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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Feb 22, 2016 10:00:18 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2016 10:00:18 GMT -7
Even government officials needed a little break every now and then, and Victoire rarely let that happen. Her guards had agreed to wait outside the bookstore, giving her a chance to explore the shelves alone for a moment.
Nostalgia wasn't a sensation that Victoire necessarily loved experiencing, but it had been happening to her a lot lately. Why? Because she was actually trying to reunite her old friendships and be... a person again. That was one of the things she had given up to get where she was now. The Minister for Magic. She had made the right decision letting Teddy go, hadn't she?
But she lost so much more than just Teddy when she told him it was over. She lost good friends. No, she lost great friends. An old memory crossed her mind as her fingers hovered over the History of Magic edition she had used as a student. She was looking through the clearance and old books section of Flourish & Blotts. She let a little chuckle escape her lips as she remembered the time when she had lost her History book. She was a little first year, frantically searching the Great Hall where a number of students were studying, playing chess and snacking. Teddy had, of course, agreed to help her look for it. She had scribbled her name on the inside cover.
"Hey, hey. We'll find it Vic, don't worry," he said in that soothing voice he always had with her, ever since they were children.
She sighed as the memory played through her mind. She missed her friends, she really did. She was grateful that she had seen them recently, and that she was trying to reconnect with Royal. Sebastian was a friend... Is a friend. Only a friend, now. Until she was instated as the Minster, she had been seeing him in a romantic capacity, even though they worked together. Even though it was over, she still didn't have any friends she could talk to about it. No one else would understand that when she had kissed Seb she always thought about Teddy on the way home. No one could understand how much she missed Teddy, and how much she couldn't tell him that. How stubborn she was.
She lifted the old History of Magic book off the shelf, blowing off the dust and staring, rather longingly, at the cover.
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Feb 28, 2016 9:17:41 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2016 9:17:41 GMT -7
show me the way Royal was not in the business of walking around with a jar of cookie dough in his hands at all times, but since he and Victoire had created said cookie dough, it had become a habit. Royal had considered walking into her office to deliver it, but a familiar face walking into the Minister’s office with slightly yellow-tinged food that was very obviously homemade sounded like a thinly veiled assassination attempt. Instead he counted on the fact that he and Victoire would be brought together again. They were two halves of a whole, and the universe had shown them, again and again, that living without each other was possible, but not the life they deserved. She was the first person who had made him feel, really feel since he and Abigail had crouched on the floor of their house and cried for the father they lost. She gave him hope, and that was not something he had had for nearly a year. A year. Had it really been that long?
Either way, he had been counting on some higher power to do him a favor, and apparently whoever or whatever was listening pulled through. About time that something went right. It wasn’t difficult to find where Victoire was at any one time due to her guards. Well, it wasn’t difficult for Royal, since he knew both guards with a great deal of familiarity. Ron glared at him nonetheless while Teddy performed a series of checking spells, and Royal was allowed inside.
Finding Victoire once inside the store was a matter of walking past every aisle, looking for her white-blonde hair. Strolling towards her in the least-menacing manner possible (he wasn’t attempting assassination, so he didn’t know why he felt like he was) Royal smiled when he noticed she was looking down at a History of Magic book like it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Penny for your thoughts?” He asked softly, trying not to startle her. “I brought cookie dough.” He added on meekly, hefting the mason jar up so she could see it. “With the freshly-squeezed lemonade.” He added, realizing he hadn’t yet proven his identity. It wasn’t strictly necessary since he had undergone a check outside of the store, but better safe than sorry.
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Feb 28, 2016 15:22:08 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2016 15:22:08 GMT -7
At the sound of the familiar voice, Vic spun around with a wide some in her face. She chuckled as he held up the jar, mentioning the lemonade. She bit her lip to keep from laughing too loudly. "I hope they didn't shake you down too much," she said, "they're getting to the point of ridiculousness. That's what I get for accepting an uncle as my head of security," she rolled her eyes and shook her head, but still kept the lighthearted air.
"Not to mention Teddy. He may be even more overprotective than Uncle Ron, which is pretty hard to beat," she didn't laugh that time, but let her smile wither a little. She regretted bringing Teddy up but... Who better to talk to about that than Royal?
Still, she changed the subject. "Just taking a ten minute breather in here. We has this edition," she lifted the History of Magic book, "remember?"
