Protective Charms (Alek)

[Deleted]

Heleen had gotten word that she was expected to work with somebody from the hall of prophecies in order to see if there were any new spells or enchantments that could be used to reinforce the protection of the prophecies to ensure they could not get stolen. Even if the most recent incident had been many years ago, the department was always looking for ways to keep their secrets as close to the heart as possible. So being experimental charms and research often included new charms and enchantments for other rooms in the department. At times? Inventions of new devices.

So she went to the hall of prophecies with her notebook and pen and a short list of spells that she thought could potentially be useful. There was just thing thing to consider that one couldn't endlessly keep enchanting the same thing over an over. Magic had an odd tendency to mix, almost like chemicals. It could cause some very peculiar effects and the last thing she wanted or needed was coworkers complaining that every time they needed to move a prophecy they'd get temporary tentacles sprouting from their backs or whatever.

She glanced down at her notes as she entered the hall of prophecy and made her way towards the shelf she'd been told her coworker that was assigned to help her would wait. When she got there? Well she was less than pleased. Of course it had to be the one that she'd happen to have developed a minor crush on. Not that they ever really spoke much. She was too shy and she knew that he wasn't exactly on the market. Still, sneaking a peek every once in a while hadn't hurt anybody... until now. Now it was going to hurt her if she couldn't keep her head in the game.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

Aleksander Karkaroff hurried along the Manor, attempting in any way possible to avoid his horrid wife. It was her responsibility today to drop of Bane to Casimir at Borgin and Burkes. When Aleksander would get off work for the evening would be when he would see his four year old son and see to him for the rest of the evening. He had to admit he was rather fortunate to have Casimir during these times. They hit a rough patch years prior, but it seemed like they were finally making ammends. 

Yet, Merlin couldn't watch out for him completely as Chanal Karkaroff began one of her many  lectures to him about what needed to be done in the upcoming month. She was grating his last nerve when he finally reached the fireplace, not even telling her goodbye, because wasting his breath on her would be beneath him at this point. He stepped in and within an instant he was walking through the halls of the Ministry of Magic.

It didn't take him long to make it to the Department of Mysteries and within a couple more minutes he was in the Hall of Prophecies. From there he was able to take a breath and relax for a minute. This was where he could be himself properly. There were not many Unspeakables in the Department, let alone in the Hall of Prophecies. Truly, it was just himself and Heleen Oppedyk, and a few others. Those he knew he was able to show a truer variation of himself, but not fully still. Being a Karkaroff still held certain...expectations.

He was running late by the time that he reached the section where he was to meet Heleen. A beautiful young woman, a few years younger than him, who as far as he was able to tell was pretty reserved in her own right. Although she had caught his eye a few times here and there. Even though he was married, and the world knew it, he never really considered himself to be off limits...depending on the right person to come along of course. He wouldn't just jeopardize everything he had worked for for something trivial.

"I do apologize, Heleen." Aleksander spoke reaching her. "Trouble getting everyone out the door this morning." He smiled softly to her, looking at her notebook, his eyes examining the spells scribbled along the page, some notes along side. Aleksander took a step closer, their bodies in close proximity at this point and he said, "Getting a head start, I see."

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2025
@heleen
✿

[Deleted]

Heleen was without a doubt a bit of a... weak individual. Well, at least in some aspects. Her self control was strong in some aspects, but not quite so much in others. Indulging in sneaking glances at her coworker that was too attractive for his own good? Certainly a weak point of hers. The inability to properly share a lot of things about herself and her life with most of those in it? Considering her job probably a strong suit far more than a weak point. If her job wasn't composed of a thousand secrets shrouded in mystery, it might have been different. As it was, secrets were as normal to her as breathing. She avoided sharing, except for a select few details with those she truly trusted. Like her brother and her roommate. And Felix, at times. He just didn't quite understand everything. He was, after all, still a guy.

So as Aleksander approached and apologised Heleen gave a kind smile and a shrug. "We all have those days." She simply said, dismissing any potential concerns about inconveniences that his delay might have caused her. Then he got a lot closer than he needed to be and was obviously looking at her private little notebook. Boy was she glad none of her notes included the various things running around her head all day. Mostly because a version of him sometimes spent a lot more time in there than he really ought to be. She wriggled her nose briefly. "I should start encoding my notes, I see." She suggested playfully as she scribbled something in Dutch, just for the sake of making a point. "Do you happen to have a list of all current spells and charms on the shelves of your prophecies? Or a list of equipment in use and which items are enchanted, if any? I need to have an interference list prepared before I start looking at any options to expand the list of enchantments, not to mention the potential of interlocking spells that might affect the prophecies themselves in any way." She muttered, half to him but also in part to herself.

She knew there was a lot of work to be done, but if she looked at him too often she'd lose track of her sentences, so the notebook was a lot safer to look at as she considered the most important aspects. She hummed softly to herself for a short moment as she looked at one of the prophecies. "Are the individuals prophecies enchanted or the shelves?" Obviously both. It was ever so tempting to just sneak a peek, but she wasn't going to reveal her own biggest secret. "My guess would be a mixture. A combination of an identifying charm and protective hexes on the prophecy itself to ensure the correct recipient is the only one to be able to retrieve it along with some added enchantments since the incidents to keep the shelves from collapsinging or otherwise being damaged by more simple spellswork...." She mused for a moment as she reached out and had her fingers hover an inch away from the wood. She could almost imagine the invisible barrier. She retrieved her hand and then made a quick note. Tempting as it was to continue rambling on, it was best to first wait for the information she'd asked for.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

Aleksander was more than happy to hold a full time job. He technically didn't need to with the Karkaroff fortune that they held, but considering his wife was home most of the day, he was always excited when work rolled around. No more badgering. No more opinions on which one of his siblings did something that she did not approve of. The list could go on, but he always made it a point to avoid her as much as he possibly could. Not to mention that she was a horrible parent. Most pureblood mothers and women actually spent time to rear the children...instead, Aleksander had to find ways to which Bane would be with Cassian. At least he knew that his older brother would teach him appropriately.

