WHO: Miranda Dodderidge and Ralph Frobisher
WHAT: She has some news about their future, and it gets interrupted
WHERE: Ralph's dorm
WHEN: Last night
Miranda knocked softly on the door of Ralph's dorm, eyes casting down the empty corridor. Summer classes were in full swing, but it felt like Ralph was the only student that had decided to stay on campus. Which was good for them, she supposed, but the quiet was sometimes unnerving. She hadn't been particularly fond of the campus as of late, seeing as this was where she had been attacked by death eaters, but...in the light of the day things looked remarkably different, and that was when Miranda chose to visit Ralph.
It wasn't strange for her to not take summer courses, but it had only been a cover until now. Miranda had felt quite guilty for her decision, but she was now here to tell Ralph that she wasn't going to continue going to university. The stress of schoolwork plus W.A.D.A. plus everything else that had been going on in her life had become too much, and while she did enjoy learning the things that muggles found important, Miranda just was not meant to graduate from the University of London College.
She pulled on the handle, wondering if Ralph had taken to locking his doors. It would probably be a smart decision, if he did.
Ralph was glad he had gotten a single for over the summer. Not that he didn't enjoy having a roommate--- Maurice Finch-Fletchley had been the best kind of roommate he could ask for: one that was out of the room half the time and didn't ask too many personal questions the rest of the time. They had a kind of friendship that worked well enough to sustain both of them living in the same space for the past two years, and the next until they finally finished school.
But, with everything that had been happening in the past few months.... Ralph had never been happier to have his own privacy.
A soft knock on the door pulled him out of his trance of staring at the ceiling. Curling up slightly, it was only when a tug at the door made him slip off the bed. Later, Ralph would think he was reacting in such an extreme way. There were many possibilities of who could be behind that door. More likely a student like himself more than a death eater, especially since it was light out, but---
"Who is it?" he called in the most casual voice he could muster. Ralph bent down to grab his wand laying on the floor, never taking his eyes off the door.
Miranda smiled softly, leaning her shoulder against the door.
"It's me, Merridew," she said, looking up toward the ceiling. They should probably have some sort of code word to help prove their identities to each other, now that she thought about it. Miranda picked at her nails as she waited for Ralph to open the door, and she let out a breath.
She couldn't believe how different their lives were, since leaving Hogwarts. They hadn't even survived their first summer as graduates without everything being flipped upside down, and now, two years later, they were completely different people. Miranda still loved Ralph, even more so than she had in Hogwarts, it was just strange that she could feel the same way about someone who was totally different than when she'd first fallen in love with him. And herself, too! Miranda couldn't recognize the girl she'd once been at Hogwarts, it felt like a distant memory of someone she vaguely knew.
Even in the heat she had worn a jacket, finding that she felt better being covered up, and Miranda pulled on her sleeves.
"Oh," Ralph responded, his edge immediately dropping. Tossing his wand onto his bed, he quickly slid to the door to pull it open in one fluid motion. "Sorry," he apologized, frowning slightly. They should--- they should come up with a code word or something like that. Once Miranda had been attacked, Frank and Alice had suggested they create something like that so it would be easier to identify each other. But with everything.... he couldn't imagine having to have that kind of conversation with his girlfriend (fiancee?) just yet.
"I wasn't expecting you," Ralph continued to explain, leaning forward to her for a quick kiss. Wrapping his hand in hers, he sought to tug her into the room and close the door.
Upon turning back to face the room, Ralph suddenly noticed how much of a wreck it actually was in here. Books, pens, papers, garbage and clothes covered almost all the surfaces--- which he hadn't noticed until now. Scratching the back of his head, he shrugged his shoulders at her. "I don't realize how it got this messy in here. The help must've taken the day off today."
"It wouldn't feel like a dorm if it was neat," Miranda commented, dropping down onto his bed (not without moving some books out of the way, of course). She leaned back on the heels of her hands and looked around the room, kicking off her shoes. Now that she was here with Ralph, alone like how she had wanted, she found herself growing nervous. He wouldn't be mad that she wasn't coming back to uni? He would be able to understand?
