Theo gave a mild grin at Holden’s acquiescence. He did seem like he was overdue for a deserved break, even if it was only as long as a quidditch match.
A dozen, now. And if none of them – nor Holden, with all his Ministry contacts and family money and auror training – had found any substantial leads, the trail was probably stone cold by now. How many years ago had it been? Even longer than Nathaniel Gallivan had been gone, and the longer it was, the harder it must be to trace a person’s movements. Harder, as if either of them – Cartwright’s brother; Theo’s father – had left a merest footprint to actually start the search from. (The one sure thing Theo had, of the truth of his father’s publicised “death on a scouting trip to India”, was that his father clearly hadn’t ever headed for Asia at all. He had said that much himself.)
“How could you ever?” Theo mused quietly, not expecting an answer there. Privately, he knew the feeling well enough of missing family to realise that without concrete certainty – good or bad, closure one way or another – there would always be a part left wondering. And still, somehow, dwelling on it endlessly, stubbornly, uselessly, felt easier than... just moving on. “Sorry,” he added, with a sidelong glance in apology. For Holden’s lack of progress, or for having brought up the miserable topic today at all.
A dozen, now. And if none of them – nor Holden, with all his Ministry contacts and family money and auror training – had found any substantial leads, the trail was probably stone cold by now. How many years ago had it been? Even longer than Nathaniel Gallivan had been gone, and the longer it was, the harder it must be to trace a person’s movements. Harder, as if either of them – Cartwright’s brother; Theo’s father – had left a merest footprint to actually start the search from. (The one sure thing Theo had, of the truth of his father’s publicised “death on a scouting trip to India”, was that his father clearly hadn’t ever headed for Asia at all. He had said that much himself.)
“How could you ever?” Theo mused quietly, not expecting an answer there. Privately, he knew the feeling well enough of missing family to realise that without concrete certainty – good or bad, closure one way or another – there would always be a part left wondering. And still, somehow, dwelling on it endlessly, stubbornly, uselessly, felt easier than... just moving on. “Sorry,” he added, with a sidelong glance in apology. For Holden’s lack of progress, or for having brought up the miserable topic today at all.
