HAYES, Bridget

Moniker:

Birth name: Charlisse Adelaide Rookwood

Chosen Name: Bridget Whelan
*Note: The last name was only adopted for use on documentation and the like. She changed it only days before she married Aiden Brennan Hayes, as explained in the History section.

NICKNAMES:  Bridge (only by her husband. No one else really has given her any yet. She may have forgotten old ones from her family, though)

AGE:  b. 1972 – 55.
Birthday: June 12th

ALLEGIANCE: Neutral

Old Allegiances:
Rookwood Family
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Gryffindor House
Gryffindor Quidditch Team

False Allegiances:
The British Ministry of Magic
The Daily Prophet
Houses of the Oireachtas
British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly

Current/Real Allegiances:
Hayes Family
Finnigan Family
Ireland
The Hayes’ School

HOGWARTS HOUSE: Gryffindor
*Note: Her sorting is explained in her History

CLASSES: Bridget only attended Hogwarts for six and a half years, at which point she pulled out, and thus never completed her NEWTs. She didn’t make a point to recall her OWL standings, either, as she went into a profession in which she only dealt with Muggles.

WAND: Pear wood, Dragon Heartstring and Thestral Tail Hair, 12 inches + Reasonable Supple
*Note: She owns a wand, but almost never has it on her, as it's stashed away. See Blood Status for reasoning

Ollivander on Pear wood: "This golden-toned wood produces wands of splendid magical powers, which give of their best in the hands of the warm-hearted, the generous and the wise. Possessors of pear wands are, in my experience, usually popular and well-respected. I do not know of a single instance where a pear wand has been discovered in the possession of a Dark witch or wizard. Pear wands are among the most resilient, and I have often observed that they may still present a remarkable appearance of newness, even after many years of hard use."

Note on Dragon Heartstring: "As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner."

Note on Thestral Tail Hair: A Thestral tail hair is a hair taken from the tail of a Thestral, and is used as a wand core. It is regarded as an unstable, if not difficult substance to use in wand making, though Veela Hair is also described as such, but has been successfully utilized.

Note on wand length: 12 inches is towards the longer side of wands, suggesting (in Ollivander's opinion) a more obviously large personality. Average wand length is 9-14 with shorter suggesting smaller personality or something lacking in character

Note on flexibility: Bridget, as shown by the flexibility of the wand that chose her, takes everything into account before making a decision. She is accepting of change, though she does not always appreciate it or prefer it.

PLAY BY: Julie Andrews





HAIR COLOUR: Light Brown

EYE COLOUR: Blue

COMPARATIVE HEIGHT: Average – 5 foot 8 inches.

BODY BUILD: Middling

GENERAL APPEARANCE:
Bridget, on the whole, looks older than she is; years of strain eventually caught up to her, especially recently, after the death of her husband.


Hair: When she was younger, her hair was left long, though it almost always ended up piled atop her head in some up-do or other. She was fully aware that it was the sort of hair that girls her hair ended up jealous of were it left down, but Bridget (Charlisse, at that time) simply could not stand it getting in her face or having to worry after whether or not it remained as fine as it did when she left the house. Somewhere in her sixth year, in the middle of her preparing to leave her family, she cut it short and liked it so well that she decided to let it remain that way, using regular trims to persuade the hair in question to appear tidy.

Eyes: Bridget's eyes are the sort that change color, but only minutely, depending on what she wears. On the reg, they're positively bright blue, though sometimes they can lean more towards the grey side. If she wears anything blue, though, they seem lit more than average. Years of spending time with Aiden and her new family have caused laugh lines on the corners of her eyes, mostly due to the fact that when she smiles she does so with her entire body - crinkled eyes, a release of breath, and a wide row of teeth showing.

Face: For her age, she appears older than she is. Although she is fifty-five, she comes off as a few years down the road, if not more. After the stress of losing her first family, the Rookwoods, her first son, and her husband, Bridget often appears tired. If she isn't paying attention, she forgets to put a smile on her face to take away the lines brought on by a furrowed brow or a frown having lived on her face for good bits of time. In the eyes of someone who doesn't know the difference, though, and only sees her as she presents herself to those outside her dear friends and the Hayes family, she can come off as quite rosy. She is by no means overweight, but her cheeks have a roundness to them that suggests having been in the position to eat well throughout her life. She's also the sort that has the parentheses around her mouth when she smiles.

