WHO: Charlie Spinnet and Octavius Pepper
WHAT: Some important news to deliver
WHERE: WWN station
WHEN: I think the 19th


Charlie paced across the lobby of the WWN nervously, hiding under his sunglasses and cap because the last thing he needed was to get swarmed by fans (yes, it happened) at this time of crisis. He had to figure out what he was going to say that would create the least amount of drama possible. Least amount hoping to end up being just a mild nuclear explosion instead of a world-wide apocalypse.

Though Octavius was a very even keeled sort of fellow. Why, he might even be understanding that he and Rose were on a break or at least not talking when this indiscretion had occurred and it would be fine! Maybe he had sworn the woman off already and didn’t even care! That would be great. That would be beautiful. That would be exactly what he would want to happen.

He wrung his hands. Charlie hated being the bearer of bad news. He felt even worse because he was about to tattle on his captain, who was also one of his best friends, but---”Octavius!”

Charlie waved, a bit stupidly, as he spotted his friend enter the lobby. Merlin’s saggy left nut. This was either going to be bad or terrible. Either or.

He'd been having a good day, this was a good week. The first in a while, Octavius thought. Seeing Rose again, though it hadn't been what he expected, was a step in the right direction, getting back on that good foot with her, so to speak. That had brightened his outlook for the coming week, and it hadn't failed to deliver. The standards meeting with the station's board of directors had gone well, there had been an increase in the station's budget, and while he was a bit reluctant to put them on the air, the Tattler's tentative talk hour promised to provide a steady source of revenue.

Things at the the Wizarding Wireless Network were rarely smooth and easy, and this week still had been no exception, but he was a lot more eager to deal with the challenges when other aspects of his life were not spiralling out of control.

"Charlie!" Octavius let out, surprised. He looked around the lobby briefly, then back toward his friend. It wasn't terribly often that he dropped by the station, and Mira hadn't told Octavius that he was here. Pushing his sleeve back to check his watch, Octavius's brow creased in confusion. "I'm so sorry, were we getting together tonight? It completely slipped my mind."

Oh Merlin, he looked to be in a good mood. Charlie could never hide his emotions, his face was as readable as a book. He most definitely looked like he wanted to puke.

“No, no,” he said quickly, not wanting his friend to think there had been some forgotten get together. No, no, he was just here to burst his decent mood and quite possibly shatter it into a million pieces. Charlie did tend to jump to conclusions and he hoped that this was one of those times. Octavius could handle this, it was Charlie that could not deal. But this lump in his chest, this knowledge of what had occurred between Rose and Axe was going to burn a hole straight through him if he didn’t tell Octavius.

“Can we talk?” he said, gulping. He took off his cap to give his hands something to play with. “Privately? In a private---place.”

Octavius knew Charlie to be a hyper sort of fellow, as he'd been that way all through school. Being a bit more placid himself, he'd always thought they were a good match in terms of temperament, but Charlie seemed almost jittery today. A bit nervous, really. That made Octavius a bit nervous himself, because he was suddenly unsure of what to expect from his friend turning up out of the blue like this.

Since he was an excellent worrier, he began to imagine all sorts of dreadful scenarios in which Charlie had gotten himself into trouble, or Delilah had gotten both herself and Charlie into trouble, or Drystan Fawcett was after him, or—

Definitely shut up, Octavius. "Of course," he said, the crease in his brow not lightening up in the slightest. "My office is down this way, if you want—?" He trailed off and headed a few steps in the direction of the other door in the lobby, looking at Charlie questioningly.

Charlie followed him in silence, keeping his eyes ducked low to stop himself from getting sick. He felt terrible for knowing about this, he felt like a bad friend for running this party, and Charlie was sure there were a thousand million different things that he would rather be doing than this, right now.

He shut the door behind them, realizing he hadn’t been in Octavius’ in quite some time. Charlie made it a mental point to make more visits, but who knew if his friend would ever want to see him again after this? God, Charlie felt like such an idiot.

“Look, Octavius---” His lips pressed together. He needed to just say it, rip it off like a bandage. “I’m not trying to cause trouble, I just thought you should know and I swear I’m sure about this and----Rose hooked up with someone at the party I threw in September.”

Oh, dear Merlin. He needed to sit down, but he kept his composure and remained standing. “I had to tell you.”

He laughed.

Octavius actually laughed, because while he wasn't certain what Charlie said, it most certainly wasn't what he thought Charlie had said.

The laugh ended on a strangled note when he saw Charlie's face.

