RP: Receiving the News
Date: November 3, 2004
Character: Wayne Hopkins
Location: Metro Grand Hotel, Brighton
Status: Private
Summary: Wayne gets a message from his brother
Completion: Complete
The kitchen of the Metro Grand in Brighton was closed for the evening. It was eerily quiet in this part of the hotel late at night, possibly because it was usually bustling with activity even during the traditional off-season. Winter was slowly crawling in as crisp autumn days would soon give way to chilling frosty mornings, which meant the hotel’s bookings were increasingly fewer through the start of the new year.
This particular hotel was one of Wayne Hopkins’ favorites. His father’s company owned thirty-two properties throughout the world, many of which he’d visited during the two years of his training after Hogwarts before he’d cut it short to return home, but they didn’t compare to the Metro Grand. This was their first hotel, after all, built at the turn of the twentieth century by Gregory Hopkins, his grandfather several greats back.
It was one of the first successful properties owned by a ‘man of color’ in Brighton according to the local museum, a distinction that made Wayne proud at the same time he was disappointed that there had to be an addendum regarding the color of skin. It was also the hotel where his family would often spend the summer, though his father would usually only visit on weekends while working in London.
Now, it provided a second home for Wayne while a war devastated so much of the other world that he called home. He hadn’t been in England for the worst of it, the attacks and battles that left many dead and entire villages destroyed, but he’d felt the loss when first Nathan and then Robert had died in different attacks. His brothers’ deaths had lured him home, and he’d been trying to do what he could to help ever since.
It had been seven years of war, though it really started even earlier than that. He could remember reading mentions of attacks in the Daily Prophet during his sixth year at Hogwarts, after all. It had just gotten worse during his final year, before his parents had sent him away to train for the family business. Not only had it been a long war with huge losses, but the last couple of years had been basically stagnant. One side would win and then the other would and it kept going back and forth without any real progress being made.
The wizarding world, itself, was in total chaos. So much had been lost and there hadn’t really been a chance to regroup at all. Money was basically worthless there now, the few remaining members of the Ministry were unable to keep any real form of government even though they tried, and there hadn’t even been a school since Hogwarts had been destroyed years ago. Wayne knew he was lucky because he had a life in the Muggle world, a job that paid well, and the means to live just about anywhere he wanted. Despite that, though, he chose to live in an abandoned Muggle town that had slowly begun to become a wizarding town during the past fifteen months.
His brother Andrew had told him about the town, and they’d begun to help move people who came into the makeshift shelters they’d been able to set up to the town. Wayne did most of the transport, working with a few people in town who dealt with the refugees and assisted them with food, clothing, and lodging. One benefit to moving into an abandoned town was that there were at least places to live, even if a lot had damage from various attacks in the past.
It was his work with the shelters that brought him to the Metro Grand tonight. There was a small group of wizards who had found their way to the shelter that wanted to go to Stoatshead Hill and try to make a life for themselves there. Wayne had received the message from Andrew while he was at work in their hotel in Exeter, which he’d made his primary base for his job with the company, and had Apparated in a couple of hours ago.
Now, he was in the spooky kitchen getting a couple of boxes of non-perishables to take back to Stoats with him. He had just added several cans of corn that he thought they could easily lose from inventory when he heard the annoying beep that signaled he had a message. Wayne got his cell phone from his back pocket and glanced at the screen, noting that it was a text message from Andrew, who preferred to type instead of speak.
When he pushed the button the read the message, his eyes widened and he sighed, running his free hand over his smooth head. It was short and sweet, just four little words, but he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything quite so welcome before. ‘War over. We won.’ He saved the message so he could look at it again, if he felt the need, and put his phone back into his pocket.
He picked up the box and headed to the employee lift, which would take him up to the ballroom that was ‘Closed for renovation’. The small group of homeless travelers was waiting for him to take them to Stoatshead Hill. He smiled as the lift began to move, knowing they’d be as relieved as he was to hear the war was finally over.
