╰ °✧ that’s KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT and HE seems to look a lot like TREVOR JACKSON. according to ministry files, the PUREBLOOD used to attend HOGWARTS and be in RAVENCLAW. now, they’re TWENTY-FIVE and is AUROR. Long endless work nights spent alone, hidden sorrows that he holds so highly on his shoulders, a phoenix rising from the ashes, the strikingly blue single flame of a firepit full of raging colours, and pictures of people that he no longer speaks of scattered around his flat. are the best way to describe them. it doesn’t say in their file, but word around the street is that they’re a ORDER MEMBER. | OOC; maxine. est. 23. she.her.
hi hi hi im maxine and i’m still extremely horrible at introductions finger guns. but underneath the cut you can find more information about kingsley and if you give this a like i’ll come and invade you for plots.
tw: neglect.
patronus: the weasel
house: ravenclaw
sexuality: bisexual
pronouns: he.him
parents: kara shacklebolt neé warrington and isaiah shacklebolt
dominant hand: left but ambidextrous
wand: olive, doxy wing, 8 inch, inflexibile (powerful but not too powerful)
pets: an owl names mercutio
current residency: london, england
siblings: none
boggart: small spaces
kingsley shacklebolt was a mistaken child ever since he was young. his mother was a world renown witch from america-- she held the stance of wizarding security of some sort in america and his dad was a con artist from london. the two fell in love and it was a mistake when mrs. shacklebolt realized that she was too successful to have a child right now; so she gave kingsley up and put him up for adoption. he was pushed around from muggle orphanage to the next muggle orphanage. it wasn’t until kingsley was twelve he had finally gotten adopted by a pair of japanese muggles with the surname of saito, but at that point kingsley knew he was a pureblood wizard from a powerful family bloodline. he didn’t mind his new parents, sure but they were fickle most of the time and taught him the ways of various muggle inventions such as a record player and a tape recorder.
there was something always itching in kingsley though. he wanted to know his real parents even though he got adopted by a lovely muggle couple. he finally had a roof over his head and it was something stable. kingsley felt like he was in a stable family for once in his life. kingsley’s thought of his parents had somewhat drifted from his mind and he ended up focusing on his schooling at hogwarts where his parents thought that he was just going to a boarding school of some sort. there kingsley excelled in many things such as dueling, flying, potions and nonverbal magic-- which he found important later on in life. it wans’t until kingsley’s fifth year at hogwarts he met a strange man that he later found out was his father. his father whom had told him that his own birth mother didn’t even want him and that’s why he was put in an orphanage for years. kingsley didn’t want to believe him; so they made a bet like the con artist his father was. if he ever meets his mother, he has to ask the question if she had ever wanted him in the first place. if he lost the bet, he’d have to give his father money for years.
years passed though, kingsley graduated hogwarts and he finally had the guts to travel to america after his father told him that his mother was from america. he had met his mother and her name was still shacklebolt even though she is theoretically divorced from isaiah. he had learned that she only married his father for the money he stole from her. it was hard to actually get divorced from isaiah and he was using her name for citizenship in the u.k. for that he was a wizard from egypt when she had met him. and the worst question that kingsley had been avoiding asking? does she love him? did she really want to get rid of kingsley? she didn’t love him and he was a mistake child even though he excelled in school. she said it to his face and for a moment it stung kingsley even though he wasn’t even sure why he wanted someone to love him that he didn’t even know that well. either way; kingsley made his journey back to london to visit his adopted parents-- real parents he should say and he looked rather defeated.
for a while his adopted parents were worried about kingsley. he appeared to devour himself in work and so he did even while still paying his father the money that he so ‘rightfully’ won every season of the year. the only correspondences that he has with his birth father really. kingsley could easily write his father off, he knows that he should but there’s something about him that’s tugging at his heartstrings where he wants some sort of connection with his birth parents even if it’s not a good one.
