bleeding heart of stone

Valentina Nott | 26 | Auror | Death Eater "A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest … because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her." ~Terry Pratchett

[valentinanottt]

ladylilianazabini​:

Liliana chuckled and shook her head. “I’d like to see them try,” she said. “I won’t pretend Beauxbatons was perfect, but I can’t imagine anywhere better.” She shrugged and considered the future. “I suppose if I stay in this area, Blaise will likely go to Hogwarts. It would be less fuss than sending him to another country.” Besides then her mother would probably want to pretend everything had been perfect and have them both over during his school holidays. No, Hogwarts would be cleaner in that regard.

.

"You wouldn't need to go far for Durmstrang to also be an option," Valentina pointed out, aware that their history of dark arts was a boon in the minds of some. It struck Valentina abruptly that while there was a strong sense of history bordering on fanaticism when it came to the loyalty that most had for Hogwarts, she held a broader appreciation for schools than some thanks to her brother and the fact that all three of her father's wives attended different schools, so she'd never been part of a world where Hogwarts was the only option. "But that's still a long time away."

[valentinanottt]

pippaxstrout​:

Pip wasn’t one to be around Auror’s and for the most part, she tried to dip around people who looked like they could destroy her future. However, the fair was always a fun exception of what people usually do. That and if she was honest there was something to the mutters by her dad that she was a bit to much like her mom. 

So without the hesitation she probably should have, she sat next to a lady she was pretty sure was Valentina Nott with the grace and elegance she never possessed.  Crossing one of her legs, feeling very lady like in her skirt even if part of it had been torn three years prior and she didn’t bother fixing, she raised her eyebrow slightly. 

“I mean I don’t have any complaints at the present, or any you’d probably be able to help but if I figure out someone to complain about I’ll let you know. I was just trying to get out of the sun.” Which was true enough as she leaned down to her bag to pull out her bag of popcorn. They might look like a miss match between the two, but that wasn’t about to bother Pip. Besides, she had cut off most of the rip on her skirt so she doubted anyone would really notice. 

“That’s not me complaining about the sun by the way, just you know pointing out my motivations.” 

.

Trusting wasn't exactly a word that described Valentina Nott and she liked to think it was an advantage instead of an issue when you were living in a world at war, especially since she credited it with the fact she was still alive. There were a few people she trusted, of course, a couple that earned the title of found family, but strangers that sat next to her on a bench did not qualify, even if they did look vaguely familiar.

"I didn't expect you to stay sitting no matter what your motivations." People that weren't tentative around her because of her last name usually decided distance was a good move after she snapped at them since most of Valentina's acquaintances said that she was an acquired taste and the rest usually just admitted she wasn't a pleasant person to be around.

Taking another bite of her cotton candy, Valentina flicked her eyes over her unexpected companion, taking in the scar and the ill-used skirt that more of the purebloods Valentina knew would declare marked the woman as cheap. Not as put together as she was acting, clearly, and Valentina went 'hmph' before turning her attention forward again. Either the woman could start threatening her or pull out a wand so they could fight, but unless she started something, Valentina fully intended to try ignoring her in favor of enjoying her cotton candy even if she wanted to point out that there were other places to sit, a fact that made her think the silence wouldn't last.

[valentinanottt]

rowanmontague​:

“Two weeks ago, it happened.” Rowan sighed, wishing the rest of the aurors understood the difference between Unspeakable and cursebreaker that well. “I’m supposed to be working in theoretical and experimental magic, yes, but my training includes explosives and unstable artifacts. With the war, there’s too much going on and not enough people who can tell if something is actually dangerous.”

"A side effect of so much of the ministry being understaffed is that we're all working double duty. I do things that are below my experience level as well, but there are never enough new recruits to send out and they usually don't have the experience to go out alone or to keep themselves alive if they find real trouble." As much as Valentina hated to admit it, one of the first causalities in the war might very well be the Ministry of Magic itself.

[valentinanottt]

zaraivancva​: 

“Not primarily.” She did engage in trading from time to time, but it was hardly a large percent of her income. “I’m a cursebreaker. Freelance.” Zara could leave it at cursebreaker and let people assume - she let people assume she was just a witch all the time - but she couldn’t stand the idea that people might think she worked for a bank. Zara wasn’t actively anti-establishment, but if she had to choose between organization and anarchy, anarchy fit her far better.

“That’s how I know it’s not cursed. Unless someone cursed it while it’s been sitting here in Borgin and Burke’s, I broke the curses that were on it before bringing it in here and selling it. Selling items to Borgin and Burke’s isn’t my first choice, but if the client changes their mind about paying…” Zara shrugged. “I have to find another buyer.” And Borgin and Burke’s was usually more than happy to buy what she was selling.

