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 Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 18, 2019 21:56:59 GMT -8
Nik had a strange way of knowing things almost immediately. At times it even seemed as though he could see the impending future but the Malfoys weren’t known to have any seers in the family and he and Lyra were close enough now – despite their rocky start – that she was certain he would have mentioned something of the sort if he had such a gift. How he managed to know these things was beyond Lyra’s comprehension, but it didn’t matter now. What mattered was that Julian was home and Lyra was going to see the love of her life for the first time in a year.
After reclaiming her senses, and ignoring the odd stare from passersby in the Diagon Alley after her emotional outburst, Lyra picked herself up, took a few deep breaths, and apparated to the Sayre Estate where Julian was no doubt awaiting her arrival.
A crack broke the air, signaling her hurried arrival. Nik and Elara were all but forgotten in her rush to see Julian but they were both perfectly capable of managing themselves. She was still in her work clothes, though she looked fashionable enough. Hair curled and make up disguising the tears of overwhelming shock and happiness that she had experienced only twenty minutes ago, she looked perfectly lovely though looking back on this moment she would certainly have preferred to take a bit of time to prepare herself. In the moment, however, there was not a minute to spare. She needed to see him. Lyra couldn’t keep the enormous smile off her face as she scurried into the manor unannounced, all of the pain of the last two years completely vanished from her memory.
An elf directed her to a bank of rooms and Lyra nearly trampled over the poor thing in her excitement. She was so close now, there was no patience left in her. Hesitating long enough to knock was not even an option at the moment. Lyra pushed open the door to the find an empty guestroom, a few small pieces of unfamiliar luggage on the crumpled bed. The door to the en suite was closed but a light shone through the crack beneath the door and the lush carpet of the bedroom. The fresh scent of a warm shower directed her to the room’s occupant and Lyra headed immediately toward the bathroom. She knocked, her petite frame pressed anxiously against the door. “Julian.” Her voice was higher than normal, raised in the excitement of the day. “They told me you’d come home and I rushed right – ” The door opened but it was not Julian standing in the bathroom freshly showered and for the second time that day, Lyra was stopped mid-sentence by someone she’d not expected to see.
Post by Talia Keshet Ahmad on Jul 18, 2019 21:59:38 GMT -8
The voyage had been a long one, and Farah had not taken well to life on the sea. The little tot had complained the first several days of being unwell, and Talia had tried to keep her resting in the hopes that it would help her daughter while they were confined to the ship but Farah had other ideas. Talia had spent most of the journey running after Farah, cleaning up her sick and comforting her only for the child to announce she wanted to play and would start the whole cycle over again. Enchantments and elixirs could only do so much, and both mummy and daughter were more than pleased when they finally reached their final destination. As a parting gift from the sea, Farah had one final sick all down the front of Talia’s blouse following an excited episode of jumping on the very first bed she’d seen in weeks that wasn’t bolted to the floor. After the toddler was all cleaned up, Talia allowed herself a shower while Farah accompanied Julian in unloading their things and doing whatever it is one does when docking a ship.
As a mum, she was almost always expecting her moment of peace to be interrupted but a knock on the en suite door and a woman’s voice calling for Julian was not quite the disruption she’d been expecting. Wrapping herself in a towel, hair tied up at the crown of her head and little ringlets of dark curls barely tickling her neck, Talia pulled the door open. There was a moment of silence as the squealing blonde suddenly looked as if her head was going to explode from trying to understand Talia’s presence where she expected a man to be. Dark eyes scanned the small witch in front of her before speaking. “Julian will be back shortly,” she explained, though she had no need to explain herself nor her savior to a woman she’d never met. “He’s just gone to fetch our things.” Talia clutched the fold where she’d knotted the towel to keep herself modest in front of the eager stranger and raised an eyebrow at the girl until she stepped aside just enough for Talia to pass.
Only a few items of her luggage had made it inside yet and Talia wasn’t sure what, if anything, she’d find in her bags. They’d not exactly had much to begin their journey with and in the midst of Farah’s sea sickness, Talia hadn’t bothered to organize their things properly before disembarking. One had clutching her towel, the other beginning to rummage through her things. Finding a light dress that would do for the time being, Talia turned back to see the woman still standing dumbstruck. “You can wait, if you’d like.” It wasn’t a very welcoming offer but she didn’t know the blonde or anyone at the estate for that matter, sans the people she’d traveled here with. It was best not to make enemies straight away. She disappeared once more into the privacy of the bathroom to change as another figure loomed in the doorway of her room.
