Risha Fawley

Sirius couldn’t help but laugh soundly at Risha. “I know as well as you do that I don’t have to do much convincing, but in order to amuse you, I say that there are plenty of reasons for celebrations. And what a better way to celebrate than that of drinking.” he looked at her with a smile. She couldn’t see the smile but he was sure the wrinkles around his eyes and his voice gave it away. 

“Anything to keep away my obnoxious family for as long as I can,” he explained. “Also, my dramatic nature was summoned by the ball, I couldn’t deny its request of a dramatic attire.” It didn’t take long for Sirius to decide on his costume. When he read the invite he knew exactly what he would wear. It was a way also to flash his dark side, without truly claiming it. His friends would think his choice was chosen purely for dramatics. The rest of the guests would either assume he was a madman or they would get the mystery and darkness his costume held. “The plague doctor’ held an ambiguous meaning. It marked dark times, death but at the same time, healing. It resembled the light that was hidden under the darkness.

“Anyone recognised you yet, or just me?” he asked Risha, taking a glass of champagne from the waiter passing by and offering it to her.

Risha slowly shook her head as he gave her a reason on why she would have to give in to his dare. “I still don’t think it’s a strong enough reason but I’ll please you and give in to this one. But you do know that I’ll get back at you for this one?” she pointed out to him before she motioned over to a passing waiter with a plate full of flutes of champagne. She took off two as if she were to get one of either one of them, although they were both for her.

“I think it’s more your dramatic nature that you’ve picked this outfit than keeping away your family. Why did you pick the plague doctor? I mean… That costume is very far from the thing your bird mask represents.” After she had spoken those words, she brought the first flute of champagne to her lips so she could drink of it. The glass was half full when she lowered the glass again.

Ophelia had never really been one for drinking, and she supposed at times like this, it was handy. She was only somewhat aware of some scandal within the Fawley family, though the details had either never made it to Ophelia or she hadn’t considered them relevant enough to make an effort to remember. Regardless, she knew that with Risha’s loosened lips and a scandal already under the belt, it would be important to start the new year on fresh footing. 

She hadn’t even been looking for Risha when Ophelia found her, recognizing her more by voice than by look. It was annoying, even though Ophelia appreciated the anonymity it afforded her. Ophelia wanted to enjoy the anonymity herself, but still be able to see who everyone else was. She was just that kind of control freak. Still, she was just grateful to have found someone she knew, and she decided that her place for the foreseeable future would be at Risha’s side. 

“No, but I did save you once from falling in my mother’s fountain,” Ophelia said with a smirk, lifting her mask just enough to reveal half of her features, enough to recognize her before she held the mask up flush against her face again. “Though I suppose the time that I dropped my jacket into the fountain could count,” she added. “My mother was absolutely furious.” 

­

To recognize a familiar voice was quite a relief. Especially with the fact that she was rather intoxicated. A smile appeared on Risha’s lips as she realized that she was talking to Ophelia Greengrass. The smile on her lips was replaced rather quickly by an O-shaped form of her mouth as she realized that the young woman standing in front of her was right. It had indeed been her who had nearly falled into the fountain.

“You are probably right. Your jacket fell in because you saved me, wasn’t that the case?” She asked her friend as she scratched the back of her head, a sign that she was thinking about the situation back then. The details were blurry while any other day they would’ve been clear. “I remember your mother’s fury, yes. I think I tried to take the blame for it as well, but she would not hear any of that. Sorry for that situation.” She had already apologized for it back at that moment multiple times but Risha was pretty sure she would never stop.

Lucius tilted his head as he looked at the girl, evaluating her mask and the ring on her finger. Lucius would have been furious with Narcissa had she chosen a bird mask. He wouldn’t argue that their marriage was filled with love, but it sent the wrong message for a married woman to be asking for marriage in his opinion. He was glad his wife had chosen a good mask and a good outfit to go along with it.

“Well the masks are meant to be what you want, not what you have,” he said almost casually, taking a sip from his champagne flute. “Unless of course you’re trying to make a statement on your marriage. In which case I do hope your husband is not in attendance.” He looked over his glass to watch for the woman’s response. “I chose my mask because it’s the only of the options I don’t have enough of. Besides, who wouldn’t want to have more power? Seems a pity to lose a chance for it going after anything else. Most everything else on the list comes along with having more power, wouldn’t you say?”

