Kintsugi [Ivy]

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

17 January 2028

Hazel was usually very good at pretending (and hey, she loved a good bout of roleplay). It served a purpose when she took a more involved role in the club, even if Asher had mostly taken control of everything again like the good little megalomaniac he was, and it was a great skill for classes when she wanted to throw chalk at her students but managed to keep an easy breezy composure instead. But she couldn’t pretend that everything was fine at home, because it really wasn’t, and she couldn’t pretend that she’d completely forgiven Ivy for ditching her (for over a year!) to go abroad with beaches and hot Brazilian guys. Instead of taking care of the family drama she'd created and leaving Hazel to deal with the consequences alone (and Asher, who she was actually becoming increasingly concerned about...).

Alright, maybe Hazel could understand her motives a little bit. And she definitely approved of how it’d been done, because Ivy knew how to do everything with flair and style. But she was still mad! And still wildly passive-aggressive until she’d decided that Ivy had learned her lesson and could be forgiven, which she wasn't even close to. Hazel at least hadn’t gone to Asher’s extreme of pretending he only had one sister left, which was frankly ridiculous and overly dramatic (even for her), but yeah. She was still mad. Waving her hands to shoo away her students as her last class wrapped up for the day (like seriously, go away already) Hazel gathered up the gold nuggets and tossed them carelessly into her obviously designer handbag. They weren't a bad try for this batch of NEWT students, but she could easily see the flaws in the gold anyway. Her heels clicked against the cool stone floor of the corridor as Hazel dodged students, only stopping once to flick her wand towards an absolute trainwreck of a hat and whisk it off the student’s head. Like seriously, she was doing the kid a favor.

Slinking into the staff room, Hazel stopped short as she noticed the only other occupant of the room. Well, well. Tossing her hair back, she swayed over to the coffee machine (seriously, they might be teaching ancient magic here but the school was way past due for modern additions like espresso) and flicked her wand carelessly at it. It began to operate slowly, but it was still better than Hazel having to make her own coffee like a Muggle. Seriously, she hadn't sunk to those kinds of lows yet. Peeking over her shoulder at her ever-studious sister, Hazel cleared her throat. “Want a coffee, Ives?” Her tone was suspiciously innocent as she paused to think and then make a dramatic face. “Oh no wait, I forgot. They’ve only got local blends here. You prefer Brazilian, don’t you?”

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

Ivy had settled into her life at LIFE as if settling in for a long sleep. It felt utterly unfamiliar, not being wary and looking around every corner for potential threats. So long, Ivy had lived with an unhealthy amount of fear lingering around her, wondering if she would be found out by Elaine then wondering if she would be killed for her role in bringing down the Purifiers. Half of her wanted to speak with Anastasia further, to see how she was coping with the swooping changes in the Wizarding world over the past few years. She’d been a mole herself - though the pair were in opposite positions. Hazel supposed in the back of her mind, she’d always known that Ana was close with Harry Potter, and thus not really primed for the Purifiers. It went to show that her heart hadn’t been in it the final few years.

Scratching a note about referencing on an actually decent piece of work, Ivy considered how much had changed. How the world had changed to allow her back here to be closer to her siblings. One sibling who probably wanted her dead still, and another who she was certain was too stubborn to forgive her. Hazel had always been the neutral one of the Burkes, preferring to keep to her own interests rather than pander to someone else’s. That hadn’t changed, despite how much Ivy had. On the inside, not just the horrific burn scars on the outside.

With a sigh, Ivy pushed the essay away from her. Her concentration was gone, but she would be able to refocus later. The clicking of high heels greeted her, which Ivy knew meant only one thing. Either that Astor girl was wandering the LIFE hallways again, or Hazel was approaching. By the surety of the footsteps, Ivy recognised that it was the latter. She’d tried to give Hazel space to come to terms with her sudden reappearance in her life, but Hazel did what Hazel wanted. Usually with a healthy dose of sarcasm and acidity.