@royal
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Feb 29, 2016 19:15:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 19:15:56 GMT -7
show me the way It was nice to know that his presence was wanted, and Royal beamed wider in response to Victoire’s smile. “You’d have thunk I was a criminal with how many spells Teddy was casting on me.” He teased. “And if your uncle’s looks could kill, well, I’m deader than the deadest doornail ever to die.” Royal chuckled softly. “In all seriousness, though, I’m glad that they’re keeping you safe. I guess I’d gotten used to being let into places by my name alone.” No one had really questioned him for several weeks following his father’s death; he’d gone in and out of the Ministry as he pleased, never checked or stopped or otherwise acknowledged. That was probably because he had been a ticking time bomb emotionally, though. He was the only one who hadn’t realized it.
“Yeah, I remember.” He replied, hand reaching out to touch the cover. His smile faded. “I miss school sometimes.” The question he had thought of a few days ago flickered into his head again, and Royal shoved it away. He didn’t care when they had grown old, because that time was nothing more than a wedge between them. “Guess we never thought that we’d be the ones making history, eh, Miss Minister?” He asked, forcing the grin back onto his cheeks.
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Feb 29, 2016 20:42:11 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 20:42:11 GMT -7
Vic chuckled as Royal went on about Teddys spells and Rons killing looks. She nodded as he said he was glad that they were taking such good care of her. She shrugged, "I would say your exaggerating about their measures but... I've seen what they do to people sometimes," she chuckled again. "As for getting in by name alone..." she frowned, "I would be nice if that was good enough. If we could trust everyone. But if killing has come back into the world full force then the criminals will start using older methods and-" she bit her lip to stop herself from talking. "I'm babbling. But you now what I mean?" she asked.
She nodded in agreement as he said that he missed school sometimes, sighing as she replaced the book back onto the shelf, turning away from his as she did so. Then he made the next comment about making history and she shook her head again, turning back to him. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. A soft flicker of vulnerability played at her senses. It may have even shown in her eyes, but she shoved it aside.
"I always knew we'd be doing great things, Royal. I just had hoped the world wouldn't be so dark when we did," she tried to smile too, now, even though it wasn't that fitting.
@royal
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 2, 2016 17:00:42 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 17:00:42 GMT -7
show me the way “Maybe one day, we can make a world where that’s possible.” Royal said, unscrewing the lid of the jar that held the cookie jar and offering it to Victoire, though not before swiping a finger of it for himself. He sucked on it idly, deciding that lemonade was definitely an amazing secret ingredient. The acid and sugar from the drink only served to enhance the slight bitterness of the semisweet chocolate chips. “I know what you mean.” He said with a nod. Being killed by a spell that left no trace was awful, but at least there was solace in knowing there was nothing anyone could have done to save them. Royal couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like if he had known he could have saved his father. If blood loss was what had killed him. He wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself.
Royal wondered if Victoire knew how close she came to stabbing him straight through the heart. He knew a thing or two about a world gone dark. It was ever day of his life for…what? A month? Two? He could argue that, up until he had rekindled his friendship with Victoire, Royal had still been wallowing in the shadows. The good thing about being intimately familiar with darkness, though, was that Royal knew a thing or two about light, and the relationship between the two. “Sometimes you need a little dark to make the light shine.” He said with a smile. “Trust me.”
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 2, 2016 21:47:01 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2016 21:47:01 GMT -7
Victoire nodded as he said that they could someday make a better world, and smiled as he offered her the jar. She took it, taking a bit herself with her fingers and trying it. Her eyes widened, "holy crap, that's good!" she said, taking another small bite and realizing that she probably looked like a kid in a candy store for a moment. She shrugged, embarrassed, and took her finger out of the jar for the third time, taking another bit.
Then he spoke about how the darkness had to be there to contrast the light. To make it shine. Her expression and her shoulders softened. She reached out and took his hand, "let's not let it get that dark again."
@royal
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 4, 2016 15:46:25 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2016 15:46:25 GMT -7
show me the way Royal chuckled softly at Victoire’s reaction to their amazing cookie dough concoction. “Of course it’s good, I made it.” He teased. “With some help, of course.” He added, not wanting to make Victoire feel guilty about her inability to stick around to finish their culinary experience. He had already forgiven her by the time that she had disappeared, and any remaining hurts were obliterated when she found his sister. That was all he really cared about. The fact that he had gotten an amazing new cookie dough recipe out of it was just the lemonade in the cookie dough, so to speak.
“It takes a lot to drive away darkness.” Royal responded sadly, squeezing Victoire’s hand. They could fight as hard as they wanted as long as they wanted, but they were only two lights. Then again, he hadn’t needed more than one to get through that first hour. “I suppose we’re just going to have to shine brighter.” He paused. “And when people see us shining, they will shine, too. We just need to show them the way.”
