history has it's eyes on you.

i wrote my way out of hell / i wrote my way to revolution / i was louder than the crack in the bell. marlene mckinnon, frank longbottom and amelia bones.

[portkcysa]

“waves crashing against the shore, the sound of children’s laughter filling a hallway, carrying stacks of paper to and fro, a desk with your name on it, perfectly manicured nails, slamming your hand against the table, red lipstick, the sound of high heels on the floor.” – ( gugu mbatha-raw, twenty-eight, cisfemale, she/her. ) amelia bones? yes, i have more information about them. the twenty-eight year old half-blood used to attend hogwarts as aravenclaw. nowadays, they’re an member of the wizengamot & recently instituted head of the department of magical law enforcement, and are currently a order of the phoenix member. from what i’ve heard, they can be quite strong and intelligent, but alsodespondent and cynical. from their records, i can also see that their best subject at school was ancient runes. ( ellie, 18, she/her, gmt. ) – CANON

QUICK FACTS

alignment: neutral good / lawful good. amortentia: a spritz of perfume. dragonsnaps. freshly baked sugar cookies. the smell of someone’s hair drenched in salt water. breakfast tea. mbti: istj. patronus: owl. boggart: voldemort. soul type: the thinker. wand: beech. dragon heartstring core. 13 inches. described as brittle, as well as being well suited to subtlty and artistry. zodiac sign: capricorn. mythological figure: athena. vice: wrath. virtue: diligence.

THREE (OR MORE) HEADCANONS

01. Amelia Bones isn’t her birth name.

Amelia Richards is her birth name. Half muggle, half pureblood. A shameful daughter, a girl who is told that her blood is nothing of use to the South African pureblood family who cast her aside.

She’s six when she’s officially up for adoption, formally, but none of it really matters, because she’s been with the Bones’ for three months, their oldest, but yet, Edgar feels the oldest.

Edgar is her best friend - he’s two years younger than she is, but that doesn’t really matter, because once you are a Bones, you are always a Bones, and this is what her mother whispers to her, every night, even louder the night that her birth family claims no relation to her after months of fighting to deny her a family. (It also doesn’t matter because he’s always acted older, folding her under his wing, because he’s been there longer than she has, and she is grateful. Nobody has shown such affection for her like this, pure, unadulterated, familial… It feels like home.) The baby, the miracle child - he is her best friend, too, because he falls asleep on her shoulder, and doesn’t make a peep when she walks around the living room, and always has that gummy-smile ready for her.

Her mother - the only mother she has ever known, the only mother that she would even dare to consider ‘mama’ - is the greatest woman Amelia will ever know. It takes her a long time to figure out that none of them look anything like her, that there’s a reason.

Mama explains, using careful words, because Amelia’s always been too smart for her own good, too curious, too eloquent, that the baby is a miracle.

It takes Amelia a few moments to understand - to understand that she means she can’t get pregnant, not that she can’t have anymore kids, because she has Amelia, she has Edgar, she has the baby. They’re her kids. No matter the fact that they don’t share blood, they’re her kids. (It’s helped by the fact that their papa swept in during the conversation, and swooped all the kids up.)

Amelia Bones may not be her birth name, but it is her name.

It’s the name she will never change. She doesn’t have much time for love. Not in the sense we all know it, anyway. (She’s terrified of having someone other than herself that completes her. She’s terrified of the pain of rejection, because she’s felt it so many times, because of the colour of her skin, her hair, her blood, her surname. She’s built herself up, after so many years of ‘no’s and creates her own world in which the only answer is ‘yes.’) Her family matters more than anything, or anyone else.

They’re half of her world. The other half is work, but that goes without saying. There is a degree to which she is intensely aware that she has to go further because she isn’t a ‘natural Bones,’ as Crouch had once put it.

Her world is mostly painted in shades of grey, but the most glorious of colours exist when her family are around.

She doesn’t care that she’s actually a Richards.

That means nothing to her - it’s just a name. A name that she doesn’t answer to. She wants nothing to do with the Richards family. Muggle or pureblood, she wants nothing to do with them. She doesn’t need to know if she looks more like her mother or more like her father. All she needs to know is that she writes the same way her mum does. That she wrinkles her nose when she smiles like her papa does. That she sounds more like them than she does the Richards’. That she always has a home with her brothers, that Edgar is more her than she can really comprehend, and that they bring out the best in each other.

The Richards. They aren’t her family.

The Bones’ are, and that’s all that she cares about.

02. Amelia half-expects to be sorted into Hufflepuff when she gets to Hogwarts. She’s hardworking, loyal, especially to the Bones’ and unafraid of a lot of things.

One of the things that she doesn’t get is the fact that she’s as sharp as a tack. She’s curious, creative, always finding ways around things to the point that her parents have to get really creative when it comes to finding ways to get her to stop stealing cookies from the kitchen or sneaking out into the back garden to play Quidditch when she’s meant to be doing her homework.

She’s loyal, sure. But she’s smart. She’s witty. She understands more than she lets on, and when she does, it’s sort of scary because she’s so young – but she knows so much.

Ravenclaw, really, was the only place the Sorting Hat could’ve placed her. Samuel (cousin, bravest, tallest) was in Gryffindor – overprotective, often brash, courageous. He’s the best of the Bones’, at least, in Amelia’s eyes.

He’s already in his fifth year when she’s in her first, but he’s endlessly compassionate, and helps her in any way he can. (He even gets caught climbing through the Ravenclaw entrance to their common room, once, when he’d gotten an Owl from her that said she missed home. He didn’t get into trouble for it, and spent the night letting her cry on his chest.)

Amelia watches everything. She watches everything around her, and takes in all of that information, and compartmentalises it.

She’s good at that.

She’s really good at that, until she sees things that she can’t ignore and she begins the slow shift to cracking down on her own emotions. Lashing out at people when they call you names can get you hurt. She sees that first hand, and helps them up off the ground, and hexes the other before they even know what to do, but it sticks with her.

She’s good at fighting - good at duelling, she’s a natural, but that’s not what she wants to do with her life. That’s not the role she wishes to play.

She wants to do something better than that. She doesn’t need to go in, all guns (wands) blazing. She doesn’t need to duel over every little thing. She’ll fight the good fight with words. Persuade people to join her side. To take her side, to stand up and be a force against evil.

