Owl Post meme, a bit late, sorry sorry.

[madam_rosmerta]

OWL MAIL Wizards might not text with a mobile phone all that often, but they do have other methods of communication available when it comes to a quick chat with their mates (or enemies) at any hour of the day. Post your characters, name, and preferences in the title area. You can include a generic starter if you want, or just post a blank. Anything goes. 1. OWL MAIL This might be a little slow for quicker chats, especially if you're close by, but it's good to give the bird some exercise! 2. FIRE CALL Just pop your head into that fire and chat away. Probably not recommended for drunken calls. 3. ENCHANTED MIRROR Those little reflective surfaces that show your friend's face whenever you might need to tell them something. Maybe you can enchant them to connect to any reflective surface around your chosen contact? (Maybe not the bathroom...) 4. HOWLERS Ever received one? It's supposed to be absolutely horrible. 5. OTHER MAGICAL COMMUNICATION The ones above are hardly the only way wizards can reach out to each other for a quick chat. Feel free to invent new items or use something like enchanted notebooks that you write in and the other sees the text at their end. You could also use flying letters, talking portraits, or, well, cellphones, if you will.

Comments

[surnameonly]

Narcissa,

I know you'll probably burn this letter without even reading it, or maybe you'll show it to your husband and he will make sure it ends up in hands that can use it to cause pain.

But it is a risk I am in this moment willing to take, because I have to fight what is happening right now in whatever way I can, and in a while I won't be able to do it in the way I'm used to anymore.

I'm going to have a baby. The father isn't in the picture right now, I'm not sure if he ever will be again. This child has done nothing to cause offence, but my baby will be born marked for death.

Considering what a spoiled brat your son has turned out to be, I assume that you love him. Well, I love my child too. And neither of our children will have happy lives if Voldemort is allowed to win.

Please. Just think about that.

- Your Niece

[purely]

Nymphadora,

| She wants to write that she is wrong, that this is what it should be like, that Andromeda sealed the fate of her daughter and unborn grandchild, even if that child wasn't part-werewolf to begin with, years and years ago. But in her mind, she had never seen them murdered – gone, yes, and the disjoint is glaringly obvious now, but not... murdered. Just gone.

Of course, even during the first war, she couldn't escape the news, but how could she reconcile "Family found brutally murdered in their own home" with the husband who bounced their baby boy on his knee, the sister who had always been there for her?

And now she knows the stone-cold terror that comes with knowing that the Dark Lord wishes harm upon your child. She has seen the look in her sister's eyes that means she wouldn't be deterred by her victim's age or defencelessness, if she was given the order. And she knows that Lucius wouldn't have options. |

What can I tell you? If you roam with wild beasts, they will act according to their nature. They will abandon you, regardless of your state. And they will kill, given the chance. They won't hesitate. A child's life is a trivial matter, to them.

| She loves them, still. Her husband, in spite of his cowardice and arrogance and the fact that he got them in so deep. Her sister, even though she has shifted, warped almost beyond recognition. |

There is nothing that can be done.

| She doesn't sign it. Her handwriting is extravagant, the paper expensive and beautiful, and when she looks at the letter, it's as if it's something from a different time.

Two days later, Tonks receives another one, unsigned again: |

I saved my son's life by insisting on an old friend's support. There is nothing the Dark Lord does not think of, but friendship and love are harder to predict than pride and bravery.

| And, hours later: |

A simple calming draught soothes morning sickness much more efficiently than one meant for nausea.

[surnameonly]

[ Nymphadora doesn't bother with replying to the first letter, because while she might not be too pleased with her husband at the moment, she still won't stand for anyone calling him a beast.

Narcissa's note goes in the fire, and she stares at the burning parchment, her hands forming a frail shield over her still flat stomach. ]

I tried, kiddo.

[ The second letter arrives, and she can't bring herself to respond to that either even if she does recognise it as an olive branch of sorts.

All she can do is sink down on her bed and weep, because something about her aunt's words makes a fresh wave of pain wash over her as thoughts of Remus flood her mind. Love is really fucking hard to predict indeed.

And then there is that third note, and after a night of sleep, Dora sits down to write to Narcissa again. ]

I will fight for your son as well. I fight for all children, not just my own. I fight for all people, not just the ones I care about or like. If you want to get out, I will find some way to help you.

P.S: The calming draught really did work better.

[purely]

| Time passes before Narcissa's next reply comes in. It is a risk she is taking, and she is unsure of why – if anything, this is the most futile form of protest there is. |

There is no way out that wouldn't cost me my life, and the life of my husband, and that of my son. I am sure he would even punish my sister, though I do not believe there is anything He could do to her that she wouldn't accept willingly.

| She re-reads it, and is tempted to burn it up as it is. This is nothing but a confession of her wanting to leave, if someone finds this letter, death isn't quite certain, but awfully likely. |

I may never be able to fully understand your choices, and I doubt you could understand mine. I am certain your mother has listed my every character flaw at great length, however, so I am sure you will find an explanation for yourself.

