the truth is in the dare

Alessandra "Alice" Esmee Lestrange: wanted dynamics

where: firework show who: open to all event: unity fair

Where the days at the ministry were ever so hectic the festival had proven to be the exact opposite, filled with joy and a cheer unknown over the recent months. The wixen world had been in chaos for as long as she could think and although the witch believed in the cause like no other, every now and then the burden of trying to uphold something that felt like a path the world was determined to bury was rough. Every now and then even Celeste wished for a break.

What a thorn it had become to note that the whole idea of the festival was the unity between the different families and groups within said society. How ironic it was that she would find herself staring in awe at the firework show going on, lighting up the sky with the most beautiful lights; all without the added need of magic. It both showered her in light of an unknown yet familiar beauty as well as push her blood to boil in ways she did not dare put into words. And so she stood, silent for the most part until a figure near her was noticed. Not once did she bother to look around yet still made the move to address the other. “It’s oddly beautiful, isn’t it?”

@caelestiasolis​

“They’re fucking gorgeous.” Alice said it before she realized who it was she was talking to. If she had, maybe she would have kept her mouth shut. Maybe. Technically, Celeste Travers was Alice’s coworker at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but they didn’t work together much and that was sort of on purpose. Alice didn’t really like interrogation, anyway. She wasn’t sure it could be trusted, she preferred hard evidence for her cases. And she didn’t really like Celeste, either. The younger witch just bought into the pureblood life way too much. Usually, Alice would try to help someone like that realize they were wrong, but Celeste was such a priss. So Alice tried to ignore her. Except for now, apparently.

To Alice, these non-magical fireworks were just as incredible as magical ones. Maybe more. She couldn’t figure out how Filibuster and his crew made sure the fireworks would go off in the exact right place at the exact right time. It seemed like something that would be so much easier with magic. But here they were, making shapes and pictures in the sky with the sparks. Alice had made a mental note to find more muggle fireworks displays to go to. She wasn’t sure if any of this was something she wanted to share with Celeste Travers, of all people, but she felt sort of locked into the conversation at this point. “It’s a nice break from work, yeah?”

Rodolphus was at the Unity Fair only because he was told to watch what was happening and to report back; to keep an eye out and take notes. He was never one to say no to his assignments, particularly when it meant preparing. He was good at it. He was good at hiding and observing. There was a reason he was chosen for so many assignments.

Of course he came across Alessandra. And what was she doing? Happily painting faces of anyone who showed up. Anyone. It made him sick. What made him even more such was seeing a paint brush in her hand. That was his domain. To see his disowned disgusting, supposed “sister” using something so carelessly made his blood boil.

“Stop with the niceties, Alessandra,” never Alice. With that he took the paint brush from her hands and broke it in half, throwing it behind him. “You need to fucking grow up. Stop playing with kids and do something worthwhile with your life for fuck’s sake.” His final words said slowly and with annoyance.

@rodolphusxlestrange​

And here he was. The reason why Alice never really took to painting. In a different family, two siblings both having an artistic streak might have been grounds for bonding, but that wasn’t how it worked for the Lestranges. Rodolphus had always been like this, possessive and entitled, even when it came to his hobbies. So painting was his, and Alice stuck with sketching. There had probably been a time where she wouldn’t have volunteered at the face painting booth, but the older she got the less she thought about her birth family. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Rodolphus might pitch a fit if he saw her, but now that it was happening it certainly wasn’t surprising.

Just the sight of her oldest brother made Alice tense, but there were children running around and everyone else was having a nice time, so Alice didn’t want to ruin their day by getting into things with Rodolphus. She summoned the pieces of the paintbrush and mended it, trying to give herself time to get her temper under control before responding. She was mostly successful. “First, nobody calls me Alessandra. Second, I wasn’t talking to you, so kindly take your shitty attitude elsewhere. Third, I’m a goddamn auror, I am doing something worthwhile with my life.” As her list went on, Alice got more and more frustrated, and by the time she was done, she was gripping the paintbrush so hard she almost broke it again.

