Stuck in Second Gear

Adrienne dashed into her room within the secondary Poliakoff residence, throwing the door towards its frame and cringing as it slammed shut. Dinner had not gone as expected, but then again, she had knows better than to expect anything to go her way when it came to what she wanted. Before, it had seemed like more of an inevitability that she would have to stick with their life and find a way to appreciate Kaiden. But that mostly came from a lack of outside input, she supposed as she caught her breath and lifted her wand to lock her door and silence the room.

She had packed a few things just in case, but Adrienne hadn't quite managed to anticipate the steeled, cold glares that had been sent her way by the three other people at the table. Ciara wasn't there, of course, as she was still at Hogwarts, but Adrienne had a feeling the younger girl might have been at least slightly surprised. Or maybe Adrienne had just never paid enough attention. Regardless, she gathered up only the things she absolutely needed and prepared to leave.

"I don't think that this relationship we have is going anywhere. I'd like to consider other paths that might better suit both of us. Particularly considering we have every reason to ask for an annulment."

"That isn't quite up to you. And that reason can easily be remedied."

Catching her breath, she shook her head, ignoring the words his mother had spoken so bluntly as she slung her bag onto her shoulder and realized she had not asked Selwyn where she was meant to go in order to stay with him if she needed to. Frowning, she decided to make her way to the Leaky. She shrunk her bags and stuffed them in her pocket, then apparated away. From one of the tables, she wrote him a particularly sheepish letter, asking if she should make her way to his flat or not. It had been a little over a week and a half, so she assumed he would be back from Hogwarts by now, but she didn't want to be mistaken. Particularly since that meant she would be staying at the Leaky until he decided to let her head over. Would he really want someone he didn't know very well in his home?


[ooc: I realized that last bit belatedly, so I figure we can stick it in personal houses, but have the Leaky as a sort of stop on the way there.]

He didn't get mail at night.  He rarely got mail from people who weren't under the employ of a large corporation.  So the tapping of an owl at the window pane wasn't noticed at first.

Selwyn had been playing in any case.  He'd always made a big deal to his parents about how much he hated the piano, but what he really hated was being forced to play Mozart and Beethoven and Rachmaninoff.  And being exhibited doing so in front of all their friends. It was such a delicious dalliance to choose his own music.

The owl did eventually get his attention, though, and Selwyn abandoned the instrument in curiosity.  

With the window open, the owl seemed perfectly content to sit while he unburdened it and dug up an owl treat in payment.  No ostentatious seals here.  Selwyn slit the envelope open with his forefinger and fished out the letter within.

His eyes ran over the cursive, drawn directly to the sign off.  He didn't know if he'd been hoping for this or not.

No, of course not.  He didn't hope for her to be put in worse circumstances just because it might put him in proximity to her.  

Now, he read the letter.  The Poliakoffs had reacted the way he'd expected them to.  Although, Adrienne's phrasing made Selwyn suspect Kaiden still might be persuaded.  The Poliakoffs might be an intimidating pureblood family, but Kaiden had always struck Selwyn as something of a damp rag.

And she was still doing that thing where she talked herself into believing everyone had it in for her.  Or perhaps she just thought she couldn't rely on anyone but herself.  As Selwyn placed the letter on the mantle and took up a handful of floo powder instead, he wondered what had happened to make her like that.

He stumbled out of the fireplace at the Cauldron and flicked ash from his clothes while his eyes readjusted after the bright green of the flame. Surely she wouldn't have owled him and then booked a room as well?

As she waited to see if Selwyn would reply, or would show up to meet her, Adrienne sat herself in one of the booths, looking across the rest of the pub. Perhaps it would be wise for her to find something to occupy her time until she decided he wouldn't be coming that night. She pulled out one of her bags and resized it, reaching inside for her newest book. She supposed, at the time, that it wouldn't be necessary, but now she was glad she had picked it up before leaving.

As she put the book on the table, her gaze flicked over to another table, and for a moment she froze. There was a man on his way out of the Leaky, and Adrienne could feel herself staring. Surely, it couldn't be. But he turned his head slightly to the right to speak to his companion and she deflated.

Asher.

He was the first in their family to know about the Wizarding World. And now he was in a part of that world that she was not allowed to be a part of. Nor, really, would she want to be part of it. Being told one's brother did not want to see one certainly made it harder to have faith in others one did not know very well. At least, it did for Adrienne. Now Wyatt was experiencing the first tastes of magic, too. Magic did nothing if not touch the soul, and that was the greatest feeling of all. But it couldn't fix the broken family or the fact that Asher had turned Ben away, refusing to so much as see his sister.

She didn't mean to be, but she was still gazing at the door, her book unopened in front of her, when Selwyn arrived.

