Title: Fata Donum

Premise: Based off of aloosh_s's masterpiece found on tumblr with the following description (written by illustrator herself but edited a bit by me):

"An AU where Zeref is a protective older brother of Natsu. He always takes an hour off from his tiring job to go take Natsu home after school, but he always finds his little brother crying while waiting outside. He would kneel down in front of him and ask him, with a warm smile, 'Why are you crying, Natsu?" "M-my…friends keep saying bad words about my pink hair…" Zeref would notice the kids in the distance laughing while eyeing Natsu, and his anger would start to snap, but he manages a way to hold it in. One day he decides to talk to his teacher…that is when he meets Mavis…"

replace each "*" with a period and replace each "#" with a backslash to view artwork...

aloosh-s*tumblr*com#post#130828258068#an-au-where-zeref-is-a-protective-older-brother-of

****************Chapter One*****************

A quarter to three. On the dot. And not a minute later.

That was the arrangement Zeref Dragneel had with his boss about working. He would work from nine in the morning until 2:45 in the afternoon and then he would be back from 3:45 until 6:45 to finish any other work he had to do. This was made so that he could be on time to pick up his little brother from the Magnolia Elementary School and bring him to the baby-sitter's house so that she could watch Natsu until Zeref was home for the night.

Zeref waited with the rest of the parents picking up their kids by the main entrance that led out to where the school playground was. Every day, without fail, the kids would run to the playground for ten minutes, Natsu, included.

However, something changed recently. For the past few days when Natsu came outside, he was no longer running to the playground. Instead, little Natsu Dragneel would be dragging his feet, or completely stopped, as he wept.

At first Zeref thought he was just having a bad day or two, but three days in a row was an alarm for Zeref. This was only October. One month into the school year, and he should be coming out happy. Plus, this was one of Natsu's favorite months.

Feeling saddened and concerned for him, Zeref hurriedly approached his brother and knelt down in front of him as he took the heavy bookbag off of the kindergartener's shoulders. He pulled Natsu a little closer into a hug.

"Why are you crying, Natsu?" He finally asked causing Natsu to fall into Zeref's embrace as he continued to sob.

"M-my…friends k-keep s-saying bad things about m-my hair." Natsu told his older brother through sobs.

Zeref tightened his embrace on his little brother as he looked over at the other boys in his class. He could feel the anger building up inside of him as he noticed which ones were pointing at or looking back at Natsu, and although he wanted to scold the other kids, he knew he shouldn't. Instead, he just narrowed his eyes at the young boys and gave them a disapproving glare, which in turn frightened them enough to start playing.

Unsure of what to say to his little brother, he picked him up and carried him to the baby-sitter's house. Zeref went back to his work after dropping Natsu off, and left an hour and a half later.

Natsu was picked up and the two headed over to the market to grab some fresh food for dinner. After they ate, Natsu ran to his room and changed into his pajamas and headed back downstairs to play a board game with Zeref, carrying his favorite red stuffed dragon from his favorite book series titled Igneel, the Fire Dragon.

"Can we play Connect-Four?" Natsu asked Zeref as he rummaged through the coffee table where the game boxes were held.

"Sure." Zeref said with a smile as he noticed the dragon pajamas that Natsu had put on. "So, I take it you really like your new pajamas?"

"YES! They're awesome! I love dragons!" The five year old said enthusiastically with a large grin. "If I could live in them all day, I would!"

Zeref let out a small chuckle as he assembled the game and handed his little brother the red pieces. They played the game until Natsu lost interest and got tired. Once the salmon-haired boy started to yawn, Zeref decided to call it a night and bring his brother to bed and tuck him in.

"Zeref? Why do the kids hate my hair?" Natsu asked as he clenched the plush dragon.

"I don't know bud." Zeref replied softly. "But don't think about that. Tomorrow is another day."

"Okay. Can you read the new book you got?"

"Sure thing." Zeref replied as he headed over to the bookshelf and grabbed the newest release in the Igneel series, Igneel and the Fairies. "You sure you want me to read this one? It has fairies in it."

"YES! It still has Igneel in it!" Natsu said determined, even if he thought fairies were only for girls.

"Okay." Zeref replied as he sat himself in Natsu's bed and opened the book. He started to read it, and by the time he was finished, he noticed that Natsu was completely out cold, which caused him to let out a small chuckle and then remove himself from the room. "Good night Natsu." He said in a slight whisper.

Zeref closed the door, but left it open a crack before heading to his room and turning on his laptop. He logged into his email and read through everything before his thoughts turned to his brother. He opened his web browser and searched for the school's website. He found the page for Natsu's teacher and saw her name.

