RP: Friends gather around us...

[rar_verity]

Date: 18 September, 1999
Characters: Verity Jackson, Lee Jordan, Anyone who wants to come by (add your tags as you arrive).
Location: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Status: Public
Summary: The Alley reacts to the news
Completion: Complete-ish

Comments

[rar_angelina]

As soon as Angelina Apparated to the Alley, she knew something was off. The heavy stenches of smoke, burned wood, and the nauseating scent of something acrid, like a scorched potion, choked the air. Angelina coughed.

People moved around with worried faces, spoke in whispered voices that sounded both anxious and upset. What was going on? Angelina pushed open the door of the shop. Carmilla stood behind the counter, rubbing her fingers across her collarbone. She looked just as troubled.

"What's going on?" Angelina asked.

"Oh, honey," Carmilla said, "you didn't hear? Harvey and I were sure you wouldn't come in today. The joke shop burned down. Last night it seems. We heard it on the wireless this morning. George's place," she added when Angelina continued to stare without speaking.

Within seconds, Angelina was sprinting up the street. The closer she got to George's shop, the stronger the stench was. By the time she reached the shop, she was gasping, nearly choking on the lingering scent of smoke.

The shop. It was gone. It was a gaping black hole. Angelina covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, my God. No." George and Lee? Tears sprang into her eyes. She frantically looked around, recognising Verity. She ran over.

"Verity," she gasped, "what happened? Are George and Lee...?" She couldn't even finish the question.

[rar_verity]

Verity turned, the purple Pygmy Puff still cradled in her palm, then reached one arm to hug Angelina. "They're safe," she said, shaking her head. "They weren't home. Nobody was here..."

She stepped back a little, then glanced back at the shop. "George...he..." Her eyes swam with tears. "He couldn't...deal, I suppose? Bill took him. To St. Mungo's..." She wiped a tear off her cheek. "Oh, Angelina. He was so...lost..."

[rar_angelina]

Angelina gratefully leaned into Verity's hug. George and Lee hadn't been home. "Oh, thank God," she whispered.

Verity explained that Bill had taken George to St. Mungo's. He was so lost, she said. Of course he was lost. He'd just lost...so much. As if he hadn't suffered enough already. "Verity, the shop...it's all gone..." she said. The tears dripped down her cheeks. "Lee? Where is he? Is he...gone, too?"

[rar_verity]

Verity gestured toward the Alley. "He was sitting on the steps," she said, then sighed and turned, staring into what was left of the shop. Her fingers stroked the little ball of fluff in her hand absently, and she bit her lip.

[rar_angelina]

Angelina nodded. She wiped at her cheeks. She didn't see Lee yet. Would he want to be alone; would he want support?

Merlin. The shop was gone. What were George and Lee going to do? Where would they live? Angelina immediately thought she would offer them her flat because it didn't look as though the top floor had remained unscathed by the fire and smoke damage.

Angelina thought she could probably bunk on Cho's couch. Surely Cho would be okay with that. Then the guys could feel comfortable in her flat without a third person. But George...St. Mungo's. Would he be there long? Would he want visitors?

[rar_verity]

"I'm sure he'll be okay. They'll heal his hand so fast...it was just a cut..." She nodded, wondering who she was trying to convince. She looked over at Angelina, then back at the shop.

The shop. Her job.

Oh, Merlin...she didn't have a job, now...

A gruff voice spoke near her elbow and she turned, finding Clifford standing there with a sober expression. She excused herself from Angelina, pulling Clifford aside and giving him a hug.