#rowan luther-snyde

[hphmmatthewluther]

12 Months of Magic: July - Surprises

Just before the month is over, here's my @hp-12monthsofmagic post for July! Features an angy Cassandra and Jane having a surprisingly effective poker face.

What’s In a Name?

To say that Jane Luther had an interest in her extended family was something of an understatement. For the formative years of her life she had believed that the Luther family were an on the whole standard family without much going on, and that the name Luther was synonymous with the status quo. Then she’d met the Luther-Snydes, who to be brutally honest sort of blew the rest of her family out of the water. They had imaginations, they played together, they actually enjoyed themselves. Jane loved playing with her cousins, Rowan and Abigail Luther-Snyde, and loved listening to their parents’ stories of what they got up to at her age. 

This curiosity extended to when she came to Hogwarts to learn magic. It seemed that a lot of people had heard about the exploits of Matthew Luther and his friends, and as a result a lot of them assumed that she was Matthew’s kid. They did share the same shade of brown hair, after all, and in time she had started off on her own series of adventures around the castle. It didn’t necessarily annoy her (in fact it often let her get her foot in the door when it came to starting a conversation), and she was happy to correct people who assumed incorrectly. There was, however, one downside to the Luther-Snydes being an extended family as opposed to immediate.

“I can’t believe I thought you might actually be their daughter!” guffawed Cassandra, not 24 hours after she, Jane, and her classmates had returned to Hogwarts for their second year. Surrounded by the Frey twins, she had immediately noticed Jane walking in for breakfast and proceeded to point her gloved finger at the girl before beginning to hurl insults her way.

“I mean really, it’s unbelievable that someone like you shares a surname with some of the greatest sorcerers to live.” she sneered.

Jane didn’t mind it too much; she’d had to deal with it for a few weeks at the tail end of their first year and now Cassandra was trying to get it going again. While her friends all looked aghast, Jane simply continued eating her breakfast.

“Oh, bother someone else for a change!” hissed Ivy, her hand ready to pull out her wand at a moment’s notice. Jane, however, shook her head.

“I get why she’d try comparing me to my wizarding relatives,” Jane explained. “They were really the talk of the school back in the 80s.”

Robyn, who had been eavesdropping from the Gryffindor table, came over with Kevin. “Hang on a second, this is what this is about?” she asked, her eyebrow raised at the gang of Slytherins. “A couple of wizards from the 80s?”

“Not just any old wizards!” Cassandra sighed, exasperated. “One of the greatest curse-breakers to ever live…Merula Snyde!”

Everyone else looked at her a little surprised. Except for Jane. Jane continued to eat her breakfast, chomping down on cereal with a smile.

Daniel cleared his throat. “I thought you were going for Matt-”

“Well that’s what a dimwit would go for because it’s her last name! I couldn’t care less if someone’s dad is Matthew Luther, but to have lived your life with Merula Snyde…”

Something changed as Cassandra continued speaking. She got a faraway look in her eye, a far cry from her normal arrogant glare. “She was the first one to try and crack the Cursed Vaults, Matthew had to be goaded into it by her, and she used that to her success! She never once followed the school’s dress code! Not once! She’s technically a Baroness of a province in Poland somewhere!”

Ivy chuckled. “Sounds like someone pays more attention to History of Magic lessons than they’d like to admit.”

Cassandra went slightly pink. “Don’t be silly. Those lessons make it all sound so boring. I grew up hearing stories about her, the way she’d break curses and not care what anybody thinks! She’s an inspiration to me! And thus, I would respect anyone actually related to her, and not anyone who’s her husband’s cousin’s daughter.”

Jane finally finished her breakfast. Putting down her spoon, she looked over at Cassandra. “You’ve thought a lot about how much you and her are alike, right? Both parts of Slytherin, both refusing to listen to anyone else, et cetera et cetera…”

“Of course!” Cassandra replied proudly. “While our fashion choices differ, the rest of our outlook on life is the same.”

“Sure, provided you’re talking about how she started out. As opposed to how she graduated Hogwarts as far less of a bully.” Jane said, simply, her expression indecipherable.

Cassandra simply scowled. “Oh, and since when were you such an expert on Merula Snyde, hmm?”

“Since talking to her during the summer.” Jane explained. “Their eldest son is coming to Hogwarts, so wanted to know what it was like…and if the kids were as mean as she was when she was young.”

“Th-that proves nothing! Nobody would want their own child to be picked on!” Cassandra screeched across the gap between Slytherin and Ravenclaw table, “If it weren’t for her “bullying” the Cursed Vaults wouldn’t have been broken! She was the most powerful witch at Hogwarts and knew it! She was better than everyone else! She was…she was…what?”

Jane had covered her mouth, presumably to hide her smile. Daniel, Ivy, Kevin and Robin’s eyes were all as wide as dinner plates. Fischer and Colby Frey slowly stepped away and ran. Cassandra slowly turned around to see a woman in her thirties wearing black combat boots, a matching black leather jacket over a red flannel shirt. But what was most striking were her facial features. She had dark pink eyes and short messy hair, with a flash of orange hair sticking out just above the midpoint between her eyes. Cassandra looked up at Merula. Merula looked down at Cassandra.

“To be honest…” she said, scratching her head with a smile. “A lot of that stuff was just for show.”

Cassandra had frozen like a deer in the headlights (not that she’d know what headlights were). She raised her hand up, waving it up and down as if that’d help her remember how to speak. “Y-You’re…b-but…that’s not…how did…”

Merula chuckled. “It’s all right. I was a lot like that when I was a kid. The same thing happened to me, actually, started mouthing off about how great I was right behind Professor Snape. It was unbelievably embarrassing.”

Cassandra blinked once or twice before asking a quiet, awed. “W-Why are you here?! D-Did Jane-”

“Jane suggested I come out here because I’d get to have some fun. Which I did. But now you get something that I would have killed for at your age: some decent pointers in the right direction.”

Cassandra took a breath, trying to collect herself. “I…I’ve always wanted to be like you…to take control of my own life and be on top after so long being…” she trailed off, scowling at herself. Daniel was going to say something, but Jane stopped him, shaking her head.

Merula nodded. “I heard, yes. The kids you were in a creche with…they made fun of your name?”

Cassandra stared at the floor. “Mmh…Vole…they said I looked like one, like some kind of weird rat.”

Robyn had to be stopped from supporting that claim by Kevin. Jane just stared, thinking about a time a few months ago when she’d seen Cassandra spend days agonising about a rash she’d got in on her cheek in Herbology. 

Merula just nodded. “Kids will be cruel, especially if they find an excuse, even a flimsy one like that. I got flack for my name too. Snyde. People said it fit me too well, so I decided I’d try and prove them right. It never ended up making me happy. Look, I’m not gonna tell you not to pick on people, because that never works. I’ll just say that one day, you’ll find something that fills that hole far more than name-calling ever did.” she sighed, shaking her head again. “Eesh, that sounded cheesy. I’ve been spending too much time with Professor Khanna. Just…don’t take any crap but don’t be a prick about it. Easy enough?”

Cassandra nodded so fast that the Freys looked worried her head might come off. “Of course, thank you, um…but what were you doing here in the first place?”

Merula’s pink eyes wandered to the one table that hadn’t been involved in the conversation. Sitting there talking to a small group of friends was a boy with brown hair like Jane’s, but striking pink eyes like Merula’s too. “I just wanted to make sure Rowan was doing ok. As an ex-teacher I have those perks, see.”

Cassandra watched as Rowan looked at the group, saw his mother, and waved a little. He waved to Jane, too, but immediately looked away when it came to Cassandra. She scowled once more, but it soon faded. “...I’m…I should go to Potions…Mer-, um, Miss Snyde, thank you for the advice, I, um…” she looked around nervously, before:

“Could I get your autograph?!” she said, so loud that most people in the Great Hall almost jumped out of their seats. Jane looked on with a sense of pride, knowing that while Merula’s talk probably wouldn’t shake Cassandra out of her pattern of rumour-mongering about her friends forever, it would definitely leave her wide-eyed until at least lunchtime tomorrow.

[endlessly-cursed]

MA- Naila of Alderly

"𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩."

Name: Naila Mabel Rosalee of Alderly

Nicknames: TBD

Birthdate: 28th of November, 2000

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Personality Type (MBTI): TBD

Blood Status: Half-blood

Nationality: British

Physical Appearance

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Height: 1.68m

Weight: 65kg

Body Type: Tall, slender

Skin Tone: Fair

Distinguishing Marks (scars, birthmarks, etc.): She'll acquire many

Background

Hometown

Naila grew up in a country estate, neighbouring her cousins Quincey and Olympia, whom she vacationed on occasion, though she wasn't around much on their lives due to keep the magic hush-hush, since her father asked her to, given the prejudice against magic users. Nevertheless, she got a top-notch education and was among the elites, her father being among the wealthiest men in the wizarding and muggle world.

She also liked from time to time to spend time with her other cousins from the Dubois family, especially Yvonne, whom she favoured over her entitled and cruel cousin Lucille. The three women spent a lot of time together, although, being young and unaware, they kind of left Lucille out of it...

Family

Mother: Ophelie Brunhilda of Alderly, neé Dubois

A sweet, youthful spirit, she was Naila's role model and caretaker, and often told stories of the Dubois and the lineage full of strong women who made it through incredibly tough situations. One day, when Naila turned sixteen, she found her mother's body, having been brutally murdered, alongside her room and office destroyed. This'd draw her to her next adventure... a dangerous one.

Father: George Elyan Victor of Alderly

Having grown up with a troubled father and a reserved mother, he toughened up from a young age and only Ophelie broke through his walls, and with her, he built a small but stable empire that hurt nobody. Until, one day, his wife was brutally murdered. He closed himself off and swore that he'd take an eye for an eye, for only Ophelie could've stopped him. But she was no longer there, and thus he only knew rage and vengeance, which led him to neglect emotionally his only child.

Hogwarts

House: Hufflepuff

Best Class: Class, Astronomy and DADA

Worst Class: History of Magic

Boggart: Rowan's body, being killed the exact same as her mother

Riddikulus: Rowan gets up and starts complaning

Patronus: TBD

Patronus Memory: Going to Disneyland Paris as a girls' trip with her mother when she was 10, after having been accepted at the same school as her mother

Mirror of Erised: Her mother being proud of her, being close to her father again and living her life with Rowan

Amortentia (what she smells like): Coco Chanel nº4 perfume, red velvet cake, cherry-flavoured lipstick and freshly made pasta

Amortentia (what she smells): Something related to Rowan

Career

11-18: Hogwarts student

16-18: Disbander of the cult 'Saviours of Cingerix'

19-34: CEO of Ophelie's Cosmetics

35-78: Head of model agency 'Le Costume du Alderly'

Personality & Attitude

Priorities: Finding her mother's killers, Rowan's safety, get justice done and wear the perfect outfit

Strengths: Strong-willed, passionate, even-keeled, good humoured and insightful

Weaknesses: Proud, stubborn, petty and rich kid privilege

Stressed: Around the cultists

Calm/Comforted: Around cats, on Rowan's arms

Favorites

Colors: Pink, black, yellow and white pink

Weather: Partially cloudy

Hobbies: Reading, horse-riding (specifically polo), tennis and cosmetics

Fashion: Naila dresses in a 90% pink variant palette, sometimes adding a bit of black and white, and always looks fashionable

Relationships

Significant Other/Love Interest: Rowan Luther-Snyde ( @hphmmatthewluther )

They were both from the same side, until her mother's death brought them together as crime-solving partners. They worked surprisignly well, and both soon became very close, close enough to slowly develop feelings.

However, disbanding a cult from the inside was not the best place to develop a love story, and both went through many tribulations which constantly put Naila and Rowan in danger, some of them near-death experiences.

It also caught up with their last years of Hogwarts, and studying while all else wasn't easy at all. In fact, Naila's grades were affected for most part. But all's well that ends well.

After disbanding the cult, Naila and Rowan got together officially and dated shortly before graduation. For many years, they stayed together without ever marrying one another, both not seeing it necessary.

When they were both in their late thirties, they welcomed their first child, Sophie, who was their entire world.

Friends: Quincey, Olympia and Evander Alderly ( @gaygryffindorgal and @potionboy3 )

They're cousins. More TBA

Naila looks up to her and sees them as a role model. More TBA

They're cousins as well. She doesn't approve of what he did when they were younger, but after he becomes duke, she starts having a good relationship with him. More TBA

Rivals: Maverick Harlow (great-great-grandfather)

Maverick is an immortal wizard who followed the cult of his deceased wife, Tallulah La Rossa, after she was defeated by Belladonna Gaunt in the French Revolution. He killed his own great-granddaughter-in-law for a ritual, thus setting apart Naila's family. This murder is Naila's catalyst to avenge her mother and review her lifestyle and what she took for granted.

Trivia

She soon became Hogwarts' it girl on year four when she became famous for her pinkstatic outfits

She had a privileged education, being trained in dressage, courtly dances, six languages (Spanish, German, French, Swedish and ofc English) history, fencing, badminton, muay thai, playing the harp and piano, fancy cruisine, hot couture and royal etiquette

The hobby she loved most and started to develop soon was sculpture, and made some impressive sculptures

She also has a powerful singing voice, although rarely sings unless it's very helpful or benefitial

Her idols are Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears and Sofía Vergara

She absolutely loves old Hollywood and some of her favourite films are from the era. The non-English actress that she liked most was María Félix in 'Doña Diabla' 1949

She hates being told what to do or be given orders, which has led to many arguments with teachers and all kinds of adults

She likes Latine music better than most of English music personally

Her references are Elle Woods, Kat Stratford and Blair Waldorf

Her favourite singers are Becky G and Lana del Rey

[night-rhea]

So I keep thinking about a TGWLDM au, and so I thought about Merula getting a job as a Barista at Khanna Café. She'd be the token "grumpy" one, but wouldn't be rude to anyone. Then she sees Night giving Matthew that glass of milk, and goes into a "hell no that's my customer" mode. Then SHE starts giving him one free with every meal, telling him to "just take it!", and I imagine everyone's a little surprised that the grumpiest barista and quiet guy end up talking the most. -hphmmatthewluther

@hphmmatthewluther MATE! Thats it!

I was thinking about who i was missing. Its Merula! And her working in Khanna Coffee fits just right! Since in my canon Night Rowan and Merula both slytherins, they are in same places even if they doesnt want. So Merula working here is the really best fit for the au!

Normally i have Merula with rather angsty headcanons, but in this au i will go easy on her 😌

She also study to be lawyer, same as Ben. She is also hardworking, and because of that Mr. Khanna is really glad he has her in shop. What if she is littls bit grumpy, its her personality. At least she does her job as perfect as she can. One time Mr. Khanna gave her a pin that says "Most Succesfull Barista in Khanna Coffee" (she was actually working so hard despite her family problems) and she still wear that pin on her tshirt everyday at work... Mr. Khanna why are you so nice.. I guess its a family thing..

Still. Merula, Rowan and Night attack each other with sarcasm everyday. Rowen thinks its keeping shop alive. Somehow..

Now to your headcanon! Night and Merula always in some competition, so its definitely happened that Merula went like "He is MY costumer you egg head!" Night actually fight back for a while to have fun but after some time they just decided to leave Matthew to her service. Because that guy seems to happy to talk with her, just like our grumpy girl happy to talk with him too.

"Aaaah ah young love.."

"Night youre not 50. Youre also young."

"Shut up Rowan."

[stupendousbookworm]

"I speak fluent English, French, German and bullshit"

"Do you think cinnamon rolls have a separate life before we eat them?"

"Rowan, can books fly?"