“how many times am i going to see you in these neck of the woods, snape?” kingsley asks as he approaches the familiar figure lurking in the shadows. no one tended to get past kingsley these days despite the lack of sleep that was shown in his eyes. “c’mon, let’s go get a cup of joe.” he says swinging his arm the opposite way towards the closest cafe.
“will i swear if we do not clean the flat this weekend i’m going to loose it, or throw you out the window if you don’t help me, whichever one comes first.” kingsley says kicking a coat off the couch and collapses into it groaning staring at the ceiling. had he been at the office all night? perhaps. he eventually went to the three broomsticks to finish off his work though when he got too tired of being in the same spot. “and when we’re done maybe we can go on a walk or something. i’m tired of being inside.”
That much is a sentiment Gretchen relates to - when people are needy and cumbersome, she prefers when they simply are not around. Relaxation is hard to come by when there’s the looming expectation of human interaction. As unexpected as it is, one of Gretchen’s favorite parts of her shift is at bar close, when the building is all cleared out and she’s left to her own devices after she’s cleaned up all the messes left behind by the patrons she’d served in the evening. The messes are clear reminders of how frustrating others are, and how they expect her to be available to clean up after them and care for them with no regard for herself.
Her focus returns to him after a moment, and she removes a fork from a nearby guest’s silverware roll (when they object with an angry, “Hey!”, she shoots silencing daggers at them) and weighs it thoughtfully in her hands. “I’ll have to practice my fork-wielding skills; we’ll need to find someone good with a spoon, though, if we want to make a worthwhile team.” Her brow lifts at his next statement, a hint of incredulity appearing on her face. “Having a whole slew of people who support you and look up to you isn’t enough, yeah?” She pointedly avoids saying The Order, even though to most, it wouldn’t mean much - but she can’t be too careful. She never knows who might be listening. “This might not be the best place to make friends, Shacklebolt.”
“well,” kingsley says looking around the place, there were people. acquaintances that kingsley knows for the most part, they weren’t friends, not like how kingsley had known gretchen over the years. “i know you, and we’re here right now, and.... i like to think that we’re friends, i don’t know if that feeling is mutual between us though. i like to think sometimes that you are one and technically i can say that i have made at least one friend in this place, no?” kingsley sighs though at the mention of the order. sometimes he doesn’t like that is the only reason why she knows him when he has led a couple order meetings in the past. “hm, i know you would love to learn, but you have too much anger behind your eyes. don’t you?” he asks a bit truthfully as he tilts his head at her watching her grab the fork from the nearby guest and he gives the other a gentle smile. sometimes he does wonder what it would be like if he had known gretchen outside of the order. “you should speak up y’know. i think people would love to hear what you would have to say. i for one, would be interested.” he says before taking a sip of his tea as he hears the click on the tiny tea platter once he places it back down on the plate.
a sigh passes his lips , gaze turned towards the building that looms over him . it’s familiar , too familiar after numerous visits . and this visit isn’t any different , a set goal in mind as he steps up towards the main door and up towards the stairs .
bram takes his time , squaring and relaxing his shoulders , mumbling to himself about what he should and should not say . it would look nearly crazy to a passerby , but he’s past caring at this point . he’s heard from a little bird about his little sister’s conquest , and right now , all he wants is a word : just a word . ( or so he says himself )
he gets to a familiar floor , to an even familiar door , and nearly collapses from nerves with his knuckles above the wooden surface . bram takes a deep breath , counts to three , before knocking .
it had almost felt like as bram had just left his place less than a week ago. maybe it has been that long since he has last seen him though he wasn’t quite sure. the work week had appeared to be such a blur to him. he couldn’t even remember which day was what anymore. but now it was a weekend and he was fine with seeing bram then. he almost expected it as he opened the door with a pleasant smile on his face seeing that it was indeed bram in front of him. “come in.” he says making room for bram to enter. “should i get the popcorn and wine now or save it for later when you attempt to be your sisters knight in shining armour but fail miserably?” he asks at the young professional quidditch player with the slightest bit of a smirk on his lips.