There was something so invigorating about this event, where people gathered round to appreciate the work of muggles, fireworks and spectacle created not with magic, but with science, science that had been around since the first century. She knew few others would see it this way, but to Lily this was political. Look it seemed to say, you are not so different from the muggles, perhaps, in fact, there are things you should learn from them…

She was trying not to spend the whole evening focusing on the politics of it however. There was food and drink and entertainment all around her, and it had been so long since she had let her guard down and truly enjoyed herself.

“Do I ever!” Lily exclaimed with a smile taking a seat in front of Alice. “I’ll admit, I’ve been envying every painted face I’ve seen in the crowds!”

@lxlyxvxns​

Alice was delighted to see Lily at the fair. In Alice’s opinion, Lily was precisely the kind of person it was about, someone who embraced being a part of the magical world without being ashamed of her home in the Muggle world. Alice admired how Lily lived in both worlds, moving between them as if there wasn’t any difference. Because there shouldn’t be, all the differences between Muggles and wix were ones that the purebloods had made up. Being able to do magic or not do magic shouldn’t be an uncrossable divide any more than being able to roll your tongue or not. 

When Lily dropped onto the stool, Alice reached across the space between them and gave the redhead a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you! I can’t take credit for all of the painted faces you’ve seen, they have us going in shifts. Are people having fun out there? I haven’t left the table in a minute.” Alice jumped between topics in conversation as quickly as her brain did. She adjusted her seat and pulled the table with her supplies a little closer before getting down to business. “Do you have something in mind, or do you want me to surprise you?” Alice liked having creative license, but giving people some say in what went on their face just seemed like the polite thing to do.

Alice was not a big fan of her own culture. Not her Scottish heritage, of course, she was very proud of that, but her pureblood heritage. That was a problem. Or at least, it had never been something for her to be proud of, the generations of hoarding wealth and power, not to mention the long line of loveless marriages and soulless homes. She’d always preferred to learn about the muggle world, and since she ran away from home she’d come to think of it as sort of her adopted culture. These days, she wanted to share that with people, which is why she was particularly excited about the Unity Fair. And the Museum of Muggle Curiosities. The last time she’d been it had been a little underwhelming, but she was hoping the recent renovation had included updating the exhibits. 

She’d said as much to Emmeline on the way to the museum, walking too fast even though the other witch didn’t have long legs for Alice to keep up with. She stopped outside the small-ish building and huffed a little in disappointment. “I was kinda hoping there would be a line or something.” The museum was supposed to be the big draw of the fair for the day, and Alice had expected more people to take advantage of the free admission. Instead, the museum was largely ignored by passers-by, even with its newly painted sign.

“How do you wish to be called, then? If not Lestrange?” it wasn’t an odd question, but there was a certain protocol that went in school and she didn’t want to make the other girl uncomfortable for not addressing her correctly. She understood that leaving the family meant a big deal, and she couldn’t say she wasn’t considering leaving herself. But she couldn’t, she still had to consider Narcissa and her younger cousins, even Bella, who she didn’t always see eye to eye. 

Talking about pureblood families was tricky, not everyone was on Voldemort’s side but you couldn’t know exactly how many of them would react about certain topics. Andromeda had learned to stay away from them. “I think that is why mother chose your brother to marry Bellatrix.” she admitted as she put the vial away to sanitise for later. 

Andromeda carried certain potions in her back, a small first aid kit that she had made sense to carry around in case things turned to worse, however, lately she had been using the stomach flu potions more than any of the other concoctions. At the question, Andromeda frowned trying to remember when i had started “Continuously, little bit over a week, I thought I was coming down with something a couple of weeks ago.”

