16 June: Take A Chance On Me: Fortescue's Parlor: Mary

[Roderick Bones]

16 June 1974

“I’m telling you ‘Melia, Edgar just isn’t the same since everything happened with him and Pheebs, ya know?” he said to his sister, wand twirling in his fingers as they waited for the entrance to Hogsmeade to open, “It’s like, we all thought they were forever. They survived the distance of school - and then it’s magic that breaks them up?” Roderick, in theory, could understand where Phoebe was coming from. It was sort of a weird thing, suddenly discovering an entire world you never knew about existed. And then throw in the fact there was a magical war brewing - it was a lot to take in. If he hadn’t been born a wizard, it would have been a lot to take in. But Edgar and Phoebe, they’d been together since they were 15, moved in together against the wishes of both of their parents. She was like another sister to him, and if he couldn’t imagine his life without her then he could only guess how Edgar was feeling.

Amelia wanted to talk about other things, he knew that, but he was glad that she was at least tolerating this conversation. They’d already spoken when they had received letters while at school, it was important to be there for their older brother. He’d always looked out for them, and Roderick idolized Edgar. He had the kind of life that Roderick wanted - if you replaced fighting in a magical war with healing. He wanted the love story with the girl, the timeless sort of pure love that he knew his brother and Phoebe had. “Anyway,” he said, turning to look at his sister, only to realize she’d stopped to chat with a friend. Typical of her, to leave him talking to himself. She’d find him later, they had nothing else to do today besides hang around Diagon Alley until Sunday dinner with their parents and brother, and in all likelihood the Prewett twins. Since he had the time to kill, and the money to spend, there was plenty for him to get up to. But no trip to Diagon Alley was complete without a pit stop for ice cream first.

“Alice Fortescue, you look lovely as usual,” he said as he entered the small parlor, the Gryffindor girl rolling her eyes at him with a wave. She was busy wiping down tables, but she came to the counter anyway to see him. Everyone liked Alice, she was one of the sweetest people he had ever met. “Sorry Roderick, I’m due for an appointment at Malkin’s so I’ve got to run, but tell your sister I’ve got a book for her, yeah?” Alice said to him with a smile, untying her apron and hanging it on the wall. “Mary! Customer!” she yelled into the back, stopping to give Roderick a quick hug before she left.

Mary - she was in Gryffindor too right? A few years younger - appeared, and Roderick gave her a grin. She was pretty, that was one of the first things he noticed about her. It was a shame that this was their first proper meeting, but they did run in different circles. “Roderick Bones, it’s nice to meet ya,” he said, with a smile to her, “You’re Alice’s younger sister, right? Can’t believe we haven’t crossed paths before.”

[Mary Macdonald]

"Coming!" Mary hollered, trading novel for apron as her break unceremoniously met its finale. Alice having to go to Malkin's during their day instead of when they could both steal away to shop had soured her mood this morning, but alas, as joined as the hip as she liked to be with her sister, she supposed it was fair for them to have their own outings from time to time. And so Mary left her uncle working away in the back office - summer holidays meant new specials, new board designs, and their help in the front - placid customer service smile rapidly shifting into a genuine, if taken aback, one. Couldn't have given me any warning, Alice? 

There was a familiar-from-afar bloke. At the counter. Giving her the greatest grin. 

It was a grin she hadn't seen directed towards her too much before, but one she knew. And she knew this scene, this meet-cute, from her novels - this once-in-a-lifetime moment for a first impression that mattered. It was a moment rehearsed in front of the mirror, played out as she fell asleep, dreamed of with a love she hadn't met yet. Not that every lad at the counter who smiled at her would bring this sort of feeling, but this was no stranger, not really. Roderick Bones, he went to school with them, a few years above. In Hufflepuff with Amelia, wasn't he? And hadn't she seen him around the Hospital Wing when checking on the boys in her year? Caring, ambitious, great family - and he was giving her that kind of grin?

"Well, I'm glad we are now," she chanced, summoning courage and charm along with an affect of ease as she sidled up to the counter. Get at least one of the three right at a time, okay? It's just a hello. With a handsome bloke. Probably nothing. Definitely nothing. You've got this. "You're Amelia's brother, right? Alice has always got the greatest things to say about her, hope only the good things about us have made it back to yours too." Grin broadening, she picked up a pair of spoons. "We've just started a new flavor, chocolate chili. Care for a sample? It's got a bit of a kick, but I'll try it with you, prove it's alright."

