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!
just because I loved the person holding the knife."
J
ulian placed a hand at her back. His fingertips had grown rough over several months physical labor, but his motion was intent was comfort.
"Lara doesn't hate you."
It was the only thing he could say. He would have told her that he deserved a lot more of her anger, but that was a dead horse argument, as was trying to convince her to go easy on herself. The only thing he could say that was unequivocally true and comforting was countering Lyra's assessment of Elara's feelings.
The fact that the girl showed such emotion in the first place meant that she didn't hate Lyra. If Sam hated Lyra, Lyra would absolutely know it.
"Come on, you know what that woman does to people she hates, you're still alive so..." he said trying to insert a little humor.
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 27, 2019 22:04:49 GMT -8
Julian's touch was comforting, and his attempt at humor was begrudgingly welcomed. "Don't be cute, Jules. You know I can't resist you when you're cute." She pouted at him, partially for show and yet at the same time it felt very genuine. She sighed and sat up, pulling Julian onto the bed with her and burying her head in his shirt. "She's cross with me, though. She and Nik. They don't like that we're together." It would have been beyond foolish to claim their concerns were unfounded. Lyra and Julian had perhaps a worst track record than Romeo and Juliet, though neither had actually died. Lyra had come close, and that had been the tipping point, but her dangerous coping strategies couldn't be blamed on Julian. That was something none of her loved ones, Julian included, could see. "Is this foolish of us?" she lifted her eyes to look up at him, perfectly shaped brows raised with concern.
Post by Julian Taranis Faust on Jul 28, 2019 21:47:42 GMT -8
"Never again will I justify the scars just because I loved the person holding the knife."
Julian pulled her in when she reached for him on the bed. Settling them both so he was supporting her with his arm behind her back and her head cradled against he sighed. When he spoke the vibrations could be felt through his chest, "I have the great fortune of being cute all the time Lyra - in a manly way of course." he said - deepening his voice for show.
He sighed again, adopting a serious mien about Lyra's concerns, "They're worried - about you mostly. No one, myself included, wants to see you hurt again. They're just concerned."
It wasn't very comforting, but it was the truth. Nik and Elara were worried about Lyra. "It's not going to be easy Lyra. Nik and Sam aren't big believers in happily ever after. I think they're quite flummoxed over you, love. What they know about forgiveness is even less than they know about love."
Was it foolish to be together given their history? Undoubtedly. Did they have a choice? Not really. "It may be foolish. I certainly wasn't expecting you to be so forgiving - I planned on earning my way back into your good graces, and theirs. But if there's one thing I've learned in all of this Lyra, its that all the pain I've caused you were attempts to push you away and I can't do that anymore. I don't know if we're supposed to be together. If this is foolish or not. But being together can't be harder than being apart. All I want to do, all I am committed to doing, is keeping you happy. Fortunately I know several ways of doing that." he said with a less than wholesome grin.
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Jul 29, 2019 21:22:11 GMT -8
Lyra smiled to herself as Julian talked playfully of his charms, his manly charms as it were. She had missed this so much. Talking with Julian had always been so easy, so effortless. They could have deep, meaningful conversations, laugh uproariously at an offhanded joke, and then go right back into the real topics at hand. She only ever had to censor herself when he was in one of his especially self-admonishing moods. Then she would think over her words to the point where their conversations were less substantial and much more lengthy, but she had reasoned it was to save him the worry that she loved him too much or she was feeling too poorly about herself or something of the like. She’d been working on that with Doctor Nadeer in her therapy sessions, that, and a great many other things. Lyra suddenly wondered what Doctor Nadeer’s reaction would be to the news that Julian had returned and they’d take up a relationship so quickly. Definitely more subtle than Elara’s. She expected Nik’s to be a bit worse, for whatever reason.
