golden boy

Her fingers tapped idly against the marble top of her cafe table, biting her lip as she dared to glance back again at the front page of the Daily Prophet. She knew what was on it. She’d already glanced at the moving picture plastered under the gratuitously violent headline dozens of times. There was nothing but gratuitously violent headlines in the papers nowadays. With a huff she pushed the paper all the way across the small circle of tabletop she’d claimed for her work until it teetered precariously off its side. She should be working. She had Ministry idiots to deal with and a book to write, half her manuscript in piles around her as if they’d been organized by a furious tornado. 

“I’m starting to think I need to move to a different country if I want to get anything done,” she murmured to herself, pushing her hair out of her view.

a SMALL break. that’s what edgar told himself when he entered the cafe an hour earlier. technically, he was his own boss and what he did during the work day was entirely up to him. but he was an honest man ( and a dedicated ministry employee ), so he often felt guilty when he wasn’t working when he should be. however, edgar was in a slump that day, mind plagued with distracting thoughts that transformed into his inability to be productive. so he found himself in a cafe that was no where near the ministry, desperate for any source of motivation as he ate his lunch. “isn’t that the truth. i think i’ve gotten more done on a family vacation i took five years ago than i have the past few months.” he glanced up at the familiar face from his table next to hers, sandwich in hand. 

 why were children so slippery? one moment he had had dora right in his sight and the next she had managed to sneak away from him. well, this definitely wasn’t something that was going to look good for his future role as god father to james’s child. he was pretty certain that lily and james would have his head if he were to ever lose their kid. excuse me, not lose, temporary misplace. that was what he was trying to convince himself had happened as he searched the crowded ice cream shop for the girl that was practically his niece. it didn’t take too long to find her. she was headed back towards the line to get more ice cream though she was rather rudely cutting the line. “ dora no! “ he exclaimed as he grasped his shoulder and pulled her back from cutting the line. “ er–sorry about that, “ he said to whoever she’d cut in line.

the laughter eased up the weight on his shoulders, neck, chest, head. all of him was heavy with sleep and the nature of his work, but edgar, his old friend, was a like a fresh breath of air into that office - although his answer didn’t quite satisfy him. alastor didn’t question it though. they were too alike sometimes, and the auror was certain that if he wasn’t saying the whole truth, neither was edgar. “they’re overworked alright. and, you know, they have lives to go back to and i could spare the time.” lives. spouses, children, pets, hobbies. sometimes it simply felt unfair to take some of them away from that, given how overworked the office already was. “and i enjoy being thorough.” with that, he turned to grab a sandwich, unwrapping it with a thankful nod. “the kids will get it.” an attempt. alastor was not sure if what he was betting on was right, but as was often the case, much more than the obvious was going on inside of edgar’s head, and it seemed particularly concerned. “you always try to make it home early. so they’ll get it. if you CAN’T be there right now, i’ll be here ‘till the morning so just make yourself comfortable. oh, wait, you have already.” the final part was added with a smirk, far too used to it to be bothered.

i. truthfully, edgar didn’t know much about the department of mysteries until his seventh year of hogwarts, when he was scrambling to find a post-graduate program to join. his father was the one who planted the idea of becoming an unspeakable in his mind, and that ignited a strong determination to be accepted into the program. it required a rigorous application process and background checks, and even after all that was over, only a handful of students were chosen to begin training. edgar was one of the lucky few ( which probably inflated his ego even more ) and he began training the summer after he graduated hogwarts. 

ii. working in the department of mysteries comes with high levels of confidentiality and security precautions. edgar was sworn to secrecy on his very first day and has maintained his promise ever since. the consequences for sharing information are some he never hopes to experience. with that said, his family respects and knows that he can only share so much if anything at all. this was very hard for edgar at first because he really likes to talk / brag about how cool his work is, but he also doesn’t want to get fired so he eventually learned how to shut up. 

