stars of the silver screen [Leo]

[Bianca Alia Rivera]

18 July 2026

“It’s definitely not 13 Going on 30,” Bianca promised with a blank expression on her face as she leaned back and tossed her legs onto the couch, nudging at Leo with her foot to stop monopolizing the bag of Dorito’s and pass it over to her. After the hell that had been almost the entire month of May, and the exhaustingly slow pace that June had crawled by…Bianca desperately wanted to recapture a sense of normalcy in her life. Things at the Ministry still weren’t settled, by any means – the new Minister of Magic was still settling into her new role and catching up on everything that had happened, and there were still open questions about the events that had culminated in the destruction of Hogwarts. Low-level Purifiers had been tried and sent to the newly rebuilt Azkaban, although there were still bigger fish to fry. One of them was sitting in his cell right now, likely reevaluating all of his certain truths that had just been blasted to smithereens and recalculating what his next play should be.

But Bianca just wanted to feel normal for a weekend, and there was nothing more normal than a movie marathon with her oldest friend. Her life in Britain hadn’t gone exactly the way she’d planned. There had been incredible highs – like becoming one of the youngest Department Heads the British Ministry had seen – but it had also come with the most devastating lows. She wasn’t the same girl anymore that had first come to Britain with high hopes for her future, and most of her previous life and the people in it had faded away completely. But Leo was still here, had always been here for her, and it warmed her now to be able to relax on the couch and blatantly lie about which movie she’d chosen to start off their marathon. She hadn’t let him see the box before slipping in the disk (yeah, even magicked technology still found itself falling behind its Muggle counterpart) and she kept her expression carefully neutral now as she tried not to give it away.

She failed as the opening scene of 13 Going on 30 started and Bianca let her lips curl into a satisfied smirk. “Host chooses the first one,” she reminded him matter-of-factly before Leo could get any smart ideas like going for the remote, and she tossed her legs onto his lap to cage him into his cushion so he couldn’t get up and leave. Bianca ruled this friendship with an iron fist, after all, although she carefully held back the urge to shoot him a challenging look because he would most certainly take it to heart and stubbornly fight her on it. Or choose something even cringier for his first choice, because he had as much power to make her sit through a terrible movie than she did of forcing him to sit through a cinematic masterpiece. But hey, she’d learned how to control some of her impulses over the years, and at the end of their day their friendship had survived much worse. Bianca laughed to herself slightly as she reached behind her for the ‘snacks’ Leo had brought, examining the label on the firewhiskey with a critical eye.

@leonardo

[Deleted]

paradise is in my soul

and i'm terrified I can't get out

July 18, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

The pure insanity of the last few months had been a lot even for Leo to try and take in. Hogwarts was not a school he had ever visited or ever sought to visit, but the idea of so many people and kids in danger was uncomfortable. And yet, the Ministry had not been able to prevent it despite all their resources. It was another reason Leo didn’t have faith in the machine he was merely a cog in, but he didn’t say it aloud. Still, the arrests had been causing quite a stir, and Leo had spent more and more time online learning what he could, but it was a challenge when Purebloods, in general, were so against technology. The younger generations fell more easily into it. At least, they were part of the connected web.

Bianca had reached out, and Leo was glad. She had been working incredibly long hours, and he felt he hadn’t seen her in weeks. While Leo was not a social butterfly or craved too much social interaction, he felt a sort of attachment to Bianca as someone who had immigrated to the UK and especially someone who spoke Spanish and understood that culture. Someone that mostly understood him. Felix had been busy with the fall out of Asher Burke’s arrest, and he wondered what that meant for such a department. It wasn’t a department that even Leo could crack. Leo felt Bianca’s foot, and he turned to look at her insistent expression as he reluctantly handed over the bag of Doritos. ”They’re spicy.” He warned.

