Olivia Wilkes (blood_honour) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2010-05-16 16:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | chloe wilkes, olivia wilkes |
RP Log: Olivia and Chloe Wilkes (backdated)
WHO: Chloe and Olivia Wilkes
WHEN: Friday, 2 April 1980 (very backdated, sorry)
WHERE: Music room of the Wilkes Townhouse, Kensington, London
WHAT: Chloe is worried about Olivia.
RATING: Low
"You have improved," Olivia commented after the last note dissolved in the air. She lowered her violin and sat down by her sister's side on the piano bench. They'd moved from the dining room to the music room, after dinner, letting their instruments fill the silence between them. Violin had always been an escape for Olivia, a safety valve when things got too much to handle, and Merlin knew that she'd needed it lately. There were very few people she could talk to, after all, none of them knowing the full picture, and it sent her back to her violin more and more. There was Chloe, of course. But talking to Chloe could be... difficult, to say the least. Olivia didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing, to risk saying whatever might send her running off again, and so she'd chosen to keep silent until she had a better handle on her emotions. That, and she was a Wilkes. She might not be as bottled-up and reserved as her sister, but she still kept quiet. Evan had been the one she'd been more open with, but he wasn't there anymore. Hadn't been there for almost two months now, but now... Now he was really truly gone; he wouldn't change his mind; they wouldn't make up. And it wouldn't do to dwell on it, she chastised herself. "Thank you," said Chloe quietly. "I have been practicing." She forced herself not to stiffen as Olivia sat down beside her. That Olivia was speaking to her - to anyone, really - was a good thing. How are you? she wanted to ask, but that was an utterly foolish question. It was a foolish question, indeed, and that was why Olivia did not ask it either, though she wanted to as well. "I noticed," she simply said instead. She had heard her, the piano's music floating through the townhouse. They had played together more often as well, since Chloe had moved back. It was something they could share quietly, without exchanging many words. Something they had shared since childhood, through lessons, wrong notes, and practices. "Mrs Herbert would be proud of you," she commented, her tone slightly lighter as she remembered their old piano teacher. "It would be the first time," Chloe said, a touch wryly. Her mastery of the instrument had never quite equaled her appreciation of music, certainly not in the way Olivia's did. Chloe caught herself and gave her sister a sideways glance. The comment was the first attempt at humor the house had known for weeks - not that it had ever been a common thing. Chloe was hardly feeling in a mirthful mood, despite the comment. Beyond her concern for her sister, her thoughts kept returning to the rather morbid conversation with Regulus that had led her to flee her journal and suggest this distraction. Would it change Olivia's feelings to know the truth about Evan's death? Somehow Chloe doubted a knowledge of the deception would change her sister's feelings about the Dark Lord. Do not question His strategy, for he knows far more than you and I. Olivia raised a surprised eyebrow at Chloe's comment. Surprised and relieved, for the atmosphere in the house had been sad, guarded and deliberate for a long time now. Which was to be expected, considering everything that had happened, but it was good to see her sister relax somewhat. They'd been so careful around each other for... as far as Olivia could remember. Since their parents' death? Even before that? She wondered when things had changed between them. When had they gone from their childhood complicity to... this? It had been slow, and it had taken a turn for the worse since Chloe had found out about her involvement in the Death Eaters, but it had begun long before. Back in their school days, maybe? Olivia could not tell, though she wondered if it would help her now. Would it change anything to the situation they found themselves in now? Most likely not. They disagreed on what was most important. "She was hard on you," Olivia conceded. Mrs Herbert did not tolerate mistakes, and Chloe had always had a more difficult time learning music than her sister. Chloe directed her eyes back to the piano. It had been a very long time since they'd been easy with each other. She remembered Olivia's first holiday back from Hogwarts, full of talk of friends and professors, and seeming so much more than only three years older. Had it started then? The distance hadn't been so great, yet, however. When Chloe had been bitten by that malaclaw just before Easter, and Mother had insisted she keep to her room for nearly two weeks so that her bad luck would not wreak havoc with the spring festivities, Olivia had still taken hours out of each day to sit with her, despite everyone's interest in the new school girl. Chloe hadn't understood half of her sister's talk and had found less than half of that at all interesting, but the companionship had meant the world to her. She traced a finger along one of the keys and then folded her hands quickly in her lap as if caught in some indiscretion. "She expected a great deal," she said quietly. "I often disappointed her." The words twisted around on her, taking on a meaning was not entirely sure she had intended. "She asked for the best because she knew that we could give it," Olivia said, her thoughts still trailing on their former professor, missing her sister's hidden message. "And the way you played tonight is testimony of it," she added with a small smile. "It was beautiful." They needed beauty in their lives nowadays, and Olivia was glad, for one, that she could find it in music, something that was always available to her. She thought back on Evan's love of arts, remembering