Time Does Not Bring Relief
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Time Does Not Bring Relief
Authors: ceria_taliesin and westwardlee
Rating: PG13
Summary: Time does not bring relief. You all have lied.
Disclaimer: Don't you get it yet? They belong to JKR. We don't own their universe and we don't make any money off them. The only thing we do is subvert them to feed our twisted sense of interests.
A/N: The title and the summary are from Edna St. Vincent Millay's Sonnet 02.
The index of stories
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been to the Pitch at Durmstrang, but Gideon wasn't as impressed as Meg, partially because they didn't admit Muggle born students and partially because the school was cold. Gideon had been worried the students or teachers would be rude to her, but her long blond hair seemed an instant attraction for many of them.
On the good side of things, a match took two days to play during the short days of winter and they were provided with a warm cabin on the grounds near the Pitch. Curled up in front of the fireplace, Meg was sipping coffee the house elves let her bring back from dinner. She finally put the mug down, her pale hands red from the heat, and pulled the hair tie out of her hair.
Smiling at Gideon, Meg patted the sofa beside her until he moved closer. He'd been sitting on a chair at the small table in the corner, trying to leave her some privacy. This was their first recruiting trip and when the Headmaster put them into one cabin, neither wanted to ask for a second one. Besides, Gideon wasn't willing to leave Meg alone here.
"What did you think?" he asked.
"Two of the Chasers are worth watching. I think their Beater - the smaller one - has a good chance as well."
"I agree with two of your choices. I don't like the sixth year Chaser, he's too aggressive, too confrontational."
"True, but if he controls it, he'd be a good player."
Shrugging, Gideon personally agreed with her, but unlike Meg, he was more worried about the social sides the students were taking. "Karkaroff had some interesting ideas during dinner," Gideon said, curious about her opinion.
"He's a snob," Meg said. "He's more interested in bloodlines than students. It took him, what? Three sentences before mentioning the Prewetts are an offshoot of the Black family."
"He was testing my loyalty," Gideon said.
"Or how much he could say without offending you."
"He mentioned Bellatrix as if I might know her personally, which is more a question about my personal choices."
"So you're a pureblood, big deal."
At some point in time, Gideon wanted to know what Meg really knew about the witches and wizards the Order fought. In many ways, she was his test for what had leaked and hadn't leaked to the general populace.
"Just stay away from Karkaroff, if you can, please."
"He was staring at me like he'd like to devour me," Meg said with a sharp nod, "And I'm not sure if he wants to get rid of me, or take me."
So far she hadn't mentioned Death Eaters or anyone associated with them. Gideon hoped she could continue that way. She still believed all the missions he took were directly from the MLE, and knew nothing about the Order.
"Coach did a good job picking us as recruiters," Gideon said, changing the subject.
"He did, I agree. Except that here, we both look like exotic creatures with our blond and red hair. Not only that, but we're half as thin as all the people here."
Kingsley went back to Italy with Santini late on New Year's Day. He had enjoyed his work at San Mungo and, since he loved Italy, he decided to spend his last days of Christmas holidays with his cousin.
"These are your last long Christmas holidays," Santini had mentioned playfully, as Kingsley was packing his bags for the trip.
"I know. I can't wait to be out in the real world. You know, doing something useful for a change."
Santini watched his cousin for a few seconds. Kingsley had become more somber, but also seemed more mature. The night before he'd gone out with the twins and had met that girl at the pub again. Normally, Kingsley would've been pissed if the evening didn't end in a nice shag, but this time he told Santini he'd had felt no desire to do so. He'd just taken her home and would probably see her again when school started.
Being naturally perceptive, and aided by his training, Santini knew that Kingsley was in the mourning stage after the end of a relationship. He'd first gone through denial, then rage and now had settled in the part where he'd been hit with the harsh reality. It was a good thing to go to Italy and not jump into another relationship right away. The girl could wait.
She poked Gideon's side, "We have no reason to carry the extra weight in England. It's rarely this cold."
He remained silent, just nodding at her. Frowning, Meg wasn't sure what could make Gideon talk any longer. He'd changed since Christmas. They had had one long conversation this trip, revolving around everything except the subject she wanted to discuss, but he wasn't willing.
Making a decision, Meg asked, watching him over the top of the mug, "Do we have a date for Hogwarts?"
"No, not yet. Beauxbaton's match is next. We'll begin looking at Hogwarts after that."
"Gideon…"
"It's not open for discussion, Meg."
Sighing, she turned back toward the fireplace. A moment later, she felt Gideon's head on her shoulder, leaning against her in silent apology. That would have to do. For now.
Sally was waiting for Kingsley at the platform. He waved at her once he'd gone through the wall and she ran towards him, jumping onto him, holding herself up with her hands around her neck and kissing him deeply on the mouth.
He heard a few wolf whistles and felt strangely embarrassed by the show of affection. That was strange - he'd never really cared before. Then he heard a familiar voice, shouting shrilly, "Kingsley Shacklebolt, you total bastard!"
Wincing, he disengaged Sally from his neck and put her back on the ground. Turning around, he faced Marlene and was rewarded with her bag hitting his body.
