lxcxndatlkalct

[lxcxndatlkalct]

Eiza González

[lxcxndatlkalct]

huntingcallumharker‌:

As she questioned his theory, Callum had a moment to think on it some more. It actually made some sense to him. Someone wanted her out of the way as they did something. Otherwise, why would they lock her in here and just leave them be. “How can you be so sure?” He replied, challenging her odd sense of assurance in the statement. “I don’t think they locked us in here to attack us because we’ve been left alone for too long. Even if they weren’t going to through something in here with us, there would’ve been something…” Callum had done his fair share of trapping people places and new the usual methods. Now, might someone think different than him, possibly, but he was still confident in opinion of the situation. Her words only annoyed him as he stood there. “I’m sorry, Mistress.” He spoke, letting his tone and bite match hers as he spoke. “I’ll be sure to keep my opinions to myself next time you ask for them.” Callum continued, letting himself sigh a bit. They were both stuck in this room together and there wasn’t much they could do about it right now, but he figured they would need to get out of here as soon as possible. “We’ve thought of every other option, so might as well try them all.” Callum moved from the spot he was standing in and walked over towards the desk in the office. He was able to find some things kind of like paper clips and moved towards the door. Kneeling in front of the door, Callum started to work on the lock, staying silent as he did. 

“Unless that’s exactly what they’re hoping we’d consider.” Because really, she’d never minded letting her victims sweat it out in longing wait for what might come next, the woman a viper in the darkness. It gave her an interesting turn of thought about it, all things considered, this might have been close to something she herself would have pulled in dire circumstances. Games certainly weren’t above her. Hues narrowed at his biting tone, uncaring for whether it were simply in response to her own as she waved him off and sought to ignore him with a lowly huff as she moved back to perch against the edge of the office desk. “Nobody is going to lock two people like us up by muggle means. A locked door couldn’t keep us in but sure, waste more of our time.” If he so assuredly believed that he could get them out through little more than picking his way out, she could really only tolerate so much more time in here with him before she simply imploded. “Are you sure you even know what you’re doing?” With every passing moment, she grew all the more impatient, the brunette kicking her shoes off as he padded back across the room to him, kneeling down beside him. “Because it surely doesn’t look like it. What’re you trying to do? Show me.”

[lxcxndatlkalct]

[lxcxndatlkalct]

huntingcallumharker‌:

Callum honestly didn’t have enough experience in this magical world to be able to know for sure why someone would’ve locked them in. However, with recent developments of some muggles working with these wizards, he couldn’t help but question who was actually behind it. “I don’t know why we’re locked in. We won’t know until we get out of here. However, the only thing that would make sense is that they are trying to do something in this area and don’t want you to get involved, which would take locking you inside.” He answered. To him it was the only think that actually made sense. As she went to try to apparate, Callum had mixed feelings. Part of him knew it would be best if she could get herself out, but he didn’t know what he was going to do if she did. He had been able to keep his charade up this long, but if she by some chance got out of this room, he would have to figure out some way to explain why he couldn’t. When it didn’t work, there was a slight sense of relief that took over. Of course his expression didn’t reflect it as her question came out. There was a sigh that fell from his lips and he rubbed the side of his face a bit. “If they really are doing something in this area, there could always be a chance it’s a good thing you’re stuck in here. Then you’re protected.” He spoke, unsure if it would mean anything to her, but saying it anyway. Callum stood thinking for a moment, trying to think of what they hadn’t tried yet. “We could try picking the lock the Muggle way. Clearly magic and force aren’t working, so maybe we need to try something simpler. Something that wizards wouldn’t think about.” 

“Don’t want me involved?” Immediately her mind wandered to Remus; the worst already done, she couldn’t interfere with what he already knew. It made little more sense to keep her from stepping foot outside of the room. Every tether to her own humanity or sense of morality on it’s own awash with the blood already on her hands. She had little left to care for other than her own neck; irony at it’s best. She laughed, haphazardly in disagreement, “There’s nothing happening out there they’d need to keep me from getting in involved in.” Likely not the greatest moment to be honest, her position at Mistress begged her to care more. The ricochet effect of not being able to apparate rattled her a little as she found her composure again, irritation beginning to seethe visibly in rigid fingertips as she began to fidget. “I don’t particularly like the idea of being trapped, and excuse my rudeness, but I don’t need to be protected.” A subtle reminder that she’d only hired him to keep herself clear of the ministry appointed guard when she could, “So, forgive me for not seeing the positive side of this like you so clearly can.” It wasn’t intentional, but she was much too used to holding all the cards in her own hand, now they lay face down and she’d not even see the deck. It drew a rise to the beat of her heart as she slowly but surely began pacing. “You.. pick the lock? You think that of all things will work?” She paused, just long enough to cast him an incredulous look that might have held much too much apprehension and softness in the idea that he’d even consider it. “I certainly didn’t think about it, so..-- by all means.”

