COLD WIND BLOWS

OUTFIT

@adrian , @anicka , @ares , Beckett Archibald Graves , @carlisle , @charlotteburke , @daniel , Draco Malfoy , @eleanor , @enzo , @fernando , @griffith , @creed , @jasper , @juliusavery , @kurt , @lucian , @malcolm , @raymond , Roma Avery Warrington , @sebastian , Sloane Cressida Rosier , @thorfinn , @will

There was no need for secrecy. No need to meet in abandoned churches in the dead of night. They could have rented out a bloody restaurant and had a party to have this conversation, in front of hundreds of other people, and no one would have stopped them or said a damn thing. But that wasn’t him. There was no denying that he liked the power. He liked that they were in charge of the Ministry, or… that his wife was. He knew the premise behind why she had taken over to begin with. She thought that there needed to be a separation between the Ministry and the Death Eaters. She thought that was the best way of gaining allies, and of keeping at least a majority of the people content. If a Death Eater wasn’t in charge of the Ministry, people might think that some aspects of their lives would go back to normal. But even if they were separating from the Ministry, they still didn’t have to hide anymore. They were the people in charge of Ministry departments—the ones heading up the Wizengamot, or controlling the aurors… or working in the main office with Andromeda. They were professors at Hogwarts, they were the head of the newspaper that gave the wizarding world their news. The proof of their power was everywhere, and he knew that they had no reason to have meetings in abandoned churches.

But call him sentimental, because that was the choice that he had made tonight. Rodolphus Lestrange was not the man that was going to have a Death Eater meeting at the Adria Hotel, even with a Carrow running the place. They had started in the shadows—had started with masks, and secrecy, and when it came to meeting with everybody, that was what he wanted. He’d found an old church that had been abandoned for years, and decided that it would do just fine. It was near enough to London to not cause too many problems. Nothing that a quick apparition couldn’t solve, but London was still easier. There were more a few broken out windows letting the cold night air in, but it was a mild night. It didn’t bother him any. When he’d first arrived at the church, it had taken only a matter of minutes for him to put up just enough concealment charms to avoid anyone seeing candles lit and venturing inside. As much as killing a couple of months would be a welcome activity for the evening—in his mind anyway, there were other matters to discuss. He’d prefer not to deal with anyone walking in that shouldn’t be here. It took just a thought in his head for him to light the candles atop the tall candlesticks in the corners of the room.

It had been nearly two weeks since Andromeda had taken over the Ministry, and he was glad that it had gone as… simply as she had predicted. It made it easier. Griffith had taken over his position—the only option, really. There were few people he actually liked in the office, and the only other slight possibility had been Creed. But Griff was family, which made the selection easier. Then he had able to say goodbye to the Ministry… at least on a day-to-day level. He had his position in the Wizengamot, but there wasn’t always something to sit in on, thankfully. He would have gotten rid of that too, and made Rabastan take over but his brother was… his brother. Always more interested in the dead than the living, and so Rodolphus had decided he could handle that bit of Ministry work. It wasn’t as if he was working under Andromeda in that position—Eleanor was heading up the Wizengamot, which was fine. Since Andromeda had broached this idea to begin with, and suggested that he take up the helm for the Death Eaters, he had been… reluctant. He liked power, but he also didn’t like leading. It was a lot more work than he wanted, but they had power now, so the Death Eaters really only had to back up that power with more force. It wasn’t too much work. The aurors’ office could focus on their cases, and the Death Eaters would make sure they kept the power they had.

But even amid his reluctance, he’d known he had to do some research into the Dark Marks. It was there that he had yet another advantage over Ares Wentzell. Rodolphus’s father had been there, when the Dark Lord had figured out the marks… when they had come to be to begin with. Ronan’s curiosity had him writing down bits and pieces of information in an old journal of his. Once Rodolphus had found that, it had been easier to figure out than it possibly could have been for Wentzell. He wouldn’t be sure that it worked until he tried it, and when he did, he was curious about who would show up and who wouldn’t. It wasn’t too late—only a little past nine o’clock at night, and he didn’t think there would be many problems. Andromeda had most everyone in the twenty-eight on her side for the takeover, so there was no reason to think they wouldn’t show up for him—though they wouldn’t all necessarily know that it was he that would be taking over until they got there. If there were complaints, he would… deal with them accordingly, but he didn’t think there would be. To his face anyway. Few were so foolish, even these days. So once everything was in order, his gaze moved to the mark on his arm. He’d rolled up his sleeves once he’d arrived—dressed down a little from how he’d dress at the Ministry, but he didn’t care. He brought two fingers to the mark, and it darkened as the call was sent out.