Being in the Department of Mysteries, especially the Hall of Prophecies always kept Aleksander on his toes. He thrived here, just like he did in school when he hung around the odd ones out. While he didn't call them friends per se, they were a rag tag group that smoked some weed, and talked nonsense into the night. While some prophecies were more than nonsense, this made him feel at home, back to the days where nothing quite mattered.

Aleksander had seen Heleen here and there, and while he was closer in age to her brother Rob on the very seldom run ins with him they never really quite clicked. Probably because Aleksander was more reserved, he had to be considering his siblings were always fighting over one another to be heard. It was just best to remain in the background, watching, unheard but seen, voicing his opinion only when asked.

It was easy to talk to Heleen, granted they never had an in depth conversation, and mostly it was for work. He still enjoyed passing her by, afterall she was beautiful. And while he may be married, his heart was not in the marriage what so ever. So, while legally he was unavailable, emotionally was a whole other story. 

Aleksander watched her scribble something in Dutch, and he chuckled, whispering in French and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "Ruse n'est-ce pas?" It was about the only other language he knew to a degree. While he wasn't fluent, those musings with those rag tag group of friends he had tought him something at least. He pulled out his wand and with a swish a piece of parchment appeared, he took it and placed it on top of her notebook. "Your list."

He walked around her, his arm grazing against hers briefly as he walked along one of the shelves. "Both the prophecy and the shelf itself are enchanted." Aleksander pointed to the stand which held the individual prophecies on them adding, "These are also enchated, so you have three to get around if one was sought after."

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2025
@seph
✿

[Deleted]

Heleen had always been a bit of an oddball, in a way. She'd never truly felt like she fit in anywhere and had by now began accepting that she was simply different from most. She felt perfectly comfortable being overlooked for the most part and was rarely bothered by her utter lack of interestingness these days. Standing out wasn't by default an advantage as unspeakable. She was fine blending into the background and had by now accepted that her life was going to be.... different than she'd dreamt once.

Such things did not stop her from indulging in little idle fantasies from time to time and working very closely with the coworker that had recently began making some feature appearances was... disconcerting. Her heart was already starting to race about a million miles in a minute and she was trying very hard to focus on the work element so she wouldn't be distracted by him. It wasn't something she was particularly good at though. She just had to drill it into her dense little skull that he was very much married and thus not actually available.

Her tiny little counter seemed to be a very bad idea, considering that after her little scribbles in Dutch he instantly pretty much complimented her tiny cunning little move in French as he moved an unruly lock of hair behind her ear. She wouldn't have been one tiny bit surprised if he'd followed it up with a comment about how excessively loud her heart was beating, as it felt nearly uncomfortable in her chest in that moment. "Oui. Plus efficace que ne le serait le français, je vois." She replied with a small little smile. It was impossible not to learn at some some French while going to school in Beauxbatons and her desperation to fit in as a teen had meant she'd tried a lot harder. Plus her best friend had helped quite a bit, even if they spoke nearly the same language.

Then he dropped her list on top of her notebook and she looked at it and frowned for a moment. They were some highly complicated charms, but luckily for her charms were without a doubt her favourite. She knew she was qualified to teach them, in theory, should she want to. Teaching just wasn't something that appealed to her that much. She nodded for a moment. "Nothing too unexpected." She muttered briefly. Yet the words almost died on her lips before she spoke them as he moved around and his arm briefly grazed her own. That.... should probably have been illegal. It certainly threw her off a lot more than she cared to admit.

The touch from anybody else would probably have gone mostly ignored. She liked her personal space a lot though, but his intrusion was more like fire licking her skin than the feeling of something unwanted dribbling over it and contaminating her skin. That made it more dangerous. She could feel the heat threaten to break through on her face, but thankfully the occlumency training helped her keep her composure. Challenging, but hardly impossible. She nodded, not quite trusting her voice as she looked at them. Then she wriggled her noseand cleared her throat a moment, hoping it would help. "I'm going to need a stand, and if possible a plank from the shelf. Are the prophecies made from any specific material? It could matter." She asked, looking up at him and mentally cursing herself for doing so. It was hard not to stare at him.

She blinked a few times and bit the inside of her cheek in hopes of regaining her thoughts as she quickly glanced down again. "I'm considering some options for interlocking enchantments based on the build of the shelves and general frame that holds them. It's a bit more tricky but should offer more protection." She said, making another short note as she checked the mechanisms that held the shelves in place. Then she looked up at him. "Any suggestions or imput? We're assigned this together, after all." She said with a slight smile, not sure what she wanted the answer to be. It felt like she was calling doom over herself regardless of his answer and that was not a very pleasant thought.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

Why Aleksander had cursed himself to be in a loveless marriage, and stayed, was a matter up for no discussion. While he hated his wife, he loved his family even more to tolerate his disdain for her. It was always for the family for his motivations for things that were on the exterior. He would jump off a bridge for them if it meant that they were in good standing, had enough money, and maintained their status. While it cost Aleksander more so than his siblings it seemed, he was fine with being the sacrificial lamb of the Karkaroff family. It was how he showed he loved them.

Yet, that didn't always mean that Aleksander was one to follow the rules either. As long as his family was okay, and nothing would get back to hurt them, he did as he pleased to an extent. He just had to be sure that no one found out. 

Aleksander chuckled, Heleen certainly was entertaining. He wondered what she was thinking with his little French compliment, and he enjoyed the way her hair felt against his fingertips a little too much than he would like to admit. It had been a long time since Aleksander had found the company of a woman to be delightful in any such way. Whether that be intellectually, as a friend, or as a lover. 

"Au fait, tes cheveux sentent bon." He threw in another compliment, wanting to see the young woman squirm a little under her skin. Aleksander knew that he was good looking, he didn't flaunt it like many other pureblood males, but he wasn't dumb either. A few harmless compliments wouldn't hurt anyone afterall. Whether or not Heleen found him attractive, or his little gestures affected her were unknown, but it made their interaction a little more interesting that was for sure.

