#m:severus

1st Like My Own Mind - Arabella and Edgar meet at Hogsmeade for a coffee. They discuss Branwen snooping around Hogsmeade and Fabian having gotten a job at Hogwarts, with Edgar showing himself reluctant to reach out to him there as Hogwarts is meant to be a safe place for Fabian, and Edgar is only the bringer of war-news.

2nd At The Sweets’ Shop - Edgar goes to buy some sweets, but Dedalus, who Edgar has held a grudge against since school, keeps him for much longer than expected by talking and talking. For them, it’s a rather typical encounter -- until Dedalus mentions that he sees no point in joining the Fighting Club, despite needing to learn how to protect himself better. Edgar asks how he fights in battles, then, and Dedalus replies that he isn’t a great fighter and that if he finds himself in a battle, he simply removes himself. Edgar sees himself in this answer, as he too is anything but a strong fighter and used to run away, trying to find clever solutions out of situations rather than facing the battle head on. Remembering such situations, especially those that have gone wrong, he explains that sometimes you can’t remove yourself, either because of the circumstances or because there’s a person you love who’s still fighting, and that everyone thus needs to know their place on a battlefield. That if Caradoc wanted Dedalus in the Fighting Club, it’s not just to remove his weaknesses, but also to make use of his strengths, emphasising that Dedalus has a sharp mind which could be of great asset. But Dedalus misunderstands and thinks Edgar’s implying he’ll leave those he loves behind and says he’ll just do as Edgar does, and this is the last straw for Edgar. The idea someone might do as he did, copy all his mistakes, when all he wants is to protect and ensure the very opposite, it’s one of his greatest fears. With his poise lost, he lays all those mistakes out for Dedalus to see, as a warning and as a question: How could anyone think Edgar thinks himself faultless? Why would anyone possibly want to copy him? 

Uncapitalist Shopping Spree - Agitated by having reminded himself of the many deaths he has caused, he goes to find Amelia. The two haven’t really talked ever since February 14th, ever since Amelia had been brought to the Potter Estate, seeing the Order in action, and a lot of stuff built up. So after they go steal some books just for the rush of it, the twins blurt out all their fears at each other, opening themselves up completely. Ainsley. Mundungus. Rigby and the heritage. Caradoc. It ends with Amelia demanding to join the Order and Edgar knows better than to fight her stubbornness. Thus, he brings her to Caradoc.

At Strongarm - Edgar tells Caradoc Amelia wants to join the Order and they need to procure a Tag for her as fast as possible. Caradoc says it’ll take time but he’ll work on it. Amelia leaves and Caradoc and Edgar are left alone together, which is where Edgar breaks down. It’s the first time in six years (since the day he caused the death of the other Order members, which he implied to Dedalus) he cries. Amelia being in the war means putting her in danger, a danger Edgar can’t protect her from. He reminds Caradoc that if Amelia dies, so will he.

3rd On/Off Duty - Needing to take his mind off things, Edgar goes to the theatre, where he meets their newest recruit, Annalise Fawley. They talk all things theatre and Edgar finds himself fairly charmed by her.

6th Dignity and Love to not Blend Well - Severus and Edgar are just done discussing all that there is to know on the spy-front, as every Saturday morning, when they mention the Fighting Club. Severus explains that he did pass the sorting test and made it into the good group, but would rather die on the battlefield than train with Sirius Black. Edgar however -- seeing his younger self in Severus’ arrogance -- reminds Severus that he’s way too valuable to die. Anxious that his explanation might be met with misunderstanding again, like with Dedalus, he explains more clearly that the Fighting Club is more than just curse-training, it’s also a way to find out about your fellow members’ strengths and weaknesses. The main take-away, however, is that Edgar feels like he has once again gotten to know his partner a little better.

8th Calendrical - Maddy Warren is initiated into the Order. Afterwards, Mary and Edgar discuss the newest updates: Maurice, the DTF, Maddy. They also discuss that it’s time to leave their position of defense behind and start attacking first, which is something Edgar has only been waiting for for quite some time now, waiting especially for the right person to pick up a wand and go for it. In a way he knows that defense can only go so far, and attacking first is, in the long run, the best way to protect everyone.

