Rose Zeller (rose_tint) wrote in afic, @ 2011-09-03 16:47:00 |
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“I probably shouldn’t have that second milkshake,” Rose said as she leaned back against the padded chair and splayed her fingers over her stomach, grinning at her companion. It had been an incredibly pleasant lunch, sharing confidences and giggles over the the meal that they had dragged out over several hours. After all, Rose thought, pushing back her fall of hair, if Saturdays’ weren’t for spending hours with a friend then what were they for? The cafe was busy and the voices of people relaxing during the weekend settled over Rose comfortably and companionably. It was a rare day when she had a Saturday off and she’d been more than happy to spend it with Cho. More often than not their friendship didn’t extend further than the confines of the Hogsmeade clinic due to their different commitments but today was one of those days and the sun was shining brightly on Diagon Alley. In Rose’s estimation it was a perfect sunny afternoon and the rest of the day stretched out in front of her with the promise of relaxation. “Thank you for meeting me Cho. It’s a little weird to see you without Jian but so good.” |
“I know,” Cho said. “It’s hard to know what to do with yourself when you’re not chasing him across the room, is it?” The days she didn’t have Jian with her were strange; empty and quiet. When he was around it often became too much, with her snapping at him or being a little rough. At least lately. With so much to think about (or, to decisively Not Think About), with the tears that had been a little too close to the surface, and her job that became more wretched by the day, it had been more so than usual. In all she should savour these days, but it was hard. She missed him too much. “I needed it,” she admitted. “I’ve had so much to think about lately, and you do make listening patiently into a very special kind of art form. You should’ve been a therapist. Or possibly a dog whisperer. Or both. That’d be an interesting business model, don’t you think?” She felt as if she’d told Rose far too much, talking at length about Melinda and Sally-Anne and Michael and the mess she’d somehow thrown herself into, and work and the way things were at the Ministry, and then, of course, at length about the recent ban of pureblood students at Hogwarts. Luckily Rose had returned the favour, and Cho now knew more about her than she had learned in the six months she’d been coming to the clinic with her old and squeaky dog. “We should go over to the icecream shop before we go on home,” she said. “I saw they have a new flavour. Something about lemon and ginger. I can’t decide if it sounds delicious or completely insane.” |
“A dog whisperer?” Amusement had Rose’s nose wrinkling as she leaned forward to laugh. “I don’t think I’d make a very good dog therapist. Looking deep into their brains to try and figure out why they have to chew only one shoe from every pair of shoes in the house and why they need to bury bones.” Tickled at the notion, Rose grinned at her friend. It was certainly an interesting idea but not one for her; she’d taken long enough to decide on a speciality but now she had she was solid on it. “What about you Cho? Where would you like to work - if money and practicalities weren’t an option, what would you be doing?” She’d learned more about the friendly but reserved former Ravenclaw and was worried about her. The world around them was changing and Rose knew there were people like Cho who were being caught between the changing politics and their jobs; friends and their own obligations. So far it hadn’t impacted her too much aside from having to get permission to be on late night call outs from the Ministry but there was a trickling ball of fear in her stomach that that would soon change. Would the thoughts and feelings against the Purebloods seep into every part of her life until it wasn’t enough to get heartbreaking packages or have messages scrawled on doors? Would those horrible words be said to her face to face? Would she be able to cope with that? Shaking her head slightly to dispell the thoughts she was having and how they were threatening to ruin the pleasant afternoon, Rose slid the requisite galleons to cover their lunch onto the table and patted her pockets absentmindedly to check her wand and contents of her pockets were still there. “Lemon and ginger? I like them both but I’m not so sure about combining them.” Standing up, she offered her hand to her friend to help her up from the seat. “Why not, if it’s disgusting then at least we’d know, right?” |
