6th May 2003
There's an unnerving silence surrounding Geneva as she sits alone in the kitchen of the Manor. Alone with nothing, but her thoughts. Theodore only just departed for work, leaving hastily without a single word to her. She can't even glance in his direction for fear he will try to reawaken the discussion he attempted nights ago.
It is evident that he's now finding it easier to be cold towards her. She doesn't make it difficult for him, considering her own withdrawal whenever he happens to wonder into proximity.
And while she's sitting here, staring at her sad cup of tea in front of her that is only getting colder, her thoughts begin to feel like a radio. Each internal voice struggling to get a word in over the magnitude of the stream of her conscience.
The main thought ailing her currently is the mystery surrounding Theodore and his connection to Crain. While little was said on the matter at the dinner, she knows there's more. She's certain of it. It was made ever so apparent in the way he grew flustered and beads of sweat scattered across his forehead like victims of his guilt. And she knows his behaviours inside out to know that this reaction was not one that should be ignored.
So she can't just pass over it. She can't let it go and move on. She needs to know. And her ambition to reveal more ruinous information about him, so that she might feel less accountable for the destruction of this marriage, drives her to go striding towards his study, prepared to find something. Anything that can suggest even a speck of his involvement with that horrifying man.She storms into the perfectly kept room, prepared to flip it upside down to find what she needs. She takes down each of Theodore's ancestral portraits that hang up in his study, moving each of them to another room momentarily. It doesn't go without their protests. She makes up a lie that they're renovating, earning only a few grumbles and eye rolls in return from the figures in the portraits. Any one of them could snitch on her if they were to witness her scavenging around.
She searches through cupboards, draws, every file she can find; looking for something that will satisfy. Her eyes scan every document and file until the words on the page become blurry and distorted.
But an hour or so passes and it begins to feel like there is no hope in any of it. Like she's just wasting her time looking for loose ends. In her finding, she comes across a few more old letters from Pansy. Reads them with a dull pang in her chest. Then puts them aside, figuring that these are not her biggest concern anymore.
She scans the study, appalled at what she's managed to make of it in here. Every draw and cupboard is pulled open, and an absurd amount of paperwork is scattered across the floor. Across the surfaces. She'll have to use a spell to fix this one.
"What exploded in here?" Draco's sceptical voice plays out of nowhere. She jolts out of her skin, startled to have been caught, yet glad that it is only him. "What are you snooping around for?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just looking for some records concerning our estate," she fibs, resolving not to get into it all right now.
"So that's why you've trashed his entire study? For some records you could simply ask him for," he smirks, drawing closer to her. He perches on the edge of the desk, watching her carefully as she flicks through a few more pointless files, attempting to take no notice of him. "Tell me the truth, Geneva."
She pauses, debating whether to confide in him. Seconds later, she yields.
"If you must know, I'm trying to find something that can explain what Blaise was talking about the other night."
"What are you expecting to find?"
"I don't know! Like a letter or something that will connect him to Crain."
YOU ARE READING
The Trial ; D.M
Fanfiction𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅-𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗳𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟯𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 �...