—

“Psh. You know I’ve already got the gown.” Alecto teased with a little. Well, technically Camille had the gown. It had lived with her best friend, so that Alecto couldn’t sell the thing. Not that she would want too. Alecto adored that dress, and hoped one day soon she’d get to wear it. “I know I can do better than him….” The gril murmured with a simple shrug of her shoulders. “But doesn’t stop me from loving him. It’s not that simple” And she only wished it could be. Alecto knew she deserved better than Caius, but it wasn’t stopping her from wanting him. She didn’t think that was going to change any time soon.

“Of course you’ve been at it. Should have known.” She murmured, after having been quiet for a few moments. She shouldn’t have expected anythiing different from him though. “Im trying to think of who wasn’t around last night when it all went crazy…. but I can’t even think. It was all so hazy, and chaotic” And whilst she loved it, it wasn’t helping in working out who was in those masks. But they’d figure it out. She was sure.

“Details,” Victor immediately waved off her correction. Although that did paint his cousin in a much worse light. The gown was ready and she hadn’t even gotten a chance to wear it. Victor knew all too well that it wasn’t that simple, and he actually gave her a rare sympathetic expression. He didn’t offer any fake platitudes. He had no idea if Caius would come to his senses or if he hadn’t cared for her as much as she had him. Caius had kept his cards irritatingly close to his chest, but regardless he hadn’t cared to the point where she meant more to him than the family name was worth. Merlin, he would hate to be in Alecto’s shoes. 

Victor smirked when Alecto spoke up again. “Did you expect anything less? I want to know more about this new group. It sounds like they have the right idea.” That was another reason Victor personally thought the breakup between Alecto and Caius was unnecessary. Sure, they had lost their fortune due to their father’s mistakes, but that was neither Amycus nor her fault. At the end of the day, they were still pure bloods. A blood traitor was much worse than anything these two had done. “Hm,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe something will come to you later on. I suppose you’re technically still recovering.” 

—

“You’re talking to the girl that was all ready for marriage a few months ago” Alecto pointed out with a laugh. To be honest, Alecto knew if Caius changed his mind she probably would cave. Alecto might like to think she had good will power when it came to him, but she really did not. Not that she was really going to let anyone else know. “Psh….” She laughed, throwing a chip at him. “Luckily I have other friends that won’t let that happen. Lucky me.” Although, when it really came to it, she didn’t think Victor would really leave her to wither away.

“I mean…. consequences of causing chaos…” Because she had kind of gone looking for trouble, even if she had wound up in the middle of some fights that she hadn’t intended on being in. “I mean…. they did a decent job at hiding their identities. I joined in with one, but I have no idea who it was.” And she really did want to find that out, since it had been pretty fun after all. She just smirked at her friend though. “We should do some digging to find out more about these guys though….”

“Right, and I was all ready to be supportive and help you pick out the gown and be the proper encouraging best friend because that’s what we do, but honestly-” He pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. “You can do a lot better than Caius Burke. Which I am allowed to say because he is my cousin.” Normally, one wouldn’t catch Victor speaking ill of any of his relatives, but this was truly an exceptional case. Taking the discarded chip, he leaned forward to dip into her ketchup. “Finders keepers,” he joked. 

“Fair enough,” he agreed. The bolder part of him had briefly considered going out to join the melee. However, the sensible part had been stronger. He didn’t know what kind of curses were flying out there, but someone had died. Victor had a lot more years in him, and part of that was because he wasn’t stupid enough to engage in a fight that he wasn’t sure he would win. “Oh, I’ve been at it. So far, I haven’t come up with anything, but if I do, I’ll let you know,” he said. Unless, of course, the secret club was invitation only. In that case, as much as he loved Alecto, he would be keeping it to himself. If only because he was sure that she would do the same if their roles were reversed. 

.

