Adairia Linwood

.

If she hadn’t have been poisoned, then Maren wouldn’t have left the Fountain unattended. If Maren hadn’t left the Fountain unattended, then maybe they would still have the prophecy. It was all leading back to Laurel and hearing that so many other Order members were injured in the fight that broke out, weighed heavily on her. “Did Dumbledore realize it was all a trap?” She found herself asking, looking down at her hands as she played with her fingers. “Or was it too late before anyone realized what had happened?” Maybe if someone realized there was a malicious intent with her going off to St. Mungo’s, someone could’ve sent people to the Fountain, there could have been someone that got there just in time right?

“Arthur and Alice were sent to protect it, but it ended as badly as the solstice ball fight.” Adairia disclosed, dropping her head in defeat. If only Maren had been there to help. She blamed herself on that one. She shouldn’t have called her here; she could of taken care of her sister alone, like when they were children and could only count of their mother, and themselves.  “The doctors said you should be discharged soon, by the way.” She tried, hoping the good news would help somewhat brighten her sister. “There might be a few faces you’d like to check in on too. Frank and Moody should still be here, and I can ask Alice to come by if you’d like.”

Selena looked down. If they were closer, or under the pretense that they were closer, this is where she should have taken one of Adairia’s hands and reassured her. But her hands remained by her side, stiffly, awkwardly. She frowned a little before smiling sadly. 

“It would have been nice to spend more time with you before tragedy struck. I didn’t think the event would separate us so quickly. But I guess we both had to keep up social obligations. I just want you to know…you weren’t an obligation.” She looks into Adairia’s eyes, furrowing her brows earnestly. She genuinely enjoyed chatting about ballet to the other woman, and she needed to stay close for her cause. A cause she was slowly losing faith in, though. 

“But…I’m just glad Laurel is alright, too. If we’d been off distracting each other she wouldn’t have had help.” She was waiting to breach the obvious subject of Adairia’s patronus appearing in the middle of the ball, wondering if the other woman might even offer an explanation first. 

“She would have gotten help either way.” Adairia simply replied, slightly crossing her arms. She wasn’t cross at Selena for abandoning her, but she wasn’t comfortable with the implied thought that she wasn’t able to balance a date and caring for family. To be fair though, she was way too exhausted to have an argument, so she changed the subject. “Are you here to see a friend or were you hurt?” There was genuine concern to her words, so many of her friends and Order colleges had been hurt. Alice, Frank, Arthur, amongst others had been hospitalised. She planned to visit them all, but with all the other Order members flooding during visiting hours, she didn’t know if she’d be let in before they were discharged.

—-

It was taking all of Emmeline’s strength to not fall apart. She couldn’t. Not with half of the aurors in the hospital. She needed to be strong for the juniors. She needed to hold herself together. It was hard, but she could do it. It was why she knew Moody counted on her so much. Emmeline was good at her job, whatever the situation, whatever the cost. She couldn’t afford to break down, not when so many people were relying on her.

“That caught us off guard” The auror murmured with a shrug. She, of course, neglected to mention the fact that Marlene and Claudette were involved in a malicious way. But that was a whole other topic. “We weren’t exactly dressed for battle, and they….. they had time to prepare. We were caught off guard, surrounded by civilians…..” She listed off, shaking her head. “It….. it could have been a lot worse.”

Adairia understood how Emmeline was feeling because she was exactly the same. She had to keep up face for her family, and the rest of the Order, many whom she started to take care of whenever they were in need. She’d let a few tears run when Maren was asleep, and her mascara still bore the slight traces of it, but she hadn’t allowed a single sob to escape. She couldn’t allow herself to. And it was hard to see Em like that. The two had started to grow close during their time in the Order, since they were both so involved and similar in age. Every time something happened she’d been so strong, and now, seeing her at the verge of tears brought up all the reality of the situation. Emmeline was trying to find excuses, she was denying the truth, but she was also a bit right. Her words struck in her chest, and she had to do her best not to break down right there with her.  “I should have let Maren stay at the pub.” She simply replied, sitting down against the wall, looking up at Emmeline with tearful eyes. “I’m so sorry.

