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05.16 @ 12:42pm
We are now allowing members to play on up to threeinternational teams (including Britain).
05.15 @ 9:25am
Activity checks are in progress. If you need a character reactivated, please post in maintenance. The Gossipmongering Hags are hiring!
5.13 @ 10:25pm
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5.05 @ 11:00am
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5.01 @ 12:16 am
We're now accepting summer temporaries! Got a few summer adoptable? They have their own list this year! We're also in the month of May! Congrats to Anastasia and Olive who won Posting Wizard for April with 306 and 209 posts respectively!
04.28 @ 10:58am
Information on the QWC countries has been reposted to assist in the creation of international players!
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 141
Member No.: 1,003
Joined: 3-March 12
set for a few days from today ><
Sophronia Van Helsing
:
Look out, they're coming after us with big guns, they're only gonna tell you all the bad things I've done, even if they words they say aren't true they've won, now I'm left here dying in the sun
In Sophronia's opinion, hunting trips were decidedly therapeutic. There were no screaming babies - she loved her nephew, but for Merlin's sake - no Prophet reporters, ideally no irritating humans, and you got to kill things. Things that probably would not try to kill you back.
Some people would not have wanted to go hunting so soon after returning from the wilderness. Roni was not some people.
She leaned against a tree at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. A small bag - she had crossbows inside, because crossbows were fun - was slung over her shoulder, a knife was slipped into the pocket of her gown with her wand. The gown itself was reinforced with some nifty spellwork someone else had done - it was slightly out of date, and loosened around the waist so she could move easier, but they were hunting.
Or they would be, soon. Roni straightened as soon as she saw her partner for the day. "Claude Lestrange!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly. "If it isn't my very favorite obliviator. How were your trail adventures?"
She had stories, too, but her out-of-the-loop-ness needed to end, and she was more concerned with his life events anyways. Also, shooting things.
Upper Class — Unspeakable for the Dept. of Mysteries
Group: Ministry Member
Posts: 127
Member No.: 1,076
Joined: 30-March 12
How he got volunteered for things like this was beyond him. Wasn't vampire hunting, or supervising vampire hunting something for the Beast, Being and Spirit division employees to handle? Fortunately for them, this was not Claude's first time out, so he didn't altogether mind and it was a perfect distraction from thinking about Effie...
Roni Van Helsing greeted him in the Forbidden Forest, a place he had only visited once or twice during his time at Hogwarts and always under adult supervision. Claude had never been stupid enough to wander out there by himself. If only people actually knew what was really out there they wouldn't go aimlessly wandering into the woods. Now however, he felt himself quite capable of handling whatever it was that the forest threw at them. He had training that only Unspeakables had and therefore he was well armed, not only with weapons but with a vast amount of tricks too.
"Unspeakable Roni, I'm an Unspeakable." He laughed and shook his head. The two of them had long ago cross the boundaries of propriety. When you were helping somebody defend your own life, things like Miss Van Helsing and small talk went out the window. Claude rather enjoyed Roni's company. She was easy to talk to and brutally honest. She would always tell you what was on her mind even if it was completely random and unrelated. It was refreshing however, not to have to be candid around somebody. He valued her opinions, as crazy as they could be and she was the only one who had any idea of his current predicament; engaged with affections for somebody else. It was ridiculous. Claude never, ever envisioned himself in this kind of situation, so how in the name of Merlin's beard had he gotten into it.
"Got a plan for tonight or are we just aimlessly wandering?" He questioned, shouldering his ministry-issued, bad-ass crossbow that fired three shots before needing to be reloaded. His wand was easily accessible as well, but he hadn't needed it yet.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 141
Member No.: 1,003
Joined: 3-March 12
Sophronia Van Helsing
:
Look out, they're coming after us with big guns, they're only gonna tell you all the bad things I've done, even if they words they say aren't true they've won, now I'm left here dying in the sun
"Right," she said, grinning at him. Either way, he worked with her betrothed, and Sophronia was determined to learn more about whoever Sadie van Helsing had picked for her. Even if she wasn't that interested in not-killing this guy, she would have to satisfy her own curiosity regardless. After asking him about his little dilemma, of course.
She wondered if she could help solve that at all. An idea began to blossom, not a good one, and probably not one Claude would approve of. But Claude was her friend, and Roni was determined not to let him get trapped into a sham marriage when he had feelings for someone else.
