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Ginny Weasley (ginny_gin) wrote in pandorarpg,
@ 2011-11-07 17:57:00

Entry tags:

!status: complete, ^date: november 02 2003, character: ernie macmillan, character: ginny weasley, character: zacharias smith

a confrontation
Who: Ginny and Zacharias. Ernie later on.
What: Going toe-to-toe
When: November 2nd, around 9:00 AM
Where: Zacharias's flat
Rating: Worksafe

Early the next morning, Ginny again found herself going through the motions of a normal, daily routine. She ended up clean and dressed and sitting at the kitchen table, where mum had indeed cooked up a storm, just like both she and Percy thought she would. Manic cooking was how she had dealt with her grief after Fred's death; no surprise, then, that Ginny ended up eating more than could possibly be considered reasonable for breakfast.

She couldn't wait any longer though. Not when The Prophet announced that Smith had been released due to lack of sufficient evidence. She drained off her cup of tea, finished off the last bite of pancake that she could possibly manage, and then... ended up helping mum around the house for a bit. She couldn't leave her alone so easily, not when she clearly needed hugs and consoling too.

Finally she managed to break away, muttering some excuse about needing to see Luna for a bit. She ended up in Smith's Muggle neighborhood a short while later (no, they had never been close and she had never had reason to visit him before, but the benefit of living in a small community was that everyone knew where everybody lived, lack of privacy be damned).

Wand in hand, she knocked on his door. Promised herself she would be patient. She would act rational. She wouldn't do anything anyone could regret.

Not at all.

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ginny_gin
2011-11-12 06:14 am UTC (link)

The fight drained out of her right then. Between being disarmed and bound with her hands behind her back and then Smith petulantly kicking furniture and stomping off, there was nothing left to do or say.

She had come looking for a fight and she had gotten one. No more, no less.

"What now-?" She almost said 'Virgin Boy' but caught herself in time. "You going to turn me in, Ernie? Going to have me arrested for kicking his arse? The git deserved it." She frowned, envisioned slamming Smith's head into the floor with a satisfying crack. "You know he did. You know it."

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ernsthename
2011-11-12 06:29 am UTC (link)

Ern was a bit startled by Zacharias' behaviour, but it didn't seem completely beyond normal. Upon being called "Virgin Boy", he was about to revert back to their days at Hogwarts and retort with a flustered protest, but he had used a professional tone previously and was determined to be professional. And plus, Ginny was still there and she spoke.

"I can't leave you here," Ernie said, not answering her question. "Not like this to leave you to something you'd regret. Even if he does deserve it." He wasn't even going to get into the argument about whether he thought Zacharias done Harry in or not.

Ern dug around in his robes pockets until he found a small bag and took a bit of Floo Powder, and after briefly explaining the situation, asked for the DMLE dispatcher to get an officer to Zacharias' address. They agreed with him and said that someone would promptly be over. "Someone will be over in a minute," he informed Ginny and took to leaning against a wall that wasn't obstructed by broken things.

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ginny_gin
2011-11-12 06:44 am UTC (link)

Ginny rolled her eyes and sat back against a broken chunk of table. In the kitchen, she could hear Smith stomping around and apparently kicking things. Good. He could trash the rest of the dumpy little flat on his own then.

A few minutes later, an LEO walked through the door. Her glance went from Ginny to Ernie, before she pulled Ernie aside to have a private word with him. When she returned, she looked at Ginny with what appeared to be a mix of compassion and pity.

Well, great.

"Okay, Ms. Weasley, I'm going to take you in for a few hours." She helped Ginny to her feet. "You clearly need to calm down."

"Try not to break the rest of your flat, Smith," Ginny called toward the kitchen, before letting the officer lead her out.

Mum would likely do her in for this.

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ernsthename
2011-11-12 06:54 am UTC (link)

Ern gave the LEO a bit of a brief on what was going on and handed over Ginny's wand. But it appeared that the LEO had news too. Ern felt his jaw drop and the bottom of his stomach plummet. "Isaiah Smith?" he asked again to verify, and the LEO somberly nodded. "Merlin," he whispered as he headed back into the flat.

He looked at Ginny for a moment with a thought if you only knew crossing his mind as she left with the LEO.

"Zacharias?" Ernie called into the flat as he headed back towards the kitchen. "I just wanted to talk to you for a moment," he said as he entered. "You should take a seat for this though."

