you know what, that's fair lol it's a very time-consuming game, and it can become downright torturous sometimes waiting for updates and whatnot (and when they don't involve diego? bye, felicia!) that i am tempted to give up sometimes (the only thing that holds me is the damn mystery, and hopes of meeting the REAL jacob... this baldie ain't it!). ANYWAY, do take care of yourself (and if diego comes back with a vengeance plot-wise, i will let you know)! love you and miss you already! 😘
stsdfghPZsi83 OMG BEE!! I love you too!（*＾3＾）Thank you so much as usual for understanding the pain of loving the underappreciated casanova! I’m grateful for your support and constant feedback because your headcanons/scenarios have always been entertaining to read!
I hope that the game from here becomes much more enjoyable because the players have endured so much up to this point ahaha. But you know the moment Diego shows his stupid, handsome face again… that’s when I come swooping down and we’re gonna deny this dramatic departure of mine ever happened because I’m that weak.
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Um i desperately need to here your trans narcissa hcs!!!! I need all your hcs!!! (If you haven't already yapped about them in ellies ask box bc i can just read them when she posts it if you want)
If you don't want to yap about her can tell me your black sisters hcs please?
CWs: Some brief mentions of transphobia and abusive parenting
Yes, absolutely! My ramble to Ellie is going to be mostly lucissa-centric, so with this one I can focus more on Narcissa specifically.
Okay, so I think Narcissa transitioned some time in her fifth year. I saw a headcanon (which I've decided to steal) that in exchange for accepting her transition, her parents insisted that they get to pick her new name, and they gave her a name that wasn't a star name in a deliberate attempt to distance her from them (and I'd like to add on that choosing Narcissa specifically might have been them calling her selfish for depriving their branch of the family of a male heir). Bellatrix on the other hand was thrilled, because it meant she was her parents' heir now lol.
But anyways, in the meantime her classmates were actually really chill about it, because while I think purebloods are kinda shitty about queerness, I think the magical world as a whole is mostly better than the muggle world. Also, trans ally Slytherins.
Anyways, moving on, I think Narcissa was actually really popular in school, as much as I love a loser lesbian, that's not my Narcissa. She was rich and pretty and athletic and smart and knew how to talk to people and everyone loved her.
Speaking of athletic, she played chaser on the Slytherin quidditch team from her third year until she graduated. She was actually considered for captain at one point, but was ultimately passed up for Emma Vanity (the Slytherin quidditch team seemed to have a long-running trend of making fourth years captain, presumably so they could keep the same captain for a while? Narcissa was in her seventh year at that point so that's my explanation for why she wasn't chosen). Also! I think she absolutely taught Regulus, and later Draco, how to fly and how to play quidditch, even if they both ended up playing a different position from her.
Also, on the subject of Narcissa and Regulus, Regulus is transmasc to me so I think they bonded a lot over that. I think she cut Regulus's hair short in his first year, and (alongside Sirius) stood by him and made sure Walburga and Orion didn't murder him or something when he came home for winter break.
Change of subject, I think she dyed part of her hair black after the first war, to represent the sisters and cousins she'd lost in the past decade.
Anyways, I've run out of thoughts that wouldn't fit better in my ramble to Ellie, so I'm gonna end this here.
Have we ever considered a little league version of quidditch? Like they bewitch the brooms so the kids can't fly that high, the goal posts are shorter, and the bludgers are made of rubber or something.
I was thinking about how Walburga and Orion wouldn't let Regulus and Sirius play, but Fleamont and Effie definitely let James play. In another world, where they had good parents, the Black brothers played, but Sirius was always super protective of Regulus.
Wish I could draw this, but I can't, so I'm just dropping this here in case someone else is talented enough to make this happen lol
"Hermione deserves more than to be slandered as a mistress," Orion insisted fiercely. He was hurt on her behalf and he still hated himself for believing that it was true. How could he ever have assumed that Hermione would do something like that?
"I agree," Sirius said firmly. "So I expect you to think very hard about what the two of you are doing together. Do not take advantage of her."
