ROYAL

Andie had been on her way to the library when the instructions to go to the Great Hall came. She still had her stack of books and several rolls of parchment because she owed a great many essays as make-up work and she had planned to get started on those early today. But with the uproar in the Great Hall, she knew work would have to be postponed. It was too noisy to focus and she saw several younger students that seemed like they needed some encouragement. She did what she could - not much because she really wasn’t good with children - and had planned on trying to read when she heard Kingsley’s voice over the other noise. Although she didn’t know him very well, he had been very kind to her every time they spoke and she found herself moving in his direction almost before she realized it. “I - I’m fine,” she said, startled by the question. She hadn’t been hurt; she really couldn’t even claim to be very much affected by the attacks and if they brought back unpleasant memories of her mother - Andie flinched a little, shaking her head to rid herself of the images. “I’m fine,” she said again, though her voice wasn’t quite as steady as before. “I was just looking for a place to read.”

Kingsley hadn’t forgotten about Andromeda Black — he felt so incredibly sorry for what that girl was going through, especially after his interactions with her betrothed in the Forbidden Forrest what seemed like an eternity ago. Nobody should have to be stuck with such an oaf of a man — but Kingsley, who had also been raised in pureblood society, though after the deaths of his family, had quickly cast it aside, realized she probably didn’t have much of a say in the matter. “Are you sure?” He asked when Andromeda stated she was fine, not entirely convinced. Kingsley nodded towards a part of the Great Hall that had been ‘claimed’ by the Aurors, but since most of them were out, or like him, watching over the students, it was pretty much abandoned. “You can take a spot there if you want — we’re not using it anyway, and not many of the students seem like they want to reclaim it from us.” Kingsley wondered if maybe having a little furry friend to hold onto might help. “I can leave Sir Barks-A-Lot with you. He’s an excellent guard dog — will scare away anyone who tries to bother you.” He held up the puppy in his hands. “Aren’t you, my sweet boy?” 

When Alex heard that it was Charlotte who’d attacked students, she couldn’t believe it. She’d also just got finished being questioned about her. She was still finding it hard to cope with the fact that someone she shared blood with could do something so terrible. And to children no less. She wanted to be out there finding her, but had been instructed to keep an eye on the students in the great hall. She could understand why that would be best though. 

She was happy when she saw Kingsley there as well, smiling at the sight of one of his dogs. She wasn’t surprised to see that he was able to sneak a few in. “Can I hold him? I’m very stressed and need something to help.” Alex pouted playfully. 

“Alex!” The enthusiastic greeting slightly startled Sir Barks-A-Lot, but the dog seemed to recognize her as well. Kingsley had gathered she’d be one of the reinforcements that would be arriving, but it’d been so long since they’d seen each other, it was almost unreal. Wondering if she’d been interrogated yet — with her being related to Charlotte, Kingsley figured Moody and Edward wanted a chat — he nodded his head towards one of the nearby benches, slightly more out of earshot from the students. 

Handing her the puppy, who seemed more than happy to be held by Alex, he made his way down there. “You can always hold him — he likes you a lot, you know. Did you see the way he started wagging his tail?” 

WHO: Amara Zabini and Kingsley Shacklebolt  WHEN: Tuesday, February 14th, 1978. WHERE: Courtyard, Valentines Dance

@shackledking

It was obvious that he wasn’t playing the game. Either that or he wasn’t a student. Amara was almost certain of the latter. She had a pretty good idea of who everyone was by this point in the evening. Except him. There was something that seemed vaguely familiar about it, but she couldn’t place it. Maybe he was one of the professors? Or an auror? Approaching either one would be rather bold, even for her but she had absolutely nothing to lose. At this point a kiss would be nice, but she would settle for conversation as well. Her arms had filled to the point of her looking like a pageant girl. 

“Buono sera” she said, flashing the smile. All night long she had been using the language to give herself away, or at least narrow down the options. She’d wait a moment to see if he recognized her in any way and then proceed from there. 

Being the youngest among the Aurors stationed at Hogwarts, Kingsley was the best at blending in with the students, which is why he didn’t spend most of the evening on the sides of the party but instead in the crowds — so far, he’d caught three students with flasks already, and a pair of them kissing with too little layers of clothes between them. Deciding to take a break from his chaperoning duties, Kingsley had found himself near a refreshments table — most of which was surprisingly untainted, so he could actually have some punch. A girl — Kingsley figured she was a student from how young she looked — approached him with a smile. 

“Buona sera, signora.” His Italian was rusty, at best, but Kingsley was nothing if not polite, that, and he really liked the language. His eyes fell on the roses she was carrying, an amused grin on his face. “Many admirers or just one really engrossed admirer?”