"Mhmm. I've known a few." She once knew a cursebreaker quite well, in fact, but not so well that she was familiar with the various people in that circle. Still, the older something was, the more likely it was to be cursed and the deadlier that curse tended to be, as well as the more difficult to break. Valentina in particular had a great respect for the Egyptian curses that people kept unleashing on themselves, and no particular urge to mess with them herself.

Surprised by the answer, Valentina gave a sort laugh and them for herself surprised that she'd had such an open reaction to it since she normally kept a far better handle on her own emotions than that. "And how many of these items have you handled yourself?" She asked, wondering just how often the woman broke a curse on something and then found it again on the shelves of a shop. She also wondered just how much Borgin and Burkes had gouged the price and if the woman ever felt cheated by her pay, but that was her own fault if that happened.

[valentinanottt]

leonapodmore​:

After eating her way through the fair, Leona started wondering if the real trap was in the food. What if this was a lotus-eater situation, where they all willingly stayed at the fair forever? Then she saw a toddler throw up and was relieved to find out that food wasn’t the threat. Unless you were a toddler with a sensitive tummy. Still, she was grossed out enough to go to the boring side, where she bumped duck-lady.

Duckling seemed like a good enough nickname at the time of her greeting, but it wasn’t too well received. “Well, it seemed fitting at the time.” The woman would probably be her height, if she weren’t wearing please-don’t-step-on-me-shoes. They would probably slow her down enough for Leona to flee, if Duckling’s murder eyes turned into murder hands. 

“But you didn’t really answer my question. What brings you here? No offense, but you don’t seem too excited.”

"That's because I'm not." Valentina retorted, not exactly known for being a people person or a family fun sort of person. She didn't have anything against the occasional pureblood party and she was always willing to relax at a spa or something like that, but beyond that, Valentina was well aware she was considered to be something of a killjoy. She was not, for the record, known as some sort of animal rights activist that went around saving ducklings, even if that was exactly how she met the woman.

"The DMLE is short staffed, so we're all being assigned extra work to help cover the gaps in man power. Part of this means that I had to make sure no one caused any trouble on this fun filled day." The tone of voice revealed just exactly how 'fun filled' Valentina happened to think the day was proving to be. "I'm an auror." And while it wasn't a glamorous job, she was certainly trained for more dangerous assignments than watching a kiddie ride.

"And you? Did you have fun at the petting zoo?"

[valentinanottt]

You wish you'd grown up with Moody being your dad.

“...”

[valentinanottt]

didn't get hugged enough as a child

“Nope. I was hugged a sufficient amount, thank you.”

[oldmemesandhelpandthings-gone]

Send Me Your Assumptions About My Muse

and I’ll respond with “Correct”, “Nope”, or “Kinda”.

[valentinanottt]

@zephyrbcll @trisxrojas @casruncorn @patrickfinnegans

[alannasroleplaymemes-moved]

Send a 🙌 and I’ll introduce you to an NPC related to my Muse.

This means any minor ‘background character’ in my Muse’s life, such as a relative, coworker, friend, rival, etc. that they interact with in their personal canon. 

[valentinanottt]

She was officially no longer on patrol and Valentina was beyond pleased with it since she’d spent the past four days wandering around and trying to find any sign of trouble among the various fair goers. You’d think the crowd would have thinned out by this point, people having experienced their fill of the fair and finally deciding to stay home, but no, it remained just as crowded as the first day, if not more so. 

A false sense of security was creeping over them, if she had to guess, and Valentina despaired of them all. After yet another day of people coming up to her because their child had lost a toy or they themselves had dropped their wand (which really, how did someone survive so long in a country at war when they were so careless that they lost their wand?), she wanted nothing more than to sit in peace with her cotton candy.

Of course that wasn’t the way it happened, and Valentina frowned as someone sat down next to her. “If you have anything to complain about beyond the stupidity of people, go find someone else,” She commented, popping another strand of cotton candy into her mouth.

[valentinanottt]

If asked if she was avoiding the other end of the fair where she knew very well that her sister was standing around and giving out fliers, the answer was yes. She wasn't entirely sure what Sofiya was doing, but if she managed to weird enough people out that they would go home and there wasn't need for the current level of security, she might actually apologize for thinking that Sofiya was being embarrassing. Only mentally, of course, but she would buy Sofiya some new candles, or maybe even a nice mirror.

Really, this had to be the most unpleasant assignment she'd had since Hogwarts. There were so many people around, so many shrill children, it was a lot to take in and there were so many ways that the death eaters (or any other group wanting to make a statement) could throw the entire thing into chaos. People were classified in terms of how dangerous they looked and if they seemed to be doing anything shady, so of course that meant Valentina missed the person she should have actually been watching.

