InsaneJournal

Lorna + Ellie = Sisterly Fistacuffs
WHO: Lorna MacFarlane and Ellie MacFusty (Guest Appearance from Alasdair Maddock, Davina MacFusty & Owen MacFarlane)
WHAT: Lorna is confronting Ellie about her ignoring her. This might be a bad idea.
WHEN: Sunday 11/12
WHERE: Ellie’s house on the reserve
WARNINGS: Swearing. Violence. Mentions of career ending injuries.

Lorna was concerned about Ellie. In fact, she was more concerned about Ellie than she was about Pride’s loss yesterday. She did have a voice in the back of her head that kept saying over and over ‘Winning was a long shot. You haven’t done this in Six years’. (She tried to ignore that it sounded like a mini Merc). Sure, she could have made the biggest mistake in her life and might ruin her legendary reputation by returning but… fuck it. Quidditch… at the end of the day, was still Quidditch.

If her sister was upset, that was a much bigger deal. This wasn’t her first coaching job, but it was her coaching job for Pride. She put a lot on the line by getting Lorna back. There was fuss in the media. And it had been the Fall Classic. If they had been against a different team, this feeling wouldn’t be as much of a big deal. They went big, and lost. But… Lorna was determined to stick it out and improve for next time. She needed her sister to know that or at least give her the opportunity to Ellie to yell at her.

“Elsie?” Lorna called out when she let herself into Ellie’s house on the reserve. She heard a bit of a crash and bang in one of the other rooms. Before she could say anything else, Alasdair Maddock came around the corner with just his knickers and boots, and holding his clothes in his hands.

“Hey Lorna! Welcome back! See you later,” he said rather quickly before passing her and going out the door. So… it wasn’t the first time Lorna had run into Ellie’s hook ups. And… not the first time she’d seen Ellie’s ex-husband the morning after. “Bye Maddock,” she said simply and the door closed.

“Right. No reason to hide now, Elsie. I’m waiting!”

Ellie pulled a pillow over her head, collapsing back into the bed. Maybe she could just hide here, ignore her sister and the hangover. She felt like she had gone a few rounds last night, both in the good and not so good way. Ellie weighed the possibility of Lorna just leaving or barging into her bedroom.

“Don’t you have little monsters to take care of?” She shouted back. It was unlikely Lorna was going to leave and if they were going to to do this, Ellie might want to be wearing some clothes.

“That’s what husbands are for,” Lorna shouted back when she tried to toss her off with the kids excuse. She didn’t move to barge into Ellie’s room because she wanted Ellie to come out to her at least. Lorna was ambushing her at her house. At the very least, she could let her sister put on some pants.

As an afterthought, Lorna did make a move into the kitchen to get a glass of water ready for Ellie and to start some coffee for the glorious morning after she was probably going to have.

“No husbands are for orgasms,” said Ellie entirely to herself. “Or ex-husbands.” Fuck. She was going to have to deal with that soon. Tor wasn’t going to be amused. And actually, Lorna wasn’t going to be amused either.

She pulled on the closest shirt and pair of knickers she could find. Ellie wasn’t really awake for anything more. And if the shirt she grabbed was too big to be her own, so be it. She would claim later it was the smell of coffee that actually lured her into the kitchen.

Ellie silently grabbed the glass of water, chugging it back in one go and sat down at the table. She crossed her arms over her chest, not planning on speaking until she had coffee and maybe a pain potion in her hands.

What Ellie did in her own time, who she did, really was technically her sister’s business. But Lorna was probably going to make it her business though it would have to wait until later. While the coffee was brewing, Lorna started to look for some hangover potions to see if sober!Ellie had been looking out for hungover!Ellie.

Lorna looked over her shoulder when her sister finally emerged and drank the water. “Here,” she said putting down the potion she found and poured Ellie another glass of water. “Coffee will be ready soon,” Lorna added as she reached for two mugs out of the cupboard.

Ellie continued to simply glare at Lorna. Vaguely she wondered what time it was. And also if Stephen had left already to go do whatever researchers did during the day. If not, he was probably smart enough to make himself scarce.

She reached for the potion and threw it back just like she did with the water. Ellie was quite content to sit there, purple hair don’t care, and wait. Maybe Lorna would get bored.

