Writhing In The Facade Of Time [Rhys]

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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November 12, 2028

The morning after her birthday wasn’t nearly as bad as the morning after Rhys’s birthday had been three months prior. That hangover had been the king of all hangovers, far surpassing any that she had ever had before. Her declaration of ‘vomit free since 2023’ had been snapped that day, with her turning into a bed slug the remainder of the following morning. Thank Merlin it hadn’t happened until she woke up, because that could have gotten really messy, really fast. Anyways, she didn’t even have a headache, and aside from desperately needing coffee and her neck hurting slightly (which it did on occasion whenever she slept wrong), she felt pretty good. Being twenty-nine years old kind of sucked, the sense of impending doom as her thirties now loomed before her. She had a moment of panic earlier in the week, knowing that for the next year, it was going to constantly bother her.

With two coffees brewed, she levitated them in front of her back to the bedroom, where Rhys still was. ”Morning,” she hummed as she climbed back in, each mug finding a free spot on their respective night stands. Speaking of the nightstand on her side of the bed, she stared at it momentarily, thinking that something was missing. She had a habit of taking off a necklace that Saffron had given her years ago, one half of a golden snitch, split down the middle so each of them had one. Saffron’s had been lost in the accident, leaving Juniper to keep hers closer than was probably healthy. If it hadn’t had a habit of getting tangled in her hair whilst she slept, she would have worn it all the time. Still, that didn’t stop her from arching her head back to try and see if she was wearing it, having accidentally kept it on all night. Nope.

Sliding off of the bed again, she looked around the floor under both pieces of furniture. Not there either. ”Rhys…you haven’t seen my necklace at all this morning, have you?” Or seen where she took it off. She’d lost it before. The worst part about it? It was charmed to have a moving photograph of her and Saff inside it. Somehow, that charm nullified summoning spells. So having to pick up everything in the apartment to find it was going to be annoyingly time consuming.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys arrived home Thursday, deciding to sleep all day as he’d lost count of how many days he’d worked consecutively. But he supposed that was his own doing. Rhys would have been in better shape had he not been experimenting with his...curse. In his mind, Rhys hesitated, calling it an ‘ability’. While on paper, it appeared useful, the toll it took on the user hardly felt worth it. And yet...the further Rhys fell headfirst into this personal research, the less he could stop himself. For the most part, he avoided items in his possession that would obviously invoke a significant reaction. The fact that his first experience was with an old photograph of his mother had knocked him off his feet in more ways than one. Recovering from an experience took time, but Rhys had to work.

Somewhere in his half-asleep brain, Rhys heard Juniper’s voice. Merlin—they'd been up late again. Juni’s birthday the night before, celebrated the way they knew how. Much like his birthday months before, the morning reminded them of yet another vain attempt to act and feel young. It was remarkable, however, how the drive to be with Juniper energized him. ”Morning...” Rhys mumbled half into the pillow, letting his arm loosely snake around her waist. Her skin was warm and soft, Rhys just wanted to be near her, but then she moved again.

Finally, Rhys lifted his head up, propped by his forearms. The question was still processing, but the site of Juni in a state of half-undress slowed that processing. ”What?” Blinking a few times, Rhys laid his head back down, waiting a moment before rolling onto his back. Necklaces. Yes, the necklace. Rhys was familiar because Juni had always worn that necklace and had worn it for years. Years as a Cursebreaker, hunting treasures worldwide—Rhys habitually noted what jewelry people wore. It was a strange quirk, so he kept those thoughts and information to himself. Rolling his head to the side, he spotted the steaming mug. Oh, thank Merlin.

Forcing himself to sit up, Rhys made sure the slight dizziness passed before going for coffee. It was still fresh, so Rhys figured he’d let it cool down while he tried to stretch and let his joints pop. Juni was still on her side of the bed, scanning the floor. Rhys walked over and wrapped his arms around her from behind. ”Maybe it fell behind the nightstand?” Rhys glanced around, though not as thoroughly as she was.