Orion blew out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. To be honest, he hadn't really given much thought to labeling what he and Hermione were doing together. It felt too fragile and uncertain when everything was up in the air with his quest to be named paterfamilias and getting comfortable taking charge in the family. He didn't want to risk pushing her too far too fast and then ending up with her leaving. He'd been so focused on convincing her that remaining with the Black family was the only choice for her, that he hadn't thought about what it looked like long term.
He winced when he realized how sloppy he had been. Already, multiple family members were aware of the nascent relationship between him and Hermione. While Lucretia and Alphard might not mind him sleeping with a muggleborn, he knew that there were others who would have a lot to say about it. It wouldn't be a leap to expect that they might even think he was being controlled by Hermione, the same way that they whispered about his grandfather being controlled by Hermione.
And, had he been taking advantage of her? He was obviously enjoying the intimacies that they shared immensely (truthfully, it was on his mind more than it should be), but he couldn't deny how much he was leaning on her for help with strategy, planning and all of his work in the Wizengamot. Was he relying on her too much — and using her obvious attraction for him to get her to work for him?
He tried to think about what he would want if Hermione refused to help him with his work in the Wizengamot. Of course, her intelligence and political savvy was one of the first things that made him appreciate her. But, no, he decided, even if she never picked up another book to research some proposed legislation, he would still want to be with her, chatting about something inane like Quidditch scores over dinner here at Grimmauld Place.
He leveled his stare at his grandfather's portrait, mind made up. "I'm not going to be giving her up," he said firmly. "And no one can tell me otherwise, not even you."
It took a few beats of silence, but then his grandfather was smiling at him proudly. "And that's just how I expect a paterfamilias to act," he said, in agreement over his conviction. "Now, don't forget it, Orion! You are going to be the paterfamilias of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, if Hermione has told me true. You do not need to explain yourself to anyone, not even your own family."
y'all know I like Regulus morally gray, prejudiced, etc. If you didn't know that (hi, new followers!), now you do. But I also like him redeemable. I'm all for dragging that boy out of the lake, forcing him to live, and making him deal with the fallout of realizing he was on the wrong side.
But... why Regulus?
By that I don't mean why Regulus and not [insert other morally gray character here], because I don't do the "only my problematic fave is valid" thing. More like why Regulus and not Random Death Eater #5? For a character with such a small role in canon, what makes Regulus specifically so appealing? Because I do think there are reasons he's gotten to be so popular.
First of all, he's not a complete unknown. He's Sirius's brother, and Sirius is a popular character. Also, because he's Sirius's brother, we know a whole lot about his childhood and family. Several chapters in books 5 and 7 are spent in the house where he grew up, and we even see inside his bedroom. There's nowhere near that amount of insight into the backstories of Mulciber, Avery, Rosier, etc.
Being raised by Orion and Walburga probably wins him some sympathy points, as well. While he was apparently the favorite son, it still can't have been pleasant to grow up around such unpleasant people.
When Sirius discusses his family, he is critical of Regulus, but he speaks about him in much softer terms than their parents or Bellatrix. He calls him an "idiot" for joining the Death Eaters and suggests that he was influenced by their parents' ideology. He notably doesn't call him cruel or evil, and given how blunt he is about the rest of the family's shortcomings, it wouldn't seem out-of-place if he did. I know I'm not the only one who interprets his description of Regulus as being just a little bit affectionate, in a begrudging sort of way.
By the way, what did Regulus actually do as a Death Eater? We don't really know. He definitely 1) joined, 2) expressed blood purist views, 3) loaned Kreacher to Voldemort, and 4) betrayed Voldemort. Other than that, anything goes. Which also means that he didn't necessarily kill anyone, use the Unforgivable Curses, etc. Each individual fic writer can pretty much pick and choose to what extent they want him to be guilty of typical Death Eater crimes. (My Regulus is pathetically bad at the Cruciatus Curse for exactly this reason.)
Also, he's not just a blood purist and a Death Eater; he's given positive qualities, too. He's courageous, clearly. He's willing to die rather than keep serving Voldemort after losing his faith in him. He's got a bit of hubris in thinking he could handle the Horcrux all on his own, but it's oddly mixed with humility, realizing that he won't be the one to kill Voldemort and being content to simply make it possible for someone else to do so.
