1994-12-16: Absence Of Light

Participants:

Holly_icon.gif Lupin_icon.gif

Scene Title Absence of Light
Synopsis Lupin and Holly have a chat. Holly needs to send a message to her family.
Location Number 12 Grimmauld Place
Date 16 Dec 1994
Watch For Irony. You'll get it later.
Logger Holly

It's been a night full of rain mixed with snow. Hard to tell if that's what's making the strange noises come out of the wall, though. It could also be the doxy infestation in the curtains… You can't really get them all, after all, and Holly's not really in the mood to go on a hunt for them right now. In fact, she's at that point where she's so bored, she's gone from being desperate for something to do to not wanting to do anything.

So she's upside-down on one of the house's couches, legs over the back, with the longest strands of her hair touching the floor. She's looking out the window as the sun rises… It's kind of funny watching it rain upwards, which should keep her mildly entertained for the next five minutes or so. It'd be nice if she could work. The problem is, she's done everything she can while stuck within these walls.

—-

A visit is in order. That's what Lupin thought as he got up this morning. Another visit to Grimmauld Place. This time though, he figures he should find Holly if he can. It's only right to see how she is doing. No doubt it was the last thing the American lawyer was expecting to go into hiding from the British Ministry. He opens and closes the door as quietly as he can, so as to not bother the shrieking painting and makes his way to peek in all the rooms to find the woman he can to see.

—-

Since she's already looking intently across the room, Holly just happens to see Lupin pass by the doorway. "Oh, hey," the upside-down woman says, waving. There's nothing like boredom to turn a well-raised lawyer into a four-year-old. And, hey, if you're upside-down long enough, you can pretend that the room has been reversed, and you have to walk on the ceiling to get anywhere. Without flipping over, she asks, "What brings you by this cheery place on this bright, sunny morning?" This is inquired as she glances over toward the storm that's still pouring down outside the window.

—-

Lupin is stopped when he hears a familiar voice call out. He peeks into the room. "Ah, Miss Maplewood! Good to see you've found a place for yourself." He smiles kindly to her. "Well, to be honest…it's you that brings me here. I wanted to see how you were doing." He peers about the room. "And if you think that this place is cheery now, you should have seen it when Sirius was growing up. It was really cheery back then. Hmm. I could not come by here enough."

—-

"Temporarily," she agrees, sighing. "I think I'm just too lazy to move at the moment." He wants to know how she's doing, though, and it's hard to honestly answer that question. Physically, she's fine… "I feel trapped. And I can't think of a way to get around this." Finally, she flips over so she's sitting properly on the couch, though her hair's efinitely sticking out in several interesting directions. "It seems like all of Wizard London is ready to believe that I helped Sirius escape. No one's investigating. No one's looking into it. It's like everyone who exists ever is just hanging onto the Ministry's every word."

Crossing her arms, she leans back on the couch. "I can't stay here forever. Eventually, I'm going to have to try to fix this."

—-

Lupin leans silently on the door frame for a few moments listening. "Welcome to the corruption within our Ministry. But you should know, not everyone does believe the word of…well, it's not the Ministry. It's the Minister. Umbridge. Some people are starting to question her. There has been muttering behind her back. Talk about whether she really is all there up in her head or if her methods are right. Trust me, change will come." He says calmly. "It has to get worse before it gets better. It's just the way it is."

—-

Lupin's right, and Holly does know that nothing worth gaining is ever easy. She never expected to walk into the country and just fix everything that was wrong with it. "I think something really big is gonna have to happen first before people really start to doubt her. And I'd hate to be on the receiving end of it. Really— I know things are gonna get worse. It's just waiting here for something to happen? It's kinda hell to put it bluntly. And it's almost Christmas…" Holly trails off, looking down at her hands. "I'd like to get some sort of message to my family. You don't think Patronuses can go across the ocean, do you?"

—-

Lupin listens intently, but with a sympathetic gaze. He moves to sit beside Holly. "I know what you're going through. Honestly. I've had to go through some similar with what I am. It's not going to be easy until your name is cleared. And believe me, your name will be cleared. Just think of that. Plus, there's plenty to do here. I hear the pixie population has increased since I was here as a teenager."

—-

"Yeah, I know it will." She does. Somewhat. It's kind of like playing video games and knowing you're gonna hit that high score that only a few people ever achieve. Technically, anyone can do it with the right skill… And Holly certainly has the skill for this game. It's just become much more difficult.

