(no subject)

[thecoolone]

Head scarf tucked beneath his arm but still clad in his galabayya, Bill opens the door entirely absorbed in Al-Ahram Weekly. The letters on the newsprint would be unrecognisable to most, but he's worked in Luxor for a long time and knows the language almost too well. He doesn't really seem to register anyone at the bar or even the fact he's back at the bar: he's fixated on the paper. Stumbling into the nearest table, he curses beneath his breath but sits in the closest available chair, drawing out his wand.

He uses it as a pen; it highlights the article he's reading. He sets that paper aside and takes out another one: he's got a whole stack. Next up is Cairo Live, and after that it will be the Middle East Times. He'll finish with the Egypt Daily News and that will be enough. His face falls as he reads; he finds himself highlighting more and more news stories that by themselves might be entirely insignificant but when they're read as a series... they start to fall together like pieces of a puzzle.

Fuck. These are not random acts, he thinks. No: on 12 January in Siwa, a house was set afire and all the camels' throats slit. The family who owned the property were never found. A week later at the Dakhla Oasis near Mut, a woman was found dead but no cause of death could be established. On 3 February, three eleven-year-old children were found stoned to death on the banks of the Nile near Sohag. In mid-February a family disappeared from Mallawi and another from Minya. And on and on it went: in none of these cases was motive ever established, and no perpetrators were ever caught.

"Fuck!" Bill says it out loud this time, hand wrapping unhappily round the end of his wand. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck." He flags down a passing wait-rat. "Bring me a large glass of Ogden's. In fact, make it the whole bloody bottle. They're heading straight towards Cairo."

Comments

[young_tmriddle]

Tom hasn't spoken with Bill for quite some time, and it's with some concern he walks over to his table.

"Hullo, Bill. Everything alright there?"

[thecoolone]

Glancing up, Bill shakes his head. "Here? Yes, things here appear to be in order but out there..."

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "This feels too familiar, Tom. Look at this. Look." He hands the newspapers with their highlighted articles to Tom, the one about the murdered woman on top of the pile. "You tell me how she was murdered, if you can."

This has happened before and now it's happening again, and it smells just as rotten as it did the last time.

[young_tmriddle]

Tom does look, and frowns as a result. "I can hazard a guess - was she found near the wizarding area of the city?"

[thecoolone]

"There's no wizarding area near that oasis. It's in the midst of nowhere." He lets out a heavy sigh. "Women. They're killing women and children in Egypt." Bill looks at Tom sharply, and his next word comes as a demand: "Why?"

[young_tmriddle]

"How should I know?" he replies, an edge of annoyance in his voice. "I've been to Cairo once, and that was as a much younger man. Ten years ago, I think it was, and I didn't stay long."

[mollyprewett.livejournal.com]

Molly sees a familiar face that she hasn't seen in a while, and oblivious to the impending dOOm in her world's future, wanders over to say hello.

"Thats a lot of swearing," she observes cheerfully. When the waitrat brings the Old Ogdens, she raises an eyebrow. "And a lot of whiskey."

[thecoolone]

Bill looks up.

"Oh, hullo Mu...olly. I'm sorry; did I disturb you?" He moves to tuck the papers away and out of sight, but pauses when he realises she can't read Arabic; it doesn't matter. "I'll try to keep it down."

He glances at the bottle. "Care to join me in a glass? They say it's best not to drink alone."

Right now, he could use the drink.

[mollyprewett.livejournal.com]

"Sure, though I shouldn't have more than one. I don't hold liquor very well, I'm afraid," she says, taking a seat across from him.

She sees the stack of news papers, and notes the foreign language.

"Bad news?"

[thecoolone]

"Just news," he says rather more gently. "Just news."

Of all people, he knows both the temptation and the danger of messing about with time.

He also knows that as far as alcohol goes, she's entirely a lightweight. He motions for another glass, fills his halfway, and hands it to her. She brought him up to be a gentleman, after all, even if she doesn't know it yet.

[mollyprewett.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," she smiles, taking a very small sip, and swallowing against the burn. "You look as though you've been at work. Egypt, isn't it?"

[missginnytonic.livejournal.com]

Ginny walks over next to Bill and smiles as she hides the blush as she remembers what she's done this past week

"Hello"

[thecoolone]

"Little sister." He reaches over and musses her hair, putting the newspapers to the side, tucking his wand away, forcing a smile. "You look devilishly happy: what have you been doing to keep yourself occupied?"

[missginnytonic.livejournal.com]

She smiles at him then blinks some as she smiles

"i've met some new people that's what"

She don't fix her hair or tell him off for calling her little.. Not normal

[thecoolone]

He studies her: she's looking a bit thoughtful.

No, not thoughtful. She's looking bloody evasive.

"Ginevra. What have you been doing? Who have you met?"

[missginnytonic.livejournal.com]

She looks at him..All innocence.. That would work if she didn't look guilty

"Don't call me that."

she sits in a chair beside him in a huff..she's been caught

"I'veSnoggedDracoMetHellspawnShaggedHim"

oh yeah she ran that all together

"I talked to Mum, Draco, Magnius, Hellspawn, Penny, Guppy"

Drag that out distract from the other

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

The swearing catches Morgan's attention, and she gazes with some degree of concern at him.

[thecoolone]

Once he's done ordering his Ogden's, Bill sits back and rubs his eyes.

"Fuck!"

Then he realises he's being watched. He doesn't apologise.

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

Softly, uncertainly, the girl asks,

"Are you alright, sir?" Her voice is soft, lilting, and straight from Cornwall. Remarkably pretty (not much next to Fleur, of course, not yet anyway), with long black hair and dreamy grey eyes, she looks familiar if Bill pays attention.

She's also rather pregnant.

[thecoolone]

"Beg pardon?"

He notices her, really, for the first time, taking her in: her accent, her eyes, her hair, the rise to her belly.

"Was I disturbing you? I'm sorry."

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it's alright, I was just getting something to drink, you startled me." Her words are little too quick, but she's watching his face closely.

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

"Bad news?"

After reading through the thread, the mun has found it much more of a no violence type of thing to have him pop up as the eighteen year old Tim Hunter, who offered bills mom a room. then as the masked, shagged Bills sister, Hellspawn. Right?

"Who's heading towards cairo?"

[thecoolone]

Bill folds the newspapers. "Hullo, Tim." He gives him the same answer he gave his mum: "Just news. Not good, not bad: just news. Do you read Arabic?"

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

"Sure do. After some of the issues with todays problems, John insisted I..."

He called you Tim, Tim.

"And you know me. Or one of me. Hi, I'm not that him. But I'm not a bad one either."

[thecoolone]

Bill raises an eyebrow: this sounds startingly familiar, like what Molly-who-is-not-yet-Mum said earlier. "You're not Tim? Not the Tim who was in Dover with us last year?"

That's it: I'm going back to Luxor right now.

[timsbooks.livejournal.com]

There is a bit of an embaressed blush to his face.

"No, actually. I'm another one. He, uh, created me when he was younger, and now I'm sort of filling in for him here, while he's elsewhere."

Which is true enough.