Who: Rebecca Corner and Gabriel Corner
What: Hogsmeade weekend run-ins
When: This afternoon
A day shopping in Diagon Alley was abso
lutely necessary. It had felt like a millenia since Rebecca and Franzy had set up the date, but it was very welcome to the seventh year. The halls of Hogwarts had been nearly suffocating, and to simply get out and off the property was enough to make her feel a million times better. Of course, it wasn't a
complete cure for her seemingly constant headaches, but Rebecca was glad for the change in atmosphere nonetheless.
As she stood by the front of the store, waiting for Franzy to come out of the changing booth (where she was trying on a set of robes that Rebecca was finding herself jealous of), her eyes wandered to the windows. The streets of Diagon were busy, as usual, but not enough to keep her from catching sight of---
"I'll be right back!" she squeaked, dropping the gown she had in her arms and hurrying out the front door, unaware that she was still wearing a pair of the store's shoes. "Gabriel!"
Her brother stopped immediately, turning his head back and forth looking to locate the voice. Rebecca rushed through the crowd and plowed into his back, gripping onto his cloak tightly as he squirmed to try and see who it was.
"Becca!" he let out, arms immediately wrapping around his sister once he'd fully revolved. She sank into his embrace, glad that he still was, physically, the same Gabriel she knew and loved. Rebecca had moaned about how much she missed her dear brother, but actually seeing him and hearing his voice completely overwhelmed her; tears struck her eyes and she pulled back to wipe them away. "What are you doing here? Oh--Becca, don't cry.."
"I'm not crying!" she let out squeakily, pivoting away. "I'm not, I---it's a Hogsmeade weekend and--
Gabriel, where have you been?" Rebecca turned to look up at her brother, finding it hard to concentrate on a single thought. How was he, what had he been doing, where was he living, was he
okay.
"I--in London, I found a new flat, I didn't think---" Gabriel's eyes cast down and Rebecca finally got to
look at her brother. It seemed like he hadn't eaten in days, his skin was a deathly pale and his
hair. "I was concerned that they'd close my savings, so I---emptied it and moved to a place I could afford on my own."
He was
blushing, embarrassed that he'd taken his
own money and was living based off of his own hard work. Rebecca had always adored her brother, she'd always found him to be the perfect example of a gentleman, but for the life of her she could not understand his humbleness. Didn't Gabriel realize that he was brilliant? He was smart, he was handsome, he was kind and sincere, he had everything anyone could want in a friend, in a son, in a significant other, but he shrunk into himself at the mere
thought of being exceptional.
"Listen, Gabriel," Rebecca began, her mind turning ridiculously fast, "Mama and Father, if you just tell them that you've nothing to do with
her or the---child, they'll be so happy, I've spoken to Mama! She's devastated, Gabriel!"
"Don't tell me that," he mumbled, looking away, eyes casting back and forth on the ground in front of them, "Becca, how am I to choose? I made that child with Mary---don't give me that look."
Rebecca couldn't try to wipe the near snarl off her face at the mention of the girl's name, and she let out a great breath from her nose, arms crossed tightly. "You can choose easily, I don't see why this is such a hard decision---"
"Choose between my family or my son? Rebecca, that's hardly---"
"You would choose someone you've never met before over me!" She cut him off, the thought searing through her chest. "Gabriel Lawrence, you would
honestly choose this child, a child you're having with a woman you don't even
love, over your own family? Who have been--I shouldn't even be
speaking to you and---this child is a
mistake--"
"Don't
say that!"
She felt her heart completely shatter at the self-disgust etched on his face. He couldn't choose. He couldn't choose between---no. He couldn't choose
her. Rebecca realized this quickly; Gabriel couldn't find enough of a reason to pick one choice over the other. The unsettling in her stomach was absolutely wretched, and her eyes narrowed into slits, her vision already blurry with tears. There was nothing else to say, here.
"Good, be miserable with the whore!" Rebecca spat, turning away quickly. She heard her brother call out to her, but she didn't acknowledge it as she raced back into the dress shop. No, she was done acknowledging him.
