Ginny Weasley has serious spunk. (holygin) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-09-13 14:39:00 |
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Juggling several containers of food from her mother--all of which, she was assured, were "Quidditch diet friendly, dear."--Ginny let herself into the Flint-Higgs house. She and Marcus had exchanged keys awhile ago, though she, every now and then, would come home to new additions to her kitchen that seriously made her reconsider giving him a copy. She still wasn't used to being spoiled. She heard voices coming from the direction of the kitchen and smiled. "Marcus," she called from the foyer as she removed her boots. "Mum sent enough food to feed four people for the next week. I told her that you are perfectly capable of feeding yourself, but she wouldn't hear of it."
Chuckling, she walked towards the kitchen. "I guess that means you have been accepted into the folds." Ginny stopped short when she found Marcus and Pippa at the dining room table with several bottles between them in varying stages of full. In quick succession, she raised a brow in question, then both in surprise, then frowned in concern. "What's happened?"
--
Phillipa glanced over toward the doorway when Ginny appeared there, having heard her come in but considering what had happened the last time someone showed up and called out for one of them… she'd decided having another drink was more pressing than responding. It wasn't like her name was being shouted out or anything. Plus there wasn't enough wine in the world for a day - or week - like the one she was having.
“So much,” she replied before taking the last sip from her wineglass and frowning at its emptiness before draining what was left in the bottle closest to her to fill it again. “Run away while you can.”
--
Marcus shook his head. Of course Ginny would be coming over today and of course she would have food from her mother. Today of all days. He looked up at Ginny, and he had no idea if he looked as tired and on edge as he felt. But he had to assume some of them would show. On his face.
“Hey you. Have a seat. Have a drink. But you have to get your own.” He waved vauguely at the table, “These are spoken for. As my sister and I are participating in a long held Flint family tradition. Drink until you forget why you are drinking.” he whispered loudly, “And since we still remember….” He held up a bottle to Pippa, “Cheers.”
~~
Ginny put the food down on the table and peaked through them to find the dish with the most bread, which turned out to be pie. Leaving that where the Flints could reach it, she went into the kitchen and got another bottle of wine for Pippa and a glass for herself to share Marcus' whiskey. If she could get the bottle from him.
After putting the other food into their refrigerator, and grabbing three forks, she returned to the dining room and sat next to Marcus. Sliding the bottle to Pippa, she took the one from in front of her fiance and poured herself a double to nurse.
"I have an early morning practice. I'll have the one." Ginny turned in her seat and put her feet on Marcus' lap. She didn't ask any questions, though she was very curious about what they were trying to forget. "Someone has to be sober enough to get the two of you to bed."
--
Her eyes followed Ginny as she went into the kitchen, and then came back with more - bless her. Phillipa murmured her thanks as she uncorked the bottle and poured herself another glass, taking a drink of it before looking over to the two of them again.
“He's the only one you have to worry about there,” she replied, lifting her glass toward her brother. “I've nowhere to be - I can be drunk all the time and it wouldn't matter.”
--
“I can work the rookies until I am feeling human. And it wouldn’t be the first time I played hungover.” He shrugged, taking another drink, “And this one….” He pointed to Pippa, “is the one that you should be worried over.she has….” His voiced wandered off, “Why do we have forks?”
He sniffed the air, “Is that your mother’s pie I smell. You didn’t tell me she sent pie.” Marcus picked up a fork, “I don’t know what you two are going to eat, but I am eating the pie.”
~~
"You'll thank me in the morning for pouring you into bed later. Sleeping out here will leave you with a stiff everything." No matter what Pippa said, she would be helping her future sister-in-law at least make it to her room.
Ginny laughed at Marcus, rolling her eyes as he distracted himself. "It is, and it's been sitting there for five minutes," she told him gently, thinking she should have grabbed spoons instead of forks. "You are sharing the pie. Remember that I haven't had nearly as much to drink as you have. I can take you."
--
Phillipa glared at her brother until he got distracted by pie, equally curious to where his train of thought had been going and glad he abandoned it. She could take care of herself, drunk or sober, and her only plans for the following day were to sleep in and then maybe at some point get out of bed. He, on the other hand, had to be on a broom.
Her gaze fell to the pie and she thought back to her conversation with Molly Weasley a few weeks prior. It had been strange, in that Molly actually seemed to want to know the answers to the questions she asked. Quite different than Phillipa’s conversations with her own mother. “Yes, make him share. He's a selfish prat sometimes if people don't remind him about manners.”
