carry your flame.
● ● ● ●

if you get lost in the shadows, There's a fire inside you, And you know that I'll find you

Everything was happening all at once, and Liam was still not quite sure how he felt about it all.

Ever since they had run away to Ireland at the end of his fifth year, Liam felt like everything was in some sort of stasis. Like time was somehow standing still, or rather they were stuck in a bubble where time stood still and the world around them just kept going like absolutely nothing was wrong. And that just didn’t sit right with Liam, because he was fairly sure that no one was in a position of a Time Turner or some insane, life-altering, time-manipulating spell. So that meant the only other option was that… people were accepting it. That people had been knocked down and just decided to take it. Because it was easier, apparently, to live in a world run by Death Eaters than to fight against it all. Liam didn’t want to believe that, though. As much as it seemed like people had simply accepted this new world for what it was, he wanted to think that perhaps… everything was just a matter of timing. And the time for change had yet to come, so maybe - just maybe - the light side was biding its time.

In any case, Liam had been restless on Mermaid Isle since day one. He was not the sort to enjoy sitting around with nothing to do. School of Mum - as he had taken to calling it - had certainly kept him occupied, even through the summer, and spending time with Adaline and Deacon was fun… but, in all honesty, Liam missed Hogwarts. For all of the terrible things that had happened there, for everything it had turned into, it was a second home. It was where he had discovered his passion for magical creatures and Charms and Potions. It was where he had learned to play Quidditch and taken to the sky like an eagle. Truly, an eagle. It was strange, being the only Ravenclaw in the family. With both of his parents as Gryffindors, sending off the firstborn and getting a Ravenclaw had probably been unexpected. But Liam had found the house of the knowledgeable to be a perfect fit. It had allowed him to grow and explore everything that was available to him. It had fostered his potential like no other house could have possibly done. And maybe he liked that there was a little something unique about him. Something to set him out from the rest of his family.

But he hadn’t seen the blue and bronze of House Ravenclaw in over a year. Liam had been trying to make the best of their stay on Mermaid Isle, and he knew that they had no other choice. He hated that they had no other choice. He was supposed to be applying to university and training programs, not hiding out like some fugitive. Things were changing, somewhat. As far as they had heard, anyways. But it was all still so far from being anywhere near welcoming towards Mum. And that was the kicker, really. His mother, so many of his friends, subjected to being treated like nothing more than… well, slaves, honestly. And it was hard to think about. It was even harder to accept that that was the place he was supposed to call home.

Liam’s mind was too bogged up with all of this today. He set down the History of Magic textbook in his hands and started to wander around the house, in search of something else to do. Anything else, really. Passing by the balcony, he spotted his mum. A light smile on his face, Liam approached her, turning around to lean his back against the balcony railing. They had all heard about the epidemic spreading around the nation, and honestly, Liam was scared it would reach them all too soon. He hoped it wouldn’t, though. He hoped he wouldn’t have to see his parents or his siblings in that state. “Hey, Mum,” Liam greeted simply, meeting his mother’s eyes.

Hermione Jean Potter
679 words
outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

Bring on your forces of nature
Bring on the storm that's raging
And if you get lost in the shadows
There's a fire inside you

❧

There was only so much to do on this island. She knew that.

And she knew that it wasn’t easy on the kids to be here for as long as they had been. There was only so much that they could do. She kept them occupied with schoolwork, of course. They could spend time with each other, play Quidditch and fly around the island… they could go down to the beach, they could read… but apart from that, there wasn’t all that much to do. It was difficult for her to know that she was the reason that they were being subjected to this. She was the only Muggleborn. The rest of them were completely safe. They could be going about their normal lives if they didn’t happen to have a Muggleborn for a mother.

But they did, and that meant that they needed to be here. Hermione knew all too well how willing Death Eaters were to use children to get their parents to cooperate and they couldn’t risk anything happening to them. She would never forgive herself for that, would never forgive herself if they got hurt again. Yes, this wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was a necessary one for the time being. Andromeda being in charge did not make the world safer. Not when she was, seemingly, just as bad as the rest of them. She knew that the world wasn’t that black and white--she knew that a lot of people operated in the greys, but when it came to Andromeda Lestrange… well, Hermione wasn’t sure that she could accept that.

Not after she had spent so many years lying, so many years pretending to be their friend, to practically be family… and she was quite convinced by this point that it had been a complete lie the entire time. Maybe she was existing in the greys, maybe Hermione was the one mudblood that Andromeda could actually stand, but she didn’t think that was the case. She didn’t think that you could look the other way for one Muggleborn but condemn the rest. If she was married to Rodolphus Lestrange, then it was because she truly thought that Muggleborns were inferior to them. That meant that she’d thought that the entire time that they were friends and Hermione still didn’t know how to come to terms with that.

