A L E C T O

     her brows narrowed in confusion at the statement. she couldn’t imagine anyone willingly hanging on to a charm such as that. it seemed far too dangerous, but maybe that was just for those with secrets that had to be kept. “perhaps,” she mused, although she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to hear what alecto’s secrets were. she especially didn’t want to hear what the other girl (or anyone really) thought about her. petunia was more than content to pretend that she and her sister were viewed equally in the wizarding world even if she knew it wasn’t true.

     “haven’t had the delight,” she said, her tone almost caustic. “can’t say i’m really interested much in secrets. spilling mine or hearing others.” she’d never put much stalk in hearing the tales others would spin about who had a crush on whom and whether or not a person’s new haircut made their head look larger than normal. no, petunia had had enough of secrets for a lifetime even as she continued to keep one.

There was a thing Alecto could never turn down and that was a challenge. Whether it was a dare or even a person, she had to prove others wrong when they had doubt in her. She wasn’t feeble and she wasn’t afraid of anything (or so she kept telling other people). She could see Petunia’s reticence when it came to the trick charm. She held it up in front of her face, turning it in her fingers to look at it. “Does this scare you?” Her voice was light. It seemed innocent enough a question.

“Is that so?” Her head tilted to the side and she looked at Petunia, her expression carefully, studying. “Secrets have weight. They have value. Maybe you Gryffindors are too bold and brash with what you know to realize that.” There was a glint in her eye. A challenge of her own. “If I dared you to hold this, would you? Or do you lack that Gryffindor bravery?” 

Lily’s smile gets a bit tense at Alecto’s words. Of course she would only come over here to push her buttons. Lily’s own smile gets a bit wider as she folds her arms over her chest, feeling defensive. “No charm needed. It’s always been like this. I get it from my grandmother.” Not that Alecto gives a damn about that – she’s just here to try and pry something out of Lily. Oh well, kill her with kindness since any other tactic hasn’t worked out so well for Lily tonight. “You’re looking well. Having fun tonight?” 

She notices the girl’s expression shift and her smile grows wider. She winks and shrugs her shoulders. “Fine, don’t tell me. Keep your secrets to yourself.” Alecto doesn’t particularly care whether it’s real or not. She’d never charm her hair such a wretched color -- consider it, her looking like a Weasley. It’s a thought that nearly causes her to shudder. “I’m not bored so that’s a point to this party’s favor, but calling it fun might be taking it a step too far.” She sniffs delicately, glancing around. “What about you? Enjoying yourself?”

nodding, emmeline reached for a new cup, pouring a bit of firewhiskey in. she was careful not to take too much, and she added a bit of mixer to it to dilute it even more. she took a sip, glancing back at alecto when she asked her a question. “yeah, it’s been a pretty good night,” she said. it was a nice evening, and things were going alright. she had no reason to complain. alecto had a fair point - parties usually weren’t her scene. but how many more of these did they have left? “it sounded fun,” emmeline shrugged, keeping her voice neutral. “are you having fun?”

"Fun might be a strong word for it, but sure, we can go with that.” Her nose wrinkled, and she couldn’t help but glance around with distaste. There were so many people here that Alecto usually didn’t see at this sort of thing -- she considered the fact that she normally found herself above the Marauders’ functions. Still, it had its ups. Amycus was here, a few other friends, too. She didn’t mind the alcohol either. “Are you making up for lost time? For all the parties you’ve skipped out on?” She finished her drink, letting her arm fall to her side, the cup barely hanging between her fingers. “It’s a slippery slope. I’d be careful if I were you.” A part of her wished she was more careful. Was she just pretending to be the girl she used to be? She felt so unlike herself.

“Was the really necessary? Honest, I want to know. Is there a tone of disbelief there, Evans? Is it jealousy I detect because you wish you were closer to your sister? Sorry that you’re jealous of me and Amycus. You could never understand.”

