You Don't Need to Win Anyway

“Well talk to him about your own issues, not mine,” Emrys retorted, shaking his head. “Yeah maybe. We weren’t exactly on best terms when I, you know, died. I just wish he’d have a damn conversation with me. Maybe I’ll corner him at Easter. If I can get away from Rhos for two minutes, that is.”

“Uh huh.” Bryn kept himself from rolling his eyes, not wanting to start the argument about his own issues again. “Yeah, try cornering him then. Rhos will have to leave you alone at some point... she’s married, it’s not like she can follow you around the whole time.”

“No, it’s the truth. Don’t argue with me, Brynmor, I’m too stubborn for that,” He teased. His smile faded as the other said he would, before rolling his eyes. “Somehow I doubt that, but I mean it.” He’s better than you think. “I know that. I’m just allowed to be hurt right now, he walked in for five minutes and barely said a word to me, Bryn. I’m allowed to be mad at him.”

​

Bryn rolled his eyes at his brother. There was no point arguing with him, even when he was in a hospital bed. He was still the stubborn one. Somehow I doubt that. The brunet let out a soft sigh, not wanting to keep talking about his own issues... but Emrys had always been the first one to see through him. “I’m going to talk to him.” He tried to reassure him. “I think he’s just... in shock. He’ll come around.”

“Well he did, now piss off. You got what you came for, and I really am not in the mood to deal with crybabies right now,” He muttered in disgust.

Bryn wanted to argue more. He wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that Emrys would never have done any of it on purpose... but he couldn’t. So, instead, the brunet turned and started walking away, raising his hand to wipe away the couple of tears slipping down his cheeks.

WARDROBE

“He’s dead.” Corban rolled is eyes. “Perhaps I am igorant, but I’d rather be that than be you. You couldn’t even save your own brother, or perhaps he died to get away from you.”

Bryn could feel tears springing to his eyes, despite his efforts to keep everything inside and fight back, for once in his life. “That’s not true, he wouldn’t--”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Corban taunted, arching an eyebrow. “No, he was. Filthy disgusting half blood, just like the rest of you and your siblings.”

“Because- because he--” Bryn tried to think of some kind of comeback, something to say, before just shaking his head. “You’re wrong. You’re just ignorant.”

When she left a few days ago, Cordelia had fully expected she’d be back by Monday morning. Except it was now much later in the afternoon, and she was just walking through the front door of the Abbott’s house. It wasn’t only her mother holding her back, but herself staying a little longer to make sure she was doing fine. Her mother wouldn’t say it, but Lia knew she still wasn’t handling everything exactly well, and it made her worry more often than not. But in the end, she just really wanted to be back in a less tense environment.

And the first place she went to when she finally came back was her friend’s room, a grin on her lips as she walked in his room as if it was her own. “Hey, sorry I’m a little late. I meant to come back earlier but I guess I didn’t realize what time it was already.” She apologized before moving to sit on a chair. “Hope I didn’t miss anything here.”

( @tellmeabbottit​ )

Brynmor normally would have been worried sick if a friend didn’t show up for hours after they said they would - but he was rather distracted. He was trying to force a smile onto his face, play with the new baby, do all the things he would be doing if he was normal... but it was hard to keep up the facade for very long. Winnie had convinced him to stay, so he stayed. He stayed in his room, trying to convince himself to go back out and interact with his siblings, many of whom he hadn’t seen in months.

He had just managed to convince himself. He’d already been in his room for longer than he should have, so he knew it would look weird if he stayed much longer... but just as he turned in his chair to leave, Cordelia came walking through the door. He felt a small smile perk up the corners of his lips at her, only now remembering that she was supposed to have arrived in the morning. “It’s fine, you were home. That’s important.” He said softly, but as she mentioned missing anything, his smile wavered. “You may have missed... something.”

Evan was already biting the inside of his cheeks by the time Bryn turned around, his mind struggling to figure out how to bring up the subject. There were other occasions in the past he wanted to talk about it, but he’d back down, mostly because it never felt like the right time. But there was no way out of it as the other boy spoke. So he gave him a small nod and a quick smile before stepping inside.

“Do you mind if I just…” He started, his flickering towards the opened door. “Actually, I’ll just close it.” He quickly added, shutting the door, as silently as possible. He’d hate if the noise attracted more people that could hear what was about to go down. His eyes slowly moved back in direction of the other boy, lingering for a moment as he took in the appearance of the room. He wasn’t sure where to stand - one thing was for sure, he didn’t think sitting would be the right decision -, so he just stood there, not too far from the door, as he started fidgeting with his fingers. “Two years ago, I, uh- I saw you with-” Evan stopped abruptly, bot certainly as to how he should refer about the other. Should he be saying his name? Would that be a good idea? He wasn’t sure, so he just settled for the most neutral answer. “-him.” 