“if you’re not careful, you’ll have a weasley kid following in your footsteps,” molly said as she pulled the twin that walked in front of her into her lap. fred squirmed in his mother’s embrace until he realized he wasn’t going to win this battle and cuddled into his mother’s rounded belly.
oh god, let’s hope that doesn’t happen. kingsley had thought as he froze at the sight of the small child. oh and the pregnant woman. kingsley was not always the best with children. they had always seemed to cry around him. “uh--- right.” kingsley says blinking a couple times snapping out of it. “do you uh-- need help or anything? it seems like you’ve got your hands full.”
She was less concerned with what had just happened, and more concerned about the fact that Kingsley seemed so off. She always admired how put together he seemed in the Order meetings – how he never seemed to falter. Then again, Lily felt so unsure of everything lately that nearly everyone else felt steady in comparison. “I’m sorry that’s happening,” she offered. “Things are usually pretty… tame… in training, but… I know that feels… shitty, sometimes. Anything I can do?” She pulled her cloak around her body tight, almost out of nervousness that she couldn’t really figure out where it was coming from. “No, I – I work at St. Mungo’s, but… sometimes I do come by to come visit people during lunch, y’know? So maybe? – And I don’t really drink, not lately. But if you’d like, I’ll join you at a pub. I won’t say no to some chips.”
kingsley was not quite good at making long lasting impressions was he? lily potter was no exception to that. he almost sighed in relief when she said she didn’t drink because neither did he unless he was with certain people. “oh thank god, neither do i, really. then let’s go get coffee and still get some chips instead, i think there’s a coffee shop not too far down the road if i remember correctly.” he says furrowing his brows. has he really gotten the point to his life where he has spent so long in one place that he truly cannot comprehend what is around him? wasn’t he still technically too young to be thinking like that? hell, he hasn’t even reached thirty, yet here is his job making him feel like he’s ten years older than he actually is. “i think just having your presence around will do the job, lily.” he says a bit truthfully. he did find her quite comforting over the years to say the least.
“you look fine, but you seem… stressed, pulling a wand on unsuspecting members of the public may have something to do with it,” andromeda explained, her tone of voice kind, the smile on her lips warm. “coffee sounds brilliant,” she added, “but i have to insist you actually get some sleep and don’t live off of the stuff, you need rest too,” perhaps it was the healer in her, or just the nurturing nature she had had since she was a little girl and looked after stuffed animals in her bedroom.
“i mean, yes i am stressed, work is stressful, but it’s not like you’re actually interested in hearing about it.” he says a bit truthfully. he wasn’t going to lie to andromeda. she could probably see right through them anyways. kingsley was never a good liar, that was why he picked a job that aimed for the truth. kingsley had wanted the truth about his birth parents and he got it as bitter as it sounds. kingsley had also wanted the truth behind the concepts of the world and he’s currently searching for that. “i don’t live off of it, please, c’mon andromeda, y’know that if i did, you would like... know. y’know? i’d have the jitters and shakes or whatnot.”
After work, Lily wanted to take a walk and try to find some way to relax, even though she knew she probably wouldn’t be able to. It was the effort that mattered. The walk was a symbol of trying, and trying was better than nothing. At least when she got home, she could tell James that she’d done something to stop herself from becoming an anxious wreck. She’d found herself outside the Ministry, and before she was able to continue on her way, she found a wand drawn and pointed directly at her. Lily took a few steps back, almost losing her balance as she did so. “I – no, I’d hope not,” she joked, trying her best to make the light of what was a very awkward situation. “Don’t worry about it. Really. Are you – okay? You seem… like you’ve had a long day.”
“um.” kingsley furrows his brows wondering how he wouldn’t have even noticed her there. he was usually so much more alert than usual. that was a rookie move of him and maybe he was far from being alright at this point but that didn’t matter anymore. he had seen her around a few times here and there just walking around this hour. he takes notes of things like that. he has heard of her name from a few other people but didn’t want to jump to conclusions if he were wrong. “i guess i’ve been kicked off my high horse a couple times these past few days but uhm--” he puts his wand underneath the sleeve of his cloak and adjusts himself to bare his surroundings. just the steps of the ministry of magic. everything is alright, he just lost a couple of papers, he can ask for a second copy later. “i’ve seen you around here.... haven’t i? i’m usually not like this, do you drink? let me make it up for you.” he says awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. lord, why was he so bad at this stuff?