“I haven’t really thought about it. I tried to be a Quidditch pro at first, actually. Didn’t make it very far before I got injured. Well, my first injury was back at Hogwarts and I always had little niggling ones after that, and it’s hard to play professionally when you’re out injured more often than not. And then I ended up at the Ministry right after the war, and it was safe and new and they wouldn’t let anything bad happen, right?” She shook her head. “I suppose that if I could do anything I’d want to go to university. A Muggle one, obviously. I would study... I don’t know. History or archeology or maybe classics. Something different, you know? No magic, no goblin wars or awful curses. They do have their own wars, of course, and it’s not just sunshine, but I did always love to read the books my mother left behind.” She let Rose pay for lunch, deciding to buy them icecream and then some. Maybe they’d have time for a tiny bit of shopping before they went their separate ways. She did need a new quill and some ink. Maybe a book or two. “I once had chocolate like that, “she said as they walked onto the street. “Dark chocolate with a centre of lemon and ginger. Sounds crazy, but it was delicious. My uncle bought it abroad somewhere. He’s in the Navy. They travel a lot.” She wasn’t entirely sure how much Rose knew about Muggles, or really, if she knew that Cho had grown up with them; her aunt and uncle. She probably did. It had never been a secret, and Rose and Nautica had been in the same house back at Hogwarts. “What is that?” she said, looking up the street. It was calm and empty, but she could hear shouting from around the corner. “Is there a protest or something we haven’t heard about? Or is somebody just really drunk at this hour?” |
Muggles were still a strange breed to Rose. Over the past year she had grown more comfortable with them and didn’t spend every moment in the non-magical world worried that she would do something to embarrass herself or worse, much worse and break the International Statute of Secrecy and expose the magical world to the ridicule of the Muggles. Muggles were strange; nice, sweet but Rose didn’t feel entirely at home with them enough to consider living amongst them. What if she got their customs wrong? How did they manage to control doxies without magic? It was all very confusing. “I like their books though. My father has a couple of muggle books in the library and they have a very vivid imagination.” As they stepped from the cafe, Rose looped her arm through Cho’s and was grateful that they were around the same height which made it easier. “The Navy?” Those were the Muggles who liked to play at boating. Boats were something Rose didn’t know about - she’d never had cause to go on one save for at Hogwarts; everywhere that she needed to go had always been at the end of an apparition or a floo. “It’s a big world, without portkeys. Isn’t it?” Secretly, Rose thought that Muggles exceeded their magical counterparts for their ingenuity and creativity. Cho’s words and tone had her more concerned than the noise. “I don’t think there would be a protest, not so soon after the Ministers assassination, surely? Its probably an appearance by the Weird Sisters.” It couldn’t be anything untowards, Rose was sure of that. Everything was under surveillance, Britain was locked down tight after the incident in Hogsmeade and she and her friend were safe. Those thoughts lasted just long enough for them to turn the corner and be swept up in a sea of people - angry people who didn’t mind where they jostled or stuck their elbows. |
“It’s part of the military,” Cho explained. “The Navy, that is. It’s a bit like the MAB, I suppose, but they protect the whole country against outside threats. They know nothing about our war or what’s going on here. It’s kind of curious, going home and seeing everything so nice and perfect. And yeah, it’s big. He was gone for months at a time, can you believe it?” As they got closer to the ruckus she fell silent. Rose’s explanation was a bit better than her own theory of a group of angry drunks working their way down the street, but it wasn’t much more correct, Cho realised as they were swept through the crowd. It didn’t take long for her to get someone’s elbow smacked to her forehead. She grabbed Rose harder, tried to duck and promptly found herself in an even worse position. They were crammed into the crowd like that when the first hex was fired. Not at them, thank God, but she could feel it. And also, hear the roar of the crowd as it turned even more rowdy. “Shit,” she muttered. “Is that the MLE? Or --” She was shoved backwards, Rose’s arm sliding out of her grip. She was carried away through the crowd. “Rose?” she called. “ROSE?” |
