* / 𝑜𝑝𝘩𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑎

[womansxicons]

like/reblog if you save, and if you want, credits to elidecarswell on twitter

[opheliaxrowle]

Rodolphus.

WHEN:  The evening of September 27th WHERE:  Ophelia’s Apartment @rodolphos

“The howler’s sitting on the entryway table if you wanna take a peak. It made for a good laugh, though further evidence to my mother’s deteriorating psyche.” Ophelia spoke from the kitchen as she moved about garnishing the dish before she brought it out. Ophelia didn’t cook often but when had the desire to whomever had the fortune of being in the vicinity was going to have try it. Tonight it was a duck confit to replicate one of the dishes served at her favorite Parisian restaurant. Setting the platter down slowly with the wave of her wand She took a seat opposite him, clearly expectant and anxious to know how the recipe had turned out. When he’d helped himself to a serving she served herself and took a small bite all the while watching him though slowly her face contorted as the salt overwhelmed her taste buds. She took several sips of water before speaking. “I guess we should order something else...”

[opheliaxrowle]

Percy.

Percy just needed to get out of that office. He found it ironic, that a place where they were meant to write was often the worst place to write for him. Sometimes, he’d go to coffee shops in the middle of the day or sit outside. Luckily, most of his hard work was done out in the field, watching games or interviewing players. He only needed to go back to the office to piece it all together.

That wasn’t coming so easily this afternoon. He was working against a deadline and he could still barely string a sentence together. He looked at his half full tea cup then pulled a vial out of his robe. Just a little pick me up. He poured a few drops of the tincture into his drink, but he stumbled as he saw someone coming his way. He rushed to close the vial and slip it back into his robe. It wasn’t like it was the worst thing he could be taking, but he still didn’t feel like he needed to be flaunting it.

He cleared his throat as the person approached. “Afternoon,” he said. He wasn’t sure if he should address what had happened or not. “Cough potion. Can’t afford to miss work with the way the world’s been lately.”

With her work day having concluded earlier than usual after a particularly draining meeting all the way across the pond, Ophelia had no desire to return to her office, feeling queazy from the portkey that had taken her to and from the states. Picking up her favorite brew and some pastries was what she’d decided on for a lunch since she could use the pick me up. Spotting Perseus on her way out of the shop dropping something into his cup no less peaked her interest.

It wasn’t long ago that she’d made multiple attempts to poach the man from the daily prophet with promises of headlining in sports radio at the WWN, having admired his work while it was her job to be on the look out for talent. He almost made quidditch sound bearable, but alas her days at WWN had come to an end. Ophelia’s lips quirked at his explanation. “If you say so, though I could hardly judge, given the state of the world lately.” 

[kieraknightley]

[handeercelfp]

earth tones suit her so well 🤎

*episode 11 trailer

[opheliaxrowle]

Ophelia.

If Jean-Luc was bothered by her lack of response, he didn’t show it. Sure, their horizontal activities were always well anticipated and well enjoyed, but it simply wasn’t in his nature to expect anything. If his casual attempt at flirtation was not returned, no matter. Besides, the night was young - he’d just walked in her door, if anything was to happen it certainly wouldn’t be so immediate. As she stepped in to help, he couldn’t help but note just how natural it all was; they knew each other well enough that their movements seemed to always compliment the other’s, he felt. Holding her felt that way, too. Ophelia had always just seemed to fit, as if sometime in all their years of knowing each other she’d carved out space for herself. “Of course,” Jean-Luc agreed with a nod, smiling fondly down at her. “I’m glad you are healing. I hope everyone else affected is, too.” With a sigh, his lips tugged downwards. “This violence…. it all truly seems so misguided. What can these people hope to achieve by causing terror and hiding behind masks?” It would be hard to find someone more genuinely neutral than him, but the violence - from both sides - was where he drew a line.

