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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Jul 21, 2016 17:45:43 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2016 17:45:43 GMT -7
"Anything you can do, I can do better," Raven hissed under her breath and she slashed her wand at a nearby mannequin. A bright flash of red light burst from the tip and the mannequin suddenly burst into flames. Spinning around, the sixth year aimed her wand at another dummy and cast the same spell. Soon she was surrounded by burning mannequins, the flames almost matching the fiery passion in her eyes. Why couldn't she be the first born? She deserved the chance to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, not her history nerd of a brother. Things had always been competitive between them; they each had their strengths and weaknesses. But Gaius had the added bonus of being the oldest child. Therefore, he could compete for the honor of being the Triwizard Champion.
Raven scowled. Gaius probably didn't even realize what a grand opportunity was at his fingertips, let alone think to reach out and grasp it. She was far more deserving of the opportunity. The Room of Requirement provided the perfect place to vent her frustrations. The supply of targets was never-ending, much like her anger. The Triwizard Tournament was the chance of a lifetime to show off one's skill and pride, but fate and timing had denied Raven her birthright. Curse Gaius for being born first. Curse him for his intelligence. Curse him for existing.
She glared at the mannequins before extinguishing them with a flowing wave of her wand. She watched the dark smoke rise into the endless ceiling before that too was washed away by a flick of her wrist. For once, destroying inanimate objects had done nothing to soothe her rage. Her pride was damaged; what was rightfully hers was just out of reach, barricaded by a thin, magical age line. She was worthy of the Triwizard Cup. Her brother? Not so much.
"I can do anything better than you."
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Jul 27, 2016 9:35:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2016 9:35:45 GMT -7
Gaius rarely got along with his sister. He and Raven had always had an antagonistic relationship—he hated how easily she lied, she hated how easily he saw through her lies—and their parents had never helped matters. Never were they ever given something to be united about. They were always compared to one another, which was entirely unfair, as the two of them had wildly different strengths and weaknesses. Gaius was observant, intelligent, curious, and had an ability to calculate outcomes that made him seem like a seer. Raven was quick, adept, patient, and could manipulate people so well that most never even realized she’d done anything. It wasn’t fair to compare his dueling skills to hers, or her grades to his. It wasn’t fair to expect him to be as good as she was at wandlore or herbology, and it wasn’t fair to expect her to be as good as he was at history or politics.
But then, life was not fair to many people, was it? Sometimes he envied Andromeda for getting out of her situation.
But he knew his sister, better than anyone else—better than she would ever admit. And, much as mutual dislike had stained and twisted their relationship, she was still his sister, and he couldn’t help but love her at the end of the day. So he made his way to the Room of Requirement, where he knew she’d be substituting what she wanted to do to him with things she wouldn’t get in trouble for destroying. He slipped inside quietly—though given the explosions and the fires burning, he probably could have stormed in and she wouldn’t have noticed. This was something they had in common, actually—when the lies became too much, Gaius liked to go to the Room, where he could conjure an entire room full of breakable objects to vent his frustrations on.
Though his objects were never human-shaped…he looked up as the flames extinguished, seeing his sister in the sudden gloom.
“I can do anything better than you.”
He knew she meant him. And he knew why. If only the Tournament had come one year later, she could put her name in. And unlike Gaius, she had what it took to win the tournament—though she wouldn’t be a champion of Hogwarts. She didn’t have the empathy to want to represent others. She did have the skill and ruthlessness to win it all for herself, though.
“I wouldn’t go quite that far,” He said quietly into the darkness, moving reflexively in case she spun and sent a curse at him out of surprise. He sighed quietly, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. It wouldn’t do him much good to draw his wand—he wasn’t hopeless in a fight, but Raven would crush him in no time flat if they actually fought, and it would be worse if he defended himself beforehand. “But I agree you should be in the tournament instead of me.”
@raven
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Jul 31, 2016 10:54:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2016 10:54:14 GMT -7
It was a rare moment for Raven to let her guard down. She wasn't well liked by the other students, save the members of Hexen, and, even then, "like" was a strong word. More like they all tolerated each other in a joined quest to hate everyone else. But Raven was consumed by anger, and, perhaps, jealousy? She refused to admit that she was jealous of her brother, but that green twinge of envy lingered at the corner of her mind as more mannequins shuffled obediently into place like the useless dummies they were.
She should have been prepared. But she jumped when Gaius spoke. The witch whipped around, wand raised, ready to do battle. When she realized who stood behind her, her wand lowered a fraction of an inch. Just a fraction.