Build: Bridget it somewhere between average height and being what one might call tall. At five foot eight inches, she rarely looks down at people, though she isn't by any means short in comparison to her family or friends. Her son is one of the few people she has to lift her chin to be eye-to-eye with, as most of her time is spent with the women in their town, all of whom tend to be around the same height. In school, she was never one to try out Quidditch, fearing a bit for her life, so she never managed to gain the athletic build that many students out of Hogwarts seem to have possession of.

Clothing: After having seen many changing decades and changing styles, Bridget leans towards the casual end of the clothing spectrum. Mostly out of habit, she turns to long skirts or dresses, though just as often she can be seen wearing things as simple as a tee-shirt and jeans. She is not a fan of shorts or skirts that settle above her knees, though in the hottest bit of the year she might give in if she needs to spend time outside. The only thing she refuses to wear, and thus is never seen donning, would be robes of the sort that one might see witches and wizards wear. She convinced her family she was a Muggle, and thus had to play the part. Over the years, it became habit. Jewelry is a rarity for her, unless it has some meaning – whether it’s her wedding ring, or the necklace that Keiran bought her a few years ago for Christmas. As for shoes, if she isn’t required to leave the house, she’ll traipse around in house shoes or simply not wear them. Close-toed flats are typically her go-to, though she has rather high arches in her feet, and thus needs ones with some sort of padding or insoles.







TRAITS:
+ Eloquent
+ Approachable
+ Has trouble voicing fears
+ Knows when to keep out of the business of others
+ Caring
+ Mothering
+ Patient
+ Can read people easily
+ Rarely takes no for an answer
+ Practical
+ Courageous
+ Intelligent, though rarely uses her wit in jabs at others
+ Good-Humored
+ Affectionate
+ Decisive
+ Encouraging
+ Faithful
+ Gentle
+ Independent
+ Tidy
+ Proud to a fault
+ Restless
+ Stubborn
+ Imaginative

Traits that remain from her time before Aiden:
+ Tendency to force back negative emotions
+ Willing to keep to herself
+ Aware of her duties (though she doesn’t always fulfill them)
+ Respectful (to a certain extent)
+ Secretive
+ Cautious

LIKES & DISLIKES:
+ Reading
+ Winter & Christmas (the whole season, really)
+ Crafty endeavors (the clichés, of course. Knitting, drawing, etc)
+ Wine
+ Muggle technology, and the people in general
+ Cooking/Baking
+ Ireland, & Galway
+ Horseback riding
+ Puzzles
+ Tea – it solves an amazing number of problems
+ Writing
+ Children
+ Taking a moment to just be
+ The slightly forested area in which the Hayes residence is sat
+ Music – preferably older, and usually calming

Conflicts:
1. Dislikes ignorance, but doesn’t feel she can explain her past to her son.
2. She has promised herself not to be heavy-handed with Keiran, though if he ever starts to remind her of her father or elder brother, Bridget has a hard time keeping quiet.

- Travel
- Judgmental people
- Sports
- Thinking about the past, or talking about it
- Humidity
- Smoking/Smokers (they remind her of her past, and now she isn’t used to them anymore)
- Bickering (especially among family)
- Guilt
- Rain – unless it’s a full-on thunderstorm (though that’s hardly helpful to the horses, so she doesn’t tend to wish for them)
- Rookwoods
- Being under the weather
- Poetry/Pretentious writers (or names, for that matter. No wonder she changed hers)
- Idleness
- The Ministry
- Erratic Behavior

HABITS & QUIRKS:
+ Offers terms of endearment to most everyone she meets.
+ In December, has hot chocolate going on the stove practically 24/7.
+ Will never curse, regardless of desire or an appropriate situation.
+ Would rather write out feelings than explain them.
+ Has a tendency to adopt people into her life without them having asked.
+ Often makes a bit of a mess while baking, not realizing she’s done so.
+ Does most of her writing outdoors, as she loves the view and the general feel of it.
+ Has a multitude of journals hidden away in her room from her life (the sort where at the end of each day she would keep track of what had happened, how she felt, etc. She has upwards of 40 filled currently).
+ One wall of the back Sunroom is made out of cork so she can have a storyboard at any given time.
+Tends to use metaphors and similes when telling stories or explaining things.

SAYINGS:
+ “Don’t you worry your head one bit.”
+ “Every hero becomes a bore at last.”
+ “Tears are but drops in an ocean. So many people have more to cry about than I, so my tears will be sparse.”
+ “A miss is as good as a mile.”
+ “A rose is a rose is a rose.”

BOGGART: Since Aiden’s death, it’s become the fear of losing Keiran, as well as Conall and Aiden.
*Note: This fear is highly suppressed, and thus doesn’t affect her daily. Mostly only when something that reminds her of Aiden or Conall pops up. Or danger. Because of course it would.

