Aug 27: My Condolences: Misuse of Muggle Artifacts (Arthur)

[Alice Longbottom]

Her heart was pounding, and in her rush to make it into the elevator Alice felt the urge to be sick rise yet again. Swallow the bile down, she pushed into the already crowded space with a short nod to the few people she recognized, unable to maintain eye contact with any of them for long. Soon enough everyone would know why she was here, but for now she just needed to get to Level 2. Every jerk of the elevator was a shot to her stomach, and she didn’t know if she could take much more when the elevator finally stopped at her floor.

Stepping out with a flurry of letters zooming around her, she didn’t dare to meet the eyes of anyone as she made her way towards Arthur Weasleys office. But as paused outside the door to Arthur’s office in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, she felt a rage boil inside her at an unfortunately familiar voice she heard coming from behind the door. Swinging it open forcefully, she closed it with a loud slam behind her. Wand drawn and pointed at the neck of Lucius Malfoy - who was giving her a look that stated he knew exactly why she was here.

“Get out.”

The blonde man was quickly following her word, giving her a smirk before he stopped in the doorway. “My condolences,” he said with a nod before he closed the door behind him, leaving Alice with only the option of turning to look at Arthur.

[Arthur Weasley]

"Weasley, so glad to have caught you. Just heard about the new baby, finally a girl. That must be wonderful."

"Yes, it is," Arthur said flatly, not wanting to spare the little energy he had on the man who had come into his office, surely, for more reason than to insincerely congratulate him and Molly on the birth of their daughter. While he was thrilled at finally having a girl, knowing Lucius Malfoy, the man was here to gloat about something. And Arthur, frankly, didn’t have the time for it, and kept busy with his files while the other was invading his space. His perpetual exhaustion wasn’t going to be shaken anytime soon, not with a newborn around again, and while he would much rather be home helping Molly with Ginny and the boys, he was at the Ministry to work. Well, in truth - since the Bones family tragedy only a few weeks ago, Arthur just needed to be somewhere where his mind was kept constantly busy. This happened at the Burrow - seven children running about will do that to anyone - and at work when he was left to do what he needed to, not wait for the gentleman to get to the point. "What did you come here to say, Malfoy, I don’t have time for - " 

Arthur cut himself off as the door to his closet of an office was forced open and shut in the same moment; a tense and rather livid Alice Longbottom was firmly pointing her wand at Malfoy’s jugular. The Auror ordered him away and Arthur gave a nod of agreement as he slipped out, saying something that chilled his blood on the way. Arthur stood slowly, tall and thin, from behind his cluttered desk and looked at the young woman. She’d always been a welcome guest, and maybe it was the lack of sleep or Malfoy’s intrusion or her abrupt and decisive appearance that had him over analyzing what could be a trick, but…she's not here for a visit. He pushed his glasses up from the bridge of his nose to settle in his red hair before steeling himself enough to ask, "What is it, Alice?"

[Alice Longbottom]

It had been twenty minutes since the Order had been alerted. Sirius Black had been in the area, and she was silently thankful for that. If he hadn’t been, there was a chance no one would have known what had happened for a few days, at least not officially. Alice could distinctly remember a very large clock in the Weasley home, and she didn’t want to know what the two hands for the twins were now pointing to. She had to assume that Molly didn’t know, even if intuition told her otherwise. Twenty minutes. It seemed like ages had passed since the word had come in. They’d just lost so many people, everyone was already on edge. The Bones family, Marlene McKinnion, and now this.

She had told her husband where she was going, knowing that someone needed to break the news to the family. She hadn’t a clue if anyone was on the way to the Weasley house, and there was Fabian’s muggle girlfriend who would need to be told. For now it was still soon enough the gossip hadn’t spread, but with Malfoy skulking about the Ministry it wouldn’t be much longer before the news slipped. And while she knew her silence wasn’t helping, she had never delievered an announcement like this before. Not to someone she was so close to.

“Arthur,” she started, tears springing to her eyes. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, hand clenching around her wand. “It’s Fabian and Gideon...”

[Arthur Weasley]

He'd known that this day could come. Since the twins' graduation from Hogwarts, they'd been in the line of fire. First with becoming Aurors, and then going underground with the Order, and then taking on more responsibilities as solo operatives. He'd known that this, what Alice was saying, that the condolences were for Fabian and Gideon - he'd known that it was a possibility.

But Arthur hadn't prepared - mentally or emotionally - for it to be a reality.

He took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, grasping the bridge of his nose between them tightly as he tried to dam the sudden flood of emotions. The boys had been by the house what, a week past? To meet Ginny, to play with their sons, to catch up with him and his wife. They'd said they were going to be unreachable for the next while, and having gotten used to them being away over these last years, Arthur frankly hadn't thought much of it. They always made good on their word and returned, after all.

Losing himself for a moment, Arthur banged a fist on the desk, rattling the jumble of plugs and sending parchment tumbling to the floor. His jaw clenched tight as he tried to get his thoughts in single-file, as they were bounding everywhere… Where did they go? What were they after? Who did this? How am I going to tell Molly?...

