| Details for To Err is Human, To Forgive is Divine |
| Summary: | After a rather public tiff in Diagon Alley, Bannon visit Camilla at the Fawley Farm on a stormy day to sort things out. |
| Date: | September 17th, 1937 |
| Location: | Fawley Farm, Hogsmeade |
| Related: | An Interesting Evening |
| Characters |
 
Featuring:     |
Nobody is surprised when the day turned out stormy, as it does for so many other days out of the year. What did surprise people was when the storm stretched out into the evening. The rain falls on the roof the Fawley Family Farm House, creating a soothing pitter-patter that offsets the booming thunder. Almost hard to hear, there is a knock at the front of the door.
Camilla has been quite miserable the last few days. So it's a good thing that it's raining or her plants around the grounds would be wilted. She's allowed the hands to do more than she usually does, because she's been a bit mopey. The furnace is on the fritz so she's curled up next to the fire snuggled up against Godric with Helga tucked in against her. Sal is around her neck he very much enjoys being nestled i the thick grey fur of Camilla when she's changed into her fox animagus form. It's Godric that hears the knock and gives a roar. The door is unlocked if it's given a try.
The roar causes Bannon to perk up a bit, his mind flashing to all sorts of bad things. Maybe the lion got out while Camilla wasn't around? Maybe the lion ate Camilla. He draws his wand from his walking stick, setting the walking stick next to the door. He tries the handle, finding the door unlocked. He steps off to the side of the door, moving out of the way of the space in which all the bad stuff comes flying out at him upon opening a door. He twists the handle, pulling the door open and peeking his head through. He steps into the house, noting the mass of animals near the fire. Bannon shakes his head momentarily, care and feeding of magical creatures having been the soft spot on his academic record. He proceeds slowly in to the door, training the wand ahead of him as he calls out, "Camilla? Are you here?"
Camilla lifts her head, ears perking and angling forwards. She gives a happy little yippy bark and then stands up and starts to pad over towards the Auror.
Bannon lowers his wand towards the fox as he notes that this is the particular one of the bundle that approaches him first, "Ah ah, no little one. I'm not sure if you bite or not, but rest assured that I will turn you into something far more amicable. Such as a…" He trails off, frowning slightly, "Such as… one of those dogs that can't see in front of them because they have hair in their eyes all the time." He glances away from the fox slowly, towards the Godric, Helena and Sal. He clears his throat and gives a rather high pitched and gentlemanly shriek, "Camilla!"
Camilla giggles, yes the fox makes a giggling yipping sort of sound in her throat and she sits down and Sal slides off from around her neck to slither back and lay down on the slate rock tiles before the fire. One little paw lifts up and then pats the air towards his wand and then gestures towards herself. But at the shriek she giggles again and makes a dash for the stairs.
At the giggling fox, Bannon narrows his eyes and works his lips into a frown. Finally he states, "Well that was not the least bit disconcerting." Bannon, it seems, doesn't understand the grey fox equivalent of sign language, and his wand follows the fox until it disappears upstairs. He then turns back to the other three animals, stating, "I have excluded the fox as the potential perpetrator of the eatening of Camilla Fawley, resident of this establishment. That leaves you three as the prime suspects. I will consider your each indvidually, using my keen skills of deduction to summarily deduce which of you has eaten her. First you, Sal. I know well of your capacity to unhinge your jaw to consume much larger pray than yourself, but as the victim was a stront woman with a lovely breadth to her shoulders, I can accurately disqualify you from my list of suspects. Beware, snake! I have no excluded you from a list of possible accomplices. Then there's you, Helena. Again, far too big, but perhaps you got the eyes. Payment for services rendered in this little coup." Finally he settles on Godric, "Leaving you, lion, as the most likely candidate of the lot. By simple process of elimination, I have concluded that it was you, Godric, who unlawfully consumed Camilla Fawley! With the help of Helena the Eagle and Salizar the Snake. What shall I do with you? Being that you are classified as beasts, I feel it is within the purview of my position as an employee of the Ministry of Magic to mete out punishment." He turns his wand back on Godric, "Godric the Lion, I hereby sentence you to live out the remainder of your existence as an American short-haired cat. Salizar the Snake, errr, I sentence you to live out the remainder of your years as… some kind of smaller snake. I'll get back to you on that." Finally, the Auror turns the wand on Helena on the mantle, "And you, Helena the Eage, are sentence to spend the rest of your days as a great tit. May God have mercy on your souls."