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She really wished she could have just stayed in bed and not worried about the necklace. But it was one of the few items she had that showed Saffron had been alive and vibrant. Everything else were odds and ends that her friend had forgotten over years of visits: a cut-off wristband from a concert they’d gone to (which Juniper also had the twin to), a pint glass stolen from a muggle pub with its logo starting to chip off from all of the washing it got, a few photographs of trips and weird photobooths they found themselves in, and even a leather jacket. Juniper didn’t dare wear it, even though it fit her perfectly. She was practically afraid to touch it, as if doing so would ruin it and make it crumble. Saff would have laughed at her over thinking that, and then promptly slapped her in the back over how stupid it was. And then there was the necklace. So she sort of needed to find it. That was the most important of all of them.

Rhys had started to sit up at her question, but she didn’t turn around to look at him. He mentioned that it may have fallen behind the nightstand, and she looked at it again. ”I don’t think it’s back there…” she said as she slid all the way off the bed and tried to look behind it. Using a lumos spell, she cast light over the backside and still didn’t see anything. Letting out a frustrated grunt, she climbed down onto her hands and knees, the sudden exercise making her back pop on one side. Another scan with her wand under both the nightstand and the bed produced nothing but a singular sock and what looked to be one of Amelia’s toys. Juniper fished them out just because she was already down there.

”Missing a sock?” she asked, tossing it at him. If she had to guess, it also belonged to his daughter. It was tiny. Either that, or it accidentally got hit with a shrinking charm. Juniper wished she could have been a bit more playful right now, but the sudden panic when the necklace wasn’t immediately below her side of the bed had started to set in. Getting back up to her feet, her left knee crackled. She used the bed frame as a support before going into the bathroom to see if she’d removed it there. It only took a quick glance to know it wasn’t there. Turning back around, she shrugged at Rhys. ”Suppose I could have taken it off by the couch? I don’t know why I would do that. It wasn’t like it was every in the way out there.”

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

As Rhys began to wake up, he sensed something different in the air. And watching Juni search with her wand, not quite frantic but on the way there. The necklace. Running his hands over his face, more began to click. The necklace. How the pair had shoved that thing in Rhys’ face after Christmas one year, showing they each held a half. Merlin—the thought left Rhys feeling odd, let alone what Juni might be feeling. While she searched behind the nightstand again, Rhys walked a few steps to his side to get his wand and drink some coffee.

Once he placed the mug down, a sock landed just short of the edge of the bed. He chuckled. ”So, that’s where that went.” Considering it was tiny and bright pink, it was likely his daughter’s. Rhys wondered if it was maybe in the sheets, but then Juni suggested the living room. ”I mean—we were out there for a bit.” He responded, focusing on the order of events from the previous night. ”Is the chain charmed?” One of the cool things he and Saff had learned through their work helping apply charms so a necklace snagging on something wouldn’t break so easily. It wasn’t foolproof, but it helped.

He ran his hand through his hair. It was getting long again. ”It's worth a look.” It didn’t hurt, but Rhys moved their pillows to see if he saw the familiar glint of metal. Although, he was less frantic and more methodical in his approach. While he searched, Rhys felt his jaw clench. Saffron had a knack for finding things, even with their work. The type of puzzle she always beat Rhys at while he worked on the rest. She probably would’ve found it already.

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Juniper imagined lots of things went missing with a two-year-old wobbling about at knee height. And only in the hardest to reach places too. Thankfully, the misplacement of the necklace was on her and not Amelia, as the toddler hadn't been here at all since Juniper had. The obvious answer was that it had to have slipped off of an end table, the coffee table, or was somewhere in the bed. That didn't make too much sense to her, but she'd found lost objects in stranger places before. And it wasn't like she was just laying around still all night either. A small chain and locket was bottom heavy, and could easily slip away into the smallest of spots without even noticing it.

Rhys confirmed that they had been out by the couch for a bit, and Juniper scratched her head at that. But had she taken it off there? She hadn't even contemplated that it may have been yanked off with her shirt, wherever that was now. Looking around the bedroom again, she didn't see it anywhere either. So that was definitely a lead she could follow.

