mockeries | nell

[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

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Eerie. That was the word for Veronica’s current attitude shift. Nell had watched her sister for as long as she could remember, learning all of the positive and negative traits of business and life. She had chosen to differentiate herself with this store because she knew there wasn’t a chance in Merlin’s good name that she would ever be able to ‘compete’ with Ollivander’s. The store was not hers, despite her lineage, and was never meant to be. Bar some unfortunate freak accident where her sister and nephew suddenly died or were permanently incapacitated, Nell would never properly work there again. Such was life. It was to be passed from Veronica to Gideon, and then on to any children should he have them. A basic fact of life that Nell had been trying to imprint on her sister for well over a decade now. She was never going to attempt to claim Ollivander’s as her own, and never had the right to do so.

Finally, with Veronica here today and seeing how the shop was conducted, it seemed like maybe she was starting to understand. In her own weird way, of course. Nell wasn’t fully convinced that her sister was fully committed to this new way of thinking, as a personality altering hex was just as likely. For the moment, it was sort of nice to be recognized for once in her life. Especially when it came to the wand she presented. While not yet complete, it was a work of art in its own right. She had always been proud of her craftsmanship, and this one was maybe her best yet. All she had to do was complete it.

Trying to keep her face even and appreciative, instead of smug over the new compliments, Nell definitely wasn’t expecting her sister’s final question. ”Errm…not really? I’ve sort of been busy with all of this,” she gestured at her shop. Once, about five years prior, her parents had approached her about potentially setting her up with an arranged marriage through the Blishwick services, similar in sorts she supposed to how they’d done the same for Veronica. The difference being that Nell wasn’t pining for an heir and she preferred to make her own choices. They knew how she was, and she’d never bite unless the guy was a really good catch.

She narrowed her eyes at her sister, slowly crossing her arms in a defensive manner as she started to think everything through again about this visit. Was Veronica actually here to butter her up and try to get her married off? That would take her out of the game for a little while, and with the way arranged magical marriages tended to move fast, she’d be tied up well through the start of the new school year. ”Is that why you came here? she asked, her voice starting to border an accusatory tone. ”To try and marry me off?” There was zero evidence of that, but this was Veronica after all. Anything was possible when it came to the elder Ollivander.

veronica giselle ollivander ● 511 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[veronica giselle ollivander]

━ you have bewitched me, body and soul ━

VERONICA KNEW HER PLACE WITHIN THE Ollivander family. She knew no matter what happened, fights between siblings, drama over family dinners, no matter what - their places as who was deemed most to least important would never change. Their parents typically made sure of it. Of course, ranked last, even ranked under the elves who looked and cared for the family home - was Francis. His spiral into alcoholism set that position in place. Eleanor came next, as she typically favoured the quiet and shy life, as well as the ability to bond over trauma with their meek brother. Next - in Veronica's mind anyway - came Gehry. And of course, the top of the ranking was herself.

Regardless, this..'ranking' almost ensured that the family store would always be hers until she was either unfit to run it any longer or if Gideon made the choice to step up to the mantle. Knowing this..legacy was essentially set in stone, it felt rather..fitting and comforting knowing that Eleanor had finally decided to make a name for herself. Again, the eldest refused to ever make this information known to man, but the simple idea of it being there was comforting.

"Interesting." She responded, eyes wandering with her sisters gestures - scanning the shop floor yet again. "And Father nor Mother have said anything about the case? Surely..you know they're onto Gehry for the same reasons." The only difference was, Eleanor would 'lose' her name, giving lineage to another family line. For herself in particular, the arranged marriage between Gideon's father and herself was set up with the reassurance that she would keep her maiden name. Odd times the early years were.

Not noticing Eleanor's change in demeanor, the eldest turned in her spot once more as her eyes crossed her sister. She always had this look about her. Shy, introverted, too afraid for the world. But whenever Veronica critiqued on something, her eyes simply always narrowed, with her brows mirroring a similar action.

