Deserving of a sister figure [Isabel]

[faye.louise.harper]

Faye had been sneaking around in the restricted section since breakfast. She was trying not to set an example to other students, therefore she was determined not to be seen. Although she was staff, she knew what students were like. They liked to think they had the same rights as teachers and she didn't want to put any false illusions out there that it was ok for them to be in this section. She was careful when scanning the books. She was aware that there was one book in the lot that screamed very loudly when opened. That was the last thing she needed to happen but some of the books sounded so riveting! The occasional one she couldn't resist but to pull out. She was due to meet her pleasant sister. She was eager to find out how she was getting on with things and oh so thankful that she hadn't been matched yet. Neither sister had, to her knowledge.

But cupid had to be planning something. On the surface she was excited for herself, she couldn't wait to be matched. She trusted Cupid's judgement and believed that no matter what hardships, the person she would be matched with would be the right guy for her. However she didn't want her sister, who didn't quite share her view, to be sucked into it against her will. This preoccupied Faye's thoughts far more than any prospect of her being matched. That would happen when fate (or cupid) intended it to. She had no fears that her match might be incompetent intellectually, so she dreamed that one day they might be searching through books together and stimulating each other on their choices of books. Faye was a researcher, she loved choosing topics and learning absolutely everything there was to know about it.

It gave Faye comfort to know that she was meeting her sister here, in the library. Because naturally not only did she love books but her family. She always longed to know they were alright and if they needed her help she was there for them. She picked out a few of her favourite books and went to sit down at a table near the door, so she'd be spotted immediately. With a smile on her face as the smell of old pages filled her nose, she patiently read and waited.

[isabel.ava.harper]

Isabel flew through the castle like a bat out of hell. Her sister was waiting for her in the library, but it wasn't the usual excitement that spurred her on today. This time, fear propelled her along the corridors at top speed. She tried not to crash into people as she went, but the odd bump was inevitable with the careless way she was flinging herself around corners. She no doubt looked like a crazed maniac, with her blonde hair flying behind her like a golden cape of craziness, and her hands bunched into fists. She had to see Faye. Right. Now.

Her big sister had always been a rock for Isabel, and in her current predicament, there was no one on the planet she wanted to be with more. No one that could soothe her nerves and make her calm down the way Faye could. Luckily, the eldest Harper girl had gotten herself a job as Hogwarts' Flying instructor, so she was pretty much on hand twenty-four-seven to be there for her younger siblings when they needed to vent. Isabel was thrilled by this, of course, especially today. She finally reached the right floor, and almost went barreling straight through the door, when she remembered that this was the library, and a certain kind of etiquette was required.

Skidding to an abrupt halt, she gave the librarian at her desk a wide-eyed look, to see if she'd noticed anything. Thankfully, her attention was elsewhere, so Isabel smoothed her hair down, took a huge breath, and speed-walked over to the table section near the front of the room, where her sister sat reading. She didn't bother with pleasantries, just marched right up to the brunette, tears already springing to her eyes, and announced "Faye-Faye, I think I'm going to be sick." At this point, she was stood directly over Faye, closer than one would imagine comfortable. Her stomach was practically shoving into the side of Faye's head, so close was she, as her hands clasped protectively over her chest, wringing the life out of each other. She wasn't sure what else to say yet. Or if she could even manage the desired words. So she stood there and waited for her saviour to make everything better.

[faye.louise.harper]

Faye's body immediately swiveled round to see Isabel looking absolutely flustered and panicked. The simple answer might be that she thought she was late for their meeting, but surely she knew her sister didn't mind when she was enchanted by a good book. No, there had to be some kind of news. Faye was ready to immediately jump to her feet and hold Isabel tightly just to stop her from running into someone. A breath of relief came when she calmed her exterior down on her own, smoothing down her hair and looking collected once more. At least, Faye knew, until she came over to greet her. Then there was definitely going to be some kind of trouble she needed to tell her about. Faye was already hoping it wasn't disastrously bad. Her hopes were dashed as she saw the tears in her eyes.