"What if every star in the sky represents a soul that departed from the world? I wouldn't mind ending up there"

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Name: Ara Annora Rose Black

Nicknames: Ara Bear, annoying bitch, black, cursed kid

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Sexuality: bisexual

Alignment: Chaotic neutral

Blood status: Pureblood

Date of Birth: 18th February 1973

Ethnicity: French/British

Nationality: British

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In front of the students of Hogwarts, she's the infamous curse breaker; a person not to be messed with. But in the eyes of her friends, she's the silliest and idiotic Ravenclaw known to kind. A girl with a dark past but huge ambitions, a sharp mind and a knack for attracting trouble, she's a chaotic person. But will she be able to find her brother and save Hogwarts?

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Personality:

Brilliant: although she can be a tad bit daft at times, she's rather smart, and can solve problems quite efficiently. If she understands the concept, nothing can stop her.

Stubborn: she's pretty adamant when she wants to achieve something. She doesn't stop until she reaches her goal. It comes as both a blessing and a curse

Sarcastic: she can hurt you when she wants to. Her sarcasm is rather brutal, and she always regrets saying anything rude. She really doesn't filter what she says before saying it.

Musically talented: she can sing, and play many instruments, including the guitar, piano, saxophone, flute and drums

Short tempered: she really can't control her anger. She gets pissed off rather easily and it gets on everyone's nerves. It's all a part of her defense mechanism

Kind: she's the person who acts like a bitch but actually cares for you, and looks out for you. Don't worry, she's got your best interests at heart

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What are her likes?

chocolate, cinnamon rolls, her Ravenclaw jumper, astronomy, her friends, coffee, old books, reading Shakespeare, singing, playing music, dueling, messing around with Tonks, Tulip and Jae, and sleeping

What are her dislikes?

being woken up, strawberries, Tonks eating her special banana ketchup sandwich, dungbombs, Mrs. Norris the dumb cat, when someone tears a page out of a book, and History of Magic

Where does she live?

Tonks Cottage, London, with Nymphadora, Andromeda and Ted

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Appearance:

Hair colour: Black

Eye colour: grey

Skin Tone: pale

Height: 6'0

Weight: 118 lbs

Build: thin and lanky with a slight slouch. She eats a lot of junk food but it doesn't show because of her "good metabolism"

Aesthetic: astronomical, academia and grunge (?)

Inventory: her wand, a half eaten bag of chocolate chips, a old family heirloom time turner (that's rather faulty), black finger-less gloves and Moonshine the baby kneazle

Face Claim: Steffy Argelich

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Magic

1st wand: Ash wood, 12 1/2 inches, phoenix feather core, great for transfiguration, nice and swishy

The ash wand cleaves to its one true master and ought not to be passed on or gifted from the original owner, because it will lose power and skill. This tendency is extreme if the core is of unicorn. Old superstitions regarding wands rarely bear close examination, but I find that the old rhyme regarding rowan, chestnut, ash and hazel wands (rowan gossips, chestnut drones, ash is stubborn, hazel moans) contains a small nugget of truth. Those witches and wizards best suited to ash wands are not, in my experience, lightly swayed from their beliefs or purposes. However, the brash or over-confident witch or wizard, who often insists on trying wands of this prestigious wood, will be disappointed by its effects. The ideal owner may be stubborn, and will certainly be courageous, but never crass or arrogant.

2nd wand: Ebony wood, 13 inches, dragon heartstring core, brilliant for dueling, very flexible

This jet-black wand wood has an impressive appearance and reputation, being highly suited to all manner of combative magic, and to Transfiguration. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider, ebony wand owners have been found both among the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix and among the Death Eaters. In my experience the ebony wand’s perfect match is one who will hold fast to his or her beliefs, no matter what the external pressure, and will not be swayed lightly from their purpose.

Boggart: herself, but as a death eater

Riddikulus form: being surrounded by friends, who have her back

Patronus: Black Raven

As a patronus a black raven represents knowledge, they carry intelligence and quick wit, matching perfectly with Ravenclaw. You find extreme comfort in those with intelligence and knowledge of past events, and how to handle new things calmly and with poise. You tend to have some moments of a delicate, sensitive side that comes out of them in times of fear or sadness.  You tend not to always a leader, but a follower because they know that others may have more experience or wisdom than them, but if you know you are the most intelligent, knowledgeable or wise, you take the reigns and lead the way. In the same way the owner of this patronus will give up leadership, to a wiser leader, they will do the same in a multitude of different situations. Despite this, you are very brave and cunning, but in other areas, when you do take leadership, you are a strong-minded and focused leader, you never let you guard down, even if you are scared or confused. You carry an extreme amount of knowledge with you at all times, waiting to find a use in the correct situation. This patronus matched with Ravenclaw, means that you are able to think of creative and innovative ideas for the better of the team, even when you are not the leader.

Patronus memory: When Andromeda and Ted accepted her as their own daughter. She realised that she did have a family who loved her and cared for her.

Animagus: a small Black Raven

Amortentia (what they smell like): old books, chocolate, a tad bit of cinnamon, coffee and lavender

Amortentia (what they smell): a library, petrichor, grass, cinnamon, and a very strong woody cologne

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Magical Abilities:

Legilimency and Occlumency:

Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. A person who practices this art is known as a Legilimens. Muggles might call this "mind-reading," but practitioners disdain the term as naïve. The opposite of Legilimency is Occlumency, which is used to shield one's mind from the invasion and influence of a Legilimens.

Occlumency is the act of magically closing one's mind against Legilimency. It is ancient, and has existed since medieval times.[1] It can prevent a Legilimens from accessing one's thoughts and feelings, or influencing them. A person who practices this art is known as an Occlumens.

Favourite spells: Bombarda, Legilimens, Expecto Patronum, Reducto

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School:

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Organizations joined: Hogwarts, Circle of Khanna, The Order of The Phoenix

Apprenticeships: worked as an intern at the Ministry of Magic for a while, and helped Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing with Chiara

Professions: Auror for a while, took a break after a bad injury and ended up teaching at Hogwarts for a year, and then became an Alchemist.

Best Subjects: Transfiguration, Potions, Flying, Charms, Astronomy and DADA

Worst Subjects: Herbology, History of Magic, Divination.

Extra curricular activities: Keeper of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, sometimes tutors first years

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Relationships:

Fuck her blood family, she's a part of the Tonks family now

Edward "Ted" Tonks

He might not be her father, but he sure is her dad. Muggle born Ted taught Ammie how to mess around with muggle tools, and introduced her to muggle movies and other random trinkets. He thinks of Ammie as his own daughter, and was the one who taught her how to ride a bicycle

Andromeda "Meda" Tonks (née Black)

Andromeda took in her niece when she had nowhere to go, treated her like family, and protected her from all sorts of danger. Provided love, care and support to Ammie during her traumatizing times. She was considered as a blood traitor, but that didn't stop her from saving her little niece

Nymphadora "Dora" Tonks

Ammie's sister, and best friend. Stood by her side for everything and supported her all the way. Provided comic relief and loves Ammie to death. With a stupid sense of humor, and a knack for creating mischief, she's Ammie's most beloved person

Jacob Black

The one who started it all. The idiot who got himself stuck in a portrait. All of this garbage began with him, and Ammie never lets him forget it. Very protective of his little sister and hates everyone for some reason

Misc family members: Sirius Black, Regulus Black, Walburga Black, Orion Black.

Friends: Rowan Khanna, Ben Copper, Bill Weasley, Penny Haywood, Nymphadora Tonks, Talbott Winger, Badeea Ali, Tulip Karasu, Jae Kim, Chiara Lobosca, Charlie Weasley, Barnaby Lee, and Liz Tuttle

Closest Canon Friends: Rowan Khanna, Nymphadora Tonks, Talbott Winger, Tulip Karasu, Jae Kim and Badeea Ali

Closest MC friends:

Alvina Arcane-Zheng ( @oneirataxia-girl)

Celeste Wheterstead ( @bananascrackersnuts)

Tessa Reed ( @hphm4ever)

Adel Young (@adellovesrowan)

Matthew Luther (@hphmmatthewluther)

Cato Reese (@catohphm)

Niky Dona, Sabina Ivylash and Persephone Palerosine (@nikyiscreepy)

Night Nur Rhea (@night-rhea)

(I don’t have much friends... Just lmk if your MC wants to be friends with mine)

Love Interest: Talbott Winger

Dorm Mates: Rowan Khanna, Tulip Karasu, Badeea Ali and Skye Parkin

Rival/ bestie: Merula Snyde

Enemies: Patricia Rakepick, R, The Wizard in White Robes

Pets: a female black kitten kneazle named Moonshine

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Trivia:

- Has a stuffed bear named Sir Boo Boo

- Really likes Indie Rock/Pop

- Ended up being in a band with Jae and Tonks by accident

- Pretty much hates the world in the morning

- Gets good marks in Divination by making up really tragic stories

- Can’t stand tea

- Fluent in French

- McGonagall claims to hate her, but she really thinks Ara’s rather daring

- Sings in the shower

- Annoys the heck out of Andre with her questionable fashion choices

- Stupid sense of humor

- Laughs like a witch

- Quotes Shakespeare when drunk

- Can skateboard like a pro

- Weird handwriting

- Messy yet organized

[gaygryffindorgal]

Chapter 1: What Lies Ahead

Summary: A new year is starting at Hogwarts and Verna Malinda is entering her fifth year. She may have a little too much on her plate for the upcoming year though, because she’s been elected prefect...

Pairings: Eventual OC/Merula Snyde

Word Count: 2.5K

Warnings: Mild swearing

A/N: Matthew Luther belongs to @hphmmatthewluther

As this is a rewrite, some of the dialogue is from the game either directly, or modified to fit the new narrative.

If anyone is interested in being tagged to new upates, let me know!

(Verna was born in December 1972, so she was 13 during the autumn term of her 2nd year)

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Chapter 1: What Lies Ahead

Verna Malinda had been anxiously awaiting the beginning of her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, even with a detention of indeterminate length looming in front of her. She knew in her heart that this year was going to be important, and not just because of the O.W.L. examinations but because of the events of last June, and the chance of finding Jacob in the next vault. For Verna, summers had, for the past four years, felt like an inescapable limbo. Every year she longed to be back at Hogwarts, delving into the mystery of the Cursed Vaults. This year, however, she had been elected as a prefect to her great surprise. She hadn’t really considered prefectdom as something to aspire to, because all her time was spent either breaking the rules or planning to break them. Was it really appropriate for a Hogwarts prefect to be serving detention? Mysterious were the ways of Professor Dumbledore.

~

As the Hogwarts Express whistled as a signal for departure, Verna waved to her father from the train’s window and then turned to her friend, Rowan Khanna, the one out of the two of them who should’ve been the prefect. Rowan pushed their glasses up their nose and smiled.

“What is it?”

“I ought to go find Charlie,” Verna said as the train picked up speed. She’d been feeling all kinds of weird about talking to Rowan ever since she got the letter proclaiming her prefect. It had been Rowan’s ambition to claim that spot ever since year one, and somehow Verna had managed it even though she hadn’t even tried.

“Alright, I’ll find Ben. We’ll hold a spot for you, if you get a moment to come sit with us,” Rowan replied and the two headed their separate ways. So far it didn’t seem like Rowan was holding Verna’s election as a prefect against her. Even in their letters, Rowan had only seemed supportive and proud. They had been friends since first year, and Verna hadn’t exactly stolen Rowan’s spot on purpose. In fact, she was fairly certain she had entirely too much on her plate for this year even without being a prefect.

~

Once Verna located Charlie Weasley, Gryffindor’s resident Dragon-enthusiast and Quidditch hero, and as it happened, her fellow prefect, the two of them headed to the special carriage meant for prefects and the Head Boy and Girl.

“What in Merlin’s name possessed Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall to make you and I prefects?” asked Charlie, sounding genuinely confused, although in his defence, it was truly baffling.

“I have a theory that it’s to make us so busy we won’t have time to do any curse-breaking,” Verna reasoned.

“Bill’s a prefect and he’s had plenty of time,” Charlie argued but then added: “Though maybe that’s why he became the Head Boy… Wow, actually you might be right.”

“Thanks Chaz,” Verna laughed as the two entered the prefect carriage. It was already quite packed with new and old prefects, as well as Bill and the Head Girl, Ella Higgs.

“Are we late because I had to wait for you…?” Charlie whispered and Verna shushed him as Ella and Bill started to congratulate them on their achievement. Verna locked eyes with a certain Slytherin student across the carriage. Apparently Merula Snyde had also become a prefect. Verna should’ve expected as much. Her hair looked tousled as usual, but she had elected to sport a dark eye-makeup, which somehow made the purple of her eyes look even more prominent. Merula gave her a look of loathing and then promptly ignored her. Verna’s mood sunk.

“Hi Verna!” came a greeting from among the other fifth-year prefects. It was Matthew Luther, a Ravenclaw chaser who had given Verna a run for her galleons last quidditch season. Verna was pleased to see not only complete arseholes had become prefects.

“Hey!” Verna replied, taking her place among the others.

“Hi Luther,” Charlie whispered, smiling.

“Nice to see you two made it as prefects.”

Verna was about to answer but was quickly silenced by Bill who very deliberately raised his voice and started his introduction to the wonderful world of prefectdom, looking at the three of them meaningfully.

~

After nearly an hour of instruction, Bill and Ella bade them pleasant journey and reminded them of their job to patrol the corridors in regular intervals. After that, many returned to their friends or settled down in the prefects’ carriage. Bill walked up to Verna and Charlie.

“Congrats on becoming a prefect Verna!” he said and slapped her arm for good measure.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to be as responsible as you, William.”

Bill laughed and Charlie rolled his eyes.

“Well, I for one think you two will do just fine,” added Bill.

“If you say so…” Charlie mused. “Should we find Rowan and Ben?” he asked Verna.

“Yeah, see you later Bill!”

“Remember to patrol the corridors! And don’t abuse your power!” Bill called after them as Verna and Charlie headed back to find the compartment their friends were sitting in.

“I don’t think he actually has as much faith in us as he lets on…” Charlie said.

“Yeah, probably not. After all he lives with you, and I’m the one who roped him into this curse-breaking stuff in the first place.”

“Yeah, at the ripe old age of 13.” reminded Charlie. Verna was really starting to doubt Professor Dumbledore’s judgement.

~

Rowan and Ben had found a carriage and reserved spots for them. The two seemed in good spirits and Verna felt much more relaxed. If Rowan was on her side, then everything was going to be okay. Even Ben seemed to be okay, even after he was used to attack Verna under the imperius curse last year.

“How was it?” asked Ben as Verna and Charlie took their seats. He glanced quickly at Rowan, who nodded encouragingly. Verna figured Rowan and Ben had been discussing the incident before she and Charlie arrived. The food trolley had passed ages ago, so Verna nicked a treacle tart from Rowan who gave her an exasperated but amused look.

“Pretty standard stuff, honestly. They explained everything we were told in the briefing about prefects at the end of last year,” explained Charlie.

“Who else was elected?” Rowan inquired.

“Oh you’ll never guess Slytherin’s-“

“Merula,” Rowan said before Charlie could finish.

“Yeah, and she seemed right pleased about it too, I bet she’s gonna have a blast abusing her position,” Verna grumbled. She really was not looking forward to yet another thing to compete over with Merula.

“Not if we abuse our position first,” Charlie said, grinning.

“No,” Rowan admonished them when they saw Verna’s matching grin.

“I’ll disown you both if you sink to her level.”

Both Charlie and Verna stopped grinning.

“Sorry Rowan,” Verna said bashfully. “We’ll try our best to make you proud.”

Rowan groaned in mock-annoyance, and all four of them laughed at the absurdity of the notion of Charlie and Verna as prefects. Even Ben. Verna’s hopes for the year were rejuvenated a little.

