Who: Barty and Persephone What: Cousins catching up! Where: Diagon Alley. When: Early evening, Tuesday, 24th June 1979. Rating: PGish. Status: Complete log.
Persephone needed to get out of the house. She hadn't really done much of anything lately; once she'd heard the news of all of the recent deaths and everything, her father had been all up in arms about getting their safehouses cleaned out and their properties in order. She had gone with him, out to Bath, and up north to Glasgow. Why they owned property up in Glasgow, Seph never could quite figure out, but that didn't matter. It was a nice little getaway trip; it wasn't as though she had anything she needed to be doing down south.
Today, though, she had decided to go for a little retail therapy. When was the last time she had gone out to shop just to shop? She couldn't remember. She made her way out to Diagon Alley, hoping that she didn't run into Dung again-- that would be awkward. A walk sounded nice, though- and it was shaping up to be a pretty nice day, all things considered.
Honestly, while Barty had not been having the best of times, he had calmed down enough to know that things really could have been worse. After all, he had something of a second family in his support net of friends: Regulus, Aquila, Severus, and Georgina had all offered to come to his aid and give him a place to stay while he found his own new residence -- and Regulus's offer, he suspected, was meant as something more permanent -- Corbina, Regulus, and Severus had all supported his belief that his father was an idiot, Aquila had actually taken Barty in and provided food as well as lodgings, Astra had been nothing short of wonderful, and Marius had even offered to help plan Father's murder. Barty did not need Aloysius Croaker to tell him that his friends were wonderful; that much was evident enough on its own.
There were even obvious benefits to the situation, as Marius and Astra had pointed out: Barty no longer had to answer to or share a living space with his father (not that he did much answering to the man to begin with; he answered to Mister and Madame Lestrange with more frequency); Barty had the opportunity to prove his father wrong before the man's final undoing; and Barty had the chance now to actively infiltrate the other side, which would be most beneficial to the Cause. ...That being said, though, Barty was still somewhat less than pleased with the situation. He missed his mother terribly and, after making the initial payments on his dreadfully tiny flat, he barely had enough money left over to consider finding something to eat. How ridiculous, that he should have had to choose between living somewhere clean and being able to eat. As much as he did not enjoy it, the reality of the situation was rather clear: he was going to need a job and so he headed to Diagon Alley, to find any and all applications. Ideally, this process would not be too difficult.
It felt like far too long, the time he spent perusing shops and asking for applications, but he managed to find a fair few: Slug & Jiggers (rather low on the list of priorities, really; first of all, it was a rather messy business, and, secondly, McKinnon worked there and Barty hardly thought that he could stomach any time with the girl); Flourish and Blott's (as much as he enjoyed the thought of working there, Barty had to admit that it was not a wise decision to do so; he would be far too distracted by the books, and, as he was rather acutely aware of at the moment, he needed to eat, at some point); Gambol and Japes (he could easily find seventeen different ways to say so, but the answer would still have been, "I would rather not"); Madam Malkin's (as though he did not have enough trouble with that atrocious Quinn girl thinking him a homosexual); Obscurus Books (another acceptable option, but with the same conundrum as Flourish and Blott's); and Quality Quidditch Supplies (possibly the best of the lot so far). This was all mildly exhausting to think of, but Barty supposed that it had to be done.
After picking up his final prospective application from Eeylops Owl Emporium (as much as he cherished Astarte, and the fact that Mother had sent her to stay with him, he had a list of reasons why working here was out of the question), he finally gave himself chance to pause and look the applications over. They did not look so complicated. It was bringing himself to fill them out that was difficult.
Persephone slowed as she turned a corner, looking up just in time to avoid a woman with four small children. Two of them were wailing, and Persephone scrunched up her nose. Merlin, did she not know how to keep her children quiet? Shaking her head, Seph continued down the street, brightening with a smile when she saw a familiar face.
"Barty!" she exclaimed, quickly making her way over to her cousin. "Goodness, it has been far, far too long. How are you doing? What- er. What are you doing? Are you alright?" She hugged him in greeting and then stepped back, looking him over. Something didn't look quite right. And what was that- applications? What on earth would he need applications for?
