coming c l e a n |Gabby/open|

[malfoy]

Isaac stood a comfortable distance away from the Whomping Willow, his steely grey eyes watching the maniacal tree unblinkingly. For the first time in forever, he was enjoying the sunlight. The ring that Angel had charmed for him glinted on his right index finger. It protected him from the sun, and it was a wonderful feeling. Isaac was surprised the grounds weren't filled with people since the weather was so agreeable, but as for now, he was alone. Isaac wanted to talk to Gabriella, all the things he had done before he met her were weighing heavily on his soul.

He just wanted to come clean, pour out the part of his heart she had not yet seen. Isaac felt it necessary for her to know how much of an impact she had had on his life, before he had met her, Isaac was doomed to go down the same path as his father. Well, maybe not the Death Eater aspect, but the frequent sleeping with other women, the drinking, the drugs. Gabriella had quite literally saved him before it was too late. Isaac was eternally grateful to her. And she had to know.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella pushed open the doors to the castle and walked out into the sunlight. An odd feeling filled her for a moment, as it had since Angel had given her the protection ring. The sun was still a bit uncomfortable after long periods of time, but she wouldn't be burning to death while she was wearing the magical ring. For that, Gabriella was very grateful to her younger cousin.

She spotted Isaac by the Whomping Willow, exactly where he had asked her to meet him. She came over, walking slowly for her, but somewhat briskly for a human. Gabriella's feet barely touched the ground, her movements extremely fluid. She reached the Whomping Willow in no time and smiled at her fiancé. "Hello love," Gabriella said. "What did you want to talk about?" Isaac looked unusually serious, so it had to be something important.

[malfoy]

"Hey gorgeous," said Isaac, returning her smile, although it was somewhat difficult, as if his lips had forgotten how to do it. He didn't try to take her hand, put an arm around her shoulders, or greet her with a light peck on the cheek like he usually did, Isaac wanted the tone to stay serious until he had conveyed what he wanted to. He wasn't sure where to begin, he had planned out what he was going to say, but that had disappeared the moment Gabriella came up to him. This was delicate business, the last thing he wanted to do was make his girlfriend angry. Fiancee Isaac mentally corrected himself. "I'm not sure where to begin," Isaac finally said.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella bit her lip gently. Something seemed to be bothering Isaac, and clearly he wanted to talk about it. Hopefully it wouldn't be something too bad. "Just start at the beginning," she offered gently, wondering what was going on. Isaac usually didn't act this way. Usually he was much more light-hearted.

[malfoy]

Sure. The beginning. The trouble was, Isaac wasn't sure what the beginning was in this. He decided that he was just going to start talking, not even thinking about the words, just what he wanted said. Isaac took in a deep, unnecessary breath and then began. "Before I met you, I was well, terrible. I didn't give a damn about anything because my parents bought whatever I wanted; friends, the favour of teachers, better grades. I didn't have any responsibility, so I got into trouble. Not just things like pranks, but cheating and pushing the envelop on things." Isaac paused, suddenly talking was getting a whole lot harder. He just hoped Gabriella wouldn't be angry when he finished.

"Then in late third year... That's when things got worse. I started hitting on girls, using my money to get them to like me. Then fifth year I got into short flings and one-night stands, since relationships equated to responsibility on my part. A month or so after I broke up with a girl she left school, and it was because she was pregnant with my baby. I had no idea then, but even if I did I wouldn't have cared." Isaac ran his hand through his hair and continued. "Then I met you, and I didn't realize how horrible I'd been, but you changed me for the better. I only came to notice this after my father was sent to Azkaban."

He paused a moment, unsure of how to continue. No, don't pause, then you'll freeze up and never finish. He opened his mouth again to speak. "I realized that if it weren't for you that would be me a couple years down the road. You literally saved me from the desolate corruption I was bound for." Isaac then stopped to realize he was near tears and he was just trembling from sheer emotion. He looked away from Gabriella, as if ashamed. He braced himself for her to be angry with him, or have some sort of violent reaction. He wouldn't blame her if she did.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella's first emotion was anger, but she realized that was completely ridiculous, as she couldn't change the past, so she pushed her anger aside and let the second emotion take over. She hugged her fiancee tightly. "That explains your behavior when we first met," she whispered before releasing him. "But about this girl, what's her name and what can we do for her?"

