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JESSICA CHASTAIN attends the Gucci Women's Spring Summer 2025 Fashion Show, September 20, 2024

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"ah, here. what'd you do to get stuck with light duty, hm?" she clucks her tongue in disapproval, not at haruhi, of course, but their absent boss. gratitude for the job that had kept her afloat and allowed her to settle uneasily into the wixen world once abandoned can only really stretch so far - mary and ned have a complicated dynamic, only worsened in moments like these. "let me help," the pint glass of water that she'd been coming to offer is put down at the others elbow as she reaches towards the box, achingly aware that all she can do is MORE of the same. she'd never missed her wand. snapping it when she did was a choice, choosing not to replace it on her return another, but in moments so tedious as these, she has to admit how much magic must come in handy for people who'd never learned to live without it. "four hands are better than two."

𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: lion & the snitch. 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: open to all ( @startertms ) !!

legs are crossed as she perches on the bar top, actively ignoring the odd looks given by patrons being served by her colleagues, a box of tangled christmas lights sits in front of her. hands are buried deep between the tangled vines of coloured bulbs and a frustrated grunt pushed up from her gut, almost sounding like a gorilla preparing for attack. huffing in defeat, haruhi pushes the box away from her. "i think i'm being distracted by this task. i should clearly be putting up the tinsel and baubles on the tree, not these stupid lights." yet the bartender ends up reaching over to continue with the task given, "i bet there's a spell to do this . . . god. i wish i knew some wixen who would love to help me??"

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NOX HEIGHTS featuring @hoggleswart !

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"you seem like you're in a good mood," and sure, it's true that it's ten times easier to take clementine at face value in that moment, but it's also a kindness. she could put in the work to look beneath the surface; push on the others buttons until she cracks under the pressure, push until she hears the truth and is forced to share it, too, but it's infinitely kinder, not to. if clementine wanted to unload, mary would be there. merlin knew she owed her, the same as she owed anyone else she'd left behind - but if she wanted to play a part, mary would allow that, too. "my usual, please," she could make a simple tea back at the pub and save some coin, but she liked to drop by, first thing. "and gossip ? any news ?"

𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 : cup o'magic ( just off diagon alley ) 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : open ! ( @startertms )

“  goooood  morning.  ”     the  pep  in  her  voice  is  mostly  conjured  from  thin  air  and   partially  coloured  by  the  three  cups  of  coffee  she’s  made  herself  already.  it  almost  sounds  genuine  to  even  her  own  ears.  with  her  wand  pointed  towards  a  jug  of  milk  she’s  steaming  for  a  regular’s  drink,  clementine  turns  back  towards  the  counter  and  the  next  customer  in  line,  spare  hand  tucking  a  stray  curl  behind  her  ear  and  smile  already  starting  to  beam.     “  what  can  i  get  you?  ” 

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Jessica Chastain as Jo Henninger The Forgiven (2021) dir. John Michael McDonagh

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𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝚈𝙼𝙾𝚄𝚂  𝙰𝚂𝙺𝙴𝙳  :   what would you say is your worst habit?

"i can't ask for help," she sighs, loath to admit it so simply aloud when she's spent so many years pretending she doesn't see what caradoc does, "i don't want it. i have to deal with everything myself, and i can't trust that it's been dealt with right if i didn't. my husband has the patience of a saint for putting up with me, all these years - by the grace i've god i learnt to let him in, but even that took time to learn. it still feels wrong, and i still have the instinct to shut down and get stuck in my own head. i'm very one minded, when i get to that point, and it doesn't feel natural to 'share the load', so to speak."

𝙷𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚈 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚁  »  currently  not  accepting  !

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𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝚈𝙼𝙾𝚄𝚂  𝙰𝚂𝙺𝙴𝙳  :   what would the people you love write on your epitaph? what would you write?

"in memoriam of mary theresa macdonald. born december 24th, 1976 and died november 1st, 1997. beloved daughter, sister and friend. 'may the light of heaven shine on your grave. may the smile of god light you to glory,'" she recites slowly, and from memory. very few could say that they had looked down on their own grave. she hadn't. not until recently. there wasn't much she could say on any of that - her apologies could only stretch so far, and she didn't need to explain in painstaking detail how cruel it was that her loved ones had already gone through those motions. it takes a very long minute for her to swallow down the lump in her throat and add, quietly, "i'd just add mother."

𝙷𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚈 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚁  »  currently  not  accepting  !

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「 ♡ 」   𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙴 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃   »   currently accepting honesty hour  !