Barty was rather caught of guard, enough so that he did not fully notice Persephone or her calling to him until she hugged him; only after she did so did her words fully hit him. ...Merlin, there was hardly any way to go about this without upsetting his favourite cousin, which Barty hated having to do. After all, Persephone was both wonderful and on his mother's side of the family; either thing on its own would have been enough to merit keeping her happy to the best of his ability, but both just made the need to do so more pressing.
"Hello, Persephone; I was just..." he started, pausing to look down at his small stack of applications. They were practically incriminating, given his social circle. Wealthy Purebloods had no need for common occupations, or they were not supposed to have said need. The fact that he was even looking for one just felt so wrong. "I... have rather been better, but I am not awful. Far from it, actually." Just hungry and humbled, neither of which fully qualified as awful, by Barty's standards.
Seph frowned just slightly, then shrugged it off. "I was just thinking of getting some lunch. Would you care to join me? I'll treat." She smiled, then, and took his arm. "I know I keep saying that I'll stop in to see you and your mother, but Daddy had me helping him with some business for the last week and a half. I'm sorry that I've been terribly remiss."
She started down the street, then paused in her tracks. "You know? I think I'll let you pick where we eat-- I'll try anything, really. And I mostly just want to catch up with you-- how did your NEWTs go?"
Barty didn't fight when Seph took him by the arm and started leading him down Diagon Alley, especially not considering that he had hardly seen his favourite cousin since before his NEWTs preparation had been stepped up so that he would not fail them, and that she was dragging him towards a meal. ...Merlin, he was already beginning to think of the world in the mind of a starving street urchin. This misadventure of his father's was not working out pleasantly.
"Vinifera would be lovely?" he offered cautiously, trying desperately to stop thinking that this would likely be the last expensive meal he would have for a long time. "And I do not hold it against you; I couldn't. Besides, Mother was not in the best of states until recently, and I was studying -- my NEWTs went quite well, actually. All nine of them. I'll admit, I was somewhat worried about Ancient Runes, but it was not as hard as I thought it would be."
"That sounds fantastic," she replied with a smile. "We'll order the most expensive things on the menu, as many courses as we want." Why shouldn't they? "We'll celebrate your finishing your schooling and everything." She sobered a little, next. "Is she doing better, though? I've been meaning to stop in to see if she could use some company or something, but things just... Well, I have no real excuses."
It wasn't long before they reached the restaurant, and Seph released Barty as they stepped inside. They were soon led to a table and she slid into a seat, accepting a menu as it was offered to her.
Barty nodded and actually managed a genuine smile. Even if he would soon have to return to having nearly no money, needing to apply for a job, and living in a painfully tiny flat with as much of his bedroom as he could shrink and fit into an Extended suitcase, he was going to enjoy having a meal and catching up with his favourite cousin. "She is doing much better, actually," he said brightly. "Her Healers are not yet ready to call it a full recovery, but she has been doing exceptionally well."
As much as he told himself not to bother with such things, and that he did not have to do so, Barty could not help but feel obligated to not be too excessively loose with his cousin's money. It just didn't feel right to do so, but he couldn't tell whether it was because he didn't want to impose on Persephone, or because he knew that he needed to grow accustomed to being frugal. Likely, it was both.
"Oh, that's so good to hear," Seph said, eying the menu. "I'm sure she'll be back to her full health soon." She hoped so. Her aunt had always been one of her favorite relatives, alongside Barty. A waiter came by to greet them, taking their drink orders. "So what is new with you?" she asked, looking across the table to her cousin. "What do you have planned, now that you're no longer in school?"
Had Barty been with anyone but Seph, he might have taken the question about his plans rather badly, not that he would have been completely without reason. After all, Father had been the last person to ask him what his plans were, and Father had promptly kicked him out. "I... don't know exactly what I'm going to do, really," he answered honestly. "I mean, doing anything official rather has to wait until my exam scores come in, and... in the meantime..."
