Welcome to Until The End. We are a moderate Harry Potter role-playing site set in the Marauder's Era. Our plot is generally derived from details in the book, but as an AU site we do take liberties most anywhere we like. Those who died in the books can have a second chance at living, and those who lived are always at risk.
Tom Marvolo Riddle has long since disappeared and in his stead Lord Voldemort has risen, bringing a small army with him. The Ministry of Magic has thus far ignored the growing menace that is the Death Eaters and Albus Dumbledore has taken it upon himself to defend the wizarding community from an evil he knows is building. War is coming. Pick a side!
School's Out For Summer
The Hogwart's Express has pulled up to the station in King's Cross station and the summer holidays have officially begun. What mischeif will you get into in the warm summer sun?
*Coming Soon* - Summer Solstice Carnival
Travel by portkey to the biggest summer celebration in wizard society - The Summer Solstice Carnival! There will be food, games, prizes, fun and more!
Post by Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore on Jun 18, 2018 15:37:24 GMT -8
Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.
Smoke billowed from the smoke stack as the crimson coloured steam engine pulled into the station, the driving wheels screeched along the tracks before ultimately coming to a halt at platform 9¾. The movements of the train were sharp, and several pieces of lighter luggage (and in a few regrettable cases, lighter students) were flung forward and landed on the ground with a thud that was overshadowed by the excitement of the passengers and awaiting families alike. The school year had ended.
Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts had all come out to welcome home their growing students. For some, it was their last journey on the Hogwarts Express, having graduated and made their final voyage across the Black Lake before loading onto the train for one last trip. For others, they are returning from their first year away from their families. And for a small few, they would be seeing their families for the first time since boarding the train to Hogwarts last Autumn. Emotions run high with excitement and tearful embraces as the students begin to filter out of the train, stepping out onto the station platform and searching the crowds for familiar faces that signal the beginning of summer.
hat a year. Christine could hardly believe that her 6th year had ended and she had one year left before leaving Hogwarts forever. It wasn't what she expected, that's for sure. She had thought Hogwarts would be a drag after all of her adventures traveling, little did she know the adventure that was waiting for her at the school or the friendships she would make during her time there.
She would be sad to see her 7th year friends leave, but she had no trouble keeping in touch with her friends who had graduated the year prior, and she imagined the same would be true for the friends who were graduating now.
To Christine, there was no distinction between houses, class, blood status etc. There was a good-natured rivalry - particularly between Slytherin and Gryffindor - of course, but she had made friendship across the houses. People were people, no matter where they came from or where they were sorted, there was more to a person than their station.
Her stance wasn't entirely popular, but there was something infectious about her openness, and her belief in others. People gravitated toward her because she believed in them, she made them feel good. So there was no shortage of relationships or teary goodbyes.
Each year Christine attempted to make the most of life, that's how she lived her life period, but there was always something both sad and exciting about ending a chapter.
Her year wasn't nearly as exciting as Sam's though. Since the incident Christine had been sticking to her cousin's side, despite Emara insisting she was fine. Emara did that a lot. Christine knew better, and Christine was family, so the infamous Sayre stubbornness was just as strong. Emara had learned not to argue. Christine was one of the few people that could dig her heels in just as deep, and while Christine loved her cousin, she didn't worship her the way Nik did. Emara had learned to compromise.
Now the last few moments on the train back to London Christine wondered about her cousin, what she would do during the summer and if Nik would be there. In all likelihood he would be, but what would they do?
Since Christine first started Hogwarts she had often traveled during the summers with her Uncle. She had a problem with being idle or in one place for too long. It was a little easier at Hogwarts which had class and activities, among other interests to pursue, but even then she itched to travel, to experience.
She had a new trip coming up and she was thrilled. They would be going to Egypt and it was all she could talk about for the past few weeks, until her cousin was attacked which obviously took some of the wind out of her sails. But Emara looked less troubled about the event than practically anyone else - except perhaps Christine's Aunt Nadya. That woman was as cold as they came, Christine would never understand what her Uncle Aedan saw in her. As things settled down Christine was once again thinking about her upcoming trip.
