dinner & diatribes | juniper

[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys hadn’t ever been one to make a fuss about his birthday. If the world let him sleep all day and rest, he would’ve been happy with that. But his friends and family would never let him get away with that, of course. In previous years, Vasilia always made sure to make the day special for Rhys. A wave of guilt passed over him as he recalled his poor reactions to such things. And all from a place of exhaustion or other reasons. But whatever the reason was, it wasn’t an excuse to act as he had during those times. But that was the past.

This year, the world did let Rhys sleep a bit. Well, Amelia had awoken him bright and early. With Sage’s help, she had drawn him a picture. It comprised various colors, lines, shapes, loops, and other things. But Rhys accepted it proudly. The picture now decorated his refrigerator with various other small magnetic moving photographs had been given to him. Breakfast and lunch were spent with his family, and Rhys had to admit he felt alright. He supposed not working right up until his birthday helped. The timing worked out that his week with Amelia fell on his birthday, but working out schedule changes with Sage was not typically a problem. Just as Rhys would have made sure Amelia was with her for Mother’s Day or her birthday.

In the evening, however, Rhys’ presence was requested at The Three Broomsticks. Had his birthday not fallen on the sole break between the summer and Autumn terms, he would have vetoed this idea as too many students would be present. But they would be lucky this time. Besides, Rhys could hardly show his face around The Violet Hound anymore. The invitation was extended by Juniper, and Sage was invited as well but opted to attend other plans while her mother watched Amelia. He couldn’t remember if Max was working, but Dahlia, Nell, and Archer had promised to appear.

Somehow, Rhys arrived early and found a corner of the bar to lean on while he waited for the bartender. It wasn’t too soon to start his own party, after all. He supposed this would also serve as a sort of farewell to teaching for the year. The following week, Rhys returned to his full-time fieldwork for Gringotts with his newly minted team of young Cursebreakers. A text told him Juniper was on her way, which he looked forward to. This renewed friendship of theirs was a highlight in his life, along with the benefits as well. Since their discussion the previous month, the pair did their best to, at minimum, make it to his office while on campus or at least somewhere with a door rather than the library. Then again, either of their flats worked perfectly well.

Casual and fun without the overhead of before, and Rhys thought it was going well. There was always a look in Archer’s eye when Rhys brought it up, something like doubt but not doubt at the same time. Rhys was too busy trying to figure out his best friend’s secrets to worry about the look. As he ordered a whisky, a woman casually appeared next to him at the bar. She was beautiful and wearing a blouse intended to catch one’s attention. As she began to introduce herself, Rhys fell back into his habits, slowly smiling. It was his birthday, after all.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Suddenly celebrating Rhys's birthday again was whiplash. She didn't really know how to explain it, as there had been years where it was postponed due to work and others where they simply weren't together. The arrangement was getting together at The Three Broomsticks, the perfect location for her since she was coming straight from work at Hogwarts. Trying to wrap up her class and hurriedly chase her ever inquisitive students out of the classroom so she could get ready was almost painful. She never wanted to hinder their learning experience, but for once, she had something else to do after class. If they really needed her, they could send an email or something. Kids knew how to do that, right?

The usual group was supposed to meet at the pub, Nell, Archer, and the broody Dahlia, who she was still trying to figure out. From her understanding, the French Greyback was always like this and it was mostly just her face that gave off that impression. In reality, it was like having two Rhys's, and she could see the both of them bounce off one another in a way that would make one think they'd known each other their entire lives. Maybe it was a werewolf thing. Regardless, it would hopefully be a good night. She had nothing going on the rest of the weekend and had found the hangover cure potion Rhys had given her a few months back, copping a few bottles for herself in case they were needed. Hangovers were never fun to begin with, but infinitely worse now that they tried to bleed over into more than one day.

Feeling like she was ready, she left the school and headed out into Hogsmeade. In a week, the whole area would be swarmed by the new students starting the fall term. A final few days of peace before it was back to the real grind. This worked as a great send off to the summer. A few short minutes later and Juniper entered the Broomsticks, immediately finding Rhys leaning on the bar. And a young woman standing opposite him, chatting away.

