2 Aug '74: Stand By You: Edgar

[Phoebe Bones]

2 Aug 1974
following this

Things couldn’t have been going better for Phoebe Adkins. Earlier this summer, Phoebe hadn’t been sure of a lot of things. The biggest one of those things being where her future with Edgar was going. Now? She was still unsure of some things about this whole magic world that she now knew excited, but she knew exactly where her future was going with Edgar. Because one week ago, he’d proposed. In the most perfect way she could have imagined, surrounded by the people that they both cherished. And while they hadn’t exactly had the time to sit down and plan the details of their wedding yet - like picking a date - she was excited. She’d only been planning a wedding in her head her entire life, and now she got to plan a real one. To her best friend, to the man of her dreams.

“I’m thinking about spring, but who can trust the weather at that time of year?” she spoke into the phone, flipping through a wedding magazine she’d bought spur of the moment as she talked to Kyra on the phone. Their boys had gone out for the night, to celebrate them leaving their Auror program, the wizarding equivalent of the coppers they had once told them they were becoming. It was bliss, having her best friend in on the secret of the magical world. “My mum has been been calling every day asking if we’ve set a date yet. Don’t know how many times I can tell her we’ve only been engaged officially for a few days. We’ll get around to it, oh hold on,” she said into the phone, putting it down to listen. Sadie had skirted off for the door, and it certainly sounded like a key in the lock. Checking the time though, Phoebe was concerned. Was Edgar really home this early? “Sounds like Edgar is home, I’ll call you in the morning. Love you Kiki.”

Setting down the phone and her magazine, Phoebe stood and went into the hallway, watching as Edgar frantically came in the door. Something was wrong. That much she could pick up on in his movements, in the way he came to her. She pulled him into a hug, holding him to her for a few moments. Because she’d never seen him like this, not really. Taking a step back, she held his hands in her own as she looked up to him, concern filling her face. “What’s wrong love?”

[Edgar Bones]

He'd had no warnings from Phoebe that anything was amiss, no owl to the pub or twist of their charmed rings. Voldemort had even said to not expect him to act against them tonight. And as Edgar approached their building after a sloppy set of Apparitions, the lack of a Dark Mark overhead should have soothed him. Shown him that, in a way, the madman was true to his word. But no Mark in the sky didn't mean that someone wasn't in their home now, finishing a job because he and the twins refused Voldemort - Stop it.

    Just stop.

Edgar came to a halt at the door to the townhouse they shared, hand pressed hard against the cheerful paint until it ceased its tremor. This is your life now. He knows where you stand. He knows about her. If you let him control you like this, you'll never be able to focus enough to stop him.

    Gideon's telling Dumbledore. And you've put every ward around the house that you know. She's okay. She is.

Nothing's happening. Not to her. Ever.

As much as he wanted to believe his inner monologue, when he entered the house Edgar took the steps within too quickly to portray any sense of calm. For even if Voldemort and his lackeys weren't here tonight, there was a promise between them now, and he didn't know how to make it stop looming like a storm on the horizon. He unlocked their flat and came in to Sadie nipping at his heels and Phoebe looking like she'd seen a poltergeist within him. See? She's okay. She is. You're the one freaking her out, nothing else. Good work. His fiancee came to him in deserved worry and Ed held her, looking over her head at the home they'd built. Through her years of university, his years of Auror training, they'd managed to turn this little space rented out for decades into theirs. And no Dark Lord was finding his way in to spoil it. Over my dead body.

Phoebe pulled away and she wasn't hurt and neither was he and they were okay but this is why he'd told his parents not to put their engagement notice in The Prophet although that wasn't really fair because they would've been found out eventually but - Your tongue, Bones. Speak. "Has anything - anything - out of the ordinary happened tonight?" he asked, hushed. "Sadie barking at the air, people lingering on the street, anyone at the door?"

