Heads or tails
The EBC Studios, London. 10:45 pm
With the audience seated, the make-up artists finished the last touch-ups on the host and his guest, then hasted to leave the set while the producer started the countdown to the show's beginning.
"Good evening, I am David Wimbleby and welcome to "Question time", tonight, as every Thursday, we are broadcasting live from the EBC Studios in London. Our host tonight is our secretary of state for work and pensions, Gordon Cowan. Good evening and allow me first to greet you, and to direct my esteem since you know that we do not hold back on this program."
"It is I who thank you for having me. I find your show very bold, even if you show slight favoritism for our friends on the left." Cowan said.
"Then, I suggest that you watch our show more often, sir. However, I hope your transparency will be among us tonight." Wimbleby said.
"Naturally, as nothing beats boldness and honesty! " Cowan said, smiling.
"Wonderful! So, let us begin with the current election campaign. According to recent polls, you're only at 15 percent on voting intentions. " Wimbleby said.
"I have to admit, it's not much. " Cowan said, nodding.
"I'll agree, even if the election day is only 8 months away. However, we'll allow you a chance to try convincing the people of England later on, answering their phone calls live. " Wimbleby said.
"I can't wait to get started. " Cowan said, confidently.
"So, without further delay, I'll call Richard Harthluck, journalist at the News line," Wimbleby said, while a man appeared from backstage, shook their hands before sitting around the table and waved a hand, greeting back the audience that applauded his arrival on the set.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, good evening, sir! First of all, let me give a brief background for our televiewers..." Harthluck said.
"Please. " Cowan said.
"Thank you, first, you were secretary of state for business and industrial energy, before a short stint at the Ministry of transportation..." Harthluck said
"Minister of Culture if I may correct you. " Cowan said.
"No, no, transportation, Sir. " Harthluck said, smiling.
"Is it? Well, it's possible. " Cowan said, shrugging.
"Then, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the UN. " Harthlock said.
"You failed to mention my short time at the Ministry of education. " Cowan said, smiling.
"Uh, are you sure? Because..."
"With all due respect, I benefit from a lifetime allowance. Therefore, I'm in an excellent position to know that." Cowan said with a soft chuckle.
"Um…All right…My first question will be straightforward and will concern the sudden disappearance of the high court judge, Frank Hewinson. The press and the public have been quite intrigued by the farewell letter found in his office, in which, he mentions his burnout and retiring in a distant country, asking to be left in peace. Moreover, we are not sure of the existence of any investigation. Would you be able to enlighten us about this matter? " Harthluck asked.
"Who?" Cowan asked, frowning.
"Fran Hewinson… The same judge who until recently, was in charge of investigating some donation for your party and that you supposedly have benefited from, " Wimbleby replied, adjusting his glasses.
"Oh, yes! A sad and delicate matter..." Cowan said, loosening slightly his tie's nod.
"Last week, on that very chair you are sitting in right now, your colleague from the state affairs was quite evasive as well. "
Cowan nodded, biting his lip before replying, "Well, it is unfortunately not a secret that I am wrongly being accused, without any evidence whatsoever, of having abused of my position, for I don't know what tabloids babble!" Then sighed, shaking his head before continuing, "To be honest, this perhaps could make a good comedy…If only it was not defamation, I'm afraid " Cowan said.
"So, the truth is? " Harthluck asked.
"About the judge? " Cowan asked.
"The judge and the accusations, of course! Would you like to make a statement? " Harthluck asked.
"Well, I can guarantee that at that time, I used all my power to guarantee to the justice system all the ideal conditions..." Cowan said, before being interrupted sharply by Wimbleby.
"Sir, should I remind you of your words on transparency, earlier?"
Cowan chuckled and nodded, "Fair enough, I can confirm that we have been notified and accepted to allow Mr. Hewinson to enjoy an anticipated retirement, " Cowan said, before whispering to himself," nor we left him the choice"
"Then, this matter settled…We wish him a peaceful retirement wherever he chose to settle. Anyways, the case is now prescribed, following the amendment you pushed for a few years ago, but still... Was there any truth in the allegations against you? " Harthluck asked.
Cowan's smile faded, then sighed before replying, "My dear friend and fellow citizens, you may remain appeased. Because, if I certainly bear a share of responsibility equivalent to the collective obligation that binds us as a nation, I should logically be held responsible, but in no way recognized faulty! " Cowan said, nodding.
"Naturally! However, I apologize for insisting…But I would like to seize this opportunity to ask you a question you might find a bit daring. Several fellow journalists report that you act blind on illegal weapons and drug trade, helping their allegations with photos of you with P… " Wimbleby said.
