April 6th, 1891 - Pettigrew Residence, South Bartonburg, Hogsmeade
Art was coming home. He'd been gone for too long but he couldn't explain it in a letter, so he was better to just go home. He'd tried to floo from Fitz's house but their floo was locked. This was, he supposed, fair — Dez wasn't likely to want visitors under the circumstances. He apparated from London instead to the street outside their home, steadied himself, and went to try the lock.
The front door was locked, too. Art knocked on the door several times, expecting the housekeeper — or, better, his wife — to come let him in. No success. He clawed through his pockets and found the key, and tried it in the door, only to find — the key didn't fit the lock. Arthur squinted at it. Had he grabbed a different key from Ester's, somehow? It looked like the key to his house — there was a mark in the same spot — but maybe it wasn't. He knocked on the door again, a little frantic.
"Didn't you move out?"
Arthur blinked. "Oh," he said, like this was something someone would have forgotten, "Silly me. Must have forgotten."
Desdemona must have broken the lease, must have decided to leave — must have given up on him, and she hadn't said anything. He sat down on the front stoop and put his head in his hands. If Desdemona had left — really left, with no intention of coming back — then he didn't know what to do, at all. And — where were his things, their things? There had been stuff in the house: Gwenog's toys, his clothes, little pieces of furniture, liquor bottles and broomstick repair kits and a flying carpet.
There were notches on the door frame of the nursery where he'd been tracking their daughter's height. There was a scuff mark on the kitchen ceiling from a party he'd thrown after he first signed the lease. There had been a potted plant sitting on the windowsill of the dining room and who was going to water it every other day if Arthur wasn't there to do so?
He had been so, so certain that she would be here. It was unfair of him and he knew it, but he had been so certain she would stay. But she had left and she was gone and so was Gwenog and he didn't know where the plant was, let alone where his things were, or his wife.
He sat on the steps with his head in his hands for a long, long time.
The front door was locked, too. Art knocked on the door several times, expecting the housekeeper — or, better, his wife — to come let him in. No success. He clawed through his pockets and found the key, and tried it in the door, only to find — the key didn't fit the lock. Arthur squinted at it. Had he grabbed a different key from Ester's, somehow? It looked like the key to his house — there was a mark in the same spot — but maybe it wasn't. He knocked on the door again, a little frantic.
"Didn't you move out?"
Arthur blinked. "Oh," he said, like this was something someone would have forgotten, "Silly me. Must have forgotten."
Desdemona must have broken the lease, must have decided to leave — must have given up on him, and she hadn't said anything. He sat down on the front stoop and put his head in his hands. If Desdemona had left — really left, with no intention of coming back — then he didn't know what to do, at all. And — where were his things, their things? There had been stuff in the house: Gwenog's toys, his clothes, little pieces of furniture, liquor bottles and broomstick repair kits and a flying carpet.
There were notches on the door frame of the nursery where he'd been tracking their daughter's height. There was a scuff mark on the kitchen ceiling from a party he'd thrown after he first signed the lease. There had been a potted plant sitting on the windowsill of the dining room and who was going to water it every other day if Arthur wasn't there to do so?
He had been so, so certain that she would be here. It was unfair of him and he knew it, but he had been so certain she would stay. But she had left and she was gone and so was Gwenog and he didn't know where the plant was, let alone where his things were, or his wife.
He sat on the steps with his head in his hands for a long, long time.
![[Image: AAgFt3c.png]](https://i.imgur.com/AAgFt3c.png)
set by MJ <3