"What the fuck, Marlene?" he asked, arms protecting his face against her assault.
"You wham! are wham! a total wham! bastard WHAM!. Don't you date him, Sally, he's not worth it. And, especially, don't you dare fall for him. This git has no heart."
With that, she whacked him once more for good measure and walked back towards her girlfriends, who were applauding. A group of boys including Sirius, were shouting, "You go, Shacklebolt! Kiss the girl again! Don't be afraid of McKinnon!"
The whistle of the train mercifully ended the show. Shrugging tentatively at Sally, Kingsley motioned for her to board ahead of him. It was only a polite gesture; he didn't expect her to want to see him again after what Marlene had said.
Sally didn't seem to have been bothered by Marlene's show, though, because she grabbed his hand, saying, "I got a compartment at the end of the train and put a charm on it. No-one will be able to join us."
Karkaroff was an interesting combination for a Headmaster. While his students seemed to love him, most of the staff were stiff and formal around him. He'd tried to be friendly with Meg and after she politely separated herself from him twice, Gideon finally slung his arm around her, whispering in her ear during the match.
He might be a head shorter than Karkaroff, but once Meg snuggled against him during a time out, Karkaroff finally stopped staring at her. As soon as he stopped, Gideon removed his arm and they pulled out a quick-quotes quill to take notes for them. Which they failed to notice didn't work in the cold. Twenty minutes later, Meg put a warming charm on the quill and it finally began taking proper notes.
Instead of staying another night, Meg asked Gideon to leave as soon as possible, which was fine with him. They sat in Gideon's flat, Gideon making loud yawns and stretching his arm to pull Meg against his side as they filled out the necessary parchments for the Arrows.
Laughing, she shoved him away. Leaning back, Gideon smiled at her, watching her get up to make something to eat for them, more comfortable in his kitchen than he was - she was second to only Kingsley. He heard the dishes clanging around and closed his eyes briefly, only to be surprised that it didn't hurt near as much as he expected.
Sally and Kingsley made good use of the sealed compartment and, as a result, arrived at Hogwarts looking as if they hadn't slept in ages. He saw her a few more times, in furtive encounters in empty classrooms, but he felt there was always something…missing; she was a good lay and had a drop dead body, not to mention silky hair that Kingsley loved to stroke. But he just couldn't feel anything for her.
They broke up on Valentine's Day, after he'd been sitting at Madam Puddifoot's with her for what had seemed like hours. He had been a little absent-minded, ascribing it to the hideous décor of the place with its cupids, and at first didn't quite register what she was trying to tell him. He was looking at her with a smile plastered on his face, thinking about the DADA essay he still had to finish, nodding in agreement to her words once in a while. Suddenly he noticed she had said something that required more than a nod.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
"I told you James Potter proposed to Lily Evans," she repeated impatiently.
"He did? And what did she do?"
"She accepted, of course! They're engaged to be married."
Kingsley frowned. "Aren't they awfully young for that?"
"I don't think so," she said coyly. "They're our age and we're all adults."
"Sally, we're barely adults. We're all too young to make such a commitment." He could sense something was amiss in the conversation and decided to call it a day. "Shall we go now? I still have to finish my DADA essay."
To his surprise, she answered curtly, "No."
"No, what?"
"I'm not ready to leave."
"But I have to finish my assignment."
"It can wait."
"Wait for what?" She was acting strange and Kingsley felt like bolting from the place.
"Today's Valentine's Day, Kingsley. It's a special day."
"I know. This is why we're sitting here, right?" Although the place makes me cringe, he thought. He would never have asked her to come to Puddifoot's, but she had suggested one day while he was playing with her hair and he had caved in.
"Did we come here just to have tea and scones?" she asked derisively.
He nodded dumbly. The scones were grand.
"Well, I didn’t!" she said angrily, stomping her foot on the ground.
"Why did you want to come here, then?"
"Because it's the perfect place for you to propose."
It must have been that his mind was miles away, because his next question, "Propose what?" left his mouth before he could think.
She looked at him incredulously. "Marriage! What else?"
He stood up quickly, his chair falling on the ground with a loud Thud. "WHAT? Are you out of your mind? How did you get this fucked up idea in your head?"
He spoke in his normal loud tone of voice, and, as a result, all heads turned to them. Sally didn't answer. She stood up, pushed him out of the way and cried out as she left, "Marlene was right. You are a fucking bastard."
Managing to put off Beauxbaton's recruiting visit until February meant they could only attend the last match at Hogwarts before the year ended. Gideon couldn’t decide if he wanted to see Ravenclaw play or not. Either way, he seriously considered a disguise before going on the grounds, but knew he'd have to explain it to the Professors and Dumbledore if he did.
They had three students to make offers to, out of a list of fifteen who said they were interested in pursuing a professional career in Quidditch. Gideon convinced their coach not to make an offer to the Durmstrang Chaser he found too aggressive and wondered if he'd regret that decision later.
The end of the year approached quickly and Gideon, even after three months, wasn't ready to see Kingsley. He hoped that he didn't have to at all.