The movie began to play, and Leo gave his friend a side-eye. ”Its not 13 Going on 30. I am so surprised.” Casually, he crossed his arms as he propped his feet up on the coffee table. ”Been a while since we had a movie night.” Leo commented, watching the movie's opening scene. This genre wasn’t his favorite, but it was tolerable enough, plus it was payback for forcing her to sit through Star Trek 1 and 2 earlier in the year. Still, even before the Hogwarts fire, he felt he hadn’t seen much of her. For the most part, he trumped it up to Department head work, but she had been busy in the past too.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca rolled her eyes at Leo’s warning as he reluctantly passed the Doritos over to her. “Oh no,” she said in a deadpan voice as she grabbed a fistful and shoved them into her mouth, maintaining direct eye contact with Leo the whole time. It wasn’t her most ladylike move, but that was the refreshing part of their friendship. Bianca didn’t have an image to maintain with Leo, or anything to prove. Except that she could handle spice better than him. That was a title she would fight to the death to defend. She cradled the bag close to her chest as the opening scene of the movie played, although she’d watched it so many times by now that she had it all memorized. Leo might actually flip the coffee table if she started to recite the dialogue along with the actors, though, so Bianca could only reserve that move for the next victim she forced to watch the movie with her.

She sighed a little at Leo’s observation, hiding her expression by peering into the Doritos bag. He was right, of course – it had been forever since their last movie night, and it was mostly her fault. She’d always been busy as an Auror, traveling around the country or working long hours filled with stakeouts and paperwork. But her promotion to Department Head had become another beast to battle entirely, and some days she thought she might be winning…although most of the time it didn’t feel that way. “I think,” Bianca began gloomily, “May and June were the worst months of my life.” And Merlin, she didn’t make a statement like that lightly. Leo had been there for the aftermath of her injury – the long weeks at St. Mungo’s, the physical therapy, and the transfer to a desk job that was meant to be temporary but had turned permanent for years until she finally felt ready to go back into the field. The scars that spanned most of her ribcage were a constant testament to that time of her life, but these last two months…they were worse. Her failures were bigger, the fallout much more public, and she’d never felt so alone.

It was probably just the strain of work that had her looking for physical reassurance, Bianca reasoned as she used Leo as a cushion for her legs. She wasn’t one for physical touch, for the most part, or openly showing affection. And Merlin’s dusty robes, the day she cried in front of Leo would mark the end of the world. But she still found herself looking for comfort, and Leo was a permanent fixture in her life. “But I don’t need to tell you what I’m dealing with. You can just read it in the papers.” Her tone was bitter, and Bianca snapped a Dorito in half to release her anger before popping the two pieces in her mouth. But she didn’t want to talk about that, so she let her gaze linger on the screen for a moment before she asked, “But what have you been doing? You don't text me much."

@leonardo

[Deleted]

paradise is in my soul

and i'm terrified I can't get out

July 18, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Most of what Bianca did was not unexpected, including these small acts of rebellion against what he said. It was her trademark move to somehow be right or prove a point. Leo raised a slight eyebrow, wondering if she would regret that handful of chips soon. Bianca held onto the bag of Doritos as if it held all the answers to the universe. Leo looked back to the screen for now. He’d get the bag back at some point. She wasn’t someone he felt awkward around, or at least not nearly as much as most people. Plus, any anxieties he had about how he spoke or the slight accent he had faded, for the most part, Bianca had a similar experience moving to a country where they were the minority.

Leo’s observation hadn’t been meant as some kind of complaint. He gave her a sympathetic look, knowing very well that as a Department Head, you sacrificed much time for your work. Leo had been around long enough to see it, and working in HR had let him keep an ear open for stories and experiences. Department Heads were pushed to resign because of specific complaints or quitting on the spot when the stress got too high, and the burnout literally caused steam to come out of their ears. Plus the whole situation with the school and another department head. Leo hadn’t had a chance to ask Felix about Burke, and Leo hadn’t been able to dig up anything since the Pureblood used minimal technology. ”It doesn’t seem to be easy on anyone…” Leo watched as the stress created extra impatience with Ministry electronic systems and devices, and he had to deal with that part of the aftermath.

Leo didn’t make a face when she moved her legs. Sometimes, she did that to get comfortable or just to annoy him. Sometimes, while comforting, these interactions also left him feeling a little empty—homesick. He missed the insanity of so many siblings around him and his sisters bothering their older brother in much the same way. ”The papers are ruthless. After that one article last month, I was waiting to see something about ‘Head of Law Enforcement hexes Daily Prophet Editor.’ Leo mused out loud as he grabbed a different bag of chips nearby. It wasn’t Doritos, but it would do. ”You can keep the Doritos.” It was what friends did, right? Give up Doritos when their friend was in need? But then Bianca turned the question back to him. Leo thought about what he’d been doing, and it was all the same routine in his life, really. Not that he’d admit his black-market work at all, and especially not with everyone on high alert for anything these days. ”Just the usual. I started helping Witch TV with their IT work a little bit.” At least that part was true.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