--
Marcus looked at Ginny with more than a smidge of incredulity in his eyes, “Firstly - drunk or not - I could take this pie and eat it and not share. Your mother knows my love of pie. She made this pie for me in my moment of need. And this, my lovely Gingersnap - is a moment of need. Of whiskey and pie.”
He looked at Pippa and with the very serious face, he got a forkful of pie and booped her on the nose with the filling, “There I shared. Feel blessed my darling sister.” A grin tugged on his lips and he chuckled, “Oh fucking hell…Ginny, we are going to need more pie. And whiskey. And wine. Fuck practice. If they don’t know how to fly on a fucking broom and not fall off...I sure as hell can’t fix that in a fucking day.”
He took another bite of pie, “Oh and Ginny….just so you know....Pippa and I have decided that drinking is a FABULOUS hobby when your family decides to veer so fucking off course that you can’t even see the path they were on.” he gripped the fork a bit tighter in his hand, “the path that certain people made sure they had the option to follow to their hearts content.”
~~
Ginny frowned at both of them. "If my mother knew you were in a moment of need, she would be here fussing over you." She was worried. She didn't know what was going on, but they were acting as if their world had ended. And they weren't making any sense. She blamed the booze and the fact that she clearly came into this near the end or the middle, and she had no context to go on.
After he dabbed peaches on his sister's nose, Ginny dropped her feet to the floor, stood, and angled herself so she could sit on Marcus' knees. She gently took the fork from his clenched fists, afraid he would forget he had it and stab himself in his thigh, and slid the container with pie towards Pippa.
"If I'm going to enable blind drunkenness, and if I'm going to make more pie, I need more context." She looked over her shoulder at Marcus. "What's happened?"
--
Had Ginny not moved between them when she did, Phillipa might have retaliated against her brother in a disproportionate way. As it was, she glared across the table at him as she wiped the pie filling off her nose and grabbed a fork, stabbing it into the pie that had been moved closer to her and taking a bite.
“We’re to be an aunt and uncle,” Phillipa said curtly, before getting herself another bite and frowning, gesturing toward them with her fork. “You too, with the whole impending marriage and all.”
--
Marcus nodded, “That. Our sweet little baby brother went and had sex. Thus a baby.” he reached around Ginny to take another bite of pie, “And I think that Pippa and I are doing the mature thing and getting plastered about it. Because what the fucking hell….”
He sighed softly and leaned back in the chair, “And instead of freaking out - we were calm and supportive until they left. Then we opened up the booze. Because seriously - what the fucking hell….”
~~
Everything she knew about Lucas didn't add up to him knocking someone up. His siblings had spied on one of his dates just a few months ago. He was a puppy. Literally! As the thought of Lucas Flint being a father settled into her mind, a very large part of Ginny wanted to gush about how adorable that would be. Because he could be a puppy, and could you imagine him shifting and climbing into the crib with his baby as Kyle?
With great determination and willpower, Ginny kept her face neutral. She was excited to be an aunt. She wanted her brothers to have all the babies so she could have the benefit of being around them and being able to return them to their parents. But Pippa and Marcus weren't there yet, and Ginny knew she didn't have the same emotional investment in this that they did. They had basically raised their brother, so she understood the drinking. Sort of.
"You're drinking because he's going to do right by the girl?" There was no judgement in her tone, just curiosity. "My mum had Bill when she was my age."
--
Phillipa took another bite as she watched Ginny. She liked Ginny, but was well aware they came from two completely different worlds. That didn't matter to her - clearly, as she gone and yelled at her parents about as much - but it showed in situations like that one. It wasn't a bad thing, it was simply that they were different.
“Your mother and father presumably were anticipating having children, having gotten married and all,” she replied, taking a long sip of her wine. “No, we’re not drinking because he's doing the right thing after the fact. We’re drinking because what else are we supposed to do?”
--
Salazar love Ginny. Because he could hear the confusion in her tone. Also a lack of judgement. Which was appreciated. But the confusion - it almost amused him. Because in her family - this would be celebrated. And he supposed it should be celebrated. It was a life. But….it was his baby brother and….
“We are drinking because what the fuck Ginny. He’s the baby - and yes your folks had Bill - which is great. But literally, they haven’t thought this through. And he didn’t take care of his partner or himself. And yes, I get the ‘heat of the moment’....and yes…..”
He got quiet and swirled the drink in his hand, watching the dark amber liquid sloshed in the glass, “And they aren’t going into this with their eyes open.”
