You Better Get Moving, Mate

[Benedict Sterling]

November 22, 1884
tag: @Garrett Wallingford

Even with having so much energy as he did, Benedict was exhausted, and more than relieved to take his break for lunch. He walked into the break room and wished he could get a drink of fire whiskey. Drinking on the job was unfortunately not an option so he had to settle for just a large glass of water and a mug of black tea. He set down his drinks and picked up a spare copy of the Daily Prophet. As he settled into his chair, he pulled out an apple and bit into it, skimming the paper for any sort of interesting news.

The fact that the Wigtown/Ballycastle game hit it's 5 month mark was mildly amusing to Benedict. He looked up when he heard someone enter the room and immediately grinned when he saw who it was. "Wallingford!" he exclaimed in greeting. "How's your day been, mate?"

  

[Garrett Wallingford]

As easygoing and pleasant as his day had been, Garrett was relieved when the clock had struck twelve, signaling that half a day had already passed. It wasn’t that he found his work or his occupation unexciting per se (though his branch of the department could hardly be defined as thrilling), but it was always nice to return home at the end of the day after being stuck at the Ministry for eight hours. Well, that, and twelve o’clock meant that it was time for lunch, and Garrett always found himself hungry around that time.

As such, Garrett swept into the break room, a turkey sandwich and a small glass of Pumpkin Juice clutched in his hand. Normally, he would have greeted the others in the room before sitting down and tucking into his lunch, but that was before a familiar voice called out his name, and a wide grin spread across his face. ”Sterling!,” he returned, pulling out a chair to seat himself next to his old friend, placing the food down in the process. ”Alright, I suppose -- no complaints on my end! How about you?”

With Benedict’s occupation being what it was, Garrett had no doubt that something interesting had come up, and knowing his friend as well as he did, he assumed that it could only be quite entertaining.

Words: 222 | Tag: Benedict

  

[Benedict Sterling]

This was excellent. Garrett was the exact person Benedict wanted to talk to. He'd gone riding with James Herondale yesterday, and during the ride, he'd found out some pretty interesting facts. For one, James knew that he was close friends with one Garrett Wallingford, and wanted to know more about him. Being the friend that he was, Benedict wasn't about to go and reveal Garrett's inner secrets, but his interest was piqued when James mentioned that he had seen his younger sister with Garrett at the Midnight Halloween Ball.

The thing was, though....James wasn't entirely sure of Garrett's motives with his sister. On top of that, James and his brother had been thinking of mentioning to their father about having Aurelia betrothed to someone. The other auror had never told Benedict directly to do a little digging, but Benedict was curious.

Building up a lazy act, he shrugged nonchalantly. "Almost got bitten again by something the other day while riding." he said, flipping through the Prophet. "Im not really sure what it was – wouldn't let me get too close to it though. Herondale said it might have been half minotaur, but I'm not entirely convinced." Benedict remained in a lazy position, but kept a careful eye on his friend when he mentioned James's last name.

  

[Garrett Wallingford]

As Benedict spoke, Garrett proceeded to unwrap the brown paper containing his turkey sandwich, and a small chuckle burst from his lips. It wasn’t a Benedict tale without at least one mention of being bitten or cursed by something or other, and it seemed like today would be no different. Of course, he supposed that he ought to be concerned that his friend had been injured, but this was Benedict, the guy who managed to get himself injured on a daily basis what with his risky career and involvement with animals.

The sandwich had been an inch from his mouth when Benedict uttered that one little word -- he was certain that had he bitten into it a moment earlier, he would have surely choked -- and his head snapped up, suddenly alert. Herondale…, his mind reiterated, ...Miss Herondale’s brother. Or perhaps it was her father? It seemed unlikely that a man of his age and stature would interact with Sterling of all the people, but oh Merlin, her father, the person he’d have to get up the courage to face if he ever wanted a future with the amazing the beautiful the mesmerizing the lovely Miss Aurelia Herondale.

Feeling the heat rush to his face, Garrett gulped and attempted to maintain some shred of normalcy, as if that one tiny word had had very little effect of him. ”Herondale, you say?,” Garrett inquired, no longer feeling hungry and placing his sandwich back down on the table. ”I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

Words: 255 | Tag: @Aurelia Herondale -- Benedict

  

[Benedict Sterling]

There was the reaction he was looking for. Suppressing a triumphant grin on his face, Ben remained in his position, stretching his arms and yawning. Poor Garrett – the bloke seemed to have lost his appetite. But this needed to be resolved, Herondale had told Benedict just a few days earlier. "Yes, he and I are aurors," Ben responded, before chuckling. "Or has my reckless behavior just cancelled all that out?"