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“Well, love is exactly what I want,” Risha pointed out to the man standing in front of her. “From my husband, from the people in the world. I love my husband, he loves me but I don’t think our love has stopped growing.” Or perhaps it had… She wasn’t sure but that was something that she would have to figure out on her own. She did not need the man in front of her to doubt her marriage. Yes, there were problems behind the scenes but Risha would protect her marriage.

The young woman scrunched her nose and then slowly shook her head. “Most of it on the list, perhaps, yes. You don’t get respect from people just because you have power. I think power can make people fear you and that’s something far from respect. And love is something that you don’t with power either.” Risha took a sip of the glass of the champagne that she was holding, her eyes not leaving the other. “Or would you say otherwise?”

𝚆𝙷𝙾: Narcissa & @rishafawley. 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽: January 25th, 1979PM. 10:02PM. 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴: Somewhere indoors on the Zabini estate.

𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙽𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙸𝚂𝚂𝙰 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝚂𝙿𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚁𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙰 𝙵𝙰𝚆𝙻𝙴𝚈, she had no intentions of speaking to the woman — she’d always seemed… odd in comparison to the other witches Narcissa had spent time with. Perhaps it’d been the cultural barrier, but Narcissa never quite took to Risha. Of course, she knows plenty of Pureblood women with no interest in being married, but Risha is married. To one of the Fawleys, no less.

But Narcissa supposes it’d be in poor form not to greet a fellow wife, and she smiles as she saunters over to the other. “Risha Fawley — are you enjoying yourself?” Taking in her mask, Narcissa frowns a bit, tilting her head. “Love, is it? I hope that’s not insinuating what I think it is.”

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Risha slightly narrowed her eyes as it was Narcissa Malfoy who had decided to join her. Sure, they were both masked but it was clear who the other person was. Apparently as it had been clear to her as well who she was. What did surprise her, however, was the fact that it was Narcissa Malfoy who decided to talk to her. They crossed paths during the many Pureblood parties but exchanging words was a whole different thing however.

“Yes, love indeed. Don’t we all need more love in this world? Not just from a significant other but also in general?” She said to the woman, a smile forming on her lips at the words that the blonde said. No, this was not insinuating the fact that she needed more love from another man than her husband. She had learned from that mistake. At least she hoped so.

“I am definitely enjoying myself, Narcissa. How about you?”

Whilst Alice loved being social,and loved an opporunity to talk to people, she had to admit that this event was making her anxious. She was enjoying being able to hide her identity behind her mask, and being able to mask who she was. But it had also meant that everyone around her was also wearing masks. It made it hard to talk to people, because she really didn’t know whom everyone was. She could tell the identity of some people, but she honestly didn’t want to waste too many brain cells on trying to work out who everyone.

She was currently sipping on a glass of champagne as she people watched. It was fun to people watch, which was perfect when she had a mask on so people couldn’t really tell. She turned her attention to the other wix when she heard someone speaking. “Oh….” She didn’t fully recognise the woman,but clearly she must have been to other pureblood parties like this.

“That may have been me….” She mused, a little laugh on her lips. “My parents tried to tame me at this events,but it really did not work”

­

Risha raised her glass of champagne, nearly spilling the contents of it, as she was happy that she had been right about the fact that she had found a familiar face. Or maybe not really a familiar face… That was rather difficult with these masks on. She scrunched her nose at the gained knowledge from the woman about her parents.

“It’s as if all those parents are the same, you know. My parents thought exactly the same and they definitey did not manage to tame me at all,” she pointed out to the young woman she was talking to as she tried to remember who she was because it didn’t happen every day that someone fell into a fountain at one of those parties. But her alcohol clouded mind wasn’t helping her a lot.

“Are you enjoying this party more than the one with the fountain?”

Sometimes Clement felt a little guilty about using his Charm like this. Of course, he had been taught some strict boundaries—it was always fun, never serious, and it never went past some flirting with a little dash of magic thrown in—but that didn’t mean he was taught to be ashamed of himself. In fact, this was the part of his Veela side that people found palatable, the part that people always heard about. Everyone always heard about the beautiful, charming Veela, the creatures who looked windswept all the time and seemed to have the sun shining on them even on cloudy days. 

