dried flowers in the kitchen, the view of lighting rolling through clouds from an above broomstick view, small ferns on iron stands turning brown in the corner of a bathroom, subway tiles and antique crystal glasses, dead ancestors and expressionist art hanging on lavender walls, morning dew creating halos around street lamps, the angry slam of doors being heard through brownstone walls, peach lips and faded freckles, wine stains on teeth and old hand-me-down rugs, squirrels fighting in a park tree, walking home alone before dawn, navy dress pants cropped at the ankle and a trench coat cinched tightly at the waist, the wafting smell off coffee brewed after 8pm, storm winds shaking glass windows, bees stinging your skin, nocturnes playing on her grandfather’s gramophone, wet earth and hard cliff stone, a lone diamond and pearl earring hanging from an ear- the other one gone missing some hours ago.
THE AVERYS: PART ONE (i decided to split this post so the request portion of the family will be in part two lol).
The Avery family is a Sacred 28 pureblood family whose principal line is set in Provence, France. (Though it is possible to link their gene pool to the Évreux’, a noble family that ruled Navarra from 1328 to 1441 thanks to an ancestor.) While several heads of the family have served in Wizarding Politics, for generations the family’s prestige in the Wizarding World has been graced to them by being artisans.
Short Historical Synopsis:
If Borgin and Burkes is a famous antique shop then expect to find an item in there that may have been made by an Avery.
Glorious cursed sculptures, intricate architecture, pottery that holds deep secrets… despite Michelangelo managing to steal many blueprints from their ancestor Roulland Evreux II, the family has been able to keep their legacy in tact.
The Averys claim themselves that it is from their lineage that enchanted portraits exist and while this is a topic of debate amongst historians, it is fact that the developing solution used on magical photographs was a potion created by Mahildis Camille Avery around 1827, a year after Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the world’s first photograph. (Mahildis, originally burned off the family tree for having a close affair with Joseph, was accepted back into the family after her notoriety took off).
Britain became the new family home after relatives fled Paris during the French Revolution and upon landing in England, their last name took on the Anglo-Norman spelling “Avery”. Rumor has it that Margaret of Anjou is on their family tree and one of the first to hop the pond, however an Avery would never confirm this as an Avery would never claim a relative married to a muggle— even if they were royalty.
A few Averys have since found creative success working in The Ministry of Magic after the move but with the affinity for passing down artistic talents, many have continued to pursue the arts as traditional familial careers.
Aesthetics:
sticky sweet humidity clinging to the skin, bonfires burning on private beaches, long stretches of pebble roads and even longer grass as green as emeralds, white stoned chateaux and overgrown gardens, seagulls squawking from up above, silver spoons scraping on china plates, ophelia floating down a muddy brown river, tooth chisels and point chisels and slabs of fresh marble, french hydrangeas growing large against exteriors, the soft whispering of water flowing through an open window, algae thriving on boulders, a family of swans nesting in a lake, the endless pitter patter of feet passing by bedroom doors, another godforsaken friday family dinner, powdered blue silk walls packed inch to inch with artwork, the sound of voices debating from downstairs, family graveyards high above on a hill, spills of potions on dining room counters, busts of old ancestors on dusty untouched books, a half finished canvas perched in the middle of a room, lunches outside where the flowers bloom, fainting couches warn and put to good use, a harp playing on a breezy lazy afternoon.
The Myths and Legends:
As an accomplice to Joseph Géry Pieret, Grandpa (Leon) Avery spent his days lifting and hawking artwork from the Louvre. His insistence on why he had fallen into a crime spree in his younger age is that half of the art there belonged to his family anyway and he deserved to sell it.
It had actually been Leon that sold two stolen Iberian statues to Picasso and his poet friend and would later steal the Mona Lisa using polyjuice potion and a stray hair from the painter. All would go down in history for this crime unlike Gramps who got away by altering his accomplice’ memories. Family rumor has it that the Mona Lisa is actually a great aunt of some sorts and that she was definitely, 100% French. In 1606, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio killed Roulland Evreux II while he was living in Italy, stealing a bunch of his artwork (poor thing, this happened to him a lot) that he would later be known for. To this day you will never see an Avery step foot inside the country, believing that a trip there is an omen of death and a curse on their artwork. Upon being probed by Marie Antoinette for advice, a famed Evreux simply declared to ‘let them eat cake’ and it was in fear of evidence ever appearing to condemn them that lead them to flee Paris.
