Lily was smiling as she checked the work roster. James had been released, Dorcas was healing steadily, too, and she finally felt comfortable in the hospital again after everything that had happened with Bellatrix. It had knocked her confidence down for a while, but after a few weeks of healing patients (the right way), she was starting to feel better about her job.
The poisons ward - not an area of the hospital she was very familiar with. More than almost any other ward, the patients there had suffered from the malicious intent of others, although there was probably some accidental cases, too. It was for that reason, maybe, that it gave her such an air of the macabre.
But the patients there needed help as much as anyone else, so she refused to allow it to affect her. Lily made her way to the ward, knowing she had to report to a Senior Healer. Carrow, she thought. A Healer who, upon seeing her around the hospital, Lily had almost mistook her for a patient, she had such a pale, sickly countenance. Every time Lily saw her, she practically wanted to prescribe Carrow a Blood Replenishing Potion. But for all her appearance of weakness, Carrow didn’t have the most approachable air, so Lily had stayed away.
“Healer Carrow? I’m Evans, I’m working with you today,” Lily said, replacing her earlier smile with a polite, focused expression, more suitable for working with those in need of their compassion.
Connie had heard great things about Hogwarts - and even greater things about their Yule balls. The grandeur that she’d arrived to certainly lived up to the tales, of course; the Great Hall was decked out in the most festive, magical décor she could ever dream of, down to the enchanted ceiling. The atmosphere wasn’t the problem, not at all. The problem was the company.
Hundreds of witches and wizards she didn’t know, pretending to like each other and tiptoeing around one another with a bunch of airs and graces. Two-faced, every last one of them. And nobody wanted to give Connie - the American Halfblood without money, status, or even a real career - the time of day.
She’d ended up grabbing the nearest bottle on a floating silver platter and heading outdoors. She popped the cork off of the bottle and, without caring if it was alcoholic or not, brought it to her lips and tilted her head back with a huge swig.
That’s when she noticed she wasn’t alone.
When her eye caught the gaze of the other woman standing on the lawn, she choked. The mystery liquid fizzed up through her nose and burned her sinuses. She ended up having to turn away and cough discreetly into her sleeve - it was all very unladylike.
“Sorry,” she hiccoughed, turning back to the other person, “Wasn’t expecting to see anyone out here.”
She finally took a moment to actually look at who she was talking to. The woman was beautiful - almost supernaturally so. Everything about her, from the sharpness in her gaze to her inky black hair, made Connie’s heart race a little faster. She also seemed...familiar.
“I know you from somewhere,” Connie said. And then she shook her head.
“Um, sorry, don’t know why I said that. I could have sworn we... but, that sounds cheesy. Like, have we met before?” She laughed awkwardly. “So cliché.”
She coughed again and took another swig from her bottle for good measure. It was definitely alcoholic.
𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝚂 𝙿𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝙻𝚈𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙽 𝙰𝚂 𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵, Alecto can hardly be considered Narcissa’s cup of tea. Her and Alecto’s interests had never aligned, not in the slightest, what with the latter being six years younger than her; her utter disinterest in traditional marriage is only the cherry on the top. Even so, the blonde remained civil with the woman, especially now that they were forced to spend time together. She isn’t sure what this is supposed to accomplish, but then again, Narcissa never said no to a day of shopping.
Flying into Twilfitt and Tatting’s, she immediately picks through the racks, levitating an outfit to her chest. “What do you think?” Narcissa cranes her head to look at the front of the dress. “Too flashy?”
WHO: Vincent Avery and Alecto Carrow
WHEN: Saturday, June 9th, 1979. 1:24PM.
WHERE: Knockturn Alley, outside of Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoo
Vincent’s last day off from work had been terribly boring, and seeing as how he had already faced his sister and cousin, he reckoned he ought to start filling his time with something other than hours of intensive thinking in his living room. He left his flat, wandering down through Diagon Alley. After last week, Vincent had spoken to a lot of people that he hadn’t even seen in the last two months, some even longer. It took away a lot of the apprehension he’d had about leaving his home too often, and the bandage was finally off.