9th It’s the big moving day. Most everything that can be transported, is brought from the Potter Estate to the House of Bones.  The Map, the Minutes, all Tags, all plans and lists and artifacts of value are moved, leaving behind mostly the things that wouldn’t have a safe place to store yet, namely various items from the infirmary, as they want to leave what they don’t understand to Emmeline and her expertise and system. 

Dripping Water Hollows Out Stone - Afterwards, Edgar has Amelia and Fabian meet -- without letting them know beforehand -- and forces them to make up. He tells them that he belongs to no one and if he gets hurt, it’s his own fault, and no one should feel responsible for having to protect him.

10th The Cursed Disco - Frank brings sneakoscopes into the House of Bones, which all go off as the house is filled with potentially mistrustful objects and energies. But Edgar reminds Frank, that it’s not the Order who needs to mistrust the House, but the House needs to mistrust the Order; the people of the Order brings danger with them (once again thinking of the idea of ‘Illness’ as well as his plans with Caradoc to test their fellow members in the future), and they should find a way to ensure trust amongst the Order soon.

12th Hide and Seek -  After their night together on January 6th, Edgar has done his most to avoid Mundungus Fletcher, while Mudnugngus did his most to cross paths with Edgar. The pettiness resolves now in Edgar’s old room, where Mudndusgus goes to steal something and instead finds more than two dozen posters of himself plastered on the walls. Edgar, more than embarrassed, promises to take them down, but Mudnugngus quickly has a new objective: Edgar’s key-earring seems like something marvelous to steal. The key-earring made of many keys holds one key, which Edgar is keeping safe: it opens the cabinet to Caradoc’s heart, his warmest memories, and when Edgar realises it’s gone, he panics, fearing he has failed to protect his best friend.

13th - 18th Edgar and Caradoc begin preparing their Test, while Edgar also studies James’ plan on how to find out the spy, which he gave him exactly a month ago. It feels like much longer.

18th Another One Knows - On the night of the 17th, Severus finds Edgar and tells him that Peter is the spy. Edgar meets with Peter and orders him to wait for an opportunity, when that opportunity arises, he will fake his death and hide in the House of Bones for protection. Peter is grateful, but Edgar doesn’t do this out of friendship or pity. He’s doing it like this because he knows that Peter is worth more alive than dead right now, and that if he scares the boy away now, he’ll go to the Other Side forever, and his friends will have to grieve yet another friend. It’s those friends, Lily, Sirius, Remus, that Edgar thinks of when he dismisses Peter and tells no one about it, wanting to believe that if only Peter will be shown enough love, he will make the right decisions in the future. 

21st The Battle of Diagon - Actually, Edgar meant to meet up with Marlene and show her a tour of the House, so when the battle news break, he’s with her. She’s the one who keeps him from going upstairs to the Map room and apparates him to Diagon Alley instead. He thinks of all the conversations he’d had this month about trust and battle fighting, and how little time they had to prepare, and it’s only when he sees the young Efa Chittock that he snaps out of it. 

Protection - Running into a battlefield isn’t always the smartest choice, even if it’s to help her friend Dorcas, and while Efa isn’t too pleased by being held back at first, she quickly realises that Edgar’s plan sounds indeed like she’d be able to protect more people more easily that way. So they run into a house and up to the third floor, from which they defend their fellow Order members downstairs. Because Efa is doing well, Edgar leaves her not too long after, ordering her to stay where she is. 

Inside the Sweets Shop - On his way to the side streets, to which the battle is slowly spreading, he sees Dedalus and Fabian inside Dedalus’ shop. He hurries to enter and ward everything, but not before giving Fabian his protective coat and sending him out into battle, telling him to show up for a date tomorrow night. Punctual. Alive. Then Edgar and Dedalus take care of the kids caught inside the shop, as well as the knocked out Death Eater, before, suddenly, Voldemort appears. 

Voldemort is targeting Dorcas and Annalise, and Edgar pushes Dedalus deeper into the shop. But realising that Dorcas being in danger will draw Efa down from her hide-out, Edgar runs back into the street as well, and together, from opposite sides of the road, they ward off any attempts of making it even harder on Dorcas and Annalise. 

Aftermath - Once back at the HQ, Edgar takes notes on everything that happened, on everything they lost.

