This is part of Aly's Cast the Bronze storyline. You can find other portions here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Sink all my teeth into a million-dollar mold...

These early days of summer were proving to be busier than the school year. At least she had no homework (outside of her own, somewhat futile, attempts at studying for her upcoming N.E.W.T.s), but the soon-to-be seventh year had seemingly been all over England in the last several days and would only be going to further spots in the next few. First it had been back to England from the Scottish Highlands on the Hogwarts Express, just to spend a night in her childhood bed in Welwyn Garden City before Flooing off to Plymouth to briefly visit @Pericles Dralt; she'd just come "home" to the Salinger residence in Welwyn yesterday, and now here her mother was, dragging her into Diagon Alley as if Aly wasn't in desperate need of rest. Tomorrow was @Winnie Athanatos's wedding, after all - even with @Dealla Prince and @Evelynn Decipio there to have her back, it was bound to be exhausting and potentially dangerous, and the Ravenclaw needed all the sleep she could get. So why was she here, climbing the steps of Gringotts with about as much luster as a rusted mirror?

Her mother, Hesper Livingston-Salinger, hadn't said much about the trip; just that she needed to pick something up from Gringotts, and that she'd like it very much if Aly would come along with her. This in and of itself was suspicious. Hesper was not known to disclose her comings and goings to anyone, least of all her seventeen-year-old daughter, nor was she the type to invite Aly to come run an errand by her side. Still, the tone in Hesper's sharp-edged voice made it clear that it was less of an invitation or request and more of a demand, as was more typical of the former Slytherin. Plus, with Winnie's wedding in less than twenty-four hours, Aly was certainly in need of some tools for just-in-cases: an extra brand-new set of Hardanger's so she wouldn't need to use her personal makeup on the bride, some extra pins for her hair and perhaps a jar of Sleekeazy's, and, most importantly, an extra calf sheath. She already had one for her wand, but with certain guests that would most likely be in attendance at the matrimony, having another one so that the girl could hide a blade underneath her tight-fitting and horribly pink dress would almost certainly come in handy.

Hesper insisted, though, on going to Gringotts first to pick up whatever little thing she deemed so terribly important. "There will be time for purchases later, Alyssa," the Auror insisted as she led the way up the stairs into the lopsided gilded building, not even stopping to hold the bronze door for her daughter; Aly barely caught the heavy entrance, using all her strength to try pull it open. Failed strength roll - rolls in Reducio below. Unfortunately, the door was metres taller and much heavier than she and the goblin doorman, clad in gold and scarlet, had to step in to assist so she could slip inside after her mother. An embarrassed flush spread over the Ravenclaw's freckled face as she meekly followed Hesper through the entrance hall and another set of doors, these ones silver and engraved with a riddle to deter thieves. Despite having no intention to take anything that wasn't hers or her mother's, Aly still felt her hands break out into a cold sweat and she wrung them as subtly as she could by her stomach. What if I accidentally steal something?! I'd best keep my hands to myself. After struggling even more with the second set of doors Failed strength roll x2 and once again having to defer to a goblin's help just to open them, Aly hurried into the grandiose main lobby. Several young children with their parents nearby were gawking at the high ceilings that stretched out towards oblivion, the ornate marble carvings, and the gold inlay that seemed to sparkle and glitter everywhere they looked, but Aly was used to it. She'd grown up her whole life a witch and every year since her first at Hogwarts visiting Gringotts before the school year to grab some money for back-to-school shopping. This no longer wowed her like it once had.

What did surprise her, however, is where Hesper walked; she didn't head directly for the goblin at the far end of the elongated hall, where she normally went to access the Salinger family vault, but instead took a purposeful left turn, her sharp heels clicking on the tiled floor below. Her brows furrowing in confusion, Aly followed, glancing back over her shoulder to see if there had perhaps been a direction or out of order sign in the main hall - but no, everything was just as it always was. So why had Hesper decided that now, of all times, was the perfect instance in which to take an odd detour?

