“Well you can count me out,” Severus returned flatly, “I’ve no interest in partaking in suicide missions.” The trouble with Flint was he had incredible ambitions and exactly the right words to motivate men into following him through hell and high water to bring them to fruition. While this was generally quite lucrative, there were times – like this present nonsense – when it was clear that Flint had his own agenda and cared very little for the bodies that paved the way.
Once, Severus had been willing to overlook it. The Walrus had become familiar, as too, her crew. He felt quite dedicated to them – but not to the point where he would willfully partake in witnessing senseless demise for the sake of furthering Flint’s career in vengeance. Whatever his burning desire was, the moment he had added Gates to the bloody foundations of his war, Severus had been perfectly prepared for a moment just like this, when it would become clear that gold and a vision nobody else could see would matter more than the ship and its crew once again and he would have cause to take his leave.
“I would suggest you find another physician before you make sail – lest you wish to ensure even the survivors don’t make it back to shore to celebrate the catastrophic loss you’ve chosen to drive them to in the hopes of achieving the fucking impossible.”
Well, venomous certainly got his attention. Stopping almost instantly, Jacob eyed what looked at first to be a simple plant – before sucking in a slight breath as it started to move. Creeping back very carefully, he waited until he felt he was at a good enough distance before he sort of shuffled over to Newt at a quick pace, wheezing out a sigh of relief when nothing ended horribly.
“Is it uh – a good idea to have a poisonous ah – hunting plant around? I mean, you got herbivores down here right? Aren’t you ever worried somebody might try to eat somebody else unknowingly?”
It was a sweet sentiment – though of course sentiment was precisely what had brought them both so low to begin with. She had her suspicions of course, but none she would say aloud or even think upon too definitively – her skill at occlusion was only so strong. The less she had to hide, the less there was reason to be concerned about her shields at this juncture.
“I fear it is too late for such concerns,” Worry would get neither of them anywhere and in truth, it was perhaps wiser that she did not allow herself to linger too long upon alarming things. Draco was young and quite sensitive to her moods – she could not bear to upset him, and the less he was receptive to the more she could hide. “I know what I want to do – what I fear now are the consequences.” Whether she acted or not – something was bound to break, and the question was what she could bear to spend her life fixing, versus what she was willing to walk away from.
Harry was contemplative in the wake of that, feeling the softly spoken words settle in against his very bones. Despite their despondent nature, he felt as if he had experienced a balm upon his soul and it took him a moment to parse out why. It was only when he had figured out that he replied, “You’re right – if we’re being honest with ourselves, at least. You’ve always been a little more aware than others, of how much the wizarding world likes to lie to itself.”
It was a harsh observation, but Harry was quite through with acting as though he wasn’t completely aware of the hypocrisy that surrounded him. If anyone would appreciate his true thoughts – well, it would probably be the one person willing to prompt them.
“It’s hollow – isn’t it?” He mused, looking back toward the castle, expression grim despite how determinedly bright the Ministry was being. “All these celebrations, all this cheerfulness. It’s like they don’t even want to look at what really happened, let alone change anything to keep it from happening again. Treating it like a bad storm that just passed through – something that’s over just because the danger part has eased off – it’s not real. It’s – heavier, than that. The price of winning – when it costs so much – how anyone can celebrate, or act like it’s all just fine now – I don’t get it. I really truly don’t.”
— This was the second time this week a rescued kitten had found its way out of her purse. She had a nice one too, with an inside much bigger than the outside. It wasn’t like she was keeping him in a box; there was enough room to nap!
It had become a recent habit – much to her sister’s irritation – for Queenie to spontaneously adopt stray, homeless baby kittens she came across on the way to work, and find them proper families afterwards.
They were so sad. So alone. So hungry. They needed love.
The first time one had escaped her purse, she heard about it for a week straight. This time, she was determined to find it before Tina did. Or worse, Picquery.
Hurried steps clicked along the hallways as the legilimens scanned the minds of passers-by very briefly for any signs or thoughts about a kitten.
News. Coffee. Polish my wand faster. I’m late for a meeting. Work–
— A sudden voice pierced her concentration, causing her to stop rather abruptly and whip around. It took the slightest of moments for her to focus, pulling herself out of the minds of her fellow office workers.
Then it hit her – a little delayed, perhaps – that he was talking about her kitten.
A lecture from Abernathy, she could handle. As long as her sister didn’t find out about this.
“Oh thank heavens, you’re an absolute angel!”
— Click-clicking right past him and into the office on her heels, Queenie looked into the magic cage. She looked, and looked for another moment, realizing the cage seemed in no hurry to dissipate.
