whiskey in a teacup

Fill the Silence

–

Frank had never been so desperate to see proof that someone had been murdered; more often than not he had taken his other colleagues’ word for it. He had seen families process their loss and grieve—but there was no bringing them back. Some had hoped they remained ghosts.

Over time he would realize that they were no longer at the office anymore; there were moments where he would turn to look for them, passing their unoccupied cubicle and wondering if it was hope that led him to look. There was a part of him that denied the simple fact that they would be no one there. It was hardly his place to tell her that there was no hope—even if he himself hadn’t seen Julian die.

“I don’t—I don’t know where he is,” he repeated. “But we could—" He wanted to offer to look, but it seemed like he was the last person she wanted to talk to—but would there be anyone else in the Order who would tell her what she wanted to hear?

He blinked, unsure if he could believe her when she asserted that she didn’t know, immediately saying that she did; she had talked of her other family members so casually that it almost felt as if she’d probably tell on them if pressed a little. “I can’t say if there was. I wasn’t there to make that decision.”

But he wasn’t going to say that if he could decide, he would have agreed with what Regulus had done with him regardless of the circumstances.

Isla had never felt so alone. So isolated. She knew in her heart that it had to be true. That Julian was gone. He wouldn’t come knocking on her door for a random day out at the shops. He wouldn’t come to her defense during the insufferable family dinners. Though he had sided with her less and less in recent months. He had seen her less and less. The daily letters had been a surprise and she had thought of their connection. Their longstanding friendship in a family that had never felt like home. 

He had been changing and she hadn’t seen it. He had grown distant and colder and exactly like the other Selwyn men but she had only seen him as the sweet boy that she had loved. That she had grown up with and gone on adventures with and simply enjoyed being with. He had been her closest family member and the loss of him was only made worse by the realization that she had been losing him for so long now. She had always thought there would be time to come back together. That she would answer him when she was ready. 

“We could what Frank? We could find out where he is? We could see him? No. What would it accomplish? He’s gone.” She knew the pain she felt wouldn’t be shared by any of those around her. The Order would view it as nothing but a good thing and the knowledge of that hurt too. She wanted to grieve. To cry and scream and rage and she couldn’t do any of that. In that moment she knew that just like with her family her walls had to come up with the members of the Order too. They could never understand. 

“I appreciate you telling me. Though it wasn’t with much tact the information was something I needed to know so thank you.” She ran her hands though her hair and rand the backs of her hands down her cheeks ridding her face of the few tears that had slipped out. “Are you sure you’re alright? You don’t seem well. I think perhaps I should go find Benjy for you. Though Emmeline would be better I haven’t seen her today.”

.

Ryland nodded. He didn’t really have much to add. He’d been the worthless cousin anyway, but he knew things were different for the girls. As far as he knew, Cora had it a bit easier than Isla, but he couldn’t speak for her experiences. They weren’t his own. Plus, when he thought about his family, Maisey had seemed happy to marry Ewan, but they’d been Hogwarts sweethearts. Had Delilah been so pleased when she’d realized Lachlan had been chosen as her intended? With a sharp pang, he thought of his own sister. She’d died far too young to worry of such things, but even as a halfblood, would she have become some trophy trinket for a good match? Ryland couldn’t let himself dwell on it.

He cleared his throat, especially since he knew Isla needed him in the here and now. Ryland had never heard her suggest that kind of thing before, and he wondered how new the thought was. “Whether you have kids or not in your choice,” he said, hoping for firm confidence to quell her obvious doubts. “Yeah, I suppose your husband technically has some say, but his doesn’t override yours. If you don’t want kids, you don’t have to.”

The knitting felt a bit silly when they were focused on other things, and momentarily Ryland gave up. He set down the needles and tried to smile at the idea of Isla cooking and cooking well. “You’d have to let the house elf go,” he joked. “Then you’d really learn. Sink or swim after all.” Then again, the house elf meant a second chance when she messed things up. Probably a good idea.

“I don’t know that it’s me not wanting them so much as me not wanting to bring them into a world like this. This war seems like it will never end and every day there’s a chance that more of us will die in it. I know we can’t put our lives on hold because of it but if I ever have a child I want to give them the best life that I can and I can’t do that right now.” She hoped Ryland would understand her. She didn’t want to come across as being afraid to live she wasn’t. She knew her life couldn’t be put on hold for the war but she didn’t feel that she could bring another life into the world without being able to give them a sense of security. 

