Weekend With the Grays - Day 3: The Gazebo Cocktail Party
Thanks once again to @endlessly-cursed for organising this and for Prim! Thank you also to @camillejeaneshphm for Helen, Noah and Lillian, @catohphm for Danny, and @mjs-oc-corner for Bella!
"Oh, Atticus, get under here with us." Fred insisted, his arm around Helen's as they walked the Gazebo with the others. Atticus turned around to face him, still looking despondent, and shook his head.
"I am fine, thank you." he said,shivering a little. "I've got my...oh." He reached up for the hat he had worn upon arriving. It wasn't on his head, and the snow was nestling itself within his hair, giving him an admittedly quite humorous-looking salt-and-pepper hairstyle.
"You never were one for hats, Doherty." Helen chuckled, her arm raised slightly as she kept the snow off of her and her husband, "You must have gone out without it on instinct."
Atticus scowled, but relented, walking over next to Fred, and wiping the snow off of his hair with his hands. Fred happened to look over as he did so, and saw strange black splotches moving along them. "Doing more shadow magic, I take it?"
Atticus looked over at Fred, then at his hand, wiling the dark splotches to fade away. "We are all at liberty to use our powers how we like. I can experiment with mine, Helen can command the weather to be however she likes, and you can patent and sell yours to the masses."
Fred shifted uncomfortably, but Helen cut in before he could respond. "You disapprove of how we've made our fortune?"
"No. I disapprove of the fact that there aren't more controls on it. I'm glad that you've decided to have it be Ministry controlled, but I do wonder if they'll give it the attention it deserves-"
"Alright, alright, let's not get into politics." Fred said, raising his arms above his head to hush both Atticus and Helen. "We can talk about this later. The last thing we want to do is start a debate around the Ministry...at least, right now." He suggested, gesturing to the Gazebo whose steps they now climbed.
"No, I suppose that would be a disaster." Atticus said, smirking. "Thank you for letting me enjoy the use of your ancient magic, Helen." he said, moving forward and into the Gazebo to greet the others.
Fred and Helen did the same, before walking to the side and looking out over the snowy estate. "He seems a lot better now. I guess actually doing some dancing was good for him. He seemed to enjoy dancing with you, too."
"Well, I can't take all the credit." Helen said, smirking. "Prim helped as well. I overheard them talking about that plant he gave her, remember? Back when everyone kept spreading rumours about them being a thing?"
Fred nodded, leaning on the wood of the Gazebo. "That certainly was a wild time. Seemed like everyone had rumours flying around about them."
"Considering half of us had ancient magical powers, and some of us flew to France and back one night, it's not surprising our love lives were scrutinised." Helena observed, "It's why I love how you can stop time...give us a place nobody can see us. Atticus and Prim could have used that back then." She gestured over to them, as they talked to Danny Gibson and his partner Bella, who had just entered the Gazebo, Atticus looking far less standoffish than he had a few hours ago.
"Yeah...especially that time I saw them kiss." Fred said, in a lowered tone.
Helen looked down at him, incredulously. "You're kidding." she said, bluntly.
"It was just one time, don't get any ideas-" Fred began, going as red as his hair, "Apparently they'd just decided to wrap up...whatever it was they had going on, and decided to so like that...and with a plant, I guess."
Helen's smile softened. "You know...he asked me and Lillian to help him with that. He wanted to get the floriography right, and we were the ones he trusted for it. I remember it well: Zinnia, symbolising respect and honour. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should've messed with him and sent a different message."
Fred gasped jokingly. "How awful! I can't believe you'd consider something like that!" he said, laughing.
"I suggested Yellow Hyacinths and Lavender, meaning jealousy and humility. Lillian shut that idea down quickly, though. She said nobody deserved to have Primrose Gray angry at them for no good reason."
Fred nodded, making eye contact with Atticus briefly. He smiled. Atticus smiled back, before returning to the conversation with Danny and Prim, something about how dark and creepy Ravenclaw Tower used to get late at night. "Probably for the best, then."
Helen nodded, bringing a hand up to wipe her eye. "Yeah, probably." She turned around, letting Atticus enjoy the party unwatched, as they both looked out at the falling snow, which landed on the many dormant plants on the estate, including a large bush of Zinnia flowers.