"Mavis Vermillion." He read out loud. "What a peculiar name."

He glanced over the page and noticed she posted a few updates about classroom and school news, as well as some pictures, including the class photo. It was then he noticed that her name was actually hyperlinked, so he hovered his mouse over the name to see what it was linked to, which was her school email. He right-clicked and copied the link address as a force of habit. Zeref didn't completely know if he should bring the problem up with the teacher or not, so he chose to just add her email address to his book in his account for future access.

He sat in silence as he looked over at the picture frame on his desk of his parents, himself, and a baby Natsu and sighed. The photograph was taken the day Zeref graduated from Magnolia University, which brought back some awesome memories. He was overjoyed, but mostly shocked when they broke the news to Zeref that they'd be having another child after twenty years of it just being him. Then again, his mom and dad were young when they had him, so it balanced out in a way. And he knew his parents tried, but were unsuccessful at having another child when he was younger as well.

The image also brought back the feelings after their parents' untimely death, and his stubbornness when he fought the court system to maintain custody. The judge agreed that Natsu should be removed from the care of his only family member, even if Zeref was only in his early twenties. It also reminded Zeref of the promise he made his mother when he was about to enter high school, which was to never become intimate with a girl unless he was ready to be a father. Zeref's solution to that was to never date. He focused on his studies and that was it, even causing him to become a recluse in his class at Magnolia High School.

It also brought the feelings that he thought it wouldn't have been this hard to take care of Natsu after their parents untimely death a couple of years ago. But he was a stubborn young man who fought against the court for custody. He didn't want to lose the only family he had left.

With another deep sigh escaping from him, Zeref closed his laptop and went to bed around nine hoping he would go right out. Unfortunately for Zeref, his mind kept wandering to his brother and after a tiring two hours of falling asleep and waking up again, he opted to open his computer again and send Natsu's teacher a quick email.

"Dear Ms. Vermillion,

I am sorry for emailing you late, but something has me concerned about my little brother, Natsu. He hasn't been his normal self the past few days and I would like to have a meeting with you as soon as possible. Please get back to me so we can arrange a meeting. Thank you, and sorry for sending this so late in the evening.

Sincerely, Zeref Dragneel"

Zeref hit send and decided to peruse his Facebook page. Five minutes later, his phone buzzed and Zeref looked over at it confused. He grabbed it and unlocked the screen before realizing he had a new email.

"Hmpf!" He said as he opened his email and seeing that Natsu's teacher already replied.

"Mr. Dragneel,

Thank you for emailing me. I would be happy to arrange a meeting with you. I normally have a free period from 10:45 until 11:30 when the kids are in their special. If that is okay with you, we can meet at your convenience. I am aware you will have to clear it with your boss, so get back to me when you can. And don't worry about emailing me late. I am always up until about midnight since a teacher's work is never done!

M. Vermillion"

Zeref smiled. If not anything, this teacher of Natsu's was very nice. He tapped his fingers on the keyboard of the laptop debating on if he should request to have a day off of work. He could use the excuse that his brother was sick, but that wouldn't bode well for Zeref if his boss ever found out the truth, especially since he also had a grandson that went to Magnolia Elementary School.

Zeref instead closed his laptop again and fell back to sleep.

In the morning, after Zeref got everything ready, including Natsu for school, the two walked over to the school where Zeref dropped Natsu off. He then made his way to his job and clocked in before approaching his boss.

Zeref made his way through the hallways and machines towards the back of the printing building to the office. He took a deep breath in and knocked on the door before being told to open it.

"Hey, uh Mr. Dreyar?" He asked nervously.

"Yes, Zeref?" The pint-sized old man replied curiously.

"Uh, I know this is short notice, but is there anyway I can have tomorrow off? Something's up with Natsu and I would like to have a meeting with his teacher, but her only free time is at eleven."

Mr. Dreyar was silent for a few moments as he thought about the request.

"I don't see why not. We aren't usually busy here on Fridays anyway." He answered. "Besides, you never take off for his school functions. You even missed the back to school night because you offered to stay when Reedus was running late."

Zeref got wide-eyed with surprise at the realization that he did stay a little later than normal to cover for his co-worker.

"Thank you sir." Zeref replied and then left his boss's office.

Zeref made his way to his small office on the next floor up and took out his phone to send Natsu's teacher a quick email back.

"Ms. Vermillion,

I recently spoke with my boss and he said that I can have off tomorrow. Is that too soon to meet?