🦚

Amos watched Adairia’s reaction with concern. Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He waiting for her to take all the information in, a little caught of guard when she asked follow up questions about those that were injured rather than asking about Amelia. He momentarily wanted to shout at her about it but thought better of it. Amelia had been a good friend for him but not everyone would have shared that same relationship.

Amos tried to rack his brain for all the information he had been told. “Arthur” naturally his mind had gone straight to his best friend “I heard Alice was injured with him too, Frank got hurt pretty bad, i heard Camille got pretty hurt.” The more he listed off the more his brain seemed to want to shut down “Moody…Moody lost his leg.” Amos looked down at the floor not wanting to meet the woman’s eyes.

@alluring-adairia​​

° Adairia’s breath stopped for a second as Amos started listing names. Alice? Frank? Moody? Those were their most skilled wizards - who were those masked figures if they were so capable of putting some of England’s best aurors in St.Mungos. The last news shocked her even more. Alastor Moody, apart from Alicia-Avery Jones and Dumbledore, was the best duelist she knew. Her eyes trailed over his face, noticing he was looking down, probably from shame or guilt. Adairia felt the same - had she not called Maren over perhaps the prophecy would have been saved.  Frowning ever so slightly and running a hand over her forehead, the blonde tried to think. ‘What now?’, she wanted to say, though the words lost themselves in her throat. These last events seemed unreal, and the woman had no idea how to behave. She wanted to say and ask everything at the same time; apologise for the prophecy but comfort those who witnessed the fight.  Taking a sharp breath, she tried to make sense of it all. Her sisters needed her to. “Are visitation open?” She simply asked, not wanting to push Amos further on the subject. She could see how pained he was; odds are he knew the girl who died. “I owe them all that much.”

TW: mention of Amelia’s death

It had been chaos during the night, that much she knew, but she had been so in and out of sleep she couldn’t completely put the pieces together. Laurel knew more people had come in as patients so something big had happened but no one had said anything to her or her sisters, at least no one had to her knowledge. But maybe they had finally been able to get some answers, like they had about her and how she hadn’t just fainted, how she was poisoned.

“A fight?” Laurel felt the words falling out of her mouth in shock, a fight would mean a lot of casualities then so that made sense but to hear that so many of the Order were here too, made her think her poisoning was only the beginning of a deeper plot. Eyes widened even more and met those of her older sister at the next admission, “Amelia Bones…is dead..?” While she may have been butting heads with the woman, she didn’t think she had deserved to die. And certainly not by being in the crossfire of a battle. Though as the shock started to wear off, only one thought remained in the blonde’s head, this was all my fault.

Adairia knew what was going on in Laurel’s head. She was probably letting all the events get to her, blaming herself for something she could never have known. If anything, Adairia was more to blame than anyone else; Maren was in charge of guarding the prophecy, and she called her here to look over their sister.  “I wasn’t there but... Many of the Order are being hospitalised. Some are in critical condition.” Adairia sighed. Maybe if she’d went back to the pub it would have played differently. 

.

Alastor shook his head again. Even if Adairia had gone back to the fountain, she had no idea where the prophecy had been kept. It only made him wonder if perhaps someone from inside the order had told the Death Eater’s. “Again, it’s not your fault Adairia. There’s no point lingering over the past. Now is the time to look after ourselves and head into the future with a strong determination. Whilst we have lost so much these past few days, we have gained so much information as well.” he smiled faintly. 