Green eyes and a charming, hopeful smile flashed to Elias.
“If you don’t mind sweetie I’ll go ahead and take him and we can forget all about this silly little incident, ‘kay?”
Between the two Goldstein sisters, Elias was sure he was set to lose his damn mind at some point. They were like opposite ends of the same chaotic spectrum, set loose in an office they had no business being in. Tina – well, she belonged upstairs with the investigators. He knew it – she knew it – and everything in between was just the mess of proving it.
As for Queenie – well he hadn’t quite locked that down yet, but she was wasted on coffee duties. He was fair sure it was boredom that was the true demon in these ladies – that if they were just in the right damn departments, they’d be too busy thriving to be generating the amount of chaos they tended to do otherwise.
With the amount of cats she’d managed to lose, at this point, he was really starting to think Queenie ought to consider working with familiars. Or at least a menagerie, cause this was ridiculous.
“You can take him,” Elias agreed, reluctantly raising his wand to abolish the cage, “But he gets out again Queenie, I ain’t gonna be lettin’ him out. You can explain to your sister yourself why you’re smugglin’ a cage home, understand?” He knew she got the point – and frankly, Tina would be better at making it than he would by now, seeing as he kept covering up these little mishaps. It wasn’t that he was soft or anything – he just had enough paperwork as it was, he didn’t need to be adding more by reporting this.
“How else was I supposed to come up with it?” Harry’s incredulous tone was matched only by his perplexed expression, “Its not like I have a lot of free time to be concocting wild stories Professor – sometimes you just have to improvise. You know, like with Divination homework.”
“Stay with me, [name]. Hey! Hey, I’m talking to you.” “Don’t worry about him. He’s fine. Just concentrate on staying alive.” “Hey, hey. Stay awake! Stay awake! Open your eyes!“ “He wasn’t dumb and you’re not that pretty.“ “Offer me one more thing and I’ll put your head through the wall.” “I don’t wanna hurt you.“ “Do not be afraid of the monsters, [name]. Make them… afraid of you.“ “First-name basis. Bad sign.“ “She’s not gonna die. I won’t let it happen. Not this time, not ever again.“ “This is what you do, love. Stride across the centuries, and death follows, churning in your wake.” “Love isn’t finite. Maybe life shouldn’t be either. Maybe we should keep living, forever.“ “Well, this certainly inspires confidence.” “You think you’ve seen blood? Wait until you see your own.” “What is this, a holiday and somebody forgot to tell me? Get back to work!” “You wanna keep that hand? Don’t touch me again. Ever.” “You may work for them, but you’re not one of them.” “Don’t talk to me like that in front of my people.” “One of us is a powerless puppet being used by forces that can’t quite be comprehended. And the other one is me.“ “What the fuck have you people been smoking down here?” “Don’t think, you hear me? No more thinking. That’s a fucking order.” “Loyalty. I understand it. I respect it. I have family myself and I would protect them at any cost.” “I need [name] to remain alive. The reasons behind that are none of your business or your concern. All that matters is that you understand that you are not to touch him.” “I know exactly who you are and who you murdered.” “What? You think I killed my dad?“ “You even know how to use that thing?“ “No! Look, shoot me, okay? I’ll do whatever you want. Just leave him alone.” “Forgive me, I thought you’d want to see the… your… the asset right away.“ “I don’t want to intrude.“ “I should wait outside.“ “So it’s true, huh? Thought you could impersonate me? You could replace me? Make me just… disappear forever?“ “How could you believe that I would shoot you?” “All that I have ever wanted was to prove myself to you.” “I don’t want you dead, [name]. I want your respect.” “Thank you for the update. Very good work. I look forward to the next one.“ “Still want to be one of them?” “I take orders from no one. I serve only as the right hand in a holy cause.” “You make it sound like you’re a priest.” “If we do not know our role in this world, why are we in it?” “I cannot speak for you, my friend, but I am here to kick great amounts of ass.” “I make my own way. I’m not a tool for someone else to use.” “Tell me, are you a believer?“ “This looks pretty good. Like, “Hallelujah, it’s a fucking miracle” level good.” “Okay, I already know what, but before you put my head through a wall, just hear me out.” “You might wanna take it slow there.“ “No. No, no, no, no, no, no. You said he was all right. You told me he was fine. You told me not to worry. You said he was fine.” “You were dying and there wasn’t anything you could have done.” “What the fuck? What the fuck? I’m unconscious for ten fucking minutes and you start replacing my body parts?” “You’re asking for forgiveness. Which makes me wonder for what.“ “You son of a bitch, let’s take this outside.” “I hate it when you’re smug.“ “What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait?”
Severely Archived 