It'll All Get Better In Time [Royal]

[Deleted]

Addie was nervous. She had asked her Royal to teach her occlumency, but now she wasn't so sure. She really didn't even know why she found it necessary to learn occlumency in the first place. Something about being able to keep prying eyes out of her mind was relieving, but it was hardly a protective measure. It wouldn't save her from the Cruciatus Curse or any other curse for that matter. But it would mean that her thoughts would be her own. She would get to spend the time bonding with Royal. She was a little surprised that he was still willing to teach her after their last encounter. Nik showing up in the graveyard had complicated things. Royal was angry with her. She was angry with herself. And, yet, when she sent him an owl, he had still agreed on their meeting.

She sat in the kitchen of their home, waiting. She stared at a spot on the ground and pointed her wand at it. "Expecto patronum," she murmured. A small wisp of silver slithered out of the tip of her wand, but there was no corporeal form. There hadn't been for months. She stared at the spot again, focusing as hard as she could, thinking, thinking. Going to the park with her father. Birthdays with Abby. Sitting by the fireplace while her mother knitted. "Expecto patronum." The shimmering cloud emerged again, a little brighter than before, but it was not her lumbering badger. It was difficult to think of happy thoughts when they were marred by screaming. Screaming and blood and fear forever etched into her memory. Addie swore and put her wand on the table, careful not to fling it like she oh so wanted to. She was frustrated with herself, internalizing everything that had happened to her since April as her own fault. She sighed and glanced up at the kitchen door, which also served at the entrance to the house. Any moment Royal would walk through that door. At least, she hoped he would.

@royal

[Deleted]

Royal was still angry, and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. That wouldn't help anyone. But he had made a promise, and he wasn't going to go back on it just because he was angry. He wasn't a child. He was running a little late, but that wasn't intentional - he just had a few more things left to do at the office, and then he Apparated back to the property line of his house, jogging to the front steps and through the door, where he shed his cloak and shoes. Addie had told him to meet her in the kitchen, and that was where he found her, seemingly frustrated by something, though he couldn't imagine what. It wasn't like she could try to Occlude without anyone else there. "Ready to start?" He asked, his voice polite but neutral, as if she was a stranger instead of his own sister. He wasn't so big a person to pretend as if nothing was wrong.

@adelaide

[Deleted]

Addie flinched when Royal finally opened the door and spoke to her. She nodded solemnly, looking up at him, her face full of pain. "Royal, I'm sorry," she sputtered. "I didn't mean for you to find out that way. Nik's really not such a bad guy once you get to know him. He can be really nice. And...and...nevermind. Let's just, um, get started," she finished lamely, rising from her seat. Averting her gaze, she walked into the family room. It was full of pictures of the siblings from their childhoods, all smiles and laughs. Oh, how Addie wanted to return to those times. Sighing internally, she pulled out her wand and turned to face Royal. "Ready."

@royal

[Deleted]

Royal wished that Addie had just stayed quiet. It would have been a lot easier that way, because then he wouldn’t have to deal with the fact that he was angry at her. “You’re not sorry, so don’t pretend to be.” He snapped. “You’re free to ruin your own life however you want, but don’t come crawling to me when he hurts you.” Of course she was going to come crawling to him anyways, and he was going to help her anyways, but it didn’t matter. They just had to get this lesson over with. Addie said she was ready, and Royal met her eyes. His wand was in his hand, but he performed the spell nonverbally, trying to shake the dirty feeling that came with invading someone else’s mind. When he entered Addie’s head, it was nothing like Abby’s; there were no flickers of Theo at the corner, nor, he was surprised to find, anything about the Lestrange boy. What he saw inside of Addie’s head was just him, Royal. Himself, holding a cupcake topped with blue icing and a single candle, himself, smiling at her as he offered the cake, arms scarred and – Royal withdrew before he could watch the memory go sour, blinking once at Addie when he returned to the physical world, not sure what to say.

@adelaide