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+------ Thread: A Fathers Demand :: Alice (/showthread.php?tid=1097)
A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-05-2026
2 December
Noon
Hogsmeade.
The very fact that Thatcher Ravenstone found himself standing in the middle of a crowded village on a school weekend was infuriating.
Students wandered past laughing and carrying shopping bags. Parents mingled outside storefronts. The air smelled of sweets, butterbeer, woodsmoke and teenagers. It was all beneath him.
Had circumstances been different, Alice would have come when summoned. A letter would have been enough. A second letter at most. Instead, months of correspondence had gone unanswered.
His letters. Margery's letters. Birthday gifts returned unopened. Not even the courtesy of a response.
The Ministry had completed its investigation. No charges had been filed. The accusations had been dismissed. The matter was settled.
Yet somehow his daughter continued behaving as though she were still a victim and he were still standing trial. The entire situation had become ridiculous. Thatcher checked his pocket watch for what felt like the tenth time.
Late. Or avoiding him. Neither possibility improved his mood. His teeth grinding with anger.
With an annoyed sigh, he adjusted the cuff of his robes and cast a glance down the busy street. Heads turned as they often did. Recognition was nothing new. Ravenstone Flightworks had made him a wealthy man and a recognizable one.
Normally he enjoyed that. Today it merely served as a reminder that half the wizarding world had spent the better part of a year whispering about his family. Because of her. This was Alice’s fault, to that he was sure. He had gone through great lengths to make sure Everleigh would never tell a soul what she knew. No, this had Alice written all over it.
His jaw tightened. Enough was enough. Alice would return home for the holidays. Whether she liked it or not, she was still his daughter and she would learn to listen.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-06-2026
Alice was always punctual; her parents taught her it was one of the most important things to be because that often was the very first impression people could have of you. But today she was late. Quite late, actually, which she knew would put her father in a foul mood, but he was a foul man who didn’t deserve her time, so…
She approached Hogsmeade and could see his figure in the distance, in the middle of the path, waiting.
Alice hadn’t read the letters he had sent. She never opened the parcels he sent. She had zero interest in him or her mother because she no longer trusted them with anything. They couldn’t be trusted. They were both at fault for Everleigh’s predicament. She’d been convinced her mum had no idea what was happening until…
Well, she still wouldn’t accept tea from anyone but herself and Matilda.
As she drew closer to him, she checked for her wand in its holder at her waist. The tension she felt rolling off of him was comparable to her own. Normally, before everything imploded in the Ravenstone family, she would have immediately gone in for a hug. No, she wasn’t close to him, but she had the normal amount of respect for him as any child was supposed to for their father.
Now? Now she had none.
She came to a stop a couple of feet away, as if getting too close to him would cause her physical pain. “You seem tense. Am I late?” she asked, keeping her voice as nonchalant as possible, as if she was asking about the weather.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-06-2026
For a moment Thatcher simply looked at her.
No greeting. No apology. No respect.
Just another small act of defiance added to an increasingly long list. He wanted to be surprised, but he wasn’t. His jaw tightened.
"You are." His voice was calm, measured. The same tone he used when correcting an employee who should have known better. "Twenty minutes, if we're being precise." Thatcher was always precise. In every aspect of his life. His job required it, so naturally that flowed into his home as well.
"You received my letter, then." It wasn't a question. Of course she had received it. The Ravenstone owl had never failed to deliver a message in its life. "And yet somehow found yourself incapable of responding." The disappointment in his voice was clear. He expected more from her.
"Your mother wrote as well. She was concerned." Thatcher adjusted one cuff before looking back at her.
"I confess, Alice, I find this entire situation rather remarkable." His expression remained neutral, his voice deep with harnessed anger.
"To think I would need to request a meeting with my own daughter in a public village simply to have a conversation. Particularly after everything that has come to light."
There it was. Not an apology. Not regret.
The investigation had concluded. No charges had been filed. The Ministry had spent months digging through his business, his finances and his family life only to arrive at the same conclusion he had known from the beginning.
Nothing had been proven.
Yet somehow he was still standing in Hogsmeade on a school weekend, waiting for his daughter as though he were the one expected to answer for something.
