𝑴𝑨𝑫𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

days like this didn’t come around very often; those days where there was just something in the air, a little charge ... a little spark ... just waiting to be ignited. and then it is ignited, and you’re beside yourself in delight, because the mayhem that lies before you is missing something, it’s missing a more personal touch. and that is exactly how, as the sun was setting in the formerly sleepy village, amycus could be spotted with a too wide grin, and singed fingertips as he strolled through the streets of hogsmeade, stopping every so often to stoop and set something else ablaze. sometimes, though, to spice it up a little, he stretched instead of stooping, leaving the treetops to scream in the wake of his whispers, and leave that bright, distressed, orangey glow in the cool air to light the scared villagers’ way.

and he had no reason not to greet aiyla with that same smile, either; why shouldn’t amycus share the happiness of the moment. he took a cleansing breath, one which was far too enjoyable (or should’ve been), and stretched his arms, the epitome of a man having a wonderful day. “aiyla, working hard or hardly working?” he asked, unable to help himself, or to stop the laugh that came at his own stupid quip. “what did we do to deserve such a good day? I couldn’t have asked for a better day. what about you, enjoying the festivities?”

        sloane   was   relieved   to   say   the   least   —   nervous   that   amycus   was   going   to   say   he   needed   a   nursery   because   he   knocked-up   some   unfortunate   soul.   she   couldn’t   even   imagine   the   man   being   a   father   to   anything   other   than   a   bloody   panther,   or   two.   ❝   thank   you,   ❞   she   began,   rather   begrudgingly.   ❝   any   preference   on   color   scheme   or   …   ❞   she   had   no   idea   what   panthers   liked,   or   really   anything   about   them   in   general.

amycus only laughed; maybe that was rude, sure, but he was more amused than anything, especially when, enthusiastic or not, wilkes at least had the decency to remember her manners. even the carrow son couldn’t find fault with her there. “no, honestly, i’m actually pretty curious as to what you’re going to come up with.” everything he’d thought up, truthfully, would’ve been better suited to an outside area – or an actual zoo – not inside the house; he’d been reminded several times. “go wild. hah!” he took a moment, naturally, to laugh at his own unintended, but wonderful, pun, then shrugged. “of course, you could always attempt to take them shopping with you, and let them make their own selection.”

“i’ve been cooped up in the dark too long so i think i could use a bit of sun,” she says with a small smile, the life of an unspeakable was quite literally a dark one. “and lucky for you i haven’t even eaten yet.”

“would you believe me if I told you that we had the power to fix that, too?” he asked, leaning in conspiratorily for the drama of the moment before he laughed and gestured towards a set of doors. “mookie can bring us lunch outside. i’m on a good one today, nothing but solutions.”

        “it’s always good to have extras around. if you’re in a hurry i think there’s an old one in the garden shed, but nothing in there’s in good shape.”  she’d tossed several old tools out the last time she’d used the shed, but had grown bored of the task and never gotten around to asking any of the house elves to get to it. “also some shears, i think. still, i think a shopping trip for some new hardware is in order.”

“in a hurry to lay hands on a decent weapon? always, allie, come on, this is me. but in a hurry to clamber into the shed of rejects for desperate, bottom of the barrel pickings? not today.” no, he clearly already had his heart set on getting a new one. “shears are good to have, and we could probably stand to grab another pair, but .. they’re not gonna–” he trailed off there, pausing to see if he even remembered why he’d originally been looking for the machete, but didn’t come up with much. “I can’t say for sure, but i’m pretty sure they weren’t the tool for the job. besides, once spending money was on the table as an option, that was never not going to be the selection here, you had to know that. what else do we need?”

he wasn’t allowed in the department of mysteries, technically, but that was fine. rookwood’s cat had come to keep him company while he waited, though she’d scooted through the door in the same instant it opened, switching places with the wix the carrow waited on, so to speak. “finally, you’re free. I mean, I know it’s a maze in there, but i’d have thought you’d have it mastered by now,” he teased. “it’s okay, you can be honest. did you get lost?”

        “did you look by the pond? you had it out there the other day, or maybe under the bed in that guest room you used last week? and if it’s not there we might have to get you a new one.”

“i ..... did not, no.” he stopped to think, both of the places he’d looked, and of all the things he’d been doing with said machete that week, then shook his head, deciding he liked the last option the best. “might as well just get the new one, anyways, yeah? then, then, if the first one turns up..” he paused again, but only to gesture with his hands, “two machetes.”

“nuh-uh. not joking.” he grinned as he unfolded his arms, sliding his hands into his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. “a nursery, but think of it like a playroom .... for panthers. and you get to make it happen, congratulations.”

“if you’re looking for regs, you missed him by about an hour,” ams said, feeling it was fair to give him the warning before he got too comfortable, lest the boy actually be searching. “but if you’re not .. and you’re not busy .. feel like lending a hand?”

"perfect timing! I was just about to grab a bite, it’s second lunch, you hungry?”

“have you seen my machete?!? i cant find it anywhere, and I need it. okay, I don’t need it, but I want it. and it’s not where it’s supposed to be.” 

.

“That’s not the worst thing that could happen to us,” the worst thing had already happened to Cain, who did not really manage to find a silver lining in anything these days. There was not a day that passed which didn’t begin with a thought for his late husband. He still had trouble sleeping in their bed, and preferred to share the couch with Fahir’s cats. He didn’t sleep well there, but it seemed to help nevertheless. Letting out a heavy sigh, he looked at his friend, and hated that all he wondered right now, was whether Amycus knew something, whether he had heard anything about who had done this.