“You know,” Jean-Luc began, tone conversational. “My father mentioned a conversation with your parents, while I was home.” Even though he knew one way or another, him and Ophelia would come out the other side - wouldn’t they always? - there was just a hint of nerves, his normally so level head deciding he should bring this up far earlier than he’d intended to. Besides, it wasn’t anything formal, and certainly wasn’t anything new; Jean-Luc was pretty sure their parents had been expecting this since they reached marrying age. Maybe it wasn’t nerves, then, so much as curiosity. “It seems they’ve been talking again.” His hand stilled, and he turned to her with an almost sheepish expression. “Actually, how about we open that wine?”

After pulling back from him, Ophelia returned to leaning against one of the countertops to watch him cook. She’s tried learning at one point, but she simply didn’t have the patience for it, and it wasn’t exactly something that inconvenienced her considering her mother insisted on having sent Binks to cook and clean her apartment at least twice a week. But she did appreciate the talent in others. She pondered his words a moment before answering. “Causing terror is what the hope to achieve, isn’t it? They want to keep power and prestige with an iron grip, that’s all it is.” Those in their world couldn’t tolerate change, they couldn’t tolerate the long standing traditions and order of the world gradually changing as it was. In that regard her family was far better off because they’d come to realize that even beyond purity there was power in wealth and position, the Selwyns if nothing else were adaptable.

His family wasn’t all that different, which was why they’d had such long standing friendships, bridging generations. Ophelia quirked an eyebrow, their fathers being in business together she imagined spoke nearly everyday. So that much wasn’t news, so it was likely the topic of conversation that he wanted to discuss. “If our mother’s were involved it probably wasn’t about business...” Ophelia commented unable to keep the hint of bitterness from her voice at that. Her brows shot up when he suggested the wine, but she obliged accios two glasses before she cast a spell on the cork to unfasten. Once she had a glass for both of them poured she held out his and raised an eyebrow. “Just tell me what they’ve come up with now,” she said with a sigh, knowing it was likely something grating as always.

[opheliaxrowle]

Orion.

Orion was willfully blind. He knew there was too much to lose if he ever really went down the path of who was right or wrong. The answer was so glaringly clear that Orion much preferred the security of complicity over facing his own choices. “He wasn’t here when everything happened,” he replied, annoyance flashing across his face and then realized it wasn’t exactly the most ringing endorsement. He wasn’t exactly horrified she would suggest such a thing. Orion looked down, taking a deep breath. He knew it wasn’t something he wanted to ask Doug. He would either tell the truth about his involvement or lie and either would have broken his heart. “This isn’t about him, Lia. I don’t know if he’s a Death Eater. This is about you letting Rodolphus get away with hurting you.” 

Ophelia fixed a pointed look on her big brother whether he met her gaze or not. While he might be able to ask questions, that wasn’t the case for her. She didn’t hesitate to ask what she needed to know know exactly the kind of man she as in bed with. Her brother was far better than her and that they’d always known, he chose to remain in blissful ignorance otherwise he wouldn’t be able to go on, she simply didn’t care as much. Or she hadn’t until things hit so close to home. That had been a wake up call for her, and she was still reeling from it. Unsure of how to go on from there on. The fact that she couldn’t simply make a clean break from Roe like she had with countless others a testament to how attached she’d become. “That’s because you refuse to face the truth, can you honestly say he tells you everything? That he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, ever?” She asked, frustrated that he was likely headed toward heartbreak and he was ignoring all the signs. At least with her, she didn’t allow for her heart to broken, or so she thought. “That’s not true, I’m still very upset with him and have made that very clear to him.”

[wordsnquotes]

Perhaps the fact that I chased a boy who ripped me to shreds says a lot more about me than it did about him.

Michelle K., Lessons Learned. (via wordsnquotes)

[opheliaxrowle]

Rodolphus.

He had not expected this to go well. She was right, words meant little. In the end, he had sat with her in the Leaky Cauldron – a stolen moment under the threat of too many eyes – and said nothing. “Your family should never have been targeted,” he said. Her blood was pure and, though the Selwyns were not Death Eaters, they were anything but blood traitors. “If any of us hurt them, hurt you, I will have them punished.”