Ivy’s dark eyes met her sister’s clear blue ones, and the accusation was not lost on her. She smothered a grin at Hazel’s indictment of her tastes. She wasn’t wrong. The Brazilians were exceptionally delicious, and so was their coffee. But they weren’t suited to long term goals, and Ivy was well versed in foresight. ”Hello to you too, Hazel,” said Ivy evenly, watching as Hazel brewed herself a cup of coffee. ”Brazilian coffee is nice, but you know I’ve always had a soft spot for the Ethiopian blends of Africa,” she added. ”You’re looking healthy. Did you get away from this frozen tundra for the holidays?” asked Ivy, though she knew full well that Hazel had likely spent most of her time with Asher figuring out the ins and outs of handing over his club. ”The club should have stayed with you,” Ivy added as an afterthought. Hazel had business acumen and the laws of attraction down pat.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Ivy had always been Hazel’s favorite sibling, which was what made the distance so hard now. Like, sometimes she had to physically restrain herself from turning to her sister at breakfast whenever a fashion disaster walked in (and whisper the snarky comment to Archie instead), and Hazel missed their fabulous holidays abroad. She’d legit considered throwing herself out the window over Christmas, because that would be a kinder death than her daydreams of strangling Asher while they went over club business. The worst part of that was his utter refusal to dress up for any of her theme nights, including the fabulous leprechaun suit she’d gotten him. Ivy would have understood the need to make a dramatic entrance. And she’d never tried to control Hazel either, which was a memo that Asher had never gotten. Which was a shock because he claimed to be able to read, at least whenever Hazel asked.

But no, she was mad. And honestly, Hazel felt a little of that anger bubble up as she studied Ivy over her shoulder while the espresso machine did its thing. Her sister looked mostly the same – cool and calculated and always carrying a thick stack of parchment – but Hazel’s eyes lingered on those horrible burns. A reminder of everything that was different, of the fact that she was still living someone else’s life and not the daydream she’d been promised since a young age. This icky world of responsibilities, distrust, and limiting herself to a glass of wine before an important client meeting.

Did she really expect Ivy to take the bait? No, because her sister was methodical and unemotional, the perfect robot that Hogwarts needed to teach Magical Theory. But Hazel was still disappointed at Ivy’s even response to her rather snarky question, blandly commenting about the benefits of Ethiopian coffee and asking if Hazel had gone away for the holidays. Merlin, she sounded more like their mother every day (minus the pointed observations about Hazel’s fleeting youth and the rather blunt opinion that Hazel must hate her parents). Which was true, but who needed to say it out-loud? “Ethiopia, huh? Is that the next stop on Ivy’s big world tour? Every country in the world with great coffee and zero sisters!” Hazel said huffily, neatly sliding her favorite mug under the stream of coffee as she turned away from her sister to pout at the machine.

She didn’t bother to inform Ivy that she hadn’t done anything glamorous for the holidays, because it was completely her fault that nobody had provided a counterbalance for Asher’s proposal to work over Christmas. He seemed thrilled to have the opportunity to give Hazel more work (deep deep down, underneath the scowl and goth black outfits) and he at least never seemed to run out of tasks for her to do. Ivy’s cool observation about the club (completely true but also besides the point) only further pissed Hazel off. Like really, was this all she could expect? “Merlin Ives, show an emotion please! Like helloooooooo, is anyone actually there or is Asher just throwing his voice inside your mouth? Be mad, be sad, beg on your knees for forgiveness, tell me to fuck off! Just not this,” Hazel exploded, gripping her hot pink ‘That’s the tea, sis’ mug in her hands as she whirled around to face Ivy.

