Tag Tbd - Blog Posts

“of course, take your time…”

@evanroseier

TED LASSO (TV Series 2020– ) ➼ Episode #2.2: Lavender

Even though Alice was nearly to her due date, she ignored Moody’s hints that she should take a break and start her maternity leave. Especially with Frank gone, Alice couldn’t stand to sit around the house alone and think about all of the things that had been happening lately or how nervous she was for childbirth. She needed a distraction, and work had always been good at keeping her busy. So despite the fact that she was moving slower than an old man with a cane, Alice dragged herself to work. 

As she entered the Atrium, choosing to apparate rather than floo directly into the Auror offices at this stage of her pregnancy, Alice looked around, always marveling at the majesty that was the Atrium. Beginning to make her way towards the elevators, Alice greeted those she knew with a smile and nod. But when she stepped off the elevator onto the floor of the DMLE, Alice’s smile became a little more forced. 

Her cousin Bellatrix was standing in the hallway, an annoyed look on her face. It was impossible for Alice not to think of all the things Emmeline had shared, the way Bellatrix had tortured her. Alice had always struggled with how she should feel about her family. She had been fairly certain of Bella and Freya’s loyalties, though they had never been caught for anything, but not knowing for sure had always helped her to interact with them with a normal familial affection. But now that she had heard of the horrors Bellatrix had put Emmeline through, it was a lot harder for Alice to see Bellatrix as anything but a monster. “Oh, Bellatrix. Hello.” Alice stumbled over her words, feeling awkward. 

@bellatrxlestrcnge​

dorcxsmdws​:

…

“I know,” she said softly.  And she did know.  She did know that she was doing this well, and she knew that what she was doing was important, crucial even.  But that didn’t make it any easier.  It didn’t make it easier to give up her whole life, to throw herself into danger every day.  But she’d rather it be her than anyone else.  She knew that she could handle it.  “Hopefully we can end this sooner rather than later so that we can all have a little bit of peace.”  She smiled at her.  “Eavesdropping is how I find nearly everything I give you guys, so don’t underestimate it.  Men are sexist and will talk in front of you like you’re not even there.  Use it against them.”

She shook her head.  “But I haven’t really tried.  When a few more people get here I’ll head upstairs and see what I can find.  You’re just as pregnant as Lily is, are you sure that you’ll be okay all night?  Especially without Frank?”

...

Alice sighed, nodding in agreement with Dorcas but keeping her face neutral to keep up the illusion that they were merely making small talk. It was safer for Dorcas to interact with her than most members of the Order, but they still needed to be careful. Alice would be shocked if her cousins within the Dark Lord’s ranks didn’t have their suspicions about her own loyalty. “Yes, please Merlin just let this be over soon,” she breathed, her hands subconsciously moving to cradle her bump. Giving Dorcas an understanding smile, Alice chuckled. “Remind me to take you out for a beer when all of this is over. In fact, I think all of us will owe you free beers for life.” It wasn’t even the beginning of what they would all owe Dorcas for the danger she was putting herself in, but it was something. 

Alice waved her hand. “Oh, I’ll be fine. My parents are around here somewhere, and good manners dictate that my cousins have to be polite to me.” There was a benefit to being a Rosier, even if most of the time she would much rather have nothing to do with her extended family. She kept up the relationships anyway, knowing that those connections were invaluable in this war. Alice reached out to touch Dorcas’ arm. “Be careful,” she said seriously. “Even if they trust you, they won’t be too keen on finding you snooping through the house.”

mxrymacs​:

@alicelxngbottom​

She hadn’t been short on visitors in the past few days.  Friends had streamed in and out of her flat, with Greta being a welcome constant.  The visitors were both a comfort and a reminder that something was wrong.  She appreciated the distraction, the people to feed and to make tea for.  She appreciated not being left alone to her thoughts, to not have to dwell on everything that was wrong any more than was absolutely necessary.

When she walked into the living room after taking a shower she was unsurprised to see Alice sitting on the couch, fairly sure that Greta had let her in.  She had changed from one of Emmeline’s sweaters to another.  It was much too long, but it helped her continue to go through the motions, to not dwell on the things she couldn’t control.  She trusted that Mr. Moody was keeping his promise.  She trusted that Dorcas was doing what she could from the inside.  And she had to trust that they would let her know what she could do to help.  And in the end, the best thing that she could do was keep herself from completely falling apart.  Then she’d be of no use to anyone. 

