Written by Stella; affiliated with Sallow Hills Information on my characters can be found at the pages linked below. Jenny (Doctor Who) Sirius Black (Marauders) Dorcas Meadowes (Marauders)
Jane prentiss so effectively impersonating Martin over text clearly means one of three things:
-Martin didn't text very much so it'd be hard to judge whether it was his typing voice or not. (unlikely)
-Martin texts in such an unpredictable way that such a change of tone wouldn't be weird. (possible)
-OR, Jane Prentiss scrolled through all his texts giggling and kicking her legs at his pitiful yearning, and copied him like a teenager role-playing their favourite fictional queer. (most likely)
A short fic about Martin Blackwood’s arrival in Sallow Hills. Contains spoilers for Magnus Archives season 5.
One moment Martin was clinging to Jon, a knife he’d plunged into his stomach the only thing between them as the tower collapsed around them.
The next moment, Martin was laying face up in bright sunlight, in a park he’d never visited before. He blinked rapidly, and then laughed, with utter relief.
They’d made it. They’d landed in some other universe, one with green grass and sunlight and birds singing.
“Jon, we did it,” he said, and then tilted his head to one side, and then the other. He stood up quickly, suddenly struck with fear.
Jon was nowhere in sight.
“Shit. Shit, shit, SHIT!”
They were supposed to be together. TOGETHER! That had been the deal.
But he was nowhere to be seen. And Martin was all alone, in an unknown dimension. He stood up, wearily. The bright skies didn’t feel quite so friendly anymore, and he was beginning to panic.
“Excuse me, do you need some help?” Martin heard a friendly voice speak. He jumped, twisting around to see… a regular person? Speaking English? Well, that was a relief. Martin didn’t say anything for a moment, looking down at his filthy clothes and then back at the unknown person.
“Erm. Has anyone by the name of Jon passed through here?”
The person shook their head. “Not that I know of, but I know some places we can look. Did you just arrive?”
“Uhhh. Yes?” Martin said cautiously, looking down at the patch of grass he had appeared on.
“I’m Dorcas,” the person said. “She/they pronouns. It’s nice to meet you! I was like you once too, totally confused as to how I ended up here. If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to Bivin & Cecil’s. They should be able to square you away. And I’ll explain everything to you as we walk.”
Martin nodded slowly. “Okay… I’m Martin. He/they. Good to meet you too?” He shook the hand she had offered and let her lead him into town.
Martin listened intently as Dorcas told him about Sallow Hills, where it was, when it was, how people from all different dimensions sort of just ended up here, seemingly at random.
“Huh. Well that’s… quite interesting,” he said. “Is there any record of everyone who’s showed up here?”
“I think so,” Dorcas said. “For the most part, anyway. This town can do crazy things to your memory. Like my girlfriend, she’s where I’m from, but she has memories of growing up here.”
“Spooky.”
“Yeah,” Dorcas laughed as they came upon an inn. “But it ended up alright. This Jon of yours, I hope you find them.”
“Thanks,” Martin said, giving her a smile and watching her walk away. His heart was full of trepidation, but he clung to the hope. The hope that he’d find Jon. There wasn’t any other option.
i see we have a new member to our town. welcome, welcome MARTIN BLACKWOOD. we truly hope you enjoy your stay. please feel free to head over to bevin & cecil’s until you’re settled. i know it might be difficult right now and you might be missing your home. Jonathan Simms & Sasha James already here t, so you won’t have to be alone.
══ stella we’re so excited to have your newest muse in sallow hills! you can re-find the welcome package in the source link & if you are using side blogs, make sure we know where your character is going.
i see we have a new member to our town. welcome, welcome JAMES POTTER. we truly hope you enjoy your stay. please feel free to head over to bevin & cecil’s until you’re settled. now you might be feeling a little weird or have odd dreams, but don’t fret too much. those happen often in this town and if you need anything, just stop by the town hall or hospital.