Ellie was underestimating how not boring she was. While Lorna was sure there was something else she could be doing right now, it wouldn’t solve the current mood between her and her sister. Things had changed with her going back to Quidditch. Yes it was Ellie’s idea, but Lorna has agreed. Ellie was her best friend as well as her sister, so she wasn’t going to let one loss, not matter how important it might have been, affect their relationship.

Lorna poured both of them a cup brought them back to rest on the table for Ellie to reach for it. Lorna finally took the opportunity to look a bit closer to her sister. Purple hair from yesterday which still made a statement despite the bed head. Very much cranky hangover face. Lorna took a sip of coffee before she thought about where to go with this.

“I’m sorry that we lost yesterday,” Lorna said going right to the point.

She didn’t hesitate to reach for the coffee. Ellie pulled a face at Lorna. So entirely missing the point. “Fuck if that’s the main issue at hand,” she said. She wouldn’t lie and say she didn’t care about losing, she did. But for all that the not winning, they played well and she could easily connect the gaps to see they were going to have a strong post season.

It was everything else that was wrong. Not to mention having to see Gwen Miracle’s smug face tomorrow. Ellie raised the mug in a cheers before taking a sip. Hot and strong, just enough to break through the fog. “Thanks for the coffee, though.”

But fine, if Lorna wasn’t going to go away, Ellie didn’t have to stay here. Coffee in hand, she walked to the back door where she kept her boots. She slid into them easily and stepped out onto the deck and the near freezing temperatures.

Lorna wanted to feel relief, but she didn’t because that meant there was more of an issue there too. She wanted to get that apology out of the way because then maybe Ellie would talk to her about it. However, that seemed to have the reverse effect then.

She watched Ellie go, but Lorna wasn’t that much farther before. Lorna had her cup in hand and she watched and followed after her sister when she went outside to the freezing cold. She couldn’t get rid of her that easily.

Pushing through the door behind Ellie, Lorna was out on the deck too. “You’re welcome for the coffee, but an apology and coffee is not the only reason why I’m here,” she said. She still couldn’t get over the gift she’d got… the dragon who was avoiding and ignoring her. If that wasn’t a metaphor for Ellie right now, she didn’t know what was. “Pretend I’m dumb and tell me what the main issue is.”

Between the coffee and the cold air, Ellie was feeling a momentary calm. She wouldn’t call it a clarity because it was quite far from that. But it did give her something quite loud to focus on. Ellie leaned over the railing looking out over the land, the vast space of her tiny island.

“You know, I always liked it out here.” At various times she had kept flats in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and even Diagon when she was playing in England. Still, the Outer Hebrides were home. “The dragon’s nests just over there. Quiet. With the sea.

“And I can’t help but wonder what life would have been like if we stayed here, like Davina.”

The shock of cold air was a nice contrast from the fresh hot coffee in her hand. She noticed that Ellie looked calmer too. That was a plus at least, and she wasn’t kicking her ass to leave. Lorna went over to lean against the railing next to her sister as she listened to her observe their surroundings.

“It’s home,” Lorna said as her way of agreeing. It had been a hard fight that she lost to not live on the reserve. She had been there almost every week for the last six years… but MacFarlane didn’t want to live there permanently.

“I did it for a couple of years,” she said though Ellie was more than aware of that. “Then you convinced me to do something different.”

Ellie pressed her eyes closed, wrapping her hands more tightly around her coffee mug. “Maybe I was wrong.”

Lorna paused while she let those few words sink in for a moment. Her fingers were tapping at the side of her mug as she processed what to say next. “Do you mean back then, or now?” she asked. For the moment, Lorna was ignoring the emotional backlash from the thought that even her sister even thought she shouldn’t have come back to Quidditch.

“Then,” said Ellie in an exhale. “Now.” Later she might feel differently, but right then it felt worse to have lived her dream, and then have it taken away. And sure, there were spaces for new dreams, but they didn’t feel the same. So, maybe it would have been better to not even have let that been an option. “I would have made a better dragon.”

Well… that just made it sound even worse. Lorna had to look at Ellie carefully. Did she mean Lorna should have never played at all? Or was she talking about herself? Either way… it was no way to think. She still had to chuckle a moment at the comment of being a dragon. “Probably. You can blame Mum and Da for that.”