Rigby and the Phoenix Part I - During the Debriefing, someone knocks on the door. It turns out it’s Rigby, who has just learnt today that this war is real, that the Death Eaters are really real, that the Order is really real, and who is now learning that his own siblings are in fact part of the Order. 

In This Play, We Reveal What Type of People We Are - Edgar works late into the night until he sees Peter Pettigrew watching him from the shadows. He learns that Peter faked his own death and now requires Edgar’s protection. 

22nd When Preparation Meets Opportunity - During the Battle of Diagon, Edgar gave his Phoenix Tag to Efa, aware that the Other Side already knows of him. He told her that once all of the veterans will be gone, they’ll need fresh faces to surprise the Other Side, which wasn’t a very comforting thought but at least had Efa accept the Tag. Now she is bringing it back to him, and Edgar, who worked all night through on the hostage and the List they found again, allows himself a moment of smiles: he is proud of Efa for how she fought yesterday and invites her to a breakfast. Perhaps also to charge her with some secret tasks.

The Inevitable Catastrophe - Peter has to pretend he’s dead. But Edgar doesn’t want his closest friends to go through the grief of losing another friend, so he brings them in to allow them to know he’s fine. He makes them promise not to ask questions and finds himself disappointed that wanting to know what happened is all that’s on their mind anyway, believing that if Peter doesn’t feel loved, he might betray them again. When Remus offers to stay over, he’s relieved. Afterwards, he burns the plan James made to find out the spy, as it could now risk Peter’s life but also out of disappointment for not having been of more use. He asks the question: Protecting Peter, giving him a second chance, it’s smart, but is it fairness or weakness?

The End of Alcott Avery - Artem and Bran brought in a hostage, which is being interrogated all through the night and the next day. After the thing with Peter is taking care of, Edgar joins Severus for a last interrogation, but Avery brings barely any new information to the table, and before they can do anything, Bran kills him with a knife. 

24th Beginnings are Endings - The attack on Diagon brought more attention to the Order than ever before -- it seems -- and with that attention comes a new recruit: Lucinda Talkalot. On the 24th, Edgar finds her snooping around the House of Bones, and so Edgar gives her a little tour to test her.

25th The End of Alcott Avery Part II - At the office of the Daily Prophet, the news break that the family of Alcott Avery has fled, and Edgar realises quickly that it’s got to do with the murder of Alcott. He writes Caradoc to tell him, though he doesn’t quite know for which goal, and sees Ainsley across the office also reaching for stationery, possibly to inform the Other Side of the same.

28th Rigby and the Phoenix Part II - Edgar goes to meet Rigby at his apartment, finding Andros instead. The two have a pleasant conversation until Rigby comes home and bans Edgar from ever talking to his family again, as Edgar is ‘dangerous’. 

Omnia Muntantur - After this, Edgar’s mental health deteriorates and he begins warding everything more intensely, the intrusive thoughts forcing more and more patterns into his life. Meeting with Marlene after the fiasco at Rigby’s brings him at least some relaxation.

1st No More Cakes and Ale? -> Edgar and Fabian are still at the Green Lion after Edgar found Fabian in the snow, drunk and beaten bloody. He realises not only that Fabian is suffering from enough pain (his “illness”) that he wishes to “leave” and copes by drinking. Helpless, Edgar tries to keep Fabian at the Green Lion away from drinks, but all he does is offering a shallow distraction from Fabian has yet to admit to.

2nd Voice -> After the second night at the Green Lion, that is, two nights during which Edgar didn’t tell anyone where he went, Caradoc shows up, suddenly, throwing him the news at his head. 120 people have died -- probably by the Orb. The Orb that the Order failed to steal from the Nott’s last month. Edgar is sent on his mission to collect information from Severus Snape, who seems to know more, but in the meantime he tells Fabian to go to his place and stay there until he returns.

3rd Resolutions -> It’s past midnight when Edgar gets home. He doesn’t find Fabian, though, he finds Amelia. She and Fabian fought, throwing ugly accusations at each other, most of them caused by and attacking Amelia’s fear of Edgar once again dropping her due to being in love with someone else. Due to this fight, the apartment is a mess and upon entering Edgar’s first thought is: someone broke in and attacked Fabian. He makes up with Amelia, but the effects are already showing: he tells her to leave his apartment and never come back, realising that even his hundredfold warded apartment is no longer a warless, safe space. And the idea of Amelia getting hurt causes new anxiety tics to arise.