[malfoy]

Isaac could almost feel the anger radiating off of her, but then he supposed that he imagined it through his paranoia, as she did nothing to convey being upset. Perhaps disappointed, but at least not angry. Isaac was grateful for her embrace. He blinked forcefully to prevent himself from crying. "Her name is Miranda Castlebrook," Isaac said slowly. "I've already given her enough Galleons to take care of the bills and things for about the next ten years, and we've made some arrangements through letter." He pulled out a thin stack of the letters she had sent regarding what they would do. They had arranged for him to take their son every other week after he graduated.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella nodded upon hearing her name and seeing the letters. She remembered the name in her dimmest memories, but couldn't picture any sort of face. Gabriella supposed she would be seeing the child at some point, as she doubted that Isaac would allow Miranda to stress herself out with a child all the time. "What's your child's name then?" she asked, mentally bracing herself. Names in Isaac's family always seemed a little weird, even if someone outside the family named them.

[malfoy]

"His name's Xavier," Isaac replied without hesitation. He remembered the name vividly from when he had met Miranda in the Hog's Head, and his son for the first time. "After graduation I'll be taking care of him every other week," Isaac explained, although he figured that Gabriella had already seen that in the letters. "Miranda agreed that we won't have to disrupt our honeymoon, though." He paused a moment. "I'm really sorry," Isaac said, it wasn't Gabriella's fault they would have a child to take care of every other week, she shouldn't have to suffer because of his poor choices earlier in his life.

[igloogirl]

"Hey, it's alright," Gabriella said, smiling at Isaac to try to get him feeling a bit better about himself. He certainly seemed to be awfully upset about this, and Gabriella knew it wouldn't help if she let off steam about it as well. "I like kids, anyways." It would be interesting to have a little kid with Isaac every other week. Just another adventure, Gabriella supposed.

[malfoy]

Isaac gave forth a smile, it was less difficult than the last, but it still didn't feel right on his mouth. Xavier, his son, looked every bit as much like him as he looked like his father, the only exception being his hair. It was dark, like Miranda's. He was pretty smart for his age, too, he made rather intelligent observations for a one-year old. "Well, that's always a good thing," said Isaac. "I haven't got a clue about children." At least you're being honest with yourself, Isaac thought heavily.

[igloogirl]

"Well, you seem to do pretty well with your siblings," Gabriella commented. She had met Vivienne once, but the little girl had seemed to positively adore Isaac. As for Safira, she seemed to like Isaac pretty well, though she wasn't a young child. Gabriella didn't really know what to think about Bellatrix, but she was also not a small child, like Xavier.

[malfoy]

"Yeah, but I didn't have to raise them," Isaac said somewhat pessimistically. But he supposed if he wanted he could hire a nanny for when it was his week with Xavier, but quickly decided that he did not want to. Isaac was going to figure out this kid stuff, so maybe when he and Gabriella wanted children of their own he wouldn't mess up too badly. Not only that, but he wanted to have a good relationship with Xavier, one much healthier than the one he had with his father.

[igloogirl]

Gabriella punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Such a pessimist these days, aren't you," she said in a tone that hinted of teasing. "As long as your nice, Xavier will like you," Gabriella added. "And if he doesn't, we'll just bribe him with candy." Obviously, Gabriella was joking, but it wasn't such a bad idea with little kids.

[malfoy]

"Well something as life-changing as hearing your ex-girlfriend of two years had your baby isn't exactly easy to be optimistic about," said Isaac. "Although sweets are a good idea," He added the last bit somewhat jokingly, but Xavier, although he really had only seen him for twenty minutes, had a trusting nature. Or perhaps it was only the naivety of a small child. Isaac made a vow then that he was not going to mess up with Xavier, not the way Draco had with his own children.