She was quiet while she took another drink of coffee. “I’ve always done what other people wanted me to do. I mean, I wasn’t forced into anything. I have never done anything I didn’t want to do, but the original idea was never really mine,” Lorna said for a moment when she thought about. “I was the oldest. There were expectations of me. If it wasn’t Quidditch, then I would have been here. I might not have met MacFarlane. But if I didn’t meet MacFarlane, I wouldn’t have had kids because that was his initial idea too,” she said but she didn’t do this to make it sound like it was about her. Because it wasn’t.

“You Elsie have always done what you have wanted to do and never let anyone else tell you otherwise. For bad or for worse, all your choices are your own. And that can take a lot out of a person, even a dragon,” Lorna explained. “It’s okay to get some help for those tough decisions. To take some of the burden or to give advice. The main reason I came back was because I wanted to help you, like you’ve always helped me make a decision.”

Ellie leaned forward, bending over so her head was pressed into the railing and the space her hands created. She almost laughed. Almost. Because she also felt a little like crying, but wasn’t that the big joke? It all had been her choice except for the one very important time it wasn’t. Not really.

After the 1994 Worlds she had barely been a person. Healing was a wonderful art, but it could only do so much. She had been barely been able to sit up without vomiting, let alone try to get back on a broom. It had been nine months of her life she didn’t talk about. Few people had been seen how bad it was right after the injury.

She fell into coaching because she couldn’t give the sport up, couldn’t let it go, even as she knew it wouldn’t be enough. Especially not when she was putting players in situations too close to her own. And fuck it all if seeing Lorna get back on the pitch didn’t tear her up inside. For as much as she needed Lorna, she also didn’t want to witness or help her return. Once again Lorna would get what she wouldn’t.

And fuck all if she was having that conversation with her sister now. Or ever.

“Lorna,” she said after too long. “Just go home.”

This time when Ellie was silent, Lorna just let her be. She really wanted to help. Lorna was the big sister. She was a Mom now. It was her job to try to fix things and protect the ones she loved. But really… she just didn’t know.

She didn’t know what her return actually did to Ellie. Lorna was only assuming that her sister just needed her… that any conflict was about Lorna not being ready or that she might get hurt. Lorna didn’t realize that her coming back would remind Ellie that she couldn’t come back. That Lorna wasn’t going to make this better by being there for her sister.

When Ellie finally replied to her, Lorna sighed. Should she push her or go away like she wanted? So she sipped the coffee while she thought about it. She didn’t help Ellie feel any better. Pride hadn’t won the Fall Classic. She didn’t know if she was ready to admit defeat again this weekend.

“Funny, I thought the reserve was my home too,” Lorna said instead.

Now she did laugh. It was the easier option. “Not since you stopped being a MacFusty.” Ellie even turned her head to see just how that quip landed.

That made Lorna pause but not in a good way. The quip landed, that was for sure. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Ellie righted herself, leaving the mug on the rail. “You ran off married MacFarlane and left us.”

“That’s bollocks, I never left anyone! I got married, and long before I ever left Quidditch, if that’s what you meant by leaving!” Lorna said to that accusation and put her mug down too. “You got married, but you still get to be a MacFusty. Or is that because your marriage ended you got to come back?”

“Leave Maddock out of this,” said Ellie. As far as she was concerned he was a non-starter. “I never once stopped being a MacFusty. You let that bawbag put a sprog in you and that was it.”

“Oh, you mean your ex-husband who just strutted out of your house naked twenty minutes ago?” Lorna said pushing back with her own observation. Lorna glared at that insult. “That is MY husband you’re talking about, and you have no fucking right to talk about him that way!”

“And you have no fucking right to pretend you’re a MacFusty.”

“Fuck YOU!”

If Lorna had been thinking rationally (and she wasn’t) she would have seen what Ellie was doing. Because she was a MacFusty. And there was only one what MacFustys dealt with things. So Lorna threw the first punch with all the frustration she’d been feeling since yesterday.

It was a sloppy throw, telegraphed from the start and easy for Ellie to dodge. This what what she wanted. Fists were easier than feelings. She then returned the volley with a jab to Lorna’s gut.

Lorna had been angry, not aiming, so it was easy for Ellie to dodge from her punch. But she adjusted and anticipated Ellie’s reaction. Lorna pulled back just enough so Ellie’s fist grazed her side and she pushed back at Ellie’s shoulders to give Lorna the distance to punch at her side near her kidney.

She took the hit, stumbling backward. Ellie caught herself on the rail, her fingers brushing against her mug. It was just enough of a bad idea, that she went with it. She tipped it over, dumping out the rest of the coffee and then swung back at Lorna with the mug.