Bianca could already feel the heat rising in her mouth, but she clenched her jaw and casually leaned back on the couch so Leo wouldn’t see the instant regret in her eyes. Her fingers tapped the back of the couch to the beat of the song as she watched the lead actor swoon over the TV, although her other hand clutched the bag of Doritos tightly in case Leo decided to try anything. He had most people fooled into believing he was just the mild-mannered IT guy, but Bianca knew better. His cursebreaker instincts were still sharp, and he could move unbelievably quick when he wanted to. She’d always tried to cajole him into applying for Law Enforcement so they could do Auror work together – Leo was one of the few partners Bianca could stand to be around – but he’d never bit. Stubborn as a bowtruckle stuck in its wand tree, he was.

She gave a reluctant hum of agreement at his observation – Hogwarts had gotten everyone rattled. Everyone at the Ministry looked exhausted and overworked as they dealt with the fallout. And whenever Bianca was out and about (during the rare occasions that that still happened), she’d see members of the public twitchily reach for their wand at any sudden noise as they backed away jerkily. Nobody was untouched from the events of the fire, even if they hadn’t been there to witness it for themselves. And for Bianca, who’d been in the thick of it all? She still woke up gasping in the middle of the night from the vivid nightmares. But she was ashamed at how much it still affected her, and it seemed better that Leo not know. Bianca didn’t like keeping secrets from him, but sometimes it seemed like the safer option. Someday he might decide to walk away from her too, and Bianca couldn’t process that thought. He’d been such a fixed part of her life since they’d both arrived to the United Kingdom.

The conversation had taken a turn for the serious, but Bianca found herself unwillingly biting back a smile at Leo’s observation about the papers. It was still a point of tension between her and Cade, and probably the worst thing they fought about. Whenever she wasn’t leaving dishes in the sink, at least. But since her op-ed had been published a couple weeks ago, there’d been a change in the mail her department received from the public. Still plenty of hate mail, of course, but there were more encouraging letters too. Signs that they really could move past this and into a quieter future. “He knows that’s still an option,” she said, a satisfied smile playing on her face at the thought of a certain Prophet editor. She shrugged slightly. "Anyway I've decided if the papers won't let it go, I'll at least give them something to print." The op-ed was public news at this point, but her personal ties to the Prophet...Leo hadn’t asked about her dating life and Bianca hadn’t volunteered any details -- but she’d only noticed the tie half-hanging off her couch after Leo had already come in and hastily hidden it under one of the cushions while his back was turned. If he was suspicious, though, he’d chosen not to say anything. And she couldn’t decide if Leo’s life really was that quiet, or if he was keeping secrets of his own. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving the Ministry,” Bianca said with a raised eyebrow. Witch TV didn’t sound like the type of channel Leo might enjoy, but then again anything must be more interesting than the IT Department of the Ministry. It was such a waste of talent, even if Bianca had given up on trying to poach Leo and find him a role in her department. Still, it was nice to know that her friend was close by and invite him to her office for the occasional lunch if there was time. They didn’t have their reserved table in the breakroom anymore, but Bianca wasn’t ready for things to change that much.

@leonardo

[Deleted]

paradise is in my soul

and i'm terrified I can't get out

July 18, 2026
Bianca Alia Rivera

Bianca always watched him like a hawk though Leo knew it wasn’t suspicion in her eyes. At least not entirely. Leo wasn’t someone who stood out in a crowd or even at work, and he liked that invisible feeling at times. But it wasn’t something he could put into words very clearly. It was just another thing to add to the list of reasons why he’d never go into Law Enforcement. He didn’t share the same longing for justice that Bianca did. Their personalities were entirely different in that way. But also Leo hated bureaucracy and these large and unregulated institutions.

At least with someone like Bianca at the helm of that department, Leo did feel a bit better about just being a cog in that machine. She was a good person who life had kept trying to beat down, and she persisted anyway. Leo knew that his father would have loved someone as driven and ambitious like that as one of his own children. For individuals that came from countries and cultures that praised how united they were—they certainly found it easy to keep everyone an arm’s length away.