Bella had found it easy to find her own circle of friends once she started school at Hogwarts, knowing both of her sisters had done the same when school came around for them. It was probably the start of them slowly separating from the closeness that came with being home together all the time but it had been health for them. Andromeda was able to find her quiet and studious little friend group, even if there were a few questionable people there, just as Narcissa had found her clique of mean girls. All different personalities to the three of them, so she had only seen the younger friends in passing if they had ever come over to Brideswater to visit someone. Though from Rabastan { @youngestxlestrange​ } she had been able to find out the particular people who seemed to lean more into the blood purity idea than others, the Yaxley family being one of them. With the bullying of the inferior students and holding themselves to higher standards than most sorcerors. “You don’t think what the papers have said is true?” The brunette questioned, being pulled out of her thoughts by his words. It was pure curiosity to his thoughts that prompted her to even ask the question.

Her lips formed a very amused smirk at Victor’s enthusiasm for her statement, obviously Rabastan had been right to tell her that he was on the right side of this whole idea. “I understand completely,” Bella spoke, shaking her head at the very thought of her family voluntarily inviting the rest of the community to their society’s ball. “I still don’t know what mother and aunt Walburga were thinking by making the night an open invitation.” Part of her was surprised that Victor seemed to think the whole event was planned ahead of time, when in realty it had just been a spur of the moment that they luckily jumped at the chance to take. She still didn’t know who had poisoned Linwood but that seemed like it had been a catalyst in a bigger plot, something that still bothered her to not have been aware of. “Of course they aren’t wrong,” She scoffed with an eye roll, “They seemed to hit it right on the head, I mean I highly doubt we’re the only two who happened to agree with what was said.”

Tilting his head thoughtfully at her question, he took a moment to collect his thoughts before responding. “I think it hasn’t all come out yet,” he admitted. “They’re publishing the information they have, sure, but I think there will be a few more twists and turns before it’s all said and done.” After all, it would make sense. The only place one would really hear about theories was the gossip column. Sometimes, it was right, and sometimes it was way far off. There had been rumors about the Carrows, for example, before it came out as fact. Victor had chosen to ignore the rumblings, simply because he didn’t want it to be true. However, for better or for worse, the truth usually did end up coming out. Victor’s gaze caught Bellatrix’s smirk in response to his words, and yeah, it was definitely the smirk of a Black who knew more of what was going on than she would ever let on. Maybe Victor was reading too much into it, but frankly, he doubted it. He liked to think he was pretty good at reading people, but unfortunately, some of his hunches in the past had been wrong. 

“Of course I mean no disrespect. I’m sure they had their reasons,” Victor said with a diplomatic shrug of his shoulders. The last thing he wanted was word getting back to the Black matriarchs that he’d been overly critical of their decision. He supposed it had all worked out in the end, considering the fact that if there had been fewer in attendance, he and Eleanor would not have been able to sneak off to safety so easily. It was much easier to blend in with more bodies present. Not to mention, more of the blood traitors and mudbloods had been the ones to end up at St. Mungo’s, proving their magic to be just as weak as their opinions. “I’ll be interested to see when they make their next public appearance. It’s good to know there are people out there that are willing to take a stand.” He considered himself to be one of those people, but at the same time, he was sure that it boiled down to an invitation-only type of group. A part of him was slightly insulted that he hadn’t already been invited, but he supposed the group was still in its infancy and curating its membership. 

—

Alecto was quiet for a few moments as she just ate the chips .The food at St. Mungos had been pretty tragic, and she was feeling pretty hungry. At least she knew that she could count on Victor to come through with the food. Even Amycus hadn’t brought her any good. The boy before he was like another brother though, so she knew she could depend on him. They’d been friends for many years, and he hadn’t dropped the Carrows when they’d fallen from grace. If she was anyone else she might have tried to pay him back in kindess one day, but she wasn’t that kind of girl.

“It would be so tragic for us two hot people to die without getting married.” She mused with a little laugh. It was sad that she couldn’t just get married to him, but she knew that there was a very important reason why. “Maybe they’ll make one up for you” She mused, a little smirk on her lips. She was only teasing of course. “You missed out….” She mused with a little laugh. “It was pretty enjoyable….” She murmured with a nod. “I heard a lot of anti-purists are here…. so you know. Silver linings”

His trademark smirk appeared on his lips in response to her comment. “Exactly. Besides, now isn’t the time to settle down anyway.” Truthfully, he didn’t see the appeal of playing the field when he knew what he wanted, but Victor knew people well enough to know that not everyone felt that way. Not everyone set their heart on one person and was determined to make that happen, one way or another. Especially when that person happened to be a close friend. “Awful. Next time you’re here, I’ll let you wither away,” he teased right back. It was their dynamic, after so much time being friends. 

