si vous ne trouvez pas de chemin, faites-en un

—

Alecto had barely drunk half of her wine, and she was already not ready for how she was going to feel after. She already had a headache, and she knew his was going to make it worse. But she honestly didn’t care. She already felt awful, so she really didn’t think it could get worse. She was just hoping that Andra wasn’t just going to walk out. She adored her friend. Andra was like a sister to her, and she really didn’t know what she would do if she lost her.

“I’d never tell anyone….” Andra had to trust her. Alecto had kept a relationship a secret for the entire time he had been in it, and after too. So, she really did get keeping secrets. She knew how dangerous it was for her friend, and she really didn’t want to the reason why she got hurt. If that meant keeping things a secret, then she could do that. She would do anything for her. 

She sighed, closing her eyes a she just waited for Andra to speak. The fact that her friend hadn’t gotten up and left had to be a good sign right. “You knew?” She asked, confused. But then nodded at her next words. That made sense. She wasn’t really surprised that Sebastian had told her. “Not a surprise….” She murmured, watching her friend. Andra could be scary at times, and Alecto wondered how much she intended that to be the case. But right now, she knew it would be. She wasn’t shocked by it either. Honestly, Alecto probably wouldn’t have hurt Sebastian if she had known what he had meant to Andra. If only her friend has trusted her enough to tell her soon. “I’d never had hurt him if I’d known what he meant to you Andra….” She didn’t know if her friend would believe her, but it was the true. “And…. it won’t happen again. I promise. I don’t want to lose you….. Losing you, would be worse than Caius…. and I’m not going through that ever again.”

~

It was a hard position that Andra had been put in. She loved Sebastien, had for years and despite her best efforts she couldn’t erase those feelings. She had certainly tried over the years but Sebastien always found himself sneaking back into her thoughts and into her heart. But she also loved Alecto, the younger witch had become family to her and she wasn’t sure that she was ready to lose that. Things were already hard with Evan, could she also afford to lose her friendship with Alecto too? She didn’t know.

“I know that you wouldn’t,” she admitted after a moment. Not just because she knew that Andra would make sure that she regretted it, but because she trusted Alecto. She had never given her a reason to doubt her trust, and she knew that now wasn’t the time to start. Andra didn’t want to think of what the Dark Lord would think if he knew of her love for Sebastien, and she didn’t want to put him in more danger than he already was simply for who his mother was. 

“Of course I knew Alecto,” she stated with a sigh, running a stressed hand through her hair. Perhaps things were partly her fault, she hadn’t trusted Alecto with her relationship with Sebastien. She had wanted to tell her a million times, and she had on many occasions but she had always held it back, wanting to protect her heart. “I was with Sebastien in the hospital the moment that I found out that he was there.” Andra didn’t feel guilty for what she had said, she wanted Alecto to know just how serious she was about this. This was her only chance, if she found out she had done something to Sebastien again, things would be over. “That night was chaos,” Andra finally said, glancing up at Alecto. “I understand that. Just don’t do it again. I meant what I said.” Andra nodded her head once. “I don’t want to lose you either, Alecto. I don’t want to be the cause of more hurt in your life. But I trust you understand that I will do whatever I need to to protect Sebastien. Things aren’t safe for people like him anymore.”

~

He shrugged helplessly and turned away from her for a moment, pulling his lips to one side. “I should have been able to protect myself. But I would have much appreciated your help. I felt so…vulnerable.” He sighed and turned back to her, bringing a hand up to her face and letting his forehead touch hers again as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. He had no idea the conflict that would have been caused if she had been by his side, in a way it was better that she was spared the turmoil. 

He chuckled slowly into the kiss, returning it nonetheless, his other hand moving to run through her soft hair as his eyes closed. He missed being all loved up like this. He thought to himself that he should get injured more often, get a rickety broom or something. “I am so relieved. I know your family does not care for me but you care for them a great deal, so I hoped they would stay safe too. I did not see your brother, either,” he said softly, “I suspect he is okay?” To think he was worried, even just slightly, about the man who attacked him, was embarrassing to say the least. But he had no idea. He was surprised by the next kiss, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in closer as he kissed her back. He pulled back after a moment, grinning. “You know, the nurse could come back at any moment. We are going to make her ill like this. But…I do not really care.”

~

It was going to be difficult to pretend that she had no idea what had been happening that night, Sebastien knew her so well. But she hoped that she could keep him in the dark of everything that she had done. “I know,” she said soothingly. “But you did the best that you could and you’re going to be okay. That is truly what matters.” Alexandra smiled at him and rested her head against his. If she had seen Sebastien being attacked would she have been able to stop it? And the thought that it was Evan that had been behind that mask made her sick. What if they had ended up fighting? She didn’t want to hurt Evan no matter how angry she was, and she didn’t think he would ever forgive her if she turned her wand on him.