Barty paused. He very much did not want to do this -- he had looked pathetic enough when asking for help on Saturday; he hardly needed to look more so -- but... well. He was going to have to tell her sooner or later, and there was no sense in keeping Seph uninformed, in case she went to see him and Mother, but wound up sorely disappointed. "Seph, I... Father kicked me out, and he cut off access to the family gold, and... I just found a place, actually, but I have to find something to do or I cannot keep it. It is not much, but... it's a warm bed and a roof and other necessities."
"He did what?" Persephone asked, eyes wide as she looked across the table to him. "I- Barty, when did this happen? And- why didn't you come to me? Is- is there anything I can do for you?" Their drinks arrived and she picked hers up for a sip. "Where is this place that you're staying? Is it good enough?"
She was surprised, to say the least. She had known that Barty didn't exactly get along with his father, but she had never expected her uncle to actually kick Barty out of the house. "Do you have everything you need for the place, at least? Is it-is it a flat, or..?" Wait. Of course it was likely to be a flat- if he didn't have access to the family gold, then how could he afford much more? "Did he give you a reason for why he's done this?"
Although he somehow managed to keep his face from properly reflecting how he felt, Barty cringed inside at Persephone's tone and voice. He hadn't expected her to be enthused about this -- how could he? He wasn't an idiot. Likewise, he had not expected her to enumerate all the different ways in which this was beneficial for him, as Marius and Croaker had done... but he still did not like knowing that he was in the process of upsetting his favourite cousin, even if it was for the best. Forgetting himself and his Pureblood upbringing for a brief moment, he slumped a bit in his seat and idly tapped his glass.
"He did not like the fact that my plans are not exact," Barty sighed, "and I doubt he was particularly fond of how I would rather not go into the Auror or Hit Wizard training programs, if I am to eventually find myself at the Ministry. He said that Mother has coddled me and that the only way to repair this is for me to find a way to survive without her, him, Winky, the family gold, or... any of it." To be fair, it was not an exact recitation of what Father had said, but the point was clear.
And then there were Persephone's other concerns. "I found a studio flat in Grindylow Gardens, which... it isn't home, but I like it well enough." There really wasn't any need to tell her that Father had tried to make him live in the Hag's Hovel. "I only just moved my things in today. Father told me to move out on Saturday, but he was not going to make me do so until Sunday... he rather specifically forbade going to you or to Regulus for a place to stay, and then... admittedly, I was a bit of an idiot about everything, got upset, and left before I had to do so, but I had help. Marius and Astra calmed me down, and Regulus, Aquila, Severus, and Georgina all offered assistance -- Aquila allowed me to stay at his flat until I could get my own. It was Muggle, but interesting enough, in a rather morbid way, and it would have been too out of Father's way to check." Barty paused again, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was talking excessively. "I'm sorry, Seph; I did not mean to carry on so."
"There is no need to apologize to me, Barty. You know that." Persephone leaned back in her seat as she listened, trying to think it all over. "I do not mean any offense, but I couldn't see you as an Auror or a Hit Wizard. You're better than that." She shook her head, still listening. How could any father just do that? But then, Persephone's father was very different from Barty's.
"But your mother has been ill," she started, frowning. This didn't make sense to her. "How can it be good if he's taking you away from her?" She took another sip of her drink, then set the glass back down. "I am glad that you have friends that you can go to, though. And that there were something I could do- you know that I would if I could."
Leaning forward, she covered his hand with hers, giving it a light squeeze before she pulled it back. "Grindylow Gardens. What is it like? Can I come visit you sometimes?"
"I certainly don't take offense, cousin," Barty replied, giving Persephone what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I think that Father is the only one who has ever seen me as a Hit Wizard or an Auror; I certainly want neither for myself." The most obvious complaint against Barty would be that he was far too nervous and prone to planning things for active-duty law enforcement, followed by the somewhat less obvious complaint that he had sworn fealty to the Dark Lord. Granted, the latter was the more important complaint, but the circle of people who knew Barty's true allegiances was rather small, whereas only an idiot could fail to see that he was a very anxious person.
