e m m e l i n e ♔ (advancingly) wrote in valesco,
@ 2011-02-07 00:27:00

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Caradoc
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been on the floor in the hallway of her flat. It had been long enough for Dedalus, Brad, and Elphias to come to her door, trying to bang it down but with no response from her. Long enough for the teapot she’d put on to start shrieking in the background, only to begin to shake and boil over onto the floor of the kitchen. Max had been let out early this morning, when she’d gotten the paper, and had stopped his whining to come, having given up on catching his owner’s attention.

How long ago had Augusta come and taken Neville away? How long ago had it been since Emmeline had picked up the Prophet and read, in blaring bold letters that Frank had been attacked and committed to St. Mungo’s, the severity of his injuries unknown at this moment?

Augusta had basically told her that he wasn’t coming back. Emmeline could barely remember the woman bursting into her flat, or what she had said, but the stern words she did recall included the fact that Frank wasn’t coming back. He wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t coming back. Emmeline had little time to process anything when Augusta swooped Neville up and proclaimed that it wasn’t safe for the boy to be around any former Order of the Phoenix members, even Emmeline. The war would never be truly over, so Neville had to be kept away from anyone that could bring trouble. And--that was it. She was gone, and she’d taken Neville. Emmeline had tried to stop her, her eyes were red and her face blotchy from the tears she’d sobbed as she tried to convince Augusta to let her take Neville, but it was to no avail. That was it. He was gone, Frank was gone.

She’d tried to make it back to the kitchen, to owl Caradoc who would probably have no idea of what was going on; the prophet wasn’t sent to her old home, his hiding spot, to avoid suspicion, so how could he know? How could he know what had happened without her telling him? Emmeline had tried to make it to the kitchen, to at least get her journal, but she’d stumbled into a side table and had dropped to the floor, unable to force her legs to move. She sat awkwardly between the legs of the table and stared into the darkness of her flat, wondering what on earth would ever be able to make her want to move again.

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docstheword
2011-02-08 02:42 am UTC (link)

“Hey,” Caradoc spoke softly, bending his knees to squat down in front of Emmeline. Getting to where he was now had been no easy task; being essentially cut off from the outside world made it unrealistically difficult to be in touch which what was actually going on. It had only been by chance he had caught wind of what had happened to the Longbottoms. Nonetheless, his skin still went cold and his chest dropped after reading what their article at a random newsstand.

Since staying in the house had been proving to be increasingly unbearable, Caradoc would go out, either to walk around or stalk later during the day before Emmeline would come home. His stalking earlier had led him eventually to various sources, all of which solidified the fact that the Longbottoms were, in fact, more than incapacitated for the rest of their lives.

Upon realizing this, he had wasted little to no time locating Emmeline next. Finding her, he knew, would be tricky. Mackenzie had told him of how difficult it had been for Emmeline to deal with his disappearance, so Caradoc didn’t have to imagine too much how extensive this new damage would cause. He hadn’t even thought of going to her other house until later in his search--- Max being outside had been the only clue to tip him off that she might actually be in there.

He had approached her in the dark slowly as to not scare her, but it looked like she had barely registered his presence to begin with. Grimacing, his body reacted to her disjointed state on the ground. Emmeline looked like a doll--- a broken doll, with her eyes glazed over and her legs stuck out straight in front of her.

“Hey,” Caradoc spoke again, shifting in his spot. He sent up a couple of flames into the air to hover above them with his wand, and leaned in a bit closer to her. “Emmeline, look at me. Emmeline---” He tentatively reached out to her, not wanting to upset her.

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advancingly
2011-02-08 04:06 am UTC (link)

She should probably go visit him. Emmeline pondered this strongly; what if--during her internship, they often recommended that friends and family visit and talk to the patients, that they might be able to hear them and it would help their mind heal. Emmeline pondered this, hearing Caradoc but not processing just yet that he was actually there and trying to get her attention. Maybe she could talk to Frank, she really was the closest thing he had to family, he was her brother, he was---

Augusta's words rung loudly in her ears. The healers had explained the damage to Augusta, Frank's mind was gone, it wasn't him lying in that bed at St. Mungo's, just his body. He'd never talk to Emmeline again, he'd never reproachfully stare at her when she made bad life decisions, and he'd never again worry about her. Emmeline continued to stare off as the thoughts built in her mind, her eyes watering at the idea of her life and future meaning absolutely nothing to Frank Longbottom.

