shadows and stone | victoire

[Deleted]

@victoire

sitting on a crumbling stone wall, on what he hoped was a secure part of it anyway, luke tapped his fingers against his leg and glanced towards the main street of hogsmeade. he could see the gaggle of students that were turning the usually quiet streets of the small town into a bustling hub of activity. he somewhat wished he could be amongst them, walking through the crowds, the hum of voices around him. there was something about a crowd that got his energy levels up, made him happy and put him more at ease than sitting alone in a lane ever would. but he was here for a reason, waiting for his older cousin, vic. they were off to do some sort of sneaking around so he needed to keep away from the crowds that seemed to be calling his name. at least for the next while.

he grabbed a cookie from the bag he'd brought while he'd been passing madame puddifoots. he could never resist stopping in there to grab something, it always reminded him of being at the burrow when his grandmother was cooking. the treats and sweets that were always being passed around, the taste of home is what he loved about them. he munched on it quietly as he took to tapping his foot against one of the stone boulders and he looked down, rolling it slowly between both feet as a way to pass the time.

[Deleted]

March 3rd, 2025

Vic couldn't deny that she was thrilled her cousin Lucas was part of the team. He was an amazing kid with a lot of potential, and she often felt that her family didn't try to tap into that as much as they should. He needed encouragement, and needed to know that he could do great things. Vic was good at instilling confidence in her cousins, whether they already had it or not. Today they were going to scope out a house in the village of Hogsmeade, just off the main shopping strip. As far as she was told, someone did live there but wouldn't be there at the time. It was a suspected Elaien hideout, and she had asked Lucas to help her today.

She didn't tell him what the mission was, because letters weren't safe, but when she arrived in Hogsmeade he was easy to spot. She smirked, moving over to him and stopping in front of him. She was wearing a long, emerald green cloak with the hood up, but her blonde curls still escaped out the bottom. "Lucas," she greeted.

@luke

[Deleted]

@victoire

he could hear the footsteps coming down the lane towards him but it wasn't till they got pretty close that he abandoned the rock between his feet and he looked up to see his cousin stopping in front of him. he'd figured it wasn't anything sinister because he'd either be dead, on the floor or fighting back by now. he hopped off the wall so he could greet his cousin properly. "vic." he said with a slight grin before holding the bag that held the cookies he'd brought earlier.

"hungry?" he said, offering her one. he figured there was time to eat the rest of them while they got to where they were going. he didn't know what it was, the letters they'd been sending back and forth to each other just mentioned meeting up, two cousins catching up to spend time together it how it would appear to anyone that might have been intercepting and reading things they shouldn't be. "where are we headed?"

[Deleted]

He jumped down, greeting her and offering her a cookie. She nodded, taking one, and looking over her shoulder at the Village behind her. He asked where they were headed, she swallowed the bite of cookie in her mouth. "Just up the street, to the east a little bit, where some of the houses are," she told him. She nodded her head in that direction then started to lead the way. She removed her he hood for a moment, there was no need to hide who she was at the moment. There wasn't anything strange or suspicious about cousins on a walk together.

When they neared the house, Vic float her walk. She turned to Lucas and gave a short nod. "Wand ready, Luc. Just safely hidden," she stated, her own wand comfortable in her hand under the sleeves of her coat.

@luke

[Deleted]

@victoire

when she took one of the cookies he looked into the bag and grabbed the last one out, scrunching the bag up into small ball and shoving it into his back pocket. he'd throw it into the fire when he got back to school or a rubbish bin they saw on the way. he listened as she explained they were going just a few houses down and he nodded a little, curious to see where they were headed and what they were going to do. had there been some sort of trouble? was one of the escaped convicts hiding out there? there were a few things it could be but he knew better than to ask, he'd find out when vic wanted to tell him and as much as he wanted to know, he'd wait.

"got it." he said, tapping his hand over his front pocket where his wand was tucked in. he knew there were probably better places to put it but there seemed to work well for him, at least it was working so far. he found his pace slowing to match hers as they made their way closer to the house that was situated a little off the road, his eyes narrowing a little as he took it all in, making sure to try and pick up anything that might not be quite right. such as rocks that didn't look like they belonged, something that was too new or too clean. "are we going inside?"