how she enjoyed attending the vernissage of the exhibitions he organised, making fun of the not always talented artist yet finding something in it, always. She missed him. Merlin, how she missed him. She fought away the sadness that was enveloping her such a shroud. Chloe had been making an attempt at humour just moments ago, it was not time to ruin it. "Thank you," Chloe said once again. She was rather glad Olivia had responded to no more than the obvious meaning of the words. The compliment moved her more than it should have, but a small part of her writhed in response. Her sister would not be so generous if she were aware of the full scope of Chloe's actions. "What would you like to play next?" Olivia asked, looking through the music sheets on the piano for something that would suit her sister's style and skills. Pausing, she looked up from the partitions to meet Chloe's eyes. "Unless you would rather take a break?" She could play for hours on end, but she knew that her sister tired of it much quicker than she did. Chloe's mind was, while still somewhat scattered, calmer than it had been when she abandoned her conversation with Regulus. The music had helped. It was one thing that had not yet been tainted by the war that had already claimed more than one of their friends. Not yet. One never knew how long such moments would last or what would interrupt them. Halloween, St. Valentine's Day... Persephone had lost her mind just before Emmeline's bridal shower, and Evan's death had come in the midst of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. "If he calls, you will have to go," she said, as much to herself as to Olivia. "You will always have to go." Olivia frowned, upset by the new turn her sister was giving to this conversation. They had been reminiscing their childhood's music lessons, enjoying a quiet evening together for the first time since - For the first time in a while. And now this. Clearly it had been haunting her sister, never leaving her mind, but Olivia wished they could have avoided the topic tonight, for one night. Just one night of peace and quiet. Just one night without worrying about every word she said, without fear that it might send her sister running again. Even what she did not say, apparently! "No such call tonight," she replied with as light a tone as she could, trying to sidestep the topic. "Tonight is all about you and me and music." Chloe did not immediately reply. It was not a particular desire to argue that had prompted the statement. But with so much already lost, she could not help worrying over the little that remained, even if holding on more tightly only caused it to slip away faster. "Nothing is ever only about you and me," she said. "It can't be. Sooner or later, he will call, and you will go and eventually you will not come back." So this was what it was all about: fear for her? What to answer to such a legitimate, she had to admit, fear? She could not promise that she was safe. Oh, she was careful and she trained a lot, on a daily basis, to improve both her technique and her reaction time. Yet, she knew that it might not be enough, that she might not come back, someday. Evan was more skilled than her, and yet... She could not let fear paralyze her. "I cannot promise you that I am safe," she said, facing her sister to read her expression as she spoke, "but I can promise you that I do everything to always come back. Believe me." "Everything?" Chloe said, still looking down, her face shadowed. Surely Evan had not intended to die. Their parents... There had been no proof. The DMLE had not been able to provide evidence that Richard and Elmira Wilkes were Death Eaters even after they were dead. There was nothing, but the bodies. If they had not fought, some said... I don't think it mattered to them whether they came back to us or not. "I cannot do that again." Chloe had turned her face and Olivia hadn't been able to see her reaction, but her words and her tone told her enough. And for an instant guilt washed over her, before she pushed it away. She was doing this for them, for Chloe as well as herself. Everything came to a price; she could only hope that it would not be too high. "And I hope that you will not," she replied, never more honest than in this moment. She did not want to die. She did not want to get arrested either. She knew she was at risk of both, and she was scared, of course, it would be stupid not to be, but she could not stop. The best she could do was to train and improve, so that her odds were better when time came to fight. She could be glad, as well, that the Dark Lord and the Inner Circle had begun to use her in more diplomatic missions, with the vampires. There wasn't much more to say to Chloe, though. She had made the only promise she could. There wasn't much more to say. Promises were impossible. You could leave, Chloe wanted to say, but even if there were a place where the DMLE would not follow, where he would not follow, she doubted Olivia would go. Chloe felt ill. The Dark Lord had put them in this position, with his war and all his seductive lies, but that did not change the fact that Chloe could very easily prove the tool in her sister's downfall. "I do not think I can play anymore tonight," she said, still without looking up. "I am sorry." Perhaps there would be more comfort in her journal now. Perhaps Regulus would have stopped writing. And if he were still awake, perhaps he would be able to help her make some sense of the world. "So am I." Olivia did not protest further. She was tired, disappointed that the evening had turned this way, that her sister could not let things be for one single night. Where was the girl who had made an attempt at humour just moments before? "I will play a little longer," she announced. She needed her violin to help her clear her thoughts and make sense out of it all. She understood her sister's fear for her, shared it as well, all the more since Evan's-- "Have a good night, Chloe." |