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.
T
he mystery behind Nik's apparent omniscience was rather simple: he had spies - an entire army of men, women, even children amongst other beings all loyal to him and well rewarded for relaying information of interest.
To be honest however, the current spies relaying information about Julian weren't his, they were Aedan's. Nothing happened at Castle Eire without Aedan knowing about it. After his death, Nik more or less assumed the mantle. He worked closely with the Sayre family and some days felt more Sayre than Malfoy, they provided the family unit so different than his own or any other pureblood family he had met. It was warm for lack of a better word.
In his own family he was fairly certain there was a cousin or two that would easily sell him out for a larger piece of the Malfoy pie, but not so with the Sayres. They worked together, lived together, operated like a unit. Sure they fought and sometimes broke each other's bones, but no one threatened any part of the family without feeling the wrath of all four, three now, brothers - not including "extended" family; Nik wouldn't care to go against the Girouards either. There were no arguments over money or power, and because they didn't argue between themselves (about money or power at least) they always seemed to accrue more of it. But then Aedan had taught him that a fist triumphed over a finger and when the Sayres were after something they worked as a fist often breaking through whatever finger or poor sap dares to oppose them.
Truthfully, it wasn't just Lara Nik loved. He loved the Sayres. He was eager to become a part of the family officially.
But then there was the anomaly. Lyra. She confused Nik. Got under his skin and made him uncomfortable. She forced him to confront his serious nature and had an effect on him similar to the affect she had on Elara. They were both addicted to the blonde's vivaciousness. Her joie de vivre that was absent from both Nik and Lara's lives.
After Vanessa's death Nik never questioned anything in his life. His sole mission had been to protect Lara and try to make her happy - it was his penance for what he let happen, what he had caused to happen, to his sister. But Lyra made him question things. She also had no sense of self-preservation which, now that he cared for her, made him constantly on edge where she was concerned. He never knew when she would do something completely insane or worse: follow her emotions. And because he cared, he would follow her.
Thus here they stood.
Nik had only just uttered the words before both women began demanding answers and Lyra ran off before Nik could answer them. He paused long enough to give Elara a brief rundown of what he knew - she wouldn't let him leave otherwise - but then they both agreed that interference would be needed and rushed back to the castle.
Elara had run after the docks hearing that her cousin was back as well. Nik knew something had happened to Christine over the summer, but Elara was keeping that story close to the chest and Nik didn't want to press the issue with either girl. He trusted that they would come to him on their own time. For the moment he was preoccupied with the scene in front of him. More specifically he was preoccupied with the half-dressed figure that was most definitely not Julian.
A single brow rose at her offer to let Lyra wait in the room, and his mouth parted to ask after her identity, but she disappeared before he could get the words out and his attention redirected to Lyra. He didn't like surprises, but he would learn everything there was to learn about the woman in due time, for now he wanted to check on Lyra.
He stepped fully into the room only sparing the bathroom door a glance before taking hold of Lyra and placing his hands on her shoulders. "If he's not here, he may still be down at the docks - " his grip tightened with care not to hurt her but to prevent her from running off again.
"Lyra, do you remember what happened right before he left? How can you still pine after him after everything that happened? After what he did?"
He didn't mean to ask the question. Really at this point he just assumed she was crazy, but he was comforted by the fact that Julian had left and allowed Lyra to heal. His return complicated things, and he was actually worried that all Lyra's progress would come undone.
"He played you. Look…I didn't want to bring any of this up when you were healing and while you were depressed about him leaving, but he's back now and you're just running straight to his arms. Lyra I can't…" he was frustrated with the lack of eloquence. His specialty was detachment, but it was only too apparent that he was emotionally invested.
He seemed to reach for some deep reserve of patience and tried again, "Lyra he played you. He made a monumental mistake that nearly cost you your life. How can you still want a man that would do what he did to you? A man who didn't love you enough to trust you or me for that matter? A man who instead of coming to you about what he saw decided to invite another woman into his bed and arrange for you to see it? How can you just run back into his arms?"
Nik truly didn't understand, but Nik had never truly been in love.
just because I loved the person holding the knife."
J
ulian's face still stung where Sam had hit him. He had expected her anger, but the idea that Elara would actually strike him was surprising. It wasn't that she shied away from violence, but usually she wasn't so involved. She preferred others doing her dirty work.