Sitting up straight, Ben fixed Garrett with an inquisitive look. "Why? Do you know Herondale at all?" The auror secretly applauded himself on the inside – his friend was reacting exactly the way he wanted him to! He was good....

  

[Garrett Wallingford]

Garrett’s felt his face warm up as Ben reminded him of Herondale’s profession, feeling a bit foolish for having forgotten. But it did confirm that he was, in fact, speaking of James Herondale and not the family’s current patriarch. “Perhaps,” he replied, still attempting to regain his placid temper from earlier. An amused smirk played at the corners of Garrett’s lips as his voice took on a jesting tone. “You do manage to find yourself in quite a few adventuresome scrapes, after all.”

“Not well, unfortunately,” he answered, his friend’s questioning stare causing the joking demeanor to disappear and the nervousness to settle in again. Merlin help him. “I’ve seen him at various social gatherings where we have infrequent conversations, but beyond that, I’m not very familiar with him.” He paused for a moment, his mind once again drifting to Aurelia, and he wondered what her brother’s reaction would be if he ever decided to court her. Protective, certainly -- as the (much) older brother of a younger sister himself, Garrett understood the instinct perfectly -- but would he be approving? The Herondales were a Pureblooded family, after all, even if they have proven time and time again that they did not discriminate others on their lack of blood purity, but would her father allow his pureblooded daughter to marry a man with close Muggle relations? The was the question that weighed heavily on his brain, and truthfully, he felt a bit afraid of the answer.

“Katherine, on the other hand,” he continued, the loud screeching sound of a chair being dragged across the floor jolting him back to reality, “is good friends with his sister, who I have met before and a bit more familiar with. Very charming woman Miss Herondale is, and quite knowledgeable too.” He said the final part of his speech with a hint of nonchalance, attempting to make it seem as if Aurelia was just another woman who had captured his interest, but inwardly, he felt that his compliments did not do her overall personality justice -- she was so much more than simply charming and good for conversation.

Words: 354 | Tag: Ben

  

[Benedict Sterling]

“Wallingford, I wouldn’t be a good auror if I didn’t get into trouble once in a while!” Ben said airily, not even attempting to defend himself further. Besides this was about Garrett and Miss Herondale. Ben had to resist the urge to smirk when his friend mentioned he didn’t know James very well. But I’ll be galleons you know the sister… Sure enough, his inkling was proven correct! “I’ve seen her at a few events for the Ministry – good looking girl, very pretty. She isn’t courting though, is she?” He hoped Garrett wouldn’t hate him for asking this – then again, he needed to nudge his friend along. Time was running low for him.

It occurred to Ben that from what he’d seen of Garrett’s sister, she was quite pretty too, though he shoved that thought to the back of his mind with a quick blink. Though they didn’t act it, the Wallingfords were upper class whereas Ben was middle class. Not a good mix when it came to societal reputation. “I think I saw her talking to some bloke a little while back – something about traveling the Sahara? She seemed quite eager to leave Hogsmeade, now that I think of it."

  

[Garrett Wallingford]

“Indeed,” Garrett agreed, curious as to why his friend was so interested in his acquaintance with Miss Herondale, and was even more suspicious at Ben’s (rather unexpected) question. “Not that I know of,” he answered slowly, his already present discomfort only settling in deeper. "Why do you ask?" It was failure on his part, he knew, that he and Miss Herondale had yet to further explore their blossoming relationship, and was constantly reminded of that fact every single time he came into contact with her -- though he still couldn’t shake the feeling that she deserved much better than him. Or more specifically, someone Pureblooded who wouldn’t pull her away from the society she was used to; he had a feeling that some of her friends (and even part of her family) wouldn’t look too kindly upon her marrying a halfblood, especially one so closely affiliated with Muggles. And yet, Garrett wanted more anything to officially make her his -- it was certainly a wretched situation.

“Did she really?,” Garrett asked in surprise, his facade of cool indifference crumbling a little at Ben’s statement. She wanted to leave? He had always known that Aurelia would like to travel -- her curiosity about the world and thirst for knowledge was most likely the driving force behind such a desire -- but it had never occurred to him that she would be eager to leave Hogsmeade. To leave without him. With another man. It set him quite on edge, and a sort of restless energy crept into his body, as if urging him to drop everything and get a move on before it was too late.