Though the teen was no Seer, the answer came in the form of a hallucination - or perhaps just seeing double. Though her mother was decidedly walking in front of her, her long and shining black hair swishing back and forth as she took each step, there was also a version of her mother just ahead - though this one had cut her mane short, so that it fell in soft locks over her forehead and curled just slightly at the nape of her neck. Aly blinked, faltering in a step and almost tripping directly onto a passing goblin. As she dodged successful EVA roll just barely and mumbled a quiet apology to the goblin, who gave her a strange look and kept walking as if nothing had happened, Aly looked back up to ensure that she hadn't been imagining things - but no, they were ten metres from the woman who looked so much like her mother, then five, then two, and then the clones crashed together in an extravagant hug.

"How good of you to make it, Hesper," the clone said, squeezing her arms tightly around Aly's mother. "Your loss has been so deeply felt."

"And yours in my life, as well," came Hesper's voice, nearly identical in tone, volume, and general sound. "It has been too long, Cassie. Far too long."

They stepped apart, holding each other at arm's length for one moment, and then Hesper turned to - oh, there were other people standing behind the clone. Cassie. Who in the bloody hell is - And then, realisation. Aly's mother had never quite talked much about her family during her daughter's childhood; all the Ravenclaw knew is that they were estranged, Hesper having been disowned whether officially or unofficially when she chose to marry Aly's father Benjamin. Hesper had two siblings, a brother and a sister. It all knit itself together in Aly's mind, as if yarn charmed by the most slow-acting of wands. This must be the sister. They're practically identical - twins, perhaps? Which means the rest of these are... Aly's green gaze flitted over the other people there: three elder persons, two men and a woman. One of the men looked much more elderly than the other two, with his hair of pure white and his slightly hunched stature; the other older man had salt-and-pepper hair and small, round glasses, and he stood beside the older greying-blonde woman, her hand resting in the crook of his elbow. The more Aly looked, the more she saw little bits and pieces that seemed familiar - the woman had her mother's sharp, discerning eyes and long, thin nose, for instance, and the younger of the two men sported her mother's thin face and darker colouring in the hair and gaze. My other family. Grandparents. And even a great-grandfather.

For Aly - a girl who had grown up mostly with her only family being her father and mother and house-elves, seeing as how she had no siblings, one side was estranged, and the other mostly deceased - it was nearly overwhelming.

A hand flew to her mouth as Hesper greeted the rest of the family with firm handshakes and kisses on cheeks that didn't quite make contact, then turned and extended a hand to Aly. "Mother, Father - Grandfather, Cassie. Allow me to take great pride in introducing my only daughter, Alyssa. She has been, as you can see, quite eager to make your acquaintance and retake her rightful position as a part of our bloodline." To Aly, she directed: "Alyssa, these are your grandparents on my side, Caelum and Darcy Livingston - as well as my grandfather from my mother's family, Keithen Priestly, and my twin sister, Cassiopeia Surrency. You may call her your Aunt Cassie."

Honestly, Aly didn't even register the second part or the bit about bloodlines; her mind was already reeling from the introduction of family members and the bald-faced falsehood that Hesper had told Aly of exactly why they were her today. Pick something up from Gringotts, my arse. Still, she had some manners, at least, and stepped forward to tentatively extend her hand to each of the three in turn. "It's a pleasure to meet you - my pleasure," she hastily corrected as the two men shook her hand; the woman, however, leaned forward and pecked Aly first on one cheek and then the other, leaving the Ravenclaw feeling only the ghosts of her kisses there.

The woman then turned to the man whose elbow she still held. As if Aly wasn't even there, she worriedly clucked, "Awfully short she is, Caelum."

Caelum - Aly's grandfather, as she was still coming to understand - used his free hand to lower his spectacles slightly on his lumpy nose, peering at Aly over them as if she were a specimen of some kind. Aly shifted uncomfortably, being rather unused to this type of interaction. "Her height is no issue," he declared in a low murmur of a voice, and for a moment Aly was positively relieved that someone was defending her... until he continued on: "But the hair, and the eyes, oh, goodness be. She looks not like a Livingston."

