Peter had been let into their place to wait for Harry to come home, which was a little awkward as he'd been left to his own devices.
Sitting himself on the sofa he casually picks up a newspaper thats been left on the coffee table. Opening it he begins to read, sure it's a few.. weeks out of date but at least it kept him busy whilst he waited.
Peter blinks at the responses that come through then rolls his eyes, his hand adjusting the bulge in his underwear as he replies.
[txt] Well I'm setting that as your contact photo in my phone now.
He tried to hide his nervousness so things wouldn’t be awkward. “Uh.. Whatcha doing there?” He placed a hand on her knee, hoping his palms weren’t sweaty.
“Helooo? Anyone Home?” Peter called out as he crawled his way through the window, dropping to the floor, he pulled his mask off and stretched slightly, throwing it to the side.
March was the month where Edgar’s self-doubts began growing and growing. While most Order members seem willing to entrust him with quite a few secrets, he doesn’t think he’s the right person to ward them, and in result he begins trying to control the little things around him. Warding, protecting and defending become his priority and it does not help that he sees himself as the danger most people need protecting from.
1st
Like My Own Mind - Arabella and Edgar meet at Hogsmeade for a coffee. They discuss Branwen snooping around Hogsmeade and Fabian having gotten a job at Hogwarts, with Edgar showing himself reluctant to reach out to him there as Hogwarts is meant to be a safe place for Fabian, and Edgar is only the bringer of war-news.
2nd
At The Sweets’ Shop - Edgar goes to buy some sweets, but Dedalus, who Edgar has held a grudge against since school, keeps him for much longer than expected by talking and talking. For them, it’s a rather typical encounter -- until Dedalus mentions that he sees no point in joining the Fighting Club, despite needing to learn how to protect himself better. Edgar asks how he fights in battles, then, and Dedalus replies that he isn’t a great fighter and that if he finds himself in a battle, he simply removes himself. Edgar sees himself in this answer, as he too is anything but a strong fighter and used to run away, trying to find clever solutions out of situations rather than facing the battle head on. Remembering such situations, especially those that have gone wrong, he explains that sometimes you can’t remove yourself, either because of the circumstances or because there’s a person you love who’s still fighting, and that everyone thus needs to know their place on a battlefield. That if Caradoc wanted Dedalus in the Fighting Club, it’s not just to remove his weaknesses, but also to make use of his strengths, emphasising that Dedalus has a sharp mind which could be of great asset. But Dedalus misunderstands and thinks Edgar’s implying he’ll leave those he loves behind and says he’ll just do as Edgar does, and this is the last straw for Edgar. The idea someone might do as he did, copy all his mistakes, when all he wants is to protect and ensure the very opposite, it’s one of his greatest fears. With his poise lost, he lays all those mistakes out for Dedalus to see, as a warning and as a question: How could anyone think Edgar thinks himself faultless? Why would anyone possibly want to copy him?
Uncapitalist Shopping Spree - Agitated by having reminded himself of the many deaths he has caused, he goes to find Amelia. The two haven’t really talked ever since February 14th, ever since Amelia had been brought to the Potter Estate, seeing the Order in action, and a lot of stuff built up. So after they go steal some books just for the rush of it, the twins blurt out all their fears at each other, opening themselves up completely. Ainsley. Mundungus. Rigby and the heritage. Caradoc. It ends with Amelia demanding to join the Order and Edgar knows better than to fight her stubbornness. Thus, he brings her to Caradoc.
At Strongarm - Edgar tells Caradoc Amelia wants to join the Order and they need to procure a Tag for her as fast as possible. Caradoc says it’ll take time but he’ll work on it. Amelia leaves and Caradoc and Edgar are left alone together, which is where Edgar breaks down. It’s the first time in six years (since the day he caused the death of the other Order members, which he implied to Dedalus) he cries. Amelia being in the war means putting her in danger, a danger Edgar can’t protect her from. He reminds Caradoc that if Amelia dies, so will he.
3rd
On/Off Duty - Needing to take his mind off things, Edgar goes to the theatre, where he meets their newest recruit, Annalise Fawley. They talk all things theatre and Edgar finds himself fairly charmed by her.
6th
Dignity and Love to not Blend Well - Severus and Edgar are just done discussing all that there is to know on the spy-front, as every Saturday morning, when they mention the Fighting Club. Severus explains that he did pass the sorting test and made it into the good group, but would rather die on the battlefield than train with Sirius Black. Edgar however -- seeing his younger self in Severus’ arrogance -- reminds Severus that he’s way too valuable to die. Anxious that his explanation might be met with misunderstanding again, like with Dedalus, he explains more clearly that the Fighting Club is more than just curse-training, it’s also a way to find out about your fellow members’ strengths and weaknesses. The main take-away, however, is that Edgar feels like he has once again gotten to know his partner a little better.
