family matters | ashley

[Deleted]

It had been days since Joe had seen Ashley last, which was an all time record for the Fontaine's since arriving at Hogwarts. Despite being in the same house now, he felt like he saw his little sister less. Joe wasn't sure how he really felt about that... There were days that he was glad to have his peace and privacy, but ultimately, he enjoyed his little sisters company. He wanted to know what was going on in her life.

A couple of weeks ago he could remember seeing her sitting in the Courtyard by the fountain between classes with her friends, so today he figured he'd try his luck at finding his sister there today. Much to his surprise, and luck, she was sitting in the courtyard by herself exactly where he pictured.

Without a second thought, Joe marched up to his sister from behind and sat swiftly next to her. "Hey. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in days, are you hiding from me?" Joe asked, a hint of paranoia behind his voice, although he couldn't think of anything he had done recently that would piss her off. He was usually good at keeping track of those things.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

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[Deleted]

Ashley found herself in a weird place today. She wanted to wander around and have fun, find some friend to joke around with, but she couldn't. She couldn't seem to stop thinking about what happened yesterday. It didn't help that her forearm and wrist were now black and purple and her entire body felt sore, a constant reminder of her almost-death experience. Ash honestly wasn't trying to be dramatic about it, she just couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. 

Early on, she decided she didn't really want to be around people and went outside, sitting on a bench in the courtyard as she thought. She wasn't really paying attention to anything in front of her or around her, too lost in her memories and thoughts. She wasn't smiling, which she thought was the reason no one was approaching her. Ash didn't mind that. She kind of wanted to be alone right now. She needed to figure out a way to stop thinking about this.

She didn't even realize that she was rubbing her bruised wrist as she sat, not enough to hurt it, but almost like she was trying to soothe the black away. Ashley jumped when someone walked up and sat beside her without saying anything ... until he said a bunch of things. Joe. She tensed, not knowing how to answer him. Ashley shrugged a bit, "Oh you know. I've been ... around. Not much going on but classes and stuff," she answered vaguely, trying to discreetly pull down the sleeve of her jacket so it would cover her wrist, but it was already pushed up to her mid-forearm so that was kind of difficult. "Of course I'm not hiding from you Joe," Ash rolled her eyes, "You've been too busy to pay attention to me, so I've had to find ways to distract myself." Granted, she had no idea if he'd been busy or not, but since he hadn't searched for her before now, she was going to assume and pretend like she knew what she was talking about.

@joseph

[Deleted]

The mini outburst was unexpected for Joe in that moment. He honestly didn't feel like he was ignoring his sister at all. There was a lot going on in his seventh year, and he was trying to juggle quidditch, studying, friends, and girl escapades. Free time was limited, but maybe he wasn't spending it so wisely.

With a slightly annoyed roll of the eyes, Joe dropped his book bag on the ground carelessly and let out a sigh while staring at his sister with a pair of laced brows, "What has gotten into you?" he asked harshly, shaking his head a bit annoyed. She was making it out like he had straight up ditched her or something.

Truthfully, this was the first time he went in pursuit for her, which almost made him feel bad since it seemed like she almost kind of needed him. Joe got that vibe that something was off about Ashley, he just didn't know quite what. "Communication is a two way street ya know..." he told her, a little nicer this time. Joe extended a hand to pull her into him by the wrist, and that's when he got a glimpse of a bruise of sorts on her dainty wrist, and her obvious flinching away as he touched the area unknowingly hard. His eyes narrowed at the injury, pulling her by the elbow almost forcefully to  inspect it. It looked like a bruised hand mark on her wrist. "What the f*ck happened, Ashley?" he asked quickly, a growl behind his voice. "Who did this to you."

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Deleted]

It was obvious from the look on Joe’s face that he wasn’t expecting that kind of a reaction from his younger sister. Honestly, at the moment she didn’t really care. She was annoyed and depressed and a part of her wanted to tell Joe about what happened yesterday, but another part- a bigger part- didn’t want to. She didn’t want to have to relive it, to get emotional again as she explained what happened to her. It was hard enough living through it and then having to talk to Eli right after it happened.

She froze, anger coursing through her when he demanded to know what “got into her”. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it Joe,” she answered in the same tone as him, trying to tell him to leave her alone without actually telling him. She knew he wouldn’t leave if she told him to, though he probably wouldn’t leave no matter what. Not now that he knew something was wrong even though he didn’t really know. He’d just suspect it because of her tone.