“I could never do without my house elf so I suppose I shall have to rethink the whole thing. Imagine me walking into my kitchen. I don’t believe I’ve ever even been in there. Actually don’t tell anyone this Ryland I shall know it was you if I hear about it later but I don’t know that I could even find my kitchen. You know the estate is bigger than a house so I have a little excuse for it. I don’t even think that I could take you to half of the bedrooms if you asked me to. I mean I could take you to them but I couldn’t take you to specific ones. We should make it a point to explore all of them soon and make a map.”

.

“Oh, is it now? Well, then forgive me, I didn’t quite realise that was what a friendship was,” he laughed. “I must have even more friends than I thought if that’s the mark of a real friendship. But of course, chastise away! And I promise you I’m storing every piece of advice and word of warning in my memory!” More or less true. He was paying attention, he didn’t want to waste Isla’s time, but there were also so many, far more important things that he’d happily let steal all his focus.

He sat right back down at Isla’s words, and nodded, vigorous. “I’ll be sure to bring you your favourites next time. As many bags as you want.” The mention of the shop hardly fazed him either and Dedalus simply waved a hand, as if she’d asked about the weather. “Oh, yes, very tragic, indeed, but both the shop and I are perfectly alright. The damages weren’t all that bad, really. Or at least nothing we couldn’t take care of. In fact, we’re almost set to open again, bigger and better than ever! You should stop by in a week or so and you can have as many sweets as your heart desires!”

And once again he nodded along. “Very well, very well. But what if I don’t want to bring wine, and I don’t like them quite enough for a vase but still more so than to give them a bouquet, and they also don’t have any babies or children? What do I do then? Also, what about birthday gifts? Were you at Genevieve Higgs’ birthday party a couple of weeks ago? I got her a necklace, one of those fancy ones with the shiny gem, that was good, right?”

Isla smiled shaking her head at his antics. He was charming in an obnoxious way and she was happy she had brought him over for this lesson. He was a nice distraction when everything else seemed to be going wrong in her life. It was nice to feel like she could be herself around someone. “I don’t know about that. Some of the people who chastise you are doing it just because they don’t like you but I promise all of my chastising is done out of love. There will be a quiz at the end just to make sure that you remember.”

“I shall make sure that I stop by once you reopen. Only one bag of sweets would be lovely though. If I have too many I’ll get as big as a house. Can you imagine the whispers if I started to look so big? I would blame you completely Dedalus. My mother would come for your head.” She teased with a small laugh as she took a sip of her drink. 

Fill the Silence

–

“Er, no. I’m not sure how he died.” Frank had just been talking to Gideon that morning, and he already couldn’t remember the details. Had he just not been paying attention? Certainly he wouldn’t have forgotten such important details.

“I just know that—Regulus killed him. But—” Frank stopped himself and looked away from Isla, but this didn’t matter much since she had already been trying to avoid looking at him. “—I think Julian was there at the Potters’. The old headquarters. I don’t know where the body is, we’d have to…”

Go and find it? That sounded silly. But Julian Selwyn did have it coming though, but Frank was nice enough not to echo the sentiment that they at least had one less Death Eater to deal with. It was easier than trying to convince him out of being a murderous blood purist. Would Julian have changed his mind knowing that Isla was part of the Order? They’d never know, and Frank wasn’t so sure he cared if the answer were yes. 

“Did you know?” Frank asked, in the same hesitant voice she had. He wasn’t sure what he wanted the answer to be, and he had given up on making the tea. Clearly today wasn’t the right day for it, and while he wasn’t good at breaking news that he didn’t think he would have had to break, he felt like he at least owed Isla some kind of support. “Did you know he was one of them?”

Isla felt the rage building within her the longer that Frank spoke. Regulus Black. Of course. He had been one of them and though he had changed sides she found an all consuming hate for the young boy building within her. Surely Julian could have beaten him in a battle. She didn’t know the skills of Regulus in a duel but her cousin had been exemplary. She didn’t believe that one so young had taken out her cousin. Her cousin who was probably around the same age as Regulus. Her cousin who could have been him had she made any effort to speak to him. 