While Elara wasn't easily forgotten in the first place, a memory that had stayed with him over the years was that of the blue-eyed princess watching a vicious beat down occur in a nightclub. He had never seen someone so satisfied by bloodshed before. She stood above the crowd looking down on the patrons, appearing every inch the powerful and dangerous woman he would later come to know her to be. He would also later learn that the man taken to St. Mungos had been responsible for distributing tainted elixirs intended to render a person - typically female - completely submissive and wipe their memory after a few hours depending on the strength of the potion.
They spent a long summer at that club, more specifically they spent a long summer in the basement cum speakeasy where all the good elixirs were, both running from demons that neither spoke about until the incident. But it was enough time to become well and truly assured that crossing Elara was a very bad idea. Still, somethings couldn't be helped, and Elara's disapproval was the least of his concerns or regrets when it came to the pain he had caused the woman he loved.
He had prevented her from hitting him again, rather Farah's appearance had stopped Elara from releasing the full power of her wrath, rendering her temporarily frozen until Christine arrived and diverted the dark haired demon away.
Julian lifted Farrah in his arms and quickly headed back to the estate. If Sam was there that meant that Nik had arrived as well. In Julian's absence the inquisition would come down on Talia and he had been the cause of enough strife for the woman and her daughter, he wouldn't subject her to Nik's well-crafted intimidation techniques, even if Talia could more than handle herself.
His steps ate even more ground as he realized that someone else might have been in the castle to meet him - a pert blond that consumed Julian's thoughts. At this point he didn't know whether he was running to save Talia or running back to the woman he couldn't escape but wholly didn't deserve.
He arrived just in time to hear Nik's words - effectively dashing whatever hope he had no right to have. He acknowledged the truth in Nik's angry speech and didn't even try to defend himself.
"He's right." he offered from the doorway.
Not wanting Farrah to witness what might be a volatile encounter he called for a house elf and set the girl down gently. Bending down to meet her face to face he tugged on one of her curls with affection and let her know it was safe to go with the creature to the east kitchens where some kind of sugary treat was surely available. When she was gone he turned to face the woman he left behind and the man who told him to leave.
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 19, 2019 20:55:41 GMT -8
The dark haired woman spoke and Lyra was almost mesmerized by her. Not by her beauty, though that was evident, nor by her thick accent that Lyra couldn’t place, but simply by her presence in the room she’d been assured Julian was staying in. This woman was not Julian nor would anyone be daft enough to confuse the two. Were they staying here together? He was fetching “their things”. She clearly knew him. Was she comfortable walking around half naked in front of Julian? She didn’t seem to be bothered about strutting around in front of a total stranger. Lyra opened her mouth to speak several times but no words formed. In the absence of conversation, the woman disappeared back into the en suite and Lyra nearly jumped out of her skin as Nik’s large hands pressed gently but firmly around her shoulders.
The docks. Yes, she would find Julian at the docks. The brunette was easily forgotten as her plans swiftly shifted but just as quickly she was deterred yet again. Nik, in true Malfoy fashion, began the lecture and Lyra grew angry. “Get off me!” She pulled away from him as best she could, her face hard as she looked at her friend, cautioning her against happiness. If Nik was frustrated it was nothing compared to how Lyra felt. “You’re talking out your arse again.” He said she’d been depressed in Julian’s absence. The word felt remarkably small, belittling of what Lyra had gone through. It only became more obvious as the diatribe went on that Nik truly had no idea what Lyra had gone through in the last year. He could only see if from the outside, he could listen when she spoke – if what she said was even true, there had been so many lies and omissions in the beginning – and try to comprehend the vastness of what was happening to her but he was little more than a robot when it came to emotions. Nik could never really understand what had happened to her, to Julian. He couldn’t begin to fathom the leaps she had made in her treatment and he was speaking down to her now as if she was a child unable to make a sound decision for herself. In that moment, Lyra hated Nicholas Malfoy. And then he spoke.
“Julian.” His name was little more than an airy whisper on her lips. Time stood still as Lyra’s gaze turned toward the door and there he was. He might have taken her breath away all on his own if not for the little girl he was holding so gingerly. The dark haired tot knocked the wind straight out of Lyra with a single apprehensive glance. The blonde witch gapped at the scene unfolding before her and suddenly Nik’s warning seemed all too real. What in the bloody hell was going on?
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies.
N
ik had his flaws. Elara and now Lyra were only too eager to point them out, but he was learning that the biggest flaw he had was caring about others in the first place. He released her upon her command with a frustrated growl, and didn't even hear Julian at first, but he did hear Lyra speak the man's name.