She had started to accept the fact that she would likely never understand. It wasn’t as if she would ever have the chance to ask, and she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to. Hermione didn’t think that Andromeda deserved the chance to explain anything. She had made her choices, and she had chosen wrong. That was all that it came down to.

Unfortunately, that meant that her being Minister did not make it any less necessary for them to be here. And in some ways, it was for the best in completely different reasons now that a disease was raging through the United Kingdom. It hadn’t gotten to them here, at least, and that was something. She thought that being this isolated would likely help them for some time. The only people that they could really catch it from were Viktor and Desirae, and some how she didn’t think either of them would come here if they were sick.

Hermione had spent far too much time thinking about this mysterious illness over the past couple of days, and she knew that she needed to get her mind off of it for a while. She had grabbed a book from the library--fiction, for a change of pace, and had headed out onto the balcony with a glass of wine. She thought that getting lost in another world for a while was certainly the answer. Hermione didn’t know how long she’d been reading before a familiar voice brought the silence. “Hi sweetheart,” she said, with a smile, before setting her bookmark onto the page and closing the book. “Something on your mind?”

664 ● @ son ● Outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","backgraven"]

[attr="class","lyric1raven"]carry your flame

[attr="class","lyricbgraven"]

[attr="class","lyric2raven"]And if you get lost in the shadows
There's a fire inside you
Be the light that guides you

[attr="class","textbodraven"]Liam didn't think this was fair. It felt like his mind was his own personal torture chamber at this point. He wanted Hogwarts back. The castle he had grown to love in his first few years, that is, not the nightmare it had turned into ever since Addie and Deacon had been tortured. That had been the turning point, in his opinion. Ever since that had happened, nothing about Hogwarts had felt like home. And the worst of it, in Liam's opinion, was that he hadn't been able to stop it. He was their older brother and a prefect, and his younger siblings had still gotten hurt in a place that was supposed to be safe. They had both been changed by that and it was the point that everything just stared going downhill and snowballing into the disaster they knew and hated. Liam knew it was irrational for him to feel guilty. Deep down, he knew that this wasn't anyone's fault but the Death Eaters and Voldemort's reign and just anyone that thought a name made them more worthy of being magical. But he couldn't help pondering the what ifs. That was in his nature, and unfortunately it was turning into his own personal demon.

The sad part was that Liam knew returning to Hogwarts wouldn't really fix anything. He wanted to leave Mermaid Isle more than anything and he missed the school, but there was no changing the past. There was no changing the fact that his mother was a muggleborn and his father was Harry Potter. There would still be Death Eaters out and about, the Ministry still in their hands, and Hogwarts would still be that col castle he had grown to fear just a little bit. Some things were changing, sure. They had caught wind of the return of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and the virus that was running amuck... but Liam knew that things would never be the same for them again. Everything that had happened in the last year and a half had left its dark and horrible mark on all of them. And the more Liam thought on it, the more he realized that returning to Hogwarts would not come with a sense of normalcy that he had been craving. It wasn't like he could stroll in after being missing for a year and a half and get his prefect badge handed back to him and that starting spot on the Quidditch team. It wasn't like he wouldn't be fielding curious stares for his final school year. For the rest of his life.

Liam still wanted to go back, though. It was who he was. He needed the competition and the stimulation, he wanted to be somewhere where he could work hard and prove his worth... even if he knew he had his work set out for him in this world. Being a Potter was anything but an advantage. But working hard, grasping onto everything, that had always been his strength. Being in school gave him a purpose, and Liam just wanted to return to that, even if it would be nothing like what he had hoped.

But this was also why Liam was glad to find his Mum alone on the balcony. Because if anyone could understand that need to work hard, to prove that they're worth something, it was her. And Liam didn't really want to talk about that to anyone else, because a part of him felt like it was just a little bit selfish. Liam smiled lightly and let out a small sigh as he moved to sit in one of the chairs on the balcony across from his mother, settling into it before talking. "Well, you know, the usual," he said with a shrug. She did know. Liam was pretty sure his mother knew better than anyone how boring it could get on an island. But more than that, he knew that she was very familiar with the feeling of a future slipping between her fingers - both his parents were. Liam turned to face her as he continued, "That... that epidemic's been bugging me a lot. As if we didn't have enough keeping us from going home."

