Talk Good (Lydia)

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Getting a response back from the Wizarding Wireless Network was the last thing that Max had expected to come out of her all-night letter-writing campaign from two nights before. They wanted her to talk about the memorial fund that she had started in memory of Elias, and they wanted her to do it then, on that very Friday. The WWN wanted her to tell the entire wizarding community about an idea that she had only just developed.

Going into the interview, Max hadn’t known what to say; she hadn’t had any time at all to prepare, so she could only repeat what she had already written out what must have been one hundred times by the time that she had finally finished. The WWN would give the project enormous exposure—more than handwritten letters could ever achieve. It also had the potential to backfire on her and go horribly, horribly wrong. (And she was a fifteen-year-old who was walking into a radio station on her own; what could possibly go wrong?)

From the time she entered the office until the time she was told that they were off the air and that she was free to go, the experience was overwhelming. At least, she thought, she hadn’t cried—over Elias or when the radio personality who was interviewing her asked her questions that she hadn’t considered in her wildest dreams. With nearly everything but her own name, she had had to make up answers on the spot in order to satisfy the public’s curiosity and not come across as some silly little girl who didn’t know what she was doing, even though she felt like she was.

“I’m Maxima Greyback, and I’m a sixth-year student at Hogwarts.”

“I’ve started the Elias Greyback Memorial Relief Fund in memory of my half-brother and former Durmstrang Champion Elias Greyback, who was killed in the explosion of the Durmstrang Ship.”

“Well, I thought about how the foreign visitors affected by the crash will need financial support and support from the community here in Britain, and I thought that the fund would help to keep Elias alive, in a small way.”

“Yes, we are looking for volunteers. Anyone who wants to help can help, even if it’s only a donation of a few Sickles. Please direct all owls to Maxima Greyback.”

And then, just like that, Max was back in Diagon Alley again, though she couldn’t quite determine if what she had experienced had been a dream. The headquarters for the WWN was directly behind her, and her mind was flooded with things that she felt she could have mentioned. She could have used it as a platform for something greater; she could have said something when her interviewee mentioned Fenrir in introducing her and her mission. She wasn’t Fenrir’s anything aside from his progeny.

Still in thought and hoping that none of the stores she had to pass had their radios on—only so that she wouldn’t be met with people when all that she wanted to do was redo her interview with everything she wished she’d said—Max looked down at her feet and began her walk back in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron to take the Floo Network home.

@lydia

[Deleted]

Lydia usually spent most of summer break in Diagon. Shopping, flirting, hanging out, watching boys, all of the fun things. She was rather excited about this Charity thing that Maxima Greyback was throwing together. It was a good cause and basically what Lydia wanted to do when she grew up. She wanted to be a philanthropist, preferably married to a rich man who made the family money so she could focus on raising money for other wizards and witches in need. Other magical beings. No one else.

She saw Max Greyback in the flesh up ahead and picked up her pace, her shopping bags sliding around her arms. "Max! Hello," she called, reaching her with a bright smile on her face. "I just wanted to say I think what you are doing is really amazing. You are an inspiration," she spoke quickly, as Lydia always did.

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

“Max! Hello.”

Max looked up from watching her shoes as they moved along the cobblestones and turned her head in the direction from where the voice had come. She saw that it was Lydia Fudge who was approaching her from behind, and the younger girl seemed to be keen on speaking to her. “Hi, Lydia,” she said in turn.

“I just wanted to say I think what you are doing is really amazing. You are an inspiration,” gushed Lydia, who spoke quite rapidly.

Never having intended to become an inspiration to anyone, Max was slightly lost in searching for a response. She didn't want to sound ungrateful for Lydia's praise; she was glad that Lydia thought that the relief fund was “amazing”, but it was still about Elias and the other victims. The attention wasn't supposed to be on her. She hadn't lost most of her classmates because life had changed in a split second, nor had she lost her life.

Maybe being on the radio was a bad idea, but Lydia's having heard about it meant that her parents probably had, too. And, maybe it was selfish of her, but Max hoped that that would mean that the fund would receive a larger donation or two. In that case, maybe her goal of one hundred Galleons was what was too low. Maybe she was underestimating herself. Maybe she was underestimating her entire community. After all, she had just gotten to speak about the fund on the WWN, hadn't she?