And then there's Kreacher. No, I don't think Regulus was some sort of proto-SPEW activist campaigning for house-elf rights in between Death Eater meetings. But he did drink the potion himself rather than ordering Kreacher to do it. He brought Kreacher along to the cave because he couldn't do it alone, but he did the worst, most painful part himself and made sure Kreacher would survive. This is emphasized when the full story is revealed, with Harry initially assuming he did make Kreacher drink the potion, only to be corrected. There are very few characters who show any amount of decency toward house-elves, so it stands out.
There's another little moment from earlier in the same chapter that I think also does a lot to make Regulus seem more human. And that's the photo of the Quidditch team. It's such a small thing, but the kids in that photo are described as smiling and waving, which is very atypical for Slytherin students. Usually, they're shown scowling, sneering, glaring, and otherwise being unpleasant. A picture of Regulus smiling and waving with his teammates, especially just after they saw his Voldemort collage and the family crest painted on his wall, softens those details somewhat and shows a different side to him.
Oh, and speaking of Quidditch, let's talk about parallels to Harry. Because there are a lot. They both play Seeker, yes, but more importantly, they're both 17-18 year old boys who go to (what they believe will be) their death, hoping to destroy a Horcrux so that Voldemort will be made mortal. Neither of them expects to live, or to kill Voldemort themselves, just to make it possible for someone else to do so. I have criticisms of how Regulus's death is portrayed in the books (namely: redemption-by-heroic-sacrifice kind of falls flat when it doesn't accomplish anything), but his trip to the cave does parallel Harry's walk into the forest in a very poetic way.
And, of course, I think this goes without saying, but he does turn against Voldemort. Whether or not he fully abandons the ideology that led him to join the Death Eaters, it's not what he prioritizes in the end. He turns against Voldemort, presumably knowing that Voldemort's downfall would be a setback for the blood purist cause. Because Horcruxes are a step too far? Because Voldemort hurt his house-elf? Because being a Death Eater isn't all it's cracked up to be? Whatever the reason, there's something that matters to him more than his own life and more than his loyalty to the cause.
And if he survived, what then? How does he move forward? Does he somehow remain a Death Eater? Go into hiding? Join the Order? Does he cling to his prejudice or allow himself to be de-radicalized? Does he regret the things that he did? In a more peaceful world after Voldemort is gone, what sort of man might he grow up to be? How would the events of his youth shape him, for better or for worse?
There's so much to explore.
Again, I'm not saying he's better or worse than any other morally gray character. But he's not just some random first war Death Eater with an attractive fancast. Even with what little bit of characterization exists in canon, there's so much potential to craft an interesting character out of it. He has a backstory, he has hints of a personality, and he's portrayed with a degree of sympathy and nuance that the other background Death Eaters don't get. He's pretty much tailor-made for redemption arc potential, which makes sense, because the story of his death in canon is pretty much framed as a redemption arc. I'm not sure I agree - I think it's more like the beginning of one, cut short before it really gets going - but maybe the feeling that it's not quite all it should be is another thing that makes him so appealing as a fanfic character. After all, a lot of fic comes from a place of "no, canon didn't get it quite right - I'll do it myself."
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A/N: Look at me, I'm not ever going to write a mirror scene again. Look at me, I'm sticking with my words. Oh well. Last day, last prompt. Stargazing. Thank you to @hphm-ship-week for hosting this event.
As always, the original to this mirror can be found here. Special thanks (and curses) to @eternalchaoschocolaterain. Look what you made me do.
Away from the bonfire of the victory party, the temperature dropped immediately. It was a mellow summer night, the air fragrant with the last idea of the wildflowers that lined the side of the path Lizzie and Orion were following along. A cool breeze drifted towards them from the Black Lake, its dark waters shimmering in the silvery light of the moon above.