So wrapped up with different missions and fretting over the recruiting campaign at Hogwarts, Gideon agreed to go out with Fabian and his new girlfriend, Amelia Bones, to the Wand and Cauldron.
He never once considered the time of year, or the fact that the students were on holiday.
After the breakup with Sally, Kingsley, tired of being called a "fucking bastard" by mental girls, swore them off for a while. Sure, he missed the sex, but with the NEWTs approaching, he didn't want any distraction.
He went home for Easter holidays and stayed at Southwood's most of the time. There were days nice enough to swim and he invited his male friends over. Southwood was very happy with that arrangement and usually took a longer nap than usual, which left some time for Kingsley to have a little roll in the hay with Anna. It was sex for release, which he needed.
He told Jack he was no longer into blokes and, when asked why, he just shrugged. "No reason. Women are better," he answered. It was interesting that he was not attracted to blokes any more, and had been able to fulfill the promise to his mother without a problem.
One day, Kingsley, Benjy and Caradoc were swimming in the lake and, on a whim, decided to call a few other friends and have dinner at the Wand and the Cauldron.
Amelia was a lovely woman and Gideon was thrilled for Fabian. His brother constantly wore a silly grin most days.
"You know his problem," she stage whispered to Fabian, "he's mooning over that nice young man that flirted with him at Dame Jezia's pub."
With a grin, Gideon cuffed the back of her head, "Actually, love, I'm jealous of my own brother." He took her arm as they walked into the Wand and Cauldron, pulling her away from Fabian as he opened the door.
"There's some truth to that," Fabian muttered, ruffling Gideon's hair.
With a curt nod, Gideon agreed with them. "Actually, I'm plotting all sorts of evil ways to steal you away."
"Ohh, if you bat your pretty eyes like that again, Gideon, it just might work."
"Nope," Fabian said confidently, "She's already told me she would never date a Slytherin. You're just lucky you're my brother or she'd have AK'd you by now, Gideon."
With a fake pout, Gideon let her arm go and asked for a table for three. As the waiter took them to a table, Amelia mumbled that she forgot it was such a popular hang out for the teenagers. Gideon froze in shock in the middle of the room as he followed the waiter.
Fabian put a hand on his back, pushing him gently, "What's the chance of seeing him, brother mine? Stop worrying."
The group of seventh-year Ravenclaws sitting in a center table was raucous, but polite. It had started with the three boys, but soon the whole class had been informed. Marlene had made peace with Kingsley after his well-publicized breakup with Sally and now they were enjoying a true friendship. He felt no sexual attraction to her any longer and Marlene, who had found consolation for a while in the arms of the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, seemed to agree with their newfound relationship.
Now they could sit side by side without having the need to constantly paw at each other.
Sitting in the booth across from Fabian and Amelia, Gideon slowly relaxed, beginning to tease them again. During their last mission, when Amelia and Fabian first met, she had taken him seriously until Fabian finally explained to her that Gideon was perfectly safe since he was in love with someone else.
What endeared her to Gideon was her lack of pressure after she initially asked who the lucky person was, and both brothers refused to answer.
"It doesn't matter," Gideon said. "It's not mutual anyway. It's just something I need some time to get over - and I will with time."
The group placed another order for drinks and Kingsley, who at first had asked for another beer, decided he'd had his two and those should be enough. He cranked his neck to call the waitress back to change his order. He talked to her briefly and then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two redheads and a woman at a table not far from them.
He knew the chances of Gideon being in a notorious teen hangout place were minimal, but he turned a little more just to make sure.
Damn! he thought. It was Gideon. With the Git and a woman he didn't know. Feeling that his night had been thoroughly spoiled by the sight, he moved closer to the table and did his best not to turn again.
He had the uncomfortable thought that he'd have to pass by Gideon's table if he went to the loo. Good thing he'd decided against that last beer.
"Amelia!" one of the girls serving drinks called out, making her way to their table with a full tray of drinks.
Amelia looked around Fabian's shoulder, "Hi, Emily!
"Fabian, this used to be the girl I babysat for. She grew up next door to me. Emily, this is my boyfriend, Fabian, and his brother, Gideon Prewett."
They said hello to her and Fabian eyed her heavy tray, "That's a lot of drinks."
Emily nodded toward the large round table in the center of the room, "They talk so much I don't know how they find time to drink at all."
Fabian laughed a little, glancing at the table. Narrowing his eyes, he noticed that one or two of the students looked familiar, then as a brunette girl moved, he could see a tall, black student with a shaved head sitting next to her.
He glanced at Gideon, Oh, fuck.
"Well," Fabian said, "Don't let us keep you, that looks heavy. It was nice to meet you."
Emily glanced at Fabian and winked at Amelia before leaving the table.
Amelia shook her head, "She's old enough to work. It's a shame that make me feel ancient."
"Don't you want to go dancing?" Kingsley asked the group at large. He was not really in the mood for dancing, but he wanted to get out of the Wand as soon as possible.
"Where?" asked Caradoc.
"Kingsley knows the best clubs in Muggle London," Marlene said. "I think it's a great idea."
"I don't know," said one of the girls. "My parents don't let me go to Muggle London."