"I'm not sure," she responded about the chain, as she got back on the ground to look under the bed a second time. "But I've tried summoning the whole thing before when I've lost it other times, and it doesn't work." Juniper refused to de-charm it too. Meddling with other's enchantments could ruin the entire effect of the necklace, and without Saffron here to redo it, she wasn't going to attempt it at all.

Getting up again, Juniper headed out into the rest of the apartment, her bare feet padding along the wood floors. Even all these years later, she still knew which floorboards creaked the loudest. It was funny how memory worked that way. Flicking the lights on with a simple charm, not because it was dark in there but because she felt the extra light couldn't hurt the search, she started by looking underneath the couch. "You really need to hit under here with a cleaning charm!" she called out to Rhys as her wand lit up a thin layer of dust, only marred by several pieces of stray cereal. She knew who the culprit of that was.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys looked at the sock again. Amelia had thrown quite the fit when Rhys couldn’t find the missing pink sock. For whatever reason, those were the color socks she wanted to wear that day. Not blue, white, or any other color. Pink. In those moments, Rhys had to remind himself that a two-year-old’s logic was not intended to make sense. But even when his patience ran thin or his stress high, something within him told him to push on and make his daughter happy. He looked behind the other nightstand and around it to be thorough, not that it had somehow flown in that direction. But anything was possible, he supposed.

He threw the pillows off to the side and began to pull the sheets in to see if it had gotten tangled in the fray. With any luck, it might fall, and he’d hear it hit the floor. Shaking his head, figures. ”She would...” Saff likely used some combination of charms they usually had to break. While it helped keep the item in good shape and not prone to easily breaking—there were side effects. It was any wonder the goblins couldn’t just summon any item they sought and had to send Rhys and others instead. While Rhys finally got to the last bedsheet, Juniper left the bedroom.

It wasn’t in the bed, so he haphazardly returned the sheets and blankets and the pillows. ”I know.” He responded flatly to her voice from the living room. It was too loud to have come from the kitchen. The flat hadn’t changed much over the last decade. The only addition was a second bedroom, smaller than the master but enough to serve as a guest room. Rhys had gotten that cleared years ago. And it worked well. When Dahlia needed a place to crash, it was better than the couch. Earlier in the year, however, the room was now his daughter’s bedroom when she stayed with him.

Fortunately, that transition had been easy, and his stress from Amelia easily climbing out of her crib was less now. Putting on some pajama bottoms so he wasn’t only in boxer briefs, Rhys joined Juni in her search. Across from the couch, Rhys searched the bookshelves and the floor area near them. ”I was going to clean tomorrow before I get Amelia Tuesday.” Not that Rhys needed to defend when he did his chores. Plus, dust easily built up when he was away for work. ”Check the cushions. Her toys are always in there.” Merlin—once her stuffed giraffe became victim to the couch. ”Her giraffe was in there once...” Rhys shook his head at the memory. It was easy to laugh now. ”One by one, the books started launching themselves off the shelf until I found the bloody thing.” While he supposed it was great news Amelia was magical, it was no less an indicator of how upset she’d been. That stuffed giraffe was an extension of her body at this point.

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"I'm sure mine is worse... Juniper added as she crawled back out from under the couch. The sides of her hands attracted a few dust bunnies, and she brushed them off on her shirt. She nearly poked her wand into her eye while getting back up, saved only by her glasses. That didn't stop the brief flash of blue light from her still active lumos spell blinding her though. Blinking it away, she shook the light out and set the wand down on the coffee table.

Rhys suggested pulling out the couch cushions, a supposed void for Amelia's toys to disappear into. That was a good idea, and the next natural place to look anyways. "How'd she manage to get that in there?" Juniper asked as she got to work. Taking the throw pillows off, Juniper started to pull the oversized seat cushion off, revealing more pieces of cereal and other small objects. What looked to be a plastic brush used for toy dolls was there as well. She carefully plucked them up one by one and set them to the side, before running her hand carefully along the edges of the couch. The telltale sign of metal would be unmistakable, as would mushy pieces of melted chocolate and other food things.