She’s already sure that she wants to join the Ministry.

She doesn’t know where, yet, but she knows she’s angry about so many of the regulations (dear Merlin, some of the things the Ministry does are so disrespectful and she wants to crush it, crush it all to ash, and she wants to climb, and climb, and climb.)

There are very few places where she’d be able to change them.

The Wizengamot is one of them.

She’s sixteen when she first realises what the Wizengamot is, what it does, and why it’s so damn important. She’s sixteen when she tells Flitwick that she wants to go into the Ministry, that she wants to be in the Wizengamot. That she’d do anything to get there (that feels like such a Slytherin thing to say, but she dismisses that thought as quickly as it comes, because being a Ravenclaw runs through her veins, it runs through her veins just like her love for her family does.)

She’s eighteen when she enters the Ministry, and takes up a position working for the Wizengamot. It takes years. It takes years, but she gets there. She secures her position when she’s twenty one, three years after working so hard that she comes home sometimes with blisters on her fingers.

She’s the youngest member in years.

The youngest, but so wise.

That’s what they say: the wisest of them all, the most poised, the one who never falters, the one who never flinches.

The world is an ugly place, but Amelia Bones sees that ugliness and folds it until it becomes something sembling beauty, and there is a fountain of respect which pours out at the mention of her name, and it fits her like a glove.

She’s climbed the ranks before, and it doesn’t take her long until she’s 27, Deputy Head of the most important Ministerial department.

(It doesn’t take long for Crouch to slip off his stool of power, not when it’s revealed his son is so closely entangled with the other side that he wilts under Bagnold’s gaze.)

(It doesn’t take long for her to rise to the occasion.)

03. The first time Amelia smells Amortentia, she’s terrified. Of course, she’s never so much as had a romantic partner, but her crushes have come and gone, and the smell reminds her of all of them.

She tells herself that she has no time for that.

It’s true, for the longest time. She has to work her way up the ladder. She has no time for girls, or guys. (She prefers the girls, but she’ll never say that, not even when she’s gulping down wine to ignore the dizzy spell she’s having after inhaling a coworker’s perfume, and dear Merlin, it’s stifling.)

She forgets, for a while. What Amortentia smells like. What it means.

It doesn’t take long until the first case comes across the Wizengamot floor, about the statute of limitations and whether or not it’s sexual assault to slip someone amortentia to get into their trousers.

(It doesn’t take long for her to be sick in a bin.)

The Wizengamot unanimously votes guilty, and for the first time, she stands up to read the verdict and sentencing.

He’s away for twenty years, minimum. It doesn’t feel enough, when she looks at the girl who’d been targeted, takes in the look on her face and considers how much of her life has been destroyed. How many nights will be consumed thinking of him, of the feeling of weightlessness, when she’s trapped inside her own head, her body acting in ways she doesn’t want it to. It doesn’t feel enough when she considers that there have been so many others that happened to, that didn’t say anything.

The responsibility burns in her fists like lava.

This is the life she’s chosen. This is the person she’s chosen to be: law-maker, judge, jury. They’re all blended into one, and she feels like the world is resting on her shoulders.

(She looks around, and laughs, because everyone said that this wouldn’t be easy. They have no idea.)

When she gets home, that night, after the trial is over, and she’s had enough of thinking about the way he’d yelled over his shoulder that he’d get her, and that she’s wrong, she’s got Edgar and his wife over, and they don’t judge her when she bursts into tears.

They drink a lot of wine that night, and soon her tears subside into laughter.

She’s always been closer to Edgar than she’d been to anyone else: he doesn’t share her blood, but he might as well, and nobody gets her like he does.

She’s the brain, he’s the heart. She runs on logic, he runs on compassion.

She’s never been very good at showing her emotions, always one for compartmentalisation, but Edgar’s always known how to get through to her, always understood that’s how she is, and how she always will be.

When the cases come and go, and the memories live in her head, because sometimes the others don’t always do the right thing (although that becomes rarer and rarer, because Amelia’s smarter than most of them, and they know it, and being threatened by her feels like a fate worse than death,) Edgar’s there.

He’s a blessing, her brother.

He’s there from day one, and she pretends she doesn’t remember the loneliness before him, because she doesn’t want to jinx it - she never has - but, she does.

She can’t hide from the nightmares, from the memories of living and existing and being alone, from before she had a family, before she had Edgar, her baby brother, mama, papa. Before she had her family.

04. Amelia lives alone, most of the time.

She opened up her house to the Order as a safehouse after graduation. She’s not like the others, she’s not someone who’ll go in all guns blazing, but she lives in the middle of nowhere, and her house is as safe as any, and she’s never been one to turn anyone away.

(Her parents helps her put wards up, though, because it’s better safe than sorry, and anyone who comes across her doesn’t realise until they walk into a wall and it seems to materialise, out of thin air. She always gets a kick out of people’s faces, although she’s been pretty good at leading them to her front door, in any case.)

It’s more than a house, some of them say.

It’s more like a manor. Or a mansion. Someone even said a palace once, before they upended the kitchen table when slipping over their own shoelaces.

She keeps her kitchen stocked, with everything one could possibly want.

Other than peanuts.

(She’s learned her lesson from the incident with one of the Shafiq kids - neither of them had told her they were allergic, and she didn’t know, but she can feel the panic racing through her blood whenever she thinks about peanuts, and she can see their face turning blue. She doesn’t eat peanuts anymore.)

She’s got too many bedrooms to count, at this point.

Most of them are occupied anyhow, but they keep to themselves.

She knows it’s dangerous, sheltering so many muggleborns, and their families. Sheltering blood traitors, like her. She knows the only reason she hasn’t been targetted is the public uproar that’ll follow. That as soon as they can find someone angry enough with her for it to be feasibly them, that they’d have her killed and pin it on them.

It’s only a matter of time.

And, yet, time goes on. The days roll by, and she’s still alive, and safe, and so is everyone under her roof, from the quietly grateful and the eternally snarky, to the passionate helpers and the soft of heart.

It’s not without trouble.

Some of the kids can’t deal with being cooped up for too long, so she crafts them as big an outside area as she can. (It’s roughly four Quidditch pitches long, and seven wide. Nobody ever said she ever knew when to stop giving.)

She supposes that part of her comes from the Bones’. From how she was raised.

