Fate's Tangled Thread [Rhys]

[rhys alexander greyback]

fear leads to anxiety

don't know what's inside of me

November 16, 2023
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys hadn’t ever doubted Juniper’s descriptions of her coworkers, but seeing was believing. And experiencing the intensity of Marina’s personality was really…something. Out of the corner of his eye, Rhys could still see the outline of the maze. That felt preferable to dealing with the pair. What were the odds that their respective coworkers were seeing one another? Ioan wasn’t a bad guy. Rhys certainly felt as if he’d always been picky on who he let grow close to him, especially after beginning his work as a Cursebreaker.

Briefly, he thought of Saffron, and no matter how quickly Rhys pushed it from his mind, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the heavy sinking feeling in his chest to his stomach. Merlin knew had Saffron been present and heard the “married” comment, she would have either choked or let butterbeer come out her nose. His former partner had spent the better part of years nudging Rhys with not-so-subtle and hard elbows about making an honest woman out of Juniper. But he didn’t dare think of that now; it was far too much hope for one to have safely at one time.

Fortunately, they were saved by the bell, so to speak. Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, Rhys whispered in return near her ear. ”You weren’t kidding…” Even from their seats, Rhys could see the outlines of the Champions, and his heart did a little leap when he spotted Elias. That long dark hair was unmistakable. The Headmaster’s booming voice echoed around them. ”It's still odd seeing someone else as Headmaster.” Rhys commented to Juniper. Maybe it was merely because it was all they’d known for those seven years. Faintly, Rhys heard his colleague yelling at him. ”That’s your brother, right?” Maybe if he didn’t look, Ioan would give up. One could hope. Fortunately, the sound of a canon caught everyone’s attention.

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There was no surprise when the Champions of the three schools came out onto the field below. Juniper had spent the last few weeks seeing nothing but their names and faces plastered across every newspaper and publication. Even paperwork on her desk had become tainted by the tournament. But they wouldn’t be sitting here without all of that, so she supposed she had to be thankful for it. Of all the students between the schools, the fact that Hogwarts pulled a Weasley and Durmstrang got a Greyback was quite interesting. There were definitely rumors about the selection process though. How a Weasley being picked while her cousin was currently the Minister was suspicious. Juniper could care less about that. She knew that the last tournament had been rigged, and it wasn’t completely farfetched for it to happen again. Cheating was apparently part of tournament history.

The subsequent roars from the crowd as each champion was announced and stepped forward did make her feel pride in Hogwarts, as the Weasley family was one of the better options for them. Everything about school had always been house versus house, and now they had an equal ‘enemy’ in the other two schools. Judging Elias yet without meeting him was impossible, but she did know that the Beauxbatons champion was apparently an entitled prick. That much was understandable from the interviews she had been reading.

Being able to hear anything that wasn’t directly next to her was a blessing, as it sounded like Ioan was yelling to Rhys about something. His voice became just another sound mixed into the crowd, losing all of its individuality. At least Marina was being quiet. A quick glance at her made Juniper realize this wasn’t actually the case, and her coworker was apparently blabbering away this entire time. She felt bad for only a moment, before leaning closer to Rhys so there was more space between her and her colleague next to her.

”At least they don’t change as frequently as Ministers do,” she responded flatly. That wasn’t entirely the previous Ministers’ faults by any means, as they had been murdered. She was apprehensive about being led by one that was younger than herself, but that was the way it worked now. ”Hopefully it stays loud so that we can keep ignoring them,” Juniper added, making sure she was quiet enough that their neighbors couldn’t hear her.

rhys alexander greyback ● 399 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

fear leads to anxiety

don't know what's inside of me

November 16, 2023
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Weasley. Everybody knew of the Weasleys. So, the announcement of a Weasley as Hogwarts Champion had been of little surprise to Rhys. Although it was surreal to think that another Weasley, a year his junior, was the Minister. Rhys recalled the part veela, and he would’ve been lying if he said his gaze never lingered, but suffice it to say someone else caught his gaze instead. The announcement of Elias had been another experience altogether. The sheer shock had forced Rhys to sit down and nearly miss his chair at the time. First, that ‘Greyback’ and ‘Champion’ were in the same sentence, and then realizing the person was another half-sibling. While the crowd roared around them, Rhys shook his head slightly at the memory.