'Cause Some Things Just Don't Change

Outfit

Carlisle could admit that when Andromeda had first said that she wanted to talk to them all, and then she had proceeded to explain what it was that she wanted to do, he thought that she was kidding. There was no way that taking over the Ministry was just something that she had come up with in the two weeks that it had been since she had called the last family meeting. He didn’t know why that had become a thing, he didn’t know when the dynamic of ‘family’ had become the six of them, and the babies… because they were at three, going on four, babies now. Two of each. Two boys, and two girls. He almost felt sorry for the rest of the professors when the four of them were all in Hogwarts at the same time. The Lestrange boys, a Yaxley, and a Rosier. They were going to be quite the little foursome of cousins. Especially if the current state of things held true. He would stay in the castle, he would be right there, and he thought that like her elder sister, Brenna was likely to have him wrapped around her little finger. Meaning that the sons of the Minister, and the newest leader of the Death Eaters, and the daughter of the Head of the Aurors’ Office would have the run of that school. He supposed they would find out just how much of a nightmare it was going to be when they were all two and three. If they were terrors then he didn’t know how they were going to survive the Hogwarts years.

Right now, all he thought that they had to worry about was getting through tonight. Feeling the Mark on his arm burn Carlisle hadn’t done anything other than laugh. Of course, Rodolphus had figured out how to work them, and in a matter of days really. He hadn’t talked to his cousins since they had taken over, but it had gone smoothly enough. The Death Eaters still held the power, even if Andromeda being the Minister meant that it wasn’t exactly a Death Eater in the chair. No one could deny that there was influence there. That there was still a firm enough grip on what was going on that it wouldn’t matter. It might be better this way. Now that it wasn’t someone with a Mark on their arm, now that there was some separation, he understood the plan. He knew what she had done, and it was logical. It calmed sparks, and it hushed the voices of unrest. There were always going to be people that didn’t like what was happening. There were always going to be people that were going to want to fight back, but fighting fire with fire wasn’t always going to be the right answer either. They could fight, and Carlisle thought that what people were missing, was the sheer amount of power that was seated in that Ministry. The Ministry controlled everything, and they controlled the Ministry. Department heads. The Wizengamot. Even Sebastian in the school. They were everywhere.

When he had felt the Mark burn he knew that after two weeks of the new world order, he knew that this was it. Rodolphus was finally coming clean. Because no one had expected Andromeda to take up the gauntlet of trying to lead the Death Eaters too, but there had been no word about who exactly it would be taking that spot. Carlisle was sure that people assumed as much. That it would be the two of them taking over the world together, or whatever it was that they had done. He would go, he would answer this time, because there had been sides chosen in all of this. There had been sides, and factions, and things had been divided, society had been divided in ways that it was relatively difficult to explain. There was something about the break, about the separation, it was almost the different classes. But it didn’t just have to be blood. There were those that were halfbloods that would be among them tonight. Those that had earned their places among them. There was nothing wrong with that, and Carlisle thought that that was what was going to make this work. What was going to make this succeed. It wasn’t just the purebloods. It wasn’t just the Twenty-Eight. They could do this, they could include enough of them, that anyone that found back would be the minority, and he was proud to call them family. Moving his hand to Sloane Cressida Rosier’s back Carlisle opened the door to the church, aesthetic was everything he supposed, and he followed her inside, his gaze drifting to the man of the hour, “Rodolphus.” Carlisle smirked and then shook his head just a little bit as he let his fiancée lead him down the aisle and into one of the pews. Chuckling as he slid in beside her he murmured in her ear, "The longer he talks the longer you're going to have to wait for that food... If he goes too long I dare you to pipe up and tell him his niece is hungry and to get to the point..."