There was still something that felt almost unreal about all the things that had passed. His colleague, someone he had trusted, had betrayed them — in the most horrible way. Kingsley had never been particularly close with Charlotte, but he’d liked her, and the news had come in like a tough blow to the stomach. He had been interested in going out there and helping them find her and bring her to justice, but he was also well aware that his being stationed in the Great Hall was probably the best place for him — especially with his specialization in human resources. Still, Kingsley had managed to get three of his puppies into the castle, two of whom were nestled up with students, and the third had been sitting by his position near the doors, watching everyone who approached carefully. Picking up the puppy from the ground, Kingsley placed a quick kiss on top of his head. 

edgxrbxnxs:

Edgar was feeling quite unusually chipper, considering the battle that was raging all around them. There was danger all about, and Edgar had already seen more than few people with some serious injuries. However, in this environment, he truly felt as if he were in his element. It was his first chance at something real, and he was determined to prove himself. Professor Dumbledore would no doubt be given a retelling of the events occurring today in the village, and Edgar wanted his name, more than anything, to be spoken of for helping. He would be out of school soon, and moments like these would become a more regular occurrence. He need to prove to himself and the Headmaster that he could handle it. He’d had a moment at the Masquerade Ball, but the stakes hadn’t seemed so high, and he’d had Amelia next to him. That made for a very different fight.

Being next to Gabrielle was different, but in a very wonderful way. They moved fluidly together, acting as if they could predict the other’s move before they even thought of it. He turned in Kingsley’s direction, the beginnings of a grin beginning to form on his face. “Anytime, Shacklebolt, just say the word!” Edgar yelled. Gabrielle and Kingsley continued to fight spectacularly, and Edgar found that he smiled as he moved. Seeing two people moving towards him, Edgar swung his wand in a wide arch, which produced a flaming whip of fire, that hung from the end of his wand. The spell was difficult to perform, but very powerful in a fight, but Edgar did it magnificently. He sent it flying in the direction of his enemies, where it then wrapped tightly around them in a burning coil. Edgar took a deep breath and used the whip to send his enemies flying into the side of a building, where they crashed in a smoldering heap. They were still alive, but no longer conscious. Edgar considered this to be a most impressive victory.

@notyourfrenchdoll

Gabrielle had learned to feed off of Edgar’s energy as an opponent, but now that they were fighting together, it was a whole new set of standards. They had grown to know each other’s styles through the past month, and while it would have been easy for a newcomer to get lost in the fray, Kingsley was holding his own, and Gabrielle couldn’t help but be impressed by the entire trio. They were all moving as if they were parts of a machine, if one of them missed a moment, a second was soon behind, picking up, and the pattern continued. It was magnificent, and Gabrielle could feel her heart pounding with a mixture of pride and adrenaline. 

Watching as a mixture of rubble and flames soared to their enemies, Gabrielle watched as a set of three began approaching them. Raising her wand yet again, she silently sent an Incarcerous spell in their direction, watching as ropes flew from her wand, wrapping the three together before they soared through the sky. With another flick of her wrist, they were unravelled, each falling in a heap next to the bodies Edgar had already sent over. The trio was racking up quite an impressive number of hits, and she looked between the two men, unable to keep the grin off her face. However, her eyes soon registered a flash of red light hurtling towards Kingsley, and in an instant, her hand had found a spot on his shoulder “Vous baissez!” Her voice rang as she ducked, pushing him with her.

@shackledking​

It was still quite odd to feel excited in the middle of a fight, especially when they were greatly outnumbered and taken by surprise ━ it wasn’t in any way new to Kingsley, he used to love dueling club more than anything, but considering the situation, it was truly strange. He had a grin on his face from the pride he was holding whenever he looked at Edgar and Miss Bellamy, and was firing off offensive and defensive spells at a rapid pace now, some of them nonverbal. There was simply no time for words in the middle of a battle. 

“Expelliarmus!” He disarmed one of his opponents raising his wand in their direction, sending it flying straight over a rooftop. The dimwit decided to try a physical attack instead, but Kingsley stopped him in his tracks ━ literally ━ by using a Knee-Reversing Hex. Screaming in pain, the poor guy fell to the floor, where one of his comrades quickly tripped over him. He nearly stopped himself from laughing at the sight of it. 