~~
Ginny was quiet for a moment, sipping her whiskey while her fiance ranted. She could see their points, and she knew enough about their family to understand where they were coming from. But they really were behaving as if this was happening directly to them, as if the world was ending, and she didn't understand that.
"When did they find out?" Her tone was casual, her brows raised in calculated curiosity.
--
Their eyes weren't open, Marcus was right. It was all new and sudden so of course they didn't have a plan but she and Marcus had tried. They'd immediately gone to damage control and trying to help figure out how to move forward, but it had been too soon for that.
“Today. They told her parents then came to tell us.”
--
“And then we had to figure out how to react. We couldn’t flip out because we had to react reasonably and not how we actually wanted to. Which was loudly. In my case anyway. And we had offers to help them get things sorted out and taken care of - and those were not well received. Because they don’t have a plan. They CARE. Ginny. Because that is will pay the damn bills, that will get them a place where there aren’t dragons, that will get the medical bills taken care of.”
He took his fork back from her and took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully, “Ginny - he had ALL the opportunities to have this GREAT life. He’s young. She is young. The baby will be young. I am not seeing the road to an easy life. And YES I know that life doesn’t have to be easy to be good. And yes it’s a good thing they are both stepping up to the plate.”
“But …. “ he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “But he’s going to tell our parents….and I have to soften that blow. Because if he just tells them without a buffer - it will destroy him. And his life is going to be hard enough without that.”
~~
Ginny had opened her mouth to respond to Pippa when Marcus cut in. She listened to him, her heart swelling with pride and love and worry. She let him finish. He needed this out, and she knew it. "Love, they just found out today. They haven't had time to plan anything." She shifted so she was sitting more sideways on his lap and draped an arm across his shoulders.
Not wanting to upset either of them further, and knowing that it was nearly impossible to talk to anyone when they were drunk--and even harder when they had a stubbornness that rivaled her own--Ginny simply leaned her head against Marcus' shoulder and looked at Pippa.
"Caring is a good first step. It means they'll do everything they can not to fuck this up. Give them time to get used to the news. Give them time to talk and figure this out on their own." She smiled kindly at her future sister-in-law. "Lord knows they'll have to figure everything else out once the baby arrives."
--
Phillipa kept her mouth firmly shut, because she didn't want to start an argument with her brother’s fiancée. Yes, they'd only just found out so they hadn't had time to plan, which was why she and Marcus had tried to help them plan. But no. She'd shot a look at her brother before Ginny started speaking, and waited for her to be done.
“So what, you're going to go talk to them?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “You are going to be the one to break his news to them? That's not your job, Marcus. You've done everything else with them for him.”
--
“And if I don’t then what Pip? You want Lucas to get slammed with unfiltered parents? Yeah - that won’t work out well for anyone. Please - take on becoming a parent and your own overly judgemental ones? Fuck that noise.” he gave Pippa a look and sighed, “I will just add some filter to their reaction so it won’t crush him while he is taking on the rest of the - whatever plan they manage to concoct.”
He shook his head and took a healthy drink of his whiskey and pulled Ginny closer to him, “But yeah, I might as well soften that blow a bit. I don’t have to tell them everything….just enough to keep them off his case a bit. What’s the worst that could happen to me after all….”
~~
Ginny pursed her lips and scowled at the talk of their parents. She could easily come up with ten things that would happen to Marcus for stepping in and taking the blow for Lucas. Not that she would ever suggest or condone feeding the puppy to the wolves. Lucas was too sweet for that. But Marcus couldn't keep falling on that sword and selling bits of his soul to them, because, before long, he wouldn't have anything left to bargain with.
Instead of commenting, she topped off their glasses and snuggled against Marcus. Neither of the elder Flints were ready for solutions. They needed to be upset, and she saw that. They needed time, too.
Still, Ginny being Ginny, she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "I know you want to protect him, and I know you will, no matter what anyone says, but you have to stop giving them what they want, Marcus. Unless you've signed a contract or performed an unbreakable vow with them, Lucas and Pippa are adults. They are no longer obligated to do anything your parents say, and neither are you. Your parents really have very little control over anything because none of you are minors."
--
“They'll most likely just ask him why he's there since it's not Christmas yet,” Phillipa replied with an edge to her voice, rolling her eyes. No, she didn't want their parents going after Lucas, but she also didn't want Marcus throwing himself on yet another grenade to keep them from having to do what was necessary sometimes. Ginny’s words reminded her of her walk with Terence, when he'd said something similar.