The more monstrous side of himself was a different story, but that was a book Clement kept firmly closed. No one saw that if Clement could help it. 

So it was fun and it was easy to grift these rich society women out of their jewelry because it reminded Clement that there had to be something appealing about what he was for it to be this easy. It was a twisted logic, but it was one that made sense to him, and Clement wasn’t going to pretend that he was somehow justified or not doing anything wrong. He was fully aware of his actions and the consequences that came along with them. He just didn’t care. 

But it was moments like these, face-to-face with Risha and not quite remembering talking to her, let alone what valuable of hers had fallen prey to his sticky fingers. He paused for a moment, looking her up and down once and willing himself to remember where he had placed the bracelet so he could surreptitiously return it to her later. “Are you sure you didn’t drop it somewhere, Madame?” he asked, his eyebrow arching just a little on the honorific. A gently teasing smirk curved at his lips. 

Risha narrowed her eyes slightly, even though she was wearing a mask at the moment… She was pretty sure that it was showing on her face that she was not amused by these circumstances at all. “I am very sure I did not drop it somewhere, mister.” She took a step closer to him. At moments like these she had wished to be taller, simply because she was not impressive at all. There was no way that she was going to intimidate the man who was standing in front of her.

If Risha was sure about one thing at this very moment, it was the fact that she definitely had too much to drink. She had found herself separate from the rest of the company, she just needed some fresh air and she would be better. Or she hoped so. This was definitely a reminder to never listen to Sirius Black ever again. She was going to get back at him for sure. Definitely. He was not going to get away with this, she was sure about that.

The young woman had found an empty balcony upstairs and the cold midnight air was a relief to her. The first thing she had done was to remove her mask so she would have more access to fresh air. She moved to the banister and wrapped her hand around it, so she could steady herself as she tried to balance herself. Once she had done so - poorly - she took off the heels that she was wearing, nearly losing her balance in the process and ending up on the floor.

It was only then that Risha realized that someone had been a witness to her stumbling around on her heels. Her eyes grew a little wider at the fact that she had been caught while being drunk and definitely not being on her most lady-like behavior. “You definitely caught that, didn’t you?”

There were definitely two sides to a night like this. On one side it was refreshing to go to a Masquerade Ball. You could be who you wanted to be on a night like this. No one knew what you were doing and no one knew what you had done so far on a night like this. You could have some fun without people judging you and she was happy about that. Risha could let go for just a night. And she had been doing that so far. She probably shouldn’t have taken the dare from Sirius, to drink for two on the night but she had done so. She had lost count of the glasses of champagne she had had so far.

On the other side a night like this was annoying… Simply because you did not know who you were talking to. And if Risha was one thing while slightly drunk, it was someone who had lost her filter. She would say what she would be thinking right at that moment. And if you did not know who you were talking to… That was not a good combination…

Risha tapped against the glass of the champagne flute with one of her nails as her eyes were focused on something in the distance. Well… Not really focused, she was just staring for a moment before she seemed to be snapped out of whatever trance she had been in. Her eyes found the person closest to her and she narrowed her eyes behind the mask. “I feel like I know you… Have you ever fallen into a fountain during one of those boring Pureblood party’s?”

Ｔｈｅ　ｐｉｎｋ　ｂｉｒｄ

Where: Zabini estate When: January 25th, 1979 - 9:45 Who: Sirius & @rishafawley

It’s been an hour since Sirius arrived at the estate. He hadn’t been approached by many fellow attendees. He hasn’t talked to any acquaintances yet. The time to unveil his face and throw his mask wasn’t here yet; but the longing on conversing with a friend burned inside him, so he left his post near the entrance, behind the shadows and started going through the crowd to search for a familiar face. Everyone looked at him confused and intrigued. He had decided to cover all of his body, not a little clue of who might be under the disguise. Maybe the crowds thought that the person was someone important and of a great power that didn’t want to be known.