"Emma," Benjy said seriously, "there's much more danger here in Diagon Alley than in London."
She still seemed uncertain. Kingsley wished she could stay in the Wand and the rest of the group would go dancing happily - and away from Gideon. But they had come as a group and it seemed quite rude to suggest it. He could sense that the rest of the Ravenclaws agreed with him, but instead, the idea of dancing started to fizzle.
Kingsley decided that Gideon would probably leave right after eating. As long as he didn't have to go to the bathroom he was all right.
Gideon, who'd drunk one beer and several glasses of water already, excused himself and Fabian immediately turned toward Amelia, "We need to go. Can we get out of here quickly?"
"What's wrong?" she asked, obviously confused about Fabian's serious demand.
"Gideon's friend, the one he's been mooning over? Is here. I don't want Gideon to see… to know."
"With their new significant other, are they?" she asked.
Fabian kissed Amelia's cheek. Ever since their last mission and Gideon's reluctance to discuss Kingsley, Amelia made a habit of referring to him vaguely, not even assigning a gender. Fabian suspected that she realized Gideon had been dating a man, but he didn't want her knowing that Kingsley had been a minor, or any of the other problems relating to it. She was one of the Aurors that mentored trainees into the program, as he was, and he didn't want to create any issues for Kingsley. Well, if he was honest, he wanted to create those himself.
Gideon returned at the same time the waitress brought their food. Trying to maneuver around her into his seat, he didn't look at the table in the center of the room. Fabian sighed with relief. All they had left was to get through dinner and they could escape. Amelia would help distract Gideon, and that would be that.
Kingsley cursed mentally. Tonight, of all nights, he just had to go to the bathroom. He tried to distract himself with the conversation, but the pressure on his bladder just kept increasing. Finally he knew he had to do something about it. He could, of course, go outside and into another bar. But that was the coward's way. Gideon was only one person, who was of absolutely no importance to him. None whatsoever.
And he could, of course, just pass by their table and pretend he hadn't seen the Prewetts. He excused himself, stood up and strode to the bathroom, walking on a straight line but looking at the opposite way from where Gideon sat.
Dinner wasn't bad, despite all the noise behind him. Still chatting with Amelia, he was watching her as Fabian stiffened, the immediately relaxed and turned toward her. Tilting his head at his brother's strange behavior, Gideon glanced at him, barely seeing someone else rushing by the table. Gideon would have dismissed it until he recognized the bright blue shirt.
Freezing in position, Gideon sat there a moment, surprised. Amelia, who didn't catch Fabian's blunder, obviously knew something was wrong when Gideon stopped talking mid sentence. Instead of looking around to try to identify the mysterious suitor, she reached across the table and took Gideon's hand, garnering his attention.
"What do you think about Lockhart?" She asked.
Surprised, Gideon focused on her, "Pardon me?"
"Gilderoy Lockhart, he published Break with a Banshee last week and I was wondering if you read it."
Snorting, Gideon said, "I've seen Lockhart. If he talked to a Banshee, I'll become a prison guard at Azkaban."
Laughing, Fabian said, "Besides, we haven't been back long enough for him to read a book. Not to mention that clearing all those tables at the Dame's house kept him, er… busy."
Blushing, Gideon covered his face with his hands, "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"Never!" Fabian and Amelia said in unison, then laughed at him.
Kingsley heard the laughter and sighed in relief: the Prewetts hadn't seen him. But the sound of Gideon's laugh brought back some unwanted memories, of happy times when they'd laughed together. He took his time in the bathroom, trying desperately not to think about having Gideon with him right there and then. Finally, he decided it was useless to dwell in the past and then walked back to his table, this time examining his nails intently and picking at a nonexistent piece of loose skin. He sat down again next to Marlene. She leant over to whisper in his ear, "I do want to go dancing. Let's drop Emma and we can all go." He nodded at her, but at that moment their food arrived and they started eating.
He was safe now. Gideon and company would probably leave before them.
They finished their dinner quickly, Gideon picking at his food more than eating it. When Fabian signaled for the bill, Gideon nodded at him. He glanced at Amelia, who was frowning in concentration.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm trying to make you invisible. Is it working?"
With a loud snort, Gideon shook his head. After paying for the meal they stood up, Gideon stood at the edge of the table for a moment, thinking.
"Don't even think about it," Fabian said as Amelia took Gideon's arm. Talking animatedly to him, she walked on his right side, forcing him to look at her and away from the center of the room as they left. His stomach was fluttering nervously and he wished he had an excuse to stop and talk to Kingsley, even for a second.
With a small smile, Gideon let her. He loved his brother for trying to protect him, even if they coddled him like a five year old.
As soon as they finished eating, Marlene signaled for the bill and announced that she and Kingsley were going dancing. Anyone who wanted to join them would be more than welcome. Everyone but Emma agreed immediately.
When they stood up, Kingsley stole a glance to Gideon's table and was disappointed to see he had already left.
***
Late that night, asleep in his room at Southwood's house, Kingsley dreamed that he had been sitting all the time at Gideon's table, but Gideon had refused to talk to him.
He woke up with a strange taste in his mouth, which he ascribed to the beers he'd drunk the night before.
