Dead to the World (Tris)

[Andrew Evans]

What had he been doing these past months? Honestly, Andrew couldn't say. His memories were but a dream, flashes but nothing solid, he knew of the pain, the sadness, but there was no substance to anything since the day his world fell apart. How he had managed to hold himself together to organise a funeral he would never know; not that the funeral had been much anyway. Just a pyre, no guests, as the last of his family were the ones in the flame. If it hadn't been for him, his sisters would likely still be nameless bodies waiting at St. Mungo's. He supposed that the fear of that happening of him had been what stopped him doing anything stupid, although he wasn't entirely sure of that either. His sisters' house, or his house now really, was a mess – the only sign that he had even been alive all this time.

Maps of forests and countrysides lay over all the tables and work surfaces, spread out wide with various old, and probably mouldy, cups and plates holding them open; yet more were rolled up and bound like scrolls, leaning into corners wherever they could, or scattered over the floor. There was also scatterings of parchments; notes in scrawled handwriting, those actually legible seemed like noted ambush points, tracks of creature movements correlated to Daily Prophet reported sightings. One of the parchments he had found, and was now held loosely in his hand, held his NEWT results. He had the grades for Auror training, barely, although how he had managed that amidst his grief he would never know.

So what was different today? Why was he suddenly aware of his state? He had been awoken early by the sheer stench of the place, and himself. The first thing he had done was shower and change; since finding clean clothes that hadn't been contaminated by the rest of the house had proven impossible he was forced to charm some to repel the bad odours. So far he had done little else, save for trying to discern what had happened and why he had allowed the place to become so bad. With the state of his memories, he felt more like he had awoken from a trance than mere sleep, and his worry was enhanced by the fact that the morning's Daily Prophet, which arrived by the early owl several hours after he had awoken, announced that it was now early September. He had been out of school for over 2 months, he had no job, and would have been late returning to Hogwarts even if he hadn't graduated already.

The enormity of cleaning the house was beginning to dawn on him, and it was clear that he was unlikely to be able that while trying to work out what had been going through his head the past months, and keep himself sane at the same time. The words I need help. began to form, though he muttered them as “I need Tris.” The statement caught him for two reasons, momentarily for talking to himself, a sure sign that he had been alone for too long, and then again for the change between his brain and his mouth. How long had it been since he last saw her? Why would have think of going to her for help before anyone else? Because he had no one else. That thought hit him so hard that he fell to his knees, and began to cry. His eyes stung with the tears; still raw from so many days, so many sleepless nights. He saw what he had been doing now, he had been plotting for revenge; he must have been like a man possessed, driven on endlessly by the emptiness he felt within. That was why he had said Tris' name, his heart was trying to keep him from falling back into his old pattern. She gave him hope now, in spite of him not knowing where she was, what she was doing, or if she would help him if he asked her to.

It was a good half an hour before Andrew finished crying, at which point he began to move periodically around the house, inspecting the state of each room and opening all of the windows, using magic on the ones he couldn't reach. From one of the front facing windows, he noticed that many of the passers by were ignoring his house, including those who were actually looking at the houses they passed. One persons' head even rotated almost further than it should have backwards, before springing in an blink of an eye as if purposely refusing to look at his house. It didn't surprise him, it just meant that someone had charmed it to be invisible to Muggles, or maybe even had the Fidelius charm cast on it. That could have been his sisters' handy work, or equally his own; there was no way of knowing, but equally it would have explained the lack of visitors; a fact which was painfully obvious by the mound of assorted junk and mess filling the corridors and leaning against the door. There was no way anyone could have entered or left the house since he got back, going by the state of it.

He was still stricken with grief, but his brain was starting to work through it now. As he began to think clearly, he started prioritising the work: make the house suitable for help to come, get help, finish cleaning; after all of that he could work on sorting himself out. He decided to start with the front door, clearing the pile of old newspapers and other junk away from it so that it would at least open, even if the entrance corridor was still a state. He opened the door to make sure he had cleared enough space, and then as he shut it again something on the wall caught his eye. A row of three hooks sat at eye level, on each hook hung a single, small key, and above each hook was a sticky label with a name written on it. He began to feel himself slipping again, his emotions clouding his thoughts. His hand found his wand in his pocket, and he slowly drew it and pointed it at the labels, wiping his sisters names from place. He wasn't crying, but only because his tear ducts had been drained in his last outburst. As he turned back down the corridor, ready to head further into the house to deal with the mess, he absent mindedly took one of the keys from a hook and slid it into his pocket.

