October 31st, 1888 well after midnight - Umbridge Residence
Edric Umbridge

Oh she was going to be in so much trouble, but Febs was far too pleased with both herself and Tuni for tonight's adventures that she couldn't even worry about it. She was exhausted in the best way, having traipsed off after Tuni and Rufus to witness their very impulsive nuptials just like Tuni had once promised to do for her. It wasn't ideal and she could personally attest as to how hard the next couple weeks were going to be for the pair, but she just wanted them to be happy and if that was how it was going to get them going, she was more than happy to play her part.

Who was she to deny them that simple pleasure anyway? Not to mention Febs rather thought they deserved it after everything they'd been through. She probably didn't even know everything that had happened between them (though likely most of it) and though it hadn't been nearly as much as she'd managed to put herself through in the last few months it had ended the same way. It would be highly hypocritical of her her to pass any judgement their way or say no.

Sneaking into the London townhouse was harder than she'd imagined, but after letting herself in the backdoor, she'd paused for a large glass of water, slipping out of her shoes as she realized just how much her feet ached. Taking a cookie from the jar on the counter to hold her over until breakfast, she ate it in three bites before picking up her shoes to creep up to the bedroom. She had already started pulling at the buttons on her dress, the damn thing digging into her ribs uncomfortably after being on for so long at this point. There was a dull headache at the base of her neck, likely from both the whiskey and the lack of sleep, but she wasn't complaining. Fortunately there was nothing preventing her from sleeping in for half the day if she wanted to. Edric was working and she could just pass back out after he left. She would feel guilty about it in the morning, but she was still on the adventure high now.

Carefully, she pushed into the dark of the room, wincing as the door creaked a little, signaling her entry. Merlin she hoped he was asleep and she would be loathe to wake him now, so she swept around the bed as silently as she could, pulling at fabric and laces as she went, slipping from her dress and letting it pool on the floor without another thought to it. She undid the clasps on her corset and breathed in deeply as she let it join the dres- freezing when she heard him stir, lips pressed together to hold her breath and wait.

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The beginning of Edric and February's marriage had gone as smoothly as they could have expected: though the occasional—and expected—misunderstandings and miscommunications had plagued them, they were still riding off the high of their honeymoon phase. The added strain of gossip left him cautious and concerned—but the letter he'd received that night brought out another, far more apparent emotion: anger.

Her note had lacked any sort of reason or explanation. Even on the nights that he went drinking with his friends, he was considerate enough to say as much. This letter... it offered none of that.

He'd seated himself on the side of the bed with the expectation that she would return soon after he made it home from work. The hours passed, though, and the exhaustion from the workday weighed down on him like it frequently did. By the time he was roused by footsteps in his bedroom, he could not remember how he'd ended up asleep.

Once the grogginess passed and Edric registered who was in the room, his brows knitted together and his lips pulled into a tight frown. "Where were you?" he demanded, a sternness to his tone that was usually reserved for work. A quick glance at the clock made his features darken. "I've been home for nearly Five hours, Febs. Five hours." He pulled the covers back and swung his legs towards her, eyeing her angrily.

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— set by MJ! —

This time the wince was more pronounced and she actually flinched at his tone; she hadn't heard that one before and she immediately felt guilty. Pausing her undressing progress, Febs scrambled to think of the best explanation, though he was clearly pissed, he sounded far angrier than she expected.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She answered immediately, an earnest look in her eyes. "I didn't mean for it to be so late, I didn't think it would take so long." Truthfully their own nuptials had been a bit of a potion-induced blur that she couldn't remember just how long it had actually taken. "It was a really important favor to Tuni. I'm sorry, I had to." Febs hesitated on adding just where exactly she'd been, as she still rather thought elopements were a sore spot, but she knew he'd ask her anyway and she wouldn't be able to hold off forever.

Quickly she pulled at the pins her her hair, trying to get them all out so she could finally hop into bed- if he would let her at this point. Something told her she may be sleeping on the couch in the library tonight.

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Any intention of forgiving her flew out the window when the name "Tuni" left her lips. Edric had not liked Fortuna Lockhart since Febs had divulged the secret of their relationship to the woman, and he'd liked her even less during their first confrontation. The idea that Febs' poor behavior was caused by the same woman—well.

"And this 'favor'," she said, pulling himself off the bed, "was more important than your husband? Your note was the opposite of soothing—it made me more worried," he chastised. "As you husband, I think I at least deserve to know where you spent the evening and what you were doing there."