Rose couldn’t believe that people voluntarily spent months away from their family but she knew that sometimes jobs meant moving away, sacrificing precious time for money to support loved ones back home. Loving someone was about making those sorts of decisions, the tough ones and she nodded. With a name like Nautica, she’d always suspected that her housemate had something to do with water. It was a lovely name but an uncommon one. Quickly, too quickly they were a part of the crowd and lost amongst the nameless and faceless torsos of people who seemed to surge and swell with their anger. Cho was lost in the confusion and the hand which had been gripping her own was empty as her friend vanished into the masses. “CHO!” Rose was too small to be taken notice of, even her voice failed to reach the ears of the people who jostled her, knocking her this way and that. There would be bruises, she knew and as she fished around for her wand, she felt someone knock into her with enough force to send pain jarring up through her elbow. Rose couldn’t see well enough to identify where she was or even what the protest was about but the panic bubbling up inside of her told her that she had to get out of the crowd as fast as she could. A flash of purple light whizzed passed her and she ducked, wand tumbling to the ground before scrambling to pick it up. On her hands and knees and trying to avoid being trodden on, Rose looked up at a shout. Lost in her own confusion she didn’t see the knee coming towards her face. |
The crowd was suddenly even more frightening. Alone in a gathering of angry people was bad at the best of times, and this was definitely not one of them. As Cho ducked to avoid elbows, shoulders and, on a few memorable occasions, stray hexes, she started to make out the words chanted by the crowd. At first she thought it was outrage about the purebloods being pulled from school, but she quickly realised it was about something else. Maybe she would’ve realised it sooner, had she not been busy bracing herself as the crowd got rowdier and rowdier. The attempted takeover, last night. Someone had been killed. Yes. That was it. The first rock was thrown just as she stumbled and fell. Shards of glass were everywhere, and she had to get out of there. Right. Now. “Rose!” she called again. “Where the hell are you?” |
Her head snapped back as the knee made contact with her face, pain exploding from her eye and the gasp that fell from her lips was swallowed by the chanting of the crowd as they roared for Pureblood rights. That was when the fear bloomed fast and real in her stomach; if it had been any other sort of riot, Rose could have walked away but if the MAB or the DMLE found her then her blood status would work against her. She couldn’t be found here - her surname alone would be seen as an admission of guilt regardless of what she had been doing there. Getting to her feet took longer than it shouldn’t have but eventually she stood, weight braced on her feet as she tried to push her way through the opposite direction of the crowd. Wherever they wanted to be was the opposite to where she needed to be. Elbows caught her in the ribs and people seemed ignorant of the slight figure weaving through them and raising herself on top of her tiptoes to yell for her friend. Given the direction she was moving in, a flash of black hair caught her eye. Cho. Rose tried to reach out and a sudden gap in the crowd let her slip through to clasp a bit of fabric in her hands. Glass was everywhere, the screams and anger of the people surrounding her had seeped into Rose so that it became a dull roar in her ears. It couldn’t be her caught in the middle of a riot; she wasn’t that sort of girl. She had been having lunch with a friend and now she was in the middle of anger and hate, glass around her feet like diamonds and her body aching. “Cho?” Unsure if her voice would carry, if that was her friend or if she would ever escape the people threatening to crush her and swallow her whole. |
Cho had blood on her hands. It was just a small cut from a shard of glass as she tried to stand up, but it looked dramatic enough. She clenched her hand into a fist, and turned to face the crowd. Without thinking (and boy, would she regret that later) she pulled her wand, determined to somehow make her way through the crowd. To find Rose. She caught a flash of light from the corner of her eye, and threw up a Shield Charm. It took her another moment to realise that she had, in fact, blocked a member of the DMLE from apprehending a suspect. Not good. Not good at all. Cho turned on the spot and threw herself into the frey. She cast a few small spells as she went, nudging and pushing people this way and that. Rose. She had to find Rose. Suddenly she, through the sound of shouts, punches and glass breaking, she thought she heard her name. Another spell, a shove and a kick, and she saw the very small shape of her friend. Cho threw herself at her, grabbing her hard. “Oh my God, this is insane,” she gasped. “We have to get the hell out. Where’s your wand? Can you Apparate?” Probably not a good idea in this madness. They’d leave their heads behind or something. |