8th
Calendrical - Maddy Warren is initiated into the Order. Afterwards, Mary and Edgar discuss the newest updates: Maurice, the DTF, Maddy. They also discuss that it’s time to leave their position of defense behind and start attacking first, which is something Edgar has only been waiting for for quite some time now, waiting especially for the right person to pick up a wand and go for it. In a way he knows that defense can only go so far, and attacking first is, in the long run, the best way to protect everyone.
9th
It’s the big moving day. Most everything that can be transported, is brought from the Potter Estate to the House of Bones. The Map, the Minutes, all Tags, all plans and lists and artifacts of value are moved, leaving behind mostly the things that wouldn’t have a safe place to store yet, namely various items from the infirmary, as they want to leave what they don’t understand to Emmeline and her expertise and system.
Dripping Water Hollows Out Stone - Afterwards, Edgar has Amelia and Fabian meet -- without letting them know beforehand -- and forces them to make up. He tells them that he belongs to no one and if he gets hurt, it’s his own fault, and no one should feel responsible for having to protect him.
10th
The Cursed Disco - Frank brings sneakoscopes into the House of Bones, which all go off as the house is filled with potentially mistrustful objects and energies. But Edgar reminds Frank, that it’s not the Order who needs to mistrust the House, but the House needs to mistrust the Order; the people of the Order brings danger with them (once again thinking of the idea of ‘Illness’ as well as his plans with Caradoc to test their fellow members in the future), and they should find a way to ensure trust amongst the Order soon.
12th
Hide and Seek - After their night together on January 6th, Edgar has done his most to avoid Mundungus Fletcher, while Mudnugngus did his most to cross paths with Edgar. The pettiness resolves now in Edgar’s old room, where Mudndusgus goes to steal something and instead finds more than two dozen posters of himself plastered on the walls. Edgar, more than embarrassed, promises to take them down, but Mudnugngus quickly has a new objective: Edgar’s key-earring seems like something marvelous to steal. The key-earring made of many keys holds one key, which Edgar is keeping safe: it opens the cabinet to Caradoc’s heart, his warmest memories, and when Edgar realises it’s gone, he panics, fearing he has failed to protect his best friend.
13th - 18th
Edgar and Caradoc begin preparing their Test, while Edgar also studies James’ plan on how to find out the spy, which he gave him exactly a month ago. It feels like much longer.
18th
Another One Knows - On the night of the 17th, Severus finds Edgar and tells him that Peter is the spy. Edgar meets with Peter and orders him to wait for an opportunity, when that opportunity arises, he will fake his death and hide in the House of Bones for protection. Peter is grateful, but Edgar doesn’t do this out of friendship or pity. He’s doing it like this because he knows that Peter is worth more alive than dead right now, and that if he scares the boy away now, he’ll go to the Other Side forever, and his friends will have to grieve yet another friend. It’s those friends, Lily, Sirius, Remus, that Edgar thinks of when he dismisses Peter and tells no one about it, wanting to believe that if only Peter will be shown enough love, he will make the right decisions in the future.
21st
The Battle of Diagon - Actually, Edgar meant to meet up with Marlene and show her a tour of the House, so when the battle news break, he’s with her. She’s the one who keeps him from going upstairs to the Map room and apparates him to Diagon Alley instead. He thinks of all the conversations he’d had this month about trust and battle fighting, and how little time they had to prepare, and it’s only when he sees the young Efa Chittock that he snaps out of it.
Protection - Running into a battlefield isn’t always the smartest choice, even if it’s to help her friend Dorcas, and while Efa isn’t too pleased by being held back at first, she quickly realises that Edgar’s plan sounds indeed like she’d be able to protect more people more easily that way. So they run into a house and up to the third floor, from which they defend their fellow Order members downstairs. Because Efa is doing well, Edgar leaves her not too long after, ordering her to stay where she is.
Inside the Sweets Shop - On his way to the side streets, to which the battle is slowly spreading, he sees Dedalus and Fabian inside Dedalus’ shop. He hurries to enter and ward everything, but not before giving Fabian his protective coat and sending him out into battle, telling him to show up for a date tomorrow night. Punctual. Alive. Then Edgar and Dedalus take care of the kids caught inside the shop, as well as the knocked out Death Eater, before, suddenly, Voldemort appears.
Voldemort is targeting Dorcas and Annalise, and Edgar pushes Dedalus deeper into the shop. But realising that Dorcas being in danger will draw Efa down from her hide-out, Edgar runs back into the street as well, and together, from opposite sides of the road, they ward off any attempts of making it even harder on Dorcas and Annalise.
