No wonder that Alfred could not fathom anything to say about that, since Evander couldn’t fathom why he had said it. He hadn’t meant to, of course – but he couldn’t pretend that it hadn’t been plaguing his thoughts. And he didn’t dare bring it up with Caroline, since things had been so fraught between them when it happened, and Caroline already thought he worried too much, he knew, but... well, perhaps when one bottled up a little too much worry, it tended to leak out at the cap.
His brother, mercifully, said nothing. This convinced Evander that Alfred hadn’t understood, or hadn’t really been listening in the first place – which both confirmed equally timeworn opinions of his brother’s character – and this derision made him feel markedly better.
So – “September, ours,” Evander mustered, in his relief (and even if he couldn’t stand the thought of Alfred’s child being the elder cousin of the pair, he would be pleased as long as they were not in direct competition as yearmates at Hogwarts). And: “Please,” he added, of the coffee, not because he actually wanted any; but because coffee, as much as anything could, felt like an appropriate escape from this conversation for them both.
His brother, mercifully, said nothing. This convinced Evander that Alfred hadn’t understood, or hadn’t really been listening in the first place – which both confirmed equally timeworn opinions of his brother’s character – and this derision made him feel markedly better.
So – “September, ours,” Evander mustered, in his relief (and even if he couldn’t stand the thought of Alfred’s child being the elder cousin of the pair, he would be pleased as long as they were not in direct competition as yearmates at Hogwarts). And: “Please,” he added, of the coffee, not because he actually wanted any; but because coffee, as much as anything could, felt like an appropriate escape from this conversation for them both.