Raven wasn't the least bit happy to see her brother. They were family, but there was no kindred bond on Raven's part. Gaius was just a barrier. A barrier that couldn't graduate soon enough. It was bad enough that Raven stood in his shadow in the eyes of everyone except their parents, where they took turns playing the favorite. But now, with the school buzzing about a famed tournament that she was barred from entering and her brother's name swirling endlessly in the Goblet of Fire, waiting to be chosen, she was livid. She should curse him where he stood until nothing was left but a pile of smoldering ash.
"...you should be in the tournament instead of me."
Raven froze. A flicker of confusion passed in front of her eyes. This was the second time in a matter of minutes that she had been caught off guard. She was going to have to work on that. Recovering quickly, she scowled. "Well, duh, of course I should," she said quickly, trying to save face. She was flustered by Gaius's admittance, but she wasn't about to let it show. She turned her back on him, facing the mannequins again. "But won't father dear be so proud of his son? You'll be the pride of the Goyle's." The sarcasm in her voice was as deep and rich as honey. Poisoned honey.
With a slash of her wand, the mannequins went up in flames again. This time, she let them burn out. Almost forgetting that her brother was there, she muttered, "It should me."
@gaius
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Aug 5, 2016 14:06:07 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2016 14:06:07 GMT -7
If Gaius had any emotional energy left, he would have smirked at the look on his sister’s face. Blunt honesty was hardly surprising from Gaius, but normally his verbal spars with his sister degraded into telling her to shove off or listing her failures even as she listed his. As it stood, though, he only shrugged one shoulder in simple acknowledgement. Her next words sent a shock of fury through his system—that quickly cut off. He should speak to Raven more often when he was this mentally tired. When he didn’t have the energy to fight with her, he could have a civil conversation, even if she tried to derail it.
Good to know. He heard her mutter something to herself. He didn’t understand it, but there was no mistaking the bitter tone, so he had a pretty good idea. Instead, he decided to tell her something she really wouldn’t like to hear. “The Ministry will hold their Christmas party at Hogwarts this year.”
He knew she didn’t know. Raven never cared enough about politics to bother finding out much of what was known. Gaius was able to read through everything not said to tug on the tiniest threads and drag the truth out. “There hasn’t been an announcement or a decision, but it will be. There’s no other way they can provide adequate protection at the Yule Ball, and they can’t cancel it. So brace yourself for that, Raven. We’ll have the pleasure of Fathers company in public.”
That said, he went back to her original nasty comment. “So yeah, I’m Father’s favorite now. Until I don’t get picked, when you’ll be the favorite because you never disgraced our name like that. And you’ll be the favorite until the Yule Ball, when we have to follow him around for an hour while I help him improve his political connections and you pretend you’re able to keep up. Then I’ll be the favorite again, because oh how well I handle the world of politics, and you’ll never be like your brother you’ll never be able to build a true powerbase like he will sure you can do better.”
He sighed now, dropping himself into the chair that appeared under him according to his need for a place to sit. “And then they’ll have a test over Easter break and you’ll be the favorite, and then my NEWT scores will come in and I’ll be the favorite…when does it end, Raven?”
@raven
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Aug 6, 2016 8:20:13 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2016 8:20:13 GMT -7
Raven flinched when Gaius spoke of the Ministry's Christmas party. She had been to one and only one as a guest, and her father made sure she was never invited to another. She hated politics, and everyone in the family knew it. She loved dressing up for the fancy parties and flaunting her beauty and magical knowledge about. But the moment the wizarding economy or the Goblin Rights Act or some other political nonsense was brought up, she shut down. Frankly, logistics bored her. And now she would have to consort with Ministry officials at her own school, and likely embarrass her father in the progress.
And Gaius knew that.
Raven cursed. She was preparing herself for another snarky rebuttal, but Gaius didn't give her the opportunity. He launched into a tirade about how they constantly switched at being their parents' favorites. He brought up valid points; he always did. There lives had always been a back-and-forth motion, each competing - whether they wanted to or not - to be the favorite, to win their parents' approval.
"It doesn't end," she snapped, her hands coming to rest on her hips in a stereotypical pout. "You know that as well as I do. We'll just keep going back and forth until Father dies, and then, maybe, just maybe, we can be our own people. Until then," She spread her arms wide and spun around in a dramatic display, "this is life." She laughed loudly and mirthlessly.
