InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "The spork is a lie!"

adipucey (adipucey) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-04-13 01:47:00

Entry tags:

character: adrian pucey, character: alicia spinnet

RP: family history
Who: Adrian & Alicia
What: A conversation that is overdue
Where: Adrian’s flat in Monument
When: Monday, 4/13/02, evening
Rating: Discussion of dark matters.

Adrian hadn’t been able to concentrate on even the smallest of potions matters today, so he’d set to work cleaning his workspace, instead. He’d organized his herbs and plants, cleaned all their jars and bottles, and swept his potions room, opting for using his hands instead of his wand (better to keep his mind occupied). He’d washed the walls and the ceiling, dingy from fog and smoke despite his best ventilation spells while working (thanks to Alicia), and mopped the floor when he’d finished those. His cauldrons were next - scrubbing them with potions he’d made himself, all while just waiting for Alicia to floo over. He'd known for weeks - since asking that they make time for this conversation - that he'd be nervous, but as more time had passed than he'd planned, the anxiety had only gotten worse.

Knowing he’d have no appetite but figuring it only polite, he’d ordered take away from Finnigan’s of fish and chips and a warming beef stew. He’d taken out a bottle of red wine to decant and hoped she didn’t use the bottle as a weapon against him (all this time and he knew he had no idea what her Gryffindor temper might be capable of).

When he heard the floo, he made himself set aside his cleaning and made his way to the living room, glad for the comforting smells from the kitchen, hoping they’d calm him enough to make it through this.

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_alicia_
2015-04-13 06:02 am UTC (link)

Even with everything that had been going on with work, St. Patrick’s Day, the twins, the Foundation and just about anything else, Adrian asking for time alone so they could talk had constantly played at the back of Alicia’s mind. From the fact that he had asked the way he had, she had a feeling that it wasn’t an entirely pleasant thing he wanted to talk about, but if it could ease his mind, she would hear him out or give her opinion or anything else he needed.

Whirling out of the Floo, she smiled the moment she saw him, though didn’t move closer until she had Vanished the ash on her clothes.
“Hey, love,” she greeted him, raising up to give him a soft kiss, before she inhaled deeply, only just now catching the smell of food in his flat. “Something smells good.”

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adipucey
2015-04-13 06:05 am UTC (link)

Adrian closed his eyes to Alicia’s soft kiss and when she complimented the smell of the food he opened them and smiled softly at her, “Just from Finnigan’s, I figured dinner might be a good start.” He felt suddenly sheepish, more like his younger self than he’d felt since school - he’d been the quiet Slytherin, in the shadows scheming to his own ends and letting Draco and Marcus be the mouthpieces of the House. And here, he almost wished he’d stayed that sort of person - never let Alicia open up his life like she had, but he knew better.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her soundly, part of him worried it would be his last chance, because if she reacted badly to what he had to say - and he worried so badly that she might - he would never kiss her again, soundly or softly at all.

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_alicia_
2015-04-13 06:07 am UTC (link)

Alicia blinked slowly, unable to look away from Adrian when he was smiling at her like that, looking at her like that. It wasn’t anything new that Adrian could make her smile – the man made her happy – but it amused her, that he could make take out from Finnigan’s sound romantic. Except… the look on his face wasn’t romantic anymore, and she couldn’t think of what could make him look off in a situation like this.

Opening her mouth to ask him, she instead found herself in his arms, her own arms winding around his neck as the kiss deepened. “Mmm,” she hummed, and this time it was she who smiled softly up at him. One thing was still bothering her, though, because; “I love this,” she said with a small smirk, though she had a feeling that her concern was shining through. “And I love you, but it seems a little off?”

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adipucey
2015-04-13 06:14 am UTC (link)

Adrian felt his heart beat begin to pick up, his anxiety rushing back to him. He needed to put it off, just a little bit longer, because even if they both felt awkward right now, she had still smiled at him, and she had let him kiss her, and he wasn't sure if that would continue once they started talking. So instead of answering directly, he tightened his grip around her a bit, smiled, and said, "I love you, too," and leaned down to kiss her once more.

"Let's have food, first, and wine. Definitely wine." He let out a breath as he stepped back - still holding her hands - and moved them toward the kitchen. "Let's just relax for a moment," he wanted just one more moment. "I promise," he said, "I'll explain."

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_alicia_
2015-04-13 08:58 am UTC (link)

No matter her concerns, hearing Adrian tell her that he loved her still made her smile and happy every single time, and Alicia easily gave into letting the world disappear for those precious moments while he kissed her again.

Reality, however, came crashing back when the kiss eased off, and Adrian’s behaviour once again had her wonder. Alicia chuckled, though, at his claims that they have food and wine first; there was no doubt in her mind that the wine would be exquisite and high end, even while the food was simply take out pub food from Finnigan’s. They were both bordering on being obscenely wealthy, and yet eating like this, in his tiny flat just came naturally to both of them. “Alright,” she agreed, and laced her fingers through his as he lead them to the kitchen. “Not too much wine, though,” she cautioned. “I…. may not have eaten all that much today. How’s your day been?”