"But neither does Mother," piped up Aunt Cassie, and Aly looked at her with new eyes; it was almost, momentarily, as if her own mother had defended her, and she was pleasantly surprised at how good that felt.

However, it was easily quashed by Darcy with a flippant wave of her ringed hand. "Whether I fit in the family portraits is no matter, since I married into the family. An heiress, however, should be able to carry her family's merit and image upon her..." Blue eyes practically stripped Aly into a skeleton with how disapprovingly they raked over her. "Very thin shoulders. Alyssa, has your house-elf not fed you? Hesper, dear, I say you fire the creature; we can provide you with more that shall properly carry out their jobs."

"It is done, Mother," Hesper said with a nod of her head. "I shall inform it when we return."

Aly whirled on her in shock, unable to believe that Hesper would so easily dismiss Becca, the Salinger house-elf, after all she had done to raise Aly - and at the whim of her long-estranged mother, no less. Becca had been the one to witness the Ravenclaw's first instance of magic, to cook and clean and assist her in anything she needed, to act as a sort of parent to the girl when she had been young and her parents had been away at their respective offices. Why hadn't Hesper just stood up to Darcy? However, before she could so much as say anything - Aly had just barely opened her mouth to complain - Hesper shot her a look that would have had Aly dead in a fraction of an instant, if her eyes had carried that power. Instead, it carried a simple message, one which Aly knew all too well: Alyssa, that is enough. We will discuss this later. And suddenly Aly understood how easy it had been for Darcy to control Hesper with just a sentence, for so too was Aly controlled with just a glance.

"Oh, no need for that, Hesper dear," Darcy said with almost a merry laugh in her tone, as if they were discussing what to serve for afternoon tea rather than dismissing the house-elf that had served Aly's family for nearly two decades. "I'll have one of the family's elves go and inform it of its replacement, and our elf will stay there until you can come to the manor and select a handful for yourself. Now. Shall we? We haven't all day, as well you know." The grandmother looped her arm from her husband's and took both daughters by their shoulders, steering them away towards the goblin at the end of the long room - the one that would bring them all to their vaults. The two men hobbled off behind her, and it was only then that Aly noticed her great-grandfather using a cane, its bronze handle formed in the shape of an eagle with spread wings. Her spirits lifted somewhat, as much as they could whilst being positively crushed about the idea that Becca might not be at home when she returned to Welwyn - maybe she wasn't entirely surrounded by Slytherins after all. She followed meekly behind her grandfather and great-grandfather, mind positively racing as to what in the name of Lear's stickiest earwax had just happened.

Truly, now and five minutes ago felt as if they were worlds - nay, universes apart.

So lost in her own world was Aly that she completely missed Hesper giving the goblin teller a different, much lower, vault number than usual, and Caelum handing over a key of shimmering gold rather than their usual silver. Instead, she just followed, truly dumbfounded at the events that had just transpired, behind her family as they traipsed behind the goblin and piled into a minecart that seemed too small to fit them all and yet in which they all sat comfortably. Unwittingly, she was serving quite well the family policy that children should be seen and not heard; Aly knew not of this, but it was still serving in raising the family's hopes that Hesper had raised her to be "the right sort" - not that she was to be told that, not yet. She sat quietly during the bumpy and altogether nauseating ride, listening to Hesper chatter on with her family as if they hadn't ever been estranged: "Oh, Cassie, I was so sorry to hear about Gallus..." "Hesper, dear, tell me about how your career is getting on..." "Grandfather, do you need a handkerchief?" "Now Alyssa, do inform us of your school career. Seventh year beginning - you must have done some things of note since you started at Hogwarts. Will you not remind me of your House again?"

