( cis woman | she/her | anya taylor-joy ) —— isn’t that emma vanity? yeah that is them, outside the three broomsticks! they used to be in slytherin but apparently they now work as a seeker for the ballycastle bats. sybill once said that they reminded her of falling asleep under the quidditch stands , your bra dangling from the goals ; raspberries dusted with sugar ; mascara streaked wild eyes and an unstable smile ; a girl as wild as thunder and lightening which seems about right. anyway i’ve heard they’re still a bit fickle, uncontrollable and wild, they’re twenty four now but some things never change! i wonder how being a halfblood is affecting them after hogwarts, especially now they’re neutral? i guess only time will tell…
CHARACTER INSPO: effy stonem (skins), cassie howard (euphoria), beauregard lionett (critical role), jamie tartt (ted lasso)
“what can you tell me from what you saw?” evan had asked the young wix, there were a lot of things happening behind the scenes, but had genuinely cared about their opinion of what they had seen, “do you need me to help you with that wound?” he eventually asked, seeing that they hadn’t gotten the wound looked at.
❝ i didn’t see anything ! this is just like before , exactly like before . they’re going to find a way to blame me for something and then they’ll take me off the team for good ❞ now to any rational person , emma likely wasn’t making a lick of sense , but even at the best of times emma wasn’t that close an acquaintance with rationality . ❝ i almost had the snitch , then there was … something ? next it was a bludger that threw me into the stands and off my broom . i’m fine though , there’s people worse off , it’s nothing i haven’t played through ❞
In another set of circumstances, Ned might’ve laughed at the irony - usually it’s his job to hit bludgers towards Emma, rather than away from her. “Don’t know! The quaffle’s acting like a bludger, and the bludgers are acting mental. So much for a fucking friendly, eh!” He dismounts from his broom with a thud, his gaze never leaving the ball even as he finds his way to her side. “You alright, Ems? Not hurt too badly?”
❝ and the snitch’s fucking gone too , almost had it when everything went to shit . then one of those bastards got me ❞ hand waving vaguely in the direction the bludger had just blasted off in . ❝ you and your lot are lucky ❞ she was still picking herself off the ground when ned made his way to her side , still aching but still pushing through , the laugh with her last comment probably hadn’t helped much . ❝ nothing too bad ned , we’ve both played through matches with a few things broken . think once or twice you were the one that broke them for me ❞
“Oh f- duck!” Ned bellows, barrelling his way over to the stands atop his trusty Comet 220 and slamming his bat hard into the rogue bludger that comes just inches away from taking someone’s head off.
it’s with a near frantic yelp that emma ducks from the bludger , already having had a much too close encounter with one earlier that took her off her broom and left her aching all over . ❝ the fucks got into them ! the fucks happening here ! ❞
“well, best laid plans and all that – “ she quipped, giving a falsely sympathetic look to her rival. “you got yourself suspended honeybuns, but sure, waste your money on a lawyer and blame it all on someone else. now that’s a good look.”
❝ huh ? ❞ a little look of confusion passing across emma’s face before she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the other , it sounded almost sympathetic but emma knew better than to trust lucinda . ❝ i’m not responsible for who’s at a party , i wasn’t even throwing it . i don’t get how you — and your bloody ministry — don’t get that , bodach ❞
evan had gotten here much earlier, avoiding his own flat as much as he could. he had gone down to grab a coffee and by the time he had come back people were already filing into the ministry. hearing a well known voice he had turned around to look at the girl, and he couldn’t help but smile. he had a soft spot for the girl but he would never be able to let her know all the things he dd know about her. he thought that she was so much more than all the rumours people had built up about her. “you can keep it,” he said, leaning against one of the walls, cup of coffee still in hand. “it looks better on you anyway,” and he spoke with the truth. he had watched her eyes turn red, though he didn’t know what was the cause of it, it had looked like she had been crying. “follow me?” he said, looking down at his clock, he still had more time until he had to go back in, he had reached out for her hand and grabbed it, not realizing why he was doing it in the first place until he had found the spot where he, rodolphus and bellatrix often went to smoke together when they could. “this is a sacred spot, you know.” he said with a small smirk to the woman. “what are you here for?”
she hadn’t really expected him to stop , really all emma had expected from was maybe a laugh as he brushed past certain he had much better things to do than to stop and speak to her , certain he had more important things to be getting to than to pay her a compliment that had her cheeks taking on a colour all too similar to the tinge around her eyes . emma vanity lived up to her name when it came to her own opinion of her looks , confident and sure of them in a way she never was with anything else in her life , so why did she blush so when evan paid her such a simple compliment ? ❝ i’m holding you to that , you know . joke or not its mine now ❞ she laughed through the flush and nodding a quick yes when he asked her to follow him , clammy hand squeezing his which was still warm from the cup of coffee as she allowed herself to be pulled down unfamiliar corridors . ❝ i must be blessed then ❞ smiling back with features that had now returned to their usual shade of pale . ❝ you get arrested at a party one time and they’re sure you know something , that or they’re still scraping the bottom of the cauldron to see if there’s more to pin on me that just being there ❞
“Who was holding the bottle for you this time?” With Emma, it was always the same story, and he was getting tired of it. She could have been brilliant. She could have surpassed anyone before her, and yet, here they were, again. He couldn’t have stopped caring if he had tried, but he was tired. And against the wall, he slipped down, to sit beside her.