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adipucey
2015-04-14 03:03 am UTC (link)

Adrian puffed out a laugh at her confession, "I'm afraid very much the same," he felt himself slip into more formalities, nearly channeling his Father without meaning to (he never meant to do that). He started dishing out stew and chips and then poured them each a glass of the decanted wine, pouring himself a bit of a heavier glass than her. "I'm sorry my note was so... cryptic, I guess," he wasn't sure how to approach the subject, even if this had been his idea.

So few people knew the truth of his family, of their survival (if one could call what his father did that). He knew Draco knew - his family knew more than others, of course, and they'd been close as children - and Millicent of course. He assumed Blaise assumed, but they hadn't openly discussed it ever - though he knew there was little Blaise missed. But this, talking about it with someone who wasn't on the inside, this was brand new. He took a long drink of his wine and watched her.

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_alicia_
2015-04-14 07:14 pm UTC (link)

Alicia quirked an eyebrow at Adrian’s confession; it was one thing for her to miss out on food on a busy day – that happened so rarely that it could hardly be considered a problem – but him? He just got too caught up in work far too often, letting it affect both his eating and his sleeping.

With a small smile, she thanked him for the food he served her and set to eating, her attention still on him. “It was…” she agreed around a bit of meat before she swallowed and sipped from her wine, clearing her throat before she continued; “a bit cryptic, yeah. Still is, and…” she sobered and sighed softly. “Honestly? I’ve been wavering between being amused and concerned about it, but now I have to admit that I’m getting a little worried.”

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adipucey
2015-04-14 07:23 pm UTC (link)

Adrian hated that she was worried, that she'd been concerned, he was supposed to be a good thing in her life, just like she was in his. He took another drink of wine - having already forgotten food - and then set the glass down, reaching out to take her hands, putting her own fork down in her dish.

"I wanted to do this right, but there really isn't anyway." He shook his head and looked her in the eye, "There are things you don't know about my family, and I don't think that's fair, but I'm..." he sighed, "I'm terrified of how you'll react." He hadn't been afraid of much in his life - even when they'd run, he'd been sure his father was doing the right thing and confident that his family would protect him. But this? This shook him to his core. He might lose her, he might lose his family, but to truly be with her - and he loved her, he figured he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this witch whether either of them knew it yet or not - he had to be honest.

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_alicia_
2015-04-14 07:44 pm UTC (link)

Alicia’s eyes dropped to Adrian’s hands holding hers. They were larger than hers, the calluses on the tips of his fingers and the palms of his hands, from holding the knives and mortars, handling the ingredients, were so different from the callused hands she knew from Quidditch, and yet by now she knew where every single one was.

She gave his hands a gentle squeeze and looked up to meet his eyes. So blue! His eyes were so blue and she hated the insecurity she saw there, hated that it matched the way he was acting tonight. His explanation had her frowning a bit; she’d met his family, and while his father was of the sterner kind of person, she had found his family nothing but welcoming. Nosy, yes, but welcoming, still. “Uhm…” she said, still unsure of what he could possibly be trying to say that he worried about how she would react. “I… I don’t know how to react to this either,” she admitted, swallowing down, “except trying to imagine what it could be, and I have a very good imagination…”

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adipucey
2015-04-14 07:58 pm UTC (link)

Her imaging the worst was, honestly, probably less than what he was about to say. It wasn't as if his father had been a Deatheater, but he might as well have been. Adrian swallowed thickly and decided to just say it, the knots in his stomach making him feel like he might just throw up.

With a deep breath, he began, "My family is very old. There was a time when the Puceys believed in the Old ways and prescribed to very different social norms than we do now. I've never known that sort of my family, my Grandfather keeps himself well hidden from us since Sera married Will and even before that, because he's paranoid and doesn't want the wizarding world having anything to do with the muggles. My father was raised in that, the paranoia and the fear and strong... belief." He swallowed again, his breath getting shallow with nerves. "When I was at Hogwarts, I showed... promise... in Potions. Promise like my family always had. We were sought out for generations for our work, mostly by old Pureblood families who believed the same sort of things. But I hadn't been part of that, and my mother in particular wanted to keep me from it. She didn't want Father teaching me anything of the family business but I was obsessed with his books and his lab from a young age. I loved it, and I still do. But when Voldemort rose again, my father was shocked to receive a message of sorts from the Deatheaters." He wanted to be sure he made the distinction clear but worried it wouldn't matter anyway.

Adrian's gaze went down, to their hands, and he gripped hers more tightly. "They wanted me." His voice choked up a bit now. "They wanted me the way they wanted all the kids of the old families... In service." His heart was truly in his throat now.

