MAY 02 NPCs (may_npc) wrote in may02, @ 2010-09-03 15:23:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !!complete, !september 1998, hestia (jones) dearborn, npc: holland shacklebolt |
Who: Holland Shacklebolt + Hestia Jones
What: Holland owled Hestia to let her know.
Where: St. Mungo's, 4th Floor.
When: Thursday 2 September 1998
Status: Logged/Complete
Rating: Not quite R.
Holland was... not in a good place. She’d told their parents, and she’d told Kent - who was the absolute best fiance in the world for not caring that they hadn’t told their parents yet about their engagement, and even better for staying at home with Harley because she hadn’t wanted her daughter to see her uncle when - She had to stop that train of thought and take a deep breath. She ran a hand through her hair and recrossed her arms as she continued to stalk the length of the waiting room. It had been good that she’d found him when she had, apparently. And Holland didn’t like the fact that she kept thinking that if she’d been just ten minutes later, she might be standing here for a completely different reason. As if was, she couldn’t settle down, she couldn’t sit. She had to keep moving because it was the only thing distracting her just enough from thinking. Another person Holland had told as soon as she knew Kingsley was safe for the moment was Hestia Jones. A while ago, Kingsley had given her a list of people she could contact if she needed to, and she figured that name being on the list right under Mary’s meant something, so she had. And now that she had done all that, she had nothing else to do but to wait, and to worry. Mary was missing, and that was more than enough to have her partly dreading the moment Kingsley woke up and she had to tell him that his wife was gone, in danger. But first he had to wake up. “And he will,” she murmured under her breath, reaching the wall and then turning back to head the other way. Hestia hadn’t exactly been having an easy time of things lately. While she was generally a person who as fairly on top of the world and she had pretty hopeful about life after You-Know-Who had finally been defeated, she was currently finding it rather hard to focus on the positives in her life. In between her worry for Mary and Kingsley and her husband suddenly making his way back into her life and turning it completely over in the process, she had almost been waiting for the other ball to drop, though she had still half hoped they would somehow manage to overcome all of this and the remaining Death Eaters would be either dead or in jail before Hogwarts officially reopened. Right now it didn’t look like it was going to be so. After receiving Holland’s owl Hestia had left for the hospital in a flurry, throwing on the first pair of robes that came in her path and almost forgetting to put up the wards to her new chambers at Hogwarts. As she walked briskly through the white hallways, she tried not to think too hard about all the questions running through her mind. She had to see Kingsley and make sure he was okay first. Entering the waiting room, it wasn’t hard for her to recognise Kingsley’s sister, even though they had only seen each other a handful of times, perhaps. “How is he?” she asked immediately, still slightly out of breath. She was too concerned to bother with polite chit-chat. It took a few seconds for Holland to process that she was being spoken to and she stopped, looking at the woman the question was coming from. It wasn’t that hard for her to remember and put the name to the face. She definitely hadn’t spoken to her often at all, but she was someone she recognised just a bit. It took another moment or so for her to process the question she’d been asked as she ran a hand through her hair and gave a slight shake of her head. “He still hasn’t woken up yet, but the Healers told me he was going to be all right.” She paused a moment and glanced in the direction of the hall that would lead to his room, already heavily guarded by Aurors as it was, and then back to Hestia. “How am I supposed to tell him Mary’s missing?” Hestia nodded at the reply, more focused on the word “all right” than what she had actually said. She had had so many scares lately she had half a mind to waltz inside and demand to see Kingsley for herself, and possibly yell at him a bit if there was any chance he could hear her. She was aware he had been taking a lot of precautions and none of this was his fault, but that didn’t make it any easier. She was pulled from her own thoughts by Holland’s question, and not thinking anything further about it, she reached forward to pull the woman into a brief hug. She had seen far too much of the war not to know how Holland had to be feeling right now, and even though her attempt at comforting might not mean much, she had to try. “I can do it, if you’d rather,” she offered. She didn’t particularly want to be the one to have that conversation with him, but she would, if she needed to. She didn’t imagine it had been easy for Kingsley to tell her about Caradoc’s return. Holland found the hug, however brief as it might have been, something of a comfort. Her parents still had yet to arrive, and a hug was going to be the first thing she was going to look for from Kent when she finally got back to her flat, whether that be tonight or tomorrow. When the hug ended, Holland took the necessary step back and wrapped her arms around herself. “I couldn’t let you have to do that,” she replied. She knew her brother well, well enough that she knew it would not be a great conversation to be involved in when he finally woke up. Of course, that wasn’t the sort of thing she imagined would be good for anyone to hear, but there was the fact that this was going to deeply affect someone she cared about that made it just that more... real. “He’s