Ever since their first impromptu celebration of Hufflepuff winning the Quidditch House Cup - and what a win it had been - Orion had longed to finally be alone with Lizzie, to let the impressions and emotions that had stormed in on him since the end of the match settle. They hadn’t had a chance to speak yet, and even at the big party hoisted in their team’s honour further up the path, he had had no sight of her.
Now, walking down the winding path by the lakeshore, it was like a heavy weight had lifted off Orion’s shoulders, one he hadn’t even realised had been there. He had been apprehensive of this moment but now that it had arrived, his nerves had dispersed like smoke, leaving behind nothing but a vague memory of the knot that had come undone in him when Lizzie had taken his hand and not let go again.
They talked as they were walking, those couple of minutes since they had left the party filled with more words, more laughter and ease, than all the days since they had stepped off the Hogwarts Express last September until now combined. Orion had missed this; he had missed her.
At some point, Lizzie had moved closer to him, leaning subtly into his side when he let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She fit right into him, her body warm against his, growing increasingly more quiet as the path carried them further into the moonlit landscape surrounding the castle. Not thinking much about it initially, Lizzie’s silence soon stirred a sense of worry in him. An idea which seemed right and sensible in the warmth of a bonfire might look entirely differently once the golden glow was stripped away, leaving only the cold light of the moon to illuminate its consequences. Did Lizzie regret leaving with him? Did he? Was this a trial of their will, or were they headed down a path that wasn’t theirs to walk? Slowing his steps, he studied her but Lizzie didn’t seem to notice. She was looking up ahead, entirely lost in her thoughts.
“What are you thinking?”
Lizzie gave a start, as if she hadn’t heard him at all. “Sorry, what?”
“You’ve gone very quiet. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing really, don’t worry.”
It had taken her only a moment’s hesitation to reply and yet to Orion, it felt like an eternity that made his stomach drop. Unwrapping his arm from her shoulders he stopped, turning her towards him.
“I’ve always known you to carry your heart on your sleeve, Chaser. Until this year. Now that you and Rowan have made your peace, I had hoped you would go back to not being afraid of your thoughts anymore. You don’t have to hide when you’re with me.”
Lizzie pressed her lips together briefly before pulling them into a weak smile. “I’m just not used to feeling this awkward around you.”
She meant to lighten the mood, Orion knew that, but he felt like a door was closing inside him. He raised his hand to her face, brushing away a strand of her hair in the same way that had started them on this turbulent journey.
“We can always go back if you don’t want this.”
Lizzie shook her head almost instantly, the determined look in her eyes as much reassurance as the hand she placed over his. Leaning into his touch, she momentarily cast down her gaze before raising it again to meet his. Even in the moonlight they looked blue, deep and dark and inviting, but there was an openness to them that Orion had rarely seen before, a vulnerability that was almost sacrilegious to witness. Running his thumb across her cheek, seeing how she closed her eyes to his touch, he whispered,
“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?”
Lizzie’s eyes softened, her lips parting ever so slightly. She tilted her head and stepped closer, and so did Orion, both their eyes closing, just a breath away from…
The sound of nearby laughter cut through the night, making them both start and hastily step away from each other. Another laugh followed, quickly hushed by a subdued voice and a giggle that ebbed in volume as the voices drew nearer. They had yet to see Lizzie and Orion, so he took her by the hand and pulled her off the path and into the shadow of a tree. Concealed from curious eyes, they waited for whoever had disturbed them to appear.
It didn’t take long. First, the shadows of two people following down the lake path came into view. Soon, the shadows took shape, one tall and broad, the other small and stocky; both of them looked familiar though Orion couldn’t say why. Lizzie, who was peering at the approaching pair with furrowed brow, cocked her head.
“Isn’t that…”
The moonlight hit the couple on the path, revealing their friend and teammate Skye Parkin and - much to their mutual surprise - Erika Rath, Ravenclaw Beater and Skye’s declared mortal enemy. Or so Orion had thought. Lizzie had just leaned in to him to comment on this peculiar sight when her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. Over by a bend in the path, beneath the shadow of a tree not unlike theirs, Erika Rath had pushed Skye against the tree trunk, Skye’s arms coming around her neck in a tight embrace as they kissed passionately. A disbelieving giggle bubbled from Lizzie’s chest, quickly growing into laughter barely contained by the hand clapped in front of her mouth. Her whole frame was shaking from it, so much so that Orion found it hard not to join in.