"Your sick?" Faye asked, closing her book. She marched straight over to the librarian and asked if she had any goblets. Fortunately she had one that Faye promised to return. Moving back to the table, Faye had already called Aguamente by the time she got there and the goblet was filled with clean, fresh water. "Here." she offered, knowing that sickness was a terrible taste and needed to be washed down. Faye's petite hand gently brought Isabel down to her level, encouraging her to sit down. "Talk to me. What happened?" she asked softly, frowning slightly at the unclear message she seemed to be left to figure out. She felt sick.. was that all? Was she hexed with nausea? It could be anything, nothing was ruled out in the wizarding world.

Faye straightened her figure as she sat. Her hands were both on the table like laying cards. One blink sent a tear hanging from her eyelash. When her sister was upset, she was upset. It was natural, Faye never found their closeness the slightest bit odd or strange. "Of course, if you don't want to talk about it, or just need a hug, that's fine too."

[isabel.ava.harper]

She carried on distractedly ringing her hands together as Faye stood up and went to speak to the librarian. Isabel had no idea what her sister was doing, but when she came back with a goblet of water, and pushed her little sister down into a chair, there was no resistance. Isabel's slender frame plopped down, a little too stiff, and she took a sip of the water, eyes watching Faye as an unsurprising tear streaked down the brunette's face. It was pretty normal for the sisters to get upset when the other was feeling sad. There didn't really have to be any explanation, tears would just roll. And since Isabel was a little on the sensitive side, it happened more than one might think.

She shook her head as she tried to find the words to answer Faye's question. Yes, she did need a hug, but that wasn't all. She needed a time turner. Though she knew that would only make the last hour repeat itself. She didn't want that. It would only lead to the same place. Maybe she just needed to get on her broom and fly far, far away.... But then, her problem would probably just fly along behind her until she plucked up the courage to turn around and face it. She couldn't face it alone, though. With a sigh, she finally spoke. "I'm not sick. I just...." Again, she couldn't finish her sentence.

Instead, she willed herself to un-knot her hands, and reached around to the back pocket of her jeans. Slowly, she pulled out a small - now slightly crumpled - pink envelope. She couldn't even look at it. Just touching it made her want to scream. She wasn't ready for this. Not now. Not until she was well into her twenties. Or so she had always imagined. Biting down hard on her lip to stop her own tears from spilling over, she silently thrust her Cupid's letter at Faye. The look she gave her sister said it all. Isabel was terrified. She didn't want to open the thing. She wanted to rip it up and throw it in the fire, but she'd heard of a friend who did that, and she had just received a new one a few hours later, so it was blatantly hopeless. Her life was doomed.

[faye.louise.harper]

Faye knew her sister was a strong woman. So, if there was something she needed her sister's help with, of course it was of the greatest importance to Faye. She hoped she'd confess to what it was soon, her heart was beating so fast as thoughts flooded her mind about everything from cancer to something happening to their brother. When she pulled out the crumpled pink envelope it all became clear. "Oh..." her mouth froze in that 'O' shape. It looked unopened. Well, that meant she hadn't looked at who was inside. Surely that was both a good and a bad thing, the good news was it could be anybody, maybe someone she liked. The bad news, it could be anybody. The worst part of it was that the letter was replaceable and the person inside was not. If he had to, Cupid would send a hundred letters to Isabel until she opened one. And they would all bear the same name, the person her sister was destined to be with. She was nervous for her, she had no idea who it could be.

And why now? Her sister was still in school! She had her studies to focus on, not matches and her destiny. Faye hadn't got a letter in school and she didn't even have one at twenty-one, why couldn't Isabel be given the same courtesy? Faye wasn't anymore anxious to open it as Isabel was. She was equally as terrified of the name it would bear inside. Tucking her hands into her bag, Faye pulled out a few tissues and handed them to her sister. She hated to see her cry. "How about this: I'll look first, and if you don't want me to tell you what it says, I won't. Not until your ready." Faye took a deep breath, still frantically wishing this had been left until her sister was at least out of school.

She slowly opened the envelope and read from it, a poker face kept on as she knew her sister would search for a reaction and that would make her even worse. With an acknowledging nod, she placed the letter back in it's envelope and pressed it back on the table. "Do you want to know?" she asked, a serious look with sensitive eyes was aimed now at Isabel.

