âSnakes are biting at my heels, the worries that refuse to let us go. Iâve been kicking them away, been hoping not to let them take control.â
EMMELINE VANCE / TWENTY-SEVEN
BLOOD STATUS:Â PUREBLOOD OCCUPATION: CURSE BREAKER ORDER STATUS: MEMBER GENDER:Â NON-BINARY PRONOUNS: THEY/THEM
âł INTRODUCTION
Bleach, boiling water and soap. Rub your skin raw, leave it angry and red as you try to scrub all signs of your past from your body. Itâs become your lifeâs mission to seek out your fatherâs work, only to undo it, only to cleanse this world of all signs of where you came from. You can try to run from your family, but youâll never run from their legacy or the mark they forced upon you. You can still feel his hands gripped tight around your wrists as the symbol was seared into your forearm. No matter how many times you try to scour your skin, you'll never rid of your fatherâs finest curse. There is no clean slate for someone who once danced with darkness, and as far as your new allies are concerned, youâre still locked in a waltz with the devil himself.Â
EMMELINE VANCEÂ IS OPEN.
âł STORY
Their memories are filled with sights and sounds that could only be described as terrifying. Emmeline learned at a young age that their father was not a man to be crossed. When they were a child, most times they found comfort in this; their father was their protector, and this was just the kind of world they lived in. It wasnât until their mother was kidnapped and killed that Emmeline saw what true terror their father was capable of. He instructed a man to track down her killers and deliver what he would tell them was a valuable gift. A single gold ring, which left the wearer feeling extreme avarice, and the need to protect their new wealth at all costs. As the first man put the ring on, they insisted it would be theirs, but when the second man tore it from his finger, motivated only by his true greed, a fight broke out. Emmeline still remembers the sinister smile on their fatherâs face as he read over the headline on the Daily Prophet, âVance killers found dead after greed-fueled duelâ After that, their fatherâs reputation was set. People of all kinds, the strange and the powerful, showed up on their doorsteps with large sums of money, asking their father to create cursed items for them.Â
Their fatherâs business dealings sealed Emmelineâs fate, at least in the eyes of the other pureblood families, and for a while Emmeline followed the path theyâd set out for them. When the sorting hat was placed on their head, they prayed itâd place them in Slytherin. âYou were meant to be there anyways.â All signs pointed toward this being the path Emmeline was meant to take, which is why they buried all their doubts as deep as they could. Three sharp knocks on the door to their childhood home brought them all to the surface. When they were fourteen, a strange man asked to see Emmelineâs father. He was pale and gaunt, and his eyes were large and dark, as though he hadnât seen the light in years. He said little to Emmeline about why he was there, but after their father pulled the strange man into his office, Emmeline sat outside, their hands cupped between their ear and the door. They didnât hear much, but what they did hear was enough to send a chill down their spine. The man needed their father to create a curse, one he could place on the arms of his followers. At the time, Emmeline did not understand why someone would want to curse the people who were loyal to them, but over the next three years, Emmeline learned more of this strange man. They learned more about his cause, and how he intended to wipe out or enslave all muggleborns. They learned more about his followers, and how most of them were the parents of, and even some of the children they grew up with. But most of all, they learned to what end Voldemort would go to achieve his ends.Â
It was late, at least midnight, when Emmeline was torn from their bed, wrapped up tightly in their sheets so they couldnât see. As they struggled, they tried to count how many hands were gripping them, how many kidnappers had returned for the child of the woman they once killed. It seemed like a nightmare until they were thrown down hard on their fatherâs desk; itâd been cleared of all his things. The sheet was ripped from Emmelineâs body, as cold hands gripped their wrists. When their eyes adjusted to the light, their father was standing over them. âThis will hurt, Emmeline, but itâs your destiny.â No reassurance, no attempt to comfort his child. It was that moment that Emmeline knew their father was long gone. Not only had he branded his child with his finest curse, he had cursed both of them to a life of darkness. Emmeline was a death eater; whether they liked it or not that mark on their arm had made the decision for them. They kept their head down, waiting for the day they could break away from it all. Two years later, Emmeline packed up what they could fit inside a single suitcase and went straight to the Ministry of Magic. With a thud, they dropped their things on the floor of the office for the removal of curses, jinxes and hexes, âIâm Emmeline Vance, and can and will break any curse you ask me to. I just need a place to stay.â Â
For a time after leaving home, Emmeline lived their life as though they were on the run. They never rented a flat for longer than a month, for fear that the death eaters, or perhaps Voldemort himself would come after them, but they never did. Emmeline never believed in their cause; to them they were just an experiment. They never heard from their father either, who they assumed had come to feel the same way. The ministry and their job became Emmelineâs home, and in a short time, they lived up to the claim they made the day they first stepped foot there. It was their abilities that attracted the attention of Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They were in a different department, but the aurors sometimes needed expertise from cursebreakers, and Emmeline had become the best in their department. Dozens of late nights working on cases later, the two asked Emmeline to join the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemortâs power was growing and they needed people like Emmeline to help them defeat him. Without pause, Emmeline pulled up their sleeve to reveal the mark on their forearm, which they normally kept covered. At first, it had their friends reaching for their wands, but it was what Emmeline said next that put them at ease. âIâll do anything to ruin the people that forced this upon me.â
FACE CLAIM: JESSICA HENWICK (semi-negotiable)












