valesco ; a harry potter rpg

WHO: Adian and friends! jk! it's a nightmare!
WHAT: shit can get wild on a random Monday morning in July
WHERE: location undetermined!
WHEN: sometime after this

( Now it was his turn to stare at a stranger, full of bewildered alarm. )

WHO: Louis and some new acquaintances
WHAT: Immediately after the brunch catastrophe
WHERE: UNKNOWN

( Slit his throat and dump him in the pond out back? )

WHO: Vivienne, Nicola, Holden, Kera, & Jake
WHAT: Still at the restaurant
WHEN: Less than an hour since the boys' disappearance

( He’d said he’d be back. )

WHO Bonaccords & Adian + Vivienne
WHAT brunch!
WHERE Rosmerta's, London

( Louis’ stomach dropped as their eyes met and a wicked grin slid across her face. The silence between them was heavy for a moment, and then, they both tore into a sprint toward Adian. )

WHO: Mina and Wells Dippet aka cuties
WHAT: Being cute, but then...!
WHERE: Dippet Estate

( There were literal blood and family tree spells in the walls that could sometimes be so sensitive to pinch invited guests in the rump because they were not a Dippet. )

WHO BEXLEYS
WHAT HELLO? Look at us
WHERE Auror training pit arena thing!

( 'Did you get to the part where we’re caught necking in the loo?' )

WHO: Vivienne Lufkin and Adian Rosenberg
WHAT: Walking home from Holden's party
WHEN: End of this night

( Her cheeks, still pink from the snow and from him, now shifted to match the scarlet of her boots )

WHO BROVERS + special guest
WHAT they got some stuff to say
WHERE Nicola + Louis' home

( 'Look at where we are. I’m not. It’s my fault, I— I ruin everything. I do, I— I’m not— please, just—' )

Nicola was the start, the middle, and the end of the most wonderful part of Louis’ story. He saw a beautiful future for the two of them, a vast landscape of wonder, excitement, and love. Shining like the jewels around her neck and the glimmer in her eyes.

Perhaps it was candlelight, but Louis would swear it was the natural aura and magic of his wife.

Just thinking the word brought a smile to his face, and his grin widened as their dancing feet stepped into a the perfect moment for a twirl. Their guests let out a sound of appreciation and Louis pulled Nicola back into his arms, most definitely an improper hold for a waltz.

“I am ridiculously happy,” he said. His eyes were bright with love and the bubbly drink they’d toasted with. “Deliriously so.”

Louis could honestly say, without much doubt (which in and of itself was a feat), that he hadn't felt this way in a long, long time.

When he'd left home a few months ago to seek the help he'd needed, desperately so, he'd had no idea of what the result may be. He was so lost in years worth of tangled thoughts and fears that he couldn't even imagine what he wanted to be, what he was allowed to be, what he wanted to be again. Would he ever be able to get back to where he was? Was that who he'd wanted? Where did he want to be and what would it take to achieve that? It didn't seem possible, figuring it all out.

That had been the problem, hadn't it? That he saw no light at the end of the tunnel.

As he stared across the room at Nicola, Louis slowly grinned. He knew now that light could have many sources, and she was the brightest of them all.

"Would you like to take a walk with me?" he asked from the doorway. Louis' hand rested on the door frame, already looking to push off on the hopefully memorable stroll.

"Why are you taking off your ring?"

Louis looked up from his dinner plate and toward Nicola, as if the thought had struck him out of nowhere instead of having been festering in his chest the past few weeks. With his brow furrowed, his expression was a mix of confusion and concern; perhaps a pinch of frustration was thrown in.

Wasn’t—? She hadn’t been taking it off before. He thought maybe the holidays and all the hustle and bustle it naturally caused was part of the reason, but they were past Christmas, they were past New Year’s. Louis had imagined, told himself, that Nicola of all people would know the etiquette of jewelry wearing, especially one of such importance, so he’d thought it stupid to ask at first, but now—festering was the word, and something about the dip into silence their dinner had taken on had burst the question out of him.

He felt an urge to retreat and apologize, something that had become routine in his life, but his confusion manifested into something stronger. It didn’t feel random, Nicola did not do random, and Louis felt like his nerves and patience had reached its end. Or perhaps the heavy ball of lead resting in his gut that had been shouting at him for weeks, was finally at its wits end. Even experts at avoidance couldn’t do it forever.

“Is...something the matter?”

♥ ♥ HELLO?! ♥ ♥

To Madam Pomfrey, Jake Bexley was the perfect example of what a good patient should be. What a good student, a good child should be. The hospital wing matron was more than happy to recall Jake as the Gryffindor he once was, and honestly, it didn't feel too bad to fall back into those shoes. A sweet smile got him extra snacks, she gave him the fluffiest pillows and he even managed to get her to provide the same sort of comforts to Kera. It was a charm he'd thought he had lost years ago, and it helped make this past week go by just a little faster.