Everything was supposed to be casual, as per their discussion the month prior, but Juniper was the way that she was and could already feel the internal tug of jealousy. It reared its ugly head only when she felt like she had something to lose. Possessiveness was definitely not the best trait to have in the world, yet here she was, about to act on it.

Approaching the two of them, Juniper found a way to snake her arm through Rhys's and pushed herself up against him. She was going to make it apparent that this other woman was intruding, not her. "Hey babe," she said, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, "You think she'll be a good third? Didn't I tell you taking your ring off would work a lot better?" Juniper turned to give the girl a sly smile.

rhys alexander greyback ● 499

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

’What do you do for work?’ The woman asked Rhys. He swore she was taking every opportunity to lean in closer and closer with every passing word. ”Well, I work for—“ An arm wrapped around his, he looked to see what in the world was happening and nearly jumped out of his skin. The look of shock didn’t pass even as she planted a kiss on his face. ”—erm—I—“ With a gaping expression, he looked at Juniper and at the woman who looked confused. ’Oh—I’m sorry—I didn’t realize…’ And she turned and walked away.

After a beat, Rhys finally spoke. ”I—“ His confusion wasn’t help. ”Was that necessary?” He asked, playfully annoyed. He was about to explain himself for a moment, but then it clicked—why? Their entire thing was casual now, with no commitments as before. Rhys didn’t dare think about how he might have felt if the roles were reversed. Merlin protect the poor man that might have been his target that day. ”On my birthday too…” He lamented, thankful his other friends had not witnessed that particular interaction. Archer and Dahlia would never let him hear the end of it.

”Well, darling, aren’t you going to buy me a drink?” Rhys asked sarcastically with a raised eyebrow. Anyone who was not blind could see there wasn’t anything casual between the pair, but it appeared that only Rhys and Juniper were unaware. Of course, ring or no ring, this meant Rhys was off-limits for some and merely a challenge for others. His previously forgotten drink arrived before. Rhys drank it all at once to give Juniper a reason to buy him another one. For so many years, his birthday had been spent working or near a full moon. It was rare and a little alarming to feel as relaxed as he did. Over Juniper’s head, Rhys spotted familiar faces. Pulling his arm from Juniper’s, he waved them over. Archer and Nell had just walked in.

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Juniper had never been on the receiving end oh another woman's scorn at a bar before, as she wasn't exactly into meeting like that. She'd been saved a few times by Rhys early on in their relationship, when they'd meet up after work before going home. This was completely different though. This was her maintaining her territory like some kind of apex predator. Plus, it was sort of funny to catch Rhys off guard like this and send him spinning. "What? You could do better," she commented as she moved into the spot that had been previously been occupied by the other woman. And by better, she meant herself obviously. Juniper obviously had a plan for herself today, and she was not about to let some random person get in her way. Because it was his birthday after all.

"Sure," she said as she turned to make an order for both of them. She hadn't noticed that more of the group had arrived and assumed Rhys had freed his arm because of the impossible angle she'd just put him into. "I know I'm early, any idea when everyone else is getting here?" Juniper asked as she was distracted by trying to get the bartender's attention. Only when she turned to look back at Rhys did she notice he was waving in the direction of the door, in which Nell and Archer had just entered. She'd had a feeling about those two for a while now, and then arriving together definitely confirmed it.

"They're definitely together," Juniper said to him when she turned back around. "I've suspected it for years." It was none of her business really, especially because she was only an guest character in this friend group again over the last months. At least Nell seemed more relaxed these days.

rhys alexander greyback ● 301

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys shook his head. He wasn’t that annoyed that Juniper had scared the woman off. Had Rhys entered alone with this possible intention, he might have been a bit more bothered. However, that was the plus side of this friends-with-benefits situation. They could grab a drink, talk, and hang out, but Merlin knew they both enjoyed the extras, so it was likely to happen. In the back of Rhys’s mind, he knew this—so did she, perhaps. ”Just missing my sister.” It was good to see his friends. And the ones that attended in spirit as well, Saffron would have laughed her ass off at Juniper scaring off the poor woman from earlier. Hell, she might have joined in that ridiculous charade.