~

The rest of the journey went by in a relatively normal manner. Verna and Charlie patrolled the corridors every now and then but didn’t face any incidents. Tonks gave them both grief about becoming prefects though, and loudly announced that this is why she had trust issues. Verna couldn’t exactly blame her, they had after, pulled pranks together in the past and prefects had a well-earned reputation of being spoilsports. After sunset, the train arrived at the Hogsmeade Station and Charlie and Verna were again required to perform their new duties. Verna hadn’t really thought about how small the first years looked until they all filed out of the train and followed Hagrid to the boats. It wasn’t that long ago she had been in their shoes, completely terrified and anxious to start looking for her brother. Jacob. The thought stung like a wasp. It had taken four years and she was no closer to finding him as she was to finding the next cursed vault. Jacob had always been there to protect her and help her and what good was she, if she couldn’t do the same for him?

~

The Great Hall was all decked out for the Welcome Feast when they entered. Verna always felt a sense of belonging at the sight of Hogwarts, but it was also always mixed with something like dread. This year instead of Professor Dumbledore, it was Professor McGonagall taking the podium to hold the traditional speech after the Sorting. Apparently, the Headmaster was on an errand outside of Hogwarts. They were also going to have a new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts, which at this point surprised no one. The new DADA professor did surprise Verna, though. It was Madam Rakepick, the curse breaker Dumbledore had hired to investigate the vaults last year. Rakepick turned her eyes to Verna and something passed across her features, but Verna couldn’t place the expression. Then, just as fast as it had arrived, it passed, and McGonagall bid everyone dig in their food.

~

After the feast, as Verna and Charlie were getting ready to herd all the new Gryffindors (including Bill and Charlie’s little brother Percy) to their common room, Penny walked up to them, looking excited.

“Hey!” she beamed and tailing behind her was a small blonde girl who looked very much like Penny. “How was your summer?”

“Oh, you know, researching advanced curses, eagerly awaiting for my detention this year, the usual” Verna joked.

“I worked on my extra credit stuff for Professor Kettleburn,” Charlie said. “And hung out with my siblings. Fred and George have gotten it into their heads they wanna be the best quidditch players in the world and I have to be their coach.”

“That sounds really nice! We need to catch up more later, I just wanted to introduce you two to my sister, Beatrice,” Penny exclaimed, and the younger girl waved her hand at them.

“Hi,” she said, rather excitably.

“Hi Beatrice, I’m Verna and this is Charlie.”

Next to her Charlie smiled wide and shook Beatrice’s hand. It seemed to Verna that she appreciated being treated like a grown-up.

“Figured you were Penny’s sister when they called Haywood during the Sorting,” Charlie said.

Beatrice nodded. “And now we’re both in Hufflepuff! I was hoping for it, but I would’ve been happy with Gryffindor too.”

“Bea is… sort of a fan of yours,” Penny explained looking at Verna. “She’s always asking me to tell her stories of my adventures with the famous curse-breaker Verna Malinda.”

“Now I can join you!” Beatrice said. “To find your brother and the cursed vaults.”

This, admittedly, took Verna by surprise. She glanced at Penny who, by the look on her face, had not expected this either.

“Bea…” Penny whispered.

“I mean it, I want to help,” Beatrice insisted.

“Well… Maybe you can help with some small things, but I’ll be honest with you, it’s really dangerous stuff,” Verna told the young witch and hoped that was the end of it. No such luck.

“You investigated the cursed ice when you were just first-years,” Beatrice protested.

“That’s… true…” Penny admitted but didn’t look happy about it.

“And Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby!”

“She has a point, you know,” Charlie cut in.

“Knock it off, Weasley. There’ll be plenty of time for death-defying adventures when you’re older Bea, for now you can just show Verna what you made for her,” Penny said with a glare at Charlie, who seemed vaguely apologetic.

With only a little complaining, Beatrice presented Verna with a yellow, self-made puffskein toy. It was extremely cute, and the gesture made Verna wonder how much Penny had exaggerated her stories.

“Thank you, Beatrice, this is super cool,” she said as she inspected the stuffed animal. After that, she was served to a story about shaving the Haywoods’ pet puffskein every week for the hairs to make the toy, after which Penny had clearly had her fill, because she whisked Beatrice away and Charlie arched an eyebrow. “Wow, they really do just keep getting smaller.”

~

Up in the Gryffindor Tower, the young students were excited but obviously tired, so Verna kept her introduction short and let them explore on their own or just go to bed. After that, the two new prefects made their way to their favourite corner of the common room. The couch there was already occupied by Rowan and Ben.

“Hey guys,” said Ben meekly behind his new Charms textbook.

Charlie squished into the vacant spot between Rowan and the armrest, while Verna sat on the floor, not bothering to drag the nearest chair closer.

“I think I’m going to possibly have a mental breakdown this year,” she mused. “I mean I still have to find my brother, do normal homework, play Quidditch, study for O.W.L.s, and now be a prefect.”

“If you had started studying for the O.W.L.s first year like I told you, you wouldn’t be in this situation,” Rowan simply said. It’s not like they were wrong, but Verna still rolled her eyes.

“Literally no one else but you does that, Rowan” Charlie jumped into her defence, which Verna appreciated. She fist bumped Charlie over Rowan’s lap.

“You two are impossible,” Rowan said warmly and turned to look at Ben. Verna followed their gaze and noticed Ben looked distinctly uncomfortable. Well, more than usual.

“Ben…” she started.

“I just wanna say I’m sorry,” Ben blurted out. “I know you already said it’s fine last year, but I don’t think it’s fine. I’m too easy a target to use against you, and I don’t think you should include me in your plans anymore.”

Verna stared at him for a moment, trying to find words. Any one of her friends could’ve been used as a pawn by a dark wizard. After all, they were only students up against adult wizards.

“Ben, I get it. I’d probably feel the same way if it was me in your shoes right now, because it easily could be. You’re not weak for losing against an adult.”

Ben bit his lip nervously. “But I-“

“We need you. You’re one of my best friends and nobody blames you for what happened,” Verna countered before Ben could form a proper argument.

“In the train you lot acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary when everything is!” he slumped against the couch and let the textbook fall into his lap. “I’m going to bed.”

With that, Ben got up and disappeared into the boys’ dormitory, his friends’ pleas falling on deaf ears. Verna looked at Charlie and Rowan.

“Maybe he just needs some more time…” Charlie mused.

“I think I was too harsh on him last year,” Rowan said. “I apologized though. In the train. We had a whole chat about it.”

“I’m glad,” Verna said with a smile. It hadn’t felt right, when Ben and Rowan weren’t on speaking terms.

“He just hasn’t had the easiest time at Hogwarts,” Rowan continued. “And all this business with the vaults… I think it has us all on edge.”

“Understatement of the year…” muttered Charlie.

“Well… It’s only the first day of it, we’ll have plenty of time to make more understatements,” said Rowan gloomily.

[hphmmatthewluther]

Hi Guz! trick or treat?

Thanks for the ask Cato!

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the hpma gang, i.e. Jane, Rowan, Abigail, Gwen, and my so-far unnamed Chiara x Jae fankid. Maybe as Threads of Silver develops one of the framing devices will get to be set in the hpma era, and I'll be able to flesh out the characters a bit more as they react to the school's history!

[hphmmatthewluther]

Summer Break Challenge: Day 7 - Sunset

And here we are! This has been such a fun challenge! Thanks so much to @usernoneexistent​ for making this, and this one involves my hpma mc Jane and my hphm fankids!!

Day 7: Sunset

It had been a pretty long day. The Luther-Snydes were staying over at Matthew’s dad’s house, and Abigail and Rowan were playing with Jane Luther, their second cousin. There was a reason for this: Yesterday, Jane had used magic for the first time. Abigail and Rowan had been the ones to break the news to her that she was a witch. “You know, Abigail, when you first said it,” Jane began, climbing up one of the trees in the garden, “I thought you were being mean.” Rowan chuckled from further up the tree. “Don’t worry. Abby doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.” “Of course I wasn’t being mean!” Abigail yelled as she started scrambling up the tree, “I’m a witch too! And I’m great!”

Jane sighed, pushing her back against the trunk of the tree. “So…what? I can make things float, I’ve got that down pat…but what else?”

“Well, for most magic you’ll need a wand..” Rowan started to explain, but Abigail interrupted, having made it up to the level of the tree the other two were at.

“You can do all sorts! You can see things that others can’t, you can make potions, you can do loads of cool charms and trans...transfigru…uh…” “Transfiguration.” Rowan finished. “That. Also riding brooms, though I don’t see the point in that.” “That’s because you get broom-sick,” Abigail giggled. “Just like Uncle Atticus does.”

Rowan scowled, but didn’t try to argue. Jane leant forward, eager to learn as much as she could.

“So, you mentioned a school.” Jane said, her eyes alive with curiosity, “Do you two go there?”

“No, it’s a secondary school.” Rowan sighed, “You should be going there this year.”

Jane laughed at that. “Not likely. My Dad wants me to go to the local comprehensive, even though I passed the 11+.” Abigail missed it, but Rowan could hear the bitterness in her voice.

“Well, our Mum and Dad will probably sort things out.” he reassured her, “The decision’s the magic-user, not the parents.”

“Did your Mum and Dad go to that school?” “Of course!” said Abigail, “That was where they met!”

“So…they’d know what it’s like?”

At once, the three scrambled back down the tree and headed towards the grown-up table. Matthew and Merula were there, as were Jane’s parents Oliver and Becky Luther. Finally, Matthew’s Dad and Oliver’s Uncle Peter Luther was sat down, all of them eating breadsticks. They looked over and saw the children running over.

“Something the matter?” Peter asked, “Not more lizards, I hope.”

The three shook their heads. “Jane was just asking what Hogwarts was like,” Rowan explained. “We thought we’d ask you.”

And so, for the next while, Matthew and Merula explained what life was like at Hogwarts. They talked of all the things they learnt, the close friends they made, the various misadventures that they had, but decided to omit anything about the Cursed Vaults and/or R. Judging by Jane’s expression, Hogwarts was far more preferable to the local schools, and while she didn’t need convincing, he and Merula realised they should probably at least make it sound safe to Oliver and Becky.

“On your eleventh birthday,” Matthew explained, “You’ll get a letter about Hogwarts. Tell you what, I might write and ask the school to send you a little extra help with regards to learning about how everything works.” “That’d be really nice.” said Becky, not knowing that this “help” Matthew was planning on getting would come in the form of a half-giant. “What do you say, Jane?”

“Oh, uh, thank you Uncle Matt!” she said, smiling. Matthew shrugged. “No worries. I’m sure you’ll be a fine witch. And don’t worry about not knowing anyone there. A lot of kids will be in the same boat. I was like that, after all, and then someone came up to me, offered to help, and we’ve been friends ever since.

Jane was still smiling. She’d been smiling for a while now, imagining what things would be like come September, and then after what Matthew said, what things would be like on her birthday. Suddenly, Abigail pointed to the west. “Look! Isn’t it pretty?!”

They had been talking so long that the sky had turned an orangey-red, and the sun, just visible over the fence, was dipping below the horizon. The few clouds that were in the sky had turned shades of pink, twirling like candy floss and making various shapes in the air. It was strange, Jane had seen the sunset so many times, but knowing that there was so much more out there in the world, more than she could have ever guessed, somehow made it seem more special.

[hphmmatthewluther]

Summer Break Challenge: Day 4 - Travel

Here’s day 4! It’s a little on the shorter side, but I’m really happy with it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And of course, this challenge was created by the wonderful @usernoneexistent​ !

Day 4: Travel

“What?”

Matthew Luther-Snyde tilted his head past the open boot of the car to look at his wife. He wasn’t sure he’d heard her right, and felt like he needed to actually hear her say it.

“I asked if I could drive.” she said, bluntly.

Matthew blinked. “Uh, ‘rula…you’ve never driven a car before.”

“So?” Merula Luther-Snyde shrugged, looking at the steering wheel through the window. “Doesn’t seem that difficult.”

Matthew felt sort of speechless. “But…uh…that’s not…you don’t know how to drive a car.”

“I can learn on the fly.” “That’s really not how it works. There’s a reason you go through months of lessons.” “For most people, yes. But how different can it be from flying a broom, or riding a Thestral?”

Very, Matthew wanted to say. He smiled. He couldn’t help but smile. Was she being a little unrealistic? Of course. That was one of the many, many things he loved about her, the way she was so confident and convinced she’d be able to see things through. It was a skill that he sort of had to work on. Of course, he wasn’t prepared to let Merula drive onto the M25 today, especially not considering their precious cargo.

 In the back, in a baby seat that he was starting to get too big for, was Rowan Luther-Snyde, smiling as he scribbled on a notepad.

“Tell you what,” Matthew said finally, “I’ll drive us to Uncle Newt’s place, then you can have a go around the roads there later. There’s a parking lot nearby that’s usually empty.”

Merula nodded, admitting that his option was far more feasible. “Alright, fine. I guess it’s only fair. You make that Emm-twenty five thingy sound like a nightmare.”

 Thankfully, the traffic on that dreaded motorway wasn’t too bad when they set off in Matthew’s car, a dark blue Ford Focus. The weather was almost perfect, too, allowing for a mostly peaceful car ride. At least until Rowan yelled “Look! A dead fox!” at the top of his lungs. Merula followed Rowan’s tiny pointing finger while Matthew kept his eyes on the road. When they next stopped at the traffic lights, they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

 They were still laughing when the lights went green, and Matt had to focus again to avoid getting beeped by a car further behind. He still had a smile on his face, as did Merula, though hers was a little more pensieve. He looked at her when it was next safe to do so and she tapped her head, the symbol between them for Matthew to use his Legilimency. When he did, his smile brightened even further. “We ought to have another one back there.”

 When they made it to Newt and Tina’s cottage, Rowan looked tired and hungry. Matthew and Merula could understand that, it had after all been a 3 and a half hour trip, enough time to get through all of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and the Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (the clean version, for the sake of Rowan’s tiny, innnocent ears). Merula picked Rowan up and carried him to the front door, Matthew taking the bags out of the boot. As he did, he tilted his head to see his wife and son chatting to each other. He wasn’t actively using his Legilimency, but he could tell that Merula was just as happy as he was. Rowan was pretty happy too, but more preoccupied with whether or not he could have some lunch. Matthew closed the boot as Tina Scamander appeared at the door, and Matthew walked over to join the rest of his family.

[hphmmatthewluther]

HPMA OC X OC Connections!

So...here we go! Here’s a list of my HPMA ocs, and what they’re open for! Feel free to DM me, comment or reblog if you think our OCs could interact!

 Jane Luther (FC: Kaylee Bryant):

Jane is my MC! Born in 1997, Jane is a Ravenclaw and a total cinnamon roll. She’s kind to all she comes across (even if she really shouldn’t be), but is also incredibly imaginative and resourceful, too. She also happens to have some...minor reality-warping powers. Overall though, her main goal and priority is to make friends, something she hasn’t really had before this, with her closest friends being Daniel and Ivy, with her feelings for them both becoming slightly more than platonic overtime...

Jane is open to friendships!

Rowan Luther-Snyde (Faceclaim TBD):

The eldest child of Matthew Luther and Merula Snyde, born in 1999 and a Ravenclaw, Rowan ended up inheriting his father’s skills of observation (and his introverted nature), while also picking up his mother’s pride and grumpiness. Despite this, Rowan has soft spots for his closest friends, including his little sister.

Rowan is open for friendships and romance!!