What her fingertips brushed up against first was neither of those things though, and far softer. A sock? No, it didn't have that sort of texture. It was smooth fabric. Finding purchase on a corner of it, Juniper gave the unknown object a quick tug, pulling out a pair of panties. She stared at them blankly for a moment as they dangled between the tips of her index finger and thumb, before turning back to Rhys. They weren't hers, she was sure of that. Because hers had amazingly made their way back on her. A rare feat whenever she was here these days. "I'm guessing these aren't yours?" she said in a joking manner before flicking them in his general direction.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys shook his head as he looked through the bookshelves, giving them a few passes. ”Merlin if I know...” Nothing in his life—Hogwarts nor his training or experience as a Cursebreaker prepared him to handle what a toddler was capable of. Rhys had always found comfort in knowledge, logic, and patterns. Everything that helped him survive each job to return home, but this unpredictability? It was on another level. So how Amelia managed to lose the stuffed giraffe in a crevice like that would remain a mystery to Rhys. Maybe she could explain it to him when she was older.

Juniper removed the pillows and couch cushions, and Rhys felt certain he hadn’t missed the locket if it were located on the side of the room with the shelves. For good measure, he checked near the photographs and side tables. But then he heard her speak, though she didn’t mention what she was talking about. ”What—” Just as he turned, something looking like a piece of fabric landed at his feet. Moving it with his foot, Rhys remained speechless, already feeling his face grow warm. Of course, it was one of women's smaller variety of undergarments. ”No...” For a moment, Rhys avoided Juniper’s eyes. The feeling that crept up into his chest wasn’t guilt, exactly. They weren’t dating but he wasn’t about to admit that he’d lost count or track of what happened on that couch. Juniper seemed amused by it, though.

Feeling awkward, Rhys cleared his throat and began his search on the end of the couch nearest the shelves. There was a gap, but not one comfortable enough to walk through. Slowly, he took a knee. It was awkward to kneel on his left knee, but kneeling on the right one hadn’t been an option for a couple of years. With his wand, he illuminated this dark corner of the bookshelf. It was also full of dust, unsurprisingly. Rhys paused, his wand stopping near the spine of Ancient Egypt: A History of Cursebreaking & Crypt Diving. Merlin—how long ago was that now? The memory brought a small smile to his face, but when he looked down, he found what he was looking for.

Gleaming under the light of his wand, a coiled-up chain with a half-golden snitch attached. The metal looked brand new, thanks to the enchantments Saffron had placed on it years ago. Relief washed over him, knowing very well how upset Juni would be had she lost this necklace. Since his daughter’s birth, Saffron hadn’t been far from his mind. Every day, Rhys wondered what advice she would give him if she were around to ask. Rhys picked up the necklace with a forlorn sigh, letting his thumb run over the snitch pattern and chain. But, just as he was about to get Juni’s attention, Rhys felt an unbearably cold chill run up his spine and goosebumps from the base of his neck to his fingertips.

It was a voice that made him look up, a voice he hadn’t heard in five and a half years. Slowly, his eyes went from the necklace to straight ahead, as if he was seeing through whatever furniture was in front of him. And he felt himself go pale, adrenaline rushing to his heart—Rhys froze because he was pretty sure the ghost of his dead best friend was in front of him. And then the other voice—this confused Rhys because it was Juniper, but that wasn’t what she was wearing that morning. Rhys caught bits of their conversation, but he distinctly heard crying—Juniper crying. Bits and pieces registered in his brain while he tried to focus. ‘drinking’, ‘suspension’, ‘fight’, ‘out all night’. Merlin—that was ages ago. His suspension and all the fighting that came along with it. With that context, Rhys decoded what he saw. Saffron comforted a very upset Juniper. It must have happened after that fight when she texted Saff for the truth and discovered the revolting things Stump had said to Rhys about her. With a sharp inhale, Rhys dropped the necklace, closing his eyes a moment before opening them. Rapidly, his eyes scanned in front and then peripherally. She was gone. Saffron was gone. Again.