“Well, I suppose that is her choice,” Garrett finally said after a moment, coming out of his thoughts, trying to bury this newfound energy by casually shaking his right leg under the table, “and quite understandable too. After the whole fire and plague fiasco of last summer, she’s probably keen on escaping Hogsmeade. If I remember correctly, she wasn't quite as fortunate as Katherine and I to leave before the quarantine had been placed.” A fact that still bothered him to this day, though he shoved that thought to the back of his brain. This was no time to be dwelling on past regrets, lest Sterling's suspicion about his feelings for Miss Herondale was further solidified.

Words: 386 | Tag: Ben -- @Aurelia Herondale

  

[Benedict Sterling]

Benedict was growing more and more frustrated with his friend. He cared about him deeply, but sometimes Garrett needed a little push, especially when it came to women. Ben of all people knew that, having shoved him in the direction of many women in the past. But this time, Ben saw a change in his friend's way that he talked about this particular one – it was a reaction he'd never seen on his friend before. Unfortunately this push would be rather unpleasant. He let Garrett finish his train of thought. "I ask because I heard from her brother that her father was thinking of setting up an arranged marriage for Miss Herondale." he let that sink in, watching the expression on his friend's face.

"Mr Herondale doesn't want to force his kids to marry, but Herondale says her window of opportunity is closing – slowly, yes, but it's closing none the less, and Herondale wants to see his sister happy. She's happy in Hogsmeade, but she wants to travel, and unfortunately she can't do that because she needs to be focusing on attending events where she'd be seen." Ben knew he didn't have to point out the obvious now. Garrett would get it, and hopefully now he'd make a move. The auror knew his friend well, and hopefully this was the final push he needed.

  

[Garrett Wallingford]

Whatever he had been expecting Ben to say on the subject of the Herondales, it had certainly not been that. And despite his best efforts, the surprise registered on his face and he felt his heart seemingly fall into the pit of his stomach. The words Miss Herondale and arranged marriage kept repeating over and over in his head, and he struggled to listen to his friend’s next statement with a calm face, his composure slipping little by little.

“I see…,” he managed to say placidly, despite the myriad of emotions swirling around inside of him. His leg still shook restlessly under the table. This was a new feeling, disappointed and anxious and restless all at once, and he couldn’t say that he enjoyed it too much. But he couldn’t deny that what Sterling was saying was the utmost truth. Not only was her window of opportunity closing, but his was as well, and if he ever wanted that blissful future of marriage with her, he had to act now before it was too late. But could he do that to her? Could he honestly ask her to be his wife when he knew that there were others who were far more worthy of her? All for the sake of love?

It took him a moment to think about it, his brow slightly furrowed, and the answer was as clear as day (if not a bit reluctantly admitted): yes, he would. He would endure all manner of unpleasant emotions and experiences in order to be by her side, as cheesy as that sounded, and he had a feeling that if Ben were privy to his thoughts now he would be wholly made fun of. A thought which brought a brief smile to his face, and he turned back to the Auror, his body abuzz with sudden energy and he jumped up from the table. There was nothing that he could do now, of course. He would have to go through all the proper ways of meeting with her father (though perhaps he should get her brother’s approval first?) to inquire after a courtship and then there would be a period of engagement, but there was no way he could sit there, not when his stomach was all aflutter and the wheels of his mind were turning at a mile a minute. Perhaps he would go for walk.

“Right,” he said quickly, suddenly aware that he was garnering curious looks from the other workers around them. “I thank you for this eye-opening information, but I think I fancy a walk. Would you care to join me?” He gestured towards the door, though before Ben could even answer, he was walking briskly through it and was soon out of sight. Either Ben would catch up with him or he would stay put, either was fine by him, but Good Merlin did he need to move.

Words: 482 | Tag: Ben -- @Aurelia Herondale

  

[Benedict Sterling]

With a surging sense of triumph, Benedict watched as his friend thought. He could practically see the wheels turning, and it definitely satisfied him. He'd done his job and gotten it through to Wallingford that he needed to get a move on. Hopping back up, considerably cheerful, he clapped his mate on the back and nodded. "Let's go get you some liquid courage, my friend."