Revelations {Padril's Apartment}

[Padril Crennent]

Padril's apartment block was in a shady part of London and appeared to be a abandoned building to the muggle world outside. The block consisted of seven floors and was itself dirty and unmaintained, broken lamps and peeling wall-paint littering it's halls and stairs. Beneath floorboards, dynasties of cockroaches fought bloody and terrible wars.

Padril lived on the fifth floor behind a door whose apartment number had long ago fallen off. Instead, Padril had carved a large overlapping PC which served to designate the door. The door is difficult to open at first and requires a hard shove in order to move it, though this may break the handle. Inside, the apartment is a mess. The entire apartment consists of two rooms, the bathroom and a joint bedroom-study-dining room-living room. There is a single window in the living room, which looks out onto the brick wall of a building so close you could lean out and touch it. However, Padril has numerous plants growing from the small flowerbed outside the window, so the view is obstructed.

Behind the window is the counter and oven that make up the kitchen, with a small table behind that large enough for four. One of the legs is broken, so several copies of Tom Clancy are used to right the leg ("Only damn use of the books" Padril tells anyone who asks). Beyond the table is a worn and torn couch, which lies next to the door. It has a small gramophone next to it on a small bedside table where Padril occassionly plays music. A uncomfortable looking and unmade bed sits in the corner, a portrait of Paracelsus sits above the bed, framed in black. A phrase written in gold letters is written on the bottom of the frame "Genius is a state of mind."

The rest of the room is filled with bookshelves that, while crumbling at parts, contain fantastically preserved books of almost every sort imaginable. Almost all the walls are lined with these, letting up only when other furniture gets in the way. There is a single other portrait in the room, above a desk which has a typewriter and stacks of paper, of Rowena Ravenclaw. Similarly to the other portrait, it has a phrase written on the frame of 'Intelligence is always persecuted by those who simply do not understand.'

Crammed in the remainder of the space is a piano that is obviously second-hand but well-kept. A guitar is often seen lying around the apartment, usually on the couch or leaning on the desk. The bathroom has several rusted pipes and often breaks or leaks, with a hot water system that lasts about half a minute.

It was a Sunday afternoon that day and Padril had set himself up on the dining table. Vials and various ingredients were scattered across the table and a cauldron was gently simmering, a light blue liquid glinting inside releasing a refreshing scent. Potions was always Padril's best subject and he felt a need to continue to follow the passion at least once a week. Waiting for the cauldron to bubble, Padril was sitting cross-legged on the couch with his guitar, gently playing. He was dressed in a single with a unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, shorts and shoeless. He really was enjoying himself, this freedom to follow whatever passion he chose.

[Aethie White]

Aethie climbed the steps up to Padril's apartment with some trepidation. She'd been here a few times in the last month, but it never failed to simultaneously gross her out and make her fear for her life. Her trepidation at the moment however, had little to do with the fact that at any moment the stairs could collapse and kill her; Padril wasn't expecting her, and Aethie had never really been comfortable with showing up unexpected. She always worried that she would interrupt something important, or piss someone off.

She reached Padril's door without dying, and gave a small sigh of relief as she stared at it. Exhaling deeply, she raised her hand to knock, but couldn't bring herself to do so. After a few moments, she lowered her hand and pressed her forward against the door. She could hear music playing softly behind it; Padril must be in there playing his guitar. She closed her eyes and listened, unable to bring herself to knock and, in effect, ruin Padril's life. Let him be blissfully unaware for just a few more minutes.

She stood and listened to his guitar for a while. She wasn't sure how long; it felt like hours, but in reality it was probably only a few minutes. Then, summoning every ounce of courage she possessed, she knocked sharply on the door and grabbed tightly onto the door frame as adrenaline began pumping through her system and her head started to spin.

[Padril Crennent]

The cauldron began to bubble and Padril put his guitar to the side, standing up and walking over to the table. Taking out his wand, he tapped it on the surface, cooling the fire. He looked over the potion carefully, then leaned over to his little garden by the window and pulled off a leaf off of a vine that seemed to twitch when he did so. He dropped the leaf into the cauldron, which sizzled in a satisfied manner. The liquid changed to a aqua blue and began to smell like lavender, the desired effect.

