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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 8:54:12 GMT -5
No one had told Michael to visit Grey, but he was there and, though he hovered a moment before opening the door to the shop, he wasn't going to back down. There were questions that needed answers, questions about things he hadn't spoken to Grey about in many years. The two had remained in contact over the years, though their conversations rarely went below the surface how have you been and are you having trouble with that one student, too?
Michael had a deep respect for Grey and still felt indebted to him, though he hadn't thought about their original meetings in a long time. He was rested and at least somewhat hopeful, but still an air of tense uncertainty clung to him. The conversation wasn't going to be easy, it couldn't be, could it? Or maybe he was just thinking about it too hard and this wouldn't be difficult. However it was going to turn out, it needed to be done. He needed to know.
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 16:40:06 GMT -5
Grey hadn't expected Michael, but he wasn't surprised to see the younger man walk into his shop, nor did he assume it was a business visit. Michael rarely visited with the intention of purchasing things, though he was always welcome all the same.
There were things which everyone knew about happening in Michael's life, though the professors were, as a whole, respectful enough to pretend otherwise. The Blackwood-Hardts' split was public knowledge, and though Michael's occasional visits to Kane weren't, the men had both been asked to check on Michael within a short time frame, and so there was a level of deeper knowledge between them, even if the details were unclear.
"Michael, a pleasure to see you," Grey said and, predictably, "How are you?" It was, as always, a deeper question than most meant it, rather than a mere greeting.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 16:45:24 GMT -5
"Better than I was a month ago," Michael said. There was no point in pretending he was perfectly fine when he knew everyone was fully aware of his relationship status. "Surviving, mostly. How are you?" He wasn't quite sure it was appropriate to jump into the questions burning in his head and sought to delay it a few minutes more.
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 16:55:47 GMT -5
"Sober," Grey replied. His own relationship had featured in the gossip rags as well, and Hells still hadn't given him an answer. He knew her better than to think that it was a delicate way of saying no, but it wasn't yes, either. Somehow, he'd kept his drinking confined to evenings at home. Michael could tiptoe around his reasons for visiting as long as he wished, and Grey wouldn't say a word. It was a welcome distraction from his own thoughts.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 17:05:28 GMT -5
Michael nodded and slowly made his way through the shop to the counter. "This year has been insane, I can't believe it's time for another school year already," he said. And that was stalling. Obvious stalling. He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. His hand lingered there as he thought. "Not quite sure if I'm ready for it, you know?"
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 17:21:10 GMT -5
"I do," Grey said. He'd spent a decade simply leaving when something got too close, too complex and involved, and four years ago he'd been pulled from that pattern. "Good things come to those who wait," he said. She'd said it too, and for the longest time it had seemed true. He was only now beginning to wonder again at the truth of it.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 18:55:50 GMT -5
"Then you get bit in the arse again as soon as you let your guard down," Michael said, the bitterness he felt from the constant ups and downs of his relationship with Dare showing through. He settled against the counter, resting his forearms on the top, then looked at Grey, his eyebrows creasing. "You know, in a month it'll be six years since I moved here." It was hard to believe. The first two years had been hectic, and then he had met Dare. Which, of course, had led to even more crazy things happening.
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 19:07:45 GMT -5
"Life is filled with ups and downs," Grey said. "The trials never end, no matter where you live, or how you fight them." It was a hard fact of life that he'd learned. Things never did get better, not entirely. They only eased a bit before crumbling again. It was a cycle.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 19:23:46 GMT -5
Michael wrinkled his nose. As much as he hated it, he was learning that his dream of a stable life was unattainable. "Why did you believe me?" he asked finally, looking up at Grey. "I didn't go to trial, didn't go to Azkaban, I was never arrested...why?" He had thought of it in the past, but never given it much time, but now with everything shoved in his face it was hard to forget.
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 19:42:09 GMT -5
There was a flicker of recognition in Grey's eyes before they clouded slightly. He thought back five and a half years ago, when he'd first seen a teenage Death Eater turn a corner, then immediately run from him. But it wasn't that moment which Michael wondered about. "It was a lengthy process," Grey said. I was too busy attacking my girlfriend, attacking a fellow Death Eater, or being attacked by said girls.
Where were you off to in such a hurry?
I wanted to find the Headmistress, to ask her... "You were lost, I knew that almost immediately," Grey said. You more or less turned yourself in. Is that what you were here for?
Kind of? I had to get out of there, I was out of place... "You turned yourself in, and that certainly helped your case in my eyes. You gave me your wand without fight. You also named another Death Eater, which the Ministry always likes." |
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 20:03:55 GMT -5
Michael nodded, remembering. He had been a mess, skittish and tense. He'd then spent the next however many months looking over his shoulder, waiting for a wand in his back or in the back of someone he cared about. A shiver overtook him and a chill raced down his spine. He clenched his fists, but didn't speak as he waited for Grey to continue.
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 22:20:11 GMT -5
"It wasn't my sole decision, of course," Grey said. "They took my word because of my standing in the Order of the Phoenix, and because of my relations in the Auror Department at the Ministry. I cannot speak for what Hells may have said on your behalf, but she did speak for you.
"You were young," he went on. "Had you been much older, had you been captured rather than openly repented, things would likely have been very different. You had the protection of Hogwarts and the Order. We made the right decision."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 1, 2012 22:32:24 GMT -5
We made the right decision. "I'm just...having issues thinking about it all. This whole thing with Dare and the therapy I'm in, it's bringing all of it to the front of my mind. And I just can't believe I got off, I don't understand why I got off. I mean, there are people in prisons that don't deserve to be there and here I am raising toddlers and teaching hundreds of students," Michael said. Did Grey understand? He brought his hands together and turned his ring around his finger.
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Post by Greyson "Grey" Sebastien on Sept 1, 2012 23:23:38 GMT -5
"I won't lie to you, Michael. There was an element of luck in it. There was also more discussion than you'd imagine. I trust my hunches, and I argued for you." Grey paused, then tried a different tack.
"You weren't pardoned because of what you'd done," he said. "You were pardoned because others saw your potential. We saw a genuine desire to change and true repentance which is extremely rare. You were on the cusp of adulthood, and it was more than a decision of punishment.
"The Ministry was convinced that your rehabilitation was nearly guaranteed. I put myself on the line speaking for you, and I suppose I must admit that you were watched closely in the following months. Had you slipped, I might have made the arrest myself." Oh yes, he'd risked quite a bit on that hunch, and though it had been something of a reckless move, it had been entirely justified.
"You might think of it as an unofficial probation," he suggested. "By the time you requested your position at Hogwarts, you'd proved yourself."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 2, 2012 9:29:18 GMT -5
Michael nodded slowly and looked down at his hands. "Thank you, a lot's coming up right now and I just needed to know. I owe you so much." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's like...if I had been locked away then Ivy wouldn't have come for Dare, and what other things have happened as a result of what I've done? It's a lot to think about."
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