══ snow welcome to sallow hills hq! check the source for the welcome package & make sure to join our discord within 12 hours
In a way, it’s almost comforting to know that Agatha also felt isolated in their relationship. That it wasn’t just him that felt alienated. But it also made him feel like a bit of an asshole, because it’s partially his fault she’d felt that way. It was Simon who asked her out, it was him who went on adventure after adventure while Agatha was used against him. It was Simon who didn’t understand how to be a good partner in their relationship, and who never bothered much to be better at it.
Simon’s always been the one to bring chaos and destruction into his own life, and even before magic he’d come to terms with that fact. Everything with the Humdrum just proved that he’s the anti-hero of the story. He just wished he didn’t have to bring people down with him.
He’s happy Agatha had someone help her understand herself a bit more. He’s happy that Niamh came into both their lives when she did (although, of all people he would have never guessed it’d be Niamh Brody to come into their group in any possible way).
“Well, I don’t think I’d mind someone just telling me to my face what it is I am. I’d really like that, actually. It’d be so much easier.” Other people always seemed to have a better idea of who he was; Baz, Penny, his father. The Mage may have been a lot of things, but he hadn’t been completely wrong about Simon even if some things had hurt to hear.
“I’m really happy that you met Niamh and that she helped you through all of this. She sounds like a good friend to have.”
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t. I really am. Sorry. For everything. I didn’t mean to treat you like some kind of consolation prize or…I don’t know. I wasn’t a good boyfriend or a good friend. And I knew I wasn’t but I never tried to do better by you. And you deserved better than all of that. I’m sorry. ”
Agatha looked at Simon with affectionate eyes as he spoke, as he stumbled through an apology.
“It’s okay. Really,” she said. “You didn’t know how to handle a relationship back then, and you had a lot going on. I mean, as much as I went through, I can’t imagine what it was like to be in your shoes. You didn’t ask to be the Chosen One. It came with a lot of responsibility that no one our age should have had to bear during school.”
"I’m glad I had her too. I miss her. If I could wish anyone to show up here, it would be her--although I’d also hate for her to be trapped here against her will, I know all too well how that feels,” she said, snorting a bit at her last words.
Agatha reached out and squeezed his hand.
“I wish I could tell you and give you all your answers. Maybe... maybe you can start simple. Rule out things. I mean, you like Baz. So you clearly aren’t straight.”
He nods slowly- they are right, there was no much way he could have known about them unless he had met them before. His parents had never really mentioned many people, but he does remember his grandmother going off a photo once. For some reason, he had focused on his parents on that picture the most though.
‘Have had? They’re still alive- yeah. I mean, they are not here with me, but they were still very much here. I hope to see them soon, I am sure they will show up.’
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“Oh yeah, no, of course,” Dorcas said quickly. “I just meant, y’know, growing up. But obviously they’ll always be your parents.”
She gave him a smile. “I hope so too. I appreciate your optimism. It feels like the people who show up in this town are very random, you know? Like I can’t predict who will show up next. But I hope you’re right. I’d do anything to get to hug Alice’s neck again.”
“i don’t know where i left it - or dropped it, i supposify. i don’t remember if i left it sitting somewhere or if i dropped it,” she said, walking in. “oh no, i’m fine, thank you. i’ll be out of your hair as soon as i find my wallet. i really should find a better place to carry my badge.”
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“Okay,” Sirius said, a bit amused by the frazzled woman and her strange way of speaking. It was oddly endearing.
“It’s totally alright, I’ll help you look, Miss... what’s your name? I’m Sirius, by the way.”
Sirius looked toward the floor, looking for the wallet.
Harry immediately felt terrible as her grin left her. “No – I’m sorry I just.” they rubbed the back of their neck and shrugged their shoulders “its hard – so many people knowing them and I just never really know how to respond.”
“You were? do you uh – would you mind telling me about her? I mean I’ve heard the basics, but I just…I’d love to know more.”
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Dorcas sighed in relief as Harry shrugged, and then asked her to tell them about Lily.
“Lily was... just wonderful,” she said. “She was fiery, never taking shit from anyone. She was also... kind. And so smart. She helped me out with my homework more than once.”