He was near the bar when he saw the lady in pink. Her mask didn’t cover significantly her face, or maybe it did but Sirius knew her well to immediately recognize her.  He smirked behind the mask and started to slowly approach her. He wanted to make himself known in a dramatic way. Maybe intimidating Risha in the process. He was finally in front of her and without useless greetings he announced his presence and identity to her. “Remember when i dared you to dip your paws in my chili?” he paused looking around making sure that no one overheard them. “You never took up the challenge and since i can’t drink, for now, i dare you to drink for two people tonight”

“You know that it is not fair to do that here, in the middle of a Masquerade Ball where everyone we know is here? If I get stupidly drunk, everyone is going to know… Despite me wearing a mask like this.” He had known who she was as well. But even though she was protesting it at the moment… She had not say ‘no’ yet. “Give me a really good reason why I should give in to this dare.”

Zabini Estate, Masquerade, 9:30 pm Status: Open

Lucius eyed the crowd. There were very few he could outright identify. A few more he would be willing to hazard a guess at. But he wasn’t confident enough with the crowd before him. He didn’t hide who he was, not truly, that would not be befitting. A Malfoy did not hide who they were. He reached up and adjusted the monkey mask resting on his cheeks, enchanted to hover there, no strings or sticks necessary. It was garish truth be told, but all simian masks were. Lucius was going to have to have a talk with whomever had planned this party. They would do better to make better mask choices in the future.

He adjusted his gloves, then the rings that laid on top of them as he eyed the crowd. He spotted Narcissa’s golden head off in one corner. It was good to know his wife was here at least, be able to pick her out of the crowd. But he wished he knew better whom in attendance was worth his time. And who, if anyone, posed a threat–hiding faces in the midst of  war wasn’t exactly an ideal recommendation.

He grabbed a flute of champagne with nimble fingers as a tray passed him and he dared meet the eyes of the person across from him once the waiter passed. “So,” he said casually, almost as though he truly cared, “what led to you choice?” he asked, indicating their mask.

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It wasn’t hard to recognize who the man standing in front of her was. The rings he were wearing were full on display as he had grabbed a flute of champagne. It was the Malfoy house that was on full show on one of the rings that he was wearing. Risha took one of the flutes of champagne as well, bringing it to her lips. “First of all, I wanted a mask that’s free of my face for causes like this,” she pointed out to the man standing in front of her. She lowered the glass before she continued speaking.

“The mask is supposed to represent a Bird. So yes, I picked love. I think it could be very obvious to why I would pick that one.” Risha raised her hand, showing the wedding ring around her finger. The man in front of her didn’t need to know that her marriage had lost a lot of meaning due to the things she had done… “And it matches my outfit nicely.” The pink in her mask was returning in her dress as well, just as in her shoes. So everything together was a match, like she had wanted to.

“And why did you pick your mask?”

where: the zabini estate when: january 25th, 8:30 pm who: clement delacour & open 

Clement had a flair for the dramatic that came in handy for affairs such as this one, which dictated a bit of heavy-handedness. Clement didn’t really buy into whatever meanings the different masks had—though he did make sure that his mask at least somewhat resembled a mouse—but he never passed up the chance to get dressed up and grift a few people with his Veela charm. It was just about the only way he got his kicks these days, and even if it meant that he was most likely going to get kicked out of this party, he didn’t really care either. 

He took a glass of firewhiskey off a passing tray and downed it in one go, wishing that he could feel more of the liquor burn before he swallowed it. Clement had a penchant for things that were unpleasant. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand before pulling his mask back down over his mouth, his eyes still jewel bright behind the ornate, hand-crafted mask over his features. Even though Clement’s face was impossible to see under the mask—other than his electric blue eyes—his eyes did enough expressing for his whole face. 

“Oh, cheri, you’re the only one I see in this whole party,” he crooned at the woman in front of him, his voice at a lilting melody that was designed to draw people in close to him. He ran his fingers up the back of her forearm, carefully unlinking her heavy, jeweled bracelets and tucking them into his pocket without her even realizing—he knew his touch would have left behind a tingling trail of sensation that would make it difficult to realize the bracelets were gone until it was too late. Once he had gotten what he wanted, he leaned forward and left a light kiss on her cheek and disappeared into the crowd with a warm au revoir. 

Maybe the night wouldn’t be a total bust after all. 

