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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 24, 2008 12:40:08 GMT -5
Alice caught up with Sirius on their weekend trip to Hogsmede the same week that the Daily Prophet published the article on Ted. Alice was fuming of her own issues with Frank but now to add Ted to the fire, she was not happy and that was putting it mildly. She half drug Sirius with her along the sidewalk before finding he apparement building that she knew both Ted and Molly lived in. But today, Ted was on her list. And her list was not somewhere you wanted to be.
They headed up four flights of stairs to his floor, and when they arrived the one with 405 on it she banged as loudly as she could so that he couldn't miss it even if he was in a back room. "Ted! Open up it's Alice and Sirius!" He had some explaining to do. She looked over at Sirius while she waited for him to open the door, a copy of the Daily Prophet under her arm. She considered using a spell to open it but she decided she'd wait first just in case he wasn't decent.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 24, 2008 12:45:55 GMT -5
Ted was in a foul mood. He hadn't been at he Ministry since the day the article was published, and his work since had not been enough to keep his mind from everything. Nor had it been the kind of work he was used to, and he hated the fact that he was doing it. He couldn't say anything though. One step in the wrong direction, and he knew Angelique would have very little problem firing him.
Not to mention that everytime he turned around, someone was berating him for what he had "done" to Andi.
He opened the door. He looked ragged. He hadn't shaved in about four days. But at least his eyes were alert. "Shouldn't you both be in school?"
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Post by Sirius Black on Sept 24, 2008 12:52:04 GMT -5
"We had a free period," Sirius answered, glaring up at Ted. So this was the man who'd broken Andi's heart.
This whole situation had been an eye-opener to him. Having kissed Amy while dating Kris, he was guilty of doing something much like what Ted had done to Andi. And although Kris hadn't caught him doing it, he know had an understanding for how she would have felt if he had.
It made him feel like scum. And now he wanted Ted to feel the same way.
"Let us in; we have a few things to say to you," he said, hoping he sounded menacing, despite the fact that he was barely 13.
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 24, 2008 13:02:27 GMT -5
Alice shoved a paper at him that had been published early that morning. "Have you read today's Daily Prophet?" She was definatly glaring at him, it's not that this one made any more difference to her but she wanted to make him feel worse for hurting Andi, she knew what that hurt was like but she didnt' know Ted was innocent. In her eyes Andi was the one hurt seeing him kissing Rita Skeeter like that and then Andi had told her what he'd said to her.
"What I want to know is what the hell you thought you were doing to Andi. She told me what you did, told me what you said to her. How dare you hurt her like that." She was on the warpath and she wasn't about to let up. She was focusing her anger from Frank and from Andi square at Ted, the only one she could at the moment. She had her finger on his chest as she said it too.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 24, 2008 13:17:05 GMT -5
Merlin, he was so tired of this. He supposed he deserved it. No, he knew he deserved it, he was just getting sick of it. The first few lashings he had gotten, he had eaten. Now, he was trying to be passive about them.
One thing he could say was that Andromeda was well loved.
Ted sighed, looking at Sirius before Alice tore into him, and he blinked slowly. Regarding both of them for a moment, he finally stepped back and pulled the door open, nodding them both inside.
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 24, 2008 13:23:31 GMT -5
Alice was the first to go past him into the room. She took a deep breath and turned on him. But this time she didn't say anything. She was till waiting for an answer. She finally noticed how he looked. She had seen pictures of him from Andi but had not met him until know although she knew he was a member of the Order. But since Sirius was not .. yet.. she didn't say anything about that either. But he looked like hell ran over him and he had a look as if he was resigned to his fate.
She was mad at him on muliple fronts. She wasn't sure if he'd really kissed that girl or if she had kissed him. She knew Rita Skeeter's pension for exagerating the truth, but regardless she'd heard Andi's version that same night and the words he'd said to her "I got what I wanted." That phrase kept repeating in her mind, which was only making matters worse for her anger.
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Post by Sirius Black on Sept 24, 2008 14:03:23 GMT -5
Sirius followed Alice into the apartment, but didn't say anything. He was mostly willing to let Alice take the lead on this. He was young and didn't necessarily understand all of what had happened. He hadn't even talked to Andi directly; this was the kind of thing that was better for the girls to handle. All he knew was, it gave him a sick feeling in his stomach to see Andi, whom he'd always thought was so brave and strong, reduced to tears like she'd been at the ceremony. She was one of the few people with the last name of Black that he was able to look up to and admire, and it angered him to see that this guy could do that to her.
He didn't know anything about Ted, and he didn't really take in the fact that he looked like hell. For all he knew, Ted always looked like this.
At the silence in the apartment, Sirius spoke up. "Come on, tell us. How could you do that to her?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 24, 2008 17:04:19 GMT -5
"I don't know what you two want to hear," Ted said, his voice strained, as he closed the door behind them. It struck him odd then that he had just allowed these two into his apartment when obviously neither of them wanted tea and cookies.
