Sturgis (Stu) Podmore (notsoeasy) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-08-03 23:56:00 |
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The night of the full moon had been a living hell for Arthur and had he ever wanted a drink to calm his frayed nerves. But Arthur had never been a drinker and he knew he could not start, especially with Molly in a right state over the whole affair as well. Their son was still out there somewhere - their werewolf son, no less. Arthur felt so bloody useless what with sitting around the house all day trying to keep the boys occupied. Thankfully Stu's parents had been so sharing with their home and he hoped quite fervently that sometime soon they could either head back to the Burrow or construct a new home. If he had to, he could always ask his father for a small piece of his inheritance to pay for a new place. Molly was upstairs with Ron while the twins were running around upstairs and Bill & Charlie likely were reading some books or listening to the wireless. Putting on a kettle of water for tea, Arthur sat down at the kitchen table and placed his head in his hands wondering how his life had utterly crashed. Times had been hard for everyone lately, what with Sirius'... misadventure, Remus and Ed's life-threatening injuries, the infighting in the Order, but Stu was hit the worse by the attack on the Burrow and Percy's kidnapping. Merely thinking about it enraged him. Arthur and Molly were good people, who weren't involved in the war like he was or Molly's brothers were, and yet they had been the ones attacked. Their family torn apart, the wound of missing Percy still raw. He felt so bloody useless. He'd tried to help, he'd spent days searching for him, all in vain. And now Percy had been turned into a werewolf and the confirmation, from Fenrir's hand in the journals, had come like a punch in his guts. He'd failed him, failed them. Percy, Molly, Arthur... Himself. He was their friends though, and every day he came by his parents' house to check on them, make sure they had everything they need, and talk if they needed to. He was worried for them. Worried that Molly might do something dangerous to try to get Percy back. All he could do was be there for them though, and so he Floo'd in his parents' kitchen that day like every day before. Finding Arthur at the kitchen table, he cleared his throat to announce his arrival as he dusted the soot of his clothes. Hearing Stu, Arthur raised his head and noticed his friend standing there. "Hello, mate," he exclaimed joyfully. Stu's visits always assisted in lifting up Arthur's spirits. "I just put on a kettle of water if you might be thirsty for tea. Staying with the boys around the clock can be quite tiresome and I find that tea has such a delightful effect on my energy." "So what's the news out there? Is the world still there?" Arthur joked a little to mask the pain he felt underneath everything. Without humor, he would never have made it this far through this ordeal. Seriously though, he felt like his family was a prisoner in Stu's parents' home. Of course, he was very thankful towards them for their generosity but he also wondered why all this had to happen to them and when he could move his family to a place of their own. "Sure, I won't say no to a cup of tea," said Stu as he pulled a chair and joined his friend at the kitchen table. He was not fooled by Arthur's joyful tone, seeing through it to the pain underneath. He admired how his friend used humour to get through it all, wondering if he'd have his strength if something like that was ever happening to him. It was a lot to deal with for his friend: his family attacked, his son missing, their home unsafe, living in someone else's house, being home with his wife and children all day instead of going to work and coming back as he used to... It was no surprise that there was almost bitterness behind his joke about 'the world out there.' "I'm not sure I can tell you much more than what you hear on the WWN and read in the Prophet," he said, shrugging. "Did you hear back from the Ministry?" he asked, his question relating both to the investigation at the Burrow and to his job. He wondered when Arthur would have to return to work. The Ministry had given him a leave, but how long a leave he did not know, nor did he know if his friend's boss had given him a timetable to return to work. Stu would tell them to stuff it, if it were him, but he'd changed jobs more often than most anyone he knew and he didn't have a family to support like his friend did. It was an entirely different situation for Arthur. Arthur rose to his feet somewhat unsteadily. He really needed more sleep but the children kept experiencing night terrors and then Molly had been acting quite withdrawn. He hoped that she would not consider doing anything rash to save their son. Not that Arthur did not want to kill Fenrir and his crazed friends, but he was more realistic and knew the chances that one bloke had against the wolves, vampire, and other fucking animals was minuscule in its odds of success. Pouring out two mugs of tea, he gave one to Stu before sitting back down at the table. Taking a sip of the tea, which tasted delicious to Arthur's mind clouded with sleep deprivation, he shook his head sadly, "I did try contacting the Ministry but received no response. I wish I could take the bloody lot of them and..." Stopping himself in time, he glanced at Stu, "If I did not have five remaining children to provide for, my path might be a different one. But for now, I have to jump through all these fucking obstacles that the Ministry keeps throwing my way. I just want to go home to a higher-warded Burrow and ignore the world for the rest of my life. Is that so wrong of me?" It was hard not to notice Arthur's unsteady walk and Stu bit his cheeks to keep from saying anything about it. It wasn't alcohol, as his friend didn't look drunk, and so he gathered it was the stress of the situation taking the best out of Arthur. Welcoming the cup of tea with a nod of thanks, he added a cloud of milk before taking a