It was absurd.
"Your grandfather has had his say. The Ministry has had theirs. The accusations have been investigated. As it should be, your mother and I have been cleared."
His eyes remained fixed on hers, assessing. "So tell me Alice. What exactly are you still angry about?"
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-07-2026
Alice looked up at Thatcher Ravenstone, his anger rolling off of him in waves. It was so thick that it almost suffocated her, but she did her best to keep it from bothering her. She could tell that her nonchalance about her punctuality had driven him mad, and she wanted to continue.
"You received my letter, then. And yet somehow found yourself incapable of responding."
She smirked a bit. She’d enjoyed destroying the earlier letters. Fire. Dissolving in water. But when she’d spotted Claude the last time, looking a bit exhausted from all of the back and forth, she could tell that she had better open the letter. And that letter is the one that informed her she must meet him in Hogsmeade.
She hadn’t wanted to. But here she was.
"...I confess, Alice, I find this entire situation rather remarkable. To think I would need to request a meeting with my own daughter in a public village simply to have a conversation. Particularly after everything that has come to light."
She barely even heard the words coming from her father. Instead, Alice busied herself with smoothing her skirt and then her hair. When she was finished, she looked back at her father and their eyes met. He looked the same. But she saw him as he really was now: evil.
"Your grandfather has had his say. The Ministry has had theirs. The accusations have been investigated. As it should be, your mother and I have been cleared. So tell me Alice. What exactly are you still angry about?"
His anger was laced with something else – righteousness? Annoyance? Indignance? How much of Thatcher Ravenstone was here because he truly wanted to make amends, and how much was because he was trying to save face? To the outside world, it reflected negatively that even though he and his wife were cleared, his daughter wasn’t back with them.
“Are you here because you want to make amends,” she said, her voice quiet and even, “or because it looks bad that I won’t come home?” She knew it wasn’t polite to answer a question with a question, but she was past the point of caring.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-07-2026
The question irritated him immediately. Not because it was difficult to answer. Because it shouldn't have needed to be asked.
For a moment Thatcher simply stared at her. Assessing.
The smirk. The indifference. The complete lack of respect. This was Bertram’s doing. Alice wasn’t innocent in her disrespect, but Bertram definitely stoked the fire.
He remembered when Alice had been young enough to run toward him when he returned from a business trip. Back when she listened. Back when she trusted him blindly, as it should be with a parent and child.
"Make amends." He repeated the phrase as though testing it. "What exactly do you believe I should be making amends for?" His voice remained calm, though his jaw tightened slightly.
"That is the part of this entire situation I find so remarkable. You speak as though your mother and I have wronged you. As though the Ministry somehow failed to uncover some great truth." A brief pause. "They investigated us, Alice." Her name coming out sharp. His eyes never leaving hers. "Extensively."
The implication hung between them. If the Ministry couldn't prove wrongdoing, then surely there was none. At least in Thatcher's mind. "And yet here we are."
He exhaled slowly through his nose. "I write. Your mother writes. We receive nothing. You ignore us for months, refuse to come home for the holidays, refuse to even have a conversation unless it takes place on your terms."
His expression hardened. "And somehow I am the one expected to apologize."
"I came here because you are my daughter. And because your place is with your family. You are a Ravenstone, you need to start acting like it." Gone were the softer tones and placating words. He would no longer take her insolent behaviour.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-07-2026
"Make amends. What exactly do you believe I should be making amends for?"
As Alice watched her father, their eyes still locked in a sort of duel of wits, she realized that the man who raised her was much more calculating than she originally thought he was at the beginning of all of this. He was irritated, but he was covering that irritation easily with a strange calmness.
A calmness that Alice was growing into. After everything, she’d felt she had come to some sort of breaking point where her parents were concerned.
He spoke once again about the Ministry clearing them, and Alice clenched her jaw shut. She balled her hands into tight fists, her nails marking the familiar pattern on her palms.
"I write. Your mother writes. We receive nothing. You ignore us for months, refuse to come home for the holidays, refuse to even have a conversation unless it takes place on your terms. And somehow I am the one expected to apologize. I came here because you are my daughter. And because your place is with your family. You are a Ravenstone, you need to start acting like it."
