Dexter Cadwallader hates jarveys (afoolserrand) wrote in caged, @ 2013-08-28 11:32:00 |
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Dexter didn't realize missing one day of the Daily Prophet was such a big deal, but between Lydia's owls, Tilly's comments, and the strange looks his neighbours had been giving them, he knew it had to be something important. I don't think you should be alone when you read it, Tilly wrote the night before. It sent Dexter into a mild panic, one he couldn't quite forget for the rest of the night, no matter how much he'd tried to joke around and ignore it. He wanted to ask outright what it was he needed to know, and he probably would have if he could've asked only people he trusted. Instead, seemingly every sixth and seventh year student at Hogwarts could see it.
Well, almost all of them.
The Cadwallader's flat was nothing impressive; a once-grand home converted into six smaller units, sharing one Floo system and plenty of creaky floors. Dexter wasn't ashamed of where he lived, but he wouldn't exactly expect it to impress anyone either. Still, he sent the Floo coordinates to Tilly that morning. His mother was at work (as always), so he sat on the floor of the hallway and played a few games of exploding snap with his sister while they waited by the Floo for his guest to arrive.
Tilly was concerned about many things as of late -- the new required attendance to Hogwarts, the general environment of the war and most importantly, the MBRC. Tilly knew a few people who fell into that category but she didn't know how to react when she read Thursday morning's Daily Prophet. A few names were ones that she recognized but when she saw Liam's name on that list... her first thought fell onto Dexter. She wondered what his reaction was but it wasn't until their journal conversation the previous night that Tilly really knew what was going on.
She had that edition of the newspaper tucked away in her bag as she approached the Floo. Smoothening her skirt, she examined the paper she had in front of her that had the coordinates provided by Dexter. Thankfully, moments later, she appeared at the intended fireplace and was relieved that she was there in one place.
"Dexter?" she called loudly, stepping out of the fireplace. "Anyone here? Hello?"
"Tilly, hey." Dexter threw his cards down on the floor, causing one of them to POP unexpectedly as his sister laughed. He rose to his feet, brushing himself off and leaving Dawn to clean up the game. "I don't think you've met my sister? This is Dawn. Dawn, Tilly."
Dawn waved with one hand and gathered cards with the other. "Oh my god, does your hair take forever?" she asked before catching herself. She had the grace at least to look embarrassed at the question. Dexter rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, our flat's up this way." The hallway was unevenly lit, with unnaturally bright flames casting strange shadows on the dark wood panelling. The common areas of the building looked older and more distinguished than the inside of the renovated flats themselves, giving the building a sort of schizophrenic feel Dex often felt he needed to explain. Today, however, his mind was elsewhere. He unlocked the door and let the girls in first.
Tilly smiled at the familiar face, and that smile transferred over to the younger girl who was waving to her. "Hello!" she greeted Dawn, with some enthusiasm. Tilly laughed at Dawn's question, but she was quite thrilled that people were asking her about her hair. "No, it doesn't take too long, but my hair is naturally curly, anyway," Tilly shrugged.
She followed Dexter through the hallway and to the flat, walking inside after Dawn. She stood in the living room, awkwardly, holding her bag tightly, as though she would somehow lose the important item she had in there. "What a cute flat!" Tilly exclaimed, moments later, glancing at Dexter with a smile.
"Thanks," Dex said quickly. "Um, have a seat," he added, gesturing toward the sofa. Dex wanted to ask about the newspaper--it was probably there in her bag, right?--but he didn't want to be rude, either. "Would you like something to drink? We have … some orange juice, I think, and water of course. Milk."
Dawn raised her eyebrows at her awkward older brother, said goodbye to Tilly, and wandered off to her room. Dex hadn't told her why his friend was coming over, just that she was and please be nice, so Dawn probably just thought he was doing a terrible job of trying to impress a pretty girl. It didn't matter.
Tilly took small steps towards the sofa and took a seat, crossing her legs in the most proper manner that she could. She looking around the room -- at the various decor and the photographs, anywhere but Dexter, really. But she couldn't ignore him once Dawn had left the room and she finally turned her attention to him, clearing her throat.
"Erm, so," she started, as she nervously licked her lips. "You take a seat, as well," she nodded. Once he was seated, Tilly opened her bag to find the piece of paper she was looking for. She was anxious now, and not in a good kind, because she didn't know what Dexter's reaction would be. But, she promised him that she would show it to him and… well, Tilly seldom went back on promises.
"Just know that we don't know what this means for him, okay?" Tilly then handed him the newspaper from the Thursday prior, hoping against all hope that his reaction was something she could handle.
Dexter sat down next to Tilly to read over the article. It was bad, but not Dark Mark over the charred remains of the Connolly house bad. Not werewolf revenge attack bad. Not injured or worse resisting arrest bad. He didn't say anything, though a bitter laugh escaped his lips when he jumped straight to Connolly on the list and saw not only Liam, but Diedre's name as well. Diedre was twelve; were they really labelling her like some sort of criminal?
As he kept staring at their names, a slew of new possibilities occurred to him, each more dramatic than the last. "What do you think will happen?" he asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the paper.
Tilly kept his eyes on him, as though it would help her better prepare for whatever his reaction may be. But even that didn't stop her from jumping at his bitter laugh. She pursed her lips and continued to stare at him, until she couldn't do it anymore.
"I don't know." It was the truth. She may have blindly believed what the Ministry was saying but it didn't mean she understood it nor did it mean she knew what would happen. "He could have left... I mean his sister's name is on there, too."