When Rhys dropped the necklace, it fell back into the dark realm between the couch and the shelf. Hidden once again. Immediately, he felt the pressure in his chest and behind his eyes. He tried his best to hide anything wrong by clearing his throat, even coughing. ”I’ll be right back...damn dust...” Quickly, he stood and went to the bathroom, half closing the door and immediately splashing the cold water onto his face. ’Fuck.’ When it came to that stupid ability, Rhys avoided specific objects—and for this reason. A rare wave of intense fear washed over him and lingered while his heart struggled to slow down. He just needed a minute as he willed himself not to cry and to breathe. It took some minutes, Rhys didn’t know how long but it felt like he could mostly breathe again. Usually, he had more of a warning before this happened, and it was always worse when triggered by a vivid memory like that.

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Her question seemed to have caught Rhys off-guard, a small laugh escaping her as the underwear crumpled onto the floor. Who knew how long those had been there. Rhys probably didn't even now who they belonged to, which made it funnier. She'd spent the last few months coming to terms with that fact, realizing that despite having less partners than he probably had over the years since they separated, she was in a similar boat. It was what it was. But finding those wedged deep into the recesses of the couch was sort of hilarious. "Its alright if they are," she teased as she returned to shoving her hand down the side of couch. "I won't tell."

It was a slow process, as every couple of inches her fingers found another sizable crumb or loose sickle. Her pile had grown, indicative that Rhys had a small child living there half the of the time. More than anything, Juniper was still coming to terms with that. To her, the only big life changes she'd gone through in the last couple of years centered around her teaching job and a few promotions at the TV station. And that was it. Rhys had a whole entire two-year-old child. Wild.

The search was quiet and concentrated, at least until she heard him cough and excuse himself. "How far did-" she was about to ask where he was in terms of looking at the bookshelf. A face full of dust was never fun, and she was starting to realize it was more than just his couch that needed to be cleaned. Finishing up with the cushions over the next few minutes, Juniper snagged her wand and started to retread where she thought Rhys had been. With the assistance of lumos, the soft blue light glinted off what looked to be a metal chain. There it was! Quickly, she picked it up and stared at it triumphantly. "Found it!" she called out, heading back in the direction of the bedroom. The sink in the bathroom was running, and she could sort of see Rhys through the partially-closed door. "Rhys, you were like, a second away from finding it. No idea how it got between the couch and bookshelf, but there it was!"

rhys alexander greyback ● 381

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

And people wondered why he drank.

Rhys felt shaken. His hands were white, gripping the sides of the sink as he focused on his breathing. Despite that aspect being under control, Rhys now had to deal with the immense sadness that drudged up with the pair's visual. It had probably never blatantly occurred to Rhys how Saffron had been there for Juniper when he wasn’t capable or willing. And she’d always been there for Rhys all the same. Anxiety had followed Rhys around as a constant companion all his life, like a personal demon permanently perched on his shoulder. And yet—he learned to do whatever it took to ignore that companion. Saffron and then Archer had quickly learned that side of Rhys, not by his own choice but by life or death situations that unwillingly forced a level of honesty. It had never been the risk or danger that threatened Rhys’s sanity, but the quiet instead.

Merlin, Rhys had let them into his world faster than his oldest friends. Rhys wasn’t feeling one hundred percent, but if he lingered too long in here, Juniper would get curious. So, he splashed the ice-cold water on his face again and grabbed a towel. ”Hmmm?” Somewhere, he’d heard her voice but hadn’t quite registered the words. Rhys walked out, the door squeaking open behind him while rubbing his face with the towel. Some of his hair in the front was wet, beginning to curl already. Their paths crossed in the hallway as Rhys threw the damp towel over his shoulder. She beamed, the palm of her hand facing upward as he spotted the locket he’d just held. It took everything to remain composed, even forcing a half smile. But his face still felt clammy and his chest tight. ”Oh, you found it then?”

