#smokeopen

[adelaideboots]

Adelaide stood still, watching people rush through Diagon Alley. It was interesting, she thought. Today was a day irreparably seared into her mind, but watching others walk around, shopping and laughing, it was clear that they had all but forgotten. Perhaps the Prophet would run a little memorial story, and that would jog their memories, but by and large, the Diagon Alley attack was in the past, ancient history.

Not to her.

Adelaide unconsciously ran her hand over the scar on her forearm, one of the only physical reminders of that day, and stared at the empty block that, only two years ago, had been Obscurus Books, where she had been shopping with her mother, unaware that her life was about to change forever. And not for the better.

“Weird, isn’t it?” She wondered aloud. “It’s almost like it never existed. Seven people died here, you think they would put in a memorial, at least.”

[fawley-en-face]

“I’m not actually objecting to sleeping with someone, but I’d rather not live with them, you know?” he complained, swirling his sugary, extra-caffeinated coffee so that the extra tablespoon of maple syrup he’d just added would properly melt. “And so far all of my prospective roommates have either vanished the minute they figure out I’m veela, or immediately dropped their trousers. Not to mention that I haven’t even closed on a place yet. How is it that there’s a war on and my biggest problem right now is this?”

He ran a tired hand through his hair. Maybe he should just suck it up and keep living at Camilla’s. 

[valentinanottt]

“Some people may dream of being able to relive their years at Hogwarts, but I don’t recommend it.” Chances were, they didn’t consider what it would be like to be treated as children again and Valentina didn’t care for it in the least. She was glad to be back at work, to feel like she was doing something useful other than standing around waiting to intimidate students that dared stick gum on the underside of a desk. “Although I’m not sure if attending Church’s trial counts as working. I’m supposed to be a witness tomorrow.”

[patrickfinnegans]

“Don’t worry about it, you’re not the only one that needs a drink or three after all the trouble that’s going around lately.” Patrick said as he topped off the glass sitting on the bar, barely avoiding spilling it before leaning his elbow on the flat surface. The wood needed to be redone, it was one item on his very long list of projects in order to bring the pub up to its potential glory, but Patrick was mostly grateful that he hadn’t put in a lot of repairs only for the place to end up trashed in the riots.

Despite Patrick’s words, there weren’t that many patrons sitting around at the various tables, but Patrick was hopeful that was just because they were just in between the time students left and the adults showed up. “You don’t look too worse for wear, did you catch any trouble from that mess?” He asked, trying to sound like it was an idle inquiry instead of fishing for information.

[zaraivancva]

Zara strode around Borgin and Burke’s, looking for nothing in particular. Sometimes she would come into the shop to offload an item from a job that she either collected by happenstance when hunting for another item or if the person who hired her for the job decided afterwards that they no longer wanted to pay. Today, though, she was simply looking around.

Some items on the dusty shelves moved quickly, but others had been there for ages. Though she didn’t visit on a regular basis, Zara visited often enough to see items that she had sold to them be moved around. She always found it interesting when an item that would traditionally be stored on the back shelves was moved to the front window.

It had been ten minutes since the other patron entered the shop. They were the only two in the store at that moment; whoever was working the floor that day left several minutes ago, presumably to get something from the back. Zara wasn’t sure if the other person thought they were being inconspicuous or if they knew that she was aware of their stolen glances at her, but either way, Zara had had enough.

“Are you going to say something or just keep silently looking at me?” Zara set down the locket she had been handling and made direct eye contact with the other patron. “I’m not going to bite.” It was her favourite line to use. Since her fangs were usually shaved down or cloaked, no one ever understood the irony.

[the-last-moody]

When he was little Alastor Moody often wondered who he was, at the end of the day. He knew what a Moody was, and the legacy that held. He knew what was expected of him, and he knew the pain that was written into his bones like an ending that was there from the beginning. The last refrain of a song, before the rest of it was sung. 

It was something that had he’d fought against. He wasn’t going to die young. He would survive, and now he wondered if that was the wrong thing to fixate on. That the night of him screaming at the floor of the Hufflepuff common room and the promise he’d made then was short-sighted. Maybe he’d written himself a new tragedy without meaning too.

“I am not at liberty to talk about the trial,”Alastor said face as serious and as calm as ever. Even in the face of nightmares, he couldn’t muster the look of fear in front of most. 

“If all you want to talk about is the trial, I will have to ask you to go,” he said softly not wanting to relive the moment again. He hadn’t had a bogart for awhile, not after he accepted life and death as nothing to fear. However, the look of Alexander - he wasn’t sure he’d be able to not see that.

[luka-petrov]

Luka had been on a walk through Diagon Alley, when all of a sudden there was a loud piercing sound that filled the air. He didn’t know what it was, until he heard another crash near him. Rocks. Someone was throwing Rocks. 

Without thinking Luka backed up to find people - rioting? That was the only word he could use to describe what was happening. All at once there was unrest and for what he didn’t know. The only thing he could think of was the trial- but what could have happened to cause this type of commotion? 

That’s when he saw someone who’d fallen, and without thinking he went to see what had happened to the figure. It didn’t matter in the moment what side of this they were on, not when something worse was probably coming. 

“You need to leave. Come on,” Luka said extending the a hand to the other. “Can you stand up?” 

[zephyrbcll]

“I’m thinking maybe I should have a side business in real estate. Maybe that would stress Remus out less than me arguing with people for a living.” Zephyr said as he stared contemplatively at the front door, trying to decide if it should be painted and, if so, what color. While there wasn’t anything wrong with the loft he and Remus had moved into, Zephyr still kept his eye out for little projects that he could do for a way to customize it for them and make it feel unique for them and like home, but it was hardly as big of an issue as it had been at their last place. “I made a nice profit selling off our old house compared to what I bought it for, and I’m pretty sure Delilah could get me in touch with some people if I wanted. With the war going on, I bet there are plenty of places that could do with being fixed up and flipped. Could be a new hobby.”