She uttered a huffy sigh and turned back to face the smoldering remains of her practice dummies. Sometimes she wished their father wouldn't compare them in all aspects of their lives. Sometimes it fueled her desire to be the best at everything. Regardless, there would be no escaping their father's scrutiny, no matter how much either of them longed for it.
@gaius
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Aug 16, 2016 14:26:39 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 14:26:39 GMT -7
Part of him really hoped Raven would agree with him. But he knew she would be loyal to their father over him at all times. That was how they had been raised. Still, part of him wanted to believe that maybe, just once, she would look at her brother and be inspired to think outside their small, small box.
Well. No time like the present.
She snapped at him, but he could tell by her attitude, by her voice and her stance, that she was just as unhappy about it as she was. But she wasn’t lying. She fully believed in what she was saying, much as she hated it. He waited while she pouted. Gaius might not be able to manipulate like raven due to his honesty, but they were both born with observation and analytical abilities. He did know how to get at her, when he wanted. After a moment of silence, but just before he expected his sister to turn dismissive again, Gaius spoke.
“Why?”
He paused for a moment longer, to give Raven a moment to consider the question, before he started on. “What’s the point? I’m too honest to play your games, and you’re too self-interested to play mine. I don’t have the dexterity for dueling or wandcraft, and you don’t have the focus for history or runework. We compete for favor—but we don’t compete against each other. Ever. You don’t even try to get into politics, and I don’t try to get better at fighting. So why compare us?”
He waited a bit before speaking up one more time. “Tell me, Raven. I can’t figure it out, so tell me. If Father were here, he’d tell you not to bother if I can’t solve the puzzle, but I do not understand it. So tell me why.”
@raven
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Aug 18, 2016 11:47:33 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2016 11:47:33 GMT -7
Raven hated questions that she didn't have an answer to. And the question Gaius posed was one she had asked herself every day since she turned eleven years old. She hated the eternal competition her parents had created for them. It was one of the few times she despised her aristocratic upraising. For once, she would like her her talents to be enough. And she knew Gaius wanted it, too, which was the only reason he was taunting her with the question. For the first time ever, they were united about something. Something that was so far out of their control that even dreaming about it was futile.
I. Don't. Know," she growled through her teeth. The words were bitter on her tongue. She had nothing, not even a snarky rebuttal to throw at Gaius. She was just as at a loss as he was. And even though they wordlessly agreed that it sucked, that same competition refused to allow her to take his side. She turned away, making an angry noise. It wasn't enough, but even incinerating dummies wasn't going to calm her now. She was trapped between agreeing with Gaius and wanting to best him the way their parents expected her to. Only for him to best her the way their parents expected him to.
"It's not like we can do anything about it, so what's the point in questioning it." It wasn't a question. The mix of anger and defeat in her voice made that obvious. They were two starved lions in a cage, fighting and fighting while their parents, the spectators, watched and jeered, encouraging them to tear each other to pieces. Raven paced rapidly, trying to soothe the frenzy in her mind and body. She wanted to hex her brother where he stood for even broaching the subject of their parents' hypocrisy, but he had a point. A point that she agreed with.
She hated that more than anything. "Why are you even here?" she finally asked, turning back to face him. "Shouldn't you be off preparing your acceptance speech?"
@gaius
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Aug 30, 2016 7:54:26 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 7:54:26 GMT -7
Well, this was something new. His sister rarely failed to come up with something sarcastic to brush off a situation she wasn’t quite comfortable with. Gaius almost congratulated himself, but he pushed the desire away. That was his father talking. He had never been interested in one-upping his sister, save to please his parents. Just because he’d cornered her into being honest, he was to celebrate? No.
He was not Gregory. He was Gaius.
And no matter who couldn’t see that, he could. He had to.
He could hear the near-despair in Raven’s voice, but she was rapidly recovering. He knew she hated it, but he also knew she didn’t think she could put a stop to it. And she couldn’t do anything about her parents, which meant the next best target was—him. He almost started forward to…what, exactly? Comfort her? No. That was something brothers and sisters who loved each other did. And he didn’t think Raven loved him. It was hard to tell if her attitude was dislike, or if she was just playing their parents’ game.
“Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be off preparing your acceptance speech?”
That was such a lame comeback that Gaius actually laughed out loud. “Oh yes, I’ve already got the first sentence lined up in fact. ‘In light of the fact that I dishonored our family name entering a contest I could not win, I hereby accept these ten lashes with all due humility.’ Of course, that won’t be until the Easter break, since we’ll be expected to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas for the Yule Ball and Father hates when we don’t recover enough to walk normally in public.”
