Time for a Visit (Geoff)

[Alison Hale]

Nearly everyday, Alison had stopped by St. Mungo's on her lunch break to see if Geoffrey had changed his mind to let him see her. The first time whenever she found out she could see him hurt but the only way she would find out anything at all was to go by the hospital to see if anyone would tell her something.

She didn't understand why Geoffrey didn't let her see him but she couldn't give up. The last time she stopped by the hospital, Alison was informed that he was released and went home.

Waiting a day, Alison couldn't stand not knowing anymore. She took the day off and headed to the Montgomery Manor. Hopefully he wouldn't attempt to turn her away again.

Arriving at the Montgomery's Alison found that she was pretty nervous. Raising a hand to the glowing doorbell, she pressed it and returned her hand to her side.

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

Jensen, the butler, answered the door, as always. He recognized the lovely young lady standing outside as the girl that young master Geoffrey had brought over for Christmas dinner, and he had to fight back a smile. Since he had arrived home yesterday, it had become clear that Geoffrey was suffering. He was not his usual happy-go-lucky self, and Jensen hoped that the girl in front of him could help with that.

"Can I help you?" he inquired politely. "You are a friend of Master Geoffrey's, are you not?"

[Alison Hale]

It seemed that it took forever for anyone to come to the door. Alison chewed on the inside of her bottom lip while she waited.

When the front door opened, she put on a smile to be polite. She was a little surprised that the butler remembered her, but she responded to him nevertheless. "Hi," Alison greeted as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "Yes, I'm a friend of his." She nervously swallowed. "I was just wondering if he was around and if it was alright if I visited for a little while."

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

Jensen nodded and stepped aside to let her in. "Step right in, Miss, and I will ask if he will see you."

He really hoped that Geoffrey would see the girl; in Jensen's opinion, the young man needed her. He seemed lost and alone, and although Christine was sticking by her brother, Geoffrey needed more than just his sister. The girl exuded warmth, and just the fact that she was here was proof of how patient and caring she really was.

Jensen showed the girl to the sitting room. "You may wait here, and I will check to see if Master Geoffrey is able to see you. What is your name again, Miss?"

[Alison Hale]

"Thank you," she said kindly. Stepping into the house, the hold she had on the strap of her bag became a little tighter. Following Jensen to the sitting room, Alison stopped in front of a chair.

She wasn't nervous about actually seeing Geoffrey, she just didn't want to be turned away again. If she was, Alison had a feeling that she would do her best to fight against him to see him anyway.

"Alison," she said as Jensen asked her name. Once the butler disappeared, Alison contemplated the idea of sitting down. She felt like she was too antsy to just sit and wait, so she remained standing and took a look around the room.

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

"Thank you, Miss Alison," Jensen said in his formal way, but there was a twinkle behind his eyes. It was no secret that he was fond of his family, especially the younger ones. Geoffrey and Christine, as well as Caleb and Samantha, all felt like his nieces and nephews and not just the children of his employers.

He moved stiffly up the stairs, but there was an extra bounce in his step as he hurried down the hall to Geoffrey's room. He knocked politely, and, after a moment, was asked to come in.

"Master Geoffrey, there is a Miss Alison to see you, sir? Shall I send her in?"

Geoffrey, as it happened, was awake and alone at that moment. He had been reading, trying to keep his mind off of things. When Jensen came in and said that Alison was here, his breath caught in his throat for a moment. His first instinct was to turn her away again, and he shook his head... but then he stopped. "Wait... OK. Um, I'll see her down in the sitting room," he said. "Let me just get cleaned up a bit, and I'll be down. Could you order us some tea and cakes?"

Jensen was relieved, and for a moment, his veneer cracked to show a hint of a smile. "Yes, sir. Very good, sir. I will tell the young lady that you will be down shortly."

He closed the door to allow Geoffrey the privacy of getting dressed, then he hurried back down to the sitting room, where he found the girl standing up and looking around. She seemed nervous, and Jensen could hardly blame her for it.

"Master Geoffrey will be down shortly, Miss," he said.

[Alison Hale]

It seemed to take forever for Jensen to return and let her know anything. All of her patience seemed to disappear while she waited for an answer. At the sound of footsteps, Alison turned to look at the doorway. Seeing Jensen again, she smiled. The news he brought made her smile a little brighter and if it wouldn't have been awkward in any way, she thought she would have hugged him.

"Thank you sir," she said a little brightly. Geoffrey wasn't pushing her away this time, which made her feel relieved. This time, she clasped her hands together and started to play with her thumbs, rolling them over it other while she waited for a few more moments.

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

Jensen smiled at the girl. "You're quite welcome, Miss," he said, before he hurried off to order the tea.

It took about 10 minutes for Geoffrey to pull himself together. He was honestly nervous about seeing Alison again, after all that had happened. He'd pushed her away so many times, and yet she still kept coming back. Part of him couldn't help but wonder why. Why was she here? The last time he'd seen her, he hadn't been nice to her, although, of course, that had been the Imperius curse talking. Still... he wouldn't blame her if she wanted nothing to do with him.

And yet she was here.

In an odd way, it reminded him of him and Riley, in the early days of their friendship. He kept trying to get close to her, to get her to open up to him, and she had pushed him away. Yet he still kept trying, and when she tried to run away at the end of her third year, he had been the one she called. That had been a break in their relationship. Maybe right now, this could be the break in his relationship with Alison.

He didn't have time for a shower, but he washed up and changed, then combed his hair, so that at least he looked presentable before he came downstairs and entered the sitting room.