At long last, Barty took a sip of his drink, but he quickly returned to tapping on the glass instead of actually drinking. "I have no idea how he rationalizes that it's good for me or for Mother, honestly. He probably thinks that, because she has been doing well enough, that this is safe. I disagree with him, but... the best I have, in that regard, is that, I am allowed to visit and that, should she take a... turn for the worse, he will consider letting me move back in." This was decidedly making the conversation intolerable. Barty didn't want to think about the fact that his mother was ill and without him; he had been upsetting himself enough with that line of thought. "Of course you can visit me, Seph," he said with another smile. "I'd like that very much."
"Consider letting you move back in?" Consider? How on earth was that any better? She bit her lower lip, taking one careful breath to calm herself before they both got upset. "I'd be more than happy to. Somebody's got to help you make it look nice." She grinned and sat back in her seat, relaxing a little. "I'll visit your mum, too, love. And there's always Winky?"
The waiter returned to take their orders, and Persephone glanced to him before looking back to Barty. "Honestly, love. Order whatever you'd like-- especially if you're needing to fend for your own meals from here on out."
Barty knew that his father's considerations were not worth much, especially when his happiness was involved, but it made the situation better for him, if only because it was a small hope. He hardly wanted his mother to get ill again, but, if she did, then he hoped that it would be allowed to come back home. It was better than nothing. "It would make me feel better about this if you would, cousin," Barty implored softly. "Winky is lovely company, but she can only do so much, and I know Mother does so love seeing you."
Just as he was prone to doing when he got taken in by something else, Barty failed to notice the waiter's return until Seph pointed it out to him -- and, even with her blessing, he was still rather judicious with his order. There would be enough to take back to the flat, that much was nearly certain (and, between the food from Seph and the food that Miss Quinn had brought by earlier, Barty suspected that he would not have to worry about eating until Thursday morning), but still. It was Persephone's money he was spending right now, not his own.
"I would love to," Persephone replied, smiling. "She is a wonderful woman, and I have been terribly remiss in seeing her as little as I have." She waited for Barty to order before she placed her own order, then turned her attention back to her cousin as the waiter turned away.
"Do you have enough furniture and things for your flat?" she asked, concerned. "What did your father let you take? I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions; I just want to be sure that you're alright. I mean- I know you can do it, love, but still...I can't help but worry."
"You have hardly been remiss," Barty scoffed with a small grin. "Father and I are the ones who should be with her most frequently -- if you were remiss in seeing her, than I certainly was, given the ratio of time I spent studying for NEWTs and time I spent with her." He had spent a good amount of time doing both before Father had made him leave, but, in the two weeks preceding his leaving, more time had been spent with his books than with Mother. It was disgustingly regrettable.
"He let me anything that was in my bedroom," Barty answered soberly, "which was easier than it sounds, actually. The extra time I spent studying Extending Charms and spatial transfiguration before the exams made itself quite useful, and, honestly, about the only thing I have not yet found for myself is a sofa, but I was rather thinking of making further use of Transfiguration in order to do so. ...So it is simply a matter of finding something that could be made into a sofa. Packing boxes, or... something."
Persephone grinned, quite proud of her cousin. "Well, let me know if you have trouble finding anything; I'd be more than happy to help you look." She took another sip of her drink, quiet for a moment. "You seem to be taking this fairly well, though. I'm glad for that, love. It could be a lot worse, at least? And...Well, I'm glad he at least let you take that much with you."
She straightened in her seat, brightening with a smile. "So what else have you been up to? How are things with you and your friends?"
Barty knew what Persephone's grin meant, and he couldn't help but feel a little swelling of pride at the fact that he'd gotten it from her. True enough, Father had never given him such an indication of a job well done, which had always been what he'd wanted, and truer still, it was harder to please Mister and Madame Lestrange, who needed to be pleased... but the grin still made Barty feel better about everything.
He smiled a bit wider after this, and was quite content to change subjects. "Well, I would say that, all things considered, things are quite well. Regulus and I are glad to be done with our schooling, of course, and he's as glad as I am to be moving on to better things."