[Roderick Bones]

Roderick knew what it was like to be someone’s younger sibling, as he far too often was referred to as Edgar’s-younger-brother, and Professor Binns still occasionally called him Edgar in class. Roderick usually let that slide though, the poor man was much more ghost than a man. There was nothing wrong with being compared to Edgar, it was sort of flattering. His brother was a hero to him, he always had been. Edgar was the one who had taught him to stick up for the underdog, to not take sh*t from a Slytherin who decided to mouth off about blood supremacy when they found out about his mum. He owed so much of his life and career path to watching Edgar and learning from him. Roderick wasn’t suited for the Auror’s office, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t also do good in the world. And healing had come so naturally, and once he was an established healer with a place of his own, surely he could help those times when people were injured in the field.

So it was quite surprising to be known not as Edgar’s younger brother, but as Amelia’s older one. Given the closeness of Alice and Amelia, it made sense that Mary would associate with him with her. He wasn’t even sure if Mary had ever even had the chance to meet Edgar, it wasn’t like his brother hung around the Hogwarts grounds these days. He laughed, giving a nod to her words, “From what I can remember, Alice and Amelia are both hoping to be assigned as prefects this next year, it’s 90% of what my sister talks about,” he joked. He didn’t doubt that both Alice and Amelia would be prefects next year, the pair always going above and beyond already for the school. “So only good things, I promise. Although ‘Melia failed to mention how pretty you are.” See that, you’ve gotten better at flirting.

Leave it up to Fortescue to create a chocolate chili flavor, but the new flavors did keep people coming back. Sometimes they sounded a little odd, but he’d yet to try one that he hated. “Alright, I’m game. Let’s try some chocolate chili ice cream!” He grinned as she handed him a spoon, cheersing his spoon to hers before he tried it. He could see why Fortescue came up with this, the chocolate with a bit of a kick to it? Superb! And the dairy helped balance out the heat, and he was sold on it. “Fantastic, you know who would love this? Pheebs, she-” he cut himself short, twisting the spoon in his hands with a sigh before continuing,“Pheebs is…was my brother’s longtime girlfriend, they split after 6 years last week.”

[Mary Macdonald]

"I'm glad it's not just our house. I'm sorry if you're a prefect, but honestly, I just - I just don't get why someone would want it!" Mary laughed - nothing but love for Alice and Amelia, but there was much more to the world than making plans around being a prefect or not! To be honest, the appeal went entirely over the young lioness's head. What was there to gain from becoming the dorm pariah? Sure, future places of work might think it showed "promise" or something, and professors and Heads might write a grand recommendation...But there were loads of other ways to prove yourself, and they were only in school with their friends for so long. Why waste time away from them telling people off for having fun? At least it's more likely than not that it will be Alice and Amelia, bodes well for us...

The girl's hazel eyes widened at Roderick's boldness, and she was unable to keep the surprise from her face. "Well, she - er - erm - she's never spoken about you like that either. But same here, only the good things." Mary quickly turned to ice cream, a safe conversation, and renewed her confidence as Roderick agreed to test the new flavor with her. She loaded up a pair of spoons, biting her lip in a grin as he cheersed them like they were giving a toast, and enjoyed the spoonful as she watched his reaction. He was taken aback but in a good way, it seemed, her uncle too clever for his own good, and at seeing his excitement Mary began scooping a double into a cone for him.

"You're kidding. Oh my Merlin, what happened?" she exclaimed, stunned into pausing in her work at the horrible news. Roderick's entire face had fallen, poor thing, and she could only imagine what it was like to have someone in your family's life for so long only to have them abruptly severed from it. Realizing that that tragedy was none of her business, Mary quickly backpedaled, "If you're alright sharing, of course - that's just - that's just terrible!" She finished scooping and traded his spoon for the cone, helping herself to a new spoonful before closing the lid of the charmed container.

[Roderick Bones]

He laughed, glad to hear that he wasn’t the only one who felt like being a prefect wasn’t worth it. Too much rule following, and not enough time for laying by the lake. Plus, he and Gracie had been working in the hospital wing as since third year, something that helped when you wanted to pursue a career in healing. Much better than sticking your nose into perfectly innocent broom cabinets to find teenagers being teenagers. “Oh, I’m not one, that’s all Amelia’s ambition. I’m sure both ‘Melia and Alice will get the positions though, they’ve put in the dedication for it.” Plus, it was likely Amelia wouldn’t get on his case about the little things if she caught him, if only because she knew any rules he might break he did with the best intentions. It was nice sharing a house with Amelia, it had given them another thing to bond over and tease Edgar about.

