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+------ Thread: Arundel Castle - The Sins of The Son || James (/showthread.php?tid=999)
Arundel Castle - The Sins of The Son || James - Cassian McCormick - 04-17-2026
Monday, May 29, 1922
9:10 PM
9:10 PM
Sir!—Mr.—Fidele will get his master! Please! You can't—you mustn't—"
The house elf was frantic and had been from the moment Julian entered 'the great' Arundel Castle. A lofty heap of rock set atop a hill, filled with pompous, presumptuous assholes who held scant regard for human life—certainly the life of his son.
The man had been fine to ignore the sentiments, understanding that there existed a divide between those who were 'pure' and thought themselves better and the rest of wizarding society who knew the truth. Never having been one to make waves, he'd never let it ruffle his feathers and hadn't found that it hindered his daily life or work.
People talked. The purebloods held their fancy galas and never invited anyone. Halfbloods and muggleborns found their own success, some even surpassing their inbred counterparts.
It never mattered, truly.
His son deciding he was in love with one of them was where the real trouble started. Stubborn as the boy was, separating them was no small task. Rather than submit to the will of their parents, they'd run and run far.
Was it reckless? Of course. Did they deserve to have at least half a book brought down on them for being as foolish as they'd been? Without a doubt.
But the Laurences had gone too far and would finally have someone to answer to.
"LAURENCE!" he bellowed from the other side of the foyer.
Try as the poor elf did to slow his advance, Julian was having none of it. He shoved by the creature each time, brandishing his wand when his milder dismissals weren't heeded. He didn't need to wait around for the elf to 'find his master'—didn't have the time to be ushered to some waiting room where he could be seen as 'His Majesty's' mood allowed. They would talk about it and they would talk about it now.
Julian would announce himself, and the bloody lot of them could descend to see who dared darken their halls with loud and indignant shouts.
"COME OUT HERE!"
RE: Arundel Castle - The Sins of The Son || James - James Laurence - 04-18-2026
"He's a strapping boy isn't he?" James grinned at his sister as he looked up from the newborn nephew in his arms. A protruding belly full of milk and limp chubby arms, Jude Alexander Barlowe was unquestioningly gone and lost to a food coma as his mother's family cooed over him.
With Maddox still required at Hogwarts for the remainder of the week, Julia had returned to Arundel with their baby to wait him out until they could settle into their new home. James had been away on business - securing new deals with a few Irish politicians - and had only just arrived home, eager to see the new baby. A boy, the first amongst the three siblings to be born from one of them. Edward had had a girl, James a girl and likely another on the way if Amelia was right. Figure Julia would be the one to bring a new Laurence boy into the world.
And he was a Barlowe. Second in line after Benji, if the elder nephew continued the new tradition of only girls.
It was late for a Monday, and most of the family ought to have been retiring for the evening. Still, Edith, Amelia, Gretchen, Julia, Benji, Uncle Robert, and Aunt Elizabeth had remained in the family room after dinner, passing the time in conversation while they waited for his return. Benji, his OWLs now finished, had been granted a day away from school to visit with his mother, though he was due back in the morning.
"He never stops eating, so I imagine he will be," his sister said, her voice tired but amused as Benji added, "He gets that from me." A chorus of quiet laughs and then various conversations continued as James's light brown eyes washed over his nephew, pride and happiness for his sister and brother-in-law inching its way through him in that quiet way it always did. James wasn't one for big displays of emotion, but there was something about a child joining the family - one of their own - that stirred something within him.
A baby was a promise of continuity. A promise that their family would live on. A new life to protect and have the honor of watching grow into his place in the world. "You'll be a brave one, won't you?" he asked the baby who remained completely oblivious to the goings on around him. "Thoughtful like your mother, purposeful like your father." He smiled, patting Jude's back gently.
Benji wandered over, the boy nearly as tall as James now, looking more like a man every time he saw him. Was it only a few years ago that he'd met him as a short, chubby little twelve year old menace? "He'd be the real heir, you know," Benji said casually, his hands shoved into his pockets as he smirked at his uncle. "If you wanted him to be. He's a blood Laurence."
James's expression didn't reveal the way he was taken aback by the statement, but before he could open his mouth to respond, another voice - one he didn't immediately recognize - bellowed out in the foyer below.
"LAURENCE! COME OUT HERE!"