That went without saying, so Ophelia simply stayed silent begin to pace ever so slowly where she stood past the threshold crossing her arms because wrapping them around herself would’ve perhaps felt too weak. Behind all her anger, there was hurt and a storm of emotions cause by all the questions his actions as of late had brought up in her mind. Her brother’s warnings, and disapprovement, as well as her own doubts becoming so difficult to ignore. She smiled wryly at the sentiment stopping in front of him again. “Then how do you plan on punishing yourself?”

[opheliaxrowle]

Jean-Luc.

The worst part about returning to France now that both the Delacours and the Selwyns all called England home was that the home he’d grown up with wasn’t quite home without them. France would always be where he gravitated back to, if for no reason these days other than for respite from this ridiculous war, but more and more he was finding England harder to leave. Jean-Luc’s nose crinkled up and his expression remained affectionate. “I’d hate to find out, I only have so much more to offer.” There was something playful in the way he looked at her, the type of gaze that, had Jean-Luc been the type to do so, probably would have been a wink. There were very, very few people around whom he felt this comfortable - perhaps none, actually, because there wasn’t really any realm in which he wasn’t comfortable with Ophelia. 

It was so easy, so normal, to go through her kitchen, grabbing a cutting board and whatever else he may need, lulled by the sound of her explanation as he worked. Jean-Luc was the type of person who longed to take away everyone’s pain, but with Ophelia, it was different. Wand raised to cast the spell to begin chopping up ingredients, he lowered it without hesitation to fix his entire focus on her again the moment he processed the admission. The frown on his face drew out wrinkles on his forehead with the strength of the emotions behind it. There was nothing to do but reach out to pull her into an embrace as he had a dozen times before. “I’m so sorry, love. I can’t imagine what that was like, but I am so relieved you are safe. All of you.”.” Pulling away, he grinned. “You know I’ll never let anything bad happen to my second-favorite family.” As with everything else, his tone was just so genuine, the tinge of guilt that he hadn’t been there for her sooner clear in his expression.

Though Ophelia grinned at his response she did bite her tongue, keeping herself from saying something entirely too suggestive despite the words sitting just at the tip of her tongue. That would be a slippery slope all things considering. Normally she was quite unadulterated and forward with him, having reached a level of comfort with him that literally took years in the making. But tonight she refrained from eluding to one of their favorite pastimes, and also from telling him about the relationship she was in, another uncommonality for her. However, this time around - at least for the moment, after all the chaos that had unfolded these last few weeks she wasn’t feeling the proudest of her choices, more so than usual. She knew what her brother had so say about it and didn’t particularly feel like hearing it from him.

She knew the dish well enough after all her time spent along side the Delacours that she aided in pulling spices and utensils from her pristinely organized cabinets, a feat of both magic and lack of use, in an effort to be somewhat helpful. When she finally met his gaze again she stilled seeing how clearly he understood her hurt, while Ophelia wasn’t normally a hugger with most she allowed him to wrap his arms around her the tenseness in her posture slowly easing as she wrapped her arms around his center her head resting perfectly just at the crook his shoulder. A small smile playing at her lips as she leaned back after they stood that way for a bit. “It could’ve been much worse, it was for many...but I guess it just feels all the worst because some of them aren’t exactly strangers...” With a sigh she shook her head to get the thoughts out of her head they’d been too prevalent on her mind as is. “It’s over now, it’s been some time. I’m okay, we all are.”

[opheliaxrowle]

Orion.

“At least they’re doing something,” Orion said. Most of the times he could keep the thoughts of their complicity from haunting him, told himself that there was nothing they could. Orion could turn a blind eye to everything around him most hours of the day but apparently alcohol did make him some kind of honest. “Doing something is still better than doing nothing.” He knew in the back of his mind that he should stop, switch to water like she had but he poured himself another glass of whiskey. Anything to drown out the thoughts spinning in his head. “Which he didn’t tell you about either,” he took a long sip “And Sophie almost got hurt.” He knew there was no need to remind her but Orion was frustrated and didn’t know how to make her listen. “Fuck, Lia- do you really want to be with someone like - that?”

