i saw sparks

News travelled fast in Wizarding London (depending on who you knew, of course), and while he had heard murmurs about this and that from various conversations that surrounded him, nothing had grabbed his attention. Yet. Xander had positioned himself at the end of the bar, the Daily Prophet in hand, as he perused the paper while waiting for one of his associates. 

“It seems like a slow news day,” he muses, tutting his tongue, flipping to the puzzle segment of the paper. He’d always gotten bored quickly, much to his parents’ chagrin when he was younger. And it was a full moon yesterday, something that - no matter how hard he had tried - he’d always taken the care to track. He hadn’t been to see Mason, it had been years, and yet part of him still worried. 

“I suppose a slow news day is good.” A smile tugs at his mouth, not certain whether it was for his own benefit, or those around him. It had seemed lately that no news was good news. The difference was subtle (but present), particularly when he still travelled frequently between England and home, the former slowly changing before his eyes every time they returned.

After a long day at work, Andromeda's legs had carried her to The Leaky Cauldron. It hadn't been a conscious a choice, but something inside her clearly longed for a drink. Pushing open the door to the tavern, Andromeda stationed herself at the bar and began looking over a couple of her case notes, relieved it wasn't Sirius who took her order. Andromeda wasn't in the headspace for strained conversation, but was too polite not to respond with enthusiasm when people spoke with her.

The man to her left was flicking through The Daily Prophet, speaking aloud as he perused through the headlines, which as she knew well, read more of the same. "A comedian are we?" Andromeda replied, grasping her red wine from the bar as it was placed in front of her, continuing to look at her cases. "It feels like the news hasn't changed for the past three years."

When: Two days after the attack

Who: Andra and open

Andra honestly wanted to be anywhere but here right now. She would much rather have stayed at the Rosier estate in Lyon, but appearances was her top priority. Andra would not risk anyone saying that the Rosier's did not care about the commotion that had occurred. Of course, in actual fact Andra did not care too much. She would not have been as successful as she was if she cared about too many people. This did often leave her to have a bit of an icy reputation. But she honestly thrived from it.

She'd only been back in the country less than a day, and she was already feeling annoyed by basically everyone. She'd spent a couple of hours at work, and was now sat in the park by Witch Weekly. She was quite enjoying the relax actually, until she felt someone's shadow. "You're blocking the sun. Move."

Book in hand, Andromeda had decided to leave the Ministry on her lunch hour and go for a walk. It was unlike her to leave during the day, mostly tied up with work or preferring to eat at her desk with Rodolphus and Regulus. But with Rodolphus off for obvious reasons and Regulus running errands, Andromeda thought she'd take it upon herself to get some much needed sun, her mother was often telling her she neglected in the pits of the Ministry.

Her feet carried her to Carkitt Market, wondering if one of the quirkier stalls had something interesting on offer beyond the humble pumpkin pasty. Stopping due to the smell of coffee, Andromeda read the menu on one of the blackboards, before a familiar French accent caught her attention. "Alexandra, always a pleasure," she replied with a smile. "Bit of a shame you can't tell it's me from the back of my head, though I doubt you'd care all that much either way," she added teasingly.

Andromeda had never particularly liked nor disliked her cousin. The Rosier side of her family had always felt distant to her. Evan had always preferred Bellatrix, whilst Alexandra had preferred Narissa, which didn't make her feel very much at all. Andromeda preferred Regulus and Sirius, that was one of the perks of having a big family. "How was Lyon, did you cross paths with mother? I know she retired there for a couple of days."

"I think society is reaching a point where we can't ignore questions any longer. There's a tension and I wouldn't be surprised if it's felt beyond those immediately affected. It's a chance to further prove our capabilities, which can only be a good thing. for the business"

"Yes I suppose you may be correct," Andromeda started, watching as the kettle measured water into the tea pot and a spoon stirred the leaves around inside. "...but it sounds awfully cold does it not? I just feel I can't wait for this all to end, yes we will do our best but death each day it's a lot for any one person." Truthfully, Andromeda didn't want a repeat of the Silas Crump situation, it had been a terrible loss for them as a team and for her personally. As much as Andromeda didn't care to admit it, she carried the fact he was in a cell with her, more than she had her other cases in the past.

Shaking her head, she leant back in her chair. "Why do you think a werewolf was in London?" She asked Regulus, moving into work mode. "In all our years nothing has happened like that before, never that out in the open, at an event like that. Even when people have been attacked it's been in the shadows. I find it... perculiar."