He’d caught her off guard with his compliment, which made him wonder if his flirting was about to backfire. Thankfully, it did not, and he grinned widely at her. Alice was pretty much the resident sweetheart of Hogwarts, but he also knew that she’d hurt anyone who crossed her or her family. She was a Gryffindor after all. But he was pleased to hear that at least Mary had heard good things about him, very much suddenly concerned about impressing her. He wasn’t the best student, he wasn’t winning any awards or money for being at the top of any classes, except maybe Herbology. But he was good with thinking on his feet, and passionate about healing, so he felt that had to count for something. He was glad for her grin as he touched their spoons together, grinning back at her as she began scooping him a cone.

His admission of what had happened to his brother got Mary’s attention, and she was asking for details before backpedaling on her words and handing him the cone. “Phoebe’s a muggle, which has meant a lot of secrets for past six years, from a lot of people in her life,” he said, with a sigh. He didn’t like that he understood Phoebe’s anger, but Edgar had to have known for a while now that he planned to marry Phoebe. It’d been one of the only reasons Phoebe’s parents hadn’t totally flipped when the couple had moved in together. “Anyway, he told her about magic, and she got pissed with him. Which I get, it’s sort of been weird keeping the secret this long when he’s so obviously in love with her. I haven’t seen her since I got back from school, I don’t know how to help her or my brother deal with this.”

[Mary Macdonald]

Mary could breathe a little easier knowing that Roderick found the idea of being a prefect as laughable as she did, and she grinned back at him from across the counter. "Absolutely, they're brilliant! And it'll be nice having people I know in that group, you know? Not that I - not that I get into a lot of trouble, but some of the rules are silly, aren't they? Some days I just want to wear my own things, my colors! I'm not meant for gray," she lamented with a laugh. She'd been given the lecture more than once that uniforms were good, they helped form a sense of unity, they promoted focus on academic learning, blah blah blah. But that she could earn a detention for daring to wear a dress - a cute sensible one! - and get stuck writing lines next to someone who missed class - because they were waiting on an urgent owl from home! - and another who was caught teaching first years offensive spells above their ability and sense - right, well, perhaps they'd earned some kind of punishment. Shutting them up in a room on a beautiful Saturday morning to stew solved nothing!

However...closing the door to the shop and staying here with Roderick was growing awfully tempting.

Not in the pursuit of anything untoward! He was much better company than those she'd shared detention with, or even the always-in-a-rush crowds that could overtake the shop from time to time. But from the shared moments of a little flirting, to hearing him talk of his sister so highly, and hearing of the devastating news between his brother and ex - Roderick's heart was right there on his sleeve, and Mary felt herself drawn to its warmth. Nervous to be here one-on-one with the handsome brother of one of her sister's closest friends? Affirmative. Wanting to try anyway? No question about it. Brave, Mary! And so she was glad for his continued openness, even if she wasn't any more certain of how to solve things than he was. 

"Oh, gosh. It must've been really hard to keep that from her all this time, for all of you." I came along too quickly for my dad to keep it a secret for long. "Another silly rule, but much more important than dress code," she said with a sad smile, dropping her empty spoon in the sink. "You can't help who you fall in love with, and if that's a muggle, they have to know." You want him to stay. Ask! "I'm sure you've got things going on here today, but if you want to stay...? I'll need to hop up when a customer comes in, but this is much more important than - than wiping down tables. I know you'll find a way to help them. Just might take some talking through, and a sounding board? I can't be totally impartial, I mean - six years, they have something, they really do, and I hate the idea of this being the end. Talking it through with someone who doesn't know them might help?"

[Roderick Bones]

Alice and Amelia would make great prefects, if for slightly different reasons. Alice cared a lot about the school, and about the younger students. She would look out for everyone, even those that were rude to her. Amelia? Amelia wouldn’t take any sh*t from anyone, and being the one to enforce rules would make it easier for her to toe the line. Either way, it was good to hear that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want the position. He grinned at Mary as she spoke, feeling a crush growing on the girl every second. Not just because she was pretty, but because the more she talked, the more he could see how genuine she was. “Oh, I absolutely agree. I mean, I know it is a magic school and all but do we have to wear robes all the time?” he joked. Truthfully, the robes were nice when the castle was a little drafty, but a good jumper was also an option for keeping away the chill.

