Alice Fortescue

Not having seen Alice due to the fact that she’d been on the other side of the bookshelf, Emma was startled when one of the books moved and someone spoke to her. Ah, that must have been the owner of the person who’d she heard cheer for the other team’s victory. “Bloody hell,” she spoke, eyes briefly narrowing at the other woman. The shock wore off rather quickly, and the woman straightened up as she tightened her hold on the books she had almost previously dropped. “There’s no need to apologize. I can appreciate a good game even if my team didn’t win.” Had it been someone who wanted to argue about the match, she’d be a lot less quick to be so neutral on the matter. In fact, Emma loved a good argument about one of her favorite things in the world. She just didn’t see one with Alice, and she’d also be lying if she said Ballycastle didn’t play a brilliant game. 

As much as Alice wanted to gloat in her victory and savor every moment of bragging to the woman who just had her team lose. It was easy to revel in the fact that her team won, it wouldn’t make for a pleasant conversation for the other person. Still, the smug look stayed on her lips as she looked over to Emma. “A good game is a good game. As much as I love my team to hell and back, I’d be one massive liar if I said that the Arrows didn’t have one of the best pairs of beaters in the league,” she mentioned with a small laugh. The laugh soon amplified as a small thought tickled her more than it should. “I was getting worried there, too. Our chaser getting knocked clean off of her broom made me a little nervous. Damn good beaters. Wish they were a Bat instead of an Arrow, but alas.”

Dirk felt a lot more sluggish than usual, he would have normally shook his head to the remark of her bothering him, but he only managed a slight shake of his head. Proceeding to pinch at his temple for a moment. “Sorry, been a long few days.”  Which definitely wasn’t an exaggeration, Dirk had always needed to get at least seven hours sleep to be fully functional the next day, he’d been that way since he was kid… but at the moment, he was running on something like four hours of sleep spread across two and a half days.  Not even caffeine was aiding him anymore. 

“I think I’ve just crashed, pretty much running on fumes at this point.”  Dirk started to eye the menu and wondered if he would be better off just laying down at home and hoping for sleep to take over naturally.  “Sorry…..”  He started to say, as he turned back to Alice, “I’m normally better at chatting than this, I’m Dirk by the way your more than welcome to sit with me, though I may go home and attempt sleep in a minute, unless you have a suggestion that will help.”

Alice nodded along. She understood the struggle. There were times she felt as if she was invincible only to become completely burned out in two weeks. She assumed Dirk was going through a similar feeling, though not in the exact same way. It seemed he had something weighing on him and it was none of her business to ask him what was wrong. So, she elected to smile and just be as understanding as possible. There was never anything wrong with offering someone a safe space to be themselves in their worst state.

“Buddy, you don’t have to apologize to me once let alone twice in the same breathe,” she teased with a scrunch of her nose at Dirk before having it flutter into a flurry of giggles. Alice observed him for a moment. “If you have a muggle tele, Coronation Street. And I’m Alice. Pleasure to meet you, Dirk.”

Sirius couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking his head at Alice.  “You’re mental, Alice.” It was actually a nice change from people either taking pity on him, constantly worrying about him, or thinking he was about another bad day away from going completely off the rails. Aside from Marlene, almost everyone else had been looking at him like he was a delicate little thing all week and it was driving him insane. 

“How are you so upbeat all the time? What’s your secret?” Sirius asked whilst flicking the butt of his smoke into the gutter.  “Could use some of that energy myself.” Sliding his hands into his pockets, mostly to refrain from chain smoking another, which he had been doing all day, but he knew it was rude when around a non smoker.  “You gonna share it with me then? I could use a coffee to go with it, I’ll get you one too.” 

It was pushing on a smile to make sure a friend of hers was feeling better. He already had the sympathy and pity of those around him, but no one thought of a way to cheer him up. It didn’t bring back his brother and his brother wasn’t exactly a shining example of a human in her opinion, but at least it was putting a smile on his face and a chuckle in his voice. All of that was enough for Alice. “An unusually high concentration of sugar being pumped into my veins at most times,” she replied.

Alice pouted at Sirius. She crossed her arms in a fake bout of a fit. “I’m offended, Sirius,” she dangled the second fork. “You really think I would bring a fork for myself just to look at it? Alice Fortescue? You know me, Sirius. Of course I’m going to share it with you, dork.”

Coffee wasn’t much of her speed unless it was just chocolate, vanilla and sugar. Granted, most coffees were like that, but the bitter after taste was something she detested. “Would prefer a milkshake, but the one that is just whipped cream and all the syrupy stuff sounds good to me, Siri boy,” she teased with a large smile on her lips. 

“Neither do I but… I guess in their twisted minds it somehow makes sense.” Or maybe it didn’t, at least not to all of them. While she was sure some had their reasons, ridiculous and misguided as they were, she had a feeling that some were simply sheep, blindly following the pack. 