Abigail Luther-Snyde (faceclaim TBD):

The youngest child of Matt and Merula’s, Abigail was rather different from her parents. Confident with a constant smile on her face and constantly seeking an adventure, there’s always a surprise when Abigail’s around (for instance how she’s a Slytherin). She’s always happy to make friends, and holds her brother in a very high regard, even if there is a bit of classic sibling teasing here and there.

Abigail is open to friendships and romance!!

[hphmmatthewluther]

Back By Midnight: Operation BULLSEYE - Part 2/4:

The first chapter can be found here!

Taglist of peeps who might be interested (lemme know if you want to be added or removed!): @akaisenhatake​ @camillejeaneshphm​ @catohphm​ @fangirl-screaming​ @rosachaotic​ @ag907​ @nikyiscreepy​ @oseathepebble​

(contains violence, death, and use of guns)

Also, this story features a brief cameo from a character of @camillejeaneshphm 's, and the name for the WIW in this version of events comes from @magicapandora !

Two hours until midnight. That was the time limit that was bouncing through Matthew’s (now Agent Moon’s) mind as he approached the building. He willed himself not to look at the road as a white minivan drove by, taking a corner further down the road, adjusting the silver bracelet on his right wrist. This was the only thing on him that hadn’t been from Bill. He’d even asked about it, and Matthew explained that it was something he just wore for good luck and protection, not that it ever seemed to work..

“Not bad, New Moon. Most people on their first mission tend to look at the surveillance devices a little too much.” Agent Gaia said over the earpiece, a little muffled by the sound of traffic.

“Focus on the road, Gaia, I’m the one running interference!” Agent Terra exclaimed, Matt expecting to hear frantic keyboard typing, but only getting a few clicks here and there.

“Alright, you’re past the ID machine. Like Gaia said, it’s on the 28th floor, so you’ll need to make your way up unnoticed…which is exactly why you’re going in via the car park.”

Matthew darted around the side of the building, risking a look up at it. It was 30 stories tall, all of which was owned by Reflection International, as evidenced by the giant logo he was standing under.

From his own investigations, while they had never done anything illegal, there is certainly a lot of criticism for their practices, be it extreme markups of life-saving medicines, ruthless buying of patents, as well as lobbying governments. Still, as he approached the entryway of the car park, he found himself wondering just what a company like this could be hiding that required the murder of multiple Intelligence Personnel.

Before he went any further, he heard a door open within the car park. Ducking low, he shuffled forward until he had a good view. Out of the door came two figures: a woman with ginger hair and a suit, and behind her was a man who looked familiar. He was tall, with dark black hair, and was wearing a striking white suit.

“That’s…” Matt said under his breath, “...the guy who Bill talked to today. The executive.”

“Well spotted.” Terra confirmed. “That’s Ryuji Ketseuki, Vice Executive for Reflection International. Rose up through the ranks to become one of the youngest business executives of all time. Apparently they call him the “Wizard in White”. Blech.”

Matthew watched as the woman opened the door of an expensive-looking car and sat in the driver’s seat, Ketseuki getting in the back of the car, the engine soon roaring to life.

“Now’s your chance, Agent Moon. Wait for the right moment…” Terra said, as the car park shutters slowly opened. Ketseuki’s car rolled out and turned towards the main road, as the shutters started to close again. Taking a deep breath, he went for it, scampering a little to get his whole body past the shutters before they…well, shut.

“I’m in.” Matt said, allowing himself to smile.

“So am I.” Terra chuckled, as Matthew heard a few more clicks. “Since your earpiece is now inside the building, there’s way fewer checks on it than a computer outside it. Should help me delete any footage of you snooping around. Alright, get going.”

Taking a moment to breathe, Matthew set off up and out of the car park, towards the fire exit stairs. He’d have to make it across the reception of the building before he could get to the higher floors. Considering he was carrying several tools of espionage as well as a gun, he was slightly afraid of being seen as suspicious. Still, he figured, it was about the same anxiety he had when walking outside normally. He breathed in. He took a first step. He breathed out. A man in a business suit walked across a reception, past another giant Reflection International logo. It was 10:10pm.

“Wow, you’re a natural! You don’t look suspicious at all! No wonder M- er, Bill chose you!”

Finally, Matthew was able to slip past the crowd until he was near the lift and the stairs (he frowned at how the sign called it an elevator)

“Now, there’ll be cameras in the lift, not to mention other people, so your safest bet is probably the stairs, but keep the lifts in mind if you need to get somewhere else fast.” Terra pointed out. “It happens sometimes that the best way to get out of a sticky situation is to just - CAREFUL GAIA WATCH THE ROAD-”

Matthew stifled a laugh as he started to climb up the stairs. Through the windows of the doors, it looked like most people had gone home for the day, with half of the corridors being pitch black. Still, Matthew kept on guard, and it would just be his luck that when he got to the 28th floor he would find that a single light was on.

“Pants.” Matthew said, bluntly.

“I’m checking the cams now, hang tight.” Terra assured him, seemingly recovered from whatever Gaia had been up to. “Man, it’s like they want the data to be deleted easily, this is child’s play…ok! Yeah, looks like someone’s in there with the ID machine, but they aren’t working on it, which is good news.”

“I’m guessing the bad news is I’ll need to go in with him and pray he doesn’t smell a rat.”

“He kind of looks like a rat.” said Gaia, off-handedly, “hold on, Terra, gotta overtake here.”

“Gaia! That’s really rude!...Look, reporting you is probably the last thing this guy wants to do. Just act natural, be nice, and there’s no reason to worry!”

“I suppose…” Matt said to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. He checked his watch, and found that it was almost 10:30pm. He just hoped he had enough time to get this done. He couldn’t waste any more time. He had do right by Bill. Steeling himself, he opened the door labelled “Floor 28 - Research Division” and walked forward, not flinching when the corridor lights came on.

“Seems like the guy noticed the lights came on.” Terra informed Matt. He showed no reaction and kept walking until he came to the door.

“Should I knock?” he whispered.

“It would be polite.” Terra admitted. Shrugging to find a counter-argument, Matthew knocked thrice.

“C-Come in!” Matthew slowly pushed open the door, and glanced at the other person in the room. He tried to keep his face still. He kind of did look like a rat, just a little. He looked around the same age as Matt was, with short blonde hair and largeish blue eyes. He also, somehow, looked more nervous than Matthew normally did.

“C-Can I help you?” he asked nervously. Matt took a glance at the name on the desk. Ben Copper.

“Oh, no worries.” Matt reassured him, “I’m from the IT team. Mr Ketseuki asked me to do some work on one of the prototypes here.”

Ben’s face looked a little less nervous. “Oh, right, go ahead then, I-I was just burning the midnight oil really, had some work I needed to get done, that kind of thing…”

Matthew nodded and smiled softly, and Ben gave a nervous smile in return. With that, he was free to examine the rest of the room. There were monitors and computers here and there, as well as a few larger devices.

“There! By the window! You can’t see me pointing, but I am!” Terra said suddenly. Matt walked over, leaning over it. It was smaller than Matthew had been expecting, about the size of a home radio, with a circular screen on the left and a variety of buttons to the right.

“Brilliant work, Agent Moon. But we can’t just take it off of the table. There’s likely to be a tracking device in it somewhere that you’ll need to remove first.”

Matt made sure Ben couldn’t see his face before he winced. Of course it couldn’t be that simple. It never was for him, after all. He reached into his jacket’s pocket and took out the Swiss Army Knife. On closer inspection, he saw that it was decorated with a variety of constellations, the one standing out the most being that of Hercules.

“The device should be under the screen.” Terra explained, as more typing was heard, “you should be able to use one of the blades to pry it open.”

Matthew began to flick through the many utilities the knife had before finding one that seemed suitable for pulling up the screen. Slowly, he slid the blade underneath and pushed down. There was a click, and the screen was half-off of the machine, still connected by wires. Now all Matthew had to do was figure out what a tracking device looked like, and pick it out.

“Wait.” Terra said, Matthew picking up on the nerves in his voice. “...Don’t look up. Don’t even try to, just keep your eyes on the machine, and don’t say a word.” Matthew did as he asked, though felt the overwhelming urge to do the exact opposite as curiosity filled him. That curiosity vanished with Terra’s next sentence. “There’s a sniper trained on your chest from the building opposite.”

Matthew felt that fear wash over him. It was the same one he’d felt when the floor had caved in earlier in the day. Alarm bells were ringing in his head as his hands hovered over the machine. It couldn’t get worse than this, right?

Turns out, once more, his luck would once again kick him in the shin. “Hey,” Ben began, “Mr Ketseuki…he’s not upset that work had to be done on the prototype, right? I’d hate to think…” 

As much as Matthew floundered when it came to smalltalk, he somehow found it in himself to respond. “No, no, of course not. One of the others apparently flagged a small issue that needed outside fixing, so…here I am.”

“Right, right…thank goodness, that’d be the last thing I want, especially with a prototype as important as that.” Ben said, sighing in relief.

Matt found himself slightly more at ease, which was odd considering the circumstances. “Important? Is there a time frame on when this has to be ready by?”

“Oh, I’m not too sure. Apparently it’ll help with our global network, making the data a lot easier to find quickly.”

“I see…” Matt nodded, trying not to change his expression. Strangely enough, Matthew didn’t think he was lying, merely misinformed, which put even more questions into his head and almost distracted him from the knowledge that a gun was pointed at him.

“You’ve got to get that device out of the machine, quick.” Terra ordered. “Once you’ve done that, we can be a little more…loud, so to speak.”

Trying not to look conspicuous, Matthew put his finger under the screen to stop it falling back into place. Switching the knife over, he discovered a pair of tweezers within. Reaching in as slowly as possible, he found a small red circle that stuck out like a sore thumb on the green circuitry. Taking a breath, he pried it off of the circuit, seeing that the reverse of it had Reflection’s logo on it: A lone snake wrapped around a staff, with it’s tongue sticking out. Cautiously, he pulled the component out, making sure it remained behind the screen until he was able to drop it on the counter in front of him. Allowing himself to smile, he returned the tweezers to the Swiss Army Knife, returning the screen of the ID machine to its proper place.

“Nice one, but…looking at the corridor cam, you have another problem coming towards you…I guess the sniper tipped him off.” Terra sighed. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Ben clutched his chest in shock.

“Who’s in there?!” barked a low, gruff voice, the owner of whom banged on the door again. “Get out here now!”

Ben looked at Matt, confused. Matt merely shrugged, as if he was as confused as Ben was. “W-What’s going on?!” he asked, the fear in his voice palpable.

“Security alert!” he replied, not showing any sympathy. “We know there’s an intruder in there. Out, now!” Ben stammered over his words, confused, and so Matt took over.

“It’s just us two! We haven’t heard anything about a security alert-”

“Shut up! You’re both a threat as far as I’m concerned! Now open the door before I kick it open!”

Matt remained where he was, and motioned the panicking Ben to stay put too. He placed a hand over the ID machine, waiting for a voice in his earpiece. After a few long, long seconds, he heard Gaia.

“Got a plan to get you out of this, but you’ll need to hurry. I’m coming up to the road between you and that sniper. When you hear the signal, drop down and take the machine with you. You’ll know it when you hear it, trust me.” she reassured him.

“I’m trying to get into their radio feed too, should help you get past this guy.” Terra added, as Matthew heard the van screech. “Get ready.”

Ben looked at him again, confused. Matt smiled, his eyes going back to the window. He dared not look at the building opposite, instead at the road. He watched as a white minivan sped up the road, before its horn blared out as loud as possible. Thankfully, Matthew was smart enough to know a signal when he heard one, and pulled the ID machine off the table and ducked to the floor.

Ben yelped as several bangs were heard, many from the door and one from the window. Matthew quickly scanned his environment: A bullet hole now marked the glass, with a few shards having fallen nearby. Ben had crawled under his desk, where he would hopefully be safe, and that guard was still trying to get through the door. What that meant, thankfully, was that he could talk aloud to his fellow agents again. “I’ve got to get past that guard. I can get to the door without being seen by the sniper, but once I do that guard will shoot me point blank.”

Terra cleared his throat, which crackled through the earpiece. “Right, right…sorry, a lot of people were beeping back at us. If you look through your pockets you should find a bunch of cuboid thingies with keyrings. You’ll want the grey and white one.”

Matt did as instructed, holding it in his hand. The word that came to mind as a result of the keyring was grenade, but that would draw far too much attention, which meant…

“This is a flashbang, right?” Matthew asked, as the guard outside resorted to kicking at the door, Ben continuing to whimper from under his desk.

“Well observed. Yeah, you’ll need to pull the keyring and toss it up at him. And make sure to look away. Here, I’ve got through to their radio line, have a listen:” There was some more static, and other voices could be heard. “Don’t worry, they can’t hear us.” Terra reassured him. “It’s a neat little bit of tech we came up with thanks to our tracking of outer-space signals…but I’ll tell you about that later.”

Matt crawled past the glass, keeping low, getting closer to the door as he heard the guard cursing over the radio. As he reached the point where he could throw the flashbang from, he saw Ben’s eyes glaring at him through the table.

“W-What’s…what’s happening…I-I…” he stuttered, his hands clutching at his hair.

“...Hey.” Matt whispered at him. “It’s gonna be okay. Trust me. Just stay put and you’ll be alright.”

Ben didn’t stop shaking, but was no longer on the verge of tears as he pushed himself further under the desk. Over the radio, the guard was still cursing, though he seemed more confident now. “Stupid fool…whoever they are, they will not be standing when I’m through with ‘em…I’ll shoot ‘em both, just to show who’s boss…here we go- AH!”

As the door finally swung open, Matt tossed the cuboid up, covering his eyes with the keyring still in his hand as the guard stumbled back. Matthew charged forward past the rapidly blinking Ben and the dazed guard, as he heard another gunshot fire out at the window, missing him by a fair margin. This time, however, he could hear the sniper’s reaction.

“Shitting Hell!” came a static-y voice. Matthew held the ID machine a little closer to his chest. It was one of the three people who had visited the building after the explosion, the first voice. At the time she had been devoid of emotion, but now she seemed rather irritated by the turn of events. “Get up! Hold him still before he reaches the lift so I can silence this little pest!”

Matt’s smile faded as he heard loud footsteps behind him.He hadn’t got too much of a good look at him, but he was pretty sure that this guy was a lot more muscular than he was. Thankfully, Terra chimed in. “I called the lift for you, but…he’s gonna catch up to you before you get there.”

Matt grimaced as he got closer and closer. He needed another idea that was just about crazy enough to work, and thankfully he got one.. “Can you open the doors now, but stop the lift on the floor below?”

Terra paused for the briefest of moments, but ‘m-hm’-ed in confirmation. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Moon…” he sighed, as the doors opened ahead of Matthew. In the seconds he’d been running, Matthew had made two calculations: that he would have a lot more options available to him on top of the lift as opposed to inside it, and that the surprise of not seeing the elevator would once again provide a sorely needed moment of hesitation. Gritting his teeth, and holding the ID machine close, he sprinted forward onto the lift’s roof, grabbing the cable and spinning to hit the still oncoming guard in the chest, sending him back a little. He had hoped that would be enough to stop him before the doors closed, but his pursuer put his hands on either door and forced them back to the edges, causing them to stutter in and out slightly. They weren’t closing anytime soon. He got a good look at this guard; he had shaved hair as well as a shaved face, and still had that gun in his right hand. But then Matthew heard something that he did not expect.

“My goodness, such a failure you are.” spat the sniper, the guard raising his hand up to his earpiece, the message clearly directed at him. “Can’t even chase a person down a corridor properly.”

The guard suddenly looked nervous, his rage replaced by fear. “High Pr-”

“Enough! You’re in front of our unwanted guest, after all. Listen well. I have my sight trained on the space right outside that lift. I will shoot whoever is thrown out of that lift, understand? A situation like this requires an itchy trigger finger, just as it requires a competent enforcer.”