Cowan slightly raised a hand, interrupting Wimbleby with a glare, and firmly said, "Sir, I did not plan to speak on this matter tonight. Though, I would be sullied if I don't respond to those fallacious, outrageous accusations… To tell you the truth, I read those articles, and nothing pained me more! Because they were probably the most incredible LIES ever printed in an evolved democratic nation…" Cowan said, before drinking a sip of water from his glass, and clearing his throat before saying"…Each day! Drug trafficking kills thousands of people worldwide and Indeed, our allies and us, deliver an impressive amount of weapons to some warlords and dictators around the world, BUT always following a democratic procedure and with the approval of both houses. It is a matter of i-n-t-e-g-r-i-t-y!" Cowan said firmly, before banging his fist on the table, looking satisfied at the audience that replied to his answer with warm applauses.
"Thank you for your answer…I suggest we move to a less important matter, which is women's rights. You recently strongly advocated in favor of equal opportunities between men and women, and also insisted on gender parity in the workplace. You encouraged young men to embrace feminism and showed the example by replacing Elsa McGowan as head of the feminist union of your party" Dimbleby said.
"Of course… I do now oversee the group's day-to-day operations, and I couldn't be happier to bring my ambition, experience, and no-gibberish attitude to this new role as our nation's number one feminist. My results show that what the feminist movement needed to do, was bring on someone who has, excuse me for the choice of words, the balls to do something about this industry! Before I arrived, the main reasons the movement met so poor success so far, was that the previous management was often too timid, rather than fierce and results-focused" Cowan said.
"What concrete changes did you bring to the movement?" Wimbleby asked.
"I just banged my fist on the table and told everyone, if they want to enjoy equal rights, they must have a real man-to-man chat with the people in power, until they could hammer out some more equitable laws! But first, I had to put in some order. The association was disorganized, and their old fundraising methods were a scatterbrained joke. Let's just say they were never good with numbers. However, I want to leave a point clear. I did not get into the women's rights business for the praise!" Cowan said.
"Nobody would argue that, seeing how much those women were able to accomplish with the manpower you brought along. "I guess you add, I'm not sure what, that gives that extra little push into complete female independence," Wimbleby said, thoughtful.
"Thank you… I guess it just comes naturally" Cowan said.
"Can we talk about gay rights?" Wimbleby asked.
"No" Cowan replied.
"Alright…I'm afraid to rush ahead sir, but I'm being told there is a lady on the phone who wished to be the first to…Yes, go ahead madam! We're listening!" Wimbleby said.
A few seconds later, a woman's voice sounded in the studio," Good evening, Gordon"
"Good evening my Lady, only I prefer to be referred to as Mr. Cowan or minister" Cowan replied, frowning.
"It's me. Abigail" The woman said.
"Oh…" Cowan said, losing his smile, gesturing to Wimbleby to shut the call.
"It is utterly ridiculous that I have to ring a television station, but it is impossible to bypass your lawyers…Anyways, I'll go straight to the point…I said it before and I repeat it again, I don't care about your money, but it's more than urgent that you finally acknowledge your daughter's existence…She's a lovely five-year-old girl who starts asking questions and… doing things I can't explain! So, it is high time that you…" Abigail said before Cowan interrupted her sharply.
"I agree! It is ridiculous of you to bring this particular PRIVATE matter on tv, and you should be ashamed of using our daughter to try to damage my image. However, if it is not your issue, I am aware that all over this country women struggle to raise alone their children and pass on family values to the next generations. Therefore, I'll show the example and be the bigger one here! Hear me out, Abigail! As tomorrow, my legal team will get in touch with you and Lavender will receive an allowance of one thousand pounds per year, until she's eighteen." Cowan said.
"Have you heard what I just said? It is not about money but what she is capable of…" Abigail said, irritated before Cowan interrupted her again.
"Moreover! We will find a place, Lavender, in a public institute specialized in the care of retar…Children with special needs!" Cowan said as Abigail's voice got muffled by the audience's loud applause before the commercials went on.
Three days later, at the burrow.
In the afternoon, a usual scene took place. Arthur Weasley sat on the coffee table, looking sternly at his two, until now best-behaved, children who sat on the sofa. His oldest son Bill carefully avoided his gaze, while beside him, little Ginny was sobbing, clutching a children's book.
"It's not Bill's fault!" Ginny claimed, whipping her tears with her hand.
"It's okay, Ginny... I should have been careful." Bill said.
"Ginny, please stop crying for a second, and tell me what happened instead," Arthur asked his daughter, handing her a tissue.
