Alura waited as patiently as she could on the bench in the courtyard, staring at the door to Noah’s classroom. She held two cups of hot chocolate in her hands, and she tapped her fingers nervously against the cup as she waited. She knew he was fine, he’d texted her after it had happened, but she would only really relax once she saw for herself. She jumped up as people started filing out, using all the restraint she had to stay put and wait as she searched for his face. He was one of the last to leave, and Alura heaved a deep sigh of relief as she saw him. She sent him a bright smile, her feet moving of their own accord as she met him halfway. “White hot chocolate.” She grinned, holding out one of the cups to him.
e.l. (via wnq-writers)
4, 27, 29, 1
4. What is your zodiac sign?
Virgo.
27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?
It’s about the last thing I want. I’m actually quite nervous to pursue professional quidditch for that reason.
29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?
Merlin, no. I can’t even imagine.
1. What is you middle name?
Europa.
Get to Know Me, Get to Know me Uncomfortably Well
Send me a number 1-100 and I’ll answer a question from here.
Cassie was startled at first when someone grabbed her arm, but she smiled when she saw who it was. “Alura, I told you. I didn’t mind, don’t worry about it, okay? I’m just glad I could help in some way.”
“You can tell me not to worry but that’s not going to stop me.” Alura told her, rolling her eyes. She hated having to drag anyone else into her problems. “But I wanna make it up to you - and don’t even tell me not to, because I’m not going to listen.” She grinned, shrugging lightly. “So I’m thinking we could get our nails done for Christmas or something.”
“Hey!” Alura grinned widely at Cassie, grabbing her arm and towing her slightly away from the people around them. “I just wanted to thank you again for....you know. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”
“Mm, seventy-five. I for one think you’d still look beautiful. Enough for me to tell Orion about me and you, and for you to break it off with what’s-his-face, so we can run away together.” He looped his arms around her. ”Can’t fight it forever.”
“Don’t be silly, love, of course I would.” Alura rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but giggle at his words. “You know that Noah works with potions now, right? He could poison you about a million different ways just for saying that. Probably would, too.” She teased, nudging him playfully. “Besides, you’re the one that went and got married on me.”
“So on a scale of one to ten, how mad will your sister be if I show up to this thing in sweats?” She asked, flourishing the invitation in front of her.
“Lu, you’re thinking too much.” Cassie walked back over to her and took both of her hands in hers. “You’re my best friend. Fur, fangs and all,” She smirked. “And I know our families are different, but I have at least seen the type of people your father is. I won’t let him hurt you again, okay? And you’re not going to hurt me, so stop overthinking all of this, you analyzing little Ravenclaw.”
She tugged her hand and nodded to the door. “You want to grab some stuff for when you change back? Then I’ll apparate us there.”
“I am not.” She grumbled, letting her grab her hands within her own. A small smile played across her lips at her words and she swung their hands between them lightly as she thought. “Okay.” She agreed hesitantly with a small sigh, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “Thank you.”
Alura nodded once, lips pursed. “Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Her voice was soft and she sent her a fleeting smile before turning and disappearing into her bedroom, grabbing a pair of sweats and the closest t-shirt she could find and shoving them into her bag before returning to Cassie. “Alright. Let’s get this over with, yeah?”
“It’s always a game with them, Alura. Always.” She shook her head, “And you don’t know that. People are becoming a lot more accepting about stuff like this nowadays, it might backfire.” Cassie stopped when Alura did, turning around to face her. “Mother’s place is surrounded by woods. It’s secluded. During the full moon, you’ll have the area you need and I’ll be there waiting when you come back.” She looked at her for a moment, before saying, “You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you deal with this all by yourself. And you can’t say no. I’m a Malfoy. I always get my way, you know that. I’m not above kidnapping you.” She smirked, slightly. “I’ll do it anyway.”
She saw Cassie’s point, but it did little to ease her worry. Rabastan was different - he was insane. They were talking about a man who’d intentionally had his daughters bitten by a werewolf - all bets were off. “I guess.” She nodded, trying to let her words soothe her, a feat harder than it should have been. “I don’t know...” She worried her lip between her teeth again, glancing over at Cassie. Alura smiled softly at her next words, knowing she wasn’t bluffing in the slightest. She sighed heavily, shaking her head. “You’re sure about this?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as she gave in. “I mean, it’s....it’s dangerous. I could hurt you. I haven’t been without wolfsbane in....” She shook her head again at the thought. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Alura pouted as she voiced that particular thought, almost the most bothersome.
Cassie worried her lip and shook her head. “You’re not,” she said, automatically, taking the letter from her. She scanned it, a frown forming with each word she read. Cassie lowered the letter and looked down at Alura. She sighed and sat the letter aside, sitting beside her. Taking her hands in hers, she brought them to rest on her lap. “You’re not going back. And you’re not listening to him. You know how they are. They play these mind games to get what they want, and you’re so much better than that. And stronger.”