When the flames began to flicker they caught her attention. Emmeline's eyes went from the fire to Caradoc, only to find that she couldn't look at him without feeling as if her lungs were trying to tear themselves out of her chest. Caradoc had come back to her, she had thought he was dead, which had given everything some sort of finality, but----Frank could be in this state for days, weeks, months, years---they should have killed him, it would be so much kinder than this.

Her shoulders sagged as Caradoc finally reached out to her, and Emmeline let out a long breath,

"Augusta has Neville," she said, surprised by how hoarse her voice was. Emmeline forced herself to look at Caradoc, feeling like her heart was breaking all over again as she vividly recalled her godson being swept away early this morning, "I'm not---to see him anymore."

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docstheword
2011-02-21 06:09 am UTC (link)

He should have known Augusta Longbottom had something to do with this. Not responding, Caradoc watched Emmeline wordlessly, half unsure of what to do and while the other half concerned if he did do or say something, it would set her off. So with this introduction of Neville--- what was she more upset about? Frank, or the child? Was it even wise to tackle this right now? Upon thinking that, Caradoc quickly realized that answer: no. Hearing about what had happened to Frank and Alice was more than enough to send Emmeline over. Augusta taking Neville away was just another added stab in the heart.

So Caradoc nodded, trying his best to ignore the miserably lost look on Emmeline’s face. He was already worried, seeing her look at him like that only made his gut sink lower. But what could he do? There was nothing--- nothing short of bringing Frank back to life himself. At this thought, Caradoc hesitated. Emmeline would understand the difference between what happened with him and what had happened to Frank, right? Somehow, he had a dreaded feeling this would be an issue later.

Pushing the table away from the both of him with his foot, Caradoc waited a moment before doing anything next. The scraping of the table on the floor had made a loud noise, and--- well, Emmeline looked as susceptible as a scared animal.

In an effort to coax her from the floor, Caradoc moved his hands from her face to gently hold her them under her armpits. Get her to stand up, that was a good start. Or at least--- off the ground and onto a softer surface. “You don’t know if she meant that,” he spoke, careful to watch her feet. As he spoke, Caradoc slowly began to pull Emmeline up from the ground. “She’s just as upset as you are.” He would say anything to get that expressionless look out of her gaze.

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advancingly
2011-02-22 03:51 am UTC (link)

"She did," Emmeline let out with a shake of her head, feeling like the room was spinning as Caradoc lifted her off the ground. She sent him a hard stare; as out of her mind as she currently was, Emmeline knew that Augusta was a woman of her word and there was nothing she could do against her will.

Her stare hardened. She didn't want to move, as that meant things were going to have to go forward, that she was going to have to deal with the outside world, but she had no energy left in her to resist. She got to her feet and sat back on the table, crossing her arms because she wasn't ready to fully let herself be taken by him, at least she had that much strength. Where were they going to go? Back to their hideout, so she could sit in silence and wallow in her misery? Back to the house where she'd housed Frank for a summer when he'd run away from home?

Everywhere she went there would be memories of Frank, Alice, and Neville. Alice had helped her paint the walls of this flat, and Frank had moved the furniture in the old house. Neville had his own room in her flat, and Max adored when Frank came over because that meant someone was going to wrestle and play with him. Her whole life had been intertwined with the Longbottoms, so much that that the more and more she thought about it, the faster and faster her life was becoming unraveled and dropping heavily to the ground at her feet. She felt like a marionette whose strings had been cut, and if it weren't for the table or Caradoc's close proximity she would've fallen to her knees again.

"She did," Emmeline repeated for a third time, but now her voice wasn't as strong, and she tried hard to keep the tears from spilling. Augusta took away Neville, her godson. She was supposed to be the one to take care of him if anything happened to Frank or Alice, and---Emmeline wanted to die, just thinking that she let the baby go so easily. It was the shock, it was the absolute shock that had---she couldn't fight for him, she wouldn't win, she had no real connection to the boy----

"She---she took him and----I can't---I did---nothing----" Emmeline's breaths and shoulders shook as her mind was now awakening from the shock of the morning. Reality was setting in hard and heavy, and Emmeline had no bloody idea what was going to happen now. Her hands reached out for Caradoc and she gripped at his shirt to try to stop her trembling hands, not acknowledging the tears now streaming down her face. She'd never been so sad, and considering her life----"I just let Frank---I told them it'd be---fine, he'd be----fine and----it's----they're----"

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