DEMENTOR: Her illness during her pregnancy. (see history)

VERITASERUM: The Rookwood thing. It's a thing.

MIRROR OF ERISED: It used to be that she could know what happened to her son, but now she just wishes that Aiden could come back. Preferably, she’d like both, but if she could only have one, she knows it’s harder to miss someone you didn’t get a lot of time with as compared to her husband.

PERSONALITY:

Bridget is your typical matriarch six times out of seven. Provided that no one is around to threaten her secrets or her family, she remains her average Muggle self. It takes a good bit of effort to cover up her Gryffindor tendencies. At the same time, she retained some Rookwood habits through her sixteen years living with them. She's skilled at remembering faces, and always tries to keep her son and husband away from those she fears - namely, her brothers. She never met any of their children, nor did she intend for them to meet her sons.

On a normal day, she would be more likely to spend her time writing, which she took up upon leaving her family for Aiden as a way of making a new or better world for herself. One where she didn't just lose her family and choose to give up the only life she had known. However, in the end, Bridget knew that she couldn't give up the possibility of true love instead of some Pureblooded arrangement she would hate. A life of get-togethers and propriety wasn't something she was at all interested in doing when she could have love. Love will always win out for her.

She's different from other mums, to some extent, because of her decision to keep her past from her children. Although she has all of the wizarding world tidbits and the like, she does everything as a Muggle would. It was surprising to Aiden at the time, because she was massively proficient, excelled in things like Divination and Charms, and always seemed to be ahead of the class. She blamed the wand for it, considering the make up and properties. She didn't see the point in explaining to him that she had been trying painfully hard to have a career in which she didn't need to rely on her family. Once she left them, though, she had no reason to use any of the studying she had done, and had no career ahead of her involving magic. He had tried to convince her otherwise, but she was desperate for the freedom that their plan would give her (see History).






FATHER:
Raghnall Rookwood – b. 1945 -- Entrepreneur

MOTHER:
Emelia Rookwood (née Conrad) – b. 1946

SIBLING/S: She is the second child of four.
Thaddeus Rookwood – b. 1967 -- Entrepreneur
Eamon Rookwood – b. 1975
Cedric Rookwood – b. 1983

Half-brother:
Augustus Rookwood – b. 1988

OTHER:

Husband:
Aiden Brennan Hayes – b. 1969 – d. 2026 -- Former Potions Master
Playby: Christopher Plummer

Father-in-law:
Rory Brenden Hayes – b. 1948 – Ex. DADA Professor

Children:
Conall Deaglan Daithi Hayes – b. 1996 – Theif/Carpenter (AKA Peter Howard)
Keiran Conall Finley Hayes – b. 2000 – ex. Transfiguration Professor/Head of Slytherin

Daughter-in-law:
Melissa Adriana Hayes (née Finnigan) – b. 2010

Grandchildren:
Liam Wesley Hayes – b. 2027
Kelly Isabette Hayes – b. 2027
Finley James Thomas Howard – b. 2020

Nieces and Nephews – from each sibling listed above, respectively:
Catherine Goyle – b. 1989
Lionel Rookwood – b. 1993
Irena Rookwood – b. 1997
Adriana Rookwood – b. 2001
Theodore Rookwood – b. 2006

James Rookwood – b. 1994
Jeremiah Rookwood – b. 1997
Joseph Rookwood – b. 2000

Edith Rookwood – b. 2000
Nigel Rookwood – b. 2002
Niall Rookwood – b. 2005

Kendall Rookwood – b. 2005
Katarina Rookwood – b. 2011
Cordella Rookwood – b. 2011
Aurelia Rookwood – b. 2021
Cecelia Rookwood – b. 2024

Grand-nieces/Nephews:
Medea Goyle – b. 2010
Ariadne Rookwood – b. 2015
Poseidon Rookwood – b. 2025
Hestia Rookwood

James Yaxley – b. 2017
Thaddeus Yaxley – b. 2019
Henry Yaxley – b. 2022
Helen Yaxley – b. 2022

Augustus Rookwood (the younger) – b. 2026
Archibald Rookwood – b. 2026

BLOOD STATUS:  
Old Claim: Muggle
Truth: Pureblood

SPECIES: Human

SOCIAL STATUS: Wealthy

PET/S: A few horses that Aiden named at some point or other. Otherwise, none (Unless you count Keiran and Millie’s cats, witty names and all. And, you know, his owl. She basically takes care of it anyway.).







