closed to @avengger​ 

january 1st, shortly after the new year

diagon alley

The streets were less crowded than they had been in years previous, but there was still a decent turn out in the alley for the celebration. It was better than ringing in the new year alone in his apartment, but it wasn’t really that much of an improvement. Stopping to buy a drink, he sighed, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. “Cheers, yeah?” he said bitterly to the person next to him as he took a swing from his fresh drink. “Happy bloody new year.”

Emerson was never a good shopper-his sister handled most of the present buying for their family, and he had spent the last few years taking her to whatever show she was obsessed with that season in place of a physical gift. Now, with a new fiancee to shop for and no Elianna to support him in his questionable choices. The stalls in Diagon Alley were his last stop for the day, the exhaustion of the last minute shopper crowds and the constant need to make small becoming more pronounced. 

Jewelry had seemed like a safe bet, but he felt himself becoming increasing uncertain with that thought as he eyed the necklace that seemed to have some sort of plant in it that the woman running the stall was showing him. “Puffskiens?” he asked, eyebrow quirked, “Don’t think I recall learning much about them causing harm in my Care of Magical Creatures class, but maybe they’ve switched up the curriculum since I left.”

who: Lorcan & anyone when: December 22nd where: The stalls at Diagon Alley

The beginning of winter break, and Lorcan had already found his new project. Well, not project, per se; that sounded demeaning. He’d seen one of the stalls in Diagon Alley, a simple one, with charm bracelets and pendants littered across the table. He had a fondness for charms (Of course you do, his father had told him before.), and thought it’d be nice to check some out. That had been his initial intention anyways.

The old lady sitting behind the table smiled warmly at him, putting her knitting needles down, only for them to go back up and continue working on her project themselves. “Hello, young man,” She’d said, a little too kind for a vendor here, but Lorcan had no complaints. “The first customer in hours! My daughter is usually much better with attracting the customers, but oh, her dear Eleanor was sick today and she had to stay with her.” Lorcan had seen the empty stool next to the woman’s and, without thinking, said, “I can help you.” And that was that. 

It wasn’t his fault, he thought, as she showed a costumer a necklace with a with a few oak leaves encased in a small, glass ball dangling from it, that he had a soft spot for…well…everyone. “It keeps the Puffskeins away. See, everyone thinks, But they’re just Puffskeins, what harm could they do? A lot of harm, that’s what. Trust me on this.” He learned from the best, of course. (This was, in all honesty, much better than thinking about hushed whispers and scared looks from the passerby. Everything was fine.)

The noise in the bar was a welcome contrast to the stilted silence that lingered in his family’s home with the first holiday without his twin coming to pass. He was never the most social person, but he found himself craving a cold drink and the chaos of a crowd that he could get lost in. Drink in hand, he searched the bar for an empty seat, and found one in front of the fire. He caught the girl’s eye, uncertain if she was waiting on someone else to take the chair. At her words, he nodded, murmuring a quiet thank you as he settled into seat, the warmth of the flames lingering on the upholstery. “Busy night,” he said, eyes scanning the bar as he offered up small talk. “Seems we all had the same idea.”

who: persephone & @yaxleyemerson​ when: december 29th, 2026 where: the leaky cauldron

Persephone felt exposed in such a public place as this. The bar was relatively quiet as crowds could be in the Leaky Cauldron, but that didn’t stop the feeling of every eye in the room being on her. The bundles of coats and scarves she had wrapped around her even near the warmth of the fire didn’t feel like enough, she still felt so vulnerable, laid bare without the protection of the Knights forming a gentle veil around her. All she had was herself and her soul, the lynx in question sleeping quietly by her side as she warmed her gloved hands by the fire. It was only when she looked up that she realised she might not be the only one looking for the security of warmth right now. “Sorry,” she stammered, her hands folding beneath her arms as she looked back at the man who had caught her eye. “This seat’s not taken,” she nodded towards the armchair across from her. Normally in this situation, Persephone would’ve left so that the man could have the space to himself, but it appeared her daemon didn’t wish to leave the fireside just yet. “Please, feel free.”

Send my muse “👀 + a question” and they’ll have to answer with 100% honesty.

No deleting questions, either!

“we all have our demons, yes, but what if that’s all there is to me?”

— ii. questions of great tragedies (o.q)

Anne Carson, Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides

The holidays felt wrong without Elianna’s presence, the house they grew up in empty without his twin’s laughter ringing in the halls. It had helped, a bit, that Valentina had joined them occasionally over the past few weeks. His fiancee was still largely a stranger to him, but there was something comforting in her presence. But Emerson had found that he had hit his limit on holiday cheer, on the forced normality of it all, and had headed to the Leaky if only to grab a drink and exist in a space where he didn’t find his sister’s presence lingering in every corner.

