who ? pippa flint and terence higgs when ? tuesday evening, 6th september where ? godric's hollow what ? walking and talking status ? complete
Phillipa wasn't sure what she was doing, honestly. Going to walk the dogs with Terence, that wasn't that big of a deal. Dogs weren't one of her favorite things but Terence was, so it was a trade off. Even if it did include walking through a field. She didn't have anything against fields, but if not for Lucas’ present from months back she either would have been getting her heels stuck or her feet dirty. Instead, she showed up on the Higgs’ doorstep wearing absurdly casual clothes - but Terence had seen her in silly onesie pyjamas, and far worse, so for once she didn't feel too self conscious about it.
She knocked, because that was the polite thing to do, and waited for him to answer.
--
Higgs really didn’t mind talking to Pippa, whether she had things she thought might bother him or not. Yes, his own head was not in the greatest of places, but Higgs was not someone who would ever ignore a friend, even if he would have been on his deathbed, which he obviously was not. It did please him that Pippa had agreed to come over, let them walk the dogs whilst they talked. Alternatively, Higgs would have just worried about her and that wouldn’t have done any favours for either of them.
When the knock at the door came, Higgs was getting leads on onto the dogs, so it was his mother who opened the door instead. “Oh, Pippa dear, hello,” Cassia Higgs greeted. “Have you come to see if Terence can come out and play?” She teased and Higgs laughed from behind her. Both Pippa and Marcus had come over to play when they had all been younger and Higgs had to admit it had been awhile since him and Gemma had had playmates around.
“If I may, mum?” Higgs asked amused, the dogs already bouncing over to Pippa, having made the choice for Cassia, who only gave a laugh before letting Higgs out the door. Handing one of the leads over to Pippa, the one to the smaller dog, Higgs offered her a smile. “Look at us, Pippin, going out walking dogs like adults,” he said with a grin.
--
When the door opened to reveal Mrs. Higgs, Phillipa offered her a smile and couldn't help but laugh softly at what she said. “So long as he's not in time out for anything,” she added before leaning down to pet the dogs that were there begging for attention. “I promise to return him in once piece - or close to it.”
She glanced up at Terence when he handed her the lead, taking it from him and stepping back so he could get out the door. “We're such adults,” she agreed. “So grown up with our dog walking, even if I did pick you up from your mum’s house.”
--
Pippa’s comment made Higgs laugh, not just because it was funny and true, but also because he had asked his dad if he was alright to go out before dinner. Something Higgs couldn’t remember doing in years. It was... oddly nice, actually. Higgs knew his parents were neither interested nor particularly keen on treating him like a child, but he also knew that they wanted to help. He had somewhat told them what was going on. Explained that he would be divorcing Alicia, explaining that he might need to see a therapist. They had been supportive, in as much as they could.
“Hey, now, at least you didn’t have to actually ask permission to have me come out and play,” he told Pippa teasingly. Tugging on the lead so they could head towards the fields near the house where him and Gemma usually walked the dogs. “Isn’t this nice?” He commented as they walked down a wet, muddy path. “Who doesn’t want to exchange the nice beaches of Belize for the rainy roads of England, hmm?”
--
“It would have been impolite not to,” Phillipa informed him. Really, it was nice to have that momentary reminder of simpler times, back when they'd been too small and young to have problems anything like the ones they faced now. When had they gotten so grown up?
“Me,” she answered, sticking her tongue out at him. “Especially with this mud.” She quickened her pace slightly when the dog she was holding onto went scampering a bit faster. “But it is nice, because I've missed you.”
--
“Oh, I’m sure you have,” Higgs replied with amusement. He, too, had missed Pippa and didn’t actually doubt that she had missing him in return. “But I’m sure Belize was a nicer place to miss me from,” he added grinning, speeding up his own pace to match Pippa’s.
Higgs thought if he should ask her about whatever it was she wanted to talk to, but Higgs worried that Pippa might still feel like she couldn’t tell him because of his own--well, whatever his own was. “Thank you for agreeing to come with me to the support group thing,” he offered instead. A thanks Pippa certainly deserved, but also perhaps was a good indication that Higgs wasn’t a complete and utter mess right now. Even if he was temporarily living with his parents and needing to ask for a permission to go out and play.
--
“It was, as you might have noticed from your visit,” she teased, looking over at him before focusing on the dog in front of her. She hadn't ever had a dog and that was alright, but she wasn't sure if she was meant to do much more than be pulled around. She assumed not.