At the mention of Laurel waking up, he nodded gently. “Good. She was poisoned correct? If so we could narrow her attacker down to someone known for their poison craft.” his head had already formed a list of potential suspects, Walburga Black on the top of that list. He let out a small chuckle, “Long enough, but at least it’s still warm. You’ve come to my rescue.” he said between sips. “Have you eaten at all? Had something to drink?” || @alluring-adairia

Adairia knew that there was no point in arguing with him. In a way, he was right. No matter how much she languished on the event, there was no way to change it, and she’d never be able to flourish in the Order if she blamed everything on herself. “You’re mighty good at encouragement speeches, Alastor.” She simply replied, a faint smile peeking out from her tear-stained cheeks. The blonde paused for a few seconds before speaking up again. “I doubt we can use the Fountain as our Headquarters anymore. Nevertheless I’d still like to offer my help to the Order in whatever way possible.” Until then Adairia had always been on the side lines, giving some advice and helping to plan when needed, hiding in people who needed protection in her pub, and scouting out new members whenever possible. She also knew quite a lot about their operations, constantly being in, or having one of her sisters assist to the debriefs. “My involvement in the Order is already out and about so we might as well make the best out of it.” She suggested, running a hand through her hair. Adairia wasn’t so sure about Alastor’s second comment though. “Perhaps...” She began, starting to make a small list of those who might fall under that category. “The party had hundreds of attendants. I’m guessing at least 40 would have the necessary skills. Of these people, who’s most likely to be of affiliation with the Dark Lord?” Quite a few, unfortunately. Damn blood purists. “She was poisoned to reach prophecy.  Who would have known where it was? ” She sighed, slightly running a few fingers against her temple in a soothing manner. “Even I didn’t know...” She had a small idea of how they could have found out, but hoped it wasn’t true. If it truly was an inside job they had way more worries to be looking forward to.  She slightly scoffed at the mention of the tea, glad the man had kept his sense of humour despite his current state. To be fair, her mind had been so focused on Laurel and the rest of the Order, she’d almost forgotten about everything else. “I’ve had a lot of coffee to stay awake, and Maren ( @maren-linwood ) brought me some jello from her lunch.” She assured, hoping it would be enough to escape a scold or rant about the necessities of a proper diet. 

🦚

Amos was not expecting Adairia to hug him at all. He wasn’t sure if Laurel would’ve mentioned him to her at all. If she knew he was a client. What she might think think about it. The hug made him feel more relaxed about it all. He didn’t know much about Adairia but she definitely looked like the type to kick his arse if he pissed her off. He was about to return the hug properly but she stepped back away. It wasn’t hard to tell the night had take a toll of her. He didn’t blame her. Laurel was going to be alright, but a part of him still worried just in case. He couldn’t imagine what she was feeling as Laurel’s sister.

“You…you haven’t heard” Amos thought the word would’ve spread to everyone by now. He wasn’t the right person to tell her. Were they friends? He didn’t know. He didn’t even know how to say it. Did he just rip the band aid off. Slowly build up to it? He’d had to do it in his job before, but this was different. “There was a fight-these people in masks broke in and started attacking people” how did he describe this when he didn’t even understand it himself “a lot of people were injured and… Amelia.” Amos took a breath not wanting to look weak “she was killed.”

@alluring-adairia​

Adairia let out a gasp as Amos ripped open the news to her. The last part didn’t really affect her; she barely knew the girl. It was rather the fact the Dark Lord’s supporters had decided to orchestrate a public attack that shocked her. That, and the death of an innocent civilian. She knew all members of the Order, being the landlady of their headquarters, and never once had she seen the girl slip into the back room for a meeting.  She hadn’t even realised her hand had flown to her mouth until she removed it from her face. She imagines Amos was closer to Amelia Bones than she was, and she wanted to do was share her condolences. However, she was too preoccupied by the news she’d just heard. “Who -  Did-” Adairia started to ask between breathes, trying to make sense of it all. “Who’s hurt?”

alluring-adairia​:

TW: MENTIONS OF DEATH

Emmeline had to admit she was pretty grateful that Adairia already knew. She really didn’t want to have to break it to any more of her friends. She was barely holding it together as it was. So selfishly she was happy to some degree that she woman in front of her knew. The woman let out a sight of relief as she stood in front of a random fake window. At least they’d charmed them to lok bright today. That was something she guessed.