“Terence mentioned that too,” she added after a moment, pausing to take another drink before looking over at her brother. “Asked why we don't just say fuck them and never give them the time of day again.”
--
Walk away from them. Yeah, it would be nice. But not entirely feasible. At least not for him. He saluted her with his glass, “Go for it. You and Lucas can. You can cut and run to timbuktu and never speak to them again. Ever. And I would love to be a member of that club. But since I am not - I will just stay here.”
He sometimes wished they would - his siblings - just get the hell out of the UK and away from their rather toxic parents. Make their lives elsewhere until they were gone. Then come back. It would make life so much easier. He would miss them like crazy - but they could be living their own lives and not worrying about things like this.
“Well, I care about my best friend - but it’s great to have an opinion on things - it’s a whole other to have already made the deal with the devil Pips. But really - you should. You should go and live your damn life. Both you and Lucas. Come back when they are gone.”
~~
Ginny sighed and pushed herself up so she could make Marcus look at and focus on her. "But have you literally signed a contract with them? Have you been given a piece of paper with terms, taken it to a barrister, and negotiated everything, then signed it?" She tried not to speak slowly, but she needed him to hear her words, to catch her meaning.
--
“Oh fuck you if you think I’d go running off and leave you alone with them,” Phillipa said sharply, her grip already tight on her wine glass. She knew Terence didn't get it, not like they did, but he knew to a point. He'd offered to marry her if it would help make things better between her and her parents. “You should get to live your life too.”
--
“I am. I am living my life….I am in love, I have my career - for now.” he motioned to the table, “I can drink with my sister. What more can I want from life?” he set his glass down firmly and looked at Ginny, “Don’t be like this Gin. I know you care and I know you think that logic will solve a lot of this. But….”
He lifted her up as he stood and then set her in his chair, and stretched his back popping and he wobbled a bit so he leaned on the chair, “But I have crossed bridges that I can’t go back over again. It’s just a thing.”
~~
Ginny clenched her jaw, little red spots colouring her cheeks as she became annoyed, perhaps a little angry. She made herself breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth slowly before she trusted herself to speak again. "You're not answering my question, Marcus. I know of the sacrifices you've made. I know about the promises you made to appease them, but is there anything legally or magically binding about any of it?"
She turned in the chair, leaning her back against the table and looked at him. "Is there anything tying you to them other than protecting Lucas and Pippa? Because if there's not, and if they do anything to them, it would give you the legal right to press charges and sue. It's harassment and blackmail at the very least."
--
“For now,” Phillipa repeated after him, frowning and taking another sip of her wine before setting the glass down. “And then what? I know you've made deals for me, and I am grateful. But I can take care of myself now, Marcus. You don't have to play their games on my behalf. If they want to come after me… well, they know I’m not afraid to hit them back, or first.”
She paused, leaning back in her chair. “And what if it's my turn to appease them? What if I go to get them to leave you be to live your life how you like longer than for now? Then what?”
--
“Yes for now. And then - the next thing.” he narrowed his eyes at Ginny, “And yes - a large part is legally binding - my father isn’t stupid enough to make the big things hard to get out of.” He took a breath and shook his head, and narrowed his eyes at Pippa.
“Pippa…..just don’t. I don’t want you in their web of crazy. I have gone and done things so that you aren’t in this kind of a mess or position where they can use you. So please, if you respect me at all - if you do - please just don’t. Leave them in their own little bubble. And enjoy your world.”
~~
“You think I want you in their web of crazy?” Phillipa shot back, raising an eyebrow. “They love that they can use you to get what they want, that you’ll be their pawn to keep them away from me and Lucas. I respect you, but I want you to be able to live your life how you'd like to always, not just for as long as they'll let you. I don't want them to think they can smack you around to get what they want and get away with it.”
She folded her arms, looking up at him. “They're delusional, thinking they can do whatever and their children will always be there when they're supposed to, like good little belongings who know their place.”
--
Ginny sat, quietly steaming and scheming. She wanted to see those contracts. She wanted to poke holes in them, but she knew there likely wasn't much she could do. Except stop him from adding to it.
And maybe take out a hit on his parents..
Standing, she grabbed Marcus' shoulders and brushed her lips across his. "Sit. I'll get you food." Before he could argue, she escaped to the kitchen and took her time preparing and heating up two plates.
--
Marcus watched her go and looked at Pippa, “Listen - I know that this is a bit crazy right now. And things. But if you hear me getting defensive - try to remind me that she actually LIKES and LOVES her parents. That our situation is not the norm.” He took another long sip of his beer and eyed her out of the corner of his eye.