[Phoebe Bones]

Something was wrong, that much was clear. There was no way that Edgar would look so panicked if there wasn’t. Was it their family? No - someone would have called the house looking for her if it was, and the only person she talked with on the phone was Kyra. But what if someone had tried to call only to find the line busy? Something must have happened to someone, maybe one of his siblings. There was a world of possibilities that could have happened to them, in their magical world. She tried to keep herself calm, jumping to conclusions wouldn’t do any good. There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for Edgar being home so early. Even though he seemed upset, even though she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him so worried. Having him hold her after she went to him didn’t calm him or her as she had hoped, and she looked at him with concern as he spoke.

Phoebe wasn’t sure why he was speaking so quietly, it wasn’t as if anyone else was in their home with them besides Sadie, who was quietly sitting at their feet waiting for attention. “A neighbor stopped by with a package for us,” she said, reaching for her fiance’s hands to give them a squeeze. “But that’s about the only thing out of the ordinary that’s happened around here tonight. Package was from Mum, sent us the wedding cake topper from her and Dad’s wedding.” Her mother was so excited to plan her wedding, which didn’t surprise Phoebe at all. She was an only child after all, and her parents had been waiting for this day since the day she and Edgar had moved in together.

“Let’s go sit down, yeah?” she suggested, tugging on Edgar’s hand gently to get him to follow her into the other room. She sat them down on the couch, Sadie jumping up in between them to nudge their hands until Phoebe gave her a few pets. “Something’s happened, hasn’t it? Is it your parents, Ed or Amelia? Has something happened to the twins?”

[Edgar Bones]

He'd never been scared, not like this. 

Becoming an Auror had set him on this trajectory, and he couldn't regret taking this stand. Not tonight, not ever. Since he had his eyes opened to the war as a teenager, this had been the path he'd known he'd have to take. To fight for a world that deserved Phoebe Adkins and her family, one where she would be safe and he could retire from the fight to raise their children. How could he sit back and let a tyrant-wannabe continue to infect the minds and souls of witches and wizards, killing innocents like cattle?

You can't. You know that.

    So you have to learn to live with this. You can't let him distract you.

Pheebs took his hands and he gripped them, green eyes latching onto her worried ones as he checked for signs of spell damage, evidence of the Imperius curse... She's fine. The package was innocuous if it was what she claimed, her parents were over the moon about their upcoming wedding and hardly a day went by, it seemed, without progress on that front happening with their help. Ed smiled briefly, letting out a sigh through his teeth. She's fine. You're not. Get it together, Bones. He hated to think of what was happening not so many miles away between his best mate and his girl, he was sure he'd know before morning - but now he just needed to talk with Phoebe. Let her in, like he'd promised he'd always do when she'd come back to him. She led them into the living room and he sat with her, not letting go of her hand, even as their pup nudged at him so intently. Make it up to you later, Sadie. 

Phoebe prodded when he failed to speak, and Ed cleared the tightness from his throat, giving a shake of his head. "Nobody's hurt," he began warily, eyes shifting back to hers. Confirmation of the risks of being with him wouldn't be enough to scare her away, would it? Now that he knew she was safe - for tonight - Ed's heart had the space to worry about that. The thought wasn't enough to get him spiraling, not like when she'd actually left - but it was still a worry. It's her choice. You'll protect her either way, as best as you can. She knows that. "We were out, and Vol- " Ed stopped himself short, cutting off the man's name. Rumors about its being traced hadn't bothered him before, but...now wasn't a time to take unnecessary risk. More than you already have. "You-Know-Who came to us. Offered us positions on his side. For our safety," he said with a derisive snort. For even if he and the twins joined the dark forces, they'd be eliminated. Either by Voldemort or by his followers, they wouldn't last long. There were no guarantees, but he would fight with his friends, for this better world, and if the worst happened - if the worst ever happened, at least he'd know they'd never corrupted him. Sticking to morals at a time like this was a lofty goal, Ed knew, but...these situations tested who you were as a human, and he wasn't going to break. The promises were empty, and for what?...

"But he - Pheebs, he was in my head," Ed went on, voice breaking at the memory. "And he named you."