MARLENE GAPED AT KINGSLEY , “ you don’t follow quidditch — fucking hell , shacklebolt , what did you think i meant when i invited you to listen to the match tonight? ” she shook her head at him in disbelief. “ first lesson : you are a magpies fan , say it with confidence. and do not let anyone sell you on some other shite team , yeah? ”
when the bartender returned with the drinks , rather than passing over one of the mugs of beer to kingsley , marlene hoarded both by her. she took a generous drink from one before turning her gaze back to kingsley. “ the magpies just scored against puddlemere , it doesn’t mean anything ‘less they get the snitch though. you know , the little flying gold ball? please tell me you know that. ”
“i didn’t think you would drag me out to a bar and even worse, have me socialize.” kingsley says defensively he has been out of the loop recently about so many things he felt like. he barely has time to keep up with work, how would he keep up with quidditch? “i know what a snitch is, i’ve had to read an extensive book about bowman wright unfortunately...” kingsley says arching his brows at the ‘fond’ memory that had nearly made him fall asleep-- possibly the only book that binns had him read on the side that made kingsley have such a boring response to when he was still at hogwarts. although he himself was a good flyer, he never did quite understand quidditch and never got into the whole fangirl side of it like marlene appeared to be. ‘okay, okay, i’m a magpies fan tonight, is that convincing enough?” he asks raising his hands up in the air defensively.
the brunette stopped in surprise as the wand pointed against her, surprise furrowing her brow and andromeda chuckled lightly, “i should hope so,” she mused, “i really don’t think i’ve done anything to warrant this greeting thus far today.” andromeda nodded gratefully as he lowered his wand, noticing the near manical stress in his eyes as if he had been awake too long, the overstuffed briefcase, along with the way he had reached for his wand without realizing where he would be pointing it it seemed clear he wasn’t getting enough sleep. “are you alright? i don’t mean to be rude but you look like you could use a sleeping draught or five.”
kingsley furrowed his brows. had he really looked so disheveled to her that she ought to offer him a sleeping potion? he hadn’t really noticed, but then again, he hadn’t left the ministry in what seems like days but in reality it was probably an hour. watching the papers mindlessly floating away. well, those are useless to him now. what would be more useful would be a memory charm of some sort that would allow him to remember what was on those pages. but he doubted that she would have something like that. “oh no, no, i’m fine. i’m sleeping, why. do i not look like i have been?” he asks scratching the back of his head. “you want to get a cup of coffee perhaps? to y’know, make up for the fact that i just threatened you with my wand without meaning to.”
Her lips twitch with the vague thought of an amused grin, but before she can offer him anything resembling a smile, she abandons the effort in lieu of mock judgement. “Being skilled with a knife when you have a wand seems backwards. To me, at least.” Gretchen passes the butter knife back to him, “In case I need to be saved again,” and breaks the expression with a coy wink.
She leans over to check how much he’s drained from the teacup, and decides to fill it anyways. Her gaze lingers momentarily on his folder, making assumptions about what he must be working on, before drawing her eyes back up to his face. Nice to see her. A humored scoff exits her, and her focus drifts off to a bare corner of the room as she leans forward onto her elbows.
“I’m mostly surprised to find you relaxing - trying to relax, I suppose.” Fingers drum on the countertop. Kingsley is not the type of person she expects to see here, and she personally finds the atmosphere a bit difficult to relax in. Her vision of relaxing is in her secluded home, on her couch, with thick silence settled in the air. Perhaps with tea and a book.