Bryn watched hesitantly when Evan started to come inside, clearly nervous about something. What could he possibly need to talk to him about? It wasn’t like they were particularly close, and he couldn’t think of a reason as to why Evan would confide in him instead of in Winnie... so why was he there? And then, he asked to close the door, and Bryn slowly nodded, not sure what he was supposed to say.

“Yeah, go ahead...” He said with a raised eyebrow, dread filling him. “What’s wrong, Evan?” He asked after a moment, the worry clearly growing on his face. However, when the other mentioned two years ago, and him, Bryn knew exactly who was talking about. How could he not? Bryn had spent a long time trying to get over everything that happened, and he knew that he still wasn’t there yet. “With... Dante?” He asked, hesitance in his voice. “What do you mean you saw me with him? He was my boyfriend.” It wasn’t suspicious that Evan saw him with Dante - what was weird, was that Evan seemed so afraid to tell him. So what could Evan have seen that would make him act like this?

“Well he’s dead isn’t he? Besides, didn’t he get mind controlled? Or at least, that’s the rumours. After all, he did help those death eaters escape.” Corban scoffed. “Weak, and pathetic, and now he’s dead. One less Abbott disgracing the school.”

Bryn squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, shaking his head. “He wasn’t weak!” He insisted. Emrys was one of the strongest of them, he’d always believed that... even before he died. And the way he did didn’t change his mind. “He... he was studying to be an auror. If anyone was disgracing the school, it wasn’t him.” He added, looking up at the other pointedly.

“Hey! I can admit I’m wrong. Sometimes,” Emrys huffed, pouting at his younger brother. “Right, well. Good, you need it.” The boy chewed on his lips, before watching his brother, studying his reactions. “Just because I’ve magically reappeared doesn’t instantly take away the trauma it caused in the first place, Bryn. But I’m here, so talk to me, yeah?”

“Sometimes.” Bryn said playfully, shaking his head at him a little bit. He kept his gaze averted, though, as he started talking about the trauma, and he just sighed. “I know that. But it will help, at least.” He hoped. Although, the guilt he’d felt wishing that it was him that died had now been replaced with the guilt of not realizing that Emrys was really alive, and not looking for him. 

“I know enough. I mean, one of your brother’s was weak enough to get himself killed, that says enough doesn’t it? I bet he didn’t even try and fight back,” He spat, a cruel smirk gracing his lips.

Bryn froze when the other brought up Emrys, his face completely changing. Any hint of confidence that was there was gone, and suddenly he felt smaller than ever. “Emrys wasn’t weak.” He finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Fat chance getting anyone in our family to stop worrying about things, mate.” Emrys countered, shaking his head. “Yeah well. Mistakes were made,” He mused, lips curving up in amusement. As the other sighed, Emrys’ expression fell slightly, the other watching his brother as he spoke again. “Yeah, but you’ve not been sleeping right? I’m not stupid, Bryn.” He told him, before narrowing his eyes. “Well if you’re okay then I’m actually kind of offended. You know, you thought I was dead, Bryn, no one’s going to blame you if you weren’t okay. If the tables were turned, I certainly wouldn’t have been.” 

Bryn let out a chuckle at his comment about worrying. “My brother, Emrys? Admitting a mistake? I’m shocked.” He teased, doing his best to not treat him only like a patient in a hospital bed... even though that was what he was. “I’ve been sleeping... okay. Better recently.” Only because he had started taking sleeping draughts, but that wasn’t the point. But as Emrys continued, he sighed, his gaze moving down a bit. Emrys always had been the one able to see through him. “I wasn’t okay.” He finally admitted, shrugging slightly. “But you’re back now... so it’ll get better.”

Bryn nodded a little bit as she said that she wouldn’t tell her that it for him. He really just didn’t want to bother anyone... but if Winnie didn’t mind going to ask someone, he supposed that it would be fine. “Okay.” He said quietly, giving her a smile before nodding. 

“Being the disappointment of my family. Reeling into my on-going alcoholism. Making every night count.” Her mouth set in a hard line and though she passed her words as a joke, there wasn’t a single lie in them.

Bryn blinked a little bit at her words, trying not to show the surprise on his face. He knew that tone all too well - the I’m just kidding, but I'm really not, voice. He’d used it plenty of times himself. “Maybe not the healthiest lifestyle,” he said first, matching her chuckle, “but I’m not here to judge.”

“Oh no.” Kasia chuckled loudly at the possibility of being a Hufflepuff. “Definitely not a badger. With all due respect to your house, I could never fit in there. I’m not really into the whole hard-working bussiness.”

Bryn nodded at her reaction, laughing along with her. “Oh, no?” He raising his eyebrows at her. “Then what kind of business are you into?” He asked curiously, intrigued.

“That’s interesting, you should show me your paintings sometimes.” She suggested with a smile. “I draw a lot. Fashion designs mostly and then I try to recreate them in my sewing machine.”