Dexter Cadwallader hates jarveys (afoolserrand) wrote in caged, @ 2013-08-29 23:51:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | ! 97-08, [ log ], dexter cadwallader |
WHO: Dexter, Dawn, and Grace Cadwallader
WHEN: August 29th, 1997, late night
WHERE: Upper Flagley
SUMMARY: Running away isn't defeat. Running away is survival.
RATING: PG
STATUS: Completed Log
Just act normal. Just act normal. Just act normal. Dex had been just acting normal since Monday evening, when he finally confronted his mother about her name on that list, her silence, the Muggle Registration Committee. When he learned she had no actual proof that her grandfather was a Squib. That the Ministry found her paperwork "Questionable" and "Probably fraudulent." That she had a hearing scheduled for next week and she had no real way to defend herself.
Just act normal.
Just act like she'd be going to that hearing anyway. Just act like you don't know any better. Just act like you don't know your mother is taking your sister and running. Just act like you think you'll see them again at Christmas, like you'll be able to write owls, like you'll even know if they're safe.
Dawn was crying. Dex's shirt was starting to soak through, with her arms wrapped tight around him with no sign of letting go. He held her close, near tears himself. "You're gonna be fine," he said softly. "Both of you. You're gonna be fine."
Dawn's reply was muffled in his chest until he leaned back just enough to give her room to speak without disentangling from the hug. "What about you?" she asked again.
"I'll be safe at school, kiddo," he said, adopting their mother's term of endearment. "I promise."
He wanted to go with them more than he let himself know. But between compulsory Hogwarts, the education Grace refused to let him sacrifice, and the fact that it was much easier for two people to disappear than three, Dex knew he had to stay. If they got caught, he'd be sent back to school anyway. Dawn would be sent to live with their father; their mother--who knew what would happen to her. Dex couldn't bear causing that extra risk. He could cover for them for a few days, at least until he left on the train, and give them a chance to get somewhere before the Ministry or anyone else knew they were gone.
As long as he could just act normal.
They had a cover story all worked out. Dawn wasn't feeling well, so his mother was staying home to take care of her. Yes, she was nervous about the Ministry hearing but yes, she thought things would be alright in the end. Thank you for your concern, I'll be sure to pass it on, I know she appreciates the support. Oh, Dawn will be fine, it's just a bug. Sorry, I've got to get home, you know how my mum is about curfew.
"I'm going to miss you."
Dex pulled away from the hug so he could put his hands on his sister's shoulders and look her in the eye. "This isn't going to be forever," he said. "Everything's crazy right now but in a few months, it'll calm down. And besides, if Mum finds her proof you'll be able to come back like nothing happened, alright?" He had no reason to think anything he was saying was true, but he couldn't let her believe that. He couldn't even let himself believe it.
"It's just like any other time I leave for Hogwarts, alright?"
"Dawn, sweetie," Grace Cadwallader's voice came in from the hallway. "Do you have everything?"
Dawn let Dexter let her go, wiping her tears onto a sleeve as she nodded. She picked up a knapsack--one of two Grace had charmed to hold much more than one would expect--but both packed light nonetheless. They had to blend into the Muggle world now, and they couldn't risk magical clothing or books or anything that might give them away.
It meant leaving an awful lot behind. Even in a furnished flat, the Cadwalladers still had mementos, decorations. They were just things, but they were their things. Dex didn't know what would happen to them once the Ministry or the Zabinis or whoever else came in to search their abandoned flat got there. Even with his mother and Dawn taking the important things, and with Dex packing his trunk for school as full as he could, there was a lot to leave.
"You're absolutely sure? Everything you're going to need? Once we leave …" Grace forced a smile. "Once we leave, we can't come back. This is it."
Dawn scrunched her face and dashed off to her bedroom. "I'm just checking!"
Neither Dex nor Grace spoke for a moment; the weight of everything this decision meant hung between them.
"Everything's ready?" he finally asked, more to break the silence than to hear answers he already knew.
"Everything."
"Money switched over to Muggle and all that?"
"Everything I could get without looking suspicious."
Dexter nodded. They'd had this discussion before; she detailed everything about her plan to him and his sister. Well, everything except where they were going.
The silence fell again.
Ask me to come with you. It surprised Dex how vehemently he wanted this.
"Dex, I know I'm asking a lot of you," Grace said. "Too much. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Dexter nodded again.
"I hate to leave you alone. I tried to wait as long as I could, but any longer … it's not safe. I wanted so badly to wait until you were back at school." Screw school. Tell me to go pack. Tell me you've changed your mind. She pulled him into a hug instead. "I love you."
Tell me to come with you. Tell me you don't care about school or the risks or what might happen. Tell me you care about me. "I love you too, Mum."
"Your cat's hiding in my closet again--oh." Dawn's reappearance made Grace hug Dexter tighter. He was the one to let go first, a movement Grace was slower to follow.
When she did, she looked back at her daughter. "Definitely ready?" Dawn's eyes were on Dex instead of their mother, but she still nodded reluctantly. Dex reached over to take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Grief washed over him, and he didn't trust himself to talk anymore.
Grace secured her own knapsack and gave the flat one last teary look. She kissed Dex's forehead. No one spoke when she opened the door to the hallway, nor when she and Dawn stepped out. No one said goodbye--at least not aloud.
And with that, they were gone. Dex numbly locked the door and walked to his sister's room. He rooted around in her closet until he found his cat, who seemed to prefer staying alone in the dark to being picked up and held close. Too bad.
Dex lay back on Dawn's bed holding Boomerang to his chest despite the cat's squirms and protests. After a moment, the creature wriggled its way free and bolted out the door, and suddenly Dex was crying. "You're leaving me, too?"