@medasgalaxy​

Alice had to stop herself from laughing at Andromeda’s question. It wasn’t a ridiculous one to her, Alice was sure. She knew from experience that it was perfectly normal for Andromeda’s sort of people, her family’s sort of people, to only use last names. The family name, as if that was the most important thing about a person. “Mostly I just go by Alice.” Sometimes she was still Lestrange on the quidditch pitch, but Alice had trained most of her teammates to call her by her number or her first name, and most of the other players followed suit. Other than that, she was just Alice. She didn’t want to be anyone else.

“And I bet they’re a perfect match.” Alice really did try to keep the derision out of her voice, but she wasn’t completely successful. The eye roll went totally unchecked. She felt sorry for anyone who had to marry her brother, but if anyone was going to be a match for Rodolphus Lestrange, it was Bellatrix Black. If nothing else, Alice was sure Bellatrix wouldn’t let herself be pushed around. 

“Well shit.” Alice responded to Andromeda’s list, then laughed a little. “At least you don’t have to worry about missing your period.” That had started being a concern for Alice and her friends probably earlier than it should have, but they were young and dumb and didn’t have too many standards to live up to. Andromeda was a pureblood, a Black. There was no way she was having sex, not if she was too worried about her reputation to even go to the hospital wing for a stomach bug.

Alice was enjoying the hell out of the fair. The Billie Lewis grant was a great cause, and Alice always liked the chance to hang out with new people. She’d been at the face painting booth for about an hour, now, and she was really getting into the swing of it. She typically liked pencils better than paint, but making art on someone’s face was one of the best ideas the muggles had ever had. Usually, that honor went to hair scrunchies, but Alice was reconsidering her ranking. She’d done sports team emblems, animals, rainbows. Some people wanted something subtle on their cheek, while others wanted their whole face decorated. Her favorites were the kids, who were just generally more creative than the adults.

For a while there’d been a steady stream of people, usually one or two waiting in line while Alice finished up whoever she was working on, but things had slowed down. Alice was close to conjuring up a mirror and painting her own face, just to fend off the boredom, when she caught a passerby’s eye. “You look like you could use a little extra sparkle. Fancy a paint job?” Alice waved the brush she’d been twirling between her fingers for added emphasis.

Marlene’s career path had changed for the war more than anything really-she was not really one who ever knew what she was going to do, considering right after Hogwarts she has been bartending than doing anything else for a little bit. She was more of an action person- if something was needed, she would figure it in a way to make it happen, and that is how this job had felt to her at first, but it was nice- finding mentors in some way and even if not in the same exact path, she had always admired Alice in ways she did not think she would find herself look up to someone. She was a badass woman after all, it should have been a no-brainer. ‘Aye, still a little bit dissappointed in me that I didn’t choose the Auror path?’ It is not like she could ever really tell the other that becoming an Auror was too much training and time that Marlene did not have right now, becoming a Hit Witch had been easier in ways- felt natural, and sometimes she never really know if ‘Or can I pick ya brain about somethin’ anyway?’

/ @alessandraesmee​

@marlexne​

When Alice first started in the auror program, older aurors who acted as mentors, who guided her on her new career path, had been a huge part of her success. Not that Alice couldn’t have done it without them, she actually considers herself pretty good at doing things on her own, but the fact that people were willing to help her had confirmed that she’d made the right choice. And really that’s all Alice wants to do for the people she cares about, to make them feel supported and like they’re making the right choice. That’s why Alice works with so many of the younger Order members, so they feel like being in the Order is the right choice, because Alice fully believes it is.

Marlene McKinnon is a special case, sort of like Emmeline. Alice doesn’t just consider herself Marlene’s mentor in the Order, but also at work. Even though Marlene ultimately chose to become a hit witch instead of an auror, Alice still supports her. Just with a little extra grief. As Marlene speaks, Alice heaves a dramatic sigh. “Well, it makes sense you can’t find anyone in your own department to look to for wisdom, so I guess I can help.” She winks for good measure, even though she knows Marlene knows she’s not serious. “What’s up?”