Padril smiled in pride but was surprised when there was a sudden knock at the door. His hand slipped and nipped the fire, burning his wrist. He swore and stumbled over to the door, holding his wrist. He opened the door a little quickly and strongly and it flew backwards, rattling dangerously on it's hinges.

[Aethie White]

Aethie jumped backwards, startled, as the door flew open without so much as a warning. "Uh, hi," she said awkwardly. Despite her nervousness, seeing Padril made her feel so much better; she stepped forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I was just, you know, in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by and see if you were up to anything..."

[Padril Crennent]

"Oh hey," Padril smiled a bit abashedly and let go of his wrist, closing the door behind them . "And what would you be doing in this neighborhood?" He asked her, leaning close to her with a serious look on his face. "Are you trafficking drugs, babe?"

He was joking, clearly, but he kept the look on his face. Besides, his face was so close to Aethie's at the moment they really couldn't see each others faces entirely. He really needed to cool his hand though. Shit, it burned.

He removed the pain from his mind to be slightly worried over Aethie's apparent concern and awkwardness. He had thought they had gone over this patch in the first week. Had it returned? Did she have lingering doubts?

[Aethie White]

Aethie laughed, momentarily forgetting why she had come over. "Prostitution, actually. Gotta pay the rent somehow." She pulled away from Padril slightly and shut the door behind her, giving it a kick to get the latch to click into place. Despite the mess, the apartment smelled lovely; Aethie sniffed appreciatively. "What is that, lavender?" she asked.

[Padril Crennent]

"Smells like lavender," Padril corrected, walking over to the kitchen/dining room and putting his wrist under some running cold water. "It's a little concoction I whipped up to help with sleep." He nodded his head over to the bed, "Should make sure that thing doesn't keep me up."

Aethie seemed to be recovering, which was good. Relationship saved. Phew. Hard work.

[Aethie White]

"Help with sleep? It's one in the afternoon!" Aethie moved towards the cauldron and inhaled deeply. "What's in this? It smells really good!" She glanced back up towards Padril, catching sight of him running his hand under the tap water; his wrist was red. He must've burned it.

With a slight smile, Aethie looked through his flowerbeds; after a moment of searching, she found what she was looking for - an aloe plant. She broke off a piece of the stalk and hurried over to Padril. "Here," she said, taking his wrist and spreading the clear aloe gel on the burn. "This works better than water." She looked up into his eyes and smiled; it was amazing how just being in Padril's proximity made her feel so much better. She almost didn't want to tell him what she'd come here to say...it was sure to change everything.

Maybe I could wait a few more days, she mused, dropping her gaze back down to Padril's wrist as her smile faded.

[Padril Crennent]

"But it's also a Sunday," Padril protested. "Under law, I am allowed to doze and slumber." He hadn't really intended to sleep in the afternoon, preferring to just bottle the potion until night but it was a funny enough joke that he didn't see reason to ruin.

The gel seemed to cool the burn immediately but Padril was a little confounded over how he had forgotten the many uses of the aloe plant. Maybe the incredible burning sensation in his wrist? Yeah, a contributing factor.

"And this is why we get on so well," Padril commented as Aethie rubbed the gel on his wrist. "Your extensive knowledge of flora." He grinned at her cheekily.

[Aethie White]

"And here I thought it was my winning personality." Aethie grinned back, slipping her arms around his waste and running her hands up his back. "You know, I can think of a few things to do on Sunday afternoons that are much more entertaining than napping. Not that there's anything wrong with napping, but it's a bit boring..." She leaned forward and kissed his neck.

I'll tell him in a bit, she promised herself, pushing away the twinges of guilt in her stomach. If this was the last time things would be this happy and carefree between her and Padril, she wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.

[Padril Crennent]

"And what does this winning personality suggest?" Padril teased, his hands wrapping around her waist. He kissed her forehead slightly, enjoying the flirting greatly and hoping it would lead somewhere. He was still wondering why she had come to his apartment though, she wasn't here solely for kisses was she? She had a purpose, he supposed, and she would get to it when she was ready.

He had to go slow with Aethie, who he had learned was pretty shy and quiet even after the relationship started. He didn't mind, she was funny and nice and smart and well worth the wait. He did get the impression of something bad happening to her early on though and was waiting for her to confess it to him. It'd take a while though and would be a rather big leap of trust. He was dying to find out, curiousity and respect for Aethie's privacy constantly battling.