“Even the most steadfast rivalry can turn into fondness, it seems,” he chuckled, backing away from the tree to get back onto the path unseen. “Maybe we should leave them to it.”
Casting one last, disbelieving look at Skye and Rath, Lizzie followed him, bursting into laughter as soon as they were out of earshot. Her laugh was contagious, skipping over to Orion after all until it was bouncing back and forth between them. It made his belly hurt, and he winced as he tried - in vain - to relax his already aching cheeks. Lizzie was faring no better. She had laughed herself into a state close to hysteria, having reached a point where she was unable to stop.
“You need to calm down,” Orion told her, fighting the urge to begin laughing again. Lizzie nodded and pressed her lips together but it was to no avail. She began giggling again, so he raised a hand and put a finger against her lips, as lightly as the touch of a feather. “Hush now. Calm down.”
Lizzie took a shallow breath and became still. Her shoulders relaxed and so did her features as she let Orion pull her against him. They stood like this for what felt like forever, neither of them moving, not daring to. A crossroad had opened before them, as plain for Orion to see as the moonlit water of the lake or the shooting star that cut across the sky. One road would continue them on familiar territory, steady and secure, a path they had begun to walk comfortably before it had become unsatisfying, without adventure, without promise. The other, branching off from the broad and well-trodden way, was obscure, winding, with an end they would be unable to see before they’d reached it. It could lead to the most beautiful place imaginable, or end abruptly and drop off into nothingness. Orion didn’t know what lay ahead, but the well-known roads had never much enticed him. He longed to explore this new path together with Lizze. All they needed to do was take a step.
That and a lot more ran through his mind, thoughts tumbling over each other as he remained frozen, waiting - hoping - for Lizzie to do something. And she did, eventually, but in a way Orion hadn’t expected.
She suddenly broke free and wordlessly wandered to an upturned tree trunk by the lakeshore. The mixture of relief and frustration at the moment having slipped by dissolved into wonder as Lizzie scrambled onto it and held out her arms to the sides.
“What are you doing?”
She laughed at his question. “Balancing.”
She walked to the middle of the trunk, Orion following her on the ground. The dampness of the night air had made the wood beneath her feet slippery, however, and in an inattentive moment, Lizzie misplaced her foot. She swayed dangerously, Orion’s hand shooting forward to catch her, but there was no need; she had regained her balance by herself and now stood facing him, an amused look crossing her face.
“Do you worry about me falling?”
“One time per day is enough, don’t you think?” Orion replied. Her collision with a Bludger earlier during the match could have ended nastily, even more so than it had anyway. The image of her clinging to that Ravenclaw banner, her broomstick tumbling to the faraway ground below her, had burned itself into his consciousness, making his heart race even now. His smile faltered at the memory, needing Lizzie’s touch to break him from his thoughts.
“It is,” she smiled, seemingly more unfazed by what had happened than he was. Her hands came to rest on his shoulders, then wandered higher, gently brushing over his hair and along his temple. “But once again, you’re here to catch me.”
Orion leaned into her touch. “I’ll always be here to catch you.”
Lizzie paused, dropping her hand from his hair to his neck as she pulled him in at the same time he stepped closer. His nerves had ceased to tear at him. All his doubts and worries disappeared as Lizzie bent down and he raised his chin and their lips met calmly, naturally, as if it had meant to be this exact way and no other. It was a sweet kiss, lacking the fire their first one on top of the Astronomy Tower had had, but there was a different kind of warmth to it; a warmth that spread through Orion like the blood in his veins, a warmth that made his heart beat fast and heavy and strong, making him feel focused, present, and alive. His lips pulled into a smile as he lifted Lizzie off the tree trunk by her hips and spun her around to set her to the ground, the sound of her laughter as silvery as the moonlight illuminating the night around them.