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

Ivy appraised Hazel with that infuriating, knowing smirk of hers. "You can come to Ethiopia," she said after a moment, feeling a laughter spark in her chest. She knew that it would just rile Hazel further, and while she didn't necessarily want to do that, she couldn't resist teasing her sister. She arched a brow as she waited for Hazel to finish her tirade, letting her sister spew out the acidic words meant to wound, but nothing more. Deep down, Ivy knew that Hazel understood why she had gone, even if it meant leaving her sister behind. The girls had always shared everything - they had bonded the moment Ivy had landed in South Africa with little more than the clothes on her back.

"I must have been gone a very long time for you to expect me to be the emotive one," said Ivy at last, the ghost of a smile haunting her lips. Hazel whirled around to face her, and Ivy gave her a full once over. A curl had sprung free from her neatly styled hair, and her cheeks were bright with fervour. Ivy glanced down. "You need new shoes. You've got a horrible scuff mark on the left toe," she pointed out, before returning her attention to her sister's taste. "You know why I did it. I had to protect you too. There's no use dredging up the past. We're together again. We're alive. We're safe," said Ivy, her voice cracking on the last syllable. "Is that not enough?" asked Ivy, stemming the emotion that threatened to rise in her.

Ivy wouldn't pretend everything was alright. The past year had been awful - she'd missed Hazel (and even Asher a tiny bit, though she was certain he wasn't interested in hearing it) so much her heart had ached every day. But in order to preserve the last vestiges of her family from the fallout of her betrayal, she'd had to cut ties. All ties. With the Purifiers threat all but gone, Ivy had felt comfortable enough returning to some semblance of her old life. She didn't expect Hazel to forgive her immediately. But she'd hoped her sister would at least understand. "Everything I do, I do it for you," said Ivy after a long pause, the hurt in her voice as evident as the mistrust in Hazel's face.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel pouted and stomped her foot on the ground at the barely-concealed smirk that showed itself on Ivy’s face a moment later. “Merlin’s bloody hat, that’s not the point! Who gives a flying f*ck about Ethiopia?! It’s hot and full of peasants and only ranked seventh in Witch Weekly’s top travel recs,” Hazel finished off sulkily, waving her hands dramatically again as she glared at Ivy. It was a miracle the coffee didn’t go flying, but honestly who even cared. Then Hazel would get a coffee stain on her robes and it would be just one more thing she could blame Ivy for. Even if that wasn’t exactly fair, but Hazel didn’t feel particularly fair or forgiving in that moment. Ivy had abandoned her, plain and simple. To be crucified by the public, and to be surrounded by pureblood vultures waiting for the inevitable end of the Burkes, and to Asher’s horrifyingly bad taste in suits and club music.

But none of that seemed to move Ivy, cool and immovable Ivy with her perfectly pressed robes and lounging on the chair like she was modeling for a cameraman nobody else could see. No, her sister hadn’t changed that dramatically in her year abroad – she was still the unflappable genius who could work her way out of any problem and spin any situation to her advantage. Hazel’s mouth dropped open as Ivy pointed out a scuff mark on her shoes, and she gripped the mug so hard there was serious danger of the mug snapping off. “That is literally the rudest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Hazel said with an outraged huff as she stomped over to the table and threw herself dramatically into a nearby chair. She slammed the coffee onto the table as she furiously began to swipe at the scuff mark with her wand. As if she’d be caught dead in public with a fashion faux pas like that.

And as usual, it all worked out to Ivy’s advantage because it meant Hazel was grounded while she worked on her shoe. No flying away in a dramatic swirl of robes while Ivy made her case. The lecture was familiar, and Hazel stubbornly set her mouth in a thin line while Ivy pointed out the obvious. That they were alive, and safe, and together. Even if most of those things were debatable at best. “Clearly you’ve missed a few family dinners,” Hazel grumbled as she removed shoe polish from her bag, “Or you wouldn’t say that everything’s okay.” But here she hesitated. Hesitated to mention the unnerving changes she’d seen in Asher since his release, the signs that something was slowly unraveling and there was no way to know what would happen next. Because Ivy had forfeited the right for information like that, right?