"I have to go. I have to - I have to get home - " he stammered frantically through the tightness of his throat. He needed to get home, to get to Molly, before a friend or stranger showed up to tell her. While it wouldn’t be good, coming from him...he had to be there. Devastation would hit him later, Arthur knew, but for now he needed to get to her. To be there for her when she found out, to hold her, let her direct her rage, tears, somewhere...He pocketed his wand and glasses, gathered his hat, as he spoke. "Is anyone at the house? Have they told Molly? What can you tell me about - about what happened?"

[Alice Longbottom]

She didn’t know what else to say. With Lucius’ final words, just saying the names of the twins was enough. Arthur’s demeanor had changed for her to know that he understood what had happened. And these days, news like this was being received by everyone she knew. Losing Edgar and Phoebe - what the Death Eaters had done to the children had been a large blow. The Bones family had been the glue that held so many people together, and she had gone home and cried while holding Neville for hours once her work was done. It was her job to hold it together, to handle a crisis without emotion. But she always cried later, it was impossible to do this sort of thing without breaking. Especially when both her day job and her night job had her facing death much too often.

Her heart jumped at Arthur’s sudden outburst of emotion, and it took every ounce of willpower she had not to go to him and wrap him in a hug. She wanted to apologize, she had never wanted this to happen. They had been wonderful to her over the years, watched out for both her and Frank in the field. Her emotions were everywhere; rage at the people who had killed them, sadness for the loss of her friends, frustration at the twins because she hadn’t a clue what they had been doing.

He was gathering his things, and she gave her wand a wave to get the scattered papers back onto his desk. It was easier to let him gather this thoughts without interruption, and she finally reached out to touch his arm as he directed his questions to her. “You need to be careful,” she said quietly, pocketing her wand before reaching to pull him into a hug. She stepped back after a few moments, clearing her throat before she could speak. “It’s been less than an hour since it happened. I came here right after the Order was alerted. I don’t even know if the Auror’s department knows yet - or if they will be.”

She ran a hand through her hair, needing a moment to collect herself. She felt responsible for this, she hadn’t checked in on them. She knew neither one was handling the loss of the Bones well, but they hadn’t called for help. There was no way the two of them had been taken by surprise, there had to have been a fight. “I don’t know why they were out there, but they missed a check in. They were found by Sirius, he called it into Dumbledore. Fabian had still been speaking when Sirius got there, but the chances he lived aren’t great. I don’t know if anyone has been sent to your house.”

[Arthur Weasley]

Having grown up as the youngest of three boys, Arthur had only been "the little brother" for half of his life. Bilius and Clarence had grown into good men, certainly, and it was from their examples that Arthur had opened his arms to brotherhood with the twins. He’d had years of chances to mentor, to give advice, to tease mercilessly, to jest endlessly, to feel pride of his own at their accomplishments, to worry over them. They had long been family to him, as much as those he’d been born to. And to know that the loss of them wasn’t just his, but his wife’s, their children’s… He didn’t know how to break this to Molly, but even more so - how could he explain this to their children? How could he make it clear to them that the uncles they loved were no longer here? That they had - Think it, Arthur. - died fighting to make the world a better place not only for them but for their nephews and their niece…

He’d only just put on his hat when Alice touched his arm lightly, directing his frenzied attention to her. Arthur saw the turmoil he was feeling in her eyes, her kind face, and hugged her back when she put her arms around him. She’d known Fabian and Gideon for years now, had worked side-by-side with them…Did they send you to tell me, or did you volunteer? Arthur cleared his throat and nodded at her words, heart picking up as she mentioned the need for caution, and scrawled a note to Tommy as she spoke. He couldn’t fully explain his absence in the note, not when anyone could come to their office and see it, but Tommy was a good lad and would cover his duties for the day. He absorbed the information, unable to comment on the report of how the boys were found. He was still speaking…

"Careful," he repeated, eyeing her with more than worry as the statement dawned on him. "You think they could target us now." The need to get home now even more pressing, Arthur began out, only pausing briefly to give her shoulders a squeeze on the way. Molly and the children could be in danger, and she may have already seen the news on the clock… I’m coming, Molly. "Thank you, Alice. Go and take care of yourself." He swallowed thickly and moved past her, making a beeline for the lift that couldn't move fast enough, for the fireplaces that would bring him to the Burrow...

[Alice Longbottom]

Before much longer the Ministry would be a flurry of people, and soon after that she knew the news of what had happened would break. Many people would be mourning the loss of the twins, two very brave individuals that had served them all well. Some - Molly, Arthur, the kids - would mourn a little bit harder. And with Malfoy knowing what had happened, it was clear that the Weasley family was not safe. There was doubt in her mind that there would be actions against the Weasley’s before too long, simply because they didn’t support the Dark Lord. Her own family had already come under fire years before, and had moved out of the country at her insistence. It would be important to make sure that someone was keeping an eye on the the Burrow.

She watched Arthur leave, taking a moment in his now empty office to compose herself. With a wave of her wand and a muttering of words, her patronus was off to Dumbledore to let him know that Arthur was on his way home, and Alice Longbottom was headed to her own desk on Level 2 to await further instructions.