At the sound of her voice, Valentina turned and yes, she recognized the woman and managed to place just where she knew her from, but that didn't stop Valentina from asking in blatant disbelief, "Did you just call me duckling?" @leonapodmore​

[swanqueensails-deactivated20240]

Julia Wicker Appreciation Week  |  Day 3 - AU/Crossover Outfit or Accessory ↳  2x11 The Rattening - I mean, I could write a spell. Uh, we could find the nearest child’s house expecting the Tooth Fairy and..

[valentinanottt]

rowanmontague​:

“There’s always going to be someone manipulating the system,” Rowan shrugged, taking another drink of his coffee. There were only so many more hours his boss could make him work, right? “If I get a call from your department to go check out a non-cursed modern art sculpture at three in the morning, I’ll be personally leading the next bill to defund y’all.”

"I doubt they'd call you in for that. If they do, I'd severely question what they're distracting you from," Valentina admitted, tilting her head at them before huffing and shaking her head. "Besides, shouldn't they have you working with theoretical and experimental magic?" After all, Unspeakables were supposed to deal with things other than petty thefts and it sounded as if they were being put to work as a cursebreaker instead.

[valentinanottt]

ladylilianazabini​:

“Interesting,” Liliana said. She wasn’t sure how much she intrinsically cared about the way the British couldn’t let go of their school days, but as she planned to stay here, it was something she needed to know. It would help her continue to navigate socially, but someday Blaise would be in school and part of that system. “Like calls like, I suppose.” That seemed to be the governing principal of it all.

"And you? Has anyone tried to convert you into an honorary Hogwarts Alumni?" She didn't know how much Liliana knew about Hogwarts and truthfully, she wasn't sure how long she could keep the topic on Hogwarts, but at least it was better than talking about having to go on the stand. "I doubt you missed out on much, although I don't really know much about Beauxbatons. I'd rather focus on mature hobbies."

[valentinanottt]

edith-clearwater​:

While Edith did not have the world’s greatest knowledge of musical instruments, she had fixed much stranger objects in the past. If the issue was something minor, it should be doable. On the other hand, if it required her to have extensive knowledge on how pianos operated, perhaps not so much. “Sure. Do you know exactly what’s wrong with it?” the blonde asked, raising a brow inquisitively. Perhaps if the woman was able to give her just a little bit more information on how the piano had broken in the first place, Edith would be able to tell her then and there whether or not to bring it in. 

Miriam had always been the one of them that was musically inclined. Maybe she would even be able to ask for her sister’s advice… It could be a good bonding opportunity for them, at least. “I’ll admit, I’m not an expert on crafting musical instruments, though I am certainly willing to take a look. I’ve worked on others before,” she smiled softly. 

"I haven't any clue, I've never had an interest in the piano." Valentina couldn't pay it and she'd never desired to, meaning that particular area of interests was left to people that would stay out of her way and not steal her time if they were focused on it. "My sister keeps saying she's going to fix it and she doesn't, so I'm solving the problem for her. It hasn't worked in years and likely needs tuning as well." That was a thing all pianos needed eventually, wasn't it? Something to do with air and humidity and age? How Valentina hated not knowing something, but that's what she was theoretically going to play this shop for.

"As long as you don't break it further or can send it along to someone else to fix, I don't care." Perhaps if the request came from another shop instead of someone with know death eater ties, one of the other repairmen would be more inclined to work on it. Really, it wasn't for her, anyway, it was for Sofiya and the only thing she was guilty of was the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or being born in the wrong family, perhaps. "When can you look at it?"

[valentinanottt]

zaraivancva​:

Zara shook her head. “Can’t say that I’ve seen a music box.” She held up the locket she had been looking at before. “This is pretty though and, from what I can tell, not cursed.”

She smiled at the stranger. “Nothing in particular. I was just browsing, seeing if there was anything interesting or mispriced lying around.” Though the shop was usually pretty good about fairly pricing their obscure wares, every now and again they made missteps. The overpriced items were usually noted by customers and got reduced after weeks of sitting on the dusty shelves. The underpriced items, however, typically were nabbed before the store could realize their mistake. Zara was one of the many patrons that capitalized on their miscalculation whenever she could.

"Not cursed? I'm almost surprised." Valentina remarked, a tendril of unease spreading through her in a way that had become common with lockets ever since Mirek found out about the horcruxes from Slughorn. While Valentina could count on one hand the number of people that knew she was a spy, Mirek was one of them and she liked to think that if he knew anything that would make their shared job easier, he would tell her. As far as Valentina knew, there weren't anymore horcrux lockets around England, but they still left her uneasy.

"Are you a trader of sorts? I've met people before that like to snatch up bargain goods when they can and then sell them off to another buyer for a tidy sum." Some people even hired others specifically to search out items that would fit in a private collection of theirs, Valentina happened to know several people of that sort and was even related to a few.  

[kadtherine]

Reneé Rapp - World Burn