“Hi Alice,” she smiled softly, joining her on the couch.  “Did Greta offer you some tea?  If not I can go put the kettle on?”

...

Alice was well aware of the situation going on with Emmeline; despite the fact that she was supposed to be stepping back from a lot of active work with the Order due to her pregnancy, she was still a leading member, and it wasn’t as if she could just turn off the switch and go on maternity leave from caring about those she had come to consider family. So while she wasn’t involved in any of the plans they were scheming about, she was there to scheme and suggest and plan alongside Moody and Kingsley and Albus. 

She had been so busy with that, in fact, that Alice realized far too late that three days had already passed without going to check in on Mary. Pregnancy brain or not, there was no excuse for not being there for Mary when her young friend needed her the most. So leaving the Auror office early, Alice stopped by one of her favorite bakeries for some pastries and her favorite restaurants for takeout before heading to Mary and Emmeline’s flat. Greta kindly let her in and then made herself scarce, so Alice was just sitting on the couch waiting when Mary got out of the shower and wandered in. Her face broke out into a smile at the sight of Mary, and she took it as a good sign that Mary was able to smile back, however weakly. Of course there was nothing comforting or good about the situation that they were all in, but Alice was glad that Mary was managing to hold herself together. 

“Hi, Mare,” she said softly, her gaze turning sympathetic. At the offer of tea, Alice nodded. “Tea would be lovely.” She knew Mary well enough to know that the younger witch was a caretaker by nature, much like Alice, and she also knew that Mary would find comfort in being able to take care of others, a comfort that Alice would never take away from her now. “I also brought some chinese and pastries.” 

mrlenexmc​:

tagging: @alicelxngbottom​

For all the years that they’d known each other, Marlene would have been able to spot Alice Longbottom from a mile away.  Alice may have been a few years older than Marlene, but she’d always looked up to her, and, embarrassingly enough, when she was younger had followed Alice around whenever their families were brought together.  She was both happy and nervous to see that she’d shown up to the party.  The night had so much potential to turn ugly, and while she knew that pregnant women were hardly delicate little china dolls, she held a lot of worry for both Alice and Lily.  Alice surely would have been on the guest list though, so at least she had that going for her.  Besides, because she’d known Alice for a long time, she knew that it wouldn’t have done much good to try to talk her into staying home, no matter what the danger was.  Frank seemed nowhere to be found, and after a while of debating whether or not to approach Alice, Marlene finally decided to, sidling up to her in a way that was meant to be casual but probably came across as anything but.  Surely nobody was paying them any attention, and it wouldn’t hurt to check in with her for a few minutes.

“Howdy, stranger, fancy seeing you here”, apparently Moody was rubbing off on them all.  “Are you having fun?  Should we get you some sparkling apple juice, or something?  Give people a heart attack when they think you’re drinking champagne, that could be fun.”

...

As soon as Marlene spoke, Alice recognized the figure that had sidled up to her. Though she was a few years older than Marlene and James and their friends, she had know many of them for all of their lives. Her father, being the most level-headed Rosier, tended to have stronger relationships with the types of families that her aunt and uncle would consider blood traitors, and the Potters and McKinnons fell pretty squarely in that category, along with the Weasleys and the Prewetts and a few others. So it would take much more than a simple disguise for Alice not to recognize the young woman who had always been like a little sister to her. Of course, it helped that she knew Marlene would be around here somewhere. Laughing softly at the greeting, Alice shook her head. “It seems you’ve been spending a little too much time with my mentor over there,” she replied with a slight incline of her head in Moody’s direction.