“Enjoyable enough to land you here in the first place,” he said with raised eyebrows. However, it was for the best that so many people on the wrong side of things had ended up here. “I do wonder who designed those masks, though. I’d just like to talk.” A pause. “Because obviously, I could design them something way better, if that’s the sort of thing they were looking for.” It was a bit infuriating that the people behind the masks were still a mystery to Victor. He could help them out in a lot of ways besides spellcasting if they’d give him the chance. 

.

“Ah, yes the arrest,” Bella mused, though biting down on her tongue at Victor’s comment. Sure maybe some innocent pure blood would have been spilt but to her, the targetting of Marlene against Camille had seemed like an easy way out. Get the blood traitor to do the innocent spilling for her. “I’m sure we haven’t heard the end of things there.” No doubt McKinnon’s friends would be campaigning for her release or something along those lines soon enough, she could only hope that the aurors would be far too focused on Claudette’s arrest to pay close enough attention to the other case to realize there had been an Unforgivable used. The brunette did not need more people coming for her with their accusations, no matter how right they were. “Time will only tell how crazy those rumors get,” She replied, happy to see her drink order sliding in front of her, grabbing the glass gently to take a sip.

“What do I think of it?” Bella repeated the question, knowing to choose her words carefully so as to not incriminate herself as she had no idea where Victor truly felt he belonged, but also to openly show support for the cause. “I think it’s about time someone showed these blood traitors and mudbloods who is in charge.” Perfectly framed words to applaud the masked figures but not enough to give him an indication that she had been involved herself. “From what I gathered a lot more of those muggle lovers were injured,” She offered, it was easy as many of the Death Eaters had taken to healing up at the White Wyvern or in their own homes. “Seems those figures knew exactly who was a worthy sorceror and who wasn’t.”

“Definitely not,” he agreed. Narcissa’s older sister had always had a certain air of mystery about her. She was older than them, so much older that they hadn’t even been at Hogwarts at the same time. Still, her reputation preceded her, and she seemed so effortlessly cool that even Victor was sort of impressed by it. At the same time, she knew how to keep her cards close to her chest. How to keep a conversation moving along without really saying too much to give anything away. If it were anyone else, it would be maddening, but she sort of got a pass for doing it. As his order was placed in front of him, he took a sip as well. “And what turns out to be the truth,” he commented. Victor was sure that if anyone knew more than she let on, it was Bellatrix. Still, he couldn’t push the issue without being, well, pushy, so he decided to let it drop for the moment. 

His head tilted to the side a bit, both surprised and a bit emboldened by her swift and decisive approval. “Right?” he agreed, patting his hands on his thighs for a moment as if he was literally drumming up his own interest in response to her comments. “I mean, no offense to Walburga, she planned an awesome event, but that was our event, you know?” It had always been for the smaller circle of pure bloods, a circle he’d been part of since birth. He nodded his head as she commented about the ratio of who’d ended up in the hospital and who hadn’t. “And they clearly knew how to plan ahead and make their statement, too. They’re organized, you know? And their message...” He leaned in a little bit. “I mean, come on. They’re not wrong.” 

—

Alecto just laughed, grinning at him, before she opened the package, and just signed happily. Victor really did know the way to her heart. Of course, the way to her heart at the moment was also easily filled with being taught how to defend herself. But she would take cheesy chips for now. “That’s why you’re my best friend” She mused with a laugh. Victor did know her well, but it didn’t surprise her. They’d know each other for a long time. She couldn’t imagine her life without him, and she was grateful that he hadn’t ditched her and Amycus when they’d become poor. It was nice to know that she had some friends that she could depend on.

