Hermione Lodge

“I can damn well try. Kids need a good parent. Someone who they can rely on.” Fred said firmly. He always wanted a big family. Lots of kids to fill up the house and running around. Fred loved his son but also had taken to adopting Archie’s friends and other kids around the neighborhood. “Someone needs to care about them too.”

He takes another sip of his black coffee as he listened to her speak. Fred had wanted to be mayor for a long time now Hermione was in charge and dealing with this. “Maybe don’t think as a Mayor and more as a mother. We made a mistake trying to save ourselves back then. Now we need to figure out who or what we are dealing with so it doesn’t hurt anymore kids.”

  "you know? i just to love that about you” she began by saying now taking the coffee that fred gave to her and took a sip from it, now looking at him “the way you are, so caring and loving and good, it was so you....” hermione knew all of this because she always thought that fred was a really nice person, someone so opposite than hiram, but he was too naive sometimes “but sometimes...you need to understand that you can’t take care of everyone, you can try but sometimes you can’t, and that’s how it is, is nice that you want to help them out but sometimes is not up to you, just if you are going to do that, don’t put everything on your shoulders”

  a small sigh escaped from her lips, frustrated about all of this but the end, she offered him a small smile “i know, i’m trying, believe me, i don’t want anyone to die, i’m doing my best, fred...just all of this is too much i’m sick of everything and i have no one to talk about this because hiram is all busy with his job or whatever he is doing, honestly, i barely know what he’s up to and now...” she took another sip from her coffee “i’ve been very busy here...and i know some people believe i’m here because hiram wanted me to be here but i really take this job seriously and here i feel like i can do some good”

Veronica nodded “I was” she replied softly as she moved in the chair “thank you for covering. we just lost track of time and then fell asleep. i’ve missed him anyway, can’t seem to spend enough time with him.” she admitted “it doesn’t even feel like home anymore.” she admitted quietly, looking down at her hands and then back at her mother “i don’t know, is everything okay with you, mom?” 

     "i can understand” she muttered now looking at her daughter “i know that, mija but....i’m sorry about that, just...i know what your father is doing, we all do but you know for now there is nothing we can do” she says with her gaze on her and taking her hand gently “but i promise i will always be by your side, you know that ,right? i will always protect you” she will always do everything about that “uhm...i’m fine...i’m fine, just a lot of work, that’s all, nothing really important”

Fred ran his free hand through his messy hair with a sigh. “I don’t know what we should do. But there are so many kids who don’t have an adult that cares if this game gets them addicted.” He knew that better than anyone. The amount of kids who showed up at his house looking for a hot meal or a warm bed. It always concerned him.

“Pene? She was feisty but she definitely didn’t do it last time. Now I wouldn’t put it past her.” He didn’t think anyone had done it that night. Of course, he had been distracted by his dad’s death to think clearly at that time. “Maybe it gives us some time but we’ve already lost two kids.” Fred leans back in his seat with a frown. “We should have burned the damn thing.”

   "like cheryl blossom or some of the southside? i’m aware but fred you can’t be dad to everyone” and she knew that because she tries to help out betty and even if she doesn’t like cheryl for obvious reasons, is not like she wishes the worst, poor kid, is not her fault to have a mother like penelope.

   "i don’t know, i mean, we never thought clifford or hal were  going to be killers and look at them now” hermione was just trying to point the fact that no one is truly innocent in this life, maybe fred that he always was like that but not everyone “yeah, well now it’s too late. if we don’t do something people will die, more people and...as a mayor i want to keep people safe but how i’m going to do that if i don’t even know what we are  facing here?”

“There are kids who are smart enough to protect themselves from this. But others will fall to its charms.” That’s what he was afraid of. The kids who no one cares for being the ones who get addicted to it. To that feeling of being able to escape the reality of their own lives. Just as Fred had done.

“All Of us are scared, Hermione. It was hard enough with Cliff and Hal. But this is something different. We don’t know who or what did this back then. And we don’t know now.” Fred leans forward in his chair to look at the woman he’s known for most of his life. “But we have to figure out how to fix it for the kids.”

    "what do you suggest, then? you say that we should have another meeting? all of us?” she asked now looking at him, it was hard enough to be around all of them once again, it was just way too hard because she knew that a lot of them hate and have some hostility towards others.

    "oh, no, is different because we really didn’t know hal that well or clifford for that matter, they never were into what we used to do” she says with a small shrug “i don’t know who but i always suspected penelope” she couldn’t help but say that looking at him “i would love to try and fix it but i don’t know how. banning was the only thing that popped into my head and yes, i’m aware that some kids would just do as they please but for now we have some time, i need to believe that”

“You know well enough that when you tell kids No, they do it anyways.” Fred shook his head. Nothing was going to stop the kids from playing that game. Especially if they didn’t stop after Dilton and Ben died. “Banning it isn’t going to stop them.” He took a seat in the open chair in front of her desk.

“I hate this more than anyone. You know that, Hermione. I’m the last person who wants to talk about that night. But we can’t have more kids dying over this.”