Cold as ice you remain 

OUTFIT

He was playing cards. He was sitting in the dungeons playing cards with a few of the other teachers that he didn’t find annoying. It was a bi-weekly game that they played, where Lucian took all of their money and then took them out to dinner the next hogsmeade weekend. He didn’t need their money; it was just fun to play, and watch them suffer as he took it. He was good at poker; he had perfected the skill back in America where he started playing these games; where he was the one whose money was being taken; so really, the change of pace was welcomed. He was going to owl Isolde later that evening; tell her that he missed her and that he would try to make to to lunch with her the next day, but he had to stay at Hogwarts this weekend, cause thus was his duty. He didn’t mind, he loved his job, but he loved his wife as well, and missed her when they were not together.

Was Lucian Kirkpatrick getting soft? No. Lucian Kirkpatrick was thinking clearly, things in his life were being set properly. Isolde had been picked to be Andromeda’s advisor. They were working on having another baby, and Lucian had been considering cutting back on teaching to spend more time with his wife. To get to know his daughter better. But he knew that he was going to finish out the year, that much he knew, but beyond that, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps he would take a position at Lufkin, he would be allowed to go home every night, to be in his own bed.

But then there were nights like this; nights where he just drank some confiscated fire whiskey and played cards with people that he could tolerate. Did he really want to leave all of that behind? He wasn’t sure.

As he laid down another hand; his sleeves were rolled up and something caught his eye as he leaned back and put the cigar to his lips. He coughed suddenly; ”What the hell”? he said under his breath as he stood from the table and turned from the others as he pulled his sleeve up further. It hadn’t been this dark since he had called Ares at the End of Term Ball last year. What was happening? He knew that obviously Ares wasn’t the minister any longer; no. That was Andromeda Lestrange. Lucian had never been entirely too close to minister; speaking to him a few times, but then it was never anything more than a yes or a no. ”Oi, Kirkpatrick, whas the holdup?” one of them asked from the table as he turned to face them. Dropping his cards on the table, Lucian tossed the rest of his chips in; “Gotta go, all in, you win this time lads.” he said as he sprinted out of the dungeon.

Walking up the steps the castle staircase he ignored the students that spoke to him; there was a purpose, a point. He was being called; he had a feeling they all were. Something has happened, was Ares rallying the troops? Was he striking back at the new minister? Lucian knew that he couldn’t let Isolde get stuck in any crossfire; he knew that he couldn’t let that happen if it was the plan. As he hit the entrance hall of the massive castle; he watched the doors fly open as if they knew he was coming for them. Pulling his jacket around his arms he walked out into the cool night air towards the gate.

It was there that he saw another figure, another shadow going the same way; it was then he saw that it was @sebastian, taking a few strides longer than his previous he caught up with his friend; “Do you know anything?” they walked as he waited for a reply; the darkness on the mans face didn’t indicate wether he knew anything more than Lucian did nor not. As they both walked, their jackets flipped behind them, the wind catching it and billowing it wildly in the air. The two looked as if they had just blow something up and were walking in lock step with one another in slow motion. It was similar to any action film that Lucian had ever seen; it was quite an amusing; yet badass, sight to witness.

As Lucian passed the gates, he nodded to his friend and poofed with a pop arriving outside the old church. Lucian’s brows raised as he looked around; slightly confused. Entering the building he looked around; some faces he hadn’t seen in a while, but he was not the first relative notable one to arrive, he spied @carlisle and Sloane Cressida Rosier seated in a pew; Sebastian shouldn’t be too far behind; as he scanned the faces, he found another one that he recognized; Lord Rodolphus Azazel Lestrange, the husband to the minister and the former Head of the Aurors office; Lucian had greeted Lord and Lady Lestrange at the ball; but other than that he had never really had any conversation with the man; but he knew that his wife trusted Lucian’s own; so there was that. Walking into closer proximity of the elder wizard, Lucian nodded his head politely, “Lord Lestrange.” he said simply as he looked around once more; “I’m sure Isolde has done so already, but please extend a congratulations to your wife on a successful transition.” he said before moving slightly to his left nodding to Carslise and Sloane, to peer out of a window; wondering if he could see any other figures coming their way..