”Who’s together?” It wasn’t clear to him who she was speaking of, but she’d just turned to see Nell and Archer and turned back around. It took everything for Rhys to keep an even expression. ”There’s no way.” Nell and Archer? Not a chance. Surely, one of them might have mentioned it to Rhys, right? Nell had been his best friend for nearly two decades, and he and Archer willingly jumped into danger together, as he had been for the last decade. What was he missing? Rhys then remembered finding out about Rob and Sienna—they hadn’t exactly let him in on that secret either.

Still, he furrowed his eyebrows in doubt and looked at Juniper before stepping away from the bar to greet his friends. ”Thanks for using your semi-annual day off to see me.” Rhys joked with Nell. As an owner of her own business, he didn’t doubt there was much work to do, but even Rhys knew breaks were important. And a drink from time to time. But the seed Juniper planted moments ago created an erumpent in the room for Rhys. Nell offered to find a table while Rhys greeted Archer.

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Her comment about Rhys doing better went unanswered, but there was no way he didn’t know what she meant by it. She had left very little for interpretation there. Had the rest of their party not started to arrive, Juniper had planned on tormenting him further, just to put him on edge for the rest of the night. It was fun this way, and their agreement the month prior had allowed for it. No strings attached but all the fun in the world.

She didn’t know Dahlia enough to figure out yet if being casually late was a normal thing or not. To be fair, the rest of them were early, a strange outcome for a group of five. She had almost never seen that happen unless it was a happy hour sort of situation with her coworkers. Even then, there was always one or two that stayed late at the station and joined much later.

More intriguing, though, was her proposal over Nell and Archer. She seemed to have caught Rhys off guard with her comment, and she wondered how he’d never noticed it before. Archer was a secretive fellow as it was, but she found it impossible for Nell not to collapse under questioning. If she had a chance later in the evening, Juniper knew that a little interrogation when no one else was listening would confirm her suspicions. ”Of course there is. How often have you seen either of them with a partner of their own? And then whenever they’re around one another, they barely talk. It’s like they’re afraid of breaking some sort of silent agreement. Which obviously doesn’t make any sense when they’ve just walked in together and almost always leave around the same time too.” Juniper talked quickly, knowing she only had a limited amount of time before the two got within earshot. If they wanted to keep it secret, so be it. She thought that was silly, despite she and Rhys doing almost the same thing right now. At least they had the history to back it up.

Right as Nell and Archer got there, the bartender returned to their corner and Juniper started to make her order and get a second for Rhys. She heard Nell make a comment about work being hell with the fall term about to start, and then she disappeared to commandeer a table for all of them. The bartender returned as Rhys talked to Archer, and she pushed his drink in front of him, giving the pub a once over to see where Nell had gone and whether or not the other Greyback had arrived.

rhys alexander greyback ● 438

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys forgot about the other woman, focusing now on the one in front of him. Although it was clear, Juniper was not going to let Rhys get distracted. He didn’t mind, Juni was prettier than the other one in any case. Honestly, why hadn’t they done this casual arraignment before? It was far less trouble and gave both the flexibility to do what they wanted in their lives. No broken promises, no broken hearts. Well—except for the woman Juniper scared off earlier, of course. But now his mind was on two other good friends. It didn’t seem probable, wouldn’t Rhys have noticed something?

”Nell works more than I do—there’s no way.” Rhys insisted. Nell and Archer still had to wade through a thick crowd, leaving Rhys with a few moments to quickly argue with Juniper. Saffron had even attempted to set Archer up with her twin sister. She might have done the same with Rhys had he not been in a long-term relationship with Juniper then. Funny how things worked out eventually. But the two were getting closer. ”We’re not done discussing this.” Rhys spoke through his teeth before speaking to his best friends.

Nell went to find a table and Rhys had a new drink, which he drank heartily from. As he scanned the room, Archer went to order something. ”Where did she go?” It didn’t take long, but Rhys had already finished his second drink. He was in too good of a mood to nurse a glass tonight. ’Another one?’ A loud question came from Archer, who’d squeezed in at the bar to order. Rhys nodded, moving to place the empty glass back on the bar. As he did, he felt his phone buzz. Expecting a text from Dahlia, it was from Sage. A picture message, Amelia holding another drawing of hers and a big toothy grin. ’Thank Merlin, she looks just like her mum.’ Archer joked, looking over Rhys’ shoulder, but his phone screen caught some onlookers' attention on his other side. ’She’s adorable! Is that your daughter?’