Even if Hazel did feel herself waver at the emotion in Ivy’s tone. The problem with siblings was that they always knew how to hurt each other. Sometimes it was just the little things – that annoying song you never wanted to hear again, stealing your earrings or refusing to buy that Fabergé Egg you wanted. But sometimes it went deeper than that and Hazel struggled with making the decision of whether she really wanted to go there or not. “Bullshit,” she finally said, avoiding eye contact with Ivy as she assessed the damage on her shoe. “Tell me you’d do anything for me even if it cost you big. Tell me that you didn’t blow up our family because you were thinking about yourself first and everything else second…but hey, some lies are just too hard to sell.” The words tasted like poison in Hazel’s mouth but she spat them out anyway. They’d swirled around in her stomach long enough, even if there was nothing she wanted more than to burn everything inside her that felt that way and start over.

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

Ivy regarded Hazel with that usual cool and collected look of hers. ”Seventh? That’s higher than I’d expected,” she replied loftily, maintaining her composure where Hazel did not. It was clear to Ivy that Hazel was not feeling particularly kind or forgiving at this moment, mostly due to the foot stomping and sulky look on her face. Hazel had always been the more selfish of the two, though Ivy would admit that this move of hers had been selfish in her own way. She’d warned Hazel before leaving, and Ivy understood Hazel’s frustration. The past year must have been difficult for her, especially dealing with it alone in the wake of destruction Asher had laid out for them. To ice the cake, Ivy pointed out a scuff on Hazel’s usually pristine pumps. Spitting mad, Ivy was granted a reprieve as Hazel swiped at the scuff on her shoe with her wand.

Ivy pressed on that they were safe, and alive, and most importantly together again. A year hadn’t changed that. Hazel’s look was mutinous, and Ivy knew she was fighting a losing battle. She sighed, her composure slipping slightly. ”I am sorry. I needed to disappear,” Ivy said again, though it felt like she was beating a dead horse. Once Hazel made up her mind, it was made. ”You need to let go of your anger and the past. The best way to heal is to learn from our mistakes. My mistake was trusting Elaine, and trusting Asher to not act out.” She paused, her dark eyes resting on her sister. ”We made our choices. Now we learn and live.”

Ivy’s voice betrayed her emotion with a quaver that she insisted everything she did was for Hazel’s benefit. ”That’s not true, and you know it,” said Ivy, her voice straining. ”If I had stayed, if anyone had even scented me out, you would have been tortured or killed. Elaine’s death doesn’t mean the Purifiers went away. They knew I had betrayed them. Better for them to think I was dead and gone than to use you to get back at me,” said Ivy sharply. ”Anyways, I didn’t blow up our family. We splintered and fell apart. We made our own choices, for whatever reason,” she added. ”You know me, Hazel. You’ve known me as long as I’ve been myself. You’ve seen everything about me, and you’re the only one who has. Look me in the eye and tell me that I’m lying to you.”

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel gave an unladylike snort that would’ve sent their mother into a swooning fit if she’d been in the room to see it as Ivy gave a rather swift condemnation of Ethiopia as a travel destination. That type of conversation had a familiar cadence to it because Hazel and Ivy always seemed to be planning their next extravagant vacay abroad. It was a rather well-known fact at home not to expect the sisters for Christmas break, which was why Hazel had shocked her parents by sulkily accompanying Asher home to South Africa last December. True, she’d barely been at home…but it was still a hell of a lot more attention than she usually gave to her family. And Hazel had hated every moment of it. Merlin, she’d spent the majority of her life with Ivy and it felt wrong to spend time apart.