It's better when they stay the same

Outfit

It was all in the family. That was the thing that had really surprised him the most about the way that his life was turning out now. A year ago, he had been just another auror, working in the Ministry under Lestrange, and not thinking all that much of it. There hadn’t been a grand plan, there hadn’t been any schemes to rise higher than he had been, to have more than he had already had then. Except that in a year everything had changed. His family had grown. He had Davina back, they had a daughter, and with Davina had come Blair, and with Blair had come Rodolphus, and with Rodolphus had come Andromeda. They were a set, the three of them, and he hadn’t really been prepared for that, but everything had worked out, well, not perfectly. There was still a hole, and he thought that they all felt it at times. Times when she should have been there. Davina’s birthday. Christmas. Now this. She should have been here for this. She would have loved this… That was the thing about it, Griffith thought that he may have even known Blair a little better than Davina had. He thought that she would have loved to see them in charge the way that they were now. The Wentzells had never been someone that she had been all that fond of, and she had been fond of Andromeda, and of Rodolphus. When Griffith had been introduced to this family it was a setup he had had to take a moment to wrap his head around, and then he had seen them, all three of them, together, and it had made sense.

He wouldn’t have been able to explain it, not to anyone. He didn’t even think that he could have described it, but there was just something about them. And now it had been six months, and he wasn’t sure that anyone was ever really going to recover. They had cauterized the wound, they weren’t bleeding anymore, but that didn’t mean that it was ever going to heal. Not properly. But if there was one thing that Griffith could really say about this family, it was that they were resilient. They weren’t the people that were going to let just one thing hold them down forever, and he knew that after Blair had died, there had been some tense months. There had been some yelling, there had been a few fights, and a whole lot of tears. But they had made it through that. And they had three kids because of all of it. Ava had been born early, the day before his own birthday, and Griffith thought that that was kind of perfect. Now his own birthday could cease to exist, and they could focus on Ava. His nephews were older, six months old now, and he thought that if they turned out anything like their parents they were going to be forces to be reckoned with too. Griffith would have been more than content to spend this Friday night at home with his wife, trying to convince her to let him actually hold the baby for longer than five minutes, but then his arm had burned. His brother-in-law had figured it out.

There hadn’t really been a question as to whether or not he would figure it out, he was a whole lot smarter than a lot of people wanted to believe. The Death Eaters had long been pegged as a bunch of blundering idiots by the rest of society, but as he headed into the church that they had all been called to Griffith couldn’t help but shake his head at the irony of all of it. Things had most certainly changed, and he could only hope that they had changed for the better. That they could make this more sound, stable, secure. When Rodolphus had stepped down, and he had been handed his job, he hadn’t quite known what he was going to do with it. But then he realized that the ground work was done. Whether or not Rodolphus had wanted the job when it had been given to him, Griffith didn’t know, he assumed not, but he couldn’t deny that when he had left, he had given him everything that he needed to keep it on the same path. To keep things running smoothly the way that they had been running for over a year now. He didn’t think that there was going to be anyone that was foolish enough to oppose what was happening right now. There were too many that would stand in support of it. But Griffith thought that it was never too terrible of an idea to err on the side of caution. Glancing around the room as he made his way into the building he nodded once to Rodolphus, and again to his father across the room, before he slipped into the pew on the other side of his cousin. "Hey Girl Scout." The grin on his face was probably going to be enough to annoy Sloane Cressida Rosier, but that just made it all that much more fun.

Although the whole world knows your name

Outfit

They were figuring it out, slowly… Anicka knew that her children were all in varying stages of uncertainty about this whole thing. About a lot of things, really, but she didn’t know how to work all of that out. There were issues all around, and she could only hope that time would fix most of them. She was proud of the lot of them. They were growing up. They were learning to handle things in their own ways, and though she knew that she and Constance had fought, she was proud of her for the decision that she had ended up making. Her children were the most important people in her life, all eight of them. Because even if Pippa wasn’t hers, and the twins weren’t here yet, she would still protect the three of them just as fiercely as she protected the others. That was her job. She was their matka. Her job was to fight for them. And she knew that she had made a choice, she had chosen to fight in her own ways, she had chosen something for herself for the first time in her life. And there was something liberating about that. People said that love bound you. But Anicka felt differently. She thought that maybe love was the one thing that had made her freer than anything else ever had. He had made her free, and he had done it by loving her. That was something that she wasn’t going to take for granted, ever. She knew how lucky she was. She was lucky to have someone that loved her, that she loved in return. She knew that.