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 8, 2016 11:23:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 11:23:16 GMT -7
Victoire nodded and smiled as he mentioned the 'help' he had in making the cookies. She shook her head along with that, "maybe I should have my architect install a little kitchen in my office, then we can just make cookies there while I'm working," she was joking at the beginning of that sentence, but toward the end she realized it actually might be a good idea. Her eyes widened a bit at the thought and she made a note to have Sebastian ask Hestia about the idea as soon as possible. Heck, she practically lived there anyway. Heck, she may as well have a hideabed installed. Okay, maybe that was pushing it.
She smiled and nodded as Royal spoke of showing others the way. "Exactly. Good thing we're such influential people in society," she chuckled, even though it was true. She leaned back against the bookshelf, taking another bite of cookie dough. "So, what brought you out and about today? Did you need a book or did you just see my entourage and assume I was inside? Or are you stalking me?" she smirked.
@royal
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 8, 2016 13:12:18 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 13:12:18 GMT -7
show me the way “Oh, God, no!” Royal laughed when Victoire made a joke about putting an office in her kitchen. “Then what would you need me for? To look pretty?” Nothing other than the promise of cookies (or maybe alcohol?) was a surefire way to get Victoire to abandon her work, and even then, it only lasted a few minutes. Having a kitchen in her office would only exacerbate the problem. Besides, spending time alone in the Minister’s office to “bake cookies” screamed scandal even louder than yellow-tinted cookie dough screamed assassination attempt. Appearances were everything, and though Royal could pull a few strings with his position in the Daily Prophet, he could only do so much.
Royal arched an eyebrow when Victoire said they were influential people. Them, as in the two of them. “Not sure how influential I am anymore.” He said with a self-deprecating smile. He had had a little more pull when his father was alive, but now, all he really did was change around how the news was framed. Making news was a lot more important than writing about it. “All of the above.” Royal chuckled in response to Victoire’s question about his presence. “I’ve been trying to find you so I could finally try the cookie dough, and I needed some information from the store about publishing opportunities for my biography.” He had intended to get the information at a later date, but since he was already in the store, he’d probably end up grabbing it on the way out. Two birds with one stone and all that.
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 8, 2016 15:04:18 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 15:04:18 GMT -7
"No, no! I mean you can come hang out in my office with me and we can cook together," she rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest. "Plus, I've got enough people to stand there and look pretty for me," she chuckled, but she understood what he was trying to say. She need to get out of her office, not make it even more comfortable for her to stay there forever. "How about this, I'll just put an ice box in there so I can store any cookie dough that we make together easily?" she suggested, raising both of her eyebrows up and down a few times.
Then he spoke of not being influential anymore and she shook her head, "you work for the Daily Prophet, Roy. All of you guys are influential. At least in my eyes," she commented, "and I know a lot of people read your column. Sure, they only started reading it because of your surname but I know people look for it now, want to see what you have to say. As an individual," she explained, not caring if she was going off on him a bit. That's what she always used to do, anyway.
As he declared he was doing all of the above she chuckled to, raising only one eyebrow now in question. Then he went on to explain and she smiled. "Oh, that would be great if they could help you get it published! I'm sure they'd be happy to help you. How... how far along is the book, then?" she asked, almost nervous to have it published in all honesty.
@royal
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 8, 2016 19:46:46 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 19:46:46 GMT -7
show me the way Royal schooled his face into one of mock affront when Victoire said that she already had enough people to look pretty for her. “But do any of them have eyes as cool as mine?” He asked, blinking prettily through his lashes. Most of his friends tended forget that his eyes were two different colors, but strangers seemed to find the effect striking, especially against his skin tone. “As for the icebox, I’ll accept that compromise.” He paused, thinking of his earlier internal monologue in reference to assassination. “Just keep it locked, okay? Wouldn’t want anyone meddling with your food.” The back of his neck itched with discomfort at the thought.
He blinked once when Victoire said she thought that everyone at the Prophet was influential. Maybe it was a grass is always greener type thing. “I don’t know, Vic.” He sighed. “Sometimes I think that I’m too close to everything for my opinion to really be taken seriously. I mean, when my dad died…well, my dad died. There’s no away around bias on that one. And then there was Cain, and he wasn’t my father or anything, but I knew him, and I liked him. And you’re my best friend, and I don’t know. It often feels more like writing a gossip column than any genuine reaction to what’s happening.” Royal sighed again, frustrated. He was all too happy to move on to the subject of his book.