Rhys agreed with Juniper, nodding lightly while avoiding accidentally making eye contact with the other couple. He was just waiting for the double-date ideas from Ioan to find the first available cursed vase to crawl inside and hide at the museum. Fortunately, it seemed everyone could see from the stands. Although the maze’s walls kept the majority of the task hidden. At one point, Rhys did spot flames, but only just briefly. For those moments, Rhys’ eyes focus intently for any sign of anything over the maze’s walls. Especially the sparks the Headmaster had spoken about, indicating a Champion required rescue. All the while, Rhys hadn’t noticed how he picked at the skin on the side of his thumbnail or how tense he grew while waiting for something.

Walking into that maze was like walking into some ancient site unopened for centuries or millennia without a clue of what waited around the next corner. The crowd cheered as someone ran through the maze. It wasn’t Elias. The noise erupting from the Beauxbaton students told Rhys this was their champion. And the flaming red hair of the next person exiting the maze left no question who it was. And then, a third figure hobbled out of the maze. Rhys finally let out his breath. He hadn’t even realized he was holding it. The risk of anything seriously bad happening to a Champion was incredibly low. Still, Rhys’s brain told him otherwise. Trying to calm himself, Rhys wondered if they should get a head start on the stairs to see Elias and escape their noisy neighbors.

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The task was a sight to behold. Conflicting emotions about who she wanted to do better was definitely part of the excitement, and while she wanted the newly found Elias Greyback to do well, Juniper would be lying if she didn’t want the Weasley girl to win. She had never considered herself loyal to the school, despite having dedicated herself to it quite a bit during her time there, but some sort of sleeping beast had awoken in her throughout the first task. Hogwarts was her school after all, and she wanted its Champion to win. She’d never understood how fans of Quidditch could be so diehard about their team until today. Now she sort of got it.

With what they could see every now and then, it seemed like the challenges within the maze were adequately difficult, the Beauxbatons champion even having to up against what appeared to be a chimera at one point. That alone made her question the safety of the task, yet the French boy seemed to clear the creature with relative ease. Juniper, armed to the teeth with an array of complicated Transfiguration spells, didn’t think even she could manage to do that. She also ran like shit because she had short legs, so that would make the task that much harder for her to do.

Caught up in the roars of various alumni and students cheering on their school’s champion as the task progressed, eventually the three came to an end. Occasionally she caught sight of Elias, and as he stumbled to the finish, she could see the worry painted across Rhys’s face. He had been nervous throughout the entire thing, causing her to hold onto his arm every now and again out of concern for his poor thumb. That hadn’t gone unnoticed at all.

”We’ve got to head down now,” she said turning to their neighbors, cutting both of them off before they could even think to say anything about the task they’d all just watched. ”But it was nice to meet you Ioan. See you at work tomorrow, Marina.” Grabbing onto Rhys, she sort of turned him and started to push him towards the stairs. They still needed to find Max and Elias after they traversed the stairs again. Hopefully they’d go a little faster on the way down…

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Timeliness and magickind weren’t exactly two things that went hand in hand with one another. Juniper was almost hoarse from the amount of swearing she had let out into Rhys’s ear as they waited and walked slowly down from their seats. If any of the powers to be in her department heard her, she really didn’t care. She was pretty done with working for the Ministry and honestly wouldn’t mind if they sacked her at this point.

”Where are we supposed to meet them again?” she asked as her feet finally hit solid ground again. She had never realized until now how much she missed feeling something that wasn’t bleacher metal beneath her. Based on their conversation prior to the task starting, there seemed to be a plan in place to take the two of them to Hogsmeade, permission pending. She sort of hoped it would be possible, as she wanted to see Max again and meeting Elias would be easier if they were all able to sit down at the Three Broomsticks. But with the way the crowd was moving, it felt like a quick hello was all they might be able to do too.

rhys alexander greyback ● 583 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

fear leads to anxiety

don't know what's inside of me

November 16, 2023
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Walking down the steps felt worse than walking up. The tension in Rhys’ body that had grown during the event hadn’t left. And people pushed and bumped one another the entire way down. It was some miracle or perhaps a fancy charm that someone hadn’t tumbled the whole way down. However, if Rhys was honest, the entire trip was a blur. Rhys had let Juni lead the way and just followed. Finally, they reached the ground. Rhys had stepped oddly in his auto-pilot as his brain caught up and sensed they were finally on solid ground.

”Hmm?” Rhys heard Juni speak but hadn’t caught the entire question. His eyes darted around his surroundings as he was trained to do, a Cursebreakers habit. But Rhys also couldn’t help it. The constantly changing faces and crowds were all he could focus on. These things always snuck up on him, especially at the museum with its constant reminders of his former career, not to mention characters like Ioan always buzzing around. At least when Rhys worked with the artifacts, it wasn’t as noticeable when he zoned out like this. Running a hand over his head, Rhys didn’t miss the curls there just a week ago. One of those days where it bothered him enough to just cut his hair.