Of course he wouldn’t leave. Instead, he spoke again in a softer tone, basically saying that she could have come to him if she wanted. She nodded, not saying a word as the emotions suddenly welled in her. It was all she could do to keep her eyes from watering and keep her expression neutral. Suddenly, despite the fact that she didn’t want to talk about yesterday, she wanted to tell Joe everything. Then he grabbed her wrist to pull her closer, probably for a hug or something and Ashley gasped in pain, flinching at the touch. “Ow!” She breathed, her tone laced with pain. Her wrist was very sensitive, as was her forearm, but at least Joe couldn’t see that injury at the moment. Her eyes were watering now, but she still wasn’t looking at her brother. He grabbed her elbow, pulling her closer and demanding to know what happened. “I … I don’t want to talk about it,” she lied quietly. She did want to, but she didn’t know how. “It was an accident,” she said, pulling her arm and wrist out of his grip and instead wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug. She was trembling, couldn’t help herself as the memory came back. She whimpered softly, hugging him even tighter for a second. She knew Joe would make her talk about it, but for the moment she just wanted this.

@joseph

[Deleted]

Joe couldn’t let it go, he was still focused on his sisters words, “Nothing Joe. Don’t worry about it.” echoing through his ears. Yeah, right... Dont worry. That never set well with him. This wasn’t cool. He didn’t like the way she was handling this situation already. Why did she have to be so secretive about everything? She said more words, about it being an accident or something, but he didn’t really believe it. Something weird was going on. Her arms were suddenly wrapped around his waist like she needed consoling - or maybe it was to change the subject - but he couldn’t just forget about it when he was already so heated. Joe knew he would have to pry.

As Ashley said that she didn’t want to talk about it, gradually getting more upset in the moment... Joe stepped back after a second of her wrapping her arms around him, which honestly hurt him, because she was whimpering, and trembling viciously, appearing to need the comfort. But Joe wasn’t going to let this go so easily, he needed information.

Joe grabbed her by the shoulders to get a good look at her face, tears already staining her cheeks. ”This doesn’t look like an accident!” he barked angrily, eyes narrowing at her. Joes eye brows threaded at the center of his forehead, hands still on her shoulders, ”What happened Ashley?? I need to know! Did a guy do this to you? Did someone harass you?” he asked seriously, the look on his face showing he was ready to go on a rampage. Joe didn’t mean to be so aggressively protective with those he loved, it was an overwhelming, uncontrollable urge that would rush over him every time. All he could see was red.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Deleted]

Ashley didn’t know exactly what she expected when she wrapped her arms around her brother. Honestly, she thought he would hug her back, that he’d realize she was honestly and truly upset and try to comfort her for at least a little while before he demanded an explanation. Apparently she was wrong. When Joe pulled away after just a second, she couldn’t help but be annoyed that he couldn’t just be there for her. Despite the fact that she was on the verge of tears, she felt anger taking over.

He grabbed her shoulders, telling her it didn’t look like an accident, his eyes furious. Ash glared back in return. If she’d been thinking rationally, she might have been able to realize what was going through his mind, what he was probably assuming happened to her, but she wasn’t. She was too emotionally overloaded and so she didn’t even care what her brother thought. The only thing that was registering to her was the fact that instead of comforting her, Joe was yelling at her. He demanded to know what happened, asking if a guy did this to her, if someone was harassing her and saying that he needed to know.

Ashley exploded, pulling back so she was out of his reach. “I almost DIED Joe! You happy now?!” She shouted back at him, not bothering to care about the angry tears coursing down her cheeks or the people that might be around. She was entirely focused on her anger, which was directed at her older brother. “I almost fell to my death. This,” she gestured to the bruise on her wrist before pulling up her sleeve to show the even worse bruise on her forearm, “and this are all I have to show for the fact that some random guy saved me.” Her bottom lip quivered and she wasn’t certain if it was because she was angry or because her mind was flashing back to the owlery. She closed her eyes for a second, yanking her sleeve back down to cover the bruise on her forearm, which was decidedly worse than the other one. The bruise on her forearm was from the moment when Nate stopped her from falling, the bruise on her wrist was from pulling her up. She turned away from Joe, not sure what to expect from him now. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted. "I can't stop thinking about it," she whispered after a second, unsure if her brother could hear her or not.

