(1939-02-23) All That's Necessary
Details for All That's Necessary
Summary: Lucretia reveals her 'secret' to Esther. Myrus is in trouble, now.
Date: 1939-02-23
Location: Hogwarts Castle - Viaduct Courtyard
Related: The Unforgiven
Characters
EstherLucretia

Esther's spent her time away from the castle lately. Away from her cousin, away from friends, away from books. Away from things that remind her of the parts of her life that haven't turned out the way she's planned. Today see's her in the quiet of the viaduct courtyard, barefoot, with her bag stashed with her shoes atop of a nearby bench. She's dancing, spending a free period losing her mind to the steps as they come to her.

Lucretia walks out into the courtyard, her shoulders hitched around her ears, kicking a stone along in front of her. Its the sort of game that kids around the world play; keep it going, don't lose it, if you lose it you die an horrible death. Intent on not allowing the stone to escape, its only as she's halfway across the courtyard that she notices Esther dancing and her concentration breaks. The last kick to the stone is disjointed and careless, it sends it skidding off to one side where it pings off the wall and loses itself in a flowerbed. Not that she seems to care anymore. She freezes where she is, attention on Esther now, shrinking back towards the shadows in the hopes she won't be seen.

Esther leaps lightly up upon the bench, twirling lightly on one foot. She opens her eyes to make sure she's stepping down onto something real. And she catches Lucretia, who is… Retreating? Esther's eyes widen, and she half-stumbles off the bench, and then walks towards Lucreti, the look on her face concern. "Lucretia. What's on your mind?" The girl seems a little concerned. Did she… Know about Variel? No. No-one could. The momentary doubt is gone. Confidence and concern for her housemate. That's it.

Caught. Lucretia waits until Esther's drawn closer, then gives a small shake of her head. "Nothing. I saw you dancing and didn't want to disturb you." Even to her own ears, the excuse sounds a little weak and there's a reflexive turn of her head from Esther, eyes sliding away. "You looked happy and I didn't want to spoil that for you." Its only the briefest of avoidance techniques, long enough for the younger girl to compose herself before she looks back to Esther, a smile pinned firmly in place. "I won my first match in the Paladin's Challenge. I wish you'd have seen it."

"I wish I could have. Unfortunately I couldn't be there." Esther answers, with a blush and a glance down. "You know you never disturb me, Lucretia." The girl sigh. "And spoiling my happiness is hardly anything you should worry about. My happiness comes from within - And from my friends." A smile, as she wanders closer. "C'mon. How're you, Lucretia?"

"Stupidly happy that I won." Lucretia says, a touch of caution to her tone as she folds her hands behind her back and leans back into the wall. Something's not quite right with her however, the friendliness with which she usually greets the world, or the world when there aren't muggle-borns impinging on it, appears to have deserted her. There's a flatness to her tone, a lack of sparkle to her demeanour.

"You don't sound happy." Esther raises an eyebrow, stepping closer upon her light feet. "You sound upset. Assholic betrothed? Problems with Selwyn? You're worrying me." The girl admits, approaching.

Lucretia forces her face into a smile. "No. Iggy's been behaving himself. He sort of apologised and we even exchanged cards on Valentine's Day. I know that he doesn't feel that way about me, nor I about him. It was just because with us being betrothed it was the right thing to do. We even made polite conversation, something I wasn't expecting." A small bump of her backside is given the wall behind, and a low exhale of air is given through pursed lips. "I suppose that romance isn't for everyone though, and I'm glad you've found that with Zayn and not Myrus."

"Whyso?" Esther shakes her head. The specific mention is only touched on briefly. "Myrus has an ugliness to him, surely, but… He has, had," She corrects, "A good heart. I do miss having someone with… Time for me. Missing Valentines' day was… Painful." The girl admits, but only for a moment. Something that would normally disarm her for a great deal of time. "But when we are together, it makes up for the time we are apart"

Lucretia's attention snaps back to Esther, something her friend has said niggling at her. Painfully. "Esther. You wouldn't go back to Myrus, would you? He's -not- a good person and he -doesn't- have a good heart!" The sudden outburst is unusual for her and colour rises instantly to darken her cheeks. Aware of what she's just said, she presses her mouth into a thin line and looks away, guilt written in the lines of her face.

Esther shakes her head. "No. Myrus and I are no longer together. He has wrapped himself in self-pity, and hardened his heart. That is the 'man' that he is at his core. Self-obsessed and sorry for himself." The girl's assessment is cool, and collected. "… You shouldn't know him well enough to make that kind of claim. Especially not so emotional." Her hand twitches to her side, but doesn't allow her wand to slide out yet. "What has he done." Flat. No gentle intonation to indicate it was a question.

Lucretia pulls one hand from behind her back, a reflexive rub of her head given her head where Myrus had pushed it against the wall. "You're right. I don't know him well enough to speak like that. I just see that you're happier without him and since you're not thinking of being his girlfriend again my opinion doesn't matter anyway." Her voice tails off and she smiles weakly at Esther. For a Slytherin she's a horrible liar, though perhaps its because she cares about one of the parties involved.