[lxcxndatlkalct]

rodolphuslestrxnge‌:

Power was the key to it all. But Rodolphus wasn’t the only man who could offer them power so he had to make the idea more seductive. Not just the power to fight, the power to execute his will. No no, the power to execute your own, to have a say in this new world they were building together. That was what gave the Revolt the edge. No lies, no hierarchy. (Well generally they accepted Rod as leader, but he had just managed to evade being murdered by Voldemort so he’d earned it.) 

Her comment made him tilt his head to the side, a little baffled. “It’s not softening you up, it’s being a gracious host. I’d offer food and drink to anyone intending to spend a length of time in my home.” He summoned the house elf and made a sweeping gesture towards Lucinda, “please bring Miss Talkalot whatever she desires to eat, and check if Rabastan needs anything too.” Rod poured himself a drink and took a seat, patting the empty chair next to him for Luci. “All my offers are genuine. I hope you know I intend for us both to be happy by the end of this. Though first I need to find out how much you already know. So- and excuse the bluntness of the question- tell me how much you know about the circumstances surrounding my death.”

A better host than she’d ever be, the very thought of guests in her own home perished every aspect of her less than welcoming personality. Charming as she could be, having her space encroached on bothered her more and more with every passing day. Time to herself was a vast irregularity. Everything about it, despite her interest, left her a little uneasy. Rod’s departure from the fold of death eaters not something that was talked of lightly among them. Pressing the tips of her fingers in against the dip of her neck beneath her ear, almost a passing effect of her burning need for the man to get on with it left her muttering to the house elf before he disappeared. “How is your brother? I heard he succumbed to the curse rather quickly, passed out in the street.” The ferocity of the younger lestrange wasn’t lost on her, as intent as his brother on many things; she’d come to appreciate them both just as much as the other. 

The second offer of the seat beside him she took up, tucking her legs beneath her in much the way her nanny had once taught her was proper. Bits and pieces instilled in her for lack of her own mothers presence along with that of her father. Humorous, that the etiquette Lucinda exuded would have been learnt from something as lackluster as the help. “We’ll see.” It seemed ironic, that he’d offered her power and all she’d truly clung to was a life of her own, not tied to the wants or needs of another man -- and yet here he was. She had little interest in becoming tethered to another. “About as much as anyone does..-- Your grand speech got you executed. Quite the fuss, you left many people utterly distraught after that.” She noted quietly  “Though I’ve never been one to take things at face value, and your wife hasn’t been among those distraught, difficult to believe, not everything adds up --- even less so with you sitting here.”

Recruitment Drive | Rodolphus & Lucinda

[lxcxndatlkalct]

angelixmoody‌:

and all the devils are here. 

How long had he been standing guard at her door? Two months now? Nearing three, perhaps, and he still hadn’t found it in himself to step into the office. No one could apparate in, and as far as he knew, her fire linked only to two places. Unless, of course, she’d modified it and hadn’t informed him. Which wouldn’t surprise him. Somehow, every time he saw her, his cheek still stung from the slap to his face in Mungos. And he could still hear the venom in her voice. I hope you rot. 

Moody hoped so too sometimes. Late at night when it was nothing but silence in his home, and the only thing he could focus on was the bottle set beside his bed. When his eyes found the gleaming metal contraption he had to strap on every day and rest beside every night, it was a constant spiral of should I stop this and why does it even matter? He wasn’t himself anymore. No one knew that, and no one would. He’d be damned if showed weakness. Especially in front of her. 

The click of the door drew his attention- and his wand, multi-color gaze falling rest on Lucinda’s profile. Some time ago another member of the Ministry had entered her office. He hadn’t needed to know why they were there, just that they were who they said they were. His jaw clenched and his gaze returned to the hall. “Shall I escort you somewhere, Mistress Talkalot?”

