Who: Kevin and Shannon Entwhistle What: Kevin confronts his sister Where: Their flat When: January 5, 1999 (backdated) Rating: Average
Shannon had been late again. This time Kevin stayed up, sitting on the couch flipping channels on the television. He heard the lock switch and quietly watched his sister creep back into their flat. Kevin didn’t understand why she was sneaking into anything, it was her apartment after all. “You’re back late,” he said, more of a question than a statement. Shannon turned to him, an excuse prepped on her lips. But instead of waiting to hear about the pub night she and her friends had just had, he asked flat out. “Where have you been?”
“Who are you? Dad? Since when do you care where I am?” It was clear she was not pleased by her little brother’s questioning.
“Since I found a gun in our flat, that’s when.” In that moment, the dynamics of the conversation changed dramatically.
“Where the hell-”
“In your trunk in the back of your closet. I was looking for the Star Wars videos.” He replied.
It was clear that Shannon had no appropriate response. She bought time, busying herself with the removal of her coat and hat. “You had no right to be digging through my personal stuff.”
“Well, I didn’t think I’d find something in my sister’s old school trunk that might kill someone.”
Shannon stopped dead in her tracks, her face twitching with disbelief. “Ha. That’s your concern? Newsflash, Kevin. That stick you keep in your pants pocket can kill people too, you know.” She removed her gloves and slipped them into her coat.
Kevin didn’t understand. “Well, then. If you already consider our wands to be weapons, why would you need to bring another one into our flat?”
Shannon hung her coat up on the hook on the wall, before crossing over to the living room and sitting on the chair across from her brother. “Because a gun is a weapon that Purebloods are not expecting to come up against. It could be a small element of surprise that might someday save our lives.”
“From what? Someone breaking into our house?” Kevin wasn’t even sure what he was asking anymore.
“Is that so hard to believe, Kevin? Did you so quickly forget that just a little over a year they did break into our old flat? Did you forget coming home that evening and finding me gone?”
Kevin was flustered by her rebuttal. No, he had not forgotten. He pushed it from his mind, time and time again, but he still remembered. “But that was different then, Shannon. The war is over now. You-Know-Who is dead.”
“The war is not over!” Shannon hissed. “Haven’t you been reading the journals? You-Know-Who may be gone, but his followers still exist. And they’re already seeking revenge for their fallen leader. They’re already taking lives again.”
His sister’s words burned his ears. Kevin knew she was right and the signs that something was amiss had been growing each week. He had even expressed his concerns about certain things, including his attendance at the Charity Ball. But for some reason he wanted to remain positive. He wanted to think that now that the Dark Lord was dead and ministry was free from corruption that things would go back to normal. But even as he hoped that, lingering doubts remained.
“The Ministry is working on the situation though,” he countered, the sort of speech he would have offered in the past to smooth over an issue. “The Aurors and the DMLE, they’re looking for the Death Eaters.”
Again, Shannon shook her head in disbelief. “You think the Ministry is going to save us? Where were they a year ago when we needed saving? Oh yeah. That’s right. They were hunting us down and throwing us in prison, that’s where!”
Kevin didn’t understand. “If you believe the Ministry is still against us, then why are you working there again?”
Shannon paused, an answer mulling around in her mind. “Decent pay. Good benefits.” But Kevin knew this wasn’t a complete response.
“Who have you been hanging out with these past few months?” Kevin pressed.
Shannon laughed. “Friends. People like us. Muggleborn witches and wizards who went through the same things we did and understand how feel. They know what it’s like to live in a world where we’re constantly looking over our shoulder, doubting everything we see.”
Part of him understood why his sister would seek the company of other muggleborns. But they weren’t the only people who suffered at the hands of a tainted regime. Many of his halfblood classmates were tortured by the Carrows during their last year at Hogwarts. Even purebloods, those labeled as traitors to the cause, we’re being punished for their actions or lack there of. So many people were still hurting from the war. Why chose one group over another?
"Look, Kevin. I'm doing what's best for me. And I'm sorry if you don't understand that." His sister stood up, obviously trying to end the conversation. "It's late. I'm going to bed. "
Kevin wanted to continue talking to her. He felt there was something else, but what was the use. She had made up her mind. He said nothing as Shannon turned away and headed to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.