It didn't take long to find her. She was the only one reading at the table. Not that it was unusual in the Wizarding World; roughly one quarter of the population were Ravenclaws and didn't think bringing research to dinner was unmannerly, after all, but most people gave that up when it came to the Leaky Cauldron.

Selwyn began the same strategy he'd pulled last time, and then thought perhaps startling her would be unwise. Considering.

Instead, he followed her line of sight to the men in the doorway.

"Don't tell me Poliakoff sent lackeys after you?" he asked. "I'm surprised he has lackeys."

Adrienne's gaze snapped to his when he spoke, not having realized he was there. It was strange that he addressed Kaiden by a name that also belonged to her, now, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she looked towards the door again, somehow secretly thrilled to see that they were leaving. It actually made her feel relieved, as though she could breathe again.

"No," she returned almost blandly, shaking her head. "No, these men have nothing to do with him. I just... I used to know one of them is all," she added, attempting to explain without having to really get into the details of it. "It's been a really long time..."

Adrienne shook her head, looking to Selwyn properly and gesturing to the seat across from hers. "Sorry. I- Thank you for coming. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

Well, that was mysterious.

"Nothing important," Selwyn replied, sitting. "Besides, I offered; it would be incredibly impolite for me to turn you away now."

His expression turned grave.  The men at the door may not have been sent by Poliakoff but that didn't mean he wouldn't send anyone, or turn up himself.

Selwyn really didn't want to be part of a brawl or a public argument about which son of a veela b¡tch was sleeping with whose wife.  Especially since he wasn't and the chances of anyone here believing him was practically nil.  And then it would be in the papers tomorrow because the Prophet offices were just down the street and someone was bound to run down there and tell them the juicy gossip ready for the morning edition. Which would just make Adrienne's life that much harder.  Lord, how he wished life came with a manual sometimes.

"We should leave soon," he said, glancing at her bag.  "Just because he hasn't tracked you so far doesn't mean he won't.  Or isn't trying right now."

She nodded, glad to know that she had not bothered him by reaching out. Or, if she had, at least he was pretending otherwise. It did little to settle her nerves about her brother, but that was neither here nor there. Selwyn didn't seem interested in asking any more questions about the men she had seen, but that actually instilled a sort of comfort in her. Her family story was not a fun one to share, and Adrienne could only hope that, if it needed to come up, it could be done when she didn't have to consider the repercussions.

His words drew her attention to his face once more, and she tilted her head, considering his words. "Frankly, I'm not worried about him so much as his parents. It's possible they would send him, but he didn't seem fazed at all. Regardless," she added, putting her book back into her bag, "you're right. The last thing I need is to see another familiar yet unwanted face."

Adrienne offered a gentle smile when she realized that her words might have been misconstrued. "Not including you, of course. I'm really thankful for everything." She swung her bag onto her shoulder and stood, asking, "Ready to go?"

Selwyn nodded when she spoke of Poliakoff. It was just as he'd thought. The parents were the ones concerned about maintaining standards.

"You hate my face?" Selwyn joked lightly at Adrienne's attempted back-peddling. "I'm wounded."

"When we get home, I'm going to teach you to stop apologising," he'd dropped his voice as he stood. "People understand what you mean, and those who pretend not to aren't worth your apologies."

He followed her toward the over-large fireplace at the back of the inn.

"The address is 72A Elizabeth Street," he said. "You go first, so if you miss it I'll know."

When we get home... Home. He spoke as if she somehow belonged there already. Perhaps it was more of a habit. She had never really referred to the Poliakoff estate as 'home,' so it had not really been something she said. Mostly, she was concerned that he was serious. If he kept chiding her about it, Adrienne wasn't sure if it would help or just embarrass her further. Maybe both.

Still, she watched the floor as they walked, only looking up when he spoke again to give her the address. It was probably a good thing they weren't trying to apparate while magic was still acting strange. She was lucky that her trip away from Kaiden's family had not gone awry.

Repeating the address, she threw down the floo powder, and stepped out into what she assumed was Selwyn's flat. Adrienne stepped to the side so he could step right out when he arrived, glancing around and toying with the strap of her bag to keep from fidgeting too badly.

They'd arrived in what Selwyn thought of as the sitting room, but he was assured was properly called the Reception Room by the estate agent. Either way, neither of them had got lost, which was the important thing.

Stepping out of the fireplace, which he'd had installed and hooked up to the floo especially (and was very shortly going to unhook from the connection), Selwyn suddenly felt very exposed. Not even his parents had been here.

"The bedrooms are upstairs," he managed to get the words out without blushing. A pale complexion was not good for this kind of thing.

"You'll want to put your bag down and then I can show you around. It's a big place."

"Um. Have you eaten?" he asked.