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| How it Should Have Been | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 4 2012, 05:18:02 PM (203 Views) | |
| Colin Beckett | Jun 4 2012, 05:18:02 PM Post #1 |
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*Kara; s:t | w:d
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Thursday, May 12, 2039. Around 1:30 pm. Colin appeared much too loudly just outside his brother's home, and nearly fell to the ground. His legs felt bruised all over; like they had wanted to get splinched but just barely managed not to. He gasped and stumbled forward. Fresh tears stung his eyes. His lungs were on fire. He thumped on the door. Only silence answered. No one was there. He leaned heavily against the door and tried to get a grip. Trent had been at the school. Trent was a stay-at-home dad. Oliver and Ben were too young to be left alone- he would have had to take them somewhere else, first. Wherever else that was, that was probably where they were, now. He thought maybe he'd taken them to St. Mungo's, but visitors couldn't get in and out of there as quickly as Trent obviously had. It would have been much easier for Marie to just come home, but then Marie probably would have just gone straight to the school... Probably his mother's house, then. She was often home during the day. She was often out, too, but that's where Colin would have gone. But Colin did not want to go there now. He turned, leaning his back against the door, and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and tried to stop the ringing in his ears. He opened his eyes. The ringing wasn't in his ears. It was the school bell, ringing the alarm through all of Hogsmeade. He couldn't stay here. He took a step forward- -And stumbled onto the front step of his childhood home. He'd popped instead of cracked, but he was still feeling the effects of nearly pulling his legs off from the last time. He pounded on the door. Nothing. He pounded again. He rang the bell for good measure. No one was home. He sighed and tried to clear his mind. Colin would have taken the children to his mother's, but Trent didn't. Of course Trent wouldn't have; Colin hadn't been thinking. Before Trent stayed at home, his kids had stayed with Marie's sister, Cassie, while both Marie and Trent were at work. That's where Trent would have gone. That's where the kids would have been. Colin was sure now. He'd been to Cassie's loads of times in the past. He knew exactly where to go. Last he remembered, they hadn't put anti-apparition charms on her place, either. Good. He was sick of pounding on doors. He was also sick of apparating badly. He'd done so well when he'd had Maddy. But he supposed that was way he'd done so well. He'd had to. He stepped down to the walk, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then was gone. The postman dropped his bag in shock, spilling letters everywhere. Colin sounded like a rather large stick snapping in half this time. His legs were screaming in protest. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. But before he could even register how the furniture had been re-arranged he was slammed against and nearby wall. His vision went black and he blinked furiously, trying to regain it. "What the hell, Colin!" Trent's voice was scratchy and low, and he let him go as he realized who he was. "You can't just apparate into someone's house unannounced!" Although, to be fair, Trent had done that twice already today, at this very same house. Colin shook his head, trying to clear it. He leaned his weight back against the wall. His legs were set to give out at any moment and he needed the support. Trent was ignoring Colin now, muttering spells under his breath and putting up protections all around the house. He was silently cursing himself for not thinking to do it sooner. Colin got his eyes to focus and saw Trent clearly for the first time. His eyes were red and tears stained his face. Colin suspected he looked a lot like him. "I saw you at the school," Colin explained. His voice sounded like Trent's, too. He couldn't hear any noise in the rest of the house. Trent had probably put the children to sleep, or else Marie was with them now, calming them. Or both. He didn't see Cassie- she was definitely with the kids. What was Trent doing out here on his own? "I was there," Trent confirmed, but didn't stop his charm work. "You were there before me." The question was implied: how did you know so soon? "Not before Marie," Trent stopped his charm work to stare at Colin. Colin blinked. "I didn't see her," he said without thinking. "She's got that brilliant wrist watch, you know. With our names on each hand." Colin nodded; he did think the watch was very clever. "The hands point to things like 'with a friend' or 'sleeping'-" "- 'Imminent Danger.'" Trent finished for him. Colin fell silent. That's how Trent knew- because Marie knew- because the second biggest hand on Marie's watch had switched to 'Imminent Danger.' And she had arrived before both of them. "I'm sorry." Colin tried to approach Trent, but he was too unsteady. He stopped and held onto the back of the couch for support. "I'm sure you are." Trent did not try to help him. "They took your wife, too." "What?!" Colin shouted. "Don't be dense! How could you not know?! You always know everything!" Trent shouted back, and tears started running down his face again. He actually wasn't sure which part Colin didn't know. Surely he knew about PJ. He had to. But then, he thought he'd already known about Marie, too. Maybe he didn't know anything. Maybe he'd had to leave too quickly on account of the aurors. "I was too late! I missed everything! I only know that PJ-" but Colin couldn't finish. He shook his head and chocked back a sob. "Well, they took Marie, too!" Trent shouted back. He crossed his arms and looked away from Colin. "They had her when I got there. She wouldn't let me stop them." "Trent, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry. I had no idea. God, I just- I saw you with Nat, I wanted to make sure you were both okay. I didn't- I'm so sorry..." Trent wanted to keep shouting at Colin, but found that he couldn't. They were in the same boat. And here was Colin, selflessly checking up on him after his pregnant wife had just been taken away to God knows where. Marie had gotten herself in deep; Trent knew. She'd been urging him along, but he just couldn't. But he couldn't ask her to stop, either- he knew it meant so much to her. He thought she'd end in up in Azkaban before anything like this happened, though. This, he never expected. Trent shook his head. "You couldn't have stopped it, either." And Colin's legs did give out, then, and he started to fall. But Trent caught him; held him up. "I'll get her back for you, I swear," Colin sobbed into Trent's shoulder and held onto him tight. "I have to find them. I have to. I can do it- I-" "We both will," Trent promised through his own tears, squeezing Colin tighter. "You and me; together. Like it always should have been." |
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2:47 PM Jul 11