Ophelia pursed her lips not saying anymore on that matter, not wanting to go down that road and challenge literally everything she knew and valued. Nothing was as simple as good and bad, that was all she reminded herself. She did however stiffen up at his rebuking, she didn’t need the reminder she was well aware and more than a little peeved over the fact without his admonishments. Her jaw worked a moment before she replied, “You’re one to talk Orion, did Mulciber tell you anything?”

[opheliaxrowle]

Valentine’s Day Alphabet Meme [x]    */    NOT ACCEPTING

( F: FLIRT ) Is your muse good at flirting? How do they flirt?

No, I actually don’t think she’s the best flirt. She’s not terrible at it but it’s not her strong suit. She’s alluring, and can be pretty straightforward about what she wants and that’s more her style than actual flirting.

asked by ( @whiskeyrid )

( N: NAUGHTY ) What is your muse like in bed?

She’s had a lot of partners, and is pretty experiences as a result so make with that what you will.

( O: ODE ) Does your muse have a way with words?

She can be quite persuasive when she wants to be though this is more in the professional intellectual realm, she’s good at her job and knows how to present herself in the best light. However, when it comes to expressing herself emotionally she really has to have reached a certain level of comfort with someone to be able to be open with them.

( X: XOXO )  Does your muse use / like pet names?

She's not a big fan of pet names in excess once in a while perhaps.

asked by ( @ttonksx )

( R: ROMANCE ) Is your muse a romantic or a cynic?

A cynic for sure, Ophelia doesn’t have any exaggerated fantasies of a perfect relationship by any means, she’s practical about her love life to an extent. 

( S: SWEETHEART ) Did your muse have a childhood sweetheart?

Not explicitly.

( Y: YOURS ) Does your muse get protective easily?

Yes, and it’s often not even something she realizes, but more of an instinct.

asked by ( @crowningcissa )

[r-siken-deactivated20210531]

[opheliaxrowle]

self-portrait against red wallpaper, richard siken  (  @rodolphos​  )

[opheliaxrowle]

Jean-Luc.

Grinning as if he’d been caught, he leaned in to kiss her cheek in greeting before stepping through the door. “Ah, but this way you get wine and food. I even grabbed some dacquoise for dessert.” Jean-Luc had never been much of a drinker, but he always made the exception for Ophelia. Setting down the bag, the bottle of wine - red, expensive, the sommelier’s pick because he had no idea what he was doing - was the first thing he grabbed. He presented it with a smile, placing it off to the side but within her reach as he began unloading the rest.

Jean-Luc wasn’t much of a chef, either - there was no point in learning growing up, not with the house elves always there to cook for them - but he’d learned his way around the kitchen eventually. No matter how rugged he might become, he’d been raised on fine dining, and there was no shame in admitting he preferred it. Besides, where was he going to get a good French meal around here? So he’d learned to make a little bit of this and that, and as much as he was sure Ophelia had tried all his dishes already, he hoped it would at least bring a smile to her face. Turning back to her once he had everything laid out, he looked her over fondly, as if recommitting her to memory. “While I cook, I’d love to hear what all you’ve been up to since I left.” Jean-Luc reached out to squeeze her hand familiarly. “I missed you.”

The Delacours often felt like an extension of her own family, so when the twins were around all felt right in the world, of course each for very different reasons. She and Jean-Luc were never just friends, a fact that tended to muddle things when she found herself in a relationship. It wasn’t often that she entered into long term commitments, so this was new territory all together. Ophelia only half smiled when he leaned in to kiss her cheek, before closing the door to follow him into the kitchen, gathering her mass of long dark hair to the top of head to take up into a bun as she spoke. “Heavens, if I’m getting all this just cause you were gone a couple months, I wonder what else you’d throw in if it was any longer.”

Leaning down on the counter she watched him sorting through the contents of the bag, pushing things around in order of height every so often. It didn’t really matter if she was hungry or not, it was his company that really mattered. It was familiar and safe, Jean unlike most of the guys she’d gone through had never let her down and she could take comfort in that always. Her attention returned to him when he asked about everything that had happened in his absence. “Nothing new really. I’ve just been a little caught up in everything that’s happened this past month. The Easter attack was the worst, Sofia nearly got hurt pretty badly, and well I was scared.” And it was that easy, he was her friend longer than anyone and so it was as simple as that.