Rose felt Cho barrel into her, arms coming round to hold on tight to the older girl amongst the sea of people. Here was solidity, sanity and a form of safety. Between the two of them they’d be able to get out; two small people were infinitely better than one and her fingers curled around Cho’s wrist, holding on tight as she took in the blood over her friends’ wrist. “Are you bleeding?” Stupid question, Rose. Careful now, gentle so as not to open any wound Rose’s eyes darted up to Cho’s, seeking the answer to a question she didn’t want to vocalise. ‘How hurt are you?’ The crowd was madness. At the question of her wand, Rose glanced down at the hand clutching it. Her fingers felt numb, unable to formulate the spell needed to get them out of her and spotting an opening, moved them through the throng of people towards an opening where it was easier to breathe. Debris from the shop window littered the ground and a few posters which had been advertising the store sale was covered with the footprints of the crowd. “Are you okay?” Here she didn’t have to raise her voice and could move closer to hear the response she was hoping for. How could this happen? How could Diagon which had always been safe and a pleasant way to whittle away the hours of the weekend turn into this seething mass of anger? Rose couldn’t hazard a guess as to how many people were involved in the riots and how many had simply been caught up in it. |
“I cut myself,” Cho said. “I’m okay.” Rose looked much worse for wear. Her eye was swelling up, there was a bruise coming in over her eye and cheek and she looked absolutely terrified. Cho couldn’t say that she was the exact opposite of freaked out, but she had five words going through her head, over and over, telling her it could’ve been so much worse. Thank God Jian isn’t here, thank God Jian isn’t here, thank God... “Come on,” she said. “It’s worse over here, let’s go that way.” She raised her wand. It was easy enough to force people out of the way, but they needed more than that. People were moving too fast, and too quickly. “Arresto momentum!” It worked. It actually worked. Cho dragged Rose along with her through the worst of it, people moving at snail’s pace around them. They had almost made it out when there was a hand on her arm. Spinning around quickly they were facing someone who hadn’t been slowed down by her spell. A man she saw in the break room at work, almost every single day. “I’ve been following you, Miss Chang,” he said. “Whose side are you on? You’ve been blocking us and slowing us down.” It was true. Some of the people just now snapping out of the spell she’d cast a moment ago were, in fact not rioters. Cho opened her mouth and closed it again. “Uh,” she managed. “I was just trying to... get out. In one piece, preferably.” |
All of her life, Rose had been conditioned to trust people in uniform; that their status was a symbol of their job, a symbol to protect the magical citizens of Great Britain. Despite everything that had happened, despite the meetings and interrogations over her status, Rose still felt relief at the sign of the uniform. Here was help, here was an escape for them both. “Please, you have to help us, we don’t belong here. We -- we just want to go home.” It was only after the words spilled from her mouth that Rose realised something wasn’t right; the way he looked at Cho and addressed her by her surname, the tilt of his head and the tone of his voice all added up to something... off. Wasn’t it obvious whose side they were on by the way the fact that they were bleeding? Somewhere to her left, someone called out the MAB and the cry was taking up by a handful of other protesters as the riot took a different turn. People were being arrested, the few who were reckless enough to try and resist the arrest were quelled quickly and with an almost ruthless efficiency. “I think it would be for the best, Miss Chang if you and your companion would accompany me to the DMLE headquarters.” The words were officious, polite but didn’t offer any room for negotiations, nor did the second man who moved to flank his colleague. “Don’t you agree?” |
Marshall. His last name was Marshall. Or was it first? Cho couldn’t quite remember. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she blurted out. “I have to go pick up my son! We were just caught up in this, we didn’t --” She shut her mouth. Oh yes, this wasn’t a question after all. “Fine. We’ll go. We’ve got nothing to hide, either of us.” All Cho could think of as they were taken away was what they were capable of. She knew what had happened to others at the hands of the Ministry, but they hadn’t been caught casting a Shield Charm to keep themselves from being hexed by... whatever that had been. As far as offences went, that one was so innocent that it was almost laughable. On the other hand, Michael had spent six months in Azkaban for throwing a punch. At least they weren’t restraining them. That was a good sign, Cho thought. She took Rose’s arm as they walked, feeling oddly protective. Rose really looked a lot worse off than she felt herself. “It’s a mistake,” she said. “They’ll probably just want a statement.” |