Was this her fault? Was it because she hadn’t tried to bring him to the right side? Had she known? Had she seen it and just not acknowledged it? Was this her fault? “I have to find him. His body. I have to see him.” How could she believe he was dead without seeing it for herself? She knew in her heart that it was true but her mind refused to believe. He was just hurt or something. Not dead. Not gone. Death was so final. He could have come to his senses. 

“Did I know? What if I did? What then Frank? What would be done if I told you that I knew?” Part of her wanted a fight. To lash out and tear something apart. What would he do? If she had known? Nothing. He would do nothing. “I didn’t know. Of course I didn’t. I would have done something. I would have tried. He wasn’t all bad. There was good in him. He was kind and loving and just a boy. I know he was on the wrong side but I loved him.” Love him. She loved him still. His choices changed nothing. “Did he have to die? Was there no other choice?”

“I am offended and appalled that you think someone must have taught me that. I was whining long before Gid even thought to complain, I’ll have you know. Did it never occur to you that I might’ve been the one to teach him? Plain hurtful, your words.”

But all jokes aside, Dedalus actually thought he was doing quite well. Excluding a couple of hiccups like the fork situation, of course. But he’d been very polite and charming even when some of his peers’ jokes made him wince and others had him downright fighting off grimaces. He’d made sure to talk to everybody, not just the more tolerable people at those events. He’d actually brought a perfectly acceptable present to Genevieve Higgs’ birthday party just a couple weeks ago. He simply hadn’t realised he was meant to bring a present to Isla as well.

“Of course we’re friends,” was his first protest. Not whine. He didn’t actually, truly whine, did he? “And that’s precisely why you’re welcome to the shop at any time, you know this. Well, perhaps not right away, we’re still in the process of patching things up, but that’s unimportant. As I said, we’re friends! Surely there’s some leeway in the rules when it comes to friends.” None of his friends brought him gifts when they came to his flat, that much was for sure. Then again, most of his friends either had some Muggle blood or just plain didn’t care about etiquette. Huh. “Are you cross with me? Did you want sweets that badly? I can go bring you some, it would really be no issue!”

He was ready to apparate to the shop right away – some of the stock was restored, surely he could find some of Isla’s favourites – but her next question gave him pause. “What gifts?” he echoed. “Well. For starters, a bottle of wine is a classic, isn’t it? And then also flowers? A bouquet or a pot, I don’t think it really matters. Oh! And if whoever you’re visiting has a baby then baby clothes. If they have a slightly older child… balloons? Not that anyone I know has children, I don’t think.”

“Actually that would make sense if you had taught him. In reality though I feel like you both just feed off of each other with this whole thing. “She enjoyed teasing him. He was witty and quite entertaining. 

“If we are friends then I am allowed to chastise you as much as I want. That is what a friendship is Dedalus.” Of course it was more than that but she was doing her best to be friends with more people. Especially with the loss of her closest family member she needed more people in her life. Dedalus had been in her life for a long time of course but she still hadn’t been as close to him as she could have been. Opening up to people was hard but she wanted more friends. Perhaps she just wanted more people to care if anything were to happen to her. Her family didn’t seem too heartbroken over the death of her cousin but maybe they didn’t really know yet. She couldn’t be the one to tell them. After all how would she have known? 

“No no stay where you are. It wouldn’t do to have you running off to get me sweets. Though next time you come if you bring me sweets it will make me happy.” She paused for a moment to take a sip of her drink. “Also yes there is leeway for bringing gifts to friends. If you go for just a casual visit you don’t have to bring a gift.” She ran a hand through her hair as she glanced out the window. “How is your shop? It’s awful everything that happened. I’m glad that you’re okay.”

Another pause as she listened to him name things he could take as gifts. “Wine is always a popular one. Flowers in a vase should be for people that you actually like you can take just a bouquet for anyone that you don’t like much. It’s perfectly acceptable. Baby clothes are good options when they just had the baby but I would refrain from it if they’ve had the baby for more than a month. You know that people in our society don’t like their kids much half the time anyway. I would only take balloons for the children if you don’t like their parents. The loud popping of them would be enough to send any pureblood mother into a frenzy.”