Rhys had turned to show Juniper but had gotten intercepted by these new faces. Other women at the bar all glanced at his ring-free hand as well. ”Yes—yes, she is.” It was a simple question, a simple answer, and Rhys responded proudly nonetheless. And Archer, the ever-aware wingman, appeared at Rhys’ side with two drinks and commentary. ’A drink for the single father on his birthday.’ While Rhys wasn’t looking, the girls’ eyes were piqued with interest. Seeing Juniper in front of him, he turned the phone to show her the picture, which he’d intended in the first place.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Sure, the Ollivander worked impossible hours. But didn’t Archer do the same? Rhys should have known better than anyone that it wasn’t completely improbable for such an arrangement to be made between the two of them. Merlin, if it was actually a thing, Juniper would bet an entire bag of Galleons on it being a very similar situation to what the two of them had just entered. No strings attached, whenever the other wasn’t busy (in the sense that they both had to have some sort of free time) and kept it to just that. ”Of course not. You’ll see what I mean,” she said back to him, smirking as she saw the gears starting to turn. It just made too much sense.

The Broomsticks had progressively gotten busier, nothing Juniper wasn’t not used to being a local. What she didn’t like was feeling tiny when standing next to Rhys and Archer. How either of them managed to crawl through abandoned tombs was a question she’d had for years. It also meant that he disappeared whenever she was around them, suddenly hidden underneath elbows and forced to look up at both of them. She swore she was of average height, and they were merely giants. When Rhys asked where Nell had disappeared to, she shrugged. There was no way she was going to be able to see through the sea of bodies, regardless of if they were the same height as her or taller. He and Archer were the storks here. Surely, they could locate her.

Juniper nursed her drink as she heard a bunch of obnoxious cooing over Rhys, though only realized that as she rolled her eyes, it was about Amelia. Still, she knew what they were implying. It didn’t take more than a quick glance to see what he was missing. That was why the first one had been all up on him when she arrived. She hated that she was feeling like this when they had just decided what they were supposed to be. Archer wasn’t helping at all. None of that was his fault; he most likely didn’t know.

Rhys’s phone suddenly appeared in her face, and she grabbed his hand to steady it in front of her. Amelia not only looked like Sage, but she looked exactly like Saff. There was no way that all of them didn’t constantly think of that. ”To the single father,” Juniper raised her own glass as she stared past Rhys and directly at Archer, hoping he’d get the hint to tone it down. She doubted he would. Where the hell was Nell with that stupid table anyways? They could barely talk here with so many interested parties waiting for a piece of meat of their own to be dropped on the floor.

rhys alexander greyback ● 464

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys still muddled over the idea of his two best friends shacking up. Not that it would bother him if they did. It was more the secretive nature of their alleged arrangement. Technically, he and Juniper were guilty of the same. However, any flirty or close behavior was easily explained by their past relationship. With Nell off searching for a table, Rhys couldn’t observe how she behaved with Archer. And it appeared that Archer’s main goal was to get Rhys properly drunk and with a date by the night's end. Now, on drink number three, Archer proposed a toast to which even Rhys felt his face turn a little pink.

While Archer focused on the girls, the girls focused on Rhys and his daughter. Rhys noted the flat sarcasm in Juniper’s tone, even amongst the crowd. For now, he carefully put his phone into his pocket—not wanting to lose it as he’d done before out drinking. One of the girls began to increasingly assume a presence in Rhys’ space, which he was not against. And he heard Archer introduce himself to her friend. A feeling passed over him, one that he did not recognize at first. But before Rhys could pin it down, he saw Nell appear in the crowd behind Juniper. All Rhys caught was ‘table’ and ‘Dahlia’, but that was enough context.

”Excuse me…” Rhys politely untangled himself from his new friend while catching Archer’s eye. Since Juniper was nearby, Rhys lazily slung an arm around her shoulders so he could lean in and whisper in her ear. ”I can do better, right?” With a smirk, he let his arm fall down to grab her hand. She was too easily lost in a crowd. During that short walk, Rhys remembered what he’d been thinking of before. The times he would drop by the Violet Hound to see Vasilia when she worked, and some poor soul would try to flirt with him, and Rhys would have to politely get himself out of the conversation, knowing Vasilia and her whole staff were watching. For a moment, he was taken back to that, only with Juniper watching.