“i relax, just not in front of most people simply because i don’t find being around people relaxing.” he corrects her with a shrug as he gets comfortable on the barstool. he looks at his folder that he has been working on for the past hour. taking a sip of his tea that is now lukewarm he places it back down carefully on the tiny plate. kingsley could never remember what those serving plates are actually called for tea. he really needed to brush up on his utensil work. “learning how muggles protect themselves and how wizards protect themselves might make you quite a powerful wizard.” he states with a shrug as he pushes the folder aside and turns all his uninvited attention towards gretchen. he could remember hearing her speak up once or twice in the order meetings that kingsley either lead or other member led. she had seemed pretty intelligent then, maybe-- hopefully nothing had changed since. “ before you even question why i’m here, some people have told me i needed to branch out, and..... i guess coming here was my poor.....” he pauses for a moment wondering if gretchen was a poor attempt, she had seemed pretty significant to him. taking a sip of his tea, letting it drain to the bottom of the teacup he places it back on the tiny plate. “attempt on branching out.”
She’s irritated all the more as she knows this person is preparing to strike again, and wants nothing more than to raise some sort of barrier between the two of them. She doesn’t want to have to kick them out, but on Merlin, she will, and if she does go through with it, it will not be mercifully. It is just as she’s reaching for her wand that a butter knife whizzes past the other’s face and she’s stopped in place. Her eyebrow juts up and she follows the line of direction the knife came from.
Though she won’t admit to it, she’s thoroughly impressed by his aim. The nuisance is likewise intimidated, judging from the way they scamper to the far end of the bar. Wordlessly, she removes the knife from the wall and gestures with it for Kingsley to approach the bar. “I didn’t realize we were using supper utensils as weapons, Shacklebolt.”
“it’s an underrated skill that the auror’s teach you.” kingsley said with a.... smile on his lips perhaps? it was always hard to tell with him. the truth was kinglsey didn’t even learn that from auror training. he was always particularly good at dueling even when he was at hogwarts. it was all about the precision, patience and accuracy was what his ravenclaw classmates had taught him at the time. he stares down at his paperwork that had caused his eyes to feel like they were bleeding out before closing the folder and gathering his belongings and carrying the tea in his hands over to the bar. “most of the other trainee’s laughed when i took it seriously, but it really does scare people off apparently.” he says placing everything on the bartop before sitting up tall on a stool. he had done far too much hunching over for the past week he had realized. it will start to make him appear older than he actually is. “it’s nice to see you again, gretchen, outside of meetings and whatnot. i didn’t realize you worked here.”
kingsley whom had just finished a meeting finally got out of the ministry of magic. his eyes felt like they were bleeding as he stuffed papers into his briefcase, though a few escaping he tries to grab them before the wind takes them. “dammit--” he mutters as he turns around and reaches into his pocket to pull out his wand and found himself pointing it directly at someone, loosing sight of the papers that he was trying to track down. bliinking slightly he buckles his briefcase together and pulls his wand away from the others chest. “um--” kingsley says clearing his throat. “you were not the reason why i pulled out my wand. you just happened to be there right when i turned around. sorry.” he says furrowing his brows in confusion as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck though his eyes still scanned the air to locate his missing documents.
There was something so uniquely special about the way slightly hardened snow crunched under your feet, how it left a fresh set of tracks in your path. Watching the snowfall only reminded Peter of the time he tried to charm the grounds of Hogwarts so it would clear up the snow behind everyone before it became grey and muddy with the footprints of the entire student body- but the magic of the castle seemed to be stronger than a bored teenager with twenty minutes to kill. Perhaps if he took the time he could do it now, give himself something completely mindless to dwell on for a while instead of the anxiety he constantly felt now a days.
It felt so tempting, to just not think for a couple of hours. But then a familiar face had caught his attention, removing him from his spot in the untouched snow and back towards the slightly larger crowd of people constantly occupying the streets of London.