“I can’t believe she’s gone….” Emme mused quietly. She’d barely seen her recently, and now she was never going to see her again. Emme hadn’t stopped long enough yet to really process what had happened, but it was all a little too much. She turned around, leaning against the window. “They were just attacking anyone….. Us, Order members….civillians….” She murmured, shaking her head. “But….. it wasn’t them…. “ She murmured, looking pain. “Ria…… Claudette did it….”

It had been a lot to process for Adairia, but she could only imagine what Emmeline was going through right now. To have lost this woman that she was close to, in such horrendous conditions made the blonde wonder how she would have reacted if her sister had died yesterday night. Adairia let a few moments pass before she reached over to Emmeline, reassuringly rubbing her shoulder. “This seems so unreal... I nearly lost my sister and now people are dying. Even Frank, Alastor and Alice couldn’t hold up against them... They’re supposed to be some of our best defenders.” She sighed, rubbing her other hand over her forehead as a small headache washed over her. She felt more lost than ever.

Resting against her pillows Laurel wondered if her fainting had resulted in the end of the ball or if those purists tried to sweep things under the rug and party on. And she honestly wasn’t sure which option she had hoped for. Maybe some of her friends would be stopping by regardless, she’d ask them, already knowing what her sisters’ answers would be. She just wished they knew what happened, she knew it definitely wasn’t just some passing out at random thing, it felt different.

Laurel’s eyes met her older sisters as she felt herself sigh of relief, at least she wasn’t out all day long. Though the way Adairia paused had her worried for what she would say next. Feeling as though her heart had dropped to her stomach as realization hit her, Maren had been at the Fountain and now she was here so the Fountain had been empty. “No, we hadn’t even figured out what it meant yet,” She rushed to say, feeling horrible that her accident had now cost the Order a valuable piece of information. But now she was even more confused by the question being raised at her, “Not entirely close. Maybe not even close at all, we were kind of butting heads at the equality march..”

TW: AMELIA BONES DEATH MENTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adairia, as well as her sisters, was still wondering what had happened last night. She’d asked the healers, but had received nothing but rushed mutterings and sorries. All she knew is that it was most definitely a distraction to get to the pub, and was not natural. Adairia didn’t answer to her comment about the prophecy; she already knew. “Laurel... There was a fight after we left. Some of the Order are in critical condition. Alastor - well he’s one of the worst off...” Adairia sighed, knowing she’d go visit him later to apologise. “And Amelia Bones was murdered... by Claudette Delacour. She didn’t make it.”

.

Perhaps it was the medicine but Alastor felt extremely calm about the whole situation. He knew exactly what was about to come out of Adairia’s mouth and honestly he wasn’t upset at anyone but himself. “Adairia – don’t” he said gently. Alastor always surprised himself with how soft his voice could be compared to his commanding tone that boomed from his lips that only reminded him of his father. “There is no way you could have know. There is no way I could have known. We all did out best in a difficult situation.” he explained, knowing how hard everyone was being on themselves at this time. He sighed and offered a reassuring smile but he knew that it wasn’t much. 

Wincing as he prompted himself back up in bed, he gently motioned towards the tea cup that sat next to the bed. “I don’t suppose you could pass me my cup of tea, it’s not easy trying to move in all these bandages.” || @alluring-adairia​

As much as his calm voice and kind words made her feels more comfortable, she still felt incredibly guilty. She could have done more, she knew it. Despite his sigh and smile, she still couldn’t help herself from expressing her guilt. “I should have left Maren to take care of Laurel and went back to guard the prophecy myself.” She wasn’t one to often express her guilt or helplessness to people, but with Alastor and countless others harmed, Adairia felt the need to  apologise. “Laurel woke up a few hours ago, by the way.” She signed, at least grateful her younger sister made it out safely. Rubbing her hands on her thighs nervously, she almost bounced up as she saw Alastor wince. He was the strongest and most skilled of them, and if he could get hurt this bad, there was no saying how powerful the DE really was. Expecting her hands to burn at the touch of the cup, she was surprised to see it had cooled off. Once he’d given him the cup, she spoke up again. “How long have you been waiting for a nurse to come by to help you with that?”

.