[Aethie White]

"What, you need me to spell it out for you? Hopeless." She kissed Padril full on the mouth before releasing him and hopping up to sit on the kitchen counter. "I'll give you a hint. It doesn't start with Q." She laughed slightly and began combing her fingers through her hair.

How can I tell him? she thought in agony, taking care to keep her facial expression pleasant. She was terrified that Padril would somehow guess; he had proven extremely adept at guessing her moods so far...it was only a matter of time before he figured out that something was wrong. She had to tell him.

As Padril moved towards her, she knew she had to say it. There was never going to be a right moment; she would just have to settle for right now. "Padril, I'm pregnant," she blurted out, her face blooming bright red as she said it. She mistook his silence for stunned anger and kept talking, partly out of nervousness. "I - I just came from the doctor - I mean, Healer, a-and he said - I - thought I - you should - know - and - I'm s-sorry...oh God, don't look at me!" She buried her face in her hands, too ashamed to look up.

[Padril Crennent]

I'm pregnant.

For a moment, all of Padril's thoughts paused. The only sound was his own heartbeat, complete surprise. He didn't know what to say, what to think. He hadn't prepared himself for this. He had thought about it. But he had never been prepared.

No, no, no, NO! I'm free! I can write, play music, grow, I can do what I want, I'm living my dream. He saw his future, his passions draining away. A steady, menial job. A house in suburbia. Getting fat. Looking at the broom in the cupboard and remembering when he was young. When he had choices.

He realized what a baby was. It was the end. EVERYTHING was over. He couldn't live here anymore, he couldn't write and keep doing what he loved. He'd need a steady job and he would have to work hard. Lie to people. Be dishonest. Carry that weight that people in those jobs carried. No more donations to people. No more allowing the homeless living outside the building to sleep on his couch. He couldn't risk his family by going against Flintock.

There was anger. She was crying. What the hell? She had god knows how long to get over it, all she had done is tell him and she had cracked. He was taking this very well. Unlike the despair, his reason stopped his anger. It's not her fault. It's not her fault. She's bound to be emotional.

Then he came to several choices.

Option 1. Run. Abandon everything and just leave Aethie and the child. There'd be nothing holding him back from just enjoying life. He could hitchhike with muggles, fly continents, live off the land. See the world.

Option 2. Stay with Aethie. Become a father with a family. Get tedious job. Lose everything you ever cherished and hoped for.

Option 3. Deny the baby. Ignore Aethie, claim the child isn't yours. When it's proved, pay bare minimum and never see them again. Might need part-time job but better than a career in bullshit.

Option 4. Stay with Aethie loosely. Become a father, but simply that. Might not mean a relationship with Aethie. Be a good father, work hard at becoming a editor for Prophet and use spare time to write or whatever. Or something. Anything.

He hated all his options.

No emotion played over his face during these thoughts, lasting roughly six seconds. Lucky, because Aethie had her face buried in her hands. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "What did I promise you, the morning after that night at your place?" he asked, trying to make his voice as supportive as possible.

He hated having to be one to support. He was fucked up now and he was being relied on. It was selfish of him but not exactly a ridiculous claim.

[Aethie White]

Aethie didn't respond, didn't look up. She couldn't bear to see the expression on his face; she was sure that that expression he had when he looked at her, that look that said he liked her, cared about her, was happy to see her - she was sure it would be gone. That he would never look at her like that again. Her shoulders tensed up and she pulled away from him ever so slightly.

"You don't have to do anything," she said in a low voice. "If you don't want to. I'm not going to make you. I just thought you'd like to know."

[Padril Crennent]

Padril was annoyed and gave her an exasperated look, despite her not looking. "Don't be stupid. No one wants to go through this sort of thing on their own." For fuck's sake woman, don't tempt me. I'm trying to be good. He shifted over closer to her, telling himself to be patient over and over again.

"I said we'll get through it. I said I'll support you no matter what. Aethie, I do not lie." Yes, he did. But not often and only when necessary, such as in Flintock's case. He sat there holding her, trying to fully understand the consequences of everything. From this moment on, he realized, I will never be the same.