Letters of Love | Lydia

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Riley came out of the Great Hall holding two letters, one addressed to him and one addressed to Lydia. Both were from their parents, he assumed. Well, their mother. He knew it wasn't their father who would take the time to write. Their mother wrote the letters, no doubt, but it was likely their father that shoved the money into the envelopes at the very end right before they got sent off to the children. It kind of shocked Riley that their mother wrote anyway, it wasn't exactly like her. However, she did have a lot of free time on her hands. And the letters came at sporadic tines, not regularly, he was sure that she wrote them when she was bored. 

He wasn't sure why the owl had dropped them both off to him. He looked around the Great hall when he got the letters and saw that Lydia wasn't actually in there. That had to have been why. Oh well, he could take it to her. It would give him an opportunity to find her and talk to her. He hadn't spoken with her recently and as a big brother, it upset him. He had no idea what was going on in her life and he hadn't even been able to tell her about Kinsey yet, his girlfriend. He was fairly sure she would have heard through the Hogwarts Gossip train, but she still needed to tell her for himself. So, the Ravenclaw left the great hall and began to head down stairs towards the Slytherin common room. It was early still as breakfast was still occurring in the great hall, it was likely she had just had a lay-in. 

@lydia

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Lydia hadn't slept in. Nope, she was too busy making herself looking utterly fabulous to go to breakfast. She would just stop at the kitchens if she missed it. She loved breakfast, don't get her wrong. It was the best meal of the day. So many sweet tasting pastries and creams and jams and oh, now she really wished she hadn't skipped it. No, no, she was trying to straighten her wild curls.

Once the hair was sleek and straight she grinned, her make-up already in place, and made her way out of the common room. She was alone, for now, but she was quick to find friends at any time of day. However, she found something even better!

"Riley!" she greeted happily, making her way to him on the main floor. "Lovely brother," she greeted, leaning forward to kiss both of his cheeks. She looked down at his hands and squealed, "from mum and dad?" Yes, she was stupid enough to believe her father actually had taken some part in the letters. Well, the money was good enough for her really.

@riley

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Riley loved his younger sister, she was one of the most important people in the world to him. And, while the two had very different personalities, Lydia was someone whom Riley always knew he could talk to. She, however, truly was the opposite of him in their family situation. She loved their parents and respected their every wish. Just like their older brother had. She went along with all of their morals and rules of their children and never disobeyed them. She also used her money very differently than he used his. He spent all of his on books, muggle books to be exact, he wasn't even sure if his parents knew exactly how much money he spent on muggle books, but it couldn't have been as much as Lydia spent on cloths and makeup. 

His Slytherin sister met him at the top of the staircase before he had even made it there. "Lyd," he greeted her. She kissed his cheeks, even thought he was significantly taller than her and he smiled. It was odd for him, as someone who lived a very casual life at school to return to those home formalities, but he was mostly just too happy to see her to care. "yes." he handed her the envelope with her name on it. "Mum wrote us about some event or another that we're expected to attend right after the term ends." he told her. 

@lydia

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She grinned and took her envelope, tearing into it without waiting. "An event!? Ooh, don't be so cavalier, Riley," she chided affectionately, shaking her head as she briefly skimmed the letter. Then she frowned, "nothing I have will work for this. I'll have to sew, or buy, a new piece..." she looked up at him again, "what will you wear? Classic Riley's 'don't choose until a moment before'?" she teased, though she really did wish her brother took more preparation in his appearance. He really was quite handsome, and he should be showing that off more than hiding behind all of those books of his... still, she respected his love of reading, even if she didn't have the same deep rooted infatuation with it.

@riley

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It was a classic response for Lydia to be so excited about an event. Riley wasn’t even sure what the event was, some dinner party or gala likely. Something boring but important to those who were throwing it. She asked what he was going to wear and went on about having to get something for herself to wear. He shrugged, “I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll put in some effort since I’ll actually have someone to bring as my date this time.” he told her, knowing that she would want to ask a millions questions, and he prepared himself to hear and answer them. He hadn’t told her about Kinsey Bainbridge yet. He wasn’t sure if the rumor mill had got to her before he had been able to or not, but either way, it was about to come out.