Unfortunately, Kingsley was quickly distracted by a beam of red light coming in his direction. He’d had the word Protego on his lips, but it seemed Gabrielle was quicker in her reaction time, pushing him down as they both ducked out of the way. “Merci beaucoup, Madam.” He replied, though his French accent, despite all the years of practice, was still quite tragic. Through his lower position, he had the perfect aim to strike one of their opponents. Kingsley went with the first spell that came to mind. “Baubillious,” It had been meant as only a quick bolt of lightning to strike him down, but the man and two of his companions had been standing in a puddle of water, the current taking the three of them out at once.

edgxrbxnxs:

Edgar was beginning to suspect that they would lose if they kept up for very much longer. He and Gabrielle were good, excellent even. In fact, he had never fought a better fight in his life, but even they couldn’t handle an entire group of wizards, not in a life-or-death situation. He looked over his shoulder, blanching as he spotted three more coming at him. That was seven opponents against just himself and Gabrielle. They needed help, he realized. He turned all about in every direction, looking for someone, anyone. To his utmost joy, Kingsley Shacklebolt was running towards them. A face splitting grin spread across Edgar’s face, and in that moment, he felt renewed, ready once again for a fight. 

“Let’s do it, lad.” He said cheekily, nodding his head at Kingsley. He looked out into the crowd, grin still on his face. It was time to begin, again. He pointed his wand straight out in front of him. He looked all around him, though it was all in the span of a second. His eyes narrowed in on the rubble in the street, blown out here by various Blasting Curse. He moved his wand there, “Waddiwasi!” Stones, bits of wood, some pieces of metal, all rose into the air and went rocketing into the body of one of Edgar’s opponents. He didn’t look to see the aftermath, for he was already raising his wand again. “Ventus!” He yelled, blowing a man away from Kingsley. Then, he fired off a series of Stunning Spells, hoping to Merlin that they hit their mark.

@notyourfrenchdoll·

Gabrielle’s face washed in relief when she saw Kingsley making his way over. She and Edgar, she realized, fought as well beside each other as they did against each other, but they were far too out numbered to make things work. She knew that Kingsley was an auror, and she was pretty sure that he was the one that Edgar had said had broken up his duel with his friends. His spells seemed to show that he was competent enough, and the excitement on his face only built Gabrielle up.

“Impedimenta!” She shouted, and an offender flew back from in front of her. Her next series of spells, mostly nonverbal, sent more of their opponents flying back, some finding themselves silenced in the process. Her skirts spun out as she moved. Finally, she turned back to Kingsley, taking a moment to push a stray piece of blonde hair back. “Gabrielle Bellamy, sir.”

@shackledking​

There was something almost like pride growing on Kingsley’s face when he saw Edgar fight. His style was creative, to say the least, and he was absolutely impressed by how fast he was moving. The girl at his side was doing just as well, with some nonverbal spells that sent those on the other side flying away. To put it shortly, he was beaming. Aside from Edgar’s father, this was just about the best people he could have by his side right now. There was a smile on his face and he was blasting out curses in every opponent’s direction. This ━ this, was something that made him feel truly alive.

“Edgar, your stunning spells, absolutely groovy ━ you’ve got to teach me that sometimes,” He replied, before quickly taking one of their opponents down with a Locomotor Mortis. He spared a brief moment to watch the blonde’s Impedimenta hit its target, before following up with a series of immobilizing spells of his own. These two were absolutely magnificent in their spell work, and Kingsley felt like he had to step up his game. Taking inspiration from Edgar’s earlier work, he lifted up sharp pieces of wood and stones with his wand, before pointing his wand straight into their enemies’ direction. “Oppugno!”

He would offer the lady a hand, but there was absolutely no time for that, so instead, Kingsley acknowledged Gabrielle’s introduction with a quick nod of his head. “Kingsley Shacklebolt, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bellamy.”

edgxrbxnxs:

WHO: Edgar Bones, Gabrielle Bellamy, and Kingsley Shacklebolt  WHEN: January 4th, 1978. Close to noon. WHERE: Hogsmeade Village

It all happened so fast.

One moment, Edgar was pointing out an item in one of the shop windows. He’d been about to tell Gabrielle a story about a time he had purchased such an item for Frank, not knowing how it really worked. It was a really funny story, and it was a shame that he was never able to begin it. Just as he opened his mouth, the sounds of wizards and witches apparating into the village began to ring all around him. At first, he didn’t know what to make of this. But when they started shooting curses off into the crowd, he knew that it was time for a fight.

Thankfully, Gabrielle seemed to be on the same page as him. He was ever so thankful for all of their sparring sessions, for they fell into the battle with great ease. At first, it seemed easy. They dispatched their opponents with such speed that the term ‘dropping like flies’ seemed applicable. However, eventually, they began to feel overrun. Panicked, Edgar fired off a Stunning Spell into the crowd. He didn’t look to see if his spell had hit. 