@joseph

[Deleted]

Joe made a face when she yanked her wrist away from him, instinctively wanting to grab it again to look at it. But he didn't. Ashley was visibly upset, on the verge of full blown tears, and a complete meltdown. Joe could hear the emotions behind his sisters voice as she yelled back at him, sharing that she almost died. Something crazy happened. 

He was dumbfounded, staring back at his little sisters expression trying desperately to read her face, but he couldn't. Suddenly, he had the impending feeling like he had possibly been a bit too aggressive prying for information, due to the nature of the problem. Joes lips formed a straight line and he clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath in through his nostrils before talking.  "I'm sorry." he told her quietly, his expression softening drastically after hearing her whisper that she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Joe took a step toward Ashley and pulled her in for a real hug this time. The hug that she was seeking before. Joe breathed out, "I am only making a big deal about this because I love you, Ash." he told her firmly, trying to keep his tone calm and level while talking to her, even though he could still feel himself seeing red. His expression was still very hard, jaw clenching vigorously.  "If anyone were to intentionally hurt you I would kill them." Joe said, the intensity of his voice still very much there.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Deleted]

Ashley didn't really know what to do anymore. As she stood there with her back to her brother, she fought to gain control again of her emotions. The fact that he hadn't said anything yet didn't even register to her. Instead, she was just waiting for him to explode right back at her and debating if she should leave before giving him the chance. If she did, she knew he would be even angrier at her, but at the moment she found she didn't really care. At least she'd be able to find some peace right now. 

She was about to move away when she heard Joe apologize in a soft tone that was all but foreign to the conversation. She spun around, staring at her brother for a second and waiting to see what he would do next, her eyes pleading. To her relief, he did it. He pulled her in for a hug and Ashley clung to him, finding herself relax a tiny bit in her brother's arms. He started to explain why he was making a big deal out of this and she nodded against him, still not pulling away. She didn't want to talk yet. Joe continued, threatening anyone that hurt her on purpose and Ashley took a deep breath, pulling away from him and looking to the ground. "I-it was my fault," she started in a whisper. Joe deserved an answer, now that he wasn't just bossing her around anymore. "I went up to the owlery, trying to find a place where I could clear my head. I leaned against the railing next to the bell in the center and it ... collapsed." Ashley shuddered, looking up to her brother as she continued. "I tipped over the edge. If that boy hadn't been there or hand't been able to reach me in time-" Ashley looked away again. "He grabbed my arm and somehow was able to pull me up," her lip was quivering once more and all Ashley wanted was for Joe to hug her again, but she didn't want to come out and say it. She shrugged, waiting to see how he would react now. This had to be opposite of what he expected.

@joseph

[Deleted]

It took everything in Joe to shut up and listen to his sister patiently. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he knew that it would trigger and upset her more. They would have to wait for another day. His hands remained on the sides of her shoulders loosely as she shared more information with him. She explained that it was an accident and a boy helped her from falling from the owlery. Hogwarts was falling apart, it was barely a safe haven anymore. If he didn't think he could hate Hogwarts any more than he already did, today was he found a new level of hatred.

The snake swallowed, sending his adams apple to bob up and down. His eyes tried to remain soft, but the firmness in his voice always countered that. "You need to ice it, or go to the hospital wing to get it checked out, Ash. Seriously." Joe stated firmly, eyes piercing green eyes narrowing to hers to see what she would say.

Little sister still appeared like she needed affection. Joe pulled her in to hug her tightly, burying his face in his hair to ask, "Who was it? Who helped you?" Joe wasn't looking to beat the guy up, for once, but with genuine curiosity. If Joe knew him he'd thank the guy for saving his sister, but he was still very suspicious of the situation. He felt like Ashley was hiding something from him. She was just so depressed and closed off lately, it made her so hard to read.... He hated it more than anything. All he wanted was to know what the hell was going on so he could help.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Deleted]

Ashley could almost see the questions forming in her brother's head. She could tell she hadn't answered everything and felt conflicted about that fact. She wanted to stop talking about it, wanted to move on, but she knew that if she didn't get Joe to ask his questions, he'd ask her another time. Ashley just wanted to forget the whole thing, which meant she needed to talk about it while she already was. She was about to tell him to go ahead and ask whatever questions she had, but Joe started talking first. She could tell he was trying to help, but Ashley still rolled her eyes at his words. "I iced it last night, and I'm planning on doing it again," she told him honestly, "but there's no way I'm going to the hospital wing." Her voice didn't leave room for an argument, but she knew that if Joe didn't agree with her, he'd argue anyway. 