Chasing Colts, Not Quaffles 

🐎

Marlene was glad to hear Isla come flying up behind her. Midair horse-wrangling was much less difficult in pairs than when trying to fly solo. Not that Marlene hadn’t been forced to do the job alone before – but she didn’t much like it. There was too much risk of the horse bolting the wrong way and hurting itself. With two witches in the air, they could play pinchers and cut him off and force him down with relative ease. (Well, as easy as anything was with an untrained young flying horse, anyway.) Ordinarily an amateur unfamiliar with their feisty flying steeds would likely be of only limited help – and in some cases, potentially a greater liability than trying to tackle the steed alone – but given Isla’s expertise on a broom, Marlene wasn’t worried.

“Nah,” Marlene shouted back in response to the other witch’s question, her voice pitched to carry over the rushing roar of the air between them, “we’ll conjure a rough halter when we get close if we need to. Might be able to just herd him down on our own if he’s not too spooked, even – just need to get his attention!”

To that end, Marlene leaned down low over her broom, coaxing a little more speed from it even as she climbed higher in the skies than the panicked colt. She motioned for Isla to swing wide and come up on the horse from the other side (thank Merlin for the near-universality of basic Quidditch gestures!) as though they were flanking a Chaser in an attempt to steal the Quaffle. Marlene signaled that she was going to do the cutting-off, and Isla should be ready for the Chaser – or in this case, the horse – to shy her way. She barely waited to make sure that the other witch understood; Isla Selwyn had been a brilliant Quidditch player. Marlene was supremely confident that she’d be able to handle one frisky colt, after her career!

“Now!” Marlene shouted. She dove hard at the colt and pulled on hand away from her broom and whistled, sharp and shrill. The horse looked over, saw her zooming in, and shied – exactly the direction Marlene had predicted, right towards Isla. “And noise!” Marlene shouted. “Let him know you’re there!” If all went well the colt would balk away from Isla just as he had Marlene, and abort his frantic escape; if they were really lucky, he’d turn and head straight for home…

‘Isla always felt such joy when she was speeding through the air on her broom. Or well she supposed this wasn’t her broom it was one from the farm but still it was familiar and wonderful and she loved it. Even when chasing after a colt she found the experience to be exhilirating and full of joy. She spent so much time in school just out flying in the pitch practicing. It was why she had been so successful at the sport. She had practiced more than she had studied and though her grades weren’t as good as they could have been she had still been a fairly good student. 

She wondered at times if she had peaked in school. If her greatest accomplishments would come from her school years and the few years that she had played Quidditch. It was an odd thought to have at the moment she could admit but flying didn’t take much of her focus and it always brought doubts and concerns to her. Did she make a mistake quitting the game? She truly had she knew it but still she couldn’t go back now. Things had happened that locked her in to where she was in life now. 

She watched Marlene flying higher and took in the familiar hand signals thrown her way. They were rough and not as fluid as those who she used to play with but she could understand. She moved to fly off to the side of the colt. The loud noise driving him towards her as Marlene had most likely planned for it to. She didn’t swerve away from him. She used her wand to make a loud popping sound to scare the colt and drive them back towards the direction of the farm. 

At least that had been the plan and she thought it would work but instead of driving the colt towards the farm he ended up going in the opposite direction. Isla shot Marlene an apologetic smile as she signaled that she would move back into position for another try. “This one sure is a stubborn one!” She called out the other girl as she moved to try once more to scare the colt towards home. 

Ryland leaned over and slid an arm around Isla in a hug. “There’s a war on. Your mother can chill. Even if there wasn’t a war on, she’s got no business telling you what you have to do with your body and your life. I think you’ll be a great mom someday, but that someday doesn’t have to be soon.”

It was only then that he realized by hugging her, he’d let go of the few loops he’d gotten down and needed to start over. Ryland sighed. “I think I need as much patience with this as I do with that lot.” He redid those few initial stitches, trying to convince himself that at least these looked better and therefore beginning again was a good thing. “We could try cooking. I’m not completely useless, and maybe I could show you a thing or two.”

“Have you met my mother? Or any pureblood mother? You know how they are. I’m a woman so I don’t have as many rights as a male does in pureblood society. I’m basically considered worthless if I’m not planning parties and popping out children. My father is pushing her to push me though I think. He’s rather annoyed with me about the whole thing. Not that I care really. I’ve never pleased him.” She smiled returning the small hug. 