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— set by MJ! —

Febs slowed her pin removal to frown at him. "That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" She countered, quietly, trying to keep any resentment out of her voice. She wasn't trying to be confrontational, she really wasn't, but that was taking it to a whole new level. Truthfully she didn't care much at all for his insinuations. "She's my best friend, Edric, I know you don't like her very much, but that doesn't change the fact." It was really a pain in the ass for her that the pair were at odds.

Running her fingers through her soft brown waves, satisfied when no pins clattered to the floor, Febs tentatively sunk down onto the bed, but didn't dare get comfortable. "I told you we were going to the event at the distillery," She had, she swore she'd told him she was going out that night. "The evening took an unexpected turn and I didn't have time to write an elaborate explanation, I'm sorry." Any lingering joy she'd felt for her friend was slowly ebbing as she tried not to be annoyed by his response. She'd expected him to be mad sure, but not this mad.

"Eloping isn't exactly an instant process, we know that." She sighed, casting him a knowing look and hoping maybe that would help, but she wasn't so sure. "It's a long story, but this was important to her and I was there and they needed a witness, so I went. Be mad all you want, but she was going to do the same for us, so I owed her that much." Stubborn mule.

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She might have thought he was being dramatic, but he thought he was being perfectly rational. It had not been difficult to sacrifice predictability when their relationship was blooming; his promotion in the midst of a Ministry crisis ensured nothing was predictable. Now he was settled into his marriage, though, and had no desire to play games—especially ones that made him worry about her.

"It's not just about her, Febs," he said, as if it should be obvious. "Do you know how many missing persons cases I've dealt with? Your brother went missing—you should know. Two or three hours is one thing, but by midnight I began to consider venturing out into the night to find you." Her safety was his priority, especially since he'd given her his heart.

He stared down at her as she sat down on the bed, trying to breathe deeply. He didn't need to (nor did he want to) start a fight past midnight, but she needed to understand how her actions impacted him. She was making it incredibly difficult, however, as she continued on with her story.

Her revelation did not sit well with him.

"Elopement? February!" she scolded, shaking his head. "After all we've been through, you'd subject yourself to ridicule by serving witness at another woman's elopement? I cannot believe you."

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— set by MJ! —

Febs ran her hands over her face and through her hair. She kept telling herself that this was normal for him, he worried, a lot actually, which he really didn't need to, honestly. Sighing softly, she gave him that. She probably could have given more detail, but in the back of her mind she'd also worried if she'd actually stated what she was doing he might have actually shown up and as much as she loved him, that would not have been good.

"Don't, don't you dare February me like that." She had the urge to be up, off the bed, antsy now, thanks to the turn this had taken, but stayed put. "Ridicule," She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Couldn't be any worse than last time," She mumbled to herself. Dealing with Mrs. Riley in the middle of clothing shopping hadn't exactly been a walk in the park, but she could handle it. That didn't bother her. What did she really care about what random socialites thought about her? Nothing, that's what. What she had a hard time with was the fact that her father hadn't spoken to her in over a month, that her sisters had to deal with being attached to her maiden name and be automatically recognized thanks to her notoriety. She hated that, but she'd made her choice, the choice to take that leap and do something that made her happy and she was handling the fallout the best she could.

"You and I have absolutely no room to judge anyone about eloping. It was the plan even without the rush of the letters." Nobody knew that of course, but it was the truth of it. "She offered you know, to do it for us, if we'd needed her to." She eyed him again before continuing. "They're happy, that's all that matters. It was simple and easy and yes, I was late and I should have told you what I was doing and I'm sorry." She wouldn't be making that mistake again. Fortunately none of her other friends were likely to need a witness any time soon either.

She pushed on before he could interject. "But I gave my best friend the chance to do something that made her happy." Febs turned honest brown eyes on him. How he didn't understand that was beyond her. "Who am I to stand in the way of her possibly finding something like what we have? It's real and it's genuine, I can tell by the way they look at each other, it's how I look at you- most of the time." She wasn't looking at him like that right now, that was for sure.

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She clearly didn't understand the potential consequences of her actions. Their elopement fit into the equation, but in an entirety different context than she'd insinuated. He found it difficult to believe that his wife—one of the wittiest women he knew—failed to understand what he was getting at.