They weren’t together—not like that anymore. But Rhys chalked it up to merely caring about her opinion as an important person in his life. They finally reached the table, where he finally greeted his younger sister. ”What happened to your new friends, Archer?” He teased his friend about the girls at the bar, noting how he took the seat next to Nell. But then Rhys put his glass down to take his phone out again, showing the picture to Dahlia and Nell.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Juniper wasn’t seeing red, necessarily, but she knew where her standing was in all of this. The problem was having everything her way when it technically wasn’t up to her at all. Rhys was always going to draw attention no matter where he went. Even when they were dating, she had seen the wandering eyes of other women at bars. She hadn’t cared back then because she felt secure. That was all gone now though, and she suddenly wasn’t okay with it at all. The most she could do was position herself in a way to make herself known to the interlopers. They were allowed to make cute noises about Amelia, but she didn’t like it when they started to edge closer to him. Juniper knew she had an issue. She knew this was how it was always going to turn out for her the second they sat down and talked it out. That made it all the worst because of how helpless it made her feel now. Archer wasn’t helping, and he didn’t seem to be making direct eye contact with her to see what she was trying to tell him. That figured.

After a couple of agonizing moments of this, Nell apparently found a table and had waved Rhys down. He excused himself from the gaggle of girls and threw his arm over her as they started walking through the crowd. The feeling of victory as she felt her hand safely in his was well worth it, and it took everything she had not to turn around and gloat at the group they had just left. She may have only been the friend with benefits currently, but she won in the end. ”You did,” she said in response to his statement about choosing better. Whether or not he could hear her was a different story, as moving through the packed bar towards the table was noisy and disruptive.

She hadn’t seen that Dahlia had also made it to the table with Nell, an odd pairing if she had ever seen one, and neither of them seemed to be talking much. She sort of assumed they were different enough that the glue was very clearly Rhys, and neither of them would be actively hang out with the other unless directed to do so. Which was funny, because Juniper was sure she would be the same way with both of them as well. Nell being a little easier to communicate with because of their own shared history, of course.

Settling into her chair, she looked between Archer and Nell, and then back to Rhys, as the two of them sat next to one another. In her opinion, it would have made more sense for him to sit between his two colleagues, but he had chosen not to. The returned distraction of the picture to the two that hadn’t seen it yet was enough for her to glare at Archer, trying to decipher what was going through his head. She wanted to see those subtle glances towards the Ollivander girl. But he’d never shown them before. Maybe she just wasn’t looking hard enough…

’…there is no mistaking the eyes,’ Juniper heard Dahlia say in her thick accent. Amelia had the same blue as the other two Greybacks at the table. She wasn’t wrong about that at all. There was a noise of acknowledgement from Nell, but the chap seated behind her was yelling about Quidditch scores and she missed it completely. That was the one downfall of meeting in a public place and trying to listen to someone softspoken.

rhys alexander greyback ● 598

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

It felt good to finally have a seat away from the crowded bar—not that it changed the pub’s population density. But it was a Friday night, and it was nearing the end of the summer Quidditch season as well. The cries from the neighboring table reminded Rhys of that. ”I think that’s all she got from me.” Rhys responded with a shrug. And he was okay with that, although Amelia’s dark hair was beginning to curl like Rhys’ hair. That wouldn’t have surprised him. His mother also had curly hair. But genetics were interesting—Rhys thought of that whenever he saw his siblings or pictures.

The Greybacks individually did not look alike, but standing next to one another, there was some resemblance. Perhaps small features one’s brain might catch if put side by side. And then, of course, those of them who had the distinctive blue eyes—that was an easy one to spot. One might say a part of their attitude or personality was inherited where Rhys and Dahlia were quite similar in that regard. Or so they were told. But Rhys took his phone back, responding to Sage’s message quickly but also sending a quick message to Juniper as well. ’they seem normal’. And he put his phone face down and returned to his drink. At this rate, however, he’d never even get a buzz.