“We can’t afford to think like that, Alice,” she sighed, teeth worrying at her lower lip for a moment. “We’ve got to believe that what we’re doing will make a difference. That all of this will be worth it in the end. If we don’t…” Trailing off, she shrugged. “I know it’s hard. But we have to keep our hope.” 

Alice couldn’t imagine a world where hurting someone could make sense. At least, unprovoked. Sure, she could justify it if someone came after them, but this attack felt so aimless. Nothing more than to drive terror to society as a whole. Perhaps she was used to people getting along or seeing the good in the world. Being faced with the ugliness the world could be made her heart sink.

“I’m hopeful we can make a difference. I’m just worried about the people we are going to lose in the process,” she replied. “How many lives have to be taken or ruined before we can stop it? The kids who are affected by this? Who have to grow up with it?”

Dirk had definitely met his fill of coffee, because his body was now just actively not letting him sleep.  Too much caffeine was flowing through his veins, so he thought of the next best thing, which was to counter it with something else to make him sleepy.  He could have used a sleeping potion, which he could brew usually, but one wrong move would put him in an accidental coma for weeks.  

He found himself wandering along Diagon, looking for somewhere that served warm food, or hot chocolate, not easy to come across in the middle of summer.  He had paused outside of a shop, not really even taking in the menu he was reading due to how sleepy his brain was.  “I just want something to make me sleepy….”  Dirk said, not really meaning to say it outloud, when he realised that someone standing beside him, who he hadn’t noticed, answered him, which startled Dirk.  “huh?”

 @vanillasundae·

It was packed and Alice had just gotten off of a long and torturous shift during her training. With everything that had happened, they have amplified the training tenfold. Which was understandable, but didn’t make the whole situation easy. Alice hadn’t even had a chance to get lunch with both anxiety over the state of the wizarding world around her and the stress of the training. Now she stood in the center of the room, next to someone who seemed to be in another realm, with her stomach aching for food.

“I asked if this seat is taken given that everywhere else is all booked up, but if I’m bothering you, I don’t mind finding another space. You know? First comes first and all that stuff,” she laughed with a small smile on her lips. “You’d think being too awake would make you hyper vigilant, but it has the opposite effect, huh?”

With the last few days being so hectic, Emma had managed to find little downtime to do something of entertainment. Even her Department at work; which was usually laid back and had Quidditch games broadcasting from every room, was still getting it’s usual routine back ever since the Ministry turned to utter chaos after the attack. The woman found herself in Flourish and Blotts on her day off— the bookstore was packed with people who likely wanted to get back to their everyday lives and put the disaster which happened behind them… much like Emma herself. Not even wanting to fight with the long line, the woman took some time to browse around even though she had both books she wanted already in her arms. Upon walking down one of the aisles, Emma heard the wireless sat on the bookshelf broadcasting a Quidditch game. Were the Appleby Arrows playing today? How the bloody hell had she not remembered? Leaning back against the shelf, the woman listened to the announcer, ignoring those who had to maneuver around her. She hadn’t known how long she’d been standing there— only when it was announced the opposite team caught the Snitch she yelled, “Shit!”

Typically, Alice did not find herself within the shelves of the bookstore, but every now and then a particularly trash novel or scandalous headline of a magazine piqued her interest enough for her to made her way into Flourish and Blotts. This time, she extended her visit to listen along to the Quidditch game that was playing on the a set. With her auror training, getting any live game was a treat, and one with her favorite team was only icing on a cake (which was the best part of the cake if you were to ask Alice). As the intensity of the game started to ramp up, Alice stopped in her tracks and focused completely on the game. It had been a close one and the only thing that could make it better was the announcing calling that the snitch was caught for Ballycastle. 

Not moments later, that very dream happened and Alice out as a solemn shit was heard beneath it at close to the same volume. She pulled one of the books off the shelves to get a look at who screamed in defeat at the same time as her victorious cheer. “Deeply sorry for you lost, there, dear.”

“I know,” Marlene sighed, her own lunch sitting untouched in front of her almost as if it was a prop rather than actual food. The attack had hardly been the first she had participated in, but that didn’t really make it easier to cope with. Yes, she was less shaken than she used to be, but she was still affected.

“That’s why we’re doing this though, right?” she shrugged, jaw set tight with determination. “So that one day this stuff doesn’t happen? So no more lives have to be lost for something that shouldn’t even be a point of contention?”

“I don’t understand how anyone can be so hateful, you know? Willing to hurt and...” she stopped short of saying the word kill. That was the one thing she could never understand. How someone could get angry and hateful enough over someone’s existence that they can kill anyone. No one of importance. Just someone at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Alice looked over to Marlene, but failed to let herself make any eye contact. “What if we can’t actually stop any of this, you know? We didn’t lose any of our friends this time, but...” She looked over to Marlene. Alice knew she had to try to be brave, but she would be lying if she wasn’t worried.

location: ministry, level two closed: alice fortescue; @vanillasundae·

It wasn’t uncommon for Amelia to conduct business all over the Ministry. Being in Law Enforcement and sitting on the Wizengamot, she had her fingers in every cookie jar. Amelia had given years of service to the point where she could do just about any job put in front of her, whether it was in her title or not. Of course Amelia wasn’t a braggart, but she did take pride in being able to help anywhere and everywhere.

