Of Mothers and Sons Astoria & Scorpius, 2007 and 2019
The below was meant to be a tag fic, but I hit the 30 tag limit 300 words in, and decided to add another thousand words instead of editing…
*
I bet sometimes when he’s at school Scorpius
can’t sleep because he’s worried about his mum. He knows she finds it hard to
sleep when she’s sick because of the pain, even though all she’s meant to do is
rest. He wishes he could go and read to her like she used to for him, because
that’s always helped her.
One time, before Albus and Scorpius really talk
about Astoria, Albus comes into the dorm to find Scorpius sitting by the fire
with a book. He’s reading aloud, and at first Albus thinks he’s reading to
himself, but then he sees the head in the fire.
Even when she’s mostly flame and coal and ash she
looks tired and sick, and Albus knows – he can just tell – that she’s been
upset, which is why she’s here and why Scorpius is talking to her. Her eyes are
closed and her head is on one side as she listens to Scorpius read. It’s easy
to imagine her lying on the hearth, struggling to stay awake as she’s warmed by
the flames and lulled by Scorpius’s soft voice.
Albus tiptoes through the dorm and sits on his
bed, intending to get on with work, but he finds he can’t not listen to
Scorpius as he reads. His voice is wonderful – gentle and soothing, but
engaging at the same time, and he does the most beautiful character voices. Albus
gets drawn into the story, and he’s as disappointed as the two Malfoys seem to
be when Scorpius turns the final page.
There’s a long silence before Astoria opens her
eyes and sits up, exhaling softly
(If you would like to see Héctor’s answers, click here.)
Wand: Cypress wood with a Unicorn hair core 14 ½” and Slightly Yielding flexibility
Héctor’s Answers:
What height would you say you are for your age? Tall
What would you say your eye colour is? Other (magenta-ish?)
Is your birthday odd or even? Even (November 30th)
Which would you say your fear the most? Isolation
What would you say is your best quality? Kindness
Which path would you take? Ahead towards the forest
Which artifact did you chose? Bound-up Scroll
Blood Purity: Muggleborn
Patronus: Mastiff(?)
Héctor was not able to summon a patronus until he and Imelda kissed for the first time. When he remembers it he remembers a twinkling early night sky above the grounds, the earthy taste of Imelda’s lips, the feel of her breath, the warmth in his stomach washing over his entire body, desperately kissing her back, he’d been denied this for so long and now that he finally had it it felt so, so amazing… It was heaven.
Wand: Yew wood with a Dragon heartstring core 13 1/4″ and Reasonably Supple flexibility
Ernesto’s Answers:
What height would you say you are for your age?
Tall (because let’s be real Ernesto would totally claim he’s tall even when he has a beanpole for a best friend)
What would you say your eye colour is? Brown
Is your birthday odd or even?
Odd (please let me know if Ernesto has a canon birthday!! I chose odd over even because I thought the flexibility and appearance of the wand fit Ernesto more.)
Which would you say your fear the most? Isolation
What would you say is your best quality? Determination
Which path would you take? Ahead towards the forest
Which artifact did you chose? Glittering Jewel
Blood Purity: Pureblood
Patronus: Chihuahua
More details on each character to come!! For now though have some random headcanons ^ _ ^
Age gaps are the same as they are in canon. In case you are unaware of the canon age gaps:
Ernesto is 4 years older than Héctor
Imelda is a year older than Héctor
When Ernesto went to Hogwarts for his first through fourth years,
Héctor would spend the entire year writing to him and telling him how boring it was without him around
Eventually
Héctor sent so many letters that Ernesto sent him a howler to yell at him for sending so many letters
After what feels like forever, Héctor finally gets his Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday. He starts his first year when Ernesto starts his fifth year.
Ernesto spends most of that fifth year complaining to
Héctor about O.W.L.s.
Imelda is a second year when
Héctor starts his first year
The first time
Héctor sees Imelda, he instantly falls head over heels in love with her
He tries to hide his crush, but it’s extremely obvious
Every time he tries to talk to Imelda he blushes furiously and his eyes dart everywhere but her
Imelda thinks he’s a bumbling idiot and blows him off every time he tries to talk to her
Ernesto makes fun of
Héctor‘s obvious crush all the time. Héctor jinxes Ernesto every time he teases him.
(The jinxes are always something harmless, but Ernesto always acts all affronted by them anyways.)
‘Okay, let’s do this.’ Miguel thought as he made his way through the pitch dark train station. For the past two weeks, he had tried and failed miserably at making contact with the notorious urban legend. Although the spirit was very active, it was extremely hard to track down. Another problem was that the few times that Miguel finally managed to corner it, it immediately disappeared. Even worse, there were a couple times when, instead of vanishing, the ghost scared him off. The air would turn frigid, and the specter’s face would contort into a horrific image. Being the scaredy-cat that he was, Miguel never stayed to find out what it’d do next. Miguel soon decided he’d need a new plan if he wanted to finally make contact with the phantom.
Tonight, Miguel brought with him a “Spirit Box” he had ordered online. Supposedly, it was supposed to convert spiritual energy to a voice, providing a way of communication with the dead. Although Miguel had seen the device used in countless paranormal investigations, he seriously doubted it would actually work. The specter had not yet said a word to him, and Miguel figured it was because the ghost simply didn’t want to talk to him. Regardless, Miguel brought the spirit box anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to try it.