Bella's smirk could be seen over the rim of her cup at her sister's joke, enjoying one more sip before she placed her tea back down. "Bit tempting to tell the elves that's my new prefence for dinner, see what kind of reaction she'd get at family dinners from now on." Relaxing further back in her chair, though not enough to cause their mother's eye to turn on her or reprimand her any further for being 'unlady like', she considered Andromeda's suggestion. "Probably would be the easier solution to her," She remarked, anything to keep Druella Black's image intact she was sure. Better to avoid the problem than face it head on if it meant bad press, that was the kind of mentality Narcissa took on from their mother.

"Very handsome, hm? Don't let mother overhear that again, she'll have you two contracted before he even gets out of the hospital," Bella mused, raising an eyebrow at her younger sister. "But I am glad to hear that overall everyone is well, I'll need to take a trip to visit them all soon." More to visit them for information rather than to actually check in their health, but with both sisters close with many of the victims maybe she could just tag along with one of them. "Hm, oh no, I was stuck with Evan at the end of the alley," The brunette lied through her teeth, picking up her cup of tea again as a small distraction, "I had only caught a bit of the rush of the crowd when Valeria was discovered but other than that I was trying to keep the debris from the shops and spells people were casting at bay."

narcissa, for one, was beginning to tire of the deja vu she was experiencing from the amount of times she'd had to help talk her mother down from a ledge following an event gone wrong. she worried profusely for the matriach's nerves, sat pondering how much more they could take when threats to one's appearance — bodily harm, permanent disfigurement and the like seemed to be reoccurring consequences of these tragedies. still, the blonde plays the role of dutiful daughter with a smile as ever, receptive to druella's fawning in a way her elder sisters weren't and so, allows her mother to make a fuss of her in the process. of course, she was thankful it hadn't been her caught under the claws of a feral beast but to even allow their mother to fantasise about 'what might've been' felt as though they were altogether tempting fate. better andressa than her, she supposed as she continued filling druella and cygnus in on what gossip she'd picked up regarding the victims.

"I think I'd just move to France, fake my own death perhaps..." The words came out of her mouth automatically. She knew it's what her family would want to hear. Certain lines and views she had rehearsed by now, some she once believed in, most she'd long since changed her view on and had elected to not give a comment for. Truthfully Andromeda didn't know what exactly her opinions on creatures were. Pity mostly. She had pitied Silas Crump when he had come to her and Rodolphus, pitied Corin Hale for sharing the same affliction for someone so young and she pitied Ines Moreno for having her life ripped away from her. Truly something like lycanthrope was a disease Andromeda wouldn't wish upon her worst enemy, it ruined people's lives and she felt sorry for anyone who had to carry it. But those opinions were not for afternoon tea.

"Well he does have a nice face," Andromeda replied flatly, lowering her cup down to their house elf who busied themselves filling it up. "It's not an opinion, more of a fact and a clear way of showing both my eyes are in perfect order." She often preferred to deal with facts rather than feelings. When Andromeda did feel a certain way about people, she felt it intensely, like the love for her friends or sisters. The opposite sex was something of a mystery to her, which is why she treated most suitors like cases or with general disinterest, much to her mother's general dismay.

The idea of a marriage contract made Andromeda's eyebrows knit together slightly, as their youngest sister chimed in on the night of horrors they'd all witnessed. "It's actually my fault the whole thing happened," Andromeda started shaking her head. "He asked me if he could escort me home and I declined. I couldn't leave you both alone and not know if you were safe, it would have ruined me. He offered to stay and help find you both, then the next minute that wolf was galloping down the alley and ripped several holes in him." Her eyes had gotten wider as she recalled the incident, staring down into her drink rather than making eye contact with her siblings. "I'd like to say I felt like I'd done the right thing, but he's permanently disfigured because of me and quite frankly I feel terrible about the whole thing." Pausing, she took a sip of her drink. "Truthfully even if he did once think of me fondly, I don't imagine he'd very much care for me anymore - no one wants a wife who nearly helps you get eaten," she added, echoing her mother's previous statement.

Andromeda had taken five minutes in one of the rooms before heading home. Her chat with Rita had her mind racing again, the images flashing back and forth. Rodolphus. The blood, the screams that echoed the alley. It was terrible what had happened, tragic in fact, all the trauma that would come from that one evening would be talked about for years to come. But for Andromeda it was something a bit more. Werewolves had become a sore topic for her and any time she thought of one she thought of Silas Crump, an innocent but tortured man she couldn’t save, now a new wolf running the streets of London, probably out of their mind.