First impressions:
Always fresh and modern, despite their affinity for upholding blood purity and love of taking part in elite Wizarding society (it’s the glamour, darling), the Averys have a special knack for adapting to the way the world around them changes. They tend toe the line between the muggle and magical worlds when it comes to art and technology, and are not afraid to take muggle developments into their own hands and improve them. They’re not afraid of trends either which keeps an air of timelessness around them. Despite each family member being incredibly individualistic in personality and how they express themselves, they always seem to look as though they belong together. Often leaving one feeling as if they think you’d never understand what it is to be an Avery unless you were well— an Avery. Very sociable, it is not unusual to see them out and about alone or together. When they’re in a bunch they are loud and full of laughter and all seem to move together like the curling blue waves. To the world they are an enviously close knit family that makes you feel as though you are staring into an ocean of water reflecting the golden sun setting in the sky. It is always a successful party when every Avery is in attendance.
HEY DJ JUST PLAY THAT SONG KEEP ME DANCIN’ – ALL NIGHT
see we’re living in a time of rock and roll, hip hip, new wave, and classical:
Margaux’s jams from the 80′s/70′s but mostly early 80′s.
… 6 ) Burning Up, Madonna / 7 ) Games Females Play, Gigolette / 8 ) Don’t Lie Back, Au Pairs / 9 ) Pain, Boy Harsher / 10 ) Walk Away, Donna Summer / 11 ) Hey DJ, Worlds Famous Supreme Team.
[ LISTEN ] cause she’s a dancing queen in the club scene, young and free with a mean streak.
24, SELFISHLY NEUTRAL LEANING TOWARDS DEATH EATER SYMPATHIZER* PUREBLOOD.
PERSON:
likes to be called will
neutral evil
8w4
ENFP-T
a beauty unable to hide her skepticism and melancholy. a soft deep voice — like velvet — she moves slow, talks slow and has a habit of holding herself like a queen: poised, long, graceful. with her knees crossed and her back straight— she could fool you into thinking she was a lady (she’s not). puffy lipped and full of expression (you couldn’t even count how many faces she has without losing track)… and her eyes always give her away, they’re electric.
she: strikes like lightning when you least expect it. mean, merciless, vibrant, sharp with an ever changing mind. a charming smile paired with a curling laugh that makes you cringe (or surprised to even hear it at all), especially when there’s liquor in her belly. she walks into a party alone, no shame whatsoever, unafraid to join a random conversation. handles life with a no holds barred kind of honesty, just waiting to die already.
MAGICAL THINGS:
previously a healer, she spent two years working at st. mungo’s before realizing the job was too selfless, took too much of her personal time and decided to quit.
now she spends her days painting and playing in her garden while working as a moraless freelance potioneer who will give anything to anybody. need to poison your sugar daddy after finding out you’re in his will? she’s got you. need to save someone’s life? she’s got you. just need some herbs or a drink that gets you high? she’s got that too. you just have to know how to find her.
HOUSE- ravenclaw
WAND- larch wood with a unicorn hair core, 13 ½" and quite bendy flexibility
N.E.W.T.s- art, history of magic, transfiguration, potions, charms, herbology, and defence against the dark arts
AMORTENTIA- the scent of spring blossoms in the air, moist wet dirt, eucalyptus oil, spliffs burning, baking brownies
PATRONUS- timberwolf
BOGGART- all consuming fiendfyre eating every inch of the avery family estate, it takes father days to control and destroy it
Fresh sweet air hits sticky skin and for a moment fills drunk lungs with a sense of relief. The abrupt silence that falls against her ears — shaming the hard thump of 808s into a mere whisper against soft air — feels obscene. Her ears ring and a large looming moon reflects against glitter stuck to flesh, making her sparkle in the dark summer night.
There are some things that you just can’t forget.
She sighs and closes her eyes, brows pinching together, corners of lips turned down. The loss of sight makes her head spin and she misses a step.