@ mum | 701 words | outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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[nospaces]

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[attr="class","ctopline"]BRING ON YOUR FORCES OF NATURE

[attr="class","cscriptorder"]bring on the storm that's raging

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]AND IF YOU GET LOST IN THE SHADOWS[break]
THERE'S A FIRE INSIDE YOU

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]Before too long, they would have to figure something else out. Staying here forever was not an option. It wasn’t just that they were taking up the Krums’ island for much longer--though that was true. She felt awful that they had been here as long as they had. They had said they didn’t mind and she did believe them. But it didn’t change the fact that they’d been here for way longer than anyone had been expecting. It didn’t change the fact that Viktor had bought this place for Desirae, for their family, and they hadn’t been able to stay there in ages.
[break][break]
Yes, they had visited, but it was not the same as being able to come to the island to get away for a little while. It was too taken over by their entire family for Viktor and Desirae to just come for a weekend trip. She didn’t want to take that away from them forever. It wasn’t fair.
[break][break]
The epidemic changed things too. In some ways, it was a reason to stay here longer. It was safer here. There was little chance of them catching any illness when they were only around each other. Yes, if Harry snuck off to London anymore, there was still a chance of it reaching them here, but for the most part they were safe from that. It was something to think about, at least.
[break][break]
After everything that had happened, she didn’t know what she would do if she lost her magic. She was the reason that her family had been in hiding. She was the reason why they were at risk to begin with, and it was because she was a Muggleborn. If she lost magic entirely, then she was… a Muggleborn without magic. What did that make her, in a Ministry run by people who already thought she didn’t deserve to be there?
[break][break]
She didn’t know.
[break][break]
There was no way of knowing what would happen if they left and she got sick, or Harry got sick--if the kids. It was a risk, and she thought that they all knew that. But it didn’t change the fact that she was still thinking about leaving. They had to do something and if an epidemic was raging, there had to be something that she could do--that they could do. She couldn’t pretend to be an expert in medicinal magic or genetics, but she wasn’t doing anyone any good on an island in Ireland.
[break][break]
If the time came to leave, and to help, then she was ready to do that. She wasn’t sure just what it would take, but she would figure something out. She wasn’t one to make rash decisions. It happened on a rare occasion--she was a Gryffindor after all, but most of the time, she planned something out before acting. That was what she was thinking about now. She wanted to figure out what the best course of action was, if she needed to.
[break][break]
The kids were worried too. She didn’t know how to make them feel better about that. They didn’t know enough about what was going on--if she could ease their concerns, she was going to but… it was hard, when there was so much that they didn’t know. Even if they weren’t on this island, even if they were back in London, there was only so much that the public knew. “So, you’re saying you're bored and want me to assign you more homework?” She asked, with a teasing smile.
[break][break]
Both Adaline and Liam took after her when it came to studying and learning--Deacon too, in his own way, but she had always thought that Liam was the most like her. He probably wouldn’t complain if she gave him more assignments--Merlin knew she was never short on those. She liked to keep them learning. It was better than being on this island with nothing to do. “I know. It’s hard when we know we’re safe here. Now from that too…” It was difficult to convince herself they should go home when it put her entire family at risk of getting sick, on top of everything else they have been through the past couple of years.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]703 ● @ liam ● outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[attr="class","backgraven"]

[attr="class","lyric1raven"]carry your flame

[attr="class","lyricbgraven"]

[attr="class","lyric2raven"]And if you get lost in the shadows
There's a fire inside you
Be the light that guides you

[attr="class","textbodraven"]Liam wasn't enjoying Mermaid Isle, for more than just the obvious reason. Sure, he was restless. Being here made him feel like he was missing out on something that he deserved. He was a wizard, whether people liked that or not, and he had every right to be at Hogwarts. To learn how to use magic and not feel like he had to look over his shoulders all the bloody time. But it was more than that. There was a guilt that Liam couldn't shake. Sure, they were Potters, and their mother was a muggleborn. They practically had a shiny, red target on their backs. But they weren't alone in that. Roxanne and Fred and Vic and Dominique... the list went on. There was a myriad of Order children just sitting in Hogwarts, under the watchful eye of a Death Eater. And there were tons of people with muggleborn parents. Liam wanted to know what made them special. Why did they get safety... and others didn't.

He was grateful. Of course, he was grateful. But Liam couldn't shake the feeling that it was all wrong. He shouldn't have been here, just because he was a Potter and once upon a time there had been a prophecy about his father. Because that was done and over with. Voldemort was dead, and that war was done. Now they had their own war, yes, and that only added to Liam's guilt about the whole situation. If the whole world was struggling, why were they hiding? Why weren't they... out there. Even better, why couldn't they help more people?

Liam knew he was being a bit idealistic. He knew that saving everyone, in today's world, was an impossible feat. But it was still a goal. Liam didn't think it was too crazy to aim for the impossible. Defeating Voldemort had been considered impossible, once upon a time.

He let out short laugh and shook his head at his mother's joking reply. "I'm saying I'm bored..." Liam started slowly, "and I feel bad about it, because I could be more useful... not here." That was the best way to put it, really. He did feel guilty for feeling bored, of all things, because he knew it could be worse. A lot worse. Boredom was better than suffering. And, at the same time, he would have much rather been not bored because he was helping people that needed it. "Yeah. We're safe. And a lot of people aren't. I just..." Liam trailed off and let out a sigh. "I know why we came here. But sometimes I feel like we shouldn't have," he admitted with a light shrug, glancing over to meet his mother's gaze.

@ mum | 449 words | outfit

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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