Suck It Up

[Rayna Zhefarovich]

Rayna Zhefarovich, dressed in a long, silver gown that clung to every curve on her body, made her way through the town that she was visiting in. Her children, all four of them, were busy with their lives. One of them was adopted, because of her twin sister dying in a match against an Auror that was very powerful. Rayna wanted to seek revenge, but her family did not want another sibling to be taken from them. After losing Arnost and Raisa, Rayna did not want to lose herself along the way. She made amends with her former husband, before the two were married, again, last year. She wanted more children but he seemed a little uneasy about having someone like her pregnant again. She longed for the feeling of a babe within her. Maybe one day, she would have that feeling once more. She had a scare this month, but it was definitely a scare that she wasn’t pregnant that came true. Asparuh seemed to be rolling his eyes constantly at his sister's behavior. Maybe it was time that they move from the manor, but she had been there for so long, she could not stand to leave. Except on little outings.

Something caught her dark eyes, which has a flitting hint of silver. A house that looked familiar. Well, a name that went with the house. Something hyphen White. She remembered someone with that last name. Ah, yes, Regius. Another pure-blood, one that she had some connections with, mainly with her shop. She made dresses for people, but she took extra care for those with noble blood. Strolling up to the door, she made a fist with her hand, and knocked on the door several times. Rayna then reached behind her head and let her hair fall out of the bun it was kept in with a couple of pins. She discarded them in her small purse, as she waited for an answer. 'I wonder what the man is like now. After all, time has a way of changing people,' thought Rayna, before a thought crossed her head, 'Oh, what if he turned into an ignorant sap? I'll have to change that.' A purple sash wrapped around her waist, and cleverly hid her Dark Mark still on her arm. It might be a scar by now, but it was still visible. And, she was still an active member. Others lost faith, but she sure hasn't.​

 

[Regius Kendall-White]

The soft glow of the midday sun filtered through the gap in Regius Kendall-White's curtains, casting a strip of light across the living room. The room was barely distinguishable from every other in the house, since its furniture was completely buried under piles of parchment and overflowing ash trays. The abandoned fireplace, which also happened to be filled with paper, and the armchair Regius was sitting in were the only clues that it was a living room at all. Regius sighed, prising his eyes away from a spot on the wall that he had been staring at for over an hour. He placed down his quill, accepting the fact he was getting nowhere with his writing. He'd been stuck on the same page of his book for three days, unable to form coherent sentences in his head. The alcohol certainly wasn't helping, but without that he couldn't bring himself to face the blank pages of his half written book in the first place. Sighing, Regius lifted himself out of his chair and stretched his cramping legs, heading clumsily to the kitchen to look for another bottle of beer. The kitchen was almost in a worse state than the living room, with its counters caked in such a thick layer of grime that it was impossible to tell what its original colour was. He opened each and every cupboard, becoming more and more frustrated as each one proved empty. "Great," Regius snapped, reaching into his trouser pocket for a cigarette and finding nothing but an empty box. He threw it on the floor, heading into the hallway, up the creaky wooden stairs and into the bathroom.

For some reason, though he saw it every day, the sight of his face in the bathroom mirror caught Regius off guard. His dark hair, streaked with silvery grey, the creases on his forehead, the stubble on his chin and the harshness of his expression only saddened him further. Once upon a time, many years ago, he had been a happy man. Handsome, too, though he presumed if he'd taken any care over his personal appearance the latter might still have been true. Suddenly, several sharp knocks at the front door made Regius jump. He splashed some water over his face, drying it with his sleeve as he headed back downstairs. He wondered who on earth it could be. He certainly wasn't expecting any guests. Opening the door, Regius found himself stood in front of a rather attractive woman, dressed in a long, silver gown. He stood in silence for a moment, wondering where he recognized her from. A lightbulb almost visibly went off in his head. "Rayna?" He said, looking her up and down again. There was no mistaking it. This was the woman who had once made beautiful gowns for his wife. After his wife had died, Regius had never returned to Rayna's shop, nor given her an explanation as to his disappearance. He wondered why she had chosen today to turn up out of the blue. "I, uh, do you want to come in?" Regius stumbled over his words, standing aside from the door in case she did. He glanced nervously at the state of his hallway, quickly kicking a pile of unopened letters under a dusty sideboard. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the stench of alcohol, smoke, and vomit which lingered in the air, nor the yellow stains lining his wallpaper. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting guests," He said gruffly, gesturing with a hand to the state of the place.