“...Pants.” Matthew said. “...Y’know, she’s threatened the both of us, so…this is how truces tend to happen.”

“No…this is how promotions happen.” the guard grinned, before aiming the gun at Matthew. Instinctively, he kicked again, landing a hit on the guard’s shin. Taking the initiative, he kept up the offensive, jabbing with his free arm at the hand with the gun in it, letting it clatter to the floor and nudging it off the side of the lift with his foot.

Taking a quick glance at the space outside the lift shaft, the guard pushed forward, gripping Matthew’s arm and pulling, clearly trying to get him outside. Still clutching the ID machine, he willed himself to come to a halt, causing the guard to start stumbling toward him. The lift rocked a little, and the guard snarled, grabbing for the ID machine, but Matt was ready for him, somehow. Pushing up with his legs, he began rapidly kicking at the sides of the guard’s torso, before sticking his legs out and digging into the sides of his stomach. The guard yelped, letting go of Matt’s free arm. Sidestepping, Matt put down the machine. He took his silver bracelet and wrapped it around his knuckles. It was probably never meant to be used this way, but desperate times called for it. And what better protection than a good offence, right? Discarding the argument when he remembered his life was in danger, and that Bill had trusted him, Matt leapt forward, driving his silver-covered fist into the guard’s upper chest. At least, that was where he was aiming. But the guard, seemingly in desperation, had tried to go low, thus leading to Matt striking his head. The guard straightened out, clearly concussed judging by the glazed over eyes. He didn’t seem to have a clue where he was as he staggered backwards out of the lift shaft. Then came the gunshot.

It split through the windowpane and struck him through his chest. The force of the bullet stopped his movement backwards, before he tumbled to the floor almost instantly, now motionless. Matthew felt his mouth go dry as he returned his bracelet to his wrist, picking up the ID machine and cradling it in his arms. He flinched when he heard more voices on the radio.

“Kilo Sierra Delta!” the sniper said, as Matt heard more footsteps.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Knew I should have stayed late…” Matt came back to reality upon hearing this new voice. It was another of the people in the building. The one he’d seen the most of.

“Terra, can you take the lift down?” Matthew asked, as he noticed something that had fallen out of the guard’s shirt, visible through the bullet hole.

“Oh, thank god, you’re alive. Ok, yeah, give me a second, the other people in the building are all headed up, you’ll have a more or less easy getaway once you get down to the ground floor.” Terra explained. “Crap, they’re coming though!”

Matt gazed down at the still rocking lift. He pushed on the wall so that there was enough room for him to jump down into the metal cube. He shimmied his legs down the gap, then his left arm, dropping the machine on the lift floor. Over the radio, he heard that slightly Scottish accent again. “I’m on the scene! Can see the body, along with…HEY!”

Matt should have ducked down, but instead he grabbed the thing that had fallen from the guard’s pocket before manoeuvring downwards. He heard loud footsteps overhead, but knew that all she would be able to see was his hand. Gripping the thing he’d taken with his thumb, he proceeded to wave two certain fingers at the person before pulling it down and closing the lift doors, his silver bracelet clanging against the metal as he did so. The woman above seemed, to put it lightly, upset at his actions.

“WHO WAS THAT?! I WANT CCTV FOOTAGE! NOBODY GIVES ME THE TWO-FINGERED SALUTE AND LIVES TO TELL THE TALE!”

“Calm yourself,” said the sniper. “The intruder cannot have gone far, nor could he have left the building yet.”

Matt once again sank to the floor as the lift descended through the building, suddenly remembering that he still had that gun on him. He’d never even thought to use it. “...I got the machine…how close are you guys?”

“ETA 3 minutes, Agent Moon.” Gaia said, “providing this arse in the Range Rover stops holding everyone up-”

He listened as Terra took over. “...Was that the first time you saw someone…”

“N-No. There was…another time, but…” Matthew sighed. “That was the first time it was that close to me. That I had…”

“Hey, you did what you had to, and you even tried to get the both of you out alive. One thing’s for sure, that guy certainly seemed to fear that sniper. What did he call her?”

“ “High” something or other.” Matt said, struggling to remember the details; much of it was a blur. “And then after she’d…yknow…she said, what was it, “Kilo Sierra Delta”, which…”

He was going to say he wasn’t sure what it meant, but then he looked at what was in his hand. It was a card, with the Reflection International logo on it, but this time the snake was not sticking its tongue out . This time it had fangs. He turned it around, and instead of a playing card, as he had been expecting, it was a Tarot card. It showed a knight on horseback, riding with a blade held high in the sky. The text below it read: Knight of Swords. “Kilo Sierra, perhaps.” Matt said aloud.

“Pardon?” Terra asked.

“I’ll explain when I see you.” Matt replied, standing up as the lift neared the ground floor. Sure enough, as the door opened, the reception was more or less empty as silent alarms flashed on the walls and ceilings. He looked around, before seeing the minivan through the window. Unable to stop the smile on his face, he ran for it, leaving out the front door once Terra had confirmed the sniper had left the building opposite. He quickly checked his watch. It was ten past eleven. He supposed it was just about his luck that it would end up being this close.

Getting to the minivan, he saw the back door open and clambered inside. Once there, he was greeted by two people who looked about the same age as he was, both South Asian with glasses and black hair, though one had her hair in a ponytail and the other had it cut short.

“Agents Gaia and Terra, I presume.” Matt said, smiling.

“Good to see you, Agent Moon. Sit down and relax, mate. You’ve done something amazing here.”

He gladly did just that, putting the ID machine down next to him as the car sped away. The adrenaline had caused him to more or less ignore any injuries he’d gotten as he went up and then down the skyscraper, but now he was starting to feel the pain in his shoulder, his hands, his legs, as well as general exhaustion.

“How’s he looking?” asked Gaia, still driving.

“Nothing serious, but he’ll need some help at HQ.” Terra reported back. “You’ll be alright, our people are top-notch.” He then found himself smiling. “Sorry, it’s just…Bill was right when he told us about you. You are a wildcard.”

Matt found himself going pink. “I mean…I couldn’t have done any of that without you two helping, so…”

“Doesn’t mean you did any less.” Terra pointed out. “You’ve saved a lot of good people’s lives tonight.” He moved across the minivan and sat down next to Matt, examining the machine. “I’ll get to look at just what makes this thing tick once we’ve reported back at HQ. I imagine it’s chaos over there, what with a transfer of agency and all that.”

“We’ll get to look at it.” Gaia reminded him, sighing. “We’re on track to make it, even with London traffic.”

“Brilliant.” Matt said, finally letting himself relax. “...so what happens now?”

“We’ll head to HQ and report back to the one who gave us this mission, Agent Galileo. She confirms it’s a success, we get a successful mission under our belts…and then I guess we figure out what happens with you.” Matthew suddenly found himself very nervous, something that Terra noticed. “Hey, it’s alright. Bill had to have a lot of trust in you to transfer agency, plus you successfully completed his mission, which all goes in your favour…”

Matthew twirled the card around. “I hope so. I really hope I didn’t cause too much trouble.”

“To be honest it’s been a lot of fun.” Gaia admitted. “It has been quiet for a while now, feels good to have some action this close to home.”

“Exactly!” Terra exclaimed, his eyes focusing towards the card. “Wh-where did you..”

“It…was in the pocket of that guard. I picked it up and when I looked at it, I thought maybe that’s what “Kilo Sierra” was referring to, you know, K.S.”

Terra nodded, raising an eyebrow at the snake image on the back. “And the guard referred to the sniper as “High” something…High Priestess, maybe?”

Gaia rolled her eyes. “Ah, the Tarot cards again. We’ve been hearing about a group using them recently and we have a theory that some sort of gang has been using them as a sort of…well, identifier, funnily enough.”

“We thought it could just be a cartel or something at first, but…killing so many agents, having a Reflection International building as a base of operations…”

There was silence for the rest of the trip, as Gaia concentrated on getting to this HQ place as fast as possible.

When they finally got there, at around 11:45 pm, they scrambled out, remembering to take the ID machine and card. “Quick, quick, we don’t have much time!” Gaia hissed, as the three made their way towards a largeish building. Matt followed the two agents, who seemed similar enough to be twins, as they ran past a sign which read:

THE MIDNIGHT FOUNDATION - Nam astra et quod est infra.

[hphmmatthewluther]

Back By Midnight: Operation BULLSEYE - Part 1/4:

Taglist of peeps who might be interested (lemme know if you want to be added or removed!): @akaisenhatake​ @camillejeaneshphm​ @catohphm​ @fangirl-screaming​ @rosachaotic​ @ag907​ @nikyiscreepy​ @oseathepebble​

(contains graphic descriptions of injuries)

The feeling of the floor being pulled from under you is never a good one. The drop in your stomach, the sudden heightening of all your senses trying to get your bearings, the sharp gasp of air that your lungs are forced into. It’s bad enough when the feeling is figurative. Matthew Luther, however, was in the process of finding out the phrase didn’t do the feeling justice. A few moments before, he was aware that some sort of device on the floor below had activated, and the blast had shaken the foundations of the building enough to cause shaking. The next thing he thought, right before the floor gave way, was that this was just his luck.

 Looking back on it, he might have noticed warning signs from the very start. As a tech worker at MI6, he was always on the periphery of most missions, his management team almost sensing his fear whenever field work was brought up. They never said anything, of course, thanks to the words “Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)” highlighted on his personal file. A nervous wreck in the middle of the government intelligence department. Matthew had often wondered whether he was too much of a detriment to the place. 

 But then came a new assignment: investigation of an unusually high casualty rate of personnel. He and the others in his team went through the same process of looking through information they always did, but as he was doing so Matthew did something rare for him: he went the extra mile. Finally, after comparing the connections the organisations had, as well as the times between enquiries and deaths, he had discovered a link: every operative only died after visiting buildings in a certain sector of London in-person. His part in this could have ended there.

 Then his stomach dropped. Matthew did not believe himself to have much upper body strength, so it came as some surprise to him that as his legs began to kick on nothing, his senses, in overdrive, forced his arms forward until his hands grabbed onto the cracked edges of one of the building’s inner support pillars. His long legs kicked again before curling round the pillar, leaving Matthew clutching it like a koala on a eucalyptus tree. At this point came the sharp gasp of air, followed by rapid panting as his brain caught up to what his body had just done. He tightened his grip as the next thought popped into his head. Bill had been on the floor below.

 A few days passed, Matthew being told to send his findings over to an operative in another department. He was in the middle of relaxing after having spent ages stressing about emailing the other agent, when there came a knock at the door.

“C-Come in!” Matthew said, sweat already beginning to form on his brow. The door opened slowly, and in stepped someone who gave Matt an immense sense of deja vu. 

 He was one or two inches taller than Matt (a rarity seeing as Matthew was already pretty tall), and was wearing a white shirt and red tie. His most striking feature, however, was the long ginger hair that flowed up to his shoulders. Matthew could have sworn it was too long for an MI6 operative (and he should have known seeing as his hair length was only just allowed: past his neck but not touching the shoulders.) Matt’s stomach began to curl in on itself. The hair and the smile. He couldn’t think about how familiar it looked as the multiple screens behind him went dim due to inactivity.

 “Hi there!” the man said, grinning “I’m Bill. Bill Moon.”

Matthew instantly recognised the man as the agent he had sent his findings too. “H-Hi, um, sorry…”

Bill looked at him quizzically. “Why are you apologising?”

“I…assumed you were here because I did something wrong in the email. I’m so sorry, I promise I went over it all as much as I could-”

 “Hey, it’s ok.” Bill stepped forward. “You’re Matthew, right? Matthew Luther?” Matthew nodded wordlessly, now more confused than nervous. Bill simply kept smiling. “Nobody else in the department had made the connection you did. Nobody even considered it.”

“R-Really?” Matthew asked incredulously. “But it seemed so simple, they all had to physically be there before the various incidents of their deaths occurred.”

 “Yes, but most people here don’t think so laterally anymore. They all assumed that the deaths were cybersecurity related, nobody even considered the possibility of it being because someone in that area saw and identified the agents.”

“I…see.” Matthew said, shrugging, too polite to ask why Bill hadn’t simply put all this in an email and why he had come all the way out here.

 “The fact is, this needs investigating. Proper, physical investigation. And I’d like you to help out with that. What do you say?”

What was Bill thinking? He’d probably read his file, right? He knew what Matthew was like, didn’t he? And yet, against all odds, against the screaming panicked voices in his head.

“Ok…yeah, I’ll help any way I can. Sorry again.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. Never apologise for accepting help and never apologise for asking for it.”

 Matthew slowly made his way down the pillar and through a thick cloud of dark brown smoke to the lower floor. The monitors that had been set up were all broken, with some fallen onto the floor. Pulling his t-shirt up slightly over his nose and mouth, he tentatively stuck his legs out until they touched the floor again in what felt like the first time in hours. He almost cried out for Bill, but was grateful he didn’t as he caught the sound of footsteps in the corridor outside. Ducking behind the pillar, and taking a brief look up at the hole-ridden floor he had descended through, he crept forward, searching for his fellow operative amongst the scattered wires and computer parts.

 “This’ll do nicely.” Bill said. It had taken a week, but MI6 had been able to secure an empty office building near the buildings the other personnel had been investigating. “Not too much of a high rise, but it still gives us a good vantage point.”

Matthew hummed in agreement as he got the monitors set up around the room, as he’d been doing for the past several hours. It was night by now, and they and a few other operatives had set up a surveillance system in both this floor and the one above, with the purpose of identifying any shady individuals who frequented the group of buildings.

 “So…, sorry, um…” Matthew began, after having fiddled with the wiring a little more to make sure everything was connected, “...so this is sort of like a stakeout, then?”

Bill chuckled and moved his hands like they were a pair of scales. “Yes and no. It’s clear that whoever’s doing this enjoys setting up a trap for your - our -  colleagues. I intend to spring the trap.”

Matthew’s eyes widened at this. “Isn’t that a bit…well…life-endangering?”

“To an extent, yeah, but not as much as my usual work is.” Bill shrugged. “Besides, it’ll be fun. I have tech people from my own department working on it too.”

 Matt’s ears perked up at that as Bill moved past him to go upstairs. “Will they be coming here too?”

Bill’s smile dropped a little, and he shook his head. “No, they prefer to stay at their own monitoring station. Still…I think you’d get on with them. Maybe you’ll end up communicating with them during this.”

Time went by, and Matthew found himself gravitating towards the window. You could barely see anything in the night sky thanks to all the light pollution, but as Matt watched, hoping to see something, the clouds parted, and the light of the moon was allowed to shine. 

 Bill came back down, Matt noticing an earpiece now in his hand. “Stargazing, are you?”

“Moon-gazing, more accurately. You can’t really make any stars out.”

Bill nodded sadly. “Yeah, the City’s never been the best place to watch the stars. Though…” Matthew looked up at him, expectantly. “You like astronomy, Matthew?”

“Yeah, it’s always interesting to look up at what’s out there, all the bizarre and brilliant things that exist millions of miles away…though I don’t think they can tell the future.”

Bill laughed at that, placing his hand on Matt’s shoulder. He felt another pang of deja vu as Bill tried to get his composure back. 

 “Good one, yeah…well, I happen to like it too. As a matter of fact, in my spare time I’m part of an astronomy society. They’re pretty prestigious as well, if you’re in that field of work, that is. They’re called the Midnight Foundation.”

Matthew nodded, running the name around in his head. “So…you go and talk about space?”

“Mostly, but a lot of work is done mapping out and observing changes in space as well. We work with all the big space organisations too; if there’s a space project on the news chances are we had our hand in it.”

 “An astronomer who’s also a spy…don’t get many of those.”