“You mean agreeing to push you into going if and when you hesitate or try to decide not to? Of course.” Phillipa was still teasing, but there was a bit of truth to it. She certainly wouldn't let him change his mind now he'd invited her. “No, I'm glad to go with you. Anything you need.”
--
“Well, yes,” Higgs confirmed because that had been one of the main reasons why he had asked Pippa. He knew that if there was anyone who would be able to convince Higgs if he himself couldn’t, it’d be Pippa. She had always been the one person who could change Higgs’ mind if she wanted to. He was rather glad it hadn’t been often that she had had to.
With his free hand, Higgs reached out to take Pippa’s giving it a squeeze as a thanks. He didn’t doubt that she was happy to go with him, but it still mattered a lot to him. “Enough about me, then,” Higgs said with a determined nod, but didn’t let go of Pippa’s hand. “Tell me about you,” he instructed.
--
A soft smile flitted across her features with the squeeze he gave her hand, but then her brow furrowed slightly. It wasn't so much she wanted to tell someone what had happened, but she felt like she needed to. There wasn't anything to do about it, it was done and over with, but still.
“I'm fine,” Phillipa said, shrugging a shoulder. “It's taking a bit of getting used to, being back and having to work - which sounds so spoiled of me, I know.” She walked on quietly for a moment before nipping at the inside of her lip. “I did something stupid, the night of Marcus and Ginny’s party.”
--
Higgs nodded when Pippa explained that it was difficult getting used to being back after her holiday. He could certainly see that, especially since her holiday had been quite long, even if the few return trips she’d had to make. That and Pippa had been in places with much nicer weather than England. “I’m sure it’ll take no time at all for you to get back into things,” he assured her rather confident in his words. No one really wanted to get adjusted to work when the alternative was a holiday, but unfortunately they all had to. Besides, Higgs was sure that holidays would be a lot less enjoyable if you didn’t have the novelty of them.
At Pippa’s words that she had done something stupid, Higgs frowned. He hadn’t stayed at the engagement party for very long, but he assumed he would’ve heard if Pippa had done something at the party? So he ruled that out. “Something stupid like what?” Higgs asked instead.
--
They'd both been at the party, Phillipa knew that. She hadn't gotten to talk to him there with how preoccupied she'd been, first due to being sidetracked by Molly Weasley and then after becoming focused on her brother. Maybe if she'd found him, talked to him then, she wouldn't have done what she did - but no, she wasn't sure that was true, and it didn't do well to dwell on possibilities that were unclear and didn't matter.
“Something stupid like… I went to my parents’ after.” She kept her gaze on the dog in front of her. “I shouldn't have, but I was so mad.”
--
Higgs knew that Mr and Mrs Flint weren’t... well, they had never really been like Higgs and Gemma’s parents. The only reason, Higgs was sure, they hadn’t objected to their kids being friends with the Higgs children had been Terry Higgs’ blood and job status. Despite having married a Muggleborn, he was still of a high standing and thankfully that had been enough for the Flints to not object to Pippa and Marcus being friends with him and Gemma. Nonetheless, Higgs was still rather well aware of what Pippa’s parents were like.
“What happened?” He asked, sure he could presume that he wasn’t going to enjoy the answer very much.
--
“Well you were there at the party, you saw Marcus,” Phillipa said, giving a quick glance over to him before looking to the dogs again. “The scratches on his face.” It made her newly angry to think about it, her stomach twist up in knots as her grip on the lead she was holding tightened. It had been weeks, Marcus looked normal again, but she could swear she still saw the marks when she looked at him sometimes.
“So I went, and they were awful, and mother said… such stupid things. It's like they don't realize they live in their own world and most everyone else has moved on.” She frowned, thinking back to that night. “I wasn't even thinking, I don't think, I was so mad, I just… cursed her.”
--
Higgs felt like a rather shit friend, but he honestly had no idea what the backstory was of the scratches on Marcus’ face and his parents, but it wasn’t exactly terribly hard to put together from the context Pippa was providing. When she said that she had gone over to her parents and... “Cursed as in ‘fuck you’ or cursed as in criminal charges could be brought against you?” Higgs asked carefully. Evidently, even if it was the latter Mrs Flint hand’t, but Higgs still felt it prone to establish.