 

[Rayna Zhefarovich]

As soon as the door opened, Rayna was blessed with the face of a handsome man, despite the fact that he had gray within his hair. Her dark eyes could spot age within a mile away. With the right care, her hair was absent of anything like that. After all, beauty did not last forever but she was taking advantage of what all she had right now. However, she was not expecting Regius to recognize her right away. It had been quite some time since she saw the pure-blood. Folding her arms across her chest, her eyebrow raised at his appearance. And, she gave a slight nod when he asked if she was Rayna. "Indeed, in the flesh. I could be mistaken as Raisa, if she had not died over a decade ago," Rayna briefly looked down, hiding her despair over losing her sister. She adopted her daughter, and it was like a miniature version of her sister. She loved Hela as one of her own. She didn't know if Raisa would have dealt with Regius and his wife at the time, since her memory of all the customers' relations with her late sister was unknown. Raisa had some joyous times, but she was one of the most reserved of the siblings. Rayna loved to have some fun, and she did before she was married, with men and women.

"Yes, thank you," Rayna passed through the threshold to enter the home. Immediately, the smell made her raise an eyebrow. Someone was not dealing very well. Rayna felt like just her presence alone made everything light up. She heard his apology, before she smirked slightly, her heels clicking together as she adjusted her stance. Rayna turned her body to face Regius before placing her hand on her hip, "What in the hell happened to you? This is no way for a pure-blood to live. I've seen some filth before, but this, this almost tops it." Rayna was harsh, but she meant for the best. Rayna never beat around the bush either. If it was something that was on her mind, she had no filter at all. Nothing could old back her mouth and opinion. Her ruby red lips stopped smirking, and her expression turned serious. Perhaps there was a reason why she was here. She had to help someone. In a twisted way, but hopefully her husband would not mind too much, that she was out with another male.​

 

[Regius Kendall-White]

Regius lowered his head at the mention of Raisa's passing. He had not been particularly well acquainted with her twin sister. In fact, until Rayna had brought it up, he'd forgotten she had a sister at all. Regius was all too familiar with the devastation that followed the death of a family member. Of course he was; if he wasn't, his life wouldn't have deteriorated the way it had. "I'm sorry to hear that," Regius said truthfully. No matter how many years passed, the pain never eased. Still, Rayna seemed to be coping a lot better than Regius was, and his wife had died over twenty years ago. It was strange, he thought, how some people could be so resilient, eventually bouncing back from emotional trauma with a smile on their face and a spring in their step, whilst others were completely destroyed by it. Regius wished he could have been more like the former. Twenty years of his life had vanished in the blink of an eye, and there was no way of turning back the time. If he could, he certainly would have done things differently, realising that whilst necessary to heal, nothing useful could ever come from grieving.

Regius winced as he prepared himself for a stern talking to. He momentarily felt like a child again, what little confidence he had shrinking until it ceased to exist. He hung his head, humiliated by not only what he had become, but also that Rayna was seeing it. "I know," Was all Regius could say, when he finally found his voice again. He wondered if Rayna had heard the news of his wife's passing. It must have seemed strange, since she and him were frequent visitors to Rayna's shop, for them to have suddenly disappeared without an explanation. "Rose died," Regius said, still feeling a sharp stab in his chest when he said it. "And then my girls, they.. they.. I'm a terrible father!" Regius couldn't believe that he was on the verge of crying. Despite how much it hurt that his wife was gone forever and his children had grown up without a dad thanks to his depression and neglect, Regius had never been able to cry. For twenty years, a certain numbness had taken over him, preventing him from feeling the emotions he had so desperately needed to feel. Yet all of a sudden, his eyes were filling with tears, his throat constricted as he started to hyperventilate. It certainly wasn't the warmest of welcomes for his old friend. "I'm sorry," Regius apologised, managing to calm himself down. "Perhaps I should make tea," He suggested, hoping that Rayna would stay. He wasn't even certain that there were any clean mugs in his kitchen, but he knew there were chairs, and he desperately needed to sit down.

 

[Rayna Zhefarovich]

Rayna merely waved her hand at the mention that he said that he was sorry about Raisa's death. "I've lost two siblings by this point, only one didn't want to stay dead. It is tragic, but you learn to move on." It was easier to deal with the death of Arnost, since he came back as a ghost, during his funeral. Evil never really stayed dead for some. Rayna would never want to stick around as a ghost. Pleasures in life were much too amazing to ever have to miss. She loved eating, drinking, sex, she loved it all. She would never live an eternal life without it. After all, she could never birth children if she were a ghost. She could never hold her grandchildren! Once her children finally got around to making her a grandmother. She still remained on their case. Aarika, she could understand with her fiancee over in a third world country. Shane though, he was seeing someone beautiful and wouldn't hurry it along! Rayna chucked her thoughts out the window, and turned her attention to Regius. All he had to say were two words, which made her raise an eyebrow. Was that it? Then, she heard the explanation. His wife passed, and his daughters did something to make him believe that he was a terrible father.