There she was, still standing, and twiddling her thumbs. He smiled shyly as he caught her eye. He'd almost forgotten how pretty she was. "Hey," he said.

[Alison Hale]

Alison didn't mind how long she had to wait for him to come down, she was just glad that he didn't turn her away this time. The house seemed quiet enough that the sound of a pen dropping would echo throughout the house. She was focused on a painting in the sitting room that she didn't bother listening for footsteps.

Movement to her left caught her attention. Turning to see who the person was, although she was positive she knew who it was, her breath caught. Seeing the sight of him again made a smile spread across her face. Alison began silently debating with herself if she should hug him right away or not.

"Geoffrey," she said taking in the sight of him and her smile remaining on her face, "hey."

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

He stood there in the doorway for a minute, not saying anything. He had so many things he wanted to say to her, but he didn't know how to find the words. He wanted to apologize, he wanted to tell her that he'd missed her, he wanted to ask her for help... but somehow the words stuck in his throat.

Finally, he moved into the room and approached her, stopping just a few feet away from her. "It's... it's good to see you," he said, reaching out as if to touch her face. But then his hand dropped back down to his side.

[Alison Hale]

She didn't know what to say at first. Should she have said that he looked good or something along those lines?

There was almost a hint of a frown on her face as his hand fell back to his side. Alison felt like she should say more than 'It's good to see you too'. Finally, Alison solved the silent debate in her head. To heck with any awkwardness. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Alison figured that the hug said that she was happy to see him. "I've missed you."

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

He was only momentarily taken aback when Alison pulled him into the hug. But it felt good, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her. She smelled like apples and cinnamon.

"I've missed you, too," he confessed. "I... I'm sorry."

[Alison Hale]

At first, she was unsure if he was going to hug her her not but she didn't care. The moment he pulled her closer was when she closed her eyes. She was happy to see him and to know that he appeared to be a little better.

Alison pulled from him just slightly so she could look up to him. She searched his face and noticed that he looked tired but overall, he still looked the same. "Are you feeling any better," Alison asked.

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

He sighed and pulled away a little more, but didn't let go of her. "It's a little better now that I'm home," he said.

He still had the nightmares and he still spent much of his time in bed. And Christine still spent most of her time at his side. They played cards, Exploding Snap, Wizard's Chess, and even some muggle board games... anything to keep busy and keep his mind off of everything. And he was forcing himself to join the family for dinner every night. But in spite of all of this, he still felt out of sorts. Sometimes he still wasn't sure what was real. But one thing was certain, being in the hospital had not helped him.

"I was kind of a mess for a while," he confessed.

[Alison Hale]

"Good," she said. At home he was around more familiar people, his family, and maybe that was what he really needed. There was no way she could imagine what he had gone through but any improvement was just as good as any.

"Whenever I stopped by the hospital, the nurses would tell me if you were doing any better. Of course, they couldn't tell me much but the important thing is that you're getting past how you had been." Alison gave a light smile, then let her face become a little more serious. "Do you want to talk about any of it?"

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

Geoffrey sighed softly. There was a part of him that wanted to talk about it, to somehow get it out of his system. But it was hard, and it hurt. He hated to think back on the whole experience of being so utterly helpless inside his own body, or of not knowing whether one of the most important people in his life was alive or dead.

He let go of Alison and moved over to the sofa, sinking down into it and burying his face in his hands. "I still have nightmares about it," he said quietly. "I'm pretty sure I would have gone insane if not for my sister. She's hardly left my side."

[Alison Hale]

If he didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't going to push him. There was no sense in it. She didn't want to cause any more pain on him than he was already feeling.

Following him over to the sofa, Alison put a supportive hand on his back. The only thing she could really do was listen. Listening was something she was pretty good at. She thought about asking if he tried any sleeping potions but she was fairly sure he would have already tried something at the hospital. Alison wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to tell him to make him feel any better. "I'm so sorry Geoff, I really am."

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

He shifted, leaning his head against her shoulder. "I wanted to see you. When you came to the hospital... I wanted to let you in, but I just... I was in pretty bad shape, and I wasn't really seeing a lot of visitors. I didn't want you to see me the way I was. I'm sorry I turned you away... and for the way I acted under the Curse."

What else could he say? All he could think to do was apologize.

[Alison Hale]

Once he shifted, Alison put her arm around his shoulders and rested her cheek on his head. "Geoff, you should know that I wouldn't care what you look like. I just wanted to see how you were, to make sure that you were alright. It scared me not knowing." She gently ran her hand down the side of his arm as far as she could reach.

"As for the Curse, that wasn't you. I knew something was wrong but unsure as to what." Alison was quite for a moment, then glanced down to the bag on the floor. "I brought something for you."

[Geoffrey Montgomery]

Geoffrey was starting to learn something about himself that he had never realized before. Like Roland, he had an almost pathological need to take care of everyone, although in his case, it was more about emotional support and being a shoulder to lean on, rather than physical protection. But when he actually needed help from other people, he had a very hard time accepting it. He was accepting it from Christine, but with everyone else, he was having a hard time letting them in. He was even keeping Riley at a distance.

"I really wasn't in any shape for visitors," he said again. "I wasn't always entirely sure what was real and what was a dream."

What he didn't say, of course, was that he was still having problems with that. He was slowly getting better about it, but there was still a bit of doubt there that he couldn't quite erase.

He followed the movements of her hands with his eyes. "You brought me a gift?" he asked, almost incredulous.