Like a Moth to a Flame
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 —— ——summary, this thread is happening throughout APRIL 2023 - APRIL 2025 with Ludwig Böhme (NPC) / wc: 592. Destruction. It was everywhere and Harlan couldn't imagine that Caoimhe would dig her nails into him so viciously. She had seen through his little ploy, their childlike crush and beginning of something special quickly turned violent and nasty as others chipped in and plagued her mind that Harlan was something of a venomous social climber. Not to say that wasn't entirely true, but there was far more nuance to it all than Harlan wanting to only use her for her status and prestige. When she had decided to break him into pieces, she did it with a violence and tenacity that shook Harlan to his core. Was he to expect the vipress of Slytherin to ever turn her fangs onto him? Of course not, he had been playing the part of fruitful boyfriend in hopes that what started as illusion might actually exist one day in truth. He knew that once she turned on him, it would be over but there was always a sliver of hope that he could fix it, make it better, and return it back galvanized and even stronger. However, his sister knew better and watched in real time as her first year brother began spiraling without even realizing it. Harlow was the one who kept checking in on him, making sure he was eating, and otherwise pushing him to the finish line of his first year. She knew that Harlan was too young, too ambitious, too naive on the pureblood society's upper echelon to make it out the other end unscathed, but that was a lesson that he needed to learn if he wanted to face the fangs ever again. Resilience wasn't a trait that was taught, it was a resolved earned and fortified by whatever motivation centered the desire. For Harlow? It was their mother's kindness through their father's unmiraculous display of mediocrity and wanting more for them all. For Harlan? He'd need to figure out what was potent enough to steel him for the fires ahead. And right now, he needed to rebuild himself brick by brick and that's what Harlow had told their parents. The twelve year old hadn't felt much and didn't have the energy at all to fight against his family to return go Hogwarts. In fact, he'd much rather forget about the entire ordeal knowing that his ex girlfriend would have turned their entire year against him as some no good pureblood loser who hadn't enough wealth or status to keep up with any of the Pureblood Slytherin population. It was through the little to no pushback that the Montgomery's decided to homeschool Harlan for at least the first semester of his second year with his maternal grandparents under the guise that his grandparents needed the help. It was an awful lie, but Harlan's oma taught Charms for a very long portion of her career and was happy to ensure that her grandson would get anything and everything that he needed to succeed. It wouldn't be the same as Hogwarts, obviously, but that's not what the boy needed right now. Who knew that Germany would be where so many things in his life would change? How a two year sabbatical from traditional schooling methods would propelled Harlan into the force he would be when he returned? How a chance encounter with a beautiful Teenager Squib would open his eyes to his own bisexuality. However, the most important lesson learned was that there was a way forward that honored his family but more important, while also honoring himself and what he wanted. |
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Like a Moth to a Flame
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—— ——summary, this thread is happening throughout APRIL 2023 - APRIL 2025 with Ludwig Böhme (NPC) / wc: 721. When Harlan moved to Germany, all it took was a portkey close to his grandparent's wizarding community with his trunk and other belongings as if he was headed to Hogwarts. It felt a little silly, considering that he could've just been brought back and forth, but with his parents busy with work it made more sense to have him settle in fully with them and letting them visit whenever they wanted to. As much as Harlan loved his parents (moreso his mother than his father), the break from their pressure to succeed and climb felt very much needed and his German family always poked and prodded Arnold and his family's desire for more. They had always been comfortable with what they had and who they were. Obviously, it helped that the Müller's had significantly more than the Montgomery's did, but even that wasn't quite enough to fulfill his father's generational pressure to ascend into a great Pureblood family. The pressure was always immense and the grilling of what they'd been doing to ensure it happened was incredulous. With all of his life packed away into an assortment of trunks, Harlan entered into his grandparent's home filled with nerves and uncertainty. He felt like an icarus fallen, an ambition son whose love affair had scorned him close to death. The Gryffindor, well, ex-Gryffindor, should've known way better than to aim so high in such a short amount of time. But with a light hand placed on his shoulder from his Grandmother, Harlan was able to finally let out his bated breath. This was a safe space, the smell all of Harlan's favorite German desserts wafting through the entire home was a testament to that. " Well, Haalan. " Elke, Harlan's Grandmother, said with her thick accent and a warmth that was incredibly uncharacteristic to German witches. That had never been the Müller's and Portia, Harlan's mother, had to remind both of her children constantly that although they had the Montgomery name that they would always be half hers too. And with that half, came generosity, intellect, and warmth. Portia's goal was never success or accolades, she had simply fallen in love with a man who craved it and she had to remind him that it wasn't worth the pressure to obsess over something that truly was out of their control. " Let us get settled, yes? " The words finished with his Oma's signature style as she slid her wand out from her pocket and said an incantation before pointing her wand end at his belongings. Each piece of luggage rose a foot off the ground and rushed with various speeds into his mother's old room. " You can stay in your mother's old room. You might see how similar you two actually are. " She let out a grounded chuckle, like rubble shaking through a sifter as though she knew far more than she was letting on. " Your Opa is out to the market, but he'll be home later. Why don't you get settled and you come out for us to cook dinner together. " Another warm smile, but a strong hand gesturing Harlan to the room. She wanted him to rest, to start to feel comfortable so that he didn't feel stuck or broken after every major incident. " Okay Oma, love you. " The words came out as natural as they did from Harlan but it didn't have the same charisma or energy that he was known for. His disheveled hair tossed from side to side as he slumped his way to his new room, still reeling over the stress from being ridiculed in front such a group of Hogwarts student. Sure, it was silly and sure, it was a lot to be pulled out of school, but the hurt hit Harlan deep. He wasn't sure how to move forward or how he'd show face again at school, but his family was sure that this little bump in the road wasn't going to be a wall too tall to stop him in his tracks. This house and its kindness, its softness was supposed to rebuild him. Brick by brick, Harlow had said and maybe it would. What he didn’t know was that one of those bricks would be named Ludwig Böhme. |
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Like a Moth to a Flame
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—— ——summary, this thread is happening throughout APRIL 2023 - APRIL 2025 with Ludwig Böhme (NPC) / wc: 296. In the first week that had passed, Harlan had found his routine in the little things that his grandparents had done. His grandfather spent every morning with the sun as it rose over the Alps with its brilliant radiance touching all of their Wizarding village and the fifty or so different family that made it up. He remembered running around the cobblestone streets as a young kid during the Winter all bundled up from the chill with some of the other kids in the village. They had pretend Quidditch matches on make believe brooms and everyone were fast friends when societal norms and pressures weren't something to consider. " You know, Harlan. You're a strong kid, but we have to make your mind stronger. " His opa's hand, strong and sturdy from a career of metal magic work, touched against his grandson's temple with an intention to help his grandson realize his own work. " Your Dad, his pressure can be too much. You just need to do you. " The extended finger moves downward until it presses into the place where Harlan's heart would be underneath the layers of clothes the newly minted teenager is wearing. " It's fine, Opa. I know. Dad just wants the best for us. I'll be fine, okay? " Harlan lies through his teeth, cheery disposition plastered on as though his grandfather isn't able to see right through the facade. " You are not fine, my boy. That is why we are here. " With a shake of head, his grandfather retracts his finger and shakes his head in disappointment. " But, me and Oma will always be here. However time you need. " Hand on Harlan's shoulder with a squeeze as the sun continues its ascent, the morning slowly waking up the rest of the stillness within the village. |
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