Spectators: Games
Apr. 25th, 2015 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_nightRecap: I'm writing drabbles/ficlets/short one shots to go along with my Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire re-read. Also serves as a flimsy prequel to my WIP.
From now on I'll also include characters in the cuts, since I'm going to cover quite a few.
A Leaky Reunion
The "reunion" was to be held at The Leaky Cauldron.
Charlie was looking forward to seeing his and Bill's Hogwarts friends again. Not all of them would be able to make it, but Charlie figured there was time.
"Over here!"
Tonks had stood up from inside a booth, and was excitedly motioning them over. Her hair was red today, like his and Bill's. Across from her was Hestia Jones.
"How are you?" Tonks asked Bill as she hugged him. "You have an earring now!"
"Is that all anybody notices?"
"If t makes you feel better, it makes you even more attractive. You're going to break someone's heart this World Cup. If I weren't a married woman-"
"-since when are you married?" Charlie asked quickly.
"She's not, it's her new catchphrase," Hestia explained as she hugged Charlie.
"Right." Charlie smiled.
"Don't I get a hug, too?" Tonks demanded.
Charlie hugged her. "It's great to see you."
"So," Tonks said as they sat, "Adam and Deidre will be here, but they're running late... Adam can't stay long either, Bagman's been making him work overtime with the Cup and the Twizard Tournament, not to mention with Bertha Jorkins gone."
"-Dad mentioned that," Charlie said suddenly. "Why isn't the Auror office looking into it?"
Tonks rolled her eyes. "Because they're a load of wankers. Kingsley told Scrimegour that maybe we ought to go behind them, that's what Moody would do, but Scrimegour said Moody's a nutter rightfully forced into retirement." Tonks growled under her breath; apparently she didn't see it that way. "Really, I think Scrimegour's just worried it'd kill any chance of him becoming Minister for Magic someday."
Charlie had no idea who any of these people were, although the name "Moody" sounded familiar, so he could only nod.
"If you all know what you want, I'll get drinks," Hestia offered.
"I'll go with you," Bill said.
They left Tonks and Charlie, causing a strained silence. They hadn't been alone together since he'd moved. Even when Tonks visited Romania, they'd managed to surround themselves with others, though it helped that Charlie had still had to work a bit.
"You look -" Charlie stopped. "You look like me."
Tonks had begun to smile, but his addition made her freeze. After a minute, she arched an eyebrow. "Well, clearly that was intentional. I gave myself a Weasley look, didn't I? Red hair, freckles..."
"You did," Charlie agreed with a nervous laugh.
Although he knew it was a bit of a taboo subject, there was something he'd been wondering about, and he didn't think he could possibly make things more awkward.
"Have you heard anything about- him?" Charlie asked quietly. He was referring to, of course, Sirius Black.
In the background, Charlie could hear Bill and Hestia joking about something as they waited for drinks. Tonks looked in their direction, then back at Charlie. Her head tilted, and for a minute, Charlie thought she was going to reveal some sort of news. Instead, Tonks leaned back into the booth and blew out a breath of air.
"Not a word," she said softly. "He's elusive, that one."
Charlie was keenly aware of the fact that Tonks, along with her parents, had always believed there was more to Sirius's story. They were not sure what, exactly - clearly Sirius had killed people, among some other horror Tonks had never elaborated on. This was not up for debate. Nonetheless, they stood firmly by their belief that Sirius had been part of a plan - or perhaps worked alone in a plan - that went horribly, horribly wrong.
"How's your Mum holding up?"
"Well, it's not in the papers as much now that we have the World Cup, so it's easier to take her mind off of it. I do think she hopes-"
But they were interrupted by Bill and Hestia, who had returned with the drinks.
Hestia grinned. "I would like to propose a toast - but I'll wait until Adam and Deidre get here. In the meantime - to good health, good friends, good drinks!"
Everyone laughed as they clinked their glasses together.
Talk About Boys
"There we go," Megan said as she and Hestia set up their tent.
Hestia realized as she looked at her much younger sister that Megan was almost her height now. When had that happened?
Their parents had not been able to get tickets for all four of them, so after much deliberating, they'd given them to their daughters and went on a muggle cruise with Ted and Andromeda Tonks. Considering everyone's lack of knowledge about the muggle world except Ted, Hestia looked very forward to hearing how it went. Tonks was camping with them as well, although she was currently in search of water.
"This is going to be fun," Megan said. "But I'm not sure who I'm rooting for! Are you still rooting for Ireland?"
"Of course," Hestia said. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well... since you and Patrick broke up, I thought maybe you'd like to see them lose."
"Megan! You're terrible!" Hestia laughed. "No, it's not Ireland's fault Patrick ended up being... Patrick."
