PERSONAL NOTE: check strikethrus
The next few days of Iris's life were… well, for lack of a better term, magical. She couldn't stop shooting shy glances at Blaise, and, to her massive shock, Blaise was shooting the same glances back at her!
She was worried that her girlfriend (!) would take offense at her request to celebrate the holiday alone, due to the more physical nature of the Ostara Rites no matter how much she'd enjoy it at the time. However, to her surprise, Blaise was completely understanding.
The rest of the sextet threw some good-natured jabs her way (and didn't she love that she had finally found people whose insults didn't make her cringe), but after a few minutes of teasing, they settled down and earnestly congratulated her and Blaise on (in their words) "finally getting over themselves".
Honestly, it was almost like heaven. The sextet were as touchy as always when lounging in the Slytherin Common Room, but unlike before, Iris no longer had to constantly monitor her reactions in fear of embarrassing herself.
She was free to hug her girlfriend, free to cuddle and smooch and nuzzle her… Whenever they sat down to chat after classes, she no longer had to restrain herself from jumping into the cute vampire's lap, or running her hands through her silky black hair…
There was only one issue: Dante.
Not in the way she expected, though.
Iris knew that sorcerers were supposed to be naturally polyamorous, and to some extent she felt like she could understand that. She could finally admit to herself that yes, she was very attracted to all her friends. She could see herself dating any one of them, and she remembered enough of Yule and the big cuddle pile to suspect that they shared similar sentiments with regard to her.
Prim, icy Daphne, who melted into an exasperated fondness when in the presence of those she trusted. Droll, sarcastic Theo, who would spend so long in the corner just observing everyone, maybe sketching out a scene if he was particularly inspired. Impulsive and excitable Draco, who somehow managed to make thoughtlessness endearing. Or Dante…
Iris cared for him dearly, and had almost lost count of the times he had checked up on someone else in the group, silently supporting them and propping them up. He was the emotional "rock" of the group, ready and willing to let any of them lean on him in their time of trouble.
He may have rarely spoken, but they could all tell through their auras how much he treasured each and every one of them. She could feel he was completely supportive of her new relationship with Blaise, and, contrary to her expectations, felt only joy when his bondmate had announced her new status. Iris, surprisingly, didn't find any of the expected jealousy materializing either; she was perfectly content to lay her arm over the broad wyvern's shoulder, sandwiching their mutual girlfriend between them, or entwine her fingers with his as they both traced patterns on her smooth, pale skin.
Even when they were alone, things were almost perfect. She would flop down onto Blaise's bed to find Dante sleeping, and cuddle up to him as she read a book. Or she would just sit with him in silence as he read or worked, and lean her head on his shoulder and drift off to sleep, eventually waking up to find that he'd laid her down on the couch and pulled his cloak over her as a blanket.
And that was the problem: she was getting along with him too well.
She was having a hard enough time adjusting to one relationship in her life, but to start another at the same time? Iris didn't know if she could handle that.
But she and Dante got along so well, and being together with him felt so natural, and she was already dating his girlfriend and cared about him ever so dearly…
Iris was having a hard time justifying to herself why she shouldn't just jump into the Zabini's bed feet-first, tangling the strings of her life with two of her most favorite people.
A few days later, when they were leaning on each other doing homework, she could feel that Dante noticed her discomfort.
"Dante…" she said, her quill pausing from where it was scratching out equations on a piece of parchment, "about Blaise…"
The stocky teen turned to look at her, eyes and aura full of nothing but sympathy.
"Iris…" he said, gently, "I know that you're having a difficult time adjusting to dating someone who's dating someone else, and I want you to know that I'm here for you, whatever and whenever you need. I'm your friend too, and the last thing I want is to get between you and Blaise."
Iris groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "No, that's the problem!"
The dark-skinned wyvern turned to look at her, a look of genuine confusion on his face.
"Then what's…"
"The problem isn't that I'm having a hard time getting along with you" Iris said, throwing her hands up in exasperation, "it's that getting along with you is too easy! It feels like you're naturally a part of my relationship with Blaise, like you clicked into place without even noticing!"
Dante still stared at her, confused. "But isn't that a good th-"
"No! I mean, yes?! I don't know!" Iris said, groaning in a combination of frustration and embarrassment, "the problem is that I feel like I'm dating you too!"
Slowly, comprehension dawned on Dante's face. "And we never talked…"
"Yes!" Iris said, "and we never talked about it! I don't- I just-... adjusting to Blaise is a really big thing, you know? And I love her, and I l-love you too, but the both of you at the same time… it's just too much for me, at least for now."