He stopped smiling then, eyes locked onto his sister. “I came here because I knew you would be here. Because I had some ideas about things we could do. But it’s pretty obvious you’d throw away any chance at being free of this mess for a few minutes of being the favorite. So I guess we have nothing to discuss.”
He turned to leave and paused. Another harsh laugh escaped his lips. “What a pair we are. Did you know, there are siblings who actually love and support one another? Even defy their parents if it comes to it? Must be a nice feeling.”
@raven
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Sept 1, 2016 17:38:20 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 17:38:20 GMT -7
"It's only a dishonor because you'd be such a failure at it," she snapped, her free hand clenching into a fist. The jealousy in her gut picked its head up again, testing the air and ready to rear. "You don't have the guts to fight whatever gets thrown at you. You'd rather sit behind a desk and talk about crap no one cares about than actually fight." Her voice was a venemous hiss. The jealousy was fully alive now. Jealousy that their parents fueled and kindled, jealousy that would never go away because there would always be someone tending it.
She smartly ignored his comment about needing her few minutes of favoritism. There was nothing to comment on. He was the same way. That was why they continuously fought for that favoritism and neither had tried, really tried to break free of it. Raven suspected that Gaius would before she did, if either of them ever tried just because he was Gaius.
Raven was tired of this conversation. She was tired of not being in control of her own life, tired even more so of having it pointed out to her by someone like Gaius. The moment he made the comment about siblings loving each other, the jealousy snapped. "Get out!" she screamed, aiming a fireball at the back of her brother's head. Head Boy, brother, human being. She didn't care. She was enraged by her brother's condescending tone. "Just shut up and get out!"
She was tired of this conversation. And she was tired of Gaius being right.
@gaius
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Sept 8, 2016 10:56:10 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2016 10:56:10 GMT -7
There was something different about Gaius now. He wasn’t sure what had changed lately—maybe he’d just been pushed into this awful game one too many times, and had grown too tired—but Raven’s waspish remarks barely registered. Part of what Raven said, she believed. Part of it, she knew she was lying. And that sparked his anger, but it was a dull throb rather than the red fury it would normally be. It was like he was too emotionally drained. These past fews days of anxiety over putting his name in the Goblet of Fire had left his feelings muted, and it was…surprisingly pleasant. So let Raven think he would be a failure at it—she was probably right, he didn’t have the instincts to handle the unknown and come out on top. Let her think he didn’t have the guts to fight; he did, but this wasn’t a fight that truly mattered. And let her lie to herself that he wouldn’t be able to shake the entire Ministry with his political savvy.
He was just so tired of it all.
She snapped, and he mentally counted down the seconds in his head. Five, four, three… A single step to the side avoided the fireball without him having to even turn back to her. He knew her too well, and he was too good at prediction. She didn’t even want to hurt him right now. She just wanted any way to get herself out of this. And she couldn’t see the simplest answer. “I’m done, Raven.”
In one smooth motion, he darted forward and did something he couldn’t ever remember doing: he pulled his sister into a hug. It didn’t last long, of course—Raven would really hurt him if he was still holding her when she got past her shock. So he let go quickly and backed up. “I’m still going to sing and dance the way Father likes when he’s around. But I’m done caring about a lost cause. So you see, there are. No. Strings. On. Me.” He twirled theatrically once as he backed away from her.
“Turned out to be a surprisingly easy thing to do, once I’d made up my mind. I’m still going to get his approval where I can, but I’m not competing with you anymore, Raven. You’re my sister. I shouldn’t hate you. I do, and even if I know it’s his fault, I can’t let go of that hate so easily. But I love you, too. I hope you can cut your strings too.”
He turned to leave now, feeling better than he had since sitting in a library last year with another girl he didn’t think he’d ever get along with. “And feel free to tell Father. Since I’m going to act the same for him, he won’t believe you.”
Five, four, three…
@raven
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Sept 15, 2016 18:20:34 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2016 18:20:34 GMT -7
"I'm done, Raven."
The retort was already on her tongue. Then be done and leave me the hell alone. But she didn't get a chance to spit the words out. Gaius had already wrapped her in a hug, cutting off her words as if he was choking the life out of her with his gentle embrace. The feeling was completely foreign to her. She and Dominic had hugged on occasion, but, for the most part, their physical contact had been, well, physical. This was very different.
She didn't even hear him as he finally back away. She just stared at him with eyes that were wide with shock and disdain. Something about singing and dancing. Was he sick? Was that what inspired this whole conversation to begin with? She couldn't picture her brother singing or dancing, but she also couldn't picture him hugging her, either.
