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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 20, 2008 18:44:33 GMT -5
After leaving the Leaky Cauldron the night before, Arthur had been troubled. He spent much of the night tossing and turning and worrying for his friends. Ted was his friend and he wanted to support him, but he'd been so impossible to deal with at the pub, that he wasn't sure how to take what had happened. And his heart went out to Andromeda, who he barely knew, but had to have been hurting terribly.
It was a convoluted mess. And he had no idea that it was about to get worse.
Whatever he'd expected the fallout to be from the breakup, the last thing would have been what showed up at his window the next morning. The owl carrying his copy of the Daily Prophet tapped on his window at promptly 6 am, as it did every morning, and Arthur let it in, unaware of what lay within the paper.
After removing the paper and slipping a coin in the owl's collection pouch, Arthur settled down at the kitchen table to read his paper over a cup of coffee. But the article that greeted him when he opened up the paper was enough to make him choke on his coffee.
Ted had told him very little that had made any sense of what had happened, but this article, while clear, left him even more confused. Ted would not have kissed another girl, least of all Rita Skeeter! The woman had him skewered and roasting over an open fire by the end of the article. And although Andromeda came out as the sympathetic one, he knew for a fact that her pride would be deeply wounded by the words that painted her as little more than a pitiful, naive child.
Arthur read the article three times, each time hoping it would change, or that he'd somehow misread it. But it was exactly as it seemed.
Furious, Arthur abandoned his coffee and readied himself for work, then apparated quickly, the newspaper rolled up under his arm. Once inside the Ministry, he marched straight down to the Auror office in search of Ted.
He found Ted at his desk and, without so much as a greeting, strode purposely to his desk and slammed the paper down on the desk in front of him.
"Do you want to explain this?" he said angrily.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 0:27:01 GMT -5
Ted winced at this. Arthur's voice sounded at least three times as loud as it should, but that was because he had been out of potions to cure his hang over, so he was nursing it the muggle way.
"Please don't yell," he said softly, and glanced down at the paper. He entertained the idea of pretending that he had not yet read the article, but then Arthur would make him read it then and there, and he was not feeling up to feigning anger ad surprise or whatever else he needed to feign.
"I didn't write it. Ask Skeeter what it's about."
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 0:47:46 GMT -5
Arthur sighed and pulled up a chair. "All right, I'm sorry," he said, lowering his voice to just a fraction above a whisper. "I'm glad to see you're at least capable of rational conversation this morning." He had a lot of questions for Ted, but he held them all back for now. Let him take this slowly. "How's your jaw?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 0:55:22 GMT -5
Ted gave Arthur a sharp look, as if he just remembered that it was Arthur who had hit him.
"It bloody hurts. Thanks for that. But it's almost unnoticeable next to the hang over from last night. And I can't find any pain killing potions in my place."
His first thought had been to go to Andromeda's and see if she had any extra, but then he remembered... he couldn't do that anymore. She wasn't his anymore, and that made his headache twice as bad.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 1:01:41 GMT -5
Arthur grimaced. "Yeah, I'm sorry for that, mate. Well, not that sorry. You bloody well deserved it, you know. You were being a git."
Nodding back at the article, he said, "I know where you can probably get some pain killer potions, but I need you to explain this article to me. You told me last night what you said to Andi, but you neglected to point out the part where you. Kissed. Rita. Skeeter. Please tell me she made that part up?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 1:06:32 GMT -5
"I don't even remember what I told you I said," Ted admitted, though in his drunken state, it had probably been pretty damn close to the truth. He was just glad he hadn't blown his whole story.
"The article's wrong. I was obviously wasn't out to tear her family apart. What would the point of that even be? Skeeter's flowery, but she doesn't even really make sense."
He didn't answer Arthur's question. A kiss had been shared, but the fact that he had pushed her away just as she kissed him had escaped Lestrange, Andi, and now all the readers of the Daily Prophet. He might as well let them believe it.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 1:22:17 GMT -5
Arthur sighed. "Well, you said that you told her you 'got what you wanted' from her. Was there more than you said to her? Look, Ted, I know you weren't out to break up her family; just the opposite. But Skeeter's got a lot of readers, even though she's young, A lot of people read her gossip column. Just... please. Tell me you didn't kiss her? Did she throw herself at you?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 1:26:33 GMT -5
He looked up, meeting Arthur's eyes. This was his best friend, the man he could trust anything to. And yet he knew if he told Arthur the truth, Arthur would tell Andromeda. He had to keep with the ass hole charade if he wanted to keep her safe, otherwise she would come back to him. Well, part of him hoped she would.
"That was the worst of what I said. Can I get those potions?"
If Arthur asked again, Ted would only confirm it, and he didn't want to lie about that. He just hoped Arthur didn't ask again.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 1:45:12 GMT -5
Arthur sighed. Ted wasn't being much more forthcoming than he'd been last night. But at least he was being less of a git. "Hang on," he said. He walked over to the desk of Cassidy LaRose, who he knew to keep a regular apothecary in her desk drawer. She was the one everyone went to if they needed a pain killer potion.
A moment later, he returned to Ted's desk and placed the potion in front of him. "Drink it fast. I don't think she'll be too happy if she finds out it's for you. There are some people staring daggers at you right now. And some of them don't seem all that nuts about me, either, right now."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 11:46:39 GMT -5
Ted groaned at those words, though he took the potion, wincing at the bad taste, but welcoming the almost instant soothing it brought. He was quiet for a moment before he thanked Arthur.