Sebastien’s words were a reminder of what she had always loved about him. He was so innocent, so different than the people that she surrounded herself with. He had no idea that her brother had been the one to attack him, but he knew that Evan had never approved and he was asking after him. “They’re all fine, I believe,” she said softly, offering him a small smile. Did anybody notice that the Black’s and Rosier’s were not seen when the fighting broke out? She hoped not. “Evan’s fine,” she said, a hard edge to her voice. She wasn’t sure when she was going to let go of the fury in her stomach when she thought of her brother. “Don’t worry about my family, they can all handle themselves perfectly fine. Let’s not talk about them. I just want to be here with you,” she said, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently. She smiled against his lips and laughed when he pulled away, shaking her head. “I don’t care either. She’ll just have to get used to it or leave.” She bit down on her lip and looked up at him. “Did they say how long you need to stay here?”

.

Bella had enjoyed working her way up to the top of the ranks, forever grateful that her father and aunt had the connections that allowed her to befriend Tom earlier on in his crusade. But inviting the rest of her family into the mix was mostly done for image, to show that the Black family and those closest to them, were all in agreement for how the world should be. Up until now she had prided herself on being able to be seen as one of the most loyal, but the more followers they gathered and the more extravagent they got with thier methods, the brunette found herself getting a bit possessive of the dark power. She enjoyed her high position, she enjoyed being on such friendly terms with their leader, she enjoyed knowing every little detail that went on, but now that Alexandra and Regulus had shown their strenth and succeeded, she found herself falling into the insecurity of being outshined.

The fact that Alexandra was so prideful about the mission, talking up the success even more than Bella had wanted to, only grew at her irritation. Though she was in the presence of family so she was doing her best to show her pleasure in the matter instead. “I am,” She lied smoothly, taking a sip of her drink in order to distract herself from letting anything else slip. “I doubt your success will not go unrewarded.” It was more of a politican stance she took now, better to keep it civil than show the world there was more problems in their family. Although out of everything her cousin had spoken about, hearing that she sent Potter to the hospital was the most joyous thing, “How delightful.” She spoke, setting her glass down as things took a turn for something she was most interesting in talking about. “I’m shocked word has not gotten to you yet, but I happened to have sent Alastor Moody { @alastxrmoody​ } to St. Mungo’s as well. Though it is with great pleasure that I can say he’s missing a left leg now curtesy of yours truly,” Bella smirked, there was the whole ordeal with using an Unforgivable on Marlene and almost killing Camille but that was unsuccessful, so no need to speak on that matter for now.

~

Andra found herself believing in the mission more and more every day, but she still had her hesitations. If Evan had never fallen under Bellatrix and the Dark Lord’s spell would she be standing among the ranks? She didn’t think so. She would have been content to watch from the sidelines. But fate had brought her here and she couldn’t deny that she liked the way that it felt to be powerful, to know that she was doing something that helped their cause. The only thing that held her back was Sebastien. She knew that nobody would understand their relationship, that nobody would support it. And that was fine before he was put in danger. She wanted to keep him out of the line of fire but she wasn’t sure how she could do that. Would her love for him put a target on his back more than it already had? Evan was just looking for an excuse to take him down and Andra had no idea how to stop it. It wasn’t often that she felt helpless, but when it came to Sebastien she found herself feeling that way more and more. 

Was Bellatrix actually pleased? It was hard to read her cousin and Andra would never pretend that they had ever been close, especially not close enough to read her. There was certainly a pettiness that she had been picked to complete the mission over her cousin, that she had proved that she could handle herself just as well as the rest of them. Andra nodded her head in recognition and took a sip from her own drink. She wasn’t seeking Bellatrix’s approval the way that she had been when she told Evan, and quite honestly the petty part of her would rather it annoy her cousin than make her happy. But that was just her being petty. They were on the same side, and she would never pretend that she had the rank that her cousin had. She wasn’t sure if she would ever want it. “I don’t need a reward I’m just happy that I was able to help,” Andra said with a shrug of her shoulders. Let the Dark Lord reward her however he saw fit. Andra shifted in her seat when Bellatrix revealed what she had been up to. She raised her glass in acknowledgement of what Bellatrix had done before she took another drink from it. “That’s impressive,” she said grudgingly. It would be dumb to deny that Alastor Moody wasn’t a big target. But the thought also turned her stomach. “He’s going to be out of commission for a while I imagine.” She wasn’t sure there would be any reversing such damage. “Good job.” She paused. “Have you spoken to Evan?” She asked, keeping her voice neutral. 

—-

Alecto looked at her friend, a confused look on her face as she watched Alexandra. The girl knew about secrets relationships? She didn’t know that. But that made sense. It as a secret relationship after all. It was the whole point. At least though Alecto though, this would mean that her friend understood. Alecto knew there was a reason why she felt like she could open up to Andra. The girl was her best friend after all.

