Andrew Kirke (dragondrums) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-06-01 16:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, character: james potter, location: st. mungo's, retired character: andrew kirke |
Who: Andrew Kirke and James Potter.
What: Awkward encounter / worry / meeting the boyfriend’s dad.
When: Tuesday 31 May, evening.
Where: Spell Damage, St Mungo’s.
Rating: PG.
Andrew didn’t sprint up the stairs to the 4th Floor of St Mungo’s, but he very much would have liked to. The only reason he didn’t was that a Healer between the second and third floors had shouted at him that he was making a hazard of himself. His head was empty of everything except the words of the message he’d received. Evan in hospital. Spell damage. Overnight. It didn’t make sense, and Andrew’s mind raced far faster than his feet, coming up with scenarios that might have landed Evan in hospital. Had he been experimenting with some spell that backfired on him? Had he drunk something he shouldn’t? (Did potions even count as spells?) Had he stepped in the way of some architecture student trying something incompatible with human anatomy? Had he got involved in a duel? (How? With whom? Andrew rejected that as less likely.)
“Evan Potter?” he asked of the first person he saw on the 4th floor. It was a patient, in muggle clothes, who just shrugged and pointed Andrew to the nearest Healer. “Potter,” Andrew tried again. “Evan. Please -” The woman in the lime green robe cut him off. “He’s with a healer just now. If you’d like to wait.” Andrew didn’t like to wait. He wanted to see Evan, to make sure he was okay, because Andrew didn’t know what he was going to do if Evan wasn’t okay.
“Can’t I just see him? Which room -” Andrew looked down the corridor at the many doors, any one of which might lead to Evan.
--
James hadn't slept in a couple days, nor had he seen his home - Sirius' or his own. Not that he was complaining. Sitting guard over Sirius was one thing, where he'd been concerned but mostly there to prevent escape, but there had been a dramatic shift in atmosphere when he'd moved to Evan's room. There was a lot more concern, worry, anxious energy gnawing away at his insides. He'd paced, Lily'd demanded answers from anyone wearing a robe with a St. Mungo's insignia, and then all they'd been able to do was wait. She was off getting food when he heard his son's name being said out in the corridor.
Stepping halfway out of the room, James glanced out to see who it was, not that he recognized the boy standing there with the healer. Still, he cleared his throat and raised his hand in a gesture to get his attention. "Evan's in here."
--
Andrew left the healer without a backwards glance or a word of thanks. “Thank Godric,” he muttered, pausing at the open doorway, heart in his throat. What if it was bad? Andrew didn’t have much experience of hospitals, apart from when Evan had broken his nose, and he didn’t know what to expect. Physical injuries were more familiar, but spell damage sounded scary, even though Andrew had been living in the magical world for a decade. “Is he- Daisy didn’t-” He couldn’t get a complete sentence out, and his eyes kept straying from the man in front of him to the door.
He didn’t think to ask who this man was. He wasn’t in healer’s robes, and he looked like a grown up version of Harry, but Andrew’s brain wasn’t working. He swallowed, shifting his weight and running a hand distractedly through his hair. “Is he alright?”
--
James may have been sleep deprived, but his mind still worked at least partly. Based on the way the boy had been questioning the healer, he made some quick assumptions as to who he was. "He doesn't remember what happened," he supplied, absently rubbing his jaw. "They've given him potions, there's bruising and discomfort and I think they want to keep him overnight."
He paused, tilting his head as he considered him. "I'm guessing you're Andrew?"
--
Since Andrew had literally no idea what had happened, James’s information didn’t have a lot of context, and mostly left him feeling just as uncertain and alarmed as he’d been before. He wanted to ask what had happened, and how badly Evan was hurt and in what way and whether - crucially - he was going to be alright and how long that would take. The words never made it out of his mouth. Maybe he was just scared of the answers.
Andrew’s attention was still divided unevenly between the door and James. If he hadn’t been quite so worried about Evan, he’d probably have been a lot more concerned about meeting Evan’s dad and making a good impression. As it was, there just wasn’t space for Andrew to be nervous about two things at once. “Yeah,” he said. “Daisy said he was here but she didn’t say why or what happened.”