Once the meeting ended, the Ivanovs having been the last to leave as they trailed the Blackmoors out of the Galway home, the house felt smaller and quieter. Calmer. Even still, the tension didn’t leave the matriarch’s shoulders as she crossed through the Sunroom door to return to the main bit of the house. The screen door bounced once before closing behind her and filtering the light into the skinny hall she passed through.

Theodore, Merlin help her, had figured it out, called her out, and then walked out.

Keiran, back from seeing everyone off, gave Bridget a curious look before ambling over to the island bar top, leaning his forearms on it to watch her move about and re-arrange the newly cleaned dishes.

“Mum, why were you talking to Rookwood? He’s hardly someone you should have to deal with.”

“You don’t get along, then?” She asked, glancing up and lifting an eyebrow.

“It’s not that. He just… rubs me the wrong way.”

“As ever, a Rookwood is as cold as any stone. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t as well, dear.”

“Well, mum, then what am I?” Keiran asked, smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he leaned against the counter to watch her as she fiddled with the container in her hands.

Bridget glanced up, brows tugging together, quite unsure how to answer his question. He clearly expected an equally teasing reply in return for his jab, but the matriarch couldn’t manage it. Things had potentially taken a turn for the worse, but under no circumstances could he hear it from anyone else. That would just end up with his complete disapproval and the entirety of his anger sent her direction. It wasn’t like when he and Melissa fought; Bridget had no rebuttal. His arguments would be entirely sound.

“A Rookwood.”

Keiran barked out a laugh, taken aback by her choice of direction in what he obviously thought to be a game. “What? Don’t be silly, mum.”

“I’m entirely serious, love.”

Keiran’s face fell, expression one of pure disbelief. “That doesn’t make sense. Your last name wasn’t Rookwood, and dad’s sure wasn’t either. How is that even possible? Cousins of some sort?”

“No, dear. Your Grandparents. Uncles. Myself.”

- -

Several hours later, Bridget found herself with a more open version of her son sitting across the table from her. Although she knew that his wife could come ambling in at any time, she ignored the embarrassment and distaste for the situation and pursed her lips. Keiran was watching with an almost disapproving glance, though his fidgeting was reduced to a hand passing over Lucius Malfoy the cat’s back over and over again. Had Millie convinced the man to sit down with his mother? Bridget wouldn’t have been that surprised if she had.

“You’re joking, right?” He asked finally, breaking the silence. He didn’t look angry in that moment, though; he looked nervous. Scared, even. Bridget tilted her head to the side, a slight frown creasing her face.

“I’m entirely serious.” She replied after a slightly hesitation. He had agreed to give her time to organize her thoughts, but the only thing that had come up was to write it all out, as she would one of her novels. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done so before. One hand pushed the pages towards him, hoping he wouldn’t decide he wasn’t interested. “I figured a few pages was less to deal with than the journals upstairs.”

“That’s what those are…” Keiran mused quietly, obviously directing the realization at himself and not at her.

“If you ever want them, you can have them, but for now, those should cover it.” Bridget stood as her words came to a close, hesitant to leave but also reluctant to watch him as he read her story. She truly felt her son would understand and support the decisions she had made, but the fact that his entire world had been turned upside down certainly didn’t make someone eager to sympathize. Even with their own mother. “If you need anything, I’ll be upstairs…”

- -

I was born in June of 1972, the second of four children. My parents – your Grandparents, were named Raghnall and Emelia. Pretentious names? Yeah, a bit, but then, mine was, too, when I was young. My birth name was Charlisse Adelaide Rookwood, and I actually rather liked it. My older brother, Thaddeus, and my younger brothers – Eamon, Cedric and Augustus – seemed to be headed in the general direction of how my father had turned out. Of course, I grew up as a typical Pureblood might – dealing with social interactions and learning what I was supposed to believe. Obviously, most of that didn’t stick. Not after I started at school, at least. See, until I was eleven, it’s really all I knew. I rarely interacted with anyone outside of our circles, as was expected of me. But when I started at Hogwarts, everyone – including myself – expected me to be sorted into Slytherin like Thaddeus had been. It wasn’t until I sat down and the hat settled on my head that we were proven wrong.

I’m fairly certain I’ll never forget what the hat said.

"I can see that you will have a choice ahead of you, and it appears that you will reject the simple or easy road, choosing instead the one that will cause you the most strife. In the end, though, it is the road that will give you what you want."