Her own feelings on her betrothal were irrelevant - there was no competing factor. No one else was dragged into it, she didn't have feelings for a third party. (Her trysts with other Order members didn't count, of course.) Claude and she were different that way, and if she could help him, she was going to.
Roni rifled through the crossbows in her bag and came up with a lightweight one. While not as efficient as Claude's - it had to be reloaded every two shots - she was good with it, and she knew how to use it.
Of course, there was always the knife, too. It was very rare to find a van Helsing without a backup weapon - and even more rare to find one completely unarmed, even in the sanctity of their own home
"No plan," she said, "unless you count 'shoot as many things as possible while we trek through the woods', because I guess that's a plan." She did some quick wandwork and the sack was hung by a rope in a tree.
Of course, there was also a curse to unleash a sort of sunlight spell on anything that touched it. Die, vampires.
Upper Class — Unspeakable for the Dept. of Mysteries
Group: Ministry Member
Posts: 127
Member No.: 1,076
Joined: 30-March 12
There never was a plan, so why had he asked? Out of habit, he supposed. It was more of an inside joke than anything else. If he was really worried about it he would have come up with one himself, but they pretty much knew where to go, what to look and listen for and how to go about their little jaunt in the woods.
On a sigh and a laugh, Claude just shook his head and hefted his crossbow to his other shoulder. "Wandering aimlessly in a forest full of dark creatures, always a good time." Claude rarely got to deliver sarcasm in such abundance. It was something very few people knew about him, well except around Roni. His ability to deliver a sarcastic comment at the drop of a hat was a gift he had perfected over the course of his life, though ninety percent of the time it was under his breath and therefore never actually appreciated.
He started walking north through the forest. It was easy to tell, based on the stars and he knew they had never really traveled very far north. "How did your trail expedition go?" He was curious to know how the expedition had gone for other people. Several groups had started out in the same direction, so they had to have encountered some of the same things, but after that everything was probably very different. Claude also suspected that very few, if any, other groups actually lost two people. There had probably been a ton of injuries, but his new group, the one he and Effie had stumbled across after losing every other member of their first group, had actually had two people die on the trail.
Claude hadn't really had time to think about it at the time; he had a group of women depending on him to finish their quest and get the hell out of there safely. It had been a huge mess, he should have been better prepared, he was an Unspeakable for crying out loud! He had more training than all of the put together, but he hadn't managed to keep everybody safe and that had hit him hard.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 141
Member No.: 1,003
Joined: 3-March 12
Sophronia Van Helsing
:
Look out, they're coming after us with big guns, they're only gonna tell you all the bad things I've done, even if they words they say aren't true they've won, now I'm left here dying in the sun
Roni smirked at the sarcasm. She wasn't sure how she and Claude had become friends. Once upon a time, when Roni was younger and even more of a malevolent force, temper-wise, her roommates had not been very fond of her. (At least - Miss Davis wasn't. Sophronia was fairly certain that Miss Ollivander was terrified of everyone, and while Roni had tried to befriend her throughout their years at Hogwarts, she hadn't succeeded.) Somehow she had gotten a best mate in the form of Alice Lovegood, which made sense to anyone who had met the two of them.
She didn't become friends with Claude until later. Maybe it was because they were both sarcastic, and maybe they had stayed friends because both of their jobs were potentially lethal. Or maybe she just liked Claude - he was refreshing.
"It went alright," she said, making a face. "Someone broke their leg, we almost died in an avalanche, and muggles are rather irritating if they can't kill vampires, but I mostly didn't want to shoot myself in the face." It had been better than having tea with Sadie, which was a special level of Hell Sophronia avoided as much as possible.
"How was yours? More importantly - how was the lovely Miss Turnbull?" She toyed with her plan more in her head. She'd need a lower class male - or female, but they'd start with a man. One with little scruples as far as playing with hearts went. One who could rival Claude for looks - or personality, which was a lot less hard.
Upper Class — Unspeakable for the Dept. of Mysteries
Group: Ministry Member
Posts: 127
Member No.: 1,076
Joined: 30-March 12
The quiet of the forest always made him want to whisper, but then he would feel just plain stupid, so he kept his voice low, but spoke normally. It seemed Roni's experience on the trail had been a lot less lethal than his own. Of course Roni probably would have preferred it, had there been more drama, but Claude had been dealt his fair share and would rather have just kept heading out with Effie on their own, rather that joining the other group. He would have felt guilty though, especially now, knowing those girls would have been out there by themselves. At least he had been able to keep an eye on them.