Aly's head snapped upwards at the sound of her name, her golden-brown curls falling into her face despite the rhinestoned barrettes that were supposed to be pinning them out of her eyes. "Hm? Oh, yes. School. I'm a Ravenclaw, sir," she blurted out, the thought of calling the man who had asked her her grandfather not even a blip on her radar. She didn't miss how most of the faces around her fell at the name, nor did she miss how Keithen Priestly's lit up at it, his thumb rubbing over the bronze eagle handle on his cane. "I'm the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, in fact - I play Seeker. And I write for the Hogwarts Headliner, too - I'm the team lead of the writers."

"Foolishness and buffoonery," came from Darcy's side of the cart. "No one bearing the Livingston name should meddle in something so low as journalism. We are written about, Alyssa; we need not do the writing ourselves. Quidditch, however, is a most noble pursuit - how wonderful to hear you have followed in your mother's footsteps, at least thus far."

Caelum's lips were twisted into a frown. "I am most concerned about this... Ravenclaw business. All in our direct line have been Slytherins since Hogwarts' earliest years, and now our lone grandchild left in England must sport the eagle blue? Most perturbing, I say."

To Aly's surprise, her mother spoke up in an almost-defence of her, with a gesture towards Aly's great-grandfather. "We must remember that Grandfather was a Ravenclaw, and it could have been worse - she could have landed in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor." Whilst both of Aly's grandparents nodded and murmured in some sort of reluctant acquiescence, Hesper continued: "And what's more, Alyssa succeeded in being graded with perfect Outstandings on her Ordinary Wizarding Levels and has proceeded on with every subject in the higher level. I suspect she will do the same with her upcoming Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Such academic excellence is very becoming of a Livingston, is it not?"

Caelum sighed. "If she must be a Ravenclaw, I should think that academic excellence would be a bare minimum, not an impressive feat."

"Neither of us scored anywhere near perfect Outstandings on our O.W.L.s or our N.E.W.T.s, dear," Darcy chided with a well-placed elbow to Caelum's side, the first kind thing Aly had heard her say yet. "Let us be proud of her for that much, eh?"

It was then that Aly noticed that they were much deeper than usual in the cavernous undergrounds of Gringotts; she looked about at the darker walls that whizzed by, and then all of a sudden the cart turned upside down for a fraction of a moment. The Ravenclaw yelped in shock and fear, but as quickly as it had tipped over the cart once again righted itself, and only then did she notice that no one else in the vehicle seemed nearly as disturbed by the idea of almost falling out. They seemed almost used to it, and Aly shrunk down in her seat, further worried as to what could possibly be going on. She stayed this way for several minutes until she felt the metal beneath her beginning to slow, and the cart glided to a coasting stop outside of a vault with a low number - a very low number, and one Aly had never seen before, not in Gringotts at least. They were normally confined to much higher areas, where the Salinger vault resided. As she climbed from the cart at their goblin driver's direction, followed by the rest of her blood relatives, she couldn't help but whisper, "Where are we?"

"What do you think, Alyssa? We are at the Livingston family vault," she heard Hesper say from behind her.

Darcy chuckled, her words dripping with palpable disdain. "Did she think we were to visit the... Salinger account?"

Caelum strode in front of her, his tall frame shadowing Aly from the golden lights of nearby lanterns that glowed just ever-so-faintly enough to illuminate the scene, the catacomb of archways all shrinking and leading to a single golden door covered with some sort of intricate locking mechanism. He turned to look at her, piercing dark eyes looking rather soulless, as if no one was even inside, and held up the key. "We are here, Alyssa, to introduce you to who you are truly meant to be," he explained plainly, as if it were the easiest and most obvious thing in the world. "I will be the first to say we have all made mistakes in removing you and your capable mother from our bloodline, and it is something we will move to rectify within the coming year. For now, however, it is about introductions and announcements as we move forward with welcoming you back into the Livingston family fold - and the first of these steps, as always, is the acknowledgement of your inheritance, should you choose to comply with our rules."

He stepped forward and, in unison with the goblin driver, placed his key inside the keyhole; they turned at the same time, sending gears shifting, gizmos whirring, and the entire locking mechanism crumbling to nothing but worthless pieces of gold. The door creaked open, and Caelum took a step back, an almost-smile playing on his lips as he gestured with one hand for Aly to enter.

