Getting Closer

[Kate Archer]

Kate had sent a note to Tybalt Archer. She had meant to do it some time ago but other things had popped up and she had gotten preoccupied with other things but after talking to Sara the other day she had decided to get her act together. She had the picture Stefan had sent her and all the other information given to her. She hoped Tybalt would be able to recognize Stefan's parents or maybe bring it home to his own parents and see if they recognized Stefan's parents. She really hoped they were able to move forward with this. She thought it would be great for Stefan if these people really were Stefan's family and they accepted him. She really wanted things to go well and work out. He deserved something good to happen in his life. And not just one good thing, lots of good things because so many bad things had already happened in his life. She had a good feeling about the connection between the two though. There was just too many coincidences between the two to dismiss. She didn't want to get her hopes up or anyone else's so she was trying to not get excited or too happy.

Before the agreed time, Kate collected the information she had and made her way up to the North Tower. Poor Tybalt had been mentioned in the RHI magazine. They had obviously seen the likeliness too but they hadn't been very kind about it which she e hadn't expected. She just hoped he didn't take it personally,though from what she had seen of him last time she doubted that. He had seemed quite fragile to her and she really didn't want to see him hurt. Even though she didn't know him that well she liked him and wouldn't want to see him hurt or anything. She hoped he turned up. She quickly walked up the stairs realizing she was running a bit late. Kate was desperate with her punctuality, she really was terrible, she was always late to things. She had got better, at least she wasn't late to class anymore. In first and second year she had always been late. When she walked up and sat by the windowsill. She was the first to arrive which either meant Tybalt was coming or he was as bad as she was for timing. She would wait though, she was a patient person.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Having meant to do a lot of things before that day, Tybalt had found himself in a bit of a tricky situation. He had been pretty bad at keeping up with work and things of that sort, in short he was going to be late to the only thing he had to do that day. He had been hopeful in trying to do better in this second term but spending time at home away from the stresses of school had made him feel very lost upon returning. He left homework to the last minutes and scarcely left his dorm room, the monochromat had found that the solitude that the room provided to be more comforting than the busy halls around him. The school scared him, that was the simplest way of putting it. Ty had always prided himself on understanding how places worked, but magic was so different. It was abnormal. He didn't know how to act, and he just felt so lost all of the time. He was the only first year, he was sure that on a close to daily basis freaked out. He panicked and knew that he wasn't cut out for it. Despite this really not being true. He just needed time. Time to readjust and get himself back into the routine that a school provided for him. For one thing, he wasn't sure if he could find the same safety nets as before, as in the previous term. This school had different obstacles that he just wasn't that used to. He had to take into consideration that he couldn't just wander the halls and be carefree. Sure, he was safer than in his last school, but that was no where near as safe as he had been at home. With just his family. However weird they could be. Christmas had been good, and now, February, he was looking forward to the winter, that to him felt like it should be summer. However, on that February morning, Tybalt knew he had lots to do. The girl who had helped him out before, who had asked if he was related to some other Archer kid had asked to meet him. He had been curious and so had said yes, but he wasn't sure what she had in store for him, and at this point he was going to be late. Following the events of a few mornings before, where a magazine by the name of Rumor Has It, had called him out as cry-baby, and just like the Archer kid that had died, he hadn't known what to think. He hoped that the girl, Kate would be able to shed some light on it. And maybe, just maybe help him find out if they were related. It would be funny. What would the chances be. As far as he knew he didn't have an older cousin. And the boy couldn't be Mason, his brother who'd died. He'd died. To say that Tybalt Archer was confused about the Archer tree was to put it lightly.