This was her fault. If Rose hadn’t asked Cho to join her for lunch then they wouldn’t be here, marched through Diagon like common criminals. Cho was a mother for goodness sake, and she was a vet; couldn’t they see that there weren’t two less likely rioters in all of Diagon. The presence of the MAB and DMLE had quietened the crowd and now there were just a few faces milling in the street surrounded by the debris of what had been no more than a flash of anger and hate directed at the Ministry. Rose couldn’t guess how long they had been caught up in the riots ; minutes and hours seemed irrelevant to her but Cho’s touch was calming. She’d always prided herself on her ability to remain calm in situations; whether faced with a breach birth or Steve bleeding in an abandoned shop with only the light of the street to guide her. But now, she was genuinely scared. “I hope so,” came the whispered reply as she ducked her head wanting to shield herself from the onlookers. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the DMLE headquarters with the cold sense of desperation and justice against the emblazoned seal of the Ministry. Surely Cho was right, that they just wanted a statement and that it was just a matter of policy. The wand weighing station was overseen by a portly man who was as far from his MoM counterpart as he could be. This time there was no welcoming smile and he simply asked for their names and their wands. “Chang and Zeller?” There was a slight inflection on her surname and that feeling which had haunted her throughout her brother’s trial returned; guilt over her name and the connotations which it now brought since 1998. “Miss Zeller if you would go with DMLE Officer Marshall and Miss Chang, would you accompany DMLE Officer Tibbets. Your wands will be returned to you both upon your release.” Rose glanced quickly at Cho, mouthing her apologies as she felt the mountain in a uniform guided her towards one of the interrogation rooms. They didn’t belong here, oh sweet Helga they needed to get out. Rose had one final glance at her friend before the door swung shut behind him. |
Cho felt oddly naked without her wand. It wasn’t as if she would ever use it, but her pockets felt empty. They had also taken her keys, her phone (which had been treated as a mysterious, potentially deadly advice, until they realised it was Muggle) a pack of tissues, a ball of string, some toy soldiers of Jian’s and a wad of post-it notes she thought she’d lost, but she didn’t miss any of those things. She just wanted her wand. At least for the first hour of the interrogation. By then she’d realised that it was very much not just a statement. It was a questioning, plain and simple. They seemed to be going around in circles for hours. No, she hadn’t planned this. No, those charms hadn’t been on purpose. No, she had no intentions to turn against the Ministry. (Ha.) She’d been too outspoken, they said. There were a few things on record; nothing considered big or dangerous, but it was no way to speak of the Ministry, least of all when you were an employee, and she best be careful. They informed her that this would go in her employee file. She may not be allowed to handle certain court records anymore. Her supervisor would keep an eye on her. The next time, they wouldn’t be as lenient. When they finally let her go Cho felt as if she’d been wrung out and hung to dry in a snow storm. She asked for Rose, and was told to wait. Sitting down on a hard wooden bench outside the interrogation rooms she rubbed her face. This was not how she’d meant to spend her Saturday. |
The interrogation lasted longer than the monthly meetings Rose was used to and several times, Officer Marshall left her alone with only her thoughts for company. There wasn’t a clock in the room, no way of guessing how long she’d spent in the room with her eye throbbing like a dull pulse but the questions came in a repetitive stream, many of them that she couldn’t answer. He didn’t seem to accept that she just happened to be with Cho out on a saturday afternoon and been caught up in the riot. Not when everything else was stacked so neatly against her. Finally, when she’d repeated the events of the afternoon for the hundredth time, when Marshall had tried to pick holes in her story that simply weren’t there it was over. The events of the afternoon would linger though, she was warned that there would be a longer interrogation and her rights to be out after curfew would be looked at. It was at the discretion of the Ministry that she was allowed to be on call and that, DMLE Officer Marshall reminded her with a sharp, flat smile could all change. She couldn’t tell what time it was when they let her go but the sense of relief as she was handed her wand back was a shot of needed adrenaline to her system which was still in shock. Rose wasn’t the sort to get caught up in anger, in violence or spend the afternoon in a bland box being asked over and over again why she’d been at the riot. Cho was sitting on the hard wooden bench waiting for her, waiting for someone. “I’m so sorry Cho. So sorry.” It was the first thing she’d said to her friend and also the last before they’d been split up. Sitting down beside the older girl, Rose noticed that the blood on her hand hadn’t been washed and had dried to a dull rust colour. It didn’t matter to her and she patted her friends wrist gently. “Do -- do you have somewhere to go tonight?” |
