Mill "into the wild" Bagnold (faircop) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-05-13 18:36:00 |
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The meeting with Magical Creatures about the mermaids had taken about a third of the time most of the participants had expected, but the head hitwizard was so obviously in a filthy temper that none of them protested even slightly about escaping early.
Millicent barely passed through her office on her way out, grabbing handbag and coat and telling her secretary to forward all urgent work to her at home.
"Foxglove, ma'am?"
"No," Millicent said, already on her way out the door again, "the Park." She had a very strong urge to reassure herself, tangibly, that Guppy was still well.
But first, an even more pressing urge led her to the public Floo in the Ministry foyer, stepping through the flames and spinning out in the drafty hall of the Macfusty clan seat. Late afternoon sun slanted through the high windows, sparking colours off the mosaic along the walls. But Millicent didn't pause to admire it, nor wait to be greeted; she crossed the flagstone floor, heels clicking, to the bottom of the stairs and peered up.
A sandy-haired youth appeared at the top. "Oh," he said, "Aunt Mill. Tabs's just headed out to the rookery. I can run after her and--"
"No need," Millicent assured the lad - not actually a nephew at all, but that was a much easier title than the actual relationship - with a smile. "I'll catch up with her myself."
Her shoes were utterly impractical for the yard, of course, but this being Macfusty, there was a line of wellingtons by the door, the second pair of which fit well enough to be going on with. Her coat was also much better suited to London than to the Hebrides, but she clutched it tight and jogged across the yard to the low, heavy-set outbuilding.
Tabitha was in the ante-room, strapping herself into the protective kit necessary for handling even newborn Hebridean Blacks. The kit made her look bulky, and she had her hair yanked back roughly into a knot and soot smudges on her cheeks, and she was the most beautiful thing Millicent had seen all week. She let out a breath deeper than she remembered taking in, and half-stumbled on the final step into the room, brushing a hand against the stone wall but not letting it prevent her even for a moment from getting across the room and bundling her daughter into a fierce hug.
"Mum!" Tabitha squawked, tottering awkwardly before she laid her hands on her mother's shoulder. "Mum, the kit, you'll get bruises... what are you doing here?"
Mill brushed a rogue tear from her cheek before stepping back, holding her daughter at arm's length for a serious inspection. Yes, she was all there. Healthy. Fine. "I needed to know you were all right," she admitted.
"You could've owled," Tabitha grumbled, hitching the protective gear back up where it had slipped. She frowned. "Anyway, aren't you hideously busy at work? I can't get you for half an hour for lunch, but you just--"
"There's been," Millicent cut her off, and then couldn't quite find the right way to finish that sentence. She took Tabitha's hand, ignoring her daughter's exasperated noise as the hardened leather armour slipped again, and said, "Tabby, on the weekend, I don't know if you heard, but there were some... attacks."
Tabitha abandoned the armour entirely. "Attacks? Not... them. Again?"
Millicent nodded, settling her other hand over her daughter's. "Some of Marlene McKinnon's family was killed." Tabitha gasped, but Millicent kept speaking, "and Agnes O'Hare's. And Lily Evans's parents." She was gaping now, tears shining in her eyes, as Millicent said, "Tabby, I need to know, are you involved with them, with whatever they're doing?"
The surprised blink jolted the tears from Tabitha's eyes, carving through the soot on her cheeks. "Am I... what? I haven't seen those girls in... oh, months at least. What are they doing, Mum?"
Shaking her head, Millicent put a hand up to her forehead, closing her eyes in relief. "I don't even know." But she feared, abundantly. With a deep breath in, she lifted her head, composing herself. "If you owl them, and you probably should--" no shit, Mum, Tabitha muttered, and Millicent didn't even pause to scold her for swearing "--don't mention it, and don't tell them I asked. I don't want them thinking I'm coming at them from all directions, and they deserve some unconditional sympathy."
"Of course," Tabitha agreed easily, watching her mother with a touch of concern. "Are you all right?"
"Right as rain," Millicent said, with a large smile that was almost honest, standing here with her daughter. Except that there's a gang of dark magicians on the loose, a school trip shouting defiance and it's all my responsibility. "I'm going to the Park from here; I want to see your father as well. You should come down for dinner. Bring Ioan. It'll be lovely."
Regaining the use of her hands, Tabitha yanked up the protective gear again. "Will you actually talk about the wedding?" she demanded.
Millicent smiled. "If you insist." She found a clean spot on her daughter's face and kissed it, getting a faint taste of the sulphur-charcoal-musk tang of dragon anyway. Wrinkling up her nose, she added, "Do bathe before you come, won't you?"
"Get out," Tabitha ordered with a laugh.