After getting on his usual clothes, and matching it with an over-sized Gryffindor jumper, young Ty made his way to the North Tower. He had his contacts in and his wand was in his pocket. He had pulled the sleeves over his hands, and had his hands swinging by his side. He hadn't been bothered as much as he believed he could by the magazine. It was clearly someone out to get him. He had real issues with people picking on him, but that kind of thing didn't bother him. It was written in a magazine, no one had made fun of him about it yet, so he believed it held no power. It held nothing over him, and did nothing towards him. If it had been someone who called him out about it in the middle of the Great Hall, vocally, then that would be a very different issue. He would've hated that. But a magazine could be taken lightly. Taking the steps two at a time, the young Gryffindor kept his eyes glued to the floor. He was nervous about this now. His palms were a little sweaty and he was truly curious about what she might have in store for him. He hoped that maybe he was related to him. An older brother the boy could become. His family would benefit from someone else. But, Ty thought it unlikely. There wasn't any possible way for it to be true. His entire Archer side all lived in America, and always had. They'd never really left, except to go to Canada, or Mexico. His family was the only one to have traveled this far. His other uncle had died, before Ty had been born. There wasn't any way. But, he was feeling a little lonely, so the Gryffindor was open to listening and seeing. He was the kind of guy who enjoyed family, and enjoyed what it might bring. He noticed her, Kate sitting by the window. He took a deep breath and walked over. He knew he was late, and he was thankful she had waited. The young Gryffindor had almost not come. "Hey" Ty approached her, a small smile on his face. "Sorry I'm late" he added, the usual southern twang in his voice making him sound fairly cheerful. "Sorry about your friend." Ty scratched the back of his head as he spoke this, unsure as to if that had been true or not. In any case, it would be better to say something rather than leave it up to chance.
​

 

[Kate Archer]

Kate had been lacking slightly in her work this term. She had been quite lazy which was unlike her, she wanted to do well in the exams and she had enjoyed this years work the most. She had found it the most interesting and she was going to be sad to leave it. She was almost finished Hogwarts. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face the world yet. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to do with herself once she left Hogwarts. She didn't think her NEWTs results would really affect her future. She didn't see herself working in the ministry or working with magic at all.She had a feeling her future career would involve something to do with music but she wasn't sure yet. She had her whole life in front of her and she was at a complete loss as to what she wanted to do with it. There was only one thing she was certain of and that was Stefan. He was the one thing she was certain she wanted in her future.It was comforting to have at least one certain thing but she was still slightly worried about other important things. She had no idea what she was going to do with her life. A lot would depend on where she wanted to work and how she wanted to live her life. But Kate was trying not to get hung up about it. She should be excited about leaving school and making the path of her own life.

Kate looked at her watch, Tybalt hadn't arrived yet and she was slightly apprehensive to whether he would come or not. She would wait though, she wasn't in a rush to go anywhere and she had learned that waiting was sometimes the best thing to do. She was soon proved correct when she heard a small voice behind her. She turned and smiled "Hey Tybalt"She said glad and slightly relieved that he had come. She had the picture in her hand and she hoped things would start explaining themselves once either his parents or he himself had seen the picture. "Don't worry, I'm always late to most things"Kate said truthfully. She had terrible punctuality. She wasn't very organized especially on school mornings. Kate was momentarily confused when Tybalt said sorry for your friend. She was paused for a second about to ask what he was on about when she then remembered what RHI had said "Don't worry, he isn't dead. Trust me don't trust a word that magazine says. Do I look like a whale?"She said indicating her small frame. RHI was definitely losing it's touch and she hoped it was starting to unravel "I hope you aren't taking what its says seriously. I have been in all five issues so if you need any advice just come to me"Kate said smiling kindly. She was the only person to be in all five issues and to be honest she didn't know why but she didn't put too much thought into it. If anyone had trouble coping with it though she was always ready to help. "So I have something for you. It's a picture of my friend, Stefan's parents. I was wondering do you recognize them?"Kate said handing the picture to Tybalt.

