Sally-Anne Cadwallader
OOC
| Game | Journal | Portrayed By |
|---|---|---|
| The Daily Prophet | perk_up | Blake Lively |
Basic Stats
Full Name: Sally-Anne Cadwallader (née Perks)
Nickname(s): Sally, Sal
Gender: Female
Age: 29
Date of Birth: April 13, 1980
Zodiac: Aries
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Married to Nathaniel Cadwallader (11/27/04)
Bloodline: Pureblood
Hometown: Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
Current Residence: A house in the country, right outside of London
House & Year: Hufflepuff 1998
Occupation: Photographer: The Daily Prophet
Wand: 11 in, cocobolo wood, phoenix tail feather
Pet: None
Family
Father: Jack Perks (wizard; Gryffindor 1965; quidditch commentator)
Mother: Lauren Perks (née Simmons; witch; Hufflepuff 1965; assistant in the Ministry of Magic)
Brother: Arthur Perks (wizard; Gryffindor 1989; Auror)
Brother: Michael Perks (wizard; Ravenclaw 1991; Auror)
Brother: Jonathan Perks (wizard; Slytherin 1996; Death Eater, presently in Azkaban)
Brother: Nicholas Perks (wizard; Ravenclaw 2003; copy-editor at Whizzhard Books)
Sister-in-Law: Alice Perks (née Linder; witch; Ravenclaw 2003; obliviator)
Niece: Jillian Perks (witch; b. December 26, 2007)
Sister: Elizabeth Perks (witch; Hufflepuff 7th)
Husband: Nathaniel Cadwallader (wizard; Hufflepuff 1997; sports reporter: Daily Prophet)
Son: Nathaniel Cadwallader, Jr. (wizard; b. December 2005)
History
Born on April 13, 1980, Sally-Anne Perks is a middle child. Not the middle child, she shares the position with her brother Jonathan. She has three older brothers: Arthur, born in 1970; Michael, born in 1973; Jonathan, born in 1977; a younger brother: Nicholas, born in 1984; and a younger sister: Elizabeth, born in 1987. Yes, Sally is aware that her family is quite large, but she loves her family and, growing up, she couldn't imagine her life without her siblings around. Arthur and Michael were so much older than Sally and the other three that she tended to be closer to Jonathan, Nicholas, and Elizabeth.
Even though money was tight, there was no shortage of love in the Perks household. Dad Jack was a Quidditch commentator and mom Lauren was a secretary, so while they weren't exactly rolling in the money, they were able to make ends meet with some money left over. Schoolbooks were often recycled down for the younger siblings, but Sally felt a little closer to her older brothers when she used the same books they had used.
The Perks children ended up in widely varied houses. Eldest child Arthur was sorted into Gryffindor (their father's former house) and he became a proud wearer of the red and gold. Next came bookish Michael two years later, sorted into Ravenclaw. Five years later, snobbish and cunning Jonathan was sorted into Slytherin. Two years later, Sally finished the collection of Hogwarts houses when she was sorted into Hufflepuff, her mother's former house. Five years later, Nicholas joined Michael's former house of Ravenclaw, and two years after that, Elizabeth was sorted into the house that her sister had only just vacated, Hufflepuff. Because of the age differences, Sally was only ever at school with Jonathan and Nicholas, but their different houses and years made it hard for them to spend much time together.
But Sally made herself at home in Hufflepuff right away. She made friends with her roommates, and she became the biggest fan of Hufflepuff quidditch the school had ever seen. Her father had instilled a love of the game in all of his children, but Sally couldn't play it to save her life. So she contented herself with watching the game and being the biggest fan that she could be. She really got into it, painting her face in yellow and black, making banners, cheering until her throat was raw. In her third year, she even tried to get some of the other girls interested in starting up a Hufflepuff Cheerleading Squad, but she couldn't get enough interest. She did continue trying almost every year after that, especially as the war was brewing, because she thought that a bit of extra cheer was just what everyone needed.
In fourth year, while most other girls were swooning over Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts Champion for the Tournament (okay, so Harry Potter was a Champion for Hogwarts, too, but Cedric was in Sally's house), Sally had her eyes set a little differently: on Nate Cadwallader, who was a year ahead of her in Hufflepuff. To her delight, they attended the Yule Ball together, though that was about the extent of their relationship at Hogwarts. In March of her fifth year, Sally was stricken with mononucleosis. She was sent home for the remainder of the term, in part so that she couldn't pass it to anyone else, and in part because she was so fatigued that she couldn't even drag herself out of bed. As a result, she missed taking the O.W.L.s with her yearmates, so her parents petitioned the Ministry of Magic and got special permission for Sally to take the O.W.L.s over the summer, so that she could stay with her friends.
Once Sally had recovered from mono, she returned to school in her sixth year, which wasn't that bad of a year until the end. Sally was shaken by the death of Professor Dumbledore and the battle in the school (in which she didn't take an active part, she was never all that great at classes like Defense and only decent at Charms and would have been more of a hinderance than a help, so she stayed in the Hufflepuff common room and tried to help keep the younger years calm and safe). After a summer of pulling herself together, she returned for her seventh year.
Seventh year at Hogwarts was a trying one for everyone who was there. Returning to school, only to find that many of her classmates were missing was upsetting. Sally also didn't enjoy the fact that Defense Against the Dark Arts was mandatory again (or the fact that it was now just Dark Arts), and although she was already taking Muggle Studies, she did not like the new direction the class was taking. Despite the fact that Sally did poorly in Dark Arts, she continued to earn high marks in that class, which confused her terribly, until the aftermath of the battle at Hogwarts. As in the one the year before, Sally did not stay to fight (she was still no better at magical fighting than she had been before), instead helping to get the younger years to safety through the Room of Requirement and into Hogsmeade. When the dust settled, though, Sally found out that her beloved brother Jonathan had been captured during the battle and unmasked as a Death Eater.