With another laugh, Alice met Marlene’s gaze. “That sounds like a splendid idea,” she said with a mischievous smile. “I’m a little tired of everyone shoving water on me, and I’d love to see the look on my aunt’s face if she thinks I’m drinking a glass of champagne at this point in my pregnancy.” Of course, Alice’s parents were probably around here somewhere too, but they were far less likely to make any sort of stink, thinking rightly that their daughter was a grown woman who could make decisions for herself. At the thought of her parents, Alice’s face turned a little more serious. “My mum and dad are around here somewhere, try not to run into them. They’d recognize you for cert, and of course they don’t know about the Order.” Beyond the fact that they had been proclaimed a terrorist organization, that was. “They would probably be smart enough not to blow your cover, but just in case.”

evanroseier​:

Where: We all know where Who: @alicelxngbottom​

With hands in his pockets, Evan wandered the main room under the request of Greta that he spend some time interacting with the friends and family she knew he’d have at the party. Normally one would take it as a bad sign that their date had been so intent on getting rid of them, but they’d only come as friends and he knew Greta had only good intentions on the matter. She was big on family and friends, of course, she wouldn’t want to be the cause of him missing out by standing by her side all night.

He’d almost called it quits on the rounds he was making around the party, figured he’d been gone long enough, made enough conversation to please Greta on his return. However, his plans immediately changed when he spotted a familiar figure, albeit a bit bigger than when he’d last saw her, but his cousin was pregnant that was part of the whole deal.“Not even late pregnancy can keep you from the duty of showing up to a Pureblood party, huh?”  He asked, approaching not to think if she’d recognize him with a mask or not, after all, he’d been able to pick her out.

...

Alice was just beginning to eye the tables on the far end of the ballroom, thinking about giving a rest to her aching feet, when a familiar voice floated towards her. Turning to find the source, her face broke into a wide smile as her eyes landed on her cousin Evan. He may have been wearing a mask, but she would recognize him anywhere. Of all the cousins on her father’s side of the family, Evan was probably her favorite. Andromeda was beginning to grow on her too, and Annalise was always amusing to be around, but none of them had the easy charm and cheer that Evan seemed to possess, a remarkable feat considering how harsh her uncle always acted towards his only son.

Alice laughed, shaking her head. “Well, ten years is a lot to celebrate,” she pointed out, motioning toward where their cousin Bellatrix stood across the room. “Besides, you know as well as I do that if any of us happened to miss this, Aunt Druella would bring it up in the most passive aggressive way possible for the next ten years.” Taking a slight step back, she gave him a quick once-over, smiling. “Now you look quite dashing tonight, Evan. Do you have a date you need to get back to, or can you keep your old pregnant cousin some company? I was just about to find a place to sit down and rest my swollen feet.”

dorcxsmdws​:

@alicelxngbottom

She was grateful for people like Alice – the ones who both knew her and that she could still speak publicly too.  The event had just begun, and people were still milling in the main room when she spotted Alice from across the dance floor.  Grabbing a glass of water and a cup of champagne for herself she walked over to where she was standing – she passed her the water and smiled.  “A nice turnout, don’t you think?  And still so early in the evening.”

She didn’t know Alice well, not really.  She had worked with her.  She trusted her.  But she didn’t know her – she didn’t know her favorite color or how she took her tea or her third favorite dragon.  It was a small distinction, but it was an important one for Dorcas, who had never been great at opening up to most people.  “How are you doing?  I’m sure it’s a bit uncomfortable, but there are lots of people who are glad you made it, I’m sure.”

...

Alice was grateful for her status as a pureblood cousin of Bellatrix Lestrange that got her an invite to this party, but she was wishing (not for the first time) that Frank were back from his mission and here with her. As an Auror and a high ranking member of the Order, Alice was no rookie when it came to dangerous situations, but the eight month bump she was sporting made her feel exceptionally nervous about the mission she knew her fellow Order members were currently executing. Somehow she had managed to avoid suspicions about her loyalty from her father’s family, and with her firstborn child about to arrive, it seemed necessary to keep things that way. But if something were to go wrong and one of the Order members were caught, Alice knew she couldn’t just stand by and watch.

So she was feeling a little on edge as Dorcas Meadowes approached her with a glass of water in hand. Relieved for a bit of company (especially from one whose position was similarly delicate), Alice smiled in welcome to the younger woman. Gratefully taking the water, Alice nodded. “I’m glad to be here too,” she replied quietly, her gaze once more sweeping across the crowd for any familiar figures. “I know I’m not much use right now, but it feels good to just be here.” She motioned to her belly with a slight laugh before turning her gaze back to Dorcas. “How are you? I’m sure this is all very nerve wracking for you.”