[Deleted]

He tapped his front pocket, which she assumed indicated that's where his wand was. She stopped in front of the house when he asked if they were going inside, and nodded. "Yes. No one is supposed to be there, just be prepared," she told him, voice hushed. Then, she straightened up, taking on a look of purpose, and opened the gate. It was unlocked, but before she stepped through she muttered, "revelio." Nothing happened, so at least the grounds didn't have any crazy charms on them... at least none that could be revealed. She stepped inside, following the walk toward the front door. She didn't go all the way up, though. She looked up toward the windows on the second floor. The curtains were all drawn... but it didn't seem like any lights were on. "Through the back," she suggested, going around the back of the house.

@luke

[Deleted]

@victoire

he hung back a little, standing just behind her as she cast a spell to see if there was any charms on the building. he chewed his lip a little as he watched, glad that there didn't seem to be anything nasty around them. he followed her down the path, making sure to keep turning his head so he could look behind him, lest someone be waiting to ambush them from behind. as they headed around the back of the house he did step in front of her, pulling his wand out of his pocket and he pointed it at the lock on the door. "alohamora." he said softly, hearing the lock in the door click as it opened. "well that might have been a little easier than it should have been." he looked back as vic before he set his hand on the handle, turning it and pushing the door open but waiting before walking inside, in case there was something nasty waiting to be unleashed when the door opened.

[Deleted]

He followed her around the back of the house. The lock clicked open upon his spell which meant one of two things. Either this person had nothing to hide, or an enemy wanting them to get inside. Victoire nodded at his words, touching his shoulder gently as he pushed the door open. She peered over his head inside, and furrowed her brow. For the moment, it just looked like a normal house and the back door led straight into the kitchen. Kitchens were probably the most dangerous room in a house, though, and she didn't like that. Every instinct told her she should go in first, but she wanted to give the kid a chance before babying him. "Go ahead, Luke. I'm right behind you."

@luke

[Deleted]

@victoire

he felt vic's hand on his shoulder as they approached the house and he risked a glance back at her, giving her a slight smile and half a nod. it was almost an, 'ready' look, he was more than a little nervous at what they were going to find in the house, after all the door had clicked open without a fuss, there was no sign of trouble on the outside and the street was quiet as a whisper. it was all just a little too eerie for his liking. he turned the knob and pushed the door open, raising his wand so it was at the ready as they stepped through the threshold and into the kitchen. he glanced about before taking another step, glancing down as his wand before softly speaking.

"homenum revelio." he almost readied himself for the shudder in case it revealed someone else but there was nothing. "we're alone." he said to his cousin, "well at least there's no humans in the house..." he said as he took another few steps into the kitchen, still cautious in case a booby trap got sprung but so far so good. he glanced around the kitchen, it didn't look like it was too dishevelled but it didn't look quite right either. "do you notice it just seems .." he cut off when he couldn't find the right word for how to describe what he was seeing, hoping vic could sum it up in one.

[Deleted]

He said they were alone due to his spell and she nodded... well, at least there were no humans, he added. She stepped in after him, and as he started to describe what he was seeing Victoire stood a little taller. "Too perfect. Like no one even lives here," she explained. That was definitely suspicious. The only other logical explanation was that the person who did live here had a maid every day cleaning it spotless and maybe everyone was out of town. Still, Vic knew a staged house when she saw one for the most part and this looked pretty darn staged. She walked toward the ice box and slowly opened it. She half expected something to come flying out at her, but nothing happened. The box was empty, however, and she swung it open all the way to reveal that to her cousin. "Okay," she started, spinning over her shoulder to look at him, "very weird."