The feeling of both of her sisters holding her hands reminded her that this was reality, that all three of them were together just as they had always been. But things felt different, it seemed the world was growing darker for people like them, for creatures, for anyone that felt like speaking up. Not trusting herself entire yet not to speak without shedding some tears or just breaking down completely, the blonde nodded at her sister’s question. Overall she felt alright, maybe tired and exhausted and confused by everything but overall she could say she was doing okay. Though part of her hoped her sisters would have any news for her regarding what happened to her but another part of her was scared to hear what they had to say.

Giving Adairia’s hand a squeeze before removing it, she pushed herself up slowly into a more comfortable sitting position finally finding the right words to speak, “How, uh, how long was I out?” Laurel figured it had to be a few hours, long enough to be treated for whatever it was, but she wasn’t sure if it was still night or day anymore. “I’m sorry to have ruined your night,” She spoke again, not wanting to be the person who ruined a good party, let alone a big ball that many people didn’t normally get to attend. The one night after everything with Benjy had taken place that the community could enjoy some drinks and dancing and just pretend there wasn’t a darker force out there working against them. Or so she thought really.

It was hard for Adairia to watch the scene unfolding in front of her. The fact Laurel, the victim of the whole situation, could feel like she ruined the party, broke her heart. That, and the knowledge of what had unfolded at the party which had just been revealed to her by Amos, weighed on her conscience. She knew someone was bound to explain the whole fiasco to her little sisters, and Adairia knew it was best if they learned from her.  “Not too long, but there’s more...” She started, pulling her hand away from her sister’s face. “After we left the DE managed to get their hands on the prophecy, and-” The words struggled to come out. “How close were you to Amelia Bones?”

—

To be honest, Emmeline knew that really she needed to go home and get some sleep. Deep down she knew that she was going to be no use to anyone if she was sleep deprived. And yet, she couldn’t make herself goo. She had far too much to do. She needed to carry working on the case, and she needed to check that her friends were okay. The aurors would be working on depleted numbers for weeks, and they already had so much work to do. So a sleep deprived auror was not going to help, but she couldn’t make herself go home. Not just yet.

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from her….. All of you Linwoods are strong” Emmeline murmured with a smile. They were strong. There was a reason why they’d kept the prophecy at their pub. “I…..” It was clear in that moment that Adairia didn’t know about Amelia, and it broke Emmeline’s heart. She’d never be able to lie to her friend, but she also hated having to be the one to break the news to her. “That’s…. that’s not quite true….” She murmured, having to try so hard to control her emotions. “Adairia….. let’s go in here…..” She murmured, motioning to a room that, helpfully was empty. “I need to tell you something.”

TW: MENTIONS OF DEATH ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emmeline was a strong woman, and Adairia admired her for that. She always seemed to be so true to herself, a skill not all could manage. Smiling slightly at her first comment, the blonde was secretly glad her sisters were so resilient. If there was anything she could be sure of, it was that her sisters could stand any challenge presented to them.

Adairia knew exactly what Emmeline was about to say. She’d avoided mentioning Amelia on purpose, referring  to Alastor as the worst off in purpose. “I know Em, I’m so sorry.” She per say wasn’t very close to the woman, but others might’ve, so offering condolences was the best way to go about it. “Did she get caught in the crossfire or were they attacking everyone?”

Who: @alastxrmoody When: The morning after the event It had been quite a shock to her when she’d learned about the fight from Amos’ mouth, though not quite as much as one would expect. After all, she was still pretty shaken from Laurel’s accident and the news on the pub, so everything else she heard barely registered in her head.  From what she understood, Alastor had been one of the hardest hits, and had been rushed in emergency. When she’d heard about how serious his injury was, and that he’d been allowed visitors, Adairia rushed to the room he was being kept in, with full intent of apologising for the prophecies’ loss. Opening the door to his room, she was thankfully met with an awake Moody, rather than a sleeping one. Sitting near his bedside, it was suddenly harder to speak, as she felt the guilt of the accident shower her once again.  “I’m so sorry I let you down.”