“Gabrielle!” He shouted, waving his wand again. He had a man in front of him that he had to keep his weapon trained at, but he could see someone creeping up behind Gabrielle. “Behind you!” And with that, he sent out a spell the color of baby blue directly towards the red, skull faced member of Grindewald’s Army.

@notyourfrenchdoll​ @shackledking

Gabrielle hadn’t truly gotten a Hogsmeade experience in her first term, scheduling conflicts or other things getting in her way. The village was delightful though, and she was eager to find something to send back with Apolline for Fleur, something to offset the time that they had lost when the young girl had had to return home.

These plans soon fell to the wayside though, the moment she heard the tell tale pops of apparations, she knew that something was seriously wrong. Curses began flying and without a second thought Gabrielle was reaching for her wand, and immediately finding her own counter curses, jinxes, and hexes. She ducked as a flash of purple flew over her head, before sending her own back in the direction it had come.

Edgar’s voice caught her attention - Merlin, more and more kept coming - and she quickly turned around, firing a quick stunning spell in front of her, before coming to Edgar’s side, pinks and yellows flying from her wand as she fought. “There are too many of them!” She shouted to him. They were good, but there was no way they’d be able to handle all of this.

@shackledking​

Hogwarts was much more exciting nowadays than back when he had been a student. He thought after the horrible attack on Halloween and the duel he’d been forced to break up, things would’ve been much more smooth sailing from now on, but it seems like this place had a few more surprises left in store for him before that.

When the fight started, Kingsley quickly found himself running all over the place, swooping in to save a young student facing off against two opponents, breaking open the door to a shop that had been lit on fire and getting the people safely outside, and now it seems, he was heading in the direction of Edgar Bones and a blonde girl, holding their own against a group of opponents, but more coming in with every passing second. “Bombarda Maxima!” Kingsley hit the spell towards a dumpster, which served more as a distraction so that he could get to the two students but ended up hitting one of the army members instead.

“Edgar, Miss ━ you two alright?” He quickly glanced them over before countering an Unforgivable curse aimed straight at him and threw back a Petrificus Totalus. “It’s such a shame they had to ruin a lovely day like this. Shall we make them pay for it?”

Edward hadn’t known a harder working Auror more committed to his job than Kingsley Shacklebot in a long time. His young colleague was as dedicated as they come and had a bright, long future with the department if he kept up this level of work. He reminded Edward of himself when he first started out as an Auror, but Kingsley still had a few things to learn. One of them being, drawing a firm line between work and play. If he never took a break for himself, it was likely he would burn out before he ever made it as far as Edward believed he could go in his career. Before Kingsley could confront yet another misbehaving student, Edward approached him, his hand clamping down on the other Auror’s shoulder. “How about you let me take this one and give yourself a break?” He offered with a friendly smile. “Get yourself a drink, go dance for a bit. I’ll take over rounds for a little while.”

From the moment he’d joined the Auror’s office, and possibly even since before that, Kingsley had been a fan of Edward Bones. He was incredibly talented at his job, and not to mention, he looked good doing it. A younger Kingsley had looked up to him right away, a younger Kingsley dreamt of becoming him one day. What he hadn’t expected, however, was that he’d actually find a friend in the man as well, alongside his children. 

A smile grew on his lips as he was approached by his superior, especially when he came with the promise of a break. It was Christmas, after all. With the way he worked, the thought occasionally still slipped his mind. “Fine, but on one condition,” He replied. “You’ve got to join me for at least one drink. The kissing sounds coming from behind that tree can wait.”

When Kingsley turned around to face him, Edgar held up a glass as an offering. It was a drink he’d gotten from the bar. He wasn’t planning on drinking much himself, save perhaps a glass or two of wine. His parents were here, which alone deterred him plenty, but his last experience with drinking hadn’t gone well and he was not eager to repeat it. “I brought you this.” He said, extending his arm out so that Kingsley could take the drink. “It’s a peace offering, I suppose. Or an apology. I, uh, I’m sorry about the duel. I didn’t know it was all going to go down that way. It was stupid.”

Even before Edgar arrived with a peace offering, Kingsley had already forgiven him. His actions had been stupid, and yes, he had been disappointed in him, but with how long he’d known him and the way he knew his father had spoken to him, he knew he had likely learned his lesson. While he wasn’t supposed to be drinking, he figured one drink couldn’t hurt, and since it came with an apology, he’d feel bad for refusing. “You’re forgiven, Edgar.” He placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. “Just promise me you won’t fight any more idiotic pureblood supremacists while you’re still in school. I hear Hagrid’s quite attached to the Forbidden Forest and the creatures that live in it. I would hate to see it burn down.”

