angel eyes, sharp teeth

“Ah, the veela twins are easy marks, Genie. I don’t make losing bets, but I’m hoping for something a bit more dramatic—maybe Albus Potter breaking down in Potions? No dad, sister or girlfriend around to comfort him, yeah? Tragic, for people who need that kind of shit.” Wren tore his eyes away from where Odilia and Gemma were speaking, turning to the other third of their little group, “You think next time someone gets snatched we could add Louis Weasley to the list? My wardrobe is getting a bit full and I’d like the extra space. You know, if we’re being open to suggestions.”

“What can I say?” Genie smirked. “I like to win. Besides, it’s not like any of us can help that they’re as predictable as they are pathetic. That said, I like your pitch. I’d love to see what Tears of an Orphan do to a Draught of Living Death—-for academic purposes, of course.” Glancing sidelong for a moment to check where her girls were, her gaze snapped back to Odilia’s boytoy, a smirk curving across her lips at his question. “It’s an appalling waste,” she agreed, “that you have to know there’s prime real estate for your belongings and yet it’s been taken up by... well, someone ungrateful, frankly. Surely that much space is wasted on him —- don’t they all, like, live in a hovel together or something? Or a slightly enlarged shoe? I’m sure there’s something we can do. I’d like to get rid of dear Katya too—-her attitude and unfriendliness all these years is bad enough, but her continued friendship with Scor, especially after he betrayed Gem by dating that... harpy? It’s just disloyal. Really, our dorm should be a safe space, don’t you agree?”

a problem leander had with himself was that on occasion  ( those occasions being, of course, a frequent thing )  he sent words out into the world, received a moment too long of silence in return, and panicked. he stared at genie’s expression with a smile stuck onto his face and wondered of he needed to vault more sentences out at her  —  but then it cleared and he swallowed whatever nonsense had been on the verge of coming out.  “ thank you very much for your forgiveness, “  he said with a smile sliding its way to something more natural. maybe a bit more alarmed, but such was the way one had to navigate conversations with genie, leander thought. he let out a small, confused laugh of his own, when the echo of hers was already gone a beat too long.  “ well, see! no need for either of us to, uh, linger on any opening misunderstandings. since your forgiveness means a lot to me and that knowledge made up for stuff to you. “  leander’s wondered if any of that made sense. it sure had been a lot of words, but he figured it was in her hands to decide if they were coherent ones. he beamed anyway  —  tried his very best to match her smile in wattage. tried, too, to move the conversation away from what he thought might’ve been some sentimentality. sentimentality in conversation felt even more like tripwire than pockets of silence. as it was, leander barely knew what he was talking about when he talked to genie; best to just move past things as easy as she’d let him. 

it was easy to allow to link her arm to his, when the contact came with a subject change. he wasn’t quite certain what she wanted him to do, now that their arms were twined, but he wasn’t bothered by that. he’d wing it.  “ I can’t say that much has happened tonight. it hasn’t been bad! but  —  what about you, genie? have you seen an nice evening? “

Arm in arm with someone like Leander Finnigan-Thomas was probably something some people would actually strive for. Genie wondered absent-mindedly if they should wander past Isabella Weasley or either Delacour-Bardon —- she could never remember who was related to who with that lot, all of them so boring, but they all struck her as the type to fantasise with being arm in arm with —- well, him, probably, but she knew she made at least Weasley and Natalia flustered. Still, she decided, there was no need to seek them out. It was enough to entertain herself with Leander, and if they ran into them, well, that was just a bonus, wasn’t it? 

Moving forward slightly, she figured their linked arms would be cue enough to get him moving along with her. It was easiest to largely ignore what he’d said —- she latched on to one part, and felt that it was all that was worth pursuing in their —- conversation was a bit generous of a term, but you made do with what you had, she supposed. “Glad my forgiveness means so much to you,” she said, laughing, but it was a good-natured sound, not a mean-spirited one. To be fair, it wasn’t the hardest acting she’d ever had to do —- he was hapless and easily confused, but there was something less... outright laughably pathetic about him than Natalia. That would be a harder sell to make her laugh sound less scornful, but it was easier here. “Have I seen a nice evening, hmmm...” she mused. “Mostly, but, well...” she bit her lip, then said, “I won’t lie, seeing Vivvy punch Gem put a bit of a damper on my celebratory spirits.. Ailyn and I obviously got her fixed up, but it’s —- it’s hard to see people you care about being hurt, you know? Not that I blame Vivvy! I know it’s been a really hard few weeks for her... for everyone, really... I just wish it hadn’t ended in a situation where Gem got hurt too...” After a few moments of looking forlorn, she gave a shaky laugh, literally shaking her head from her ‘sympathy’ for the whole situation. “Are you excited about the New Year?” she asked, cocking her head at Leander.