He turned to face his one time best friend and stared in confusion as the man released the small child before facing them again. With immense self control he clenched his fists and took a step back. He was too close to the edge and the slightest breeze would have been enough to send his fists flying at the other man.
He had questions, but he couldn't stomach the sight in front of him. Lyra thought he didn't listen, but he did listen. He was the only one who listened. He was the only one who helped. He had been there for her when no one else could be bothered, while Sam was at school and Julian was heaven knows where. He was the only one outside of her therapist that genuinely fought for her happiness and for her. He was the one who taught her to fight for herself. And none of it meant anything. Maybe her affair with Julian was real love. Maybe that made it worse. If love meant destroying the person you claimed to love, if it meant pining after someone who destroyed you, if it meant learning nothing and laying down so that person that you "love" could walk all over you again, then Nik wanted nothing to do with it.
He knew he couldn't stop their sweet reunion. Lyra was blind when it came to Julian. She was also stubborn and determined. She would win Julian back, it was only a matter of time, and as for Julian, he had no will power to stay away.
He didn't care if Lyra hated him, the sickening scene before him and his inability to do anything about it, caused a part of him to hate her too.
Squaring up against his one time friend he snarled, "You're not welcome here. Get out. Take your acquaintances with you."
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 20, 2019 7:54:12 GMT -8
“Nik,” she said gently, reaching for his wrist and letting her hand trail slowly over the back of his hand. She wanted to tell him to stop, to knock it off, and stop being a total knob but she couldn’t say any of that. The beat she had taken while Julian passed off the strange child to the house elf was enough that Lyra was able to see that, perhaps, she was falling back into her old ways a little too haphazardly.
It was her weakness. Lyra loved unabashedly. She had cultivated a reputation in school – before Rystain – of being a witch who was beyond matters of the heart. She was cold and seductive and thought herself better than everyone else. Rystain, then Julian, showed that side of her to be a façade, one she hadn’t even known she’d been putting on, and since then it had been harder for Lyra to quell her love for people. Even people who did not deserve her heart. She still deeply loved her parents despite them wanting little to do with her. She loved her sister Aubrielle, even though they had to hide their correspondence to assure that Aubri wouldn’t meet with the same rough departure from the family as Lyra had. And she still loved Julian, even though everything Nik had said was exactly the truth, confirmed by the man himself.
Passing Nik by, hoping that her hesitance now would be enough for him to allow a small reunion without a scene, Lyra walked more slowly than she thought possible in Julian’s presence and without waiting for a single word from him, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his chest. “I missed you.”
Post by Talia Keshet Ahmad on Jul 20, 2019 8:10:16 GMT -8
It was not difficult to overhear the conversation from the bathroom. Talia wasn’t purposely trying to eavesdrop, but she also wasn’t trying at all to avoid overhearing what was happening on the other side of the door. She dressed, and let her hair down. She was one of the few lucky women who didn’t require makeup to look done up and even if she had wanted to put on a bit of lipstick, her belongings were at the closest on the bed in the other room and at the farthest on the ship at the docks. Talia didn’t mind.
There was a lecture for the blonde witch in which Talia was able to very easily put together what was going on. Julian had never really talked about his past with her, not in any detail, but she knew there was something of a troublesome situation he was leaving behind and now she could tell that the blonde seemed at the middle of it.
Pulling the door open, Talia stepped out of the en suite and made her appearance in front of the group. The blonde was throwing herself at Julian and a dark haired man, the one who had ordered their eviction from the premises, was looking none too pleased. Talia made eye contact with Julian from across the room, beginning to close up the few small bags she’d brought inside with her. “This must be your mistake you spoke of.” She looked at Lyra, then the other man. “British hospitality is as every bit as they claim in Jordan.” If they were not welcome, Talia had no need to play nice with the strangers. Her eyes flicked back to Julian.
just because I loved the person holding the knife."
I
t seemed like ages ago that Julian welcomed encounters like this. Back when he was a Cassanova for hire, there was a slight thrill watching a jealous man lose control.
Actually the thrill came when the violence started. It didn't matter whether Julian was taking the beating or giving it, the pain made him feel alive and the bloodshed made him feel powerful. It was an unhealthy pit stop in an unhealthy time in his life, and yet it wasn't that long ago. It was also the reason Julian met Lyra in the first place. Julian had been "retired" when Elara reached out to him, but something about Lyra's story touched him. Also Elara didn't ask for favors, so he knew the girl was important, he didn't realize how important she would become.