@lxcxndatlkalct

No matter how long she’d been accustomed and almost thankful for silence, Lucinda always seemingly finding more solace in the whisper of the wind and little else, she couldn’t quite render the quiet state of her office a comfort, not knowing what she knew now -- not knowing he stood outside her door in some effort to protect her. How foolish, to think that there was little else he could honestly protect her from now. Alastor, if anything, only now served as the closest thing to her own downfall. As long as she held her position within the ministry while the Dark Lord did what he deemed necessary of her; she wouldn’t meet her demise at his hand. Her closest friend had been rendered to near mania in finding out her alliance, and should the man on the other side of the door figure it out too -- or be led to such conclusion, she’d be executed on sight. A weary thought as she pressed the door handle long after a man deemed trustworthy of her position had left via the fireplace. What Moody would think to know death eaters were right beneath his nose, plotting from the inside out to destroy the current hierarchy of the magical world to instill something new. Something pure. 

It still left her uneasy, familiar features that now simply brought bile to the thick of her throat, for every lackluster reason he’d given her in the hospital room months before. For years since he’d abandoned her, for lack of better word, it seemed he’d been completely unable to look at her, and now, she could do little else but look directly through him. Torn by his choice to leave, and his lack of it, to be here now. Do I have a choice? “Do you know where Kingsley went?” To the last of her knowledge, he’d been called on for auror matters, a perfect moment for her to draw Moody away and leave her office unoccupied. “--- Doesn’t matter.” She didn’t wait any longer, Lucinda no more bothered by whether he chose to follow her or not, heels clicking against the marble flooring loudly. “I need a few things from Diagon Alley, consider me off the clock if you must.” An open invite to completely void any necessity to escort her at all if he so needed it.

Hell Is Empty || Moody & Luce

[lxcxndatlkalct]

curiousxeno‌:

Xeno wasn’t planning on badgering anyone, but he wanted to ask a few simple questions. Maybe see if there was something he could find out that others hadn’t. Knocking on the door of the headmistress, he paused for a moment before stepping in. “Ms. Talkalot? I was wondering if you might have a moment to talk. I just have a few questions for you, or perhaps Mr. Shacklebolt if you’d prefer.” 

@lxcxndatlkalct

The hefty sigh that pressed her lungs in the moments following the knock at the door to her office a passing reprieve she allowed herself to twist features almost wholly fed up with visitors to one much more welcoming. “You just missed him, Auror business, he’s still quite attached to it.” Rising from her seat, she stepped around the desk she wasn’t particularly fond of and offered a warm enough smile to usher him in. God she hated reporters, regardless of their inclination of interests. “I’ve got some time, however, perhaps I’ll have some answers for you.”

[lxcxndatlkalct]

[lxcxndatlkalct]

lilyinvestigates‌:

Lily considered the words for a moment, clearly stuck on if the best option would be calling the woman by her name. Granted, it was certainly less intimating and for that reason alone she gave a small nod of her head, “Lucinda, then.” She agreed as she walked a little further into the office but as the Mistress remained standing so did Lily. It wasn’t easy to let the guard down regardless of the appearances that were in front of her, few times these days did she not feel like an outsider who had barged is somewhere she wasn’t welcome. As the seat was offered she glanced at it before she nodded her head and took it before she positioned herself that she was staring at Lucinda with her back straight and hands placed in her lap. “I am. I mostly free lance and there for sometime business was going well but as the Ministry turns around people come back around.” She’d seen the question coming and it was that reason that a smile came to her lips, “I have actually but aside from the fact that I prefer the investigative side of things over the capturing it just so happens I don’t want to be the wife who follows her husband to work.” A small laugh at the comment as she calmed her tension in just the slightest.

It was any wonder what the woman before her might have done had she any inkling that they’d come across one another long before this moment. A plethora of spells throw from her own wand with every intention on ruining the wedding of the year. Though, she supposed this could work in her favor if she played it right. Noting the way Lily perched the chair she’d offered, Lucinda smiled a little, “Relax, Lily, though this might very well have the makings of a job interview of sorts, you don’t need to present yourself so rigidly.” Pausing, Lucinda curled the papers in her hand over themselves, her tongue pressing in against her cheek before she spoke again, “I’m sorry, by the way, your wedding. I don’t really want to think of what I’d do if someone thought it the best place to plan an attack like that. I might have said something sooner or offered help with the clean up but..--” She herself had earnt herself a place in hospital, partially from the sufferings of Lily’s curses, and partly her own in an effort to place herself in a light that didn’t see her siding with death eaters. “Hopefully the honeymoon made up for it, if not, please, tell me if there’s anything I can do.” Not that she cared much, but offering some brand of compassion had become her standpoint as Mistress. 