@lydia

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He said he may actually put in effort because he may be bringing a date and her eyes nearly popped out of her head as those million question started forming. She was silent for several minutes because she couldn't decide where to even start. "Shall we walk, my brother?" she said, finally, and sweetly as she turned to link her arm through his and start pulling him down the hallway.

She had heard rumors of Riley and a girl but she didn't catch who that girl was yet. Partly because she wanted to hear it from Riley himself and partly because she didn't care for listening to other people talk about her brother. Whether it was good or bad, she preferred their relationship to be between them. Mostly people knew this, so they didn't say anything around her. "She got a name?" she asked, her tone still fairly relaxed.

@riley

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Riley had slightly been dreading telling his sister about Kinsey. She was the first member of their family who would know that he was dating. He hadn’t had a girlfriend in over a year and his last girlfriend hadn’t been very serious. Lydia laced her arm through his and began to walk with him, which he didn’t mind, he still had some time before had to to get to class and he wanted to talk and catch up with his only sister. “Yes, she does. Her name is Bainbridge, Kinsey Bainbridge.” he said. He was fairly sure she would have at least heard about the Bainbridge family as there were so many of them around the castle, thought they were all older than she was so he didn’t expect her to know any of them well. “We’ve been dating since early April.” he admitted. It had been a few weeks now and it was going very well.

@lydia

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He gave the name. Bainbridge. Oh, it was one of Peytons sisters, was it? That was an interesting thought. Peyton was one of Lydias best friends, but she wouldn't marry into her family... even if Dutsin was a raging hunk of hottie. He said they had been dating since early April and Lydia gave a short gasp, raising an eyebrow at her brother and squeezing his arm a little. "Well, congratulations! I don't know Kinsey, but I do know Peyton and I'm sure Kinsey is just as lovely," in all reality, Lydia gave Peyton make overs often, so she could only hope Kinsey had better fashion sense. Riley could still do with someone better, though, status wise... she was sure her big brother didn't care about that at all though. Which was both admirable and stupid.

@riley

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Riley had been a bit afraid to tell Lydia about his girlfriend because he knew that as soon as Lydia knew, his parents would know. Not that he thought Lydia was a tattle tale, or anything like that, be he knew that she was closer with them than he was. And he wasn't entirely sure what his family would think of Kinsey. His parents were always pushing marrying for love... just so long as they're pureblood. Riley wasn't thinking about marriage, he was way too young for that, but he was serious about Kinsey Bainbridge. She was sweet and she understood him and she also had a large than average senses of perception, though hers was more like a gift, a real talent, and his was just something he had taught himself and liked to play around with. His was cool, and definitely set him apart, but her's was a secret, so it wasn't like he like could use that while talking about her to Lydia. It was something that they connected on, but it wasn't the whole thing. However, his sister seemed to be excited. She told him that she didn't know Kinsey, but she did know Peyton. Riley hadn't really met Peyton yet, they had a few run-ins due to her being friends with Lydia, but he hadn't met the girl properly as her sisters boyfriend yet. He had met Kinsey's older two sisters and didn't really like either of them, they were both kind of mean. "She's cool. I like her. I'm going to introduce her to the family over the holidays..." he admitted, hoping that Lydia wouldn't immediately start to insist that it was a bad idea. Riley wasn't sure how well Lydia and Kinsey would get along. They were very different, Kinsey wasn't materialistic at all and didn't put a lot of effort into makeup and hair, which he actually liked, he'd like her with or without it though. He just liked her.