Dorcas bit her lip, looking at them a bit nervously and glancing at the coffee shop door.
“Would you like to duck inside and sit? Rather than standing on the street you know.”
Ingfrid could see the way their eyes drifted from her face to her tail and back up, and it made her close to ecstatic to see the way their grin widened. She arched up on her toes, a half-contained way to channel her excitement without jumping up and down. She’d been told that while joy was something to cherish, not everyone appreciated her very physical display of joy.
She stepped closer to him, taking his hand in her own, not caring that she was using the wrong hand to shake, and that her hand was placed on the outside of his, in an awkward and stuttering hand-shaking motion. “Hello Sirius Black,” she chimed. “My name is Ingfrid. I have never met someone who’s name is also a color before.”
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Sirius found themself grinning even wider as she took their hand awkwardly in hers.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ingfrid,” he said. “I’ve never really given much thought to my name being a color before. It’s not exactly my favorite part of my name, I don’t love the family it came from.”
He glanced at the ground awkwardly, not sure why he was opening up to her so quickly. He wasn’t usually one to do that.
This was hard for harry. After the war Harry thought they could run from everything, run from everyone they lost and run from the people they still had. Being here that just proved to them that running was never the answer. They did miss Romania and Charlie though, that was way better then this.
They didn’t realize they were staring at Sirius until they saw them wave. They cleared their throat and waved back before walking over to them.
“Sorry I didn’t – mean to stare you just looked familiar. Sorry.”
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Sirius looked at them, tilting his head slightly, and then stuck out his hand to shake.
“Quite alright,” he said. “I’m told I have one of those faces.” He wasn’t really, but Sirius found it tended to help to say that when someone seemed to recognize him. Oddly, it had been happening more and more since he moved to Sallow Hills, but it hadn’t happen enough for him to be suspicious yet.
There was something so genuine about the way Dorcas smiled at her, the amusement in her eyes, the excitement. It had been a while since Zee had felt that way about magic, at least her own. These days, she mostly felt frustrated about being stuck in a place where her magic could do almost anything but the thing that she wanted it to do the most - go home.
“My brand of magic is unique to my family. I dabble in other roots of magic too, but my go-to brand is saying it backwards, unless I’m doing a ritual. Latin usually works best for those no matter who you are.” She shrugged her shoulders, as if she was saying go figure. “A witch, huh? Where are you from?”
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Dorcas listened with interest.
“Unique to your family... that’s so cool,” she said. She’d never heard of magic being specific to one family, outside of passed on traits like being able to speak in parsel tongue or being a metamorphagus.
They grinned, happy to see something in common with Latin being a root for magic. She wondered what it was about the language, that embued it with those powers.
“Yeah, I am. I’m from England specifically, but I went to school called Hogwarts, with other witches and wizards. I assume I’m from a different universe than you are.”
“Don’t worry about it. That doesn’t happen so much here. I almost forgot what it was like,” he gave a soft, self-deprecating chuckle. Steve had never seen the appeal in celebrity, not in the 40s and not later on, but it was outside of his control and he tried not to think about it much. It was easier to do in Sallow Hills where he wasn’t as recognized.
“Yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you, Sirius.” He offered a hand. Steve was doing everything he could to stay relaxed and friendly, hoping it would put them at ease too. He actually did recognize the name, but he’d been here long enough to know better than to say so. Harry Potter was one of his and Bucky’s favorites, and they’d read through all the books together.
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Sirius took his hand, feeling a little bit better as Steve told him not to worry about it.
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it,” he said. “I’m not used to- well, meeting people from... other universes, I guess? I mean, Marlene- that’s my girlfriend, she’s from here and she told me about this being a thing. But y’know, before I moved here in July I hadn’t experienced anything like Sallow. No magic, no nothing. Just regular old humanity.”
He gave him a smile, shrugging his shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you though. You’re a total badass.”