Finding her own chair with ease, she did little more than lean against the arm, something of genuine humor found her, “There’s more to being an auror than simply capturing targets and apprehending criminals. There are whole investigation sectors that might benefit you being there.” Looking up at her, she smiled again, knowing that the piece of advice that would soon slip through painted lips lived as her own greatest strength. “Also, a piece of advice? Don’t allow what your husband’s career is steer your own. I didn’t get here by choosing a path nobody I loved had, I did it because it’s what I wanted and I’ve found no reason to question it.” Not the complete truth, but it still stood to reason she’d never done anything in her life without her own desire within it. “If he loves you, he won’t see it like that anyway.”

[lxcxndatlkalct]

huntingcallumharker‌:

The two of them had been doing so good at not talking about what had happened. Now, whether or not that was a good thing itself, Callum didn’t really care. All he cared about what trying to keep the conversations professional and things that they needed to focus on. “Who knows if there were even people out there. For all we know, the son of a bitch that locked us in here could’ve shut down the whole area somehow.” He spoke, shifting a little bit where he stood. Callum hadn’t that he didn’t know how to get out of this mess. It should’ve been simple. If he couldn’t knock his way out, they would blast out, but even that didn’t work. “I suppose so…” He continued, figuring she had a point about whether it was a muggle or not who did this, but he still couldn’t figure out who would’ve wanted them locked up together in this office. Hearing her question, he thought for a second about the briefing he had gone through when he took this position and nodded his head a little. “I believe it is. However, who knows what might’ve changed recently. Honestly couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.” Callum answered, sure that she might not be happy with the answer he had, but he also knew that they were running out of options. So they might as well try everything that they could think of at this point.

Of course the thought had crossed her mind, isolating this would have certainly made it easy to point fingers, but if by chance they’d taken out an entire section, they’d be much harder to track down. Perhaps she wasn’t even a target, simply a casualty. “Why lock us in?” That didn’t make sense, unless they’d planned something much more sinister than simply cutting them off, in which case, her stomach turned at the thought and she considered dire circumstances.. but, she still had appearances to keep up, even in here with Callum. Teeth caught the inside of her cheek as she looked around, as if some passing thought might jump out at her and solve their little problem; one of many, she remembered as the idea of being caught up in here with him spilled more thoughts better forgotten into the front of her mind. Dark hues flickered between him and the door as she nodded slowly, “They wouldn’t have changed anything, but..-- it’s worth a try.” Especially if they couldn’t simply break their way out. Where confidence might have usually found her, the iron backbone Lucinda Talkalot was known for cracked as she paused. It took a few passing moments to convince herself to move, to reach out for his arm. She’d been half expecting to feel the familiar twist of her stomach as they apparated, the sickly feeling that she’d grown used to over the years right before her feet hit the ground elsewhere --- only, nothing happened. And there she stood, a warm palm encircled around his upper arm, with little more than a sigh slipping through painted lips. “Nothing..--” It’d been a useless attempt, and it confused her all the more, brows furrowing as trepidation and uncertainty pooled in doe hues, “-- What’s going on?”

[lxcxndatlkalct]

Eiza Gonzalez

[lxcxndatlkalct]

maleficmoony‌:

his world started to spin. he hadn’t expected her to give in, to confirm his suspicions without a single word. his heart thundered against his chest. how had he been stupid enough to want confirmation? why couldn’t he just learn to fade into the shadows and ignorant bliss instead of picking every little thing down to the bone? this was why he’d hung in that cave for so long. why no one wanted to rescue him. “who else?” he couldn’t even bear to look at her. the artlessness left inside of him post-incident clung to her words. if she’d never been against him, that meant they were still on the same side, right? it meant he was doing what he did best again. overthinking.

his jaw set as he squeezed his eyes tight. he’d been told that ‘the worst was over’ by so many of the healers cycling through the building. so why was he in so much more pain now than his scrape with death? his hands clasped over his head as much as they could, the dark side was truly taking everything from him. one by one. the bed creaked slightly under the slight rocking movement he fell into, trying to force himself to just calm down.