He didn’t have a plan in mind. He’d never needed to resort to spending his free time wandering around Diagon Alley. He used to come with a purpose in mind. He was one of the common folk now, though, and he figured that roaming around freely with no goal in mind was a part of that. Somehow along the way, he found himself in Knockturn Alley. He’d always liked it here. People minded their business for the most part. While stepping around a particularly awful looking hag, Vincent settled his eyes on a shop he’d always seen, but never gone inside of:
Markus Scarss Indelible Tattoo.
He had never entertained the idea of a tattoo before. There was only one that his father would deem acceptable. He’d never worked his way high enough to receive that particular badge of honor, thank Merlin for that. Other tattoos were deemed frivolous, not befit for an Avery. He pursed his lips. He wasn’t technically an Avery, not anymore. He could do anything he wanted really, even getting a tattoo. The thought, while not quite making him smile, did make him feel just a bit more light inside.
He was examining the display outside of the window, looking at the different types offered, when a flash of red caught his eye. It had been only two months since he had seen her, and one didn’t just forget the sight of Alecto Carrow. He would know her anywhere. Against his better judgement, he looked at her, wide eyed and somewhat fearful. He almost wanted to smile at her, but that would surely not be well received, not anymore. And yet he could not pretend he had not seen her.
Had she seen him? His ears went warm. A small part of him hoped so.
Alecto took it from him, placing it in between her lips and taking a long drag before handing it back to him. “Thanks.” She studied his expression for a moment, her lips turned up In a small smile. “Do you do this often?”
Benjy shrugged when she took a drag, “Well, usually I do it outside. But I was sort of feeling lazy today.” He said, his favorite place to do it was the Greenhouses but god they were so far away sometimes.
One of the perks that Alecto had found from being a prefect was that she was knowledgeable to the prefect schedule and knew when she’d be able to get past them for a walk on the grounds. Tonight Lucius was on rounds, and after a kiss to the cheek and a little bit more, she was in the clear to go on a walk with Regulus. She needed to talk to him about everything that was going on, and she wanted to know where his head was at.
Alecto was waiting outside of the sixth years boy’s dorm and banged on the orr. “Oi, Reg! We’ve got a fifteen minute window, and I don’t know about you but I’d like to get the hell out of here.” She felt for the back of smokes in the pocket of her robes that banged against the half full bottle of whiskey. Her hand itched to reach out and light one up, but she wanted to wait until she was outside. The last thing Alecto wanted to hear was Bellatrix’s incessant whining at the smell of the smoke. “Getting old out here, Reg!”
Being off duty for the night, Regulus had planned to spend the night either buried in a book or studying with Narcissa, if he could get her to focus long enough. What he hadn’t planned on doing was sneaking out with another prefect, for a smoke and a chat. But it was Alecto who asked and Regulus always found himself hard pressed to deny Alecto anything she asked of him. For a time, she was meant to become his sister-in-law and though that relation would never come to fruition, the friendship remained.
He was searching for his cigarette case when she knocked on the door, the silver box having been misplaced the last time Narcissa had pilfered from it. She knocked again, impatiently and the corners of his lips sank into a smirk as he joined her where she waited. “Can’t have you losing that youthful glow,” he said with polished sarcasm and a peck on her cheek in greeting. “Shall we, than?” He gestured for her to lead the way as they twisted and turned their way out of the dungeons to the chilly nighttime air, deftly avoiding the prefects they often were among.
Alecto rolled her eyes at the blatant sarcasm. “I’ll have you know that I aim to look this good when I’m forty.” Her fingers tapped ceaselessly against the door “You’re a wizard, Reg, if you’re looking for something, might I imagine utilizing the magic you were born with?” Once he was ready to leave, she buried her hand in the crook of his arm, assisting him in avoiding Lucius and his cohort for the night.
Once they were outside, Alecto quickly picked a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it with the tip of her wand, offering it to Reg to light his as well. “Well? I’m assuming you’ve heard the news about Amycus then? Rumor is we’ll all be getting our letters any day now.”