He was currently situated in a chair beside Kera's bed, a quick smile up at Pomfrey in thanks for giving the two of them some privacy. By the potions' measurements, Kera should be waking up from her magically induced sleep with the next few minutes. It had been for the best; Bonaccord had done a swift job at keeping the Dark Magic at bay, but they'd had no idea how long it had truly been seeping into her body. Her time under magical healing had to take that into account, and it was why the students of Hogwarts had gotten an extra week plunked onto their spring break; the halls of the school may had been contaminated too.

Maybe they'll proclaim an unofficial holiday after her.

A light rustling snapped his thoughts back to attention and Jake pressed his elbows to this thighs. His smile picked up as Kera's eyes blinked open.

"Yes, you're at Hogwarts."

When Louis still hadn’t come home by dinner, Nicola began to fear the worst.

Of course she had heard about the chaos at Hogsmeade; it was practically old news by the time the owl dropped off the Evening Prophet detailing what the newspaper knew so far about the mysterious dark wizard wrecking elemental magic on the small village. She knew Louis was there, he had to be, and it--- it---

But why had he continued to still there? The thought tortured her into the night. He shouldn’t be there, he should have come home by now. They should have sent him home by now! He had been on-call since yesterday afternoon! They couldn’t possibly--- think--- it wasn’t safe! He must be exhausted, must be---! Not well, tired, not in a right---?!

At about midnight, after a few hours of pacing, randomly thrusting curtains open to look outside, and destroying her cuticles, something occurred to her that sent Nicola flying in tears to the fireplace to floo Mattie; Louis could not be at Hogsmeade. And if he wasn’t knee-high in that fray, then where was he? No one would be looking for him, everyone would be tied up in Scotland, and--! And--!

A few hours after that, now painfully early in the morning, Nicola finally got her answer. She nearly tore Jack Bagnold’s letter in half from sheer relief and further worry. Hogwarts? Hogwarts? He was at Hogwarts recovering?!

While she could read and perfectly understood the words Bagnold had written, at the same time, Nicola understood nothing and could not grasp anything aside from demanding to see Louis at once.

Where was he, where had they put him? She all but shoved Bagnold aside and out of her sight when they entered the school's hospital wing. Her eyes searched exclusively for one person, one familiar face, one head of hair that consumed her down to her core. When she saw him, finally, tears sprung from her eyes and she raced over to him.

“Louis!” Nicola cried out, throwing her purse to the ground. She reached first for his face, to hold it tight with both hands, before wrapping her arms around him.

WHO: THE BOYS
WHAT: EXPLOSIONS! WATER! CRYING!
WHERE: DEEP BELOW HONEYDUKES...

( I feel like that time we got locked out of Hogwarts during *that* rainstorm )

WHO: WHO?!
WHAT: DEALING WITH THINGS!
WHERE STILL HONEYDUKES

( It wasn’t silence, but the quiet that fell around them was daunting. )

WHO: Who do you think?
WHAT: Still stuck in Hogsmeade, still dealing with a lot of baggage
WHERE: Honeydukes, to be specific

( The storm’s shifting! )

Adian couldn’t say how long it took him to stand up again, but when he did, he retreated to the back of the shop. What had happened… was happening to Kera… how? Had she---? Had someone---? A long, distracted search of the little building provided no answers. Adian found no signs of a struggle, no forced entry, no magical residue - no one else was here but them. The only thing he found was Kera’s cloak buried under a layer of ice on the roof. But what good would that do now? How had she gotten sick? Why hadn’t they got infected?

They had to get out of here, didn’t they? Yes… before something worse happened.

He looked down at Kera’s cloak clutched in hands, a frown etched onto his face. He was stuck in the backroom, unable to return to the main area where he had left Louis, Jake, and Kera. Maybe it would be better if he stayed on this side of the wall, he wasn’t sure if he could… handle…

Adian dropped his shoulders and knocked his closed fist against his forehead. Spineless, he was spineless for---!

What was that? Adian spun, thrusting himself toward the doorway at the sound of rustling in the other room. Was that---? He froze when he saw Kera’s feet twitch where they lay over Jake’s legs, her inhaling a great breath. Was she---? He stayed on the opposite side of the doorway, unable to move any further.

WHO: The bros + Kera
WHAT: 2ish hours after this
WHERE: Honeydukes, Hogsmeade

( 'Insane middle of the spring blizzards too boring for you?' )

WHO: A motley crew
WHAT: There's a storm a brewin'
WHERE: Hogsmeade
WHEN: Now!

( Now it’s a fucking party. )