“Really?” She murmured, although she probably didn’t need too. The confusion was written all of her face. The moment Andra spoke, said who it had been, Alecto was full of dread. Sebastian. That was the person she’d attacked, in joint forces with that masked person. She hadn’t really even hesitated in hurting him, even if she had let the masked person do most of the damage. She felt bad, mostly because she’d hurt someone her friend clearly felt something for. “He….. “ He was half breed. That made sense for why Evan didn’t like him. “I know what Evan is like.” She murmured with a nod. He was one of her good friends too. If anything the pair were like partners in crime. She really was as close to Evan as she was Alexandra. The red head reached for her friends hand, squeezing gently. “I won’t judge you either…. you know that…. “ Even if she would hurt the man her friend hurt. That was something she was feeling like she probably should admit.

“I know….. “ And, as much as she wanted to curl in a ball, and forget the world even existed. She knew that she couldn’t. She knew that Amelia wouldn’t want her to do that. Amelia would want her to be brave. But, that was why she knew she had to admit her wrong doing. “Andra….. I need to tell you something….” She murmured, biting on her lip as she looked at him. “And….. you’re going to hate me.” And that would probably be the turning point for when her friend juddged her. “I’m….. I’m…. part of the reason why Sebastian got hurt.”

~

Opening up about Sebastien felt good. She still felt lost and confused when it came to him, she knew that she loved him and the thought of losing him killed her. But was she brave enough to be with him in public? She wasn’t sure. Nothing had changed for them since they broke up. She was still the same person, if anything she was deeper in Pure-blood culture than she had been in Paris. Sebastien deserved better. That was what she told herself every time she thought about him. But he wanted her, he didn’t want better. And she selfishly liked that he wanted her too. 

“I know that you won’t judge me, that’s why I told you. It’s really...not a secret to my friends in France and to the people I went to school with. But here...my cousins don’t know about him, my Aunt and Uncle don’t either. And I need it to stay that way. I hope that you understand that this doesn’t go beyond this room,” Andra told her. She needed to protect Sebastien. Evan had already gone after him, she loathed to think about what Bellatrix might do to him, or the Dark Lord. He was a weakness to her, she knew that. Love was weakness. But Andra couldn’t help who she loved. 

Andra really didn’t want to have this conversation. She supposed she appreciated that Alecto was being honest with her, considering that Andra already knew what had happened. She knew more than Alecto knew, knew that it had been Evan to get Alecto involved. “I know,” Andra said after a long silence between them. She glanced up and met Alecto’s gaze. “Sebastien told me everything that happened that night.” Alexandra sighed. Alecto had no idea of what Andra knew, that she had been behind a mask too that night. “I’m going to say it once, understand me? If I ever find out that you went after Sebastien again, we’re done, Alecto. Done. You’re one of my best friends, but he’s the man that I’ve love and I won’t let anybody hurt him again,” Andra said, her voice soft, never looking away from Alecto. “That’s not a threat, it’s a promise. I love you, Alecto but I won’t let anything happen to him. He’s innocent in all of this.”

He chuckled softly and caressed her cheek, stroking it with his thumb as he looked into her eyes with an amused look in his own. “Of course I am okay, do not worry now. It was only my leg, thankfully, though I had to dodge a few more vicious attacks.” He grimaced, remembering the spell that whizzed past him and caused a nearby planter to explode into bits. Looking back up into her eyes, he put his forehead against her own and murmured. “All I could think about was getting back to you. And now, here you are. Can you blame me for thinking it’s a dream?” 

Was his being injured all that was needed for her to come give him sweet kisses? If he’d known that, he’d have thrown himself in the face of danger a long time ago. He shook his head suddenly, an expression of concern mixed with anger crossing his face. “I did not see you. You are okay now, but were you hurt? I cannot believe I didn’t think to ask as soon as I saw you, but the kiss, and your face-they distracted me.” He grinned at her, gently caressing the back of her head in his hand and kissing her again. And, once more for good measure. Maybe it was overkill, but it had been so long since he’d had the luxury of feeling her lips on his own, aside from their stolen kiss in the garden when he’d told her he still loved her. 

~

Andra was just so relieved to see Sebastien in one piece, despite her brother’s best efforts. She truly didn’t know what she would have done if Evan had more seriously injured Sebastien. He was the reason that she had broken things off with Bastien, hoping that it would protect him. But what was the point if Evan still went after him? “Only your leg,” she repeated, letting out a shaky laugh. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his, not caring if someone came in and saw them like this. She felt like she had nearly lost him, and now she had no idea how to proceed. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you,” she said. The thought made her sick, though, if she had stepped in to protect Sebastien she would have been fighting Evan. That thought made her ill. “I can’t blame you for anything.”

She closed her eyes as she kissed him again. She was just so relieved that he was okay, she didn’t care about anything else. “Please, don’t worry about me. I was fine,” She promised him. “My Aunt and I locked ourselves in one of the rooms until the fighting was over. I promise that I am completely unharmed,” she promised. It felt wrong, lying to him, but he could never know the truth. He would never understand. “I was more worried about you, you don’t need to apologize,” she promised him. Andra kissed him again, closing her eyes. She had forgotten how easy things were with Sebastien, how happy she was when she got to be near him. She missed him, missed the way that she felt when she was near him. She had no idea what the future was going to bring, but she didn’t think about that, she just wanted to be in this moment with him. 