There are some things she wishes to forget.
Like dark billowing cloth, heavy over the bodies wearing them— heavier on the eyes that watch them move in horror.
There is not much fear to be felt when you have nothing to be afraid of, but even Margaux had been left speechless at the sight of dreary old Millicent Bagnold’s limp body hitting hard surface. No light in her eyes just terror— just fear, the kind of fear that reflected in they eyes that stood around her.
Margaux did not fear much of anything but she wished she could forget.
For life is much easier when it means nothing. When you want for nothing. When your belly is full of bread and wine and your laughter full of carelessness. When a harrowing cloud is not looming above you, spoiling all your fun.
Her butt hits a cement curb where she decides to leave herself to rest. Eyes slowly opening to a world that is spinning and she feels like a rotten apple that has fallen from a tree.
For the world had been spinning for a while all around her anyway and for fucks sakes, wished she could forget it.
((another margaux shit post. so you can’t blame me for spamming you))
instagram vs aesthetic board 2.0
instagram mood:
public, obviously. but don’t let that fool you, she’d post mostly via stories to her close friends and have a finsta to boot. mostly art, flowers in polaroids form and ootd (or food of the day). alternative bio would be: ‘don’t invite me anywhere if i can’t wear my disco dress’. (or in animal crossing: bellbottom punk).
margaux likes:
being called will, being covered in dirt up to the last strand of hair (a gardener doesn’t have a good day if being dirty isn’t an aftermath), family dinners every friday even if she makes her mother argue with her before getting that rsvp, silk slips because she feels she should have experienced her 20s in the 70s when disco was a bigger thing than it is now, lace gloves (which she always wears even while gardening), scrunchies, boys who smell like eucalyptus and sex, sketch books that never have any completed sketches, sitting in a cafe for hours drinking coffee and making the baristas mad (for sitting in the same spot all day), walking through knockturn alley all day just to visit borgin & burkes, selling potions to whoever is the highest bidder (she doesn’t care if you are looking to kill), healing the said partner you tried to off (even though sometimes it is reluctantly), leggings paired with oversized blazers and chuck taylors, sundresses with combat boots and jean jackets, helping you poison that trust fund baby you love ony to heal them all together to make sure you’re put on their will, a punk rock sex god well versed in classical music, growing her own hydroponic (is she a dealer? not officially, she’s always a healer first), disco balls and developing her siblings photographs (making sure they move), her little lavender radio that can hook to her pocket (or belt when she has one)... she may or may not have charmed the color.
the myths:
she once poisoned her transfiguration teacher for giving her a bad grade with a stray quill, she knows how to immortalize your soul through a painting, she once perfected the science of a cross pollinated apple using a curse and the felix felicis potion that gives you the best of luck with the worst of luck out of consequence.
the legends:
she once poisoned her transfiguration teacher for giving her a bad grade with a stray quill, she had an affair with a hogwarts teacher (but it didn’t start till after her NEWTs), she always won at games amongst her hogwarts mates (because she always gave them hand made mood rings that helped her cheat).
character parallels:
cordeila chase (btvs), alexis rose (schitt’s creek), ko moon young (it’s alright to be not ok), the girl (the seven year itch), michelle mallon (derry girls), effy stonem (skins), joan holloway (mad men), penny lane (almost famous), molly gunn (uptown girls), elvira hancock (scarface).
Not every wizard gets to leave Hogwarts for the summer and head to a chateau in the South of France but for an Avery, it’s tradition. Not at all strangers to the sea, their family’s main estate is located on the coast in East Sussex though it is not their original family home.
Please take a look at my formal request for each member!
Growing Up:
Never a quiet day in the house except for on the off chance that every kid was outside. All meals eaten together always: breakfast, lunch, brunch, snacks, supper- you name it. Endless fighting, there was always someone crying for five seconds. Being forced to be a muse, how many hours can you sit still as your sister repaint you over and over again? Plays being written, every sibling had a part (some begrudgingly). Parents who could never agree on how to raise a kid: each one treated differently, each one like an experiment as they tried to figure out where they had went wrong with the last one and what they would fix with you. If mom said no, dad would probably say no but if dad said no, mom always said yes. mischief and mayhem and family jewels destroyed. Secrets kept by siblings. Snitches always got stitches. Endless stories of embarrassing moments told by siblings and parents who never hold back or keep their mouths shut when you need them to the most.