Mulciber was feeling magnanimous tonight. He had a beautiful girl on his arm – one he had won after great effort – and his enemy, if he was even deserving of that title, was subdued. It was time to right old wrongs – or at least perceived wrongs. Thus, Mulciber approached the young Auror with a swagger. “Hey,” He said, slightly inebriated but not in a malevolent mood. “I wan’ed to ‘pologize for before. That duel with the mudblood fella’ – everyt’ing is resolved now. Cheers to that!” He said, raising his glass.

As soon as he saw it was Joseph Mulciber, the fool who used fiendfyre in a duel on school grounds, approach him ━ and with a drunk swagger in his step, at that ━ Kingsley had every intention of grabbing the first person he could find and talk to them. Unfortunately, the space around him had quickly cleared out, and now he was stuck with a drunken idiot. “I appreciate the apology, Mr. Mulciber, however, I must ask you politely to watch your language,” The last word came out a little harsh, but he was not a fan of the slur people, well, his people, used for muggleborn witches and wizards. “and maybe you could watch the drinking too. I wouldn’t want to report you. Again.”

Alecto had been meaning to search for Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt ever since the duel, knowing that he would have been rather displeased to find out that Amycus had been involved in it, especially when there had been fiendfyre involved. Thus she intended to smooth things over, playing the ever so nice twin, whilst gleaming possible knowledge form the person she intended to dance with. Thus she walked over to him, a polite smile upon her features as she tapped Kingsley upon the shoulder asking him, “May I have this dance, Auror Shacklebolt?”

Kingsley had always been an overzealous student, doing more than his teachers asked of him almost standardly. Unfortunately, this habit had not been lost since graduating, and part of his stellar track record with the Auror office so far came from his abilities to do research. After the dueling incident in the forest, he’d taken it upon him to look into the students involved a little more. The Slytherin boy with more common sense had a twin sister, and from what he could tell, the two of them were very close. He had a feeling she might seek him out, and as usual, he was not disappointed. “Whilst I am flattered by the offer, Miss Carrow,” Kingsley showed her the same polite smile she gave him. He knew this game well. “I am supposed to be working.”

Coming to a ball five months pregnant with twins and without her husband had been one of Molly’s more interesting choices. The twins seemed to be enjoying themselves though, and that was enough to make her heart soar. Still, she wished she could have spent Christmas with Arthur, but they had both agreed - between his work schedule and her brothers being stuck here, it was best for her to come.

Seeing a familiar face in the crowd, Molly had seen him at a few of Arthur’s ministry events, she made her way over, before giving Kingsley’s shoulder a small tap. When he turned, she smiled. “Only wishing you a Happy Christmas, love. I know it must be hard for you, being away from home too.”

“Molly!” There was a hint of surprise on his face when he saw the familiar redhead here without her husband, and even more at the fact that she didn’t pull him into a hug. He decided to just go for it himself, and carefully wrapped his arms around her in a quick greeting. Kingsley mostly knew her through Arthur, who, despite the fact that he worked in a very different department, had quickly become a friend to him at the Ministry. 

“Merry Christmas to you as well.” Her words made a smile grow on his face. She was always very kind, likewise to her husband, and despite the fact that it wasn’t exactly hard for him to be away from home, with no one to go home to but a grumpy house elf, he appreciated it very much. “Thank you very much ━ I didn’t think you’d still be here with the boys, I would’ve brought them some presents.” 

Andromeda froze at the voice, but she recognized it as Kingsley Shacklebolt, and she decided it was better to face the issue head-on rather than wait. If he was catching students who were drinking … well, she had better reason than most, she thought. So she waited until she could catch him alone, then tapped his shoulder. Maybe she shouldn’t get another glass after all, because this was a little out of character for her. But it was too late to change anything. Holding up her left hand, she waggled it in his direction, saying in a voice that was meant to be sweet but came out as strained, “I thought I would head you off before you start lecturing me, too.”

As soon as Andromeda Black held up the ring for Kingsley to see, he immediately felt pity for her. No one should be forced to wear such a monstrosity, and since he had a feeling he knew who the ring was from, there was no reason she shouldn’t be allowed to dull the pain of that with some alcohol in his mind. He figured she was seventeen, or close to it, anyway. “Miss Black, I hope you don’t mind if I give you my sincerest apologies. Both on the engagement and the ring that came with it.” Kingsley gave her a sympathetic smile, knowing that if his family had been alive in his teenage years, he might’ve been forced to marry someone too. “I’ll put in a word with the bartenders later so that they won’t give you any trouble. Just don’t let your father know.” He added a quick wink to the sympathetic expression.