The Killing Moon [Raphael]

[lyka cruz malkin]

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October 31, 2029

Lyka shifted carefully in her seat outside of Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. It was Halloween, though she wasn’t exactly feeling in the spirit this year. She had only gotten out of St. Mungo’s the day before and was already tired of being smothered by her family. They wanted to make her recovery cushy and careful; she preferred to finally escaping, after spending a week in the hospital. The puncture holes that had been left by the werewolf that had supposedly bit her at the Hogsmeade Harvest were ‘healing nicely’ according to her Healer. It was still covered by a bandage that had to be wrapped all the way around her torso, packed in with the infamous mixture of silver and dittany. Even more annoying was the bruising around it and in various parts of her body, which hampered her movement drastically.

She didn’t even know what had happened until she woke up in the hospital the next day. Supposedly she had been snatched and tossed by the beast, and the doctors were unsure if it was the bite that had knocked her out or the fact she had been thrown like a ragdoll down the street. The amount of literature she was forced to read and visits by Ministry officials was ridiculous as well. Lyka fully understood what she now was and was also incredibly lucky to be alive. It just made her already shitty little life worse. And with the way things were going regarding werewolves lately, her worries were that the Bats wouldn’t let her back to work. For now, she simply had to accept this was how things were going to be moving forward.

Picking away at her bowl of Cookies and Scream, Lyka watched miserably as parents took their children from shop to shop to collect candy. The muggles had introduced a few good things, and she thought back fondly of her parents doing the same for her and Lea when they were younger. Once it got out that she was a werewolf, people were probably going to avoid her like the plague. Even if they were more accepting of it now, there were still more that were terrified of it. Letting out a defeated sigh, she took another bite of her ice cream. She should have gotten the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bats instead…

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

31 October 2029

Life was full of small ironies, like the fact that Cheese technically worked at a newspaper but never bothered to read the news. He’d never been able to sit down and just read for a long time, which should have been obvious based on his marks (even if it never stopped his more studious friends from trying to force him to do his own homework). So he relied on a foolproof method to know if something big was going on. If things were just normal-busy at the office – breaking news editors practically vibrating after their fifth coffee of the night, harried interns trying to get ink out from under their fingernails, and fast-paced meetings that moved at the speed of light – then there was nothing to worry about. But when things got crazy, like reporters who couldn’t even take the time to apologize when they ran into each other head-on in the corridor or noticing that the Editor-in-Chief had set up a makeshift bed on the couch in his office…that’s when he got worried.

So yeah, something had happened. Cheese learned about it the day after, when he’d been pulled out of his most recent rotation to join the rest of the Prophet staff descending on Hogsmeade like they smelled blood. Which there was plenty of, and which he continued to remember the smell of…even after all the basic repelling charms had been applied. The problem with walking around wearing a Prophet lanyard meant people thought he knew something, or was looking to learn something. His weak protests that he was just the photographer didn’t seem to make much of a difference to anyone, though. So he was super relieved at the opportunity to shove his credentials into a corner of his desk at the end of his shift and slouch out of the building quickly before anyone could think up any more work to give him. Most of the time, he liked what he did. But these kinds of events, the frantic rush to simultaneously keep the public informed and maybe accidentally cause a bit of a panic…well, there weren’t any winners at a time like this.

There was only one thing to do after the soul-crushing intensity of the past week – Cheese went out for ice cream. His eyes stayed laser-focused on his double scoop of Boo-Berry Blast until it was in his hands, and he fished out a blueberry with his spoon while he navigated the crowded ice cream parlor. A moment later, his brain finally registered that a good number of kids were wearing costumes. Another thing he’d missed by not glancing at the date – today was Halloween. Maybe he really ought to start reading the paper, if only so important bits of information wouldn’t keep passing him by. He didn’t want to go home yet (his ice cream wouldn’t survive the ‘sharing-is-caring’ vibes of Puff Palace), but there weren’t many places to sit. There was one place open, next to a girl picking at her ice cream like she didn’t really want it (unthinkable), and Cheese stared for a moment as he wondered why she looked so familiar. Finally, he shrugged and walked over (he’d figure it out at some point, right?). “Can I?” he asked the miserable-looking girl, pointing at the only open place to sit.

lyka cruz malkin

[lyka cruz malkin]

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Being bothered whilst shoveling ice cream in her mouth wasn't exactly something she thought would happen, at least not from another adult. The children that came precariously close whipped by, their tiny 'vampire capes' and other muggle costumes sometimes snagging on the wrought iron chairs of Fortescue's patio, dragging them along in an annoying, scraping way. But, it was her choice to pick a popular spot and sit outside, so she could hold it against them forever. Trying to force her misery onto others would only make her the bad guy. If she really didn't want to deal with it, she could have gone home with her ice cream.

Lyka looked up at the person who asked if he could take a seat, and instantly recognized him: Raphael McLaggen. He had been part of the Hufflepuff House team! And then obviously she also knew his older brother now, being the equipment manager for the Bats. Comparing the two of them up close, she could definitely tell they were related, though her former housemate had far less of a consistent dour look on his face, unlike his brother.