Half an hour later, the house was not much better, but it was at least inhabitable. The washing up was slowing scrubbing at itself, piled in order of most to least mouldy so that there wouldn't be anything hazardous around by the time other people arrived, if Tris answered his cry for help. His clothes had all been moved to a washing basket, and then hidden in the basement for the time being to contain the smell; the rest of the house was smelling better for being aired out, even if the floors needed a lot of work. He had gone through all of the kitchen cupboards and the fridge, throwing out all the food he found, thankfully that had merely been out of date and not mouldy; and was now sat in a hurriedly cleared seat at the dining table. He pushed clear a space and began to write on a blank piece of parchment he had managed to find:

Tris,

I know it's been a while since we last spoke, too long, but I really need your help. Bring pizza, and anyone who owes you big time.

Andrew.

He added his address to the bottom of the note, took the key from his pocket and placed it in the middle of the parchment, then tapped the parchment twice with his wand. With the first tap, the writing disappeared, now only appearing to the note's intended recipient; with the second, it folded itself around the key, first storing the key safely and then taking the form of a paper aeroplane. He didn't have an owl, as he had always used the Hogwarts ones before, so he had to rely on the charm holding out until it reached it's destination, the Rederick mansion. He ushered the paper aeroplane note out of the window and on its way, and then turned his attention back to the house, beginning to sort everything into rubbish, evidence of what he had been up to since leaving Hogwarts, and 'other', hoping that help would arrive soon.

[Tristise Rederick]

Tris,

I know it's been a while since we last spoke, too long, but I really need your help. Bring pizza, and anyone who owes you big time.

Andrew.

Tristise raised an eyebrow and tapped thumb against her lips as she reread the letter. Andrew needed her help? She was worried as to just what help he wanted of her. She knew about the death of his sisters which is why she figured he hadn't been in contact. They were his last remaining family and unlike Tris he loved his family a great deal. She thought he'd been in mourning and taking care of issues so she hadn't bothered him any. Most people would have thought she was a horrible friend, leaving Andrew by himself after his sisters' deaths, but in reality she just gave him space because it was what she would have wanted. She couldn't fathom someone wanting company while mourning... but Tris was an oddity after all.

She folded the letter back up and put it aside before grabbing up her wand and wallet and heading off for Andrew's house. Along the way she picked up two pizzas as ordered in the letter and then some random other odds and ends food-wise. It was about two hours after she received the letter that she showed up at Andrew's front door. She wondered how long ago he had sent the message. It shouldn't have been that long before she'd received it, but since he didn't use an owl it might have been.

She balanced her 'nutrition' in one hand and dug out the key that had come in the letter with the other. She shoved it into the lock and twisted. Hearing a familiar click of locks sliding out of place she turned the handle and pushed the door open, then grabbed the key back from the lock and slipped it in her pocket again. Taking her food back into both hands where it was safer she sauntered inside, kicking the door shut behind her gently and looking around at the mess that was Andrew's house. Even if he'd aired it out the lycaness still picked up the foul odor of weeks without cleaning.

"Good lord, Andrew, do you know what cleaning is?" She wrinkled her nose and poked her head into various doorways looking for her friend. "Come here and get this pizza you wanted... if you can even eat in a place that smells like this." She sighed and stood waiting for him to pop in and grab the food. Then she'd get to work really cleaning the place so she could actually stand to eat something. Her stomach was currently churning too violently at the stench to even think of it.

[Andrew Evans]

Three hours had passed since Andrew sent the note, and he was still tidying. It had been a relief for him to find that his sisters' rooms had been left untouched, as they consisted of nearly half the house in terms of floor space. They were still all in need of cleaning, but at least they weren't adding to the piles of paper he still had to sort through. His three pile system was now a three mound system, with the two bedrooms on the first floor keeping his work of the past months separate from everything else he needed to sort through and decide whether or not he was keeping it; the third mound was of black sacks in the back garden.