The room went silent, every member of the family springing to their feet at the same time. Confusion washed over them, eyes flitting back and forth between one another trying to decipher if any of them knew who it was that had somehow entered their home and was now commanding their appearance. James immediately handed off the baby to his sister, his wand sliding from his sleeve into his hand as Benji drew his as well.
He didn't know who it was that shouted for him, but with a room full of women and an elderly man, he didn't have time to try and decipher before he was heading for the door. "Stay here," he commanded them all, but Benji was already out the door, rushing into the hallway towards the stairs. "Goddammit," he muttered. That boy would be his own undoing.
Following close behind, James moved quickly, grabbing Benji by the shoulder and shoving his nephew behind him. As he arrived at the top of the stairs, his eyes fell on a familiar face. Julian McCormick. Wand ready and looking angry enough to drop the entirety of the castle on all their heads.
What did he want? It had been nearly a year. Rosalie and the man's son hadn't returned.
"Put your wand away," he hissed at Benji who reluctantly did as he was told, but followed his uncle down the stairs. James tucked his own back up his sleeve and sighed as he stepped into the foyer, his eyes locked onto McCormick's. Fidele was a frantic mess, clutching at his ears and screeching.
"Fidele apoligizes, Master James! Fidele did not let the man in. Wanted to fetch Fidele's master himself, he did!"
"Enough," James said quietly, giving a quick dismissal of his hand as the house elf vanished, likely in relief of not having a sterner scolding. His eyes never left Julian's, as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers. Benji, obviously not recognizing the man clenched his jaw and glanced back up at the landing to ensure his mother hadn't come out.
"Quite a time to stop in for a visit, McCormick," James said lightly, only the slightest hint of annoyance at having the man drop in unannounced or invited. It wasn't as though they were old family friends.
Benji's eyes dropped from the landing above them back to the man, widening in recognition at deep brown eyes that matched those of his missing (dead?) friend. Cass's dad? "What...is..." he wanted to ask, but his uncle's silent reprimand - a quick raise of his hand to wait - had him quieting instantly.
"What can I do for you?"
RE: Arundel Castle - The Sins of The Son || James - Cassian McCormick - 04-19-2026
"The man of the fucking hour," Julian said, looking the man up and down.
When the children had first gone missing, he came to the castle hoping his son had only gotten into a bit of trouble and was held there until he could arrive. The castle had been in an uproar, and Julian had genuinely thought that they'd been as devastated by the sudden disappearance. He'd left feeling a shared grief and a shared sense of helplessness.
What a performance it had been and how they must have laughed and sneered when he was gone before beginning their sickening hunt.
"What can I do for you?"
...The very gall of James Laurence. He looked him in the eyes, feigning ignorance as if that very day they hadn't done everything they could to rob his son of his life. What could he...do? This was all a game for him, a means of passing some time.
"Haven't you done enough?"
Did they know the meaning of the word?
Julian barely spared a glance at the boy who'd followed Laurence down, his ire reserved for the man who'd assured him in one breath that they would do everything they could to find the children – that they knew nothing about their whereabouts but would let them know if they turned up – while using another breath to order their execution. "What sort of sick...twisted..." He couldn't find the words. Nothing seemed strong enough to describe what they had done.
"I'm going to law enforcement come morning – I've already contacted someone in the department about the matter and will be filing a report the moment their doors open." His face contorted with derision, the man barely able to contain himself, but he did. Despite his drawn wand, Julian hadn't come for violence. It had only been a final warning to the elf who'd sought to get in his way. He was angry, but not a fool. James Laurence couldn't be the only one home, and if things came to blows, his chances of a victory were miniscule at best.
His purpose was simple. He would make sure they knew that their high society wouldn't protect them from this one.
They'd picked the wrong 'nobody's' son.
"Where do you get off thinking you can get away with this shit? Forget Cassian, he doesn't mean anything to any of you, but Rosalie? You'd kill her, too? For what? You people are a cancer on the wizarding world."
One that would be cut out, one way or another. No family, no matter how well connected, was above scandal and disgrace. All throughout history, families rose and fell based on the whims of the public and the image they held in their eyes. The revolts of old, the overturning of entire lineages – they were proof enough that no one was ever truly safe.
It just took one well-lit match and a man determined enough to see them burn.
"Rosalie's already talking, and when Cassian wakes up...you'd better start moving those fancy assets of yours while you still can."
With a deep breath, Julian returned his wand to its holster.
"When Britain sees what you've done, they'll paint you for the monsters you are."