When they finally broke apart, Orion rested his forehead against hers, feeling even the last of the weight he’d carried fall from his shoulders.
“I missed you.”
Lizzie’s eyes softened at his whispered admission, gently touching her hand to his cheek. “I missed you, too.”
She kissed him again and rested her head against his chest, sighing deeply. She didn’t say anything for quite a while; so long, in fact, that Orion eventually grew uneasy.
“What’s the matter?”
Lizzie shook her head against his chest, her voice thick with emotion. “Do you know how good it feels, not having to hide anymore?”
She sounded so relieved, so full of emotions she hadn’t dared to show to the world, that Orion just let her have that moment, running her hand over her hair until the tension had left her body. When he was sure she was in a balanced state of mind again, he gently let go and took her hand.
“Come on,” he said. “There’s a place I wanted to show you.”
He led her to a willow tree right by the water, a little set back from the path. He came here often, both day and night, to meditate or let his thoughts wander. He sometimes brought Murphy along, but never her. Somehow, it was different now. Somehow, he didn’t want this to be only his spot anymore.
“Stars again, huh?” Lizzie said, remaining standing when Orion had already laid back in the grass with his hands crossed behind his head. His eyes wandered from the glinting firmament to Lizzie, lips curving into a smirk.
“You sound surprised.”
“Not really.”
With a sigh, Lizzie settled into his side. Head resting against his shoulder, she looked up at the glittering expanse above them. The sky was crystal clear, its inky vastness dusted with sparkling stars and gleaming planets. A smile formed on Lizzie’s face as she observed them, so peaceful that the stars seemed just a little less bright than a moment ago.
“Care to enlighten me on what’s making you smile?”
Lizzie laughed quietly, nestling her head into the crook of his neck. “I just thought that I can now stop pretending not to know my stars anymore.”
“You never had to in the first place.”
She didn’t reply, instead placing a hand on Orion’s chest, right above his heart. He covered it with his, still not quite daring to believe that this was truly happening, that this wasn't just a lucid, starlit dream. The idea made his head swim, the surrealness of it all threatening to overwhelm him. Willing his mind to be silent, he did his best to focus on what was right before him - the sky glittering above their heads, the water murmuring a couple of feet away, and the girl he had fallen in love with leaning into his side.
They lay like this for a while, stargazing, talking, sharing the occasional kiss and each other’s company. The universe turned above them, making it feel like they had fallen out of time itself when, eventually, the touch of Lizzie’s hand by his neck made Orion pull his shoulders up.
“You’re icy,” he muttered, capturing her hand between his as Lizzie immediately pulled away. “You should have said something.”
“I’m fine,” Lizzie said but - as if only now realising herself how cold she was - her teeth had begun to chatter. “I didn’t want this moment to end. I wish it was forever.”
“In some ways, every moment is forever. You just need to hold on to what’s dear to you.”
Turning one of the woven bracelets he wore around his wrist, Lizzie hummed thoughtfully. “What’s going to happen now?”
“Whatever you want to happen,” Orion replied. Even now, there was a slight drop to his stomach as he considered her question. Choosing not to heed it, he rose to his feet, pulling her along with him. “But for now, I suggest we go back and get you near a fire.”
They walked back in silence, each following their own train of thought. Orion had his arm draped around Lizzie’s shoulder once more, hoping to provide her at least with a little of his warmth. She seemed comfortable by his side, albeit silent, but when the sheen of the bonfire appeared ahead of them and she slowed her steps, his doubts were there again all of a sudden, so strongly that, for a moment, Orion was sure he was dreaming after all and now it was time to wake up.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Lizzie mumbled, not looking at him but the firesheen ahead. “Everything just feels so surreal all of a sudden.”
The knot in Orion’s stomach tightened. “Do you want me to let go?”
“No,” Lizzie said hurriedly, reaching for his hand to keep it in place around her shoulder. “This is what I want.”
Her words were like a key unlocking the band that had closed around his chest once and for all. Not that his heart was lying open, free to breathe and grow and fly, he was willing to give it to her wholly.
“That’s fortunate, Chaser,” he smiled, “because no matter what the universe had planned for us, I don’t intend to let you go anytime soon.”