“Mmm. Still could help a girl out. I’m gonna be a spinster” She was clearly joking, a grin on her lips. To be honest, she would bet her mom was thinking that was going to happen now. Alecto really couldn’t care less though. Marriage was not on her mind right now. Of course, it would be nice, but the only person she’d actually wanted to marry was Caius, and right now he was too much of a Mommy’s boy. So, it was the single life for her. “I’m fine though” She murmured, dipping a chip into the ketchup before putting it into her mouth. “I just stunned, so they wanted to be observe me for a day”

“You’re welcome,” Victor teased, happy to be able to put a smile on her face. It really was unfortunate what had happened to the Carrow family, but the way he saw it, it was neither Alecto nor Amycus’ fault. If things had gone a different way, it could have been his own father to enmire the family in scandal. Fortunately for him, that hadn’t happened. And maybe, just maybe the Yaxley name could assist both Carrows out of their current plight. After all, it so rarely boiled down to what a person knew. Who someone knew could be much more influential. 

“If you die a spinster, I hate to think what would become of me,” Victor replied with a smirk of his own. “Is there even a term for a male spinster? I don’t think there is.” Surely Victor did not read enough books to know the answer off the top of his head. Surely, her prospects had gone down significantly due to the scandal, but she was still a pretty and clever girl. Victor had no doubts that she would snag someone at least somewhat respectable. “Makes sense,” he said with a nod of his head. He’d never been stunned before, but he rather doubted it was a pleasant experience. “I missed most of the action, but I’m thinking that was probably for the best considering how many people ended up here.” 

.

A smile formed on Rabastan’s face as Victor’s words entertained him. “Yes, well I suppose that was a safer bet at the end of the day. I didn’t have the intuition like yourself and well, it bit me in the arse.” he huffed a sigh. “I’m alright, just had some mental torture but I’m here and not in St Mungos so I’m grateful for that.” wanting to move away from his mistakes, he looked his friend in the eyes before tapping his fingers on the table top. “So, did you go with anyone interesting to the ball or was it a stag evening for yourself?” he didn’t really care, but he knew that it was questions like these that maintained a friendship. “My date ended up being a disaster. If Alecto Carrow ever asks to be your date, run the other way.” || @victoryaxley​

A sympathetic look was given in return as Rabastan explained how he’d fared at the ball. He phrased it so casually despite the seriousness of the situation, so Victor decided to mirror that, nodding along with an otherwise neutral expression. “Can’t imagine it’s much fun there right now,” he agreed, wrinkling his nose at the thought of it. “Stag, this time around. Probably for the best considering how it all ended up.” Of course, he was really covering for the fact that he hadn’t plucked up the nerve to ask the person he would have liked to ask to the ball. He allowed himself the smallest chuckle at the comment about Alecto, but a rare sense of loyalty did end up winning out. “She’s not so bad,” Victor replied. “You just have to know how to handle her. She can definitely be... Difficult, at times.” 

“A few,” she answered, with a small nod. “Most seem to have avoided being hurt too badly.” Most of the people she truly cared about had faired okay on the previous night, the other just sporting healable injuries. Whether that was because the people she cared about were all fantastic fighters and had managed to protect themselves, or they were just pretty cowardly and hid as she had, she didn’t really care. What matter to her was that they were all safe, especially after she heard someone had been murdered in the middle of the dance floor. That could have happened to anyone, which was the only bit of the night that sort of frightened her. She didn’t know whether the woman who was killed had been a target, or just a victim of circumstance. As awful as it probably was, she really hoped she had been a target.

Eleanor took a sip of her coffee as her brother replied, nodding slightly as he spoke about St. Mungo’s. “Probably,” she agreed. “From what I’ve heard nearly every bed is taken up in the place so it will take forever to get around to everyone,” she complained lightly. Going to a hospital when she was totally fine wasn’t exactly her idea of a good way to spend her free time but somethings had to be done despite her complaints.

“Okay so other than all the fighting drama how did your night go? Previous to all the masked figures and trauma?” she asked, a quick grin flitting across her lips. She loved a good party, and she loved talking about a good party just as much. Part of her still thought it had been slightly ruined by the wide range of guests, compared to the traditional pureblood only event every year, but she was trying to put that aside and focus on the good bits. “I know it was packed but I barely even got a glance at you all night, what were you up to? Do anything fun?” she asked.