That didn’t change the fact that things were messy. They were going to stay messy until something changed. What she hadn’t expected was this sort of change though. She hadn’t expected anyone to try and oust Ares, not over Issa… And that seemed to be what this was, at least partially, about. She knew how the game worked. She knew that her bratr hadn’t acknowledge Issa as a part of the family either, not really. She had received her title, by marriage, but she didn’t have an order. He had given Elliot one, when he had married Ella, but Issa hadn’t gotten one, and Anicka knew why. She knew that it was because she was a halfblood. Aurora hadn’t gotten one either. Either time she had married into the family. That didn’t change the fact that names, and blood, had a lot to do with politics in this country. There was something about her own country’s politics that she just liked better in that sense. No one really worried about what the family of the Head of State was doing, because they made the right choices. They remained the way that they were for a reason. But that wasn’t how things worked here, and she thought that ‘democracy’ was just a cover for what was really going on. Their politics were just as much smoke and mirrors as Ares had always said that they were. The only difference was that now it wasn’t him in that chair. The Lady Lestrange Anicka had only met a few times in passing. When she had been caring for Orion after he had been born… She didn’t know anything about her really, but her husband Anicka remembered.

Anicka had been curled up on one end of the sofa, Medici on the floor in front of her, comfortable, and relaxed, and then it had burned. The mark on her arm had darkened, and it had burned, and she had felt her eyes go wide as she looked up at @malcolm across the room. For a moment, she hadn’t known whether she would be answering or not… She was pregnant, her cousin was the one that they had just thrown out of office. Her surname wasn’t going to do her any favors walking into that situation. But they were going anyway, together. It was just a meeting. That was what he had said, and she had grumbled more than a little bit as she had headed back upstairs to change again. There was no way she was going to whatever this was, in the yoga pants, and Malcolm’s sweatshirt. By the time she had made it back downstairs he looked like he was ready to go, and Pippa was still sound asleep. Leaving Kreta in charge of the little girl was easier than getting someone to come over and ‘watch’ a sleeping seven-year-old. Smiling up at him she had nodded, and then disappeared, only to reappear outside of an abandoned church outside of London… She waited for him to appear next to her, not even considering walking into that building without him. Spinning her engagement ring around her finger she took a deep breath as she stepped through the doors and into the candle lit room. If they made it through this, she was most certainly getting something sweet out of the deal, ice cream, she wanted ice cream. “When this is over,” her voice barely more than a whisper loud enough for Malcolm to hear, she turned her chin up to look at him, “I want ice cream.”

COLD WIND BLOWS

OUTFIT

She couldn’t really deny that she had woken up in a… mood, today. Everything had just been irritating, and she had been looking forward to not having to leave the house at all. It was Friday, and Carlisle had come, and she had been really ready to just not leave the house. But then her mark had burned, and Carlisle’s had too, and she had realized that Rodolphus had to have figured out the marks. She didn’t know why tonight needed to be the night for this, but she knew that her mood was just making her a little more likely to complain tonight. Sloane wasn’t going to say any of that to Rodolphus obviously, but Carlisle knew that she was in a mood. It was why she had made sure that she was promised burgers and chips after the meeting was over. They would be out anyway, so there was no reason not to get the food that she wanted. She hadn’t fancied having to change back into real clothes, particularly since she was getting massive and that made her look incredibly unthreatening in a room full of Death Eaters. She didn’t really care for that, but there was nothing she could do about it. Talking Carlisle out of going wasn’t going to happen, and deep down, she did know they had to go. They couldn’t just not show up because Rodolphus was family, and he already knew they supported him.

They still had to come here and prove it just like everyone else. Well, she knew that most people didn’t even know who they would be showing up for. She thought some people could figure it out just by thinking logically, but others might just think that they were going to show up and Ares was going to be there. That he was going to have some grand plan to take back over… but that didn’t make any sense, because Andromeda had had the support to take over, so it was obvious enough to her that he wouldn’t have been successful even if he had tried to do something like that. But everyone else would figure out who they were coming to meet soon enough. That might prove to be interesting, but it wasn’t enough to make her want to get dressed and come all the way out here. Carlisle had laughed when the mark had burned, but she’d only groaned. She had wanted to do nothing, and also convince him to give her a foot rub—not get dressed all over again, to come to a meeting. But she knew that this had more to do with her mood than anything, and that she would feel better once she actually got to eat that burger… whenever that happened. Sloane didn’t quite know what to expect or how long this was going to take.