Aleksander moved around the shelf that they were standing by, finding a section that remained open for new prophecies when they were made. The charms were not made until there was an orb that rested on the shelf and the stand. He picked up the shelf gracefully, and one of the empty stands, walking back to where Heleen stood. He placed the shelf against the start of the aisle, and held the stand out to Heleen to take from his fingers, "The stand."

"Remuez-vous toujours le nez lorsque vous vous concentrez?" He couldn't help but notice that she had been wriggling her nose. Whether it was because she was concentrating or because she was nervous he wasn't sure, but he found it cute. So, he asked her in French just to add a little more flare to their day. "Let me know when you want me to hold the shelf up to examine, it can be rather heavy."

He pondered on the question of the prophecies being made from anything in particular though. It stumped him really. "The orb is spun glass." He looked over at one, pondering aloud. "While the contents inside are...up for debate. Some say it is a memory, a reflection of what the Seer has seen. Some say it is just a spoken record in a thick mist. I guess it just depends on who you ask depends on what it is."

Aleksander smiled, he enjoyed hearing her talk. Heleen was smart, it was something that he rather enjoyed in a woman, considering his wife was not. It was almost like breathing fresh air to hear her opinions, to see her wheels turning in her mind. So when she asked for his input he merely shrugged, "I actually would rather hear your expertise on these, Heleen. If I think something will not work I'll let you know, but otherwise, you're more of the expert on the enchantments and the charms."

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2026
@seph
✿

[Deleted]

For a witch with a primarily magical upbringing, Heleen had found herself emersed more and more in the muggle technology of late, especially since her accident had occurred about a year or so ago. An accident that had left her permanently altered. A secret that she had shared with only a few, and yet it had still managed to reach the wrong ears.

She had, however, not expected him to continue in French or use that softspoken language to throw yet another compliment her way. A compliment that served as an odd reminder of just how close he was to her physically. Not to mention that it seemed straight out of one of the telenovella's she'd been binge watching in some of her free time lately to stave off the boredom and fill the relationship void in her life. Those things never happened in real life though, which was a good thing to remind herself of. It still sent her head spinning. She glanced at him briefly, feeling the heat creep up towards her cheeks, so she quickly looked down at her notebook again. Now was not the time to indulge in idle fantasies!

She couldn't help but indulge just a little as he grabbed the shelf so effortlessly and moved it over so that she might be able to take a better look. It was a wonderful thing, especially since she didn't have to worry quite as much about what he might notice if his attention was otherwise occupied. Then he offered her a stand and she plucked it from his fingers and smiled slightly, looking at the rather simplistic design. Very simplistic really. Maybe for the better. She tended to overcomplicate things at times. Which was most of the time.

She looked up almost confused at his words but then she was certain her head turned red as it felt her entire face was glowing. She shrugged a bit, trying to make it seem casual. "Force de l'habitude." She hadn't even been quite aware she'd been doing it to begin with. Still, the way his voice sounded as he spoke French with just that hint of an uncommon accent? Delicious!

Though the offer to hold the shelf up was very tempting, she felt like taking too much advantage of such an offer would be a little too obvious. So in stead she opted to smile slightly. "I'll let you know if it's needed." She said in stead, already thinking on the options.

"Spun glass is enough for now. I can probably find a reasonable surface charm that shouldn't affect the contents." She said after a moment. Then he told her he'd rather hear her expertise she felt almost put on the spot. She shifted her weight between her feet for a few moments, retucking the misbehaving strand of hair behind her ear again. "I've been studying spell interference and deconstructing some of the most well known wizarding tools almost since I started as unspeakable. I find it interesting to see how they harmonise or resonate together. I have some theories but it's all in the baby stage." She admitted with a shrug. Then she quickly leaned forward towards the place he'd just plucked the shelf from. "We can probably add a two extra enchantments to the rests. If we use the same ones diagonally it should carry the enchantments across the shelves itself." She thought, resisting the urge to once again wriggle her nose. Maybe it was a concentration thing like he'd suggested?

"I was also thinking we could set up the shelves and cabinets with more protective and preservative enchantments of the general nature and focus the more offensive defence on the stands and orbs themselves, so that they can get a higher security rating if required without having to store them in a specific place. It would add the general labyrinth of the layout as extra protective measure." She suggested then, smiling a little. She just hoped that he'd like her ideas. And that they could find some way to elongate the project just a tiny bit? But maybe it would be better if they didn't. She already struggled to maintain her composure and she was scared what prolonged exposure to him might do to her mind.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

Aleksander couldn't remember how Heleen and him actually met. All he knew was that one day he was working in the Hall of Prophecies and a beautiful woman happened to pass him by. Whether or not that they had met previously was beknownst to him. All he could put together was that Heleen was one of the few women in the department, and he quickly gathered that she was brilliantly smart. More so than she would ever give herself credit for. It was at that moment when she began to raddle off things about enchantments, years ago, that he was curious about her. There was more underneath the surface than she led to believe.

So, while they didn't exclusively work together often, whenever he could he would try to get glimpses of what she was all about, who she truly was. And he always enjoyed watching her work. She was remarkable, in many ways, and he only hoped that she was told often like she deserved.

Perhaps that was why he was always finding ways to compliment her. He enjoyed to see the look on her face, even though it was gone instantly, of how shocked she was that he even paid attention to her at all. Let alone would compliment her. Which made Aleksander think that she wasn't used to being complimented either.

"Je l'aime bien. C'est mignon. Vous devriez le faire plus souvent." Aleksander purred, smirking. He really did like to see her nose wrinkle. The little quirk of hers was one of the many things on the list that he liked about her.

He wished that she didn't pluck the stand so quickly, the very brief touch of her skin wasn't enough in his opinion. He listened to her though however as she explained the intricacies of her ideas with the charms and enchantments. She truly was brilliant. Beautifully brilliant, in fact, so much so that he added as a whisper to her ear, "Quelqu'un t'a-t-il dit à quel point tu es brillant?" This woman was going to be trouble. He should have known from the start but how could he say no to an assignment with such a fascinating creature.