Rabastan pulled the darkly stained chair back, causing a screech that would send chills up someones back. Sitting elegantly, he leant back and tapped his fingers on the table. “Yeah well, it wasn’t too great.” his mind flicking between the mental images of the nights events like one would look through a picture album. “It could have gone a lot better, not to mention I was unwillingly removed from the fight quite early –” he trailed off, not wanting to reveal too much of himself and the later events that had taken place. His let out a heavy sigh, he’d rather shove the thoughts done and never think of them again. “Yes I did. I’d say that over-all, despite individual failures like my own, the night was a success.” Rabastan was glad that the Dark Lord finally prevailed, it was about time that they had something to celebrate. “Were you hurt at all?” || @alexandra-rosier

~

Andra fought the urge to wince as he made the chair screech, glancing around the room as patrons turned their heads towards them. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Andra said, leaning back in her chair. “Unwillingly removed from the fight?” She repeated, raising an eyebrow and looking at him curiously. “That sounds rather unfortunate. But I’m sure there will be a next time.” Andra preferred to stay in the shadows when fighting broke out, she didn’t want to risk exposure. She thought that Rabastan didn’t have those same thoughts, looking at him and his obvious disappointment in being taken out of the fight. “I would agree with you,” she said. “I’m sure that the Dark Lord is rather pleased with how the night went.” Andra shook her head. “No I’m fine,” she said, waving his question off. 

.

It was good to have family alongside them at the ball, knowing that Regulus and Evan and Alexandra had been fighting with her behind their masks, had been good. Showed a more unified front that things were strong for their family. But that was the public image to hold, to Bella though, she was still a bit more bothered by her and Evan’s exclusion to the entire evening. It was only the events of their individual fighting that she truly saw their purpose for the night, Evan injuring Frank Longbottom like that while the witch had gone after Dumbledore’s second in command man. Two high Order members out of the way, they were paved the perfect path for the Dark Lord now. 

But then there was Regulus and Alexandra who, while showcasing the family talent, were unintentionally outshining the rest of them. And that was something Bella could not sit with right now. So when her cousin sat across from her mentioned her little success mission, the older witch did her best to hold back any snarky remarks. “Yes, I did,” She spoke through slightly gritted teeth, “It is a great success in the Dark Lord’s name for sure.” It was better to remember that this was all for the cause and for the Dark Lord than to acknowledge that despite her position, she still was just a follower to the great wizard. “I don’t suppose with that little mission of yours that you found yourself out of commission when the real fighting started? Or did you have your fun with the mudbloods and blood traitors as well?”

~

When Alexandra had pledged her allegiance to the Dark Lord in an attempt to get closer to her brother, she hadn’t known where things would take them. She hadn’t expected to like the power that she got from it. She still felt some guilt in her stomach for the things that she had done, and she wasn’t sure that she would ever be able to squash those feelings entirely, but she could live with them. She had liked the praise that Evan had given her when he found out what she had done, before the fury at what he had done to Sebastien had settled. It felt good to be on the winning side, with the prophecy and the fighting at the ball, it seemed that they had the upper hand now. 

It was certainly petty, but Andra had been waiting to throw it in her older cousin’s face that the Dark Lord had chosen her and Regulus for the mission over Bellatrix. She would never be so brazen to admit to throwing it in her face, but she had perfected the subtly of flaunting her achievements in people’s faces at Beauxbatons. “It was,” she said in agreement, a smile on her lips. “I was honored that he chose me for the mission. Regulus held himself admirably, you should be proud of him.” Regulus still had plenty of learning to do, but Andra thought that he had a good future. “I unfortunately missed out on a lot of the fighting, but I do believe that I put a certain Potter in St. Mungo’s,” Andra said. “And what about you?” 

—

Alecto sighed, pushing her hair out of her face as she tried to pull herself together. She rarely cried, and it embarrassed her to be seen like this. At least it was only in front of Andra. She trusted this girl more than she trusted most people. She knew that Andra wouldn’t judge her, or go blabbing to other people. It was why she had allowed herself to break down in front of her. She knew she was safe here, and that was important. 

She’d not broken down like this before, even when she’d split up with Caius. But this was different. Caius wasn’t dead, and if she was honest she spent as much time flirting with him as she had before. She knew she’d still be devastated if he died. But it was different. She bit her lip, brushing away her tears as she looked at her friend. “She was the first serious relationship I was in….” The girl explained with a shrug. She had really cared about Amelia. It took a lot for Alecto to truly let someone into her heart. She might not have wanted to admit it, but Amelia had still had a place in her heart. She supposed this was what was making it worse. She couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t like she could show up at the funeral. Nobody from the bones family would want her there. “It just sucks…. that I haven’t really got anyone to talk to this about? Nobody…. okay…. maybe you, but nobody else really understands…. nor gets it. She’s a blood traitor to all of them….” 

