𝐣𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞.

josephine zelda marcia fitzroy-howard

(   cis   woman   |   she/her   |   sophie   cookson   )   ——   isn’t   that   JOSEPHINE   FITZROY-HOWARD?   yeah   that   is   them,   outside   the   three   broomsticks!   they   used   to   be   in   SLYTHERIN   but   apparently   they   now   work   as   a   WIZENGAMOT   SECRETARY   TO    RODOLPHUS   LESTRANGE   /   PERSONAL   ASSISTANT   TO   THE   CHIEF   WARLOCK   at   the   WIZENGAMOT   ADMINISTRATIVE   SERVICES.   sybill   once   said   that   they   reminded   her   of   precious   gems   threaded   onto   rosary   beads,   mother’s   pearls   clinging   to   your   neck,   blood   red   lips   and   soot   black   eyeliner,   a   pretty   mouth   but   hideous   words   which   seems   about   right.   anyway   i’ve   heard   they’re   still   a   bit   DILIGENT,   MACHIAVELLIAN   and   VAIN,   they’re   TWENTY   FOUR   now   but   some   things   never   change!   i   wonder   how   being   a   MUGGLEBORN   is   affecting   them   after   hogwarts,   especially   now   they’re   an   UNMARKED   DEATH   EATER?   i   guess   only   time   will   tell…

CHARACTER   INSPO:   amy   dunne   (gone   girl),   helen   of   troy,   anora   mac   tir   (dragon   age:   origins),   phillippa   eilhart   (the   witcher   games),   miss   scarlet   (clue),   saadia   (skyrim),   briala   (dragon   age:   inquisition),   vivian   rutledge   (the   big   sleep)

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“That’s no gonna help anythin’.”

gus was wearing a grin as he sat back on the bench, arm stretched out over the back, not a care in the world. “no, alright, so I was having lunch with the girls today, and you’re never going to believe what they told me.”

things were always easier with josie when there wasn’t someone available to witness her sweetness; then again, this same refusal to give him even the smallest slice of this sort of affection while amongst the general public had (mostly) only served to entice him as the encounters had continued and the months had begun to pass. and gus? while it shouldn’t have been something he was growing familiar with, it was beginning to be. “it’s my fault you want to dress me up like the perfect walking accessory?” he questioned, teasing, as he used their closeness to his advantage and nipped at her neck in retaliation. “i’m just too good looking, then, is the thing, hm? can’t help yourself?” he decided, finally, lifting his head once more with a devious grin, and sliding his hands right back out of her pockets to pat them against her rear. “i’m beginning to get the picture, see,” he informed her, beginning to walk forwards without bothering to properly disentangle himself from her, and trusting that she would either hang on, or turn herself round, and kept speaking as he guided them towards the stairs he’d only just descended moments before, “and all i hear now is the sound of you wasting my perfectly good moments of distraction while you make your selections. and i like to make the most of that time, as you know.”

                       he   gave   a   sniff   of   a   laugh   in   response,   never   going   to   admit   he’d   never   been   referred   to   in   that   manner   before,   but   yeah,   he   did   like   it.   ❝   is   that   so   ?   i   guess   i   would   have   to   be   inclined   to   agree   to   your   description   of   him,   then.   i’m   sure   both   of   my   sisters   would   agree   with   that   as   well,   but   then   again,   i   think   my   mother   takes   the   cake   on   that.   ❞   if   mrs.   demir   had   the   option   of   choosing   her   children’s   path,   she   would’ve.   merlin,   aydin   would’ve   been   long   married   by   now.   ❝   i   don’t   think   that   could   ever   be   true,   ❞   he   replied   as   his   hand   let   go   of   hers,   his   body   moving   to   sit   back   down   in   his   seat.   ❝   i   would   say   the   same   for   anything   in   the   wixen   world.   when   you’ve   grown   up   in   it,   it   seems   boring,   but   the   muggle   world   has   always   fascinated   me,   so   i’m   all   ears.   ❞   this   conversation   also   reminded   him   about   taking   ogden’s   and   finding   a   way   to   put   it   on   muggle   shelves.   ❝   you   have   a   beautiful   name,   josie.   it   suits   you.   ❞  