You wrote of fighting: there is no point. It isn't that resistance is futile, it's that the ones you are fighting have little to lose but their lives, their pride, their blood, and their ideals, because if they stop fighting now, if they would run and hide instead, they are guaranteed to lose their families. You cannot take that fear away; if you could, you would stand a better chance.

[surnameonly]

[ By the time she hears from Narcissa again, Remus has returned to her. Things are still... tense, to say the least. But they are both trying their best.

The confirmation that Narcissa does want to get out is extremely useful, if only because it tells her that there is someone close to Voldemort who might if nothing else be willing to drop the tiniest hints about how to stop him if she can. ]

You're right, I don't think we'll ever be able to understand each other very well.

[ She doesn't mention the fact that actually her mother doesn't speak much of her sisters at all. Somehow she has a feeling it would be more hurtful than thinking that Andromeda has spent much time painting them as villains. ]

There is always a point in fighting oppression. I would never be able to look myself in the mirror if I did anything else.

[ Because yes, the world is a big place. She and Remus could probably run and hide somewhere. But how could they live with themselves then? ]

Whatever you have done to live with your own decisions, I don't think it would work for me. But for what it's worth, I wish you luck in keeping your son safe. I sincerely hope I never have to fight him.

[purely]

| Oh, Narcissa would be upset after hearing that her sister doesn't speak of her at all – then again, it is precisely what she has been doing ever since the day Andromeda walked out. Mostly. Andromeda isn't completely gone, there are plenty of people eager to remind her and Bellatrix, but she isn't spoken of as a person, ever. She's an incident.

Like Tonks being an auror.

Or marrying a werewolf.

Or being pregnant.

There is something horrifying in the idea that people can be reduced like that. She can't help but wonder if that is the kind of thinking that makes it possible for them to murder each other. |

I hope he never has to fight you, either. He is seventeen, he hasn't finished school. How much of a match can he be to a trained auror?

Our decisions aren't so different, yours and mine. We both did what we thought would be best for our child, our husband. And now we discover that there may not have been a decision that would have lead us to safety.

[surnameonly]

In a one on one duel? Probably not much, which will make it a lot easier to avoid harming him.

Safety might not ever have been an option, but I know I will be able to live with myself and my choices regardless. Can you say the same?

[purely]

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

I chose family, many years ago. Could I have foreseen what my family would become? Perhaps, but hindsight is always perfect. I was younger than my son is now when your mother left, who was I supposed to believe? The sister who threatened to leave me behind, or the mother, father, and sister who wouldn't?

My choice was easy, because unlike your mother's, it was the easy choice. Merlin, they wear identical robes and masks to make ignorance even easier, even for people like me, because you hardly ever know who committed which atrocious crime, and who wants to believe that they will be sharing a dinner table with murderers while they are reading the morning news? It's different now. I am asking myself questions, this time, that I didn't know of during the first war. But my decisions are stacking up, and all I can say for myself is that my family is still alive. And perhaps I can see them through this.

[surnameonly]

I won't hurt any children wrapped up in this mess if I can help it.

I suppose a lot of things were different during the first war. I still don't think I could have just ignored the fact that people I loved were doing heinous things.

Then again I've never had your values either.

[purely]

| She wants to say that Draco couldn't hurt anyone, not seriously, not with the way he looks, with how he doesn't eat properly – but she is scared for him, still, and these letters are a risk. She cannot risk making him a target. |

Neither will I.

You share the values of those who raised you, of your friends, your family, and the man you love. That isn't so different, and it isn't as if Azkaban used to be filled with pureblooded criminals alone. By the time the transition to brutal, endless killing was made, it was already too late to leave.

[surnameonly]

It's hard to turn away from values held by everyone you love, I can see that. Doesn't mean it can't be done. I'm sad that if it ever happens for you, it will be too late for so many things.

Can I ask you something? What did you see in Lucius? Not very relevant right now, I know, but I can't help being curious.

[purely]

What an odd question. He is charming, intelligent, handsome, he cares deeply for Draco and myself – and we have quite a few shared traits, albeit I doubt you would consider them particularly endearing.

My turn, then: why the werewolf?

[surnameonly]

It's not an odd question if you've only ever seen him from the angle that I have, trust me.

The werewolf has a name. I married Remus because he is kind, because he is brave, because he makes me laugh. Because he is an amazingly intelligent man with so much to offer those who care to see him as a human being. I married him because he loves me, and because I love him more than I have the words to express. I married him because I've spent long nights sharing things with him I've never told anyone to pass the time and forget about the possibility that we might get killed any moment. I married him because the first time he kissed me my toes curled and my hair probably turned every colour of the rainbow.

Like you said, in some ways we aren't so different. When you think of my husband, you think of a monster. It's the same for me when I think of yours.