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as if the last twenty four hours haven't been hard enough on just about everyone, mary finds herself stumbling blind into the kind of interaction that she'd like to keep on a perpetual long finger, thank you very much. the jingling of the bell sets much too merry a tone for this... well, it isn't a reunion, per se, but it is about as close as she's ever going to get to one. he's so alike sirius. it actually catches her off guard, a sharp exhale that could pass for a jostling pain in the arm she holds limp at her side, splinched bad but properly bandaged and already in the process of healing - if she was lucky. she curses ned, silently. she always is, but this has real intent behind it - the old fool was back at the bar nursing the sort of hangover that actively drove customers away if it went unchecked and in wriggling himself out of doing his own errands has cursed her with a run in that she cannot extract herself from, with any ease. she might actually THROTTLE him, if she can keep it together long enough to get back and do it. merciful god, if he existed at all, she'd be a vaguely familiar stranger and that was all. "ah, no. hangover cure. strongest you've got if you don't mind, pet. i'm afraid the world doesn't stop for anyone, 'least of all the miserable fella i've left back at the bar," she's over explaining, she realises, deciding to pull back after it's already a bit too late. "i can try elsewhere if you're out...?"

location: the apothecary Regulus works in, a side alley in London, a dingy little thing squeezed into a building that, were it occupied by muggles, would definitely not be able to hold any more than a table and a few chairs.

open starter.

Monkswood and Wolf's Bane. Lavender. Bile and guts and water and rotting, peeling flesh-

-when Regulus presses his pestle into the worn mortar he has used since he was a child, the herbs leech scent and sap into the stone. the lavender crushes loudly, sadly against the ridges, shedding blossom and petal into the sludge of the monkswood. A circling of his wrist. Grinding stone.

Something wet lingers in his lungs. And doesn't it always? Doesn't it ever? A tickle at the back of his throat. A tightness in his chest. Eyes gone milky and mudded as a stagnant pond. Howling, shrieking terror.

Lard and lye. Double, double, toil and - grind and press. The torches on the walls leak more soot than flame. On the fire, the kettle boils. Its lid clatters. The counter is fraying at the edges, cut open and dented where the cleaver has escaped trembling hands.

The bell atop the door rings sharply. Regulus tilts his head. Doesn't put down the mortar. "If you are here for healing salve, we've run out just this morning. If you've ten minutes, the new batch will be ready for purchase."

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he makes it fairly easy to re-adopt that customer service persona she had been so close to abandoning. mary has had it up to HERE with the worse of the quidditch crowd, but viktor proves harmless and she's all too happy to help him out, taking the bottles slid towards her with an eye crinkling smile and turning to the sink behind her to fill them. "we've got all your standard food truck fare. burgers, chicken, loaded chips," she tells him over her shoulder as she makes short work of the job at hand, "we've even got this muggle invention - it's called a battered mars bar. it looks and sounds disgusting, but it's not as bad as you think."

he's taken aback for a second by the question, clearly lost in his own mind; or maybe a little bit nervous about the upcoming game, or a bit of BOTH. "oh yeah, right... sorry," he chuckles softly before placing each bottle down on the counter and sliding them closer for her to take. one hand grabs the gillywater and the other looks for five sickles in his pocket, thanking the wizards above that he actually had some change on hand because he just remembered he left his wallet back in the tent. "uh... what do you have to eat? you know... just to know, for later..."

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＂    i  might’a  heard  something,  but  i  was  hoping  you’d  make  an  exception  for  long  lost  nephews.  i’ve  got  pre  -  game  jitters  over  here.  take  pity  on  me.    ＂    audacious  smile  matches  audacious  words,  elbows  coming  down  to  rest  on  booth  counter  while  chin  settled  in  hands,  batting  eyelashes  like  a  spoiled  child  trying  to  entice  their  parent  into  give  them  five  more  minutes.  it’s  a  wasted  performance,  that  much  he  already  suspects.  mary  is  still  somewhat  of  a  stranger  to  seamus.  life  didn’t  grant  them  the  honour  of  growing  up  as  family  and  yet,  there  was  still  something  eerily  FAMILIAR  in  her  mannerisms.  she  reminded  him  of  his  mom,  which  in  turn,  reminded  him  of  home.  he  heard  it  even  more  in  that  clipped  honey.      ��      a  tone  he  often  heard  when  purposely  testing  margaret’s  patience.  innocent  act  drops  a  beat  later  and  though  hands  are  cheekily  reaching  for  food  that  isn’t  his,  helping  himself  to  a  handful,  shay  at  least  has  the  good  sense  to  follow  up  theft  with  an  offer    …    as  if  that  might  somehow  lessen  his  crime.      ＂    alright,  i  surrender.  i’ll  take  an  orange  juice.      —      you,  uh,  want  a  hand  seeing  off  the  booze  fiends  for  a  bit?  think  i  got  a  couple  of  hours  to  spare  before  i’m  needed  elsewhere.  and  it’s  not  like  i  don’t  have  experience.    ＂      between  the  finnigan  bar  and  his  hog’s  head  position,  his  own  ability  to  see  off  insistent  customers  had  become  somewhat  of  a  specialty.  maybe  it  ran  in  the  family.