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The excitement over finding the necklace so quickly was hard to contain. That first initial moment of panic she'd had when she realized it was missing was gut wrenching. Bouncing back and forth between the high and low was something else altogether. She really needed to keep a closer eye on it from now on. Like sticking it to the nightstand with a sticky charm. Assuming it would even work. She had no idea what would or wouldn't work on the chain, considering the spells imbued on it. Trial and error would figure it out though, and that was the sort of thing Juniper lived for these days. It was far safer to practice simple spells on a necklace than trying to transfigure herself into inanimate objects.

As Rhys exited the bathroom, he definitely looked worse for wear, and not like he had a few minutes earlier. Merlin, did the dust give him that hard of a coughing fit? She hadn't heard any of it after the first initial ones after the complaint about the dust, but she supposed she was so concentrated on her search that she could have missed it. Having her head stuck into the cushions of the couch definitely helped. She had a bad habit of turning her ears off when she was too focused on tasks.

"I did!" she repeated, her mood immediately changed from the doom and gloom it had been minutes earlier. Popping the clasp on the back she held it out to Rhys. "Can you put it on for me?" Juniper asked, already starting to turn around for Rhys as she held the necklace out for him to take. Not that she couldn't do it herself, just that it felt like he deserved to be rewarded for helping in the search. Even if the dust got the better of him.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Juniper didn’t comment on Rhys’ appearance, which was a relief. He didn’t want to get into that discussion. So far, the only people who knew about his ability were Max and Dahlia. Despite all those visits to St. Mungo’s post-accident, he hadn’t fully described what he’d experienced to the Healers. His fear had been being labeled insane and moved to a different floor or his description forcing his retirement. So when asking questions, Rhys had to be careful how he approached those questions. His experimentation had been slow, considering how much it took out of him physically, magically, and emotionally. Especially intense ones like the memory from just a few minutes ago.

Merlin knew how he would’ve felt had he been more hungover. Panic attacks were already a common part of his life. He’d learn to hide, though it was unavoidable at times. Juni had seen Rhys through plenty, whether from a nightmare or after Saffron died. ”Yea...” It wasn’t a request Rhys could deny—especially with how happily she beamed. As she turned, Rhys cautiously approached. Maybe if he just got it done quickly, it would be fine. He forced his thoughts to literally anything but Saffron, Juniper, or anything related. But what could he think of? I tall linked back in the end, didn’t it?

Rhys tried not to hold his breath as he took the ends she held out for him. Instead, he focused on keeping the clasp open while lining up the other end and tried to think of nothing. And it seemed to work, especially since the tiny clasp wasn’t the easiest with his hands. The mild frustration proved an easy distraction until he could finally line it up. Rhys felt relief. The last time he’d done this, it had taken much longer all those years ago when the first time Juni made him help her. Before Rhys realized his mistake, his body tensed as the room felt cold, and the same chill traveled up his spine, threatening to force Rhys to his knees.

But Rhys froze as his eyes grew unfocused. There she was again—Saffron with Juniper. But Juni looked different somehow. Rhys couldn’t put his finger on it. ’Terrible about King’s Cross. The Bank doesn’t seem too worried about these “Purifiers,” though.’ Rhys watched Saffron shrug. ’Then again, the Minister for Magic is younger than me! So what do I know?’ A tentative look appeared on Juniper’s face. But then, in Saffron’s usual manner, the girl grabbed Juniper’s shoulder and shook her slightly. ’Don’t worry! We’ll start planning that trip to Greece we always talked about. Merlin knows I'm overdue for some time off.’ She slumped in her chair dramatically. ’Rhys has been working like a house elf and dragging Arch and me along. I think he’s lying about being a werewolf. I believe he transforms into a Niffler when nobody is looking.’ Rhys couldn’t stop looking at Saffron. Even his senses had tuned out anything Juniper might possibly be saying, or it wasn’t as audible to him.