Leo gave a little sigh and lazily gave her a side look. Honestly, he didn’t put it past her to simply react and curse the Editor one day. There was something about the way he held himself and the way people reacted to him that only told Leo he was far too confident for his own good. People like that had things to hide, though Leo had failed to find anything just yet. ”I don’t think cursing the Editor will be a good look.” Or at least she could give Leo a five-minute heads up so he could be available to help her hide the body, and he could hack the primitive email system the paper had to make up some excuse.

The movie switched to a new scene, and it caught Leo’s attention because of the volume. Leave it to a rom-com to randomly throw in some catchy song to ensure you were paying attention. But Leo didn’t answer right away as the dialogue caught his attention. His eyebrow went up slightly, and he shook his head. ”That’s better French than I hear at work.” Leo switched to his native Spanish. To almost anyone else, he sounded like a Wizard who spoke fluent Spanish though Bianca would pick up his fast accent and how his words seem to roll into one another—a Spaniard. But he also gave a slight chuckle at the Italian spoken. But as the scene switched again, he finally looked at her to answer her question.

”No. Just picking up some extra work.” Somehow, Leo still had the time for that, but he had to admit Witch TV was not as bad as it seemed. Leo glanced over and nabbed the corner of the bag of Doritos, having changed his mind—plus, she was distracted by the television. ”I texted you about it.” He added, though, with her busy schedule, he never expected a fast response. ”But I figure you were distracted by whoever owns that tie I saw when I walked in.” Leo slowly chewed the Doritos he’d just placed in his mouth, his tone calm and very matter-of-factly. She probably wouldn’t tell him anything, but he figured it never hurt to ask. She was the closest thing he had to family, plus his Cursebreaker training never left him, and there wasn’t much he didn’t notice when people didn’t notice him. Leo ate another couple of chips before extending the bag back to her. He wasn’t upset by any means, but Leo knew Bianca well enough to know it was easy to push her buttons, and she’d started a small war by making him watch this movie.

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[Bianca Alia Rivera]

“I should be allowed to curse whoever I want,” Bianca argued stubbornly, crossing her arms and turning her nose up. “Especially if they try to disagree with me,” she muttered as she finally moved to open a packet of Oreos and examine one critically. In her opinion, the amount of self-control she displayed on a daily basis was nothing short of godlike – considering all the squabbles Department Heads constantly found themselves in with each other. They’d argue over jurisdiction, or seniority, or giving priority to their department over all the others. And that didn’t even include the sheer amount of stupidity Bianca heard from her own department on an average day. Cade figured relatively low on her list of annoyances (although his name had a habit of shooting up the list whenever a new criticism of the Ministry was published), but he knew a jinx was never off the table.

At any rate, Bianca’s alert status had been raised another level from the moment Leo had mentioned offhand that he was doing extra work on the side for Witch TV. “Why?” she asked persistently, not willing to let the issue go, “Bored? Evil mastermind plot? Are you seeing someone there?” That last option seemed unlikely, since meeting people actually required leaving your computer cave to do it. But Leo wouldn’t volunteer the information even if he was (much the same way Bianca was rather quiet about who was coming over on a regular basis). She frowned a little at the thought that she’d missed a text from him, though, and automatically pulled out her phone to check. Her messages were a sea of unread notifications, if only because she didn’t have the time (and the willingness) to read through any but the most urgent. At the little (3) sitting by Leo’s name, Bianca winced and opened up the thread.

And then her head immediately shot up at his last words. She flushed slightly and considered bullshitting him with some vague answer – anything from ‘what tie’ to a snarky answer that nothing could distract her. Instead she let her eyes float over to the screen before settling back on Leo. “Ask me anything,” she said bluntly, also switching to Spanish as she accepted the Doritos and removed one from the bag gingerly. There were a lot of things she couldn’t tell Leo – her work with the Order, some of the classified components of her job – but it killed her that they weren’t as close as they used to be. And that it was mostly her and her busy schedule’s fault. Things with her and Cade had been good, different from the last time around, and they’d decided to keep it quiet for a while. But she wanted to talk to someone about it. Gushing wasn’t really her thing (come on, they weren’t in the Twilight Zone) but the best thing happening in her life wasn’t a dirty secret. And Leo would be uncomfortable with details, which was just an added bonus on top of the rom-com playing in the background.

@leonardo