it surely would have been less painful if she’d just stabbed him through the heart. he reeled as if he’d been slapped, scrambling off the hospital bed as she concealed the mark once again. he couldn’t tell if the footsteps he heard were a reality or rather part of the fictionalisation his emotions had morphed his universe into. his mind was completely oblivious to the quivering of his legs, as his face paled. bandaged and aching hands were thrown up between the two as the image of her seemed to swell closer. “no, no! don’t touch me!” and suddenly, he was briefly back in that godforsaken cave. this was all too familiar, a familiarity he hoped he’d never have to face. his crazed eyes flickered around the room for anyone, anything that could save him. it was with the realisation that he’d lost her that his heart truly shattered. he pressed a hand against his mouth briefly, positive that the pure horror engulfing him was more than evident on his face. he was going to be sick. lucinda had killed before, probably even his own species. oh god, he’d voted for her, he’d almost aided the dark side because of his blinded love for her. the fingers he’d frequently intertwined his own with had been the means of murder. he couldn’t spot his wand anywhere, or even recall what had happened to it. he wanted to be better than the lessons the world had taught him, but he couldn’t keep up with the curveballs constantly pitched at him. “sev,’ his eyes widened, voice barely above a whisper. “sev, severus! help, please-“ his now-shouts silenced as broken sobs erupted over his words. he just wanted to be okay.

She was a lot of things, but a rat was certainly not one of them. Regardless of whether she’d been thrown under the bus, of whether Evan had outed her or simply planted seeds of doubt, she’d never have done as much -- better she’d kill her victims than taunt them and risk another of her own from being exposed. Shock would wear in, and perhaps one day Remus would see. Keeping this from him had been purely for his own sake -- for her own sense of privacy, of course, but this might very well have been the one lie she’d both regret keeping --- and be ever thankful that she’d kept for the simple fact that his reaction, the look on his face was worse than she ever could have imagined. Heart of stone, she held no regrets in the choices she’d made. Nothing he could say or do would ever change her mind on which side of the war she stood on, but gods if she couldn’t wish for something better for him.  “You know I can’t tell you that.” Just as she’d never thought to publicize their own friendship when he’d expressed the need to keep it secret --- his other friends would never understand, and she’d accepted that for him, even as the sting of it wore off year after year, Lucinda only becoming all the more expectant of when and where they decided to hang out. She’d been his secret for years, and she’d never asked questions. How foolish of her to think in this state, he could offer her the same courtesy and let curiosity and the need to know die.  It was instantaneous, as he scrambled from the bed, she dropped her wand. Purposefully, and with enough force that it rolled well out of her reach. She didn’t want to hurt him -- she’d never wanted that. She’d begged for him to leave, to run and get well enough away from the ordeal at the Potter wedding -- she’d risked everything in warning him and she risked it all now standing in this god forsaken hospital room, baring the mark on her arm that would surely put her in the deepest cells of azkaban --- if they didn’t kill her for treason first. It rocked her like nothing ever had, the tremor in his voice threw a lump to the thick of her throat as she lifted her hands slowly in some effort for him to see she wasn’t here to hurt him, “Remus please..-- don’t..” Anyone else --- anyone else, and she’d have barely blinked before casting the killing curse. The woman far beyond letting this secret of hers live in the mouths of those she didn’t trust, and for someone who trusted nobody, it left a lot of people dead in her wake. It was bigger than them -- bigger than every memory she’d had, bigger than every cold night entwined with conversations that they’d only ever had with one another, it was bigger than all of that; but she didn’t care. Not while he looked at her with the utmost horror on delicate features. -- God, she was going to kill Evan. It was her fault, she knew that, but easier to lay the blame at the feet of a man that had no right to meddle in her life; to taint the last good thing she had in her life. Heat prickled in dark hues as she stepped towards him a little, the echo of him shouting for Severus kicked her heart into overdrive, her wand too far out of reach to stun him into silence should the wrong person walk into the room right then and there. “I’m begging you -- please just, stop. Let me explain.” Could she? She wasn’t sure, but she’d try -- she’d try anything if it meant he’d calm down. He had to know -- he had to know no matter what happened, she’d never have let this happen to him, she’d never let anything happen to him if given the chance. The taunt of war that so often spilled from her own fingertips felt toxic now; a disease, and for a moment, she might never have wished to rip the dark mark from her arm more. Her every belief be damned if it meant losing him. 

[lxcxndatlkalct]

undxraviolxtmoon‌:

At the sound of Lucinda he stilled, settling back into the chair. Years before when they’d begun this little venture, Severus and Remus had promised each other that no one would ever know. And it was mostly to avoid the fallout that might have happened on both sides. And they wanted to protect what they had together. Not everyone needed to know that they were so completely intertwined- and now he couldn’t hide it, could he? Only someone so inherently close would be at the bedside of a potentially dying man. He swallowed roughly, trying to find an excuse- even a flimsy reason was better than nothing but all he found was silence. 