“Thanks,” Max replied to Lydia's compliments with a smile, knowing that she couldn't leave her hanging for a response. “We're looking for more volunteers, if you're interested,” she added, not about to bring up the “d” word—“donation”—so soon. It was only really her and her other half-siblings who were on board with it so far, though the goal of the WWN interview was to change that. “I'm hoping for a fundraising event before the month is over,” Max continued, despite knowing how much of a long shot that would be. “Probably a cake sale.” She could get a few dozen cupcakes made in a few hours, she guessed, so she wouldn't need much time to prepare something like that.

@lydia

[Deleted]

Max thanked her, saying she was looking for more volunteers. Max gave a little gasp and grinned. And a fundraising event! That was Lydias cup of tea. "I would love to help out! I know a lot about throwing events, my parents do it all the time," she explained. "Ooh, and baking! That's great. I can definitely assist. Have your siblings been helping as well?" Lydia knew that Maxima Greyback had a complicated family with many kids and all different mothers for the must part. It was something Lydia felt sad about, really. She would hate if she didn't have the close, almost nuclear family that she did. Mom, dad, brothers, done and easy. Simple and right. She didn't do well with... odd things. More than anything, it made her sad.

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

“I would love to help out!” Lydia answered her straight away. Max took her enthusiasm as a good sign; she wasn't just saying that she would help for the sake of being polite. “I know a lot about throwing events,” she added, and Max realized that—given Lydia's family background—she wasn't bluffing. “My parents do it all the time.” She had mentioned her parents without any prompting. Lydia would know how to get the pure-bloods on board; she was one.

Even at the mention of baking, Lydia didn't shy away. “Ooh, and baking! That's great,” she said. “I can definitely assist. Have your siblings been helping as well?"

“Yeah,” Max answered, her eyes lighting up a little, both because her siblings were her primary sources of help and because of how committed to the cause Lydia seemed to be. “Jamie's playing Quidditch professionally now, for the Holyhead Harpies, so she's trying to get the league to do something, too.” Max wasn't usually one to drop names, though—given the company she was with—it didn't feel out of place. She knew that Jamie couldn't make any promises, but she hoped that something good would come out of it. Even just a donation from the Harpies as a team would really help to boost the fund's success.

“And I know my other siblings are trying to secure donations.” Her younger twin half-siblings, Simon and Sarah—who weren't even related to Elias—had expressed a desire to pitch in, too. It was nice to see that they cared, even though they were too young to be of much help and couldn't exactly go around their Muggle school to ask for contributions.

“The fund wouldn't be possible without them.” She meant it sincerely. On an emotional level, they still needed each other for support. Besides that, if any of them had expressed their disapproval of her starting the fund in memory of Elias, she wouldn't have gone forward with it. They all had been Elias's siblings.

@lydia

[Deleted]

Max confirmed that her siblings had been helping, mentioning her older sister specifically. "That's great," Lydia said. That was pretty cool to have a basically famous older sister! And if Jamie Greyback played well she'd even become more famous as time went on. So exciting. She said her other siblings were trying to secure donations and Lydia nodded, listening intently. "Well, I can agree that siblings are amazing support," hers were, usually... when her and Riley weren't in an awkward fight like they were now. "I bet my parents would be willing to host something at our house, if you'd like," 'house' wasn't really the word for it, but 'mansion' sounded like overkill. Manor, maybe?

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Lydia agreed that siblings were a good support system. Max was sure that the dynamic between Lydia and her siblings was probably a little bit different from the dynamic that she had with all of her half-siblings, on the basis that they had had the same two parents and had the same upbringing in a well-to-do family. By contrast, Max thought, her family was essentially the opposite: Fenrir had tried to distance himself from the mainstream of magical society. None of them—as far as Max knew, anyway—were related to any former Ministers for Magic. No, they were related to an infamous werewolf… That definitely complicated any discussion of blood purity, not that that was something that Max intended to have with anyone else in her own House. She knew how most of them felt already, so there wasn’t much use in repeating it.