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Rhys may have thought his daughter only got his eyes, but it was easy to tell that she’d also gotten a piece of his personality. There would probably be more the older she got too, and Juniper sort of hoped she was still lurking around to see it. Even if they stayed friends and this new attempt didn’t make it any further than it was now, she still wanted to see Amelia grow up. Why wouldn’t she? If not for everything that had happened between them, that little girl would have never existed. Every time Juniper thought about kicking herself for letting things end the way they had the last time, she reminded herself of that.

As Rhys put his phone away, she hadn’t expected her own to buzz in return. She gave it a moment before flipping it over to see his text. There was no way to sneakily send messages back and forth with this many of them at the table. They’d all notice it eventually, and then then the attention would all be on them. She didn’t want that. What she wanted, was for Archer or Nell to slip up. The Ollivander girl didn’t even flinch at Rhys’s mention of the woman that had just swarmed the two of them at the bar. Either she really did not care, or she hadn’t heard it at all. Juniper was leaning towards the latter because the volume was definitely deafening in here tonight.

’they always seem normal,’ she wrote back before putting her phone away. She had completely missed Dahlia mentioning that she was heading to the bar to order pitchers, which felt like it freed up some of the pressure of performing in front of three extra people. ”You said she got hurt pretty badly at the beginning of the year, right?” Juniper asked, looking between the two cursebreakers. The younger Greyback seemed almost…normal, compared to how Juniper had encountered her previously. Subdued even. It definitely felt different to her. ”Is she doing okay now?”

rhys alexander greyback ● 337

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[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

It was easy for Rhys to disregard any pieces of his daughter’s personality that might actually seem like him. Their upbringings were completely different. Who knew what kind of kid Rhys would have been if circumstances were different? But who knew what his life would look like now? Would he be sitting here with this bunch? At the moment, Rhys wouldn’t change anything regardless of the pain and suffering along the way. It wasn’t all bad. He thought of those moments. Dahlia left the table to get drinks or something. Rhys remembered when they first met. And almost completely by chance.

And even glancing around at Nell, who’d been there with him since the sorting ceremony. One of his first friends, aside from Sarah. And Archer—they’d literally been through thick and thin—lastly, Juniper, who somehow was still an integral part of his life despite two breakups. Maybe the whisky and fatherhood were making him soft and sentimental. Well, he couldn’t have that now, could he? Rhys felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but he didn’t go for it immediately. Even he had some tact with messaging the person next to him while at a table, he’d wait a few moments. Instead, he finished his glass, leaning to hear Juniper better.

”Yeah, she had it out with one of the security trolls.” Rhys explained, glancing at Archer. It was around the same time both began at Hogwarts for their temporary little teaching stint. ”You heard about that, right?” He asked the other Cursebreaker. Archer nodded in acknowledgment. Honestly, who hadn’t heard of it? ”She started working again earlier in the month—ask her about Buford.” Rhys told Juniper with a smirk. Archer mirrored the expression. The week or so before Rhys and Dahlia had caught up for lunch, she had brought a large bouquet gifted to her by the younger Cursebreaker. He was an odd one but did the job well, unlike other trainees.

”He’s not a bad kid, better than the one—Kirk—“ Rhys was going to stop there, but then Archer excitedly interrupted him. ’Right! The one that landed you in St. Mungo’s a couple of years back. He works a desk now.’ Rhys took the opportunity to check his phone, especially since he couldn’t remember if he’d mentioned that incident to Juniper or not. Again, why he felt slightly guilty was beyond him. She was not his girlfriend, and he was not her boyfriend, per their arraignment, and yet…he felt like he should’ve told her. Nell also spoke up, reminding Rhys that she’d replaced his wand after that incident as well. ’5 galleons its nothing’ Rhys quickly responded, stoic expression intact. ’and dinner’ He quickly added to his previous message.

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Juniper cringed at the thought of being in a physical fight with a security troll. Not only was she tiny in comparison, but she also highly doubted she would be more successful at it than Dahlia had been. The reach that those creatures had with their hands was immense, and if they had a club or likewise large, blunt object? The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was incredibly lucky Dahlia was here with them. Surely, they all realized that. Right? She started to think about how going forward she needed to give the girl a little more slack. Mortality and cursebreaking did not go hand in hand most of the time.