Feeling very much like she was going to be shot the second she stepped through the door, Aly tried her best to quell her fears, swallowing them down as she took hesitant paces forward and placed her hand on the handle. This time, she was able to easily pull open the door successful Strength check - perhaps it was enchanted, or perhaps the adrenaline had given her a boost of superhuman strength - to reveal glittering insides within.

"Whoa..." escaped her mouth as she moved into the vault, as if entranced, the gold reflecting brightly in her eyes.

Aly had grown up well-off. Two house-elves, a nice home, a room to herself, and always enough pocket money to purchase whatever she wanted from chess sets to Cauldron Cakes to jewelry and clothing of all kinds - the Salinger family fortune was certainly nothing at which to sneeze, no matter how many feathers were involved. In comparison with the Livingston vault, however, the Salinger's dwindled until it seemed to be nothing but a single Knut on a floor. Piles and piles of gold, jewels, statuettes of various creatures, and what seemed to be various magical artefacts cluttered the entire area, which was likely about the size of the home in which Aly had grown up all put together. The walls themselves here were lined with gold, carved with generations' worth of names, a horizontal family tree wrapping all the way from closest to the door to about three-quarters of the way around the room; Aly squinted to read the most recent. Caelum Livingston, Anatoly Livingston, Cassiopeia Livingston... Stemming from Anatoly, two more names - Jakin and Verity - shone brightly on the walls, and then from Jakin came two more, Pascal II and Fenne. Cousins. Aly knew of at least one cousin from this side, but he was more distant both emotionally, physically, and via the bloodline; these two, Jakin and Verity, were her first cousins, and Jakin even had children of his own. Aly could feel her knowledge expanding by the instant. There were more people out there in this side of the world. Perhaps some of them she'd even like.

Cassiopeia spoke up from behind her, no doubt following her eyes. "That's the family tree - our brother, Anatoly, your uncle, has since moved to the States and raised his family there. But he and his wife, Wisteria, as well as Jakin - their son, our nephew - and his children will be at the ball later this month, so you'll have the chance to meet them then."

Aly turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "The ball? What ball?"

Darcy let out a somewhat flabbergasted laugh. "Why, your introductory ball, naturally. It should have happened years ago, but at the very least you've grown into an adult now, and as such we can phrase it as an introduction not only to high society but also to adulthood. Held the nineteenth of July at the family manor, naturally. Anyone who is anyone shall be in attendance - as they should be for a young lady's first pureblood soirée."

First soirée? Aly shook her head instinctively in response, but caught herself and raised her head to meet her tall grandmother's eyes. (Seriously, where had all this height gone in the gene pool?) "It won't be my first, madam - I've been to pureblood balls before, you see. The Kolbeck ball last winter, for instance. Mother accompanied me to that - she can tell you. And I've also stayed with the Virtanens for quite a bit last summer, and the Allurings a few summers before that, so is it... really worth having a big fuss if I already know people in..." She forced herself to eke out the words. "High society? I think it's just really not necessary. I'm all right not doing it."

"Oh, you think, do you? Insolent as your father," Darcy snapped back, and suddenly, she was Hesper twenty-five years older - the same purse in her lips, the same narrowing of the eyes. "No matter; you shall be trained out of that. 'Tis almost endearing that you believe the Virtanens and the Kolbecks to be proper introductions to our world; no, their blood may be pure, but our name rings truer. Do not deign to argue with me again - the ball you shall have, and that is the end of that." She turned to her husband, a polite yet still pursed smile on her lips. "Now, my dear, shall you do what you have came here to do? I worry that this mustiness in the air shall clog my pores."

