Both of Them Are Balanced on a Razor Blade (Reagan)

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Maxima was growing more and more eager for the summer to draw to a close. The longer it went on, she realized, the shorter her respite from something eventful became, and anything that was worth noting was, in general, less than ideal. The latest news was that Harry Potter, once missing, was now presumed dead. Max had lived her entire life in a world where the man—Lily’s father—was constantly mentioned, where he was, essentially, the hero who had saved the world from sure destruction. There was more to it, of course, than that—and it was something that skewed different ways depending on who was being asked—but a world without Harry Potter in it would be almost surreal, Max thought.

She had never met Mr. Potter personally, but still Max knew him as the father of a girl who was almost like another sister to her and as the uncle of what sometimes seemed like half of the people she knew. She was tired of thinking about death, though, and she didn’t know what she would say to Lily if she saw her. “Sorry for your loss,” didn’t really sound sincere, she considered, taking a sip of her butterbeer as she watched the crowd in the Three Broomsticks. It was a Saturday, so she was alone; she didn’t have to worry about babysitting her younger half-siblings and was free to do what she wanted.

She had brought a notebook and self-inking quill with her, though trying to jot down ideas for expanding the relief fund and keeping it going while at school was harder than it sounded. The thought of her upcoming appointment at St. Mungo’s was too distracting, and she had found herself alternating between writing down questions and doodling flowers in the margins of the page.

@reagan

[Deleted]

Reagan was honestly a little lost, not that it was all bad - she was more than excited about finally getting to go out into the world on her own - but at the same time she was a little bit of a loss that she wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts. It was an extremely strange feeling if she was honest about it, she was now an adult witch... officially as she was graduated now. Soon to be starting Quidditch - professionally much to her excitement, she had made it! The thought alone brought a wide grin to Reagan's face - she had wanted to play professionally for years - and here she had actually made it a reality. Her dream job...

She gave a small shake to her head, still unable to shake the small grin however as she tucks her hand in her pocket, humming something as she made her way into The Three Broomsticks. She had a few things she needed to do today, but a small break couldn't hurt - and had a slight craving for a good Butterbeer that only the Three Broomsticks could match - it was calling her name and who was she to resist that call? 

Carefully she got herself one and glanced around, looking for somewhere to sit and relax for a bit, there was a decent crowd in today - honestly it wasn't a huge surprise. It was a Saturday and it was also still School break - and from what she had heard, there were transfers coming to London this year as well.. there was bound to be more people around. She was just about to sigh and try and nudge her way to a seat when her eyes landed on a figure that was somewhat familiar. A tug of the corner of her lips and she made her way over, "Little Maxima Greyback - I thought I recognized you.." Reagan spoke lightly, shifting to balance her Butterbeer before deciding to take a much needed sip. "Can I bother you to sit down for a bit? I won't keep you long if you're busy."

[maxima ruqayyah greyback ]

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Max looked up as soon as she was called “Little Maxima Greyback”—a way of addressing her that she didn’t hear very often, though, much to her chagrin, being viewed as “little” because of her many older half-siblings wasn’t something that she had been able to shake. “I thought I recognized you,” added the voice, that of Reagan Fitzpatrick, butterbeer in hand. The older girl had been in Jamie’s year, but in Slytherin with her rather than in Hufflepuff. Unlike some others in Slytherin House, she also hadn’t been terrible. “Can I bother you to sit down for a bit? I won't keep you long if you're busy.”

Closing her notebook, Max shook her head. ”Sure,” she shrugged, gesturing towards the chair across from her. She knew that seating was difficult to come by, and she wasn’t going to deny Reagan a spot to sit. More and more often, because of the relief fund, she found herself having to make pointless conversation with other people. She didn’t enjoy it and never had, but it came to her more easily when she had to grin and bear it.

“How are you?” she asked, not knowing enough about the older girl to say anything more substantial. She had played Quidditch for Slytherin, too, hadn’t she? Honestly, Max didn’t know if she had decided to continue playing it, or if she had even been chosen to play professionally… Quidditch was more Jamie’s territory, but that came with being a professional Quidditch player. Max, admittedly, hadn’t kept up with the Harpies’ schedule as much as she should have, but she knew that they had lost the first match in which Jamie had gotten the opportunity to play.

@reagan

[Deleted]

Reagan fondly remembered the young Greyback from school, through her years at Hogwarts - Reagan had taken it upon herself to look out for her fellow Slytherins, or - at least those that deserved her watching their backs. She had never fully understood the dark stigma that surrounded their house. Sure obviously there were reasons - but was it really right for them all to be judged just by where the hat sorted them? Not everyone had to be rotten or terrible after all. She shook her thoughts, offering Max a small grin. She was honestly glad to see her and wondered if Max knew about her now being on the same Quidditch team as her half sister. Perhaps she could find out, if she chose her words carefully. Unless she went the more boring route and just came out and say it... nah, she'd save that for later if she needed it.

She gladly took a seat, sipping at her drink for a moment before placing it carefully on the table - cautious not to spill or mess up any of whatever Max was doing. "Me? I'm doing pretty well." The young Fitzpatrick shook her head, chuckling slightly, "Well I mean - losing always sucks a bit, but I had fun all the same. What about you Little Maxima? You doing alright?" she raised her eyes carefully, like just about everyone else - she had heard a bit about what Max had been up to, this relief fund she had been working hard on. It seemed to be going pretty well, but she did hope the younger girl was looking out for herself all the same though. Or at least she hoped her friends and family were keeping an eye on her.