Esther shakes her head slowly. "… Lucretia. I told you that you could always talk to me, if you wanted to. If you don't want to, that's fine. But if you're going to use that to lie to me, then I don't see what the point is." Those smokey grey eyes confront Lucretia, peering into hers. "You're repeating what we already know. Tell me what my cousin did."

Lucretia looks torn, the girl closing her eyes against the intensity of Esther's questioning. "He hurt me." Her voice is quiet and flat, empty when she finally replies.

Esther reaches out, and touches a gentle hand to Lucretia's cheek. Her voice is kind. Her words sinister. "I'll kill him." The smile, sad. "You're a beautiful young woman, Lucretia. No-one should ever think of, much less invent due cause to harm you. And anyone who does /deserves/ the worst as comes their way. Myrus is no exception. Perhaps he'll serve as a suitable example." The girl turns, and flicks her wand at her affects, "Accio affects." Guiding them to the floor beside her. So she can slip her shoes on.

"No, Esther…" Lucretia's words come quickly after those initial hesitant ones. "He apologised and I said that I'd not tell anyone what he did. It was my own fault for talking about things I didn't know about. It made him angry and he lashed out. He'll have every right to believe that my word means nothing if you go to him now. Please." She reaches out, a small tug given on Esther's sleeve as the other girl fits her feet into her shoes. "Let's just avoid him. He's nothing to you. Nothing to me. I see now what -you- see when you look at him and I'm not going to attempt to help him any more."

Esther shakes her head. "He apologised? That's wonderful. He does that an awful lot. Makes poor decisions, apologises. MYRUS means nothing, from his opinions to his existence. He hurt someone I care about. I will /not/ avoid that pathetic piece of shit another moment. I'll not tolerate it." Her voice is calm. Resolute. But still affectionate, when she turns back to Lucretia. "There is nothing that you could say that should lead anyone to violence against a girl. And I know you're not an idiot. You think you're protecting me by holding this back… But the fact is that Myrus deserves this. And I need it, to." Wands. Oh yes. "I will find him, alone, and I will ensure he suffers."

Lucretia wraps her arms around Esther in a sudden, fierce hug. "I know his apologies mean nothing. Right after he hurt me, he hugged me and asked forgiveness. I told him no. I told him no because you don't get to hurt someone then think its all made better just because you want it that way." A breath, her words muffled a little by the press of her face against her friend's shoulder. "I -should- want him hurt back for what he did. I should want him beaten and bloodied, squashed under my foot. And he will be. This isn't something you need to do for me because eventually I'll do it for myself."

Esther accepts the hug easily, holding her tightly. "Lucretia, Myrus did this to you to call me out. All of this. Acting out with Anthony, in the Greenhouse. My cousin is determined to make me come at him, with my wand, so he can dramatically turn the tables and put me in place. He /wants/ me to bring vengeance upon him, to ruin the life I plan with Zayn by taking revenge, instead of fostering peace. He hurt you, to get me. You've a right to see him injured, for what he did… But he's been trying to draw this out of me for a long, long time. There's just one problem with his plan."

Lucretia pulls back, her arms loosening so she can look at Esther's face. "If its what he wants, then don't do it. Isn't that the best way to punish him?" Its a pretty weak argument for the younger girl to be putting forward, but she puts it anyway. "What if you get hurt yourself. Or worse. And I don't care if there's a problem with his plan, there should be. There should be -lots- of problems, not just one."

"It worked, Lu'."

Esther is calm, stroking Lucretia's cheek fondly. It's unfortunate how much she's come to care for the young girl. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Myrus isn't far from becoming that forever - And I won't let that happen. We've enough Alphard Blacks. Enough Pringles. And perhaps the rod isn't the best method, but it's what he's chosen - I'm a better witch than he is. And you are too." The girl's quotation might be eerily familiar. But the activist in Esther appears alive and well again at last. "Worst case? I'd rather fight and lose than watch and lament."

Lucretia shakes her head. "You could end up getting expelled for this Esther." There's worry in her voice now, her teeth biting deeply into her lower lip as she juggles things that might still remain in her control. "He's doing a good job of destroying himself without anyone else's help and how he is can't be far from the notice of the teachers. Let -them- deal with him. You don't have to do this yourself."

"It's past that now." Esther states simply. "You could have said something to the faculty. Defended yourself. Told someone freely. But you /didn't./" Severe, but… "If you allow him to go unpunished, than his behaviour will get worse. And he'll either find the fortitude to come after me directly, or he'll seriously hurt someone. You know I think the world of you, but there's only two ways that this doesn't end with wands between Myrus and myself - And they're both in your hands. Either way, /justice/ comes for Myrus Lowe." A kiss touched to Lucretia's forehead. "Else I do." Her wand is finally drawn, as the slender young woman stalks off.

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