Laughing at her sister's choice of tone, Veronica kept laughing hard enough that her cheeks tinted red and her breath was swept away. "Marry you off?..If I wanted to involve myself in that you would have a wedding date set by now." Veronica hated wasting time, but if she were to meddle - she knew she would meddle well. "Can't a sister simply be curious for her sisters choice of actions? Come now..You're well above age, reaching your thirties soon aren't you?"

| eleanor gwendolen ollivander |

[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

▲

Despite her parents being considered relatively progressive in regard to current societal trends surrounding marriage in the magical community, there was still the occasional comment that made her realize that they hadn’t truly broken away from the more traditional notions of what it meant. Strangely enough, Nell wasn’t entirely opposed to such a thing, as long as the man they tried to set her up with was a decent person and she had a choice in whether or not it continued. She really did not care about namesakes or any of that legacy garbage as much as her sister did, but also sort of wanted to maintain the Ollivander name like Veronica had. That was the sort of prestige she didn’t want to relent. ”No, they have,” she confirmed. ”But they also know I’m busy with this, so it won’t happen just yet.” They lost their chance a few years prior, when she was still an apprentice. Now they’d have to wait until she had a proper apprentice of her own, or at the very least, a competent employee that could watch over the shop.

Veronica wasn’t wrong about how this would be going down if she was actually the one in control, frustratingly enough. ”Two and a half years still,” she responded. That definitely was not ‘well above age’. Just because she popped Gideon out at twenty, didn’t mean Nell had to as well. She really wanted to add that the shop was basically her child now, and that all of her time and money was being pumped into it, but something about personifying her wares gave her an ick. She didn’t like when other people did that about their jobs (pets were sort of allowed), so it felt like it would be hypocritical of her to do so in this situation. ”Things are different now. Plus, being established here will raise my prospects for potential suitors.” What an absolute lie. But Veronica loved to hear shit like that.

veronica giselle ollivander ● 330 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[veronica giselle ollivander]

━ you have bewitched me, body and soul ━

HUMMING IN RESPONSE, VERONICA FELT a small pang of jealousy within her. Her parents sole mission after she reached the 'perfect' age was to marry her off quickly and have children. Despite it being the 21st century and traditional notions were somewhat frowned upon, her family kept up such things, for the sake of 'history'.

Regardless, Veronica had no ill will regarding to how she lived her life. Her marriage, while short compared to her parents, was enjoyable no less and produced her wonderful son. "Interesting." Was all she responded with, her head dipping slightly to look down at her feet before up and around her surroundings once more. "Hm. Before we all know it, two and a half years will fly by." The eldest began, eyes crossing to look at her sister. "Take Gideon for instances. He was born, I blink and he's already a teenager. Perhaps you should still go on some dates anyway?"

At her sister's next response, the eldest's brows perked upwards. It wasn't like Eleanor to say such a thing, something that peaked at her sisters interests in such a way. "You know..you might be just right." She smiled, her fingers fumbling at her pockets to reach for her cigarettes. "I should be on my way back. I thought it would be nice to visit, especially as I haven't had the chance to all these years."

Pulling out her cigarettes, Veronica dipped her head a little, nodding in her sisters direction before reaching for the door. "Oh and Eleanor?.." She began, looking over her shoulder with one hand on the shop's door handle. "Don't be a stranger. Do come and visit sometimes. Gideon asks for you." And with that, Veronica left - not bothering to hear her sister's response.

[VERONICA END!]

| eleanor gwendolen ollivander |

[eleanor gwendolen ollivander]

▲

Nell wasn’t sure what was worse: having her parents arrange for someone to knock her up, or Veronica saying a slightly similar thing. At least the way her sister put it, it let Nell have some autonomy here. She was not going to put her business the side just to pop out a few kids because ‘the family wanted it’. They already had Gideon. There had been centuries of singular Ollivanders running the family shop. Only recently was there suddenly more than enough. To the point that they literally all could not work there together. She weighed the options on how crass she wanted to be in responding to Veronica, and decided that because they were seemingly being nice to one another (in the weird, passive aggressive way that they tended to be), she was going to leave it as it was. ”Like I said, when I get the free time, I’ll definitely put forth the effort.” It wasn’t like she was completely dateless. Maybe in recent years, but she’d been on a few while still working under her sister.

Apparently, the way she had phrased everything in her lie had worked. Veronica seemingly bought the bullshit and was happy about it. With that, she started to leave, only stopping once she reached the door. ”Yeah?” Nell responded quickly, only to be met with an invite back to Ollivanders. For Gideon’s sake, of course. Before she could respond, Veronica was out the door and well on her way again, strutting down Horizont Alley.

She unconsciously shivered when thinking of the earlier prospect of producing offspring for the sake of growing the family name. What in pureblood nonsense was that? It made her want to gag. She’d figure out things once she was ready, but for the time being, she enjoyed working. In her mind, everything happened for a reason. She was able to escape working under Veronica at the exact time this building became free for her shop. Any future relationships would happen the same way, as was her belief. Shaking off Veronica’s whirlwind arrival and departure, Nell returned back to her work. Finally.

[THE END]

veronica giselle ollivander ● 354 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0