“If I never have children though. Is that okay? Do you think that’s okay?” She wanted a child someday. If she lived through the war. If the war ever ended. She wanted that but she just didn’t want everything that involved having a child. “I would love to learn anything you can teach me. I’ve never been very good in the kitchen and wouldn’t it be fun to surprise some friends with a meal that I cooked myself? I think people would faint from shock. I think you’re doing a splendid job with this by the way, I’ve restarted this one ten times if I’m honest with you.”

Isla’s home | Dedalus Diggle & Isla Selwyn-Macmillan 29th of March, 1982 Closed starter for @islaselwynmacmillan​

In his defence, it wasn’t his fault. That was a bald-faced lie, of course, but it did make for a good defence and so he was going to stick with it for as long as possible. He’d been distracted, was another good one, and this time true too; he could hardly bring himself to care which fork he’d grabbed while there were so many other, much more important things to think about.

Isla didn’t appear to share that sentiment. In fact, she’d cared enough to organise these ‘lessons’ and frankly, he’d been more than happy to let her. They were doing a good job, he and Cora, but clearly not good enough if Isla still managed to pick up on everything he’d done that was considered to be in poor taste – which, apparently, there had been a lot of.

“Isla, dear, I don’t mean to interrupt, I promise you, and once again, I’m so very grateful you’re doing this for me. But all I’m saying is, I understand about the fork already. I really do. Your explanation has been perfectly thorough.” And long, he didn’t add. Merlin knew he had no issue with long talks, encouraged them even, but when those talks were more in line with lectures, his enthusiasm did tend to dwindle. “Could we maybe move onto whatever is next on the list?”

Isla hadn’t spoken to many people since learning the news of her cousin a couple days ago. She was shaken and confused on how she felt about everything. She understood he had been on the wrong side but still it didn’t change the way her heart hurt when she looked at his picture every morning. It didn’t change the number of times that her hands ran over his last letters to her. She missed him and the pain she felt was her own to carry. She shared it with no one because she didn’t believe those closest to her would share in it. After all they were on opposite sides of a war. 

She had decided to throw herself into setting Dedalus straight with his poor etiquette skills. She had seen him eat at enough events to know he was rather bad at following the correct order. She had written to him demanding his presence for some proper lessons and a proper lunch and when he arrived she hadn’t been surprised. People normally did what she told them to. 

A sigh left her lips as she listened to him go on about how he knew which fork to use but still used the wrong one. “I shall move on only because your whining is quite exhausting. Who taught you to act this way? Was it Gideon? He whines a bit as well. Let’s talk about why you didn’t bring a gift to your hostess. You know how much I like the sweets from your shop. Are we not friends Dedalus? Next time you arrive to a home you should have a gift. What gifts do you think are acceptable to bring to someone?”

Fill the Silence

Frank decided against doing any levitating and used his good hand to pick the pieces up off the floor, dumping them onto the counter. While levitating was out of the question, apparently rinsing the teapot bits off was a simple enough spell to manage in the meantime—and so was repairing it. At first glance, it was hard to notice the cracks.

Admittedly, he was using the tea as a means of distraction—that perhaps Isla would be more concerned about that to momentarily stop asking Frank about what had happened at the Manor. Which, fortunately, he wasn’t actually there for. But that didn’t seem to matter.  

It was quite a drawback not to have a warm cup of it to try and mitigate the blow. He leaned against the counter, glad that there was something to support him. He felt himself go weak, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he was losing resolve or losing blood. 

Once she had said the name, the recollection flickered in his brain. He didn’t sound sure, but it was confirmation enough. Perhaps she’d go running to someone else in the Inner Circle, or perhaps to her own family. Maybe she’d make Frank prove it, even though he had only heard about it that morning; that would certainly make him feel more useful. 

He still felt sick when he finally responded. “Yeah—Julian—Julian sounds like the one. Are you sure you don’t want tea?”

Isla wasn’t used to the sickening feeling that seemed to flood her. She felt as if she was drowning. As if there wasn’t plenty of air for her to breathe. Her hands were shaky but they moved to cover her mouth as she turned away from him to hide her reaction. This wasn’t acceptable. It wasn’t Julian. She would go home and there would be another letter from him demanding her presence once more. She would throw it on her vanity and promise herself to write her excuses later. She would wake up in the morning and be greeted by yet another letter because it wasn’t Julian. 