"We can always test it out on some of the more...expired prophecies, just to be sure." Aleksander pondered, leaning in closer to her so that way there wasn't much space between them as they spoke. He glanced down at the various notes on her notebook, much of it seemed to be just random thoughts, probably to keep her mind focused on other things. "They are back where most don't wander any more. Many of the Unspeakables don't care to think much about them since they are so outdated."

He was also thinking of other things. With how secluded that area of the department was, they could speak more freely...among other things. Aleksander glanced down at Heleen, quickly averting to the present instead. 

"That's quite a large task." One that would require they work together more than just today, he wanted to say, but didn't. "I definitely think it is worth pursuing, it would certainly be more efficient." It would also give him an excuse to be here...with her more. "Why don't we look at the more outdated sections, see what would work best by testing on them, then if it works, we can reconstruct the rest." He suggested once again, almost urging her to agree.

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2027
@seph
✿

[Deleted]

Heleen mostly felt at home in the department these days. While she'd initially struggled somewhat to feel like she belonged she now knew that she had secured her job. Or at least well enough. It had been around two and a half years now and despite having transferred from the same department in a different government, she'd always felt behind. Not that had always been a bad thing, of course, but she'd felt behind from the very start.

Where she'd managed to sustain herself before, his next words sent her head reeling utterly, especially due to the tone at which his words came out of his mouth. They had that slick undertone of satisfaction like a softly purring cat. It so happened that Heleen quite adored cats and in this situation that did not improve things. If she'd doubted she was blushing before, she was fairly certain that this comment had either made her lose all colour or gain a whole lot more. Judging by the fact it felt like her cheeks were on fire her money would have been on the one where her face just went redder than a London bus. Which also meant she instantly sought to hide herself by feigning a rather deep interest in her notes all of a sudden.

As if the first part hadn't affected her enough yet, Mr. Hotness had to go and whisper into her ear in seductive French with a compliment, nonetheless. Heleen wasn't used to compliments at all. She wasn't in the habit of receiving them and found it even harder to accept the rare few that did come along. The only positive note? She was still a tomato from the previous compliment. "Pas vraiment, et ce sont généralement des amis qui le disent et ils sont moralement obligés de le penser." She replied, unable to put any sort of confidence of any kind in her voice. Or well, anything at all to suggest that his comment hadn't thrown her off completely.

Luckily they could return to work rather fast and he made a suggestion that sounded ever so perfect. Testing things out on some of the older and more expired prophecies. It was a relatively foolproof way to ensure it wouldn't mess with prophecies that were still needed. Though she wondered how many expired prophecies were kept. Considering the magical capacities of any room in the department of mysteries? Endless amounts. Naturally her rather flustered mind didn't actually think of any sort of posibilities that a more secluded corner at work might have. Or more accurate to her, what dangers. Considering how close he was by now, her mind found it extremely difficult to focus to begin with, let alone on finding hidden meanings in his suggestion.

"That is a very good idea." She agreed quickly, if only because she felt that moving from this area might actually be a very good idea. Somewhere where it was less.... heated. "It'll be good to have some actual prophecies to test with, once I figure out exactly which charms would work best." She said, a small smile creeping up on her lips despite herself. This was turning out to be a much more fun puzzle than she'd initially anticipated.

He pointed out it was quite a large task, but at that she merely shrugged. "They didn't give us a deadline, did they?" She asked, glancing at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Good thing they prefer quality work." She said in an almost playful tone, although with a very different idea in mind. Mainly the idea that they wouldn't be likely to be pushed to finish the project faster but sloppy over taking more time and doing a very meticulous job.

He suggested taking a look at the outdated section and she nodded, almost a little bit too fast. "Lead the way." She said, checking the pocket of her robes for her supposedly 'enchanted' sunglasses. She'd been using that excuse at work, saying it was a project she was working on whenever she wanted to use her abilities for anything work related. She usually avoided it but well, it was always good to have them on hand. A very quick peek would at least tell her something, right? She could always try and figure out more later. At the very least it'd give her more information. Then she bit her lip a moment as she glanced down at her notes and turned a page, beginning a list of potential charms she could consider. Having been an avid reading in school she'd learned how to walk and read while at Beauxbatons. Then after that she'd also learned to write while she walked, although that was usually less complicated stuff. Still, it saved time.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

Merlin, Aleksander was in trouble. He knew it as soon as the assignment was set. There was just something about Heleen that held his interest, more so than he was used to. Not only was she wicked smart, but she was equally as beautiful. He was done for. He knew it, and he wasn’t wrong. There was just something attractive about her. The way her French was spoken across her lips, it was like velvet against his ears.

The comment about how her friends would say something about her nose wiggling made him chuckle and shake his head. Were they not friends? True, they barely knew each other besides from work. But certainly he would consider Heleen a friend if someone were to ask about her…even though his mind thought of her entirely as something different. “Alors, que sommes-nous alors? Ne sommes-nous pas amis, ma chérie?

The French rolled off his tongue in a seductive manner. He wasn’t afraid to hide it if he was speaking in another language, those who perhaps would have been listening in would have wrote it off. Not many people knew French in the department. So, he just continued speaking in the language that he knew would get the heat in her cheeks flared up even more, “Je suis offensé, chéri. Est-ce que je ne t'intéresse pas?”

Aleksander knew he was skirting around territory he had no business being in. He was married. He had a child. He had to think about his family and what it would do to them if he had an affair…but all of those thoughts were out the window around Heleen. How close they were, the way she talked, how he could just reach over and touch those soft strands of hair. She was talking about something but it was now falling on deaf ears as all he was thinking about were ways to get her to accept his advances.

“No deadline according to the paperwork.” Aleksander added, smirking. This could be drug out for as long as they wanted it to be as far as he was concerned, and he would gladly find ways to make her busy to be able to make this arrangement last a whole lot longer than it needed to. This was definitely dangerous territory, one that he should not be crossing, but there he was doing it anyway. “The…department…definitely prefers quality. It looks like we have our work cut out for us for a while then.”