Lizzie raised her face and breathed a kiss against his lips, pulling him into her embrace. Sooner than Orion would have liked she let go and reached for his hand, walking ahead with a spring in her step, back toward the party, toward the light and life where their friends were waiting for her, for him, for… them.
i was rereading career goal tyrant, and there was this throwaway line abt walburga going thru all of regulus' friends and her opinions on whether he shld recruit them or not which was very 👀. what interesting opinions does she have abt regulus's friends?
AJFLSGHSLGHSDJGHSKJDHF
okay so - walburga's opinions of regulus's friends vary a little depending on whether we're talking about tyrant or ttdl, mostly because in ttdl she's not thinking of them in terms of how useful they'll be in a war, she's thinking of them in terms of how useful they'll be politically
the central most important thing is that orion and walburga look at regulus's friends and go 'well, at least none of them are james potter.' sirius has really paved the way for regulus here by putting together a circle of friends of his own that is comprised of the most USELESS people (politically speaking) his parents have ever seen. plus james potter who's just annoying to them on a conceptual level. and, you know, there's a half-blood involved, etc etc etc
my point is, regulus's friends are all pureblood and run the gamut from upper middle class to upper class and don't make nuisances of themselves. orion and walburga are predisposed to tolerate them because they know it could be WAY WORSE
(side note, regulus Strategically Does Not Mention megan to his parents. ever. they aren't familiar with the lineup of the quidditch team off the tops of their heads - they know emma and evan are chasers on the team, they are vaguely aware that amycus carrow *used* to be on the team and got kicked off for [insert condescending phrase of the day], and they are also vaguely aware that the youngest nott scion is on the team this year. that's pretty much it. regulus gets by in house black by choosing his battles very carefully)
another side note that i'm not putting in parentheses, orion and walburga consult each other on most things. they have their own opinions and ways of looking at things, but if it's a topic that's come up multiple times in the past, you can bet pretty safely that they've discussed it and are in lockstep, especially if it's something like the connections (or lack thereof) that their children are making
so i can talk about what they think of regulus's friends in ttdl, but that's different from what you asked about, which is that conversation regulus had with walburga where the only reason she didn't start annotating one of regulus's yearbooks is that hogwarts doesn't have yearbooks (afaik)
and here are the results of THAT conversation:
the absolute first person walburga brought up was barty. he does have that unfortunate father, but he doesn't have other pesky sacred 28 ties that might come back to bite regulus (save his friendships with other, less important people). regulus brought him into the land of dark arts, which means barty has reason to feel indebted to him (note the thought patterns regulus picked up from walburga re: indebtedness), so IF HE'S AMENABLE, he's a good choice for a right hand. (as opposed to one of regulus's sacred 28 friends, who have their own houses to worry about - ESPECIALLY the heirs)
that 'if he's amenable' is the reason walburga wanted to meet barty in person - she doesn't know him well enough to make a judgment and wants to rectify that
evan's immediately categorized as 'keep him around, because you don't want anyone else getting hold of him, but don't *trust* him really - you want to use his family's money and social influence, you don't actually want to entrust anything important to him.' which regulus promptly throws out the window because Feelings Dammit
emma is deemed worthy of further consideration. the key issue with emma is that she gave up a lordship - not being power-hungry is good, because she's not likely to backstab regulus for her own gain, but if she doesn't want power then what *does* she want? without knowing that, it might be hard to leverage her, and walburga really isn't sure what particular purpose she would serve, so she's graciously leaving that one up to regulus
charlotte is a no - the yaxleys aren't *so* useful that regulus should be trying to keep her around for the sake of preventing anyone else from getting her (unlike with evan), and charlotte is Intensely focused on her studies, and walburga has no doubt that she will adopt something similarly mundane to occupy all her time and energy upon graduation. (unlike regulus, who gets Os not because he devotes himself to studying, but because he is simply better than everyone else)