" now, it's been a long time since i myself was on a broom, but i seem to recall that those pre game jitters you're talking about aren't made any better by pouring alcohol into an empty stomach. " the truth is, theirs is a currently precarious position. to know a person but not really know them is one thing, for them to be your own flesh & blood was another : he's a stranger, she loves him to death. margaret is ONE thing and she wonders more often than she'd like to admit if forgiveness is ever in their future, but her children are another. the world had been cruel. she'd have made a good aunt, she thinks. that ( and not motherhood ) had always been what she was made for, especially after raising her little sister. she still could be, but it's a learning curve of knowing when to lecture and when to relent, when to smack his hand away - she bats at him, but it's as gentle as it comes - and when to offer without being asked. they might get there, eventually, and in the mean time ... well, she'll take the chances she's given. " can you behave ? "

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side stepping a group of rather rowdy wixen, minnie stops to observe the disgruntled customer at the booth with a bemused grin - it was rare to observe the pregame antics of fans for the keeper as she was typically nestled away in prep, not today however. today she could just be one of the fans. well, hopefully not like that man. following the wizard's childish stomp away, minette moved to take his place at the booth. "you'll be happy to know i just want some juice, any kind, just something sweet and refreshing." bemused grin fading, lips settle into a gentle smile. "some people just can't take the word no for an answer, hm?"

"juice i can do," and here she gives the counter a tap of her knuckles as she turns and makes a beeline for the fridge, all these actions well rehearsed, by now. she grabs one of each out of the three options and lets the door shut with a thud behind her when she moves back to where she had been stood, lining them up for minette to choose from and giving a tight smile, "no, they can't. but half the battle is being prepared for it, and i already knew all that before i showed up this morning."

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" ⸻ ah..." the pause only happens because... too entranced on the audacity of this man that wouldn't take NO for an answer he had forgotten that he was next in line and had to remember at that very moment why he was there in the first place. luckily, it only takes him a couple seconds to collect himself and he flashes a quick, but still polite, smile to the woman behind the counter. "no no... i mean; yes, i heard." merlin above, viktor... keep it together man. "don't worry, won't give you TOO MUCH trouble, i only wanted one gillywater and to ask if you could fill up these two water bottles for me."

she manages patience. the previous customer - and all the ones that came before them - aren't actually this guys fault and she does still have a job to do, even if she's idly rethinking all of that, in this moment. her expression softens when he gets around to verbalising what he needs, half a relief that he isn't another thorn in her side and half influenced by his awkward charm. "in that case, i can take care of all of that for you," she crouches down, pulling a gillywater from the overstocked shelf beneath the counter and setting it down in front of him, "that's five sickles. you want to hand over the bottles?"

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𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽  :  the lion & the snitch booth, the burren  !

"the answer's still no, honey," sounding very much as if she wanted to call him something a whole lot worse, mary stood her ground behind the counter, hands on hips, until the wizard turned on his heel and stalked off again. she was sure he'd be back before the game kicked off to try his arm again, just as he had already, but it didn't matter how many times he asked - none of the booths were allowed to serve alcohol until five, and mary wasn't going to be the one to get ned's license revoked for the sake of ONE man. her mood had been sour to start with, a wicked combination of the nervous energy she had nowhere to store and the fact that she'd been answering the exact same question since they'd opened up the shutters. now she was barely holding the customer service persona together, evidenced in the way that the smile she flashes her next customer doesn't quite reach her eyes. "i hope you heard that, love. it's just food and non alcoholics for the minute. still want anything ?"