The episodes were never the same. Sometimes, he felt the wind or the weather. Other times, he’d smell a person’s perfume or even food. Much of the time, it was just visual pieces. Outlines or faint faces and sometimes what looked like a full ghost, he couldn’t hear what they said. Rhys’ chest grew infinitely tighter, thoughts moving a million miles per hour, but Merlin how he missed her voice. The taunting, the teasing, her playful way of showing she cared and trademark tough love, and even the—’It’s alright though, I usually let something fall on him to keep him humble.’ A satisfied smirk appeared on her face. ’In honor of our friendship, because he knows I love you more than him, I'll let him get caught in a snare trap for laughs. He gets so grumpy when he’s hanging upside down.’ And then Rhys heard the familiar fit of giggles.

With a sharp inhale, Rhys took a large step back. It was probably just a few moments that had passed, but it felt quite longer in his mind. An erumpent might as well have been sitting on his chest, and he told himself to inhale and exhale, but it wasn’t quite syncing. He kept taking steps back until he felt his back hit a wall. The feeling against his bare skin felt cold, but he slid to the floor. Feeling his face, Rhys wasn’t sure if he’d started crying or had broken into a cold sweat. Either way, he felt sick. ”S-sorry...I just got...dizzy...” No. Not now. Why was this happening now? While he told his brain to focus on his body, it refused to comply. Instead, it replayed that conversation repeatedly. The references to the King’s Cross attack, the Purifiers, and the young Minister for Magic—that must have been right before she died. The conclusion did nothing to help ease Rhys’s massive discomfort. With a hand on his face, eyes closed, he leaned the elbow against one bent knee. His other hand slightly stuck out to the side to keep from falling over. He just needed to breathe. The part Rhys hated the most was that this would not be new territory for Juniper, but it had been some time.

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There was no rush to have Rhys put the necklace on her, but Merlin was he moving slow. Juniper was starting to think that he was nursing a hangover and simply had said anything about it yet. It was totally possible that he hadn't even realized it either until they started moving furniture around looking for the piece of jewelry. She knew that she'd had plenty of times where she felt fine the morning after drinking, just to go and feel sick after attempting to do menial tasks. She eventually watched the chain leave her hands and turned around so he'd be able to put it on. And then she kept waiting. And waiting. Had he let the clasp go and was struggling to get it open again? What was he doing?

"I've always wished it was a bit easier to open," she said offhand, hoping that was the case and to try and ease the frustration she knew it could cause. Every day, she struggled with it. Rhys didn't respond though, and not even with a frustrated grunt like he would usually do in a situation like this. That was weird. "Rhys?" Juniper asked, now realizing that the unresponsiveness from him was extremely odd. She looked back over her shoulder, and he was just standing there, eyes wide in a blank but eerie state, staring over the top of her head. He was somehow still holding onto the necklace, which by extension was sort of holding her in place. "Rhys? What's the matter?" she asked a little more hurriedly, unnerved that he seemed to be completely zoned out from his surroundings. Her first thought was that he was having a seizure of sorts, disconnecting from the world around him. It caught her off guard, and all she could do was stand there and watch in horror as he didn't respond to any of her attempts to snap him out of whatever this was.

Before she could fully free herself from the hold, a loud, sharp breath went into him and he looked like he had returned from wherever he had wandered off to. The way he stepped back directly into the wall and looked like he was about to fall over was not just dizziness. Sure, he may have been like that now, but he hadn't seen what he looked like throughout whatever that was. "That was a lot more than being dizzy," she corrected him stepping forward a bit, before stopping herself. He'd want room. Whenever he'd gotten scared or frustrated before, he asked for that. That worked contradictory to what she liked to do in those kinds of situations, but she didn't need to be smothering him right now. It did make her feel useless.

"Stay there and I'll get you some water..." she said quickly before turning around and moving into the kitchen. What in Merlin's name was that? It was like he was shell-shocked. She'd seen similar images from pictures that the Daily Prophet had taken following the burning of Hogwarts. This was different, of course, but still horrifying to look at and witness. Carefully walking a full glass of water over to him, Juniper held it out. She didn't know if now was the time to bombard him with questions. Was this some medical condition that had popped up over the last few years? Something he'd been hiding while they were together? A PTSD flashback due to his work? She'd heard stories of older cursebreakers struggling once they started to take time off. The amount of stress and trauma, physical and mental, that they went through was way more than she knew she would ever experience. Maybe it had finally caught up to him.