Out of Character:

Sorry its so late

 

[Tybalt Archer]

The magazine he had felt had been unfairly true towards him. While the other stories, had been easily proven as false almost all the claims about him had been surprisingly true. Which for the small Gryffindor boy was the worst thing that could possibly be true. He hadn't known about the magazine before then, and it seemed to dislike him, and assume that him and the other Archer boy were in fact related. Which was too far fetched to imagine. how could it even be possible for that. Tybalt didn't have any family apart from his immediate own in New Zealand. He had nothing apart from the few members of his family who were doing goodness knows what around the two Islands. He wondered how it could be possible to be going around for that long, and still not find what they were looking for. But, Tybalt knew little on his family, and he knew few reasons as to why they had even made the move to this, far away land. The Georgia born boy was not worried about why, but he missed his home more and more. He missed the warm sunshine, the similar accent and the general easier way of life. For him, it was slightly more horrible. The kids treating him like dirt, but take that out of the equation and Georgia was like a hidden paradise. But, he was in New Zealand, dealing with the everyday workings of magic, hoping that this day would be normal. That people wouldn't pick on him. A seemingly low hope for most, but a high one for Ty. Glad that he hadn't worn his glasses for this. His contacts were all he needed. The glasses always made him look ten times weirder than before. The over-sized Gryffindor jumper did nothing to help, but this was just the outside. Ty was sure that over the last year he had grown. He must have. A few inches. A few centimetres, it wasn't obvious, but Ty knew that he couldn't be the same height as he was when he arrived at the school. His eyesight may be horrible, but it wasn't going to pretend he had grown when he hadn't. Well, he didn't really know, things could be cruel to him, where it didn't seem possible. However, the girl, Kate in front of him seemed to be less like what the magazine had said about her, so he wondered if really, any of it was true. For the rest of people. He still played it safe. There was no harm in apologising if you had no idea. In fact, Ty would argue that it was the polite thing to do. The better thing to do. He was being the better person.

The smile he smiling was weak, he hadn't had much to smile about as of late. Being home was good, he missed his sister, but things were as rocky as they had ever been. He could tell that his parents were stressed to no end, and they had little money left. He was young, but he was pretty good at telling when his parents were struggling, and the lack of food they had recently, and the still living out of the car thing, pretty much confirmed it to him. He was relieved, and flashed a small real smile when she assured him that the other guy wasn't dead. He merely wasn't at the school, and this seemed to draw attention. Something he couldn't quite understand, it was beyond him why someone would joke about it. Why someone would spread such lies. What did they have to gain from such a thing. Tybalt looked at the girl and shook his head. He didn't think so. But, it embarrassed him, knowing now that most likely the only truth was the stuff about him. He knew them to be true. The words did little to reassure him, he didn't take it too seriously, but it was at the end of the day the truth. It didn't hurt him, he just didn't like being told about it. Ty looked at the girl, briefly meeting her eyes as she spoke again. "I'm alright with it, it's not the first time someone's made fun of me," Tybalt gave a small shrug, it wasn't that important to him. It didn't mean anything to him. However, all five issues, wow, now that was definitely something he wanted to avoid. Something he didn't want to think about or do anything about. Keep his head down, and don't do anything that could land him in trouble. He was now curious as to why she had asked him to come, so far they hadn't gotten on to it yet, and Ty was curious. He thought she had wanted to meet to tell him, that the guy was dead, and that since he, Ty was the only maybe family that his should do something about it. It was far fetched for sure, but he couldn't stop his mind. Kate spoke again, handing him a picture, nervously, Tybalt pushed his hand out the sleeve and took the picture. Adjusting it slightly for the light. Even with contacts it didn't stop his monochromatness. Which affected almost everything. He recognized it. It was familiar to him. But, not really in the sense that she was maybe hoping. "I know this picture. My grandfather, Cristian Archer, has one the exact same." Tybalt looked at the picture with disbelief, here was the missing link of the family. The part so secret the mere mention sent shockwaves of silence throughout his family. "The guy," Tyablt moved closer to Kate pointing to the man in the picture, no older than 19-20. "It's my uncle, Mason Archer, the girl, I don't know who she is" Tybalt tried to remember what little he knew about them. Trying to find the right words. "The house, where they are standing, that's back home. My grandfather's house." Tybalt looked up at Kate. "No one talks about them, him." Tybalt looked back down at the picture.