iii. edgar spends most of his time in the experimental labs working on his projects. his main focus is time & that entails the use of many time turners / conducting his own experiments. he can spend hours on end in the experimental chambers, and he’s usually one of the last people to go home at night. some of his projects are conducted with others, while some of them are just done by himself. he has a harder time working with others because he is very arrogant and thinks he’s always right, so he’s not everyone’s favorite person to work with at the office. 

iv. he does have an office, a tiny one on the outskirts of the chambers. since he spends most of his time in the labs, he’s hardly ever in there. papers are strewn chaotically all across his desk, the result of his natural inability to organize and utter laziness to put forth the effort. he does have to write a lot of write ups ( kinda of like lab reports ) on all his experiments, so it can be quite difficult to find the papers he needs at times. besides the desk, he has a lamp, a few chairs and a large bookshelf packed full of books he’s collected over the years. he also has a dozen pictures of his family scattered across the room that keep him sane when he’s making himself go crazy with projects. edgar doesn’t really like spending a lot of time in his office because it makes him feel cramped and restricted, preferring to stay in the experimental chambers as much as he can. 

v. because he’s been working there for nearly half his life ( he’s an old man ), he has worked his way up the ranks, kinda. he’s not necessarily in charge, because edgar wouldn’t do very well in a leadership role, but he’s more of like a second or third in command. the head of the department trusts him and knows he would never purposefully do anything wrong, so he kinda let’s edgar do whatever he wants with his experiments and research. despite his huge ego, edgar really is a good man and would never take advantage of the power he’s been given. he’s vvv loyal to his work and the ministry. 

sometimes he felt stuck in a never-ending cycle of earth-shattering events, with no breathing room to do what some would call ‘processing’ or 'cope’. he’d rather call it a busy schedule. auror missions, order missions, his own missions not approved by anyone - it was as if most of his memories of the past few years, and especially the latest months, were all of running, cursing, bleeding, 'i’ll notify the family’. after many hours of reviewing cases and doing paperwork, his office felt smaller, closing in on him, until a beaming face walked right in. alastor didn’t bother telling him about knocking. “how could i possibly thank you enough for that?” his words came with a smirk, denouncing the playfulness in them. the auror didn’t turn to face his friend, his eyes much more focused on the board in which he was writing what would be the sixth timeline for a case in one night. “obviously waiting for you and your blessings.” he checked his wristwatch, but it wasn’t as if he’d lost track of time. he never did. “just too much work, not enough time. why are you? it’s pretty late.”

the definition of “innocent” was up to interpretation when it came to rita, but she swore that she was in knockturn alley near dusk for purely innocent purposes. she had been tailing someone for an article inconspicuously when she lost track of them and decided to go window shopping instead. rita sauntered over to the nearest store where many dark, yet subjectively beautiful, artifacts faced the path. to her left someone was looking inside the window at the objects on display and she couldn’t help but have some fun with them. leaning up against the window next to them, she drawled, “shopping for a loved one?” 

she took in his answer for a moment, thinking it over. she’d not quite made up her mind herself; it was a tough debate, if you asked her, one with many factors. even with some alcohol in her system, she was nowhere nearer to clarity. “makes sense. kind of a shitty tree, that whomping willow,” she said, her mind now going to the tree itself. while glenda was a big fan of nature itself, she made one exception, and that was for the whomping willow. “i’d hope so — i’d hate for the squid to … perish, or something. she’s one of the best parts of hogwarts.”

maybe being noisy was just something genetic that all bones’ shared. amelia knew she’d been quite the rowdy kid ( and could still be ) and was continuously impressed with the noise that edgar’s kids could produce. it was admirable, though, the way her brother handled them, especially on an evening as busy as this one. “they sure as hell are. dunno how you do it, ed,” she said, running a hand through her hair. she loved the kids, truly, but she could not imagine having to look after them all day, every day. “you do wonderfully, though. and they did — did you drug them, or something?” she grinned at the other, winking a little, before letting her expression shift into an offended one. “oi! i deserve some caffeine after tonight!” she paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow and cocking her head to the side. “you do know i know where your coffee is, right?”

TASK 006 - HOME SWEET HOME