"It could be worse than last time, Febs!" he exclaimed. Unsure of what to do with himself, he knelt in front of her hand wrapped his fingers around her delicate wrists. "You are my wife. You represent me," he explained. "If word gets out that you served as witness for your friend's elopement, I will be judged for my decision not to annul our marriage. You may be your own individual and I respect that—but Febs." He looked at her with concern in his eyes and shook his head as he contemplated his next words.

"Do you know what happens to Ministry officials whose bosses disapprove of their wives?" he asked, his thumb gently rubbing her hand. "They're given an ultimatum." He wouldn't have suffered the social ramifications of an elopement if he didn't love her, but he knew being forced to resign would put a wedge in their relationship. "You need to consider how your actions—however well-meaning—will effect both of us."

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— set by MJ! —

Letting out an indignant whine of frustration, she closed her eyes and looked upward, knowing this was just going to blow up and neither one of them was going to see where the other was coming from, so she'd just have to cave- like usual. "Fine," She managed in a hoarse whisper as she pulled away from him. Why he would bother to hold other people's opinions in such high regard, over just trusting her, would never sit well with her, but she was just going to deal with it. Quietly and without complaint, like he apparently wanted her to start living her life. Everybody was already judging them for eloping in the first place, one more strike to the tally, the last one apparently, wouldn't send everybody over the edge.

"I'll just sit on the side and look pretty if that's what you want. I'll just hide away in the library all day so I don't cause you any more trouble." There was a really cruel statement about the annulment on the tip of her tongue, but she held it back because she wouldn't hurt him like that, nor would she have really meant it, and would have regretted saying it. Hot tears threatened to spill and thank goodness it was reasonably dark in the room as she moved to gather her pillow and throw blanket from the nearby chair. He acted as if he was the only one who was negatively impacted by this, like his goddamn job was the end all, be all of everything. Febs knew it was important to him, she really did and she'd always put it first up until now, but just once, just once, she'd like to not have it thrown back in her face. It was like he didn't even remember the person he'd fallen in love with was impulsive and independent and a whole host of other things, things he'd once said he'd admired about her, that she couldn't just change overnight.

Was tonight a brash decision? Yes, absolutely, but she wouldn't change it and she'd handle the aftermath again, just like she was already doing, but she was done with this conversation for tonight. "In fact I think I'll start now, goodnight Love." She paused to kiss his cheek as she attempted to sweep by him out of the room.

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Edric internally groaned. Leave it to her be to passive aggressive! He was merely trying to explain to her why he was angry, why he was concerned, and it immediately became an assault upon her character! Narrowed grey eyes continued to scan her face despite her efforts to avert her gaze.

Her words struck him as childish, but he knew she spoke every word from the heart. February Lynch had always spoken her mind; she never sugarcoated her words with politeness for fear of creating conflict. February Umbridge was no different.

“That’s not what I’m asking and you know that,” he sighed, his hands moving to rest on her skirt-covered knees. She suddenly stood up, though, forcing him to rise and take a step backwards.

“Are you really going to run off because you’re angry that I’m angry?” he called after her as she began to walk away. “You’re acting your age,” he added, taking only the steps necessary to watch her as she went. “And I can’t pretend to be twenty-two at this time of night. At least come sleep in my bed, Febs!”

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— set by MJ! —

Febs almost made it to the door but he'd managed to push the last of her buttons in an argument that had started with him being angry with her; that was a talent.

Flexing her fingers, balled tightly up into fists, she kept them resolutely around the pillow in her arms, even though she'd love nothing more than to march right up to him and deck him square in that infuriatingly handsome jaw of his. What she did do was turn back around to look at him, feet planted where she stood, frustrated tears spilling down her cheeks. "I'm angry because you don't seem to realize that you are not the only one dealing with negative repercussions from this. Nobody is brave enough to say anything to your face," She purposefully hadn't told him about the day in Gladrags because she didn't want him to worry; she'd just bottled it up again, added it to the mounting pile of things she was trying to learn to deal with. "I don't have that luxury and it's become increasingly clear lately." She wiped way a few tears that escaped with the back of her hand.

"But you know who won't talk to me? My own father, or my mother, because I chose you over them." That was the bottom line of it really. "And I would do it again, and again, in a heartbeat, but right now all you seem to give a damn about is what other people think about us. So no, I don't want to sleep in your bed tonight." She turned her chin up defiantly, as if she was daring him to call her childish one more time.