It was a funny sort of thing to consider, in the moment they felt like vicious monsters, she hadn’t thought twice about producing her wand when she saw it tear at Rodlphus, but after all that had cleared, there was a person in there. No doubt cursed, feeling terrible about what they’d done when they couldn’t control themselves.

“Hello. Can I help you with something?” The soft voice of Cordelia echoing more loudly than her inner monologue.

“Hello Cordelia.” She replied politely, standing up and walking towards the door. “How are you feeling, I’m so sorry to hear about Rosaline? How is she doing? How are you both doing?” Sincerity rang in her soothing tones, she was incredibly grateful to Cordelia for helping Rodolphus and felt incredibly guilty that why she was saving him Rosaline had been hurt.

@andromedahs​

Cordelia had not realized it was Andromeda Black waiting in the empty room, otherwise she might have left her be. When Cordelia had seen the lone figure she’d thought someone must be lost, but that was before she recognized Andromeda. She had always found the middle Black sister to be an exceptionally capable young woman, and if she was sitting alone in an empty room it must be by choice, not accident. Cordelia didn’t want to intrude on the younger woman’s solitude, but she wasn’t going to offer the woman time to collect herself if Andromeda didn’t ask for it. To do so at this point would be to imply that Andromeda needed to collect herself, that she was not together already, and Cordelia might say that about other young women, but not this one. 

Cordelia returned Andromeda’s small smile and braced herself for polite conversation. It was, at least, less likely to be inane as well as polite, and that was something. “Thank you, Rosaline is recovering well so far. Of course, I’m not assigned to her case, but those who are know she’s my sister and they’re keeping me apprised of the situation.” Cordelia chose to ignore Andromeda’s question about her own well being, not entirely trusting herself to lie with any believability in this particular moment.

The truth was Cordelia was tired, not only in the way that came from having very little sleep, but in a bone deep way. She was tired of carrying around Ines’ ghost. She was tired of trying to find peace and, Merlin forbid, contentment in a world that seemed to relish pulling the rug out from under her. She was tired of things that she couldn’t control. She was tired of the fear. And Cordelia was always afraid, for herself but even more so for her family. The Davises may have fallen from grace, but Cordelia wasn’t entirely sure that would turn out to be a bad thing in the long run, and they still had each other, for the most part. Cordelia no longer counted her father as a member of their family, not after doing exactly the same thing as Decius. 

Cordelia took a deep breath and resisted the urge to sigh. She directed her attention away from her own dark thoughts and back to Andromeda. “I hope you were able to look after yourself after you got to the hospital last night. Did you sleep?”

Cordelia was an interesting woman, Andromeda had always thought that. Leaving your family took a lot of courage when you no longer believed their rhetoric or you thought you had something more to live before beyond them. Both she and Sirius were reminders there could be life after pure-blood society, the difference them both was at least Cordelia managed to escape with her family intact, despite her views. But still, Andromeda admired her.

"I understand that," Andromeda mused. "Cases with family can be difficult, thankfully I've never trailed a member of my family, but I work with my cousin Regulus and I can only imagine how that might impair my judgement because of my affection for him. But I must say if I were you I would do the same, even if people around me told me it was the wrong decision." In the harsh light of the hallway, that was cascading through the doorway, Andromeda noticed how tired Cordelia looked. The Davis family had such perfect features, Andromeda wouldn't have been surprised if someone told her they had veela blood. But in her healer's uniform, bags under her eyes and less than a stitch of make-up, Cordelia looked more human and most like herself than she ever had as a society girl and still prettier than most.

"I managed some," Andromeda lied, mostly out of politeness. After dropping Rodolphus off and watching him be wheeled into the emergency room, Andromeda had sat in the hallway waiting for hours until he was set up in his room. Thereafter she sat for some time, until the familiar tones of Marie Lestrange rang down the hallway and Andromeda apperated home to give her some privacy with her son. There she lied on her bed, somewhere between sleep and exhaustion, not knowing if she'd even managed to drift off before her alarm rang and she had once again returned to the hospital in an outfit not soaked with her close friend's blood. "I think we're all exhausted from that evening," she replied honestly. "Some more than others. You worked so quickly Cordelia, I fear if it wasn't' for your urgency treating those people we'd have deaths on our hands rather than casualties."