Camilla purrs from the landing of the stairway as she's now wrapped up in a cozy grey bathrobe. "Auror Bates, I do believe that it's the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures not the Magical Law Enforcement that's qualified to mete out punishment for said beasts and creatures." With every step down she gives him a smile that is both adoring but also circumspect. She honestly was concerned that she was never going to see Bannon again after that scene at the alley.
Bannon tilts his eyes to look up towards the stairs, his lips twitching into a smirk as he opens the left side of his coat to slide the wand into a pocket within, "Agent Fawley, I do believe that this was hardly the point of that little charade. I was merely stalling for time with the beasts while you went upstairs and did what you needed to do." He then mentions as an afterthought, "I do not believe I've ever heard it mentioned that you were an animagus. Fascinating. I had once considered the training myself, but ultimately found it counterproductive to my goals." He takes a few steps towards Camilla, reaching up to push his bowler out of his eyes, "I would imagine that it is even more counterproductive to one such as yourself." He tilts his head curiously, "What do you do if a grey fox is in something else's food chain? I reckon it makes interaction a tad awkward." He moves around to the bottom of the stairs as he completes his question, peering up towards Camilla.
Camilla chuckles in those rich chocolatey tones of hers. "A fox can run and hide a lot better than most creatures its size. It's done well for me for many years now. In fact, it saved my life when it came to 'hiding' from a pack of werewolves in the Black Forest." When she comes to the last step, she doesn't step down. "And I swear by all that is powerful and mighty if you call me Agent Fawley in my own house, I'm gonna give you the whalloping of your life." She gives a smirk as she brandishes her fist on the just playful side of threatening. The other hand rests on his shoulder and slowly starts to slide up to the back of his neck. "I freaked out. I'm sorry… human mating habits aren't my specialty."
Bannon gives a small chuckle, "Turn about is fair play." He reaches out, snaking his right arm around her waist as his left hand reaches up to remove the bowler from his head. He deposits it on the edge of the banister, then wraps her in both arms, "That's what I came by to speak to you about. Perhaps I overreacted as well, and I feel I owe you an explaination."
Camilla looks like she's fit for tears of happiness as he shows her such a high level of attention and affection. She places one hand over his mouth though. "Me first, please." She takes a deep sighing breath and begins. "Besides some flirtation with Demetrius over the years…this…what happened over on that couch. Is all very brand new to me. So I spend days, thinking that I shouldn't have kissed you like that. It certainly wasn't how I envisioned my first kiss being like…but there it was, it happened, I was feeling the most vulnerable I ever have. Then comes the alley…I'm worried about you…I thought we had gotten past all the formalities, that we were maybe… together… I don't know and whamm-o, 'Agent Fawley' like I was some stranger. Which I then realized was probably done on purpose… which through me for a tizzy even more, because I will be damned if I let your fear of me getting hurt because I'm close to you get in the way of getting closer to you…"
Bannon raises an eyebrow, "Your first kiss? Really." He clears his throat, considering his next words carefully, "Camilla, I've already lost someone I love once, I won't see it happen twice. I've become the best their is in the Auror office at the expense of a personal life. This is because the danger that exists for those who attach themselves to me is very real. It is a tactic that can be used against me, as I have used it against dark wizards for a decade. You could say the my eccentricities were born of a long time living the life of an Auror, thus I feel I've earned them, and earned the right to keep a number of them. Still, that is one place I suppose I could relax my ways a bit. I've never thought you unable to protect yourself." He pauses for a moment, "In the case of Diagon Alley, I was talking to Inspector Elijah Lovegood from the Magical Law Enforcement office. His reputation as a irrepressible git proceeds him. Also his reputation as being quite unstable also proceeds him. He is a man that I specifically did not want to expose you too. It was not out of an act of cruelty on my part, of that you can be assured."