Stepping over a fallen log, his long legs easily letting him do so, he would have offered to help Roni over, but she wouldn't have let him anyway. In the beginning he had tried and she had practically shoved him over. He had learned quickly Roni was not the kind of girl who wanted, or needed assistance of any kind. He highly suspected she would be out here by herself if the Ministry was not attempting to keep an eye on both the vampires and the van Helsings.
Claude stopped dead in his tracks and looked over his shoulder very slowly as Roni mentioned Effie. Why in the name of Merlin's beard he had opened up to her about THAT situation was beyond him sometimes. While he knew Roni was never judging him for the situation which both of them knew was beyond his control, she never skipped a chance to tease him about the whole thing. "Fine, saw her the other day at Scrivenshaft's." It had been a purely chance meeting. For some reason, he thought she might be avoiding him, but he realized that neither one of them could come up with an excuse to see one another. He was an engaged man and while he had yet to go see Gemma again after returning from the trail, but he was still trying to wrap his head around Effie. He might not have been so confused if he hadn't seen her journal, but he also might not have been as determined now to break his engagement otherwise.
"I have no fucking clue what to do about that, Ron." He admitted, forgoing any form of propriety and swearing in front of a lady, though she swore more than he did on most occasions. "It's so messed up. I wasn't happy about the engagement to begin with, but now I want out for a legitimate reason and I still know my parents won't call it off." It was all so screwed up and he hated that. Claude hated being out of control of his own life and he was trying his damnedest to get get it back in line.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 141
Member No.: 1,003
Joined: 3-March 12
Sophronia Van Helsing
:
Look out, they're coming after us with big guns, they're only gonna tell you all the bad things I've done, even if they words they say aren't true they've won, now I'm left here dying in the sun
Roni stepped over the log, her skirt catching on the wood. She adjusted it into place when she was down, glad she had long since learned to magically reinforce her outfits. She would have gone through her business gowns within a week if she hadn't.
Roni winced as he said he had seen the girl at the quill shop. Separation, she thought, would have been easier on him. A clean break, even though she had a plan and she was certain that there were ways out of it. In a town like Hogsmeade, though, avoidance was too impossible to accomplish.
She was confronted with a sudden urge to pet Claude's arm, like she did when one of her younger sisters was upset. Sophronia resisted it, instead wincing and pulling, thinking on her plots some more. "I'm sorry, Claude." It sucked, and she was well aware that in a different universe, she could have been the one trapped in a betrothal when she was in love with someone else.
"I might have a very small plan," she announced, "a legal one, and one that hinges on little Miss Dearborn rather than you. It's not done yet, though, and you'll hear more when it's not a baby." Sophronia van Helsing was big on plans, with a capitol P, hinging on maps and thoughts and little cogs in the machine that were sometimes composed of people. She was determined to help.
She knew that Gemma Dearborn hadn't done anything to earn her wrath apart from exist and cause Claudius pain, but Sophronia was very loyal, and it wasn't like the girl had done anything to benefit her, either.
"Also... I need you to tell me about Christian Fenwick," she said, rather bluntly. "He's an unspeakable too. And this isn't vampire business, before you ask." Even her step-mother wasn't that stupid, or evil.
Upper Class — Unspeakable for the Dept. of Mysteries
Group: Ministry Member
Posts: 127
Member No.: 1,076
Joined: 30-March 12
Claude felt guilty for unloading on Roni about his personal issues, but she listened so well, sometimes he forgot what he was doing. He had to admit, it was nice to have somebody who didn't mind just letting him vent and ramble on, who didn't judge him for his ramblings. He did the same for her, or would if she ever had any problems she wanted to air out. "I'm sorry I keep unloading it all on you." He replied with a shrug. Somehow her mention of a plan made him nervous and slightly hopeful at the same time. Whatever it was, no matter how small she said it was, was bound to blow up in his face somehow, but at this point he was so desperate to have his betrothal changed that he wasn't adverse to letting Roni do what she wanted. Perhaps the Trail had change him more than he had anticipated. Beforehand he had been rather recluse, preferring work to social interactions, now it wasn't quite so drastic.
"I'm afraid to ask about your plan so just do what you think is best." Claude wasn't so sure that was the brightest option, but he was going to run with it and let her do what she wanted. If she could help him get out of this betrothal he'd basically let her do just about anything... legal. Anything legal. If she had illegal plans, well best of luck to her.