She squeezed her hands and dropped one, keeping the other in hers as she stood again. “You’re coming home with me. My mother’s gone for the weekend, so we can stay at her place in France and figure this out together. You’re not staying here.”
Alura looked up at her again, the protectiveness in her tone almost breaking her heart. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve Cassie. “What if it’s not a game?” She asked quietly, her lower lip trembling slightly. “What if he’s not messing around this time, Cassie?” She stood suddenly, needing to move. Running a hand agitatedly through her hair, she started pacing in her small kitchen, thinking. “It would be the end for me. No quidditch, no career at all.” She went on, her voice bordering on panic.
“Cassie, I can’t - the full moon.” She stopped dead in her tracks, looking at her friend. “I don’t have any potion - and Noah can’t make me more, not in time.” She shook her head, biting her bottom lip so hard she was surprised she didn’t taste blood.
Cassie walked up to Alura’s room, pausing to knock on the door. When she didn’t get an answer, she reached out for the doorknob, letting herself in when she realized it was unlocked. “Alura?” Cassie knitted her eyebrows together in concern when she saw her and shut the door behind her. “Gianna told me you were up here. Is everything okay?”
Her eyes fell to the letter in her hands. If there was anything she recognized, it was the manner in which pure-blood families sent letters. “Your father,” Cassie said, rather than asked, because she just knew. “What does he want?”
Alura glanced up slowly, meeting Cassie’s gaze, her words taking a moment to register. She nodded as she mentioned Gianna, the letter that she’d been clutching finally falling from her fingers. “He...” She started, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat, shaking her head. “He wants me to come home.” She said, pushing the letter across the table, an invitation for Cassie to read it if she wanted to. “He wants the same thing he’s always wanted.” She sighed, dropping her head into her hands as she could feel the little control she had slipping.
“He took all my wolfsbane.” She murmured, not sure if Cassie could hear her. “He broke in here and took everything I had.” Alura looked up at her through her hands, desperation in her eyes. “He....he said he would....” She swallowed hard, finding it hard to voice the words she’d been reading over and over. “He said he’s going to tell everyone if I don’t behave. I don’t know what to do.”
Alura sat at the small table in her room, staring unseeingly at the letter in her hands. She had read it through enough times she had the words memorised. She should have known her father would surface again at some point, it had been too long of a silence since her and Amata had run away. Still, she could only sit there in shock. She heard a knock on the door as if far more distant than it actually was, but she didn’t move. It registered somewhere deep in her mind that she had made plans, but they didn’t seem to matter anymore. She just sat there, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do from here.
mid-week meme
😃 + send me names anon and I’ll share my personal experience with that person. 📷 + send me a rumor or assumption. I’ll confirm or dispute it. 💭 + a word. I’ll give you a bad and good memory from my past that associates with it. 💡 + any question you’ve ever wanted to ask me. I’ll answer 100% honestly. 🎨 + a theme or name, and I’ll make an aesthetic or moodboard based on that. 🎵 + a name and I’ll post a song that comes to mind when I think of that person and why.
“Do I have your— “ Apollo paused in front of her on his trip to nowhere particular. “No, I do not. I mean, I could break the door down if I tried hard enough. In that case, my shoulder is your key.”
“I figured not.” Alura sighed, rubbing a hand tiredly across her face. “Hm. Thanks for the offer, but I figure that might get me into even more trouble, and I do not need any more of that.”
“Mhm,” he skated over to her. “Because only wobbling every three seconds means your destined for a gold medal, baby.”
“That means that there’s two seconds that I’m not wobbling.” She argued with a smirk, sticking her tongue out at him as she grabbed for the railing. “How do you know how to do this?”
Future | Noah & Alura
He winced a little when she squeezed his fingers but he ignored it and brought her hand up to his mouth anyway. He pressed his lips to her fingers, kissing them gently. “Oh hell no I won’t,” he replied, bringing his other hand to run through her hair slightly. “You are focusing on healing right now, because that’s the way that you might be able to get back to your career.”
He shook his head. “No, no, I told them that you were hurt. I think they’ll let it slide considering my fiancee is in the hospital.” He still couldn’t believe he could call Alura his fiancee. “Besides if they really need me, I’m in the same building.”
Alura watched his movements as he moved their hands together, and she narrowed her eyes slightly as she noticed the small burns starting to show on his hands. She sighed, pinning him with a stare. “Noah Lockwood, why do I keep buying you gloves if you refuse to wear them?” She asked, rolling her eyes, although the normalcy of their banter helped ease her somewhat. “I don’t -” She started, looking at her blanket clad feet. “I don’t think I have a career anymore. And they won’t say it, but I don’t think the healers do, either.”
She watched his expression, and despite everything that had happened in the past twelve hours, she smiled as he called her his fiance, glancing once more at the ring on her finger. It was amazing, really, that they’d made it that far. She had been convinced most of her life it would be her and Amata in the end, and that was it. “I love you.” She said suddenly, meeting his gaze. “And I really hope they don’t need you.”