Kicking Off the Summer Right [Open]

Molly wasn't answering them, which only served to infuriate Apollo as he sat there waiting. And then she stood up and left? Absolutely not. A frustrated sound that was nearly a growl escaped him and he stood up, abandoning Nessa and his brother as he took off to follow her down to the ground once more.

"Molly!" he shouted, unaware of the pounding of footsteps as Christian trailed behind him. "Get your arse back here!"

"Oi!" Christian chided, catching up when Apollo remembered that he was only just recently healed up. It had been ages, but the scars were finally beginning to fade into that noticeable but more subtle color that almost blended with his skin. The ridges were reminders of the fact that he could easily find himself in another mess. "You could at least try to not offend people, mate."

Apollo glared at him, refusing to slow pace until they had managed to overtake her, both standing in the way of her possible paths. "Molly," Christian began, holding a hand out to silence his older brother. "We need to find her. Whatever you're not telling us, it's pissing us off. Him especially," he gestured with his thumb towards Apollo. "So how about you let someone help you?"

Teddy's soft voice reached her on the other end of the mobile, completely confused as to why she would be calling him. Molly had never been the sort to just call up family to gab or talk, and she had never really been the sort to call on family if she needed something. So her sudden call out of the blue could not just be causal or simple. There had to be something uncertain to be handled.

"Have you seen Lily lately?"

"No. She hasn't been around."

"Have her brothers heard from her?"

"No, last we saw her was graduation - why? Molly?"

Apollo was bellowing her name over Teddy's concerned voice. She continued walking, however, getting out of the stands and beginning to push down the path. She hung up on Teddy and immediately dialed Lily's mobile, but the phone just rang and rang and rang.

She had just exited the stadium when two matching Zabini boys barred her path. Molly was a perceptive woman and she rarely cared about pissing people off. But if her suspicions were right, she was going to need the help of people her other cousin had less experience with.

"She's probably in danger." It was said simply, without preamble, without apology. "We need to find my cousin Dom. You coming with me?"

Christian's face fell, and Apollo's glare just became all the more grim when Molly spoke. What were they supposed to say? That they weren't going to help? Neither brother had mentioned it, but each knew the truth: neither one of them was okay with losing Lily. And both of them cared about her, as terrible as that was for either of them to think about.

"Obviously," Christian replied first, earning a scoff from Apollo.

The elder brother, who somehow already had his wand at the ready, added a comment of, "As if we'd just say no. Let's get going."

Christian tossed a frustrated look at his twin, entirely unamused by the silent but clear challenge that had been passing between him and Apollo for the past several weeks. To make things worse, Christian had practically seen Lily's realization of how he felt in the hospital wing after the incident with Apollo, and it wasn't as though she appeared to be feeling any differently about him. Of course, she was missing now, so that didn't help his take on the situation. So he kept his irritation to himself and turned back to Molly, waiting for her to tell them where they were headed. At least, he mused, he and his brother were of age and didn't have to worry about hexing anyone if they were screwing with Lily. Or Dom, for that matter.

Molly looked between the two boys, who were absolutely determined. It was funny - if she recalled, the boys had not had much to do with Lily before the Party That Went Horribly Wrong. On occassion, Lily and Christian would buddy up in class, and the Green and Red would clash in the hallways when the green decided to be cheeky. But she would have never ventured to call them friends... But leave it to Lily, Queen of Secrets, to have twins wrapped around her finger.

Molly wondered if Lily knew the power she wielded.

She wasn't shaking them, though. That's for sure.

"Alright, then. Let's go."


Dom Weasley had been searching all afternoon, doing her 'research' as she flitted from contact to contact in search of Roxanne Weasley without trying to raise suspicion. As soon as Roxi knew, she was going to hide Lily, she just knew it. It had been a month, and her heart was weary. She thought about Declan constantly, but her guilt-ridden spirit kept her striving to find her Missing In Action cousins.