She noted the absence of any sort of softness he had brought with him. Now he was changing tactics and trying to hone in on her proper Pureblood training. Out of both girls, Alice took her duties much more seriously.
From a very young age, Alice knew that the Ravenstone name was important to her father. And Everleigh was nowhere near capable of being the face of the family. It was her future, not Evers. And yet she was openly defying the father she used to blindly follow.
“I might be your daughter, but at least I don’t have to brainwash anyone to get them to listen to me,” she spat.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-08-2026
For the first time since Alice arrived, Thatcher's expression changed. It was small, a tightening around his eyes. Clenching of his jaw. There and gone so quickly that someone less familiar with him might have missed it entirely, but Alice had spent her entire life watching the man.
"Careful." The word was quiet, but filled with warning. The kind of quiet that usually came before consequences.
"You are making a very serious accusation. Accusations you have no chance of proving. I suggest you think very carefully about what you say next." For a moment neither of them spoke. Students wandered through the village around them, completely unaware of the tension brewing just in front of the tea shop.
Thatcher broke eye contact first, smoothing an invisible wrinkle from one sleeve. "When did you become so certain you understand matters far beyond your pay grade? Is that what your grandfather tells you? Has Bertram convinced you that every decision made in this family was done out of malice?"
The disappointment returned to his voice.
"You were always the sensible one, Alice. Which makes this all the more disappointing."
His tactics weren’t working. Alice was stubborn to a fault, which typically he would find pride in. It would do her well in business, but right now he wanted to squash the insolence beneath his shoes. Strong arm her into compliance.
Stepping towards his daughter, toe to toe, looking down at her, Thatcher was significantly taller than his daughter and gave off an intimidating aire. “You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice in this matter. I’m done with your childish behaviour. You are a Ravenstone. You are a member of this family, ACT LIKE IT.”
His calm demeanor was gone. She would submit to his demands or see a very different side of her father.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-08-2026
Quiet. As a young child, Alice was always scared when her father got quiet. It meant she was in trouble. But even though he warned her that she had no way to prove her accusations, she couldn’t help but to feel like she’d won. Even if in the end she did what he said, she was standing up to the man who had completely destroyed her sister.
"You were always the sensible one, Alice. Which makes this all the more disappointing."
Alice narrowed her eyes slightly, not breaking contact with him. That – the disappointment – that is what hurt. She’d always done everything she could to make him proud. She’d always looked up to the man, until recently, and his approval had been everything to her. But in the past couple of years, that had shifted.
Still, the pang was there. And it hurt.
He stepped closer, toe to toe with her. His serious eyes looked into her own, but she did not back up and she did not back down. Despite the pain she felt in her heart, the sadness at the very real realization that he was not who she thought he was.
“You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice in this matter. I’m done with your childish behaviour. You are a Ravenstone. You are a member of this family, ACT LIKE IT.”
She lifted her chin a little bit, an amused smirk playing on the corner of her mouth. “You can yell at me in the middle of Hogsmeade if you’d like,” she said, her voice very steady. “But it won’t change what I saw. What I know.”
He was not her hero.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-08-2026
The smirk. The certainty. The absolute conviction that she understood what had happened.
Something inside Thatcher snapped. Not loudly or dramatically, but just enough to show he was done with her insolence.
"It won't change what I saw. What I know."
"You know nothing." The words came immediately and sharp. Far faster than anything else he had said that afternoon. Pure emotion and anger running his responses now.
"You saw fragments. Half-truths. Moments entirely devoid of context. You stand here judging decisions you were never equipped to understand." He took another step forward. His voice had risen now. Not shouting, but no longer controlled. A few heads were turning now.
"You think because you've spent a summer listening to Bertram's version of events that you suddenly know everything? That you are suddenly equipped to pass judgment on me after the Ministry has cleared me of all charges.”
The words were flowing now. Anger lacing every word. Regret punctuating his points. His hands clenched behind his back. Knuckles blanching white with the strain.
"You have absolutely no idea what was sacrificed for you. Lives changed, put on hold. You think you know everything. You know what we want you to know. What your mother allowed us to tell you."