Everybody needs a helping hand once in a while, someone to take a chance on them. She likes to be able to do that, for people. To be able to offer that.

But, of course, things can’t always be that simple.

She’s had to throw out so many people. So many, who she could’ve helped, because they didn’t want it. Because they took too many chances, and put her at risk, put their families at risk.

(She feels like she’s taking life and death into her own hands, when she leaves them, and tells them to not come back, but she has to follow her principles.)

There’s only so much to do, when her heart feels like it’s turned to ash, and everything feels like it’s glass.

Fragile.

There’s no more time for frailty.

This is a war.

And Amelia Bones isn’t afraid of wars.

(She’s only afraid of the power that fractures with it.)

05. Pinterest section for Amelia / pinterest section for the Edgar & Amelia / pinterest section for the Wizengamot.

MORE 

amelia bones is the godmother to all of edgar’s children, as well as little susan.

she’s a badass, really.

probably a legilimens/occlumens of relative skill. has worked hard enough to the point that she hasn’t had her brain infiltrated by voldemort.

(this skill is one of the reasons voldemort has... problems with amelia bones’ existence. not only that, but the fact that, well, she’s the daughter of one of the most wealthy pureblood families in the world. and she’s in the wizengamot. and the last line of resistance, really.)

higher-up in the ministry.

trusted by millicent bagnold - not just a close personal friend, but an adviser, too.

the two go way back.

millicent was the person amelia shadowed for the first two months of her career in the wizengamot. they’ve gone through a lot together. (millie was the first to really understand amelia’s place in the world, or what amelia percieved it to be.)

strong women have to stick together. (or, at least, that’s what amelia believes.)

sees a lot of horrible things across the wizengamot floor.

some days, she can’t help the victims. others, she can, and she fights as hard as she can on those days.

probably has, on some level, undiagnosed mental health issues. 

prefers female partners??? or nb. her experiences with men haven’t been... the greatest. a lot of them wanted to take advantage of her position within the ministry. she did have one great ex boyfriend, though, who she is incredibly close with as a friend. he’s also married at this point, and a father to ernie macmillan.

i’m currently setting about a plot in which amelia becomes an adoptive mother.

you see, motherhood, biologically, at least, has been so far from amelia’s mind since she was a child that she doesn’t really care about whether or not she has biological children. what she does care about is giving kids who need a home a safe place. it’s part of the reason she’s insistent on owning the biggest order safehouse in the country and part of the reason why she looks after edgar’s kids and susan as much as she does.

this is probably a direct parallel to olivia benson’s journey to adopt noah, and i completely missed it, tbh.

oldest sibling! well. edgar acts like he’s older, but amelia totally is, and has Responsibility to boot.

honestly the strongest (emotionally) character i’ve ever written??

also does not drink alcohol!!! she’s sober.

character inspiration: angelica schuyler, olivia benson, emily prentiss.

[gael-garcia]

Gugu Mbatha-Raw photographed by Joshua Pestka for Essence

[portkcysa]

MARLENE MCKINNON ↪ character inspiration (1/?)

“We’re adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?” - Meredith Grey

+1 bonus Linda Belcher:

[portkcysa]

lucky one: ted tonks ( @floopcwder ) location: the tonks home timestamp: january 8th, 1982. 16:14.

marlene pulled her coat closer around her as she lowered her head, moving as quickly as she could. she hadn’t managed to get the christmas presents for any of the tonks’ around for christmas, and this was the best she could do, wandering towards the tonks home from the apparition spot with several bags hanging from her arm.

she’d first met ted through helene - it’d been a christmas party, one that the mckinnon’s had thrown every year, when she was young. he was one of those fuzzy figures she’d seen hanging around with helene in her photographs (nameless and faceless to her), and it was nice to finally meet him. when she, herself, graduated, she gravitated through his orbit a few times before they formed a strong friendship. it helped to have ordinary people around her, most of the time, and she enjoyed dora’s company a lot.

it was fun to see the girl shift into whatever she chose, although once, she did shift into blonde hair and marlene nearly had a heart attack at the sudden change which reminded her of herself far too much. she was fairly sure the young girl would be excited to see her, and she hiked up the bags of gifts as she pushed through the gate and kicked the grass-y, snow from her shoes in the garden before knocking on the door with her free hand. when the door opened, her face split into a grin as she embraced ted. “hey! t! it’s great to see you.”

[roryglimore]

fortheaskbox:

Send “slurred words” to hear my muse describe yours whilst ridiculously drunk.

[incalescentinspos-blog]

PERSONALITY TYPES & NAME MEANINGS.

M A R L E N E MCKINNON.

[portkcysa]

lucky one: lily evans-potter ( @silvcrsickle ) location: the potter safehouse timestamp: january 4th, 1982. 19:46.

marlene shifted where she was laid across the sofa, one of her hands resting on harry’s back, memorising the way his chest rose and fell as he slept where he’d positioned himself after knackering himself out following her around on his toy broom for the past four hours, and then again after his bath and change into his pajama’s. her eyes were half-shut themselves, his limbs splayed out on hers and the sight of lily emerging from the kitchen with two cups of tea within her grasp spun a tired grin onto marlene’s face. “you’re an angel, lil.” her voice is hushed, but not by much - it seemed harry was as deep a sleeper as marlene was, and she squeezed him cautiously as his head laid on her shoulder. “i’ll be up in a min, promise. just five more minutes?” she pushed out her bottom lip at lily as she hovered above her, almost certain that she’d tell her that harry needed to be in bed, not atop a human mattress who was certainly very happy about the tiny boy she loved as her own strewn across her as she cradled him. 