"Do you want me to call St. Mungo's?" she asked, just in case. Mostly out of concern, and also because it freaked her out. Her healing spells were okay, but not healer level by any means. For now, it was his call.

rhys alexander greyback ● 663

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[rhys alexander greyback]

they say don't open old wounds

but I want to

November 12, 2028
juniper minerva mcgonagall

The worst was when logic completely flew through the window. All Rhys’s senses simultaneously bombarded him with the present and the past. It didn’t matter how hard he closed his eyes. Rhys couldn’t stop seeing it all. Somewhere in the fog, he heard a voice that didn’t fit—he knew that voice. But it was difficult to focus. ”I couldn’t...” Rhys mumbled to himself, but his breathing was out of sync. The adrenaline left him shaking, which didn’t help. Rhys’s career was not entirely to blame for this, but it was the sole reason he could fly under the radar, so to speak. Cursebreakers older than him shared their experiences and the aftermath. AT least those brave enough to face it.

Dahlia had caught him a few times in the field where she’d speak to him, but Rhys wouldn’t respond. Instead, her brother’s eyes stared at something seemingly in the distance. The thousand-yard stare fueled by an anxious disassociation the closer his past nipped at his heels. And it never mattered how far or fast Rhys tried to run from it all. It always caught up. ”I can’t...remember...Saff...” Rhys continued mumbling to himself. Rhys hadn’t been able to save Saffron. He’d almost lost Archer, too. And Rhys didn’t even know why because, for the love of all things magical—he couldn’t remember what happened. And all Rhys could do was hate himself because he couldn’t fulfill the promise of making sure she came home.

There wasn't much to see from his vantage point on the floor. His eyes seemed to stare off to survey a battlefield that wasn’t there. The only solace in these episodes is they were always short-lived. At least the severity would wane, and while Rhys wondered if his heart would leap out of his chest, he also focused on that voice. How many times had that voice guided him back home? ”Fuck...” His body was still tense, but Rhys closed his eyes and let his head lean back and rest against the wall. If Juniper had said anything, Rhys wouldn’t have registered it. He felt like he’d just been startled awake from one of his nightmares, but he hadn’t been asleep, which made it worse. ”Sorry...I’m fine...” Inhale and exhale. That’s what the healers told him to do. But Rhys knew what always worked—a drink.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Rhys was mumbling to himself as she retrieved the water, but she couldn't make out what he was exactly saying. Whatever happened was scary to be on the other side of, though with the way he currently looked, what he went through was definitely worse. He was slouched in the floor, back up against the wall, when Juniper returned with the water and held it out for him to take. Now he was going on about not remembering Saff, which was odd. They talked about her a lot. Did he mean specific details of times they'd spent together? Because there was, unfortunately, no way to forget what she looked like. The mother of his child was Saff's identical twin after all. That had to feel like a gut lunch occasionally. Juniper certainly felt it whenever she spoke to Sage. A hint of recognition always washed over her when she saw the surviving Grimstone from a distance. That quickly disappeared the second Sage got closer though. The two of them had always held themselves differently, to the point where Juniper could tell them apart from the way they walked. But that was quickly disappearing. Maybe that was what Rhys meant.

She sat down on the ground next to him, still holding the glass of water, and placed her free hand on his shoulder. Juniper didn't know what was going on with him, but the least she could do was provide some sort of safety. After a moment, he said he was fine. She frowned at that. How did she navigate this without making it seem like she was piling it on him? "Rhys, I-I know you're saying that but...that wasn't normal, whatever it was. If it's something medical related, you need to get it checked out. I don't want you to have to miss work because of it," she said gently. That was a first from her. She never would have admitted that he needed to be working while they dated. But Juniper also knew what he got like when he was benched by the bank. It wasn't pretty.

rhys alexander greyback ● 349

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