And so it was that the hat called out Gryffindor, likely scaring the wits out of Thaddeus. Once sorted, I moved to the table and sat down next to a dark-hair first year who, yes, was your father. Although I knew him throughout the years at Hogwarts, it wasn't until our sixth year that I realized how truly important he was. Aiden's family, as you know, are Purebloods as well, so at first it didn't seem like there would be any issues between the families. I did notice, however, that he had never been in attendance during our socials - which, frankly, were nightmares. When Father found out, he was furious. Aiden's parents were what one might call 'Blood Traitors' because of how enamored they were with things from the Muggle world as well as Muggles themselves.

Half-way through my sixth year, I told Aiden that I didn't care what my parents thought. That, if he would have me, I wanted to be with him. Regardless of what my parents had said, we still had said together throughout the first half of the year. When Winter break arrived, I didn't return home as I usually did, claiming a need to worry about classes. I'm still a bit surprised that no one asked after why that was, considering how well I had done on my OWLs and that NEWTs weren't for a year and a half. I digress.

Over break, Aiden and I worked to find a way to break me away from my family. Potions Master that the man was, he seemed to have a solution for everything those days. A few days after Christmas - I didn't want to ruin it for them, after all - Aiden helped me to fake my death.

It sounds dramatic, I know. But if I hadn't done so, you would not be here, and I undoubtedly would be married to someone my father preferred to your father. So it seemed painfully necessary at the time.

After everything had been taken care of, we left the school, Aiden with the intention of simply keeping up studies and taking his NEWTs the year after. Immediately, I reverted to what I knew: writing. As you know, that's worked out decently well for us, though I daresay Aiden is the one that kept our family at the point where we could live in a home as nice as this one and live as well as we do. Anyways, I changed my name to Bridget Mairen Whelan not a week before we married. I'm sure you're thinking it was far too early, but then, I would point at Melissa when it comes to early marriage as well. Granted, she didn't have a choice. I didn't think I had one, either, at the time.

For eight years, we worked on both creating my backstory and ensuring that should anything happen, neither of us would be hurt, and that we wouldn't be torn apart. In the fall of 1996, we had settled into this house, having been extremely lucky when it comes to finances. On October 18th, Aiden and I greeted our son. I know what you're thinking, dear. No, this wasn't you. His name was Conall, and he was your older brother. The poor thing, his magic fought him, meaning that he spent the vast majority of his time in a hospital.

Although we spent as much time there as we could, your father often had experiments that could not wait, clients that refused to give him the time he needed. I was often the one that went to see him. For a time, it seemed like things were getting better. We hated it that we couldn't be there as often as we wanted to, but he seemed to get on fairly well with the people around him, and we trusted that he would be looked after. When I became pregnant with you, however, things took a turn for the worst. You see, I became very ill, and it wasn't obvious that I would get better. Time spent with Conall was even more limited than ever, and Aiden was so torn between all of his responsibilities that he often didn't have the time he wanted to visit, either.

Eventually, the healers managed to help me, and you were born without incident. Aiden was always rather furious with me during those days. I only tell you this because you know how truly wonderful he was; he just had trouble letting go of people and thus didn't always get close to them. Much like you used to, I believe. He was so upset that I was willing to let myself deal with the illness in my effort to protect you. At the same time, he openly respected me for the decision. I knew that if anything happened, he would have been more serious about taking care of you boys.

The morning of May 14th, 2000, you were born Keiran Finley Hayes. A short time later we took you to meet Conall and at first everything seemed fine. That is, until he was reported missing. The healers had no explanation for it. I remember how your father raged at them and made them go through everything they knew about him or where he could have gone off to. When we could no longer expect him to show up, we changed your name to ensure that he was remembered, even though we weren't sure how to tell you without explaining everything else.

We never found out what happened to Conall, though he was only four, so we were told that it was highly likely that he had died. We didn't want to believe it, but had nothing to suggest otherwise, so by the time we thought to explain it to you, had figured out how to, you were leaving for school. I know it took too long, even then. But we didn't want to turn your world topsy because of our choices and his disappearing. You were doing far too well.

If you have any questions, any time, I'm of course open to them. The only thing I truly hope you take from this is that I loved my family but I loved you, Aiden, and your brother more.






ALSO KNOWN AS: Addie

RP EXPERIENCE: I really should stop. But I probably never will. #SorryNotSorry

HOW YOU FOUND US: Silly question. Psh.

MAIN CHARACTER: Audriana Swan

PURPOSE OF CHARACTER: To ruin the lives of about half of PA. Mostly my characters and Amy’s folks. But still.

RP SAMPLE:

Spoiler:

She's absolutely perfect! I really loved the history! Wonderful, concise. Just lovely!

Accepted and sorted into Graduates!