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While the frequency of their arguments had declined as their relationship progressed, the intensity of them had not. Her words left him with a whirlwind of emotions: defensiveness, confusion, anger, regret. Her frustration was obviously beyond what he'd believed—and now everything was out in the open.

"If something happens, tell me," he pleaded, approaching her with outstretched arms so she might not try and flee. "I don't know what troubles you; I'm no mind-reader, Febs." His heart ached knowing that she'd been hiding her problems from him, especially when he was the root cause of them. She'd married him, giving up her life before him—her family—to be his wife.

"Opinions don't mean anything to be, February," he said, trying his best to use a soothing tone—something that didn't come natural when faced with an angry, teary-eyed wife, "The consequences of those opinions do. I could not bear to suffer the shame of unemployment after taking a wife. What kind of man would it make if I took a woman from her family and could not support the lifestyle I promised? It is about you, Febs. I don't want to cause you more pain."

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— set by MJ! —

Sniffling as he approached, she chose simply not to move in any one specific direction, away or toward him. Febs looked down at the pillow in her hands and sighed. "I'm not trying to get you fired and I'm trying not to add anything else to your plate." He could request that she tell him if something happened, but she knew she wouldn't. Febs had never, ever been the kind of person to put her problems on anyone else. She would rather suffer in silence than make anybody else suffer with her and that was not likely to change any time soon.

However, she could make an effort to be more conscientious about some of her more... impulsive decisions and maybe not make them. "You're not causing me any pain," She added as she finally looked up at him again. As frustrating as this could be, she didn't regret it or want to change anything about it; it wasn't in any way painful to be married to him. "But I need you to understand I won't change overnight, especially where people I care about are concerned." Like making Tuni happy tonight. "I'll try harder though," Febs knew she would never be the epitome of a socialite or the perfect ministry wife, but she could learn to stay out of the limelight and just mind her own business, with some concentrated effort.

"I know it does't always look like it, but I'm just looking out of everybody I love." He had to know that any choice she made to follow through on was only to make sure that her family and friends, her loved ones, were happy somehow. If that meant being a witness to a surprise elopement, or bottling up stupid run-ins with stupid nosy witches, then that's what she was going to do. Febs just had to hope she wouldn't explode.

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Taking her stillness as a positive sign, Edric moved closed and enveloped her in his arms. "I know you're not," he murmured against her hair. The anger quickly faded and was replaced by sympathy. "I don't want you to change who you are," he continued, leaning back to catch her eyes.

"I won't claim to know the best way to navigate this situation, but we need to stand together. No pitting ourselves against each other." He'd never been responsible for supporting another person before, and she'd never watched others face the consequences of her actions.

"I know you're the last person who would ever mean to cause harm." Especially to him. He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before taking a step back.

"Now please come back to bed. It's late and I've waited six hours for you, Mrs. Umbridge" he added, smoothing a flyaway hair behind her ear.

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— set by MJ! —

Tossing the pillow back to the bed, Febs let herself be pulled in. Nuzzling in, she finally felt the exhaustion wash over her. Nodding, she sighed softly. "I'm sorry, I'm working on it." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed tight. He was right and she knew it, which made her feel guilty as hell. She was his wife now, for real, not just a hope and dream anymore. If they were going to navigate these stormy waters together they needed to make sure they communicated a little better. Febs knew she could do better.

Releasing her grip as he leaned back, she smiled slowly, sniffling up the last of the tears when he kissed her. "I could make it worth the wait, if you're not too tired." She bit her lip, looking at him with a little quirk of an eyebrow, teasing... mostly. She was most definitely not trying to seduce him in an attempt to apologize. Nope, not in the slightest. Gently she slide her fingertips up his arms to wrap them around his neck "I am sorry." She added a little more seriously as she turned her eyes toward his.

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He did not respond for the moment, hoping a moment of silence in her husband's arms would be enough to soothe her. The exhaustion of a late-night fight—especially one that begun shortly after being roused from his sleep—reminded him from late-night calls from the Ministry, and Edric was not prepared for any more... activities.

"You could tell me there were ten thousand galleons waiting for me at the end of the street and I'd be too tired to fetch them," he teased, pressing a kiss to her lips as she wound her arms around his neck. He then pulled away to lead her towards the bed, one hand rested firmly on the small of her back.

"The best thing you can do is go to sleep. I'm sure we'll both feel much better in the morning." Or so he told himself. There would surely be more to talk about—but not now. No, exhaustion only fed into agitation.

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— set by MJ! —