It had taken him close to two hours to sort through the ground floor, the task lengthened by a combination of trying to read the scrawled and blotted handwriting on the various sheets of paper, and outbreaks of grief whenever he found something reminding him of his sisters. There had also been an incident when the piles became too big, toppled over and became muddled again, which had led to them being separated into different rooms in the first place. The washing up had finished putting itself away by the time he got to starting on his own room, on the second floor; above which was only an attic.

His own room was much the same as downstairs, although half of the work had already been done when he removed his clothes from the scene. Rubbish went into a black sack, everything else was separated to either end of his bed, depending on whether it was work related or not. Each piece of parchment he picked up and tried to translate the scrawl, getting a feel of what was written before placing it in whichever pile it belonged to; most of the parchment in this room had been screwed up and was piled around and generally near the over-flowing waste paper bin, he guessed he had been throwing it from his bed some days.

As he was moving to throw one of the many rubbish sacks out of the wide open window, adding it to the heap below, he heard movement from downstairs, followed by a yell. He couldn't quite make out the words, but he could make out the voice, and it's tone. More tears began to form behind his eyes, but they were different for the last times; he was feeling a warmth inside that he hadn't felt for too long. He had to stop himself from charging straight down the stairs; he hefted the bag out of the window, and heard it crashing down into the pile below as he turned to the mirror. He looked a mess, and it would take too long to do anything about it. He tapped his wand against his chest, using magic to clear most of the dust off of himself, and then headed down stairs; skin still pale, eyes still red, hair still a mess.

While Tris' presence was giving him a new strength, he was still both emotionally and physically drained; he had to hold the banister to keep himself from falling down the stairs, and his pace was a lot slower than it should have been. Things changed a little when he neared the bottom, and Tris came into view. He could no longer contain himself; stricken with the same grief that had held him all summer, and now combined with the joy of seeing her, he broke into a run and hugged her from the side, narrowly missing the pizzas as he flung his arms around her, tears once more starting to run down his cheeks. He was so overcome that his throat struggled to find works; a small, muttered "Thank you" was the best he could manage, and even that was only barely audible.

[Tristise Rederick]

She caught the sounds of movement upstairs. A few moments later Andrew appeared coming down the steps, looking much worse for the wear and a little unsteady. When he rushed at her for a hug she barely managed to keep a hold on the food. Lucky for him she had good reflexes. His arms wrapped around her and she raised an eyebrow, turning her head to see him better.

Tris cleared her throat and balanced the food in one hand while she pat Andrew's back lightly with the other. "No need to thank me. I wanted pizza and to get out of the house anyway." She carefully wriggled out of his grasp and moved over to a table, setting the pizza and snacks down. She then went back over to him and after a moment of deliberation, hugged him again, properly. It was a pretty well known fact Tristise wasn't very mushy and affectionate, but Andrew had clearly been through Hell and back and he needed her to be there and be a friend. He'd been there for her, so it was the least she could do to try.

Before the moment stretched too long and got awkward she pulled away again and smacked his shoulder, "So where are your cleaning supplies? I'll set them to work to scrub this place from top to bottom. While I'm doing that, you go eat something fattening and unhealthy. You look like shit." She gave him a cheeky smile and pulled out her wand, ready to set to work.

Before she went to find his cleaning supplies she looked down at the dirty floor and shook her head, "Scurgify!" A great blast of soapy water jetted from the tip of her wand and washed over and around the floor of the room. With another short wave of her wand and a muttered, "Caldus Aerus," hot air enveloped the same room and dried out the wet floor, leaving it the cleanest it had been in months most likely. Tris nodded, satisfied and then went off to find the cleaning supplies to set them to work.

[Andrew Evans]

Having Tris there, embracing her, it felt so soothing. Though Andrew heard her words, he was not in the right frame of mind to respond to them. Normally he would have come up with some cheeky side comment, but not today; today he just held her and wept quietly. He watched with blurred vision as she placed the food on a table, then returned to hug him properly. The warmth of her body, the scent of her hair; it calmed him more than he had been for so long. It was so good for him to get all of his emotions out, even without saying a word, that he had stopped crying by the time she pulled away again.