[Phoebe Bones]

She was worried for him, more than she normally was. Something had clearly happened, and Phoebe didn’t even know where to start in thinking about what it could be. The most likely option was that it was family related, that someone was sick or hurt. Then it occurred to her, something could have happened to one of the twins. After all, they had been out together. She half expected the phone to ring any second, Kyra calling back to check in with her. Thankfully her gentle prodding question was enough to get Edgar talking, and she gave his hand in hers a squeeze. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding when he assured her that no one was hurt. She didn’t know what she would do if anyone she loved was hurt, even if she knew it was a real possibility in the world that Edgar lived in.

But she hadn’t prepared herself for what came next. He didn’t finish the name, but she knew who he was talking about. Voldemort, a name she’d been playing in her head since he’d first sat her down and told her about the war. And it was chilling, to hear that he had approached her soon-to-be husband, offered them safety. Just when they’d been out celebrating about joining a good cause, about becoming fighters in this war. What had the three of them done to attract the attention of such an evil man? She felt her heart starting to race, because this was real. This was an invisible war knocking on her doorstep. This was too close for comfort, and she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe.

You can not freak out like this.

            Just take a breath, you can do this.

Taking a deep breath, she looked to Edgar as he spoke once more. And she couldn’t understand, because what did Edgar mean You-Know-Who had been inside his head? Out of all the magic she had learned about, she hadn’t even considered mind reading. How was anyone supposed to feel safe if their thoughts were exposed. And to know that her name had been on the lips of a madman? She squeezed Edgar’s hand harder, doing her best to remember to breathe. “He knows...he knows my name?” She was nobody important, and yet an evil man was using her to get to Edgar. Now she understood why he was so freaked out, and she couldn’t blame him. “Okay,” she said as calmly as possible, scooting closer to Edgar so she could lean against him. “What do we do know? Do we need to move? Mum and Dad would let us stay with them in a pinch.”

[Edgar Bones]

He hated to see her like this - fearful but doing her damnedest to not look it - and returned the increased pressure to Phoebe's hand before letting go, moving his arm around her to hold her to him as she nestled into his side. He hated that Voldemort had been able to get to him so quickly, hated that the man had wanted to, hated that he had learned Phoebe's name to do it. Growing up with the Lestranges and Carrows and the lot of his minions had prepared him for meeting the man himself, or so he had thought before tonight. But Voldemort...he was different. Choosing ice over fire, calm and collected, controlled. Staring down the three of them as if he had nothing to fear, but there was no bravado or showboating - just what he saw as irrefutable fact. Ed could see why the Death Eaters flocked to him so carelessly, now that they had met. They all had their ideology, ambition, skill, but no one was as level-headed, self-possessed, and commanding as Voldemort. The ability to bring the worst of their kind together for his perverse purpose, to celebrate them as they worked to upend the balance - it was no little or thoughtless thing, and he had years of experience over Ed and the twins...

You've got Dumbledore. You've got the Order. This is a bump in the road.

"I'll check the wards tonight, expand them so we get a head start if anyone with a Mark enters the area," Edgar said, relieved at least to put himself to work rather than continue to sink into worry. He rubbed her arm as he thought, spoke, leaning his head to hers. "Fabian's with Kyra, Gid's with Dumbledore, and I'll go see him tomorrow with them. We can't be the only Order members who've had You-Know-Who come to us. He'll know what to do, how seriously to take the threat." While he didn't know the full scope of the secret organization yet, was it so out of line to think that they had safe houses in place? Or people ready to step up and be Secret Keepers? Her parents would let them stay just the same as his would, but he'd hate for the target on them to spread...Figure it out in the morning, you'll all figure it out in the morning. Gid will come if Dumbledore wants us out tonight.

"I'll go with you to work and then go to headquarters with the others," Edgar amended, not much liking the idea of her out and about by herself until they had a better handle on the situation. "Let's pack a bag just in case, I'll keep it on me." There was the question of Sadie, too, who he couldn't very well take to headquarters - could he? Maybe the dog could stay with Kyra and Liz if their apartment was deemed unsafe? You-Know-Who hadn't named Kyra, was it too optimistic to think that he didn't know about her? Can check that with Fabs in the morning, see how tonight went for them... 

"I'm sorry to scare you, love," he sighed, turning to kiss the top of her head. "Haven't had anything like this happen before. But we'll all get through it, I promise." And know how to handle it better if it happens again.