Risha had been stopped in her tracks by the man standing in front of her and even though in any other situation she had told the other man that he was way too much with the compliments, for some reason she had been unable to do so as she had been watching him. The woman was holding a glass of champagne as she listened to the sweet words from the man in front of her. His sweet words and his soft touch distracted her from whatever was happening. A small voice in the back of her mind yelled at her that she would have to show this man the wedding ring that was on her finger. That she was wearing a necklace and a bracelet that had been a gift from her husband. But the words weren’t coming out of her mind. She watched how the man moved away and it was only then that her gaze moved back to her hand where she found the ring. Her other hand moved to the necklace around her neck, suddenly very aware of the gifts of her husband and then it moved to her bracelet. But the bracelet, however, had disappeared… The bastard.

Sirius threw a ridiculous look at Risha. “If that makes it for you then the chili is yours, I don’t want it, so now you can dip your hand on your chili”. He couldn’t help but laugh at their conversation. “Anyway, I’ll be the bigger person here and withdraw my dare” he winked at her, never losing his joyful mood. “There are plenty of ways to show them that their opinion means nothing to us”.

“Not to brag, but padfoot’s paws are the most beautiful and cute paws you’ll ever see. I would turn into him to show you, but I don’t want them to find out my secret weapon, that will probably be their undoing” he exclaimed. He suddenly had a eureka moment. “I can totally turn into  padfoot in the back alley and chase them down when they get out and bite them” he paused “ Actually I dare me to do it”. He finished with wide eyes looking intensely at Risha.

Their conversation was ridiculous. Probably what many others would think as well if they would listen to it and not have gotten the notice what they were talking about to start with. “Even then I am not going to dip my hands in the chili, you are not going to convince me into doing this, Sirius.” And he was right; there were many different things that they could do to show that.

Ophelia ran a fingertip around the rim of her glass tea cup, sitting on a matching saucer hand-painted with a delicate blue floral design. She tilted her head to the side, thoughtful for a moment—she often got lost in her thoughts, though she had a way of pulling herself out of it to still respond to what the person in front of her had been saying. It was a particularly useful gift for a mind like hers, prone to wandering out of control. 

She picked up the mug and lifted it to her lips, first taking a slow inhale of the spiced black tea before sipping at it, grateful for the large stores of tea they brought back every time they returned to Shanghai. Ophelia, frankly, couldn’t stand British tea. She smiled at Risha’s encouragement but still ducked her head to look down into her mug. 

“I have big shoes to fill. My mother has done an excellent job.” Her mother’s strict hand and sharp mind had led the Greengrass family to the most prosperous and successful it had been in decades. Ophelia had been trained to be nothing less than the best, and she knew that it had all been for this very reason. She couldn’t be the one to ruin the hard-won legacy her mother had built.

Yes, Ophelia was right, they were big shoes to fill. The Greengrass name and everything that went with it… It was definitely not unknown in the world that they lived in. But even though they were big shoes to fill, Risha was sure that her friend would be able to do so. She had been brought up to this point, all the time with the goal of taking over the family business.

Risha took a sip of the tea in her hands and scrunched her nose for a moment. Even though she had been over here for so many times, the Chinese teas were still something that she had to get used to. She liked it, but after drinking a lot of British tea, the spiced up sort from China was something else.

He scrunched up his nose, “If you say so- What I really mean that it’s important-” he paused to take a bite, “to-” another bite, “slooow-” another bite, “down.” 

“Yeah, I was with Alice, quiet day in, nothing better then bringing in the new year with a good book,” he lied. “I’m sorry about your family, Risha, know it can be hard. Want to vent a bit before work?” he wondered. 

     Alecto’s shoulders rose up and fell back down in a shrug as she toyed with her wand between her fingers. The statement had been supposed to be another of her mysterious comments that left people wondering for days but the other had taken it so literally… A moment that had been meant to be puzzling to the other was now simply human. It made her uneasy. “I took one of your patients,” she said simply, taking one quick glance at the other woman before letting out a breathy sigh as if she’d freed herself of a heavy lie she’d been living. “They asked for me.” To anyone else, lying might leave a bitter aftertaste on their tongue. To Alecto, they tasted like the sweetest of candies.

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Risha looked at the woman with her eyebrows raised. She had no idea what to expect from the other and it made her a little cautious as she replied again, instead of the rather happy way she had used before. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke. “You took one of my patients and they asked you to do so? Did they give you more a reason than just… the need to leave?” It all sounded so weird to her, her patients would not just go up and leave out of the blue. Sure… Some of them had mental damage and did unexpected things, but that ward inside St. Mungo’s was heavily guarded. “And where are they now?”