It was easy to avoid eye contact with Ivy during such an emotionally charged conversation as long as she stayed focused on her shoes. Hazel finished polishing one and cast a critical gaze over her pumps – but it looked uneven so she swiftly redirected her attention to the other while she acquired selective deafness for parts of Ivy’s argument. “Don’t tell me what I need to do!” she answered hotly in an automatic response to that sort of opening argument. It sounded exactly like how Asher began 45% of his sentences and it always got the same reply from Hazel, even if it had already started to sound childish at the age of six. “I don’t need to do anything except have a drink named after me. And you didn’t need to blab to the Ministry and sell out your own brother.”

Because really, that was what hurt. Hazel didn’t really care about what had happened to the Purifiers – alive, dead, it was all the same to her and most other purebloods. She didn’t even really care about the arrests she’d heard about through the community’s rumor mill, or the drastic changes made to Hogwarts, or that Ivy had gone on an extended sabbatical. It was that Ivy had put her conscience in front of her family, and then left them to deal with the consequences. It was that Ivy hadn’t warned Asher not to come to the castle, or to tell Hazel to get out so their brother wouldn’t have felt the need. It was about family, it always came down to family. Hazel was selfish and irreverent and would always do what she wanted first…until it came down to the fundamentals. Even she had her red lines.

But she hated how good Ivy was at making her arguments. Because it sounded logical, and well-reasoned, and oh-so-practical. And Hazel was painfully aware that as much as she preached about the importance of family…she’d worked so hard to get Ivy and Asher face-to-face. That little impulse in her chest to see the family together…yeah, it was still there. Hazel slipped the polish back into her bag, and unwillingly looked up to meet Ivy’s gaze at her sister’s demand. “So what, then?” she shot back, her voice shaking slightly. “We just pretend it’s all gone back to normal? That Asher isn’t going mad and that I’ve not been pretending in front of everyone?” She stared at her cooling coffee, felt the bitter taste in her mouth at the reminder of what the past year had been for her. Hazel looked up suddenly and pointed a finger at Ivy. “Maybe you haven’t finished proving you still care. ‘Cause I sure as hell don’t see it.”

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

Ivy's eyes narrowed as Hazel spat back her response. "We are sisters, right? Sisters look out for one another. Sisters have to make hard decisions. Holding on to your anger will only destroy you from the inside," said Ivy, giving Hazel a hard look. "It was not an easy decision, Hazel," she added after a moment, casting her gaze downwards. "But I don't regret it. Asher will bounce back, stronger than before. More clever, more cunning." She sighed, tugging a coil of dark hair that hung just over her shoulder. "But if he'd been successful at bringing down Hogwarts, there would be no students to teach, no offices to decorate, no minions to minionise," she added with a slight smile.

Hazel seemed reluctant to listen to Ivy, though she pressed on regardless. "I had to do it. For us. For Asher." Ivy chewed her lip as she revealed to her sister that she was the only one who saw her for what she truly was. And always had. "No. We can't go back to how it was. Reparations will need to be made but... I think we can come back from it. I know it," she corrected herself after a moment. "Asher has always been on a different wavelength. Of a different mind. He's always been too stubborn, too narrow-minded, too focused to see the bigger picture. If he hadn't been as such, he would never have compromised his own position with society, and ours along with it. I will always be known as the traitor to my family. But Asher will be known as a traitor to wizard-kind."

Hazel pointed at Ivy accusingly, but Ivy maintained her mask of composure. She'd always been exceptionally patient, and now was just the same. She would lay out all the facts, outline and describe her arguments, and eventually, she would get Hazel on side. Ivy knew it would take time and apologies, but in the end she knew that Hazel would she that she had done the right thing. For wizardkind and for their family. "We don't pretend. We acknowledge our part in things, and we try to make amends. Try to help how we can. Because one day, when we're no longer here, the students that Elaine sentenced to death with her scheming will be the ones pushing society forward."

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel wanted to throw a tantrum. She wanted to march down to the Ministry, grab whoever she needed to in the Department of Mysteries, and shake them by the front of their robes until they handed over some neat little trick to turn back time. Asher had never talked about work with his family, but it was the world’s worst-kept secret that the Ministry’s most secretive department had some mad tricks. And she knew that was the only way to get what she wanted because despite Hazel’s little talents with Alchemy and metal-charming, she knew there was no amount of gold she could make or charm to fix her broken world. Her family had fallen apart. There were strangers on the street who hated her and even worse…pitied her.