“Last time I accoid the case, it had been left open and my cigarettes were everywhere,” he explained as he took her arm, a movement that would look odd on the average sixteen year old boy but which Regulus pulled off with practiced poise. He rolled his own cigarettes to boot, so when they fell, they created quite the mess. “Patience is a virtue anyway. I’m helping you better yourself.”
He released her arm to pull a cigarette of his own from the case, taking the offered light and inhaling deeply. He nodded at her question, he had heard about Amycus receiving his letter. “Some sooner than others,” he said with a tinge of impatience in his voice. He wouldn’t come of age until after the winter break and though he’d expressed his interest in taking the mark before his seventeenth birthday, he hadn’t heard yet if he’d be given the opportunity. “Is he ready for his task?”
Alecto surveyed Regulus carefully for signs of wanting to defect, as his brother had. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Regulus- She trusted him as much as she trusted anyone outside of Amycus, which was still very little- but she understood that the appeal of following Sirius might be too much for the boy. “Is that eagerness I sense in your voice?” She asked, flicking excess ash from her cigarette underneath her shoe.
Alecto tilted her head, considering his question. From what she’d seen, Amycus was far from ready, however she didn’t feel that it was pertinent for him to know. “He’s as ready as one can be, I suppose.” She inhaled, savoring the burning in her throat over discussing her brother’s preparedness. “I suppose it’s the unease of not knowing what we’ll have to do that’s kept Amycus and I on our toes.”
Regulus made no secret of his desire to join the Dark Lord’s army, of his desire to have a part in this fight instead of just sitting by waiting for change to happen. His parents encouraged his dedication whole heartedly, it was they who had introduced him to the people so close to the Dark Lord’s inner circle over the summer and they who had planted the idea of joining the fight as soon as possible into his head. Pure blood though he might be, he had no intention of letting this war be fought by someone else. “Eagerness to make a difference,” he clarified. “To stop sitting by while our world is abused and sullied by those who don’t deserve it.”
Regulus understood her guardedness as he asked about Amycus, he would have been the same had she asked after Sirius in the same manner. “Uncertainty is unnerving,” he had to agree. He’d avoided the fear of uncertainty through avoidance, so who was he to judge anyone else their unease about it. “You have each other,” he pointed out, “You’ll be more than fine, I’m sure of it.” He wanted to offer that they also had him but it seemed and odd thing to find words for. He’d not pledged such allegiance outside of his family before.
Alecto nodded slowly. “I must say, Reg, I’m glad to see that you’ve proven quite different from others in this school.” Alecto couldn’t help but feel different from Regulus. Yes, she hated the Mudbloods and their over-enthusiasm and over all irritating ways. But she was not hellbent on warring against them. Though at this point it honestly looked as if it wouldn’t be much of a war for them. She was focused on herself and Amycus, not on the nonsense of a war. But still, she knew the part that she was expected to play, and she wasn’t ignorant enough to think that she could lower that guard around Regulus. “Patience is a virtue though. Let the mudbloods and blood traitors run themselves into the ground before we even have to lift a finger.”
She felt as though her and Regulus were tiptoeing around the real issues, instead talking in pleasantries and fancy airs. But so was the way of their society, it was the way they were raised. Alecto couldn’t remember the last time she had been frank with anyone outside of Amycus and Sirius, and it was only because their constitutions demanded it of her. “While having Amycus is a benefit, one always has to worry about family members being… liabilities.” The last word came out quieter than she had intended it, and she couldn’t help but think of what she had promised Sirius only days earlier.
She observed that he was different from many people in school but Regulus wondered if she didn’t mean different from her. He knew what it looked like, to be so eager for war. It wasn’t bloodlust that drove him, though. He wasn’t a particularly violent boy but he was a ceaselessly logical one. Infestations were not curbed by patience for things to return to the status quo. The mudbloods wouldn’t simply go away, policy wouldn’t change itself. It would take people willing to fight to achieve the change they desired. “Patience has run its course,” he countered. “Our society waited and waited while mudbloods enacted statues of secrecy and amassed power in our government. We’ve waited ourselves right into this war.” He didn’t speak with anger or exuberance, he spoke as if stating fact, which in his mind he was.
