 astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK | & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf
The note wavered ever so slightly under his fingers when Charles heard the voice. Not a memory this time. Not a ghost.
Real.
Real and here.
His hands stilled against the strings and, slowly, he lifted his gaze, eyes still glassy with that faraway kind of tenderness. And there Simon was—leaned casual like a boy in a doorway, but with a weight in his shoulders only those who had carried whole families on their backs ever earned. "…Simon," Charles said, his voice already rounding into a smile, warm and worn as an old jumper. "You certainly have a knack for sneaking quieter than a House-elf on soft carpet." He chuckled and set the guitar down gently, patting it like an old friend who understood. Then he rubbed at one eye with the side of his hand—more out of habit than vanity.
"You’ll have to forgive me. Got caught in a memory loop again. Happens more and more these days," he added, tilting his head with a knowing glint in his eye. "You blink and suddenly it’s forty-some-odd years ago..." He took a deep, contented breath, gesturing Simon in without a word—just a wide open palm and a glance that said of course there’s room here for you, there always is. "Funny thing, isn’t it?" he said, voice softer now, "How music keeps all the years stacked on top of each other. Like a record that plays back with no warning."
He leaned forward on his desk a little, hands folded. "Come in, lad. Sit. Let me fuss over you a bit. Merlin knows it’s what I’m good for these days." And just like that, the past folded itself neatly back into the present, and Charles—Charles Hollingberry, Minister, father, dreamer, musician of memories—made space for another of his pseudo-sons in the moment, like a grandfather pulling an extra chair to the table without needing to be asked. "Or are you in the middle of a patrol and I ought not monopolize your time."
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When you're stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ...........
this is our time to own it, so own it.....................................
baby we were born with fire and gold in our eyes |