Sharing his feelings about what had transpired between Phoebe and Edgar with Mary felt natural, and honestly, he hadn’t really gotten to talk to anyone about it besides Amelia. And admittedly, his free-spirited sister was at least not outwardly affected by this change between Edgar and Phoebe. They had gotten together the summer before his first year at Hogwarts, she’d always been just one of the girls in the neighborhood. But not to Edgar - to Edgar, Phoebe was the sun and the stars and Roderick had watched them fall for each other that summer, and while he was separated by house from Edgar at Hogwarts, he had still been able to watch their relationship blossom despite the distance. He hadn’t really understood it back then, girls were still icky to him at 11. Now he was older, and he looked up to his brother’s love story in hopes one day he’d have one as brilliant as Edgar’s.

So this? The two of them were not together, Phoebe not living at the flat that was so familiar to him now, it had never been in the cards. He was determined to help his brother though, and he nodded to Mary’s reply. Keeping the secret was hard, especially when he was younger - and he’d always thought it silly anyway. His mum was a muggle, a fantastic one at that, and their family had always worked. But his mind was distracted from thoughts of Edgar and Phoebe at Mary’s invitation to stay, and he wasn’t dumb enough to pass that up. “I can help with the tables if you want. I know there’s got to be a way to get the two of them back together. I haven’t seen Pheebs since we got back from school, but my brother is crushed. So I’m sure together we can come up with a plan.”

[Mary Macdonald]

He was making her laugh too easily, Mary knew, and she liked it. It was unusual for her to meet someone who was so open from the get-go - You don't have as many friends in Hufflepuff as you should. - and it really was refreshing. Roderick had come in for a treat, but while she would be the first to say that sweets cured almost everything, it seemed like what he really needed was someone to talk with. And she was feeling luckier by the moment to be that someone, even if it only lasted until his treat melted.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, you just enjoy your ice cream," Mary said, coming around the counter and heading towards her favorite window-side table. Looking over her shoulder to see if he was coming along with her, she grinned. "Thanks for wanting to, though. And if my uncle comes out, I'm very busy, okay?" Did it count as skiving off work when the shop was this quiet? When she really had little better to do than pretend to look busy anyway? Keeping a customer company wasn't the most horrible thing she could do. She took a seat at the table, one that allowed her to keep the door to the back room in sight, but wasn't terribly worried. The worst that could happen was a little embarrassment, wasn't it? When other customers came, she'd tend to them, but for now...

The redhead tucked her towel into the pocket of her apron, having difficulty keeping up with enacting her mantra of courage, charm, and ease when she wanted to beam across the table at the darling boy so concerned about his family. And she shouldn't be smiling anyway, not when the situation he was in really was quite awful. From the sound of things, Roderick truly was worried - and wasn't that just the sweetest thing? She'd hardly ever known someone so honestly invested in a sibling's relationship. The sweetest thing. She was so tickled by all of it - the attention, his affirmation that they together could concoct a successful scheme - that as she thought it over, she had to smile at him. Just a little.

"For what it's worth, I think you've got to visit Phoebe too. There's two sides here, right? And it's hard to say what exactly it is that she's upset by," she reasoned, drumming a pattern on the tabletop with bubblegum nails as she thought out loud. "I imagine learning about magic was a shock - but is what's keeping her away that, or the lie, or something else? I really hope it's just the shock, and that she'll come around. But if we don't know her reasons too, I'm not sure how to help. Do you have any idea?"

[Roderick Bones]

He would happily enjoy his ice cream, but he wasn’t going to let the girl work by herself if she needed help. That wouldn’t be nice of him, to take up her time and then not help out. Besides, it meant spending more time with Mary, and while he had his concerns for Edgar and Phoebe to discuss, he was enjoying their talk. She was easy to talk to, and admittedly Roderick didn’t know very many of the Gryffindors other than those that ended up in the hospital wing at school. So he followed her to a table, grinning across at her as they settled in. “Oh you are very busy, trust me. If he asks, you’re giving me detailed descriptions of all the ice cream flavors,” he told her with a laugh. Mary was so easy to talk to, and she seemed genuinely interested in helping him figure out how he could help Edgar with the Phoebe situation.

She had a valid point, about visiting Phoebe. While Roderick had his hunches as to why she was upset, he wouldn’t know for sure until he talked to her. But he also didn’t know if she would even be willing to see him, which hurt him. To Roderick, she would always be a big sister. While he knew his brother was struggling to adjust to a life without Phoebe, Roderick was too. Even before Edgar and Phoebe became a thing, she’d been one of the neighborhood kids that they’d played with. “I tried to go by her parent's place - we all grew up together in Barking - and she wasn’t there. Which is where she had gone, but they said she went to stay with her best friend. Honestly, Kyra can be scary so I haven’t gone by her flat.” He was still teased regularly for the time he’d tried to trick Kyra into a date, and he was wondering if he was ever going to live it down.