z might not entirely buy what the death eaters are selling - and he might secretly harbor guilt and shame and terror over the things they do, the things he does - but he’s still one of them. their victories are still his victories. so he smiles away, glad if only for the fact that he didn’t have to commit the atrocities against the potter girl. he ignores the way that some younger, less involved kid scurries away at genie’s command, and turns to face her. if there’s one thing z isn’t, it’s intimidated by his peers. he knows his place. he knows his value, his strengths. he mightn’t be proud of them, but he’s as good a wizard as any of them. he’s as scary, he thinks, as the death eaters in the school can get.

“the whole family. too bad we won’t get to see it - a few of ‘em have the sense to lock away and despair alone. there’ll be waterworks in the open, but that won’t be all of it.” he shrugs, feels the material of his pajama shirt taut against his back. “don’t think it matters who’s more civilised. we’re ahead in this thing because we think and we act. they’re just reacting. all we need to do is maintain the lead. wait out the panic until one of them does something stupid, then we can use that. strike again. pick away, slowly and surely. this was a success. first of many more, i think we all hope.”

“Really, Z, I can’t believe you think any of them have sense,” she chided, though her tone was light. “Who, exactly, do you have pegged for private suffering? By and large, they’re pathetic and very... loud about it. So glad I don’t have to have classes with the twins—-can you imagine how loud they’ll cry in class? I’d have to silence them in minutes.” There were good things in what he was saying, Genie thought, things she could approve of. The first of many more successes, yes, that was the right thing to say. There was, however, a tone to the way he was speaking to her which she did not appreciate. All we need to do is maintain the lead. — then we can use that. It wasn’t the cautionary aspect, because that was built into her bones by Wes, a greater Death Eater than any of them; it wasn’t even the ‘we’, because although Z had not been personally involved in the execution, it was a success for the group. No, it was the way he was saying these things... or perhaps that he even said them at all, to her, as if she didn’t know all this —- as if he had anything he could possibly teach her, whose cousin had captured the brat once Gemma lured her away, whose uncle’s warehouse was being used as the storage facility —- her, Gemma’s partner in crime.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she warned, flicking her eyes up and down, surveying him. “I’m not the one you should be trying to explain our victory to —- I was actually part of it. Perhaps keep these teaching qualities and moments to yourself, or until you’re talking to someone who actually needs a crash course in how this all works from a Diggory with a sister problem, because I certainly don’t need one from the likes of you.” Those kids who didn’t grow up with them, like them, they never seemed to get it, Genie thought imperiously. It was as if because life was easy for people like Genie and Gemma—-and why shouldn’t it be?—-they didn’t understand that they knew what they were doing. As if Genie could ever have made it to seventeen years old and been Wes Rowle’s cousin without being trained in the strategies of warfare and the nuances of power dynamics. Which was another reason to mention his precious Mai —- obviously (well, to her—-she thought Z would know, but perhaps little Mai had kept that she knew as well from her siblings, so as to not make them feel guilty for being part of Genie’s personal system for getting results from Mai... which, if that was the case, Genie might have to reevaluate her opinion on the littler Hufflepuff) she knew his sister was actually a double agent, but that was hardly something that Z could —- or would, she’d give him that credit, he was a lot more resolute in his actions towards protecting his siblings than he’d perhaps cop to verbally —- bring up in their specific setting. 

where: scorpius malfoy’s nye party .  when: december 31, 2023 .  who: @iphgenias .

amongst the many guests, maddison is a SHADOW that weaves in and out with both learned and innate ease. between breaking off from those she came to the estate with and finding her spot by genie’s side with a half-unfinished drink, her pockets were full of secrets. “so,” brown eyes search the room, glass grazing her lower lip as though entranced. she is, in a way. “what did i miss?” 

“vivienne chang lost her fucking mind on gem just before,” genie says, raising her eyebrows in a perfect imitation of shock. “like, honestly, who let her out of her kennel? disgraceful —- poor ally, like he doesn’t have enough to deal with the dead dad schtick, but also a rabid girlfriend? tragic.” with a pitying shake of her head, she slanted a glance at her —- well, what was the word for maddison? not quite friend, not quite minion... an acolyte, maybe, clay to be moulded. the envious, the imitating, the potential, if she stayed strong enough to tap it. “what did you notice, skulking in the shadows? scor looking heartbroken, i assume?”