The word ‘liabilities’ caught his attention as he was sure it was meant to and he regarded her cooly as he tried to work out what it was she was asking. He wasn’t dumb to the fact that his family offered far more potential for liability, she was taking about Sirius. And it made Regulus uneasy. “What is it you’re aiming to ask, Alecto?” He wanted to believe her question was meant with good intentions but where Sirius was concerned, Regulus was always wary. He would not let his brother be used as a weakness against him, even if it meant being cool towards Alecto until he was sure she meant him no harm. He didn’t imagine she did, but there was no being too careful.
Alecto’s objectivity forced her to see reason when it came to agreeing with Regulus’s words. It was true- the mudbloods had pushed them to this extreme, as much as Alecto didn’t want to be the one paying the price for other’s transgressions. “Well now we’re force to play our hand; It will be stronger than the oppositions, but I hope for our sake that this war is a quick one.” Alecto had no patience and just wanted to secure their safety.
Regulus’s temperature changed towards Alecto, and she foolishly relaized that she had gone about her words the wrong way. Of course he would be put on edge. She would as well in any other situation. The circumstances required her frankness, and her attempt at slyness had been foolhardy at best. “It’s about your brother, as I’m sure you’ve assumed.” Her voice was reluctant, but she felt that Regulus had a right to know. “He’s asked a promise of me, and I’ve agreed to it already. But I thought that you deserved to be told. But I do plan on following through with what he’s asked of me.”
With this sentiment, Regulus could agree. He echoed her hope that this war ended quickly. He was not interested in fighting for the sake of fighting, of being in the middle of bloodshed and battle. He would do what needed to be done, but he would not enjoy it. “They’re already making strides in the Ministry,” he pointed out. “If they can keep moving forward with as little opposition as they’ve faced thus far, I think we will have little fighting left to do.” It was perhaps an optimistic hope but the Dark Lord was gaining followers with great speed and the opposition was paltry at best. Regulus was sure it would take a great change for anything to throw their cause very off course.
Her quick change of tactic did not go unnoticed by Regulus and it was only her history with Sirius that allowed her to peer over his defenses. His guard was not yet lowered but he wasn’t retreating into cold detachment just yet. Curiosity, desperate and screaming, to know what Sirius had asked of her attacked him. His brother had asked something of her, something he wouldn’t tell Regulus himself and something she thought he needed to know. That was enough to worry him. Voice filled with forboding, he questioned, “What did he ask?”
Alecto noted Regulus’s optimism but chose not to comment on it. She knew that she was hoping for the same thing, but dwelling on it would only increase her ever-growing anxiety. Instead she focused on the task at hand, which didn’t seem to be much easier. She fiddled the cigarette between her fingers, her eyes sweeping the ground and ignoring Regulus’s probing gaze. She took a drag of the cigarette, the smoke searing the back of her throat before she exhaled it. But she couldn’t hid behind her reticence for much longer, as she was the one who brought it up.
“Your brother has requested that should the time come that the Dark Lord requested that you torture or kill Sirius, I take your place. He’s asked me to do this for Amycus as well and I’ve accepted. You’re not going to change my mind, but I wanted you to be aware of the situation.” A large breath of release left Alecto as she looked at the boy, a slight fear creeping into her eyes. She wanted, no needed, to do this for him. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt a sisterly need to protect Regulus, and she couldn’t live with the idea that he might be forced to hurt Sirius more than she could live with idea that someone might force her to hurt Amycus.
He wasn’t sure what he had expected her to say, what the request might have been, but whatever he had prepared himself for, this wasn’t it. Any guard he had been preparing to raise shattered under the meaning in those words. His entire being rebelled against that probability, in the space of an instant he imagined a scenario that would place his brother’s fate in his hands and just as instantly he knew he would never be able to hurt his brother. More, even, he knew he’d never be able to allow it to happen. In the space of a mere moment Alecto had revealed to him what would perhaps be his most dangerous weakness in this war.