"He hasn't responded to my owls in weeks." It wasn't easy for Dexter to admit aloud, but there it was. He didn't know of any Floo ports near the Connolly home and couldn't yet apparate anywhere to check on his mate. "I'm afraid to send another one in case he's--they're--I don't know hiding or something."
He glanced back over to Tilly, a strained attempt at a smile on his face. "I guess maybe the Ministry doesn't know where he is, either."
The list was enormous, dozens upon dozens of names, but Dexter's glance back caught one in particular, one he wouldn't have missed the first time but for his focus on finding Liam on the list. "Oh my god." It was barely a whisper; he stopped breathing for a moment and closed his eyes, fruitlessly willing the name away. It didn't work.
"Yeah, the Ministry doesn't know," Tilly reassured him, as though that was somehow better than Dexter not knowing where he was either. She returned that strained smile, but since she was not close to anyone on that list, she didn't know what Dexter could be going through.
And admittedly, she had failed to make the connection to the other name on that list that Dexter would be familiar with, despite sharing the same last name. "What is it?" she asked, in a concerned tone, as she reached for his hand. With furrowed brows, Tilly leaned over to look at the paper, and examine the list once more, and this time, she spotted "Cadwallader, Grace".
"Oh."
"But she isn't…" Dexter rose and paced in short bursts. He felt an urge to explain--his mother wasn't a criminal. Not that Muggleborns were criminals either, though technically ... but either way that didn't apply in this case. He faced Tilly and looked at her pleadingly. It was important to him that she understand. "She sent in her paperwork. She's not … This is a mistake."
Tilly let go of Dexter's hands as soon as he was on his feet, moving her hands to under her thighs, so that she didn't get too excited and move them. She felt too nervous now, but she kept his eyes on him and she nodded at him. "Then it must have been a mistake." She pursed her lips for a moment, and glanced towards the direction that Dawn had gone off to. "Where is she?"
"At work," Dexter replied immediately, but when he stopped to think about that for a moment, he wasn't so sure. "But if her name's …" If she showed up at work, could she be arrested? Surely her coworkers wouldn't turn her over--actually, there was nothing sure about that at all. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "She said she was going in to St. Mungo's but…"
Ah, the dreaded 'but'. Tilly continued to look away from Dexter, but she did inhale sharply at the 'but'. It wasn't a good sign. Things were never a good sign, when it didn't have a clear end. She gulped some, finally looking over at Dexter. "When?" she asked, nervously wetting her lips.
And without a warning, she got up to her feet and started pacing in front of the sofa, as if it would give her an idea. She didn't even know Dexter's mother, but maybe pacing would give her some idea about the situation. Finally, Tilly stopped pacing back and forth and stood her ground, as tiny as she was, and glanced at her friend with a quirked brow. "I mean, I could ask my father about her whereabouts."
"No," Dex said. On one hand, Tilly's father worked for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so he'd know if something had happened. But on the other, Dex didn't want anyone from the Ministry paying more attention to his mother than they already were. He forced himself to take a deep breath; panicking about what ifs wouldn't do him any good.
"No. If they've arrested--" Oh, god. "If anything's happened, they'll have to come tell us. Don't say anything to your dad. Don't say anything to anyone. Please."
Tilly nodded, firmly and her gaze dropped down to her shoes. They were cute, and Tilly would have admired them some more had her mind been not preoccupied by other important thoughts.
"I won't tell anyone," Tilly responded, nodding again. "I am so sorry, Dex."
"Yeah," Dex said. "I mean, thank you. And for bringing the paper over, and everything. Um. Are you sure you don't want something to drink?" Dex honestly wasn't sure what else to say, so he fell back on his earlier hosting attempts almost out of habit. Or at least out of a hope of avoiding awkwardness.
She couldn't help but laugh. Tilly figured that this was Dexter's way of avoiding the topic and talking about something else, but she really just took it as an invitation to leave. She looked up at him, and offered a smile -- a kind, understanding smile this time around and she crossed her arms across her flat stomach.
"No, no, I'm sure, but thank you," she replied, biting her lip slightly. "I should probably go now, though. Samson said he would Floo Call me soon." Even though she tried her best not to let her excitement shine through, she couldn't help but grin a little. "But you be careful, okay?"
Without a word, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulder, hugging Dexter for a few moments. She finally pulled away and exhaled loudly. "Are you going to be all right here?"
Dexter returned the hug numbly. When it was done he tried to smile, though it was a useless effort. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he said, nodding. "I have to … I should talk to Dawn."
He didn't realize he was still holding the Prophet--in admittedly a more crumpled state now than when he'd first grabbed it--but when he did he held it out sort of awkwardly. "Do, um, do you want your paper back?"
Tilly smiled and shook her head. "No, you keep it. I don't think I can look at that list again," she admitted, picking up her bag and throwing it over her shoulder.
She turned on her heel and headed towards the door. "Just remember that I'm only an owl -- and now a journal note -- away, if you need me. Take care, Dex." She offered him one more smile, before exiting the flat. Tilly was glad that it went better than anticipated, but she was still worried about her friend.
Dex stayed in the doorway of his flat; he could see the Floo from there and gave Tilly a small wave as she left. He closed the door behind him gently and locked it. He wondered if he should wait and let their mother tell Dawn, but didn't really think he could spend the day with her if this kind of secret hung between them. He hesitantly crossed their small flat and knocked on her bedroom door.
When she answered it, she gave him a Look. "Oh my god Dex, did she leave already? What did you do?"
Dex tried to laugh but couldn't manage it. Dawn's face fell; it wasn't hard to tell something was wrong. "I need to talk to you about something…"