the people walburga really wants regulus to recruit are maeve and priam, both for their families (who are not aligned with the death eaters, at least not yet) and for their skills - priam is a parkinson and there are probably infinite ways for THAT to be useful in a war, and walburga's met maeve before and concluded that maeve is NOT thrilled by all the machinations of high society and were she to have something more interesting to do with her time, she'd dive into it wholeheartedly. walburga is also of the opinion that maeve would stab someone with a fork if she knew she'd get something out of it. these things obviously go together well
and at this point, regulus has heirs to wizengamot seats and he has people who walburga thinks are willing to stab other people (which obviously means they're willing to partake in more Genteel methods of violence, by which i mean magic-based), and he has evan but he's not supposed to trust evan with important things which means what he *is* supposed to trust evan with is getting the right invitations for the right people so regulus can make use of all those parties
so regulus needs those people. narcissa would of course be very helpful, but bellatrix and lucius are both death eaters so if regulus can get narcissa on his side walburga will be mildly impressed. katherine vanity née rosier is very much a social butterfly but she travels so much these days that who knows how useful she'd actually be. if regulus can get maeve, then he may very well manage to get maeve's brother, who would be helpful in this situation. etc etc etc around and around - really, the person walburga is looking for is heather, but walburga is NOT willing to gamble on trying to get a brown involved on the side of the dark arts. (i'm saying that with the benefit of hindsight - when i wrote tyrant, i wasn't thinking very much about heather as a character, which changed as i was planning ttdl)
besides, walburga's going through regulus's friends at this point, not general people he knows - so heather doesn't come up
Sweet Affectionate Moments Meme: Carion with 1? If you're up for it?
1. A Sweet Kiss
When Carewyn awoke that morning, she found Orion still resting beside her. It was a surprise -- Orion was a morning person, and whenever he chose to stay the night at her flat, he just about always was up long before she was. But, Carewyn supposed, the long flight back from Seoul after the Quidditch World Cup must have messed with his biological clock somewhat -- and admittedly, judging by the clock reading on her bedside table, she hadn't slept in as last as she usually did.
Carewyn looked upon the face of her sleeping partner for a moment, unable to keep a charmed smile from her face as she smoothed the dark bangs out of his eyes. She leaned down to place a soft kiss to his forehead and then slowly inched herself out of bed so as to hopefully not disrupt him.
As she made as if to get up, however, Carewyn found her hand being taken and given a light tug. Losing her balance, she found herself falling back down into bed and right into Orion's arms.
"Ah! Orion," Carewyn tried to scold him, but her voice was too hushed and amused to sound convincing.
Orion hadn't even opened his eyes -- instead all he did was bury his face in her neck, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin in a feather-light kiss.
"Lie with me," he murmured.
Carewyn cocked her eyebrows amusedly. "I laid with you all night, if memory serves me."
"Mm, and it was most pleasurable," said Orion, his lips a smirk beside her jawline. "But I'm afraid I fell asleep before fully embracing the joy of holding you, in that after-glow."
His voice grew a bit softer, more earnest.
"...Please...stay with me, a moment more?"
Carewyn’s eyes softened. She relaxed down on the bed and shifted over so that she was lying beside Orion, accepting his toned arms as they gently encircled her. His eyes were still closed as he smiled broadly.
"My heart is fuller with you beside me, my Abraxan."
Carewyn smiled gently as she brought up a hand to rest over his heart. "You were the one who came to me, when I needed you..."
She trailed her other hand through his bangs and along his jawline, holding it in place so as to give him a warm, searing kiss. When they broke apart, they were both smiling.
"...I'll always be here for you, when you need me."
Orion's hand trailed along Carewyn's bare back, up into her much shorter ginger hair. "As will I. And when you merely want me, as well. For 'need' is not what we have built our lives on, nor should it be. You are a free and independent soul, Carewyn Cromwell. You would be more than able to live without me...and I without you."
Carewyn nodded. "Yes...but it would be a lot less of a life, all the same."
"...Yes."
Orion opened his eyes at last, just slightly, as he gazed down at her. Then he tentatively leaned in and, gaging her face for her non-verbal approval, kissed her again, once, twice, three times more. Then he placed his forehead beside hers, so that their noses touched.