[isabel.ava.harper]

(ooc: I'm sooo sorry it's took me so long to reply, hunny! <3)




"How about this: I'll look first, and if you don't want me to tell you what it says, I won't. Not until your ready." Though her sister's offer unnerved her, it seemed like a pretty reasonable - and kind - idea. Isabel nodded, and held her breath as Faye carefully tore open the envelope. Her poker face was very familiar, and Isabel had spent equal amounts of time throughout her life being annoyed at it, and grateful for it. Right now, she was swinging between the two. It seemed to take forever for Faye to read the letter - or at least the name on it - and return her attention back where it was needed most. "Do you want to know?" she asked.

Isabel stiffened in her chair with anticipation. Her palms were sweaty, and her mouth was dry as sand paper. She took another large gulp from the goblet of water, set it down a little too forcefully on the table, and nodded again, before shaking her head fervently. "Yes.... No! Is it...." she fumbled for the right words to what she wanted to know. "Will I be happy?" That wasn't the right question. Of course her sister would lie to her and say 'yes' either way. "I mean. Is it good? Or you might not even know who they are, what a stupid question!" She was now shaking with fear, the nerves getting the better of her.

Taking a huge shaky breath, she rested her head in her hands on the table, and tried to calm herself, her face sinking down to the cool wood, where she stayed for a minute before finally making the effort to peer up above her arms into Faye's eyes. This had to be the most stressful experience of her life. Even meeting whoever this guy was wouldn't be as bad as finding out his name, she was sure. Isabel was usually a confident person, so she would handle it, no matter what the result. It was just the desire to put off finding out that was turning her into a jelly-legged mess. "Do you know him? Do I know him?" This was turning into twenty questions. She just wanted to be prepared for the name. Her currently clouded logic was telling her that if she knew whether it was someone she'd like or not, then that would make the final blow a bit easier.

[faye.louise.harper]

Not until she was ready, Faye had said. She wondered though if her sister would ever be ready to know who was going to be her future husband and life partner. That wasn't the sort of news one took lightly. When hearing her sister's questions, Faye was ready to burst that it was actually quite good. She knew him. They got on so well together. There were a million names that would've looked worse on that envelope. But she disregarded her question of happiness before Faye could answer. A shame, because Faye had a feeling that cupid might've got it right. Her faith in him had been restored, she was almost excited for her own. But she remained serious and stagnant as she waited for her sister to finally give her a question she was allowed to answer. Faye nearly jumped as her sister exclaimed about how stupid her question was. She was whipping (minus the leather) the idea of a match before she knew who it was.

Faye immediately obstructed her sister by slicing the air with her hand after her question of whether they know him. She needed to let her tell her something!. With an attempt at a convincing smile, Faye beamed "you do know him! and i know him! and he's nice. isn't that wonderful?" Faye sighed a breath of relief, although she had to remember that she had no idea how her sister was going to respond. "I think someone knows you very well." she told her, referring to the author of the envelope. Isabel was probably going to be allergic to touching or reading the envelope for quite some time, she might just have to keep giving her clues.

"He's in your year... and he's Ravenclaw..." she hinted, shaking the card around a little in her hands. She left her sister to fill in the blanks.

[isabel.ava.harper]

So.... they both knew him? And her sister seemed to approve.... Isabel froze like a lamped rabbit at the revelation that her match was a Ravenclaw, and the same age as her. Was that a good thing? Well, it could have been anyone! There were tons of Ravenclaw boys in her year! Granted, she didn't personally know them all, so that narrowed it down a bit. A grimace curled her top lip as an idea formed in her head. "It's not Henry Miller, is it?" she whispered.

Henry had decided, in their second year, that he was going to pick on Isabel at every opportunity. Not in an overly mean way. He never bullied her, she wouldn't stand for that, but he would tease her all the time, and make jokes and stick things in her hair in class. He also once spread a rumour, in their fourth year, that she was his girlfriend and, considering the trouble-making reputation he had around school, Isabel had been horrified. She'd cried for days and even written a heartfelt letter home to Faye to ask if she would home school her so she didn't have to look at him ever again. Needless to say, she got over it, and Henry eased off with the tormenting as he got older. But, what if it was him? He was a sixth year Ravenclaw. And Cupid might just be cruel enough to make his old crush a reality.