Finally, Miguel reached the platform. He had figured out that this was the most active place. If he had any chance of communication, this would definitely be the place to do it. As Miguel walked the length of the platform, his steps echoed off the walls and filled up the silent space. The further he walked, the jumpier he felt. Shadows started to grow bigger, and the night breeze whispered against his ear. When he reached the end of the platform, Miguel stopped and pulled the spirit box out of his pocket. Turning it on, he jumped slightly as the loud static noise screamed out of the speakers. At first, Miguel was at a loss. What should he ask? He didn’t even know if the ghost was around at the moment. Uncertainty, he started off by asking the darkness around him a simple question.
“Are- is anyone there?” His nervous voice was almost drowned out by the static. Miguel let the question hang in the air for a minute, scanning his surroundings for any sign of a presence. After a couple minutes of silence, Miguel deflated. It seemed the specter wasn’t around. Or at least, wasn’t willing to speak up. Five more minutes passed, and Miguel was about ready to quit. Maybe this trip was a bust. Besides, there was plenty more haunted places to visit. At least the Island of the Dolls was interesting on its own; demonic activity or not. Miguel started to get lost in his thoughts, making a mini list of all the cursed places he planned to visit. Suddenly, a loud crack from the box shattered his daydreaming. He jumped and looked around, then glanced over the device; checking if it was broken. As he flipped the box over in his hand, another loud noise sounded from it. This time however, the noise seemed to sound like a man’s voice. Finally, as Miguel was debating booking it out of there, a loud voice sounded through the box; scaring the daylights out of him.
“Ay, what do you want?” A male voice cracked through the speakers. Miguel gasped and started to back up, halting as he felt an intimidating presence manifest behind him. Whirling around, Miguel jumped back five feet and fell into a defensive position. The grey blob of a figure stayed where it was, seeming to judge his cowardly actions.
“SHIT!! Don’t do that!!” Miguel cried out as the figure started to become clearer. Before him stood a tall man. Dressed in a mariachi suit, the colorless ghost looked down at Miguel, annoyance written on his face. Miguel was at once terrified and embarrassed under the ghost’s stare. Once again, he was unsure of what to say. He actually didn’t expect to get this far. The specter huffed at Miguel’s dumbfounded expression.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” The figure sighed, his prickly exterior seeming to falter for a moment at the sight of the boy’s scared face. Miguel shook his head, keeping his eyes on the man. At this, the spirit’s face hardened again. “Well, do you at least have a good reason for stalking me for the past two weeks?”
“I’m looking to meet urban legends.” The man’s face suddenly looked confused.
“Urban legends? Ghosts? Like La Llorona?” At Miguel’s nod, the figure laughed. “Those things don’t exist.”
Was the man not aware that he, himself was a ghost? Miguel decided against asking. He instead changed the subject.
“So uh… What’s your name? What are you doing here?”
“Hector.”
“Hector…?” Miguel dragged out, hoping to get a last name.
“Hector Ri-”, the ghost paused for a second, seeming to forget what he was going to say. “Just Hector. As for what I’m doing here, I’m trying to get on the train.” Miguel already knew that. It was a key element of the legend.
Miguel’s phone then buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. New message from Rosa. It read: ‘Where are you?’. Looking at the time, he winced at how late it had gotten. 3:30AM.
Suddenly Miguel felt exhausted. He really wasn’t used to being up this late. A cough interrupted him as he glanced up from his phone. Hector was looking at the device in awe, as if it was the first time he’d seen anything like it.
“What is that?” Miguel wanted so desperately to explain it to him. He wanted to stay up all night talking to this stranger and asking him questions about his past. Unfortunately, he knew that if he stayed any longer, Rosa would find him and kick his ass.
“I’ll explain it another time. I really have to go now, but can I meet you here tomorrow night?” Hector suddenly looked apologetic.
“Sorry muchacho. I’ll be on the train home tomorrow, I won’t be here anymore.” Miguel felt a swell of pity for Hector. The spirit was optimistic, and completely unaware that he had been stuck there for over a century.
“Well, I’ll come anyway just in case. Same spot.”
What a roller coaster it was getting this out!! I swear my laptop hates my guts. Hector is a hard dude to write, but he is very fun to draw :)) Anyways, next is either more Corpse Bride AU or other stuff ;)) whatever gets done first I guess.
Ah, manipulative people. Oh-so-fun to write, not so much fun when you encounter them in real life. Here are a few things you can implement when writing or roleplaying such a character.
Flattery
Manipulative people will often be incredibly nice and sweet to you, and shower you with compliments to get you to do their bidding; butter you up, if you will. Basically, manipulative people will can be the best friend you’ve ever had as long as that friendship gains them; and once they feel you’re useless to them, they will either be your worst enemy, or treat you like air.
Hidden agendas
Perhaps a manipulative person doesn’t have a hidden agenda when brushing their teeth, but it’s not unlikely for them to have one whenever they interact with others, and that they’re always thinking about ways to get their will through. Don’t pin what they do on chance, but instead consider the fact that there might be an underlying reason for whatever they do in the company of others—until proven otherwise.
Bullying and guilt-tripping
When flattery doesn’t work, manipulative people will often show a more negative side and turn to things such as bullying and guilt-tripping to get what they want. Instead of making you feel like the best person in the world, they will make you feel like the scum of the Earth; chewed on, spat out, and stomped on. Most likely you’ll end up agreeing to their demands; not because you want to, but because you have to.
Stealth
What makes manipulative people so tricky, is the fact that they’re usually rather suave and pretty good at covering their tracks. Chances are you won’t even know you’re being manipulated until it’s too late; if you ever notice at all. Don’t write the manipulation tactics as being used too obviously, but instead, try to slip it into the writing with a little bit of stealth.
That’s pretty much all I can think of right now, so hopefully you got something out of it. Here are some additional links you might find useful:
Stop talking and start doing: My Fallout Shelter for my Tumblr blog 