The Daily Prophet was waiting for me at breakfast, tucked smartly in the corner of the table. I took a sip of my tea as I picked it up, and was confronted with the image of my husband walking hand in hand with a yellow haired witch through the halls of the Ministry. My orange juice splattered over my breakfast and the glass shattered at my feet.
"Charlus!" I screamed, and Evie, our house elf, rushed to my side to clean up the mess. "Charlus!" I pushed away from the table and nearly ran into him under the dining room arch. I shoved the newspaper under his nose.
He blinked at the picture of himself before rolling his eyes and pushing my hand away. I snatched the paper back and read the front page headline of the Daily Prophet.
"Head of the Department of Mysteries Caught in His Third Affair."
He ignored me, stepping around the mess I'd made of my breakfast. I continued reading. "Less than two years after the tragic death of son Griffin Potter, Charlus Potter is spotted in the halls of the Ministry with yet another mistress. Rose Armund, secretary at the Department of Muggle Artifacts, has been Potter's mistress for weeks, sources say."
I stopped and glared at him, but he just buttered his toast.
"The two often meet secretly during lunch breaks. This is third confirmed affair since the death of two year old Griffin Potter. Is this a belated reaction to the tragedy? Or is this Potter's attempt to regain the spotlight he became accustomed to, following the death of Griffin -"
"Stop."
I looked up, blinking back the acid bite of my tears. Charlus had his head in his hands. "Stop," he repeated, in little more than a whisper. "It's - It's not that, you have to know." He finally met my eyes, and I saw tears rolling down his face. "It's not that."
We stared at each other for a long while. "Just another arranged marriage gone wrong."
Charlus flinched at my tone, and the resentment crept back into his eyes. "Oh, please. Don't act like you are the victim in all of this."
I frowned. "I'm sorry; I forgot about the horde of whores that I hide in my closet."
"Don't go there."
"Where else is there to go? Oh, perhaps to how you let our son - " I bit my tongue, instantly wishing to take the words back. His heart broke in his eyes.
"That's not fair."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"I was there for you, you know. Every early morning, every nightmare."
"I know." I put my hand over his, but he ripped it away.
"But you forgot that I was hurting too. I lost my son, Dorea, and I thought it was my fault. You just forgot about me." He stood up and walked from the room, turning back in the doorway. "I'll keep it out of the papers, from now on."
"Thank you."
Thanks to Red (TheNextFolchart) for being an uber helpful beta!
Written for the Tien Len Competition. Also for the fire quote: "And how do we relight the flame when it's cold?" -Godsmack, "Serenity" for the War of the Elemental Song Quotes Comp, and Othello in the Inspiration by Shakespeare Challenge.