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

“Me?” Reagan asked her rhetorically. “I'm doing pretty well.” That the older girl had responded as she had wasn’t a surprise to Max; she didn’t expect Reagan to open up to her at all, yet she added something about how losing “always [sucked] a bit” but how she had had fun in spite of that, before asking her how she was.

Losing? Losing what? Max looked at Reagan for a moment, puzzled, until she remembered. “Oh! You’re playing for the Harpies, too, aren’t you?” She knew how it had slipped her mind; she had enough to think about without trying to remember what everyone in Jamie’s year was doing with their lives post-Hogwarts.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Max replied. Aside from being about the most standard response she could have given Reagan, “alright” summed up how she was better than any other word could. She was alive and well, and that was something more significant than it might have been otherwise. Whatever the ability that she had was, she was almost completely certain that it wouldn’t kill her, so that was positive. “I’ve just been thinking about how I can keep working on the relief fund at school.” There had to be some way to make it feasible without its becoming too much of a hassle.

@reagan

[Deleted]

Reagan held back her grin, the small laugh that wanted to escape - her lips simply curled into a half little smirk as she could clearly see the realization form on Max's face. It was cute and a little amusing. Still she gave a small nod, humming slightly as she spoke, "Yep - I'm their new Seeker, it's okay that you didn't remember, You've had a lot on your mind and I'm not surprised." She offered a kinder smile, reaching over to pat Max's hand before pulling back and taking a sip from her drink as she looked curiously back at the younger girl.

She was surprised to hear she was alright, although - considering she wasn't too surprised - as far as things were she was dealing and doing the best she could Reagan supposed. "Ahh yes, I heard about that relief fund of yours." She nodded slightly, offering a light smile, "You'll let me know if their is anything I can help you out with though right? I mean.. I don't know what I can do but.. I'd like to offer my help however I can."

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Reagan excused her for not having remembered that she was the Harpies’ new Seeker. “You’ve had a lot on your mind,” said the older girl, which sounded like an understatement to Max, “and I'm not surprised.” Still, as Reagan patted her on the hand, Max felt a little guilty that she couldn’t even keep track of her siblings’ teammates.

The older girl mentioned, too, that she’d heard of the relief fund. Max would have been more surprised if any professional Quidditch player hadn’t heard about it, at that point. To her surprise, though, Reagan did ask her—and quite genuinely, it seemed to Max—to tell her if there was anything that she could do to help out. “I mean,” Reagan continued, “I don't know what I can do but… I'd like to offer my help however I can.”

“Thanks,” Max smiled as she tried to think of anything immediate. The Harpies had already done so much, through Jamie. “Just telling people about it,” she answered, even though that probably didn’t seem like much, “telling people about how the victims need even just the money to pay for their care in hospital and all of that…”

@reagan

[Deleted]

Reagan couldn't possibly understand what Max had been going through, what Max and her siblings had been dealing with - losing one of their brothers. The mere thought of losing one of her own was heart breaking to think about, even if Reagan wasn't as close to her brothers as she was to her sister, she couldn't imagine losing one of her siblings and didn't really want to think about it. But thinking about it even a little, it was enough to know that Max was still in pain at losing her brother. And Reagan wanted to help the younger girl however she possibly could. It wasn't just an empty offer with weak words, it was infact genuine and she did want to help however she could.

"No need to thank me Max," Reagan shook her head but smiled a little at her answer, "So basically what I have been doing, I do wish I could do more to help out though," it really didn't seem like all that much, just telling people about it and asking for the help, "Is there anything I can do for you though Little Maxima?"

maxima ruqayyah greyback

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Reagan told her that there was no need to thank her, and she added that what she had told her to do was essentially what she had already been doing. Max didn’t think that there was anything wrong with that at all, as long as it got the word out, but Reagan added, “I do wish I could do more to help out, though. Is there anything I can do for you, though, Little Maxima?”

“Honestly,” Max replied, “anything you can do.” She didn’t mean for that to sound like so much pressure, but anything that Reagan could do to use her platform for the cause would be a huge help.

“The Quidditch league have been really supportive,” Max said gratefully. “So many players have donated. Teams, too,” she continued.

“The most important thing, I think,” Max considered aloud, ”is to keep the public from forgetting. They’ll move on eventually.” That wasn’t her being pessimistic, she felt; it was realistic. “If people forget, then more people are going to die. Nobody’s going to learn from this.”

@reagan

[Deleted]

Reagan truly did wish that she could do more, she hated to think of what it'd be like if she lost one of her brothers - it was something she didn't wish to imagine. But here Maxima was truly living it - losing one of her brothers, Reagan's heart reached out to the younger girl she had such a soft spot for. She wanted so badly to help her out, however she possibly could. She certainly didn't take it as any pressure - it was something she truly did want to do, however finding a way to actually do something more, that wasn't a task that was so easy.

"I've seen that, and heard about it as well." Reagan offered a small smile, indeed it was something she had heard a lot about when she joined the Harpies it was something she heard a lot. "Don't you worry your pretty little head." She reached out, covering Max's hands with her own, giving just the lightest Squeeze. "Don't worry little Maxima, we won't let them forget any time soon. And we certainly won't forget."

maxima ruqayyah greyback