[archivesdiveronaevents]

Shakespearean Character Ask Meme

ANTONY: What bad habits do you need to break? BEATRICE: What is the achievement you’re most proud of? BENVOLIO: What comes to mind when you think of peace? BIANCA: What do you want most in life? CELIA: Do you want to fall in love? CIRCE: Would you rather be loved or feared? CLAUDIUS: What is the worst thing you’ve ever done? CORDELIA: Do you consider yourself a good person? CRESSIDA: What makes you feel trapped? DESDEMONA: Do you believe that the truth will set you free? EDGAR: Do you want to make your family proud? EDMUND: Do you ever wish you’d been born someone else? If so, who? GERTRUDE: Would you (or have you) ever cheated on a significant other? HAMLET: Do you prefer to think things through thoroughly or act on impulse? HECATE: Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert? HELENUS: Do you believe in God? HIPPOLYTA: What is your biggest regret? HORATIO: Who do you love most? JULIET: What is your favorite luxury? LADY MACBETH: What is your favorite thing about yourself? MACBETH: Have you ever killed anyone? Would you? MALCOLM: What does honor mean to you? MEDEA: Do you have any quirks? MERCUTIO: Is there anyone you would die for? MIRANDA: Is happiness a choice? OBERON: Does reputation matter to you? OPHELIA: Is there anything you regret not doing? ORSINO: If you could have any material thing in the world, what would it be? PARIS: If you had the chance to rule the world, would you? PORTIA: When did you lose your innocence? PUCK: Do you consider yourself a mischievous person?  ROMEO: How far would you go for love? ROSALIND: What does your ideal day entail? ROSALINE: Which people from your past haunt you? SEBASTIAN: Is violence ever the answer? TITANIA: Do you believe in magic? TYBALT: If you could kill one person without consequences, who would it be? VIOLA: How skilled of a liar are you? VOLUMNIA: Describe the biggest sacrifice you’ve made.

[floopcwder]

who: marlene mckinnon ( @portkcys ) where: florean fortescue’s ice cream parlour.  when: january 3rd, 1982. 15:24.

remus only had about a week left before the next full moon, and he intended to take full advantage of it. or at least, of the few days before he’d start feeling exhausted and ready to jump out of his skin. therefore, he had decided to spend the day with marlene. they always had fun together, and ever since the blonde had found out about his condition, she’d been more understanding than most would ever be. truly, apart from that little thing concerning two of his best friends mistrusting him, remus really had the best of friends. okay, so maybe he’d gotten to the ice cream parlour a bit early, but he always had difficulty choosing what he wanted to eat, and at least, that’d give him an opportunity to make a choice before marlene arrived. looking at the menu, he didn’t even notice her until she was standing right in front of him. “oh! hey,” he smiled, reaching over to give her a quick hug.

[portkcysa]

marlene had managed to scrape together her few vacation hours post the christmas rush (which she’d been unhappily drafted in for on both boxing day and christmas eve), and was on her third day (out of eight) that she’d signed herself out for. it was well-deserved, in her eyes, and she did little other than grin at the thought of getting to spend time with remus. their friendship had been one that had grown and grown over the years, from their clumsy, occasionally studying together when she wasn’t off gallavanting around friendship, to their now strong, we’ll never judge each other, i have your back like i know you have mine friendship. she’d wrapped herself up in her jacket, and wrangled her way through the bustling crowds, the shouts from people selling chestnuts and warm hats and the like, before she burst through the doors to florean’s. “hey to you, too, mr.” marlene let herself grin, wrapping her arms around him briefly, keeping her hand half-suspended on his arm, a protective anchor. “’ve you decided which flavour you’re getting yet? i think i’m going to get chocolate and raspberry, or maybe clotted cream. or both!”

[portkcysa]

first name: frank

meaning: free one

hogwarts house: hufflepuff

three house traits that fit your character best: loyalty, just, dedication

archetype out of the 49: the authentic

the three traits associated to the archetype: approachable, dependable, trustworthy

zodiac sign: cancer

three traits associated to the sign that fit your character best: nurturing, compassionate, sentimental

alignment: lawful good

three traits that fit both the alignment and your character: honorable, courteous, helpful

mbti: esfj

three traits that fit both the mbti type and your character: warm, caring, empathetic

patronus: labrador

three traits that fit both the patronus and your character: gentle, intelligent, trusting

last name: longbottom

meaning: long valley

[portkcysa]

first name: marlene

meaning: star of the sea

hogwarts house: gryffindor

three house traits that fit your character best: nerve, bravery, determination

archetype out of the 49: the people’s champion

the three traits associated to the archetype: dynamic, inclusive, engaging

zodiac sign: aries

three traits associated to the sign that fit your character best: bold, reckless, devoted

alignment: chaotic good

three traits that fit both the alignment and your character: benevolent, kind, free spirited

mbti: entp

three traits that fit both the mbti type and your character: energetic, independent, ingenious

patronus: buffalo

three traits that fit both the patronus and your character: passionate, strongwilled, overemotional

last name: mckinnon

meaning: fair born

[lesbianherstorian]

a quote about coming out in the interview “counseling lesbians”, published in women: a journal of liberation vol. 5 no. 2, 1976

[floopcwder]

who: frank longbottom ( @portkcys ). where: frank and alice’s living room. when: january 1st, 1982. 13:46.

alice had just put neville down for his nap, and though there was a slight smile on her face, her bones were weighed down with exhaustion. she hadn’t really partied the night before; too many muggles had been killed recently, and add to that the fact that no one was yet over the fact that peter had betrayed them, and well… things weren’t all that easy. ignoring the pile of papers her husband had brought home from work on the kitchen table, the blonde made her way towards the living room, where she knew frank had fallen asleep not long ago. neville had been up most of the previous night, and alice’s husband had been the one who had gotten up the most. therefore, she truly wasn’t trying to wake him when she laid down beside him on the couch, and curled up against his chest whilst reaching for his hand with her own. “love you even if you snore,” she whispered with a smile to her seemingly sleeping husband.

[portkcysa]

frank was more than happy to sacrifice his sleep to keep neville occupied. alice did far more than enough, and he refused to let her be the only one partaking in the most important role they’ll ever have. he didn’t care that he’d been working for hours the night before, and that he’d been spun off his feet when he’d gotten back in, because neville was in the midst of his ‘terrible two’s, despite being not-at-all terrible, other than in relation to his sleeping pattern. things had been hard, recently - he’d only just managed to scramble away from his duties as an auror the night before, because all chaos had broken loose, and there was the added mess with pettigrew, which left frank more wounded (and winded) than most realised. he’d give it all up, just to be able to stay with alice and neville, and he knew it for a fact - and didn’t know if it scared him, or pleased him. still. none of that mattered when he was asleep, or attempting to be so, and one of his hands slowly caressed alice’s waist and the other clumsily collided with her own hand. “i don’t snore, a.” frank waited a moment, his eyes still closed before he hid his smile in her hair, a laugh repressed. “i dream i’m a motorcycle.”

