Closed In Need of a Miracle

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Admin approval - 88964
Set at the end of term​

Mervyn put his quill down for the third time and sighed. What was the point? Even if his parents agreed to let him come home, he would rather have slept on the streets than speak to them again. And it was beginning to look like he might have to. He leaned on the table and rested his head in his hands, the occasional susurration of owl wings up in the rafters all that broke the silence. He had never felt more alone. Ever since his grandfather had died... It didn't bear thinking about. Yet it was all Mervyn could think about. That, and what it would be like to be homeless all winter.

How had his savings disappeared so quickly? He had dramatically underestimated the cost of living in hotels for weeks at a time. Or perhaps he'd always known his money was going to run out before he graduated, but had naively hoped that he would think of a solution before it happened. He stared at the blank paper in front of him. Whatever he did, he wasn't getting out of this with his pride in tact.

 

[Leda Layton]

It was true that Leda admittedly wasn’t as close to Mervyn the last year or so than she had been. Of course she still considered him to be her best friend, and the person who knew everything about her and what was going on in her life, but it was though something had been drifting from the Gryffindor and Leda didn’t have the faintest idea of what could have caused it. Maybe breaking up with Sapphire had had a heavier hit on him than Leda could comprehend. She was more than willing to help her best friend though; and still believed he was the one who knew everything about her, her problems, and what she believed in. If he needed her help or advice then she would do her best, he just needed to be open with her. It was nearly the end of the year, and on her way up towards the towers she was considering how the months would pass with her family. Every year it seemed to be growing, and it was no longer just Leda and Olive. Gone were the days when they used to be close, relying on one another. Leda was just glad she had another chance to spend time with her friend before they were separated again. "So, what's the problem today?" she said, glad to have another challenge to keep her from drifting too far down a rabbit hole of dread, turning the corner to see Mervyn with his head in his hands. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him like that, and frowned as she approached, "Stuck on your writing?" Leda wouldn't have said she was the best ever at writing, but she was going to be the co editor of the Hogwarts Monthly for goodness sake. If anyone could lend a hand with words, it would have been her. ​

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn jumped and scrambled to hide the letter, though he hadn't written a single word. He should have known Leda would come looking for him; he'd been gone far longer than the twenty minutes he'd estimated. "No," he said automatically. "It's nuffink. Get lost." He often told Leda to get lost, but there was something in his tone today that suggested he meant it. And he did. The last thing he needed was his best friend asking questions. What would she think of him if she knew he couldn't even look after himself? He lowered his head and clenched his fists on the table, blinking hard. Don't cry. He'd come this far. He couldn't crack now. Just until the end of term...

 

[Leda Layton]

It wasn't unusual for Mervyn to snap at her. Their relationship was like that of siblings, but this time it was more forced than normal. Leda was already frowning, and she continued to press on, taking more steps towards him and crossing her arms. "Excuse me. You were the one who told me to come up here. Do you even know how far the Slytherin common room is from the owlery! We don't all have the benefit of living in the roof Mervyn, so no. What are you doing?" If he didn't just tell her, and justify her walk up the million stairs, she was going to just take it straight out of his hands. Besides, what was so important that even she wasn't allowed to see? She knew everything there was about Mervyn, and he should know by now that it was pointless trying to hide things from her. ​

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn closed his eyes. There were times when he admired Leda's pertinacity. Now was not one of them. To be fair, she did have a point; he couldn't very well ask her to leave when he'd asked her to come and find him. Slowly, he produced the blank crumpled up piece of paper and dropped it on the table. Then the tears came. To hell with it. His dignity would be in shreds by the end of the week anyway. "Me granddad died," he said. That was it. He couldn't say anything else; his throat was so tight that it hurt to speak. The only thing that relieved it was crying. He did that instead.