4th Investigative investigation -> Trying to distract himself and still hoping Fabian comes back, Edgar spends his day at his Daily Prophet office, working. Artem comes to find him, asking him if he could perhaps help them find their old friends from a time they were still active in the Muggle queer spaces of London. Are they dead? Are they alive? Edgar, well aware of the epidemic in the US which is slowly turning into a pandemic, is cautious to promise anything, but he says he will try his best. At least it gives him something to do. Finding someone, anyone, could alleviate the weight of not knowing where Fabian is.

6th Epiphany -> Edgar misses Epiphany with his family. It’s the first time ever. He just can’t bring himself to go home right now, not with Rigby still waiting for an answer about his letter, not with Amelia still annoyed with Edgar. The Daily Rag -> Instead he goes to a local pub to drink (alone, when usually he’d ask Fabian to join him) and finds his old teenage celebrity crush: the infamous theatre fiasco from 1969, Mundungus Fletcher. Star struck and eager to have fun that night, Edgar agrees to join Fletcher on a little robbery. Elated that it works, they make out and have even more fun that night. The morning, upon remembering that Fletcher is an affiliate of the Order, is less fun.

8th -> The Order hears via Emma Vanity about Ryland Greengrass, who disappeared about three months ago and was assumed defected. They learn that instead he is in fact captured and held in his own family’s basement. Emma suggests that since on the 10th the Greengrass house will be empty, they should do their rescue mission then, and the Inner Circle agrees. Voice -> When Ryland first disappeared, Edgar wouldn’t believe it, trusting his old room mate and his loyalty to the Order too much, but upon bringing up the issue again and again, Caradoc told him to stop, to accept the facts and move on. The truth now being out causes even more tension to grow between the two friends, and it only gets worse when instead of instantly loving the idea to rescue Ryland, Caradoc raises the concern that this might be a trap.

9th Voice -> The Inner Circle meets, deciding to keep this mission a secret so that the mole can’t warn the Greengrass, and begin to come up with a plan. James makes great suggestions and while Edgar is grateful for that, he is still to infuriated with Caradoc to join the conversation much.

10th 7 years, 3 months, 1 change -> Once the Inner Circle finally have a solid plan, it’s already evening, and time is running out. They’ve decided on what is going to happen, but not who is going to execute the plan. Edgar, still aggravated by the whole situation and on top projecting his fear about Fabian onto Ryland, storms off without another warning, appointing Emma and Peter who just happen to be at the Head Quarters that day to join.

11th Cori Tauri -> The mission succeeds. Ryland has been saved and after some intense interrogations and a good night’s rest, Edgar takes him for a walk to assess the situation -- as well to reacquaint himself with his old friend. Between Hogwarts and now they had grown apart, but the night is peaceful, friendly, and Edgar finds himself relaxing for perhaps the first time in weeks. Ryland also tells Edgar to just go talk to Amelia already.

14th Doing well/Something -> It would be a lie to say that saving Ryland was enough to fully put Edgar back on his feet. The idea that the same thing is currently happening to Fabian who is still gone, keeps Edgar up at night. However he does manage to focus better on his work now and decides to finally talk to James. In a previous conversation James had complained that the other members of the Inner Circle don’t listen to him enough, and between this and his great suggestions during the planning of Ryland’s rescue, Edgar decides to give him a proper chance. They discuss how to find the mole and find out who in the Ministry might be on Voldemort’s side, and James, slowly warming up to Edgar (who is growing quite fond of him with every passing minute) promises to make a detailed plan that the Order will be able to act on.

