Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. There is also referenced transphobic violence and brief references to the Holocaust. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: Look, I just wanted more Apple in my life. Okay?
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 15); MC4A (Year 4)
Individual Challenges: n/a
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 15 – Assignment 02
Subject (Task No.): Quidditch Lessons (Task#1: Write about trying to keep something or someone from harm.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Fantastic Beasts [155](Borgin & Burkes); 365 Prompts [318](Getting hurt on the job); Scavenger Hunt [12](Riddle Era); Auction [3.3] (Unspeakable)
Other MC4A Challenges: SuB [3A](Brick); AU [2C](Law Enforcement); Ship (n/a)[SpBig (Baked Goods; Chocolate; Flowers; Plant Pot; Ribbon/Cord); 4E (Anger Born of Worry)]; Chim [Dextrin] (Sweater/Jumper; Royal Purple); Garden [Mixed Bag](Rain); Fire [x3](Transitional; Hearts Abound; One Two Three); TWT (mtf Apple; Riddle Era)[Task#1](Plate)
Representation(s): Edgar Bones/Apple/Violet Kohn; Riddle Era; Jewish Boneses; Jewish Violet & Apple; Trans Apple
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: n/a
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary)
Word Count: 1603 words
(^^)
Biting & Other Love Languages
(^^)
Edgar Bones was fresh out of the Auror Academy when he met the first of his soulmates. It was customary to test all cadets in the first year of training. Given how so many of the creature inheritances didn't manifest until magical adulthood, which could vary within the races, it made sense to verify that no one required specialty training. It was only subtext that the testing was to weed out the unacceptable, the impure. Thankfully, that did not mean that he would have been excluded on the basis of his Jewishness.
He was too young to remember the close brush that the Bones had had outside of England under Grindelwald. He was a young boy when the wizard had been defeated and the muggle he had been backing had fallen. Since the wixen world as a whole was not overly religious, it also didn't have the same degree of religious bigotry that the muggle world did.
But the testing also revealed that he had a soulmate that was already working in the Department of Mysteries. All he was told until he finished his training was that his soulmate existed and the Ministry would arrange their meeting after he had sufficient clearance.
So he had met Violet Kohn on the very same day that he had graduated from the Auror Academy. She was a muggleborn who was also Jewish. She had light tan skin that reminded Edgar of the newly revealed underbark of the birch trees that grew along the boundary line of the Bones estate. Her eyes were the same color as the first leaves on the oak tree that grew outside his window in the Bones manor. And in a fit of complete daring, she dyed her hair the same royal purple of the violets she had been named after.
Violet had been offered a spot as an Unspeakable right after she had set her OWLs. Unlike many of the Unspeakables, she had actually applied as soon as she had found out about the possibility instead of being recruited through the customary testing of various departments. Part of the reason for that was that there just was not a lot of opportunities for steady employment as a muggleborn woman. The rest of it was that Violet had known since she was a small child that she could speak with snakes. When she had joined the wixen world, she had also learned how feared and reviled Parselmouths were in Britain. The best place to both use her unique skills and protect her from potential backlash should her ability get out was to work for the Department of Mysteries.
Edgar met his other soulmate with his first one by his side. They had been dispatched together on a rare joint investigation between their departments that was otherwise very routine. Sometimes, it was just necessary to have Unspeakable specialists partnered with Aurors in the field. It just so happened that this time called for someone who could recognize and translate Parselscript.
So that was how they ended up entering the brick building that housed Borgin and Burkes on a rainy afternoon in April. Violet looked immaculate as usual, with her purple hair tied back in a braid with red ribbon. Her lovely face had a slight twist of the lips that would likely have been a wide smile on anyone else. She flicked her wand gracefully once the door had closed behind them, drying his jumper and making it toasty warm at the same time.
The shop was crowded with objects for sale, as it always was. Borgin and Burkes both had an eye for magical artifacts of all manner of importance, great and small. Of course, that had the added benefit of providing cover for any contraband or stolen items they were moving through the shop. It was even difficult to tell the magical auras of the objects apart given how many had similarly dark magic radiating from them like heat from a live ember.