Yet she thought back to this morning. To the early afternoon when no letter had arrived from him. She thought it odd but perhaps he had just been busy. He had sent letters steadily every morning for the past two weeks. They were always there telling her to meet with him for lunch or tea or dinner. She hadn’t. She couldn’t. Yet now she thought back to the morning that had dragged on before coming here and she realized the lack of his letter. 

Pull yourself together. The thought came into her mind in the whispered hiss of her mother at every point in her life when something had gone wrong. The sharp pinch to her arm that always accompanied it was missing but the shadow of it was there. She took a breath and then another. Her hands lowered to her sides though they were in tight fists that would leave fingernail indents in her palms. She turned slowly back to Frank but couldn’t quite lift her gaze to him. 

“No thank you. Do you. That is do you know. Do you know where his body would be? I just. Do you know how he died?”

“I know,” she agreed. “It had been far too long since we saw each other.” Not counting the various parties they regularly crossed paths at, of course, but she knew that Isla would know what she meant.

“Husbands,” Annalise said with a commiserating shake of her head, as though she had the faintest idea what that was like. She rather felt like she did; many of the pureblood witches in her circle were married, so complaints of long hours at work and lack of attention were familiar to her. It made Annalise rather glad that her mother had given up on trying to arrange a match for her— temporarily, most likely, but the reprieve was still welcome.

Annalise ordered a glass of wine, smiling as Isla asked how she was. “Well, you know the latest with me,” she said with a laugh. They couldn’t really talk about the Order so publicly, but of course her joining was a significant development in her life of late. “I admit most of my recent free time has been taken up with, well, simply wrapping my head around it all.” She gave the bartender a gracious smile as he handed her her drink, taking a quick sip before returning the question. “And you?” she asked. “How are things with you?”

Isla sometimes envied her friend in her singleness. She often wished she had had the nerve to deny the demands of her family and continued on with her career without the stress of an unwanted marriage. That was what it was after all. Though she loved Archie more than most she didn’t enjoy being married. She wanted her life to be her own. That was why she had joined the Order after all to try to find a life where she wasn’t constantly forced into a roll she didn’t want to play. Archie was something of a soulmate to her and yet there could never be love in the traditional sense of the word. He would always have to lurk in shadows for romance and she would always have to play the role of the dutiful wife. “Indeed. Husbands are both a blessing and a curse.”

She took a sip of her wine as she thought about Anna joining the Order. It had been odd to her when her friend had joined. The woman had never shown any indication that she would want to be involved in the war before and Isla wasn’t sure why she would now decide to join on the side that wasn’t her default. Anna had always marched to the beat of her own drum but they were from the same circle and everyday Isla lived in fear that she would be found out by someone she held close. Perhaps that was why even with all the doubts and confusion over Anna joining she felt some relief. Finally a friend who she could be open with. 

“I was happy to hear of your latest endeavors though I hope you will come to my home soon so that we can explore them more fully.” She wanted to speak freely with her friend. The girl was a true companion where Ryland could not be. It simply wasn’t the same as having another woman to spend time with. “I’m afraid my life is rather boring at the moment. My mother writes often asking when I will come home for tea but you know that is just her wanting to grill me on when she can expect a grandchild. Perhaps I can take you along with me and she will just be happy that I finally married. She can spend the afternoon trying to matchmake you instead of trying to get children from me. I shall have to think of some horrid options to throw at you in front of her just to see her reaction.” Isla enjoyed the jesting with Annaliese and hoped her friend truly might consider accompanying her to her parents home. 

Fill the Silence

Frank wasn’t sure what surprised him more: Isla screaming behind him or the fact that the teapot had shattered. He let himself catch his breath for a moment, his body reacting at yet another explosion with no energy to back it up. He raised his wand to try and put the pot back together, and the pieces shook without even trying to put themselves back together.

“I guess—I’ll bring a new pot to Edgar next week? I hope this wasn’t a family heirloom or anything.” Frank struggled to say between breaths, but even if the thought was funnier in his head. Instead he had to let Isla do the work of cleaning him up, though he tried to help by at least looking for a kitchen towel to wipe the tea on the floor. His clothes were uncomfortable now that they were soaked from the waist down. 