But she had not slept all night the night before, so when eight o'clock hit, with the sun beginning its descent, her exhausted body angled its way home. She had to be more careful - she had seen Declan once, but she was fairly sure he had not seen her. She wanted, more than anything, to call him to her and admit her inability and her struggle, but her fear of the Weasley tyrant kept her from any such relief.

Keys jingled at her front door as she unlocked her little flat, pushing her way in. She nearly screamed upon entering.

Molly Weasley, with her dead glare and dark features, was sat at her couch. Nearly matching boys on either side.

"Evening, Dom."

Dom blinked, staring at the trio.

Molly tilted her head. "Close the door, Dom."

Dom obeyed mutely, her bag sliding off her shoulder and landing heavily at the crook of her arm. She dropped it on the floor and folded her hands together in front of each other. "Well... Hello?"

Molly stood, and Dom saw for the first time the small packs on the backs of the three people before her, as though they were ready for anything. "We're helping you find Lily."

The color drained from Dom's face, suddenly frightened. How did they know? Had Roxi reached out farther? Had Lily contacted them? Could she say anything without risking Lily?

But it was suddenly becoming apparent... that she was no longer alone.

She swallowed, nodding quickly, her chin wobbling a bit as she reached up to rub her hands over her face. "Right," she said, her voice very small. Blinking tears away, she dropped her hands. "Anyone want something to drink?"

Apollo wasn't sure if he should be worried about the tone Molly used to address Dom, but he definitely didn't miss the curious look Christian sent the Ravenclaw's way. It almost made him lift an eyebrow, but he refrained, instead turning his questioning gaze on the blonde in front of them. She looked terrified, but he sort of hoped she felt at least a little bit of relief at being told they were going to help her. If nothing else, she clearly had been unable to get anything done. So, really, shouldn't she be glad? Apollo would much rather have been at home, sleeping, or studying for his interview over at St. Mungo's, or really anything else besides having this woman ask if he wanted a drink instead of telling him what she knew.

"Not me," he put in, his voice too devoid of emotion to make anyone feel comfortable. Christian, even, looked wary. "I'd rather know why nothing has turned up yet. And how we're going to get this done quickly."

Christian, on the other hand, set his pack down and stood up, offering Dom his help with getting together drinks and snacks. Apollo probably would have rolled his eyes if his brother hadn't shot him a disapproving look.

"I'll just grab some things, shall I?" Christian put in, correcting his previous offer to help her. "You look like you could do with a rest. Maybe you can tell us what you're thinking about doing next? Or maybe what you've heard, so we can start piecing things together?"

Molly heaved a sigh when Dom asked if she could get them anything, a sigh of resignation and exhaustion and a little bit of sadness. Molly wanted to get right to it, as she was sure the boys next to her were. Everyone wanted to just get this over with, but that was all Dom had been doing for who knows how long. The poor woman was weakened.

Molly didn't know how to deal with weakness.

Dom nodded numbly at Christian, pointing at a tall cupboard in the kitchen. "There's... there's food and some bottled water in there. Some Butterbeer."

Molly kept her eyes trained on Dom. "Catch us up."

Dom took a deep breath. "I've almost found her a few times. She, apparently, wants to run into me at the right time and right place."

"Have you tried calling her?"

Dom dropped her gaze. "I did... at first. That first week. But she wouldn't answer. Or if she did she was just... you know how she is."

Molly slowly nodded. Oh, she knew.

"Have you tried calling her again?"

Dom looked Molly right in the eyes and Molly knew - Dom was frightened of what she was gonna hear. Molly nodded and slowly pulled out her phone. Dom immediately shook her head. "Wait, Molly, no-"

"I'm not calling Roxi."

Christian found himself properly impressed by Molly's determination and single-minded nature. He was glad to be facing away from them, though, because his eyebrows lifted as he reached for glasses and the drinks Dom had told him to look for. He hadn't exactly been helping with Molly's goal of getting things done quickly, had he, in offering to do this? Christian was ever the helpful sort if he could be, but he was also the kind of make sure everyone right in front of him was okay before those out there waiting on him even knew he was coming.