Sloane hadn’t even known that Rodolphus was trying to figure out the marks, even though it made sense to. She didn’t know if he had told Carlisle or Griff or anyone, but it had come by surprise in any case, and there was nothing to do but go and listen to whatever he’d wanted to tell them. Once they had apparated to a church, in what looked like London—which worked out well because there were decent burgers here, Sloane waited as Carlisle opened the door, and then they stepped in side. The place was dark, lit only by candles in the corners of the room and at the front, and wind was coming through some of the broken windows. But it was a mild night, so it wasn’t too intolerable. It could have been worse, in any case. Sloane nodded in greeting at Rodolphus Azazel Lestrange when @carlisle spoke, and then headed toward one of the pews. She didn’t actually know if he wanted them to sit her not, but like hell was she just going to stand around. She was hardly in the mood for that when sitting was an option. She shot a glare at Carlisle’s words, and hit him in the arm with her clutch. “I will not.” She retorted, rolling her eyes. It wasn’t too long until another familiar face was heading into their pew, and @griffith sat down next to her. “Not you too. Are you both going to annoy me all night?” She was surrounded by annoying boys—typical.

COLD WIND BLOWS

OUTFIT

Ares being ousted wasn’t something that he had been expecting. He didn’t know if anyone had really saw that coming. Malcolm knew that people weren’t thrilled with some of the choices that he’d made, but that made little sense to Malcolm. He had successfully taken the office—he’d gotten revenge for the fire at the work camp, they’d killed Durant. He’d implemented a successful registration of Muggleborns, and they had done so in a way that had met with little resistance. There had been power placed around the wizarding world in a way that just made it a bit difficult for anyone to have the force in return to change it. Everything had worked fine, in his opinion, but then people had started to decide that Ares wasn’t doing the job up to par because of decisions made in his personal life. That was something that Malcolm didn’t quite understand. Would he ever marry a halfblood? No. But that was his blood line, his family, his choice. If Ares was running the country well, he didn’t understand why people made what he did outside of the Ministry their business. But they had anyway, and there was nothing that could really be done about that now. It had happened. It was over. It wasn’t to say that this change was bad, because they still had power, but he didn’t know just how it was going to go yet.

He knew that everything was continuously tense between Ares and Anicka, but Malcolm still considered Ares to be his friend, and he didn’t like to see him put out of power like that. But he thought that it was good that they had gotten out of the country for a little while. He knew that they had gone to Cape Town, and that Beckett and Olivia had Orion. And he knew that the kids had moved back into Mountbatten Hall. It felt like plenty had happened in the past couple of weeks, and what he hadn’t expected tonight was a meeting. He’d just expected it to be another Friday night. Pippa was in bed, he’d been pouring himself a glass of whiskey, and then the mark had burned. It had taken only a glance over at Anicka to know that hers had too. He wasn’t sure just who would be there when they appeared, but he had his guesses. And he thought that there was no reason not to go. There was no reason for Anicka to not go. Just because she was a Wentzell, and Ares had been ousted, didn’t mean that she was any less of a Death Eater than she had been before. Hell, he thought that if Ares had been in the country, there was a chance that even he would have gone and it would have been fine. He wasn’t certain of that or anything, and he wasn’t sure that he would have gone even if he wasn’t a continent away, but still.

Malcolm wasn’t sure what the time difference was in Cape Town, but he thought that it was only a difference of a couple of hours. They were probably still awake, not that he thought that Ares was going to come here across continents. He would just have to tell him what he missed, since somehow had to—and he doubted that Anicka was going to. Malcolm wished he could fix… whatever was going on there, but he found that he didn’t quite understand it enough to try. So he just let it be, and let her have all the space that she’d wanted between her and the man that she’d considered her brother but now apparently didn’t. But he would still tell him what had happened when he got back into the country and help him figure it out if that was what he wanted to do. For now, they had their own meeting to get to. He chuckled at @anicka’s words, and nodded in agreement. “All right, ice cream it is.” He said quietly, as they stepped into the quiet church. People had already started to arrive and had started taking their seats. Malcolm took a glance around, and then lead Anicka to a pew in near the middle, where Lester was sitting. “Lester.” He said with a nod, before sitting down next to him. He knew that his older brother supported this change in regime—he had been told about that after the fact.

