The comment was rather humorous to him, and brought back memories of the trouble he and his friends would get into back before sixth year, before he started to close himself off. Lately the only trouble he caused was inflicted by the alcohol he consumed, but even then, he didn’t really seek out trouble. “Suppose you’re out of luck then, wasn’t planning on causing any trouble this evening.” His words were dripping with sarcasm, on the defense from Augustus’ comment.
Augustus bristled at the reply, granted it was true that he wasn’t feeling very lucky. “I suppose we all are, what are we to do without you causing chaos?” His words hopefully came across as more joking this time, but he tacked on a half-smile just in case. “I always thought it was funny, anyways. Timing wasn’t great sometimes but funny anyways.”
“Oh- Yea, I’m okay,” She smiled briefly before looking around at the crowd of people. “Just- maybe starting to think the me and parties don’t mix well. I might head back up to the tower.” Yes, she thought, this was definitely a bit too much for her on the first day back. A bit of time away from it all might do her some good.
“It is a lot, isn’t it?” Looking around the area at all of their classmates having fun, he sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ll stick around much longer either. Want to head back in together, maybe?”
augustus was ready to leave, he realized with a slight start; he usually didn’t leave parties until they were dead but this one was proving to be too much for the ravenclaw. wondering what blood he might have on his hands in different universes - it was just, emotionally draining. decision made, he heads to leave only to stumble upon a familiar face on his way out. “black, odd to not see you causing trouble even though it’s been a while.” it was meant as a greeting but even his ears only heard an insult. “not a gala, though.”
“rita, darling, how are you?” augustus had always admired rita’s older sister as a child, but he could acknowledge the usefulness of rita’s cunning. especially now, when everything was murky and information was scarce - rita’s methods of securing information would be particularly useful. “have you heard anything interesting - a galleon for your thoughts perhaps?”
kitty wasn’t quite sure where she’d procured a straw from, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. much easier to drink and talk at the same time with one. she cocked her head at augustus with a small laugh. “ everyone’s so … different, at this party. all the confusion is kinda making people behave themselves. it, uh, makes you wonder what the gossip column’ll pull out. “
everyone was on eggshells with each other, it was true; and yet augustus found that fact almost comforting in its familiarity. it was almost like an old pureblood gala where they all had to carefully tread the waters, except with less knowledge to act as life jackets. “ it doesn’t seem all that odd to me, you know. i’m sure eventually someone will crack under the stress - it’s a drastic change for some.” and if that included augustus he’d never tell, he mused sipping at his drink with a pensive expression.
Cordelia was trying to make her way through the crowd of people, wondering why she had decided to come in the first place, when she stepped on something, nearly tripping. She looked down to see that it had been someone’s foot.“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there. Crap, are you okay?” The words stumbled out of her, and despite the fact that it probably hadn’t hurt that much, she was instantly filled with worry.
Augustus was pretty sober, considering the condition of the people around him. He had taken a single sip out of his drink, preferring to brood rather than ignore the issues at hand - and yet, it caught him off guard when someone nearly tripped over him. “Oh, it’s okay, Stebbins. Really, not a big deal. Are you okay?” He wouldn’t necessarily use the word concern, but a bit of worry did tinge his voice.
have you been re-introduced to augustus rookwood? last we heard, the pureblood was most familiar with timeline one. I don’t recall if they were always a ravenclaw, but I’ve heard the seventh year is still charming, ambitious, intellectual and stubborn, dishonest, withdrawn, so that’s familiar. at least he remembers their way around the castle.
timeline one:
in timeline one, the rookwoods were a family of business oriented people - people who wanted to make money and build alliances and generally get ahead. they didn’t place much value outwardly on blood - even if they only married fellow purebloods and still followed the old traditions they weren’t as likely to be caught going on righteous tangents. instead, they played it cool - they hired muggleborns to work in their shops ( at unfairly low rates, perhaps but nevertheless ) and wormed their way into the minds of every wealthy pureblood that there was.
augustus christoher rookwood - the heir to the rookwood family fortune and all of their businesses - had no real interest in business. or at least not enough that he wanted to spend all of his life slaving over them, no augustus had other plans. he was going to become an unspeakable, studying and reviving the ancient magics that had been lost long ago. not a well-paying pursuit but he figured that he didn’t need something that would rake in the dough if he worked on maintaining what already existed.
his parents, while not thrilled with the idea of him straying from the plan after years of training him in everything that he could possibly need to know in order to dominate in the pureblood circles, eventually relented. they spun it into an impressive goal; one that promised to better the world - and that if played correctly could become quite profitable. and besides, didn’t every family have a little magic that they’d like brought back into play?
and at school, augustus was nicely settled in. he fit in with the other purebloods - occasionally making tentative alliances with particularly talented half-bloods while proving that he had earned his place in ravenclaw. he was a show-in for head boy with the track that he was on and had just gotten the letter of congratulations when the timeline conundrum came into play.
timeline two:
the rookwoods failed to act, failed to fight before the win was secured and in the aftermath their dedication to the cause was questioned. and they offered up their heir as proof - the perfect pureblood, planning to continue a legacy that had been set out before him for generations. and this time, augustus relented. not entirely mind you - he would still study arcane magic in his free time - but his life had to be dedicated to protecting what his family had worked to build.
and it was easy to become cold, with no dreams of your own ever allowed to form. to grow despondent and listless. augustus did. it was like going through the motions - except the motions are bullying and torture and learning magic that makes you feel like your skin is at risk of crawling off, and going to parties celebrating a victory that you never really supported. it’s a silent sort of hell, one without dreams. and the boy, vivacious and ambitious and intelligent becomes a robot. another name on a list, and not much else.
timeline three:
timeline three was more subdued from the beginning. the war was ever approaching and yet the rookwoods weren’t decided on whether or not they’d fight. a legacy was ensured - one that they expected him to carry, even if he sought to find ways around it. his parents would laugh, like he had told a particularly funny joke and go back to the training that they had started before he could even hold a wand. and so slowly, he lost hope.
without dreams to long for, he failed to reach for the stars. his grades were still above average, but he didn’t shine quite as much - didn’t set himself apart from the crowd in an effort to be a good example, to be a leader. and so he became another face in the crowd of purebloods, surely on his way to fight in the war - even if he didn’t entirely agree with the cause. it was all he ever knew.
the here and now:
augustus is conflicted - his memories are of timeline one; of making things work in order to get forward without the conflict that exists now. but his parents remember choosing not to fight and being punished for it - they remember losing everything because they waited and they’re determined not to make that mistake again. and he’s stuck - stuck deciding to run away from the family that he knows are capable of loving him or fighting in a war that doesn’t fit with his beliefs. and he isn’t brave - he never has been but he is stubborn, and he’s trying to find a way around this. to not fight without losing the war, to be neutral and play either side when it’s over.