Now, face to face with his former best mate, he felt an empty ache in his chest for the way he had left things behind. He knew now that you couldn't run from your problems, they would only fester and rise up to meet you in the future.
He gave the slightest of nods, agreeing to Nik's demand. Talia had entered the room, luckily they had learned to communicate without words and she had started packing without him needing to explain things. Her added quip about British hospitality would have made him laugh if not for the gravity of the situation.
Even if Talia knew who Nik was - one of the richest men in the wizarding world - it wouldn't have mattered. She didn't take sh*t from anyone. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a mother that her "scolding" was so effective.
But then everything faded from view and thoughts about the other occupants in the room quickly disappeared. A small body had pressed against him and it was so familiar, like a puzzle piece falling into place, that he was helpless to move.
He could have held her forever in that moment, but that too would be avoiding the problem and he had put her through enough.
"We should talk." he said after an eternity, "Privately." he added before gesturing towards the door.
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 23, 2019 20:50:05 GMT -8
We should talk. Was there any worse phrase in the English language? Lyra felt her stomach sinking even further than it had when Julian’s acquaintance, as Nik had put it, referred to her as a mistake. She had made so many mistakes in her short life, and of course she regretted the way her and Julian had ended, but for him to call her a mistake…to other people no less. And now they needed to talk?
Tears welled up in her sparkling blue eyes but she managed to hold them back as she slowly peeled herself away from his trim figure. She nodded solemnly, not able to look Julian in the eyes, more than well aware what was coming for her. Before heading out the door as Julian had indicated, Lyra turned back and moved to Nik. Her voice was low but her eyes pleaded with him for a shred of patience and perhaps understanding, though she deserved none of it. “Play nice,” she asked him this favor more than well aware of his feelings for his best friend – she refused to call them former friends as she was certain it could all be worked out in time. “Please.” She only needed a few minutes and then Nik’s patience would pay off. Julian would explain that he no longer loved Lyra. He was with the foreign witch and playing daddy to the little girl he’d carried in with him earlier. Were they already engaged? Married? Lyra felt sick as she turned away from Nicholas. Forcing a half-hearted smile in Julian’s direction as she sucked in the tears, Lyra headed out to the corridor, prepared to follow Julian wherever he led and knowing in the end it would kill her.
Post by Nicholas Evander Malfoy on Jul 24, 2019 14:01:47 GMT -8
"Take me to Church - I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies."
Nik growled.
He had never been in this situation before. Ever. It was all so foreign to him. Maybe Lyra was right - they were robots. Being a Malfoy afforded him a certain power. Money moved people and parts to his liking. He had never been turned down by a girl before - other than Elara. He had never squared off against another man before, who would go against him? He had never cared enough to square off against another man, especially in a bid he knew he wouldn't win.
There had been times when Elara defied him, usually in some attempt to prove that no one controlled her, but this was different and Nik was lost.
Lyra's gentle touch was a slight balm. He remembered who he was and realized that there was a "stranger" among them now privy to a dispute that should have been private. He gave Lyra a nod. He wouldn't cause a scene, more of a scene.
Perhaps it was juvenile but he shouldered Julian while leaving the room, echoing a similarly juvenile taunt, "This isn't over."
Post by Talia Keshet Ahmad on Jul 24, 2019 14:40:46 GMT -8
Talia watched the scene play out for her from the corner of her eye, packing the little belongings she had available to her as she observed. The witch was putting on a pout now and the wizard was in a huff. Oh how she wished she could have heard more of this soap opera but Julian had been frustratingly tight lipped about his past, beyond claiming his innocence in her husband's death. She turned her back to the rumpled bed and sat down, crossing one toned leg over the other. "I'll just wait here, then." To a stranger, her tone would seem curt, put out. To Julian, however, he would notice the hint of humor in her voice. Where else was she to go? Farah was off having a snack in the kitchen and she wasn't about to leave the premises without her daughter, and besides, Talia knew nothing of Britain. She had no connections other than those she made on the ship, and she had no money to afford a hotel room for herself and her daughter for the night. Despite what the handsome wizard had demanded, Talia would be perfectly content to stay the night in this massive castle, if only for the one evening.
just because I loved the person holding the knife."