Time Does Not Bring Relief
Authors: ceria_taliesin and westwardlee
Rating: PG13
Summary: Time does not bring relief. You all have lied.
Disclaimer: Don't you get it yet? They belong to JKR. We don't own their universe and we don't make any money off them. The only thing we do is subvert them to feed our twisted sense of interests.
A/N: The title and the summary are from Edna St. Vincent Millay's Sonnet 02.
The index of stories
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been to the Pitch at Durmstrang, but Gideon wasn't as impressed as Meg, partially because they didn't admit Muggle born students and partially because the school was cold. Gideon had been worried the students or teachers would be rude to her, but her long blond hair seemed an instant attraction for many of them.
On the good side of things, a match took two days to play during the short days of winter and they were provided with a warm cabin on the grounds near the Pitch. Curled up in front of the fireplace, Meg was sipping coffee the house elves let her bring back from dinner. She finally put the mug down, her pale hands red from the heat, and pulled the hair tie out of her hair.
Smiling at Gideon, Meg patted the sofa beside her until he moved closer. He'd been sitting on a chair at the small table in the corner, trying to leave her some privacy. This was their first recruiting trip and when the Headmaster put them into one cabin, neither wanted to ask for a second one. Besides, Gideon wasn't willing to leave Meg alone here.
"What did you think?" he asked.
"Two of the Chasers are worth watching. I think their Beater - the smaller one - has a good chance as well."
"I agree with two of your choices. I don't like the sixth year Chaser, he's too aggressive, too confrontational."
"True, but if he controls it, he'd be a good player."
Shrugging, Gideon personally agreed with her, but unlike Meg, he was more worried about the social sides the students were taking. "Karkaroff had some interesting ideas during dinner," Gideon said, curious about her opinion.
"He's a snob," Meg said. "He's more interested in bloodlines than students. It took him, what? Three sentences before mentioning the Prewetts are an offshoot of the Black family."
"He was testing my loyalty," Gideon said.
"Or how much he could say without offending you."
"He mentioned Bellatrix as if I might know her personally, which is more a question about my personal choices."
"So you're a pureblood, big deal."
At some point in time, Gideon wanted to know what Meg really knew about the witches and wizards the Order fought. In many ways, she was his test for what had leaked and hadn't leaked to the general populace.
"Just stay away from Karkaroff, if you can, please."
"He was staring at me like he'd like to devour me," Meg said with a sharp nod, "And I'm not sure if he wants to get rid of me, or take me."
So far she hadn't mentioned Death Eaters or anyone associated with them. Gideon hoped she could continue that way. She still believed all the missions he took were directly from the MLE, and knew nothing about the Order.
"Coach did a good job picking us as recruiters," Gideon said, changing the subject.
"He did, I agree. Except that here, we both look like exotic creatures with our blond and red hair. Not only that, but we're half as thin as all the people here."
Kingsley went back to Italy with Santini late on New Year's Day. He had enjoyed his work at San Mungo and, since he loved Italy, he decided to spend his last days of Christmas holidays with his cousin.
"These are your last long Christmas holidays," Santini had mentioned playfully, as Kingsley was packing his bags for the trip.
"I know. I can't wait to be out in the real world. You know, doing something useful for a change."
Santini watched his cousin for a few seconds. Kingsley had become more somber, but also seemed more mature. The night before he'd gone out with the twins and had met that girl at the pub again. Normally, Kingsley would've been pissed if the evening didn't end in a nice shag, but this time he told Santini he'd had felt no desire to do so. He'd just taken her home and would probably see her again when school started.
Being naturally perceptive, and aided by his training, Santini knew that Kingsley was in the mourning stage after the end of a relationship. He'd first gone through denial, then rage and now had settled in the part where he'd been hit with the harsh reality. It was a good thing to go to Italy and not jump into another relationship right away. The girl could wait.
She poked Gideon's side, "We have no reason to carry the extra weight in England. It's rarely this cold."
He remained silent, just nodding at her. Frowning, Meg wasn't sure what could make Gideon talk any longer. He'd changed since Christmas. They had had one long conversation this trip, revolving around everything except the subject she wanted to discuss, but he wasn't willing.
Making a decision, Meg asked, watching him over the top of the mug, "Do we have a date for Hogwarts?"
"No, not yet. Beauxbaton's match is next. We'll begin looking at Hogwarts after that."
"Gideon…"
"It's not open for discussion, Meg."
Sighing, she turned back toward the fireplace. A moment later, she felt Gideon's head on her shoulder, leaning against her in silent apology. That would have to do. For now.
Sally was waiting for Kingsley at the platform. He waved at her once he'd gone through the wall and she ran towards him, jumping onto him, holding herself up with her hands around her neck and kissing him deeply on the mouth.
He heard a few wolf whistles and felt strangely embarrassed by the show of affection. That was strange - he'd never really cared before. Then he heard a familiar voice, shouting shrilly, "Kingsley Shacklebolt, you total bastard!"
Wincing, he disengaged Sally from his neck and put her back on the ground. Turning around, he faced Marlene and was rewarded with her bag hitting his body.
