[206] Moving In, Moving On

[Cameron Brooks]

Dani wasn't being any help. None whatsoever. Ever since she'd picked up that new boyfriend, she only reluctantly, and sparingly, assisted her adoptive brother. If Cam hadn't liked her before, he liked her much less now. So, since Luke was with him until the rubbish with Charlie and Ben was sorted out (pre-nups are not easy to work around) moving in wasn't a huge ordeal. Still, his brother-in-law seemed morose at best. What was up?

Cam handled his cane pretty well. He couldn't handle the furniture though. To help Luke, who was underaged, he had placed charms on the heaviest things so that they weighed less, and so that the fifteen year old could handle them himself, but to anyone around, it must have looked very fetching to see the gimp directing the young lad. Cam wasn't trying to impress anyone. But he was having reservations about having to resign from Fife-St. Andrew's. His students were just getting acclimated with him as their house head as well as the DADA interim professor. They'd thrown a huge bash for his departure, but the void had only been temporarily filled. And now it gaped open, a monster preying upon the weak.

"You handling that stuff all right, Luke?" He managed as he heaved himself up the stairs, to the second level. The lad hadn't said anything yet. Later on, when the moving was done, Cameron made a promise that he'd take Luke to the local pub and they'd have a drink. Besides, he wanted to catch up with his new brother-in-law. Check up on the school life... maybe even indulge in stories of the love life?

[Luke Anthony Torrington]

It was understandable that Cameron, Luke's brother-in-law (thanks to Phillippa) needed help. That girl, Danielle, had blatantly refused to help as soon as that guy (what was his name? Matt or something? Luke didn't really know the Brooks' family past Cam, James and Jordan (and Hillary too)) had appeared on a broomstick and took her away. So Luke, though he'd rather be on the Hogwarts Express with Chris, was here, handling furniture for his cripple brother-in-law.

Had there been advantages? Fife, Scotland, had been a beautiful visit, while Cameron had needed to submit his resignation to the school there (which was sooooo much bigger than Hogwarts, with its gothic buidlings and it's rolling hilly campus. The Quidditch Pitch at Fife-St. A's was also more magnificent than Hoggy Warty Hogwarts'.), and there were so many students attending that school (probable close to 800) from all around the world. It was truly a spectacle. And George and Lily worked there, of course, though they'd never brought Luke up to see the place. So that all was nice. But being a "candy striper" helping Cameron with everything, while obviously virtuous, wasn't what and where Luke wanted to do and be.

Cameron seemed out of spirits himself. Luke wondered if his dislike, as outward as it was, for Danielle was truly how he felt? He'd caught Cam sneering when Matt (?) showed up.

"You handling that stuff all right?" Cam called back to Luke. The furniture wasn't really that heavy, but carrying it all himself was annoying. "I'm trying, Cam. It's not really that tough, but I am doing it all myself." Luke knew he probably shouldn't have said that - he was a little more impetuous, or had become so, since meeting Chris and feeling that huge weight lifted off him - especially since Cam was disabled. But it was how he felt.

[Cameron Brooks]

Cam sensed the tension in his brother's response. He frowned and leaned against the railing on the landing. Turning, he set his cane to the side and took out his wand, muttering the charm to keep the cane in place. Spill free. He braced himself and turned to face the younger.

"Here... I'll help you with this one, but I don't think I can help much with the others." He said. "Danielle should've come down to help you. You know I'm thankful right?" He wasn't sure if he'd be able to do this, but he had his wand at the ready in the event that he should need to place another charm on the furniture. It hadn't, before, occurred to him to use a levitation charm, but now it certainly dawned on him as a masterful choice.

"You don't like that Matthew guy do you?" He tried some small talk, an area he wasn't very good at.

[Luke Anthony Torrington]

"Don't be ridiculous, Cam. I can do it." Luke said, lightening his tone. He didn't mean to sound as harsh as he did, but the circumstances were extreme in his mind. "Of course I know you're thankful. Dani expects too much from you if you need to apologize to me for being in this state! I mean, unless you knew that bludger was going to maim you, I'd say you're off the hook. And, no, I don't really like that Matthew guy. He's too - I don't know - " high-strung, maybe? Matthew had a very charming look to him, but it charmed in the way most rogues do. There didn't seem to be anything authentic about his charms. Swooping in on a broomstick to carry Dani off? That stuff only happened in fairy tales. Real life was a lot... a lot... different. There were no such things as Prince Charmings in real life. Not even Chris, for all his charm, fit into that category.

Luke had reached the landing by now, and that made the furniture easier to handle. Luke released a sigh and leaned against the wall, letting the legs of the furniture rest on his thighs. "Which one is your's?" He asked, hoping it was close.

[Cameron Brooks]

Well it was good to know that he was not alone in disliking Matthew. He wondered... well, that was a silly thing to do. Wondering only stirred the imagination to landscapes of impossibility. To dream and strive for things that... oh bugger.

"Yes, he's - now that you mention it - not exactly the most tactful of lads. And his broom stunt was rather tasteless too." Cameron lurched forward, half-falling, grabbing his cane just in time.

"Oh follow me. It's down this way." Cam exclaimed, hobbling down the hall to his door. Maybe he was unattractive because of the cane? Maybe witches, unlike muggle women, didn't like that weakness. It made for good small talk, in which he could reveal his manly side - the once dashingly handsome Scottish Quidditch player! But would it do? Would he ever have eyes for anyone but... oh bugger.

The door opened, as if by magic...