“That’s good,” Victor mused, idly wondering if it was because they’d managed to stay out of the way like he and Eleanor or if it was because they were better fighters. He supposed in the end that it didn’t really matter, considering none of them were injured too seriously. It would still be inconvenient to go to St. Mungo’s and visit those he cared to visit. He supposed he would have an easy enough time improving someone’s day with his presence and some real food in tow, compared to whatever godawful dishes they attempted to pass off as food at the hospital. 

“Great,” he replied, obviously sarcastic, accompanied by a roll of his eyes. “Just how we both wanted to spend our days, I’m sure.” If the two of them were good at anything together, it was putting on a show and complaining. Both of them were talents in their own right, depending on who you asked. Still, he supposed he would rather be the one visiting the hospital than be stuck there himself. Being smart didn’t always have to mean knowing all the right spells to cast in a fight. To Victor, being smart meant knowing when you were outmatched, knowing how to avoid a fight in the first place. If anyone could talk his way out of something, it was Victor. He liked to think that what he lacked in skill, he made up for in charisma. 

Chuckling at her comment, he shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his coffee. “Honestly, it was sort of boring. Of course, I told Walburga that she’d outdone herself, but it was certainly a choice to open up the event to anyone.” He wrinkled his nose at the mere thought of it. “I waited too long to ask someone to accompany me, so it was mostly a night of finding the right people to socialize with.” Truly, he didn’t have much to say about the ball. It was sort of embarrassing how little he’d enjoyed it, personally. However, his sister would miss no chance to talk about herself, so he was quick to direct the question back to her. “And what were you up to?” 

—

Alecto was bored. She was bored senseless. She just wanted to get home, and to carry on with her life. She was still frustrated about what had happened last night. She couldn’t believe that she had let Sersh get the better than her. It was never going to happen again. Not with Sersh, and not with anyone else. Alecto wasn’t going to let herself get taken down so easily ever again. Nobody bested Alecto Carrow and got anyway with it. But she couldn’t really do that in the hospital. Which was exactly why she waned to go home.

Looking up as she heard a familiar voice, the red head broke into a huge grin. “Vic.” She murmured, clearly happy to see him. He might have been the first visitor, minus Amycus, that she had minded seeing. “Oooooh. You better have got ketchup too. You know I cant have cheesy chips without it” She mused, a little grin on her face as she made grabby hands for the food he’d brought. “The food here is shit, so if you have got me thisI might just have to marry you”

“Hey you,” he greeted with a grin, glad to see his friend smiling. Hopefully she’d be able to recover quickly, and they could get back to their regularly scheduled shenanigans outside of the hospital. “Of course I brought ketchup. You never eat this without ketchup. What do you take me for?” There was a smaller container full of ketchup inside with a little lid on it to make sure that the condiment didn’t get everywhere. 

He laughed at her joking comment about marriage. “Come on, Al, you know I’m a perpetual bachelor,” he joked in return. It was much easier to market himself that way than to explain the truth. He really had only ever been into guys, and not quite in a casual way either. He didn’t experience attraction without knowing the person really well first. He didn’t judge the people who hooked up with people they just met, he just couldn’t conceptualize it in his own life. Didn’t see the appeal. Still, making it seem like he intentionally avoided dating was a lot less pathetic than admitting the truth. His real feelings for her brother. “How are you holding up, dear?” he asked, pulling up a chair next to her bed. 

.

Where there was success, there was also failure. Bella had seen it first hand at the march when her plan of attacking Benjy had gone perfectly while the prophecy had been lost to them and again this past ball when she had been so successful in attacking the Order at their core but had to deal with healing Christiano. Overall she took this instance as a win more than a lost now that the prophecy was back in the proper hands, even if it was because her own cousin had been more successful than she. But being drawn out of those thoughts by the presence of someone next to her, she cast a glance his way before looking down at her empty drink with a smirk, “I’ll be sure to pass along the sentiments.” 

As he offered to take her next drink, she ordered herself another wine almost laughing at his immediate focus on the battle at hand. Sometimes she forgot how others may have viewed the whole situation when they knew nothing of the Death Eaters before. “Oh I’m sure the rumor mill will begin turning soon enough,” She commented, no doubt people were curious to what both sides were, what they represented in this world. If people didn’t know that a war was coming, then they certain did now. “Masked figured, something called the Order, lots of points of conversation for weeks I bet.”