It was time to go home.
Character: Wayne Hopkins
Location: Metro Grand Hotel, Brighton
Status: Private
Summary: Wayne gets a message from his brother
Completion: Complete
The kitchen of the Metro Grand in Brighton was closed for the evening. It was eerily quiet in this part of the hotel late at night, possibly because it was usually bustling with activity even during the traditional off-season. Winter was slowly crawling in as crisp autumn days would soon give way to chilling frosty mornings, which meant the hotel’s bookings were increasingly fewer through the start of the new year.
This particular hotel was one of Wayne Hopkins’ favorites. His father’s company owned thirty-two properties throughout the world, many of which he’d visited during the two years of his training after Hogwarts before he’d cut it short to return home, but they didn’t compare to the Metro Grand. This was their first hotel, after all, built at the turn of the twentieth century by Gregory Hopkins, his grandfather several greats back.
It was one of the first successful properties owned by a ‘man of color’ in Brighton according to the local museum, a distinction that made Wayne proud at the same time he was disappointed that there had to be an addendum regarding the color of skin. It was also the hotel where his family would often spend the summer, though his father would usually only visit on weekends while working in London.
Now, it provided a second home for Wayne while a war devastated so much of the other world that he called home. He hadn’t been in England for the worst of it, the attacks and battles that left many dead and entire villages destroyed, but he’d felt the loss when first Nathan and then Robert had died in different attacks. His brothers’ deaths had lured him home, and he’d been trying to do what he could to help ever since.
It had been seven years of war, though it really started even earlier than that. He could remember reading mentions of attacks in the Daily Prophet during his sixth year at Hogwarts, after all. It had just gotten worse during his final year, before his parents had sent him away to train for the family business. Not only had it been a long war with huge losses, but the last couple of years had been basically stagnant. One side would win and then the other would and it kept going back and forth without any real progress being made.
The wizarding world, itself, was in total chaos. So much had been lost and there hadn’t really been a chance to regroup at all. Money was basically worthless there now, the few remaining members of the Ministry were unable to keep any real form of government even though they tried, and there hadn’t even been a school since Hogwarts had been destroyed years ago. Wayne knew he was lucky because he had a life in the Muggle world, a job that paid well, and the means to live just about anywhere he wanted. Despite that, though, he chose to live in an abandoned Muggle town that had slowly begun to become a wizarding town during the past fifteen months.
His brother Andrew had told him about the town, and they’d begun to help move people who came into the makeshift shelters they’d been able to set up to the town. Wayne did most of the transport, working with a few people in town who dealt with the refugees and assisted them with food, clothing, and lodging. One benefit to moving into an abandoned town was that there were at least places to live, even if a lot had damage from various attacks in the past.
It was his work with the shelters that brought him to the Metro Grand tonight. There was a small group of wizards who had found their way to the shelter that wanted to go to Stoatshead Hill and try to make a life for themselves there. Wayne had received the message from Andrew while he was at work in their hotel in Exeter, which he’d made his primary base for his job with the company, and had Apparated in a couple of hours ago.
Now, he was in the spooky kitchen getting a couple of boxes of non-perishables to take back to Stoats with him. He had just added several cans of corn that he thought they could easily lose from inventory when he heard the annoying beep that signaled he had a message. Wayne got his cell phone from his back pocket and glanced at the screen, noting that it was a text message from Andrew, who preferred to type instead of speak.
When he pushed the button the read the message, his eyes widened and he sighed, running his free hand over his smooth head. It was short and sweet, just four little words, but he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything quite so welcome before. ‘War over. We won.’ He saved the message so he could look at it again, if he felt the need, and put his phone back into his pocket.
He picked up the box and headed to the employee lift, which would take him up to the ballroom that was ‘Closed for renovation’. The small group of homeless travelers was waiting for him to take them to Stoatshead Hill. He smiled as the lift began to move, knowing they’d be as relieved as he was to hear the war was finally over.
It was time to go home.