J
ulian's hand went to his shoulder, but the only sign of tension was a slight tick in his jaw. There was so much anger from his former best friend, he had to wonder if something had happened between Lyra and Nik during Julian's absence. Maybe what he had seen and his interpretation of the act was only a portend of things to come. Anger came swiftly at the thought, but was gone just as fast. He had no right to be angry or jealous. Lyra wasn't his, and she was better off without him.
He waited a beat after his friend left the room to return his attention to Lyra. He honestly hoped Niks' words held true - it wasn't over - somehow they could find their way back to the brothers they had once been. But that wasn't his immediate concern, the blond in front of him was his priority.
Giving Talia one last cursory glance - and noting that she was perfectly content - he led Lyra out of the room.
He kept walking, leading her past the hallway, then past the other guest rooms, then out of the guest wing entirely, beyond the grand staircase and the library, beyond the conservatory and the atrium, and so on until he wasn't quite sure where they were.
While he didn't know their exact location, the space was unlike the rest of the castle - warm and intimate. He led her to a marble bench situated in an alcove beneath a window and sat near her.
He didn't know where to start or what to say. Though he had spent every spare moment thinking about her and how he would handle their reunion, it was all he could do to remember to breathe. Every other fiber in his body was absorbing her presence and the the reality that she was in front of him. He didn't deserve this. He didn't even dare to dream that he would have this moment to talk to her and apologize. But the longer he was in front of her, the bolder his true desire became and an apology was not where his lips had led. Truthfully there was only one thing he could do and there wasn't a force powerful enough on earth to stop him.
Except her. She could stop him. Reject him. It was his devil's due that she reject him in every way, but it was a force beyond himself that pushed him forward, gently touching his lips to hers.
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 24, 2019 18:38:59 GMT -8
Lyra had come to learn much of the layout of the expansive estate, at least the interior of the castle. The grounds were far too large for her to navigate on their own but she'd spent enough time in the castle to manage her way about the place. After her accident, when she was finally released from hospital, Lyra had spent several months being monitored here; supposedly just by the Sayre's private healer but Lyra knew for a fact that Elara and Nik were monitoring her as well. She'd not been in a great space, mentally, after Julian's departure. She could have managed well enough after "the scene" even if it had been the end of their relationship, but when he left...
Lyra knew her way around well enough, but Julian had guided her this way and that to the point that she wasn't sure where they were. She didn't bother asking. Which wing of the castle they were in hardly mattered when your ex-boyfriend was sitting you down to talk about his new girlfriend. Sat under a window on a marble bench, Lyra looked to her lap. She twisted her fingers nervously, waiting. He didn't say anything. Lyra looked up to see Julian was looking at her silently. She smiled despite knowing - or believing she knew - what was coming. She had missed him terribly over these last nine months. Not just the parts of him that she was privy to in private; his strong arms wrapping around her, making her feel safe and secure; his lips gently touching every inch of her body causing happy little chills over her skin but she also missed his company. Their conversations had been so lively and interesting. He'd taught her about cooking, art, and travel. He laughed with her as she butchered foreign languages and then guided her in pronouncing them correctly or smiling at her when she gave up on it.
Julian had been her greatest lover but he had also been her best friend and she hadn't heard anything of him in nearly a year. It stung but she couldn't look away from him as he stared at her. "I know-" she started but her attempt at breaking the silence was hindered by Julian's lips on hers and suddenly everything else melted away. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Lyra kissed him back with such passion that no one would have ever guessed she thought he was in a relationship with another woman. There wasn't even a hint of irony in her thoughts, no wild memories of her relationship with Mason being tainted by an affair with Julian in secret. If Julian was cheating on his new lady friend at the moment, the thought hadn't crossed Lyra's mind. All she knew was that she loved him and he was home. Pushing herself into him, Lyra shifted her weight, pulling herself onto her knees and then practically on his lap. "I missed you," she said between breaths, her voice airy and rushed so as to not lose a moment with pointless words, "so much."
just because I loved the person holding the knife."
T
his was wrong. Somewhere he knew this was wrong, but it felt right. It felt inescapable and Julian was beyond fighting what he felt. He couldn't find the words to say the things he needed her to know, but his body yearned to convey it's own message. He had missed her. He had dreamed about her. He had wondered if he would ever see her again and the fear that the last time he would ever hold her would be the time he almost lost her pushed him to replace the memory at a frantic pace.
His hands were lost on her body, itching to feel every inch and reacquaint themselves with her curves. His mouth was hot on hers, traveling briefly to her neck and down her throat. He met her passion with his own every step, falling into sync with her and old impossibly forbidden habits.