marlene mckinnon is on the mend (heart_of_a_lion) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-10-31 11:02:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | effie pepper, marlene mckinnon |
RP log: Effie & Marlene McKinnon
Who: Effie & Marly McKinnon
Where: Effie's flat
When: Thursday, 29 October, just after 8:00 pm (slightly backdated)
What: Marly has an apology and an explanation for her sister
Rating: No language (I know, shocking, right?), but mentions of sex. So ... PG-13?
Marlene hadn't wanted to tell Effie about all of this, but after last night, she owed it to her sister to explain why she had been acting the way she was. And she owed her an apology. So at eight o'clock, she left her own flat to head for her sister's. Honestly, she was a little surprised that her sister had agreed to easily to talk. Not that she was going to argue with that. She apparated from her London flat to just outside Effie's Montrose flat. Taking a deep breath and preparing herself for what she had to do tonight, she hesitated, then knocked on the door. Effie released a long sigh when she heard the knock. Although it might have just looked as though she was attempting to be a pain in the arse by giving a time frame for this little meeting, she really did have stuff to do. It was Thursday and that had been her night to do extra laps and practicing on her own since she was in Hogwarts. She didn't do it only on Thursday, of course, and was a bit spontaneous with other days, but Thursday was a constant. This time, though, she had forced herself to leave a bit early to shower and put on a pair of pajamas before her sister arrived. Effie really wasn't looking forward to this conversation, mostly because she didn't think that she was ready to forgive anything just yet. There were bigger things to worry about, yes, but it was hard to let go when her feelings were genuinely hurt. But, she did get to her feet, cross her flat, and open the door. Effie's face was expressionless as she looked at her sister, her arms folding in front of her. She didn't invite Marlene in - not yet - but instead leaned her hip against the door frame and then raised an eyebrow that clearly meant for Marlene to get on with it. Who knew that it was ever possible to feel overdressed in jeans and a t-shirt, especially ones she'd only grabbed to pull on after she'd showered after training? The urge to chide Effie for not bothering to check who was out there, and not having her wand ready just in case, was right on the tip of Marlene's tongue. But she swallowed the urge to say something. No use getting her sister even more on the defensive. "Can I come in?" she asked instead. "I'd really rather not say what I need to say out here, in front of anyone who might come by." If all Marly was here to do was to apologise or to grovel for her sister's forgiveness, she wouldn't mind doing that while standing in the hall. But this story was a sensitive one, nobody else even really knew the full story, and it was definitely not a hallway story. "Fine," Effie replied, moving aside to hold the door open for her sister. Her posture was still stiff and her face rather blank, both rather obvious indications that she wasn't happy about this. Well, obvious if the already lackluster greeting hadn't brought that point home. Once Marlene was inside, she closed the door and turned to face her sister. She didn't make any move to go further into the flat, even though she did realize that that part may have been a bit juvenile. Marlene sighed. She knew this wasn't going to be easy. She just hoped that Effie would give her a chance to explain. Not that she really deserved it, after everything she said yesterday. "First, I want to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply you were a slag. I just ... don't want you to make the same mistakes I did. I don't want Pepper to hurt you like ... like," she trailed off, looking down at the floor and crossing her arms over her stomach. "Like Leonard did to me." Would Effie remember Leonard Hoffman? Maybe. He'd been visiting their neighbour, his aunt Glynnis, the summer Marly was fifteen and Effie was fourteen. Four years older than Marly. He didn't seem to have much time to spare for the neighbour's daughters that summer. "Leonard," Effie replied skeptically, raising an eyebrow. She obviously hadn't any idea who he was, but she was already feeling herself get on the defensive with the mention of Pepper. Why would she just assume that Pepper was going to hurt her? But - no. She breathed in one long breath and then let it out again, trying to reset herself so she wouldn't say anything she would regret later. Her eyebrows dropped to their normal place on her face, but she did nothing more than give her sister a look to invite her to go on. Resisting the urge to sigh again, Marly took a deep breath. "Leonard Hoffman. Glynnis Hoffman's nephew. He was visiting her for the summer while his parents were in Africa, four years ago." She couldn't look at her sister as she told her the story. "He mostly ignored us, we were all too young and silly for him. Except me. Whenever I was the only one around, he flirted with me." Marlene shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "I liked the attention. You know, he was