“A rough hand is an understatement….” Alecto laughed, though it was hollow. She really had, but she would get through it. “But…. I’ve refused to feel sad, and shit about the whole Caius situation…. and I’ll do the same with this” She might be feeling awful now, but she wasn’t going to let it rule her life. She was going to taken her shit feelings, and channel them into something better. Alecto was determined to seek revenge for both Amelia, and for her friends getting hurt. She wouldn’t let people she loved get hurt again. 

~

Her relationship with Sebastien was different and he had thankfully made it through the ball okay, but Andra could understand what Alecto was saying. She understood not being able to grieve a relationship in public. It had killed her to break up with Sebastien, but she had gone on knowing that he was still alive, that he could go on and have a happy relationship with someone that could cherish him in public the way that she hadn’t been able to. Alecto wasn’t going to get that now that Amelia was gone. 

She nodded her head slightly, her mind going back to Sebastien, even as Alecto spoke. “I understand secret relationships more than you think I do,” Andra whispered after a long silence. Her eyes met Alecto’s, and her heart beat faster as she hesitated. Her relationship with Sebastien had been known to the French Purebloods, but it hadn’t been a big deal. The girls that she had gone to Beauxbatons with hadn’t cared, they had been the golden couple. But English politics were significantly different than France. “I dated Sebastien Fontaine all throughout my years at Beauxbatons,” she finally said. “He’s part Veela, but that never mattered to me. I love the man that he is. But after my father died and Evan...” she sighed and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “Evan was Evan. I broke it off with him sometime after our graduation from Beauxbatons. I knew that people could never understand. My Aunt and Uncle would never understand.” She looked down at a thread on the duvet and toyed with it gently. “I’m telling you this because I want you to know that I understand. That I'm here for you and I won’t judge.”

“Grief is hard. Don’t let it consume you, Alecto.” She had seen what grief could do to a person. She saw what it had done to Evan and how it had transformed him into someone that she didn’t always recognize these days. Andra knew what grief had done to her mother. She didn’t want that to happen to Alecto. 

Alecto was feeling better. From the physical injuries from the ball anyway. When she would feel emotionally better was anyone’s guess. She’d never faced anything like this before. At least when she and Caius had broken up she’d been able to speak to her friends about it. But, something like this was hard. She didn’t know if people would understand. And even if they did she knew they’d judge her for loving someone like Amelia. It might have been a while since they had split up but she still had some sort of feelings for the other. She knew that was why she feeling so awful now. They hadn’t even been on good terms, and now they never would be.

“Yeah. I’m fine. A little but it could be worse. Cami….was really bad.” Alecto murmured, still feeling bad that her other best friend had gotten badly hurt only because she was trying to protect her. She knew Cami would make Alecto pay for that for a while. Not that it would ease her guilt at all. Alecto shrugged at her friend. “I’m talking aren’t I?” Technically she was. Words were coming out of her mouth. She hadn’t decided if she was really going to talk to her yet. Of course trusted Andra, but saying some of these words out loud meant admitting that it was true. And she didn’t know how fully ready she was for that yet. 

Alecto practically chugged at the wine, even though she knew she shouldn’t. And then Andra spoke, and Alecto was crying. Alecto could clearly remember the last time she’d cried in front of Andra, and that was when she’d broken up with Caius. It felt like her heart was breaking all over again, and she still hadn’t managed to put it back together yet. “For like three years….. before Caius. We split up when I was 21…..” Amelia had been her first big love, and that was something that was hard to get over. “I don’t know…..” She murmured, trying to hold back a sob. “I shouldn’t even feel this shit….. she had completely different beliefs to me….. I wouldn’t even admit that I loved her….. and now she’s gone….” A sob wracked through her body, and she brought the wine back to her lips, taking a long gulp. “I thought losing Caius hurt….. but this on top…..” She cut off, no even being able to describe. She might have survived losing Caius, but with Amelia on top, Alecto was struggling. 

~

Andra still hadn’t come to terms with how she wanted to deal with the fact that Alecto had also taken part in hurting Sebastien. She blamed Evan more, he had been the ringleader and had done it to hurt Sebastien. She had no idea why Alecto had done what she had done. But today wasn’t the day to deal with that bit of information. Clearly Alecto was going through something and as much as it hurt Andra to know what had happened, it wasn’t the right time to confront her. At least Evan had been masked so she didn’t have to answer difficult questions when it came to Sebastien. She could deal with what Evan had done privately. 

She nodded her head, lips pressed in a line. “I’m glad that you weren’t too injured.” She was glad that Sebastien’s injuries had been easily healed and that he hadn’t faced horrific harm. Otherwise she didn’t think she would be sitting here. “I know,” she said with a sigh. “She’s going to be okay, though, right?” Andra asked. The summer solstice ball had caused more problems for her than it was worth. If they had only retrieved the prophecy and allowed the night to go on as it should have, none of them would be in this situation. “Barely,” Andra retorted. 

