RP: And took a step outside
Date: December 31st, 2005
Character: Rita Skeeter
Location: Hillview
Status: Private
Summary: Rita welcomes another new year. Alone again, but not really.
Completion: Complete
Kingsley was at a wedding. Rita didn't know if he had gone with his Hufflepuff or not. She hadn't asked - hadn't wanted to know the answer - but this time she refused to assume. Refused to second-guess herself. She'd made a choice, opened herself up, and now all that remained was to wait and let whatever would come do so.
Rita poured herself a large glass of red and settled herself on the settee.
This time last year, she'd watched muggle fireworks explode over the London Eye and she'd felt unaccountably sad. The Prophet had been printing on the muggle press, she remembered, and she'd been there on business, alone, and wondering what the year held for her. Who she'd have to share it with.
At is was, she now owned the paper, and she'd had many people to share the year with.
She'd found out she had a brother, she'd formed a strange but fulfilling friendship with an uptight librarian and a less strange one with a flirtatious neighbour. She'd spent a lot of interesting, enjoyable hours with Ollivander.
Ollivander. She supposed she'd have to deal with that at some point. With what, though? With the fact that she cared about him a lot, and she enjoyed spending time with him, but that she didn't want to sleep with him any more? So many things went unsaid with Ollivander. Did she really need to say it out loud?
Yes. She did. She needed to tell him that she'd found something that was worth the risk of her heart, she supposed. Worth the risk of her strength. She needed to do it for herself, for Kingsley, for Ollivander. She couldn't keep Ollivander as some kind of backup in case things with Kingsley went wrong again. Couldn't treat Ollivander like some kind of consolation prize. Couldn't pretend to take a risk with whatever it was with Kingsley if she had the safety net of how comfortable it was with Ollivander to fall back into. Be an adult and face up to the decision she'd made.
And what a terrifying decision it was. What if they killed each other? What if she started hurting him and he pulled away? What if she was as bad for him as she'd always thought she was, and she destroyed them both?
What if. Pointless to dwell on what could go wrong. The only thing she could think of now was how wonderful it felt in his arms, and try to make something like what Caradoc had talked about - something that grew stronger with time.
God, she hoped she wasn't being an idiot even thinking about things like future and time.
So. She was alone on New Year's Eve again, only not really this time, and this time she wasn't inclined to melancholy or tears. This time she was inclined to watch the noir she'd hired at the video store in Exeter, put her feet up, and wait for the new year to roll in.
It wouldn't be all easy, she knew that. The last year had made her rather successful in business, but she still had a book to finish, and her personal life couldn't possibly run smoothly with all the complications she'd stirred up for herself in the last few weeks.
Well, bring it on. She was a Gemini, wasn't she? She thrived on chance, danger, uncertainty. Anything else would be boring. And Rita Skeeter was anything but boring.
Character: Rita Skeeter
Location: Hillview
Status: Private
Summary: Rita welcomes another new year. Alone again, but not really.
Completion: Complete
Kingsley was at a wedding. Rita didn't know if he had gone with his Hufflepuff or not. She hadn't asked - hadn't wanted to know the answer - but this time she refused to assume. Refused to second-guess herself. She'd made a choice, opened herself up, and now all that remained was to wait and let whatever would come do so.
Rita poured herself a large glass of red and settled herself on the settee.
This time last year, she'd watched muggle fireworks explode over the London Eye and she'd felt unaccountably sad. The Prophet had been printing on the muggle press, she remembered, and she'd been there on business, alone, and wondering what the year held for her. Who she'd have to share it with.
At is was, she now owned the paper, and she'd had many people to share the year with.
She'd found out she had a brother, she'd formed a strange but fulfilling friendship with an uptight librarian and a less strange one with a flirtatious neighbour. She'd spent a lot of interesting, enjoyable hours with Ollivander.
Ollivander. She supposed she'd have to deal with that at some point. With what, though? With the fact that she cared about him a lot, and she enjoyed spending time with him, but that she didn't want to sleep with him any more? So many things went unsaid with Ollivander. Did she really need to say it out loud?
Yes. She did. She needed to tell him that she'd found something that was worth the risk of her heart, she supposed. Worth the risk of her strength. She needed to do it for herself, for Kingsley, for Ollivander. She couldn't keep Ollivander as some kind of backup in case things with Kingsley went wrong again. Couldn't treat Ollivander like some kind of consolation prize. Couldn't pretend to take a risk with whatever it was with Kingsley if she had the safety net of how comfortable it was with Ollivander to fall back into. Be an adult and face up to the decision she'd made.
And what a terrifying decision it was. What if they killed each other? What if she started hurting him and he pulled away? What if she was as bad for him as she'd always thought she was, and she destroyed them both?
What if. Pointless to dwell on what could go wrong. The only thing she could think of now was how wonderful it felt in his arms, and try to make something like what Caradoc had talked about - something that grew stronger with time.
God, she hoped she wasn't being an idiot even thinking about things like future and time.
So. She was alone on New Year's Eve again, only not really this time, and this time she wasn't inclined to melancholy or tears. This time she was inclined to watch the noir she'd hired at the video store in Exeter, put her feet up, and wait for the new year to roll in.
It wouldn't be all easy, she knew that. The last year had made her rather successful in business, but she still had a book to finish, and her personal life couldn't possibly run smoothly with all the complications she'd stirred up for herself in the last few weeks.
Well, bring it on. She was a Gemini, wasn't she? She thrived on chance, danger, uncertainty. Anything else would be boring. And Rita Skeeter was anything but boring.