"I never planned to hurt her. The article is wrong on many accounts, and I'm just as angry about it for the light it puts on Andromeda." This sounded like a well rehearsed speech, or at least one that he'd given more than a couple of times. He honestly just wanted them to yell at him and then get out.
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 24, 2008 20:23:17 GMT -5
Alice's cold eyes flashed with heat only moments before her voice did, "You never planned it or it just happened? How often do you go about kissing on the likes of Rita Skeeter of all things!? How could you do something so heartless and cruel to her? And why is it that all you're angry about the article is the light it put on her? You should be sorry for how miserable you're making her by being an idiot! Who gives a damn about a reputation when all you can do is hide from the world because the man you loved with all your heart just ripped it from your chest and stomped it into the ground?!"
She knew she was speaking from her own hurt and pain but it was all true and she shot questions at him rapidly unable to help herself she was pissed and he was going to hear about it weather he liked it or not.
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Post by Sirius Black on Sept 25, 2008 16:15:25 GMT -5
Sirius stood quietly, trying to assess this man that had broken Andi's heart. He wasn't quite what Sirius had been expecting. He had thought that Ted would look a little more like Rabastan... dark hair, hooded eyes, smarmy expression. And despite Ted's disheveled appearance, he looked absolutely nothing like that. Sirius wasn't quite sure how to take him, except that he seemed sort of... sad. Not all that different from Andi. It was odd.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 25, 2008 16:26:53 GMT -5
Ted just moved by them and sat down on his couch, leaning his head back.
"Keep going, Alice. I'm sure you've got more."
What was he supposed to say? She was furious with him... and he hoped Andi was just as furious. She needed to be angry with him.
But he could not bring up the will power to fight back with Alice, to defend himself, or to make himself look worse... he didn't know which he should do, or if he could do either.
He looked at Sirius. "And you? You're being awfully quiet."
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Post by Sirius Black on Sept 25, 2008 18:31:26 GMT -5
Sirius eyed him carefully. "I'm just trying to figure you out," he replied. "I mean, I can't understand how you could have had her in your life and not realize how special she is. How you could have just let her go like that?" He took a breath, and spoke with words that were wise beyond his years.
"Alice doesn't quite know what it's like, growing up a Black. I know... I've been through it, too. It's really hard growing up in the Black family but being different from the rest. Andi... she's been through hell. She won't even admit how bad it was... but I know. When you see things differently... have different ideas... you're an outcast. My parents are crazy, but hers are just as bad, if not worse. I had it easy, because I'm a boy, I can sneak out. Andi... her mum used to say the worst things to her, to put her down, to try and crush her spirit. Andi's stronger than that, she got through it and she got away. And despite it all, she never lost her ability to love. She loved her family, even though they never returned it. She loved them with all her heart and they just kept letting her down, over and over and over. So she learned to give her heart to others. But no one made her happier than you. When I saw her teaching Herbology class that day, she looked happier than I'd ever seen her. She was positively glowing, all because of you. And you ripped that away from her, and left her shattered. How could you do that? How could you not see what you had?"
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 25, 2008 22:00:27 GMT -5
Alice stood there with her arms crossed silently fuming for Andi. If Sirius wanted to play good cop, she'd keep playing bad cop cause she was still wanting to pick a fight with someone.. not just for Frank but because Andi was too hurt to do it herself. But she didn't say anything for the moment watching Ted Tonks as he sat on the couch looking like... hell. Why did he look like hell? Maybe the article had cause issues with his job and that was why he was upset. Surely by doing what he'd done to Andi there'd been no remorse on that score. She glared in silence, letting Sirius talk to Ted.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 26, 2008 1:05:02 GMT -5
"There's not a lot to figure out, Sirius," Ted said, and honestly, the kid was making him feel much worse than Alice was. "I'm pretty basic when it comes down to it. And I know," he looked at Alice and raised his eyebrows, "That you won't believe me when I say this, but I just want what's best for her."
He raised a hand to stop the argument he already saw coming from Alice. "There were a lot of crcumstances surrounding what happened, Alice. And I just wish... above everything else, that people would remember that what happened is between me and Andromeda, and if I could speak with her..."
He shrugged. "I'd offer you tea, but then you are both here to castrate me."
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 26, 2008 9:11:03 GMT -5
Alice's voice lowered, softened only a bit "If you really cared what was best for her, then why did you say what you did. She told me know. She told me that you said you'd gotten what you wanted, right before you walked out the door. How could that possibly be best for her? If you think that kissing Rita Skeeter was best for her you're obviously demented. If you think that ripping her heart to shreads was best for her you're obviously a git. And if you think that her sitting at home and loosing her will to even do her job anymore because of how much you hurt her is best for her, then you're an insenstitive idiot. Did you know she hasn't left her appartment since that day? all because you can't seem to get it through your thick skull that someone might love you and have actually been the happiest I'd ever seen her when she was with you. Instead you go and break her where it mattered most, you broke the only thing good in her life, her heart and her spirit."
