#Legend

"You think I'd let some common owl touch my mail?" She scoffed shaking her head. "I'm not poor."

"I'll give you cats as a pet," he conceded with a nod. Loads of people had cats, they just weren't for him. "But why own an owl when the post office has one?"

"I think it's a requirement for every Slytherin to like green, but I do prefer certain shades more than others. I like a sage or an emerald green best." She explained while looking through the various racks of clothes, only needing a few seconds to decide if she liked something or not. "There's a few robes here that would look nice for the upcoming fall season." She took out four she liked, different cuts but all elegant, one shorter length and one ankle length for colder days and two more every day robes. "I do. Well my favorite holiday is my birthday, of course. I enjoy being celebrated. After that Christmas because I like getting presents and as an only child I didn't have to share with anyone. What about you?"

"Green, I will remember that, but yes you could pull anything off I'm sure, perhaps I'll know better by the end of it." He looked around at the various robes and outfits. "Does anything catch your eye?" Small accents made sense, understated but eye catching. He filed it away for future use. Even when skulking about something eye catching could make it hard for people to think of details later besides what had been put in front of them. He doubted it was how Sera might use the information, but something learned from her none the less. "Do you enjoy the holidays? Which is your favorite?"

"I do quite enjoy getting gifts. I get them quite frequently but that does not make me like it any less." Whether it be her parents or Malcolm, she often got gifts without special occasion attached to it. Of course she considered her birthday the most special occasion, so it only made sense that she got more gifts on this day. "They always think they know what is best for you." Her parents had often said that she had made a mistake by ending things with Malcolm, that she had been too much of a kid to understand that his transgression was perfectly normal. Still, she did not see it this way to this day. It had been a talking point a few times already.

"I have had a glass or two, but I do not see why I can't have more." She snapped her fingers together for her house elf to appear ordering two glasses of champagne.

“Glad you enjoy your gift. Yes I often find it’s best to save that for special or at least particular occasions.  Merlin forbid you are wrong it is not a thing they will easily let you forget at least if they are anything like mine.  Whether they bring it up in a boisterous way or a passive way almost not mentioned, but just aside enough to play it off it can be something that digs.”  Antonin’s face darkened, but only slightly and only for a moment, though it was enough to cause him to wish he had started drinking a bit earlier. “Nothing so serious it can’t be solved with a drink though.  Have you had anything yet?  It is your birthday after all it would be criminal not to share a drink with the birthday girl would it not?”

A little slow on the uptake, Serra needed some time to process what was actually going on, stuck in the deluded fantasy that this couldn't possibly be happening right now. It couldn't be some bad joke as no one had that terrible of a sense of humor, but that left one option: Malcolm actually cheating on her. Why he would ever do that made no sense to her, she knew he liked her, showing her off proudly and showering her with attention. "It's complicated? It's complicated?!" Her voice grew louder, anger and frustration obvious. He didn't deny it. He called Charity crazy, yes, but he didn't call her a liar. That distinction was important to her. Her world turned upside down again, stuck in a nightmare version of the present. Her boyfriend cheated on her and then submitted her to public humiliation. "You were gonna tell me? When? After you slept with me too?" Tears built up in her eyes again. This was truly the worst day of her whole fifteen years of life. "We're done. I'm breaking up with you." Turning to Charity she didn't bother hiding the hatred in her eyes rolling her eyes when she talked about them deserving each other. She deserved better than this and she wasn't going to let him keep playing her for a fool. "Yeah I don't want him anymore. Have fun with my leftovers. I know that's why you wanted him in the first place. Can't be like me so you try taking what's mine. Well you got him. Congratulations."

Malcolm was drowning in a self-made hell. He focused on Serra, her nose clearly destroyed, while desperately trying to extricate himself from the chaos he'd ignited. Charity, a ghost from his disastrous final year, stood opposite. The engagement contract, a desperate, callus-forming grasp at a solution, had trapped him. He needed Serra to leave him, to buy time to dismantle that contract—time and resources he didn't have within these cursed castle walls. His solution, a twisted logic, had been to engineer a breakup, something more dramatic than a simple "it's over." He'd known Serra wouldn't accept the truth. So, he'd manipulated, leading him to a hidden alcove with Charity. He hadn't intended to sleep with her, that intimacy reserved for Serra. But things spiraled, and now, here he was.