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a  frequent  enough  visitor  to  the  lion  &  snitch now,  tempest  has  even  managed  to  designate  a favourite spot  to  perch  themselves.  if  only  ned  didn't  make  it  so satisfying to  pull  at  his  pigtails,  they  wouldn't  have  such  carved  out  such  a  presence  at  the  pub.  “  how  dare  you.  ”  tempest  leans  into  the  hand  on  their  shoulder,  cheeky  grin  already  brandished &  at  total  odds  with  the  innocent  deer  look  they're  going  for,  one  hand  over  their  chest  as  if  the  sheer  offence  has  stopped  their  heart. “  i've  never  misbehaved  in  my  life  and  you  know  it  –  thank  you.  ”  pretence  is  stopped  for  a  mere  second  as  they  lift  the  fresh  drink  in  a  cheers.  “  that  reminds  me,  one  second  -  ”  they  turn  away,  standing  up  and  leaning  over  their  table  into  the  wider  pub,  so  they're  not  yelling  it  in  mary's  face:  “  ALL  I  WANT  FOR  CHRISTMAS,  ALL  I  WANT  FOR  CHRISTMAS  ... ”  and  they  only  stop  once  they've  gotten  at  least  half  the  room  chanting  it  for  them,  twisting  back  around  like  nothing  could  possibly  be  amiss.  “  so  you  don't  think  i  should  pop  over  and  say  a  friendly  hello?  ”

mary ought to nip this in the bud, show them to the door or withhold an order until they behave, but the truth is a rather simple and sad thing : they remind her of better times. pubs haunted with a group of boys that shared that same sort of cheeky smile, hours spent in the same sort of fashion - it's been a long while since mary has been caught up in the whirlwind of sirius black and his school chums, but she's familiar with his makings. a few years ago, it might've stung. for a long time, she might've taken a stance all too similar to ned's. now, however, names cleared & history rewritten all too late, mary can't bring herself to stop their fun. she shakes her head when they turn back to her, mock disappointment, but there's no denying her affection when she smiles and asks, " are you quite finished ? " she spares a glance across the bar to where ned looks lost and rageful as the rest of the bar drunkenly sings, unable to spare him all that much sympathy. " i think you've already managed to ruin the poor man's night. take it as a win, honey. "

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𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽  :  winterfest, diagon alley edition  ! 𝙵𝙴𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶  :  @rebuildeds​  / tempest clearwater  !

it's been a little while since the lion & the snitch was so crowded, the current bustle no doubt thanks to the special trivia night that one of their youngest staffers had suggested. the run up to christmas is always quiet. mary had tried to explain this to ned, but his tendency to worry ( privately and silently, but worry nonetheless ) had gotten the better of him - he'd agreed, but she didn't think he ever expected the christmas karaoke that he was now being subjected to once they'd run out of general knowledge questions. mary ( dressed in her ugliest christmas sweater and sporting a pair of candy cane earrings ) was enjoying herself immensely, though she had taken it upon herself to lessen ned's suffering as much as possible. ergo - "do behave yourself tonight, honey," she tells tempest, setting down a fresh drink in front of them and then using her freed hand to give their shoulder a gentle squeeze. they're a rather familiar thorn in ned weasley's side, and though she's sure he'd usually take their words on the chin, she's not so sure he's currently in the place to do that, "we've enough trouble with the seven bad renditions of all i want for christmas we've already had, without you getting on his case."

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maisie had lost track of time as she sat at the end of the bar, face buried in a magazine as she sought to pass time. she’d made sure to order a drink to sip on, emphasis on sip - it remained primarily untouched in front of her. it wasn’t until mary said something, that she thought about where she was. “oh, uh, i’ll take one to go,” she smiled, “sorry, i didn’t realize how long i’d been here. i wasn’t in the way, was i?”

"coming right up," she tells the other with a gentle smile, turning away and getting to work while keeping an eye on maisie in the mirrored wall. the faraway look she's had all evening is all too familiar to mary and, though her focus remains on the task at hand, she stresses, over her shoulder, "sweetheart, you couldn't have been in the way if you tried. you were in your own little world over there - everything alright?"

maisie had lost track of time as she sat at the end of the bar, face buried in a magazine as she sought to pass time. she’d made sure to order a drink to sip on, emphasis on sip - it remained primarily untouched in front of her. it wasn’t until mary said something, that she thought about where she was. “oh, uh, i’ll take one to go,” she smiled, “sorry, i didn’t realize how long i’d been here. i wasn’t in the way, was i?”

"coming right up," she tells the other with a gentle smile, turning away and getting to work while keeping an eye on maisie in the mirrored wall. the faraway look she's had all evening is all too familiar to mary and, though her focus remains on the task at hand, she stresses, over her shoulder, "sweetheart, you couldn't have been in the way if you tried. you were in your own little world over there - everything alright?"