Aftermath - Once back at the HQ, Edgar takes notes on everything that happened, on everything they lost.
Rigby and the Phoenix Part I - During the Debriefing, someone knocks on the door. It turns out it’s Rigby, who has just learnt today that this war is real, that the Death Eaters are really real, that the Order is really real, and who is now learning that his own siblings are in fact part of the Order.
In This Play, We Reveal What Type of People We Are - Edgar works late into the night until he sees Peter Pettigrew watching him from the shadows. He learns that Peter faked his own death and now requires Edgar’s protection.
22nd
When Preparation Meets Opportunity - During the Battle of Diagon, Edgar gave his Phoenix Tag to Efa, aware that the Other Side already knows of him. He told her that once all of the veterans will be gone, they’ll need fresh faces to surprise the Other Side, which wasn’t a very comforting thought but at least had Efa accept the Tag. Now she is bringing it back to him, and Edgar, who worked all night through on the hostage and the List they found again, allows himself a moment of smiles: he is proud of Efa for how she fought yesterday and invites her to a breakfast. Perhaps also to charge her with some secret tasks.
The Inevitable Catastrophe - Peter has to pretend he’s dead. But Edgar doesn’t want his closest friends to go through the grief of losing another friend, so he brings them in to allow them to know he’s fine. He makes them promise not to ask questions and finds himself disappointed that wanting to know what happened is all that’s on their mind anyway, believing that if Peter doesn’t feel loved, he might betray them again. When Remus offers to stay over, he’s relieved. Afterwards, he burns the plan James made to find out the spy, as it could now risk Peter’s life but also out of disappointment for not having been of more use. He asks the question: Protecting Peter, giving him a second chance, it’s smart, but is it fairness or weakness?
The End of Alcott Avery - Artem and Bran brought in a hostage, which is being interrogated all through the night and the next day. After the thing with Peter is taking care of, Edgar joins Severus for a last interrogation, but Avery brings barely any new information to the table, and before they can do anything, Bran kills him with a knife.
24th
Beginnings are Endings - The attack on Diagon brought more attention to the Order than ever before -- it seems -- and with that attention comes a new recruit: Lucinda Talkalot. On the 24th, Edgar finds her snooping around the House of Bones, and so Edgar gives her a little tour to test her.
25th
The End of Alcott Avery Part II - At the office of the Daily Prophet, the news break that the family of Alcott Avery has fled, and Edgar realises quickly that it’s got to do with the murder of Alcott. He writes Caradoc to tell him, though he doesn’t quite know for which goal, and sees Ainsley across the office also reaching for stationery, possibly to inform the Other Side of the same.
28th
Rigby and the Phoenix Part II - Edgar goes to meet Rigby at his apartment, finding Andros instead. The two have a pleasant conversation until Rigby comes home and bans Edgar from ever talking to his family again, as Edgar is ‘dangerous’.
Omnia Muntantur - After this, Edgar’s mental health deteriorates and he begins warding everything more intensely, the intrusive thoughts forcing more and more patterns into his life. Meeting with Marlene after the fiasco at Rigby’s brings him at least some relaxation.
30th
The End of Alcott Avery Part III - As Edgar watches the Fighting Club to figure out new battle strategies, Caradoc finds him and hands him a Muggle paper from Liverpool. In it, the death of the Avery family is reported. Edgar’s not sure if it’s a victory or a failing on their part, but what’s certain is that the Other Side will kill everyone who dares to desert. It at least reassures him that keeping Peter being alive a secret was the right decision.
Peter stared at the text on his screen for a minute or so before the words really clicked in his head. His best friend apparently had had enough of being ignored over the last month and a half since the funeral. The calls and texts had petered off by then, well, from everyone other than Elliot. A call in the morning went unanswered, the same with the few texts that came in throughout the day, and once again with the call that came in the evening. He knew cutting himself off from everyone wasn’t healthy. Some small part of his brain screamed at him to pick up the phone, but he couldn’t bring himself to pretend to be even remotely ok around people.
When the knock finally came he was half tempted to ignore it, and he would have if Elliot didn’t know exactly where his spare key was hidden. “Elliot...” His words were quiet in an attempt to hide the crack that he knew would be there. Though the pinprick of fresh tears were more than enough to give away just how he was feeling at the moment. “Hi.”
[Text to Dork Boy] You dont happen to be out swinging doing superhero stuff? A girl could use some rescuing from this boring party.
[Text to Dork Boy] Otherwise I might resort to get drunk enough to make these people look interesting...
Well, Buck is fallin’ asleep on me, so we’re headin’ to bed. We’re gonna be in and out for the next few days as we wrap up our trip visitin’ Tony and Peter. Keep fillin’ up the inbox for us?