And she was stuck with this completely irrevocable truth that Ivy wasn’t sorry. Her sister was probably one of the smartest people she knew, and part of that was that Ivy had an answer to everything. She’d clearly thought everything out already and been waiting for Hazel to come to her, because her answers were smooth and she didn’t seem surprised by anything Hazel had said. That boiled her blood, and she wanted to say something hurtful if only to shock her. But then Ivy was probably expecting that too. Hazel’s mouth turned into a flat line as Ivy used her fave way to describe the students – little minions – and crossed her arms so tightly her neatly-manicured nails dug into her arms.

But at least she was starting to speak Hazel’s language. Insulting Asher was a skill they’d both spent years refining, and tbh – there was a lot of potential ammunition to use. “Yeah yeah, we get it. Asher’s an arrogant SOB with daddy issues and the fashion sense of a house-elf.” It wasn’t the point that Ivy was trying to make, but Hazel had decided to add on a few of her own complaints if they were already going in that direction. But she shot Ivy an accusatory stare, just to remind her that engaging in their favorite hobby didn’t mean Hazel wasn’t angry anymore. “But you’re not off the hook, Ives! You’re obsessive and you think you’re always right, so you can’t even apologize when you’re wrong.” 

Hazel rolled her eyes dismissively at Ivy’s big-picture thinking as she went on about legacies and the good of wizard-kind. She didn’t care. She was selfish and inward-looking and only interested in herself and her immediate circle. Fine, call her all those things – but Hazel didn’t want to hear about how Ivy had saved the future of the wizarding world. She just wanted to be seen and heard. For it to be acknowledged that she’d been suffering, and for it to be known why. She stood up suddenly at Ivy’s final words and slammed her coffee on the table. “Fine. Let’s acknowledge our part in things. You start.” She leaned forward and put her hands on the table, her eyes locked on Ivy. “You put Hogwarts before Asher. You broke our family. You left me alone for a year so you could tell yourself that history will remember you right. Say it.”

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

Hazel appraised Ivy, a dull fury lit in her eyes. She was holding back, Ivy knew as much. There was a kernel of love still in that golden heart of hers. She had always been the best of them - the most innocent, the most headstrong, the most impulsive. Her fire tempered Ivy's cool indifference. She was the yin to her yang. Ivy knew that Hazel was lashing out because she was hurting. "Your sight is too narrow. You only see what is right in front of you," said Ivy, her voice cracking as frustration broke through. "As much as I wish the world was just the two of us, and that Asher had fashion sense better than a ghoul, it is not. We are part of something bigger - and I would like us to continue surviving." Her nostrils flared as her irritation softened. "I wanted a better world for us. I still do."

Ivy recoiled at Hazel's harsh words, but she wasn't wrong. Ivy prided herself on seeing the bigger picture, on making difficult decisions and thinking things through. She had combed over all the different ways her plan could work out, and this was the only way she could see it possible. "I apologise for leaving you, Hazel. I thought it was for the best, for your safety." Ivy swallowed. "But I will not apologise for my part in our reputation's destruction. All I have ever wanted was fairness. For our people to be seen as equal. And squandering that with murder is not the way to ensure justice."

Hazel had always known the best ways to hurt Ivy, as she had been the only person in the world she had opened up her heart to. Ivy's mask of indifference remained, but she could feel her gut wrenching, a cry desperate to escape her lips. As much as she wanted to rage and yell, it was not her. "I put the good of wizard-kind before Asher. I put Hogwarts before Asher. I broke our family. I left you alone. But I want no part in history remembering. And broken things have a way of mending. You know that more than anything, Hazel. We are not beyond repair."