"Tea," Regulus announced, carefully placing the tin down in front of Andromeda. "Spiced black tea, enchanted to sparkle like the night sky when you brew it, and despite the caffeine, strangely relaxing. It's something I got imported in a few weeks ago but given recent dramas, I suspect I might have to share. We all need something good. Would you like me to mix you up a brew?"

"Yes please." Andromeda replied taking a deep breath an exhaling as she sat back in her chair. The last few days had been like a nightmare and she suspected it wasn't about to get any better. "Do you ever get tired of all this Regulus?" She asked, looking around the study. "I know our jobs regularly deal with death and the gruesome but times are getting so much darker, I wonder if it's a sign of more to come."

"You're too kind," He admitted. The previous evening was mostly a blur, with attempting to fill in the blanks having been something that wasn't worth the headache. She had been by his side for the little bit he could recall, which was both a relief and terrifying since it was not one of his finest moments. Not that being in the hospital was any better.

"Honestly?" He went to wrinkle his nose in thought and winced since doing so tugged at the bandage along the side of his face. Damage elsewhere would have been more convenient or less painful, but he could accept being lucky enough to have avoided being bit or worse off. Battle wounds from the thing going after his neck were something he could come to terms with. "Relieved the creature targeted me instead of you and wanting back in my own bed. No need for the prophet - I wanted an idea of how much damage control is going to be required once out of here. My mother was more relieved than helpful on that end of things."

Setting down in the chair next to his bed Andromeda removed her coat and folded it neatly on the arm, crossing her legs and sitting forward. She noticed him wince slightly as he spoke, clearly aware of the marks on his face and the effect they were going to have for the time being. Instinctively she moved slightly forward in her chair, as if she could try and comfort him or help in someway, before remembering herself and returning back to her original position. "I'm so sorry Rodolphus. Part of me wishes we'd left when things had started to go pear shaped." She'd have given anything to have not had him be effect by what had happened, but the silver lining was that she had distracted the wolf long enough for the aurors to follow it and had fought it off hurting Rodolphus further.

"I'd take it for you if I could," she said honestly. "I don't think I'd be as much of a good patient though, I also think my family would end up being banned from the ward given how my mother is." Andromeda offered him a weak smile. The incident had really effected her, she cared a lot for him and it hurt her to see him this way, though the idea that something worse could have happened was an even more terrifying prospect. "How is Marie? Have you had many visitors? I imagine a lot of people are going to want to come and see you, I'm glad I've managed to catch you alone."

Like a child being reprimanded for their bad choices, Bella always hated when her mother called upon them. Many times it had been when things had gone down and people had been injured or publicly shamed. It came to no surprise Druella was more worried about their image rather than how traumaitizing everything might've been. Not that Bella herself was truly thinking about her mother's words, more so focusing on trying to figure out a plan so she could find Corin's trail after her eventful escape. The high pitch chastising her for not protecting her sisters well enough resulted in an eye roll, the eldest daughter turning her head towards their father, hopeful he may help calm their mother down. But Cygnus avoided her gaze leaving her to fall back on Andromeda for the time being.

"Suppose all things considered, its the best outcome we could've had," The brunette mused, carefully picking up her cup of tea as she avoided more words from their mother. "Had any one of us come home with a face not up to her usual perfection, I'm afraid we'd be dealing with a much more public outrage than this right here." Not even wanting to picture the horrified look Druella would have if any one of her three daughters were in St. Mungo's like Andressa or Rosaline were. "How badly do you think she would've reacted if one of us actually got bit? Think she'd hide us away every full moon?" Terrible of them to make jokes out of the situation but when living with the melodramatic Druella Black nee Rosier, morbid jokes were how you passed the time.

"No one wants a wife who eats raw meat." Andromeda repeated with a little smirk, picking up her tea and taking a sip. "I'm not certain to be honest." She mused, mulling over her sister's words. The likelihood that their mother would go to the bother of chaining them up seemed unlikely to Andromeda, but Druella did sometimes surprise them. Did she love them enough to do that? Probably. Did she love them enough to face public ruin? Andromeda highly doubted that. "I think she'd sooner take us to The Magical Menagerie and leave us there." Her words were quick, meant as something of a joke, but they both know there was an inflection of seriousness.

"Poor Andressa, Rosaline and Rodolphus. I went to visit him yesterday. His poor face, he's still very handsome but I can't imagine it'll be easy for him." It had been concerning for Andromeda to see him in such a way, but Rodolphus was nothing but resilient and she knew he'd bounce back, though it didn't ease her guilt that it had been largely her fault they were still there. "I'm glad you and Narcissa are alright, I intended to look for you bot Rodolphus got struck down. Where were you? Did you seen anyone get hurt?"