 

[Leda Layton]

Leda tried to recall another time that she'd ever seen Mervyn cry, but she couldn't. Normally he was the more light hearted joker of the pair, but as soon as the words left his mouth she froze. She knew he was close to his grandfather, lived with him when he couldn't live with his parents, he'd basically brought him up. "I'm.. sorry," that's what people usually said. When her own dad had died a few years ago, she'd heard lots of people who claimed to be a family friend or relative say that. She hadn't been close to him though, and the Slytherin took a seat at Mervyn's side. "What happened?" Sometimes it was easier to talk about when you recalled it in third person, removing yourself from the situation. He was sat there sobbing at the desk, and Leda found herself gently patting him on the shoulder a few times, hoping it would help even if just a little.​

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

"Don't be. It was two years ago," Mervyn said, wiping his face with the cuff of his sleeve. In spite of everything, it felt good to finally tell Leda. He carried on, unaware that he was slipping back into his Welsh accent. "I went 'ome, and the 'ouse was sold. No one told me. That was the first I knew. I didn't want to go 'ome. I couldn't do that, you know what they're like. So I found an 'otel. I been livin' in 'otels for two years." Images of sleeping on the streets of Obsidian Harbour flashed through his mind again, and he crumpled into fresh tears. "But I've run out o' money. I've spent thousands - I've spent all me savings - and I don't know what to do, Leda." Mervyn stopped. It took him a moment to realise why Leda's name sounded strange. When at last it hit him, he said, "Oh, f***."

 

[Leda Layton]

As Leda sat next to her friend, her hand pulled away slowly when he revealed that his granddad had died two years ago. TWO YEARS AGO!? Surely that must have been around the time her own dad had died, and the thought that Mervyn was going through something very similar, made the Slytherin feel a bit sick. Leda didn't get a chance to process the fact that her best friend hadn't told her something important for two years, when he started relaying to her what had happened in the meantime. It was hard to focus on his words too when his voice kept changing. Had he been around a new friend she didn't know about? Picked up their accent and now as he relaxed he was blubbering out all this information to her in a mess, that it was coming through his normal accent? Leda couldn't comprehend having so much money to be able to live out of hotels for years. That had been Olive's life, before Leda was born. Leda had never had money and the idea that Mervyn had just blown through everything he had instead of actually coming to talk to her, was another blow to her system, which was already fragile after Olive and Alistair had whopping great secrets of their own. But Mervyn, Mervyn was the one she'd known the most, been around the most, at least in recent years. He knew how much it meant to her that she wasn't kept from information about her friends and family. Did people really feel like she couldn't be trusted with anything but trivial rumours? Leda's heart was hammering in her chest with anger, annoyance that someone she considered to be like a brother would back stab her in the same way as her sister, when he knew what that would mean. The red head purposely had to bite her tongue hard, willing herself not to say anything she was going to end up regretting. She didn't need another instance like the one when she'd heard about Alistairs condition in the hall. She didn't want to lose another friend, even if she felt like the person who was sat in front of her, had really just been an illusion this entire time. ​

It took her a good few minutes of sitting in silence before she was finally ready to actually say something to him. Maybe she'd just have to get used to being the person that others lied to. "You have parents, don't you?" she said quietly. For all she knew now, they weren't real either. It wasn't like she'd ever met them. There was a time when she thought he didn't get on with them, but since he'd kept so many things from her, her face was blank as she fired off the only things she could think of, regardless of what information she thought she had at her disposal. "I'm sure there's somewhere you could stay." It was a feeble attempt at comforting him and she knew it, but Leda was just quietly congratulating herself on not shouting right now. She looked across at him, an emptiness in her eyes, trying to figure out if the person sat next to her had ever been her real friend at all. ​

 

[Mervyn Strangewayes]

Mervyn had meant to tell Leda about his accent. He'd meant to tell her about his grandpa, too. There had just never been a right time. If he was being honest with himself, there was never going to be a right time. How could he explain to Leda that he'd changed his accent to avoid being bullied in London? She would think him pathetic. Similarly, he'd been putting off telling her that he was grieving, that he was struggling to look after himself, for fear of judgement. Only now did he realise just how royally he had screwed up. A little bit of judgement was nothing compared to being honest with your best friend. Mervyn had been a coward.

"I was going to tell you!" he said. And then he explained everything - how he'd changed his accent, and how he'd been scared that she would think less of him for his struggles. "I can look after myself. I don't need my parents. I don't need anyone," he lied. Fresh tears formed. "I'm so sorry, I am. I wasn't lying because I don't trust you. It's just been so hard. I don't know what to do."