15th Calendrical -> During the conversation with James, Edgar also tries to find out if he’s aware of Remus’ periodically returning injuries, and what he thinks of it, but James doesn’t seem eager to share any opinions on that, so Edgar approaches Mary. Mary takes into consideration the facts Edgar lays down for her (that Remus is hurt after every month, that he tries to protect the werewolves living in the forest by the McKinnon Farm, etc), and suggests they talk to the Marauders as well as Emmeline Vance who might have had a closer look at Remus’ injuries in the past. Neither of them dares to speak what they think: is Remus perhaps a werewolf? Voice -> Still at the Potter Estate, Edgar learns that Ryland is planning on finally moving out of the Potter Estate, moving back into his own home. Edgar panics, his tics consuming him fully until Caradoc finds him and makes him stop. Unfortunately, Edgar still doesn’t take Caradoc’s apology (nor wants to listen to what Caradocs wants to tell him) and leaves. Leaves, however, not without a thank you.

16th Reunion -> Edgar understands now that he too is afflicted by this war illness, and that he is not coping well at all, finally finds Amelia. Overjoyed to have each other back, the two spend the night together -- Edgar well aware that Amelia is his coping mechanism, and it’s yet another reason to keep her away from this war. If she joins and becomes ill as well, who will be able to save her?

17th Voice -> The next night, Edgar receives a letter from Caradoc, warning him that something happened at the Potter Estate. Edgar tells him he can handle it and goes alone. x -> Upon arriving there, it’s very late already. In a hushed whisper he’s told that Daisy has returned from her year-long sabbatical, and Edgar’s heart beats fast. Daisy is one of his oldest friends and he hasn’t seen her in a year. When finding her in a make-shift room, though, she’s already asleep and so he just joins her, nestling up and happy that one by one, he’s finding all his friends again.

18th  Back -> Not only do the two of them spend a lovely morning together, trying to catch up, but Daisy also gives Edgar a photo camera. While talking, Edgar has to realise though, that going away (like Daisy did) might be the only way to escape this war. And that contrary to Daisy some might do it deliberately, for no academic reason, only to free themselves of their illness. Thus, Edgar decides that he needs to talk to Caradoc.

19th Voice -> Is his friend really as cold-hearted as Edgar accused him to be? Does he have to learn how to be warmer to find a war where the rarest resource is warmth and compassion? Or is he perhaps not in the wrong for being cold-hearted? Is it perhaps Edgar who has to toughen up to fight this war properly? These are the things Edgar plans on finding, but upon arriving at Strongarm Cottage, it is not just Caradoc he sees: Fabian! Shocked, confused, helpless, Edgar demands Caradoc explains. And he does. And Edgar learns that his friend is not at all cold-hearted as he always acts. Never Did Run Smooth -> Fabian admitted to being an alcoholic. Admitted this to Caradoc, along with a plea to take him in, help him. Therefore, instead of confronting Fabian or even addressing his disappearance directly, Edgar shows him Caradoc’s old room. The room of a normal teenager, full of pleasures and joys and life -- frozen in time. What happened? How has Caradoc become this chiseled shell everyone knows him to be? Edgar explains Fabian that everyone is ill because of this war in their own way, that they’re all just trying to cope. That Fabian isn’t weak for having found comfort in alcohol, but strong for admitting it. Stronger than Edgar who cannot let go of Amelia in a healthy way, stronger than Caradoc who picks his mind apart to be free of all emotions.

22nd Talk -> It is during a random talk with Gideon that Edgar learns that Gideon doesn’t know where his brother is. This weighs heavy on Edgar as he understands the bond twins have well, and the idea that Gideon wasn’t there for Fabian when it was needed most, displeases him. He cannot assume yet whether Fabian just refused to tell Gideon about what was going on, or if Gideon refused to acknowledge it. Either way, when Edgar hints to the fact that Fabian might need his twin now more than ever, Gideon seems offended more than concerned.

24th x -> Edgar finds one of Artem’s friends living in a suburb outside London. He has no time to tell his friend about it yet.

25th Sunny Morning [not yet available] -> Edgar joins Caradoc and Fabian at Strongarm Rehab, catching up on everything they missed. He tells Caradoc about Remus, and they discuss if the him perhaps, allegedly, being a werewolf would affect their plans moving the werewolves to the House of Bones as previously planned. Edgar doesn’t know if he’s relieved that their plans are frozen until they know more about Remus, because using House of Bones for the Order would first require him to accept Rigby’s decision. Upon going to say hi to Fabian that morning, Edgar also realises that he’s not even sure if his friend is going to return to the Order or not. While he doesn’t want to lose Fabian, he’s also afraid that returning to the war could worsen his illness...