Cordelia loved when work was loud and chaotic, when it was busy and there was something to do; she liked it less when things were quiet. In the calm after the storm that had been last night, Cordelia was shaken by just how many beds in the Dai Llewellyn ward were full, and just how many of those beds held familiar faces. In fact, all of the victims from last night were familiar faces to Cordelia, and not just because she was a social butterfly. Valeria Bulstrode, Rodolphus Lestrange, Andressa Parkinson, and dear Rosaline; all four of them were very public members of high society. Call it what it was, pureblood high society. Cordelia didn’t know what to make of it and it worried her, both the tiny bit of the picture that she had and the fact that there was so much she couldn’t see. 

Unwilling to go home, Cordelia had taken to pacing the hall , careful to stay out of the way of those of her coworkers who had something productive to do. Everytime Cordelia offered to help, she was told that she’d done enough and had earned some rest, but she disagreed. Cordelia never truly felt like she’d done enough, even when she’d done everything she could, and today was no different. If anything, today was worse, because it was the morning after a full moon and because Rosaline was in the hospital. Again. So Cordelia paced, not wanting to stray too far in case her sister needed her, and occasionally poking her head into the rooms. 

This time, when Cordelia cracked one of the doors, she saw something other than patients sleeping peacefully in their beds. Cordelia straightened her bright green robes, which were hideous, a fact that she hated, but unavoidable, a fact that she also hated. Pushing the door fully open, Cordelia did her best to fix a polite smile on her face, although it was a little tight. “Hello. Can I help you with something?”

It was a funny sort of thing to consider, in the moment they felt like vicious monsters, she hadn't thought twice about producing her wand when she saw it tear at Rodlphus, but after all that had cleared, there was a person in there. No doubt cursed, feeling terrible about what they'd done when they couldn't control themselves.

“Hello. Can I help you with something?” The soft voice of Cordelia echoing more loudly than her inner monologue.

"Hello Cordelia." She replied politely, standing up and walking towards the door. "How are you feeling, I'm so sorry to hear about Rosaline? How is she doing? How are you both doing?" Sincerity rang in her soothing tones, she was incredibly grateful to Cordelia for helping Rodolphus and felt incredibly guilty that why she was saving him Rosaline had been hurt.

As was often the case with tragedy it brought certain figures out of the woodwork, the press was one of them and Rita Skeeter would always lead the pack. "Yes it was fairly traumatising for many parties. Myself included."

The hospital was one of the last places Rodolphus wanted to be. In truth, he had been ready to leave the moment he came to. Not his finest moment since it involved a mediwix immediately hovering over him and rushed words of needing to remain in bed. The evening before was a blur that involved distinctly remembering Andromeda screaming and little else. Several blood-replenishing potions and trying to wave off healing salves later, and he still couldn’t quite wrap his head around what happened. A werewolf attack of all things. The stubborn part of him had requested to go home just to be told they needed to make sure his wounds weren’t infected. Another twenty four hours at least for observation and his not being thrilled in the slightest since he wasn’t about to risk having the house elf get him things from home since that came with the risk of its fully alerting the family on things. Not bitten, just needing to accept permanent scarring along his face, neck, and chest. There had been minimal interest in looking at his reflection after the last round of healing salves and he intended to keep that streak until it turned into getting home. A knock at the door left him sitting upright, with a mask of disinterest immediately following suit.

“If you don’t have a book, I’m not interested in having company,” He muttered without bothering to look up. “Would appreciate knowing if the paper mentioned me by name, though."

Reaching room 225, she stopped and took a deep breath. She had no real idea of what lied beyond the door, what mood he'd be in, how different he could be. Taking a step forward, she heard the floorboard creek, causing Rodolphus to be aware of her presence, though he didn't look up to see her. The sound of his voice eased her suddenly, he sounded normal, irritated, tired... normal.

"It's a good thing I've brought one that isn't it?" Walking into the room, she laid the book down on the little table over his bed. "I thought you might want a distraction by now, my notes are all in the margins." Her eyes drifted slightly from the face she was so familiar with, to the bandages now covering the other side, blood seeping through the pale white. "How are you feeling? Sorry I neglected to bring the prophet, though I can swipe on if required."

“By heavens Lizzie, what a snob you are. Objecting to poor Mr. Darcy because of his wealth. The poor man can’t help it.”