@lydia

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He said the girl was cool and that he liked her, mentioning the family. Lydia raised an eyebrow, "the summer Holidays?" she guessed. Waiting until Christmas would just be silly. "Well... I suppose that could be fun. You think mum and dad will like her?" Lydia was sure that they wouldn't approve of her blood status, or of her family, really. Lydia was very close to Peyton but she wouldn't go marrying her. She wasn't from a family that was necessarily suitable for a Fudge. Lydia accepted, and even welcomed, her fate that she would be paired with someone wealthy and with an impressive bloodline. She preferred to keep magic with magic, and didn't want to have to deal with any muggles at all if she could possibly help it. If she married a Bainbridge she would have to cut out half the family... and that really wasn't that nice, so it was better to not deal with it at all.

Plus, Riley was young and eligible... she wasn't sure their parents would like him giving that up for this girl. Maybe they weren't that serious, though.

@riley

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Riley could tell in his sister's voice that she wasn’t sure telling their parents would be a good idea. He couldn’t really blame her. It was maybe a bad idea. He wanted to believe that his parents would be okay with him being with whomever made him happy, but he knew that wasn’t necessarily the case. It was just wishful thinking. But Riley knew what he wanted, and so what if it wasn’t exactly what his parents wanted for him? He had no desire to keep the bloodline pure, he wasn’t opposed to it and he realized what it meant to his family, but he wasn’t going to go out of his way to do it when it didn’t mean the same things to him. He was young, and as smart as he was, he was also very naive. He never believed that his parents would really follow through on any of their threats of arranged marriage, who did that anymore? This wasn’t the dark ages. “Well I certainly don’t want to keep her a secret.” he shrugged. He wasn’t sure what the reaction would be, he was fairly positive that they wouldn’t disrespect Kinsey or her family while she was in the room, they’d probably be polite and nice until she left at which point the lectures and rants would start. “I really like this girl. She understands me.” he said, shoving his hand into his pocket, feeling self-conscious.

@lydia

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He said that he didn't want to keep this girl a secret, which was a good point. That would backfire very, very quickly. When he said he really liked her, that she understood him, Lydia turned to look at him, stopping her feet. She was conflicted now. She only wanted what was best for her brother but she didn't know if this would be it, but she also knew it wasn't her place to decide. This girl was dangerous, though. Being half involved with the muggle world was a scary thing. And if Riley really liked her... then he would be half involved with muggles, too. Lydia didn't like that.

"You do what you think is best," she said, her tone maybe coming out a little sharper than she intended. She hadn't necessarily meant to snap, but she also didn't want him to go through with something that would hurt the rest of his life.

@riley

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You do what you think is best. His younger sister snapped. He turned his head to look at her, for the very first time in his life, truly seeing the line dividing the two of them. He loved Lydia, he had always seen Lydia and someone who was on his side, someone who saw things his way, even if he didn’t exactly know what his way even was. He never agreed with his parents, but he also didn’t disagree with them. Not outwardly at least. He respected them and he was thankful for the luxury life that the two had given to their children. But when it came to Kinsey, he felt extra protective. He didn’t want to say out loud what he was thinking. He didn’t want to say, not only did he love her, but he was afraid that if he wasn’t there for her then no one else would be. And he didn’t think she’d be able to do it on her own. He had never thought about that before. He knew he wanted to protect Kinsey and had a strong desire to keep her safe. But never before had one of the reasons he liked her been that he had to protect her. “Fine. I will. I trust you can manage the rest of the way on your own.” he took his arm back and with one last glance, walked away. Not wanting to say anything else that he might regret later.

((The end? Or you can end it if you want to post Lydia’s reaction.))
@lydia

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What in the actual heck had just happened? She just snapped, once, and he couldn't bear it so he left her alone. Riley should know better than to take one of her snaps to heart. Well... maybe not. He also would know that she wouldn't snap at him unless she really had an issue. She loved him. But, he must have really liked this girl if he was getting so defensive of her this quickly. Now that was dangerous. Lydia had a feeling that it wouldn't last, of course. Nothing so fast burning and young ever did, sadly. The only thing that was sure was a planned marriage where all the pros and cons were weighed by people who actually knew what they were doing.

He wanted an unsuitable girlfriend? Fine, she would let him. For now.

@riley
(The end)