It really hadn't occured to him yet how everyone else in the office might react to that article. He had been too busy thinking about Andromeda.
"I should talk to Vincent," he said softly, and looked up at Arthur. "I could lose my job from this."
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 12:46:50 GMT -5
Arthur looked at him appraisingly for a moment. He was still having a hard time figuring out what Ted was thinking. "Yeah, you should. Or at least, Miss St. Clare." He glanced over at her office and noticed she didn't appear to be in yet. "Ted, have you thought yet about how Andromeda is going to react to this article? This thing makes her out to be some kind of foolish, naive child. She's going to be humiliated. If you really did this to protect her, you've failed miserably. I don't believe for a second that you don't love her or that you were using her... you told me the truth last night. Your drinking told me. Maybe there's still time to fix all this..."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 13:11:17 GMT -5
"St. Clare, that's right," Ted said, waving it away. He had forgotten for a moment that Vincent Corrigan was no longer the head of their Department. And that did not serve him well. He knew Vincent better, and a woman was more likely to side with Andromeda. Which, she should, but it didn't help him.
Ted hid his face in his hands as Arthur went on. Of course he had considered all of this. Arthur was a fool if he thought he hadn't. He wanted to protect Andromeda from everything, and he just couldn't do it. There were battles you had to lose, and he hated that with every fiber of his being.
"I kissed another woman, Arthur. I told Andromeda that I only wanted her because I could, or something along those lines. I can't fix any of this."
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 13:27:47 GMT -5
Arthur sighed. He hated to see the people he cared about in pain, even if they'd brought it on themselves, as Ted had done. "Come off it, Ted. I don't believe you kissed that woman. She threw herself at you, just admit it, OK? It doesn't help your case any if you try to make me believe what the rest of the world now believes. I don't understand why you're so determined to see this through. You're hurting, she's hurting... why sacrifice both of your happiness?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 16:05:36 GMT -5
"Her sister sent me an owl," He said, gently changing the subject, though not too much. "Wants to meet with me. For what, I can only imagine." She had said not to tell anyone who he was meeting, but this was Arthur. He could trust Arthur. "I think it would just be better if I didn't go."
He glanced at Angelique's office again. He wondered if he would have to ask for a moment, or if she would just pull him right into her office when she arrived.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 16:19:53 GMT -5
Arthur considered this. He was annoyed, of course, that Ted was changing the subject. It was like Ted refused to even listen to the slightest bit of logic, and was determined to break both own and Andromeda's hearts. He could only hope in time that he'd be able to wear his friend down, as the strain of being without Andromeda got to him. And he hoped that, by that time, it wouldn't be too late.
So one of Andi's sisters wanted to meet with him. But why? He had to admit, that was a bit intriguing. Depending on whether it was Bellatrix or Narcissa, it could be very bad. He had no idea about Narcissa, who was simply cold and achingly beautiful. But Bellatrix was one that it would be wise to stay away from. "Which sister?" he said.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 16:30:58 GMT -5
"Which do you think?" Ted asked, not meaning to snap at Arthur but he was angry and hurt an frustrated and worried, and taking it out on the one person left in the world trying to help him.
"I'm sorry, Arthur. Ignore me. Please. It's Narcissa. I wouldn't be foolish enough to meet with Bellatrix."
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 16:48:21 GMT -5
Arthur nodded. Narcissa made more sense, certainly. He had to admit, he was still curious about what she could possibly want. Did she want to tell him off? Give him a warning? The possibilities were limitless.
"You should probably go to her. Don't be a coward, Ted. I know you're not. Face her, and see what she wants. I'm curious."
He sighed. "I really wish you'd reconsider what you're doing. I think things are just going to get worse for the both of you."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 16:54:23 GMT -5
"I'm curious too, but if it's just one more person telling me off... well, I can live without that." What could she possibly want to say? The only thing that made any kind of sense was thank you, and that would kill him. Hearing that would just tear him apart.
"I just want her to have everything she deserves, Arthur." And I can't give her that. His eyes met his friend's. "Nothing in that article is true... can you... can you talk to Molly? See if she knows how Andi's doing?"
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Sept 21, 2008 17:05:00 GMT -5
(I'm going to assume that Arthur sent Molly an owl just after the meeting with Gideon.)
Arthur nodded quickly. "Absolutely," he said. "I'm actually going to meet with Molly for coffee after work tonight. I'll talk to her then." He sighed then. He just didn't understand why Ted was so convinced that he wasn't good for Andi. Being from a long line of blood traitors, Arthur had never really cared about the differences between purebloods and muggleborns. He knew there were some that did, but if neither Ted nor Andi cared about it, why should they allow anyone else to interfere?
He paused a minute, choosing his next words carefully. "Yeah, I know you think this is better for her. But think about it... doesn't she deserve love most of all? You can give her that, if nothing else. Maybe she doesn't want anything else."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 21, 2008 19:06:29 GMT -5
"I just don't want her to get hurt, Arthur." He waved his hand, stopping the words from Arthur that he knew were coming. "Yes, I hurt her. But in the future..."
He could make all of the arguments that he could. They were young, you always want what you can't have, etc etc and ad nauseum until his head hurt.
"Besides, Arthur, she's involved with someone else." The younger of the Lestrange brothers, wasn't it? Well, good. She liked him, and he had a name and a fortune that she could hold on to. Security. He could offer her love, but no security.
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