"It's all because of that little boy! He was mean! He tried to steal my book from my hands and…I punched him!" Ginny said, her face turning tomato red.
"Bill, why was she alone? Where were you?" Arthur asked Bill who finally looked at his father.
"Dad, I'm sorry but I was close by…I just let her go get the book she wanted from the shelves. Meanwhile, I ran into a friend and got distracted. Then, a minute later, I saw Ginny running to hide behind me" Billy said.
"How did you get that?" Arthur asked, pointing his finger at his black eye.
"Oh…The kid punched me" Bill whispered.
"THE LITTLE BOY WAS MEAN, DAD! IT'S NOT BILL'S FAULT! HE TRIED TO STEAL MY BOOK AND THEN PUNCHED BILL!" Ginny yelled, jumping on the couch, and waving her arms.
"Calm down, Ginny…How old was he?" Arthur asked.
"I'd say the same as Ginny, four, maybe a little younger…" Bill replied, looking embarrassed.
Arthur looked at his son and daughter simultaneously, an eyebrow raised, before asking, "How did a boy so small reach your face? You're fifteen and already taller than me"
"Well, it was an accident" Bill replied.
"THE MEAN LITTLE BOY CLIMBED ON A TABLE IN THE BOOKSTORE, AND JUMPED ON BILL! BILL DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! HE WAS JUST TALKING TO HIS GIRLFRIEND!" Ginny shouted.
"GINNY!" Bill scolded her as she clasped her hands against her mouth, realizing she had said too much.
"Here we are at last…All suddenly makes sense. Your mother and I found it suspicious when you asked us to let you take Ginny with you for the afternoon, so she could choose her own birthday gift. In fact, it was only a scheme…" Arthur said, cleaning his glasses.
"No! I really wanted to surprise her…" Bill claimed before Arthur interrupted him coldly.
"Kill two birds with one stone? Make yourself look like the adorable brother who takes care of his little sister? Is that all your sister is worth to you?" Arthur asked.
"No, dad! It was never my intention!" Bill said, glancing at his sister who was distracted by her book's cover.
"Bill, you planned, and this is what you came up with. You should be ashamed of yourself for using her…You're the last one I expected this from. I'm disappointed" Arthur said, standing up.
"I'm sorry dad, I have no excuse," Bill said, lowering his head.
"Bill is sorry, dad," Ginny said, hugging her brother's arm.
"Where is that bookstore? Are you sure you didn't use any magic? What happened to the boy after?" Arthur asked.
"Of course not! I didn't hurt him, I just pushed him away, and an employee intervened very quickly. So, I paid for the book, and we immediately left" Bill said.
"So, what took you so long?" Arthur asked.
"We hid behind a bush to make sure mom wasn't around, then we headed for our rooms…" Bill replied.
"But you ran into me on the stairs before you could hide your black eye…And pretend nothing happened" Arthur said, sighing. "Ginny, mommy is in Percy's room, go show her your book and give her a hug"
Ginny jumped to her feet, kissed her dad, and ran to the stairs, leaving Arthur and Bill alone. Arthur turned to his son and put his hands on his shoulders.
"Bill, I know it's unfair to ask you to be an adult when you're also still a kid yourself…But your brothers and sister look up to you. They mimic the slightest thing you do! To their eyes, their older brother can only be right. I hope you are aware of that" Arthur softly said.
"I know…But, what if I don't want to? Dad, I always have to take care of them! And it's exhausting! Percy is always in my room, Fred and George think everything is a joke and Charlie isn't helping! I didn't leave the Burrow once since I got back from Hogwarts! So, all I wanted is to hang out an afternoon in town, have a breather, and for once have a cool summer story to tell my friends once back to school! I know it's a low move to use Ginny, but mom wouldn't have let me go otherwise…Dad, I'm just too old for them! My OWLs are next year! My mind is more into thinking about a career choice than running outside behind the twins and the gnomes!" Bill said.
Arthur sighed before nodding, "I understand… I'm sorry Bill, but your mother and I are so proud of what you've become, and might tend to leave you with responsibilities that shouldn't be yours. Listen, how about you tag along with me and look together for that kid?… We could stop by Diagon alley and talk more"
Hello everyone! I planned to upload this one on the weekend but I got lazy...However, I used these last two days of delay to change a few things. I hope you're not bored by these transition chapters (the next one will be the last) but I like writing them. They allow me to practice, take a little break from the main story, and built the world I imagine.
The next chapter will arrive next week or this weekend if I can. Thank you for reading and please review!