It was startling to see Alecto crying like that. She didn’t think that she had ever seen her friend cry so hard, not even in the aftermath of Caius. Was she a bad friend for not knowing about Alecto’s history with Amelia? She supposed not. She had been living in France still when it had all gone down. And Alecto didn’t know the truth of Andra’s relationship with Sebastien, she had kept that to herself because it was easier. And for that she could understand why Alecto hadn’t said something. “It sounds like you really cared for her,” Andra said softly. “It’s not wrong to grieve when someone dies, even if it had been years since you broke up.” Andra knew that she would be devastated if Sebastien died. Despite it all, it was easier to know that he would out there living his life even if it wasn’t with her. “You’ve been dealt a rough hand right now but you will find your way through this.” Andra took a sip of her wine, not knowing what to say. There was truly nothing that she could say to make it better. She couldn’t wave a wand and bring Amelia back and she knew that the platitudes that people gave grieving families was all bullshit. “You need to let yourself feel this. If you bottle this pain up it will bring you to a dark place.” She thought of her brother and all of his darkness. “When my dad died it helped me to talk about good memories with him.”

“Nasty diffindo, nothing to turn your head about.” Evan reassured, patting her shoulder as he let her walk in his residency. “Diggory did deserve it, being a friend of the mudbloods.” He mocked, closing the door behind her.  Evan nodded at that, a pleased of his sister’s accomplishment, but mostly pleased that the Dark Lord will be content with the news. “Turns out Snape is an asset… I didn’t expect any less of you or Regulus though. He’ll make a fine fighter after a few training sessions.” Slightly pausing from his walk to the living room, he turned to face her yet again. “Has Bellatrix told you anything further? I haven’t had the chance to see her yet.”

“Oh. I’m glad that it’s nothing serious,” she said. She knew that Evan wasn’t the hugging type, but the pat on her shoulder felt awkward and made her wish for the time when things were simpler. “True,” she said in agreement as he shut the door behind her. “It seems like tonight was a success for us.”

Alexandra wasn’t sure what she had been expecting from Evan, but she had hoped for more of an outward reaction from him. “True. I mean he did turn into a badger, I had to return him back to normal,” she explained. “Regulus did just fine, I think that he’ll be stronger with time.” He was still young. She followed him towards the living room and she held back the urge to roll her eyes at the mention of Bellatrix. “No,” she said simply. “I haven’t seen her all night. I’m sure she’s just fine. The prophecy is in a safe place until the Dark Lord can get it. We took out that Auror, Alice Yen.”

TW: Amelia’s death.

As she opened the door Alecto considered that maybe she should have made a little effort, and made herself more presentable. But then this was Andra, she knew she wouldn’t judge her. Or well, not in that way others would anyway. Maybe Andra would judge her for being a total idiot, but other than that she wasn’t too concerned. But hey! She had made her bed today. So that was an improvement from yesterday. She shook her head, shutting her bedroom door, and then locking it with her wand. She didn’t need her more walking in.

“I’d blame St Mungos as an excuse, but I was only there one night” She murmured, moving around her friend and sitting back down on her bed, after fluffing the pillows that she’d been leaning against up. She sighed, looking between her friend and the wine. “If you don’t open it you know I’ll just get up and do it myself…..” Alecto pointed out, a hint of a little smirk on her lips. She was giving Andra the opportunity to open it before she did it hserself. Alecto sighed, closing her eyes for a second. She was tempted to make up an excuse, but then, she thought about it a litte bit more. Maybe, opening up to Andra would help. She had to talk to someone after all. 

Opening her eyes, the girl bit on her lip, before looking away from her friend. She was already having to fight back tears and she hadn’t even spoken again. She wiped at her eyes, hoping to stop the tears. “My ex died.”

Andra hadn’t expected Alecto to be in such a state. Of course she had seen plenty of people walking around like they had been in a daze in the days since the summer solstice, but Alecto had always seemed to enjoy the chaos. It was a bit disconcerting to see her so clearly bothered and she couldn’t quite identify what it was that had Alecto looking like this. It was rather strange, really, and Andra was wondering if she should have come to see her sooner, or if she should have tried to force her to come out of her bedroom. 

“Are you feeling better?” She asked. She watched Alecto as she went back over to her bed. Andra rolled her eyes. “Are you going to talk to me?” She challenged back but she poured out two glasses of wine regardless. She was increasingly beginning to wonder if she should get some wine into Alecto to try to get her to open up. Andra was beginning to grow a bit worried for her friend, she didn’t think that she had ever seen her like this, even after the breakup of her and Caius. Andra sighed and walked over to the bed, perching herself on the edge, she handed her the glass of wine that she had poured for her. 

