GAMBIT

Chapter Two: A Study in Carvings

A/N: Hello! This is the second chapter of Gambit. <3 I hope you all are safe and well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at this strange, little story, and for the encouragement, comments, and kudos. Truthfully, I adore these characters and wanted to post more of this story, but I know some people are waiting for the conclusion of LUMOS, so I felt a bit unsure about continuing just yet until someone asked. So--Thank you for caring and for your patience. <3

[For those who are interested, the next chapter of Lumos is still en route!]

A bit of housekeeping: As you'll see, the other POV in this story is Septimus, which is primarily told in third-person like most of the rest of the Lumos!universe stories.

The one difference is that Septimus's chapters will often be "bookended" by little entries from a certain journal. I've tried to make it clear when it's a third person narrator that follows Septimus and when it's Septimus's own writings from the book. [The latter are italicized and clearly labelled as "The Book" before the heading, and the passages are proceeded and/or followed by two hash marks.]

TLDR: It's all related, but to be extra clear—Septimus did not "write" the main content of each chapter, only the italicized bits. That follows a similar narrative style as the Lumos/Mollywobbles/etc. stories. It is perhaps more comparable to Mollywobbles, though, as it will not necessarily rotate POVs every other chapter. <3

Is this strange? Maybe. I wanted to try something a bit new and different with the POVs in this story, though, so I hope this is okay!! I'll try my best to make sure it's all clear. [If you all would prefer journal entries in their own chapters, we can do that as well! Please let me know in the comments. :) ]

Playlist: https://spoti.fi/3I0PRxQ1. "Let's Pretend" by Audiomachine (Prelude)2. "Festival of Light" by AudioMachine (The Book; Page One)3. "Cornfield Chase" by Hans Zimmer, then "Flight" by Johannes Bornlof (September 7, 1910)4. "Festival of Light" again, the "Remember Not to Forget" by Audiomachine (December 26, 1917)5. "Fateful News" by Luke Richards (June 11 – 12, 1918)6. "Leap of Faith" by Audiomachine (The Book; Page Two)------CW (mild spoilers): Moderate CD; brief descriptions of Great War era violence.

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Chapter Two: A Study in Carvings

Prelude

Elgin Weasley died in a trench, red hair blasted brown and black from debris and mud, transfigured muggle robes saturated full of crimson that hid the change back to cloak and hood as the charm flaked away. Utterly alone, yet surrounded by muggles who didn't know the spells for how to put a body back together once it had blasted apart.

By the time his dear friend Henry found him, he was quite gone.

But before Elgin Weasley died in a trench, he was a son, a husband, and a father to four boys, each named after months of the year. They loved him dearly, and they felt his loss until the day they followed him. Marching in a row—a line of little, toy soldiers trudging after a man who'd left impossibly large boot prints in the wounded earth.

This is the story of the second born. The one who walked most slowly, and therefore most carefully within the shadow his father had cast—all the way from that mucky trench of bayonets and hopelessness to a great horizon.

See, Septimus knew where his father had looked, when he fell. He watched not the tread of boot marks, but the direction Elgin had been marching.

Towards a brighter day.

That is what he found. That is what he brought. One move after another.

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The Book
Page One

"June 20, 2003
Dear Arthur,

In your hands, you hold a magically bound volume containing many of my letters and journals. It is not tidy. In some places, it may go out of order. Some bits were written at their respective times and copied in with charms or by hand. Other entries and events have been more recently inscribed or expanded upon, so that you might have a better understanding of the things you wish to know.