"But, it's impossible that your friend is related to them. Mason, he died like 18 years ago. My grandfather says that he jumped off a bridge. They never found his body." Tybalt knew that it was likely his grandfather was lying. But, in his mind it wasn't possible. His father hated talking about it, you couldn't talk about it. "You can't talk about Mason in my family. They simply refuse to. So, I don't know much about him" Tybalt couldn't take his eyes off the picture, shuddering a little at the horrible memory he had of asking about it. "Where did your friend find this?"
​

 

[Kate Archer]

At the beginning, the things RHI had said about her had been quite true. Kate had been shocked at first because she had never thought anyone had taken that much notice of her before. It was more the fact that RHI thought she had been making the whole things up that annoyed her greatly. Why in God's name would someone pretend to have a disease, its not like she got any attention from it. Only that RHI had brought it up no one would have probably guessed. The stupid nickname Branch had annoyed her too. People had liked whispering that as she had passed. Mostly RHI had had the right information they had just twisted it around so she sounded like some drama queen. What had been said about Stefan had made her stand up and shout. She had learned after that to keep her mouth shut as RHI had only used that against her in the next issue. But things were mostly the same in ever issue after. They never came up with anything new which amused Kate greatly. No doubt it was nearly over. The last issue had been ridiculous, there hadn't even been pictures. Kate had always wondered how they had taken those pictures. She had always wondered how they found out any of that stuff. The fact that she probably saw the person or people who wrote it every day was slightly unnerving.

"Don't worry though I think it's going to stop soon. At the beginning what they said about me was true in some ways but now it's all rubbish"Kate said hoping it made him feel better. Kate had been very upset and angry at the beginning but come the third issue she just ignored it. No point getting hung up on what a bunch of cowards are saying about you. They thought they were so great causing all this mayhem in school but really they were a jealous bunch who couldn't say any of that cr@p to the person's face. Kate had become stronger ever since this magazine because she had learned to ignore what sh!t people said about her. She was glad Tybalt hadn't taken the critisism to heart but she didn't like the fact he had been made fun of before. Unfortunately he did seem like a likely target to get picked on. Kate had had the fortune of never being bullied as a child. It was only in recent years she had found out that Sara had been badly bullied. It kind of hurt that even being twins and best friends she had never told her. Another reason why things that had happened between them was right. They hadn't parted in the best way but Kate was glad it had happened and things were okay between the two now. She watched he examined the picture. She really hoped this went somewhere. Kate eye's widened, not actually believing his grandfather had the exact same picture. It turned out Stefan's dad, Mason was Tybalt's uncle. Kate couldn't believe what she had just heard. Wait till she told Stefan. It did seem strange. What had happened to this family. What had Mason done for his family not to speak to him. Kate's eyes furrowed when Tybalt said that apparently Mason had died eighteen years ago.Something very fishy "Tybalt, that man, your uncle didn't die eighteen years ago. He actually only died three years ago. That man in Stefan's Dad "Kate said quietly and slowly, hoping it would sink in. "That woman there is Stefan's mother"She said pointing to the woman in the picture. "Stefan also said that his family were originally from America and his Mum and Dad moved to New Zealand when they were around sixteen,seventeen"Kate said,starting to see how this was slowly starting to fit in.

Kate really hoped Tybalt went home and told them about this. She wondered though would his family want anything to do with Stefan since nothing seemed to be spoken about them. Kate wanted to find out and if she had to go to Tybalt's family herself to get answers she would. As she looked at the picture she wondered what had gone so wrong in Stefan's parents life's. They seemed so happy.