Palms pressed to the arms of the overly plush chair, fingers digging in as he watched her in the spilling light from the hallway. “I-..” his voice was nothing but a whisper in the quiet room, head bowing low for a moment. He wasn’t ashamed of this, how could he be? In all of his years, Remus had been one of the only people he could find peace in. And now, he barely resembled himself. “I don’t know what happened to him, Lucinda.” And it cracked with the weight of that confession. He wished he did. Wished he knew so that he could find somewhere to release this steadily building anger and grief on. Before the hands of his depression threatened to pull him under. “I can’t-I can’t help him.”

It might have been easier for her to openly voice that he owed her no explanation of why he was here. Not only did she not need one, Lucinda very rarely interested in the intricacies of the life of anyone around her beyond that of the obvious, but she was smarter than to be so oblivious. Remus was without a doubt the only person that had never let her down, he’d never hurt her, not with intent. Of course, for a long time she’d considered his penchant for keeping Potter and his friends more than defiantly separate from his friendship with her; but childish thoughts of being cast aside for them had long since ceased to exist; and without that momentary sliver of doubt, it’d left the softness of her heart to survive solely for the man in the bed before them. “There’s nothing you can do.” She spoke rather curtly, stepping further into the room to close the door behind her. If there was one thing she knew --- it was that the work they did, was very rarely ever reversible. There was no fix to the horrors that she and her cohorts wrought upon the people they targeted, and perhaps Severus had yet to understand that.  She didn’t need to have been there to know, to picture everything. Having seen Evan at work before had all too often risen a certain excitement within her that too few saw, the salacious nature of it barely a flickering thought against the darkest side of Luce; he’d always brought out the best in her, which evidently enough --- never ended well for anyone else. Knowing what it would have taken to put Remus here, the mere fact that he was alive wonder enough, but still only proof to her that Rosier was playing games. Hesitantly, her fingers drew gently across Remus’ forehead, brushing unruly boyish curls aside only to watch them spring back against the sheen of sweat he was covered in. “Just be here, when he wakes up. He’s going to need you.” 

[lxcxndatlkalct]

huntingcallumharker‌:

Callum sat with his arms crossed, thoughts roaming over what they could do next to get the door open. He had been fine in silence for now, but he knew it couldn’t last forever. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible. However, everything they seemed to try didn’t work. It looked as if they were actually stuck here for now. Her magic and his muscle weren’t doing them any good and they were running out of options. Her voice brought him out of his thoughts and he gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “Well, it seems that everything we’ve tried doing from the inside isn’t working to break down the door.” He commented, looking around the office a bit more. “Which leaves us with the options of either sending a signal to someone who might be on the other side of that door, or, we wait until someone realizes they haven’t seen you in a while and comes knocking.” He continued. “It must be locked somehow on the other side. Being in here, I can’t tell if it’s magic or muggle reasons we are locked in here.” Callum looked around the office a bit, looking for any other way that they might be able to escape. 

The obviousness of his statement irked her, though she couldn’t rightly tell whether it stemmed from the situation at hand, or the fact that she’d done all she could since the gala to keep conversation with him to a minimum. The broach of vulnerability that she’d let slip that night in front of him and everything thereafter had left her throat constricted whenever she even thought about moving beyond small talk with him. “A signal? Whoever is on the other side of the door would surely have heard us trying to get out.” They hadn’t been all that quiet in their attempts, and she couldn’t rightly imagine Moody would go out of his way to look for her, at least not until she didn’t show up at the ministry. Sighing, one foot fell in front of the other as she began slowly moving back and forth across the room, not quite pacing, though she couldn’t very well sit still. “If it was done by muggles, I’d have blasted that door to splinters by now.” She pointed out, a little more uncertain with every passing moment what or why this might have happened; doubt and paranoia had seeped into her life since the campaign for minister; putting herself out in the open like that dangerous in its own right. “..-- is the building blocked from apparition?”

[lxcxndatlkalct]

rodolphuslestrxnge‌:

When Rodolphus had seen Lucinda one of those first days back he’d told her to be ready for a proposition, and he’d meant it. That was not something said on a whim; The Revolt was low on numbers, and while he liked them working as a small and cover operation the reality was they needed some bigger player on side. Lucinda? She was smart, well liked, ruthless, and the Mistress of Magic. No doubt she was sick of acting the leader but still playing the foot soldier to Voldemort. She deserved power, and he could give it to her. 

There were contingencies in place should she refuse of course- Rodolphus would simply obliviate her, say she’d been invited round for nothing more than a drink and chat with a friend. He wasn’t expecting her to reject the offer though.