Of course she would see her parents first, and probably her uncles. She saw them nearly every Hogsmeade weekend, and owled frequently. They also had an enchanted two way mirror that she talked to her father on at least twice a week. They didn't lack for contact, but she knew it was hard for her parents to let her go, and it was hard for her to let them go too. She'd spend a week or two at home before shipping off. The idea made her smile. But first - the platform.
She knew her father wouldn't be picking them up as he had owled beforehand, perhaps one of her uncles then.
They had idled long enough in the cabin and Christine sighed, "Alright, time to go."
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down.
E
mara had been quiet for most of the trip, and was so deeply lost in thought she hadn't even realized the train stopped. She might not have noticed for some time until her cousin told her it was time to go.
Sam shivered feeling cold suddenly - odd considering the ample heat, less odd when you considered how badly Sam didn't want to go home. It wasn't Castle Eire that put her off, it was the woman who would no doubt make her summer unbearable that resided there. Nadya lived in France for the majority of the year while Sam was at school, but during the summers she was sure to make everyone miserable at the castle.
Sam had another reason not to want to see her mother. This whole business with Rafe and the kidnapping, she was furious at the way things had ended, guilty for the part she played in Rafe's death - even if he had been at fault. And none of it would have happened if Nadya hadn't forced Emara's hand.
Her anger caused her to shake slightly, but she took a deep breath trying to calm down before leaving the train.
Their bags were sent ahead of them so there was nothing to gather but themselves, Christine was only being kind in giving Emara a few moments to collect herself, which she had done by now. She nodded toward her cousin, "Indeed. Let's get on with this circus."
And it was a circus, or a show rather. Sam was ever on display for her peers. Christine didn't understand, she was raised by Emara's uncle Seamus and aunt Leonie - a more loving couple Emara had never seen. They doted on Christine, indulged her wild nature and cared for her cousin's happiness. Lyra didn't understand either. Her parents were money hungry snobs, and certainly not winning any awards for family of the year, but Emara's mother made the Notts look like the Brady Bunch. Emara's mother made any parent look like Dr. Fucking Sears.
Nik understood, but not first hand. He'd only witnessed the depravity, and very rarely at that. But Emara had learned to act as society expected of her, anything less than perfection was met with swift and severe consequences.
Emara took one last look at the cabin before leaving the train all together to seek out their escort.
The journey from Hogwarts down to London never felt to be quite as long as the same journey in the opposite direction, although logically, Lily was aware that it must be. Even so, it was quite long enough for her tastes, and though she had brought a small stack of reading material with her, causing her trunk to weigh significantly more than was strictly necessary, she had actually spent most of the trip in dozing off. As the scarlet steam engine pulled into King's Cross Station, bathing the crowds waiting on the platform in clouds of thick white smoke, the redhead had still only managed to read around half a chapter- not that she realised it at the time, being asleep with her head leaning up against the window of the carriage. It had been a long and tiring year for the Gryffindor girl, not that she had realised it at the time, and that was just beginning to catch up with her now, as the long and sultry summer loomed ahead.
Sharply, the Express jerked to a stop, and Lily was duly jolted out of the confines of sleep to gaze blearily around her, much to the amusement of her travelling companions. To say the least, she herself was not amused. But then, neither was she entirely awake and, not being much of a morning person, the redhead contented herself with a quelling look as she rubbed briefly at her eyes before grudgingly leaving her comfortable seat and beginning the process of gathering up her various pieces of impedimenta. Her books, her papers, her trunk... This last presented her with some difficulty, considering the sheer weight of the thing, but what could Lily say? She liked to collect things, and most of those things ended up in her trunk. At Hogwarts, it presented little difficulty- apart from anything else, her trunk spent most of its life under her bed and moved very little, hence its weight had little to do with it. On the very rare occasions that Lily did want to move it over a significant distance, she was more than capable of a quick levitation charm. But here, she was outside Hogwarts; therefore, the Trace applied, and the redhead was not too keen on the idea of finding herself up in front of a Ministry court on the charge of underage magic. Admittedly, the Ministry probably had more important things to do what with the state of the wider world at the moment, but then again, Lily read quite enough of her Prophet to realise that when there were important things to be done, the magical government seemed to take a great satisfaction in spending as much time as possible on the unimportant matters.