@lucas
(let's have them run into a boggart upstairs haha)

[Deleted]

@victoire

he nodded a little as he glanced around the house. he'd grown up in a house that was clean, it had had to be almost spotless because of his sister but this was almost impossibly clean. he frowned a little as he watched her check the ice box, raising his wand a little as the door swung open to reveal, nothing. he lowered his wand slightly before looking at his cousin. "what do you try and do to a trap?" he asked her, though he wasn't expecting an answer. "make it look like it isn't there." he said as he moved across the kitchen to the small staircase that would lead to the second floor of the house. "let's check upstairs first, work our way down and around." he said as he raised his wand again, stepping onto the first step of the stair case, waiting for vic to follow him and hoping to merlin that his reflexes were as quick in real life as they were in a classroom.

(works for me!)

[Deleted]

She nodded. He wasn't wrong, something was off about this house. Her instinct to come here wasn't unwarranted. When he moved to the stairs she followed quickly, not liking him being too far from her. He suggested they start upstairs and work their way down and she nodded, "okay, let's do that," she agreed. Soon he was going up the steps and she followed, wand aim past him in case she saw something she needed to take a shot at. They arrived on the landing and all the doors in front of them were closed, three of them. She took in a deep breath and stepped forward to stand next to her cousin. "Okay," she nodded, "you take left, I'll take the right." She crossed over to her door...

When she opened it, she saw someone sitting in a chair, back facing her. She raised her wand quickly, but before she could speak the person turned around. It was herself, but she looked... different. Her skin was paler, her eyes sunken. She looked like she did when she was sick last year. Victoire froze

@luke

[Deleted]

@victoire

as they worked their way up the steps, luke could feel the uneasy feeling grow within. it he didn't like things that were too quiet, he didn't like things that seemed too perfect and right now that's how they were looking. the carpet looked like it had never been walked on, the paint on the walls looked like it as fresh as the day it was put on and it just, if there was a new smell it would be this house. when they reached the top he looked at the doors she pointed out and he nodded a little, walking to the one on the left slowly. he held up his wand, turned the knob slowly and he pushed the door open, it creaked just slightly but the room before him was empty. at first glance anyway, he was about to walk in when he glanced back over his shoulder and saw vic standing frozen in the doorway to his right. "vic?" he said as he walked over to her, glancing over her shoulder into the room, seeing what looked like his cousin sitting in the middle of the room. "what the .."

[Deleted]

Suddenly the other her hand a hand on it's shoulder, and another person appeared. Teddy. Teddy squeezed her shoulder but... it wasn't loving. It was something else. Then Royal appeared at her other side and Vics hands started to tremble. She took a step back, bumping into Lucas. That was enough to snap her out of it. "Kill it," she hissed, nodding forward. She knew how to kill a boggart, sure, so why couldn't she move? She knew what was coming next. Odette, right behind the other Victoire, placing a hand on either side of Victoires head. The three stood there, surrounding the other Vic... who then turned toward Teddy and stabbed him right in the stomach with a knife that was suddenly in her hands. "LUKE, KILL IT," she screamed, pointing at the boggart, her wand clattering to the floor.

@luke

[Deleted]

@victoire

luke wasn't sure what was unfolding before his eyes. the two faces he regognized amongst the group before them didn't look anything like the people he knew. there was something about their faces, the dead look in their eyes that instantly made him know they weren't real. apart from the fact that vic was standing just in front of him. he gripped his wand tight as he processed what was happening. it took a shocking turn as a knife was plunged into the stomach of one teddy lupin and the blood starting sputtering and pooling on the floor at the feet of the apparitions the bogart was emulating. he heard the clatter as vic's wand fell to the floor and he looked at her for half a second before he raised his own wand into the darkness. "riddikulus!" he cast, his wand doing the work as the people in the room started growing red noses, their hair growing curly and coloured.

clowns were terrifying but they'd been the first thing that had popped into luke's head. he reached down to grab vic's arm, wrapping his fingers around it as he tugged her backwards. "you have to laugh vic!" he said as he looked up at the clowns before them. he tried his hardest to laugh but it was hard, forced and he was sure that the boggart would be able to tell the difference. which was exactly why he didn't want to stay in there any longer than they had to. he pulled his cousin backwards quickly, getting them out of the room as fast as he could without them both falling in a heap and he slammed the door closed behind them, quickly waving his wand to lock the door though he wasn't really sure how well a lock would work on a creature that wasn't really corporeal.