HOPE PREVAILS.

@hvldings   ——    “ there’s a huge difference between what we work for and what we live for ”

alecto, with a quick, tight-lipped smile, dipped her head in acknowledgement at the jones girl. it was always odd and strained for her to run into people she knew at hogwarts; odder and even more strained when they were people she’d share a house with. the two year difference in age didn’t matter; ravenclaws were ravenclaws in alecto’s mind.  “ I suppose I have no cause to disagree with you, hestia, “  she said, an airy wave of a well manicured hand adding flippancy to otherwise polished words.  “ but there hardly seems time nowadays to find something to live for amidst all the work. “

there was a flicker of something, barely noticeable, on her face. she returned the smile, albeit reluctantly. hestia’s earlier words had been said with a touch of resentment, lingering. words that came from long ago. alecto’s response caused hestia pause, a quick clench of a fist hidden in a pocket. “it must depend how hard you’re working, but i find it quite easy to find anything to live for. it doesn’t have to be something grand. could be a job, a holiday, a friend.”

❛ so you’re telling me that if you were allowed to go out into field you wouldn’t hesitate if the person in front of you was someone you knew…? or even a child? ❜ cold harsh truth falling off her lips as she leans against the wall. arms folded across her chest as she studies hestia’s movements. ❛ that even if it was your best friend standing on the other side, you wouldn’t miss ? ❜ alice remembered the night when she had hesitated, when her anger directed at frank had caused her to lose focus and for them to lose a target and she had paid for it in failure & in heartbreak. ❛ you’re not ready. ❜ she concludes before the girl has even attempted to respond and with a swift movement she thinks expelliarmus and catches hestia’s wand before the girl turns around. ❛ not for that. ❜

“i didn’t say that.” don’t twist my words, she wants to say. but this is alice - who, despite her harsh words, bloody knows what she’s talking about. “i get what you mean- i agree with you, even, but don’t you feel helpless?” hestia’s deliberately facing away, her lip ever so slightly quivering. they’re supposed to wait until more people die? rules used to soothe hestia but something’s been stirring recently, reminding her of how she felt when she left hogwarts. wasted, confused, little. her wand is swiftly removed from her hand, and she turns rapidly to face alice. she smiles despite herself, never much affected by people with more talent than her. “you’re right- i just- want to be doing something.”

“True inspiration,” began Hestia, eyes slipping closed briefly, as she tightened her grip on her wand. “-is impossible to fake. I can’t pretend to- to care.” There was a slight sigh, something hitched, that can’t quite fit into her lungs. The news about Regulus had hit her - and hard. She wouldn’t pretend to have really known the boy, nevermind liked him, but another life- another child taken by the war. It would be incredibly easy for her to get lost in her work after this, it’s her usual tactic, but something is stopping her this time. “I understand the rules, I do, I get why we have them, but this is ridiculous. Training, over and over, when we could be fighting. Properly helping.”

“Do you want me to beat him up for you?,” Mary asked, raising her eyebrows as she brought her coffeecup to her lips. “I’ll do it. I’ll even pay you, if you’ll let me — what an arse.” That plenty of their male colleagues were able to be right dickheads was no surprise to Mary, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t endlessly frustrating. “I’d love to … just … have a go at his nose. After my coffee, of course, but still. Fighting with fists is just more satisfactory than dueling.” She was grinning, then — she wasn’t serious, of course ( not entirely, at least — she wouldn’t mind a reason to introduce someone to her right hook at that moment, but that was unrelated to all this ). “I’d love to knock a Death Eater’s mask off their face just with my bare fist, one day.”

“I’m not entirely sure how much that would solve.” There was a pause, which Hestia used to laugh slightly. She was uncomfortable. Not with Mary, never with Mary, but there was a lingering feeling of being uncomfortable. Suggestive words uttered to her while she was getting her morning coffee; ones that she was used to, but not directly in her ear. “You’re right- there’s something gratifying about the crunch.” Her coffee was still sat in the kitchen, having abandoned it ( like a coward ) when she’d been affronted. Eyes drifted to Mary’s subconsciously. “Right, well, Mark from downstairs probably isn’t a Death Eater, love, but I get the sentiment.”

HESTIA JONES is TWENTY-TWO years old and works as an JUNIOR AUROR and is loyal to OOTP they were a RAVENCLAW and are a HALF-BLOOD. SHE/HER looks like SOPHIE COOKSON. 

CHARACTER PARALLELS: Ariadne (Inception), Clara Oswald (Doctor Who), Hope Van Dyne (Marvel), Gwen Cooper (Torchwood), April MacLean (Class), Nico Minoru (Runaways), Emily Prentiss (Criminal Minds), Caitlin Snow (The Flash). AESTHETICS: pristine but empty champagne glasses, tiny dots of light on a globe of the earth, intricate museum ceilings, a necklace you never take off, hair tumbling out of its bun, smears of polish on the ends of your fingers, crisp handwriting, the sound of a candle being lit, soft footfall, heavy rainfall & the disguise of a scar.  LINKS: playlist , board