"What the fuck, Marlene?" he asked, arms protecting his face against her assault.
"You wham! are wham! a total wham! bastard WHAM!. Don't you date him, Sally, he's not worth it. And, especially, don't you dare fall for him. This git has no heart."
With that, she whacked him once more for good measure and walked back towards her girlfriends, who were applauding. A group of boys including Sirius, were shouting, "You go, Shacklebolt! Kiss the girl again! Don't be afraid of McKinnon!"
The whistle of the train mercifully ended the show. Shrugging tentatively at Sally, Kingsley motioned for her to board ahead of him. It was only a polite gesture; he didn't expect her to want to see him again after what Marlene had said.
Sally didn't seem to have been bothered by Marlene's show, though, because she grabbed his hand, saying, "I got a compartment at the end of the train and put a charm on it. No-one will be able to join us."
Karkaroff was an interesting combination for a Headmaster. While his students seemed to love him, most of the staff were stiff and formal around him. He'd tried to be friendly with Meg and after she politely separated herself from him twice, Gideon finally slung his arm around her, whispering in her ear during the match.
He might be a head shorter than Karkaroff, but once Meg snuggled against him during a time out, Karkaroff finally stopped staring at her. As soon as he stopped, Gideon removed his arm and they pulled out a quick-quotes quill to take notes for them. Which they failed to notice didn't work in the cold. Twenty minutes later, Meg put a warming charm on the quill and it finally began taking proper notes.
Instead of staying another night, Meg asked Gideon to leave as soon as possible, which was fine with him. They sat in Gideon's flat, Gideon making loud yawns and stretching his arm to pull Meg against his side as they filled out the necessary parchments for the Arrows.
Laughing, she shoved him away. Leaning back, Gideon smiled at her, watching her get up to make something to eat for them, more comfortable in his kitchen than he was - she was second to only Kingsley. He heard the dishes clanging around and closed his eyes briefly, only to be surprised that it didn't hurt near as much as he expected.
Sally and Kingsley made good use of the sealed compartment and, as a result, arrived at Hogwarts looking as if they hadn't slept in ages. He saw her a few more times, in furtive encounters in empty classrooms, but he felt there was always something…missing; she was a good lay and had a drop dead body, not to mention silky hair that Kingsley loved to stroke. But he just couldn't feel anything for her.
They broke up on Valentine's Day, after he'd been sitting at Madam Puddifoot's with her for what had seemed like hours. He had been a little absent-minded, ascribing it to the hideous décor of the place with its cupids, and at first didn't quite register what she was trying to tell him. He was looking at her with a smile plastered on his face, thinking about the DADA essay he still had to finish, nodding in agreement to her words once in a while. Suddenly he noticed she had said something that required more than a nod.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
"I told you James Potter proposed to Lily Evans," she repeated impatiently.
"He did? And what did she do?"
"She accepted, of course! They're engaged to be married."
Kingsley frowned. "Aren't they awfully young for that?"
"I don't think so," she said coyly. "They're our age and we're all adults."
"Sally, we're barely adults. We're all too young to make such a commitment." He could sense something was amiss in the conversation and decided to call it a day. "Shall we go now? I still have to finish my DADA essay."
To his surprise, she answered curtly, "No."
"No, what?"
"I'm not ready to leave."
"But I have to finish my assignment."
"It can wait."
"Wait for what?" She was acting strange and Kingsley felt like bolting from the place.
"Today's Valentine's Day, Kingsley. It's a special day."
"I know. This is why we're sitting here, right?" Although the place makes me cringe, he thought. He would never have asked her to come to Puddifoot's, but she had suggested one day while he was playing with her hair and he had caved in.
"Did we come here just to have tea and scones?" she asked derisively.
He nodded dumbly. The scones were grand.
"Well, I didn’t!" she said angrily, stomping her foot on the ground.
"Why did you want to come here, then?"
"Because it's the perfect place for you to propose."
It must have been that his mind was miles away, because his next question, "Propose what?" left his mouth before he could think.
She looked at him incredulously. "Marriage! What else?"
He stood up quickly, his chair falling on the ground with a loud Thud. "WHAT? Are you out of your mind? How did you get this fucked up idea in your head?"
He spoke in his normal loud tone of voice, and, as a result, all heads turned to them. Sally didn't answer. She stood up, pushed him out of the way and cried out as she left, "Marlene was right. You are a fucking bastard."
Managing to put off Beauxbaton's recruiting visit until February meant they could only attend the last match at Hogwarts before the year ended. Gideon couldn’t decide if he wanted to see Ravenclaw play or not. Either way, he seriously considered a disguise before going on the grounds, but knew he'd have to explain it to the Professors and Dumbledore if he did.
They had three students to make offers to, out of a list of fifteen who said they were interested in pursuing a professional career in Quidditch. Gideon convinced their coach not to make an offer to the Durmstrang Chaser he found too aggressive and wondered if he'd regret that decision later.
The end of the year approached quickly and Gideon, even after three months, wasn't ready to see Kingsley. He hoped that he didn't have to at all.
