(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ (rookied) wrote in thedept, @ 2013-09-18 22:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! narrative, eddie longbottom |
WHO Eddie Longbottom, Neville Longbottom, and Hannah Abbott.
WHAT Somebody gets a letter.
WHEN Saturday, 16 November.
WHERE The Leaky Cauldron.
RATING PG.
STATUS Narrative. Complete.
TO BE AIRED Nope!
A faint crunching noise emanated from the kitchen punctuated by the clink of cutlery against a ceramic bowl. During most mornings, the sound would not have been completely out of place at the Leaky, but certainly at five o'clock on a Saturday morning, it was. Neville cracked an eye open as a chair scraped noisily against the wooden floor. Hannah stirred next to him, mumbling something about someone raiding the pantry. He slowly extricated himself from the tangle of bed sheets, pillows, his wife's arms, and (for some reason he feels compelled he should attribute to Alastor) a giant plushie mimbulus mimbletonia, complete with its orange terracotta pot. Hannah was waving a hand in a slow shooing motion, the barely coherent mumbling eventually ending in a final "ngh". Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Neville ambled out into the hallway before grabbing and putting on a jumper draped over an overstuffed armchair. Eddie bobbed around the kitchen, her mouth full with what sounded like crunching metal gears. Neville winced. Maybe he should've reconsidered that last drink with Seamus last night. "Morning," he greeted his daughter, dropping into a stool near the kitchen island. "Coffee?" Ed paused to stuff another giant spoonful of weetabix into her mouth and nodded, placing a chipped mug the shape of a chipmunk in front of Neville and filling it to the brim with black coffee. "Figured you'd take it without milk today," she said, sounding far, far more amuse than she had any right to. "Looks like you had a rough night with the lads, eh da?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Shush you." Ed only grinned even wider before shrugging and going back to defrosting a few links of sausages on the stove. Neville felt a flash of foreboding. Last time Eddie tried to cook something, she somehow managed to burn through a frying pan. He let her go about her business, keeping a wary eye on the flame as the water started to boil. "You're up…" Neville paused to consider his words. "Early-ish." No, this wasn't a record, early start-wise. As if to emphasise his point, he yawned loudly, his eyes watering a little. She shrugged again but didn't say anything else. Now that was odd. He watched as his daughter cracked four eggs into a bowl and whisked them briskly before pouring the mixture over another frying pan, hissing and bubbling over. He took a sip of the coffee and after the initial discomfort of the hot drink burning his throat, he began to feel a little bit better. "Big plans this weekend then?" Eddie shot him an exasperated look over her shoulder as she began turning the eggs. "What? Can't I come over and cook my parents breakfast once in a while?" "Well, that'd be nice. Is this going to be a weekly thing?" Neville was smiling impishly when Ed finally turned around. Then, after a second thought, flicked her wand so the flame under the eggs went out with an abrupt blip. "I can hope, right?" The smile slowly slid off his face when Eddie didn't respond with her usual pubescent boy wit. Instead, she gave him a strained sort of smile, pausing to splash a bit of oil over the sausages. Okay, something was clearly up. "Everything okay? Something going on at work?" He paused and very cautiously added, "Is this a boy thing?" Neville glanced at the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Should he have woken Hannah up for this? To his surprise and relief, Eddie laughed. "No, da -- no, that's, yeah, things are alright." She shook her head and began to turn the sausages, more in an effort to keep her hands busy than an actual need to do so. Neville finished his coffee and waited patiently for the other shoe to drop. Only when her cooking turned the burnt side of golden that she hastily piled all the sausages unto a waiting plate. Sighing, she brought the skillet with the scrambled eggs over to the kitchen island with the plate, strategically between them like a barricade. Eddie flashed him a all too bright smile. Abandoning the empty bowl of cereal, she scooped a generous helping of scrambled eggs unto a new plate and selected a few of the less charcoal-y sausages. Neville began to do the same, eyeing the eggs with some suspicion. Before he could say anything, Ed reached behind her and chucked a thick envelope on the table. He looked at her, his brows creasing. "It's from the Department of Magical Games and Sports," his daughter said, sounding strained. "Got it yesterday." Neville took the envelope and turned it over. The purple Ministry seal remained intact. "You haven't read it yet?" "No, no -- I -- yeah, no." Eddie grimaced, twisting her hands before taking the envelope from him again. She worried the corners, at the juncture of least resistance. "I should -- I mean, I know I shouldn't make this into a big thing. But, I've --" Neville had never seen her look so nervous. Well, not since her First Year when she was waiting for her Herbology marks for the first time. "I just worked really hard for this." "Yes, you have," he nodded, reaching across the table to place both his hands on her shoulders. Neville smiled. "You'll be fine, Eddie. I don't know where you got it from but I've never seen anybody play Quidditch as well as you do, or try as hard." She began to smile as well. Perhaps the smell of food was finally calming her down, he thought. Neville ruffled her hair, a habit he'd not gotten tired of nor one that Ed complained about. "Besides, you're young. You've got plenty of chances at it, if you really want to play Quidditch." He had never discouraged her from her ambitions, especially after he finally saw her play in a game. But he was a practical man and he couldn't help but approve of her move towards the Ministry when Eddie applied. "Yeah," she said, looking down at the envelope as she broke the seal. "I still do." Neville squeezed her arms and let go. 'Course she did. He doubted if there was any job other than playing Quidditch that could make Eddie happier. As much as he hated to admit it, he and Hannah did follow the Department pretty religiously. While Ed seemed to love the physical challenges that came with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he hadn't seen the same sort of spark that she had when she was on the Pitch. "You'll be okay." She pulled the bundle of parchment from the envelope and began to read, her eyes rapidly scanning the pages. Her expression remained neutral. Neville suddenly wished he'd remember to bring his reading glasses from his side table. After a few moments, Eddie became a bit more frantic, flipping through the last couple of pages. Unexpectedly, Eddie audibly took a large intake of breath, making the word 'gasp' inadequate to describe what just happened. "Alright?" he prompted. Even more alarmingly, Ed began to sniffle and then cry in earnest, burying her face in her hands. "Eddie," Neville said, his voice empathetic, moved around to the kitchen and hugged his daughter. "It's alright --" She was shaking. It was only when she prised her hands away from her face that he saw that she was laughing. "Da, I bloody got it," Eddie managed to choke out in between laughter and crying. He whooped and called for Hannah, almost drowning out Ed croaking on about being on "Puddlemere reserve" for a few months. Neville kissed her on the forehead, beaming at Hannah when she finally emerged from the bedroom, looking wild-eyed and confused about the commotion. Eddie took another deep breath and began to compose herself again, rubbing at her eyes and making them look a little redder. Hannah had enveloped her into another hug, her face muffled in her mother's hair. Neville heard her faintly saying, sounding far too amused, "The Magpies made an offer too, as if I would." |