“Fuck, Ellie!” Lorna saw her with the mug coming back at her. When Ellie swung, Lorna blocked and pushed Ellie’s arm away with the mug smashing against the railing. That just fueled the fire more, and aimed another punch right to Ellie’s face.

There was an aborted sound as Lorna’s fist slammed into her ear. Even as she took the hit, Ellie was planning the next move, eager to use Lorna’s momentum to slam her into the railing and pieces of mug.

Lorna felt her fist made contact, but she realized too late how much weight she put into the punch. Ellie slammed her against the railing. Lorna cried out as pieces of the mug dug into her back. She also lost her balance and fell back against the railing. She grabbed onto the nearest thing, which was Ellie, and pulled her sister with her as they fell off the porch.

Luckily it was only a few feet to the ground, cushioned by a rather nice bit of shrubbery. The pair hit the ground with a thud, all scratched from the brush as the momentum carried them rolling a few feet down the small hill.

The ground was fucking cold and if not for the adrenaline, Ellie might realize how cold she was outside in nothing more than her Wellies, a men’s t-shirt, and her knickers. She really hadn’t come dressed to fight, but she was not going to back down.

It was a well placed shrubbery. Lorna knew she was going to feel this pain later, but that the moment she didn’t care. She felt the scratches on her skin as they moved from the shrubbery to rolling down the hill. It was cold too. She had just apparated over in a t-shirt and pants. Lorna hadn’t anticipated being in the cold either.

Finally when Lorna stopped and pushed herself up from where she landed on her side. She looked to Ellie to anticipate her next move and was ready to kick Ellie out of her way.

Ellie pushed herself so she was partially upright, doing her best to ignore the dizziness. She initially thought about throwing another punch, but didn’t trust her aim. Instead she launched her whole body Lorna intent to tackle her back to the ground.

Lorna was ready for her as Lorna kneed Ellie in the stomach when she lunged to tackle her back. She grabbed at Ellie’s wrists to try to push her away.

The knee to her stomach knocked the wind out of her, and had she had breakfast, it would probably come back up. Luckily her pain potion was in full effect. From how she was pinned, Ellie only had one move left. She opened her mouth and bit Lorna. Hard on her forearm to break the hold.

Lorna shrieked at the bite and let go of Ellie’s arms instantly, and punched her in the face again to get her to let go.

Ellie covered her nose and moved to kick Lorna when --

Pop.

“ENOUGH!”

The jolt of red light froze both women in their places. Davina ran toward them, shaking her head. “I would expect better of you, but then I know you better than that. Please tell me it’s not about whether you’re allowed both wear your hair in plaits because you’ll look too much alike.”

Fuck Davina. Always getting in the way. “None of your fucking business, Davina!” she said and pissed even at comparing this to when they were kids. She might have thrown the first punch here, but she didn’t start this. Ellie knew what she did.

Ellie was breathing hard. “And this nyaff won that one anyway!” It was hardly the point but it felt like it needed to be said.

Looking between the two of them, Davina threw up a little force field to keep them off each other after she undid the stunning spell. “Unfortunately, if you do kill each other on the Reserve, I have to fill out a lot of paperwork. Just keep calm for like two minutes, Owen should be here soon.”

“Davina, you called Owen? I’m a grown ass woman, I don’t need my husband to come get me,” Lorna asked exasperated. And after the way this fight started, she didn’t want her sister near Owen.

Pop

“Ugh. So what’s going on?”

Fucking hell. Davina unfroze them once Owen arrived and Lorna was up on her feet. “Where are the kids? You didn’t leave them alone?”

“I just dropped them off with your Mum. Are you alright?” Lorna had no idea what she even looked like right now. Hair all over the place from rolling down the hill. Her arm was bleeding from a bite mark and her t-shirt was cut up in placed.

Ellie’s blood was boiling when Owen arrived. Any calm she might have been arriving at with Davina’s arrival was gone. “Go HOME!” She ripped off her left Wellie and threw it at the pair of them.

“Okay,” said Davina. “That’s enough. Let’s go.” Davina helped Ellie to her feet and led her sister back into the house to get patched up.

Owen still had his wand out so the Wellie didn’t hit them. Lorna stared off at her sisters when Davina pulled Ellie back towards the house. “That’s probably a good idea,” Owen said and Lorna silently nodded. He took care of the apparating and they were gone.