She listened to Julian speak, feeling the vibrations on his chest as she pressed herself up against him. “Those two ought to have been read more faery tales when they were younger, and less about business and politics, or whatever their bedtime stories were.” Nik and Elara were right to be concerned, it was agreed all around, but they were being oddly aggressive about it. Nik, two days prior, had literally knocked into Julian and taunted him threateningly, all for returning to the country. Elara had slapped him then, and again today. Between the physical abuse from the fiery teenager and the work out Lyra had given him much of yesterday, Julian had to be do for a rest or possibly a massage, but his cheeky remark stated he wasn’t ready to relax any time soon. Lyra slapped his chest playfully as if he were a puppy in need of correction.
Pulling herself upright, and instantly regretting the space she had made between them, Lyra repositioned herself on the mattress, crossing her legs so that her knees were touching his legs and not bothering to readjust her robe that had fallen open. Taking his hands in hers, she gave a very serious smile. “Forgiveness isn’t about you though, Jules. It’s about me. It’s me letting go of what happened so that I can move forward, regardless of how you or anyone else feels about it.” She sighed, her eyes widening as if to say she was exasperated at even herself. “I’ve talked a lot about it with Doctor Nadeer and in the end, it was easy for me to forgive you because everything you did was an attempt to keep me safe.” She liked her lips as they had suddenly gone dry and she shook her head side to side lightly as if arguing with herself inside her own head. “Well… almost everything, but even then, what I did to myself is on me. Lara wants to blame you for it, and Nik wants to fight you over it, and you want to berate yourself because of it but none of you actually used the severing charm on me. I did. I was in a bad spot and that night certainly wasn’t the first time I had done it, and if I’m going to be honest with you Jules because I always want to be honest with you, that night wasn’t the last time either. It’s a process that I’m going through and I’d say I’m getting better but I’m certainly not going to hold it against you that you had one spot of horrendously misguided jealousy.” She laughed lightly through the end of her sentence. It had indeed been a spectacular mistake but a mistake nonetheless. “I love you, and you will have to do better with letting me love you, and with trusting me to love only you. And maybe you’ll have to buy me something pretty every once in a while.” She gave a minxish grin before leaning forward and kissing him deeply.
Post by Julian Taranis Faust on Jul 29, 2019 22:02:09 GMT -8
"Never again will I justify the scars just because I loved the person holding the knife."
Julian chuckled deeply over Lyra's opinion on Nik and Elara's childhood. He quickly sobered with the rest of her "confession".
There would never be a time where Lyra didn't physically appeal to him, but her words were deeper than the exposed flesh revealed as she shifted. Yes, she could drive him wild with an insatiable hunger that he'd never experienced before. But she could also touch his soul in a place that had never been touched before. He suddenly realized that he wasn't alone in that regard. He laughed then as the epiphany dawned on him.
"None of us deserve you." he stated quietly.
"You're not wrong about Elara and Nik. They didn't have many bedtime stories or fairy-tales. You'd think that with all the money and power Sayres or Malfoys have that they'd be happier, but they're not. Neither was I. But you Lyra, you're a fairy-tale. You believe in something that they're afraid of. That I was afraid of. But you kept believing in it, even after it hurt you."
He shifted himself this time so he could face her and look her in the eye as he spoke.
"I thought I knew what love was. I loved with everything I had at the time. But when it fell apart - it broke me. I didn't have the courage to love again. Then you came into my life." he said with a teasing grin, "Whether I was ready for it or not. And you showed me more love than I thought anyone capable, but you've made yourself incredibly vulnerable. Nik and Elara...they don't understand that. They don't understand what it is to love someone beyond your fear of being hurt by them." It was true for Julian too. He didn't know how to love beyond his own fear of being hurt or hurting her in turn.
"And I didn't understand how to love someone who wasn't afraid to be vulnerable. I thought I had to protect you, because you weren't protecting yourself. But you're a lot stronger than Nik, or Lara, or even I think you are. And it's time for all of us to stop treating you like an infant."