"Still," Megan said, "I hate what he did to you."
Hestia shrugged. "Not every Hogwarts couple is meant to marry." Although it would've been nice if he'd broken up with her before shagging someone else.
"Hi Megan."
Megan stopped laughing; she stared at the boy who Hestia recognized, after a minute, as Cedric Diggory. Their families had met a few times.
"Ced...ric," Megan returned slowly. She giggled nervously just loud enough for Hestia to hear.
Someone has a crush... Hestia thought with a knowing smile.
"Looking forward to the Tournament?" Cedric asked.
Megan nodded. "I'm rooting for Denmark."
Cedric looked confused. "I thought it was Bulgaria and Ireland?"
"Denmark's also the name of a town in Ireland," Megan lied quickly.
"Ah." Cedric didn't seem to know what to say to that. "Well, quite a few Hufflepuffs are here actually, you should sit with us at the game."
"I'm allergic to quaffles," Megan spat.
Her face was pink now.
"Right. Well, I'll see you around, then," Cedric said.
As he walked away, Megan buried her face in her hands. Hestia put her arm around her sister's shoulders.
"Let's not worry about boys anymore today," she said.
"Thank you."
"But after today, I'm never letting you hear the end of it."
A Mark of Childhood
Hestia would never be able to recall how she'd gone from laughing about the game with Tonks and Megan to running.
She'd told Megan to stay with the Bones family, who were all sharing a tent nearby. She'd run with Tonks, and they had soon been joined by Adam Gudgeon, Bill and Percy. No one was sure where Charlie or Arthur had gone.
Wherever the troublemakers ran, the muggles in the air were forced to follow, spinning all the while. Hestia's stomach was queasy.
"Let them go!" Bill yelled.
"MORSMORDRE!"
Hestia heard it from a distance, but didn't think much of it - until the Mark appeared.
It was a skull in the sky, the skull she'd grown up dreading. She wasn't allowed to go out by herself much, but she was told if she ever did, and she saw that above the house, she must absolutely not go inside the house. There was an abandoned mansion with a loose floorboard she could hide in; Phyllis Jones and shown Hestia how. A designated list of people were permitted to look for her, but she must only go with them if they called her "Vesta Johns." And if this happened, she must always remember that Mummy and Daddy loved her very much.
Phyllis would always say the last part with tears in her eyes. Hestia remembered that, too.
Bill, Percy and Tonks all had the same expression on their faces; Hestia knew they all had a memory along the same lines as her. Run away, hide, don't even trust someone you love unless they remember the secret code. Mummy and Daddy love you very much.
But they couldn't hide; not now. They were the grown ups, even though they had never felt younger.
As the Dust Settles
Tonks had wanted to go home as soon as they'd straightened everything out, but that wasn't going to happen.
The Auror Department was already bombarded with Howlers.
"WHY WEREN'T THERE MORE AURORS?" One howler cried; another complained that they'd lost a significant amount of money due to damaged property.
"Because that's what counts," Tonks muttered to Kingsley.
Kingsley snorted. "You know how people are. And Rita Skeeter's article has only made things worse. You saw my Mum."
Kingsley's mother had indeed shown up two hours ago, having read The Daily Prophet and being convinced her son was dead; when Kingsley pointed out he hadn't even attended the Cup, she'd been unabashed.
"I love your Mum," Tonks said with a wry grin.
She yawned. "Kingsley, I've been here twenty-four hours..."
"Go home. I can take care of this."
When Tonks entered her flat, her flatmate hurried towards her, still holding half a piece of toast.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh God, you didn't believe that article, did you?" Tonks asked Remus.
Remus Lupin had come into Tonks's life rather suddenly; he'd told her family the truth about Sirius, and in turn, she'd offered him room and board. He didn't have any rent money, but what he'd given her was payment enough. Besides, he was helping her try and track down Peter. Although Tonks had found him a little odd at first, if friendly, he was growing on her.
"Not at first, but when you didn't come home... I was beginning to worry."
"I'm fine. A few sore ribs, but that's normal with my job." Tonks cringed as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Do you need ice?"
"No, I'm okay."
Remus smiled wryly. "No, you're not. I know a brave face when I see one. Have a lie down; I'll get ice."
Tonks laid on the couch and listened to Remus collecting ice out of the box. He came back with some wrapped in a towel.
"Thanks," Tonks told him as she took it.
She closed her eyes, but only fell asleep when she convinced herself that the Dark Mark was just someone's sick sense of humour, and even if it was something more, she was no longer a helpless little girl.
In fact, even in her youth, she was far from helpless. Andromeda Black Tonks would never have permitted it.
From now on I'll also include characters in the cuts, since I'm going to cover quite a few.