Maybe Frank should have paid better attention to the Sacred Twenty-Eight’s family trees, because he couldn’t give her a name—but why were all of these families so large, except for his? He couldn’t pinpoint a name, but when she mentioned Iain or Gregory, Frank could at least confirm that those names didn’t sound right. 

“No, it wasn’t either of them.”

Isla busied herself helping to clean him up. Her mind was whirling with the news of the death and she hadn’t even learned the name yet. Her confidence that it was one of her lesser loved cousins though had held her together in the face of it. When he said it hadn’t been either of them she couldn’t help but frown. He had said cousin had he not? Perhaps it was her uncle. She didn’t care much for him and it wouldn’t surprise her. 

Or perhaps it was her own father. She wouldn’t be surprised by that either but the pain would be sharper. No she had to keep coming back to the fact that it was a cousin. A cousin and she had only three. The boys she had named he claimed were wrong but the only name left was unthinkable. Surely not Julian. He was a light in her life. They had grown up close in age and she had loved him from the moment she saw him. She was older than him and she had doted on him. He had supported her as much as he could when she played quidditch. He was someone she had neglected in the past month as she tried to get over the events of the Rosier party. Unopened letters from him sat on her vanity next to their smiling picture. 

She had promised herself she would answer him soon. Fear that he would ask her things she couldn’t answer kept her from seeing him. “Surely not Julian.” It was almost a whisper. More to herself than to Frank at this point. Though she had to know and so she said once more a bit louder so she knew he would hear, “Surely not Julian.” Her eyes wandering up to find his as she sought the truth from them. As if his lips would lie but his eyes would hold the answers. 

Fill the Silence

“Yeah, your cousin?” Frank tried to look a little more like he actually felt sorry about it, but it was a little difficult because Isla… was being difficult. He blinked, though he didn’t turn to look at her after she had said her family hadn’t told her. Frank pulled his wand from his coat, trying to avoid eye contact with Isla.

This wasn’t the first time he had to deliver bad news, but usually when he had to, he was very much aware that he was the first to tell them. And the dead Selwyn’s name slipped his mind, distracted by both Isla and the tea in front of him. He hadn’t been at the meeting either, but news travelled fast–or conveniently. 

“I–I don’t think it’s the Order’s job to deliver news every time someone dies?” Well, Frank was part of the Order, and he was telling her this now, even if that hadn’t really been the intention. It was strange to consider the possibility that Alice might not be the first person to find out he was dead. Frank swished and flicked at the teapot to levitate it from the counter to the table.

“Besides, it’s only been a day since, you weren’t the only one at last night’s briefing—” 

The teapot rose about an inch–only to explode like a balloon that had been filled past its breaking point. Frank was shit with using his wand with his left hand. Ceramic and tea splattered over him and whatever part of the kitchen that he hadn’t been blocking.

Isla always felt tense around Frank. It wasn’t because he was an auror per se but she always felt that he was evaluating her in a way. As if he took every word and every action and weighed them on some scale that she would never comprehend. She didn’t fear what he thought of her but she did think that if anyone were to ever make a case against her to the inner circle that it would be him. 

She understood that the Order didn’t have to tell her about a death during an attack even if it was a family member. Since all of her family members would be on the other side. Still she wished someone would have thought to tell her. Irritation flooded her for a moment and her hands tensed into tight fists for several seconds before she let a breath out trying to get rid of the emotion. 

“I don’t mean to say that it is their job to tell me. I suppose I would just like to know who it is that died. Could you tell me? Surely it had to be Iain or Gregory.” She would have said more but suddenly the teapot was exploding and she let out an involuntary scream as she ducked behind the counter. 

The moment it was over dread filled her at her reaction and she moved to draw her wand from her pocket and start to clean up the mess. “Are you alright? Do you want me to call for Benjy or something? She had seen him around in the hallway before coming into the kitchen so she knew he at least was here.

protect: ryland (he’s her son idc)

fight side by side: bran? (she would rather fight with her than against her)

🔪 - protect, attack, fight side-by-side with.

protect: annalise (her favorite gal pal)

attack: peter (because sirius can fight man)

fight side by side with: sirius (because he’s good in a duel)

💰 - rob a bank with, hide a body with, rat out to the cops.

rob a back with: lu (they seem thrifty) 

hide a body with: rosalia (she’s a badass)

Fake dating: Archie (they already are so)

only one bed: arabella (she seems harmless)