The snort that came out of Archer at the mention of this Buford fellow told her that there was more to this story, and Juniper locked it away as a conversation topic for later. She suspected the other werewolf would need a good amount of alcohol in her to spill those details. Archer continued though, bringing up some sort of incident Rhys had with someone named Kirk, and Juniper looked between the two of them, and that at Nell who shrugged. Apparently, this was news to her as well. Rhys had turned to his phone, which she caught out of the corner of her eye, and not a moment later, she felt her own buzz. She’d kept it face down on her leg, so it was easier to tell when she was getting a response. ’Honestly, the two of you really need to consider teaching full-time at this rate,’ Nell was saying. Juniper raised her glass to that. ”I can drink to that,” she added, before finishing off the one she had gotten at the bar.

Nonchalantly turning her head to see where Dahlia was with the rest of their drinks, she couldn’t see well with the monster of a man seated behind her, so she turned back to her phone to see what Rhys had sent her. A bet. She sent a thumbs up back to him. The silly part was that he didn’t need a bet to take her to dinner. He knew that. ”So…Nell. One week left until school starts. Has it been busy?” Turning her attention on Ollivander was one way to really force the bet. Despite directing her question at Nell, she was watching Archer. Juniper wanted to see every minute facial movement when he listened to Nell talk.

A groan came out of Nell at her question, and Juniper knew she had struck some sort of nerve. ’Yeah… She slunk deeper into her chair. ’This weekend will be the worst of it. Anyone my sister pisses off will end up coming to me looking for a wand too…’ Juniper had never seen someone so averse to selling their wares, but Eleanor Ollivander was a living, breathing example. It was fascinating. She’d been distracted by the comment though, and her gaze shifted away from Archer. The sudden return of Dahlia didn’t help either, as she let her chair loudly scrape on the floor before falling back into it. ’They will send pitchers once the idiots from the Quidditch team over there get theirs,’ the French woman stated, annoyed. One glance in the direction Dahlia was referencing told her it was the Ballycastle Bats. They were the ones that had been obnoxiously loud this entire time.

rhys alexander greyback ● 567

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[rhys alexander greyback]

i'd suffer hell if you'd tell me

what you'd do to me tonight

August 25, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys remembered Max's phone call regarding Dahlia’s hospitalization. After preparing Rhys, she ensured that Dahlia was safe, sound, and alive—even though he had to laugh a bit at the circumstances. Unfortunately, cursebreaking-related injuries always had a way of lingering. Rhys knew this all too well, so he took care of how he integrated Dahlia back into the field. This included working with newer Cursebreakers like Buford. Archer’s snort was typical, his usual reaction before laughing uncontrollably. Saffron always got a kick out of it when the three worked together. But he shared Rhys’ sentiment, also rolling his eyes at Nell’s comment.

”Told you Archer. These two—“ Rhys pointed to the girls. ”—and Sage must all be in the same group chat.” Although why bully Archer into teaching full-time? But he didn’t ask, not knowing how to integrate such a question just yet. Not that Rhys wanted Juni to win this little wager, he liked to hold on to his galleons. Rhys relaxed in his seat while they waited for Dahlia. She returned soon enough when Juni asked Nell about her work. ”I’ll be sending a few your way.” Rhys warned Nell, looking almost apologetic. ”Already broke their wands on their assignments.” Typically the recently graduated Cursebreakers partnered with those with a couple of years under their belts. Nothing too dangerous or unmanageable but to have the experience. ”Buford seems lost with you, Dahlia.”

His eyes also moved toward the referenced team. That was a rowdy bunch, but aside from the noise, they were keeping to themselves. What looked like eight or so pitchers flew in their direction, landing neatly on their tables. The players cheered loudly. At least this meant they were to receive their drinks soon. Since the table seemed distracted, Rhys let his eyes fall back to Archer and Nell, wondering if he could catch something—or nothing, rather. Instead, he heard another loud voice. ’McGonagall!?’ It wasn’t his name, but Rhys was curious nonetheless. ”Someone calling you?” He asked Juni, nobody Rhys recognized stood out to him.

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