                    the   ease   with   which   the   conversation   ebbed   and   flowed   with   aydin   was   refreshing   ;      there   was   no   chessboard   here   ,      no   wondering   if   she   were   the   one   moving   the   pieces   or   what   piece   she   was   a   pawn   ,      no   —   it   was   just   simple   chatter   and   it   was   a   breath   of   fresh   air   .         ❝   i   think   it   might   be   the   way   of   brothers   then   ,      no   matter   the   world   ,   no   matter   your   standing   ,      you   all   wind   up   the   same   .      i   think   that’s   nice   .      familiar   even   :      and   i   think   it’s   long   been   known   mothers   have   a   tendency   to   wind   up   in   one   of   a   few   camps      ❞         it   would   be   interesting   to   see   if   things   would   unfold   like   that   for   either   josie   or   thea   .         ❝   guess   it’s   all   just   a   matter   of   perspective   really   ,      what’s   mundane   to   me   isn’t   for   you   ,      just   like   when   i   first   found   out   about   all   this      ❞         she   said   with   a   small   smile   tucking   a   stray   lock   of   hair   behind   her   ear   .         ❝      now   where   to   start   ?      i   get   my   title   from   my   father   because   he   has   one   ,      though   mine   is   only   a   courtesy   one   —   i’m   not   lady   of   anything   but   my   father   is   the   duke   of   something   .      duke   of   norfolk      ❞      

she sighed, it was getting closer and closer to another full moon and she was tired. but still, she had to know the truth. “and which of those rumors are you willing to talk about. because i’m only interested in one.” 

“i heard a little rumor, about you.” and if it was true it would gut jasmine, pushing her further from the death eaters and the cause she once believed in so strongly. 

“ Whatever makes you feel better,” Ludo didn’t react, not until Evan’s name came up in the conversation. He raised an eyebrow, and although he didn’t say a thing, you could tell that he wondered what kind of relationship these two might have had. Of course no one knew of the sort of relationship he once had with the Slytherin alumnus, and it had been so long that Ludo wondered sometimes if it ever existed. At least, until he ran into him again. The feeling in his stomach might have not been quite like what it used to be, there were things you couldn’t erase. And if Ludo smiled, it was not in response to the look of fury on Josie’s face. Gone in his memories, in his thoughts, he almost had forgotten that he was not alone.

"Is that the only option there is then? Either you hurt people or you get hurt?” He hated that. What sort of world did they live in? Ludovic knew that he did not have it in him, that he was not a fighter. What he could do with his Quidditch bat, that was not the same as aiming his wand at someone with the intent to hurt. “I never said this was your fault,” there were things worth arguing about, but the well being of the people he cared for was not a laughing matter. “I’m not like you, or Gus. I don’t… fight people, I can’t do that,” he took a seat, this time sitting closer to her. “But please, don’t get involved with the wrong people, it’s not worth it.” Pot calling the kettle black, wasn’t it? Ludo was a bit too impulsive perhaps, and when they offered protection in exchange for stupid details regarding something that didn’t seem important, well Ludo was just happy to provide them just that. And now he regretted it, but what was he supposed to do about it?

                    ❝      i’m   only   curious   ludo   ,      no   need   to   spoil   the   fun      ❞            but   anger   blinded   her   to   any   deeper   assessments   of   just   what   he   could’ve   been   thinking   about   as   she   saw   the   smile   that   came   to   his   face   .      serving   only   to   stoke   at   the   flames   simmering   within   her   .      she’d   wanted   to   play   nice   but   by   god   was   he   making   it   hard   .

“no, jos…I mean .. simple. one day at a time. we can’t, I can’t, be whatever it was we were before. I won’t.” and it wasn’t just that he could neither stomach the indignity of having to live that down – after all the shitfits he’d thrown that summer, to walk it back like it never happened oh, he’d never hear the end of it – augustus just really could not walk back into that. for what all it did or didn’t mean to her, augustus craved security as much as the next man, hell, as much as josie herself, even, and he couldn’t feel the way he’d felt this summer again. he’d never experienced it before, and he certainly had no intentions of feeling that way again anytime soon, no sir. but here she was, all but promising him that he would, and that was, truly, terrifying.

but josie hadn’t come around at all, not once since she’d been gone; gus didn’t consider a ballroom sighting to be anything more than happenstance, and … the fact that josie was only here when she needed someone, well, augustus still had plenty of pride of his own left. “I can’t do anymore messes, I don’t want to. if you really believe that, that i deserve better, than maybe you should consider that you do too. I wanted that, and I do, josie, yes, I want you, but you’re no good for me, and honestly … I doubt you’d pass the vibe check right now.” she didn’t even knew what that meant, and that … was kind of part of the problem. it seemed a little, unfeasible, easilly, and uncikely, definitely, for anyone to believe they could feel anywhere near deeply for one another knowing so little about the other, and yet, wasn’t that what they were claiming? and he looked down at her, at the top of her head, buried in his chest, and he sighed. “so yeah, jos, i love you, and I want you, and I forgive you, but … i can’t be with you. not right now. and especially not if you’re coming for rescue. that’s called needing a friend, and if you came to me for something else, then, i can’t help you. I can be your friend, that’s it, that’s all I can give you right now.”