Finally, with all her belongings accrued, the witch waved a farewell to a couple of younger girls whom she'd shared a compartment with and began upon the gargantuan task of manoeuvring herself and all her luggage through the crowds that thronged both the train corridor and the platform in search of a familiar face.
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Skies are blue, and the dreams you dare to dream, really do come true.
O
nly a few more days - a week and a half exactly - and Christine would be in Egypt with her uncle.
Maybe if Emara had been more phased by the attack Christine would have felt conflicted over leaving her cousin, but nothing phased Sam - not even an attempted kidnapping. Her cousin was much like a robot beneath the social darling she put on for the world, but Christine knew that something else lurked beneath the robot, something dark and dangerous. She also thought that something lurked beneath that layer too, something hopeful or maybe she was the one who was hopeful in thinking that there was.
Between Egypt and Emara, Christine's head was full of thoughts. She thought her cousin might have been talking to her and turned her head backward to reply, "What was that Sam?"
She didn't even notice the younger redhead in front of her - amazing really to not have noticed all that red hair. With a graceless stumble and uncharacteristic clumsiness Christine tripped directly into Lily from behind.
"Oh Godric!" she said trying to regain her balance, "Son of Salazar, are you alright?"
character - others Lost in her thoughts, as seemed to be quite frequently the case just lately, Lily didn't even register the sound of the familiar voice behind her as she made her way along the platform. Until, of course, the older girl tripped right into her, which was a movement calculated to awaken even the most prolific of daydreamers, and Lily had never been that. Thankfully, a measure of natural grace asserted itself- a relic of years of gymnastics as a young girl- and she managed not only to more or less avoid stumbling herself, but also to reach out and do her best to steady the older girl, though she wasn't at all sure that she was going to be successful.
"Hi, Christine," she returned wryly, a grin playing across her lips. "I'm fine thanks- and you? Did you enjoy your trip?" Lily was surprised at herself, to be honest, but then perhaps all those years of forcing her way through the pushing and shoving of crowded Hogwarts corridors hadn't been wholly wasted.
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Skies are blue, and the dreams you dare to dream, really do come true.
O
rdinarily, Christine was a creature of innate grace - nothing like her cousin - but more than capable.
Christine reached for the arms that attempted to steady her and gained her balance finally raising her eyes to her would be rescuer.
"Lily!" she said with a smile of recognition.
"My trip?" she asked thinking about Egypt, "Oh I haven't gone yet -" then upon realizing her friend was teasing her, "Oh you mean-" she looked behind her to the spot she had tripped at as though some creature would be standing there to take the blame for the graceless moment. She rolled her eyes, "Haha." she deadpanned, but easily took Lily's teasing in stride.
"Although honestly how I missed all that fire is beyond me. " she nodded in reference to Lily's fire red hair. Lily was the kind of pretty that snuck up on you. At first glance she wasn't striking, but after the second or third you realized how beautiful her eyes were, how attractive the smattering of freckles across her nose were, and when the girl smiled she was absolutely stunning. You did of course notice her hair - it was hard not to.
Lily breathed a minor sigh of relief as it became apparent that the older girl wasn't about to go sprawling to the ground in a tangle of limbs- probably taking the redhead with her. Since she was there anyway, she took advantage of the situation to step forward and give Christine a brief hug. After all, it was going to be weeks before she saw her again! The Gryffindor returned her older Housemate's smile as she stepped back again, beginning to collect up the various belongings which she had scattered across the platform a few moments earlier.