@alessandraesmee​

Mary had always been thankful for Alice; having joined the Order with only basic duelling skills; under Alice’s wing she knew how to use her height to her strength, being able to get out of sticky situations quickly. But Mulciber’s reappearance had shaken her to her core, and Mary knew she needed a place to practice - Ministry be damned. Alice was the only person Mary trusted with this.

At Alice’s words, Mary feigned hurt; clasping her hands over her chest. “Oh your words, they do hurt,” She replied cheekily. “But I promise you it’s worth it. Just look at it with open eyes.” She opened the small door leading behind the counter, making her way to the back room; where Mary’s potions kit was precariously set up with multiple potions in the works, surveying them for a few moments before turning to the big door at the other end of the room. “So I was cleaning up here the other night,” Mary started, moving towards the door. “and low and behold, I find this mysterious looking door looking all lonely and just wanting to be opened,” Mary swung the door open as she spoke, flicking her wand to light the way down the stairs, her excitement growing with each step.

The basement had no miraculous features that stood out, but it was secluded and away from view, which was perfect. “… and this is what i find. A completely empty, albeit a little stale room that happens to be private, and really… I don’t think anyone knows it’s here, to be honest.”

@vclatiles​

Taking Mary’s hand with one of her own and then cupping the younger witch’s cheek with the other, Alice said, “Dear Mary, Forgive me.” The faux-serious look Alice put on didn’t entirely hide the mischievous twinkle in her eye. She liked Mary. She liked all of her fellow order members, but there was a special kinship with Mary. For all that they came from very different backgrounds, Mary, a muggleborn from a loving home, and Alice, a pureblood from a family that never really wanted her, had very similar personalities. And senses of humor, that part was especially important. “Mary, my love, my eyes are always open.”

As Alice followed Mary into the back of the shop, her mind skipped right past the rows of potioneering paraphernalia, which shielded no one from view and held no surprises, and straight to the door at the other end of the room. That was new, Alice was quite sure even before Mary pointed it out. She’d been in the backroom of this apothecary before, and she’d never noticed a mysterious door before, just boxes of supplies and shelves of backlogged products. 

“Okay, consider me officially intrigued.” Alice followed closely on Mary’s heels as they descended into the basement. The very large, very empty basement. Alice’s face split into a wide grin as she walked around the room. “Wow.” Alice looked over the room like she would for a case. There were no signs of furniture that had been recently moved out and the air was rather stale. Everything told her Mary was right, this room hadn’t been used for a while. Back at the base of the stairs, Alice slung an arm around Mary’s shoulder. “This is quite the find, Miss. MacDonald. I’m definitely impressed.”

Priya recognized Alice, of course, but she also understood the importance of the game they were playing and why the steps needed to be taken in the order that they were. While Priya was part of the Order, she saw herself as more of a shadow member than anything else, assisting where she could with money and the bureaucracy. And Alice was quite the opposite.

Propping her elbow on the bar, she rested her chin in her palm as she cradled her glass in her hand, idly swirling the wine around inside it with a polite smile and a knowing glitter to her dark eyes. “Touché. Your tactics seem to be working quite well,” she admitted with a low chuckle, lifting her glass to take a sip as she turned more to face her, “I seem posh, but that’s because politics don’t wash off very well. I’ll be one of the first to admit that I’m nowhere near as posh as people think I am. And dark and seedy has its benefits…less nosy folk wanting to talk business in a place like this. Just what the healer ordered.”

Shifting to set her wine glass on the countertop, careful to keep it in her line of sight, the black haired woman reached her now free hand out to shake. “I’m Priya…nice to meet you,” she stated politely.

@priyarajani​

“They always do.” Alice kept her cocky smile in place, even though she knew a cheap line wasn’t why Priya was talking to her. But it served its purpose, and that’s all Alice needed from it. She didn’t like playing a part, and she certainly wasn’t the best at it in the auror department, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do it. It was a necessary skill for an auror, and even more so for an auror who was a member of a secret, illegal, vigilante organization. Alice quirked an eyebrow at Priya, still the playful flirt. “Trust me, politics wash off just fine. I’d be happy to give you a hands-on demonstration.” 