[portkcysa]

“a hand outstretched across the plane aisle, a constant warm presence, a smile so wide your face aches for days, bouncing a baby up and down on your knee, responsibility laden on your shoulders, bubblegum, a steady hand in all things.“ – ( richard madden, twenty-six, cismale, he/him. ) frank longbottom? yes, i have more information about them. the twenty-six year old pureblood used to attend hogwarts as a hufflepuff. nowadays, they’re an auror, and are currently a order of the phoenix member. from what i’ve heard, they can be quite observant and loyal, but also forgetful and strong-willed. from their records, i can also see that their best subject at school was transfiguration. ( ellie, 18, she/her, gmt. ) – CANON

you may cry, you may laugh, you may feel all things and let yourself breathe through them all, but that does not make you any less a man. your life is glorious, soft, not stern. warmth. enveloping.

quick facts

alignment: lawful good. amortentia: rose perfume on the air. the smell of alice’s shampoo. the yorkshire pudding his mum makes. green tea. baby smell. mbti: esfj. patronus: a labrador. boggart: losing alice. losing neville. soul type: the caregiver. wand: ebony. phoenix tail feather. 8 inches. described as supple, suited to combative magic and transfiguration. zodiac sign: leo. mythological figure: apollo. vice: pride. virtue: charity.

drifters

01. Frank’s never met his dad. He only, really, knows his name: Dominick Francis Longbottom. His mother rarely talked about him - he grew up, alone, with just her.

Dominick died before Frank was born. You see, Dominick was a very highly respected Auror, top of his field, known for his flair for excellent spellwork and a famed inability to sit still. He’d been out on assignment, integrating the group known as the Knights of Walpurgis, which is now known, more commonly, as the inner circle of the Death Eaters. He’d managed to pull it off for years, keeping his and his wife’s political positions to themselves, keeping out of the limelight when any purist-inclined violence made the headlines.

Augusta, of course, was less than pleased by the fact that he kept late hours, and woke up, some days, as early as 4 to head to the Aurors office. She was six months pregnant, in the end, when things went down the drain.

Dominick hadn’t even seen it coming.

One of the other Aurors - young, easily fooled, impressionable - had overheard one of his conversations with the Head Auror at the time. He’d been duped, you see. Duped into telling one of the people they’d been escorting to Azkaban if there were any weasels.

He’d seemed like a good guy, despite the crime he’d been imprisoned for, because he’d get years in Azkaban for it. (Nobody really gave a shit about trading useless Dragon eggs anyway.)

He’d been killed less than two days later.

He’d never even got to say goodbye - he’d been working for three days straight, and hadn’t even been to the Auror office in a week, but the damage was done and he never even saw it coming.

Augusta suspects it was Yaxley, but Frank’s never trusted Avery, nor the Lestrange’s, and he never was told how his dad was found. Just that his dad was dead before he was born, and that he looked like him. (The same jaw, the same smile, the same dark brown hair and grey streak.)

Frank visits the grave whenever he can, and talks to him as if he’s still there, still alive.

He tried, once, to get access to the files around his death. He didn’t get very far - Moody pulled him aside, hand on his elbow, to tell him there was no point - he knew, from experience, that all that it stirred up was rage. And Frank was better than that.

Frank wishes he’d gotten to meet his dad. He hopes that he’d be proud of him - that he’d be proud of the man he’s become. He knows his mum is, despite how she wheedles at him, and preens, and all the tough love she’s given him over the years. It’s always been just the two of them. The lone Longbottom’s, the ones who stranded themselves as far away from London as they could get without moving out of the country.

That was how they were known: the silent onlookers, the ones who rarely came out of their home but when they did, they sought justice in every way they could.

02. Frank wasn’t, exactly, surprised when he was sorted into Hufflepuff.

His magic had come through late - he supposes it’s nothing to do with how his mother raised him (an iron fist, that vulture hat outlasting the ages despite the sad fact that she was merely 32 and already a widow –) but entirely to do with how he viewed himself.

He’d never been a popular kid. He hadn’t got many friends, just the little boy that lived three villages over, the exact same age as he was, the one whose dad had up and left his mum.

He was shy, too honest, and considered a little weird - his mum didn’t send him to primary school, spoke with a proper accent where Frank had a burgeoning Scottish one, and he could do things the other kids couldn’t. He rarely played outside, and the little marbles he played with had once blown up in another kids’ face. Needless to say, that spelled a lonely childhood for Frank.

Frank didn’t mind, though. He had the horses, and the cows, and the chickens, and the dogs. His family may not have been big people-wise, but he had an affinity for animals, and plants, and if his mother hadn’t been sure he was a wizard, he would’ve ended up a farmer.

His first actual display of magic was when the tree in their garden collapsed over the road in and out of the village. It nearly crushed their next door neighbours and their tiny, yellow car, and before anybody could even figure out what they were going to do, it had completely vanished.

(Or, as Frank would tell his mother, “I made it burst, mam! It didn’t disappear! It exploded!”)

It wasn’t much of a surprise when Augusta smoothed his hair back and kissed him on the forehead, that rare grin climbing onto her face.

Pride, shining in her eyes.

03. Auror training was the bane of Frank’s life. All he wanted, all he ever wanted to do, all he could imagine himself doing, was being out there, saving lives.

Of course, his best friend jokingly reminded him that if he wanted to go out that fast, he should’ve just signed up for the Hit Wizard programme and taken the risk that he’d end up dead within a week (an unfortunate downside, occasionally, for new Hit Wizards and Witches.)

He knew he was talented enough. He knew that he was smart enough.

He knew he was good at thinking on his feet, he knew that they could use a man like him because he was loyal, pain-stakingly so, and he’d do anything for the cause, sacrifice or be anything they asked him to be.

There was already a target on his back, so why the hell not push him through training faster than the others.

(His last name was the target.)

They were running out of Aurors, as is. More and more kept leaving. They couldn’t do it, they said. They couldn’t live with the reality they were being faced with. They couldn’t risk their families lives like this, they couldn’t have a target painted on their back for the badge they held in their hands. They couldn’t face the threats that were slowly trickling in, the heat that was turning up and up and up.

Frank couldn’t blame them. They weren’t cowards. They were good people, who had suffered enough, who had gone through enough.