A Leaky Reunion
The "reunion" was to be held at The Leaky Cauldron.
Charlie was looking forward to seeing his and Bill's Hogwarts friends again. Not all of them would be able to make it, but Charlie figured there was time.
"Over here!"
Tonks had stood up from inside a booth, and was excitedly motioning them over. Her hair was red today, like his and Bill's. Across from her was Hestia Jones.
"How are you?" Tonks asked Bill as she hugged him. "You have an earring now!"
"Is that all anybody notices?"
"If t makes you feel better, it makes you even more attractive. You're going to break someone's heart this World Cup. If I weren't a married woman-"
"-since when are you married?" Charlie asked quickly.
"She's not, it's her new catchphrase," Hestia explained as she hugged Charlie.
"Right." Charlie smiled.
"Don't I get a hug, too?" Tonks demanded.
Charlie hugged her. "It's great to see you."
"So," Tonks said as they sat, "Adam and Deidre will be here, but they're running late... Adam can't stay long either, Bagman's been making him work overtime with the Cup and the Twizard Tournament, not to mention with Bertha Jorkins gone."
"-Dad mentioned that," Charlie said suddenly. "Why isn't the Auror office looking into it?"
Tonks rolled her eyes. "Because they're a load of wankers. Kingsley told Scrimegour that maybe we ought to go behind them, that's what Moody would do, but Scrimegour said Moody's a nutter rightfully forced into retirement." Tonks growled under her breath; apparently she didn't see it that way. "Really, I think Scrimegour's just worried it'd kill any chance of him becoming Minister for Magic someday."
Charlie had no idea who any of these people were, although the name "Moody" sounded familiar, so he could only nod.
"If you all know what you want, I'll get drinks," Hestia offered.
"I'll go with you," Bill said.
They left Tonks and Charlie, causing a strained silence. They hadn't been alone together since he'd moved. Even when Tonks visited Romania, they'd managed to surround themselves with others, though it helped that Charlie had still had to work a bit.
"You look -" Charlie stopped. "You look like me."
Tonks had begun to smile, but his addition made her freeze. After a minute, she arched an eyebrow. "Well, clearly that was intentional. I gave myself a Weasley look, didn't I? Red hair, freckles..."
"You did," Charlie agreed with a nervous laugh.
Although he knew it was a bit of a taboo subject, there was something he'd been wondering about, and he didn't think he could possibly make things more awkward.
"Have you heard anything about- him?" Charlie asked quietly. He was referring to, of course, Sirius Black.
In the background, Charlie could hear Bill and Hestia joking about something as they waited for drinks. Tonks looked in their direction, then back at Charlie. Her head tilted, and for a minute, Charlie thought she was going to reveal some sort of news. Instead, Tonks leaned back into the booth and blew out a breath of air.
"Not a word," she said softly. "He's elusive, that one."
Charlie was keenly aware of the fact that Tonks, along with her parents, had always believed there was more to Sirius's story. They were not sure what, exactly - clearly Sirius had killed people, among some other horror Tonks had never elaborated on. This was not up for debate. Nonetheless, they stood firmly by their belief that Sirius had been part of a plan - or perhaps worked alone in a plan - that went horribly, horribly wrong.
"How's your Mum holding up?"
"Well, it's not in the papers as much now that we have the World Cup, so it's easier to take her mind off of it. I do think she hopes-"
But they were interrupted by Bill and Hestia, who had returned with the drinks.
Hestia grinned. "I would like to propose a toast - but I'll wait until Adam and Deidre get here. In the meantime - to good health, good friends, good drinks!"
Everyone laughed as they clinked their glasses together.
Talk About Boys
"There we go," Megan said as she and Hestia set up their tent.
Hestia realized as she looked at her much younger sister that Megan was almost her height now. When had that happened?
Their parents had not been able to get tickets for all four of them, so after much deliberating, they'd given them to their daughters and went on a muggle cruise with Ted and Andromeda Tonks. Considering everyone's lack of knowledge about the muggle world except Ted, Hestia looked very forward to hearing how it went. Tonks was camping with them as well, although she was currently in search of water.
"This is going to be fun," Megan said. "But I'm not sure who I'm rooting for! Are you still rooting for Ireland?"
"Of course," Hestia said. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well... since you and Patrick broke up, I thought maybe you'd like to see them lose."
"Megan! You're terrible!" Hestia laughed. "No, it's not Ireland's fault Patrick ended up being... Patrick."
"Still," Megan said, "I hate what he did to you."
Hestia shrugged. "Not every Hogwarts couple is meant to marry." Although it would've been nice if he'd broken up with her before shagging someone else.
"Hi Megan."