Dante gazed into her eyes with pity and understanding. "Iris…" he said, searchingly, "we don't have to put a label on things, at least not now. We're friends, right? We care about each other?"
Iris nodded without even thinking, eliciting a small smile from the wyvern.
"So why put a label onto things? Let's just be close: no labels, no artificial lines in the sand… just us. And Blaise, of course."
Slowly, Iris nodded. "I… I can do that. It's not that I don't want to date you, it's just that…"
"I get it" Dante said, smiling at her gently, "and I feel the same way about you. So why don't we take things slow, and maybe in a few months, when we're more comfortable… why don't we talk again and see where we stand?"
Tension dropping out of her shoulders, Iris nodded, and proceeded to lean her head against Dante's shoulder as she resumed writing arithmancy figures. This time, without any hesitation
"Hey…" Iris said one day, tucked away into her girlfriend's lap while the sextet were all lounging in Blaise's room. "I've been meaning to ask for a while… wait, are we secure?"
Daphne blanched, and quickly stood up to lock the door, casting a surprisingly high-level silencing spell, one that had a different look from anything Iris had ever seen before.
"Here" she said, sitting back down on the carpeted floor, "this is about as secure as I can get it. A sixth or seventh-year could probably break through it, but it would take them a while, and we'd definitely notice."
Iris nodded, realizing this was about the best chance she was going to get.
"So… I've been meaning to ask about some more… sensitive topics."
Looking around, she could see the sextet giving her grimly understanding looks.
Draco grimaced, meeting her eyes. "You want to know about the Knights, about the Dark Lord. About why our parents supported him."
Iris nodded. "If you don't want to talk about it…"
"No, no" Theo said, surprising all of them, "you of all people deserve to know."
The group collectively looked towards Daphne.
"What?"
"Wall, you are kinda the group explainer" Draco said with a shrug willingly ignoring Daphne's incredulous expression.
After a moment, the fae's mouth reluctantly broke out into a smile, and the rest of the sextet could feel amusement color her aura. She was so glad to be back with people who actually followed the Old Rites, who she could actually feel and connect to. Bloody Potters, kidnapping her over the winter break. Not only do they have the nerve to lock her up, but they have to be blood traitors with auras blander than fucking footstools...
"Firstly Draco," Daphne said, rolling her eyes, "it's 'expositor', not 'explainer'. And fine, if you all insist."
"Well" she said, clearing her throat, "you understand the political divide between the Nicks and the Rells, right? The Integrationists vs. the Seclusionists?"
Iris nodded. "Integrationists like muggle culture, and see them as more advanced than us culturally. They're almost all Christians, and want to fully integrate our world into the muggle one, to share the benefits of magic."
Blaise looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not calling them 'muds' because it's supposed to be a technical answer, Blaise. We all know what they are: muds are a fucking black hole, sucking in everything good in the world and turning it into more of themselves. "
The group winced in agreement.
"Anyways" Daphne said, "the best way to explain the Knights of Walpurgis is to explain the time they rose in. The Nicks have been slowly growing their influence in the Wizengamot for centuries, as our power waned. Every decade, more Neutral families were leaning more and more light, and a few decades ago it was to the point where they were almost at the point of passing a 'creature registry', and having us marked everywhere we go. Morganna, they were a decade at most off from repealing the Statute of Secrecy!"
Iris blanched in horror.
"Yeah, it wasn't good for us, to say the least. Those blood traitors are so addled by their mud-god that they'd walk right onto the fucking stake to be burnt, talking about how good it was. I swear, my mother said that right before the Dark Lord started the Rebellion, the Wizengamot had so many Christians that it felt more like a model town than an actual one. Fucking blood-traitors."
The entire group (minus Iris) winced, only imagining the discomfort they would feel completely unable to spiritually connect to their fellow mages. Still, she hated it. The idea of never being able to feel the thoughts and feelings of those around you, of going your whole life without feeling in your heart of hearts the pain and joy of the ones you love… No wonder Nicks can kill so easily, when they can just close their eyes to all the pain they cause.
"So, when things were at their worst, when mages were only a few decades from being ripped apart by the muddy hordes… the Dark Lord appeared."
Iris didn't miss the absolute reverence she said the name in.
"He was… Iris, I can't tell you what he meant to us, means to us. He was like the wrath of Mother Magic herself, come to save us in our bleakest hour. My mother said he was the most powerful mage she'd ever felt, his aura made her practically kneel in supplication the first time she felt it, it was that strong."
