undoubtedly: (020)
Tʜᴇᴏᴅᴏʀᴇ Nᴏᴛᴛ ([personal profile] undoubtedly) wrote in [community profile] riddlelog2017-11-10 08:55 am

Now the future's staring at me | Like a vision from the past

WHO Theo Nott and Elektra Burke (Closed)
WHAT Theo finds out his mum has opened her home to registered time deviants. Naturally this means he's going to make a few questionable life choices so he can move into her place. Don't judge him.
WHEN November 4, 1980
WHERE Elektra's home
WARNING Too many feelings
STATUS Incomplete



In many ways Theo almost wished Lucius had not interfered. He had known the kind of risk he'd been trying to take, that the consequences of such a bold play would have been disastrous if he'd not succeeded. He'd known, in the back of his mind, that they'd likely be disastrous even if he had because Theo is a fool sometimes but even he isn't stupid enough to think that he could keep up a lie as intricate as impersonating his father indefinitely. But at least then his goal had been clear. At least then he'd known the shape of the biggest risks, and now--

And now he's registered into a world he had no intention of being known to simply because he was weak enough to be jarred by his mother's name being dropped in front of him like bait he knows it was meant to be.

If Theo had any doubts about the legitimacy of the visions Lucius claimed to have seen they'd been well subdued in the face of the other man knowing exactly how to play him. He should be angrier about such blatant manipulation aimed at him by someone that, against his better judgement, he still wants to trust but at the end of the day he knows that this Lucius Malfoy owes him nothing. Their meeting could have ended much, much differently than Lucius letting him go unscathed with a few strong suggestions to consider while he was free to do so.

It's not lost on him that this Elektra Burke owes him nothing, too. She's not his mother here, not anymore than the man she's been lucky enough to avoid marrying is truly his father despite their shared name, and he knows it's an incredibly foolish idea to come anywhere near her like this when he can't trust himself to separate the past he knows from the reality he's stuck in.

And yet he finds himself with her address in hand anyway after a few sleepless nights battling himself over what how he wants to proceed. He's weak and desperate and stupid to be swayed like this, to put himself at risk just to get nearer to her than he should let himself. He'd considered, briefly, seeking her out another way, to coordinate a chance meeting just to get a glimpse, just to see for himself that the woman who may one day become his mother yet is really still alive and well, but--

It wouldn't have been enough. He knows it, and he expects Lucius knew it, too. Damn him.

And so here he is, standing outside her front door with as much dignity as he can muster when he knows how poorly this is likely to end for everyone involved, trying to scrape together the necessary backbone he needs to meet the woman he's missed near every day for the last twenty-two years. This is hands down the worst idea he's ever had and, considering the list it tops, that is certainly saying something.

But he straightens anyway, taking a steadying breath, and brings his hand up to knock.
ambered: (13)

[personal profile] ambered 2017-11-17 03:14 pm (UTC)(link)
She tips her head back and laughs, and it's a low sound. "See, we're already going to get along just fine, Theo." Whoever his mother is must have had a strong hand in his raising, she thinks. He's certainly nothing like his father, who always mistakes smarm for charm.

"The curfews have been going on for...oh, a decade. It's a safety measure, to deal with the disappearances of Muggleborn wizards since the forties. I suppose it's worked." Certainly there aren't the number of disappearances there once were. Though half-bloods didn't often disappear, and they're under curfew too. She's always wondered a bit about that one. "Basically, pureblooded witches and wizards from this time are the only ones who can run free at all hours. Everyone else has a trace and a curfew."

She picks up a bottle of red wine Morty had put on the table and uncorks it with a brief spell before pouring two glasses. "It's understandably chafing to those who have it, I think," Elektra says. "I don't know what it's like, but I can't say I'd like it much."