Most notable recent tragedy:
In the summer of 1973, a fire broke out on the old Avery estate. Each one remembers the night very differently and none can truly agree on where or how the fire started and all of its events. Though only half of the buildings structure was damaged the Mr. and Mrs. Avery never sought to rebuild as their son and third born had perished with the house.
THE AVERY’S AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH ONE RESPECTIVELY:
Mr. — Avery, 62/63 or around there, Death Eater: (open)
So I know that this Avery in the books was friends with Tom Riddle at school but I aged him up (sorry it had to make sense with my fam ok) but nonetheless I would like him to be one of the OG DE members. I imagine him being a member of Wizengamot rather than an artist, who never really indulged in whatever artistic talent he had because he was embarrassed by his father (the louvre thief in my part one) and very influenced by his mother who was more cold blooded and practical. Has the gall of his father but operates more like his mother — cool, calculated, traditional — and in turn for being highly embarrassed by who his dad was, accidentally married a woman just like him (guess those daddy issues run deep). He is a tough love kind of parent who thinks all his children need a dose of the “real world” but is consistently undermined by Mrs. Avery at nearly every turn. They both have different ways of enforcing their pureblood views and Mr. Avery is definitively more traditional. Despite this attitude towards parenting, he tends to show his love with material things which doesn’t really help his case now does it?
Mrs. — Avery (nee whatever you like), 62/63 or around there, DE Supporter: (open)
Now Mrs. Avery had a vastly different upbringing that probably was not as colorful as the family she married into. She comes from a very strict, traditional, pureblood house. No funny business. She was raised to be a princess who would marry well and become a queen (etc, etc). They were not poets, or painters, or inventors but SHE was. She was a blazing pit of fire amongst her family lineage. A rebel. The only thing she managed to do right was marry well into a proper — prestigious — family and have a bunch of kids (even though it was not at all the family they wanted her to marry into).
Think of her and Mr. Avery having a cat and mouse kind of relationship (honestly they are literally Johnny and Moira from Schitt’s Creek on accident but I love it). She definitely is a blood purist but she is an artist first: a poet, a painter, an inventor, a flamboyant mother, who does what she wants and always the opposite of whatever anyone tells her to do. Her career is 100% up to you, however I don’t see her being a housewife who can cook well or cleans or sexist stuff like that… that what house elves are for?
[INSERT THE KIDS:]
(The Heir) — Avery, 35ish, Writer, Neutral (open):
If ever there was a picture of “disappointing heir” in the dictionary, the eldest Avery would be it. It’s not like he’s ever killed a man or something (not that his parents would disapprove of it. Shocked that someone of his temperament would have it in him? Maybe.) Thoughtful wallflower who seemed to always be lead by the pack of wolves that were his siblings, the eldest Avery has only ever wanted this: to be left to his romanticism and novels and for his writing to shake the souls of the people. Often wrote plays with Juliet that his siblings were subjected to act and rehearse.
He’s at least achieved half of this. Forget N.E.W.T.s, this Avery ran to France the second he was old enough and free from schooling. All to get away from their father’s grip so that he could become a novelist. Where he has lived in France and what he has been up to is up to you, however: he’s had at least two novels and a poetry book published since he’s been away from home. His first novel is what made him popular but it didn’t really gain any traction until his other works were published. Why he’s come back home now of all times when the political climate is getting tense and their world is going to shit (depending on the person you’re talking to of course), is also up to you. He is neutral on the bases that his own personal world is most important.
Once upon a time Odette Avery decided to take it upon herself to parent her siblings to death (not really this is Margaux typing). We love a good trope where the eldest is supposed to be the heir but the second comes in to inherit it all and that is exactly who Odette is. You could call her the favorite amongst BOTH their parents which is a feat considering each of them picks and choses which kids they like the best. She is beauty and brains but arguably has more of the latter. This is probably because she is the perfect combination of both. A go getter, with more passion than the raging waves of the sea, Odette knows how to get what she wants while being unassuming.
