❛ when you were little you held your mother’s favorite glass figurine in your fingers & you loved it so tightly that you snapped it in your palms & since then you’ve let go of beautiful things before you get around to breaking them. ❜ ARIEL MACKAY. twenty-four. halfblood. waitress. marauders era. ciswoman & she/her.
when: august, 2029
where: the streets of hogsmeade
who: open
Ariel hadn’t quite gotten used to being nearly fifty years in the future. She still didn’t quite understand what Wi-Fi was, she didn’t understand when she walked through the muggle streets why everyone seemed to be talking to themselves, and she sure as fuck didn’t get why people kept trying to give her ‘keep cups’ at the café. But probably the worst part of being flung into a time period that you didn’t belong was losing your own home. It wasn’t much, a tiny closet of a studio apartment deep in the dark streets of Hogsmeade, but it had been the first place Ariel had owned all by herself since she’d gotten back from America and now it wasn’t even hers. It belonged to someone else, and fine, they could have it, but could they not have at least offered her the couch? She’d been living on and off of various couches for the last two weeks and frankly, it had been two weeks too long. This issue, as some wished to call it, wasn’t going to resolve itself any time soon, and she couldn’t keep living like this --- she needed stability before she completely fell off the wagon.
Posters were still a thing, right? She bloody well hoped so. Otherwise, the last hour she’d spent printing out twenty identical pages of ‘Please Let Me Be Your Roommate’ posters were completely pointless. She was sticking them up anywhere she thought useful --- the corkboard at the cafe, the windows of busy pubs, the light post on a crowded street --- and Merlin she hoped that someone would reply. It was while taping her last poster to the window of a warm and inviting pub (you don’t need a drink at 1 in the afternoon, Ariel) that she felt someone push into her, causing her head to collide with the glass in a heavy THUMP. Turning to see who had dared push her, she rubbed circles on her temple. “Hey, what the fuck’s your problem?” She called after them, catching them before they could get away. “The path suddenly not big enough for two?”
WHERE: Three Broomsticks
WHEN: August 22, 2029
WHO: Luna & Whoever !
Luna Lovegood had practically been raised with conspiracy theories as bedtime stories, and she had grown up believing most of them, still. ( You see — they explained so much! The reason why so many people were so gloomy most of the time was because there was glumbumble treacle in the tap water, and the reason why everything in the wizarding world kept going amiss was because of the Ministry’s incompetence. No offense, Harry. )
And so, naturally, she had her fair share of ideas when it came to this entire ordeal. Theories, some might call them, but Luna thought of them as more: as pieces of an exciting puzzle, bits and pieces of the greater answer. She had surrounded herself with books on time travel and old Quibbler editions and notes from her father on the Rotfang conspiracy while sat at a table in the Three Broomsticks, furiously writing notes in a notebook.
She needed a break, though. A bit of clarity always helped to get her thoughts in order again, and Luna moved over to the bar to order herself an ice cold pumpkin juice. “You know,” she said after placing her elbows on the counter near someone else. “The Falmouth Falcons have to be part of this all. Their old captain once shook Fudge’s hand, and he’s part of it too, of course —– he’s got a finger in every pie, that one. It’s one thing to figure out who’s involved, though, and another to understand motivation — reputation?” She shook her head, finally made eye contact with the person next to her. “Seems too simple, does it not?”
Ariel wasn’t usually one to notice things --- at least if they weren’t directly affecting her. She stayed seated at the bar of the Three Broomsticks because she was alone, and she certainly hadn’t blinked an eye when a man three times her size had tried to hover over her, to steal her seat. She didn’t care for him and so she didn’t notice his presence. So when her eyes began to wander and she noticed the table scattered with parchment and papers, she surprised even herself. You see, it was just so intriguing --- and she thought she knew exactly what they were fussing over.
She tried to keep her eyes to herself. Maybe later she would ask questions, ask what they had ‘discovered’ of this predicament they had come to find themselves in. But when she turned back around and the small blonde who had been hunched over the papers was gone, she simply couldn’t keep it to herself. Her eyes scanned the interior of the bar before someone spoke up beside her, and when she turned to see the blonde standing beside her, she felt a small spike of victory (as if she had even done anything --- maybe it was just the firewhiskey settling in her stomach that felt like butterflies).