One of his hands groped blindly for his desk, for support. "That's not—" He shook his head. "That's not possible—I was there, I was at that party."

Charlie felt like he had cheated on Octavius. He frowned deeply, putting a hand through his hair nervously.

"I'm just telling you what I know," he said, his leg bouncing. Charlie wished it had been some random person that had shared this information with him so he could have dismissed it completely or at least waste some time investigating. But no, he had to hear it straight from the mouth of the bloke who was actually there. "There were a lot of people at the party, mate."

He needed Octavius to believe him on his word alone. As much as he cared for Axe and didn't want to cause any trouble ( though Charlie was sure that his captain would beat the hell out of Octavius) he knew that he wouldn't hold back the identity of the bloke who'd messed with Rose.

No, he was shaking his head. At least, Octavius thought he was. There was this strange roaring sensation in his ears and he was feeling a bit off-balance, like any movement would have him crumpled on the floor, so perhaps he just wished he was shaking his head. "I don't—I just saw her, she didn't say anything—I—she sent me things for my birthd—"

He needed to stop talking. Charlie wasn't lying to him, because as much as Charlie had disliked Rose, he wouldn't do that to Octavius. So if it wasn't a lie or some painfully misguided joke, it had to be true, and if it was true—

Octavius stared at the top of his desk and idly noted it was much too cluttered to invoke any real productivity in him.

"How do you know this?" he finally whispered, not lifting his gaze.

“I---” Oh, fucking hell. Fecking, fucking hell. As he watched Octavius’ terrible reaction, his emotions shifted from being terrified of breaking this news to...to angry at Rose. And Axe! What was Rose thinking? From what Charlie had understood she’d been mad at Octavius, but to sleep with another bloke, for what? Revenge? On Octavius?

And----Axe, Axe it---how could he not know that Octavius was Charlie’s best mate? Charlie usually just dismissed his captain’s lack of acknowledgment of people he didn’t care about, but in Charlie’s defense, didn’t Axe care about--him? Charlie paid attention to his teammates’ lives, he didn’t say nasty things about Thomas McCormack in front of Kendall, why didn’t Axe know and---

His fists clenched. Seeing Octavius like this was a real stab in the chest and the panic he’d had after racing out of the locker room yesterday had vanished.

“He told me,” Charlie finally responded. He shook his head, feeling like complete shit.

"He told—he told you," Octavius repeated, swiping a hand over his face. Then he laughed, but it was a bitter, angry sound.

It was a rather motley crew his friend kept the company of, and somehow Octavius knew he really didn't want to know the answer. He tried to think of a name, just one name, that might make it all right, but that didn't exist, because it wasn't. He couldn't believe it, couldn't believe she'd do that.

"And exactly who is this person eagerly baring his soul to you?"

Charlie let out a few breaths from his nose, feeling ready to punch the wall. His anger at the people who’d hurt Octavius was beginning to boil over, but to add insult to injury----Octavius hated Axe, any other person in the world would have been better than Axe to shack up with, but Rose Knightley, Queen of Bad Decisions, decided to take his captain to bed. Or wherever the hell they’d done it.

He stepped closer to Octavius as if he didn’t believe that the door to his friend’s office was sufficient enough. Charlie ducked his head, feeling sympathy and remorse and anger for his friend, and he hoped Octavius knew that he was on his side.

“Brookstanton,” he muttered, feeling ashamed.

Brookstanton.

With the hand that had been pinching the bridge of his nose, Octavius turned and took an angry swipe at the detritus he'd been staring at, cluttering up the surface of his desk. A tinkle of glass sounded as a snow globe shattered against the wall, dripping glittery water down the faded wallpaper. That had been a present from Delilah, he thought vaguely. He almost felt badly about that.

Then the only noise left was the sound of his heavy breathing, and Octavius's head dropped once again. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the papers revealed by his outburst.

"I think," he said tonelessly, "—I think it would be best if I was alone right now. Please."

Charlie nodded, even though he wanted to stay by his friend’s side. He understood the need to be alone, and would let Octavius have his time. he really wanted to go beat the hell out of the guy who did this to him, but he couldn’t exactly go and attack his captain with six weeks of the season left. He clapped a hand on Octavius’ shoulder, gripping it for a moment.

“Send me an owl when you get home,” he said, letting go and giving him a quick pat on the back. Charlie let out a breath of frustration and turned on a heel, leaving the office and finding himself itching to have a word with Axe, though a certain blonde Chaser might’ve needed a talking to first.