Better left unsaid | Riley x Diana

[Deleted]

February 2026

Riley left St. Mungos and ventured into Diagon Alley that chilly February evening after a typical shift of following other healers around and doing their note taking for them. He loved his job and he loved the kind of work that he was getting to do a psychiatric healer-in-training, but he was tired of the ‘in training’ part. He was tired of having to follow around others and do the little tasks that they didn’t want to do themselves. He knew it was just part of the job, he knew he had to put in the time, but it just felt like a waste. He wanted to open his own practice, not to rival St. Mungos, but just to give his future clients a more private space to seek the help they needed. I wanted to eventually gain a small load of regular clients and feel like he was making a difference in his own way. But the longer he stayed at St. Mungos (even though it had been less than a year) the farther away he felt from that goal.

It was then, in spring evening light, that he spotted the familiar features of someone he had once known. Diana? The woman walked past him without a fleck of outward acknowledgment, maybe she hadn’t seen him. Maybe she wouldn’t acknowledge him even if she did. He wouldn’t have said they were friends, not by any means. But she had disappeared without a trace after she graduated and he couldn’t say that didn’t peak his interest, especially knowing what she might have been involved in. Maybe he owed it to his wife to speak to her sister now. Though he wasn’t sure yet if this would even make it back to Kinsey. He hated keeping things from her, but some things were better left in the dark. “Diana? Is that you?” he asked, following behind her a few steps to not lose her in the crowd.

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

you see i cannot be forsaken

because i'm not the only one

February 2026
@riley

Another day, another galleon, as they say. The island had been a hot topic everywhere she went and constantly in the conversations she had in the dark alleyways she tended to operate in. Lately, she had been frequenting South London—their dark and dimly lit bars provided the perfect place to do business at times. If you had asked her if she would ever be caught in such places a few years before that, she would have probably laughed and wonder what curse you had been put under to ask such a question. Curses had always been fascinating to her, but not for the reasons that people thought. Her professors had raised an eyebrow at her perspective of such magic—but it had just been for knowledge. Nowadays, at least that knowledge was being put to some use even if that use wasn’t necessarily good. She walked down Diagon Alley, focusing on her path in front of her though she occasionally scoped who was around her.

Today her hair was dark—she’d had it blonde for some time, but then images of her youngest sisters kept popping into her mind. Since her training had focused on blocking out Kinsey and her ability, it was easier like this despite the occasional thought of her twin. Looking forward and with her hands in her coat, she walked with a purpose until she heard her name. But not just any name, her actual name and not some pseudonym she might have been using. The voice that spoke that name—she recognized it and suddenly memories popped back into her mind. Diana stopped, waiting a quick moment to collect herself before turning and seeing that face. The talk was that her sister’s boyfriend was now her sister’s husband, which hadn’t surprised her even if she would have preferred otherwise. However, their unusual alliance during school had helped keep Kinsey away from her during a difficult time, even if it pained her to feel forced to confide in Riley and push her family away. Wasn’t it enough she’d been forced into this bond?

Her expression remained stoic, eyes focused at Riley as she took in his image—he looked about the same. A couple of years ago and she might have at least given a half-hearted smile, but that Diana got left behind. ”Riley.” She spoke with a calm and even tone. Why she bothered to stop? She didn’t know. It would have been easy to keep walking and shift her hair color and nose and turn a corner and disappear.

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