"Fenwick?" He questioned, looking at her over his shoulder. Claude didn't know much about his fellow Unspeakable, only that his co-worker had graduated a couple of years ahead of himself and done the internship program at the ministry to get his position. Claude had been picked specifically for his internship and then his current occupation. Sometimes he wondered if his quick success had something to do with his father or the Lestrange name, but he was hoping it had been because of his hard work in school. "Don't really know much about him. We haven't really worked together much. He's a couple of years older than I am, maybe two or three. Seems like a decent fellow." He shrugged, turning his head away from his cohort for a moment as a rustling in the trees caught his attention. He paused for a quick second, but deemed it to be something small moving through the underbrush. "Respectable kind of guy, good at his job. Why do you ask?" Roni hadn't ever inquired about his co-workers before, so he was naturally curious about this particular occurrence.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 141
Member No.: 1,003
Joined: 3-March 12
Sophronia Isadora
Look out, they're coming after us with big guns, they're only gonna tell you all the bad things I've done
Her inability to find fault in the things Claude told her almost displeased her. She supposed it was good that Christian Fenwick could do his job, and that he was respectable, but she wasn't entirely pleased by that regardless. It would have been easier, she mused, if her betrothed was an asshole or an idiot. Now she didn't have any real reason to dislike him.
This was a good sign, though, she had to admit it. Roni paused to wind up her crossbow as she explained. "My step-mother took advantage of my absence," she said, "Well, she took advantage of my inability to threaten her and pitch a fit from miles away. Even though she's off her rocker now." The miscarriage of Sadie's child hadn't been welcomed by Sophronia, that had been a half-sibling, but she hadn't been sad about it either. On the one hand, it had been a van Helsing, but on the other hand, the less children Sadie had the easier things would be for the van Helsing sisters.
"I've been betrothed," she admitted, finally. "To the, uh, Fenwick." Some would have said it was about time that she got married, but Sophronia had no intentions of being married. If anything, she planned on being like her Aunt Marit - unmarried and eccentric. Yes, it would have been great. It was a shame she was being forced to adapt.
Besides, Christian Fenwick wasn't a member of the Order of the Dawn. He had never killed a vampire, unless the Unspeakables did that and Claude hadn't told her. Actually, her betrothed maybe had never killed anyone, and if he had it was irrelevant because she couldn't ask. (Not that she cared about that - Roni was perfectly content to let people do their jobs without her questioning.)
"And I really want to shoot something." Where were the damned forest creatures when you needed them? Had they gotten the memo that lethal twenty-somethings were coming to murder them all? Ugh. Ugh. She had managed to sink herself into a somewhat bad mood by talking about her predicament, even though she knew there was no use in her dread. Or maybe that was why.
She supposed that there were ways to get herself out of a betrothal, but Roni actually cared about the shred of reputation she had maintained despite her work and her family. (Unlike the Dearborn girl's, which could get shot out in the yard without Roni blinking.) She was the oldest, she had to maintain something.
That wasn't something she admitted to herself easily.
Upper Class — Unspeakable for the Dept. of Mysteries
Group: Ministry Member
Posts: 127
Member No.: 1,076
Joined: 30-March 12
Wonderful, not it seemed that the two of them were in the same boat. Claude didn't know Fenwick very well, but he did know Roni and he was not sure they would be very compatible. Fenwick was quiet and Roni was well, not. She was definitely not your typical upper class girl and that wasn't a bad thing, he just figured most men looking to get married, or stuck in an arranged marriage, were looking for a good housewife, which Roni would never, ever be. He couldn't even imagine Roni being a mom. That thought was just hilarious and he wasn't thinking so to be mean, but it was rather true.
"Seems like we're stuck on the same page in life." He joked lightly, judging by her tone that she was not at all amused. "How funny would it have been if our parents got together and arranged for us to be married?" Now THAT would have made his life. Honestly if he had been betrothed to Roni he wouldn't have minded all that much. The would have had a great time and even if he had still met Effie, he wouldn't feel all that guilty over breaking it off like he was trying to do to Gemma. Roni was his friend and at while they probably would have never harbored any romantic feelings toward one another, he'd rather marry his best friend than somebody he hardly liked. "Our house would be a disaster zone." He laughed despite the fact that she said she was ready to shoot something. He knew she would aim something at him but he also knew she wouldn't actually shoot him.