"I know; I'm hilarious," the redhead agreed with a nod. The truth of that might have been doubted by some- not least the girl herself- but it was not in fact all that far from reality. Though perhaps not on this particular occasion- the joke was one of the oldest around, after all.
She shrugged, melodramatically flicking her hair out over her shoulder. "Clearly, you just spend too much time around me," she teased. "You see my hair so often that you don't even register it any more."
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I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.
"I
find that difficult to believe." Nik said with good humor catching the tail end of Lily's response. He bent down to retrieve some of the redhead's things to hand them to her.
It was impossible not to notice the girl's hair from at least a mile away. Lily's hair was actually the reason Nik spotted Christine and Emara - though it had been said in the past he had a natural honing beacon for Sam.
In any case he was happy to have found them before they were overcome by the throngs of people collecting loved ones.
"Christine doesn't have a mind for anything but Egypt these days. I'm surprised she managed to quit daydreaming long enough to get on the train." he teased gently.
He spared a glance at Sam who had been uncharacteristically reserved during the brief bout of clumsiness. He worried about her, but he wouldn't let that show in front of the others. He was all smiles, even for the Gryffindor he didn't recognize in front of him. She had Christine's approval - whoever it was - but that didn't say much as Christine was the last person to believe in social class or prejudice of any kind.
Nik's morals were a little more murky - he was a Malfoy after all. He had been raised to believe in blood purity and proper social conduct. But it wasn't the Lily's of the world that he turned his nose up to. Instead, he was adverse to the social ladder and the money hungry scavengers that climbed without any regard to person or privacy. It was a dangerous game at the top of the pyramid, and Nik was extremely protective of his social circle.
Still he had learned an important lesson with Lyra to never judge a book by their cover. He sincerely doubted Lily was after Christine for her connection in the wizarding world, the girl was too sassy and unconcerned with Christine's opinion if she was comfortable enough to tease her, and therefore Nik had no objections. Not that it would matter if he did, the Sayre women and now Lyra as well, had a way of ignoring his "good" advice all together. They were a stubborn lot - he loved them.
Skies are blue, and the dreams you dare to dream, really do come true.
"N
ik!" Christine exclaimed with a rush of breath before she spun and tossed herself into his arms - not unlike Lyra a few days prior.
"When did you get back?" she paused for a moment then looked between her cousin and the handsome man she was holding, "Oh…right." she gave him a small nod acknowledging when he had come back and why he had come back.
Egypt was really distorting Christine's capability to function or think. She knew Nik would have come to see Sam, hell her cousin had alluded to as much when she returned to the school - after the initial investigation and Sam's brief visit to St. Mungos - but Christine had forgotten in light of the severity of the attack, and later because of Egypt.
When he teased her about that very thing she hit his arm playfully, "Ass." she said sticking her tongue out at him.
No, Christine was not the epitome of a well-bred social princess, she didn't care to be either. For as much as she loved her cousin, they fundamentally disagreed on - well everything pretty much. But she knew that Sam wasn't always speaking from her heart, rather it was some other place carefully constructed to always have the right answer or the diplomatic answer.
Christine was just Christine. She had traveled all over the world, met all kinds of people, both muggle and magical, rich and poor, royal and peasant, and they all had things in common. They were all just people, people with fears, hopes, responsibilities, worries and so on, and in that way they were all similar, so why should Christine turn her nose up at others? She was just a person and her birth had nothing to do with her skills or talents. She didn't earn her pureblood, she didn't earn the money her family enjoyed, it was outside of Christine's control, and she'd rather be known for who she was not who her family happened to be.
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down.
S
am knew she should speak, but the words wouldn't come. Had Christine not bumped into Lily, Sam might have, for all the attention she was paying her surroundings. The exchange might have been less congenial, not hostile by any means, but Sam had two modes - Socialite Princess and Destroyer of Souls - the in between was a robot who absorbed her surroundings trying to escape the reality her life had become or convince herself she didn't care.