Megan stopped laughing; she stared at the boy who Hestia recognized, after a minute, as Cedric Diggory. Their families had met a few times.
"Ced...ric," Megan returned slowly. She giggled nervously just loud enough for Hestia to hear.
Someone has a crush... Hestia thought with a knowing smile.
"Looking forward to the Tournament?" Cedric asked.
Megan nodded. "I'm rooting for Denmark."
Cedric looked confused. "I thought it was Bulgaria and Ireland?"
"Denmark's also the name of a town in Ireland," Megan lied quickly.
"Ah." Cedric didn't seem to know what to say to that. "Well, quite a few Hufflepuffs are here actually, you should sit with us at the game."
"I'm allergic to quaffles," Megan spat.
Her face was pink now.
"Right. Well, I'll see you around, then," Cedric said.
As he walked away, Megan buried her face in her hands. Hestia put her arm around her sister's shoulders.
"Let's not worry about boys anymore today," she said.
"Thank you."
"But after today, I'm never letting you hear the end of it."
A Mark of Childhood
Hestia would never be able to recall how she'd gone from laughing about the game with Tonks and Megan to running.
She'd told Megan to stay with the Bones family, who were all sharing a tent nearby. She'd run with Tonks, and they had soon been joined by Adam Gudgeon, Bill and Percy. No one was sure where Charlie or Arthur had gone.
Wherever the troublemakers ran, the muggles in the air were forced to follow, spinning all the while. Hestia's stomach was queasy.
"Let them go!" Bill yelled.
"MORSMORDRE!"
Hestia heard it from a distance, but didn't think much of it - until the Mark appeared.
It was a skull in the sky, the skull she'd grown up dreading. She wasn't allowed to go out by herself much, but she was told if she ever did, and she saw that above the house, she must absolutely not go inside the house. There was an abandoned mansion with a loose floorboard she could hide in; Phyllis Jones and shown Hestia how. A designated list of people were permitted to look for her, but she must only go with them if they called her "Vesta Johns." And if this happened, she must always remember that Mummy and Daddy loved her very much.
Phyllis would always say the last part with tears in her eyes. Hestia remembered that, too.
Bill, Percy and Tonks all had the same expression on their faces; Hestia knew they all had a memory along the same lines as her. Run away, hide, don't even trust someone you love unless they remember the secret code. Mummy and Daddy love you very much.
But they couldn't hide; not now. They were the grown ups, even though they had never felt younger.
As the Dust Settles
Tonks had wanted to go home as soon as they'd straightened everything out, but that wasn't going to happen.
The Auror Department was already bombarded with Howlers.
"WHY WEREN'T THERE MORE AURORS?" One howler cried; another complained that they'd lost a significant amount of money due to damaged property.
"Because that's what counts," Tonks muttered to Kingsley.
Kingsley snorted. "You know how people are. And Rita Skeeter's article has only made things worse. You saw my Mum."
Kingsley's mother had indeed shown up two hours ago, having read The Daily Prophet and being convinced her son was dead; when Kingsley pointed out he hadn't even attended the Cup, she'd been unabashed.
"I love your Mum," Tonks said with a wry grin.
She yawned. "Kingsley, I've been here twenty-four hours..."
"Go home. I can take care of this."
When Tonks entered her flat, her flatmate hurried towards her, still holding half a piece of toast.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh God, you didn't believe that article, did you?" Tonks asked Remus.
Remus Lupin had come into Tonks's life rather suddenly; he'd told her family the truth about Sirius, and in turn, she'd offered him room and board. He didn't have any rent money, but what he'd given her was payment enough. Besides, he was helping her try and track down Peter. Although Tonks had found him a little odd at first, if friendly, he was growing on her.
"Not at first, but when you didn't come home... I was beginning to worry."
"I'm fine. A few sore ribs, but that's normal with my job." Tonks cringed as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Do you need ice?"
"No, I'm okay."
Remus smiled wryly. "No, you're not. I know a brave face when I see one. Have a lie down; I'll get ice."
Tonks laid on the couch and listened to Remus collecting ice out of the box. He came back with some wrapped in a towel.
"Thanks," Tonks told him as she took it.
She closed her eyes, but only fell asleep when she convinced herself that the Dark Mark was just someone's sick sense of humour, and even if it was something more, she was no longer a helpless little girl.
In fact, even in her youth, she was far from helpless. Andromeda Black Tonks would never have permitted it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2015-04-26 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-27 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-26 09:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-27 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-26 09:53 pm (UTC)Wow, powerful drabble. I never thought about the wizarding world having the Dark Mark talk like we had the equivalent Say no to Drugs and don't talk to strangers talks.
And the last line . . . *sobs*
no subject
Date: 2015-04-26 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-27 03:37 pm (UTC)