“No…you most certainly do not.”

 Finally, Matt was able to make out a body on the ground in front of him, as the footsteps outside grew louder. Still squatting, he leapt over, trying not to make too much noise. He clutched his face in relief when he saw Bill’s chest rise.  It looked like most of the damage had been caused by the fall to the floor, as opposed to whatever that blast was, though his arms were badly burnt. His stomach was the main problem however, due to the bruising and bleeding, though Matthew was sure any of his vital organs hadn’t been directly struck. Still, he was losing a lot of blood. And there were those footsteps to worry about too.

 Matthew got to work trying to stabilise Bill’s condition using the amount of training that he had. He wished his hands would stop shaking as much as they were as he tried to stem the blood flow using a nearby first aid kit (he imagined that it had never been used whilst this building was another office block). The footsteps were just outside the door now, and he could hear whoever it was conversing too. Matt was fairly certain these people weren’t here to help, and so very slowly moved Bill away from view of the door,, and away from the collapsing roof overhead. 

 At some point during this process, Bill opened his eyes. He honestly hadn’t expected to be alive, and could only stare helplessly as the spot he was in when Matthew found him was crushed by debris from up above. He looked at his saviour, who placed his finger over his mouth and pointed at the open door. Voices rang out from the corridor, emotionless and cold:

“Detonation successful.” Said a voice, nonchalantly.

“Was the body destroyed in the blast?” Came a more refined, deeper voice.

“Either that or splattered across the walls behind all that smoke. Can we go now?” said another voice, a woman’s, with a slight Scottish accent. Time seemed to stand still as the three argued a moment before the third speaker sighed and poked her head in. Through the smoke, he saw short brown hair and what seemed to be pink eyes. He was sure they made eye contact for the briefest of moments; maybe his eyes blended into the ugly swamp-coloured smoke. Either way, he was afraid that they would be able to hear his rapidly beating heart.

 “How was that?” Bill asked as he re-entered the building, taking off the jacket of his business suit and pulling his hair out of the ponytail he’d put it in. “I think I put in a good act as a yuppie.”

Matt nodded as he finalised the data set he’d created from Bill’s meeting with one of the executives that worked in the building. Specifically, one from Reflection International, a pharmaceutical company. He turned to Bill and smiled. “I think it went well, they didn’t seem to treat you any differently to their other appointments. Did you get time to…you know…snoop?”

“Of course!” Bill replied. “What kind of spy would I be if I didn’t snoop?.”

 Matthew found himself chuckling. Not many MI6 operatives called themselves “spies”. They generally preferred terms like “personell”, “operatives” at a push maybe.

 Another of their group members came in with a large device. “Here’s the extra data device we requested, we can let him set it up.” He said, pointing dismissively before leaving. Bill turned to Matthew as he started to connect the device. “Don’t pay any attention to him. As far as I’m concerned, tech people are just as important as the field workers, and just as capable out there too.”

“T-Thanks?” Matt said, a little confused, but accepting the compliment nonetheless. “I can connect this one up with the others, give me a-”

But Bill held his hand out. “...there’s something I went to the business appointment with that I don’t have with me now. Can you tell me what it is?”

 Matt looked him up and down. “That earpiece. The one you use to talk to your tech people from your…department.” As he said it, the cogs in Matthew’s head began to turn. This was by far the most unorthodox assignment he’d ever had, yet Matthew had accepted it fully when he would have otherwise questioned it. Why? Well, partially because of who Bill reminded Matthew of, but also the fact that it felt like he was doing something for once. So many times in Matt’s time in MI6 had it felt like he was on the verge of coming to a solution when bureaucracy came into the room and took his work to another department. But Bill’s department, whatever it was, seemed to work very differently. Old-school, Matt would say, none of that over-emphasis on cyber-security and social engineering.

 “I need you to go up and get it, if that’s alright.” Bill said, gesturing upstairs. “It shouldn’t take too long.”

Matt nodded, once again too polite to say anything, and darted out of the room and up the stairs. He hadn’t actually been up here yet, but when he opened the door all he saw was a few monitors, an open window showing London at dusk, and a table with the earpiece on it, blinking to show it had charged. Matthew walked forward and picked it up, and was going to walk straight back down until he realised he could hear voices coming from it. He should have let it go. He should have respected Bill’s privacy. Yet his odd behaviour just now and the way he was so different from everyone else in MI6 led to Matthew holding it up to his ear.

 “What’s taking him so long?” hissed one voice.

“Calm down, he’s always like this when charging it.” whispered another.

“If you say so…the data we got from his trip to R.I. is…fascinating, though.”

“How so?”

“That device he found, the one we think is the target…it’s not just scanning the area, it’s connected to a much wider network.”

“Of course. Good on that one tech kid for spotting the device acting up.”

Matt involuntarily gasped when he heard himself mentioned

“Hey, who was that-”

 It felt like the floor had given in. Not just because he had been caught listening, but because it actually had. His stomach dropped. His senses went into overdrive. A sharp burst of air went into his lungs.

 Eventually, the woman left with the others, as their arguments continued again. Matt turned back to Bill, attending to his wounds again. “Y-You’re gonna be ok, the bleeding’s slowing and your arms have cooled, but…”

“...Did you get the earpiece?” Bill asked, weakly. Matthew fished it out of his pocket and handed it to him, the two voices still talking to each other. Bill pressed a few buttons on it, and the voices grew louder. “Guys-”

“What happened?!” one of them asked, panicked.

“Someone else was listening in, and then there was a bang, and crumbling…” the other said, rambling.

“Listen…” Bill insisted. “I need you two as witnesses for this.”

 The voices were quiet for a moment. “Witnesses to what?”

Bill looked at Matthew. “Mate, you saved my sorry arse when I put us both in danger. I thought I could take out whatever thing they put on that server, but I was wrong…I was very wrong…I should be dead, but you put yourself on the line. You’re better than most of MI6 put together.” Matt tried to refuse the compliment, but Bill shushed him. “This isn’t the time for self-deprecation. Remember when you said that nobody would expect an astronomer to be a spy? You were right. That’s why the Midnight Foundation was set up…I’m their agent. Agent Moon. Or at least…well…I will have been.”

 Matt tried to take this all in. “The people on the earpiece…they mentioned a device.”

“Correct. Good on you for taking the initiative.” Bill chuckled, clutching his wounds. “That device is how they, whoever they are, identify spies and kill them. They’ve been operating for a while now from the Reflection International building, and, according to your data…gearing up for something big. They have to be stopped, and my mission parameters say that Agent Moon must secure the device and get it back by midnight tonight.”

“B-But you can’t go, you’re too injured, I’ve got to get you to a hospital-”

“Precisely. The parameters say Agent Moon has to. But it doesn’t say who Agent Moon has to be.”

 It suddenly dawned on Matthew what Bill was talking about. “Y-You want me to-”

“I understand this is, to put it lightly, out of nowhere, but I’ve no other choice…and no better candidate. Do you, Matthew Luther, of your own free will and volition, choose to hide amongst the stars and fight under them for the good of all?”

Matthew did not make decisions very easily. He stressed over emails, what to eat, whether he was good enough, whether he was making his brother proud. But as he looked at Bill, and thought back to those assassins, cold and cruel, the decision came easily. “Yes. I’ll do it.”

 Bill smiled as if he wasn’t brutally injured. “Gaia? Terra?”

“Yes?” the voices said in unison.

“I want you to promise me you’ll treat Matt here with just as much respect as you gave me all this time. I pass my title and my agency onto you. I am William Weasley. You, friend, are Agent Moon.” Sirens rang out outside, and yet the air felt still and calm.

Agent Moon looked down at Bill. “You need to get to a hospital. I imagine there’s a fire crew and ambulance outside, someone must have seen the smoke. I’ll get you down to them and…go from there.”

 Matt watched the ambulance with Bil inside leave, before putting on the headpiece, remembering to turn the volume down first. “H-Hello?” he said, softly, “Can you hear me?”

There was a moment of hesitation, before one of the two spoke. “Welcome to the Midnight Foundation…Agent Moon. I’m agent Terra, and the other person you heard was agent Gaia…my sister.”

“Way to be a secret agent, Terra-”

 “Moon said to treat him with respect, didn’t he?”

“He’s not Moon anymore, he’s just Bill, remember?!”

“Guys!” Matt said, a little louder. “Look, I promised Bill I’d complete his mission but I can’t do it alone. I don’t even know what I’m trying to find. I…” he paused, taking a breath, and reminding himself what Bill had said when they first met. That it was ok to ask for help. “I need you two as support. Both in terms of the mission and…emotionally, too.”

 Sunset turned to night as Matthew prepared for what was to come. He managed to grab what materials he could from upstairs (tip toeing on what parts of the floor remained). Looking at a laptop screen connected to the Midnight Foundation channel, he could see the icons for agents Gaia and Terra. Both had glasses, but Terra had shorter hair and Gaia had longer.

Matt also listened to the duo discuss his objective, though they, much like him, were distracted by finding out if Bill was ok.

“He’s been taken to the nearest hospital and is getting treatment now.” Gaia said, which told Matt that this Midnight Foundation had a lot of reach in terms of intelligence-gathering.

“Did it look…bad?” Terra asked, “...his injuries, I mean.”

Matthew shrugged. “It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but…”

 “Come on, we can’t think like that.” Gaia said, bringing up building blueprints on-screen. “Agent Moon, your mission is as follows: Infiltrate Reflection International and secure the identification device on the 28th floor, then escape. Terra and I will be waiting in a minivan outside for you to depart in.”

“Oh, not the minivan-”

“Yes, the minivan. We need to run interference on the device so Matt can make it up there without being ID’d. If it got Bill’s fake ID, it would get him without us.”

Terra sighed in defeat. “Fair enough.”

 Matthew pushed the hair out of his face. He had put on one of Bill’s jackets, discovering he had packed several. In the pockets he found a variety of useful items, including a Swiss Army Knife, a spare earpiece, a phone, a length of rope and…ah. Matthew pulled a large something out of the jacket’s inside pocket. He looked at it and blinked a couple of times. It suddenly dawned on him just what he might have gotten himself into.

“What?” Gaia asked , with Matthew able to hear the roar of the minivan’s engine over the earpiece, “Just because we’re British we still give our agents guns. Ready to go?”

Matthew put it back into his pocket, making sure the safety hadn’t slipped. “Ready as I’ll ever be. For Bill’s sake, I hope that’s enough.”

[hphmmatthewluther]

HPMA MC PROFILE: Jane Luther

(picrew made by @lawful_awful on twitter)

Name: Jane Queenie Luther

Nicknames: Janey, Sparky

Birthdate: 12/06/97

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Personality Type (MBTI): ENFP

Blood Status: Muggle-born (1/8th magical)

Nationality: White British

Physical Appearance

FC: Kaylee Bryant

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Height: 4’9 - 5’11

Weight: 70kg

Body Type: Slightly buff

Skin Tone: White

Distinguishing Marks (scars, birthmarks, etc.): Birthmark on the back of her right hand, looks sort of like a key.

Background 

Hometown: Colchester

Family

Mother: Rebecca Luther (née MacRiada)

Father: Oliver Luther

Brothers: Will Luther (3rd eldest), Harrison Luther (2nd eldest)

Sister: Isabelle Luther (eldest)

Father’s Cousin: Matthew Luther

Second Cousins: Rowan and Abigail Luther-Snyde

Hogwarts

House: Ravenclaw

Best Class: Charms

Worst Class: Potions

Boggart: Being abandoned by her newfound friends.

Riddikulus: Her and her friends all coming together to prank someone

Animagus: Axolotl

Patronus: Dolphin

Patronus Memory: Playing with her cousins during the summer.

Mirror of Erised: Her being a real part of her family.

Amortentia (what she smells like): Grass, Forests, Warm Jumpers, Crisps.

Amortentia (what she smells): Jane has not smelt amortentia yet.

Career: Teaches at a preschool for magical children.

Personality & Attitude

Priorities: Her loved ones; including their safety and her relation to them.

Strengths: Courageous, Determined, Clever

Weaknesses: Impulsive, sometimes Jealous, Insecure

Stressed: When alone or not feeling noticed.

Calm/Comforted: When around others who listen to her.

Favourites 

Colours: Blue and Yellow

Weather: Clear Skies

Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Drawing

Fashion: Ranges from day to day. Jane likes trying all sorts of styles.

Relationships 

Significant Others/Love Interests: Daniel Page and Ivy Warrington

Friends:

-Rowan Luther-Snyde

-Abigail Luther-Snyde

-Lottie Turner

-Robyn Thistlewaithe

-Kevin Farrell

-Mary Ann Von Deyne ( @endlessly-cursed​ )

-Lennox Arcano-Thorne ( @endlessly-cursed​ )

-Lyra Martin ( @camillejeaneshphm​  )

-Panit Saetang ( @camillejeaneshphm​ )

Rivals:

-Cassandra Vole

-Colby Frey

-Fischer Frey

Trivia

Jane has some power over reality itself. Sometimes, when she daydreams and wishes, she can affect the world around her so that it comes to pass, and thus turn her daydreams into reality.

[hphmmatthewluther]

Earthbound Au? Earthbound Au.

Here’s some pixel art I did of Matthew, Merula, Chiara and Rowan! (Used Earthbound sprites as a base)

[hphmmatthewluther]

Valentine’s Challenge 2022: Day 1- Blind Date

Here we go! This challenge was created by the wonderful @lifeofkaze​ , and the main post can be found here !

Day 1: Blind Date

 (Pairings: Matthew Luther/Merula Snyde, and…well…that would be telling.)

“No.”

“It’ll be fun-”

“Not for me it won’t-”

“You don’t know that-”

“Yes I do!” Matthew snapped, before immediately following up with “...Sorry. Didn’t mean to yell. It just…stresses me out, ok?”

It was Friday morning, and the last of the students were filing into the Great Hall for breakfast. Already at Ravenclaw table enjoying some toast were Andre Egwu, Rowan Khanna, Corey Hayden (who had hopped over from Gryffindor table) and Matthew Luther, who was nervously twirling a fork in his right hand, as silver as the bracelet on his wrist.

“There’s no need to apologise, Matt.” Rowan reassured him, “We get that this sort of thing isn’t what you’re used to-”

“But we think you ought to do it anyway.” interrupted Corey. “It’s a Blind Date, after all. It’s just for one night, and it’s not like it means anything.”

“I know that,” Matthew said, “it’s just…I’m not good at those sorts of things, yknow?”

 “Which is why you need practice.” Andre pointed out. “Again, it’s just one night, it doesn’t mean anything, it’s just…it’d be nice to see you put yourself out there, Curse-Breaker.”

“Yeah, and Andre’s been planning this for months.” Corey reminded the table, “You’ve got to be there, you’re the Hero of Hogwarts!”

“I…I…” Matthew squirmed in his seat. “Fine. I’ll go. I’ll…ok.”

“As long as you’re sure, Matt.” Rowan said, smiling.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re well dressed for tonight.” Andre said cheerfully. “Just try to enjoy yourself!” “Easier said than done.” Matthew said under his breath. He finished his breakfast (as much as he could with his nervous stomach ache) and started to leave the Great Hall, wondering how on earth his day could get worse. Then, as he got to the great golden door, he found himself face to face with Merula Snyde.

 “Oh. Luther. What do you want?!” Merula snarled, clutching her satchel.

“...You…you’ve come up to me.” Matthew pointed out. Merula blinked, before shaking her head furiously.

“Nevermind! What were you smartarses talking about?!” she demanded, gesturing to the Ravenclaw table.

“Oh…um, it’s nothing, it’s ah, you know…” Matthew stammered, hoping that Corey wouldn’t say anything. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be going his way.