"Of course, my darling," said Caelum, and he strode to the wall which Aly had been eyeing; his wand in his hand, he moved it along the gold there, muttering incantations. From the wandtip lines were gouged in the gold, fluttering shimmering dust down to rest on his otherwise impeccably shined black shoes, and Aly watched the letters sprout up in the blank spot between Anatoly and Cassiopeia: Hesper Livingston. No Salinger - just Livingston - and it was then that Aly realised that Cassiopeia's surname - what was it, Currency or something? - was also different on the wall. All of them sported the name Livingston, whether it was their legal name or not. As such, to watch Alyssa Livingston next burgeon from the tip of the wand was only partially a surprise. It seemed to not be Aly's name at all, but in fact that of someone else entirely. She felt even more out of place now than she had upon stepping into the vault, or the cart, or the bank, to be quite honest. Caelum stepped back, a satisfied smirk on his face. "It is done; you are once again one of us."

Aly plastered a smile on her face that she was sure made her look half-dead, and weakly managed, "Thank you, sir..." Still confused about it all, of course, but by now Aly knew how to survive around these kinds of people. Even if these particular ones were the most severe she'd met thus far.

"Now! Hesper, take some gold for you and your daughter and let us leave this place before a stalactite drips upon my hair," Darcy proclaimed with a self-righteous sniff. "Oh, and Cassiopeia, dear, do give Alyssa one of the pearl necklaces before we do... she is in desperate need of one. We shall have to do something about all that red in addition. 'Tis unbecoming of our family to wear such a shade."

She flounced out, followed by her father, and Aly turned to her Aunt Cassie to find a string of pearls in her hands. Wordlessly, she allowed Cassie to string them around her neck, but though she was silent, her aunt whispered to her as she did so: "Don't mind Mother. She takes this all very seriously. I think the red looks nice." Clasping the pearls around Aly's neck, she stepped back and gave a single nod. "Especially with the pearls. We all have a string - even your mother. They're identical, you know - duplicated from the very first pearl our great-great-great-great-great-great-" Aly lost count of how many greats. "-grandfather harvested on his ship, back when he was building a jewel empire for the first time. Your mother can tell you all about it sometime, or I can, if she'd rather not."

Aly perked up. Ship? Jewel empire? Now things were getting interesting.

Alas, no one told her any more of the family history whilst they were in Diagon Alley for the rest of the afternoon. Aly was poked and prodded by various seamstresses under Darcy's careful direction, her grandmother insisting that she have a dress "appropriate of an heiress" for this oh-so-necessary ball despite the fact that Aly was clearly not the firstborn's child and thus would not be an heiress... right? She also put up with Caelum's incessant questions about things that made her worthy to be considered part of the Livingston family - grades, acquaintances, extracurriculars, even her favourite shoppe at Hogsmeade (to which her answer, "Scrivenshaft's", seemed to be acceptable, even though it was a total lie and it was definitely Honeydukes). Keithen was quiet, having not even said a single word by the time they bid adieu close to four hours later, but Aunt Cassie was certainly less so, even giving Aly a hug goodbye at the end in addition to what seemed to be the classic peck on the cheek. So whirlwinded did Aly feel that she barely had the energy to ask questions as she and her mother, arms laden with shopping bags, began to walk to the Floo point so they could return home to Welwyn.

Still, she had to bring up the fact that her mother had so easily dismissed her beloved family's house-elf, the same creature who had raised not only Aly but also her father as well. Aly opened her mouth to speak: "Mother, is it true about Bec-" but before she could finish her sentence, her mother interrupted her. "We'll talk about Becca when we return home, Alyssa. For now, you should be grateful that your grandmother didn't offer to send her away to one of their international holdings... she has truly mellowed out since I was a child, to say the least!"

A few moments passed; they arrived at the Floo point, and just as they were about to be spirited away by green flames, Aly realised the truth of what Hesper had just said. She turned to her, eyes wide, mouth dropping open in shock.

"That was her being mellow?"

...and have my name spelled out in gold.

Gringotts | July 4^th, 2025 | outfit, necklace, hair/lipstick | #C47DDB

Reducio

Rolls:
Opening the bronze door: Fail
Opening the silver door: Fail
Dodging the house-elf: Success
Opening the gold (vault) door: Success