     “I know Veronica won’t play it, or at least I think she’s smart enough not to do that” She was truly hoping that because she didn’t know what else to do “hiram won’t be happy with that, neither of us besides, what’s the point? we couldn’t do anything back then, do you think we can do something now? we always thought one of us did all of that, turned that game into something dangerous”

    “i’m scared, fred, scared about who did this, you know? we know each other for years and yes, we maybe hate each other a times but is hard to imagine that someone might do this to our kids now” she knew that hiram couldn’t be able to hurt veronica but she wasn’t sure about the others, but then again this person did this in a very random way.

With everyone stressing over the sacred game and Hermione being Mayor, he figured she wouldn’t be thinking about food. Fred set the bag down on her desk with a small smile. “Could be better. Haven’t actually had a chance to see much of Archie.” It was just him and Vegas. He is kinda glad Archie can’t get ahold of the game. That’s the last thing he needed.

“Yeah… Alice cornered me yesterday about getting the gang back together.” He takes a long sip of his coffee. Fred didn’t want anything to do with any of this.

    "what?” now that thing about alice took her by surprise, now that’s insane, even for alice “that’s not going to happen. i know that i called all of you but it was for you to know things that i didn’t release to the town, to be prepare and take care of your kids, but getting the gang together? we both know that is not going to work, there are a lot of hate and is going to be worse, we just need to try and get our kids to stay away from that, i banned the game, that should be enough for now to focus on a plan”

She nodded in reply to the woman’s question. “Yeah, I’m okay, Mrs. Lodge. Just a lot going on.” She explained, shrugging a shoulder. “Last time I saw her she was working. I haven’t seen her around in a while though.”

    “i can understand, i just hope you kids listened to what i told you” about her banning the game in this town because damn that can be too dangerous and she didn’t want to find out that one of the kids were playing it “thank you, just please let her know i was looking for her if you see her?”

Veronica needed to butter her mother up, she once again had fallen asleep at Archie’s the previous night and had forgot to come home. She tiptoed inside her mothers office, Pop’s bag in hand and a smile on her face “just thought I’d bring by a muffin for you.” she shrugged placing the bag on the table “also I’m sorry for not coming home last night.”

     "i imagined you were with archie” she told her daughter now looking up at her taking the bag that she gave it to her “it’s alright, you are lucky that i was able to cover you with your father, i can’t blame you for not wanting to sleep in your own home” sometimes she does feel the same way “everything is okay, mija?”

Fred holds up the bag of Pops in his hand. A cup of coffee in his other one. “Figured you haven’t had lunch yet.” It had been a while since the election and they haven’t talked much. Not that Hermione’s husband had helped that situation. “Thought I’d drop some off on my way to the office.”

    hermione looked up from her laptop and saw fred standing there, yeah, he read her mind but right now she wasn’t worry about food, she was worried about everything else “i really haven’t, thank you” she says with honesty, after all, she knew everything going on between him and hiram and she didn’t know what to do there because in a part she can understand fred but also how she can be against her husband? besides, she was trying to support him for veronica, that way she wouldn’t be in trouble “how’ve you been? i mean, with everything going i haven’t been able to ask you that, archie is okay?” she helped them out that time against hiram’s wishes but that doesn’t mean she can do it a second time, not for now at least “i’ve been trying to figure it out a lot about what’s going on, everything starting to repeat...i just can’t put the pieces together”

Being real, anyone who knew Betty would know that one of the few places easily to find her would be checking her usual booth at Pop’s. Being one of her only safe places in town, it was easily her number one option. This time she was sitting there alone, a half drank milkshake sitting in front of her as she was lost in her thoughts. With so much going on lately she’d found herself lost in her own mind more often than not. She finally shook herself free when she heard a voice speak up next to her. “Sorry, I guess I was just lost in thought.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “You can sit if you’d like.”

   “are you okay, betty?” she couldn’t help but ask, right now she wasn’t here to drink a shake that’s for sure. her mayor’s duties were off at the moment but she was looking for her daughter, needed to talk to her on some sensitive subject so to speak “i was just wondering if you maybe have seen veronica?” and also she wanted to check if she was okay.

It was very rare Patty showed her friendly side, it was usually because she wanted something or some information from someone. “lovely day we’re having. Can’t believe winter is practically here with how cold it is.” She mused as she approached their booth at pops. “Care if I sit?” She questioned, pointing to the open seat across from them.

   the woman made an indication with her hand that it wasn’t taken that seat, right now she was trying to just think what her next move might be, clearly her most important thing was to just destroy the game once and for all, not to allow her daughter to be involve in that “what can i do for you?”

✧·ﾟhermione lodge is 38 year old and from the ⟨ northside ⟩. they kind of look like ⟨ marisol nichols ⟩ ! they are known as the ⟨ illusory ⟩ and their friends say they are ⟨ persistent ⟩, but i’ve heard they can be ⟨ manipulative ⟩. they are a ⟨ town mayor ⟩