COLD WIND BLOWS

OUTFIT

The Ministry had changed once more. It wasn’t something that Jasper honestly kept all that close of an eye on. He was more focused on his work in St. Mungo’s than the politics happening at the Ministry of Magic. As long as they still had power, he didn’t much care who was technically giving the orders. There were people in his family that might—he knew Julius had been hand chosen for his position by Ares, and as such, he wasn’t sure how the man was going to feel about him being gone now. But as far as Jasper had been able to tell, people weren’t losing their jobs just because they had supported Wentzell. They were all still on the same team, after all, and firing and rehiring the whole Ministry would take far too much time, in his opinion. They would figure it out, and that was not what he cared all that much about. Jasper cared about the hospital, and how the changes impacted them. Andromeda had to leave her positions there, after all. It wasn’t as if she could do both. They had an interim director in place until the board figured out who to appoint the position to permanently, but that wasn’t something he was interested in. He didn’t want a job that took him too much away from what he actually was there for, and that was being a healer. Sitting in an office all day wasn’t his style.

Granted, he knew that there was more to it than that. Andromeda had figured out a way to be director, but still have patients in her fields of choice. But Jasper would rather commit all of his time to that. He didn’t want to have to pick and choose, and deal with the politics of it all. He wanted their next director to be someone that he actually liked, obviously, but he didn’t want it to be him. That wasn’t where his goals took him. In fact, he was quite happy with where he was now. Andromeda had given him the position that he’d always wanted, which was the head of the surgical ward. He’d wanted to head up one of his two specialties, but he could honestly say that he hadn’t thought that Andromeda would ever leave the hospital. He thought heading up the magical bugs and plants ward would be much more likely, but then she had given him the position and that… had been that. He had no complaints. He wished her well in the Ministry, and he wanted them to continue to be successful there, but that was all that he’d thought about it. He wasn’t into politics, and since he wasn’t anywhere near being the head of the Avery line, he had no reason to concern himself with the politics more than he had to.

But when his dark mark had burned, he had gotten ready to go. He had been at the hospital, so it had been a matter of going into the lounge and getting changed. It was late, and his shift had almost been over anyhow, so he figured that he would just go home for the night after the meeting was over. Jasper didn’t know what to expect, or who to expect, when he had apparated and realized that they were at a church. There really was no reason for the skulking around and meeting in an abandoned church, but he supposed tradition was tradition. At least they were inside, and not in some graveyard somewhere. He would take what he could get. Stepping into the dimly lit church, it took only a glance around to see that people had already started to arrive—and that it was Rodolphus at the end of the room. He wasn’t quite sure who he had been expecting, quite honestly, but now they knew. There was no telling just why they were meeting here tonight but that was information that he thought they’d be gaining shortly. With a nod to Lestrange, he headed further into the church and took a seat at one of the pews in the middle of the room… granted, a little farther back than the middle, but everyone knew he was a more passionate healer than Death Eater, so he didn’t think anyone expected him in the front row.

Like A Many-Bladed Knife

outfit

Roma and @eleanor had been somewhat occupied when the Marks had burned.

There had been the glances, the quick discussion, and the decision to go. Wentzell had summoned them the last time, though with Lady Andromeda Lestrange (blood traitor once, after all, Roma and Nora had been in school with the girl, though the spots had changed once more and again) as the Minister, backed by the greater families, with rewards and alliances, Roma was more confident that perhaps this time they weren't going to be called like dogs to heel and beg at Wentzell's feet.

There was, after all, the chance it was someone else, someone more British, someone more trusted, someone more favored. Wentzell summoning them would be suicide-- many who had ousted him were Death Eaters or tied tightly to Death Eaters in the tangled mess of kith/kin/blood/marriage that called themselves the Sacred Twenty-eight and those who allied with the other families, standing tight to support. It would be an invitation to kill him, if he still believed that they were beholden, really.