Aleksander nodded down the aisle to show her the way through the labyrinth of shelves. Thousands of orbs of prophecies lined them. As he walked, he slowed pace to walk alongside Heleen, who was distracted by her notebook. “Marcher et lire est un jeu dangereux.” He teased her, reaching out his hand to snag hers as he was about to make a turn. Her hand was small against his, and he hesitated to keep moving, but went on anyway. His hand wrapped around hers, his fingers caressing hers gently as they made their way through the Hall of Prophecies.

Finally, after quite a few turns, they made it to an almost barren wall at the very end of the Hall. Aleksander stopped, but he didn’t release Heleen’s hand quite yet. “The dates stop around the 1400s about fifteen shelves before this, but these are much older than that.” He said softly, reaching for his wand he waved a disenchantment charm for the entire shelf, before reaching out and grabbing an orb of swirling deep violet mist. “Its amazing, how these orbs hold such information of what the future might hold.” It brought him back to his youth when he ran around with Seers into the night at Durmstrang.

Setting the orb back on the stand, Aleksander glanced down at their hands, still locked. He held her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it tenderly, like a gentleman and whispered, “Pardonne-moi pour l'intrusion, chérie." There weren't prying eyes or ears this far back into the Hall of Prophecies, so they could speak and do as they freely wished without getting caught. So, he didn't have to speak French, but he enjoyed seeing the look on Heleen's face when he did compliment her in the language of romance.

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2027
@seph
✿

[Deleted]

Well there was fun to be had in innocent ways, right? Just because she found him madly attractive didn't mean that she couldn't be friends with him. It just meant she probably shouldn't be. It would have been a lot easier to convince herself of that if he didn't seem to be taking an interest in her somewhat. He was going to slowly pick apart her resistance, wasn't he? Oh dear goodness she was completely doomed.

Still, as he inquired if they were not friends, she couldn't help but allow herself to fall into his eyes for just a moment, before biting her lip briefly and shrugging. "J'aimerais penser que nous le sommes ou le serons." It was the first response to his first question, but when he claimed to be offended and asked if she wasn't interested in him she instantly felt a bit awkward. "Oh non! Vous êtes très intéressant ! Je ne voulais rien dire de tel. J'essaie juste... J'essaie de me concentrer sur le projet?" She quickly tried to excuse herself but by now she felt utterly lost and she only felt more flustered, rather than less.

Heleen failed to notice his temporary distraction. It was a lot easier for her not to get distracted by him when she was focussing on work. After all, she could really pour her mind in and not leave a lot of room to think about other things. Things like how close he was or how attractive she found him. The intensity of his gaze or how much a tiny part of her wished he wasn't married. Those sorts of thoughts were better off not being in her mind while he was around.

She nodded as he said they had their work cut out for them. "Certainly, especially if we decide to enchant all the shelf carriers, even more so if we work with more than one spell for them." All in all it was a lot of work and she both dreaded and relished in the opportunity. Seeing more of him? She liked that idea. Yet she had no idea how she was planning to stay on her best behaviour if he kept treating her this way. Was he flirting with her or had her fantasies started working overtime now? It seemed like something that'd happen to her. She was probably just reading into things. There was no reason for a guy like him to be interested in her if he were single, let alone when he already was in a committed relationship. No, she was just making things up, obviously.

He claimed reading and walking was rather dangerous and a little bubble of laughter escaped her throat. "Ne vous inquiétez pas, je fais ça depuis de nombreuses années. C'est facile une fois qu'on a pris le coup de main. Si besoin, je pourrais naviguer dans Paris tout en lisant." She reassured him quickly, a smile lingering on her face as she did so. His concern was rather touching. She hadn't counted on him deciding to lead her in a way more common in dancing than work so she let out a tiny gasp of surprise as he took her hand and led her along, her ability to concentrate on the book vanished as the touch of his hand against her own seemed to be the only thing that really held her attention. What kind of book had she just fallen into? Had she fallen asleep in the Love Room rather than taken the right turn into the hall of prophecy?

The few turns felt like a lot more and she was pretty sure she'd be lost if he left her alone at this point. Still she felt a sense of relief as he allowed an opening for work to sneak into her mind again. She tried to forget the fact he was still holding on to her hand, even if that was nearly impossible. She didn't want him to remember that. If he remembered, surely he'd let go. She smiled as he spoke of the prophecies even as he picked one off the shelf after dissolving the enchantments. "It almost makes you wonder how many aspects of our future are still able to change and how many are destined." She said in a soft tone of voice. "Or if some prophecies truly are self fullfilling." It was a rather large topic in mythology as well from the few stories she knew. Or at least poor oedipoes had fallen victim to the fear of prophecy. It was better they were hidden and locked away.

Then he put the orb back and looked down on their hands and Heleen almost felt said. She'd expected him to drop her hand and step away, as if he'd burned himself. That wasn't what happened at all. He simply killed her hand and apologised for the intrusion in in whispered French that had her feeling almost faint. Oh dear goodness, what was he doing?! Wasn't he supposed to be married? What on earth was happening here? It took her a moment or two before she gained enough of her mind to even react to him. "It's fine. I uh..." She faltered, not even sure what she was planning to say. She blinked rapidly a few times, trying to clear her head. "Nobody comes here, do they?" She then asked as realisation started to dawn on her. Her eyes flitted rather nervously to the ends of the isle they were end and she kept her tone soft. She didn't want to start rumours. "I just... I think I'm misreading something here. Aren't you married?" Her voice just about broke at the last question in both the fact she could be ruining this entire fantasy she was making for herself and the fact this just didn't feel real. If that didn't change anything then she just had to be asleep at work, right? In the Love Room? What other possible explanation could there be?

@aleksander

[Deleted]

Aleksander’s interest piqued upon her response to if they were friends. It was interesting to see the way that she responded to his advances. Surely, she could see that he was clearly flirting with her, right? He was hoping that it was obvious that he wanted to be more than friends. How? He wasn’t quite sure, there was the unfortunate situation about him being married. The mere thought about Chantal was enough to make him cringe, but he reeled himself back in before he did so outwardly.