He pulled her in for a tight hug and Ashley felt herself finally start to relax as she hugged him back. Joe whispered, asking her who saved her and Ashley shrugged a little, still not pulling away. "I don't know his name. He's in our house ... I'm pretty sure he's my year." What? She didn't pay attention to people that annoyed her, like him. He never offered her name and after their ... adventure, she hadn't thought to ask.

After a while, Ashley pulled away from her brother and smiled, taking in a deep breath. "Okay, I know you have other questions. Can we get them out now?" She knew it might sound weird, but she'd rather get that out of the way now instead of having to wonder when Joe would ask her more about it. "I'm okay, I promise." Okay to talk about it, she meant.

@joseph

[Deleted]

When Ashley explained the care she gave to her injury, and said that the hospital wing wasn’t an option, Joe glared at her for a moment. Resisting to say anything further on that matter since it would just be hypocritical at this point. The hospital personally freaked him out, so he never went until people were dragging him bleeding or unconscious. Joe lifted his shoulders into a shrug, ”Okay.....just take care of it...that looks really gnarly.” he said, scrunching his nose, staring at her bruised up wrist and shuddering.

Apparently hugging was the right thing to do, because Ashley mentioned that a guy saved her. Some poor nameless dude that would never get recognition for his good deed. Joe chuckled, very tickled by the fact that she never caught his name. ”Wooow, sis, you didn’t even get your hero’s name. Cold blooded.” he snorted, finding it hilarious, and not expecting her to answer that question. It was so obvious that she hadn’t. He was just trying to joke about it to lighten the situation.

Ashley then pulled away and looked at him, openly asking if he had any questions for her. She had been acting really weird lately, and he did have questions for her. He was slightly taken aback that she would ask. ”Yeah, I do...” he started, unsure of really how to word it nicely. But, he couldn’t. Joe never sugarcoated anything. Well, except his creations in the kitchen. His lips pursed slightly, eyebrows furrowing, ”Are you okay? Like, really okay? It seems like you have been depressed or something lately.” he said without any conviction, but his face did harbor a bit of concern.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Deleted]

Ashley could see from the look on Joe's face that he probably didn't think she was doing enough to take care of her arm, but he didn't argue with her. Instead, he told her to take care of it. She rolled her eyes when he said that it looked gnarly. What, were they from California now? She didn't comment on it though, not wanting to say something that would upset him. Their conversation was already enough of a roller coaster without her provoking her older brother.

Joe teased her, calling her cold blooded for not asking the name of the guy and she felt the defensiveness return in part. She muttered, "I've seen him before, we've talked, but I wasn't really thinking about asking his name today." Ashley shuddered slightly, glad that Joe was still holding her and comforting her. Honestly, before today she hated the guy, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do that anymore. He saved her life. That probably meant that she should get his name sometime.

It was obvious from the look on her brother's face that he hadn't expected Ashley to offer this. He answered that he did have questions, but didn't ask them right away. Ashley waited, trying to be patient. Then he asked if she was okay, adding that she seemed depressed lately. He noticed that? She hadn't realized that he was watching her that closely. Ashley offered a smile as she nodded slowly. "I ... I think I am okay. I had a really hard summer Joe, but things are getting better now." Most of that was due to the conversation she and Eli had the day before, where they finally both agreed to be friends once more. It meant more to Ashley than she could have imagined. 

She sighed, realizing that while she could keep everything to herself, she shouldn't. Joe was a good brother. He was proving that by his questions now and she wanted to answer him. "I ... met someone last year," she started, deciding to keep it vague so Joe wouldn't attack Eli. "We ended up being friends and study buddies and we got pretty close." Ashley met Joe's gaze, "I ended up getting a crush on him, but it felt like more than that. Then I made a stupid mistake and we suddenly weren't friends anymore." Ash shrugged, trying to pretend like it wasn't a big deal. "It was weird, almost like losing a part of myself and I couldn't find it. I felt like a terrible person and I didn't know how to put it right." She smiled, hoping that her brother didn't think she was an idiot. "We ... finally got to talk about it and make things right again and I feel a lot better now." Ash shrugged, before leaning forward to give Joe a hug. "I'm sorry I worried you."