But he had to proceed carefully with how he told the story he’d learned from the Adkins, because while it had mostly been a lie, it was a lie mixed in with the truth. And he couldn’t go around telling just anyone that his older brother was joining the Order of the Phoenix. “I talked to her parents, and she told them that Edgar had joined the military and lied about it. Which makes me think the issue isn’t magic itself, but the fact it took my brother six years to tell her,” he started, taking a moment to enjoy his ice cream. “He’s been in Auror training for three years, and I’m guessing he told her all about You-Know-Who and that. Which I’m sure didn’t go over well. I mean, I feel like we’ve tried to talk Edgar into telling her sooner. We all knew they were going to be together ages ago.”

[Mary Macdonald]

Mary was quite enjoying herself here - and it wasn't just because the bloke who wanted to talk with her was so handsome. Roderick actually wanted to talk, and about such personal and important things. She couldn't recall ever having a conversation like this with one of the boys in her House and year, even though they likely had had something of the kind with each other, seeing as they'd become so brotherly. It was nice, and different, to be trusted like this. She just hoped she was doing the right thing, and that her questions and advice weren't foolish. Roderick had probably gone over this so much by himself already, hopefully with his sister and brother too, but that he still wanted to discuss it showed her that it was still going round his head. And so she settled in to listen, learning of his attempts to find Phoebe to speak with her, his thoughts on what the root of the issue was, how he'd tried to help his brother avoid this outcome...

"On top of everything, he's becoming an Auror? This poor girl!" she exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat. Merlin, but her heart did go out to Phoebe. Lies, magic, and war. Just one would be enough to break up many couples, she was sure, and Mary did wonder if there was a way forward for the star-crossed pair. If they'd been as strong together as Roderick described, though, there had to be hope left yet. "I can't imagine finding out about the war in the mix of everything else, too. That must have been so frightening for her, and that he's going to be in the fight. Alice is set on that as well, you know, and it's hard enough for me to think about, and we grew up in all of this...but I suppose it's never easy to hear someone you love talk about putting themselves in danger, even if it's for the noblest reasons." She gave a beleaguered sigh, turning it all over in her head as best she could. "Six years is a long time...I can see why she left, though. It must've felt impossible to trust him after learning about all this." The girl quieted, turning to the window to think, as she couldn't possibly consider thinking seriously when she'd just noticed the adorable dimple in his cheek.

"I've an idea," Mary declared after a few moments, a grin toying at her lips as she faced him again. "Feel free to say no if it feels silly, but - do you want to practice what you'll say to her, when you have the chance? I know you've seen her parents already, and her friend's a terror, but it might be easier for her to talk to you than your brother at this point. I wouldn't give up on that yet." With a gentle smile, she continued, "So say you've gotten past this gatekeeper, and it's just you and Phoebe," she emphasized, hand to her heart, "sat down together for a heart-to-heart. What do you want me to know?"

[Roderick Bones]

Roderick gave a solemn nod, knowing that his words about his brother joining the Auror department gave the situation a whole different level of difficulty. It was one thing to find out about magic, but to find out there was a madman out there intent on killing people like you because you didn’t possess magic? That alone was enough to send someone running. But what he knew about Phoebe was that she wasn’t the type to back down just because she was scared. She was one of the strongest people he knew, and so he had to hope this situation could be repaired. He listened with rapt attention as Mary talked of her sister’s desire to become an Auror, not at all surprised that was the path Alice wanted to take. “I understand how you feel about Alice. When I found out Edgar was joining the Auror program, it freaked me out. And it feels like things have only gotten worse in our world in the last three years. But Ed, he’s one of the bravest people I know. I admire him a lot, but I’ll deny that if you tell him,” he teased. He was sure his older brother knew that Roderick looked up to him. How could he not, when Edgar had always been such a good example of a good person?

