No one, not even Sebastian, was able to contain Mackenzie at this point. No, no matter how much he resisted her, and tried to constrain her to him, she refused to let him keep her from finding out what was really going on. And Evan, no no, he was most certainly not keeping her from finding out anything either. Because she knew he knew, she just knew he did. Just like how she knew that he knew what really happened to Orpheus. Because she wasn't completely dense, nor blind. Orpheus, Caradoc and Evan.... oh, well they were Slytherin pureblood boys for Merlin's sake, a random person off the street would most likely be able to guess what they really were. It wasn't hard, just common sense. And up to this point, she had--- well, ignored it almost. Because they wouldn't be that stupid to get involved with something as radical with that, and they were, they were them. The same stupid boys that she had spent all of Hogwarts with! They wouldn't do things like murder, or torture. They just wouldn't.

Taking a deep breath, Mackenzie composed herself to the best of her ability once she approached Evan's doorstep. This was going to be challenging, she knew but, not unachievable. Evan would tell her, he had to, it wasn't some cult secret anymore, Caradoc was missing for heaven's sake! Or possibly even--- she swallowed, completely not accepting the possibility that he might be dead. He couldn't be dead, nothing honestly seemed to--- no.

Caradoc missing, Orpheus in Azkaban... what was happening to them?

"Evan!" Mackenzie's voice rang through his flat as she swung the door open forcefully. "Oh shut up Aegis!" She heard the dog before she saw it, but now, her patience was running thin. The fact that she had rudely barged in did not phase her, nor did her yelling at every living being in the home.

Amycus leaned forward, closing his journal as he ran a hand over his face, letting out a heavy breath. He had been collecting ingredients for the shop, a bag of various items sitting in the chair beside him at the Leaky Cauldron. He needed to get out of the flat and the shop for a while, and had volunteered to gather what was needed, since Alecto would have had to do it herself at some point. The last thing he wanted was to get on his sister’s bad side, especially now that Caradoc Dearborn was declared a traitor to the Dark Lord. Even though Alecto had the Dark Mark branded on her arm, he felt that her anger towards Caradoc had more to do with personal betrayal. Sure, every Death Eater was on the look out for Dearborn, ready to cut his throat if they saw him again, but Alecto was friends with him. So, he wasn’t about to push her buttons. It was usually his job to aggravate Alecto, because that’s what younger brother’s did, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut…for the most part.

Rising to his feet, he slipped his journal into the bag of groceries, and pushed back the chair, placing the bag beneath his arm. He didn’t want to waste any more time getting back to his sister, not knowing why she needed him to return him at that very moment. He highly doubted that she wanted to talk it out, or something equally out of character. It was more likely that she’d want to use him as someone to yell at, or hit, than to want him to come home so she could use him as a shoulder to lean on…then again, yelling at each other, or calling the other a ‘bitch’ or an ‘asshole’ was usually how they verbally displayed affection.

Getting to the front of the shop, he twisted the handle and tried to push open the door, only to notice there was something in the way. Furrowing his brows, he shoved his shoulder against the door a few times, finally making his way inside. He stood in the doorway for a good while, eyes going wide at the sight before him. When he came to his senses, he shut the door behind him, placing the bag down on the nearest flat surface, climbing over various objects to get to the stairs that lead up to their apartment. His heart was pounding in his chest, because even though he knew she was still alive, since she was able to demand that he come home immediately, he didn’t know what shape she was in.

He should have known that they’d come after her…

“Alecto?” He called her name out to her after he opened the door to their place, closing that door behind him as well. His hand had already gripped around his wand as soon as he saw the rubble downstairs, but he hadn’t even noticed.

For a birthday, it sure didn't feel like it.

Normally, birthdays for the Bones children were a big event. The whole family got together and had a party and cake, and they talked and laughed and ate until any of them could barely Apparate home. That was something that her parents had always done for their kids, even though all of them were grown up and married and had families of their own to do that for them now. It was nice, it brought the family together away from their busy and individual lives for a rare moment to revisit their childhood. It was something Amelia had loved, despite that she was now nearly 30 years old and had far outgrown her mum's annual pink-and-yellow princess cakes and fuzzy birthday crown.

On the up side, though, at least it was her birthday she'd ruined first. If it had been Ed's or Jonathan's---well, she didn't need to give either one of her brothers any more reason to hate her than she already had. Not that they would admit to any animosity they were feeling towards her, of course. Merlin, she would have been relieved for either of them to lash out at her for even a second. Amelia knew that they had to blame her, at least a little. Just acting like none of this had happened due to her own actions only made the whole situation that much more painful. That---and the sympathy she had coming from Megan wasn't doing much either. Her sister-in-law, who had been weepy and pregnant and hormonal and doing just about everything she could to try and make things better, had even offered to throw her a party. A party she neither needed nor deserved, and the guilt was driving Amelia up the bloody wall.

That was why she was now sitting home, laying back on the couch and very adamantly refusing to answer any of her family's owls pecking at the kitchen window. Mara, who was sitting supported on her stomach, watched the birds curiously, occasionally giggling and reaching out as if she could touch one. Amelia ran her fingers through the baby's soft curls and sighed in response to the smile on her face. "Oy, at least someone's happy today."