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Aug 4, 2019 15:46:52 GMT -8
Julian flattered her, though she didn't care if it was on purpose or not. He most certainly deserved her, he deserved every inch of her, but she'd play along if he wanted her to - and because it amused her. "I know," she remarked. "You're all so lucky to have me." She gave him a flirty smirk but he sombered as he continued speaking, so Lyra assumed the same stature. He had listened so patiently for her to talk and now it was her turn to return the favor, but it was impossibly more difficult than he made it appear. Opening her mouth to interject, catching herself, and then closing it again repeatedly, she must have looked like a frog trying to catch a circling fly.
Lyra didn't consider her vulnerable, though she knew she was. She was as vulnerable as witch or wizard was. Her scars, both self-inflicted and otherwise, were a reminder of exactly how vulnerable she was. But what did any of that have to do with love? She chuckled at his last remark. Nik certainly babied her. Lara, for being younger, often acted as though she was wiser than Lyra and Lyra herself couldn't argue with that. If she stepped back and had a proper look at their past relationship, Lyra would have seen that yes, Julian had babied her to an extent. He coddled her and tried protecting her from things she never needed protecting from. Namely, from Julian himself.
Perspective was lost, however, Lyra was still elated to have her boyfriend returned to her and she was beginning to feel the distance between them as if it were an iceberg. Grabbing at his shirt, she pulled him to her as she leaned herself backwards onto the mattress. "I like it when you protect me," she confessed, her voice barely more than a husky whisper against his ear. She batted her lashes at him as she gave him a lustful look, her teeth scraping gently over her bottom lip. "Which is why I know you'll make nice with Lara and Nik." She kissed his cheek and then his neck. "Because it's important to me." She nipped at his neck gently. "And you love me."
Post by Julian Taranis Faust on Aug 4, 2019 19:01:09 GMT -8
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"Never again will I justify the scars because I loved the person holding the knife."
Julian was trying to keep up with Lyra's demands, but all was lost with her mouth so close to his ear. Getting back into Lara's good graces was not going to be easy. He knew the ambitious brunette would have a hefty price pinned on his redemption in her eyes, but he would manage it. Even if Lara wasn't a good friend - who he shared some pretty dark secrets with - even if she wasn't a terrifying enemy, she would still be Lyra's best friend and Julian wouldn't put strain on their relationship. He had to make up. He had to make good.
Nik wasn't so easy. Something had changed in Nik and Lyra's relationship. Julian saw the way Nik reached toward her and the way Lyra was able to calm Nik down. They were close. They were intimate. Julian briefly wondered how intimate they were, but he had no right to judge her either way. He honestly wasn't certain if their relationship could be repaired, but he would try.
But more than Nik or Elara, Julian had a lot to prove to Lyra. Or maybe not. Lyra already seemed sure of him. Maybe it was himself he needed to prove himself to.
"Lyra..." he said pulling out of the haze her proximity typically caused, "It's true you know. I do love you. I'm sorry I've been so shitty at showing it."
Post by Lyra Ophelia Nott on Aug 4, 2019 19:41:28 GMT -8
Looking up at him from her position on her back was so familiar and yet it had been so long since she'd looked at him like this (disregarding all of yesterday's encounters, and a few from this morning). He looked different. Older. A few more scars than he had had when they'd been together last. His hands were rougher and his muscles larger. He had been worked hard while he was away from her. He bore the signs of his travels on the outside, she wore her personal growth on the inside, but in his arms she was that same needy witch she'd been when they first met. "Shut up and show me," she whispered, then lifted her head so that she could kiss him and he bring back down to the comfort of the mattress.
Post by Julian Taranis Faust on Aug 4, 2019 21:41:57 GMT -8
[googlefont="La Belle Aurore"][googlefont="Old Standard TT"]
"Never again will I justify the scars because I loved the person holding the knife."
Julian happily obliged and set about showing her in a very physical way all the ways he absolutely adored her.
He knew they would have uphill battles ahead. Knowing Lyra, she'd want them all to be bosom buddies again. Julian knew he would have to work to prove himself to the others and to himself. But he was going to take what bliss he could get along the way. And when Lyra was with him, he couldn't think about anything else.