What are friends for?

[safinnigan]

Date: Saturday, 30 September, 2000
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Trésor Littéraire
Characters Involved: Seamus Finnigan, Charlotte Aurelius, open to others who wish to help clean up
Rating: G, or maybe PG-13 for French invectives

Comments

[safinnigan]

Charlotte seemed overwhelmed by the look of her; and she certainly had good reason to be by the looks of her bookstore. Seamus entered the shoppe, closing the door behind him and putting an arm loosely around her shoulders to quide her back into the place. He could see her quandary. Where did you start when there was too much for any one person to do?

“Aye, lass,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “’Tis always best to start at the beginning, as me own Irish Mum would say, so’s let us be after starting right here and we’ll work our way ‘round the place then.” He smiled at her, hoping to cheer her up at least a little. He wondered if she had other friends who could help them. If they had a few more wands they could make quick work of the place. It would take the two of them a bit longer.

“Aye, luv,” he released her and took out his wand, righting the nearest bookcase with his magic as his mending ribs would not allow him to do it with his own strength. “Well then, you be after telling this Seamus how you want the books arranged on the shelves and I’ll be after setting this section to rights. This Seamus has spent so much time in the library at Hogwarts that I feel right close to home here.” He paused to smile and wink at her. “’Twill promise not to stop and read or even look at the pictures whilst I work then.” He reached down and picked up a pile of the nearest books, arranging them on the bookshelves manually before he went back to using his wand to do it. The magic would make faster work of the disarray, then they could work on the damage.

[beautesolitaire]

She nearly lost it when he hugged her. She took another shakey breath. She had to get herself together. She had to get her store back onto its feet, but all she wanted to do was cry. Who could ruin books? It was destroying knowledge, opinions.... it was a crime. Well of course it was a crime, but it was more then the vandalism.

A lot of the stock would have to be replaced. She didn't quite know how she was going to manage to replace so much at once. She went to get her wand, moving to righting things herself, she was tired. She was upset. It was like the last 24 hours had been hell, for absolutely no foreseeable reason. She needed to eat something and sleep and cry herself out. The initial anger had left her before she had had a chance to make good with it. She righted the chairs and went to inspect them. Fingering the shreaded cushions and back, she sighed heavily. Fleur had helped her pick them out. "These are completely ruined." she said, quietly.

It was hard to even think about being cheerful at the moment, "I don't understand why anyone would do this."

Her head was pounding with the vicious headache that she had had since the investigators had left. She rubbed her forehead with a hand. She just didn't know where to start. She had felt this lost before and had thought she had found a new home away from France. She had felt this way too when she had lost her parents. She had had no one to turn to, no one to share the emotions with, no one to help her plan and organize.