For a long time, Sally refused to believe that her brother was guilty, despite the fact that he readily admitted to his guilt and was sentenced to Azkaban. Sally just could not make sense of her brother's betrayal. When she finally did accept the truth, thanks to her friends refusing to let her avoid it any longer, she began blaming the Slytherin house for making Jonathan into a Death Eater; she was positive that, had he been sorted into any other house, he would not have gone down that path. The first time that she visited Jonathan in Azkaban, nearly two years after he had been sentenced, she finally found out why she seemed to do so well in Dark Arts that last year: her brother had petitioned for her safety, turning himself into essentially the Carrows' lapdog in exchange.
Sally was torn about how to react to her brother's admission. Should she be grateful that he sacrificed whatever morals he'd had to save her? Should she feel guilty that it was because of her that he went the way he did? Since she didn't know how to react, she just shoved all the feelings aside, choosing once again to ignore the facts and run from things.
In April of 2003, Sally ran into Nate Cadwallader, with whom she had attended the Yule Ball at Hogwarts all those years ago. He had been a year ahead of her in school, and she'd harboured a small crush on him on and off during her Hogwarts years. They began dating and, on Christmas day 2003, he proposed to her and she said yes. However, only a few months later, in February of 2004, Sally was offered a position as a staff photographer at one of the muggle news magazines, British World News, that she was a freelancer for. The only catch was that, for her first assignment, they wanted to send her to Zimbabwe, Africa, for five months with a research group. Sally was torn, because the opportunity was a wonderful one, but five months away from home and her fiancé (and surrounded by muggles, so the use of magic, especially apparating home for visits, would be impossible) would be almost too much to bear. What ended up making the decision for her was especially rampant rumours about Nate and herself. She had never liked being the focus of gossip, and in her already-conflicted state, the new rumours were just too much to bear. She gave Nate the ring back and accepted the job.
After five months in Africa, Sally returned to England in July of 2004, and it was nearly impossible to keep from running into Nate everywhere. She still loved him deeply, but she knew that she didn't deserve a second chance with him, not after having left him. The best that she thought she could hope for was to maybe be friends, because at least having him in her life was better than nothing at all. It was hard, though, trying to be friends after everything they had been to each other, and things felt like they would never be right. It certainly didn't help things, from Sally's side, that her brother got engaged that year, and that he would be getting married the following summer; even as she was happy for her brother, she was utterly jealous of him, as she was looking, along with his fiancée and the rest of the bridal party, at wedding gowns, knowing that if she hadn't run away, they would have been looking at gowns for her, or she would already be married.
The 27th of November, 2004, is a date that will remain etched in Sally's memory forever. Although she didn't know it at the time, it was exactly one year after Nate had purchased her engagement ring. She had just gotten home from having to go into the magazine office for a few hours on her day off, and she had plans of just relaxing with a cup of tea and a good book. A knock on the door came just as she was sitting down, and before long, the tea and book were forgotten; Nate was at the door, and after spilling his heart out to her, he offered back the ring and re-proposed to her. Sally was initially hesitant to say yes (for all of a few seconds), out of fear that she was dreaming, because she had never imagined that this could happen. She did say yes, and the ring was returned to her finger, where it belonged. They didn't have a long engagment: now that they were back together, they didn't want to let the other go. That very day, they went to the Ministry of Magic and were married.
By the beginning of the new year, Sally was growing quite fed-up with her job. While the promise of lots of travel was what had originally been key in her decision to take the job, she was growing weary of the constant need to drop everything at a moment's notice and fly off to Chile, or India, or wherever there was something going on that needed to be covered by the magazine. It was a good distraction, before she got married. Now that she was married, she wanted to spend some time in England with her husband, not flying off to Merlin-knows-where at the drop of a hat. So, Sally began sending out feelers to the other magazines and newspapers that she had freelanced for previously, as well as other publications in the wizarding world. In March of 2005, one of her hits paid off in The Daily Prophet: a photographer position had just opened up, so Sally took her portfolio in and applied for the job. To her delight, she was hired and thus able to quit her job at British World News.
Of course, Sally and Nate celebrated her new job, and were in for a different kind of celebration a couple months later, when they found out that Sally was pregnant. Although the pregnancy wasn't exactly planned, they were thrilled nonetheless. Their son, whom they named Nathaniel Jr., was born that December, and Sally immediately fell in love with the chubby little bundle of joy. Having a baby in the house was certainly a big adjustment, though; after her maternity leave was over, Sally had to go back to work at the Prophet, and Nate had training and races. Her parents were a lot of help, watching Nate Jr. whenever they could.
Overall, the early years of Sally and Nate's marriage were rather idyllic. Sally loved her husband and their baby, and they had settled into a nice-sized house in the countryside, not too far from London, but far enough that they had a huge backyard and some privacy. In 2007, though, their happy little life came crashing down when Nate got into an accident during the world circuit. Jack and Lauren watched little Nate Jr. for Sally while she rushed to her husband's side. She was there when he got the devastating news that this injury would take him out of racing forever. Her old habit of running away from the hard things in life tried to flare up, and she was inwardly torn by it, but she did not want to run away from her husband (again) and their child, especially not when Nate really needed her. It was hard, but Sally fought the urge to run and instead stayed.
The time following Nate's accident was a dark time in their marriage, though Sally tried to be there for Nate as much as he would let her. They got through it, though, and now Nate is working as a sports reporter at the paper with Sally. She knows that he longs to race again, and tries not to bring the subject up with him, lest he be upset by it.