Regulus laughed as he noticed Alecto holding the trick charm. He hadn’t been the one to place it there, wouldn’t touch the thing himself, but he couldn’t resist seeing how far he could push the party girl. He refilled his own drink and grabbed Alecto one as well. “And what is it you want to talk about, exactly?” he asked, sidling up to her and handing her the glass before taking a seat on the arm of her chair.

She took the drink, her expression darkening as she looked at Regulus. If he did this, she didn’t care if he was her brother’s best friend -- she’d curse him with all the fury that she could muster. “You think this is funny, Black?” Her head tilted askew, the gesture birdlike. “If this is your idea of funny, I pity you. Even your brother and his merry band of troublemakers could do better, and that’s giving them the least credit possible. I expected you’d be more clever.” The only person she was ever nice to was her brother. It didn’t matter who anyone else was to her or who they could be. Respect was a hard thing to earn from this Carrow.

      petunia had only just sat down to get away from parts of the larger crowds when she noticed alecto just waking up. she had always been somewhat wary of the other carrow twin, especially since she’d begun spending some time with amycus. it was, however, somewhat surprisng that she was able to fall asleep in such chaos. petunia still had trouble sleeping in the dorms at hogwarts, much less at a party full of young witches and wizards. 

     “not sure,” she replied witih a small shrug. “i only just sat down.” she glanced at the charm in alecto’s hand somewhat nervously. “are you gonna hold onto it for a while or pass it off?” she asked, truly curious as to why anyone would want to be anywhere near it.

It took a second to recognize the girl. One of the Evans. The meaner one, she thought. The one who didn’t fit in Gryffindor like the rest of that rowdy lot did. She had been hanging around Amycus lately, a few times at the very least -- whether or not that was a good thing, Alecto found herself unsure. Still, who was she to bite so quickly?

“Right. Okay.” She wasn’t sure if she believed the other witch. She folded her arms across her chest, the trick charm dangling from her fingers. “Might keep it for a bit.” She held it out in front of her face, looking at it with a curious expression. It wasn’t quite hate and it wasn’t quite curiosity. She knew she can’t lie so she was careful once she kept talking. “Could be interesting to hear what secrets I spill, don’t you think?” Brown eyes locked onto Petunia’s. “You hold it yet?”

date: 14 june, 1977 time: 12:13 am open to: @carrvws​

predictably, the later the night got, the more shenanigans had begun happening. emmeline hadn’t touched the trick charm yet, though she’d seen it passed between some of the others already. she wasn’t sure it was the smartest idea, mixing a charm that only allowed one to tell the truth with alcohol. especially in the hands of teenagers. still, she was fairly certain she would take it at some point. after all, what did she have to hide? a lot. despite her plans to not drink, emmeline had been talked into taking a cup of beer earlier in the night, and had just decided to grab another when she spotted alecto nearby. “sorry, were you waiting?” she asked, nodding towards the table covered in various alcohol, mixers and snacks. 

It was easy enough to keep to her own. There were more than a few people she was avoiding, most surprisingly from her own house. She couldn’t bear to face Lucius, and she’d give her wand arm to avoid his betrothed. The idea made her chock. “Not at all,” said Alecto, waving off Emmeline with her idle hand. The other gripped a cup of -- she gave it a quick sniff -- what she thought was firewhiskey. Whatever it was, it tasted good, and it sent a flash of fire down her throat and through her veins. It was a good feeling -- it was intense and wild and felt palpably. “Having a good night, Hufflepuff?” She raised a careful brow. “Wouldn’t have thought this was your scene.”

“Oh, fuck,” the words spilt from Alecto’s mouth as she woke with a start. She must have fallen asleep somewhere between a few bites of ice cream and a few shots of firewhiskey. She straightened up in the chair she sat in, blinking her eyes until she finally felt a little more awake. It was fine. The night was fine. Amycus was... somewhere, and mercifully she hadn’t seen one Lucius Malfoy. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and she’d take small blessings. She fiddled with something in her hands, before looking down and swearing. A beat passed, and she huffed. A smile spread across her face, feral and wide. “Alright. Very funny. Who put the charm in my hand? I just wanna know. We gotta talk.”