when i die i'll be on time

Edgar nodded his head. “Good thinking,” he said, though honestly any idea that didn’t involve Claudia and Annie talking counted as a good idea for him. “I’ll have to stop by the house and let her know. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” They hadn’t had that conversation either, and Edgar wasn’t sure he had the energy or will to do it now. “I have to wait a little longer, then I think it’s fine if I sleep,” he said. “I”m not sure. I wasn’t processing really well when they gave me the rules. But I’ll be fine. I’ll sleep at some point.”

She knew Edgar liked to keep her and Annie apart and she didn’t argue, she didn’t relish spending time with the woman more than she had to either.  But right now, she wanted even less to leave Edgar’s side.  “I’ll wait outside if you’d rather but I’m not going home without you.  Sorry.  I’m going to be clingy for a while so you’d best hunker down and enjoy it.”  She pursed her lips, he needed to rest now but she knew he wouldn’t until everything else had been double checked on and taken care of.  “I’m going to hold you to that.  You push yourself too hard.”

Edgar shrugged. “He might,” he said, though he honestly wasn’t sure what would happen. He wanted to be prepared for whatever did, either way. He looked down at their hands before he looked up at her again. “There’s nothing we could’ve done for her. I just hope he sees that.” He sighed, but nodded. She was right. He knew she was; she almost always was. He leaned in and kissed Claudia, lingering there, letting just a few moments of peace go by without having to think about anything else except that Claudia was warm, and her lips were soft, and they fit together like puzzle pieces. He pulled away after a few moments, wishing he could just stay there. “I have to let Annie know I’m alright,” he said. “And I want to check up on Kira. Then we can… I just want to sleep. I’m not supposed to right now, but I’m so tired…”

“He won’t.”  And if he did, he’d have one very angry wand maker stomping into his office to give him a piece of her mind.  She was glad Edgar saw it, that he wasn’t going to beat himself up over this.  She wanted to keep her lips against his, something that made sense and felt right and safe.  Even once he pulled away she stayed close.  RIght now, any distance between them was too much.  “I didn’t know what to tell her, I didn’t want to tell her anything until I knew where you were.  I didn’t want to worry her if I didn’t have to.”    She nodded.  “Right, the concussion.  Can you sleep if I stay up?  Make sure everything’s alright?  You need to rest.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t,” he said. “But people do insane things when they’re grieving. I don’t know what he’ll do. What they’ll do. I already have a reprimand for not putting my job first.” He shrugged. “It’s fine. I mean, if it happens, it’s fine. I’ll find something new to do, or… I don’t know. Figure it out. I just want to be prepared for the worst if it comes to that. I’ve got Kira to think of, and the twins… and you.” He brushed his thumb against her cheek. “What I did wasn’t wrong, I know that. I did the best that I could. But chances of everyone agreeing with me on that are slim.”

“He can’t fire you.  He won’t.”   She wasn’t as sure of that as she would have liked to be.  She pulled back but only enough that she could look up at him better.  She grabbed his hands, holding them tightly in hers.  “Hey.  We’ll figure it out.  Everything is going to be fine.  Alastor will side with you and the Minister will see reason eventually, even if he doesn’t right away.”  She tilted her head up and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  “This is not going to be a worst case scenario.  And even if it is, worst case isn’t so bad, not for this.”

“Good.” Edgar was relieved to hear it, and his shoulders slumped a little bit as he let the information sink in. He looked down at Claudia and smoothed his hand over her hair, feeling the curls under his fingers. He clenched his jaw for a moment. “John and I were on security detail for the Minister and his family,” he said. “We couldn’t save his kid. You really think he’s gonna’ keep letting us work there?” He sighed. “I’m gonna’ take the fall, if it comes to that. I don’t want John to lose his job. John was down; it was on me to keep them safe, and I didn’t. No one can blame John for that.”

She let him take the time he needed to answer, happy just to be with him and to know he was okay.  She looked up when he explained.  “How were you supposed to protect her from falling rock?  You did everything you could, they can’t blame either of you for that.”  She held his hand tightly.  “This isn’t your fault.  You know that, right?  Edgar, you did everything you could have.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” But he let her tug him over to the bed anyway, sitting down diligently and turning to look at her. He kept a firm grip on her hand, just to keep them from drifting apart, to give him something he could stabilize himself around. “I’ve got a bit of a concussion, but I’m alright otherwise.” He nodded just a little bit, too afraid to bob his head more than that. “Your parents too, they’re alright?” he asked. He wasn’t sure if they’d been there, but just in case. He let out a breath and put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. “I messed up. I could lose my job, Claud, I messed up really badly.”

She was sure he was sure but that didn’t mean she believed him.  And not a second later, when he said he had a concussion, she knew she was right.  She nodded.  “They’re fine.  They were in London, Dad was in the shop and Maman was home.”  She let him pull her closer and she pressed against him, resting her cheek against his chest and listening grateful to his heart beating and his breath as it made his chest rise and fall.  “What do you mean, what happened?”

Edgar shook his head, though almost immediately stopped when it made him feel like he was going to fall over. He couldn’t say that he looked to be in the best physical shape; he’d gotten off far better than John had but he’d managed to get a fairly large gash on his face and several bruises on the way down. “John– Dawlish and I got stuck under some of the rocks,” he said. “It took them a few… okay, about six hours to get us out of there. John came here straightaway, and I stuck with the Minister and his wife until someone else could take over for me. I’m okay, though,” he added, tightening his hold on her. “I’m alright. Okay? Are you hurt?”

She hadn’t really seen his face yet, but she looked up when he said six hours.  No wonder no one had been able to tell her anything.  He said he was okay but now she was looking up and she could see the gash on his cheek, the bruises and the scrapes, and the way he seemed to sway just the slightest bit on his feet.  “You’re sure?”  She looked around and found a bed pressed tight to the wall to get out of the way of the crowds.  “Sit.”  She pulled him over on up onto it like a bench.  “I’m fine.  I wasn’t anywhere near it, I was with Garrick and Lavinia.  We’re all fine.”  She couldn’t stop touching him, his jaw, his shoulder, his chest, as if reassuring herself that this wasn’t just a delusion created by her panicked mind.  

@igneus-ollivander

Seeing Claudia down the hall is like magic. Actual, shining, slightly blurry magic. Edgar blinked a few times, trying to clear his eyes a bit, before he got up and hurried down the hall towards her as fast as he could manage. “Clauds!” He waved at her, trying to get her attention. But she saw him, and in what felt like an instant, she was there in his arms. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is your family okay?”

She was absolutely sure that, hearing Edgar’s voice cut through the din, she knocked someone over as she raced through the hall towards him.  She had been running on pure adrenaline for hours, adrenaline that refused to fade and instead made her hands shake and her head ache.  She’d been looking for him for hours.  Hours that felt like days.  She’d wanted to run to the Great Hall in the midst of the chaos but Garrick wouldn’t let her and when she’d finally got him to agree to let her go to St. Mungo’s, Edgar hadn’t been there.  She couldn’t move fast enough to be in his arms, to have hers around him.  Her face buried against his neck and she held him tight as if he’d disappear.  “Where were you?  I’ve been looking for hours, no one could tell me anything.”  She barely heard his questions, couldn’t organize her thoughts enough to answer them.  “I thought – “ she choked on the words and with a squeak that could have been a sob, held him tighter.