"Be right with you," called a voice from farther back in the shop. It was distinctly not Borgin nor Burkes. It wasn't even the charming young man who had graduated Hogwarts just a few years ago and ever since then had deftly sidestepped all attempts from Violet's department for recruitment. Instead it was a cheery sounding voice that sounded vaguely familiar as if they had perhaps attended Hogwarts in the same year but not the same House.
Edgar and Violet stopped by the counter with the cash register. Aside from the register that looked like it belonged in one of the museums that Violet liked to drag him to visit, there was also a plate of what looked to be homemade blackberry jammy dodgers that had been drizzled with chocolate and a terracotta pot of fanged geraniums that were an oddly rosy shade of purple. A beaded curtain separated the front of the shop from the back.
They watched a strange glow come closer through the glass of the beads. The glow turned out to be an orb that attached to a small black rod. It was a pure white light. The orb had petals that were a dark royal purple that allowed the light to be directed. On each petal, there was a short burst of silver writing that Edgar could recognize as Parselscript only because of his familiarity with Violet's notes.
The person holding the enchanted flower-like object was like no one else Edgar had ever seen. First off, he could not tell if they were a man or a woman. Second, they were the darkest person that Edgar had ever seen. Their skin was such a deep brown that it was almost a true black. Like Violet, they had chosen to dye their hair. The short and tight curls that puffed out from their head was the exact same color as granny smith apples, which only served to emphasis the warmness of their earthy brown eyes.
"Do you know what these series of silver squiggles mean?" Edgar asked when he could gather his suddenly scattered wits. The wix in front of him gave him a grin wide enough that he could see their first molars.
"Nice alliteration, friend," they said as they stuck the rod into the geraniums' pot. Then they took a great amount of care arranging the flower so that the light shown down on the flowers.
One of the blossoms lunged towards their wrist, sinking its fangs deeply into their arm even through the sleeve of their robe. The wix made a startled cry of pain before calmly reaching out with their other hand to catch the blossom at its base. With a gentleness that Edgar was sure he would not have been able to manage under the same conditions, they forced the blossom to open and release their arm.
"Naughty thing," they scolded with the same sharpness that a knife had. "You are going to break a fang if you keep that up, and then where will you be?" They looked up at Edgar and Violet. "Now, what can I do you for?"
"Two quid and a date next Friday," Violet quipped before Edgar could even think to start explaining why they were there on professional business. Edgar stared at his soulmate with a surprised expression for a moment. That was the same line she had pulled on him when they had first met, after all. Violet blinked as if shocked at what she had just said.
"Excuse me," the wix said, sounding like Violet had just insulted their mother. Edgar was already mentally trying to plan what he would tell his supervisor later. "I'll have you know that I'm not that cheap!" They crossed their arms in front of their chest. "Make it a fiver and dancing, and I'm sold."
"How about a tenner and just dinner?" Violet countered. The wix raised an eyebrow at her. Violet used her thumb to point at Edgar. He knew exactly what she was about to say and was already blushing about it. "Edgar is an absolutely horrid dancer. Last time we went, he broke a table and nearly set the pub on fire."
"I'll take it," they said with a grin. "I'm half tempted to ask for a copper and a contract, though."
"Let's save that for later," Violet said, "and start with your name."
"Oh, I'm Apple," they answered happily. "Just Apple, no family name on account of having no family to speak of."
"Why Apple?" Edgar asked even as it sunk in that the wix must have chosen it themself. Apple's grin turned wry.
"My family didn't appreciate me telling them that I wasn't the son they thought I was. Dad started throwing things at me. One of the things—an apple—caught me in the head." They paused to brush a bit of their hair away from their face. The gesture revealed a thin scar along their hairline that was a pale tan. "I figured if they were going to through me out like bad fruit, I might as well be named appropriately." They shrugged. "Could be worse. I could have gone with Lamp. Seems a bit silly, I know."
"No," Edgar disagreed. He placed one hand flat against the counter to lean over earnestly. "I think it's perfect."
The apples of Apple's cheeks darkened ever so slightly as they ducked their head, clearly trying to hide their pleased expression. Edgar glanced over at Violet. They shared a look that they both understood to mean that no matter what else happened with the case, they were definitely keeping Apple forever.