Although he knew this was a simple and genuine fact about himself, it didn't make him feel any less guilty about it. Apollo, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the task at hand. Christian was bringing glasses in with the different options hovering in front of him when they realized Molly was making a call. Neither twin knew what was going on - that was clear when they glanced at each other and shrugged as one cup was passed off between them. Christian sat the others down on Dom's table, sinking onto the arm of the couch rather than jostling Molly while she made the call.

As Christian had been thinking earlier, Apollo was very intent on understanding. He looked to Dom and asked quietly, as to not disturb the call either, "Did you know that you two talk in code words? We've no idea how to be useful around here if nobody will fill us in."

Molly could not have her conversation with Dom's wide eyes watching her with such fear and anxiety, so she blinked and stood, stepping quickly into the restroom with little explanation to the others in the room after Christian delivered refreshments for them all and Apollo spoke.

Dom had set about shrugging off her jacket to hang it up in a closet, before taking up a water that Christian had delivered. Her eyes met Apollo's at his statement and she laughed, almost nervously. She took a drink of water and awkwardly settled onto an ottoman across from the boys.

"We're talking about our cousin. She has a tendency to destroy people. I dunno if it's because she's family or what, but she has an effect. She makes you forget who you are, who you want to be. When Lily dropped out of school, it was Roxi harboring her. And I've heard horrible whispers of what Roxi let Lily do during that time." Dom paused, deciding candor could only further harm her younger cousin. "Basically, I wouldn't put anything past her."

Molly slipped back into the room, eyes locked onto Dom. "Never tell me Margo Richards is useless. She called Roxi asking for some Spice and Roxi said she'll be at some club in London called Dust. Tonight."

She turned her eyes towards the twins. "Wanna go undercover?"

Apollo tried to ignore the fact that Christian watched Molly as she wandered off, mainly because he was set on what Dom was saying. But he also found his twin's attention to be placed rather oddly. That wasn't to say that Apollo didn't like Molly for some reason, but rather that he knew Christian was essentially entirely unaware of who she was as a person. There he went again, the elder boy thought sarcastically to himself.

But then anger boiled the blood in Apollo's veins, because he didn't even want to consider what Dom might have heard about Lily. This cousin of theirs? He would be damned if she ruined things all over again. The next time Apollo spoke, it wasn't to Dom but instead to Molly when she presented her question.

Apollo wouldn't find out until later, but the moment he spoke was the moment Christian knew he would never be able to bring himself to interfere. The moment the younger brother knew he was wrong about what he thought he felt, because what was simmering within him was absolutely nothing compared to what his brother so obviously felt.

"We're going," he said firmly, his voice more terse and dark than even Christian had ever heard it. "Now. Just tell us what you need us to do."

((Time jumping, sorry not sorry. xD))

Molly Weasley was heading up this operation. She had stopped by Bev's empty flat (she had a key) to dress up the Zabinis a bit - make them look a bit like a Ducky Baker class of bloke, in psychedelic patterns and relaxed clothing. She had donned a club outfit that would disguise herself as a patron well, and had helped Dom dye her hair red. The idea was that Roxi probably would suspect nothing of Molly, and had no idea who the boys were. Dom would tip her off, but they needed the woman there just in case.

And they were off, strutting down the street. Dom has asked Christian to keep an eye on her cousin and let the trio go off before her, hanging in an alley as she gave them a head start, afraid to give them away, more afraid that she had just sent innocent lambs to slaughter.

Molly didn't look like an innocent lamb as she pressed some money into the bouncer's hands for the boys - ladies were almost always let in free. She slipped Apollo a photograph of Roxanne and raised an eyebrow. "Don't approach her. Keep an eye on her and any meat head hanging around her. They'll lead us to Lily. Let's split up." She cast an eye around. "You take bar, we'll take gallery. Dom's going to go up top so she'll watch out for you." She lifted her eyebrows to the upper level and then looked back at the guys. "Good?"