Alas, she dismissed his advances by stating that she wanted to focus on the project at hand. So, instead of continuing his advances, he decided to give the poor woman a break, she was likely not into him like he thought from their flirtatious comments. “Je plaisantais simplement, Heleen. Ne le prenez pas à cœur." Aleksander responded, nodding in agreement to focusing on the project.

Merlin how was he supposed to focus on this project, for an extended period of time at that, considering her ambitions, without flirting with her…or trying to make a move on her. They had never worked on something alone before, and when they worked along side one another previously there were usually a few others around. So it was easy to focus on the project at hand and not try and get to truly know her, or try to see if there was something else there for her too that she felt.

It was hard for Aleksander to describe. He just felt…connected to Heleen. There was this magnetic attraction that he felt toward her, and he just couldn’t help himself. He needed to know more about her, wanted to make things more of a friendship between them…and more.

Then she laughed, and it undid him completely. What Aleksander would do to hear her laugh again, it was like velvet against his ears, a sweet song that he needed to hear once more. “Dites-le. La lecture et la marche seraient certainement des compétences souhaitées. Mais, hélas, la beauté qui vous entoure vous manque lorsque vous le faites.” Aleksander smiled, looking at her smile…what a beauty she was.

Seers and their prophecies always intrigued him. He knew that many were up for interpretation, and quite obscure, so the true meaning of them were not always deciphered correctly. “I had a friend from back in school who was a Seer, not many knew about his abilities.” Aleksander shared, smiling to himself at the thought of Finn. They were quick to remain unseen, often finding themselves in the forest, staring up at the stars, stoned out of their mind, sharing each others secrets. He was one of the few outside of the family that he trusted.

“He predicted his death when he was fourteen. At the time we had no idea what it meant. Then a few years ago I received a letter from his family. I’ll never forget the vision he shared with me, it was pretty…choppy, there wasn’t much to identify what it was truly meaning. Until they described his death to me, and that’s when I knew.” Aleksander sighed at the thought, there hadn’t been anyone that he was close to since Finn’s death. It shook him to his core. He didn’t tell anyone about it, about the vision he saw, not even his own family. His family knew that Finn was his closest friend, but they had no idea he was a Seer either.

Aleksander chuckled at how flustered she became, asking if anyone came around the outdated section, “No one comes back here, in fact, I tend to be the only one who roams the outdated prophecies. I doubt many Unspeakables even know that this is back here. Even the old enchantments that used to surround the prophecies have faded for the most part.”

His smile grew before he stopped dead. She asked the ultimate question. One that he even asked himself ever since he married Chantal. What was he thinking. At least his advances were obvious enough for her to know that he was in fact interested.

Aleksander took a step back, running a hand through his hair briefly, thinking about how to answer that question. A moment passed, and another, silence falling between them. “Yes, legally I am unfortunately married.” He finally answered. “But I haven’t ever had a…true relationship with my wife.” He admitted aloud, for the first time to someone else other than his siblings. Even then, he never told them how much he truly hated her, how much he felt trapped, how he needed to be with someone who could have an intellectual conversation, who actually cared about him.

“It was and still is very much an arranged marriage…” Aleksander sighed, he couldn’t admit the rest. The only good thing that came from the marriage was his son, and the fact that it keeps a good pureblood front to the rest of the world. That’s what it was used for, nothing more. The only period of time he even slept with Chantal was their wedding night and their honeymoon, when she found out she was pregnant, he stopped sleeping in the same room as her. It was clear that she wanted nothing to do with him as a person, and just wanted his wealth and stability, as well as a pureblood name to live under. So, he allowed it, and they went on with their lives.

He didn’t know how Heleen would react, so he wanted to reiterate his feelings, he allowed his mask…the one that everyone sees, to fall for a moment as he spoke, “Vous n'avez pas mal interprété. Je suis très intrigué par vous, Heleen. Tu es belle, gentille et brillamment intelligente.” Aleksander took her hand in his once more, squeezing gently, “J'aimerais beaucoup faire votre connaissance, si vous me le permettez." He smiled gently at her, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear once more, his fingers lingering along her cheek briefly.

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2027
@seph
✿

[Deleted]

Heleen was unfortunately rather insecure to the point she regularly failed to see it when somebody made a joke. She took too many things seriously. It was a rather deep flaw, in a way, but one she wasn't sure how to counter. She'd gotten hurt before, deeply even, to the point she found it very difficult to trust her own judgement at times. Especially when it came to affairs of the heart.

He suggested missing the beauty around you when your nose was stuck in a book while walking. She considered it for a moment and shrugged. "Most of the books I read while walking are fictional. They allow me to escape this world to one that always seems a lot more beautiful. A place where kindness and beauty is only one flip of a page away. A place where the ugly facets of this world don't get to win for a change. I've found reality a little too disappointing when I was younger. Books didn't disappoint so often." In a way that was very much downright to the core of what she'd been through as a child and teenager. She hadn't been met with much kindness, but managed to keep her own by finding it in fiction. If she missed the beauty in this world, she at least also missed the more ugly parts of it at the same time.

Then he told her about a friend he'd had in school. A seer, by the sound of it. A true seer even, not one that just pretended for sake of getting attention. There had been a few girls at Beauxbatons that pretended to be seers for sake of their standing. It had always confounded Heleen a little, but she'd never quite fit in anyway. How horrifying it was to realise he had seen his own death at the age of fourteen. She shivered slightly, her overactive imagination and empathy combining the two to wonder if he'd known he wasn't going to make it as the event took place. If he realised his fate as the encounter had started. If it meant he lived through his own death twice. It was tragic, and more than a little sad. "I'm sorry for your loss." She said, her voice soft. Even if it had been a few years, it was clear that he cared deeply about his friend. Surely he'd still feel his absence.