“So everything okay with you? No massive announcements? Tell me now while I am getting drunk. Are you pregnant, secretly a muggle….anything?”
~~
Phillipa huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes, taking a long sip of her wine. “Don't worry, Marco. I’m always here to give you a smack when you go off the rails.” She’d use her words to remind him too, of course, but a good flick of his ear or smack to the back of his head usually got his attention quicker when he was off in one of his moods.
“Everything is fine with me. Well, other than Lucas having a baby, but that's not me. I’m not pregnant, fully a witch, and have nothing to report that you'd need to be drunk to know.”
--
Marcus shook his head and sighed. “I am just checking - I didn’t see this one coming a mile away. I mean really - if ONE of us was going to have an out of wedlock child - I would have put money on it being either of us. Not Lucas.” He ran his fingers through his hair, “Fuck all…..”
Resting his chin on the palm of his hand he looked at Pippa and shook his head thoughtfully, “We can’t fix this one can we Pips? I mean we can help - and we will help. But we can’t fix this one and make it better. And I don’t know if I have enough soul left to make this easier for him when it comes to our parents.” His sigh was deep and sounded far too weary.
“In fact I know I don’t….”
~~
“That's fair,” Phillipa agreed with a nod, managing a laugh though there wasn't any joy behind it. “Between the two of us, we’re much more likely… though we’re also smart enough to make sure that wasn't going to happen.” Not that she thought Lucas and Prim weren’t smart - but they were young, got caught up in a moment, and now had to live with that and everything that came with it.
“Marcus,” she said softly, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “This isn't up to you. We can't fix it. It’s not your job to tell our parents, it's his. Nothing's going to make them accept this - not you, not me, not anything we can offer them. They’re assholes, and they're not going to like this. They wouldn't have liked it in general but with a muggleborn…”
--
Ginny, in the kitchen, had only caught brief snippets of their conversation. Laden with two plates of her mother's cooking, she returned to where the Flint siblings sat in conference in time to hear that last part. "Listen to your sister," she said gently as she placed the food in front of the two of them. She kissed Marcus' temple before resuming her seat by his side and leaning into him. "She's right about everything I just heard, and likely about everything else, too."
--
Marcus looked from on to the other, “See, there are two of you and one of me. I am outnumbered and I hardly find that pleasing. Because if I am going to be outnumbered by smart and gorgeous women - I would rather not be related to one of them.” he shook his head, “I also sincerely doubt that there is anything I can do to soften the blow - and they will hate her blood status almost more than her pregnancy….but….”
He sighed again and picked up a fork, “Well, I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.”
~~
Phillipa glanced over at Ginny, a soft smirk on her face as she looked back to her brother. “See? Even she knows I’m right about everything - when are you going to catch on?” She reached up and whapped him on the back of his head for his comments. “Don't be gross.”
Leaning back in her chair, she drank what was left in her glass and frowned. “That's all we can really do. And I hate it, but… that's where we are.”
--
“Hey now….I was being honest. I would think that being gross would have me in a whole other direction.” Marcus said, sticking his tongue out at his sister.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed, “I don’t like it. I don’t like being ganged up on. I don’t like not being able to fix this. I don’t like this feeling of helplessness. I am just….” He threw his hands up in the air, “I just give up.”
~~
Ginny rubbed soothing circles in Marcus' shoulders. "Eat something. You'll feel better." She didn't try to say anything to make him feel better. Even in his intoxicated state, he would know she was appeasing him, and she wouldn't offend him like that. "You can't give up completely. Just for tonight." She nudged the plate closer to him. "Eat."
--
Phillipa watched the two of them, an absent, pensive look on her face. She was with Marcus - everything about the situation they'd found themselves in sucked, and they weren't even the ones that were going to have to deal with a baby. They couldn't do anything to fix, they couldn't do anything to make it better, so there they were. Empty bottles between them and food made by someone else’s mother on the table.
“I should go, leave you two be.”
--
Ginny popped up before Pippa could. "No. I intruded on sibling time." She kissed Marcus' temple then moved around and briefly hugged Pippa. "I'll go read for a bit. You two eat and talk. Tomorrow is a new day, and things will look hazy until you have a hangover potion or hair of the dog." She didn't exactly want to leave them to it, but she knew that sibling time was important, and she wasn't a Flint yet. "Good night," she said gently before turning down the hall. "Drink water," she called over her shoulder."