"S-Sure," she said in surprise as he asked if he could sit. It sort of made sense, all of the other tables were taken up by exhausted parents and their sugar-filled children. That had been her once, too. "Its pretty busy today," Lyka added, as if that wasn't completely obvious to him.

Even in her pained state, the sliver of possibility to talk to Raphael about Quidditch and the good old days at school made her perk up a bit. Quidditch always did that for her. "How uhh...how've you been since school?" she asked awkwardly. It hadn't completely come to her that he might not remember who she was. There was a three year difference between them, and Lyka hadn't made the team by that point. And when she did, she had been a nobody.

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[Raphael Caelan McLaggen]

Cheese picked at his ice cream while the girl stared at him in surprise, as if still registering that she was here and eating ice cream and sitting next to the only available seat in the general area. After a moment, he got permission to sit and he flashed a smile at her as he quickly plopped down next to her. “Cheers,” he said to thank her as he held the ice cream up like he might’ve done with a pint of Butterbeer. He’d been wondering if the ice cream would’ve even made it home, or if he’d have to eat while dodging trick-or-treaters and their exhausted parents. But being able to find a semi-quiet spot to eat was the better option, a sort of eye of the storm around the whirlwind of activity happening around them. He nodded his head at the girl’s observation, looking around at the chaos of the scene. London was wildly different from Godric’s Hollow, for sure. He couldn’t remember it ever being this busy growing up. “I can’t believe I forgot it’s Halloween,” Rafe said, still in disbelief at the thought. “Looks like you dressed up, though?” He nodded at the bandages peeking out under her clothes and the bruises that must be some kind of stage makeup. It seemed like a kind of odd costume, but maybe she was going for some kind of undercover mummy?

His thoughts were still lingering on the thought that he’d completely missed the significance of the date. It had always been a big deal at Hogwarts. The friend group had always planned some kind of party even once they’d left school. How had it just snuck by this year? Was this some creeping symptom of adulthood, that landmark events during the year just lost their meaning? That was a sobering thought, so Rafe took another big spoonful of ice cream and let the brain freeze comfort him. He almost choked on the ice cream as she casually asked about life since school. So she must definitely be familiar, because she somehow knew him. Cheese was horrible at lying, and he didn’t even want to bother trying. “Bollocks,” he said under his breath, his face falling as he looked at her with wide eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously, “But, er, where do we know each other from?” He gave her another smile, although this one was much more sheepish than before. He’d spent most of his time at Hogwarts with the same people, either his little friend group or the Quidditch team. It wasn’t like he’d been popular or anything, and for a long time he’d just been this short and awkward art geek (at least until he’d hit his growth spurt and started taking Quidditch a bit more seriously). So how could somebody know him when he couldn’t even place where he’d seen their face? His face burned red at the embarrassment of the situation, and he rushed to try and not be a complete ass. “And er, how’ve you been since school?” Since they clearly knew each other from Hogwarts.

lyka cruz malkin

[lyka cruz malkin]

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Pretending everything was okay despite how she currently felt, was sort of the step in the right direction. Obviously, other people didn’t know how she was feeling unless they’d seen her getting thrown around by the werewolf. Even then, it was like this was being treated like any other creature attack. Were werewolf bites that normal now that they were treated so coldly and clinically? Lyka read the news. She knew that there was a growing distaste for lycanthropes again. And now she was going to be forced into it without much say and treated like an ‘other’ all because of a freak accident. The one positive of it was that the few werewolves she did know all came across as genuinely good people that were put in the same position that she was now in. None of them chose it.

Lyka was momentarily confused though, as Raphael pointed out that she was in costume for Halloween. What did he mean by that? Looking down at herself, she realized that her colorful collection of bruises and not-so-hidden bandages on her bite mark were relatively visible. ”Oh…uh yeah…” she responded. Jumping right into about how she’d been mauled and was probably now a werewolf wasn’t exactly the first topic of conversation to unleash on an unsuspecting person. Letting him believe it was for Halloween was probably for the best.

And then maybe the worst part happened: he didn’t know who she was. Which, in the grand scheme of things, made sense. She had been three years his junior. How many housemates knew who younger students were if not for Quidditch, clubs, or siblings of classmates in their own year? Lyka felt stupid at that moment, shoving another scoop of ice cream into her mouth as she tried to figure out how to navigate the situation. ”It’s alright…I was in Hufflepuff too. A couple years below you though. Lyka Malkin?” she said, hoping her name would spark something. If anything, he would associate it with her parents’ store. ”I tried out for the house team when you were on it, but didn’t make the cut.” And really didn’t get much further past that. Being a benchwarmer didn’t count as playing. Her net-zero statistics for her Hogwarts career was a real conversation killer with certain crowds.

”Uhh…not bad, I suppose,” Lyka answered as Raphael tried to get away from his admission. Which was fair. It was sort of wrong for her to assume he would have ever known who she was in the first place. ”I actually work for the Bats as their equipment manager right now.” Assuming she would still have a job, if they kept werewolves on the pay roll. She did sort of hope having that brief connection to his brother would smooth everything right out though.

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