“The book’s going well. I’m about three quarters of the way through.” Royal paused. “I’d still love to hear some of what you have to say about my father at work. From the personal side, I’ve got a detailed picture, but the stuff about the Ministry is a lot vaguer.” Speaking of which…“Does someone at the Ministry need to review the book before it’s published to make sure it’s not accidentally exposing any secrets or anything?” He highly doubted that his father would have given classified information without specifically stressing that it was not to be shared, but better safe than sorry.
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 9, 2016 8:36:42 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2016 8:36:42 GMT -7
She leaned forward as he batted his eyelashes, pretending to study his eyes with great care. Then she shrugged, "meh, I've seen cooler," she joked, leaning back again. Then he asked her to make sure the ice box was locked and she rolled her eyes. "Did you want to join my guard too?' she chuckled. She understood that people were concerned about her, especially her best friend.
Best friend. That was a good feeling.
Victoire shook her head on his next thoughts about him being too close to everything."I think that's what gives people faith in you. The fact that you are so close to everything going on. they trust you, they trust your insight. And like I said, most of them were reading your column before any of this went down. They already knew and trusted you because of that. I don't think you should worry," she furrowed her brow at him, "I don't want you to worry, okay? You're doing a good thing. The right thing." She fully believed that, too.
She smiled as he said the book was going well but that smile faltered as he said he still wanted to hear from her. She hadn't really thought that hard about it, in all honesty. She skipped that part, for a moment, in her response. "Someone from the office should probably look it over. I would recommend Sebastian Rockefellar, he's really good at that stuff," she commented, a professional air seeping through again for a moment. "He worked with Kingsley more than I did as the advisor. He may be better at discussing how he was at work than me, but maybe we both could help?" she suggested
@royal
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 9, 2016 20:11:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2016 20:11:56 GMT -7
show me the way Eyes that were cooler than his? Royal frowned. No one’s eyes were cooler than his – it was a simple fact. Still, he managed to roll his super amazingly cool eyes at Victoire when she asked him if he wanted to join her guard. “If I was a part of your guard, then you’d never get to see anyone, between me and Teddy and your uncle.” They both knew he was right – honestly, Royal was surprised that anybody else was in the store at all. The fact that his best friend needed a guard at all honestly made Royal a little sick, but it made him even sicker to think of…well, he knew what could happen if someone didn’t have a guard.
He knew all too well.
“I don’t know if I can stand it anymore, Vic.” Royal sighed. He didn’t like knowing things all too well. He liked it a lot better when he was blissfully ignorant of everything bad that could happen. That wasn’t his choice, though. “I might start to move away from the happenings at the Ministry, just because it hurts so much. It really sucks, because that’s the only thing I’m good at.” Now he was throwing himself a bona fide pity party. He needed to shut up before Victoire made an inspirational speech or something equally ministerial.
Rockefellar. Had he heard that name before? Honestly, he had known most of the high ranking Ministry officials, but the ones that hadn’t stayed in contact with his family after his father’s death slipped out of his memory like water through a sieve. Sometimes Royal wondered if he’d even recognize people that had once been regular fixtures at his dinner table. “That would be wonderful.” Royal acquiesced with a smile. “Anything that you both have to add would be brilliant.” The more information he could gobble up, the more accurate and full-bodied his account would be. He certainly wouldn’t be the only one to write a biography on the dead Minister, but damn him if his wasn’t going to be the best.
@victoire
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last online Apr 24, 2024 5:26:10 GMT -7
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Mar 10, 2016 12:52:46 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2016 12:52:46 GMT -7
Victoire laughed, "you've got that right! I would literally never be seen in public. That doesn't sound like much fun. Or good publicity," she clicked her tongue and pointed him at that. As the Minister she had to show the world that she was still human, especially since so many people only saw her in all business. She became a bit robotic when she was focusing too much as most of her friends and family new. Sometimes she even had to fake having emotions in front of people so people didn't think she actually was under the Imperius curse or something due to her incredibly efficient and almost creepy way of handling things.
At his next words about wanting to pull away from the Ministry and her posture shrunk some, her eyes sad. "I... I would understand if you did that," she said. "I'm sure there is something else you would be good at writing about, Roy. I mean... what about..." her mind was drawing a blank, which wasn't making the situation much better. She widened her eyes and shook her head at him, "I'm sorry, I'm not helping," she admitted.
She was glad he liked the idea of having both her and Seb look at the biography. "Why don't the three of us go out to lunch sometime and discuss it, then you can give us a copy to review?" she suggested.
@royal
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