firelight?
Author's Notes: Dear kcstories, I hope you like. Happy Holidays.

( By Firelight )

Author: peskywhistpaw
Recipient: ceirdwenfc
Title: Fate Lines
Pairing: Seamus/Lavender
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~2,400 (A bit overboard, sorry!)
Summary: Every day, it’s always the same. People want their fortunes read; they want to know the truth, the future. They want to confirm suspicions and fears, to justify their predictions. They want to say hello to the pretty girl with the scars on her face who’s too young to be so starving for a little conversation.
Author's Notes: I hope you enjoy this, ceirdwenfc! Photography and Photoshopping were done by me.

( Fate Lines )

Author: luvscharlie
Recipient stavvers
Title: First Match of the Season
Pairing: Charlie/Tonks
Rating: R
Word Count: 1,070
Summary: The first match of the Quidditch Season pits Gryffindor against Hufflepuff.
A/N: Thank you C. and U. for the beta work. Though stavvers gave me plenty of prompts to work with, I chose: giggles, spending all day in bed and humour.

( First Match of the Season )

Author: flyingtonowhere
Recipient: captainpookey
Title: Closer Than You Are
Pairing: Sirius/Lily
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1645
Summary: Why did Sirius really go after Peter Pettigrew that day in November? The loss of his best friend would cut deep, but that only scratches the surface of what he's lost.
Author's Notes: captainpookey asked for the pair, as well as angst, romance, Post-Hogwarts, and James existing. I reeeally hope I encompassed all of the above. And I doubly hope you enjoy it because I'm a huge fan of yours! Much love to J and F for reading, commenting, and editing. No real warnings, other than infidelity and canon deaths.

( Closer Than You Are )

Author: phil_urich
Recipient: suzanne78
Title: Of Blind Dates and Polite Surprises
Pairing: Michael/Susan
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,008
Summary: Michael goes on his first date in almost five years
Author's Notes: Thanks to [J] for her beta skills and making me back up some of my choices. Suzanne78, I hope you enjoy this.

( Of Blind Dates and Polite Surprises )

Author: loony4lupin
Recipient: fictitious_burn
Title: In Between Silences
Pairing: Draco/Blaise
Rating: R
Word Count: 900ish
Summary: Blaise leaves as the war begins, but there are some people he cannot leave behind.
Author's Notes: This story has violence and non-con implications, as requested. But it’s not squicky, due to the rating restrictions. Other requests: Draco in a position of power and implied relationship. I have a big thanks to my beta S, who is amazing.

( In Between Silences )

Author: purelush
Recipient: peskywhistpaw
Title: Snowflakes & Snitches
Pairing: Katie/Oliver
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1567
Summary: Oliver comes back to Hogwarts and is high demand.
Author's Notes: Thanks to E for the beta. Takes place during the Order of the Phoenix. Timeline's shifted slightly in terms of the Quidditch games and Hogsmeade weekends to accommodate peskywhistpaw's request. I hope you don't mind that I only put Katie in Hogwarts, but I just couldn't deal with 14-year-old Katie having a romance so I wanted the ages a bit less creepy/pedo-like. :D

( Snowflakes & Snitches )

Hello everyone! :) Posting for the 2008 Winter Fic Exchange will begin shortly, but first we'd like to say a few things.

First and foremost, thank you to all those who participated! ♥ We hope you had a lot of fun with this... we know we did. Also, a huge shout-out to our wonderful pinch-hitters: thank you so very much! You're amazing!

We will be posting three fics a day for eight days, and the big reveal will be on Christmas Day - so please wait until then before you starting posting your fics around everywhere. All writers must remain anonymous until the masterlist is posted.

Now, for the not-so-nice stuff. We have to admit, we're a little disappointed. We've been extremely flexible and lax in the past, but we can't do that anymore if people are going to take advantage of us. We've had a rather large proportion of people drop-out irresponsibly. Assignments were sent out all the way back in September - and while we understand that real life circumstances take precedence, there is no excuse for dropping out long after deadline passes and AFTER our repeated attempts to contact you. The responsible thing to do is to contact us the moment something comes up. We've had to track down and hound a number of you, and frankly, we hate doing that. Because of this, we're going to enact a few rules about the exchanges - we're sorry to have to do this, because we do want to be fair to everyone and give you all a lot of time. It's just that things can't continue the way they turned out for this round.

01. Sign-ups will now only be a week, and you will now only get a month to write your fics.
02. We can't give any more than a week-and-half as an extension.
03. We will check in with you periodically to see how your fic is coming along.
04. If deadline passes and we don't hear from you within two days, we will automatically assume you've dropped out. We can't waste any more time and energy trying to hunt you down - it isn't fair.
05. Those who dropped out irresponsibly will not be allowed to participate in the next round. (We'll make a list at the end of the round.) A few of you actually gave us notice that you were dropping out (meaning we didn't have to hound you), so don't worry - you won't be penalized.

Again, we're sorry to have to be more strict about this.

Anyway, happy holidays to you all! :DD Enjoy your fics, and remember to read and review! ♥

TODAY IS THE DAY! Please turn in your fics for the 2008 Winter Fic Exchange! We expect fics from the following people:

01. savepureness


Everyone else has either turned in their fic or has been granted an extension. We will be sending out emails if we don't hear from you promptly!

Our mod email once again is rarepair.shorts.mod@gmail.com. And if for some reason you haven't asked for an extension yet, or if you suddenly need to drop out (though we sincerely hope you don't need to) PLEASE. TELL. US. NOW. Comments are screened once again.

We expect posting to begin around December 16, unless all the fics are in before then.