As he said he was the only one that ever really came here she looked at the shelves and the ancient orbs standing on it. Unclaimed, forgotten. Already gathering dust as they likely had long since taken place. Their glow somehow seemed a lot more dull, as if they lost their potency and were nothing but the memories of what had been or could have been. Would they be forgotten at some point, when nobody considered it worthwhile to visit these shelves any longer? It was a bit of a sad idea. "I think it's good they're not forgotten." She mused softly, more to herself than him. It seemed sad that such things that were once worth so much were now all but obsolete to most.

It was rather obvious that she'd managed to completely ruin the little moment they'd been having. That was probably better, right? Still, it didn't stop that sinking feeling from overwhelming her heart in a painful manner. She didn't really want him to distance himself from her, even if it was technically the right thing to do. She already enjoyed his company far more than she ever should and she was made aware of it by his reaction to her words. The silence made her heartbeat feel louder as it stretched. As he considered his answer. She sought his face for the most minute signs of what was going on in is head, but it was almost impossible to tell. Unspeakables were, after all, trained to keep everything that they didn't want out in the world hidden behind lock and key.

When he finally spoke she focussed on his words. Unfortunately. No true relationship. Words like that made it very clear that he was married, but it didn't sound like his heart was in it at all. As he explained it was an arranged marriage she nodded slightly. Purebloods, they cared about such things. Status, blood, money, influence. She'd never been that kind of a girl and had always wondered why on earth people bothered. Seeing how little passion he had about his relationship made her wonder why he'd ever accepted to get married, but she knew it wasn't her place to ask such questions. If he ever even wanted to share, he undoubtedly would.

She smiled slightly at his next words, and squeezed his hand back ever so slightly. "Je crois que tout le monde mérite une chance d'être heureux. De faire l'expérience de l'amour. Je suis désolé qu'il semble que votre mariage ne vous offre pas cela. J'aimerais mieux vous connaître." She told him then, a small smile on her face, but her guard was still up a bit. She hated to ask, but she needed to know. "J'ai juste... j'ai été blessé dans le passé, donc je veux que tu sois honnête avec moi. J'ai besoin de savoir ce que tu cherches. Ce que tu espères en tirer. Nous vivons une vie de secrets dus à notre travail, mais je ne veux pas non plus ajouter de la confusion." She could live with secrets, but she didn't want them to want other things if they were going to go around hiding things. If all he wanted was just a bit of fun on the side, she wasn't sure if she could do that. Maybe for a while, but it'd just lead to pain again.

And she didn't want to be in pain again. She wasn't sure her confidence could handle yet another hit. She'd kept most of her relationships close to her heart and she'd never even told her brother the extent to which her longest relationship had broken her down. How much she doubted herself and second guessed almost everything she did because of him. How this entire thing happening right now felt like it couldn't be possible, because she wasn't the kind of girl anybody could ever fall in love with. She was too deeply flawed, and the moment he saw that he'd leave her. Just like Dmitri had, even if a part of her refused to believe it. No, to love was to end up in pain eventually. She just was too stupid to let it sink in. Maybe after this burned down before her, she could finally learn. Maybe all she needed was a fall bad enough that she wouldn't be able to get up and dream again.

@aleksander

[Deleted]

The last time Aleksander had an actual conversation with an intelligent woman was likely with his sister. The family never seemed to give the young woman enough credit, and while Aleksander and her were not close, he knew that she was a strong woman. One who would be able to take anything thrown at her in stride. Aleksander never had to worry about Anastasia. He knew that whoever crossed her was in for a whole lot of hell to pay. And he pitied them. Chantal was the epitome of a pureblood woman. The complete opposite of what Aleksander truly wanted. He would never tell anyone such, it would go to his grave with him if he could help it, and yet he agreed to marry the woman anyway. Knowing full well that he would be unhappy.

Perhaps that was why he tried to avoid the estate as much as he could. As much as it represented the pureblood ideals, what was kept within, the memories that were there…it was hard for Aleksander to stay. He did it because he knew that he had to. For the family he had to do it, and he would do it for them. He would be the living sacrifice that they required and that they needed from him in order to maintain the Karkaroff Pureblood name, untainted, and a looming presence among the world. Aleksander wished that it could be different, but knew that he would do his family’s bidding, whatever the cost took.

”Our greatest fantasy can often be found if we look hard enough to find it.” Aleksander responded to her, and added, ”You cannot have rainbows without rain, Heleen. It is necessary to have pain, darkness, in order to have joy, and light.” He knew as well as anyone that he could not have one without the other. While he hated Chantal, she did give him Bane…and he couldn’t be mad about that. Even if she was a terrible mother, Casimir and himself picking up the pieces to ensure Bane was raised appropriately, she did give birth to him…that he could be grateful to her for.

”Not many know about Finn, especially that he was a Seer.” Aleksander sighed, shaking off the memories like cobwebs in his mind. ”I have found that those who do have the gift of Inner Sight, do not go announcing it to the world. They keep their abilities a secret.” Which was why he enjoyed working with the prophecies so much. It reminded him of Finn, of all the good things in their friendship, he felt connected to his friend even though he was gone. ”Their glow may be waning, but they are just as vibrant of visions as they were when they were first seen.” Aleksander smiled over at her.

Aleksander was waiting for the onslaught of questions from Heleen. Surely, she had questions about what he had meant. Those who were not purebloods didn’t quite understand the severity of keeping the reputation alive. He was no extremist, could care less about who held magic and what not. But he had to keep up appearances, it was what was expected of him to do. There was too much at risk for him not to do so. His thoughts snapped back to the presence when she squeezed his hand.

Aleksander watched her, a smile on his lips at the soft words that she spoke. Merlin she was beautiful. He could get intoxicated by her speaking French to him. Then when she continued his brows knitted together in concern. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, not dropping her hand from his. It was between them as he said, ” Je ne ferais jamais rien pour te blesser, Heleen. Jamais. J'espère que vous arriverez à comprendre cela.”