He was saddled with nothing, nothing that he felt was worth it. Worth the risk of losing lives. It wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what they wanted. But he stuck it out, regardless. He gave himself goals to meet, Aurors to shadow, people to impress.

It made him a success. It made him good at his job.

(And good at the things he did on the side as well.)

04. He’s got the worst habit of attracting strays.

Okay, it’s not like that - not dogs, or cats, or anything. But people. The ones with nowhere left to go. The ones who are either not involved with their families, or those who have lost them.

He always has money on him. More money than he’ll ever need on a day to day basis, but enough to sustain someone for a month, or two. He’s always got his eye out. Always willing to give whatever he can, his money, his time, his effort. (He’s gotten himself into a spot or two, here and there.)

He’d do anything for his fellow Order members.

Anything. When they need help, Frank is always the one they know they can call. (Or, rather, just show up on his and Alice’s doorstep, because he’s known for crumbling at the sight of a friend in need.)

The Longbottom family have always had a lot of money. That’s not to mention his mother’s wealth in herself - she’s the last recorded Selwyn from the main male lineage (and she’s not related to that Umbridge woman, Merlin forbid –) and inherited the entire estate, as well as all the money they had invested in Borgin and Burke’s and several, very successful stores all along Diagon Alley (the least of which being Flourish and Blott’s.)

Some’d say it’s stupidity. That he’s so open, with things like that.

Others? They’d say he’s just too full of kindness. A tap, that overflows, consistently, until it seems like there’s going to be nothing left, but it’s bottomless. A bottomless well of kindness, fed into by a river of kindness, fed into by a sea of kindness.

He does what he can, for the people that he knows have nothing, not because he can relate. But because he just has to.

He can’t sit idly by while people are struggling. No matter the reason.

He’s too selfless. Too ready to give everything that he has. (Some part of him knows that it all stems from Augusta. From Dominick. From the love that he received, the love he never got to feel in anything other than photographs, and memories that never were.)

There’s always been a part of him that wants to prove his mother wrong. That softness can be just as good as sternness, and now he gets the chance to do just that.

constants

frank longbottom, in all things, is a ray of sunshine.

his softness, often taken for weakness, is one of his greatest strengths, over which he has laboured for many, many years.

he’s an only child. he supposes it means he’s always been spoiled, but he hasn’t.

he’s worked hard to get where he is, he hasn’t taken any handouts from his mother (who would never dream of giving him one anyway -) and there is a great sense of pride that he’s proved her wrong, about sternness being the only way to get things done.

(meanwhile, augusta is a part of the order, so - yes. there have been quite a few arguments over the order itself.)

he’s a lover of many things, including plants.

(also alice longbottom, but that’s a given, i mean, look at her --)

he’s worked so hard to become an auror, you guys. it’s been his dream, since childhood, since he learned about his father and his job, and despite his fate, pushed himself so, so hard to make his mother proud, and to feel the pride that he knows his father is feeling, where-ever he is, now.

really does enjoy his work. 

(it’s super dangerous, but, when isn’t something frank likes, dangerous? he’s insane, absolutely so, but also adorably so.)

born and raised in scotland, but also surrounded by muggles. so, not a magical neighbourhood. scotland is? still his home, really. hogwarts is, too, but that’s kind of secondary to the little cottage he and his mother lived in. where she still lives, actually, and insists that she’s never to be moved.

joined the order soon after graduation - he was approached by dumbledore, because he does have a particular skillset dumbledore finds particularly useful. 

can/does smuggle death eater related case files home with him. the good ruse is that he’s forgetful af, and so is prone to just forgettin stuff anyway (nev inherits this, his poor babe,) and he knows it’s dangerous, but there’s no law really inhibiting it... that’s his logic, anyway.

best friends with kingsley shacklebolt and hestia jones. grew up with them as brief companions, but spent hogwarts with them, as well as alice, and the four are tig HT.

was in the duelling club, but didn’t really? like the spotlight. aka evidence why he doesn’t want to be head auror, but he’s perfectly happy being just a member of the order and an auror, but is a very skilled dueller. incredible, really. don’t mess with the longbottom’s. he inherits it from his mother. 

excells in dark magic identification, tracking and transfiguration. there isn’t a spell frank hasn’t heard of, and if there is, it’s likely because it’s being tested in the department of mysteries, and therefore, cannot be discussed.

neville is... frank’s world. he refuses to leave him the same way his father left him. he refuses to do that. he refuses the possibility that he’ll die, and end up leaving a widow and a son behind. he plans to live a long, happy life, with his wife, and his son.

frank re: alice

his dream

will she ever let him breathe?

that moment when the dream girl is his WIFE

he -

is he living or not? he doesn’t know

she smiles like this and his heart aches

seeing her with neville is the greatest feeling in the universe

if they ever went abroad on holiday he’d lose his damn mind

is she teasing him???? he’s dying slowly

alice’s hufflepuff pride, man

imagine this as frank giving alice a flower i want to CRY

going anywhere with this  like 

HER GLASSES HE’S GOING INTO CARDIAC ARREST

ugh his heart

he’s compromised

taking her on a tour of where he went on childhood holidays

you know when you see someone so attractive you struggle to breathe? yeah frank knows the feeling

he’s in LOOOVE

"got you.”

everyone: frank, breathe

let him be happy with her for the rest of his life

her SMILE he’s combusting internally

will he ever let go? #no

them together is. his fave thing

her laUgH

the way he looks at her? legendary

[portkcysa]

“holding hands with the pretty girl you’ve had a crush on for years, leaving lipstick on people’s cheeks, raucous laughter, a loss-ridden heart, green sparks, endless nightmares, locking your door thrice, looking over your shoulder.” – ( virginia gardner, twenty-one, demigirl, she/they. ) marlene mckinnon? yes, i have more information about them. the twenty-one year old half-blood used to attend hogwarts as a gryffindor. nowadays, they’re an hit witch, and are currently a order of the phoenix member. from what i’ve heard, they can be quite passionate and intuitive, but also impatient and reckless. from their records, i can also see that their best subject at school was defence against the dark arts. ( ellie, 18, she/her, gmt. )  – CANON

just because you are pretty, does not mean you are not allowed to be a force. your hair is gold, but that’s not the only golden thing about you.

quick facts

alignment: chaotic good.

amortentia: cocoa butter. the smell from the oven when lemon cookies are being made. freesia in someone’s perfume. daisies. freshly washed linen.

mbti: entp.

patronus: buffalo.

boggart: death.

soul type: the performer.

wand: dragon heartstring core. cypress wood. 10 inches. described as pliant, noted to have been destined for ‘great warriors’ or those who would ‘die a heroic death.’

zodiac sign: aries.

mythological figure: artemis.

drifters

01. Marlene McKinnon is one of five kids. She’s, technically, the youngest of two sisters, and three brothers – all wildly Scottish, born and raised alongside James Potter, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Prewett and Weasley families.