--
Phillipa hadn't considered the potential of criminal charges in the aftermath of it all. They had been mentioned at the time, but she hadn't been scared. It felt more of an empty threat than a real one, because calling the authorities in would mean people would know and she knew her parents wouldn't want a scandal.
“Well, both,” she answered honestly.
--
“Right,” Higgs nodded but there was a frown settling on his forehead. It was hardly as if Higgs was going to report Pippa, but had it been anyone else, he might’ve struggled to reason to himself why he wouldn’t. Not being a Hitwizard at least. “Well, that’s... something,” he drew out because it really was. Higgs was aware that the Flints and their parents didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye but this seemed... extreme.
Tugging on the lead in his hand, Higgs glanced off in the distance, thinking of what he should ask, finally looking back at Pippa, he gave a small shrug. “So where does that put you with your parents now?”
--
It was hard to explain, because so much of that night was a blur of rage. She remembered it vividly, but had to concentrate to pull out anything specific. Phillipa wasn't sure why she was telling Terence about it other than that it seemed like she should, perhaps not particularly him but someone and it wasn't like there was anyone else she would tell.
“Oh they're… stubborn,” she said before a light, mirthless laugh slipped out. “Who would have thought - Flints being stubborn. We’ll see you at Christmas, I'm assuming?” She mimicked her father and what he said before rolling her eyes. “Who cares what happens on the inside as long as all the rest of the world sees is a perfectly polished family where everyone behaves the way they're expected.”
--
Higgs wasn’t sure he was the most qualified person to discuss this with, not since his own relationship with his parents was... well, fine. The Flints had always seemed odd to him in the way they always cared more for status than for their kids, but that was also something that seemed to have always been the case. Higgs knew that Marcus, just like Pippa, had plenty of issues with his parents. It was sad, really, since the two of them, and Lucas, were all such lovely people, they certainly deserved better.
“And how do you feel about that?” Higgs asked, deciding that if nothing else, he was capable of being supportive. “Seeing them again at Christmas?” There he paused briefly, weighing up his next question before sighing softly. “Can I ask why you’re still in touch with them?” Now that all three of the Flint kids were adults, it seemed... probably not unnecessary, but certainly as something that maybe could be changed? Higgs didn’t think there was a great deal of love that the Flint children felt towards their parents.
--
“I don't know if I'll see them or not,” Phillipa replied, frowning. “I said… a lot of things, I won't get into it all but… they’re so selfish. They don't want him to be happy, they want him to be useful to them. They don't care what he wants, or what any of us want. They only care about themselves and what we can get for them. So I told them that, and some more, and didn't exactly leave on terms befitting an invitation to Christmas. I'm sure I'll be asked, because it would look bad otherwise, but…”
His second question made her pause, and she chewed at the inside of her lip. “Because we have to take care of each other,” she answered quietly. “They use Marcus, and someone has to speak up for him like he does for Lucas and me. It's easier to grit your teeth and get through the rare dinner than consider the potential consequences if you don't.”
--
Higgs hummed in agreement when Pippa said that her parents were selfish. They were, there was no denying that. Anyone who valued their social status above their children’s happiness was not a very good person in Higgs’ book, and the Flints repeatedly emphasised this point. At her explanation, Higgs shook his head slightly. “But you could all agree to... I don’t know, disown them?” He more wondered than asked.
“You don’t need their money, do you? Between you and Marcus, you can support yourselves and Lucas, so why carry one with this farce?” Which, as far as Higgs was concerned, was exactly what it was. “You’re grown-ups now, all of you, Lucas no longer lives with them, so why... Just why, I guess,” Higgs concluded somewhat unhelpfully.
--
His question was one she hadn't ever particularly considered. They were stuck with their parents, just as they always had been. Maybe it was partially due to the elder Flints getting their claws sunk in back when Lucas had been in school - underage and stuck without his siblings around. They'd all done what they needed to get through and to get each other to the other side and now they were stuck in the aftermath.
“No, I don't need their money,” Phillipa confirmed. And true, she and Marcus were independently wealthy to the point they were able to help Lucas when needed. “Habit?” she offered as an answer, though only being partly genuine. “Maybe fear of the unknown - what they might do if we all told them to fuck off.” She gave a shake of her head. “I don't know if Lucas would, anyway. He's different than us, doesn't see them quite the same as we do, I don't think.”
--
Higgs was tempted to ask what exactly the older Flints could do, since both Marcus and Pippa had careers outside their parents influence. But he couldn’t speak for Lucas, past the fact that Pippa was, of course, right, in that Lucas was different from his older siblings. He was also much younger, so his perception of things might yet change.