Hogwarts had never been so serene in Genie’s mind. No ginger Potter, Vivvy Chang dealt with and the sounds of Creature Registration in the air? Life was sweet. Then an even sweeter sight caught Genie’s eye: a swish of blonde hair on a pint-sized, well, part-human, and sporting a sweater too far away for Genie to see the specific detailing on, but she assumed was some inane cat imagery. Hopefully eating a bird. The irony would be amusing.

Swiftly moving, Genie followed her into the bathroom, speeding up so that when she opened the door — oof. “Oh, sorry, Abby, didn’t see you there,” she said, sporting an apologetic expression which morphed swiftly into one of sympathy. “This just isn’t your week, huh? With this, and Lily running away...” Dropping her volume, Genie affected a conspiratorial and sympathetic tone, saying, “I heard what Alice said about her breaking down —- I’m, like, so sorry, that must be so tough... Als said you all think she’s a burden but pretend otherwise so she doesn’t react badly, but I was sure that couldn’t be true, right? Though I guess she does know you all better than I do...”

Genie was thriving. She’d been tickled pink about the whole thing—-what an excellent plan of Gemma’s, honestly, but who was surprised?—-and had greatly enjoyed being able to cause havoc and run interference last night against those headless chickens that called themselves MA members—-honestly, Genie thought scornfully, McGonagall had been a senile old bat but even she knew how to run an organisation better than these righteous walking temper tantrums—-but she was especially interested in this particular moment: now that the whole group had been informed, Genie’s eyes were roving the amassed crowd, scanning for reactions. Enthusiasm, weakness, discomfort—-anything, because as Wes had always taught her, every little thing you caught was another thing to be able to use and weaponise.

“So,” she said casually, sidling up to someone and flicking two fingers at the person nearest them to scatter so Genie could take their spot, “Who do you think’s going to burst into tears first? My bet’s on the halfbreed—-either, really, they’re practically interchangeable at this point, so desperate, poor things—-though I guess it’s not really their fault that they can’t control their impulses, what with them being less... civilised than us.”

leander took a half step back from genie, as if getting a small big of extra space would make it easier for him to streamline his thoughts into a response her could give to her. it wouldn’t make anything easier, but sometimes the illusion was enough to make him feel better. still  —  as nice as continued space was, he didn’t want to be unkind, or seem like he was trying to step away from her. he shifted his weight then, from one foot to another, and it was like his step back never happened. his idea of how to respond was certainly no clearer. leander looked up at her from a tilted head and gave a slight smile, his confusion no doubt lurking on its edge.  “ I suppose you’re right, in that it’s not really the same thing. “  he paused, looked down.  “ so, sorry, I mean. “  with another slight smile at her, leander looked back up and tried once more to make sense of what he wanted to say to her. the ease with which the unfamiliar nickname fell from genie’s mouth was absolutely no help; like with his step back, he wasn’t sure much would help him through this interaction.  “ and, no, that’s not what I  …  I didn’t mean you had to need something. just that I’d be willing to help if you did. but just interacting’s fun too! that’s all! “

There was something undeniably precious about Leander Finnigan-Thomas. In fact, if Genie was someone else, she might even have found him endearing. She supposed she did, in a way—-she was more entertained by it than anything, but she appreciated it for her purposes—-her only real interested in endearment, after all, was in other people’s feeling it towards her, or in using the endearment of others against themselves and those around them. But Leander was sweet, and reliable, and there was always something enjoyable in seeing how far that went. She put on an unhappy expression for a moment longer, before breaking into a brilliant smile. “Oh, it’s all right —- I suppose I can forgive you,” she said, a touch of teasing to her tone, before softening her smile slightly and widening her eyes just a smidge. She wondered absently where Gemma and Odilia were—-if they couldn’t see her have her fun, she hoped they were winding up Gryffindors or something that would mean as good of a time as she was having. “You know,” she said, with an almost shaky laugh, looking up at him through her lashes, “knowing that you’d help me with a favour if I needed... it kind of makes up for thinking that’s all I would want in the first place.” Deep breath, G, this is the soft spot. Taking in a breath, she bit her lip, striving for an expression that looked touched —- verging on demure —- and then broke into another smile, giddier this time. “Yay, I’m so glad, LeLe,” she said, brightening, effortlessly weaving her arm through his. “Have you been having a good night?”