#dickdowndearborn

Hayden squinted as he stepped out into the sunlight. It had felt like ages since he had been outside, despite that not being the case at all. He had plenty of time outside, even while being locked up, but there was something different about it now. He was no longer confined to a specific perimeter or within concrete walls. It didn’t even feel like the same air as before, either. Perhaps it was the feeling that the world as he knew it, no longer existed. He was stepping into something entirely different, entirely unknown. 

Though as he walked forward, away from his home for the last five months, he at least approached a source of familiarity as he stopped in front of Doc. “I need a fucking a drink. And a wand.” 

Ted was giving Andromeda a break. As an equal partnership in parenthood, he took Dora for the day so she might have some time to rest. And, as a new father, Ted was also taking every opportunity to show Dora off whenever he ran into someone he knew. He was a proud father, to say the least, regardless of how it had all started, unexpectedly so. “So, turns out she can change her appearance. I can’t say the word, though. It’s a nightmare to try to pronounce it.”

“Ahem.” Marlene stuck her foot out in the middle of the Great Hall entrance before Doc could pass by, only sharply enough to get his attention without tripping him in front of the rest of the school. Before he could get a word in -- or, worse, scramble away -- she held up a pouch and shook it. “I hope you’re ready to go berry picking.”

As they had decided, Hayden and Doc had given Regan some time to figure things out. However, a week had gone by, even a few days more, and it was still radio silence from their friend and they had both dove into their own efforts to locate the would-be banshee. 

Hayden had started with the usual, first looking into muggle hospitals, even jails to make sure Regan hadn’t ended up there. He had let Doc take care of the family side of things, checking in with family members, checking the farm where Hayden and Regan had last been, and anywhere else he could think to look. 

Hayden had even taken to collecting any sort of newspaper, both muggle and magical, to see if he could find any sort of news or hint of anything regarding a mysterious scream, other incidents similar to his own. However, nothing of the sort had happened to indicate Regan might have been involved in anything of that sort. Of course, he had only a slim hope that would happen. It’s not as if his own encounter had been newsworthy enough. 

Currently, he and Doc had reconvened at his and Regan’s flat in Cardiff to figure out the next course of action. “Any luck on your end?” Hayden asked as he had several newspapers from that day spread out on the kitchen table, perusing their headlines to see if anything would stick out. So far, as with the days and weeks before, there had been nothing. 

It would have been very easy for Hayden to do what he normally did, which was stay silent and say nothing. And yet, this felt bigger than himself. Despite being the one who was in the hospital this time around, there was also Regan to now worry about. She was gone and had left clear instructions to not go after her, but she never said he couldn’t say anything about it.  It also wasn’t as if Regan wasn’t prone to simply up and wandering off. She had done so plenty of times to go on her travels, but there was something different in that Hayden knew it wasn’t simply Regan flitting off for the sake of it, but something more intentional. He didn’t blame her.

However, he reached out to Doc regardless, sending him an owl leaving him with as little details as possible as to what had occurred, keeping his letter succinct and down to the details that matter: he was at St. Mungo’s. If he could come by.

Hayden gave a little wave as he saw his friend. 

“How was the honeymoon then?” Hayden asked as he poured over a newspaper, making marks every so often. 

Hayden still couldn’t sleep through the night. He had figured at least with Doc something always seemed to happen, so he found himself with him, wandering through a furniture store. “What’re you looking for again?” 

As Doc opened the door, Hayden held up a bottle of whiskey and in his other hand he also had a cake. “Happy birthday.”