She wanted to tell Gaius that she had no strings. She could do whatever she wanted, and anything that happened was the result of her own choices. But that would be a lie, and her brother had an uncanny ability to tell when she was lying. And as skilled as she had become at lying, it was scary. She didn't think her brother knew Legilimency, but it was almost as if he could read her mind. Read her. It was annoying and creepy.
When she finally go a grip on herself, Gaius had turned to leave, making a quip about how if Raven said anything to their father, he wouldn't believe her. In a surprising fashion, she didn't say anything. She turned away herself, staring emptily at the far wall. "I wouldn't believe me, either," she said quietly. She wasn't sure why she said it. In her eyes, it was almost a concession to everything Gaius had said. And, like he had already mentioned, it wasn't easy to let go of the hate. She didn't want Gaius to be right. So she said nothing, choosing to simply end the conversation with her silence.
@gaius
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Sept 20, 2016 14:28:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2016 14:28:14 GMT -7
Gaius sidestepped again, but there was no bolt of light to pass by him and fizzle into the wall. Confused, he turned around. Raven wasn’t even looking at him. Instead…she looked like her last hope had died. And…maybe it had. It had never occurred to Gaius to consider that one of the things keeping Raven going was knowing they were stuck drowning on the sinking ship together. Oh Merlin. Now he felt like he’d just kicked a Pygmy Puff across the room. He wanted to…to do what? He couldn’t make her feel better. He knew it. And the worst of it was, it didn’t bother him much that Raven was feeling bad. It only bothered him that he’d caused it.
No. He wanted things to be better. That meant he had to try that for himself.
Gaius faced the truth head on, always. He did love Raven. He didn’t care about her like he thought he should. He wanted to change that. The first step had been to cut away the thing that forced them to hate each other, the endless competition they had endured their whole lives. Now he had no reason to be jealous of her, because he had resolved himself to stop being jealous or smug when his parents compared them in ways that one could not hope to compete with the other in. And that had cut her reasons to dislike him out as well. But that didn’t fix things between them. He had to accept that. And he had to accept that she might not want them fixed. But he wanted to try.
“I know…I know we’re not good. We probably won’t ever be. But I think we can be…better…if you’re okay with that. Maybe…maybe once it was good for us to be like this. We competed, we tried to be better. But it stopped mattering, somewhere, when you knew you just didn’t care about books like me and I knew my wand would never sing the way yours does in a fight. And then...it stopped pushing us forward and started pushing us down. It’s…it’s not good. Not any more.”
He stepped toward the door and stopped one more time, his hand on the knob. “I’ll...help you cut your strings…if I can. When you’re ready.” After all, even if she tried to manipulate him, he would see through the lie.
Hope was a brand new thing for Gaius. Plans, expectations, the cynical future he could always calculate so well that people swore he was a Seer, that was the norm. But he and Rosaria weren’t the mismatch he’d always expected. It didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would, to disagree with his parents on something. And now even Raven was surprising him, completely blindsiding him by accepting his words without lashing out.
So maybe a little hope was warranted, now that he was blind to how things would play out.
[Exit Gaius] @raven
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last online May 5, 2024 14:12:57 GMT -7
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Oct 24, 2016 16:22:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2016 16:22:45 GMT -7
Gaius kept talking. Merlin's beard, couldn't he shut up? Every time he opened his mouth, he chipped away at the wall Raven had built. A wall that blocked out all emotion, especially any emotion toward him. That wall made it easy to do her parents' bidding, to compete against her brother for the right to their parents' affection, which it seemed only one of them could have. She needed that wall. It made her tough and fearless and kept any and all emotion at bay. But with every word that came out of Gaius's mouth, he hammered away at the wall. She knew he expected some kind of smart response, some sarcastic remark about their relationship, or lack thereof. But she stayed silent, still turned away from him, her face tight and her teeth digging into her bottom lip as she struggled to keep the wall intact.
Her whole life had been a competition with Gaius. She had been conditioned for fighting the very person she was supposed to love the most. Love? She didn't even like Gaius, and that was the most messed up thing of all. Her entire existence had been built on trying to be better than her brother. Without that competition, what did she really have? Sure, she was skilled with a wand, but what did that matter when there was no challenge of her brother's wit to feed her own ambition of being the best?
There was a long, empty silence. Raven finally turned around. Gaius was gone. The Slytherin girl breathed a ragged sigh and sank to her knees, trembling. There would be no tears. The wall was still in place. The wall would always be in place.
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