“What’s going on, Alecto?” She asked softly as Alecto began to unravel. ‘My ex died’. Confusion flashed through her eyes as she tried to process what Alecto had just said. The only person that she knew who had died recently was Amelia Bones. “Oh,” she said, understanding flooding her face. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t aware that you two had dated.” Andra didn’t want to give her the platitudes that people always gave after someone died, she knew that it was useless. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Despite her own success and the success of the rest of the night, Bella still found she couldn’t shake her feelings about being left out of the plan. Sure she could easily say that she was not included in the group that retreived the prophecy because the Dark Lord needed her to raise the most chaos at the ball, which even if it wasn’t the case she most definitely did. But the witch wasn’t even sure if that was what happened. So she had found herself in the White Wyvern as usual, taking the time to speak with some of the other Death Eaters that frequented here in hopes to question them on their night or even if they had any ideas about the rest of these Order members. Anything to distract her from her thoughts. Glancing up as she heard another patron enter the bar, she was a bit surprised to see her cousin. And suddenly the thoughts came back that although Regulus was on the retrieval team, so was Alexandra.

“Alexandra,” Bella spoke in greeting, biting her tongue to hold back any negative thoughts. She didn’t need to scare off another family member because she wasn’t entirely proud of their actions like she had with Regulus at the ball. “I’m sure it would’ve been a wonderful time but I have been a bit busy. Although yes, things have been well for me,” She replied, taking a sip of the wine in front of her. “And yourself? Thing have been good for you following the ball?”

Alexandra wished that she hadn’t seen her cousin. Bellatrix always brought up reminders of Evan and Andra didn’t want to think of her brother. She hadn’t talked to him since the early hours of the morning after the ball, after he had told her what he had done to Sebastien. She had no way of knowing if Evan had told Bellatrix about their fight, but she certainly hoped that he hadn’t. She thought that maybe he wouldn’t say anything because he saw her feelings for Sebastien as something shameful. She knew that she would have to talk to Evan again eventually but she wanted to give them time to calm down, although she wasn’t entirely sure how she would move past this. She could only hope that their fight wouldn’t send Evan towards Bellatrix even more than he already was. She didn’t think that she could handle losing Evan even more to their cousin. 

She forced those feelings down, not wanting Bellatrix to have any clue what she was thinking about. “Oh yes, I’m sure that you have been,” she said. “I’m glad to hear it, though.” Alexandra nodded her head. “I’ve been well. I trust that you heard about our victory the other night?” she mused, referring to them winning back the prophecy. She had been surprised that Bellatrix had nothing to do with that, but she had been glad for it regardless. 

Following the Summer Solstice Ball, Evan had apparated back home, to tend onto his wound. Though he’d managed to knock out both Frank Longbottom and Sebastien Fontaine, and on the side temporarily throwing spells at Alastor Moody, he himself had received a hard hit to the left arm and had to go home to treat it. It was the middle of the night by now, and Evan couldn’t go buy ingredients for a healing potion. Opening to door to reveal his sister, he winced slightly as she pressed her arms around his hidden wound. As she released him, he shrugged, showing her the bandage. “Knocked down a few people, turned Diggory in a chicken at one point. You?”

Andra noticed the way that he winced and she pulled away a moment later, a look of concern on her face as he showed her his bandaged arm. ‘What happened there?” She questioned him. “A chicken, huh?” She asked with a laugh, shaking her head. It seemed that being turned into animals was a common theme of the night. 

“Me?” She asked. Andra had been waiting for this moment, for when she would be able to tell her brother what she had done for the Dark Lord. “I missed out on most of the fighting but I did something far more important. Regulus, Severus, and I got the prophecy back for the Dark Lord,” Andra told him. She hadn’t let the adrenaline and thrill of what they had managed to do really sink in until now. Somehow telling Evan what they had managed to make it more real. “We took out the guards and hid it somewhere safe for now.”

Alecto should have told her mother that she hadn’t wanted to see anyone. But then, she figured that her moter would have just let someone in to spite her. She didn’t like moping around, but she just felt so sad. She’d tried to push through, and just distract herself from what had happened. It had worked for a while. But then she’d just woken up, and still felt sad. It wasn’t working. She knew the only way that she would really get over it would be to talk to someone about Amelia’s death. But she didnt’ know who, and feared those closest to her would only judge her, rather than offer the comfort that she so desperately needed.

She sighed, ignoring her best friend for as long as she could, before she figured that she wasn’t going to go away. The girl looked a state, in her pyjamas, with her red hair pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head. She did get up eventually, and opened the door a little. “And I thought it was only guys that tried to get me drunk……” She murmured, though it lacked most of her usual sassiness.

Andra raised an eyebrow when the door finally opened. She took in the state of her friend and was honestly a little bit shocked to see her looking so worn out. It had been several days since the ball and Andra didn’t think that Alecto had been particularly hurt so she didn’t think that that was what was going on. And as far as she knew, she hadn’t seen Caius in a while, so she wasn’t sure what it was that would cause her friend to look so rough. 