Looking over the house, assumptions clicked within, and she could only imagine what his actions did. Neglect, rejection, all of that came into her mind. She had not seen him in about, perhaps twenty years, so if Rose died around that time, that was an awful long time to just dwell on the past. Move on, and make it better. "I suppose that your children suffered from your lack of ability to move on and be strong." Harshly put, Rayna knew exactly what she was saying. 'Not everyone could be strong like a Zhefarovich, I suppose. Then again, emotional detachment was practically beaten into us since birth,' thought Rayna. She heard stories on how ruthless her father was. She never had the pleasure of knowing him. It might have been for the best. Regius apologized for his behavior, as he had every right to do so, and then suggested that he should make tea. Rayna gave a short nod, and walked toward where she assumed the kitchen was. "Well, you know perhaps I came at a perfect time. You need help, and let's just say I am your little angel on your shoulder. What this place needs is a good, clean atmosphere. I assume you remember you are a wizard still and know have to wave your wand. You need to live again. And I can show you how to do so," Rayna winked playfully toward the pure-blood, and retrieved her wand from the holder upon her upper thigh.​

 

[Regius Kendall-White]

Regius was baffled by Rayna's courage. Losing one loved one was bad enough, but two? Regius felt his heart tear for her, yet she seemed to be OK with her losses. He truly did admire her bravery. Regius's Father had never been brave, nor sympathetic. In fact, he hadn't even had the decency to turn up to his wife's funeral. Whether he had been too upset, or whether he simply didn't care, Regius would never know. His Father's death had perhaps been the only one that hadn't torn him apart. It was, after all, hard to love a complete stranger. His disappearance from Regius's life was hardly even noticed, since he'd never been there in the first place. He was a coward. Like Father, like son, Regius thought, the realisation sinking in that he was just as much of a failure as his Dad had been. The thought angered him, and his fists clenched. The words Rayna spoke next only angered him further, but he knew she was only telling the truth. Perhaps it was what he needed to hear to snap him out of his depression.

"I suspect you may be right," Regius admitted, all at once grateful for Rayna's conveniently timed appearance. Her harsh words and honesty may have hurt, but she was the only one who had been brave enough to tell him he needed to man up. He didn't like what he was hearing - at all - but what choice did he have but to listen? Unless he wanted to spend another 20 years in this mess, he was going to have to pull himself together sharpish. Regius cracked a genuine smile for the first time in years, albeit a small one. "Forget how to wave a wand? My dear Rayna, you underestimate me." Regius pulled his wand from his pocket as he followed Rayna into the kitchen. His lack of house care and attention to personal hygiene were not from lack of skill. The house was a mess, but with the right magic, it wouldn't take long to sort it out. Regius simply hadn't been bothered. Truth be told, he had for a moment forgotten he was a Wizard, but he would not have admitted this to his guest. Regius had been living as a muggle for so long that when they reached the kitchen, instead of using magic, he filled a pot of water from the sink and began attempting to heat up the stove. If Rayna wanted to reform him, she was going to have her work cut out for her.

 

[Rayna Zhefarovich]

Rayna could understand the loss of someone that she loved. It might not have been a spouse, but she did leave him once upon a time, only to return to start over. Rayna desired that they would remain together, and die together in their sleep. That way, she would not have to know the feeling of loss. Her lips curled into a soft smile, knowing that Regius was just a human. That they all were. She lost most of her humanity by the time she was in the second war at Hogwarts. She fought for Lord Voldemort, and even today, supported his cause. He'd return one day. She knew it. As soon as she heard the delightful words that she was right, all felt right within the world. "I know." She moved her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. "I wouldn't have said so if I didn't know." Rayna knew that she sounded somewhat conceited there, but honestly, she was confident. One could say that she was overly so. She flaunted her good looks and powerful magic toward anyone she met, almost as if she were trying to assert dominance. She felt better when she was in charge.

Her lips curled into a smirk, as she raised her eyebrows. She looked toward Regius and wondered if he would actually wave his wand around. She could have challenged him, tell him to show her how it was done, but it seemed like he was beating her to the punch. "Ah, magic is always flattering to witness. Especially when someone claims that I underestimate them." She hoped that he would use his magic to make this place suitable to her eyes. Would he do her that favor? If he truly wanted to get over and move on from Rose, he would need to be able to make this place better. Rid everything that would bring him down. Then, he would have to live like a wizard. Watching him, Rayna's smirk ceased as she watched him fill a pot of water and put it on the stove in the muggle manner. She twirled her wand within her fingers, and she let out a sigh of disappointment. "You know, I have a lot of work to do here. How long as it been since you left the house?" She was wanting to take him out. Perhaps enjoy a day out. She knew a world of wonders out there for the picking.​