So wrapped up with different missions and fretting over the recruiting campaign at Hogwarts, Gideon agreed to go out with Fabian and his new girlfriend, Amelia Bones, to the Wand and Cauldron.
He never once considered the time of year, or the fact that the students were on holiday.
After the breakup with Sally, Kingsley, tired of being called a "fucking bastard" by mental girls, swore them off for a while. Sure, he missed the sex, but with the NEWTs approaching, he didn't want any distraction.
He went home for Easter holidays and stayed at Southwood's most of the time. There were days nice enough to swim and he invited his male friends over. Southwood was very happy with that arrangement and usually took a longer nap than usual, which left some time for Kingsley to have a little roll in the hay with Anna. It was sex for release, which he needed.
He told Jack he was no longer into blokes and, when asked why, he just shrugged. "No reason. Women are better," he answered. It was interesting that he was not attracted to blokes any more, and had been able to fulfill the promise to his mother without a problem.
One day, Kingsley, Benjy and Caradoc were swimming in the lake and, on a whim, decided to call a few other friends and have dinner at the Wand and the Cauldron.
Amelia was a lovely woman and Gideon was thrilled for Fabian. His brother constantly wore a silly grin most days.
"You know his problem," she stage whispered to Fabian, "he's mooning over that nice young man that flirted with him at Dame Jezia's pub."
With a grin, Gideon cuffed the back of her head, "Actually, love, I'm jealous of my own brother." He took her arm as they walked into the Wand and Cauldron, pulling her away from Fabian as he opened the door.
"There's some truth to that," Fabian muttered, ruffling Gideon's hair.
With a curt nod, Gideon agreed with them. "Actually, I'm plotting all sorts of evil ways to steal you away."
"Ohh, if you bat your pretty eyes like that again, Gideon, it just might work."
"Nope," Fabian said confidently, "She's already told me she would never date a Slytherin. You're just lucky you're my brother or she'd have AK'd you by now, Gideon."
With a fake pout, Gideon let her arm go and asked for a table for three. As the waiter took them to a table, Amelia mumbled that she forgot it was such a popular hang out for the teenagers. Gideon froze in shock in the middle of the room as he followed the waiter.
Fabian put a hand on his back, pushing him gently, "What's the chance of seeing him, brother mine? Stop worrying."
The group of seventh-year Ravenclaws sitting in a center table was raucous, but polite. It had started with the three boys, but soon the whole class had been informed. Marlene had made peace with Kingsley after his well-publicized breakup with Sally and now they were enjoying a true friendship. He felt no sexual attraction to her any longer and Marlene, who had found consolation for a while in the arms of the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, seemed to agree with their newfound relationship.
Now they could sit side by side without having the need to constantly paw at each other.
Sitting in the booth across from Fabian and Amelia, Gideon slowly relaxed, beginning to tease them again. During their last mission, when Amelia and Fabian first met, she had taken him seriously until Fabian finally explained to her that Gideon was perfectly safe since he was in love with someone else.
What endeared her to Gideon was her lack of pressure after she initially asked who the lucky person was, and both brothers refused to answer.
"It doesn't matter," Gideon said. "It's not mutual anyway. It's just something I need some time to get over - and I will with time."
The group placed another order for drinks and Kingsley, who at first had asked for another beer, decided he'd had his two and those should be enough. He cranked his neck to call the waitress back to change his order. He talked to her briefly and then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw two redheads and a woman at a table not far from them.
He knew the chances of Gideon being in a notorious teen hangout place were minimal, but he turned a little more just to make sure.
Damn! he thought. It was Gideon. With the Git and a woman he didn't know. Feeling that his night had been thoroughly spoiled by the sight, he moved closer to the table and did his best not to turn again.
He had the uncomfortable thought that he'd have to pass by Gideon's table if he went to the loo. Good thing he'd decided against that last beer.
"Amelia!" one of the girls serving drinks called out, making her way to their table with a full tray of drinks.
Amelia looked around Fabian's shoulder, "Hi, Emily!
"Fabian, this used to be the girl I babysat for. She grew up next door to me. Emily, this is my boyfriend, Fabian, and his brother, Gideon Prewett."
They said hello to her and Fabian eyed her heavy tray, "That's a lot of drinks."
Emily nodded toward the large round table in the center of the room, "They talk so much I don't know how they find time to drink at all."
Fabian laughed a little, glancing at the table. Narrowing his eyes, he noticed that one or two of the students looked familiar, then as a brunette girl moved, he could see a tall, black student with a shaved head sitting next to her.
He glanced at Gideon, Oh, fuck.
"Well," Fabian said, "Don't let us keep you, that looks heavy. It was nice to meet you."
Emily glanced at Fabian and winked at Amelia before leaving the table.
Amelia shook her head, "She's old enough to work. It's a shame that make me feel ancient."
"Don't you want to go dancing?" Kingsley asked the group at large. He was not really in the mood for dancing, but he wanted to get out of the Wand as soon as possible.
"Where?" asked Caradoc.
"Kingsley knows the best clubs in Muggle London," Marlene said. "I think it's a great idea."
"I don't know," said one of the girls. "My parents don't let me go to Muggle London."
"Emma," Benjy said seriously, "there's much more danger here in Diagon Alley than in London."