Zeref Dragneel"

As soon as he hit send, he started his work diligently before having to go pick up Natsu at school. Zeref, honestly, dreaded this time of day for the past few days since he had been picking up a crying five year old, but there was no one else to do it.

So, at 2:45pm, Zeref clocked out and headed over to the school. As per usual, he was waiting with the other parents, and while their kids ran to the playground after the dismissal bell, Natsu came running out crying to Zeref.

Zeref felt the anger rise within him again but he quietly counted to ten to himself before scooping up his brother and bringing him home.

"Were the kids making fun of your hair again?" He asked his brother. Zeref felt Natsu's chin as he nodded into Zeref's neck. "It'll be okay. This will stop soon." He commented trying to calm his little brother down on the walk from the school to the baby-sitter's house. Before long, he was on his way back to work to finish out his shift.

After a repeat of the night before with a trip to the market, dinner and about ten rounds of Connect-Four, Zeref put Natsu to bed again and then headed to his room so he could reply to his teacher.

Once he opened his email he noticed he had two messages from his teacher, so he first read the one that was sent to him first.

"Mr. Dragneel,

Tomorrow is fine. I look forward to seeing you at 10:45.

M. Vermillion."

He then opened the other email.

"Mr. Dragneel,

Sorry for this late add on. I noticed Natsu out on the playground by himself today. I am concerned for him too now that you brought him not being himself to my attention. Thought I'd just give you an FYI. See you tomorrow.

M. Vermillion"

Zeref to a deep breath and let out a large sigh. He pursed his lips as he hit the reply button as he shook his head.

"Ms. Vermillion,

I hope we can sort this out tomorrow. I'll see you then!

Zeref Dragneel"

He closed his laptop again before going to bed.

Zeref's thoughts went to what he was going to say to his teacher to all of the things he could do with a three-day weekend after getting Natsu from school, and possibly picking him up early.

As Zeref was cooking breakfast, Natsu noticed that instead of his older brother wearing his typical work attire which consisted of black khakis and a dark button-down shirt, he was instead wearing what he normally wore on the weekends – all black with a black long trench coat type jacket and black boots.

"Uh..Zeref?"

"Yes, Natsu?" Zeref replied as he flipped the eggs.

"Why aren't you in your work clothes?"

"Oh, I…uh took off today. I have a meeting somewhere and then I'll be running errands until I have to come get you."

"Oh okay." the salmon haired child cheerfully replied as Zeref served him his breakfast.

"Careful. It still may be a little hot." Zeref warned as he sat down.

Thirty minutes later they were walking to Natsu's school and dropping him off.

Zeref hoped his teacher saw his note in the "to school" section of Natsu's folder regarding the chance of picking him up early.

He walked to a local coffee shop and ordered a simple black coffee from the cashier and she poured it really quick before he had to wait down at the end with everyone else. He then made his way to an open table, connected his smartphone to the free Wi-Fi and logged onto his email.

Zeref fiddled with his phone for about thirty minutes as he milked drinking his coffee before he headed on his slow walk back to the school for his meeting. He walked slowly back to the school and arrived at the front door at 10:40. He hit the button by the speaker to be buzzed in.

"Can we help you?" A woman asked through the intercom.

"Y-yes," He started startled and then cleared his throat. "I am Zeref Dragneel. I have a meeting with Ms. Vermillion." He spat out.

The door's buzzer sounded and he opened the door and walked into the office to sign in. After doing so, he was directed on where to go in the school to find the classroom.

He took a deep breath, and let it out as he verified that no kids were in the room. He then somewhat gently knocked on the door and barely heard the voice inside telling him that he could enter. He started to walk in and noticed a girl with long, wavy blond hair at the back of the classroom.

"Excuse me, I am looking for Ms. Vermillion." He stated thinking he walked into the wrong room.

The "girl" stood up and turned to face him and smiled.

"Mr. Dragneel, I presume." She stated causing him to nod slowly. She noticed his apprehension as he gave her the once over from her head down to her bare feet and she giggled. "Don't worry. You're in the right place, and I am Ms. Vermillion." She said firmly.

Zeref stood there gaping at her in shock. He kept his thoughts to himself regarding her short stature, her wide green eyes, and her long blond hair.

A/N: I replaced this chapter with an updated not thinking about the note I had before or the little blurb about where the artwork was so I had to rewrite it - oops! Anyways, the update is because I used 'Makarov' instead of his last name of 'Dreyar' so I had to fix it in my document and in here...but I deleted and reuploaded the updated file. OOPS! Sorry!