June 15th, 1888 — Uncle Eldridge's Home, Bartonburg
Clementine Rookwood

Nothing was out of the usual this morning. Nothing. Or at least that's what he was wanting to tell himself the moment he got out of bed, his worries regarding everything—his sisters, the fog, the upcoming festival, the public panic—immediately filling his mind from the moment his feet hit the floor. He was determined to let the summer pass by on its own accord, as he was firmly (and naively) under the belief that it would go away if he ignored it.

Except he couldn't—and today was the final nail in that coffin.

As he pushed back the curtains on his window, dread filled him at the sight of—well, nothing. He couldn't see anything through the thickness of the fog, prompting an immediately panicky response. He fled his room without another word, still clad in his pajamas, and across the hall to Clementine's door.

"Clemmy! Clementine! The fog—it's in Bartonburg!" he called, knocking rapidly on the wood.

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

Clementine usually woke up early and today, feeling maudlin, she'd opened the curtains of the bedroom she shared with Faye. Outside, the neighborhood was coated in a fog that matched her mood, and so she'd flopped onto her bed and watched it shift back and forth while Faye told her she was being 'boring' and 'it's early, Clementine.'

When she heard the knock on her door and called, "Come in!" Despite having been awake for almost half an hour, Clementine was still clad in her pajama robe, and merely peered over her shoulder when Justice walked in.

"We can't use magic over the summer anyways," Clem said, largely unimpressed by her brother's dramatics.

---

  

Justice burst into the girls' bedroom, eyeing both of sisters—neither of whom seemed as upset as him, much to his dismay—before letting out an exaggerated sigh. "But Clementine," he protested. "It doesn't matter! If the house caught on fire, there'd be no one to put it out—not even Uncle Eldridge!"

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

Clem looked back out the window at the swirling fog outside. "I mean, I guess," she said, "But it's not like the house has caught on fire before." Given the family history, the lack of magic might actually be better for the Rookwoods.

---

  

Ugh, she didn't understand! If not fire, there would undoubtedly be some other sort of tragedy; their family didn't exactly have the best luck, and it would only be time before another situation left them in panic!

He moved closer to Clementine, lowering his voice so the then-distracted Faye might not hear.

"What about the...reptiles?" he whispered. "We don't know what sort of enchantments are on those cages. What if they're solely kept closed by magic?" Oh Merlin, the horror!

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

That was a possibility Clem had not considered. She widened her eyes, but stubbornness prevailed, and she folded her arms over her chest and fixed Justice with a no-nonsense look.

"Well, I keep my bedroom door closed, so if they get out I'll just stay in here," she said, "But I'm sure the cages have locks. Uncle Eldridge isn't stupid."

In reality, if the lizards escaped she was definitely going to go stay with a friend.

---

  

"Stupid, no. Crazy...?" He gave her a looks that said "are you really sure?" He didn't believe Uncle Eldridge was evil, per se, but there was more to him than just the bumbling uncle who had a weird hobby. He was sure of that. "You can't just pretend like there's nothing to worry about, Clem."

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

Clem's mouth jerked to one side in a pseudo-frown. "I can pretend all I like," she said in a tone best described as petulant. "You can't act like you don't understand denial." She was being silly and she knew it, but, then again - so was Justice.

---

  

Justice rolled his eyes in a way that he reserved only for his sister.

"It's easy to have a mindset of denial when you can't see the problem, but have you, you know, looked outside!?" he said dramatically. "It's not like you could really see anything anyways—you could even say reality is peeking in your window!"

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

"I have been looking outside," Clem said, gesturing at the window she had been staring out when he arrived. "I don't understand why you're so determined to panic. It's sort of atmospheric." The fog was emo and she liked it, in short.

---

  

Justice huffed. He was not going to win this, not with Clem. She obviously handled situations like this differently—even if she hadn't taken the death of their parents very well. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism.

Or maybe, just maybe, he was being a little dramatic.

"It's supposed to smell bad, though," he complained. "And I won't be able to practice quidditch."

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

Clementine made a face that could best be described as 'extremely annoyed,' and did not reply verbally.

---

  

Justice exhaled dramatically and let his shoulders fall in a shrug.

"Fine, but when disaster strikes, don't come crying to me. I'll only say I told you so!"

He wasn't sure what that meant, but something was coming - he just knew it.

---

  

---

— we all know MJ is amazing but DAMN —

"Sure, alright, I'll do that," Clementine said snarkily. If he was going to be like this all day, then she was just going to have to hide in her room. (This did not differ from her usual summer plans.)

---