antebellum [t. riddle]

lxv

march 1945
graphic discussion of substance abuse
— quick a/n: the inner monologue of several characters descriptions/ideas relating to addiction and mental health are purposefully unhealthy. their views are flawed intentionally and are meant to reflect their anger at the situation rather than any true moral stance/opinion. anyone struggling with any kind of substance abuse is deserving of support and affordable treatment, and if you or someone you know is struggling, i implore you to reach out.

recently, all of my visions have been ones that connect to you, i feel. i've seen a serpent. how is that related to you?

all of my visions had been of war, and then suddenly, it was you.

i can sense that you are female. i've always thought witches to be the most vicious of all creatures who bear magic.

as for everything else i have seen from you— questions, but no answers. clues, but no conclusions.

the reason you evade me now is because you've remained still. the moment you start to run, i shall be only one pace behind you.

i must thank you. albus rarely responds to me and it seems you have given him the first incentive to do so since 1943.

he did not sign the letter.

on the morning she received this letter, the newspaper told her of the formal announcement of the macusa embassy being built, but the news was undercut by the stories of the british and french ministry seeing break-ins, leaving several security aurors dead in both. it was suspected that grindelwald himself was at one of these buildings, though the aurors refused to say (or perhaps did not know) which. the intruders took to demolishing every one of the wards they could, just so that no one would be able to pinpoint exactly what it is they were looking for. 

sicaria reckoned that she knew.

•••

despite tom's admission that he studied this witch, there was no possible way that he could claim to be able to know her every thought or predict her every reaction. because she was so excellent at hiding herself from him, he, by nature, had to better himself at hiding things from her. it wasn't competition, per se— more of a need to have no vulnerabilities. there was something about her— perhaps the omniscience of her gaze, or the ardor of her words— that had the irritating ability to make him feel laid bare to her.

it was so very difficult to hide things from her. he suspected that she thought he lied to her about far more than he actually did, though he couldn't really fault her for being so suspicious.

he could never quite explain all the lengths that he had recently gone to to ensure that she was kept alive and well, long enough for him to procure the ingredients needed to do the horcrux ritual, as well as keep her in the dark about it. he could sense her disappointment when he had to lie and tell her he was too busy for her (various things she could not disprove, like his head-prefect duties), but a few nights of irritation would be nothing in comparison to the eternity he'd give her to be angry with him. it had taken him months to gather materials the first time, but now he had little research to do. he did not have that eternity available to him now. next time he could get off campus, he'd have to make a few in-person visits to speed up the process.

he also bound all five of his knights to oaths of secrecy. even avery, who could gather things from him outside the bounds of the castle, though he had no means of contacting her. tom refused to let anything go wrong. rosier and lestrange both seemed to think this was the right course of action, but were skittish about the means to accomplish it. malfoy was somewhat apprehensive of magic this dark, no matter who it was being applied to. avery and nott were both vehemently against every single aspect of this plan, but did what they were told reluctantly.