Persephone had little idea of how much effect her one smile had on her cousin. As it were, the smile was all she did to indicate her feelings, and she idly toyed with one of the forks beside her plate as she listened to Barty. She was relieved to hear that he was, outside of the dismissal from his home, doing well, and she nodded.
"I'm glad you have a friend in him. I like him, from what I've seen, and it's always good to have somebody you can trust." Oh, that probably sounded more foolish voiced aloud than it had in her thoughts.
Barty hardly would have said that he was too pleased to get Persephone's smile; he simply enjoyed getting affirmation from someone, anyone, and the fact that he happened to be getting it from someone he loved as much as he did Seph... it was encouraging, to say the least. He rather needed the encouragement, too. Smiling, he tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
He nodded, but also had to admit: they had talked about him for quite long enough now. Anything further would have ventured into matters unfit for public discussion, such as what he'd been ordered to do to Marcus Fforde and his wife. "And how have you been, Seph?" he asked. Barty knew that she and Parkinson had broken off their engagement, but, beyond that, he'd been busy and she'd been quiet.
Persephone was only a little surprised as he asked about her-- not that he shouldn't have asked, just that he was the first person to ask who she would probably spill nearly everything to, had she been so inclined. As it were, she took another sip, then set it back down, fidgeting slightly in her seat. "I've been better," she admitted.
"I mean, I'm not doing horribly or anything- it's just...strange right now. At this rate I'll be an ugly old spinster one day." She lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "Alright, it maybe isn't that bad. But I was supposed to be married by now, and after five years, it's just... not happening. And I can't really be too angry at him, because it really was the both of us."
Barty gave a small frown and focused intently on his cousin. He had hardly expected her to be doing well -- if she had been, that would have indicated that she did not truly care about her duty to Pureblood society, which he knew was a silly thing to suggest -- but it still was not comforting to know that she was upset.
"You've every right to be angry at him, love," Barty said gently, reaching over to pat her hand. "This was something that you'd planned on, and now that plans have gone awry... it is natural to be perturbed and upset with him, regardless of any extent to which you were involved in the dissolution. ...And I highly doubt that you will be a spinster." Persephone was a lovely young lady, after all; if Parkinson was not going to marry her, then Barty was sure that she could find another acceptable match. Mother and Father had not married as quickly as other Pureblood couples and they'd still worked out well enough, despite Father being as he was.
Persephone laughed, shaking her head. "No. I'm sure Mother and Daddy would love for us to sort it out. We've done it before, after all. And if that doesn't work, then I'm sure they'll find somebody else for me." Even still, she knew that they were disappointed in her for not marrying as early as her sister had, and for putting it off in the first place. But the two simply had trouble getting along, and she had hoped that in putting it off they would be able to learn how to before they committed to each others and their duties to Pureblood society.
She smiled as he patted her hand, and turned her own to take his in hers, giving it a light squeeze. "But we'll be alright. And I don't want you to worry about me at all, okay? Just take care of yourself."
Barty smiled in return and took hold of his favorite cousin's hand. It was more than true enough that they had not been having the best of times, recently -- Barty had a long list of troubles, from the stress he had been under to perform well on his NEWTs, to his and Regulus's attempts to repair their standing in the Death Eater ranks after Selwyn's demise, to the more recent eviction he had suffered; and Persephone had had her wedding called off, which had so many problems entailed with it.
But, all that aside, they would make it, would they not? They had to survive and be better for the experience. "I would say likewise," he replied earnestly, "but I know better to say such a thing to you and Mother." At best, doing so would have been a waste of words; at worst, it would have served only to upset Seph and Mother, which was, more often than not, the last thing that Barty wanted to do.
Persephone couldn't help but laugh softly-- not to mock him, but because his words rang of truth. "We worry because we love you and only want the best for you. And we want you happy. And you know that you can always come to us if you need anything at all."
She looked up as the waiter returned with their food, and released Barty's hand as she sat up. Their plates were set in front of them, and Persephone waited for the waiter to move away before she flashed Barty a smile. "It smells fantastic. Enjoy, love."