But as interest in their conversation waned, Alice dropped some of the cheer and charm. “Alice, nice to meet you.” She shook Priya’s hand firmly, not using it to pull her in for a hug like she would a friend, but neither placing a lingering kiss on the back of it like she might if she were truly flirting. Alice took a sip of her drink and nodded to Priya. “There are definitely less busy bodies in a place like this, I’ll give you that. Any business you’re particularly not interested in talking about? Just so I can make sure I avoid it.”

Andromeda knew Alice’s story, but they weren’t exactly close, they knew each other from family events of Bellatrix and Rodolphus’ engagement, and from the events the pureblood liked to parade in. “You keep calling me Black, not Andromeda.” she pointed, not really minding the case, but she understood the sentiment. “You are not like them, even if you share the name, none of us are like our family members.” she shrugged, slowly getting up from the floor, hoping that her stomach would behave. 

“I haven’t, but she might notice soon I’m not exactly healthy.” Andromeda wanted to become a healer, and she was helping out at the Hospital Wing during her free periods, but if the kept like this she wouldn’t be able to go there.

Grabbing her back she took out a few potions she had in case of feeling sick or needing to help someone, and she grabbed one for the nausea, hoping she would keep it down this time. She made a face at the taste and then shook her head. “Too many eyes on me for me to have those types of parties.” If it wasn’t Narcissa it would be her future betrothed, but everyone wanted to see Andromeda fall from grace, to stumble, and she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. “Can’t remember the last time I had any kind of party.” she admitted, the only thing she had allowed herself to be selfish with was Ted. “I also don’t think it was something the Elves did or everyone else would be sick as well, not just me.”

@medasgalaxy​

“Yeah, I should stop doing that.” Most of her teachers and classmates wouldn’t believe it, but Alice actually had no problem admitting when she was wrong. The problem was when she’d done something right, but everyone else thought it was wrong. Then she refused to cave to what everyone else thought, and she looked like a stubborn asshole. Alice was definitely stubborn, but she wasn’t an asshole. 

When Andromeda began talking about their families, Alice tensed instinctively. In her experience, conversations with Slytherins about family were usually also about duty, and legacy, and a whole lot of other things Alice didn’t like talking about. But when Andromeda finished, Alice just cocked her head curiously, watching the other brunette. True, Andromeda was one of the good ones, not nearly as mean and stuck up as her sisters, but she still toed the family line. Alice wanted to ask how Andromeda thought she wasn’t like her family, but she’d already asked quite a few prying questions today. So she just shrugged. “Some are more than others. My brothers are certainly both chips off the old block.”

Alice frowned when Andromeda pulled potions out of her bag. She didn’t like the idea that this was something the other girl was prepared for, and usually people didn’t carry around potions they didn’t need. At the very least, they weighed down a bag like nobody’s business. “How long has this been going on?” Alice tried to ask the question casually, but she could hear the worry in her own voice, and she had a feeling if she’d been looking in a mirror she’d be able to see it on her face, too.

Alice had been getting ready all morning. Really, she’d been getting ready far longer than that, but that had been for the mission, and this was more for the people coming to her house bit. Alice would never be a hostess like her mother, she didn’t want to be, but in an odd way what Astraea Lestrange had taught her still shone through. She tried to tidy before people came over, and she liked to have food out for people to snack on. Today, she’d also pulled her little dining table into the center of the living room and opened the leaves so she could spread out the Gringotts floor plans on it. She also had some scotch, in case Sirius wanted a chaser after the polyjuice. Alice knew she would. She’d also had to shoo Frank out. Even though he knew about the mission, and had been helping her prepare by working on her Rodolphus walk and controlling her fidgeting, she wasn’t sure he was technically supposed to know. Once everything was ready, Alice had nothing left to do but sit and pet Cinnamon and munch on biscuits while she waited.