He didn’t realize he hadn’t answered right away and when he had the presence of mind to form words, he wondered how long she had been waiting for his answer. “No.” It wasn’t much, as far as answers went, but it was the only one he could even fathom giving. “I - cant’ - speak for your promise on Amycus’ behalf but on mine - I can’t - No.”
Alecto couldn’t help but let out a small sad chuckle, expecting Regulus’s answer. “It’s not up to you, Regulus.” She was trying to be gentle, knowing that if she were in his position she would feel similarly. “Sirius- doesn’t he deserve to decide how he dies, if that’s the circumstance in which it’s actually going to happen?” She longed to reach out and touch the boy’s forearm, but instead kept her body to herself, focusing on her cigarette which had been unattended until now.
“It’s not something I’d want to do in any circumstance. But it’s the logical choice to ask me.”
It took everything in Regulus not to fight with her, not to jump on the words that cut as she spoke them. Doesn’t he deserve the chance to decide how he dies? He couldn’t argue the logic but the point was Regulus refused to except a happenstance where Sirius died at all. In that moment he knew an awful truth, if the scenario Alecto explained ever came to pass, Regulus would neither harm his brother nor stand by and watch him be harmed. It was a truth that could very likely get he and his brother killed.
“My brother is anything but logical,” Regulus spat, more bitter than he intended. His irritation with the situation was seeping in where it didn’t belong, he knew that. If anything, this was oddly rational for Sirius and if Regulus didn’t hate it so much, he would acknowledge that. Regulus longed to tell Alecto to make a new promise, a different one. Not to harm Sirius in his stead but to help him should it ever come to protecting the older boy. But - as close as they were even now - to ask that would be admitting what a weakness his brother was, and he would not do that. He couldn’t, for Sirius’ own sake. “Let us hope you never need to make good on that promise,” he said instead, hoping she understood his meaning. “I can guarantee, none will like the outcome should you be forced to.”
Alecto understood Regulus’s bitterness towards the whole situation. She felt fondly towards him as Sirius’s brother, and as someone who was bonded with her own brother, she felt a kinship in him as only those with troubled brother’s could feel. “It’s a logical choice, Regulus. Probably the first one that Sirius has made in awhile.” Now she was the one who was bitter. Though she’d be hard pressed to tell anyone, Alecto was bitter for what Sirius had done to her. She would’ve given anything to have him stay on their side and marry her- it was selfish and wrong, but it didn’t stop Alecto from wanting it regardless.
“It’s not something I want to do, Regulus.” she whispered. “I don’t even know if I can- but I promised.” For the first time she allowed a small amount of fear to enter her voice as she spoke about killing the man that meant far too much to the two of them standing there.
He may not have been able to admit it but Alecto spoke the words he knew well. It was logical. It was so damn logical and Regulus hated it. Of all the stupid, hare brained, illogical, impulsive things his brother did, in this he had to be smart? And practical? He knew, though, that Alecto was telling the truth. He could hear it in the way her normally sure and strong voice dropped to a whisper, and he couldn’t stay so hard and cold and and angry, not with her. It wasn’t her he was mad at to begin with. He heard the fear in her voice and his own harsh edge dissipated.
“Then don’t do Ally,” he said with a softer voice, one he’d not used with anyone outside of his family in far too long and using a nickname he’d not spoken in years. Not since before Sirius had left. “Not for me.” He pressed his lips together, wondering if he could trust her. Wondering if he could say to her the things he shouldn’t dare to say to anyone. “I couldn’t stand by and watch Sirius die,” he said finally, hoping she understood the meaning behind that. That he would not stand by and watch if Sirius was in danger, but that he’d leave any loyalties behind in a heartbeat if it meant protecting his brother from imminent danger. “My brother doesn’t understand what he’s asking if he thinks that I would.”
Alecto turned to face away from him, not trusting herself to keep her emotions in check- She felt her chest tighten as he called her Ally- something that was reserved for only a handful of people. “You know I don’t have a choice if it comes to it, Reg. You and I both know that you can’t do it. And I know that as much as I love and believe in Amycus, it would kill him or drive him to madness.” She hated the idea of besmirching her brother’s reputation- but if it was the only way to have Regulus see reason then she needed to.
