monty nodded his head in acknowledgement when zeke invited him in without any further questions, appreciating his friend in that moment perhaps more than he ever had before. he knew the the slytherin well enough to know that he had a lot of question he wanted to ask, but they’d never been the sort to wear their feelings quite so openly. this was new and not the most comfortable of situations. it was while he was even more thankful that once he was upstairs, his trunk abandoned by the edge of the bed, his friend accepted his explanation. he kept it vague, advised that he’d been tossed out and that he wasn’t welcome back anytime soon. “i’ll figure out what i’m doing tomorrow.” he’d added, hands tugging through his hair as he’d sat down at the edge of the bed. “get a room at the leaky cauldron, see about getting to gringotts… figure out what i’ve still got access to.” he knew his parents well enough to know he’d be barred from the family vault but he had a sizeable inheritance from his grandmother that would likely be able to sustain him need be. for the time being, he didn’t want to worry about it .. that was a tomorrow problem. shortly after he changed the subject to something easier, lighter, talking into the wee hours of the night about nothing to avoid addressing the elephant in the room .. the one monty wasn’t ready to talk about.
unable to sleep much at all, monty was up with the sun as he showered and changed, heading downstairs and out into the garden where he knew pandora theódisis would end up at one point or another. he’d been right and unsurprised to find her joining him an hour or two later, a bottle of expensive wine split between them as they fell into their old routines. a little gossip, laughter bubbling up as he shook his head wryly, and finally… an admission. while he didn’t tell her everything he gave her the short version of it all, that he’d botched his n.e.w.t.s. and his parents had seen fit to toss him to the curb. if his eyes stung and he drained the contents of his goblet shortly after admitting that they’d caught him off guard, he thanked merlin that the matriarch of the family didn’t acknowledge it.
“i knew they’d be angry.” the slytherin admitted, feet crossed at the ankles as he shifted uncomfortably. even with pandora theódisis, a woman he’d known just as long as he’d known her son, it felt foreign and uncomfortable to talk about his feelings. it was so frowned upon in the sayre household that it was ingrained in his being to keep everything bottled up. “… disappointed even. i expected that. but i’ve never - that was a whole new level.” his voice dropped as he shrugged, taking another generous swig of the rich wine as his shoulders slumped in the slightest. “i dunno. i’ve spent a lifetime letting them down … guess i never figured there’d come a point where it’d be too much.”
“that sounds like a good plan– but you know you don’t have to room down at the cauldron. that’s sad.” lezekiel grimaced. he suggested he stay with his family, reckoning that his parents wouldn’t mind and reminding him that it would be temporary. after all, there was no reason to think that the wizard wouldn’t rebound from this situation. a situation that, without the proper details to fill in the blanks, had left lezekiel perplexed. in any case, the mood of the evening was properly tainted after the rest of his family caught word of what the sayres had done. midas offered to contact them on monty’s behalf, but lezekiel had shaken his head at his father’s offer; chances were he would only make things worse.
with a fuzzy head from the nights libations, zeke hunkered down with a good read related to his craft in divination past midnight, falling asleep not long after with the book on his chest. he would realize later that it was a blessing that he fell asleep early enough, as it was unclear how he would’ve handled the events of the next day without the much needed hours of sleep. when he awoke before noon, once the haze of sleep had cleared, he called upon petra the house elf. “whats can petra do for master lezekiel?” she squeaked, curtseying. “the usual, please.” at his request, a table appeared in the room, his typical breakfast and tea of choice sprawled on top. she loped over, snapping her fingers so that the tea would pour with a delicacy. “i was also wondering if monty had any success at gringotts.” lezekiel asked, yawning as he sat down at the table for one. “uh, i am afraids that mister sayre has not left theosidis manor. he and misses pandora has taken shop on the patio, they have— master lezekiel, sir!” he took a sip of his tea, eyes narrowing. “have they? … more milk, petra.” lezekiel stood up as the house elf tended to his breakfast, past his pet anastasia, who was perched on her cat bed, molded to look like a cloud and floated as such by his bedside … his mother’s voice echoed up the side of the manor obnoxiously as soon as he opened the window. “this is a scandal! a monstrous scandal!” the blonde witch proclaimed loudly and drunkenly. “but it is of your parents own doing, dear. if lezekiel had failed his final year at hogwarts, don’t think for a second we’d have placed the blame on him. it would be on our shoulders, for it is our duty as the parents to lead the way for our young. when you reach a certain age, of course, their actions become their own, and in certain cases, you must prune the tree of any poison you can’t root out … but to disown your own blood over something that can be rectified? over an education? why, its UNHEARD of. your mother will see. once the witches in our circle catch wind of whats happened, you can bet your galleons that if you two were seated at opposite heads of a table, all looks of judgement would be cast in her direction.” lezekiel slowly leaned back inside his bedroom, a look of shock painted over his face as the sound of his mother calling upon one of the house elves for more wine went in one ear and out the other. it seemed that, while zeke had been concerned in looking out for his future, he’d forgotten to check up on his friends as well. sure, monty had always struggled, but to fail– to be doomed to repeat the year at hogwarts if he had any hopes of a decent career– he was immediately horrified as he realized what this meant. for HIM, of course. how was he going to be able to avoid the blasted castle if monty took up residence there, again? to his credit, zeke looked stoic instead of horrified as he walked over to the fireplace in his room.