Once again she was speaking from her own experiences, but she knew that Andi was going through that and she wanted Ted to know just what a rogue he was if he thought what he did was best for Andi.
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Post by Sirius Black on Sept 26, 2008 11:09:50 GMT -5
Sirius only half heard what Alice was saying. He was too busy trying to study Ted for a reaction. He could tell that his speech had affected Ted; he wouldn't quite meet his eyes. But there was something there, it might have been pain... or maybe it was indigestion. He knew about the guilt that came with cheating on the one you loved, and he could tell that, at least, Ted seemed to be feeling that much. And maybe something more.
Ted said something that caught Sirius's attention, and when Alice was done talking, he had to bring it up again. "If you could speak with her...?" he repeated. "If you could speak with her, what would you say to her? What could you say to make this right? You're probably right... this is between you and Andi. You should be talking to her right now, not us. But she won't come to you, so we're here on her behalf. What would you say to her?"
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 26, 2008 11:30:48 GMT -5
Alice looked at her cousin and shut her mouth. She waited for Ted to react and to hear his answers... her temper was of all things cooling a bit but only because she'd thought of something else... Hadn't she just been the one to have been misunderstood by Frank? What if.. what if Andi had misunderstood what had happend when she saw Ted? It was a sobering thought. And then Rita had to stick her nose into anything.. that was another thing to consider. She had always hated Rita Skeeter, she was always getting into other peoples business and twisting things... what if... what if she had been the one to twist things for her story. She frowned thinking to herself, not saying anything. She was still angry as a hornet, but her anger was being re-evaluated. What she couldn't fathom is why, if he did actually happen to feel about Andi like Andi felt about Ted... why he had not defended himself. But then again... Alice hadn't quite explained the situation to Frank yet either. Maybe there was more going on here than she'd originally thought.
Anger had been muddling her senses and her thinking lately, She was still upset and she still thought Ted was to blame, but what exactly was he hurting Andi for then if it was just some twisted misunderstanding?
"Mind if I have some tea? I need to think..." She was frowning and waited for him to give her some kind of nod or gesture before she went to help herself in making some tea. She needed to think and her anger was still near the boiling point. But she wanted to make sure her anger was directed at the right issue, she was still positive her anger was directed at the right person though. After all he HAD been the one to say those hurtfull words to Andi and walk out on her. HE had been the one to break Andi's heart, and HE was the one who had better find a way to fix things.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Sept 28, 2008 13:35:25 GMT -5
"Yes, I mind if you make tea," Ted said, dead serious and looking at her like she had lost her mind. "You both came in here attacking me. I let you in... that's the extent of the hospitality you get from me. So no, you can't have tea."
He turned back to Sirius, trying to remain passive, but it was dissipating quickly as his own anger gained momentum. "I don't know what I would say to her, Sirius. I could plan out a thousand speeches, but then I would look at her and the words would just be gone... so who knows what I would actually come up with. But defending myself to everyone else isn't going to make a difference. In fact, if I know Andi at all, she won't be happy that you're here on her behalf."
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Post by Sirius Black on Sept 28, 2008 14:48:01 GMT -5
Sirius didn't move. He continued to eye Ted curiously. The way Ted was talking... it didn't sound like someone who would callously tell a girl that it was over in such a public way. In fact, it sounded strangely as if Ted wasn't really over Andi at all.
Having been in a similar position with Kris and Amy, Sirius thought he understood at least part of what happened. The only part he didn't get was, why Rita, of all people? Her attractiveness was all fake--glamour charms and way too much makeup. Unless... maybe it had all been the other way around. Maybe Rita wasn't the victim, but the predator. And maybe Ted thought he had to do what he did somehow.
But he held back from voicing these thoughts. He wasn't sure he was right, and he didn't know how Alice would react if it was true. H wasn't even sure what he would do about it. But he couldn't help but think that Ted still loved Andi, and that she deserved to know that.
"You're right," he said. "She should be the one yelling at you. But she won't." He sighed, then turned to Alice. "Come on, I think we said what we came to say."
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Post by Alice Prewett on Sept 28, 2008 15:18:02 GMT -5
Alice glared openly at Ted Tonks. Her anger went up a few notches in response, "Well you obviously need to re-evaluate your priorities Tonks." She wanted to slap the man out of principle. "The one person you SHOULD be explaining yourself to is Andi if what you say is true. And you are a git if you think that you deserve to make that decision for her. You didn't even give her a chance to make her own choices. You obviously don't respect her decisions if you think that pushing her away is going to solve anything. And you know what upsets me most about you Mr. Tonks? Is that you have the audacity to assume what's best for her without ever daring to ask HER what's best for her." She was fully angry again, how dare he. Just like Frank, taking her opportunity away to fix things as he'd stormed off.
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