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel wondered at what point she’d started to value flying under-the-radar. It was such an abhorrent thought to her that she cringed even at the thought, but there was something to it – sometime after her conversation with Parvati and the gratingly annoying pity she’d gotten, Hazel had started to wish that this was happening to someone else. That the Burkes could just be ‘normal’ (at least as much as you could call the other pureblood families normal), and that there’d be nothing spectacular to catch the tabloids’ attention. She’d always thrived on drama and doing her dutiful part to keep the wheels of the gossip mill turning, but there was something different when the drama was about you. It wasn’t so easy to rise above it.

She ground her teeth at that thought and at Ivy’s continued insistence that she’d done the right thing. But then Ivy acknowledged it. Putting Hogwarts before Asher. Leaving Hazel alone. Watching the family break apart from the distance so she could write the history book from an anonymous perspective. And hearing all those things said out-loud were wildly different than Hazel ranting in her head (because who did she have to talk to about her life falling apart?). If she’d spent the last year escaping to a fantasy world in her mind where she was golden and untouchable, then hearing her life summarized in a few heartbreaking statements was enough to land hard on the ground. Watch the gold-tinged clouds fade away until there was just cold hard reality left.

The corners of her eyes began to burn, and her throat choked up, and Hazel felt her face crumple. It was like time had flown back suddenly until she was six years old again, and Asher had said something mean to her, and she’d gone running to Ivy for a hug (and once she was a little older, an impulsive plan of revenge). “I don’t know how to fix this,” Hazel whispered, choking on the words as she brought a hand up to her face. Because damn Merlin and all his crystal balls, she wasn’t going to cry. Hazel had cried more than enough in the privacy of her room, and she hadn’t done so in public since someone had stolen that last designer purse from right under her nose. The distance between her and Ivy felt like it was uncrossable, then it shrunk to nothing at all. Hazel flung her arms around her sister and buried her face into Ivy’s shoulder.

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

It was not a simple task, to admit her faults to Hazel. But when her sister was involved, Ivy would face the insurmountable. She would do anything for her - even if it had meant breaking her heart. But Ivy reminded Hazel that all broken things could be fixed. That even though it felt impossible, things would get better. When they reached the bottom, the only way they could go was up. There were innumerable platitudes about it, but the truth remained. In spite of everything, they would rise.

There was tension between the two young women. Ivy acknowledged it, as she acknowledged her part in this dreadful schism in their family. She took responsibility when she was at fault, and after having analysed the problem from all angles, Ivy had pursued her way forward. And now, the most important task. To repair the broken pieces. Hazel's face crumpled as they continued to look at one another, searching the other both for weakness and for strength. Ivy didn't know if she could keep her face straight as she felt an unfamiliar burning at the back of her eyes. But then, it was like the past two years were erased and Hazel was in her arms.

Ivy could have cried with relief, though she knew the toughest battles were still to come. She let out a gasp anyways, and squeezed Hazel with all the strength she had. Ivy planted a kiss on the top of her sister's head - had she always been so much shorter than her? "We fix it by taking it one day at a time," said Ivy softly. "The only way we can."

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

There were a lot of things running through Hazel’s mind. She was unused to picking through her brain like a Pensieve and it was difficult to choose what to focus on first. Her family breaking apart while pureblood vultures circled their assets like they smelled blood? The Ministry poking their unmanicured hands into every aspect of the Burkes’ life, looking for more secrets they could use to pin Asher? The startling realization that Ivy was here in front of her, even if her life could have been so much simpler if she’d chosen to stay away? So Hazel focused on the most important fact first. “I’m not wearing waterproof mascara,” she whispered into Ivy’s shoulder, feeling the emotions of hugging her sister warring with the desire not to cry and ruin her makeup.