He struggled to rein in his panic, to find some semblance of sense, but a blinding pain erupted in his jaw. "You're fucking crazy,-" he said, too distracted now by his own pain that his hand clutched at that he didn't even hear her at first. Shit. Malcolm was glaring over Serra at Charity, and the raw ache in Serra's tone softened his own anger. "It's-it's complicated-I was going to tell you-"

She smiled, pleased when he agreed with her sentiment. Not that it surprised her, he was a smart man- that made a dumb mistake in choosing to get married to Alara, but luckily he got out of it unscathed. He could have suffered for years. "That is true, I look good in everything." Some colors and cuts suited her less than others, but that didn't mean she looked bad in anything she wore. Her eyes shined with excitement at the prospect of more presents, she was easy to please in that regard. "What kind of information? Gossip? About who?" She said having to look up when he put his arms around her waist. It was her birthday, she was allowed to indulge. "You patented it and everything? Must be worth something."

A chuckle went past his lips but found himself nodding amused at her words. "Yes, yes you are." He agreed, not one to shy away from complimenting pretty witches any chance he got, and finding her spirit quite appealing as he also believed himself to be that good. "There's no way you'd look bad in it." Evan settled with a sly grin, brazen eyes wandering down her body. "Ah multiple presents, that I can do. I've got two things you might enjoy, love." The wizard told her, his hands finding her waist loosely and having her look at him. "One is information, valuable one. The other is something I call the Rosier method, that one you really don't want to miss."

"Resplendent is a great choice of compliments. I like it. I would also take stunning or breath taking." Serra smirked, feeling comfortable in the public eye. She saw people whispering when she came in with Antonin, their matching outfits adding fuel to the fire. Not that she minded. Appearances were important and what would it look like if her date's outfit clashed with hers?

Where:Fulsom Palace Who: @serraborgin Antonin arrived linked arm in arm with Serra. She was as resplendent as she said she would be, he liked to think he added a little something pairing his own outfit and playing the small part in picking out her own. Tonight would be interesting. He gave her a peck on the cheek. She was on top of the world was it right to ruin that with a bit of truth? "You look resplendent. Even able to pull off a dated accessory like me."

"I do love dressing up for Halloween as well." Although their reasonings were different they did share a love for the same holiday. Serra didn't see the reason for hiding behind a mask as her face was so beautiful it would be a shame to hide it away. "I do enjoy masquerade balls as well. They have such a sense of grandeur that I've always liked. You know... I do still live on the family estate and we have an excellent ballroom. One of the best ballrooms in all of society." Serra boasted. "The war is going on long enough already. It is incredibly inconvenient. There are too many mudbloods running around, thinking that they are our equals." She shook her head.

He thought about it though he knew the answer if he was honest. “Halloween. A day when monsters and darkness abound, mischief and fun people can let loose without agonizing over it. Also the costumes. People don’t mind if you put on a mask. Masquerade balls are rarer these days, but Halloween parties are annual. I think if I hosted a ball it would be a masquerade around halloween, but I don’t have much reason besides whim. Beyond that, I no longer live on the family estate. It’s expected to have a proper place if you are hosting elaborated balls most times. People are too busy with their weddings and wars for whimsy, a sad thing, but true.

He chuckled at it. “Such a problem to have, that your taste for parties exceeds your grasp. I’ll have to push someone into throwing it for me.”

status: for @thelionshrt location: Malfoy wedding

Finding Regulus in the masses of this wedding didn't provide to be as easy of a task as she had thought in the beginning. Of course it only made sense that the wedding of two prominent pureblood families would be a big celebration, it would be embarrassing if no one showed up. After about ten minutes of searching she'd been just about ready to abandon her task, when she finally spotted him, walking over to greet her friend. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

The Great Gatsby (2013) dir. Baz Luhrmann | Promising Young Woman (2020) dir. Emerald Fennell

"You're obviously lying." Serra's eyes blazed with anger, furious at the insinuation of what Charity's words could mean. Malcom cheating on her? Definitely not. He wouldn't do that to her. There was no way. Things were good, she was this close to letting him take her virginity. There was no reason for their relationship to be on the rocks. They didn't even get into a fight! "We didn't break up. We're together! I saw him this morning!" She stomped, like a child throwing a tantrum. How did Charity know about their spot? "He'd never go for a loser like you. Your eyes are way too far apart, you look weird." It was the first thing she could come up with short notice.

Charity turned around to face the witch when she was interrupted mid-sentence, brows raising in disinterest. “I wouldn’t lie if I could.” She was quick to say, which was true of course as she never understood the motivation to lie, the truth always flowing smoothly from her lips. “And what is it you, anyways, since you’re all broken up?” The witch wondered, a smug smile growing on her lips for she was enjoying seeing the other all rattled, especially after the years of bullying she’d endure from her part. “He moved on, right on to me. Want to hear all the details? He took me to this secret spot in the dungeons, Nearly-Headless Nick’s spot once when he was alive.” She was telling it as though it was the juiciest of gossips, lying heavy on the excited girly tone. “And if you must know, he really is a good fuck.”