#monstrous beginning

[luna-skips]

Blood in the Drains

Blood was not quite as common a sight in the Department of Unnatural Interrogation and Information Gathering as people tended to assume it was -- but it certainly wasn’t an uncommon sight, either. (Magic might have a lot of very effective ways to hurt people without making them bleed, but the people in charge of the Ministry of Magical Regulation weren’t magical and they liked to see things they understood, sometimes.) So nobody stopped Luna to ask if she was all right as she ambled down the hallway with crimson bursts flowering across the front of her skyblue blouse.

It was almost pretty, save for the fact that where the stains were drying they were turning an ugly, rusty brown that did not compliment the color as well as the bright wet reds they had started as.

Luna wouldn’t have minded the stains except that she knew that they would get stiff as they dried and on a diaphanous, flowing blouse like this, that would be itchy and uncomfortable. So she sailed into the nearest loo -- paying no more attention to the designation of the sign outside it than she ever did when her mind was distracted with other thoughts -- careful to keep her hands elevated, nudging the door open with her elbows instead to avoid leaving red handprint smears behind. She made straight for the row of sinks, not bothering to look around and see if the room was empty before she started pulling her shirt off over her head and stuffing it into the nearest basin. That left her in a cream bra patterned with purple stars and the too-small blue tank that half-obscured the bra and had kept the stars from showing (too much) through her shirt.

She hummed a little, tunelessly, as she turned the water on and watched the swirls of red twist and writhe under the deluge. “How pretty,” she murmured, too transfixed to remember to grab the soap and start scrubbing. “Like watching an Impressionist painting in motion. Or watching one die, I suppose. Hmm.”

[praesum-blog1]

Pandemonium

The Market always had Remus on edge. Avoiding Ministry officials was one of the staples of being part of the Caravan. It was something they taught their children at a very young age. Keep your head down, don't get caught. But the Market went against all of that. They invited those officials, opened their doors to people outside the community - albeit it was doors away from their actual living spaces. And, in the past ten years, since Remus had officially started to lead, they even started inviting Muggles. It was something he'd gotten push back from some members, especially those older, the ones who remember his father well. But it was something that had to be done. They could not grow without trying to understand the world they were growing in.

He never ran a stand himself, instead choosing to constantly walk through the crowd. He liked to stop at the shops, check the parameter, keep his eyes guarded on the wards. They were incredibly exposed here and it was something that could nearly break him. Under his calm exterior, his dangerous heart beat against his chest as he gave a small smile to a shopkeeper. She was one of his favorites, creating potions that no one had ever known. For that, her stand was often one of the more popular and so Remus liked to check on it frequently to make sure everything was going smoothly.

He backed away to move to the next stand for a check-in when it happened. There was a loud BOOM! and Remus was knocked off his feet. It took several seconds before he was able to sit up, his ears ringing, vision swimming. Around him, there were hoards of people on the ground with him. In the distance, more were running - their open mouths indicating they were screaming, though Remus could not hear it due to the blast. He managed to stagger to his feet, standing frozen, watching the chaos. He didn't know where the bang had come from, but he'd been in this war long enough to know that it was a bomb.

And then he saw them. The Ministry officials in their matching attire. Visions swam to a time so many years ago. Lily and James - Harry left behind. His father, gone. No... No!

Remus sprung into action, turning to the nearest Caravan member. "The children - we need to get them out first" His voice seemed faraway. He could nearly hear the words springing from the papers. How the children of the Caravan were raised by rebels. By the evil. He pulled out his wand and tightened his grip. "Aim at anyone from the Ministry you see! Try not to kill, we can use them if captured. But don't hesitate if you must!" And he through a Cutting Curse at the first Ministry-attired individual he noticed.

[luna-skips]

Here to Watch It Burn

Luna wasn’t there officially. She wasn’t the sort of agent who got assigned to raids and riots; her purpose was the gathering of questions and answers, not curse-slinging and hex-wielding. But she was curious by nature, curious about anything and everything without scruple or hesitation, and she had gotten the phone call; all of the Ministry’s active agents had. So of course she had to be there. Luna had been curious about the Caravan’s infamous black market for ages; the fact that for once, everyone at the Ministry of Magical Regulation seemed to know where and when and how to find the underground market -- well, that just made it possible to finally satisfy her curiosity. The attack, the warning attached to the message, was secondary really; it was the market that she wanted to explore.

And it was just as she had thought; there was plenty to study and observe and take in. Luna ambled though the impromptu lanes between shabby tents and shabbier tables and makeshift booths constructed of rubbish -- whatever people could cobble together, find, borrow, conjure, or make to display their goods upon. It wasn’t like anywhere she had ever been before; wix like Luna Lovegood were not generally considered welcome customers at the Caravan’s market, and she had never before gotten the chance to attend. This was an invitation only sort of shopping opportunity, and Luna wasn’t on the approved guest list -- usually. But today wasn’t a usual market day, although the Caravan hadn’t known that until after the explosion.

As for Luna, she was delighted, and she stared around at everything with evident enjoyment. It didn’t occur to her to worry that somebody there might recognize her, or more importantly recognize who her parents were, and take exception to her presence. It didn’t occur to her that any scenario that involved the words bomb and raid was inherently dangerous. It didn’t occur to her that there was safety in numbers and that maybe the daughter of two of the unregistered community’s least favorite wix shouldn’t be wandering around a place like this alone, with her head lost in the clouds -- especially not when the Ministry was about to start stealing children. Not that Luna thought of it that way, of course; it was just about finding out what would happen -- a chance to get some questions answered. There was no higher goal than that, in her mind. If a few children got snatched-up along the way, well, sacrifices were sometimes a necessity of investigation.

Happily enough, there were plenty of other questions that could be answered in the meantime, such as-- “What is that?” Luna exclaimed, pointing to the center of a most interesting collection of goods displayed on a nearby piece of board balanced atop two shabby crates.

She wasn’t asking anyone in particular, but her delighted question was loud enough to draw the attention of anyone passing by. Luna was not the sort of person who had ever been abashed about asking questions. It was one of the things that made her so terribly good at her job.

[lavenderknows-blog]

Bubbles n’ Ruffles // Lavender & Open

Unlike other kids who had grown up in the caravan, Lavender had spent sometime outside of the wild countryside. They had known luxuries like a regular changing tooth brush, socks without holes, and a washing machine. It was the later most item that Lavender had longed for the most while out in the wild. Cleaning charms and scrubs in a clear river were all well and good, but there was nothing that could compare of the job of a good muggle washing machine.

Lavender had spent their first weeks in London searching for the perfect laundromat, finally settling on Bubbles n’ Suds on Marple St. The location was clean, bright, and most importantly, the scent was just right. Light and warm, it seemed to wrap Lavender up in a tight hug and filled their nose with washing powder.

As it was the second Tuesday of the month Lavender had pushed their little trolley filled with bags of clothes for washing to Bubbles n’ Suds, a book tucked into their backpack, ready for a long day of washing.

Lavender opened the door of the first available machine, arms full of t-shirts and jeans for the wash, but paused at what they found inside.

“Are these yours, dear?” They asked. A pair of pink ruffled panties hanging from their outstretched finger, as they looked to the person beside them with a smile.