“besides, I have lounge pants on, and you know I don’t do anything at all once I have lounge pants on.”  he let go of her, taking a step back, and pointing at the sofa. “why don’t you tell me what happened?”

                    and   she   couldn’t   exactly   blame   him   for   that   ,      couldn’t   blame   anyone   who   thought   that   a   decision   like   that   would   be   for   the   best   ,      because   really   it   was   .      she’d   worked   so   hard   to   keep   things   just   surface   level   between   them   was   it   any   wonder   that   things   had   wound   up   so   toxic   for   them   ?      what   they’d   had   just   a   few   short   weeks   ago   hadn’t   been   good   for   either   of   them   and   it   was   only   with   the   clarity   of   hindsight   she   could   now   see   it   and   yet   …      and   yet   in   this   moment   she   still   wanted   what   they   had   back   .      still   wanted   him   .   as   selfish   a   thing   as   that   was   .         ❝      gus   ,      what   i   want   ,      what   i   deserve   ?      that   hardly   matters   now   .      but   if   you   can’t   do   messes   —   and   you   shouldn’t   feel   bad   for   that   —   i   should   just   go   now   .      i’ve   turned   my   entire   life   into   one   .      you   don’t   have   to   be   in   it   .      i   should   just   go   ,      i   shouldn’t   have   put   you   in   this   position   .      i   don’t   know   why   i   came      ❞         but   that   was   a   lie   .      in   the   time   she’d   been   here   josie   had   been   able   to   work   out   that   there   wasn’t’   just   one   reason   behind   why   she’d   shown   up   .      there   were   several   ,      conflicting   even   at   times   .      that’s   why   their   emotions   were   such   a   mess   over   this   .      her   heart   was   at   war   with   itself   .         ❝      i   love   you   too   but   that’s   not   what   i   came   for   ;      that   something   else   or   even   rescue   ,   its   too   late   for   that   .      i   don’t   know   what   i   came   here   for   —   ❞      a   lie   .      she’d   came   here   seeking   pain   ,      a   way   to   hurt   herself   or   be   hurt   and   while   that   moment   might   be   over   she   knew   she   couldn’t   be   trusted   with   herself   tonight   .         ❝      —   but   i   know   what   i   need      ❞     and   so   she   followed   to   where   he’d   pointed   ,      not   taking   a   seat   on   the   sofa   but   instead   curling   up   on   one   half   of   and   lying   down   as   tears   came   to   her   once   more   .

                    ❝      its   this   war   gus   ,      five   years   ago   ?      i   was   such   a   fool   ,      thought   it’d   all   be   over   soon   .      thought   i   was   making   the   smart   call   joining   up   with   who   i   did   .      cause   with   the   others   ?   what   would   i   be   but   just   another   bloody   muggleborn   ,      i   thought   i   was   going   to   be   something   …      but   i   was   just   a   novelty   to   them   ,      just   a   novelty   to   him   .      kept   around   because   what   harm   could   a   mudblood   do   till   he   found   something   i   could   be   useful   for   .      and   he   did   .   rod’s   election   ?      who’d   guess   where   his   ties   really   where   if   i   was   there   to   turn   to   ?      why   would   one   of   them   trust   someone   like   me   with   so   much   ?      but   the   elections   won   now   and   you-know-who   ,      there’s   no   use   for   me   left   for   him   .      and   as   for   the   harm   i   could   do   ?      what   got   me   here   to   begin   with   .      i’m   too   close   to   too   many   people   ,      them   liking   me   ,      trusting   me   ?      i’m   a   threat   to   what   he’s   fighting   for   .      and   keeping   me   around   for   me   to   become   useful   again   …      too   risky   ,      much   too   risky   when   all   i’m   good   for   right   now   is   information   .   much   too   risky   when   i’m   not   unique   ,      not   anymore   .      tess   and   i   ?      we’re   so   different   but   in   his   eyes   we’re   both   the   same   .      get   rid   of   me   and   if   they   need   this   tool   again   ?      i’ve   an   understudy   waiting   in   the   wings      ❞         her   eyes   weren’t   even   on   him   then   ,   focused   on   the   dying   embers   of   the   fireplace   and   feeling   all   too   much   like   she   could   relate   to   that   fading   fire   .         ❝      i   knew   he   was   going   to   kill   me   gus   ,      or   at   least   have   me   killed   ,      i’m   not   fool   enough   to   think   i’m   that   important   for   the   direct   touch   .      knew   i   was   going   to   die   and   that   tess   ,      little   theresa   —   she’s   still   so   much   a   child   ,      was   going   to   wind   up   put   in   this   mess   i   made   .      i   had   to   do   something   ,   buy   her   some   time   .      this   wasn’t   for   me   .      it   was   for   her   ,      i’m   a   lost   cause   .      so   i   asked   rod   a   favour   .      set   up   a   meeting   with   him   .      with   the   dark   lord   .      i   had   a   plan   ,      but   god   !      seeing   him   in   person   ?      it   didn’t   go   as   i   planned   .      i   panicked   .      i   offered   too   much   .      but   i   got   what   i   wanted   .      i’m   not   long   for   this   but   at   least   tess   will   be   safe      ❞