Besides, Max really wasn’t about to jeopardize anything with Lydia when the younger girl spoke again. “I bet my parents would be willing to host something at our house, if you'd like,” she offered.

If Lydia could get them to agree to it, Max knew that it would help to convince a certain subset of the population—one over whom she had very little sway—that the Elias Greyback Memorial Relief Fund was something worthwhile. Combining that with the Harpies’ support, she would really be getting somewhere. “Do you think they would?” Max asked, not knowing Lydia’s parents at all aside from having heard them mentioned. She didn’t think that Lydia would have brought it up to give her false hope. “I… don’t know anything about event planning,” Max admitted. “What sort of an event would it be?” She had never done anything like that on a large scale; not at the kind of high-society level that the Fudges did. Even her mother had planned the majority of her and Jamie’s joint birthday party the previous year. All of this was new to her.

As intimidating as it was, though, it felt rather exciting. Maybe she was really accomplishing something…

@lydia

[Deleted]

"Oh, I'm sure of it," she said, waving a hand. Her parents would do anything for her and for the wizarding community. Magical blood was the most important thing to them, after all, so supporting a cause that would make them look good in the Wizarding World was better for eveyone. It would be good on a resume for Lydia, Riley or her older brother when getting married, not to mention making her parents look good. It was a win-win situation.

Max said she didn't know anything about event planning and Lydia grinned with glee, "oh, don't worry about that. I can teach you! I was thinking making something with a silent auction, some drinks and snacks, nothing too over the top but not too simple either," she could talk about event planning all day. "It would be nice to invite the survivors but I wouldn't want them to feel pressured to come," she added, "but those who wanted to could enjoy. As for who is invited, my parents know a lot of wealthy people who care for the youth of the wizarding world."

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Lydia said that she would teach her about event planning, and Max nodded, genuinely glad to have the offer of help. She listened to the younger girl as she explained that she had the idea of a silent auction—”some drinks and snacks, nothing too over the top but not too simple either,” in other words—which Max guessed would still be more elaborate than anything she’d ever attended, save for maybe the Yule Ball. Free food and drink and the possibility of getting something at auction were probably a good way to draw people in.

“It would be nice to invite the survivors,” Lydia continued, “but I wouldn't want them to feel pressured to come, but those who wanted to could enjoy.”

Max understood that. Even though it was for their benefit, some of them probably wouldn’t be up to the idea of being so publicly acknowledged.

“As for who is invited, my parents know a lot of wealthy people who care for the youth of the wizarding world.”

That last part sounded slightly pretentious to Maxima, but she wasn’t going to call Lydia out on it, especially not after all of her help. Besides, they were “the youth of the wizarding world”, even if Max wouldn’t have worded it that way herself. It did sound eloquent, though, like the type of thing that would be printed on the invitation.

“That sounds really good,” she told Lydia, thinking it over. “So the survivors, their families—I don’t want to exclude the families of the people who were killed…” she hesitated, knowing that she was among them. “Maybe we could have a tribute? With all of their names or something?” It was a thought, at least. “And then the people your parents know… Are they Ministry officials, or…?” She guessed that some of them were probably philanthropists, but it would be nice to get an idea of what connections Lydia had.

@lydia

[Deleted]

Maxima said that her words sounded good, then brought up the survivors and their families. She said she didn't want to exclude the families with dead children now, and Lydia nodded, agreeing with that. Granted, some of them were probably better off dead then with whatever sort of family they had, but Lydia wasn't going to say that. Plus, she didn't know any of them all that wells so she couldn't really say what their lives were like. Max suggested a tribute and Lydia furrowed her brow a little, "see, that gets delicate. It's always best to have the permission from the parents or guardians before putting a name out there. Especially since their from foreign countries, that sort of thing has to be handled incredibly delicately," she suggested.

"As for my parents connections, they're from a wide spectrum. Ministry, philanthropists, business owners, school board members. The Fudge family still has a pretty decent connection to all sorts of things, thanks to the previous Minister," Minister Fudge, that was.

maxima ruqayyah greyback