In a moment of uncertainty she reached for his hand in an attempt to comfort them both. Alecto had the misfortune of knowing exactly how it must feel to be in Regulus’s shoes, having a brother of her own that she loved dearly. “I don’t think it would be expected that you stand and watch-” Though the moment the words left her mouth she knew that perhaps that is exactly what they would do to poor Regulus. “Please- try to put it out of your mind. WE can cross the bridge when we come to it.” Her mind, however, was made up.
He didn’t protest as she turned away, he understood the need for that kind of semi privacy. But as she said again that he wouldn’t be able to do it, he reeled. It was true, he wouldn’t, but the point of the matter was that he wouldn’t brook anyone doing it in his stead either. If it came to that, Regulus would fight against whatever idiot thought it prudent to pit brother against brother. And if Alecto insisted on keeping her stupid promise in his presence, she would have very little time to choose to keep her promise and be counted among those he fought, or to help him. He knew no amount of arguing on the matter now, though, would help and so he simply squared his jaw and said nothing. He could not help the glare that accompanied his feelings on the subject but he kept his vitriolic words to himself.
As she took his hand he wrapped his own fingers around hers, glad for the Carrows and the way they had always been good to him and his brother. His glare softened and he understood the predicament Alecto was in, even if her refusal to see his point irritated him. He had to stifle a sarcastic and callous chuckle at his words. He would be surprised if he wasn’t expected to stand and watch. His brother was a blood traitor after all. What better way to make him prove his loyalty than to force him to take a final stand against him. “I am far more likely to set fire to the bridge,” was all he said, but he took her advice and let the subject rest. “Look out for your brother, Ally,” he said finally. “Leave Sirius to me.”
Their was a familial connection between the two that Alecto felt, and she was grateful for it. She was learning every day that this was not a lifestyle for the weary, and to have someone with whom she could lower her mask, even partially, was a blessing. But she could sense Regulus’s tension beneath his surface, and she knew it well enough to not push it any further. She had nothing to gain regardless. She’d given her two cents and told Regulus of her promise- that’s all she could do at this point.
“It seems that if I have an hour spent without thought of my brother, it is a rare one.” She shrugged her shoulders to indicate a semblance of indifference, but she felt anything but. She loved her brother more than life itself, but she had to wonder what her life would be like if she was on her own. The idea seemed unimaginable to her. She yearned for something that she couldn’t even understand. “They’re our weakness, it seems. Our brothers seem to be a very vulnerable extension of ourselves. But maybe that’s the nature of sibling, and we are just as fragile as we perceive them to be.” She shook her head twice before reaching into her pocket and pulling out another cigarette. “My apologies, all of this” She waved her hand ambiguously ‘tends to make me a bit to philosophical for my own good.”
Regulus was familiar with the sentiment, having Sirius pulled from so much of his life did not lessen the amount of time spent thinking - and worrying - about him. He envied Alecto and Amycus their ability to be free with their closeness, the way they didn’t have to think twice about being seen together, eating at the same table, sharing a conversation. They were small luxuries one didn’t appreciate until one was no longer able to enjoy them. Despite their forced separation beginning to take hold even seven years ago, Regulus still felt the sting of it’s loss.
“It’s absolutely the nature of siblings,” he affirmed with a wry smile. “Sirius is more protective of me than I am even of him, though I’m not sure either of us perceive the other to be fragile, exactly.” He paused for a moment to find the exact words to express his meaning. “Undeserving,” he settled on, “of the pain he’s been caused. That’s a better way, I think, to describe it. Sirius is strong, he can handle nearly anything. I simply don’t believe he should have to.” The words, though seemingly benign and innocent, were in truth anything but and he knew Alecto would recognize that. He also knew, though,that he could trust her with them. At her apology, he couldn’t help but lighten a bit, even smirk. “You’re in good company,” he informed. He didn’t need special circumstances to be philosophical. It was an unknown fact to all but Sirius and Narcissa, but Regulus hadn’t been mean for Slytherin. He was a Ravenclaw at heart, philosophical thoughts and musings came as easily to him as breathing.