Miranda didn't even know if she could defend her decision, if Ralph was unhappy with her. Who said that next semester would be as stressful, who knew if in a few months she would still feel as dissatisfied with where she was going in life? The only thing that really comforted her these days was Ralph, and cutting out their time spent together during school might be the worst decision she'd ever make in her life.
Merlin. It had been so easy to make this choice just a few days ago.
She looked up at Ralph and smiled. Maybe she didn't have to tell him yet, "Do you have any exams?"
He gave a weak smile, his hand eventually falling from the back of his head. Ralph continued to stand for a few minutes in front of Miranda, simply watching her as she propped herself on the bed and spoke. Blinking slowly, it took him a few moments for his brain to catch up when she actually addressed him. It was as if his mind had just completely gone blank at that very moment, but then the next--- Ralph shook his head. He needed a brain boost.
"Not--- not yet," he began to shake his head from side to side as his feet slipped forward. A smooth lift onto the bed placed himself next to her, and Ralph wasted no time throwing his arm over her shoulders. "Later next month. I was just--- doing nothing before. Resting, I guess." Ralph looked forward to the opposite wall as he spoke, only turning to face Miranda at the end of his statement. A small smile pushed its way through onto his face.
"How was your day?" Now that they had been spending more time apart than before, they could actually ask each other that.
"Good, good," she said with a few nods, relaxing under his hold. It was a new feeling, not knowing what Ralph was up to most of his days. She supposed that was fine, she did trust him and all, but after spending all of Hogwarts together, and then the past two years at university...it was just strange. Miranda almost felt like a stranger sometimes, when she talked about people he didn't know or hadn't met, and vice versa. They used to be so intertwined with each other's lives and to have some slack in that felt...wrong.
Miranda pressed her face to his shoulder, thinking for a second. He'd notice eventually that she wasn't going to classes, or not talking about her frustrating professors. She could always say that her ministry approved passport into the muggle world had expired and they wouldn't let her renew it, but...
Her arm slunk around his waist, hoping the attachment helped her feel braver. All of the important decisions she'd made in the past two years had been for Ralph, and it was nearly terrifying to think that she was doing this solely for her self.
"I'm thinking of not continuing with uni," she started. It was the truth, sort of. Miranda just wanted to hear his thoughts, "It's just been--a lot, and I...want to pursue acting with the drama academy..."
Ralph would be lying if he said he hadn't been surprised by Miranda's statement. His arm dropped from her shoulders slightly, and he turned to look at her more fully. Just as he was about to open his mouth, however, his initial shock passed and reality began to sink in. This year had been a lot to deal with, especially for Miranda. So, for her to want to lighten her load in anyway possible was.... understandable. Very understandable.
He himself had been very close to leaving school, simply because what was the point? But, as he parents had pointed out, as well as Frank and Alice, staying in London and going to classes kept him sane. They gave him a daily schedule to abide by, a formatted plan of how to attack the day. So, Ralph knew he would stay until the end now. But--- Miranda---
"I understand," Ralph began to nod slowly, though that couldn't hide the hint of sadness in his face. That meant Miranda and he would be even more disconnected from each other than before... He began to speak again, but snapped his mouth shut as a white coyote jetting through his open window and into the center of the room. It opened its mouth quickly as Ralph's dropped.
"Attacked! We've been----they killed my kids they---they're coming back!"
That was Edgar's patronus.
Miranda had never seen a patronus in live action. She'd sent one down the hallway to Ralph, to practice, but she'd never received one like this. She didn't know how realistically they moved, but also how completely mystical they were. She didn't know that it could understand the tone of the messenger's voice, nearly mimicking the expression on its animal face. So the coyote jumping through the window scared the life out of her, and hearing the very familiar voice of Edgar Bones terrified her even more. The coyote looked absolutely devastated----Attacked!
They killed my kids they---
---they're coming back!
She'd backed all the way to the wall the bed was up against, and as the words sunk in Miranda was unable to breathe or think properly. The kids! Emilie! Her goddaughter...kids? Kids---was Gillian pregnant--Gillian! Her best friend! Edgar! The Bones family! They were being---
"No!" she scrambled to her knees, watching as the patronus dissolved, "No! They're---in Wandsworth! We've got to---go!" Miranda nearly fell off the bed trying to get to her feet.
This could not be happening.