He let go of her hand, tucking that loose strand of hair back behind her ear, his fingers lingering against her cheek, gently caressing her lips as he continued, ” Nous n'avons pas à mettre d'étiquette dessus. Nous pouvons le faire comme vous le souhaitez. Vous me dites ce que vous désirez et cela vous sera accordé.” Aleksander was entranced, his heart was beating wildly in his chest, and he was mentally cursing himself to get a grip and to stop before he went too far…before he began to dive head first and couldn’t swim back.

He ignored the warning bells, and leaned in, brushing his lips against hers tenderly. He couldn’t stop, there was this magnetic pull toward her that he just couldn’t ignore. The electricity and heat he felt from just the feel of her soft lips was…not like he had felt before with others. This was different. Pulling back he whispered, searching her face, “Je veux juste une chance, s'il te plait, puis-je avoir l'honneur de t'inviter à dîner?"

I'm An addict for dramatics | Feb 2025
@seph
✿

[Deleted]

How wonderful it must be, to see the world through such a positive lens no matter what life had thrown at him. To be blessed with the ability to find the beauty in the most ugly things. It wasn't something that Heleen herself was capable of. "I suppose it would function to build a contrast that sets one off against the other." She mused, but she didn't feel it. To her, over time, it wasn't like rain. No matter the discomfort suffered by rain, the noise was sooting and in any happy spirit dancing in the rain would only bring bubbles of laughter to the surface. She wasn't ready to explain how her world had looked in those days. The reminder that still seemed to linger.

A contrast? Not quite. Everything had seemed dull and grey and much against her own will she'd waded deeper and deeper into the dark ocean in her mind. Drawn by the promise of comfort only to find herself swimming against the current in something that felt more like liquid tar against her tired limbs. Even drowning in that strange but warm and comforting despair had felt impossibly slow, with all efforts to reach the bleak grey shores seeming more trouble than it was worth. And even reaching those shores it felt as though the waves were still chasing her feet eternally, and if she looked back she might disappear in an unexpected wave. In a fantasy world that painted a bright and colourful picture it seemed possible to escape for just a while, as if it would strip the touch of the dark water from her skin and bring it back to life.

It was something she momentarily contemplated in the silence between them. Not a long one, but her thoughts tended to race faster than most as them stumbled and fell over each other for a strange competition to be finished first. Her mind was full of chaos, and it always had been. When the various trains of thought collided she could come up with the most ingenious ideas. It was part of what made her good at her job, even if she didn't realise it herself. "I don't think many people are willing to believe seers. You'd invite a lot of scepticism and scorn by being honest and open about it. One wrong prediction and people will do anything to tear about your reputation. It's better for most to stay hidden, while those of questionable skill will often step into the light easily, desiring the glory and respect that true seers often gain if they manage to prove themselves." She shrugged. Finn had probably been right not to trust too many people with his gift.

She smiled slightly as he spoke of waning glow in the prophecies near them, but the visions never lot their vibrance. "That hints towards the true magic that shapes them. Pure magic doesn't seem to fade in time. You see it in the arch and the fountain. Those things we create ourselves often dull, like the glass that contains the prophecies. We channel magic, but we don't create magic as strong and powerful as that ourselves." It was strings and thethers, all combining into intricate webs of magic that shaped the spells. It was hard to explain the difference, as she could never really look into it properly without ending up in the hospital, she was sure of that. But nevertheless she could recognise elements intuitively.

When he pulled her close after she voice her concern she was pretty sure she forgot how to breathe for a moment. To be this close to him? She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and almost couldn't even hear the soft words he spoke over the sound of her own heart. She felt a little lightheaded, not having expected the promiximity at all. She forced herself to breathe after a moment, feeling the heat creep up on her cheeks. "Je ne pense pas que ce soit une promesse que vous puissiez faire. Vous avez des responsabilités qui peuvent venir à l'encontre de vos intentions. Je crois que vous ne voulez pas me blesser, et peut-être que vous ne le feriez pas intentionnellement. Mais l'avenir est imprévisible, n'est-ce pas?"

If he intended to leave her with the capacity to think on any of this, he was doing a very poor job at managing it. She could barely breathe as his fingers gently touched her neck after pushing her hair back once again. Her breathing almost ceased entirely again as they softly ran across her lips. She was certainly lost in a dream, and she would have to take a very cold shower once she woke up. Maybe call in sick? Facing him while awake after this would be... humiliating. That was the right word. Still, since this was clearly just a dream, why not indulge just a tiny little bit? Why not allow him his touches? She barely even heard his words as he spoke, or if she did they didn't quite register.

If she needed any more confirmation that she had to be dreaming, it came but mere heartbeats later as he leaned in and kissed her. A part of her mind that was still a little bit awake was screaming at her to step back. That he was married and even the mere dream or fantasy of this was wrong. That she needed to get her mind in order and stop dreaming and get back to work. To pull her head up from her notebook and only rest her thoughts in it, not her entire head. But she was kissing him back, utterly ignoring the voice in her head, caught up in the feeling of the moment. Then he pulled back and whispered while keeping her mind unable to think clearly. Asking her to.. have dinner with him?

She took a small breath for a moment, blinking a few times. She felt confused. Wasn't that the point where she was supposed to wake up? She smiled a slow and slightly confused smile as her head was still spinning. Then it slowly seemed like the world around them came back into focus, as if she'd just landed after apparating here. "Oui?" She said after a moment, the smile still tugging on her lips. It was hard to think of words in that moment. To communicate anything that was going on in her head, as it seemed to just be white noise in the moment. "But no French cheeses." She said, as that was a weird first thought that came to her mind with a wild current of thoughts fighting for control. Then she couldn't help but giggle for a moment. "Ik ga zo boos zijn op mezelf als ik straks wakker wordt." She muttered and then giggled again, forcing herself to have a slightly straight face. "Sorry. It's chaos in my head right now." Naturally she blamed him for it, but she wasn't upset about it. Well, not unless she got in trouble for it. "We should probably keep this secret, shouldn't we?" She asked then, sobering up quite a bit as the words left her mouth. She'd almost forgotten about the fact he was married in all of the excitement.

@aleksander