When she arrived Rodolphus greeted her in the foyer himself, taking her coat and showing her through the house towards the small patio overlooking their grand gardens; he’d cast a warming charm earlier that would shield them from the chill of the evening and there was a selection of drinks available. “Are you hungry?” He asked, settling into his own plush chair, “I can have the house elf whip you up a little something.”

@lxcxndatlkalct

It might have been a lie to suggest that the cliffhanger that Rodolphus --- a supposed dead man, had left her with last they spoke didn’t intrigue her just a little. Lucinda always having been a woman intent on exploring all of her options couldn’t very well let such a moment slip between her fingers, even if she wound up refusing whatever it was he believed he could offer her. It might have been just enough that she’d convinced both Alastor and Callum that she was perfectly fine, visiting her father -- as if she would have willingly done that in the first place, the woman not willing to take a chance in being seen arriving at the Lestrange Manor, all things considered, she still had appearances to keep, the ploy of her becoming mistress of magic, even alongside Kingsley left her separated from many she would usually have kept good company with.  She didn’t sit, not at first, rather for the moment passing she gave herself a second to breathe, to take in the gardens as she might have once before; a woman once enthralled by everything usually looked over in the hunt for materialistic living in their world. She missed her camera -- missed being a wallflower, seen and heard only when she’d wanted to be and something about the effervescent view from the patio struck that nostalgia in the organ of her chest harder than she’d expected. “You don’t need to soften me up with food and booze, Rodolphus.” The corner of her lip pulled into a soft smile as she moved from the stone railing. “But, if that was a genuine offer, I’m famished.” Not a lie, when was the last time she’d eaten something? “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to tell me what this is all about while we wait.”

Recruitment Drive | Rodolphus & Lucinda

[lxcxndatlkalct]

maleficmoony‌:

he hadn’t meant to wince the way he did, to cower at the slightest rise in her tone. the blankets trapping him to the rickety bed far too thin to offer any protection if did decide to attack. he loathed that it had become an option. his eyes never left her as his suspicions snowballed. was there a turning point, a pivotal time when she decided he wasn’t worth it? or was her opinion of him always shattered, had she been waiting for years to finally be rid of him? the child left inside him screamed, banging against his ribcage. desperate for him to not give up on her, to cling onto her selfishly. “i wish i had the courage to not fight and doubt everything. i wish, just once, i could say: this. this is good enough,’ he smiled, breaths shuddering heavily in between his words. “but i can’t.” it made too much sense, to much of her path and the dark side’s coincided. memories and thoughts tied together like strings between evidence in the muggle police-dramas he’d seen. the notion made his heart numb, but it all clicked into place. his head hit the plastic railing surrounding the bed, he hadn’t even perceived his body crawling as far away from the woman as it could be.

her command was a knife pressed against his throat. he couldn’t just ‘spit it out’; he could only choose his words meticulously so that they wouldn’t be his undoing. “when did you and me against the world turn into you against me? was there ever a ‘you and me’?”it was his fault; it had to have been. his childish mania, forcing her to be an accomplice for years and years. the anger resurfaced, bringing with it more tears. the amount of crying that had occurred in the hospital room within his occupation was surely a record. “tell me this, and don’t fucking dance around it,’ he spat. every memory he had of the two of them had suddenly tainted. he’d played the fool for too long, not attaining how one-sided their ‘friendship’ was. “are you a death eater?”

Naivety had never clutched Lucinda within it’s grasp, she’d never truly believed she could keep her beliefs close enough to her chest that they remained her own knowledge alone, despite wishing it were possible, things within their world had spun far too out of control for it to even broach the precipice of possibility anymore. This however, was not how she’d ever wanted it to spill from it’s place. For years, she’d managed to keep those privy to her ever having taken the dark mark to little more than a handful of people; need to know only, some of those among the dark lords ranks had still yet to put a name to her cloaked presence within meetings and yet she didn’t need to further question what Evan might have said, what he might have laid out in pieces for Remus to put together -- because what better way to get into the minds of those they wanted to twist than by severing their lifelines. He told me that if I hurt him.. you would come after me.. She felt it, constricting against the organ in her chest as it threatened to shatter. Remus’ attempt to fend off his attacker had been openly claiming Lucinda as his protector; as she’d always been, and that alone had given Evan his way in.  Nonchalance fell from her in waves, the front she’d grown so used to putting up for damn near the entirety of her life the easiest thing she could manage. You don’t have to hide from me. How many times had he told her as much? How many times had he muttered throughout the darkness of corridors and dimly lit library corners that Lucinda didn’t have to be so cold but every doubt filled question he asked only served to prove him wrong after all this time. She had every reason for the things she did, the way she was, every effort he’d ever made to convince her otherwise obliterated as the piece of her soul that well and truly belonged to him withered to ash. “I have never been against you. Not ever.” Not personally at least -- though she supposed in the generalized sense of what she stood for, he was everything she fought against, and how could she ever truly explain that? Knowing that for years, she’d gone against the grain and cared for him when most wouldn’t could be dwindled down to the most childish game of us and them ripped at the seams of her composure.  The venom that flickered the recesses of his bitten demand grew thick in her own throat, she couldn’t lie to him. “Remus..--” He’d never asked before, and she’d never felt the need to bring it to light on her own, but now with him looking at her like that she knew there was little point; he’d put everything together on his own. Looking down at the floor, her tongue slicked out across her lesser lip, drawing her wand over the inside of her forearm to reveal the dark mark she’d kept concealed. 