@joseph

[Deleted]

Joe tried to listen as intently as quietly as he could without interrupting his sister. He knew that if he did, she probably wouldn't share the precious information with him, so he was trying his best. Something was telling him that she needed him right now. Not only her body language, but by the way she was talking to him. It seemed like she really wanted to talk about it. His lips formed a straight line, trying to keep a calm expression on his face. She shared that it was a guy. Why did he have a feeling it was something like that? As much as he wanted to ask her who it was, Joe wasn't stupid, he knew that Ashley wouldn't share that information with him. Simply because he had a bad track record of beating any guy up that looked at his sister wrong, or made her cry. 

Nodding his head at the information, he sighed, "So, a guy broke your heart? Or you broke his? Mutual heartbreak?" he weighed out the options, trying to bring a lightness to the situation, but also show that he was there for her. "Thank you for sharing that with me, I'm sure that wasn't easy to do... I don't really know what I can do to help. but just know that I am here for you if you need it, Ash." he reassured his sister, pulling her in carefully to squeeze her into another hug. Joe was relieved it was apparently some stupid love woes, last year he went through his own drama with a girl, which was the first and last time he had an ~actual~ girlfriend. It didn't end well. So, he could sympathize for his little sister. Heartbreak wasn't fun to deal with. Especially alone.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Deleted]

Ashley appreciated how well Joe was listening right now. She didn’t look at him the entire time, since she was a little worried that if she did she would just break down into tears. The occasional glances at him told her everything she needed to know. He was listening, he was concerned. It was obvious that Joe was focusing entirely on her. She was so focused on her story that she didn’t even notice the signs of her own anxiety, the fact that she was wringing her hands a bit and scuffing the toe of her shoe in the dirt. She just needed to get it all out, and she did.

When Joe sighed before speaking, Ashley finally looked up at her brother, shrugging at his question. “I don’t know if I broke his heart, but … I guess I broke my own heart by ruining our friendship?” It shouldn’t have been a question. “I think … he told me that he missed me a lot, but that doesn’t mean his heart was broken. Does it?” Ashley was suddenly confused. She knew how she felt about Eli. Ever since their kiss last spring, she hadn’t been able to deny it to herself, but she just assumed that he didn’t care for her that strongly and now she was questioning that. She smiled at Joe right before he pulled her in for another comforting, familiar hug. She inhaled deeply, relaxing further at his familiar cologne before answering, “This is what I need Joe. I just need you here for me. Thank you.” She took a deep breath before adding, “I’m sorry I was being snippy with you. How have you been doing lately?” Ash pulled away, looking up into her brother’s face, “I’ve missed you.”

@joseph

[Deleted]

Joe felt a sense of relief when Ashley revealed that a guy hadn't broken her heart. He wasn't sure if he entirely believed it, but he would for now. She gave him a lot of information for him to digest today. Ashley asked Joe if she could have broken the guys heart if he said that he 'missed' her. Joe shrugged his shoulders upwards, "If he's saying that he misses you, it means that you mean something to him. Whether it be a friend, or love interest.. there's something that's missing, apparently." he said in a causal manner, surprisingly calmly. Joe obviously wanted to be there for Ashley if she allowed him to be in that moment. This year he was learning how to hold his tongue and let things go, especially with his sister. Today, she was sharing private information, so he wasn't trying to mess this up by even joking about beating up the dude she likes.

Joe released her from his arms, the corners of his lips curling upwards. "I'm glad that you're okay, Ash. I am here for you if you ever need anything, don't ever forget that." he told her seriously, trying to read her face to see if the message was getting across to her. He really hoped that it was. She asked how he was and he shrugged. "I'm meh." he shared honestly, the look on his face apathetic. Joe wasn't trying to come off as homesick, but he totally was. There was no getting used to this place, ever. Joe opened his mouth, hesitated, and continued without stopping. "I don't like it here, but I'm trying to make the best of it, I guess... The classes are somehow harder... I actually have to study now, which has been taking up a lot of my free time." he shared, trying to come off like it didn't bother him, but it kind of did. Maybe that's why he didn't make it into Ravenclaw here, when he used to be a Horned Serpent. Maybe he just wasn't smart enough. That was something that honestly bothered him a lot, he didn't feel adequate here.

@ashley

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0