The words hung between them. Heavy. Dangerous.
Thatcher laughed. A single harsh sound. If she wouldn’t comply with his demands, he would blow up the life she thought she knew. And when she came running back for answers, he would force her into the role she was born into.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-08-2026
"You know nothing."
Alice rolled her eyes, the first time she’d ever done that to his face. But she didn’t care. He’d proven to be untrustworthy, crushing any and all fragments of truth that she had been clinging to. She should have known without a doubt that she couldn’t trust him or her mother.
The damn woman was just as guilty as he was.
The brunette crossed her arms over her chest, her body vibrating with the combination of their anger. She could feel a smugness creep over him though, even though had lost all control. He thought he had the upper hand.
"You have absolutely no idea what was sacrificed for you. Lives changed, put on hold. You think you know everything. You know what we want you to know. What your mother allowed us to tell you."
Well, that was worded strangely.
And he laughed. She flinched.
And blinked. Confused.
Her face grew red, unable to comprehend what he had meant.
“Mother? Mother is a damn doormat. I’m sure you’ve messed with her memories too. She used to be nice, but now she’s just as bad as you.”
Grasping at straws, Alice refused to back down. For the first time in this conversation, she felt like she had no legs to stand on.
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-09-2026
“Mother? Mother is a damn doormat. I’m sure you’ve messed with her memories too. She used to be nice, but now she’s just as bad as you.” Thatcher’s hand rises to his chin, where he absentmindedly scratches the facial hair growing in. A sinister smile playing with his lips.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “See, there you go again, making assumptions. You think you know, but you have no idea.” He almost laughed, enjoying her confusion. He had something he could hold over her. Information she would want.
But what would she do to get it?
"You insist on speaking as though you understand this family." His voice had dropped again. Dangerously calm. "You do not."
Thatcher continued before he could stop himself. He knew the day would come where Alice found out about her mother. The one who carried her to term, not the one who chose to love and raise her.
"You will do well to listen to the words I’m saying. For once in your life, don’t think about what you think is the truth, just shut up and listen.” Silence. The words settled heavily between them.
Thatcher closed his eyes briefly, sighing. This is not how he saw today going, but ultimately, she was seventeen and if he wanted her to obey his commands, he needed to show at least a few of his cards. There was no point pretending anymore. “Your mother, Margery, chose to raise you. Love you. She chose you when she did not have to. You are my daughter, but Margery is not your mother. Your mother brought you to us when you were seven months old."
His gaze settled on his daughter. Hard and unwavering.
"You are not Margery's daughter, Alice. If you would like to know more, I expect to see you for breakfast, the first day of Christmas break."
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-09-2026
“See, there you go again, making assumptions. You think you know, but you have no idea.”
Alice shook her head, looking up at the man who had trained her to respect him and the other adults in her life. She used to see someone worthy of that respect, someone who not just earned it but commanded it.
"You insist on speaking as though you understand this family. You do not."
Now she couldn’t help but to think he was probably the worst human being alive. How she and her sister could come from someone like him was completely lost on her. How her mother could stay with someone like him just spoke volumns about the kind of woman she was.
"You will do well to listen to the words I’m saying. For once in your life, don’t think about what you think is the truth, just shut up and listen.”
Alice clenched her jaw, her heart beginning to race. What she was picking up from him, she honestly didn’t know. All she knew is that whatever he thought he had, it was big. And that made her nervous.
She knew that she didn’t know everything. For all she knew, he had obliviated her too.
“Your mother, Margery, chose to raise you. Love you. She chose you when she did not have to. You are my daughter, but Margery is not your mother. Your mother brought you to us when you were seven months old."
Alice’s mouth dropped open slightly, her jaw losing its stability. She could hear his words, but her brain couldn’t process them.
"You are not Margery's daughter, Alice. If you would like to know more, I expect to see you for breakfast, the first day of Christmas break."
Alice stood there, in the middle of Hogsmeade, with students wandering past, laughing, and enjoying the freedom that the village brought. While she just felt – nothing.
This… moment. It was as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath her.
“No… that’s…” Alice said, her voice shaky. She stepped back from her father, narrowing her eyes. “You’re just lying, you’re grasping at straws.”
