nimonascamander:
The redhead rolled her eyes as he teased her about Alastor. “Alastor looks out for everybody. I’m sure I’m no more important than you, Kingsley, Dorcas, and everyone else he looks out for.” She said with a wave of her hand. Nimona never really tried to let herself believe she was uniquely special to Alastor. It was one of the few ways she tried to mask whatever little feelings of something more she had for him.
Nimona didn’t try to mask the entirety of her fear in front of Edgar, however. He knew her well enough to be able to put together that something was a little off in her demeanor. She smiled though when he started to talk about the good in their world. Nimona nodded, smiling a bit wider as he said that they weren’t all lost yet. She reached over, putting her hand on his own for a moment and squeezed. “You’re right. For all the bad, there’s also a lot of good. There’s people like you.” She murmured genuinely and took her hand back. With people like him, Hestia, and Alastor around, Nimona promised herself that she’d start trying to not go instinctively to the bad but to focus on the good first.
“Enough about the not so great things though. I want to hear about how you’ve been. Giving Alastor a run for his money with Auror things? Winning the hearts of all the girls? Spending time with that doll of a sister of your’s? What has the great Edgar Bones been up to the last few weeks since I’ve seen you?” She asked, hoping one of the prompts she’d offered would get him talking about an easier subject than the upcoming war. Nimona was sure they all dwelt on it for too long when they were alone. The least she could do was try to coax out a softer subject for the time they’d be together.
Edgar wasn’t an ace auror for nothing-- he could see there was something there between his two friends, even if neither of them wanted to admit it. Hell, the way Alastor brought her name up twenty times a day was enough to make anyone suspicious. Still, he knew what it was like to have feelings you weren’t ready to talk about it, so he wouldn’t push if she didn’t want to go there.
He squeezed her hand back tight, grateful for her friendship and for the goodness she seemed to radiate like a force against the darkness. He wondered if she realized how truly remarkable she was; so many people were losing their hope these days. But her smile and the warmth of her hand against his were some of the things that made him so certain they would win this. The other side didn’t have that. It didn’t have love and friendship and belief in the ultimate goodness of people, and that would be the tipping point. It would have to be. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t deflect with a bit of humor, though. “And without people like you, I’d be stuck drinking alone, which nobody wants to see,” he replied with a laugh. He gave her hand one more squeeze, though, for all the words he couldn’t find.
At her questions, he let out a long breath. For a moment, he considered going the route of humor again; it was certainly safest. But it wasn’t honest. And after the recent scare they had all had, he felt a little more like being honest; after all, what was the point of it all if you just hid away from everything? “More like losing their hearts and breaking my own in the process,” he admitted. “One I’ve offered myself to so many times that it’s pathetic, really. And the other, I haven’t figured out how to casually ask out on a date without ruining everything. Which is equally pathetic.” He laughed, a little darkly. “But don’t tell anybody, or it’ll take years-- and way too many kisses-- to build my reputation back up.”














