#arcstarter

status: open

Susan walked around the atrium looking at all the people who were in attendance of the memorial. Some seemed to taking the loss of Kingsley harder than others who looked impartial.  For Susan his absence was felt quite hard and left room for a lot of unknowns in all aspects of her life. Not knowing how the New Order would recover from the loss of their leader was the question on all of their minds though no one dared speak it so soon. As she wandered, listening intently to the heartfelt speeches from those who knew him best. She’d been so caught up in the words she hadn’t paid any attention to where she was going bumping straight into the side of some else. “I’m so sorry.” She stated quickly taking a few stumbles backwards. “seems my mind's elsewhere.” Susan said apologetically hoping the other would be understanding.

He wasn’t exactly sure why he’d come, not to pay his respects, he didn’t know or particularly care about Kingsley Shacklebolt. Still Greg watched the events unfold in a corner at the back of the atrium. People crying, those looking please with themselves, but all and all everyone seemed blurry under his drunken state. Alcohol seemed to be the only thing that kept the images of the dead goblin and Ernie out of his mind. He was bitter about the response from the group who came to ‘rescue’ them. Gregory hadn’t expected a parade but a thank you or something wouldn’t have gone a miss. As he watched the charade unfold around him he untwisted the cap off his flask with a scoff. “Want some?” He asked the person who was now staring at him. 

Though there weren’t any injuries to look at from the last event, Wade still like he had walked eight hundred kilometres in the past few days. He was thankful that the hospital wasn’t seeing any acts of casulaties from the midsummer celebrations which seemed a new fashion for the Redeemers. What was worse though was something Wade didn’t expect. There were eight Death Eaters who had escaped and one was his mother. He kept looking over his shoulder at work, expecting to see someone who resembled her but pale and thin from the confines of a cell for three years. It didn’t help that Susan wasn’t speaking to him at the moment after finding out what had happened and who was released. He knew that he should have been clear about his parents and what had happened but thought a shortcut answer would be they weren’t in his life anymore which he understood now could be confusing. 

Wade sat alone in a booth, watching the beer collect condensation on the glass and dripping down. He had just worked a long shift at the hospital and had changed, hoping to catch someone to talk to improve his day and perhaps week. Wade could hear murmurs around him and his paranoia made him think it was about him and his mother. They were both known death eaters and his mother had been arrested and now was released. It only made sense that people would assume he knew or had something to do with it which was far from the truth. Wade finally looked up when someone approached his table before his gaze finding the table again. “If you are going to mention anything about my mother or Azkaban, please save yourself the trouble.”

When Percy had taken the job to be Kingsley’s assistant, he knew the workload would be close to numbing him. But it was better than working for any of the other minister’s he had worked for and when Kingsley was elected, Percy changed his position from the transportation department to the minister’ office. He had faith and trust in the man. It had been hard the past few months to see Kingsley becoming worn from the news and political climate. It was late when he returned home, finding his days at work needing his presence more and more. Even if Kingsley turned to talk to him from a moment. Percy needed to be there and knew there were many departments that needed to be cohesive. 

He was near his apartment in Hogsmeade when something moved in the shadows, his hands immediately tensing and about to go for his wand when a stray cat came into view from an alley. It must be late and he must be tired to be tense at the sight of a cat, thinking there was a chance it could be an animagus and still a threat. A voice from behind him nearly made him jump out of his skin, turning sharply. “You should not sneak up on people like that. Haven’t you any manners?”

Marietta humming to herself as she cast cleaning charms was interupted when she stubbed her toe against one of the tables. She’d told Madam Puddifoot that they could likely benefit from a little expanding, Merlin knew the woman could afford it, but she had gotten a laugh in return. “Marietta, darling, the clutter makes it feel like home! That’s what the kids like about this place.” She couldn’t argue with that, at least not until she had more arguments in her back pocket. 

Closing time often coincided with Marietta’s personal overthinking time. The topics running around her mind changed depending on the going on’s of her life at the given moment, but there was a general pattern that seemed to be followed. Usually, like today, she would walk into something or stub her toe, and silently curse the shop owner for letting it be so cramped in there. She’d then think about how close the two were, which then turned into thinking about her mother, and soon enough she was fully distracted as she absent mindedly put away mugs and saucers. 

It was this distraction that caused Marietta to jump when she heard the sound of jingle bells coming from the door. She cursed under her breath almost instantly, clutching her chest before turning around to greet the intruder. She’d been working there for what felt like forever, now, when was she going to stop forgetting to lock the door before she did her closing routine? “Sorry, dear. A few minutes earlier and I could’ve gotten you something to go, but I’m afraid we’ve closed up for the day.”

“Bloody fuckin’ dress,” the brunette swore at her choice of clothing option, wishing that she’d gone with anything but the dress she was currently wearing. Don’t get her started on the heels. Katie had never been cut out for this. She’d regret it later, but she quickly tore the bottom of her gown so that she had more room to move. “What?” She pointed her wand immediately at the onlooker she’d gotten. “You never seen a leg before? Let’s get a bleeding move on. Find somewhere safe. I don’t need my broom to run circles around you.” 

In the days trailing the midsummer celebrations, Luna’s head was full of panicked ideas. Her friends were missing and she knew she was about to meet the tip of her finger by how much nail biting she was doing. Padma was her friend for such a long time and so was Michael. She grew up around both of them and losing either of them would set herself off. Then there was Katie and Arthur, both of whom were important to her in different ways. A man like Arthur going missing along with the others could only assume something might happen. Luna was distracted at work, coming from the back to the front with an order. When the customer told her it was wrong and began to raise their voice, Luna began to see her eyes brim with stressed tears. 

“Please, I’m sorry, I’m just doing the best I can,” Luna replied, her voice weak and strained. It was the wrong order and she knew that she didn’t have what was needed in the store at the moment to deliver the man’s items. “If you come back tomorrow-” Her words were already overshadowed by the man’s temper and her mind blanked out the insults she was trying not to pay attention to. At that moment, she heard the door ring, alerting her to another guest. The man seemed to not take in the new customer and raised a finger to point at Luna. She already felt humiliated without having a finger pointed at her and being called a loon. Luna gave a weak smile and greeted the new guest, “Is there something you needed today?”