“Heh,” he paused, bringing the cigarette to his mouth to stall, think about what he had been doing lately. Mostly work, because he didn’t have to think about Fahir then. “I… put some order in the accounts, I’m reorganizing the filing system,” a beat, “it was a mess. Father never cared for book keeping,” could you tell that each of his words dripped with doom ? “What about you?” Perhaps it was best to speak of just anything else, really.

.

amycus shook his head, knowing there was nothing, really, that he could say to either change that fact or make it less painful; it was what it was, and it truly hurt him to see someone he cared about in so much pain. it was pain like this which he’d always so desperately attempted to avoid, but what were you supposed to do when it was happening to someone else? amycus didn’t know; he didn’t know how to help, how to make it better, what to say .... truthfully, it wasn’t the first time that amycus didn’t know much. “what was he even doing?? it doesn’t make sense, I didn’t even think he had a mission.” none of it made sense, but somehow, asking actually seemed worse for once. “i’m sorry, I shouldn’t have.”

his eyebrows went up, his eyes widened ... but amycus wasn’t really surprised. “reorganizing the filing system..... fuck, mate” he shook his head, taking a few beats to focus on his cigarette. amycus, well, amycus had been up to plenty, all of it happy, and none of it anything that felt right to share. “I – just ... wedding planning, mostly. panther training, court shit, I mean, i’m up to the usual, but man, come on... we gotta do something, you can’t just, you can’t just bury yourself in work, you’ll go crazy ... crazier, probably, sorry, actually no, that time not sorry. nah, man, i’m – I can’t imagine having to be in your shoes, and I don’t want to be, but I can’t just watch you fade away like this, it’s not right.”

“i don’t envy you that seat, the wizengamot seems to be more of a chore than a privilege these days.” really rabastan was happy to be the second son, the younger brother because it meant less pressure, less responsibility. it was why he was allowed to postpone his betrothal all these years too. “what is it with you and those animals?” he chuckled though, not meaning to seriously ask the question. he knew amycus loved his big predators and he didn’t fault the man for it. they all had their thing, after all. “it’s the way you smile man, it’s creepy sometimes.” he admitted. “is that what you call her?” he snorted, that was funny even if it wasn’t true about josie, but there were whispers at least to warrant the nasty nickname. “first round works for me, she was completely disrespectful, acted like she was better than me, acted like she wasn’t afraid of me. she’s lucky i was feeling some restraint, but next time i won’t hold back, trust me. and the borgin brat was the same way. i don’t know what’s in the water, amycus but i’m tired of these little kids being so disrespectful, as if my reputation doesn’t give me enough for them not to run their mouths at me or challenge me. don’t they know i won’t back down from any challenge? it’s foolish at best, a death wish at worst.” 

“oh it is, but .... i’m not sure it was ever really a privilege at all. that’s just something those ancient fucks say so they feel important about arguing all the time and getting paid for it, or making a bunch of bullshit up that we’re still arguing about, or what the fuck ever.” he rolled his eyes, not truly as bothered by the job as he was annoyed by how much time it took out of his day – even with as good as he was at avoiding it.”what? I don’t know what you want me to tell you mate, I like animals, I have pets, I like to take my pets places, it’s not that weird.” no, really the weird part was more .. amycus’ choice in pets. “besides, again, the food sucks. okay, it has to be pretty fuckin rancid to give an animal food poisoning.” he laughed, shaking his head, but still wasn’t bothered by anything else. not his creepy smile, or the fitzroy-howard bitches that, god damn it, bellatrix had to like. or she liked the one, and siblings .... carry the two ... no, he simply didn’t care enough. “honestly mate, third lunch, be it liquid, or actual food .... it’s time. look at you, look how hard you work. they don’t even know what they’re up against, forget about them.”

“I’m back on the quidditch team at least, that’s better than nothing.” Reg tried to sound more sure about that than he was– he’d meant to corner Lucius at some point to ask how it was going to go, but he’d probably put it off too long to get a change. “So the girls are going to like it? I’d say that narrows it down, but it really doesn’t.”

“hell of a lot better than nothing,” amycus agreed, nodding. and though reg seemed a little hesitant about a lot of things, sometimes, this was an arena amycus thought it was unnecessary; horace slughorny would never tell regulus he couldn’t do something. “I spoke poorly. the girls will like that you still haven’t found your surprises, because that means we hid them well. the surprises, well, those are for you, and we’re already pretty certain you’ll like them .... considering we know you,” he added with a laugh.

“Beni çok pohpohluyorsun, ama asla durma.” she drew closer to him, suddenly despising the distance between them. “but won’t that stress the cats? i just, i don’t want to stress about it sevgili.” how to gently say she didn’t think the cats should be roaming free during their wedding, she cared about their wellbeing but amycus was so adamant. somehow though she knew she’d get her way. “promise?” she needed reassurance, and she hated how much she needed it, especially from him. “I’m going to ask both alecto and arden to be my maid of honor. i’m allowed two — “

with a soft sigh, he curled his arm around her, inviting her in even closer, always. “I don’t think it will, sweetheart, no. it’s nothing to worry about. first sign of trouble, and we’ll have the elves get them home, or one of the kids. there are plenty of us around that they respond perfectly well to, there’s nothing to worry about. it’s going to be a .... perfect day, no matter what happens.” he grinned at her, leaning in to leave another kiss on each of her cheeks. “I promise. a perfect day, no trouble.” at her news, though, amycus was all smiles – as if he weren’t already, how terrifying. “you’re allowed whatever you want, kelebek, it’s your wedding. I like the sound of that, that makes me happy. I wondered who you were going to choose.”