the cool older guy who thought I was hot. I couldn't tell you or Izzy; why would you believe me?" Gripping her elbows, she went on. "It was like that all summer. When it was just him and me, he was sweet and flirty. Around everyone else, I was just another kid. I didn't care, though. It was like a secret." Here, she paused. All anyone knew, if they knew at all, was just that Marlene had lost her virginity that summer. She'd never told anyone the true story about the how or the with whom. "It was mid-August. You and Izzy and Mum were shopping, I'd begged out of it. Dad was at work. I was home alone. Which was what I'd wanted." If Effie cared to do the math, she'd have known that by that point, it had only been about a month and a half since they'd met Leonard. "He came over, like we'd planned. And we had sex." It hadn't been a horrible experience, really. In fact, despite the pain, it was quite enjoyable. "After that, it was ... like nothing at all that summer had happened. Even when nobody else was around, he ignored me. And I still felt like I couldn't tell anybody, because nobody knew that there had been anything going on with us. And who would believe me? Jane Tompson down the street flirted with him constantly, and she was even his age, and he didn't so much as look at her." She'd never let on how much that had hurt. "And then ... he went home, and we went back to school. By then, I decided that I ... that I liked sex, as long as it didn't have any ... pesky emotional attachment involved. So I stopped caring." Marlene sighed, releasing the grip she had on her elbows, unwrapping her arms, running her fingers through her hair. Finally, tentatively, she looked back up at her sister. "I never wanted that to happen to you and Izzy. I've spent the last four years hoping that the two of you would be smarter than I was. And then you met Pepper. He's so much older, and ... you've hardly known him as long as we knew Leonard. I didn't want to watch you go through what I did. I could see that you cared about him. I was afraid he'd break your heart." Locking her hands together in her hair, behind her head, she looked away from her sister again. Tears stung her eyes. "I would have killed myself if you got hurt and I could have helped stop it." Effie was silent for a long moment as she processed the story. It really just brought up more questions within her, most of which most definitely sounded defensive. That wasn't exactly the most proper reaction to the story, though, especially when she was standing there and looking much like a wounded puppy. Blowing out a sigh, Effie took a step toward Marlene but kept her arms crossed in front of her. She might be mad at her, but she was still her sister and it wasn't any fun to hear about something like that - especially when it had obviously messed her up a bit. "I'm sorry, Marly, I really am," Effie said quietly, tightening her arms a bit. "But, I'm not fifteen and Pepper isn't Leonard Hoffman. I'd really rather that you didn't worry about it." Marly unlocked her hands from behind her head, swiping at her eyes before looking back at her sister. "I know you're not, and he's not, but ... I just can't help worrying. I'll always worry about you and Izzy, no matter what you're doing." She reached for her sister, her hand hovering over Effie's crossed arms. "Just ... promise me something? No matter what happens, don't make the same decisions I did." Taking a deep breath, Marly added, "And I'll stop being such a bitch to him. I'll even try to like him, for your sake." Effie stared at Marlene for another few seconds, trying to understand what she meant. Did her sister honestly think that she was going to go off the deep end if Pepper decided to be a jerk? Of course, she knew that that wasn't going to happen and she wasn't worried about it, but didn't Marlene realize that she was a very different person than her? They might be sisters and they might look alike, but they had their own personalities and demons that made them tick a certain way. And, really, Effie wasn't sure if she should be offended or not. But, in the end, she knew that it wasn't worth being offended over. Because, she knew that she was right - she and her sister were very different people. Effie tried to choose her battles wisely and this wasn't something that was worth being sore over. "Fine," Effie sighed quietly. "And I'd really like it if you stopped being a bitch to him," she went on to admit just as quietly, trying to drive home that fact. "And I'd also appreciate it if you actually liked him because he is a wonderful bloke." Marlene let her hand drop. Maybe if she was in a better state of mind, she would have tried harder to get through to her sister, because she could see that Effie didn't understand. But she wouldn't press the point. The quaffle was Effie's, it was up to her now. She looked away again. "No more bitch, and I'll give him a chance. If you like him, then I ... I'm sure he's great." That didn't sound all too convincing to Marlene herself, but at the moment, it was the best she could do. "I'll let you get back to whatever your plans were tonight." And with that, Marlene turned to go. "I'll let myself out." And she did, closing the door behind herself. Then she apparated herself home. |