not going to take it very well.” Hestia could understand it if Holland would rather do it herself, so she let her reaction pass without comment, wrapping her own arms around herself as she looked around the waiting room. She hadn’t properly considered her attire before leaving and was actually somewhat cold in her thin summer robes, it being this late in the evening. Rather than say something about it, however, she reached for her wand and cast a non-verbal warming spell, after a moment of consideration including Holland in the spell as well. “I know,” she said and it was not a reply of someone who said that because they thought they understood, but it was the laden reply of someone who had lived through it herself. She could still recall the conversation she’d had word for word when they came to tell her her husband hadn’t returned from one of his Order missions, and while she no longer felt the pain as sharply as she had, it was something she carried with her every day. There was no way she was going to let Mary suffer the same fate Caradoc had, or worse. They had fought too hard for this, and had lost too many already. “We will find her,” she said, her voice boding no argument. She was going to do everything she could, even if it killed her. The temperature was suddenly that bit warmer, but Holland could barely tell. She was much too worried, even if she did appreciate it. It was just... Kingsley. For pretty much all of her life so far, he’d been her older brother, the one who’s help or advice, she’d always needed and who took her unwanted advice - mainly about Mary - with just a quiet eyebrow raise and nothing more. And now he’d been the one relying on her and it just felt... wrong. “Of course we will,” Holland replied, attempting to be that optimistic person she usually was, even going as far as to make that attempt to smile. “She and Kings owe me at least once niece or nephew.” It was so odd for her to say that, even with that doubt for the future in her chest, but she was going to force herself to believe it. She had to. Hestia briefly smiled, despite herself. Mary and Kingsley would make wonderful parents, that she was sure of. She knew she herself was likely to remain “the doting auntie” for the rest of her life, but it did not bother her as it once might have. “Indeed,” she agreed, her face immediately turning more serious again. While it was good to have faith, it was too early to muse on happy endings, not when there was still so much they needed to deal with first. “What happened, exactly?” She wasn’t sure how much Holland knew, but anything she could tell her might help. With Kingsley currently indisposed, she would have to contact the Order, sooner rather than later. That was definitely the end of the brief hopeful moment. Holland ran a hand through her hair. “We were supposed to be having dinner at my flat with our parents, because they were going to finally tell Mum that they had gotten married, and I was going to tell her about Kent, but they didn’t show up. So I went to the house, fully attending to give them both a piece and a half but the Aurors were dead in the bush and the door was ajar... and I found him in the living room.” She frowned a bit as she tried to remember as much as possible. She’d already told the Head of the DMLE the story, but she had no problem saying so again. “It was a mess, too, like there’d been a duel. I’m just like... I don’t know what could have distracted Kingsley. He’’s never lost a duel in his life.” Of course Holland had an idea of what would have distracted him. Or who. Hestia had learned by now to deal with descriptions like the one Holland gave her, even ones that were much more detailed and horrifying -- it was unfortunately part of being an Order member. It was something else to hear it about one of her closest friends, however, and while Hestia kept her face carefully professional, her eyes were unable to hide her worry. After the threats Mary had received, there was no doubt in her mind Mulciber was the guilty party. If they didn’t find him soon there would be no knowing what he’d do to Mary. She could only be grateful Kingsley had survived. “I’ll have to send a few owls,” she told Holland. “The entire city will be on the look-out for that bastard. He won’t be able to go anywhere.” She pulled the strap of her bag tighter around her shoulder. “And I’d better contact the Headmistress, too. I’m not leaving either of you here tonight.” Holland only nodded, trying to take in the words and believe them as the truth. Kingsley would be okay, Mary would be okay. And the bastard that hurt them wouldn’t. Holland was refusing to accept anything less but that turnout. It also helped for her to have Hestia here now. Holland had never been the leadership type, and she had no idea what to do next but sit and worry, and if Hestia was going to start the actual search, that would definitely give her some peace of mind. It was appreciated that she was staying, too. Her parents had to go home a bit before, but she was under strict orders to call as soon as Kingsley woke up. And Holland had been somewhat glad to see the tiniest hint of worry in her mum’s face when she’d mentioned Mary being missing as well, though logically she knew it might have only been because there was no one in the family unaware of how Kingsley felt about Mary, even if Mum didn’t actually know about the full extent of that. Nodding again, she looked at Hestia. “Thank you.” Hestia nodded sharply, her words having served to give herself the kick in the back she needed as well as reassure Holland. “I’ll be back here in half an hour and I’ll see if I can find us some coffee as well.” Hopefully Holland and Kingsley would be fine until then. If she had her way, Mulciber definitely wasn’t going to be. |