"Thanks again," He said to her, softly at first as he began to find his voice again, "and sorry about.. well..." he spread his arms as he said this, a gesture which could equally have been indicating the state of the house, or of himself. Wiping his tears on his sleeve, he contemplated her words for a moment. His cleaning supplies? He honestly had no idea, although he might possibly have seen some in the basement when he was dumping his laundry down there, it also seemed the logical place since he hadn't seen any in the kitchen cupboards. "Uh, bear with me a sec." He said, quietly still, then slipped through the door under the stairs and down into the basement.

He could hear Tris starting on the cleaning without the supplies, but the basement was so dusty and full of cupboards and shelves that he still had no idea where to look. He held his wand above his head, focused his mind on thinking about cleaning supplies, and then said "Accio" as loudly as he could manage. The doors to three separate cupboards were flung open, and he was bombarded by multiple bottles, jars and boxes. Yet more mess that needed tidying, but at least he now just had one pile to filter through. A quick search led him to some carpet shampoo, floor cleaner, surface cleaner, and a bottle of bleach to be extra sure; with these and some cloths bundled in his arms he hurried back up into the living room, where Tris was finishing with drying the floor.

"I hope these are the right things." He said, his voice stronger than before but still lacking his usual cheeky tone. He honestly had no idea about cleaning, and only knew what the products were because of the labels. "Food then cleaning, or cleaning then food?" He asked her, famished himself but not wanting to leave her to do all the work; something he had a feeling she was intending to do from her tone. Girls seemed to have an enhanced sense when it came to mess, he had noticed that his sisters could occasionally be clean freaks, claiming things needed cleaning or tidying when he didn't see a problem with them, so he guessed that Tris shared this trait.

[Tristise Rederick]

Tristise cleaned a few other odds an ends while waiting for Andrew to return. When he did he came bearing a large amount of cleaning supplies. She nodded and was about to set them to work when Andrew asked if they should eat first, then clean or clean first, then eat.

She took one long look around and then looked back at him, eyebrow raised in a 'are you seriously asking that' expression. "You can go and eat if you wish, but I'm going to start these things off to clean. I personally can't eat in a dirty house. Unacceptable." She shrugged and lined the supplies up. One by one she waved and flourished her wand, muttering spells and incantations one after another until every supply was set to do it's job.

She watched as they raced to their spots around the house and began work, then she moved to Andrew and the food and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box. "Honestly, boys are so vulgar. I don't know how you can live like this." Though her words were rather harsh her tone was gentler than the words implied. She understood he'd just lost his sisters, the only family he had left that he knew of. Of course he was in no mind to clean. Still, it was just a bit disgusting - the state of things.

"Perhaps you should get a maid. If you can't afford one I'll get you one." Anticipating a fight she held up her hand, "And before you say anything it would be for my benefit too. I refuse to come visit my best friend when his house is a pig sty."

"Besides, you certainly can't be left alone here. A maid would be good. Company so you're not in this big house by yourself and company that cleans up after you so you don't live in filth and disgust your best friend to the point she has to cut ties with you." She gave him a smirk and bit off another large bite of pizza, plopping into a nearby chair.

[Andrew Evans]

Andrew moved into the kitchen Tris said he could go eat, stopping at one of the wall mounted cupboards, truth be told he was starving and he had a feeling she wouldn't be long with the cleaning. Magical cleaning definitely wasn't one of his strong points, otherwise he likely would have already finished cleaning the entire house. He pulled two plates out of the cupboard and went back to the pizza, placing one plate on the side ready for Tris before helping himself to a slice.

"I don't know how you can live like this." He swallowed down his first mouthful of pizza, the warmth felt so good in his chest; "Honestly, I don't know how I lived. Most of it is a blur, and I feel like I haven't eaten since I left Hogwarts. I know that's not true, going by the state of the floor when I woke up this morning, but still." He took another bite of pizza, though a smaller one this time so it didn't need as much chewing; enough to keep his stomach quiet while he was still talking. "I'm not normally this bad, things just got a little out of control for a while."

The idea of a maid was tempting and he did have money, but since it was mostly inheritance he had no idea how long it would last if he spent it rashly. He didn't have a job either, so he needed to be careful; besides, he'd get bored if he was sat at home all day and didn't even need to clean occasionally. He was starting to feel a little more like his old self now, and as she sat down he felt more in the mood for being cheeky again, only a little cheeky, but still an improvement on his mood when she had arrived.