Rhys looked at Juni. She was never just a face in the crowd for him. After blinking a few times, he did his best to focus. ”Erm—“ Right. Elias. Where was Elias? Because Elias was fine. ”The tent, I think.” This large crowd was awful. He didn't know anyone that particularly enjoyed them. It felt claustrophobic—strange for someone who enjoyed searching unknown and ancient small spaces.

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To the tent they went. The swarm of people around them was stifling and she felt like it was more possible to get knocked over here than when they were going down the stairs in the stands. Sticking close to Rhys was always her option when it came to crowds like this. He towered above most and had the mass to make others move. She always did better with taking the lead, but only when it was easy to catch people’s eyes and give them a stern look of ‘move it’. Today, she had her muscle. ”Easy enough,” Juniper said, not hiding her sarcasm at all. ”Think if I yell dragon, that’ll make people move faster?” It was certainly an idea, if not one that would get her instantly fired from her job at the Ministry. That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to happen to her though. She needed a break as it was.

Through hordes of loud, boisterous bodies, the Beauxbatons fans excited the most over their champion’s victory. She knew very little French, just enough to know when her counterparts at the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France (an obnoxious mouthful of a government body) were sneering at her. What she was hearing from the crowd was excitement, but who couldn’t tell that right now? A second place position was still good for Hogwarts, and she was already wondering how Rhys was going to navigate his brother’s third place.

As they got closer to the tent, Juniper started to feel extremely nervous. She felt a bit like an interloper, and despite the two of them being back together again, meeting one of his newer family members made her anxious. Throughout the day she had been relatively fine with it, knowing that there was still a series of events that had to happen first, such as watching the task or dealing with Marina. Where had her headstrong nature gone now that they were approaching the tent? From everything she had heard, Elias Greyback was a perfectly normal kid who just so happened to be the champion of Durmstrang. Even the Daily Prophet article had said as much. His interview had been charming.

”Did you want to go in alone first…?” Juniper trailed off, not knowing what Rhys wanted specifically. Especially with the outcome of the task. She waited anxiously for a response as they came up to the tent. If she squeezed her hands any tighter, she was going to leave indents in her palms.

rhys alexander greyback ● 420 ● Song by Artist

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[rhys alexander greyback]

fear leads to anxiety

don't know what's inside of me

November 16, 2023
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Again, Rhys hardly heard what Juniper said. But the tone of the last bit and her face told Rhys that it was something probably funny. He offered a half smile, pretending to focus on the crowd. It was easy to pass off as a distraction. Everybody spoke excitedly of the task and shared various details. Those with a better view created their own stages to share everything, while others confidently predicted future outcomes. Every word was praise or a critique of each champion. Fortunately, they reached the tent before Rhys became entirely overwhelmed.

This time, he did hear Juniper. Rhys stared at the tent. Dark and sporting the colors of the Institute’s emblem and uniforms. Max was probably inside already. The students were spared the world’s largest staircase experience. Rhys reached for Juniper’s hand, slipping it into hers. It wasn’t for her benefit or even reassurance, really. But the crowd and what he watched from the stands brought that old stress back into his life—danger. With Juni with him, however, he felt more grounded. Rhys felt okay. Juni was here with him. He was okay. ”No.” Rhys responded without hesitation. They would see his family together.

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Even with almost a year apart from one another, it was scary how quick everything moved back into place to the way it was before. Feeling his fingers interlock with hers as they both hesitated outside of the tent. Juniper assumed it was a mutual nervousness at this point, both of them having slight variations on why they felt this way. Having the reassurance of one another always helped. It took her right back to their early years together. Before the fights and the weeks spent apart. When he was there for her when work in her department became unbearable, and she was there for him after the hardest of training days and the first few jobs abroad.

”Ok,” she answered, giving his hand a small squeeze. Together it was. She could still feel her head buzzing with the nervous excitement that this sort of thing always generated. Similar to when she first brought him around to meet her parents. This time it was only Max and Elias. She could do that no problem. What a day this had been. And they still had this meeting to go, and whatever came after. If there was one certainty, she was going to sleep really well tonight from walking up all of those stairs. Assuming the mental exhaustion didn’t get her first. Looking up at him, she continued, ”I’m ready.”

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