“Andre’s organised a Blind Date event tonight!” Corey declared, some of the other students looking around and gossiping. Matthew waved them down and turned back to Merula.

“Ok, so why do you care?” Merula asked, “it’s not like you’re the one-” she paused looking at Matthew’s face. She covered her mouth, but burst into laughter anyway.

“...Yeah, I know, I know…” Matthew sighed, as Merula cackled.

“You!? A blind date!? You?!” she laughed, clutching her stomach, “Oh, Merlin, that is….good luck, mate.” After a few seconds of more laughter, she sighed and pushed the hair out of her face.

 “Thanks, Merula.” Matthew muttered. “I guess you’re not taking part, then?”

“Are you kidding me? Of course not.” Merula replied. “No way anyone’s pressuring me into doing something stupid like that.”

“Yeah, and if you did there’d be a tiny chance of us ending up on a date-” Matthew thought out loud. “Um. I mean. Um.”

“Y-Yeah, uh, that’d be. Um. You know, er…” Merula stuttered, both her and Matthew’s cheeks now going shades of red and pink. They were broken out of their flustering by Andre, who tapped Matthew on the shoulder.

“Come on, Curse-Breaker. We have to get you ready for tonight. See you around, Merula!” Andre said, flipping his scarf back and leaving the Great Hall. Matthew gave Merula a small wave as he left with the other Ravenclaws. Merula stood there for a moment, running her hands up and down her satchel’s straps.

 ***

That night, Matthew nervously pulled at his red shirt’s collar and tightened his bracelet  as he stared at himself in the mirror. The outfit Andre had picked out for him, red shirt with black jeans (Andre had noticed that smart-casual worked well for Matt) was indeed fairly stylish, definitely better than what he usually wore, but he was still incredibly nervous. What was his date going to say when she found out that he very much didn’t want to be there? What were other people going to say? How was he going to make a good first impression to someone who hadn’t met him before? Who wasn’t used to his nervousness and stuttering? What would Merula say? What would-

“Curse-Breaker! It’s time!” Andre called. Matthew’s stomach was still hurting as he went down into the Common Room.

“Looking good, Matt!” said Rowan, offering a thumbs-up and a smile.

“Thanks, Ro.” Matthew replied sheepishly. “Aren’t you going?” “I would, but I’ve really got to get this homework done and an early night’s sleep.”

“But Rowan, tomorrow’s Saturday.” Matthew pointed out.

“And?”

 Before Matthew could say anything else, it was time to go. He followed Andre out of Ravenclaw Tower, still clutching his stomach, just as he’d done for the last twelve or so hours. Andre led him down to the Great Hall, where the four long tables had been replaced with more than a dozen tables, each with two chairs by them. Already, other people taking part (who presumably actually wanted to be there) were starting to sit down.

“Right, Curse-Breaker, you’re on table number 6.” Andre said, pointing at a table on the left side of the hall. “Your blind date will be there soon!”

Matthew nodded, moved to the table with a golden “6” on it and sat down. His nervousness, as always, had developed into full-blown fear. Someone was about to come up to the table expecting someone who wanted to be here. What was wrong with him? Why had he taken the place of someone who might have actually enjoyed social events? All in all, Matthew hadn’t really considered the possibility that his Blind Date would be someone he knew. His luck had been so abysmal lately, he had assumed he’d be grouped with someone who was in the year above or below. But it was at that moment that someone Matthew knew started walking towards table 6. It was probably, but not definitely, the last person Matthew expected to see here.

 “Tonks?!" exclaimed Matthew, as a girl with short pink hair rocked up to the table in a yellow suit, smiling brilliantly.

“Wotcher, Matt!” she yelled, despite being 5 feet away from him, “Surprised to see you here!” “F-Feeling’s mutual.” Matthew said, as Tonks said down with more force than was needed. “I thought you said you weren’t really, um, interested in…dating and…stuff.”

“Yeah…but I also thought this’d be a laugh.” Tonks pointed out. “You look nice!”

“Thanks…” Matthew said, pushing the hair out of his face, “Andre put it together for me. You look great too, by the way.”

“Yeah, I do. Andre says I'm one of the few lucky people who can pull off yellow.” Tonks said, proudly. Matthew nodded, the knots in his stomach untying themselves. Relief settled into him. Tonks was his friend, not a complete stranger, and now Matthew might actually be able to enjoy tonight.

 “So, how come you’re here doing this?” Tonks asked, leaning back on her chair, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s great that you’re here, but, ah…”

“It’s not my scene, yeah.” Matthew said, nodding. “Yeah, it um…well, Corey and Andre, they…they really wanted me to do it, so…”

Tonks frowned. “Blimey, no wonder you looked so tense.” Matthew squirmed as he saw her smile fade. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done it, I should have let someone else take my place, I-”

“What are you talking about?” Tonks asked, staring at him with a curious look on her face, her hair going a bright blue, “You don’t have to apologise for anything. I saw Corey over there with you this morning. I don’t see him around here.”

Matthew looked around. She was right, Corey was nowhere to be seen. Neither is Merula, he noticed.

 “Look, Matt, um, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders and all,” Tonks said, “but sometimes I worry about you. And it’s nothing you’ve done,” she added, seeing that he was about to start apologising again. “I just…I dunno. I just want to make sure you can actually enjoy going out and socialising, instead of it being a chore.”

Matthew nodded. “I guess you’re right. And…maybe I was a little too pessimistic about the whole thing…”

“Can’t say I blame you, though.” Tonks said, her smile returning. “I mean, you’re the Hero of Hogwarts, aren’t you? Rumours do swirl about your love life.”

“They do?” Matthew said incredulously. “I mean…do you…um…”

Tonks snorted and chuckled, in that way she always did. “Yeah, I’ve heard a few things. Like, ah, you and Chiara…”

“That,” said Matthew, pausing for emphasis, “is…ok, we had one kiss, but we’re just friends now, and we’re both happy with that.”

 “Glad to hear it.” said Tonks, smiling. “And of course…there’s the whole thing regarding your rival.”

Matthew’s cheeks went pink. He knew exactly who she was talking about. “That’s…ok,  that’s…”

“Cause you had that one accidental kiss ‘cos of that changeling, right?” Tonks asked. Matthew was once again squirming in his seat.

“Um…yeah…but that’s…well it’s um…” Matthew paused, looked around, and leant forward across the table. Tonks did the same, increasing the size of her ears.

“We…might have had another accidental kiss.” “I’m sorry what-” “Look, before you say anything-” “Another one?!” Tonks said, dumbfounded. “How do you have two accidental kisses? That’s crackers! How’d this one happen?” she asked.

“Well, it was in the forest.” Matthew explained. “We talked to Torvus, found out about how he knew Jacob, he picked a fight with me, I got hit with an arrow, Merula helped tend to the wound, the Centaurs started stampeding, she got pushed back and…uh…yeah.”

 Tonks blinked. “That’s…quite a story, mate. I’d say you were lying, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard you lie.”

Matthew shrugged. “Yeah, I dunno. Whenever I try to lie, I mostly burst out laughing.”

Tonks smirked. “Mind if I put that to the test?”

Matthew blinked. He didn’t feel that afraid anymore. “Not at all.” he replied, deciding to simply ride this wave of confidence until it petered out.

“Alright then, Matt: Do you like Merula?” “Um…” Matthew began, a smile already forming across his face. “Of course. She’s my friend, in a way.”

Tonks sighed. “Matt…you know that’s not what I meant.”

Matt was having to bite his lip. “Well I…you know…”

“Go on. Try saying the words ‘I don’t have a crush on Merula.’”

Matthew took a deep breath. “I don’t have a-”

He got that far before he started heaving with laughter.

 “Knew it!” said Tonks, confidently.

“Ok…fine…it’s entirely possible.” Matthew admitted. “Happy now?”

“Ecstatic.” Tonks said, grinning.

Matthew sighed again. “What about you? Anyone you’ve…got your eye on?”

Tonks shrugged. “Eh, dunno. I’ve been hanging out with Tulip a lot, but it’s very professional. Pranks only.”

“Gotcha.” Matthew nodded, “I knew you two would become fast friends.”

“Stroke of genius, that was.” Tonks said, “Ugh, what a day that was. Seeing those Boggarts, that weird wandless magic…wild…”

“You were pretty good down there too, y'know. You were incredibly quick on the draw with Riddikulus. I guess that’s why you’re so fun to duel.”

“Thanks, mate.” Tonks said, her hair going slightly red. “That’s…really, really nice of you to say.”

 It was around half ten in the evening that things started to wrap up, and Matthew and Tonks left the Great Hall, Matthew nodding to Andre. As they left, they also saw Corey near Andre. They saw Matthew and waved.

“Looks like you had fun after all!” they yelled. 

Matthew sighed. “Looks like someone can’t take their own advice.”

“No need to be like that, Matt, we all know you need help not hiding up in Ravenclaw Tower!”

Tonks looked from Matthew to Corey. Then, from within her blazer’s pocket she pulled out a Dungbomb, removed the pin, and promptly chucked it at Corey.

“Run!” she hissed, taking Matthew’s wrist, her hand touching the silver bracelet, and leading him down the staircases. They heard the poof and the hiss of gas and knew that it had worked.

“You were carrying a Dungbomb the whole time?” Matthew asked, looking at the stink cloud above them. “I always have one just in case!” Tonks replied, cheerfully.

 In a few minutes’ time, they had made it to just outside Hufflepuff House. They were both breathing heavily, but had massive grins on their faces.

“...thanks a bunch for that, Tonks.” Matthew panted, trying to catch his breath. “You and Tulip really are two of a kind.”

“And I didn’t know you could be such a snarker.” Tonks said, her hair switching between orange and red. “Merula would be proud.”

They looked at the door to the Hufflepuff Common Room, surrounded by barrels. Tonks yawned, looking for the right barrel.

“Umm,” Matthew began, “Tonight’s been…really fun. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in ages.”

“Yeah! Tonight was wicked!” Tonks said, “And uh, I’ll keep my lips sealed about your second kiss with The Most Surly Witch at Hogwarts.”

 Matthew chuckled, looking at Tonks. Her hair had gone a mix of orange and red, which worked with her yellow suit to give the sense of a warm fire. “Really, though. Thank you, Tonks. I don’t think I would have enjoyed tonight if it was anyone but you.”

 Tonks moved away from the barrels, and over to Matthew. She gave him a toothy grin, before standing up on her tiptoes and kissing Matthew on his cheek. “Matt, you’re too sweet.” She said, winking, before knocking five times on a barrel and heading into Hufflepuff House. He held his hand up to his cheek, which was now pink along with the rest of his face, as he began the trek back to Ravenclaw Tower. On the way, he walked past the Slytherin Dungeons, outside of which stood Merula and Ismelda Murk. “I see that you had fun tonight.” Merula said bitterly. “Guess you got your stomach in a twist for nothing. As always.”

“Hello to you too, Merula.” said Matthew, offering a small wave. “You too, Ismelda.”

Ismelda grunted in return. Merula scoffed.

Matthew cleared his throat. “So-”

“It’s none of your business, but for your information, we’re waiting up for Lee. He had no qualms going into a blind date.”

 Matthew nodded. “See you around then, ‘rula. I’ll try to get your broom back to you by the end of the week, ok?”

“...You’d better.” Merula snapped. Matthew sighed, and continued on his way back to Ravenclaw Tower. He didn’t see Merula’s cheeks go red, nor did he hear her mutter “...He called me ‘rula…”

[hphmmatthewluther]

Valentine’s Challenge 2022: Day 3- Red

Here’s Day 3! Challenge created by @lifeofkaze​ and Rosie Mayfield was created by the wonderful @magicapandora​ !!

Day 3: Red

 (Pairings: Matthew Luther/Merula Snyde)

If you were to ask anyone at Hogwarts during the time of the Cursed Vaults who they said defined Slytherin, they probably would have pointed at Merula Snyde. Unlike Jae Kim, whose house was a surprise to everyone, Merula wore something green all the time, usually a green flannel jacket whenever she didn’t just stick with her school uniform. Ismelda and Liz could attest to the fact that Merula even wore green pyjamas. In fact, they happened to be talking about it as they entered the Common Room (fate does seem to have a thing for coincidences.)

“Well I don’t think it matters that much either,” Liz was saying, “I’m just saying she could stand to branch out a little, yknow?”

Ismelda grunted. “Are you going to say the same thing about me and black?”

Liz clicked her tongue. “...Yeah, uh, no.”

There was a small silence before Liz spoke again. “You know, I think I know why Merula likes green so much…”

 Ismelda raised an eyebrow. “Would you happen to be referring to her bitter rival?”

Liz held her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. “One time she left her diary open and I saw she’d written about his “Eyes like a forest canopy”, et cetera, et cetera”

Ismelda snorted. “Merlin, of course she wrote that. Ever since Luther helped her with her Patronus, she’s been so soppy about him, it’s ridiculous.”

“I think it’s rather sweet.” said Liz, “It’s like watching a Puffskein go wild for a bit of chocolate.”

“Whatever…” Ismelda sighed. “Stuff like this is why I hate Valentine’s Day. People go crazy for no good reason. Which is why I’m going to hole up here, so I won’t have to deal with it anymore.”

Unfortunately for Ismelda, as she and Liz entered the girl’s dormitories, they were met with the sight of merula holding a reddish-pink dress with a black upper half up to her waist with one hand, and a long-sleeved see-through shirt in the other.

 “Merula?” Liz said quietly. The girl in front of the mirror twisted around in shock.

“AAH! Issy?! Lizard?! What are you two doing here?” she yelled, more out of surprise than anger. Her face had gone a deep red, similar in shade to the dress she was holding.

“We sleep here.” Ismelda said bluntly. Liz nodded in agreement, and Merula huffed.

“Well…get to sleep then!” she snapped, gesturing to the two beds.

“Merula, what exactly are you doing?” Liz asked.

“None of your-” she began, before looking down at the clothes she was wearing and realising there was no escaping this. “I’m…getting ready to go…out.”

“With Matthew.” Ismelda observed. Merula tried to say something in return, but was so red in the face all that came out was a small squeak.

“...I see.” Liz said, “Well, I’m very happy for you, Merula!”

“Just…I…” Merula stammered, pinching her nose, “I just…I dunno…if this works.” she said, gesturing to the clothes.

 Ismelda was now sitting on her bed, unwrapping some chocolate she’d nicked from a valentine’s box. “Odd choice of clothing, though. Not very you.”

“It’s-” Merula began, clutching the top’s fabric in her hands.

“Deep breath, Merula.” Liz reminded her.

Merula paused. “Right. Um. Ok look, I decided to talk to Khanna about it and they said Matthew’s favourite colour was red.”

There was silence. “Red.” Ismelda repeated.

“Yep.”

“Not blue?” Liz asked. “You’re sure Rowan said red.”

“Yes, I made sure they weren’t messing with me.” Merula nodded. “I mean, he wore red to the Celestial Ball and all, so…I mean, it’s not like he doesn’t like blue, clearly, but…I guess he likes red more?”

“Huh. Weird.” Ismelda said. “It’s not like with Kim, where he wears red all the time.”

“I’m aware.” snapped Merula. “Can we focus? Look, I just…I thought maybe if I wore red he’d…well…like it. So I went to Mayfield and they made me this.”

 Liz got up and stared at the dress. “You got Rosie to make you this? How’d you swing that?”

“I gave them all the leftover Valentine’s chocolate I could find.” Merula explained, “anyway, obviously it’s a fairly good dress, but..um…look it’s nothing, I’ll just wear something else-”

“Merula…” Liz began cautiously, “If you want to wear the dress, you should wear it…”

“It’s just…I can’t…this feels like something only Haywood can wear!” she yelled. “I- I just…look, it’s not just that I’m not the most approachable person, it’s everything! My posture is awful, whenever we do quidditch practice I lag behind, I’m tiny, I’ve got stretch marks-”

“Merula.” Ismelda said, getting off her bed and walking over to her. “Has Matthew ever once told you that you don’t look nice?”