“And an arrest,” Victor added. “Fortunately McKinnon was unsuccessful. It would have been a useless waste of pure blood.” It didn’t take an idiot to realize that sides were forming, crystallizing into two opposing forces. Victor was certainly not going to be caught on the wrong side of things. “Oh, undoubtedly. It can be tricky parsing out the truth when all those rumors get started.” He made the statement like he wasn’t a master of keeping track of who said what to whom, when and where. It was all in the interrogatives. When their drinks arrived, he took a sip of his, still quite curious as to what she would have to say. Then again, she’d been at this game much longer than he had. He doubted he would get anything too interesting from her. Still, Victor couldn’t help himself sometimes. 

“And what do you make of it all? I’ll admit I had a fair amount of champagne by that point, and didn’t see much of the action.” In truth, he really hadn’t had that much champagne. But he’d never been in a situation like that. He’d been wildly unprepared to fight anyone, and it all seemed like it was part of some agenda. Besides, he hadn’t been given any mask. If he got caught doing something, he could be in jail right alongside McKinnon. Not an ideal place to be. Victor would not do well cooped up. 

From the beginning, Eleanor had thought inviting every kind of person to the Summer Solstice Ball was a bad idea. She couldn’t make any sense of it, especially when she considered the origin of the event for matchmaking among the high class pureblood youth, knowing that wasn’t something muggleborns and the like did. Still, the hosts must have had a reason because they opened the doors to one and all, regardless of any critiques they might have gotten. She suspected they might have started to regret the decision by now.

While the night have ended in chaos, Eleanor had actually faired rather well. Laurel fainting had been of no concern to her, never liking any of the Linwood sisters enough to care. After that she had continued to enjoy her night, ending up in the bathroom just at the same time as everything started to go downhill. Her self preservation instincts kicked in well before any desire to help anyone fighting and so she stayed in the bathroom, sitting on a closed toilet seat with her feet up so no one would know she was in there. She stayed in hiding until the chaos died down, able to tell by the quiet that suddenly came instead of screaming and shouting. At the point she just went home, owling her friends to make sure they were okay.

Despite this, even Eleanor had struggle sleeping that night, wondering what it had all been about, and who the two sides ever were. This was why she now sat with a large mug of coffee in had when her brother walked into the kitchen, sending him a smile as he say down. “Morning,” she replied, resting her chin on her hand. “Though not a terribly good one I suppose, given last night’s events.” Despite her words, she didn’t sound at all disturbed. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, genuine this time. 

@victoryaxley​

Truly, Victor was not at all fazed by the events of the night before. He hadn’t happened to see anything first hand. He’d never been in any danger because he’d gotten himself out of the area where the action was happening. Perhaps if he was a better twin, he would have located Eleanor sooner. However, she had proven herself able to take care of herself, as he had assumed she would. “Could have been worse,” he mused, taking a sip of his coffee. “Neither of us were hurt. Have you heard from any of our friends?” he inquired. 

Of course there were a few people he genuinely cared about at the ball. He did wonder how they were doing and had checked in to the best of his ability via owl. He wasn’t a monster. Still, at the end of the day, everyone had to protect themselves. If one was a weak spellcaster, one should know that about oneself and respond accordingly. If he had actually attempted any fighting, who knew how that would have turned out. Wrinkling his nose, he added, “I’m sure we’ll have to make appearances at St. Mungo’s until some of our friends recover.” He was not looking forward to that aspect of things, but he was occasionally capable of putting his own wishes aside. 