“keegan shacklebolt’s residence.”
ugh, he’d forgotten how uncomfortable it was to have to stick your head through a bloody fire– lezekiel’s eyes scoured the room until he found what he was looking for; keegan himself. “sorry for the intrusion,” the wizard said dryly. “—but we have a PROBLEM.”
said problem was all he could think of as he led the way out onto the patio a little while later. “….keegan! lezekiel! you didn’t tell me more friends were stopping by.” hazel hues speckled with the unnerving calm of the ocean looked through his mother, unable to see her smiling face as he raised an eyebrow at his seated friend. “it was last minute. monty?” zeke stared him down for a long moment, before turning and walking back inside the manor. the silent command to be followed was about as subtle the erumpent mating season. only once the accused was seated, would lezekiel lean against the ledge of one of many fireplace mantels in the estate, looking every bit the stewing model as he contemplated what he wanted to say. what DID he want to say? zeke glanced at keegan, willing the other wizard to start. ( &. @keegvns· )
it was hard for him to admit, but at the time being keegan shacklebolt actually missed hogwarts. it was just his second year spending his holiday at one of the stinky rooms above the leaky cauldron, and the dimly lit bedroom was hardly comparable to the shacklebolt residence in devonshire, or even to the room he shared with desmond and lezekiel at hogwarts. for the time being, however, it was enough for his needs– meaning, it fit an adult human being and his books. his galleons, however, were SCARCER by the minute. he had a good plan figured out until his departure to hogwarts, which he still hadn't mentioned to his best friends, and there he would at least have a roof over his head, food and a little extra for him to get back on his feet. it wasn't ideal, but it was easily the best thing available.
his day had been fairly quotidian so far. keegan didn't get out of his bedroom unless it was an urgent matter, and the same applied to speaking to other people. he had exchanged a few letters with kiara, his estranged sister, and some friends from hogwarts, but human interaction usually was not a part of his schedule. it was most likely filled with reading and writing time. he had cringed at the idea of purchasing more expensive books for his new job as teaching assistant at hogwarts, yet he had to recognized that reading about the giant wars from six hundred different perspectives made him feel less LONELY. sometimes he didn't realize how alone he truly was.
his day was playing out ordinarily, until an unexpected chipping of the fireplace startled the former slytherin. he was spooked to see lezekiel's deformed face on the burnt wood, as this was usually not how the wizards contacted each other. "zeke?" he called. there was not much need for talk afterwards– as soon as keegan heard there was something wrong, he was already halfway through packing his bags on his way to the theósidis manor.
within minutes of the call, a dark-skinned wizard popped up out of nowhere in front of the immense residence, along with a small suitcase. keegan was never not surprised at how it seemed to look bigger every year. as he paced through the sizable garden, apprehension for his friend's situation began to take over his thoughts. so far, it had all been rather mechanic, the act of apparating anywhere his friends would need him to. now that he had some time to think things through, the circumstances were weighing on to him. he let lezekiel lead the way, greeting pandora rapidly yet politely, and then turning to face monty. keegan and zeke exchanged a look, and he felt the permission to step up. "hmmm, monty? what's the plan? is pandora paying you to day drink with her?" keegan might've been proper worried, but he was never one to be soft-spoken. "unless she is, i reckon we should come up with a PLAN." ( @scyre· )