“And yet here you are, once again, looking as if you just raised from the dead,” he sighed, turning his face toward hers. “I don’t understand Emma. You have the qualities necessary to do whatever you want to do and you throw them out.” She could train as hard as she wanted, part of her results would come from being in a good place mentally speaking, and you couldn’t be in great shape while ingesting poison like that on the daily.
❝ i don’t think i got his name , or hers . there were … quite a few bottles ❞ the night was a blur she was still coming down from , a party like the good old days before she had a suspension and probationary period to worry over . before people had started having ❛ concerns ❜ over her actions and behaviour . when everything was much simpler and she could simply have a good time .
❝ but hot as fuck still , i could get someone if i wanted still ❞ but it was a feeble claim , part of her knowing she was looking as much a mess as people kept claiming she was . head slumping over and falling to his shoulder . better than looking him in the eye when he had that look about him . ❝ cause i’m good , i’m good no matter what i do . i just want to have fun , live while i’m alive . i don’t get why everyone has an issue with that ❞
“and how long do you think that will last, love? i’ve bet ten galleons you barely make it a month before you’re suspended again, and that’s being generous.”
❝ i don’t plan to make a repeat of it anytime soon you know ? first time was enough for me . besides , got myself a lawyer now if they try any funny business ❞
❝ did it ever occur to you that i never wanted this to begin with ? ❞ she wasn’t sure where it came from , nor did she know where the anger or vitriol with which she spat the words at ludo was born from . but emma had a feeling in her gut , most likely one that was unfounded , that any words from him finding her in a state like this would be ones of harsh judgement . ❝ i never wanted to be a mess ? i’ve only ever wanted to feel alive ❞ but it was too late now to change .
“Threat, promise– same difference, isn’t it?” Lorcan tapped his fingers on the table, trying to lure over Neamhain. “If it weren’t for quidditch, I’d say to do it. But it’d suck trying to do all those practices in the sun, yeah?” He found himself wondering if Emma had ever actually met a full vampire– there was no way for him to explain the change from living to dead, when he’d spent his entire life in the middle ground. “Suppose it’d actually be hard to tell the difference between a stalker and the press half the time, and I’ve never gotten anything fun from a reporter. You’re definitely onto something there.”
❝ it’s all about the intent , innit ? like a threat’s a type of promise if you think about it … promises aren’t all positive really ❞ and a lot of the promises that had been made to her over the years had been threats really , weren’t they … she couldn’t help but ask herself as she watched neamhain flitting about the room , completely ignoring lorcan . ❝ could always see if a scottish team would take me ? i’d need to get use to all that rain again but there’d be decent cloud cover ❞ speaking like any of this was of any consequence , like she didn’t half expect herself not to make it to twenty five . ❝ don’t forget : we got some great pictures of me off reporters ❞
“well, i’m off work now so i’m not necessarily man of the law,” he jokes, shaking his head. “i think i’ll let the other aurors handle this anyway,” he needed a break or he would snap. “saw you come in the other day. you doing alright, vanity?” he hadn’t asked why she had come in, other than he had saw her briefly in passing as he went out on a case.
❝ didn’t know that could be a part time sort of a gig , thought it was never ending . all those morals and scruples and a stick wedged right up your arse . but i suppose it must be so ‘cause you’ve always been good craic ❞ she teased , turning her attention from the scene in front of her and to frank . ❝ ah that … surprised you’ve not seen me more often . got me in and out like i’m on a bloody yoyo . they think i know something about that party . you know me frank , you know i know fuck all ❞
“You’re not allowed to die– and that’s a threat, I will bring you back.” Didn’t quite work that way, but Lorcan would make it work that way if he had to. “Suppose it’s not too bad, considering it already happened? That’s just, y’know, how you get stalkers. And I’d rather die than have to start having a guest list for parties.”
❝ a threat ? is that a promise too then ? i think i’d rather like being this fucking hot forever ❞ but even as she said the words the thought soured in her mouth . young , dumb and beautiful . that’s what she kept calling herself , and day by day the likelihood of her ever becoming more than that felt all the more distant . ❝ i think a stalker would be quite flattering , don’t you ? and if they bring by shit like that ? they’re all the more welcome ❞