After the attack, Amelia found herself around the Aurors more often than normal. She had to be sure they were ready, they knew where to look and strategize. She wished it had been under extremely different circumstances, but aiding in that way ticked her thrilled buttons, the buttons that help save others.

Taking a moment to clear her head, Amelia stepped in the hallway and leaned against the wall, feeling some sort of contentment. That is until she heard what sounded like a two year old having a fit …but they were at the Ministry, not a daycare. She looked toward the noise and saw it was a grown, albeit young, but still grown woman. Amelia rolled her eyes but knew to step in, if for no other reason than to stop the unneeded racket while people were hard at work.

“Oy!” she said as she approached the dark haired child. “The Ministry isn’t a place for temper tantrums,” although there were tantrums behind closed doors. “Why are you causing such a scene?” Amelia asked, eyebrows raised.

Running to her mummy and papa only worked until she graduated school. The threat of turning to her doting parents was less scary the older she got and more pathetic. Instead, Alice opted to let out her angry and hurt feelings in another way, though it was still just as pathetic as running to her mom and dad.

She should have felt a little embarrassed that someone had caught her little temper tantrum, but she had found a quiet unoccupied area of the Ministry building to let out her frustrations. If anyone was encroaching, it was this lady in front of her.

Over her shoulder, she heard a much older woman start speaking to her. “I don’t think I’m disturbing anyone. Just upset. Is that against the rules or something?” Alice crossed her arms. “My Papa always said that it’s bad to keep your emotions in. Otherwise you might explode. Which, given how magic can work at times, he could have been literal or figurative.”

Sirius had finally managed to get that nap he so badly needed, and upon waking up, he had stretched out and found that he was craving a smoke. Giving them up was something he had promised Marls, but with the week that they had all been cursed with, Sirius figured she’d forgive him this one slip up.  

He had been leaning against the wall just outside of Marl’s apartment, pretty done with the looks people were giving him.  ‘Isn’t that Regulus’s brother?  I heard they found his body, oh merlin what a shame…’  Though, he wasn’t going to let it spoil his one and only smoke of the day.  He was just enjoying his last inhale when he felt someone tap on his shoulder.  Sirius was about ready to tell whoever it was to fuck right off, and mind their own bloody business, spinning quickly on the spot, nearly dropping his cigarette out of his fingers.  Though the anger quickly vanished from his face as his eyes settled on Alice. 

“Sorry Alice…” Sirius started to say as he turned to exhale the smoke away from her face.  “I thought that maybe you were someone…”  He trailed off and shook his head before saying ‘…going to give 20 questions about Reg.’  Apparently he still wasn’t ready to say his brothers name aloud.   His gaze moved from Alice’s face to the cake in her hands, and a small smile formed on his lips.  “Thanks thats uhh really thoughtful.”  Usually, he might have wondered for a second about what it must be like to have that sort of bond with a parent, though he just did not have the capacity right now.  “You didn’t have to do that.”     Scanning her face for a moment, his smile grew which felt nice, it was almost like he had forgotten how to.  “How are you getting on? Were you affected by the….y’know.”

Alice scrunched her nose at the cigarette smoke. It was not something she was used to. Her parents had other vices besides nicotine, so she had no way to fully judge serious. People would think drowning sorrows in tantrums and vanilla ice cream would be not the best way to deal with emotions, but everyone had their own way of processing.

She continued the smile on her lips. Right now she felt that Sirius needed a kind smile and friendly conversation. No talks of the person who just left him nor talks about the attacks that happened. As much as Alice wanted to cry with him over either of those, that would only make her feel better for something that was not even her struggle to deal with.

“If I had to do it, it wouldn’t be a gift wouldn’t it, Sirius? And I wouldn’t be a good friend if I just gave you a cake with no way of eating it.” she giggled back at him. Alice reached into her purse to pull out two forks. “You’re silly, you know that?”

Everyone was a bit sad after the attacks, but Sirius seemed to have been dealing with everything a little harder than everyone else. Maybe there was something else going on in his life or maybe he was a little frazzled by the whole situation. Alice wasn’t going to ask any questions, as much as she wanted to know the answers, but she was at least going to do what she did best. 

She approached Sirius and gave him a small tap on the shoulder. “My mummy always said that there isn’t something sweets can make a little sweeter,” Alice started, putting on a large smile. A small cake was placed in front of him with the words I’m Sorry You’re Sad written out in blue icing. “I know this won’t fix anything you’re feeling, but at least you have something yummy to eat, if you don’t mind me bragging about my own baking skills for a minute, Sirius.”

She poked her lunch absentmindedly with a fork. Alice thought out loud to herself, “No one should have died.” After a second or two, she corrected herself, “No one needed to die. Not for whatever this is.”