A half-smiled flitted over her face as she dressed herself-- duelling robes, hunting robes, really. The cold would be chased away by Warming Charms, and later by adrenaline, no matter how the meeting ended. Hair bound back behind her to keep her field of vision clear, she half-reluctantly fixed earrings in. Dress it out, add some more civilization, she supposed. She was, after all, Adviser the the Minister, even if she was not Nora's partner. Nora had always been the bright in Roma's life, and she strove to honor that, honor her lover. She'd never want to let Nora down.

Her old mask fitted in a pocket (for who knew what the others brought?) knife sheathed against her leg, and wand holster affixed, she slid her eyes towards Eleanor. "Whatever may come." They were in this, together, as they always would be.

They twisted into the London church-- old, broken down, and half-fitting. They could have surely gotten the Adria, to send a message they were in control, and Hestia Carrow's sister would have made it private, but having it here did send a message-- while much ad changed, they were to remember places, remember they served a Cause-- and judging by the people; yes, it wasn't Wentzell, thankfully.

Their Cause-- headed by a rightful leader, it seemed-- tied them close. Lord @carlisle may have left her cousin (respectfully, thankfully), but he was also Lady Lucy's beloved brother, and they were both Marked. She gave him and his companion a nod of greeting, the same to her cousin @jasper. A short bow in Rodolphus Azazel Lestrange's direction, and she and Nora took appropriate seats in the pews.

COLD WIND BLOWS

OUTFIT

His wife was in an incredibly good mood the past couple of days, and Beckett was entirely aware of just why that was. Issa had asked them to watch Orion, while her and Ares went out of the country on a belated honeymoon, and that meant that there was going to be a baby in the house. Beckett knew that Olivia wouldn’t say no to another kid of their own, so having another in the house—even just to babysit, had been enough to put her in a good mood from the moment they’d even been asked to begin with. But then he had been dropped off yesterday, and it felt like his wife’s mood had only gotten better. He didn’t necessarily have a problem with having another kid too, but with their oldest getting ready to graduate Hogwarts, it would be… quite the age difference for them to have another one now. That was really the only logic that he had on it. That it would be a hell of an age difference, and another eighteen years until they would have no kids in the house. Merlin. That just seemed so far away from now at this point, but babysitting… babysitting was certainly okay. He thought that Ares could use the break, and it eased Liv’s baby fever without talking about having another of her own. He thought that it worked out quite well.

At least until Ares and Issa came back from Cape Town. Once that happened, he thought that Olivia would never let him hear the end of it. But for now, he was able to appreciate the fact that she was in a very good mood with Orion around. He didn’t mind it either, really. He hadn’t thought that he liked kids until he’d had his own, so it hadn’t been up for debate at all when they had asked them to babysit him for a week. He thought that it was a good idea. After what had happened at the beginning of the year, Ares getting a break was well deserved, in his opinion. He couldn’t say that he’d expected him to be ousted to begin with, but he was glad that it hadn’t been violent. As much as they were Death Eaters, as much as he didn’t mind killing for sport when he was in the right mood, when the people that he cared about were involved, he wouldn’t stand for it. Ares was a friend of his, a portion of his family was very important to Olivia, and thus him as well, and if they had killed him, then they would have had problems. Not that he necessarily knew what he would have done. He was a halfblood, and while he was just as much of a Death Eater as the next, he wasn’t likely to get the twenty-eight to side with him over a Lestrange.

Still, there would have been problems if Ares had been killed, and he would have made sure of that. If it had come down to it. But it hadn’t. She’d taken the office peacefully, and now Ares was off in Cape Town on vacation. He didn’t know what the man was going to do when he came back—and it was one of the first thoughts he’d had when he’d felt his mark burn. Ares couldn’t just leave South Africa to come back to London at the drop of a hat, and he wasn’t sure that the man would have come if he could. Ares would have to figure that out eventually, but tonight that didn’t need to be Beck’s problem. He’d been in the kitchen when it had happened, so he’d gone to find Olivia and let her know. He thought she was just as surprised as he had been, and then he’d disappeared. He arrived at a church in what looked like London, and headed inside. It was filling up—he didn’t doubt that it would continue to. No one really would know what to think, but they wouldn’t think to ignore it either. He saw that it was Rodolphus and didn’t have much to say about that one way or another. He didn’t know the man, apart from very rarely passing him in the Ministry. He saw @anicka, and nodded to her, but took a seat at one of the back pews.