"Are you sure you wouldn't get too jealous, with me spending so much time with another woman?" He had made the assumption of a female maid, more to tease her than in a sexist manner. Sitting beside her, twisted with his legs between them and his feet hanging off the edge so he was still facing her properly, he smiled and added "Honestly though, I probably wouldn't need a full time maid. An extra pair of hands at weekends would be enough. I do have three spare bedrooms though, so if you want to stay any time then feel free. You could even move in if you wanted."

That last sentence was, well, weird. It was half hearted, neither joking nor serious, and he had no idea where it came from. Now he thought about it, he loved the idea, he just hadn't thought about it before to know that he wanted it. It was like his subconscious replacing help with her name before, although it did kind of make sense; he needed the company, and she probably wanted to get out of her family's house.

[Tristise Rederick]

Tristise nodded as he explained that things got rather out of hand. "I can understand that. I don't think I ever properly said, but... I'm sorry about your sisters. They were good women. Of course, given how great they were I don't know how you turned out to be the way you are. Hopeless..." She sighed and waved at him nonchalantly, but then she gave him a grin. "Kidding, of course. If I was serious I certainly wouldn't be here right now after all."

When Andrew asked if she'd be jealous if he spent time with another woman she snorted. "Oh, yeah. I'd be terribly jealous of you spending a lot of time with some old woman. It's not like maids are typically young and good looking. Even if she was it wouldn't bother me. I know I'm still your best friend and I'll stay that because I am, no contest, the best."

Tris shrugged and scarfed down the last of her slice, digging into the pizza box and pulling out another. Thank goodness she had swallowed and hadn't started the second piece when Andrew mentioned she could stay any time or even move in. She whipped around to face him proper and for the first time in ages she actually had some enthusiasm in her voice, "Could I really move in?"

"I'll pay rent. Don't say no. I will and you don't have a choice. I'll clean too... you know... sometimes. Not all the time. I'm not going to let you get lazy, but yeah. I need to get out of that house. It might take some time because I want to find a job first and all, but if I could really move in... that would be great." She smiled hopefully at him, the pizza in her hand forgotten. The idea of moving out was... too good to be true.

[Andrew Evans]

Andrew smiled and continued eating his slice of pizza as Tris was teasing him. It was just like the old days, only instead of worry for his sisters' well being sitting in the back of his mind, now there was only grief. When she brought up his sisters it brought the grief forward again, but this time it didn't take a hold; although he was saddened he still felt warm inside, still managed to keep his smile. Tris just seemed to have that effect on him, now more than ever, making him feel like everything was going to be ok without even saying a word.

He should have known that she wasn't talking about a young, attractive maid, there was no way he would have been that lucky. Her reaction still made his comment worth while though; and brought a smirk back to his face. "Of course, best and only." He replied, his tone tending towards a mocking one although not as confident as it should have been. "God forbid there ever be two of you..." Best and only friend, a saddening thought maybe, but she was all he really needed; the ulterior 'best and only Tris' was a hands down, as she'd likely have brutally murdered any impostor for even daring to contemplate the idea.

Tris' reaction to his offer was stronger than he expected, a lot stronger. He was still a little in shock that he had said it, so her reaction threw him off guard. At the thought of living with her his eyes lit up, and he wasn't able to keep his feelings towards her hidden as well as normal. He spent the entire time she was talking about rent and cleaning trying to re-compose himself, and work out what to say. "Well I'll need to clear out one of the rooms before you can actually move in." He said, realising that they were all still full of his sisters' belongings, "But that shouldn't take me too long, so long as I don't break down every five minutes while I'm trying to do it."

"You don't have to pay rent, you know." He said, knowing full well that it wouldn't stop her. "It's not like I just bought this place and have a huge mortgage or anything, my sisters' owned it outright, so I inherited it and all I'm paying out is bills." He slid his plate onto the table next to the pizza, he decided his stomach must have shrunk because he was now full after the first slice. "I might need to change the bed sheets, but one of the rooms is fine for you to stay over in already. Well, fine by my standards anyway; let me know when you're ready to move in and I'll make sure there's space for your clothes." He knew she didn't like living with her family, so he guessed she would prefer it to be sooner rather than later, especially given her reaction.