"My father decided to run, when I finished my NEWTs, but they found us, and threatened to take us, me, by force if they needed. They wanted me to do potions work for them, and my parents didn't know how to stop them. So my father made a deal." He looked back up into her eyes. "He did minor potions work for them, for Voldemort, to keep them from taking me. They agreed that if he did the work, without complaint or noise, during the war, they would wait. If Voldemort won, they would come for me and put me into their employ, but by then it wouldn't matter because he would have won. I don't the sort of potions he did for them, he's never said and we've never asked, but it lasted the length of the war and he did it to protect me. I can't stress that part enough." He looked away again, afraid of the look in her eyes. "When Harry won, we were so overjoyed, relieved, and the family never spoke of it again. We stayed hidden. Sera married Will. Things were so good. But I came back, and I met you, and I have to be honest because you are the most incredible and most scary thing to ever happen to me. I want to be honest with you and Father told me never to say anything, to keep it the family secret, but you're family now as far as I'm concerned and I just..." He lost his train and looked back up at her, his heart sinking.

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_alicia_
2015-04-14 08:36 pm UTC (link)

For a moment Alicia thought that Adrian was going to be sick. Or maybe that was it? Maybe he was sick? Something his Potions couldn’t Heal. Why else would need this kind of preparation to get started?

Only, when he began talking about his family history, she felt a bit at a loss. She knew that Puceys were an old family – you didn’t marry into one of the Sacred 28 families without gaining a little knowledge about that, nor did you start dating someone like Adrian afterwards, without being sat down and reminded of responsibilities, legacies and traditions. But try as she might, she couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath or the tug on her hands when he talked about his grandfather’s prejudices. She was the child of a Muggleborn and a Muggle. How could she not balk at a notion like that? Said tug, though, she managed to keep down to just that, without letting go, because there had to be a reason for this, and her love for him didn’t allow her to not hear him out.

And she listened intently, taking in every word he said, every pause, every breath, every twitch of his fingers and blink of his eyes, even when she could feel the tears stinging in her eyes and her fear of where this was leading making her stomach turn. It felt like a slap in the face when he told her that the Death Eaters had wanted him and that was when the first tears started rolling, though she was still looking at him. Her head was spinning, but she listened, trying to make heads and tails of it, even hearing what he said about being overjoyed when Harry had won and that she was the most incredible thing that had ever happened to him. Still, her mind kept coming back to the part about his father making a deal with the Death Eaters.

For a long while, she just stared at him, her thoughts churning as a voice she hadn’t heard in nearly seven years, a voice she only heard in her mind during emotional times, spoke to her; ”His father made the deal, not him. What would you have done? And don’t tell me you would have refused. I know you, Lish, you’d do anything to keep your family safe, too.” When she had met Daniel all those years ago, she hadn’t imagined that this man with too much charm, money, and business sense would one day become her voice of reason… then again, when she had first met Adrian, she hadn’t imagine that he would become the love of her life, but there it was.

“He did it to keep you safe,” she whispered. A thousand things came to mind, things she wanted to say, things they needed to talk about, but she couldn’t put words to any of it right now. “Would you..?” she tried, her lips quivering before she bit them to keep them still. There was so much she wanted to know, so many things his tale had stirred that she just wasn’t sure about right now, other than she loved him. “Thank you,” she said, “for telling me. I promise you I won’t tell.”

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adipucey
2015-04-18 11:27 pm UTC (link)

When she didn't leave in the middle of his story or get up and storm off the moment he'd finished, Adrian felt a strange combination of relief, curiosity, and terror as he waited for her response. He tried to watch her as she thought but the overwhelming feeling of nausea came back and he looked down at their hands again. He nodded eagerly when she finally spoke but stopped when she began to ask a question.

Pursing his lips, he sighed. "Thank you, for keeping our secret. I thought that was the part that had me so scared, but honestly..." He struggled for what he was looking for. "Honestly, I'm more nervous now than before. 'Would I' what? I understand if you want nothing to do with me or my family I just... I'm praying to Merlin that isn't the case." His breath was shallow and he thought he might pass out by the end of the conversation, but at least she was still here, at least he was still sitting across from her and looking into her face.

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_alicia_
2015-04-19 04:53 pm UTC (link)

“No!” Alicia burst out, shaking her head; the absolute last thing she wanted was to turn her back on what she and Adrian had. There had been a moment when she had thought that he was telling her all of this as a way for him to get out of this, a moment followed by a briefer moment where the doubt caused by his unfinished story had her thinking that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. But no, she wasn’t about to let go of this.

“No,” she repeated quietly. Her eyebrows furrowed as she drew in a deep breath, seeking to calm herself, wanting to comfort Adrian, though not knowing how. She had so many questions, yet she knew that she had no real right to ask them. It was a secret to nobody that they had been on opposite sides of the divide that had been at school. How could she possibly question something she had been so certain that she had put so firmly in the past that it no longer mattered? Well, Adrian had just told her about what had happened during the war, had just made her aware that his father and generations before him had been raised to believe that literally her entire family, save for four people, were someone to avoid. But she had to know, or she knew it would continue to gnaw at her.

“You were in the Inquisitorial Squad,” she said, clearing her throat when her voice threatened to break, knowing that she had to get this out of the way so they could start healing whatever discomfort or injury his confession had caused. “With a lot of people who are still your friends today. Would you have followed them if your father hadn’t… done what he did?”

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