Hazel had gone running to Xiulan multiple times over the last year, searching for a sign in the cards (and the crystal ball, and in the tea leaves) that this was what was supposed to happen. That the universe had a plan and was going to fix things up for its good friend Hazel. She’d always been blessed with luck, touched with gold. That was her whole thing. The past year had shown her that she’d had no idea how to cope with tragedy, what it meant to be going through a crisis that just wouldn’t end. But she’d had no choice but to go through it anyway. Because really, what was the alternative? Hazel wouldn’t let her siblings down, even if…even if they’d certainly let her down.

Forgiveness was a troublesome concept, but as Hazel hugged Ivy tightly – she thought it might be possible. Not easily, not quickly (because honestly, when did she ever make things quick and easy) – but someday. “Missed you, Ives,” Hazel mumbled. It was a simple truth, too few words to capture such a grand moment, but for once Hazel didn’t mind the simplicity. It beat the insurmountable obstacle of trying to find the right words, of admitting all the things that she really felt. And anyway, Ivy knew what she really meant. She’d always been the only one who could read Hazel inside and out, meet her on the right wavelength. The place that Ivy usually occupied in her heart had been unbearably empty over this last year, and she'd felt the loss like it was physical. And after all the months that it had taken to find some kind of normal, it shocked (and maybe even angered Hazel a little) that seeing Ivy could undo it all in a moment. Life wasn't fair. She knew that. It also didn't go in a straight line. She knew that too. Thinking about the future took her breath away, so she focused on the now, the feel of Ivy's arms around her. And that felt alright.

IVY BURKE

[IVY BURKE]

Ivy chuckled, because of course that was Hazel's first thought. "You're gorgeous with or without. But thankfully, we have magic for touch ups," said Ivy, stroking her sister's hair. She clung to her like a life preserver, as if Hazel was the only real thing in Ivy's life. It was sort of the truth. Ivy had forsaken her familial bonds in service of the greater good. She just had to keep telling herself that it would be okay in the end. That they'd take things one day at a time. That eventually, the world would be a better place for all of them.

"Missed you too," murmured Ivy before releasing Hazel from her vice like grip. "Now, I think this calls for something stronger than a coffee," she added after a moment. She tapped her chin as if it would take her a moment to think about it. "Margaritas? We can floo down to London, I've had some recommendations," said Ivy with a smirk.

Hazel Rosalie Burke

[Hazel Rosalie Burke]

Hazel was used to compliments, practically thrived on them in fact, and she’d gotten quite good at steering the conversation in such a way that she always ensured a steady supply. But it had been a while since she’d gotten a compliment from someone she actually cared about (or was interested in receiving their opinion), and she felt a little warm flutter in her chest in response. It was a strange little moment of sincerity that had been sorely lacking in her life – mostly on purpose because Hazel didn’t want to feel good when she was determined to feel bad.

She perked up at the early signs of a great Ivy plan in the making (even if the last one had ended in the fiery destruction of an ancient magical institution), and nodded vigorously at the mention of something stronger than coffee. “Thank Morgana, yes. Tipsy grading is just so blah when you’re by yourself.” It was oodles of fun to mark essays with another professor, taking a sip whenever you found a mistake and straight up drinking if the student used the most ick shade of green ink that she’d ever seen. But doing it on her own was just kinda sad – like those pathetic Witch TV actors that couldn’t accept their sad life of being a one-line dragon egg extra on a kids TV show that aired in the middle of the night.

Her bad mood started to fade a bit at the thought of margaritas, and Hazel’s lips curved into a very natural half-smirk. “The Great and Mystical Ivy Burke wants to skive off school and go drink? When did that glow-up happen? But obvs yes, why are we still here?” Hazel rushed to add that last part before Ivy could interpret her teasing as a genuine desire to stay in this sleepy castle and do something boring and respectable – like prepping tomorrow’s classes or going to bed before 9. The little storm cloud in her chest began to break apart and Hazel dared to hope that maybe…not everything that was gone was lost? Just maybe?

IVY BURKE
[End post Hazel!]