[Tristise Rederick]

"Two of me?" Tris snorted and rolled her eyes, "The world couldn't handle that much awesome in it. I don't know how it handles one of me!" She chuckled as she repositioned herself into a cross-legged position.

Andrew said he had to clear out one of the rooms and she frowned momentarily. She wasn't an overly emotional person and she lacked a lot of compassion, but she wasn't stupid. She knew others hurt when people died, most especially family members. She knew it would hurt again when Andrew had to clear out one of his sister's rooms for her. "Look, clearing it out isn't really necessary. If you want to keep things as they were for a while longer I just really need a bed. I have trunk that can hold anything I need more than that. Magic is a wonderfully useful tool after all."

"Either way I won't be moving in for at least another week or two. I still have to find a job, like I said before. I have a few interviews this coming week. I don't expect to be hired on the spot so it'll be some time." She shrugged and grinned, then shoved half a slice of pizza in her mouth like a ravenous wolf (not too far off). Her grin remained as she chewed on the massive amount of food happily, just enjoying the idea of not being under constant watch from her family or having to see them daily. Ah, the joys of growing up.

"I can't believe we're growing up and all. I mean... I'm moving out! We're getting jobs... You are getting a job right? Do you... uh... still want to be an auror?" Tris glanced over Andrew curiously before chomping on another section of her pizza slice.

((ooc: ok, ok. I KNOW... it's short... and crappy... but erm.... hey, at least I replied, right? Right!))

[Andrew Evans]

Andrew knew how desperate Tris was to get away from her family, to move out of their home; that she was still more considerate of his feelings was truly heart warming. "Honestly, it's not a problem." Well, it might be when he actually got around to it, but that was for another time. "I was using the two rooms on the first floor as a dumping place this morning, for anything that I want to sort through rather than just chucking out without thinking. The first time I came here was in the summer, so I can't exactly keep the place how I remember it." It was sad, his sisters had literally just bought the place, and had been excited for him to move back in going by the few letters he had received while he was still at school. They had written when they could, although it wasn't anywhere near often enough.

"There's a room on the top floor which is mostly clean; I mean, you'd probably still want to give it a good scrub, but it doesn't need tidying first." Magic was indeed a wonderful thing, but it was the least he could do to make sure she felt at home. "I've seen your house, are you sure you could cope with having to live out of a suitcase? Even the dorms at Hogwarts were posher than that." He didn't doubt that she could do it, though he had a feeling that the 'suitcase' would probably end up being more of a walk-in wardrobe in its own right by the time Tris had finished charming it. "I can at least move the clothes into another room, my sisters shared clothes so often I couldn't tell you which of them actually owned any particular item anyway. Anything else that's still in the room when you move in just shift out of the way, and if you like anything then you can leave it where it is, or use it depending on what it happens to be." Pictures, knick-knacks and keepsakes mostly, things that made the place feel more like home, although there was still all the clothes and make up which would be around somewhere, even if he had moved it all out of Tris' room to be.

"I'm sure my sisters' wouldn't mind you having their clothes." He continued, his tone sadder and thoughtful, though he was more remembering than feeling grief as he spoke. "Most of them are probably a little too dressy for you, and not even close to the one you were wearing at the ball; their work clothes are probably more your style though." By work clothes he meant almost anything but; lightweight combat trousers, t-shirts, anything that blended into a crowd and didn't restrict movement in combat, and while it was all good quality, it was the sort of thing that didn't matter if it got damaged; generally because it did.

"Do you... uh... still want to be an Auror?" Honestly, he didn't know if he did; he didn't know what he wanted to do. "I guess, I dunno. I'll be getting a job, but it's not really been something I've thought about lately. I guess I should still go for the training though, it might be useful when your family find out where you've moved to. I'd make a pretty useless bodyguard at the moment anyways." His voice trailed off as he finished the sentence, it was all well and good them making plans, but what if her family decided to act against it. He had once promised to protect her from them, although then he hadn't fully understood what he was getting into; now he knew, and would still be willing to stand at her side in any fight, but dear god was he out of practice. Maybe Auror training wasn't such a bad idea after all.