Quite possibly the most clever in the bunch, she has the patience for a long game kind of approach to life, calculating and looking at results without the need of immediate satisfaction. She is a painter in her free time and even does so under a pseudonym. Excellent at restoring art. “She keeps tabs on her siblings indirectly, through contacts and ‘spies’ because heaven forbid she actually interacts with them”.
played by alee
Laurent was by far the golden child of the Avery family and this is where it hits the most. Quite possibly the famed sibling who was everyone's favorite. He was intelligent, a peace keeper, charismatic, kind to everyone without any regard for who they were or their station (he was even the house elves favorite Avery and that is saying something). His death was untimely and happened as he was fresh out of Hogwarts with the most promising future out of all of them. Like Margaux he was a Ravenclaw alum. )
(The Death Eater) — 25/26, Open job: (open)
Ah the notorious book canon. The dark sense of humored boy who thought it was cute to torture Mary McDonald in school. The first of the Irish twins (well really triplets) their parents seemed to have. They must have re-fallen in love at some point in their lives because good ol’ Margaux was born just 14 months after this Avery and unfortunately the three youngest in the family have been consistently grouped together during family activities as a result. Always the matching pajamas and Christmas presents and being called by his sisters names on accident, this Avery hated being the monkey in the middle.
An expert in the art of war, this Avery always knew how to bully his siblings and somehow get them yelled at and punished instead. The leader of the pack when it came to mischievous ideas, it was no surprise he excelled in the art of dueling. Having a passion for martial magic and the dark arts. Their father proudly expected him to become an Auror or a Hit Wizard but he went straight to join the Death Eaters instead, passionate about his pureblood heritage, he shows open destain towards any contradicting views that may come from his siblings.
Margaux Avery — 24, Ex Healer turned Potions Dealer, Neutral (pb Luna Bijl):
If there was a thorn to ever hold tight to any Avery’s side, it would be Margaux, who always had the habit of choosing to express her individuality in moments where you just needed her to be quiet and listen. Possibly due to being the second youngest and often lost in the sea of kids, Margaux always found herself in the kind of trouble not respectable for a proper pureblood lady (mostly from her father). From no one ever knowing where she ways (except for Odette who would always snitch) to being caught out at bars with company twice her age picking fights with the children of her parent’s friends, She has always played the role of a wayward duchess type well. Most like her Grandfather the art thief, it is said that her existence is what finally forced their father to go gray. Every single sibling has a tale of having to bail her out of somewhere or come to her rescue and being put under an unbreakable vow to never EVER tell their parents.
Most of the family found relief in Margaux seemingly settling down with a career (her father’s heart probably stopped for a second too long among seeing her N.E.W.T.s because how…) and no more was she the girl who had a good habit at waisting her talents until, well, she was again. Properly selfish and independent, Margaux had a hard time dealing with the emotional weight of being a Healer (never having to be responsible for even her own) and quit only a few years. She swore up and down it was to focus on her painting but to no ones surprise she hasn’t really put passion into that either. Most days her siblings find her covered in paint and dirt, spending most of her time experimenting with the plants she grows in her urban garden, selling weed she’s tweaked and potions.
played by mikaela
Juliet Avery — 23, a.k.a The Most Disappointing Avery You Will Ever Meet (resistance supporter, pb luisa laemmel):
Maybe as all babies in the family go, Juliet often heard comparisons between her and her siblings. She could write just as well as the oldest, was as calculating and sneaky as Odette, had the same sinister sense of humor as the golden death eater child, and could make as much trouble as Margaux could (and even get away with pinning most of that trouble on her). Despite this, her parents had seemed to have successfully drilled submission into her and where they felt they failed with each of their children they had thought they perfected in Juliet. No one is sure when the sweet and docile baby became the kind of person to put any rebelliousness from her siblings to shame but it started around her teenage years and the thrill of having her own secrets.
Having been betrothed to the son of their Mother’s best friend, all the family had turned up and expected to watch their baby sister get married. That is until she didn’t show up and now no one has seen or heard from Juliet after leaving her man high and dry on their wedding. And that is just the beginning.