                  bold what applies. i’d give credit, but i can’t find the original, so.

“You’ve got a collection of rocks in your handbag?” Baz wouldn’t have guessed that, but at the same time he had absolutely no idea what should be in a purse. “What kind? My grandma swears by quartz, but I feel like it just gets cloudy.”

“People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

“i’m rather efficient, we both know that. and i didn’t want to bother you, work seems to have you quite busy these days.” she’d noticed of course, that it wasn’t just work keeping her roommate on her toes, but what the other things bothering josie were? that might always be a secret emira wasn’t sure she wanted to know. “how about now? we’re both here, we might as well start.” she didn’t know when she’d catch josie again after all and she wanted to make a clean exit. “the thing is, i guess i forgot how much i loved him before, and it snuck up on me this time. but i just know i’ve never felt like this about anyone else, amycus is my soulmate.” 

it was a little odd how accepting josie was being of this, she had half expected her roommate, and fake friend, to be just the slightest bit down over the news. but ah well, best not to make it a big deal. “i already packed up most of my things, i suppose we can go over a few shared items to see where they end up?” she smiled at josie, it was such a shame the other wasn’t pure, they really could have been great friends. “for weeks? could i have really been so blind?” 

                   ❝     Josie. I don’t talk or think about you. Not when you’re not around. But if I had to think of something right now, I think I would go with scared little girl,   ❞   and if that didn’t make her stupid smirk drop from her face, he didn’t know what would. Ludovic had dealt with people like that in his sport as well as in Hogwarts, people who thought themselves to be better than you because they were the product of inbreeding. Purebloods from the muggle and the wizarding world really were the same, and in the end, really weren’t more talented in any field but the one that consisted of thinking highly of oneself. 

                 ❝     That’s a lovely narrative you’ve got here, but frankly, you’re not the only one willing to do what it takes to protect your family,  ❞  he looked at her and for the first time, allowed himself to show fragility, much like she just did. Ludo had sold information to terrible people, and this for the only reason that he was worried for his brother. Otto had a way of being fascinated with the wrong things. Studying muggles and their way of life wasn’t safe, but there was no talking them out of it.  ❝  Gus probably meant to keep it a secret until he could find himself a good excuse,  ❞ Ludo had to roll his eyes once again. He suspected that Augustus expected this to be once again a disaster and didn’t want anyone to start looking at the incoming trainwreck. Ludovic while he wished his best mate nothing but the best, knew already that this would fail. Josie was immature. Even if she seemed to care for her family, he didn’t see how that had anything to do with Gus. Unless…  ❝  Josie, what did you do?   ❞  

                    ❝      i   did   always   wonder   how   men   handled   breakups   ,      i   suppose   you   provided   no   comfort   then   .   how   sad   ,      i   thought   you   had   a   great   camaraderie   ?      i   guess   not   .      i   just   know   my   friends   were   a   great   support   to   me   during   that   time   .   bella   and   evan   were   truly   invaluable   ❞         but   try   as   she   might   to   quip   back   with   her   usual   poise   his   words   had   got   to   her   in   a   way   they   hadn’t   came   close   to   before   ,      a   look   of   fury   flashing   across   her   delicate   features   for   but   a   moment   .      scared   little   girl   .      how   dare   he   .      and   yet   …      fear   was   becoming   a   close   friend   of   late   .

“oh josie, i’m glad to have found you at home for once!” she exclaimed, rather excited with the news she had. “i’m afraid to say i’ll be moving out shortly, now that amycus and i are engaged he’d like to move into his place, and i think that’s best.” ·