Iris boggled at the sheer idea of anyone powerful enough to completely bowl over their fellow mages like that. The sheer presence, power, spiritual weight required…
"He was charismatic, dynamic, powerful… he gathered people from all over society, mages of every race, from all over the world. He said he was going to drive out the mud-lovers in government, establish a true kingdom of magic for the first time in a dozen centuries, to take back Brittania for true mages, and from there spread out, eventually bringing true justice and love of Magic back to the whole world!"
She'd stood up at this point, gesticulating her arms into the air. Daphne sounded more focused, more dedicated, more passionate than Iris had ever heard the blonde sound before. The rest of the sextet were nodding along, wistful smiles on their faces.
"And he won! That was the most incredible part! He went against the Nicks, the Church, the society that had been pushing us down for millennia, the endless, endless hordes… and he won. Battle after battle, engagement after engagement, he faced the best the mud-lovers had to offer and cut them down. It was glorious…"
Iris was enraptured, almost picturing the valiant, shining knight Daphne had conjured.
"After two years of fighting, constant guerilla warfare, he had almost half the population behind him, either passively in their thoughts, or actively as Knights. People had hope for the first time they could remember! He'd almost done it, he'd almost won!"
Daphne was panting heavily at this point.
"And then… and then… Beltane happened. He went to kill your brother… and died. And all those 'upstanding', 'moral' blood-traitors went right back to grinding us into the dirt, calling us beasts and monsters, dark creatures and occultists trafficking with the devil and eating their children. After all that, we were right back in the dirt, even more hated than before, for having the audacity to stand up."
A somber mood fell over the room then, and Iris thought she had hated Danny more than that moment.
"But…" Daphne eventually said, sucking a breath in, "his cause lives on. Even though our Lord was struck down, the cause still lives on in our hearts. Because no matter how many bans they pass on our religion, how many straws they pile onto the base of their own stakes, how many licences they give out to hunt and kill us like beasts… we'll still be here!"
"No matter how deeply they bury us in mud, we will still flourish! The cause of Magic lives on and one day a new champion will arise, and blast off every speck of mud that's creeped into our society since Gilgamus and Incitus killed Humambia all those millennia ago! One day, the children of Mother Magic will rise up again, and form a new kingdom, without oppression, without war, where we'll once again live in the arms of our Mother!"
Iris was stunned. The fire, the passion with which her friend spoke… she understood now why Voldemort had gained so many followers. Crice, if he were still alive, she'd join up herself.
The idea of fighting for that society, of living in it: everyone fully feeling everyone else, all siblings under the aegis of Mother Magic, unable to harm each other without feeling the harm themselves, no one able to be loved without feeling that love in their heart of hearts... She could see herself dying for that.
Well, despite how fired up she got, the point was irrelevant. No matter what she may have wished, the Dark Lord was dead (and she was pointedly ignoring that it was most likely her mother's fault…), and he wasn't coming back: not even magic could bring back the dead.
NOTE: I LIIIIIIVEEEEEEEE.
That's right, after a two year drought (with one brief interruption to post some unposted chapters), I'm finally coming back! I don't know how long this wave of writing inspiration will last, but I'll try to get at least one update out every other week!
Tile comes from a Manx word meaning the first person you meet after you leave your house. If you can't tell, I listened to the Internationale on repeat while writing Daphne's speech. One day, one day…
In other news, I'm now writing two other fics, both for Worm.
The first one is Stronger Together, a poly undersiders fic which I'm co-writing with JadeMonarch on AO3.
The second is Prophet of Blood and Steel, an OC cybernetics Tinker quest I'm running on akun (aka ) and posting to Questionable Questing and probably AO3 eventually. It has poly shenanigans, friend-shipping, and multiple occasions of glorious sister-yuri! I'm PrognosticHannya on akun and QQ, so make sure to check me out!
akun: [slash] stories [slash] Prophet-of-Blood-and-Steel-Bonesaw-Powerswap-AU- [slash] HGvNXE77aDiJ4ttxB
QQ: .com [slash] threads [slash] prophet-of-blood-and-steel-worm-cybernetics-tinker-oc.15137
I have a writing Discord now too! Come join me (and occasionally my co-author when she feels like showing up).
Invite code EmTg7qQ3rY
ALSO ALSO EVERYONE SOMEONE ACTUALLY MADE FANART OF MY FIC AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
link: /z2MtMY1
THANK YOU SO MUCH ZORDAWN (personally I see my Blaise as having black hair but blonde Blaise is valid af)
I'm just sorry it took me so long to post another chapter.