She rolled her eyes and easily pushed past her friend and entered into her bedroom. “Yeah, well best friends do that too when they don’t hear from them in days,” she said pointedly. Andra did a quick once over of Alecto’s bedroom, it didn’t look too terribly messy, so there was hope that she could get through to Alecto. She placed the bottle of wine on the dresser and glanced back at her friend. “What’s going on?” She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. She wasn’t going to crack open the wine until her friend opened up to her. “And don’t say nothing.” She gestured to her friend. “That look you have going on doesn’t say nothing.” 

He’d had a few visitors, but most of his acquaintances and friends here were coworkers and clients. They were all either busy or stressed after the events of last night, and he couldn’t blame them. He’d been assigned plenty of rest while recovering as the magic healed him and afterwards. This was what he was doing when a certain raven haired beauty came to visit him. Unbeknownst to him, her brother had been his attacker on that fateful night. Even if he had known, though, he would never have blamed Andra. Or would he? Truth be told, he couldn’t even know himself what he would do if he found out that it was her brother who did this to him. No, he could never blame her. 

He was slumbering peacefully when she entered, Merlin knows he’d kick himself for that if he could. Any moment he missed with Andra was a moment he regretted. But, she was too sweet on him to wake him up. So there she stayed until she, herself, fell asleep, and it was his turn to gradually wake up and gaze upon her features. As her eyes fluttered open, he smiled meekly and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by her lips on his own. His hands went to her waist, a sturdy grip there as he kissed her back gently. 

“Is this a dream?” he whispered, one of his hands releasing her to float up and brush her cheek ever so gently with the back of his hand. “I am glad I am okay too. I was afraid I would not see you again, and that…I could not bear.” 

Alexandra hadn’t meant to fall asleep, she had meant to watch him and make sure that he was alright. Even though the healers had insisted that he was okay, she wasn’t sure if she could believe it and she needed to see it for herself. She knew her brother and knew that he was vicious and he hated Sebastien. That hatred had only grown after their father died and it killed her to know that her brother had gone after Sebastien. She had no idea how she was going to reconcile her feelings. If learning that Sebastien had been hurt had taught her anything, it was that she was terrified of losing him for good. It had awakened something in her that she couldn’t quite explain. She was going to have to learn how to balance her love for Evan and Sebastien. She just didn’t know how she was going to do it. 

Andra still had a lot to figure out when it came to Sebastien but she knew now that she wasn’t content to go on as she had been. She loved him. She could admit it to herself now, thanks to Evan. But she still didn’t know how to go about things with him and her family but she needed to figure it out. And she didn’t know how she could keep the part of herself a secret, the part of her that was a follower of the Dark Lord. Andra knew that Sebastien would never understand and she needed to keep him in the dark on it for his safety. And for hers as well. She didn’t trust that Sebastien wouldn’t turn her in if he knew the truth about her part in last night. 

But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was that Sebastien was okay. When they pulled away, she laughed softly. “No, it’s not a dream,” she told him. “You’re okay? You promise? The thought of losing you...” she paused. “I couldn’t take it.” 

CLOSED STARTER WITH @alexandra-rosier​

where: the white wyvern when: shortly after the solstice ball

The events that took place during the solstice ball were an absolute success for the Death Eaters. Not only had their announcement left a lasting affect on the wizarding public, but they had also obtained the prophecy despite Severus turning into a badger. However, Rabastan couldn’t help but mope around the white wyvern. He had been knocked out of the fight pretty early and spilt some vital information. He blamed himself, even though that was irrational as he was crucio’d after all. He was looking for a table to sit at, everyone filling the tavern and healing themselves. He came across an empty seat across from Alexandra Rosier. “Is this seat taken?” he asked sombrely. “Please tell me this whole thing went well for you at least?”

After her fight with Evan, she had needed somewhere to cool off before she headed to St. Mungo’s to check on Sebastien. She didn’t want to think about what Evan had done and why he had done it. She was furious with her brother and she wasn’t really sure how to deal with that, and she couldn’t go to St. Mungo’s angry like this. So she had settled on going to the white wyvern for a drink, hoping that being around others and the drink would settle her. Glancing up when she heard Rabastan, she was surprised to see that he looked rather pitiful and not exuberant like she would have thought. “Take it,” She said, gesturing towards the empty seat. Raising an eyebrow at his words, she felt a small smirk form on her lips. “Am I to infer that things didn’t go well for you, then?” She questioned. “But yes, I would say that things went rather well for me. I trust you heard that we got the prophecy back?”

Andra allowed Mrs. Carrow to bring her to Alecto’s room and she knocked on the door once and then waited for her friend to open the door to let her in. She had never come to see her at home, but she had sensed that something was off with her in the days since the ball and it concerned her. Andra knew what it was like for someone to not want to open about their problems and she wasn’t going to force Alecto to talk, but she wanted her friend to know that she was there for her, if she did want to talk. She thought that it was important to check in on the people that she cared about in the aftermath of the chaos. 

“Alecto, come on, open the door,” Andra sighed after she had waited for far too long. “I brought alcohol.”