Her sister, Helene, is the oldest, married off into the Boot family, already with one child, little Terry, Marlene’s ‘favourite’ nephew. The two were, and still are, exceptionally close. She was the first person Marlene came out to as a lesbian and again as a demigirl, and the two are often in close contact. Helene is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and knows (but never acknowledges, per Dumbledore’s instruction) her sister’s activities as part of the group. She is currently 32, is a former Hufflepuff, and spends most of her time as a researcher for the Bagnold campaign for re-election and a reporter.

Two of her brothers followed suit - Emmett and Oskar. The first pair of twins were unexpected - neither were planned, and the combination was often too much for their parents to deal with at once, but they made do. Marlene adores her older brothers, even though she rarely gets to see them, what with their busy schedules. Emmett and Oskar were both recruited into the Order when Marlene was in her first year at Hogwarts, having both recently graduated. They were in close correspondence with her until the unexpected attack on the McKinnon family home. Both of the pair are 30 years of age.

Emmett is the more eloquent of the two, and probably the more well-read one. He is a former Ravenclaw, erring on the more logical and book smarts side of things. He is a Healer at St. Mungo’s, and is married to Florence McKinnon (nee Abbott). Oskar is the more streetwise of the two, and the staunch protector of the bunch. He is a former Ravenclaw, erring on the more creative and intuitive side of things. He is a Curse Breaker for Gringott’s Bank, and is in a long-term relationship with Stubby Boardman.

Marlene’s twin brother is Marcus. He’s older than her by three minutes, and loves to flaunt this fact. The pair were the last ditch attempt for their parents to have another girl (or two,) and Marcus is her, honest to Agrippa, best friend. The two were best friends for years and years, as they were born when the twins were nine and Helene was 11, and so it was usually just the two of them with their parents at home during childhood.Marcus is also a member of the Order, having joined at the same time as Marlene. He is 21, is a former Gryffindor, and is currently working towards becoming an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries.

Their parents were Thibaut Emmett McKinnon and Natasha Helene McKinnon (nee Wilton). Thibaut was the son of a pureblood squib (who is the illegitimate son of a Yaxley,) and his muggleborn wife. Natasha was a muggle he met when he was 20 and she was 19. Their first, Helene, was born when she was 23, and he 24. Then, Emmett and Oskar followed when she was 25, and he 26. Marlene and Marcus came along when she was 34, and he 35. Thibaut was a higher up in the Ministry of Magic, working personally for the Minister for Magic, and Natasha was a teacher at the local school.

02. The worst day of Marlene’s life began like any other, at Hogwarts. She was 16, having just returned for her 6th year at Hogwarts along with her brother. The letters came straight to where they were sat, at opposite ends of the Gryffindor table. (Marcus was very much a morning person, and was friends with those in other houses more-so than the ones in his own, and Marlene was devoted to her dormmates and the boys in her year.) Marlene had barely torn into hers when Marcus let out a choked sound, and her blood ran cold - the letter snatched from her suddenly violently shaking hands by Lily before she could do anything.

She knew what the letter was about before anyone even said anything.

Emmett and Oskar had been too late - Thibaut, or rather, just dad to Marlene, had been mouthing off to the press about muggleborn rights, and thus, had been receiving death threats for months on end. It seemed a cruel form of mercy to have killed them alone. To have killed them, and left their children alive, to know the pain of loss at such an early age.

They had been supposed to check up on them every hour. They’d missed the last one, because Oskar wasn’t even meant to be in the country, and sneaking off every so often didn’t look good, and they’d missed it.

Mum hadn’t even made it down the stairs before they got to her. Her glassy eyes, staring out for the rest of eternity, onto the landing where they had killed dad. Marlene couldn’t stomach the thought - she couldn’t even hold herself together when Lily thumbed the letter and grasped her hand and tugged her so close that she felt like she could have absorbed Lily in her entirety and oh Merlin, why did it have to be them? She felt numb, for months, and couldn’t even move when Marcus stumbled over and embraced her and they fell to the floor, their sobs echoing through the silent Great Hall before McGonagall ushered the two away.

Such heartbreak, such loss, such as it was, that Marlene continues to have nightmares about that day. About the fact that Emmett and Oskar hadn’t even sent the letter themselves. That an Auror had done, because Emmett and Oskar were in questioning, and they had thought they did it, and all the air seems like lead.

Helene became their legal guardian after that. She’d just left home, moving down to London to be closer to work (because she enjoyed the walk,) and the utmost trust that Marlene had in her never faulted. (Marlene didn’t sleep a wink that night, but she knows that Marcus cried himself to sleep, because James said so. (James said so, with that heavy sadness in his eyes, and let Marlene cry on his shoulders, because he was just another one of her brothers, too.))

03. Marlene McKinnon, these past few months, has felt like a shitty friend.

Okay, at least she can admit that.

At least she can say it out loud, because she knows her brother can’t, with his intermittent disappearances and coming back more and more tired than the last time. (We’re fighting a war, Marc! You can’t just up and fucking leave when you like! What if you got yourself killed, huh? What if you went the same way mum did? Or the same way dad did?)

She’s been distracted, mainly because she can’t admit her own feelings to herself and if she could, she’d have told ______ a long time ago that it’s just not fair when she’s looking at her like that and they have to keep it on the low, but dear Merlin, Marlene’s in love and things aren’t easy, especially with Alice and Lily and the babies, and they have to be kept safe, and if she’s been neglecting the others, well, there’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?

Apologize.

