Date: April 9, 2005
Characters: Orla Quirke, Andromeda and Ted Tonks.
Location: The Tonks residence
Status: Private
Summary: Ted has another session with Orla and perhaps gains some new insight.
Completion: Incomplete
Andy walked around the living room aimlessly, waiting for Orla to come for Ted's appointment. She hadn't spoken to Ted since their blow
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"Now I have two sisters. The eldest is dead, the youngest is not and I had not spoken to either since our falling out back when I was in Hogwarts some thirty odd years ago. My youngest sister, unfortunately, chose the wrong side. I believe it wasn't because she particularly believed in Voldemort, but she believed in her husband who did." She gave Ted a pointed look as she said this, then slid her eyes away. "Just recently, this past October in fact, I reconciled with my sister. I had no one at the time. My daughter was in London not answering her owls, Ted was gone and I didn't know if he was alive or dead. So when she owled me, I accepted and our relationship has grown since then.
"Ted recently found out about this. He thinks that this is some Slytherin plot or ploy to dupe me or harm me somehow. How, I have no idea. I on the other hand trust my sister and believe fully in her sincerity after being in regular contact with her these past months. Ted has all but called me a fool and naieve, but instead of meeting my sister again and spending some time with her to help change his biases, he refuses. Now will you please tell him that he is being paranoid and that the war is over? And that he should meet my sister again, talk to her so that he would know that she has no untoward motives?"
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"Well," She began, casting about for something to open Ted up. "I can see this has been very frustrating and upsetting. For the both of you. " She emphasized. "However, I'm not in the business of ordering anyone, even patients, to think or feel contrary to how they might otherwise express."
"Mrs. Tonks, you said this upsets Ted, but you don't want to give up your reforged relationship with your sister. Mr. Tonks, you are convinced that there is a plot underway to cause your wife harm. Can you tell me what makes you think that? What do you envision as being the worst case scenarios that might happen? Please remember your breathing, Mr. Tonks, like we talked about last week." Orla made her voice as noncommital as she could, and as compassionate to both sides as they might be able to stand hearing
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"Worst case scenario?? You're kidding, right?" He stared at Orla. "Let's see...my wife is associating with a woman with ties to the Death Eaters that goes back twenty-five years. She happens to move into town soon after Andy does, after I've been captured, and makes inquiries around the neighborhood as to where Andy lives. Are you honestly going to tell me that that doesn't sound suspicious in any way?"
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"What do you mean, what do I think will happen? What happened all through the war? People were kidnapped by people they trusted all the time, in setups just like this one. Gain the trust, lure them away, and then..." His breath caught in his chest and he looked away. "She's gone," he ended hoarsely.
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"Mr. Tonks, you and Mrs. Tonks have been at odds about this for several days, from the sound of it. How has this affected you? Have you been able to keep writing in your journal? Anything out of the ordinary happen?" Orla was concerned, because she could tell he wasn't opening up enough to get at the real problem.
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Ted had found himself repeating this at odd times lately; it had become almost a mantra of sorts. He fell back on it again while she spoke, needing to believe it, especially now as the bottom of his world seemed to shift away again. He wasn't crazy, but it appeared that since he stood alone in that conviction, then someone else would have to be recruited to do his fighting for him. Orla had to be convinced that Andy was in danger.
Focusing inward for a few moments, he did what she'd taught him last week, deep steady breaths, drawn in and let out slowly, a deliberate relaxation of shoulders and neck and back muscles. It did almost nothing for the nauseating roil in his belly, but it did serve to clear his thoughts somewhat. Eyes closed, he tried to answer her as calmly as he could.
"You want me to spell it out? Fear. People lived in daily fear, Ms. Quirke. You never knew when or where or how the next strike would come. It might be something as big as an attack on a crowd or as quiet as someone being stolen out of their bed at night, never to be heard from again by their family and friends. And sometimes the ones doing the kidnappings were the family and friends. You just...you couldn't know sometimes. And I'm sure Voldemort used that tactic to split people up even more, separate them from one another so that everyone was easier to pick off one by one. Sometimes people came back after a disappearance and it became almost standard policy to suspect that person of being an Imperius curse victim - they were watched like hawks..." He trailed off, a prickle of something in the back of his head drawing his thoughts away. It was odd that no one had ever questioned him about that...
He shook his head. Didn't matter anyway, not now. "Do you have any idea how many Voldemort sympathizers lied their way out of punishment after the first war, claiming that they'd 'seen reason' or 'been forced into it.'" Bitterness trickled out of the dark places in his mind, lending his words a harsher quality than he'd intended. "You think that hasn't happened this time around? I don't think that at all. And if I was going to go about seeking quiet revenge on someone now, after the war is over, I'd do exactly what Narcissa is doing."
He opened his eyes to confront Orla's gaze again. "I have been journaling a bit. And no, nothing happened. It was pretty quiet..."
Actually, it had been surprisingly quiet, now that he thought about it. Casting his mind back over the weekend, it seemed like something was missing; suddenly he was drawing a complete blank for portions of it. Unease began to creep up, cold and sinuous like a draft from a window, and he found himself staring at Orla in confusion. "I...at least, I think so..."
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