Mostly, he was simply grateful that he hadn’t ended up asking Amycus to the ball. It has crossed his mind, but that would have been an extremely disastrous way to end a first date. Not to mention a very public appearance for the two of them. If he did manage to date Amycus, part of him would want to keep the other all to himself for a while. Of course, another part wanted to show him off. Personally, Victor couldn’t care less about the Carrows’ financial status. He would have to plan and scheme to make anything work out, realistically, but he was willing to do it because Amycus was special. Perfect. He forced himself to focus before his sister caught his mind wandering, glancing over at her and taking another sip. 

where: Evan’s place

It was easy enough to find out what had happened to most people after the ball through the simple process of putting his ear to the ground regarding the gossip mill. Evan Rosier had been a bit more of a puzzle, but eventually, Victor had found out. Admittedly, he was stopping by partially out of curiosity, but that curiosity was smoothly covered by a gift. Nothing too extravagant, simply because they were not all that close. Still, perhaps something to get his foot in the door. Something to make conversation, at the very least. 

Clearly he wasn’t too injured, or why would he be recovering at home instead of St. Mungo’s? Victor had to give him points for not landing himself in that dreadful place. It was overcrowded and smelled like a hospital, and Victor was most certainly not a fan. Had he been injured, he would have simply hired a caretaker or three for as long as he needed. He supposed not everyone was fortunate enough to afford such a thing. He was simply thankful that he was. A knock on the door to announce his presence, and in his hand a bag of takeout. It was simple, really. Soup and toast. Still, Victor was confident that the gesture would be appreciated. When the door opened, he turned his gaze from the takeout to his would-be temporary host. “Are you bored? I would be bored, in your position.”

where: The Hopping Pot

“Quite the event your aunt threw,” Victor said as he sat down next to Bellatrix Black at the bar. The two weren’t exactly close, but they did run in the same circles. She was a bit older than him, and truthfully intimidated him just a bit. However, he tried not to let a thing like that be obvious. As the bartender stopped by, he ordered one of the new drinks off the menu. “And put this lovely lady’s next on my tab,” he instructed, more as a courtesy than anything.

“Particularly the end,” he continued, when the bartender made themselves scarce once again. “I can’t say I saw that one coming, but I’m willing to bet it’s left people talking.” Including himself. He was shamelessly fishing for information at this point, albeit in what he hoped would come off in a casual way. These Death Eaters had picked a bit of a dramatic name for themselves. Death hardly sounded like a mouthwatering appetizer. He would have styled a group with a much more elegant name. Still, that didn’t make him any less curious. 

where: St. Mungo’s 

Wrinkling his nose as he stepped into the place, it was obvious upon entry that the place smelled of sickness, even as they tried to cover it up with something more pleasant. He eyed the design of the place, and it took all he had not to shudder. They could really stand to hire someone to make the whole situation less... Depressing. If that was even possible. 

It wasn’t difficult to find someone to direct him to Alecto’s room, and he neatly dodged someone who was wandering about and looked as though they were going to ask him a question. So not his job. Rapping lightly on the door, he didn’t bother to wait for an answer. “How much do you love me?” he greeted with a smirk. “And before you answer that, I’ll have you know that I brought your favorite.” Looking at the state of her, he couldn’t help but think that this was why he had dodged all the fighting. The hospital was definitely not his scene. 

Where: Yaxley Manor

Although Victor certainly questioned the merit of opening the usually closed event that was the Summer Solstice Ball to the public, the decision had certainly led to its fair share of drama. Enough to keep him interested, to be sure. First, of course, there was the downfall of the Linwood girl. Victor was none too bothered by it, of course, considering their history and how irritating she and her sister were. It’d teach people like the Linwoods not to show up at events that weren’t intended for them. 

However, what truly interested Victor from the night of the ball was not any social interaction or choice in outfit. What kept him up wondering late that night when he lay in his bed was the voice that had whispered, speaking directly to him. It should have given him pause, as it was a bit like an invasion. However, instead, it replayed in his mind as if on a loop. He’d never given much thought to corruption in the Ministry. Truthfully, he’d never cared much for politics one way or another. Victor hadn’t gotten much time to think about it at the actual event, considering how pretty much immediately after, all hell broke loose. Victor would much rather trade insults than hexes, and he did his level best to get the hell out of the fighting. He only hoped Amycus had done the same. 

The next morning over coffee, he spotted his sister. The two of them rarely spoke of things that mattered in depth, so he settled for a simple, “Morning.” However, he was interested to hear her thoughts about how the night unfolded. That was, on the off chance she had any. He took a sip of his coffee, eyes scanning the Daily Prophet.