Merula shrugged. “It’s Matthew. He’s probably not saying it because he’s terrified of being yelled at.” But Ismelda shook her head.

 “Merula, you are going to put on that dress and you are going to floor him. That constantly thinking brain of his is going to grind to a halt when he sees you. He is going to be utterly astonished by you and it will be…” Ismelda paused for effect, offering a rare smile, “absolutely hilarious.”

Merula chuckled. “Thanks, Iz. It’s um…it’s not just the dress though…” She grabbed her satchel off of her bed and pulled two things out of a small pocket on it. One was a small bottle of red hair-dye. The other was lipstick of an even deeper crimson. “I might…need some help with this stuff.”

Ismelda and Liz looked at each other. Neither of them had ever heard Merula ask for help so directly before. They both turned to her and nodded.

“Of course, Merula. We’d be happy to help!” Liz exclaimed.

“Just leave it to us.” Ismelda reassured her. “Yknow, my favourite colour is red, too.”

“Oh really?” Liz said incredulously. “Why would-” then Liz remembered. Liz nodded, and the two got to work.

 “Couldn’t we just use Colovaria?”

“I want it to be authentic. He grew up in the muggle world, he likes that sort of thing.”

“What do you think about that by the way? Him being half-blood.”

“Actually he’s five-eights wizard. I’ve merely decided to round up.”

“Very clever. Now, hold still-”

“I am holding still!”

“You’re squirming like a Niffler who’s spotted a Galleon.”

“Am not!”

“Ok, I think that’s it. Anything else?”

“Just these.”

“Ah. Of course.”

***

Matthew was waiting in the Clocktower Courtyard when the great doors opened. After a few days of dealing with Lockhart and the rest of the Valentine’s Day mania, part of him was beginning to wonder what the point of it all was. But as he looked towards the light of the fires within the castle, he very suddenly felt a lot better about the whole thing. Below the large iron pendulum stood Merula Snyde, and while he recognised her, it took him a second to register that she was there for him. As Matthew came up to her he noticed that it was more than just the bottom of her skirt that was red. The small tuft of ginger hair had been dyed a pinkish red colour, and had been combed out slightly. Matthew’s cheeks were already their own shade of red by this point, but what caused him to freeze like a deer in the headlights were her lips, which were an incredible scarlet.

 “Good to see you, Matt.” Merula said, smirking.

“H-Hey…you…uh well, you uh…you look…amazing…I mean you always do, of course, but…” Matthew stammered, unable to produce a coherent thought.

“Thanks. You look pretty good too.” Merula said, sighing. “Nice out tonight, isn’t it?”

Matthew switched between looking up at the sky and looking at her. “Yeah, not a cloud up there…Um…did Rosie make that?” he said pointing to the dress.

“Well spotted.” Merula nodded, honestly surprised. “What, does she have some specific cross-stitch style?”

“N-No, they signed it.” he replied, pointing at the tiny “R.M.” at Merula’s waist.

“So they did.” observed Merula. “And I assume you went to Egwu for yours.”

“Naturally.” Matthew said. “...You really do look amazing.”

 Merula looked at her, at those green eyes that reminded her of the trees around her home. Matthew was looking at her too, clutching his silver bracelet. But his eyes were focused slightly lower than hers were, and she had a solid idea as to what had done it.

“Something catch your eye, Luther?” she asked, sweetly.

“I…I just..” Matthew began, clearly thinking it was far too forward to ask for a kiss tonight. “I’m glad it’s just us right now.”

“Me too. Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.”

She began to lead him towards the greenhouses, eager to show him her surprise. She looked back at Matthew, a goofy smile on his face which was growing redder by the second, looked down at her green bracelets on her left, which clinked against Matthew’s silver and whispered a “thanks” to her friends, aware that her love was studying every movement of her lips behind her.

[hphmmatthewluther]

Valentine’s Challenge 2022: Day 4- In-Laws

Here’s day 4! Sorry it’s a bit late! And this challenge was of course created by @lifeofkaze​ !!

Day 4: In-Laws

 (Pairings: Matthew Luther/Merula Snyde, and…Timothy Snyde/Anastasia Snyde?)

Having a great-grandfather who could travel between shadows definitely had its advantages. Matthew realised this as he found himself deposited in a dismal, dark, grey corridor lined with criss-crossed iron bars. If Matthew had been raised in the Wizarding World, he’d be more aware of the severity of what he’d just done.

“So…this is Azkaban prison?” he asked, seemingly out loud.

“What else on earth could it be?” sighed Atticus from within the shadows. “Now, get what you need and get back here quickly, ok? This place gives me the willies.”

Matthew agreed with Atticus there. “Fine. I’ll be back soon.” He said, before beginning his trek down the corridor, clutching his silver bracelet which fizzled with blue sparks, trying its best to nullify the influence of this place on Matthew.

 Matthew wasn’t as worried as he might have been; he had his bracelet after all, and if all else failed his Patronus (though he presumed that this would attract far more attention). So on he walked past thin prisoners who mostly didn’t react to him, and those who did fled to the opposite side of the cell in fear. Matthew was so intent on what he was looking for that he completely failed to notice one of the prisoners staring right at him.

“You’re not one of the Aurors,” said a hoarse voice. Matthew twisted around and saw a man with long, black hair and a small scraggly beard.

“No. No I am not.” said Matthew, surprised that one of the prisoners was able to hold a conversation. “I’m Matthew Luther.”

A whisper of a smile appeared on the prisoner’s face. “Nice to meet you, Matt. You’re here for something then? Or, ah, someone?”

 Matthew nodded cautiously. “Oh, um, yeah. I need to find Timothy and Anastasia Snyde.”

The prisoner sighed. “You just missed Timothy. They took him out to talk to some Ministry men. But…” he pointed a thin, bony finger at the wall of his cell. Matthew raced to the door of that cell, and, sure enough, there was a woman in her late forties hunched up against the wall. It took a moment for Matthew to recognise her, after all he was only six when he met her, but the chestnut hair and brown eyes were the ones he had committed to memory.

“Um…hello?” Matthew asked, cautiously.

Anastasia Snyde whimpered, before turning to face Matthew. “Tim? Is that you, dear?”

Matthew’s eyes screwed shut for a moment. “I’m…I’m sorry, I’m not…my name is Matthew.”

“He’s a friend.” the prisoner reassured Mrs. Snyde through the wall. “You’ve got me curious now. Why are you here?”

 ***

“What took you so long to get here?!” Merula snapped. She was standing outside the Great Hall, in front of Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Bill Weasley, Rowan Khanna, the Haywood sisters (who were holding each other tightly) and two others. One of them had long black hair and a dark green dress on, and hadn’t been in the castle for decades. The other one had a t- shirt, denim jacket and jeans on, and was one of the few Muggles to ever have set foot here.

“Well?!” Merula demanded. “I’m waiting for an explanation. He told you to get here before last night and you’ve only just arrived!”

Peter Luther scratched his head. “Well, I had to find a way to message Uncle Newt to get me here…”

Dumbledore nodded. “Indeed, Miss Snyde. One cannot blame Mr Luther for his lateness.”

 Merula huffed. “I suppose so…But what about her?!” she asked, pointing at the woman trying to ignore Peter. Lucia Doherty sighed.

“I was merely concerned that this was some sort of trick.” she explained, “My son is not exactly fond of me.”

“A trick?!” screeched Merula, pausing to take a breath. “It’s Matthew! He’s incapable of lying!”

Lucia scoffed. “Well, how am I supposed to know that?”

“You’re his mother!”

Peter nodded. “She’s not wrong. He can’t lie to save his life.”

 ***

“Look, we met about 10 years ago.” Matthew explained. “I don’t know if you remember, but…I was in the Military, looking for my mother? Lucia Doherty?”

Mrs. Snyde moved closer to the cell door. “It’s…hard to remember…” she sighed, clutching her head. “I remember…you and my daughter…you were laughing together…you…you go to Hogwarts!” she said suddenly. “My daughter! Have you seen her?!”

I’ve done slightly more than that, Matthew thought to himself, realising that this was shaping up to be a very awkward “Meet The Parents.”

“Y-Yeah, I know her.” Matthew said, leaning down slightly, “I’m…I’m trying to help her. I need to find your husband.”

“Y-You know Merula?! She’s a friend of yours?!” she exclaimed. Matthew felt something change in the air.

“They can sense her newfound happiness.” The other prisoner explained. “They’ll be here soon.”

 Mrs. Snyde ignored the prisoner’s warnings. “How is she faring? Which house did she end up in?”

“Oh. Um, she ended up in Slytherin, and uh, she’s doing fine, yeah.” Matthew replied, “She’s…y'know…making her own way.”

“Oh, she’s in Slytherin, how wonderful!” Mrs. Snyde sighed, “You know, her father always said she would be, but I always thought she might end up in Ravenclaw like he did.”

That was a surprise to Matthew. When Merula mentioned being a fourth generation Slytherin, she must have meant it was on her mother’s side. “Um, yeah. Speaking of your husband, um-”

“My goodness, what year is she in? Fourth year, I think? Or…maybe, was it…”

It was difficult for Matthew to keep his eyes on her; he kept wanting to gaze down at the floor. “F-Fifth year.”

“Goodness! Her OWLs! How has she done?”

“She’s done alright, she um, she said her Defence against the Dark Arts OWL went perfectly, so…”

“How wonderful!”

 ***

“You know, this is explaining a lot.” Penny whispered to Bill as the group watched Matthew’s parents argue.

“So where exactly is JJ?” Peter asked, “Matt said he’d been found.”

“He’s currently recovering in the hospital wing.” Merula explained. “It’s-”

“And has he offered any explanation for his disappearance?” Lucia demanded.

“Well, he was trapped in a Portrait.”

Lucia scowled. “And has he offered any proof of this?”

Merula scoffed. “Well, I saw him there!” she exclaimed, before pointing at the other students. “Ask any of them, they saw him too!”

Lucia sneered. It reminded Merula an awful lot of Rakepick, causing her to unconsciously hold her still aching stomach. “You still haven’t offered an explanation as to where Matthew is.” she pointed out.

 “She’s told you he’ll be back,” Rowan said, cutting in. “Your…well, I suppose it’d be your great-grandfather, Atticus Doherty, took Matthew somewhere to deal with something, I’d guess to head off Rakepick, but I have no real way of knowing.”

“Hang on, Rakepick?” said Peter, Lucia looking like she’d only just realised he was there, “This being the same Rakepick who Matt told me was breaking apart and manipulating his friends?”

“That’s the one.” Bill said through gritted teeth.

“And why wasn’t I made aware of this?” Lucia said, glaring at everyone.

“Maybe if you were a better mother he would.” Merula muttered, but Lucia must have caught part of it.

“What was that, young lady?” she said, with a forced smile.

“I said.” Merula replied, slowly, “that maybe he thought you would ask him for proof before you did anything. I mean really, that does worry me, even my parents write to me and tell me what’s best for me!”

Lucia scowled. “And why are you so worried? Aren’t you his rival?!”

Merula laughed, any and all fear gone from within her. “Why am I worried? Because I love him!”

 It took her a few seconds to realise what she had just said in front of everyone.

 ***

 The other prisoner cleared his throat. “It’s dangerous to think thoughts like those in here,” he droned, “They’re few and far between for a reason.”

Matthew scowled at the wall. “Fine. Look, Mrs Snyde, I’d love to tell you more about how Merula’s doing, but I need to find your husband. Did you see where they took him? It’s…it’s for Merula’s sake, please.” Matthew’s words began coming out at a million miles per hour, as if the desperation of this place had taken hold of him. The smile on Mrs. Snyde’s face faded.

“It was…just a few hours ago, now.” she said, trying her best to remember, “I think they took Tim to the Interrogation room, one floor below.”

“Interrogation room, floor below, got it.” Matthew repeated. “Thank you. She…she talks about you a lot, you know. I…I think she misses you. Those letters she gets from you…I don’t know if they’re enough for her.”

Anastasia nodded, slowly. “I miss her too. Tim does as well, just as much as I do.”

 Before she could say anything else, there was a horrific noise that Matthew hadn’t heard in more than a year. The cry of a Dementor. No, several.

“I warned you.” the other prisoner said. Anastasia backed away in complete and utter fear.

“N-No, please…” she begged, “Tim…help me…”

Matthew drew his wand and pointed it at the trio of hooded figures floating towards them. He shut his eyes, and: “Expecto Patronum!”

Mrs. Snyde watched in awe as a burst of white light appeared from Matthew’s wand. It grew out, forming a body and four legs. Within seconds, a majestic stallion was charging at the Dementors. It slammed head first into one of them and kicked at another, the third fleeing before it could be hurt. The horse circled back to Matthew, who pointed at the cell Mrs. Snyde was in.

 “Stay here.” he ordered. “Keep her and the man behind that wall safe.”

“Thought you’d forgotten about me for a bit there.” the other prisoner chuckled. “Go. We’ll be fine. Have to say, I’m impressed. I’ve never known to cast a Patronus at such a young age.”

As Matthew turned to leave, Mrs. Snyde came up to the door. “Thank you, dear. I am glad Merula has a…friend like you, especially while we cannot reach her.” she whispered.

“I’m glad I have her too.” Matthew said, his cheeks going slightly pink. “But you’ve sent those letters, of course…or I suppose you husband must have…”

He ran towards the stairs. Slowly, Anastasia Snyde stood up for what felt like the first time in years. She walked over to the glistening white stallion, and began to pet it.

“What a beautiful Patronus.” she sighed. “And what a nice boy. But…” she turned to the wall. “What on earth did he mean by letters?”

“I haven’t the foggiest. It’s not like any of us are allowed to send them…”

 ***

“So, all in all, it can’t go much worse than that.”

 It was a warm summer’s evening, and an anxious Rowan Luther-Snyde was standing in front of the Snyde Mansion’s fireplace, a fistful of floo powder in his hand. On his left were his Mum and Dad, who had just finished explaining a very convoluted story. To his right, sat in a chair in front of the fire, was Anastasia Snyde. Her hair was now grey, but it was far warmer and healthier than it had been all those years ago.

“Ok, well I don’t think it can go that badly.” Rowan admitted, “But I’m still worried about things going wrong.”

“Nothing you can do about that.” Matthew sighed. “Trust me. You can’t just wish your worries away.”

“I’m sure you’ll have a lovely first date, Rowan.” Anastasia reassured him.

“Graaaaannn….” Rowan moaned. “Ok. Ok. I’m going. I’m going to Cass’ house, her parents will be there, I’m gonna meet them, here we go.”

 He moved forward into the fireplace, yelled “The Vole House!”, threw the powder down, and vanished into the green flames.

“He’ll be alright.” Merula said, sighing. “Reminds me of how much of a worry-wart you used to be, Luther.”

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Used to be?”

Anastasia laughed. “Well, he’s the finest worry-wart I’ve ever seen.”

Merula nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Need anything, Mum?”

“No, just tell your father to get down here. Him and Abigail have been trying to find that thing up in the attic for hours.”

“Alright then.”

Merula headed upstairs, leaving Matthew and Anastasia on their own.

“Matthew, pet, would you mind doing it again?” Anastasia asked.

Matthew nodded. “Of course, I’d love to. Expecto Patronum!”

 The spectral horse burst into life, and made its way towards the older woman. She cooed at it, stretching to pet its head. The room was warm, brightly lit by the fireplace, and Matthew couldn’t help but smile, his silver bracelet very much dormant.