Write letters. Stop pawning them off on other people because she’s stationed herself with Harry in her lap with the door within eye sight and the steps between there and the couch memorized. Extend olive branches, because the last time she talked to Mary, she accidentally snapped at her because she had more common sense than she did, but she called it cowardice, and she said it lined her bones, that being a Gryffindor meant having some fight and where the hell was Mary’s?

(She remembered, a few minutes later, that Mary had once said, after Mulciber, that ‘just living requires me to fight, and that, that is enough.’)

She’s getting better, though. Somewhat. She still feels lost, in that cloud of grief and shame and pain, but she’s forcing herself through it. She’s slowed down, somewhat, after a hard conversation with Emmett which highlighted some things she needed to work on (but she’d never agree to work on her undying love of pomegranates, because that was just something natural, and if Emmett hated it, he could go stuff himself - she says with a smile -) and things are. Weird. Not, exactly, better.

She moved into the Order headquarters, to help herself feel more useful, despite the fact that it’s one of Moody’s houses (although he never bloody uses it,) and it’s helped. The war is still. Happening. But Marlene’s been raised for war.

And, after all, what are friends good for, if not fighting on their behalf?

04. Marlene’s always loved girls.

She likes their legs. The way they twist their hips, the way they throw their heads back when laughing. She even loves their hands, whether slender and slim fingered or plump fingered, it doesn’t matter. She likes their faces, the way their eyes light up and you can feel that they really mean what they say.

She has no time for the girls for whom society is everything, though. Their eyes are too vacant, despite how pretty they are. Despite how picture perfect they are, because not everything is perfect, and she’s as well versed in pretending as they are.

Her first crush, really, was on her sister’s best mate. She’d been eight, and terribly scared of it, but the way Helene’s best friend gave her time, and talked to her, made that childish crush blossom. Of course, she remembers not telling Helene anything about it, and locking herself in her room, but then remembering that Oskar already had a boyfriend, and that it was perfectly okay to not like the ones you’re supposed to, because the McKinnon’s were known for defying odds, and it wasn’t as if they would care that she didn’t ever want to be with a bloke.

After getting her head around that bit (after an awkward conversation with her mum, who’d figured it out before anyone else had,) Marlene was proud to be who she was.

Well, they was.

That year was a bit confusing, but Marlene’s parents gave her - them - time, and she came out, in her own time. She told Helene first, who laughed when she told her about her crush on her best mate, but Helene didn’t care. (Helene didn’t care that Marlene didn’t always want to be a her, either, just asked her if she wanted to go play Quidditch outside, and that was that.)

Emmett and Oskar never cared at all. Oskar was quite proud, eventually, when Marlene got round to telling them. Emmett just gave Marls her first poster of a half-naked girl, and dear Merlin, was that a conversation she had with her father after he found that in their room.

Marcus just dragged her outside, telling her that he’d always known, because he was her twin, and how could he not? Neither of them bothered to question it, even though Marcus had failed to predict what Marlene’d had for lunch that day (when he was in a different room,) and never really talked about it again.

That is, until Marlene had her first girlfriend and Marcus’d already had three, and Marlene had no idea how to ask girls out.

That really did get a laugh out of Marcus.

Her pride in who she is, in the fact that she is out and doesn’t care who knows it, is almost stifling to those who aren’t actually true to themselves. (She supposes she’s always known, somewhere deep down.)

constants

dramatic, dynamic. marlene mckinnon has never been taught how to sit still. she’s erratic, emotional, the feelings shining on her face because she’s not tempered herself down like the others. she’s a force to be reckoned with.

learning legilimency from caradoc dearborn.

currently in the process of moving into an order safehouse - her family have, pretty much, scattered themselves across the country (at least the remaining members have.)

had a dye mishap sometime in fourth year? ended up with bright green hair and couldn’t get it out because “lily, please don’t lau - LILY!” 

one of her childhood best friends was james? but also grew up alongside the prewett families, as they’re her maternal cousins.

near-death experiences + marlene mckinnon? a match made in heaven. or, hell, in her eyes. 

she’s promised miss evans she’ll never die and now has to figure out how to live forever (she would, just because she’s promised lily.)

chaotic af emotionally? steadied by lily, most of the time, in that aspect.

never let the two near things that need to be Burned Down!!! marlene will ride into a burning building and pretend-rescue lily. it’s happened before. james was probably mystified as to why his girlfriend and her best friend came back with singed eyebrows.

has a few tattoos, probably? not a lot.

goes by both she and they!!!! depends on the day, honestly.

hit witch by day, anarchist by night.

works for the ministry!! shock horror!!! keeps tabs on a lot of ministry work, because she has high clearance as a hit witch (they all do, because their job is to weed out the dark wizards and... well, it’s easier to let them have access to everything, ala fbi style.)

lover of red wine.

twin! has a brother, marcus! also older siblings! helene, emmett and oskar! 

she loves helene more than words. helene became their legal guardian following their parents dying, and so, there’s a huge wealth of respect there.

emmett and oskar are partially responsible for their parents dying, lmao. marlene definitely? doesn’t talk about that w/ them, because she knows how inside her own head she is about! everything!

also a lesbian?? most definitely in love with hestia jones in my brain, so. yeah. bring her a hes, or anyone, really. so they can. love it up.

okay, so this. also complicates things. slightly.

marlene’s been involved in some v dangerous stuff for a LOOOONG time re: the order but things have boiled over with everything with lily and james and frank and alice and my poor girl is - well, she’s stuck. she just eants to crawl into bed w hestia and never come out, lmao

she’s more in love with hestia than she knows how to deal with it, honestly.

probably recently moved in together?

ugh. marlene wants to propose yanno she’s in so DEEP

duelling whizz. natural talent at it.

willing to use dark magic, which. makes her uncomfortable, tbh? the fact she’s so willing? it messes with her.

godmother to baby harry!!!!! best godmama ever!

willing to lose sleep so tht every1 else in house potter-longbottom can get some dang sleep. loves the babies lots, though she doesn’t plan on having her own. (harry is more than enough)

also an aunt to lil baby terry (via helene), who is the same age as harry.

will protect remus lupin for the rest of tiiiiime (cue lily, marlene and remus = this)

WANTS TO DRESS HARRY UP AS UNCLE MOONY FOR HALLOWEEN BECAUSE IMAGINE-

[itberice]

#literally sunshine

[thronescastdaily]

Happy Birthday, Richard Madden! (June 18, 1986)