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overlooked
2011-11-12 07:03 am UTC (link)

Zacharias glanced out into the destroyed living room to see Ginny Weasley being led away from his flat. He didn't know how he felt at that moment. Everything was just a big jumble, the world slowly coming back into a harsh focus. "I thought I told you to leave." It was the immediate response as he took a breath and turned again to look at Ernie who was still in his flat.

"I don't want to file some nancy boy report you love and live by." Even in his tantrum he had heard what Ginny said. He did deserve. "So you can just go off, go save someone else, and what have you. I'm fine." He wasn't fine. He also was really trying to ignore the fact that Ernie had something to tell him that he probably didn't want to hear.

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ernsthename
2011-11-12 07:10 am UTC (link)

"I can understand that you are in a state of shock. It's normal when you've been attacked like this. The report can wait for another day. Or when I get back to work," he said, putting back on his calm face over his inwardly distraught mood.

"It's just that there's something else I need to tell you, Zacharias." His calm exterior faltered for just a moment before he caught himself and he gestured towards the chairs around the kitchen table.

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overlooked
2011-11-12 07:15 am UTC (link)

Were this another moment there might have been a joking insult, but all those fell short. Even if he didn't want to recognize it, Ernie wasn't going to let it go.

"Just say it," he said after a moment. "Whatever it is. Say it and get it over with." He didn't want to play nice, he didn't want any sort of lead up. Zacharias had no patience for that. He crossed his arms over his chest, subconsciously protecting himself for whatever he was about to be told.

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ernsthename
2011-11-12 07:26 am UTC (link)

Ernie was going tell Zacharias to sit down again but decided against it. He sighed, resigned to the fact that Smith was a stubborn git. But a stubborn git who will have to hear bad news.

"Zacharias, I'm really sorry but I've just been informed that your father, Isaiah Smith has passed away," he said, his voice clear and even. He swallowed, feeling a lump in his own throat. "He had been found this morning and the cause of death is murder."

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overlooked
2011-11-12 07:34 am UTC (link)

The precursor of sorry nearly had him tune the rest of it out. Even if he had heard every single word, his brain refused to process any of it. It was just some big cosmic joke - only Macmillan wasn't particularly funny or really prone to jokes. "No," he said shaking his head. "I just had an howler from him this morning. Dead people don't send post."

He shook his head, starting across the kitchen not sure where he was going, but he couldn't stand still anymore. It was too much to be true. Seeing Potter's body was bad enough, but his dad? Murdered? The man was an arse and a horrible father, but Zacharias had never wanted him dead. Not really. So it was wrong. Ernie was wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. "That's not right, it was probably someone else. I mean what proof is there?"

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ernsthename
2011-11-12 07:43 am UTC (link)

Ernie sighed again, it was normal for people to deny things like that. "He could've sent it before," he offered weakly, again feeling awful that Zacharias' last communication from his father was a howler.

"I'm not mistaken--I've just gotten the news from Officer Young, the lady who had just come in for Miss Weasley." Ernie watched Smith with a mix of pity and sadness. "His body should be at St. Mungo's though. He would need to be identified. But you should get a check-up first. You don't look well."

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overlooked
2011-11-12 07:48 am UTC (link)

Body. Merlin, he didn't even -- Body. Far too many bodies. But there was something useful in there. "St. Mungo's," he repeated it back, not needing the confirmation. His mind was already made up. Zacharias needed to go to St. Mungo's.

"Alright, yeah, I'll go. Prove that you're wrong." He didn't care about his own injuries, they were inconsequential. His face might have been a mess, but he needed to see. It wasn't real until then. Zacharias pulled out his wand and walked over to the open apparation point by the door. His flat was a mess, Ernie Macmillan was still in his kitchen and he wasn't in the best of state to apparate, but he didn't care. He needed to know and with a pop he was off.

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ernsthename
2011-11-12 08:02 am UTC (link)

"Smith," Ernie had barely gotten the word out of his mouth when the man was gone. "Oh Merlin," he said with a sigh, shaking his head. What a day. He had almost wished that he did't leave his flat, but he knew it was probably for the better.

He muttered the repairing spell to quickly patch up the window after taking a glance around to note if there were any muggles down below or in the area. He couldn't help but feel pity at that very moment for Zacharias. For a moment Ern debated with himself as to whether he'd follow him to St. Mungo's. He knew that Zacharias tended to act with (at his very best) contempt towards himself. But at the same time he needed someone. Anyone.

Resigned to that line of thought, Ern apparated to St. Mungo's to meet Zacharias at the morgue.

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