RP: Comfort Food

[shh_roger]

Date: February 18, 2005
Character(s): Roger Davies, Hermione Granger
Location: Roger's place, Grocery store in Exeter
Status: Private
Summary: Worried about Cedric, Hermione drops by Roger's place and they go grocery shopping.
Completion: Complete

Roger had a lot of work ahead of him. This morning, he'd officially claimed the building on Lovegood Lane

Comments

[shh_hermione]

After Towler had basically told her to go away, Hermione had found herself uncertain on where exactly to go to. Instead of heading home, she found herself walking to Roger's cottage. She was worried about Cedric, so it was better to just continue her day as she'd planned because going home to pace and think too much wasn't beneficial to anyone.

When Roger answered the door, she took his hand and felt herself relax slightly. He had the ability to calm her regardless of how upset or anxious she was, which meant a lot to her. "Hey," she said, stepping inside and looking up at him. "I'm okay. How are you?"

She moved closer and hugged him, sighing as she closed her eyes for a moment and held him. "Cedric's had an accident. He's going to be okay, but I found him this morning unconscious, and he looked so still and pale."

[shh_roger]

"I'm fine," he said quietly. "Just fine."

She went into his arms and hugged him, and he held her tight for a few moments, placing a hand on her head, pulling it to his chest and running his hand down her hair. When she spoke, he frowned and led her to the sitting room and onto his sofa. "What sort of accident? He's been hurt? Where is he now?" He thought of his friend, and also of what it must have been like for Hermione to find him. He took her hand again. "I'm glad you came. Don't be afraid. I assume a Healer's seen to him?"

[shh_hermione]

Roger led her into the sitting room, and she sat down, keeping his hand in hers. "From what we could determine, he fell off a chair in his kitchen while changing a lightbulb. It looks like he hit his head on the table, maybe, and that's what knocked him out," she said. "He was so still and looked dead when I first saw him. It was so frightening, as I thought he might not wake up, and I don't want to lose a good friend, not when we survived the bloody war."

She shook her head slightly and looked at Roger. "He's staying a night or two at Kenneth Towler's clinic," she replied. "I'm not exactly sure how bad the accident was, as the Healer ran me off, but I worry that it might have hurt him more because I'm not sure how his brain injury works. He doesn't talk about it a lot with me, though I know enough to be concerned."

"Sorry for showing up unannounced. I can leave if you're busy," she told him. "I'd planned to stop by to see if you needed anything from Exeter since I'm going to the supermarket, but then I found Cedric."

[shh_roger]

He only listened. "I know how scared you must be," he murmured, not really feeling like he needed to say much more than that. "I don't want anything to happen to him either."

Roger nodded as Hermione explained. "Cedric and I never talked much about his brain injury. I remember that at the Christmas party he got a bit headachey and disoriented from being in the room with quite a few people playing loud video games and such. All I know is that it isn't good to take a hit to the head even in a normal situation, so Cedric will need watched for a while, I'm sure."

He turned her hand in his, threading his fingers through hers and squeezing lightly. "It'll be fine. He'll be fine. But don't apologise for dropping by. It's good to see you. Can I do anything at all?"

[shh_hermione]

"I'm rather hungry, too," she said. Her bowl of cereal was long forgotten, and it had been a rather stressful morning. She still had to go to Cambridge to send the owl to Cedric's parents, but that wouldn't take too long. They decided on sandwiches, and she also ordered a bag of crisps for them to share.

When they reached a spot to Apparate home, she smiled and moved closer to Roger. The shopping had been a nice distraction, so she was in a better mental place than she'd been when they first left his house. This time, she subtly smelled him as they went back home.

"I'll put these things away and then pop over to Cambridge to send the owl to Cedric's parents," she told him. "I'll be at your house in shortly, and we can play with Lucy and have lunch. Does that sound okay?"

[shh_roger]

He smiled and kissed her cheek lightly. "Okay. Be careful. Lucy and I will be waiting."

Back at his house, Roger put his food away, which didn't take long. He ate alot usually, as he needed alot of energy for work, but it was still only him to buy for, so his load was appreciably lighter than Hermione's, who was feeding two hungry men and herself. After he had his things put away, he went to the shed behind the shop for his bike and, checking that it had enough fuel, and wheeled it outside and to the back of his house.

He leaned against the bike, keys jingling in hand, as he waited for Hermione to return. He was happy that she'd suggested this as he'd not been on his bike in some time, and they could both use this time to get away.

[shh_hermione]

"I'll be careful," she said, smiling as she kissed his jaw. "I'll also hurry, so you and Lucy don't have to wait too long."

She took the bag inside and went about unshrunking everything. It didn't take too long to put everything away, as she'd not buy milk and such until she went to the dairy or local market. Once it was all put away, she wrote a note to the boys, letting them know she'd gone out with Roger and would be back later. She then wrote a brief letter to Cedric's parents letting them know he'd had fallen but was doing well, mostly because she knew he kept in touch with them and didn't want them worried if he didn't owl for awhile.

A quick Apparation to Cambridge resulted in paying for an international owl post to Canada. That done, she focused and soon arrived at Roger's cottage. She found him leaning against the motorbike and smiled. "Ready for that ride?"

[shh_roger]

"Ready if you are." He put protection charms on both their heads, then straddled the bike. Gesturing for her to get on behind him, he revved the engine and it came to life under him with a satisfying roar.

Roger waited for her to get settled in comfortably behind him. "Hold on tight," he said. One of these days, they'd need to take both their bikes out-- and race a bit-- but there were certain inarguable benefits to riding together. He smiled and started to accelerate, driving to the street and speeding up without warning down the road. They would know when to stop and eat when the time was right.