“THANK YOU. It is! Completely. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” She shook her head, feeling both resolved and vindicated. If Agatha was calling something shady, then it almost certainly was. She was way less likely to go looking for trouble, so Penelope took it seriously if she was seeing red flags. And Armes was a whole mess of red flags.
Except for the part about being stuck, Penny actually liked Sallow Hills too. She got to live a relatively normal life with her found family, and the town had taught her a lot about magickal species coexisting peacefully.
“Only two. Baz’s snake, and Simon’s dragon. But honestly, I feel like Scone is enough work for three pets.” She rolled her eyes, but there was affection in it. She’d never really thought of herself as a pet person, but she was fond of the baby dragon. Although baby might be stretching it these days.
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Agatha laughed (good naturedly) at Penny’s outburst of thanks. “You one hundred percent will,” she said. “If anyone can get to the bottom of this, you can. Who knows, maybe if you can figure out what causes people to come and go, this could be like, a place you could willingly leave and come back to. I’d like to be able to check in on the goats, y’know? And of course, see my family.”
Agatha nodded when Penny listed off the pets. She’d met them both and were quite fond of the little animals.
“Scone is so flipping cool,” she said. “I mean, I’m happy with just my dog Lucy, but having a baby dragon sound amazing -- and like a lot of work, yeah. Do you know how big Scone’s going to get?”
He chuckles nervously when the other says that word- he doesn’t really remember anyone telling him that before. It feels oddly comforting. ‘Oh, really? I am sorry- I don’t remember you. Wouldn’t have remembered you anyway, somehow, I always forget things- I even had a Remember all in Hogwarts-’ He has it with him here, but he can’t remember exactly where.
‘Oh? Really? That’s-uh, yeah that is interesting. Well. I would love to see them in any way.’
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“Oh, no, that’s okay that you don’t remember me,” Dorcas said quickly. “I mean, you were just a baby, so how could you?”
She didn’t mention that she suspected she had died before he’d be old enough to remember her. She’d specifically asked Remus not to tell her anything about her personal future, but having been here for eight months and gotten to know a couple of other people from her universe, she’d sorta figured it out from context clues.
It wasn’t something they liked to think about though, and they quickly pushed the thoughts out of their head, willing themself to concentrate on this moment.
“Me too,” they said. “Alice and Frank were... just so good, y’know? You’re lucky to have had them as parents.”
It was not their best or their smartest move to bring up the failures of the sorting hat. To think about Peter. He had been brave, when they were in school. Bold was how Remus would’ve described it. He was never scared to face down professors and make excuses up on the fly (where Remus had to have a dozen or so prepared and rehearsed for it to come out right). Perhaps in some people’s minds it would be brave to go against everything your friends stood for and turn against them. But it was a coward trying to stay alive. Someone with no loyalty when it came to the punch.
And it broke their heart to think about.
To think how Peter had betrayed them all, and worse had made sure that they didn’t trust one another. And to think that Dorcas might not even know. Pryderi, she might not even know. She was so young (not that they were old, truthfully).
“I like that,” Remus said, pushing a smile across their face. “They and she. Now, this is your journey. Until or unless you specify otherwise, I won’t mention it outside of our private conversations. You can take your time with it.”
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Dorcas watched Remus’s face, and they bit their lip. What was going on in their mind? There was a lot that happened to Remus between now and when she had left their older universe. She had chosen not to learn more than a few passing details. She knew about Lily and James’s death (not the fact of Peter’s betrayal), that Harry had defeated Voldemort, that Sirius had died in the veil, but she knew that other horrible, horrible things had happened too, that she didn’t know about. Was Remus thinking about that right now? Dorcas wanted to reach out to them, tell them they could share it with them, if it would help -- She’d learn some more for the sake of being able to support her friend.
But then Remus smiled again, and Dorcas felt like the moment had passed.
“I like it too,” they said, smiling as well. “I don’t think I’d mind you mentioning it to other people. I mean, I don’t feel like I need to make a banner and proclaim it to everyone. But I feel safe in this town, y’know? I’m able to be open and completely me here.”
