vigilantalastor:
It was a beautiful morning in an unfortunate age, and the irony of that really wasn’t lost on him. The Highlands had been home to him for over half of his life: his family’s estate and Hogwarts had both been situated there, tucked away in their own little corners. But this? This placed seemed oddly comforting - like hope and defiance hung in the air, just waiting to be acknowledged. Alastor had thought of staying back in London, barking crap orders to Death Eaters or listening to their equally crap explanations for just about everything. Sometimes he wondered if they felt just as lost as he did. They too were made to fight, created for a cause, and yet stuck running around the halls of the Ministry. He’d needed a brighter spot in his week, a little hope and defiance of his own, and so he’d cleared his schedule - citing a potential lead he wanted to follow up on (scoff) - and made his way to the Peverell Manor.
“That’s a damn shame,” Alastor replied, striding across the grass to where Minerva stood. His face was impassive, but a trace of mirth was evident in his voice. “I was ‘bout to name tha’ small one there Bluebell.” He hadn’t needed to even ask anyone where she’d been; he’d immediately been directed to the backyard, and he could see why. It was the best place to watch the herd of thestrals from - not that they did much. For a creature that was so frequently mythologised as a grave omen, they seemed pretty harmless to him; just a bit strange and misunderstood, but ready to do their part. A bit like all of them, Alastor supposed. When the lot of them had huddled together and come up with the idea to use thestrals as messengers, he’d thought of it in nothing more than logical terms. It was the rational thing to do. …people would either stay away or they’d never see them at all. Owls could always be intercepted, and carrier pigeons had never been in style - he didn’t know why Muggle books liked to glamorise them so much. But watching the thestrals now - no, it was still logical. Logical, and they weren’t as annoying as owls could be.
He noticed students as they took in the morning; playing Quidditch or laying about on the lawn or busy talking about things that wouldn’t matter a year from now. A few of them were staring at the thestrals too, though - and Alastor really didn’t want to imagine why. Stuffing his hands in his pocket, he kept his place next to Minerva, watching the damned beasts move about. “Wan’ed to name one after myself too.”
Alastor Moody was a man Minerva trusted without question these days. His presence was one of comfort and simple trust in days wrought with chaos, already undone. The strangeness of the relationship, at least in the eyes of the children perhaps, was the note of silence, stoic people meeting together in understanding, knowing each other longer than Minerva has known her first students, no matter if time was short in the beginning - and as he knew her as an Auror, more of her past was known to him than most of the people in her life now were aware of, even if it was some aspect. A connection was found either way beyond any trust and understanding that there ways, and this was found with Mary in Minerva's eyes, knowing well the girl she taught and trusted, brought about the same sort of knowing in the one who raised her. ( Another aspect of knowing was found at another level than the war, though it was connected: in the time Minerva spent in the Moody home, creating the known acceptance of welcome. )
His comment of wishing to name one of the thestrals after himself was met with a quick remark meant in good humor, though her tone and facial expression would remain the same, "If we discover your doppelganger, we'll make sure to name him properly." The reply, with her own impassive features created the dry humor. The one light note of the children seeing the thestrals was their naming of them, as well, it created the creatures to be less frightening, death as a part of the life cycle, even if wasn't right and the situation was wrong and no child should witness a death. In the place they were in now, the myths of the thestrals weren't such a danger if their names were "Floof" and "Giggles" or "Ghostie." It made them docile, amicable, to be named as if pets and seen beyond the nature that wasn't yet understood.
In all, the shock of Alastor joining her out in the yard wasn't great, his presence known at the Peverell Manor, his allegiance with the students and his daughter known by them all. She would only be concerned greatly if he seemed panicked in any form, if the way he presented himself wasn't as if he was here for leisure - though few things were for comfort these days, always the underlying fate of rebellion, the strings they still had to pull together to keep themselves afloat and unharmed. The wariness of each of them wasn't something to miss without regret, and still nothing else to do about it - to continue in their path in a stoic nature, graceful in its own way. The greater question of concern wouldn't be on the rebellion, but of Alastor and of Mary, the concern of the effect on the Moody family with the recent events of the past few days. "If you're here for a moment of calm, the best bet would be with the Quidditch game." Part of her wasn’t joking on this.