The feeling of ‘victory’ immediately vanished as Ariel listened --- this stranger had no idea what they were on about. Sighing to herself and leaning against the bartop, Ariel shrugged. “I think it sounds a bit odd if I’m being honest. I mean, obviously the Ministry is playing their part but... where in the hell would you get the idea that the bloody Quidditch teams are now involved?”
i. do not fall in love with me.
for i am hungry and cruel & i
will hollow you out with heavy
secrets & ugly insides.
i am not beautiful, i am scarred.
my mind is dusty archives with
paper thoughts that my wildfire
heart has a tendency to burn.
i will burn you. i will not provide
you warmth.
because i am selfish & frigid &
i will steal your offered comfort.
ii. do not fall in love with me.
for i am a killer.
finger pointed in a permanent
pistol, i will whisper compassion
with the heavy barrel of my gun.
iii. do not fall in love with me
because i am cruel.
i am jealous & messy & savage
& i will show you what a true monster
is. i will posses you utterly.
i will suffocate you.
iv. do not fall in love with me.
for i am a sadist and i will feed
you my chaos affection & you
will choke.
v. do not fall in love with me.
for i am a liar.
i will hurt you & crush you & scream
my strength into the air between us.
i will make you feel wonderful & worthless.
vi. do not fall in love with me.
for i am weak.
& i will inhale you more than the
stolen oxygen in my butterfly lungs.
i will rely on you with my life & i will
lock my heart away inside your ribcage
because I do not trust myself with it.
vii. do not fall in love with me.
for i will need you.
❛ when you were little you held your mother’s favorite glass figurine in your fingers & you loved it so tightly that you snapped it in your palms & since then you’ve let go of beautiful things before you get around to breaking them. ❜
SYDNEY SWEENEY? No, that’s actually ARIEL MACKAY from the MARAUDERS ERA. You know, the child of ISABELLE MACKAY? Only 24 years old, this SLYTHERIN alumni works as a WAITRESS and is sided with THE NEUTRALS. SHE identifies as CIS WOMAN and is a MUGGLEBORN who is known to be BLUNT, CRUDE, and RECKLESS but also LOYAL, INGENIOUS, and AMBITIOUS.
character inspiration: rebecca bunch (crazy ex-girlfriend), eleanor shellstrop (the good place), gina linetti (brooklyn nine-nine), shane madej (buzzfeed unsolved), annie landsberg (maniac), maeve wiley (sex education)
aesthetic: bottles of whiskey stashed beneath a mattress, the mess of a home the morning after a party, lacy red lingerie, neon signs lighting up a dark room, boisterous laughter sounding from the bedroom, cherry red lips sucking on a lollipop
links: stats, pinterest
triggers: parental death, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, suicide attempt, medication
isabelle mackay was born into a small, devoutly catholic family, built on traditions and strict beliefs that mimicked the ideals of the outside world. with her mother at home to fulfil the role of housewife, her father was left to work every day in rough factory conditions in order to make ends meet. the family was poor, that much was obvious, but there was never any love to compensate for all the bad luck this family had been dealt. isabelle was never good enough, never christian enough, never helpful enough, and the birth of ariel winter mackay on april 3rd 1956 when isabelle was just twenty, fathered by a man without a face nor a name, was the straw to break the camels back — isabelle would never speak to her parents again.
ariel’s childhood was fun, but at the same time kind of rocky. i mean, issy didn’t have any family left, she was a single mum in the late fifties working a part-time secretary job and she had no idea how to raise a child. ari and issy spent a lot of time with issy’s friends, who became like aunts to ariel and allowed her to grow up surrounded by strong, independent women.
but ariel had a bit of a troublesome streak. it seemed as though chaos and destruction followed her everywhere she went, and it caused her to jump from school to school until she’d eventually been expelled from eight primary schools by the age of eleven. issy could not understand what was wrong, she couldn’t explain certain things that happened around the little blonde girl because they were seemingly unexplainable, and she was starting to grow seriously worried until a tall woman with a big hat knocked on their door and introduced the mackay family to the world of magic.
ariel was honestly ecstatic to go to hogwarts. she’d always known that she was different to the other kids, that she was special, and this only went on the prove it. and now, surrounded by other kids the same as her, maybe she could finally find a place that she fit in - a place that she could call home.
she was sorted into slytherin after a minute of the hat sitting on her head, and at first she slotted right in with the rest of her housemates. they were all just as fun, ambitious and intelligent as her and she was excited to find a place that she belonged. but slowly she started to notice that still she was being treated differently - there was something about her that had other kids turning their noses and left her unable to befriend many of her housemates for the pure reason that they wouldn’t talk to her. the first time she was called a mudblood, she cried for days - she’d expected hogwarts to be welcoming and instead she was still that weird kid that everyone wanted to avoid.
of course, as she grew up, it became obvious that not everyone hated her. she started to hang out with more of the gryffindors in her year and sought out the people who weren’t disgusted by her ambiguous (‘tainted’) lineage. moving through her first, her second, her third year, she became quite popular amongst the student body, and her fun-loving, easy-going attitude attracted many boys and girls who wanted to befriend her.