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Thatcher Ravenstone - 06-10-2026
“No… that’s… You’re just lying, you’re grasping at straws.” Her voice shook with emotion. He didn’t have time for the theatrics.
"Of course that's what you think." There was no sympathy in his voice. No comfort. He was exhausted with the entire situation. He didn’t have time to deal with her childish emotions. She would do well to tuck those away and move on.
"You've spent so long convincing yourself that every word out of my mouth is a lie that you've forgotten what truth sounds like."
His jaw tightened. "I gain nothing from telling you this." For once, that was true. Nothing about this conversation had gone according to plan. Nothing about it benefited him, which was far from how his normal business dealings worked. He always came ahead in the end. "You wanted answers. Now you have one. Whether you choose to believe it is your concern, not mine." His expression hardened slightly. Having to prove himself was annoying and far from his usual.
"But before you accuse me of fabricating yet another story, ask yourself a question. Have you ever wondered why you don't resemble Margery? Why are there no photographs of her carrying you? Why do you have brown eyes, unlike the rest of the family?"
The silence that followed was brutal, because for the first time, Thatcher wasn't arguing. He wasn’t deflecting or defending himself. No, he was showing his cards, placing pieces of a puzzle on the table and forcing Alice to look at them.
“I’ve given you the only information you will get for free. You have responsibilities in this family, and I expect you to uphold them." His voice had returned to that infuriating calmness. The same tone he used in business meetings. The same tone that suggested everything had already been decided.
"If you want answers, I expect to see you at home for Christmas break. Bertram will get you nowhere. He has no idea that you are not a true Nordstrom."
As though discussing the weather, he went on to say. "While we are on the subject of family obligations, I have also finalized a marriage contract on your behalf."
The words landed without ceremony. Without warning. Without concern for how she might react. "The arrangement is favorable. The family is respectable, financially secure, and well connected. Frankly, it is a better match than most girls in your position could hope for."
His gaze settled on her. "You will have an opportunity to meet him over Christmas. Good day Alice. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have better places to be."
RE: A Fathers Demand :: Alice - Alice Ravenstone - 06-12-2026
"You've spent so long convincing yourself that every word out of my mouth is a lie that you've forgotten what truth sounds like."
Alice looked up at him, feeling something within her cracking. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly because it was something that had always been stable, perfectly put together like she was always expected to be. There was no love in her father’s eyes and she knew just by looking at him that he was telling the truth.
"But before you accuse me of fabricating yet another story, ask yourself a question. Have you ever wondered why you don't resemble Margery? Why are there no photographs of her carrying you? Why do you have brown eyes, unlike the rest of the family?"
Silence followed this, and it hurt. For as long as she could remember, she was envious of the blue eyes of her sister, her parents, her cousin. She hated her dull, brown eyes. Her face grew red when she was confronted with the truth of it all.
She couldn’t respond. Her mouth went dry.
"If you want answers, I expect to see you at home for Christmas break. Bertram will get you nowhere. He has no idea that you are not a true Nordstrom."
Not a true Nordstrom.
Despite how slighted she had felt by her grandfather, he was still the only man in her family she felt she could trust. Even though the words coming out of her father’s voice were painful, they were true. Did grandfather really not know?
And now she had to go home on Christmas.
"While we are on the subject of family obligations, I have also finalized a marriage contract on your behalf."
Alice was already broken down and bruised. She’d been so focused on Tilly’s marriage contract that she hadn’t even considered one for herself. She felt like she was outside her body.
He spoke about the family, but Alice’s brain wasn’t comprehending it. She didn’t know what she was focusing on the most. But the rug had been pulled out from underneath her and everything that she thought she knew was… a lie.
Her father excused himself, leaving her stunned in the middle of Hogsmeade, fellow students walking around while she crumbled.
The cracking that was inside wasn’t to be fixed with glue anymore.
Without thinking, Alice turned and walked to the candy shop. Maevie had been avoiding her so she hoped that she could purchase some more sweets to get the girl to sit with her. It was the only thing she could think of. Instead of focusing on her own pain, her own unraveling, Alice liked to fill her attention with other people.