She still seemed uncertain. Kingsley wished she could stay in the Wand and the rest of the group would go dancing happily - and away from Gideon. But they had come as a group and it seemed quite rude to suggest it. He could sense that the rest of the Ravenclaws agreed with him, but instead, the idea of dancing started to fizzle.
Kingsley decided that Gideon would probably leave right after eating. As long as he didn't have to go to the bathroom he was all right.
Gideon, who'd drunk one beer and several glasses of water already, excused himself and Fabian immediately turned toward Amelia, "We need to go. Can we get out of here quickly?"
"What's wrong?" she asked, obviously confused about Fabian's serious demand.
"Gideon's friend, the one he's been mooning over? Is here. I don't want Gideon to see… to know."
"With their new significant other, are they?" she asked.
Fabian kissed Amelia's cheek. Ever since their last mission and Gideon's reluctance to discuss Kingsley, Amelia made a habit of referring to him vaguely, not even assigning a gender. Fabian suspected that she realized Gideon had been dating a man, but he didn't want her knowing that Kingsley had been a minor, or any of the other problems relating to it. She was one of the Aurors that mentored trainees into the program, as he was, and he didn't want to create any issues for Kingsley. Well, if he was honest, he wanted to create those himself.
Gideon returned at the same time the waitress brought their food. Trying to maneuver around her into his seat, he didn't look at the table in the center of the room. Fabian sighed with relief. All they had left was to get through dinner and they could escape. Amelia would help distract Gideon, and that would be that.
Kingsley cursed mentally. Tonight, of all nights, he just had to go to the bathroom. He tried to distract himself with the conversation, but the pressure on his bladder just kept increasing. Finally he knew he had to do something about it. He could, of course, go outside and into another bar. But that was the coward's way. Gideon was only one person, who was of absolutely no importance to him. None whatsoever.
And he could, of course, just pass by their table and pretend he hadn't seen the Prewetts. He excused himself, stood up and strode to the bathroom, walking on a straight line but looking at the opposite way from where Gideon sat.
Dinner wasn't bad, despite all the noise behind him. Still chatting with Amelia, he was watching her as Fabian stiffened, the immediately relaxed and turned toward her. Tilting his head at his brother's strange behavior, Gideon glanced at him, barely seeing someone else rushing by the table. Gideon would have dismissed it until he recognized the bright blue shirt.
Freezing in position, Gideon sat there a moment, surprised. Amelia, who didn't catch Fabian's blunder, obviously knew something was wrong when Gideon stopped talking mid sentence. Instead of looking around to try to identify the mysterious suitor, she reached across the table and took Gideon's hand, garnering his attention.
"What do you think about Lockhart?" She asked.
Surprised, Gideon focused on her, "Pardon me?"
"Gilderoy Lockhart, he published Break with a Banshee last week and I was wondering if you read it."
Snorting, Gideon said, "I've seen Lockhart. If he talked to a Banshee, I'll become a prison guard at Azkaban."
Laughing, Fabian said, "Besides, we haven't been back long enough for him to read a book. Not to mention that clearing all those tables at the Dame's house kept him, er… busy."
Blushing, Gideon covered his face with his hands, "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"Never!" Fabian and Amelia said in unison, then laughed at him.
Kingsley heard the laughter and sighed in relief: the Prewetts hadn't seen him. But the sound of Gideon's laugh brought back some unwanted memories, of happy times when they'd laughed together. He took his time in the bathroom, trying desperately not to think about having Gideon with him right there and then. Finally, he decided it was useless to dwell in the past and then walked back to his table, this time examining his nails intently and picking at a nonexistent piece of loose skin. He sat down again next to Marlene. She leant over to whisper in his ear, "I do want to go dancing. Let's drop Emma and we can all go." He nodded at her, but at that moment their food arrived and they started eating.
He was safe now. Gideon and company would probably leave before them.
They finished their dinner quickly, Gideon picking at his food more than eating it. When Fabian signaled for the bill, Gideon nodded at him. He glanced at Amelia, who was frowning in concentration.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm trying to make you invisible. Is it working?"
With a loud snort, Gideon shook his head. After paying for the meal they stood up, Gideon stood at the edge of the table for a moment, thinking.
"Don't even think about it," Fabian said as Amelia took Gideon's arm. Talking animatedly to him, she walked on his right side, forcing him to look at her and away from the center of the room as they left. His stomach was fluttering nervously and he wished he had an excuse to stop and talk to Kingsley, even for a second.
With a small smile, Gideon let her. He loved his brother for trying to protect him, even if they coddled him like a five year old.
As soon as they finished eating, Marlene signaled for the bill and announced that she and Kingsley were going dancing. Anyone who wanted to join them would be more than welcome. Everyone but Emma agreed immediately.
When they stood up, Kingsley stole a glance to Gideon's table and was disappointed to see he had already left.
***
Late that night, asleep in his room at Southwood's house, Kingsley dreamed that he had been sitting all the time at Gideon's table, but Gideon had refused to talk to him.
He woke up with a strange taste in his mouth, which he ascribed to the beers he'd drunk the night before.