There weren’t many seats open at the bar, and he slid into one without taking much note of those around him until he was already seated. She was familiar, though it took him a moment to place her. Another ministry employee, an auror, if he wasn’t mistaken. “Thanks,” he said, tone clipped as he took the paper from her, happy to have something to do with his hands, “Haven’t managed to check the latest on the new regulations they’re trying to pass on wand cores.” Emerson wasn’t sure what made him explain himself. He had never been particularly talkative, and everyone but Elianna tended to have to pry words from his mouth. “Endangered species, and whatnot.”

who: olivia + anyone when: january 3rd 2026 where: diagon alley

             christmas and new years were done, much to olivia’s relief. the holidays were always quiet and lonely for her and the girl noticed that she was always wishing they would pass quickly. so, after all the fuzzy parties, dinners and whatnots, there she was, sitting by the leaky cauldron’s bar, a firewhiskey in her hand. the atmosphere was cozy and warm as opposed to the freezing cold outside, but what liv was really looking for, even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself, was an excuse to talk. the krum-wood hadn’t spoken to anyone in days and was almost going crazy.

           trying to keep her mind out of her own misery, she took the daily prophet and leafed through it, unconsciously stopping at the sports session. oliver’s face was stamped there with several others. the caption said that captain krum-wood had made a charity action with the puddlemere’s team at st. mungo’s the day before. she studied her father’s face with a heavy heart while he smiled repeatedly to the photographer. she missed home a lot. olivia looked away before starting to get any kind of reaction in public. she noticed that someone sat beside her and shot her a look. ❝  here, you can have it.  ❞ she said, passing the newspaper to them. ❝  i’m finished anyway.  ❞ she shrugged, sipping her drink.

why r u so angry.... why do u always look so angry...?

it’s the anger

Avan Jogia photographed by Bao Ngo

“We’ll make this right, okay?”

❝It tastes so bitter. The truth’s a killer, but I cant leave it alone.❞ EMERSON YAXLEY looks a lot like that muggle, AVAN JOGIA, right? Only 28  years old, that RAVENCLAW alumnus works as a LAWYER and is sided with the WRAITHS. HE  identifies as MALE  and is a PUREBLOOD. [ 47, 28, THE VENGEFUL. ]

Death TW/Murder TW for mentions in the intro

Emerson was born exactly seven minutes after his twin sister Elianna. There was magic in that-the power behind the number seven magnifying their twin bond from the very beginning. The Yaxley’s were not an overly social or influential family. They had remained largely neutral during the last two conflicts within the wizarding world, and had come out of both of them largely unscratched. It didn’t make them many friends, seen too frequently as fencewalkers, but the few families that the twins socialized with prior to going to Hogwarts were those of respectable, pureblood names. Emerson didn’t mind it, not really, not when he had Elianna to spend time with growing up. He never felt lonely, never particularly felt the need for more even once they went to school. 

Not much changed when they started Hogwarts. Elianna was sorted first, and Emerson wasn’t surprised when they hat called Ravenclaw for her. He kept his nerves hidden when he had the hat placed on his head, silently hoping to follow his sister. He did, and he was happy to have his closest friend near to him. He made other friends over the years, but Emerson had never been the social twin, and was content to largely focus on his studies.

It wasn’t until after Emerson had finished becoming a lawyer that things began to shift. His parents started talking of marriage for him and his sister, and  they would never outright say it was a betrothal, but when Emerson proposed to Valentina, it wasn’t due to any love between them. They were friendly enough, in those early stages of their courtship, but it wasn’t until recently that there was any level of closeness to them. He thinks it might have to do with his joining the Wraiths, something he wouldn’t have considered until the unspeakable happened. There was a level of understanding between them now, this secret no longer having her keep him at arm’s length. It wasn’t love, not really, but it was at least friendship, someone to lean on as he struggled to deal with the unexpected loss of Elianna. 

It was Orion who told Emerson what had happened. That Elianna had been working for the Wraiths, spying on the Order to bring knowledge of their movements back to the Wraiths when she was caught. Her disappearance was because the Order chose to kill her for her betrayal. Emerson lost it when he heard, already deep in mourning for his sister, his twin, his best friend that he didn’t stop to question what Orion was saying. Emerson swore vengeance on those that took Elianna away from him, and he joined the Wraiths in order to do so. 

He chose Mortifer as his codename after careful consideration. Death bringer was what he was trying to be, and it felt apt to  name himself after his goals. It kept him grounded, reminded him why he was fighting. Emerson was never the type to get his hands dirty, and he likely would never have moved from his neutral position had Elianna lived, content enough with knowing his place in the world and not feeling a need to prove it. But he couldn’t let Elianna die in vain. He would avenge her death and further the cause she had given her life for. It wasn’t much, not when she was gone, but it was all he could do to honor her.

He hasn’t taken a rune yet, not sure which one would work best for his needs. He’s working on it now, thinking of the best way to maximize his abilities to do what needs to be done. There’s no lines he won’t cross to right the wrong that is Elianna’s death

Emerson puts little stock in the prophecy, his focus less on the conflict overall and more on his personal vendetta. He hasn’t given his own role in it much thought, hadn’t considered what line might refer to him, and he doesn’t particularly want to know. Eventually, when the truth of Elianna’s death comes to light, that it wasn’t the Order that killed her, that Orion twisted the truth and destroyed his sister’s legacy to recruit him to the Wraiths, he might regret this ignorance. The vengeful  will one day realize that they are the villain in their story – not the hero – and the aftermath will be catastrophic once they finally see themselves for who they truly are. A warning, that he was wrong, that he’s the one dishonoring Elianna’s memory, that she would never condone the actions he’s taking, one he could have heeded if only he wasn’t so focused on revenge.

tag drop xoxo