"Fenwick's not a bad guy." He assured her. "I'm not sure he's your type either, but you never know, like I said, I don't know him very well." Though he supposed he could make an effort to get to know his co-worker for Roni's sake. If he was truly not compatible for Roni, Claude would start to concoct some scheme for her like she seemed to be doing for him. It was the least he could do. At least Roni seemed prepared to do something for him in life when nobody else seemed inclined to do so. They would stick together, the two of them no matter what else their families or life could throw at them and that was a comforting thought.
"We could just do target practice. I'll watch your back while you shoot some trees." He offered with a smirk. They had been out there fore over an hour now, pondering about their miserable lives and hadn't seen anything yet. Apparently the sliver of the moon in the sky was not enough for anything to come wandering out. Had it been a full moon, well that would have been a different story; he would have been inside his home with a book and a glass of bourbon.
Group: Hogsmeade
Posts: 141
Member No.: 1,003
Joined: 3-March 12
Sophronia Isadora
Look out, they're coming after us with big guns, they're only gonna tell you all the bad things I've done
ooc: 2 AM coherence warning
Despite herself, Roni snorted at that one. If her parents hadn't been muggleborns, perhaps such a feat would have been feasible, but she thought that it should have been attempted anyways just because of the hilarity. "That would have been excellent," she said, stifling laughter. She would have paid to see the Order of the Dawn and the Lestranges trapped in a wedding reception together. With no escape, hahaha. "And the house would be lit on fire within at least a couple days." And could you imagine the children? They would have been lethal. Even though Sophronia had never felt anything romantic for Claude, it was fun to think about.
She nodded at his assurances, thinking. She didn't suppose she really had a strongly-formed type, though - which was probably good, considering that she had just been betrothed. (At least, she thought again, Christian Fenwick was only a bit older than her, rather than twice her age like Valie's betrothed!) More importantly, though, was the feeling that Claude had her back. Roni loved loyalty, valued it in her friends, which was why she would stand with them regardless of whether or not they were right. She trusted her friends and she trusted her hunting partners more - which was why hunting partners tended to be long-term friends, Order members, or relatives.
She beamed at his suggestion and began to load her crossbow. "You always have had the best ideas," she said, only half-joking. Crossbow loaded, she carefully aimed and fired it at a knot in one of the tall trees. She sometimes found that pretending she was aiming at someone or something she hated helped - which was why there were rough, stick-figure drawings of vampires tacked up on some of the targets in the basement. The first arrow hit a few inches below her 'target.' Roni glared at it, loaded a second arrow, and turned to a different tree.
Burn mark in the wood. Aim for the center. Ready. Fire. That one hit, and she found a third tree with a funny looking scar in the wood to aim at. A little bit off center, but Roni figured that it was good enough. (At least, it would have taken off Sadie's ear, had the thing she was mentally aiming at been there.)
"So I was maybe pretending those were the stepwoman," she said. Roni had been far too old to call Sadie mother at the time of the marriage - or at least that was the excuse she always used. "It's therapeutic. You should try it sometime."
Upper Class — Unspeakable for the Dept. of Mysteries
Group: Ministry Member
Posts: 127
Member No.: 1,076
Joined: 30-March 12
Claude stopped, his crossbow shouldered as Roni took aim at a few nearby trees. The nice thing about crossbows, was that if you didn't break the arrow, you could reuse them. Practical things like that made sense to Claude. He was pretty sure that they weren't going to run into anything tonight, the sounds of the forest were far too normal for anything to be lurking about.
"I'm fine." Claude laughed but turned down her offer to let him have some practice. He actually just felt better having talked about. That was the beauty of their friendship; they could talk about just about anything. This is what the rules of society didn't realize about people. Some things needed to be discussed even if they weren't "proper". Not to mention guys could be friends with girls and have purely platonic feelings toward them, which meant the need for a chaperon was not necessary. Sometimes he just had to wonder what was wrong with people today. Fortunately there were girls like Roni who were constantly pushing the envelope.
"I heard nothing." He laughed when she admitted that she may or may not be envisioning her step mother while aiming. That was nothing new, Claude knew just how Roni felt about her dad's new wife. Claude was glad he didn't have to deal with that, though he sometimes wondered about his own mother. How his parents functioned was beyond him. Had their marriage not been arranged the two would have never worked out, of that Claude was sure. "Shoot a few more rounds then we can call it a night, I think." He reasoned aloud. Yes it was time for bed, there was nothing menacing out in the woods tonight to worry about.
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