[ BIPOLAR & MEDICATION TW a small hiccup arose in her third year, when a pattern of violent, depressed and manic behaviour began to show in her every day life. at the tender age of fourteen, ariel was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and at age fifteen was prescribed lithium in order to keep it in check. her tendency for manic episodes meant she had to tone down on her usually adventurous nature and had to keep a check on how many people she surrounded herself with - too many and she could be sent over the edge. though she was still widely popular and incredibly fun to be around, she wasn’t known to have many close friends and was sometimes noted to disappear for days without explanation and return as if nothing has happened. END TW ]
[ PARENTAL DEATH TW everything was all pretty smooth sailing for miss mackay until a few months before the end of her sixth year, when she received a letter detailing the horrific death of her mother, isabelle mackay. devastated could hardly begin to describe how ariel felt — it was as if her whole world was crumbling around her. her mother, her one true rock throughout all the pain and misery and heartache of her life was gone and now she had no one. END TW ]
[ SUICIDE & SUBSTANCE ABUSE TW after the death, ariel fell into a deep depression into which no one could pull her out. for a while she relied on substance abuse to even keep her going, but after coming close to suffering from alcohol poisoning, she moved off it and instead completely isolated herself from everyone around her and allowed herself to fall deeper and deeper into her own depression. over the winter break of her sixth year, during which she had moved to her mum’s friends place in dublin, ariel finally completely broke and attempted to take her own life. of course, she was not successful, but after spending months in the hospital after this attempt, she finally spoke to a professional and started on the slow and bumpy road to recovery. END TW ]
alycia (her mum’s friend and now ariel’s caregiver) was reluctant to allow ariel to return to hogwarts after the traumatic few months they had endured, but after much begging on ariel’s part, she finally relented. returning to hogwarts for her final year, it was clear that ariel was all but a different person. once the life of the party, the sassy and adventurous and fun-loving girl of her year, ariel was now much quieter and a lot less adventurous. she was still ever so dependent on alcohol and still talking to a psychologist within hogwarts (as was requested by alycia), and though it was clear that ariel mackay was all but a different person, she was trying her very best to once again be happy.
but of course, being truly happy is never going to be easy. with grades that could only be described as subpar and absolutely no idea as to what she wanted to do with her life, ariel felt lost after leaving school. she wanted to make a difference in the world, she wanted to prove that just because you didn’t come from magic, didn’t mean you couldn’t prove yourself in this world, but how the hell was she supposed to do that without the grades to prove it? she tried anyway to apply for the auror program, but of course they all but laughed in her face, and so instead she spent a year doing nothing, feeling sorry for herself and trying to figure out what the hell it was she wanted.
deciding ultimately on her nineteenth birthday that she was sick of sitting around, she found herself a job at the hogs head, serving the drinks she so often drowned herself in. she saved every dollar she received, living with alycia still to avoid the cost of rent and at twenty-one, still lost and confused, she flew herself to philadelphia in america and attempted desperately to find a reason to smile.
it was in philly that ariel met natalie --- and for the first time of her life, ariel fell in love. the romance was tumultuous, to say the least, full of twists and turns and bumps that left them on and off again for over a year. it was on the fourteenth month of their relationship that they got into another screaming match and when natalie told ariel to leave and never come back, she meant it. and ariel was devastated. she thought she’d found a home in philly. with natalie, the good times had been worth the bad and she’d finally been as happy as she was before her mothers death. and now it was finished.
one week after the break up, ariel packed her bags and left --- back to london. alycia welcomed her back with open arms, but that didn’t make it any easier. her heart was broken, and she was still lost. finding a job at a small cafe in hogsmeade, ariel tried to put her life back in order, but she didn’t even know what that order was. twenty-three and still completely directionless, still just a blip on most people’s radar, just a drunk adult, on and off her meds, never truly happy.
she’s trying, though --- she’ll always try. she moved out of alycia’s home into her own apartment, she surrounded herself with people who love her and she applied for the auror program every month (still no word). she stayed out of the war only if to keep herself sane (but she’s obviously sided with the order --- she’d be damned if anyone doubted her ability just because she was a muggleborn). she didn’t have much purpose, but it felt good to try.
the timeclash, though --- now didn’t that fuck things up. she had to start all over again. alycia wasn’t with her, and in fact, why the hell was she? but what might be worse is the fact that she can’t find out anything about what happened to her... no one remembers her, she had no children, she didn’t die in heroic sacrifice. she just was, and she was... boring. all this time she’s been focused on being happy, but maybe she should’ve been worried about making a goddamn difference. she’s a nobody, and she wants to be a somebody.
RANDOM FACTS
swears like a sailor and drinks just as heavily. it’s a vice she’s never been able to shake and kind of doesn’t want to? yikes
used to see a therapist once a month but ghosted him about a month before the timeclash. why? who knows! she’s never been good at keeping a handle on her mental health --- she gets lost and confused and assumes no one can help her. this is the fourth time she’s done this.
has a small silver bangle on her left wrist that she fiddles with when she’s anxious. it used to belong to her mother, her and alycia found it while sorting through her stuff after her death, and tbh she hasn’t taken it off since the day they found it. it’s a part of her mother that she can take everywhere with her, and that’s a comfort you just can’t surpass.