--
As much as James wished he had some kind of answers for Andrew, for himself, he had none. All he could do was shake his head and glance back at the door as if somehow he would be able to see something from it.
"That's about all we know," he said quietly, raking his hand back through his hair and letting it drop to his side. "Harry let us know he was here, and Evan doesn't remember what happened. I'm guessing he was hexed, doesn't look bad enough to be a curse."
--
“Hexed?” Even in all the calamities Andrew had imagined, he hadn’t thought anyone would deliberately, maliciously hex Evan. It made it so much worse, somehow. An accident was one thing, but hexes were designed to cause damage, and pain. The fact it wasn’t ‘bad enough’ to be a curse really wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.
Andrew set his jaw, his face a little pale as he reoriented towards the door. “Can I go in?” He didn’t care if it was rude, if he should talk more or ask how Daisy and Lily and Harry were faring. He just wanted to see Evan - and at the same time, was terrified of what he might see.
--
"Mhm," James confirmed, glancing over at Andrew again. All his time as an Auror had familiarized him with a lot when it came to hexes and curses, and while Evan certainly hadn't gotten it easy, it could have been so much worse.
"The healer sent all of us out, so probably not until they're done," he offered apologetically. If they'd been insistent enough to get both him and Lily out, he doubted they would welcome an intrusion. "Hopefully won't be much longer.
--
Andrew really didn’t care about the healer. If it hadn’t been for James, he’d have tried to go in anyway. “But-” He cut himself off, crossing his arms across his chest, fingers of one hand up around his shoulder. He watched the door, as if doing so might make it spring open and reveal Evan - preferably whole and healthy and saying this whole thing had been a mistake.
It didn’t. The door stayed resolutely immobile, no matter how hard Andrew glared at it. His throat burned and he had to suck his lower lip between his teeth to keep from savaging it. Eventually, he had to look at something else. Anything else. James was the most obvious feature of the otherwise blank corridor. “You look like Harry,” Andrew said, because it was either that or plead with James to let him interrupt.
--
If he had his own way, James would have let Andrew in. Then again, he wouldn't be standing outside the room in the first place. But he didn't want to irritate the healers who had already seemed plenty irritated by him and Lily not wanting to leave the room when they came in. So he stood, and waited, and didn't have anything to add to the silence because dealing with his son being in the hospital didn't lend itself to pleasantries.
"I get that a lot, though usually the other way around," James said with a half-hearted chuckle, looking over to Andrew. "There's always been a pretty strong resemblance." He paused a moment to take him in, having not really done so before - the way Andrew was holding himself, the concern etched on his features. "Thank you... for caring about Evan."
--
The words sent a stab of guilt through Andrew, on top of everything else he was feeling. Evan loved him, and Andrew only cared about Evan and it wasn’t enough, wasn’t what Evan deserved. Caring wasn’t something Andrew felt he deserved to be thanked for. If anything, he suspected that Evan’s family would be far more hostile if they knew the truth. Had Evan told them? Andrew hoped not, but he couldn’t be sure.
“I just want him to be okay,” Andrew muttered. It was totally inadequate, but what else was he supposed to say? “He’s really - great,” he added, the last word sounding stupid. Of course Evan was great. Evan was so much more than great, but Andrew didn’t know how to explain.
--
That was all any of them wanted, and James was certain that Evan would be okay - physically. He was concerned about how he had no recollection of what had happened, and that there might be mental or emotional concerns moving forward. There was no way to know until that happened.
"He is really great," James agreed, a flicker of a smile turning the corners of his mouth. "And it's good he has someone in his life like you, from what I've heard."
--
Andrew shrugged, unconvinced that he was as good for Evan as people kept saying. He couldn’t pinpoint anything he’d done to deserve the praise. Even making sure Evan ate and slept during exams was, surely, something that any friend could have done?
He was saved from having to respond by the door, finally, opening. The healer in the green robes ignored Andrew in order to update James and Andrew wanted to sneak in before anyone could stop him - but it wasn’t as easy as that. He had no idea what to expect. Although James had outlined Evan’s condition, Andrew was still scared. He’d never really had to see anyone he cared about injured, what if he couldn’t handle it?
He hung back for a moment, but finally straightened his shoulders and ducked around the healer, pushing the door a little wider and closing it behind him without even saying goodbye.