TBAY: Operative!Arthur Attacks Auror!Arthur

[Veronica]

No: HPFGUIDX 45517

"I just don't believe this," Veronica muttered to 
herself as she was hauled off the Trimaran by the 
Hit Wizards. "I tell you, I didn't do it."

"That's what they all say!" said the bald burly guy, 
Veronica mentally referred to him as Wally.

"I tell you, she's PARANOID, Cindy is," Veronica 
protested.

"Save it 'til we get to the station," replied the agent.

"What about my Miranda rights?" Veronica demanded as 
he pushed her into the waiting carriage.

"These are BRITISH books," he replied with a laugh.

****

Several agonizing hours later, Veronica found herself 
in an interogation room being hounded by the two agents.

"So you say, you had no part is attacking Cindy and 
Operative!Arthur?" asked the tall, lanky agent.

"I didn't," Veronica agreed.

"Then why were you holding that Parallelism Paddle when 
we came aboard?" Wally demanded.

Veronica flinched, slightly, but then grinned sweetly. 
"Yes, I did have that didn't I? But I have a perfectly 
wonderful explanation. You see, Cindy had attacked the 
most powerful can(n)on aboard the Imperius!Arthur, so I 
was merely trying to defend the ship. Otherwise, she would 
have sunk us all in her efforts to strengthen her case for 
Operative!Arthur."

"So, you are claiming that you were acting in self-defense?" 
Wally asked her with an expression of disbelief.

"Exactly!" Veronica argued. "Honestly, I have nothing against 
Operative!Arthur. My only *real* crime is letting the Auror!Arthur 
and Operative!Author folks take cabins too close to each other 
on the ship!"

"You have them both on the same ship?" demanded tall and lanky. 
Veronica decided to name him Slim. "Are you a mad woman?" he 
further questioned.

"Well, yes," she answered. "That seems to be the consensus. It was 
Elkins after all who *gave* me the boat to watch over." Slim and 
Wally swapped understanding looks as if to say, "Oh, no wonder!"

"But were you beating Cindy with the Parallism Paddle?"

"I was trying to, yes," Veronica admitted. "I was trying to show 
that it is only important that Moody called on Ron to name the 
Imperius curse *IF* Arthur had been a victim of it!"

"What if he just used it?" demanded Slim.

"Aaaggghhh!" Veronica screamed. "Where is my paddle? Are you 
even listening to me?"

"Besides as Ethanol pointed out--before you so rudely interupted 
her. Arthur's secretiveness is the result of shame and guilt--a 
point I tried to make before but not nearly as well as she did. 
Arthur is very Dobby-esque in that respect."

Veronica saw Slim and Wally both reaching for flags.

"Wait!" she protested. "Think about it. In GoF (Mayhem at the 
Ministry), Arthur is working all the time because of the trouble 
at the QWC. He goes in early, stays late, and works weekends. 
He even changes and heads to work right after they all return 
from the QWC. Why? He says he made things worse, and he needs 
to go help. See, he feels guilty, and so he is punishing himself, 
but he really has nothing to feel guilty for."

"Of course he does. Look at all the trouble that resulted from his 
comments after the Dark Mark appeared. Even Percy admits he should 
have kept quiet," Wally protested.

"Did you really read what he said, or are you just trusting Weatherby 
. . . I mean Percy?" Veronica demanded. "Accio Goblet of Fire -- Us 
Edition, Hardback!"

-------------------------------------------------------------

But when they reached the edge of the wood, their progress was 
impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards 
was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward 
them, many of them surged forward.

"What's going on in there?"
"Who conjured it?"
"Arthur -- it's not--HIM?"

"Of course its not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently."We don't know 
who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, 
I want to get to bed."

-------------------------------------------------------------

"He says nothing inflamatory, nothing inappropriate. So why is he 
beating himself up?" Veronica demanded.

"I thought the purpose of that was to show how Rita Skeeter blows 
everything out of proportion," Wally pointed out.

"It does," Veronica agreed, "but since when do the passages only 
have *one* meaning? Scabbers was only suppose to be an illustration 
of the Weasley family finances until we learned he was Peter."

"So Arthur feels guilty?" Slim demanded.

"Yes, it's a character illustration," Veronica explained. "Arthur 
feels like he did something wrong, so he punishes himself. This 
time he made himself work all the time. Last time, after he did 
something terrible under the Imperius curse, he took a small, 
unimportant position in Muggle Artifacts, forfeiting carreer 
advancement and further financial security for his family."

"Wait!" demanded Wally. "You are practically admitting that Arthur 
is more important than he seems. I mean, why would someone in Muggle 
Artifacts have needed to spend so much time at work after the 
incident at the QWC? Or what was he before he was Imperio'd? You 
imply that he was maybe more important . . . ."

"Exactly!" Veronica cried. "I have no problem whatsoever with 
Auror!Arthur or Operative!Arthur. For the sake of peace (and 
because Elkins pressured me), I'll even listen to Filicide!Arthur. 
I *agree* that Arthur is more than he seems, but I don't know 
which is right, and as the captain of the Imperius!Arthur, it would 
not be right for me to take sides."

"I've already said that there is room for them all on the 
Imperius!Arthur, if they like the idea that the DEs used Arthur to 
advance their evil schemes. I just can't have them blowing holes in 
the Imperius!Arthur as they're fighting each other."

"So you aren't attacking Operative!Arthur?" Slim asked.

"No," veronica replied quietly. "Now can I please go? I'm expecting 
a visit from some Seventh Son advocates, and the ship's really a mess 
after that last scuffle."

Wally made a face, but answered, "Alright, you can go, but I don't 
want to hear any more about you picking on Cindy!"

"She started it with her Imperius!Arthur is *unnecessary*!" Veronica 
retorted, but Wally was looking stern. "Fine. I'll just go home and 
have a drink (Pina Coladas are not nearly strong enough for the day 
I'm having!), and then I'll have a talk with Eileen. She and her 
Marines are going to have to keep a closer eye on that Cindy!"

"You'd think she *wanted* to be tossed overboard!"

************
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