“Didn’t expect to run into you here of all places.” he said, smiling slightly once he had finally reached the other. “I had a job down the street, the kid’s ten years old and causing all this snow. Going to be impressive when they finally get their wand. Anyway, I rushed over just to be told to go back to where I just was and start filing the paperwork.”
kingsley was actually taking a walk around his own neighborhood for a while now. for three hours to be exact. it had started to snow, then it stopped and now it’s the calmness after the snow. he had liked walking around for the most part. it was one of the few times where he could be alone. it was one of the times where hee didn’t have to listen to anyone’s goddamn nagging. it was always down his neck for some reason and the constant nagging from his coworkers and the general people around him threw him off his game and shoved all their complaints down his throat. he was grumpy, sure. but what isn’t new about kingsley? he was always grumpy. especially more these days around the holidays considering he had zero family to be around. he had circled the block multiple times, his own flat not being too far away. kingsley knows people around this area typically. or at least he likes to think that he knows people for the most part. though peter pettigrew, he had heard the name once or twice along with seeing a picture here and there but never actually met him in person. his brows furrow at the man’s words. he was so kind to him, and for what? kingsley never did anything for him. “i live just down the street.” he says gesturing one of the generic brick buildings. they all looked the same to him.
She’d such a distaste for the patrons who couldn’t catch a hint and realize she was simply not interested in holding a conversation with them - sober or not - and tonight was no exception. Gretchen had found herself unable to avoid one particular customer. Anytime she turned around, she was apt to find them nearby with another topic on the ready. Whether they were just too friendly or they were genuinely attempting to make a friend of her, they were reaching her final nerve.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about your bezoars or aprons or whatever it is you have been chatting my ear off about. Either go sit down, or I will have you kicked out.” A swift turn on the heel and a pointed and determined walk to the end of the bar left her with grit teeth as she wiped down the counter.
kingsley has heard the commotion from a nearby armchair that he had himself situated at for quite a while now; ordering his chamomile tea, letting his hand rest against the mug he had let the warmth of the mug ease his mind as he stared mindlessly at papers that he swears he has been reading for hours at this point even though realistically he has only been there for a little while. he hears the fight break out and sees that the other is still not leaving the poor bartender alone. his other hand has been playing with the butter knife mindlessly before raising it and throwing it inches away from the other that has been bugging the young woman, landing perfectly on the wooden wall just inches away from the others face. had it grazed the others skin? unknown at this particular point. “i think she wants you to leave her alone if that wasn’t clear enough.” kingsley says finally as he watches the other scurry away finally. a pause, he listens to the ticking of the clock behind the faint sound of the music. “people can be quite annoying sometimes, right?”
“ A GALLEON SAYS MCTAVISH IS ABOUT TO DROP THE QUAFFLE. ” marlene declared to no one in particular. a wicked grin curved her lips as she draped herself across the bar , moving to adjust the radio knobs to get a clearer sound as if tuning the thing would manifest a mistake by puddlemere’s chaser. the barkeep began to protest , grumbling about etiquette and marlene’s ‘ poor taste in quidditch teams ’ … to which she could only respond with , “ don’t be a poor sport just because your team is absolute shite this year — ”
in the midst of her comment , the announcer relayed the magpie’s score ( marlene’s pride and joy ) and the woman cut herself off with an excited yell. “ this is even better! do a round for the bar , will you? to celebrate the inevitable magpie win. ” she paused , glancing to the person nearest to her , “ tell me you’re a magpie fan or i’m cancelling the order. ”
“i...... don’t really follow quidditch.” kingsley said with a furrowed brow. he wasn’t really sure why he was here to be honest considering he didn’t drink often. he was just there for the atmosphere and he needed to get out of the flat to get away from his roommate-- will. it was nice to be somewhere surrounded by people for once though he supposed that he shouldn’t be doing auror paperwork at a place like the leaky cauldron. “but uh, i guess that i’m a magpie fan?” he says, though it came out more of a question than he intended to as he stares down at his paperwork that had caused his eyes to feel like they were bleeding out. blinking a couple times he glances over at the bartender whom had been giving kingsley sparkling water for the past hour. closing the manilia folder he turns his full uninvited attention to marlene. “so, what happened now? i’m kind of out of the loop right now.”
