#emmaxvcnity

Lestrange Manor

May 1979

@emmaxvcnity

Morning was not Bellatrix’s happy time of day. The witch much preferred late nights and as such often stayed up late. Though sometimes being up late was not her choice, as her mind often made late night plans with out informing Bellatrix first. As such, she’d lie awake for hours, her mind racing, until at last she’d tear herself from bed and begin pacing the halls like some crazed specter. She was a quiet ghost though, for the voices in her mind were plenty loud. Occasionally, a house elf would appear and attempt to offer their mistress some calming tea or a bit of brandy to help her return to bed only to earn a swift kick and some muttered expletives.

Such was the case the night before. Bellatrix finally retired to bed with the coming of dawn only to be woken with a reminder that she had invited Emma to brunch with her that day. Groaning, she turned over in her large four poster bed. “Coffee!” She screamed, irritably, into her pillow. The crack of an apparating house elf and the smell of a dark roast coffee filled the room suddenly. “What took you so bloody long.” She snapped, sitting up at last. It was time to greet the day.

The elves had done a wonderful job setting up a spread of brunch items, but they’d receive no such compliment when their mistress finally made her way downstairs to the drawing room of the manor. Sitting down heavily in the chair, she snatched another cup of coffee. “Bring me some whiskey.” she shouted, before another crack announced the arrival of one of the house elves. Snatching it from the elf and pouring more than a healthy amount into the cup, she sighed. Why did she do this to herself? She hated hosting after all.

Date: May 19th @emmaxvcnity As his footsteps carried him all the way upmarket, Evan was cursing himself the whole way under his breath. He wasn’t positive about what he was about to do. The only thing he was 100% positive about was that he had to do it. If not, his father would kill him. It was supposed to have been Cassandra. He had tried, failed in every way it was seemingly possible to fail. Backwards, forwards, even sideways. Corvus Rosier was not impressed. In fact, he was furious. All evidence seemed to be pointing towards his would-be wife evading him by choice rather than force. It was a mark on the Rosier name, and one too many. Loyalty was not a quality that ran thick in the blood of their choice of women.

Unfortunately for the young Slytherin, the pickings of pure blooded female’s to choose from were slim. Up until recently, he had always assumed he would marry Cass. There had never been reason to have a backup plan. Meanwhile many of his friends and fellow classmates had long since married or were engaged. The pure blood circle was small enough as it was. Half of them Evan was directly related to. A handful of them were blood traitor’s and aligned with the Order. Then were the stubborn ones like Alecto who just weren’t interested in marrying. He couldn’t say he blamed her, but Evan had been bred to fulfill his family duties. 

But there was still Emma. He hadn’t seen her in awhile, had absolutely no idea what she had been up to as of lately aside from being involved in the St. Mungo’s attack. As far as he knew, she wasn’t matched yet. She was probably his only hope. That is, if he could convince her. Usually pretty confident, today Evan wasn’t feeling the usual strut in his step. Rejection suddenly never felt so possible. But he had to do this. Finally arriving at the flat of his old friend from Hogwarts, Evan stopped for a minute and took a breath to gather himself before raising a fist to knock. 

9:00, April 28th, 1979 Flourish & Blotts @emmaxvcnity

        She’d been hoping to find a time for quiet relaxation. Nothing quite like getting lost in an old book when so many worries were pushing to the forefront. Of course, she always felt slightly guilty whenever she got lost in a well-written manuscript, sure that there were more urgent matters that she ought to dedicate her time to. But she’d managed to justify it long ago with the fact that most of the books she consumed were educational, furthering not only her healing but her mind. In that vein, Flourish & Blotts had always been a sanctuary for her, a place of retreat whenever the ordinary world felt like it was crushing her -- and no doubt the feeling of panic had slowly grown within the last couple days, no matter how much she attempted to still it. But her attention was pulled from the book whose spine she was examining towards the ringing of the bell and the gust of cold wind that accompanied a new patron.

       Features tensed leaving only her lips wavering slightly between a smile and a frown, not quite able to decide on one or the other when her every instinct was pushing for her to avoid the confrontation and practical knowledge had set in that the other girl had already spotted her and it was something that was too late to avoid. They ought to have been as close as sisters -- Merlin knew their mothers were and had always pushed them to be the same. But Ophelia couldn’t remember a time when they’d gotten along, petty squabbles about who’d be allowed to play with the prettier doll, who’d manage to outdo the other at O.W.Ls and later on N.E.W.Ts following them well into adulthood, even if Ophelia liked to believe that it made little difference to her what Emma did now. She was the jarring edge of pureblood society that liked to remind Ophelia in oh-so-small ways that she’d never quite fit in. That she was different and an outsider, no matter how much her parents had attempted to push her back into the role her mother believed she was born to play. But a forced smile swept over her lips all the same, nothing but warmth pouring from her lips. “Emma, how absolutely lovely to see you -- it’s been far too long.” 

Walburga smiled as she flicked her wand to have the crumpets start cooling on the counter as the water for tea came to a boil. Emma was coming over for a chat and Walburga had always adored the time they spent together. The woman was so composed and brutal like herself that Walburga couldn’t help taking a liking to her. A smile played on her lips as she heard a knock at the door.

Walburga glided to the door throwing it open as she saw the beautifully composed young woman in front of her. Walburga pulled her into an embrace smiling, guiding her inside afterwards. “Emma, dearest, how have you been? It has been far too long since I’ve seen you last. You must tell me everything. I’ve heard you and the younger Lestrange have become quiet familiar, you must tell me more.”