Camilla rolls her eyes and her cheeks darken when he questions it being her first kiss. "Let me put it this way; I have lived most of my life under the very over protective gaze of my grandfather. He taught me very well how to protect myself. He lost a daughter to evil people, just like I lost a mother and a father. I am no stranger to the sort of horror that you have honed your training on. So before I fall any further for you, I need to know if I can gain enough respect and enough change from you that I need to feel like we might have a chance at anything resembling a relationship. I need to know what's going on. I'm a big girl… if you are going to pull a vanishing act like you did on Josie's Mum, I better damn well get some forewarning. I just…I need to know what in the hell is happening. I won't let you break my heart. I can handle you getting hurt, I can even handle you dying, I can handle being in danger and getting hurt myself. What I can't handle is if you're gone without notice or regard for me. We're wizards, I'm no muggle. There's plenty of ways to contact me no matter where you might be."
Bannon blinks up towards her, his expression falling away. He examines the last stair in front of him for a moment, "Pull… a vanishing act? Is that what you think happened?" He turns his head, a shocked expression on his face as he is left seeking out the words as such a tragic series of events which happened in his life is trivialized like a cheap magic trick, "That I just up and left like some absentee father who just threw the bastard to the wolves?" He reaches out with his left hand, plucking the bowler from the banister and settling it back on his head. He takes a step away, then on second thought, steps back, "Camilla, I would very much to see this through. I really would. However I don't think you realize …" He trails off, then adds, "I can't continue this conversation this evening. That is the best answer I can give you for right now." He reaches up, tipping his hat, "Good evening." He turns towards the door quickly, his wand out and in his hand. He marches towards the door at a pretty good clip, opening the door with a wave of his wand and then closing it behind him. Not too long thereafter, a loud pop echoes beyond the storm.
Bannon's hand is blocked from his bowler and Camilla's hold around his shoulders tighten. He gets about as far as trailing off after 'I don't think you realize…' and she's interrupting him, "Don't you dare put words in my mouth. I do not think that you did anything of the sort Bannon Benjamin Bryson Bates. You think I could be falling for someone who I think purposefully abandoned the woman he loves and their child? I have never wanted to smack some sense into anyone the way I want to smack you right now. Och!" She shakes her head, "What I really am saying is that I'm falling for you, and I'm scared out of my mind that history will repeat itself. That is all. I don't want to lose you, not like she did."
Bannon grits his teeth, shaking his head, "I can't guarantee that I won't have to go off somewhere secretly. Secret even from you, Camilla. It's the nature of my job that I deal with as predatory of beasts as you do, if not even more dangerous because…" He continues to shake his head, his voice trailing off for a moment before he begins again, "…let's face it, the human beast is the most dangerous of all. Put a wand and training in his hand and he is that much more. Secrecy is as much a weapon as my wand." He shakes his head, glaring down towards his bowler hat, "Don't make me promise that, Camilla. Neither of us will be happy with that outcome."
Camilla lifts her hand from his bowler to reach up and cup his cheek, stroking it with her thumb. "Alright. I won't make you promise. Now see…was that so bad? No need for you to go…" Her arms slide around him to hold him in a tender hug. "Please don't go."
Bannon seems to consider it for a moment, then nods his head, "Fine, I'll stay… but I warn you, I'm still mad at you for making our domestic dispute the talk of Diagon Alley." He then wraps an arm back around her, pulling her towards him, "Come, lets go have a walk, shall we?"