She didn't want to be a reality for him! But then, she was surely overreacting, because Faye would never have given her such a positive response if it were Henry. She'd probably have torn the letter up and kidnapped her little sister to protect her. So then, who was it? The only other Ravenclaw boys her age, who had had a big part in her life were the likes of Cole, and Dorrien and Damon. Oh, Merlin! It was Damon Drakos! She knew it. She could feel it. Damon, who she had always sort of thought was too cool for her. Damon, who she treated like a brother to stop herself from fancying him, because he was way out of her league. And she would have to kiss him! "Oh my god, Faye, it's Damon Drakos!" she blurted, biting into the flesh of her arm to stop herself from screaming in terror. "It is, isn't it!" Dorrien would never shut up about it if she got matched to his brother. Isabel groaned.

[faye.louise.harper]

Faye mentally scolded herself for allowing her sister to jump to her own conclusions about the envelope. She seemed to be picking the sixth year ravenclaws that she'd sooner jump into a pit of lava than marry. In Faye's eyes, rather than the embarrassment of being matched to someone like Damon Drakos, his brother was the best. Upon looking at the name Faye couldn't imagine someone better suited. Naturally it'd take some adaptation on Isabel's part, after all she didn't want to get matched at all. Getting matched at all was a hard acceptance, to them accept Dorrien on top of that. She really wished she was matched, so that she knew exactly what this felt like. So she could be more comforting and consoling than she actually was.

"Oh goodness no!" Faye exclaimed as Isabel asked if it was Henry Miller. "I would never allow that." Faye reassured, though the sad truth was that had Henry Miller's name been in the envelope Faye could do nothing for her sister. Thankfully that needn't be dwelled on, it wasn't him. Isabel's match was much better. Before Faye could correct her assumption about Damon, Faye had to leap into action because her sister was already kinda eating herself. Her arms shot out and pulled her mouth away from her arm. "Calm down! Calm down!" she repeated, so loud that she was told to be quiet by the librarian.

"It isn't Damon." she explained calmly. Right now Faye was encouraging more introverted responses, and if she didn't know soon then she was probably going to scream the library down. "He's never going to think your boring, I'll tell you that." she smirked, being with Isabel would be an adventure for him. She wanted to tell her, but she said she wouldn't until Isabel was ready. So as a warning Faye first asked "are you ready?" then took a breath, observed her reaction and said "It's Dorrien."

[isabel.ava.harper]

After trying to calm Isabel down - and being shushed fervently by the librarian - Faye reassured her little sister that it was not Damon Drakos, and that it was someone who would never consider her boring, either. She frowned at the back of her arm, where her face was currently buried. So, did that mean that Faye thought she was boring? Who thought she was boring? She was momentarily distracted by the unintentional insult, feeling rather upset at the term that had been used. She had never mentioned being boring. Had she? Or maybe she had, in her near hysterics, and just couldn't remember....

Either way, she stored the information away for later reference. She would ask her sister about it. And probably end up arguing and crying about it, as usual. Still, it had to be done. "Are you ready?" Isabel, not having heard Faye's question, nodded to herself, confirming her desire to talk about the 'boring' thing later. The next thing she knew, Faye was talking again. "It's Dorrien."

Time stood still.

Isabel's heart stopped beating. She swore it did. She couldn't move. Paralyzed. It took what felt like an age for her brain to form some sort of logical, coherent thought. She was joking. That had to be it. She lifted her head to gaze at her big sister. "That's not funny, Faye," she poke softly, body still catching up with her brain after the stun she had just received. "You shouldn't joke about things like that." Yet, as she spoke, her face turned beetroot. Dorrien? And Isabel? What a thought! He was one of her best friends. Sure, she had had a crush on him since before she could recall, but it didn't mean anything. And she didn't appreciate Faye playing with her like that. As if it could be Dorrien!

Still not breathing quite right, she decided enough was enough, and reached across the table to snatch the letter from Faye's hands, flipping it over in a moment of blind courage so she could see the name herself. And there it was. Dorrien Drakos. Her face reddened further as the words sank in. She knew she required air, but breathing was now beyond her. This was not happening. Her heart tried to bash it's way out of her fragile chest as she clutched the paper in a death grip, frozen to the spot.

Isabel Drakos.

The world flipped upside down.