Living with her cousin and seeing her aunt and uncle on Hogsmeade weekends was strange for Emara. They scratched - gently - at a part of herself she didn't understand, and they made it hard for her to do the things that her mother expected her to do. Manipulating others was second nature, betrayal, blackmail, revenge - these were things that Sam understood. Love? Kindness? Doing something for someone without expecting something in return? Completely foreign concepts to the beautiful Slytherin. It made her wonder how different her life would be had her father been given custody instead of her mother, how different life could have been if he didn't die. His death left little hope that she'd escape her mother's clutches and so she had resigned to being her mother's monster until she graduated - after that she didn't know.
Maybe she did. Maybe she would marry Nik as was expected of her, though a part of her felt that Nik was far too good for her, and even though she loved him - she wasn't in love with him. Not that being in love mattered. Love was just a four letter word used to make sex seem less dirty. But she cared about him. It was selfish of her to take him away from a full life of love and happiness. He was a Malfoy, he could buy whatever life he wanted, he shouldn't have to be saddled with her, she couldn't make him happy, she didn't know what happiness was.
Sensing an easy entry into the conversation she raised an eyebrow at her fiance, "And for that remark Nik, you can go get Miss Evans a cart for her belongings." she said with a haughty smile, feeling a little more comfortable in a commanding role.
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
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Post by Lily Jane Evans on Jun 28, 2018 9:51:07 GMT -8
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Lily Evans
@all | 321 words | outfit | notes
character - others
The redhead nearly jumped out of her skin as she was addressed by an unfamiliar voice, and her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as she turned to see who it was that had spoken. Which turned out to be something of a mistake. She had never actually met Nicholas Malfoy, but he featured quite often enough in the society pages of the Prophet for his face to be familiar to her, and Lily's heart nearly stopped. He was a Malfoy! Sanctimonia Vincet Semper. Whereas she, well, she couldn't even claim the inheritance of one magical family member. Not that Lily was ashamed of her background, of course- far from it- but even so, she couldn't help wondering whether he would be handing her her things as he was if he had the faintest idea of who she was, or rather, who she wasn't. Possibly, she supposed. She'd never actually read the society pages of the Prophet. "Oh... thank you," Lily murmured, her cheeks blazing with a colour to match her hair as she bent herself to pick up the last couple of items. Sweet Merlin, what on earth was she playing at? She'd never been so clumsy in her life! Admittedly, the Lioness had to concede that he wasn't bad looking, but that was quite beside the point. Right now, she was looking like an idiot, and that was the one thing which Lily had always striven to avoid being.
"Oh, no, really, it's fine..." the redhead insisted- or at least, as close as she could come to it. The idea of anyone fetching a trolley for her was one which she was distinctly uncomfortable with. As ridiculous as it might seem, Lily was determined that she was going to get through life on her own merits, flying solo, and how on earth was she going to manage that if she couldn't even convey her luggage across a platform.
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I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.
N
ik hated that stupid motto, "Purity will always conquer", conquer what? And what a joke, his family may have played the superiority card often enough, but when push came to shove a Malfoy loved a good deal more than they cared about "purity". History would find a Malfoy intertwined with muggle counterparts often enough if there was money on the table, or power to be gained by influential muggles. Of course other family members - the one Nik was named after - took their perceived superiority too far giving little to no regard for human life if it wasn't wizard life as well.
Nik wasn't too fond of his relatives, though he tolerated them well enough. Perhaps it was Aedan's influence, or more accurately the inflated importance of oneself due to being "pure". Nik wasn't the idle type, he wanted to earn his place in the world. He wasn't a man unless he made it so - not because of his ancestors - another thing Aedan had taught him.
It was an unpopular idea amongst his relatives and he didn't voice his real feelings -what was the point of preaching to sheep? If the Malfoy clan liked to feel better about themselves because of their "unblemished" history, then that was that. Malfoys were stubborn and arrogant, there was no getting around a Malfoy's ego - except with a pretty face.