Rather than offering those particular thoughts, Higgs gave another sigh. “It seems like a habit worth breaking,” he commented honestly. “But I’m not in your position, I can’t tell you what to do,” he added. “I wish I could, though,” Higgs noted before giving Pippa’s hand another squeeze. “In an amount of time I can offer to marry you,” he offered with a small smile. “Make you a Higgs rather than a Flint,” which Higgs really would, except he wasn’t sure how that might go.
--
If she were being truly honest, Phillipa would say she was slightly fearful of her father. Not her mother, though maybe she ought to be, she wasn't sure. Her father though, she knew he had darkness in him, had felt it in the hex he'd hit her with. If he suddenly lost two of his favorite pawns, what would he do? She wasn't sure, but she could guarantee it wouldn't be good.
“Why Terence Higgs,” she said with a hint of a smile, looking over at him. “Offering to marry me before you're even properly divorced - imagine the scandal that would cause. Though really, no one should be surprised. I am one of your known girlfriends and all.”
--
“Exactly,” Higgs nodded. “And really, who doesn’t love a good scandal?” He added with a laugh that felt almost out of place in the conversation they had been having. Higgs didn’t know what else to ask about it, though. Pippa’s relationship with her parents was... shit. Higgs was rather sure they were both aware of that. Actual violence between them, well, that was slightly more than shit but Higgs could also see why Pippa hadn’t wanted Marcus to know.
After a moment of walking in silence, Higgs’ hand still determinedly holding onto Pippa’s, he looked over at her. “I would actually marry you, you know? If you thought that’d help,” he told her. Higgs wasn’t sure it would help, but he did also recognise that to the Flints, Pippa having a husband was somehow... better than her not having one. He didn’t understand but that didn’t mean he didn’t know.
--
If not for the dog tugging her along, his words might have made Phillipa stop in her tracks. Not out of any kind of surprise or outrage but because it was so… genuine and caring she wasn't sure what to do with it. She knew Terence was one of her best friends, and she always meant it when she said she would do anything for him but what he'd essentially offered was the most selfless thing that had ever been said to her as far as she could remember.
“Terence…” She gave a little pull to his hand to make him stop and face her, her free hand coming up to rest against his jaw as she leaned in to press a soft kiss against his cheek. “Thank you. I don't think it'll come to that but I… you're very sweet and good. Thank you.”
--
Higgs turned to Pippa when she tugged on his hand, a smile settled on his lips when she leaned in to press a kiss against his cheek. He couldn’t really protest her claims of him being sweet and good, because Higgs was both of those things and he knew that, but he was more than happily those things for Pippa. She was one of his closest friends and he really would do anything for her. “The offer’s there if you ever need it,” he told her honestly.
Marriage, as Higgs had plenty of experience with by now, didn’t necessarily mean forever no matter how much love might be involved. It was a sad and disappointing realisation but one he had to accept nonetheless. If anything, Higgs was sure him and Pippa would make very good spouses in an arranged marriage (even if it was arranged by them). “Obviously, everyone would have to wear a hat,” Higgs told Pippa with a smirk.
--
“Thank you,” Phillipa said again, her thumb stroking against his cheek lightly before she pulled her hand away. While she didn't anticipate the need for a marriage to anyone, she was glad to know he was willing to do that for her. She wasn't sure many people could say they had someone in their life who would go to such a length.
“Don't worry, everyone would wear hats.” She rolled her eyes but a soft smirk spread across her features. “And we would have to skip the kiss because I wouldn't want you making me get sick all over my pretty dress.”
--
“Yes,” Higgs nodded. “Your propensity for being sick whenever I kiss you would cause marginal difficulties,” he confirmed. “But I’m sure we can find ways around it,” in fact, if it came to it, Higgs was sure they could exchange a kiss without anyone becoming ill. Especially if they didn’t drank a whole bottle of firewhiskey beforehand. That might help.
Unsure whether reintroducing the topic of Pippa’s parents was the right call now that they had managed to move to a point where joking around was acceptable, Higgs gave Pippa’s hand a tug instead. “Come on, let’s let the dogs off their leads and try to avoid falling into a mud-puddle,” he suggested. Higgs did, though, file the information away so he could ask her about it again, just at a later date, when hopefully things might improve. And if they didn’t, at least Higgs would know to pay extra close attention.