Ophelia had always felt a disconnect with kids, while she loved her niece and nephew Orion was the clear favorite of theirs and she pretended like it didn’t bother her. But when Sofia could’ve been hurt, and then she learned about the Potter boy it was more unsettling for her than she would’ve imagined it to be. It put so much more into flux than she would’ve thought possible, and nothing made sense. Looking down at where his hand reached for hers she exhaled slowly, smiling. “I missed you too.”

[opheliaxrowle]

Orion.

He thought of his brother’s children and how they lit up whenever he visited and of little Hannah and how Sofia trusted him when she asked him to babysit and fuck did it even matter - a child was a child no matter whose it was. It burned like shame in his heart; the fact that they- he was complicit. “I don’t want to find out what’s next,” he said softly. He realized this definitely wasn’t the first time. How many nameless children had there been? Too many. Even one was one too many. “How the fuck do we go on like this?” He closed his eyes for a moment before sitting up suddenly, his head spinning. How fucked up was it that despite everything that had happened, he could still not stop thinking about Douglas being engaged. He thought the alcohol would work but it hadn’t. He remembered the oblivion that came with the drugs he always let himself fall back on and closed his eyes for a moment before focusing on her again, “Did Rodolphus know about this?” his question was pointed and he scoffed, shaking his head, “He would have, wouldn’t he?”

One minute he was somewhat eye level where he lay opposite her but then he was suddenly sitting up and upside down in her line of sight, the movement made her head spin just a little. With some effort Ophelia rose as well reaching for a cup and this time pouring herself some water. “I don’t know, O.” She muttered with a sigh, “I don’t think anyone does, not the ministry, and definitely not the so called ‘Order’.” Their name was almost ironic, they had failed to bring any order to anything. When her brother asked about Rodolphus she looked up with some reluctance taking a few sips of water before answering. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked much since Easter. But probably.” She said a bit sheepishly, realizing suddenly that she almost felt ashamed by that fact.

[opheliaxrowle]

Jean-Luc.

who: @opheliaselwyn where: ophelia’s flat when: dinnertime

Jean-Luc had been anxiously waiting for evening to come about all day. It had only been a few days since he’d returned from his latest stint in France, but already it felt like too long. What was a few days to a few months, though? The truth was simply that he wanted to see her far more than he’d wanted to do whatever he’d been up to since his return. Obligations were obligations, though, so Jean-Luc had done what he must as quickly as possible, jumping at the first chance to drop in for a visit. Ophelia was one of his oldest friends - definitely his oldest a whole lot more - and he wasn’t afraid to admit that he missed her when he was away. With a bag of groceries under his arm, he knocked solidly on her door, grinning as soon as she opened it. “I hope this isn’t a bad time,” he began, gesturing with his free hand to the groceries. “If you’re free, I figured I owed you dinner for being away so long.”

The warm spring weather, her favorite candle nor the record playing in the room past her balcony window were enough to calm Ophelia’s mind and fully engross herself in the novel she had open in her lap. Her mind kept straying to the happenings of the weeks past, she felt unsettled and not in the way she usually preferred. The relationship that had been the source of her comfort for so many months now being in question, was perhaps the worst of it. When she heard the faint sound of doorbell over the music she had half a mind to let it be, not in the mood for company or surprises as to whom it might be. Her brother was the only company she could tolerate and he was the now the only one who could come and go as he pleased so really it could be anyone.

Whatever it was that ultimately brought her to the door didn’t matter because she felt contented by the sight of the person standing there. The small smile that tugged at her lips was completely unbidden. “I’d have been happy with just the wine I know you have tucked in there.” She replied before opening the door wider to allow him to step through.

[quotemadness]

Many things interested her, and nothing satisfied her entirely.

Ivan Turgenev (via quotemadness)