He winked at Emara and then turned to Lily giving a slight bow, "It would be my pleasure miss." he said formally but there was also a roguish glint in his eyes. Nik was nothing if not devastatingly charming, and he had too much class to be anything but cordial to a lady - unless that lady was Lyra.
He was gone and back again a moment later with a trolley. Lily may have been determined to get through life on her own merits, and in that way they were ironically similar.
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
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Post by Lily Jane Evans on Jun 28, 2018 14:22:42 GMT -8
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Lily Evans
@all | 305 words | outfit | notes
character - others
Merlin knew that Lily's family had never been prestigious enough to merit its own motto, and there were times when the redhead thanked Merlin for that. When she looked around at the scions of pureblood families with whom she had the dubious honour of sharing a school year with, they all seemed to be doing their best to live up to words made up by some ancestor who'd lived centuries ago. Quite frankly, Lily could not be doing with the stress. If the redhead were to have a motto, then it would be 'To thine own self be true'. It met the criteria, did it not? Made up by a man who'd lived hundreds of years ago, and she was probably related to him somewhere down the line, however distantly that might be. Plus, it actually fitted with what she wanted out of life, which was an unusual benefit in a motto.
"Lily, please," she insisted, and the core of common sense which she had always retained threw its hands up in despair. She'd just invited a Malfoy to address her by her first name. What in the name of Merlin was going on here? Truth be told, Lily felt as though she was in the middle of a dream. Mentally, she shook herself. Why, she wondered, did she find it so difficult to believe that a Malfoy who wasn't so bothered about blood status could be a possibility? That made her as bad as the rest of them. Defining someone by their surname. Inwardly, Lily sighed. She'd only just woken up; she was in no fit state for such deep thoughts.
With an awkward smile, she murmured "Thank you," as the man returned with a trolley, onto which she quickly began to load her varied and assorted luggage. Independent. Not proud and not stupid.
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Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jun 28, 2018 16:11:27 GMT -8
Having insisted she tag along with Nik to retrieve the Sayre girls from the train station, Lyra had actually wandered off before seeing either Emara or Christine. Her little sister, Aubrielle, was still in school and while Lyra’s parents had disowned her, Aubrielle hadn’t. Not yet, anyway. There was still time enough for their parents to turn Aubri against her older sister, though with Lyra’s financial situation righting itself over the last year, anyone looking from the outside in would be quick to point out the greediness of the Notts and that Lyra could safely assume she hadn’t seen the last of her parents. Lyra, however, did not have the luxury of seeing things that clearly, and so as she spotted her sister stepping off the train, still unaccompanied by Edmund or Cassiopeia, she gave Nik a quick explanation and darted off on her own.
The sisters spoke for only a few minutes, with Lyra apologizing several times for not writing as often as she felt she should have, before a deep voice called out for Aubrielle. Both girls turned toward the voice to see Edmund Nott, dark hair and eyes, with a thin blonde woman who was clearly beautiful once upon a time hanging on his arm. Lyra hadn’t seen her parents in almost a year. They hadn’t come when she’d been in hospital after nearly killing herself – accidentally – and she had spent several months even refusing to speak of them with her therapist. To see them now, in person, was quite a shock, but what was perhaps more shocking than seeing their faces was seeing their expressions. Edmund looked coldly at Lyra from across the platform, then turned his eyes to Aubrielle and called her once more. Cassiopeia simply looked at the floor, purposely avoiding looking at either of her daughters.
Aubrielle gave a hushed apology to Lyra and a brief hug, before levitating her trunk and charming it to follow her through the crowd of people until she reached their parents. Lyra watched, emotionally perplexed, as her family disappeared into the crowd without a second glance in her direction. She stood there for a long moment, letting people move around her as they greeted their families and happily began sharing the more exciting moments of their life from the past school year. Lyra felt very much alone in that moment, having completely forgotten that she had originally come to pick up Emara and Christine.