"What, a wizard?" Holly asks, smiling. She knows what he means. It just seems wrong, in a way, to completely separate someone from everyone else. People with diabetes aren't shunned. And people who smoke slowly kill people every day. "Still, as much as I worked for werewolf rights in the U.S., I never really got to know any of them. Kind of sad, you know? We all just had our own lives."

—-

Lupin gazes intently at Holly. "Miss Maplewood, if there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that you can work for the rights of someone or something but never really understand what you're fighting for. Very few people know that freedom. Some might question why I fought for the good and the light when the very same government that claimed to be 'good' shunned me away like a piece of scrap. You know why I fought for good and why I still fight for good? Because I know that if I don't…the dark will win. And I, more than most people who fight the it, know what the ugly face of the darkness looks like. I've seen it. I feel it every time I transform and every time I am amongst other werewolves. I don't want that to be the life of anyone else. I don't want anyone else to experience or know what I have." He smiles sadly at Holly. "And as per your previous unanswered question. If you try hard enough, a speaking patronus may just be able to reach America."

—-

"I really can't blame most werewolves for siding with someone — " She trails off before she can go all logical. Really, though, she's said it before. "It's just, if you treat someone like dirt, it's gonna come back to you. It makes sense that people are afraid of, say, dragons. They're dangerous and deadly all the time.

"All the Ministry has to do, though, is … educate more people on how to create the Wolfsbane potion. Give an allowance to werewolves so they can build a safe place for themselves — it's — Sorry, preaching to the choir." Holly shakes her head. "It's what seems to be common sense. Everyone around here overlooks common sense. But I don't think 'dark' can ever really win. It's not something that can be measured, like… Cold is the absense of heat. Dark is the absense of light. It's easy enough to push back against it— That sounds dumb."

She's had a lot of time to think.

"Oh, no, I can't do it," she says, looking up from her hands to Lupin. "I was wondering if maybe you could."

—-

"You see, that's just the thing, Miss Maplewood. It's not that easy to push against the dark. Not now. The dark has the power. The dark can throw you in Azkaban without a second thought. And the dark? The dark's firmest face of the last few decades is raising again." Lupin says. "Umbridge is but the beginning." He shakes his head. "But no, that wasn't dumb. Just watch for the clues, though." He smiles softly. "Me? I'm sure I could. But it would be sort of strange for your family to get a patronus in general, let alone one that talked and had the voice of a complete stranger."

—-

Doesn't seem like a very hopeful world. That makes it all the more important that she gets back into the game and gets Sirius back to trial. Somehow. He's one of the good guys, and those shouldn't be locked up in Azkaban. Or, y'know, without their souls attached.

She chuckles when Lupin suggests, in a way, that she send her own Patronus. "The Dementors creep me out. I'm getting used to them. I mean, there's the whole fear thing, but I figure, one day I'm gonna kick their asses, and it's gonna feel good, too. But that's not now. I can make a corporeal Patronus about half the time, and the other half is split between being too frustrated to make anything, and this silver shield that's only partially effective. So I have a little over a week to get some sort of message to my mom, my sisters, and my little neice who might never know me. I don't know if I can figure it out in that time."

—-

Lupin nods. "I've never been a fan of the Dementors myself. I know how you feel. Having chocolate handy helps, though." He smiles. "If you'd really like, I can send the speaking patronus to your family though. Just tell me the message and where to send it. Which actually reminds me…" He points his wand toward the window and a patronus erupts and dashes out and on it's way. He didn't even speak at all. "Had to get a message to someone quickly, you know."

—-

"Just doesn't make sense that there's something that can live on stealing the good thoughts of others." And that the Ministry uses them as prison guards. RED FLAG RED FLAG RED FLAG. How come no one's ever questioned that before? Dementors are dangerous all the time, and Umbridge parades them around like prized poodles!

"Okay, I'll write something down," Holly says, smiling, though she's quickly distracted by the silver Patronus running out the window. "One day, maybe I'll be able to do it myself. I just need to make sure this gets through. They're probably wondering where I am. What's going on. I can't risk sending an owl."

—-

Lupin bows his head. "Well, I need to be off now, myself. I have to be to work. But you work on deciding what you want to send. The longer the message the more difficult it is to send it far, keep that in mind. But don't let that deter you from writing what you want to."

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