first careful sip as his friend talked. "Nope, not wrong at all. What does Molly want?" he asked. She didn't seem to want to return to the Burrow and talked about buying a new house, he remembered from past conversations. He didn't want to step between the husband and wife though, and so he kept it as this. He understood his friend's frustration and how hard it must be for him, stuck like this. "If the Ministry doesn't reply to you by owl, go there, go to their office, I say. They can't just keep you waiting around without giving you an answer. The Hitwizards will have to tell you what's up." At least he hoped they would, for his friends' sake. It was ridiculous to keep the victims of a crime in the dark about the investigation like this, and to keep them from returning to their house for so long. The pain showed through Arthur's face as he related the major problem he and Molly were enduring right now, "She's been so withdrawn, mate. It's so hard to draw her out in any conversation and I've been pretty closed myself. Maybe more than her actually. So I am not all that sure to be quite honest with you." Hell, he wanted to turn to alcohol but he resisted with all of his being because he knew what the bloody stuff could do to someone. It had ruined Moody's career and he did not want to take the same trek and lose the most important thing, his family, in the process. "I owled the Ministry a while ago but I suppose I should try again. I'm ready to do anything frankly to get back at the nutters. First and foremost I wish I could go kill that bastard Greyback. It's unfortunate that I was unable to dispatch him that night on the stairs. Things would have been so different if we could have actually eliminated some of them. We might have actually gotten Percy...," Arthur choked on his son's name and covered his face as he conjured a handkerchief out of the air. "Fuck, why did they have to attack us? We've been neutral in this war. Do I agree with this idiot that the Death Eaters follow? No, but we should never have been on their radar. We stay quiet and try not to draw attention to ourselves. I just don't get it." "You're going through probably the worse a couple can live, Arthur," Stu said, wondering what to do to help his friends. He wasn't any good at psychology and helping people, and now more than ever he wished he was. "It's normal to have it rough. I wish I could help. Maybe... try talking to her?" It sounded stupid and obvious to his own ears and he winced a little. Damn, why couldn't he know what to say to help? Arthur had moved back to his issues with the Ministry, a far less uncomfortable topic for Stu, who was relieved to leave any talk of feelings behind. "Go at the Ministry, at their offices. It's harder to ignore someone who's standing in front of you," he said, repeating his same advice. Arthur really was worked up and Stu worried what his friend might up and do. "Don't play the 'what if' game, Arthur, it's only torture," he said as his friend used the conjured handkerchief, reaching out to rest his hand on Arthur's arm, trying to offer some silent comfort. "I wish I could tell you why, explain any of it." He wasn't sure if the dark creatures were following Death Eaters' orders, as they'd never heard of an alliance between them so far. He hoped it wasn't the case, but it would make sense, in that twisted sick logic of theirs, as the Weasleys were 'bloodtraitors' and Molly's brothers were in the Order. "That's good advice, Stu," Arthur nodded weakly and blew his nose quietly before wiping his eyes. "I know that's the answer but I just hate the idea that she might blame me for holding her back that night. I mean if she looks at it like that it's my fault we didn't get Percy. Which is total shite because if she had returned by herself, she probably would have been killed or turned. But I just don't want to look in her eyes and see rejection or anger that is aimed at me. Besides, I have this fear, probably irrational, that she'll try something to rescue Percy and get herself hurt or killed in the process. Our family does not need to hurdle that obstacle in the near future." "I shall see about visiting the Ministry on my next free day, maybe tomorrow or the following. It's not as if I have anything to do here and I sure as hell need something to occupy my mind to allow the pain to subside," he agreed with Stu's analysis yet again. "So how's your job going?" "Best way to know is to ask, right?" Stu might not know much about personal relationships advices and psychology and all that, and he'd never managed to hold a steady relationship with a bird in his life (though he hoped it might change soon, he thought as he remembered his date later that afternoon with Marlene), but he could tell that silence would only make things worse between his two friends and they didn't need that. They had so much on their plate already, they needed each other. He hoped that they weren't blaming one another, as he didn't think that either of them was to blame in this, but he could see how emotions running high could cloud anyone's judgment. "If Molly and you start talking again, you have better chance to know if she plans something, right? And to keep her from doing anything rash, same as she can help you." He took another sip of his tea as his friend agreed with his suggestion to visit the Ministry. "Keep busy, I hear you." He put down his cup before answering, "Same as always. It's not as it's a very exciting job." "Point noted, mate. I'll talk to her," Arthur smiled and hoped they could change the subject to something less emotionally charged. "I'd imagine you must meet all kinds of strange people on the Bus. Do you have any stories that stand out from the rest as more bizarre?" Stu grinned, seeing through his friend's attempt at redirecting the conversation and going along with it. Arthur had already said more than before and Stu knew better than pushing it. And, to be honest, he too was glad for a change of topic. And so he began telling stories from the Knight Bus."Oh, I do! Strange and stranger. There's this one..." |