“I remember when they first started dating, back when Edgar was still in school. We all wondered how it was going to work, with him off at Hogwarts and her in Barking. The number of letters my mum passed between them had to be in the hundreds,” he said with a grin, “I don’t blame her for leaving, it’s a lot to handle. But they’ve always been the ideal couple, perfectly matched. They made me believe in true love.” He watched Mary as she looked out the window, trying not to stare but unable to look away. Mary was pretty, and she was so kind to allow him to vent like this when she probably had better things to do. He smiled as she turned back to him, meeting her eye as she told him of the plan. It was a good idea, to be able to practice what he wanted to say to Phoebe.

He took a few moments to gather his thoughts, nodding before he spoke. “Phoebe, first and foremost, no matter what happens, you will always be my big sister. You’ve been such an inspiration to me to always follow my dreams and never give up, and I could never thank you enough for that.” He paused, trying to decide how it would be best to approach Pheebs. “I understand that Edgar betrayed your trust, and I wish he had told you sooner. Not to make excuses for him, but there are rules in our world about muggles knowing about magic. And with this war, I’m sure it made it even harder for him to tell you. But he’s joining the Auror office to protect you. You really are his whole world, and he’d do anything to make sure you are safe.” Satisfied, he shot Mary a grin across the table. “What do you think?”

[Mary Macdonald]

It wasn't often that she confided her worries in others, and inside, she berated herself just a little for revealing her concern for Alice to, essentially, a perfect stranger. But Roderick's openness, with a beating heart on his sleeve that was so torn up about the future of his family - she hadn't even considered keeping her worry inside, not when she could empathize with part of what he was going through too. He spoke of his concern and turned it around with a tease, and Mary smiled back easily. Amelia was quick with a joke too, even - maybe especially - in more serious times, and she wondered if this eldest brother was the same way. "Your secret's safe with me," she assured, teasingly prodding his foot with hers under the table, "but I'd bet he already knows."

She listened intently as he spoke of the couple's history, chuckling as he let on about the sheer number of letters, as that had to have been the only way for them to communicate during the school year. And her heart, it beat just a bit faster as he admitted something she hadn't seen coming, that this Phoebe and Edgar had made him believe in true love. The declaration was said like a given, and she'd never heard something like that from a boy, and she wanted to tell him how she believed too. That she believed love was the greatest power in the world, that it could surmount all obstacles if they believed in and worked for each other. She wanted to tell him of her parents, the stories she'd heard about them falling so quickly for each other, and her father...

"My father told my mother about magic late in the game too," she admitted carefully, keeping on a smile. "It was all quite a shock to her, and of course, times weren't as dangerous then. But love was - love was enough, and he was still him, just with magic. I hope Phoebe knows that, too."

As he took her up on the idea, Mary did her best to keep herself serious. This was no trifling thing, this was Roderick's family, and she had no logical reason to smile, so why was it so hard to fight one off when his attention focused was on her like this? But the decisions Edgar and Phoebe had made so far, would continue to make separately and, perhaps, together - logic wouldn't be responsible for everything. She hoped that their heads and their hearts could align, that forgiveness could come and in time, they could move forward, if they both wanted to. But as Phoebe made sense of the new knowledge, Mary could imagine her heart struggling even more. Deciding to trust Edgar and the family again, or not - that would come from her heart. And as she listened, feeling for the first time what it was like to be spoken to by Roderick, as someone he loved - even if it was just pretend - she couldn't imagine that Phoebe wouldn't be moved. He was thoughtful, taking his time with his words to get his feelings out right. He felt such a love for her, surely Phoebe would allow him the time to speak, as she had to feel for him too. Roderick was understanding and warm, building her up as who she was to him on her own, explaining the best that he could without diminishing the hurt...

He paused and, seeming content with his words, gave her the most blinding grin, and she immediately returned it with the one she'd been holding in. "It's really good, and I think she needs to speak with you. Absolutely, I do," Mary encouraged. "She should know what she means to you, and you should have the opportunity to hear from her too. I can imagine, though, that she'd struggle with that last. Yes - she's his everything, and he's done this to make her safe. But he didn't give her the chance to know what she was getting into, before she's already - she'd already made a plan for what forever would be like with him, I bet, and it has to be impossible to know what that could look like, now that she knows what's really happening. And if she's anything like him, which it sounds like she is, she would have wanted to have her voice heard in all of this. It's like this all happened around her, not with her, but it's her life just as much as it's his." She gave a sympathetic smile and shrug, unsure what would happen, but hopeful they would each do what was best for them - and not give up on a love so strong, that may only come once. "If she knows that she'll be kept apprised of situations and be heard, moving forward...if she knows that from Edgar and can trust it, and the risk of being in our world is worth it...it's a big if, but love is taking a chance with someone, right?"