“Don’t be. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t done those charms... not to mention had those stupid arguments with people, making it clear where I stand...” She shook her head. This was not a conversation for inside the Ministry. There were much, much better places to do this. “I... I was supposed to pick Jian up this evening. About four hours ago. He’ll be asleep now, I don’t want to scare him. I mean, look at us? You’re worse, I think, that black eye will last weeks if you don’t see a Healer tomorrow. I think I’ll just owl Simon and tell him I’ll be by tomorrow morning.” It would be easier, of course, to go straight there. Simon lived near Diagon, and Cho desperately wanted some hugs from her baby, but she had to think about him too. About both of them. If she went there right now... No. She couldn’t risk it. The two of them got on well enough, but she still liked to be at her best when they met. As much as she could manage, anyway. “I might just go home. What about you? Do you have someone waiting?” |
Did she have anyone waiting for her? Rose thought that a middle aged kneazle saddled with an old fashioned name didn’t count, not when he’d run off after dinner had been served. There was nothing enticing about the flat that she called hers and it hadn’t been more than a place for her to sleep for months. The aching realisation made her want to curl up and cry but that was something for her to do later, when there weren’t dozens of eyes watching her. “No. There’s no one.” Exhaling as she got to her feet, Rose watched Cho stand up too. Their movements mirrored what they had done hours earlier when their minds had been on nothing more than pancakes and light gossip. “If you don’t want to go home tonight, my flatmate -” Rose folded her hands neatly across her, wrapping arms around her stomach to rub some warmth into them. “I’ve a spare room, a shower too for tomorrow if you want to meet Jian. You don’t have to I mean but the offers there and..” Rose swallowed slightly, unsure how to find the words to say she didn’t want to be alone in her flat. Not tonight. They walked from the DMLE out into the unnatural quiet of Diagon Alley. Shops were closed with only the occasional light from flats spilling out onto the cobbles. It was dark, an indication that they had spent longer waiting and being questioned than either had realised. How late was it? How many hours had been lost? “Its not your fault Cho, we didn’t do anything wrong. Are you -they’re not going to give you trouble are they?” They referring to the looming, all encompassing Ministry. |
”Thanks,” Cho said. “That might be nice. I only have my journal waiting, and actually, I have it in my bag so technically I guess it’s not waiting at all.” It was dark outside. Cho checked her watch for the hundredth time. Nearly midnight. It didn’t feel real, the fact that they’d been at the Ministry for this long. They had spent most of that time waiting for their interrogation officers, but still. “There’s going to be a special kind of ‘watch this one’-stamp in my employee file,” she said. “And I’m not going to handle as many confidential or controversial court documents. I’m halfblood, though, and I’ve worked for them for a long time. I just have to be smart and not shut my mouth in the journals, I think.” She used to be really good about that. It was the fight with Michael that had made her say far too much. Not that anyone had seemed to notice, until just now. “It could’ve been worse,” she said finally. “I don’t have ST ties, I’m not a pureblood, I’m fairly loyal to the Ministry, or so they think.” Cho’s face was sore, and she guess that she’d gotten a few bruises in the riot. Her hand was the worst, the cut throbbing even though it had stopped bleeding long ago. Maybe she could ask Nautica to take a look at it tomorrow. As it was the idea of a night in Rose’s flat, with some tea, sleep and her journal felt like a good idea. “Thanks for letting me stay,” she said, as they walked through Diagon together. The streets were empty and quiet now, so different from what they had been earlier, when they were walked out of there. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.” |