[lxcxndatlkalct]

maleficmoony‌:

the quiet symphony of movement in the hospital broke through his slumber, heart catching in his throat the second he registered the noises were coming from inside the room. he was beyond rueful of the quivering shell this ‘incident’ had rendered him to. trepidation flooding his head, begging his eyes to remain closed. to fall back asleep so the source of the disturbance would vacate his ever-growing list of worries. the numerous nurses tasked with the burden of dispelling his anxieties drew a little sympathy from remus. he wondered if the rate he was going through them was simply because of scheduling or the pure obstinacy he’d been forged out of. his hands twitched, or rather, continued to twitch. they were yet to stop. as if they were impatient, that they knew that his body couldn’t remain unstirring for much longer.

the only thing he was adamant about was how desperately he wanted to be alone. the pain had been anticipated, as had psychological damage, but the transition hadn’t been. it was like going from dying of thirst to drowning in a matter of seconds. in that cave, strung up and yanked against that man, he’d never felt so forgotten in his life. and now, here he was. unable to keep up with the constant flow of people transferring through the doors, a new person appearing every time he woke up. he truly couldn’t comprehend why they all thought his side was their place. they obviously hadn’t wanted him two weeks before, why did they suddenly want him now? he kept waiting for them to ask something of him, it would have made more sense than the pitiful stares he’d had to endure. in a normal time, the sound of lucinda’s voice would have been enough to make his heart flutter hard enough he’d half expect it to burst. but these, of course, were not normal times. he wasn’t sure they’d ever be normal again. the silhouette of lucinda filtered through half-opened eyelids and his felt his heart falter. was she here to finish off the job? he wasn’t sure he’d even attempt to fight off his demise anymore, after coming so close to it. “well, by all means,” he rasped, a desolate smirk playing at chapped lips at her not even being able to look at him. “don’t let me keep you, mistress,.” it was as that final, poison-soaked word left his tongue that remus discovered he could ever be angry at her.

It fell like a shard of the most hardened ice she’d ever felt carve it’s way through her chest, a hollow echo of the sharpened quip she’d only ever heard on the least courteous of people. Lucinda was by no means, a good person, but she held manners and the decorum of respect close enough to her windpipe that it was all that ever fell from crimson lips despite the vicious cacophony of thoughts that so often spun in her mind. Like oleander, she perforated a sense of elegance and beauty that could only ever provide irony with the toxic and vile nature she could prove almost too natural in the right instances. And perhaps Evan had poisoned Remus well before she ever did so herself, but that didn’t sit any better with her than she might have thought. “Excuse me?” She’d paused in her graceful slip to the door with a jarring sensation of offense. Don’t let me keep you --- had she not spent the entirety of their friendship meandering between a stranger with certain company and damn near attached at the hip the next, her fruitful and compassionate disposition when it came to Remus accepting of the fact that he couldn’t allow his merry band of twats to witness him too near her for fear of both worlds clashing; and he still had no idea how deep within the opposing world Lucinda lived. Though perhaps now he did.  Don’t let me keep you ---- as if she’d ever had anything better to do than waste sunny days she could have been on her own with a misfit boy much too interested in getting himself into trouble without the proper means to get himself out of it. As if she’d ever chosen anyone else over him. The only thing that had since kept her from being damn near chained to his bedside, was what it would mean for him should she be caught by the wrong person. Wrong, being the man that had all too surely found Remus in the first place. “You’ve never kept me from anything,” but it wasn’t always a mirror image friendship, was it? “Spit it out, whatever it is you have to say to me, before you choke on it.” Lucinda could have been gentler, she knew that, but without forcing it to the surface, she knew him well enough to know he’d let it fester until it infected every piece of him.