``cold h e a r t |Tristan/Dean|

[girlingreen]

There were two reasons for Cora being in the Group Commons when she had the night off from prefect duty and should have been in her dormitory, sleeping. The first was that she simply couldn't sleep. That had started a while ago, though. Cora had learned that she had to truly tire out her body before she was capable of any sleep. And that day, Cora had not worked or been very productive, so she was awake, thinking. The second reason was slightly more pitiful. Cora, for the life of her, couldn't remember the new password to the Slytherin common room.

Cora sighed, leaned against the pillow on the couch as she pulled her legs up and a wrapped a blanket around her body. It was dreadfully cold in the castle, even though fires were burning everywhere. Cora couldn't seem to be truly warm these days. She had half a mind to think that it was her treacherous ways that kept her cold, but Cora knew that was ridiculous. A cold heart didn't always make for a cold body. And besides, she wasn't that cold. Anymore.

Cora pulled out a leather-bound book from the inside of her robes. She flipped open to the page she had left off from and began slowly reading once more. It was one of her mother's journals, which Cora had discovered upon taking a trip to the old family home. No one lived there now, so Cora had just broken in and searched the basement a bit. She had come up with a box of Carlotta's old journals and was in the process of reading them.

Footsteps echoed from the corridor outside of the group commons. Figuring it was best if other people didn't know that she was researching her own mother, Cora hastily shoved the journal back into the inside pocket of her robes. The pocket was enchanted, so Cora barely noticed that the book was even there. Not knowing whether or not the person would come into the room, Cora pulled the blanket more tightly around herself, waiting to see if they would.

((OOC: By the way, it isn't my intention for both Tristan and Dean to show up here, because that would be a bit too coincidental. But if one of them were to show up, that would be nice.))

[littlebit]

Dean was currently on duty, his shift would be over in about ten minutes, and it had been a relatively boring evening keeping watch over the Entrance Hall. Just as he had been about to leave early as he was struggling to keep his eyes open, Dean heard something that sounded like movement from the group commons. Relieved that the evening wasn't going to be entirely wasted. Dean walked to the door, wand at the ready although he figured it was just some trouble-maker, probably nothing more dangerous than a meddlesome first year. He was very surprised, however, to find that when he pushed open the door his sister was there. "Cora?" said Dean.

[girlingreen]

Cora froze when she heard Dean's voice from the doorway. She immediately sat up, her legs sliding back off the couch so that her toes touched the floor. Cora squinted slightly in the dim lighting until she could see her brother's face. "Hey Dean," Cora said quietly. She figured that he was probably on prefect duty, which she would be doing the next evening.

[littlebit]

Dean wasn't sure what to do, he and his twin had not spoken very much since the incident the previous term- he still wasn't quite sure if he forgave her or not, but regardless on what he eventually decided, Dean would never agree with her joining the Death Eaters. It was a stupid decision. He wanted to turn around and leave without another word, but his legs refused to listen, so he stood, rooted to the spot, not quite sure why he was feeling so awkward sharing a room with his sister of all people. "What are you doing here?" Dean finally asked after a very long pause.

[girlingreen]

It seemed like forever before Dean finally spoke. For a few moments, Cora had thought that maybe had was going to go back to ignoring her completely. While she knew that her brother still hadn't forgiven her (and she couldn't blame him for that), she was glad that he would at least speak to her now, even if it was a bit awkward. "Well," Cora said slowly, sheepishly. "Long story short, I can't remember the password to my dormitory." It had been changed just that day, and Cora had forgotten it already. She felt very distracted these days.

[littlebit]

Dean raised his eyebrows, although he felt like he stopped knowing who his sister was when she had run off to join the Death Eaters, he knew she wasn't forgetful. Not for something as simple as a common room password. Dean of course, never knew what it was like to rely on a password to get into his dormitory, he just needed to correctly answer a question asked by the bronze eagle knocker. "Oh," Dean said simply.

[girlingreen]

Cora shrugged slightly. "Yeah, it's stupid, I know," she added, making a face. She still couldn't believe that she had forgotten the password, but no matter how hard she thought, or didn't think for that matter, she couldn't come up with the latest password, just a bunch of older passwords. "So I guess I'll be sleeping here," Cora commented. "It doesn't matter, I guess. It's actually warmer here than in my dorm, though there are more blankets there."

[littlebit]

"Mmm," Dean replied, wishing he had something more to say, but having conversation with his sister felt almost like talking to a complete stranger for the sake of talking in a quiet area. Dean sort of wanteed to leave, but again his legs refused to listen to the callings of his brain, something was keeping him there, but he didn't know what. He wanted badly to forgive his sister, but at the same time, he could not allow himself to do so, it was all dreadfully complicated.

[girlingreen]

Cora bit her lip as a rather awkward silence settled in. She knew that both of them were thinking about the night when Cora had joined the Death Eaters and had tortured Dean. Cora no longer even attempted to have the thoughts leave her mind; they were always there, like a permanent scar. "I found a bunch of old journals that Mum used to keep," Cora commented, figuring it would be best if she changed the subject. She pulled out the current journal she was reading from the inside of her robes. This one wasn't terribly interesting, as not much had happened to Carlotta when she was pregnant with Bradly. Cora figured that anything worthwhile to read would come later.

[littlebit]

Finally his brain seemed able to connect with his legs and he walked, instead of out the door, closer to his sister before finally sitting down beside her on the couch. "Did you?" said Dean. He didn't remember his mother at all, she had died shortly after they were born. And now as he grew older the remaining memories of his father were growing fuzzier, he only remember the more significant ones. Perhaps in reading the diaries his mother used to keep they might find out more about her.

[girlingreen]

"Yeah," Cora said, a smile coming across her face as Dean took a seat next to her. "Here, go ahead an read. This one is from when she was still pregnant with Bradly. Not much happens, but I kind of feel like I know her after reading it." Cora handed the journal to Dean. She felt that it was her brother's right, as well as hers to tell him about Carlotta. Still, Cora wasn't ready to share the whole story with him, especially not the part involving the memory. But she knew that she would someday. Dean deserved to know, after all.

[littlebit]

Dean held the diary in his hands delicately, as if it would crumble into dust if he touched it the wrong way. Carefully, he opened it up and began reading the first entry. Although it did seem like he was violtaing his deceased mother's privcay. Dean had to mentally tell himself that Carlotta was dead, and she wasn't going to find out about her kids reading her old diary. He frowned in concentration as he read.

[girlingreen]

Cora waited patiently while Dean read, a rarity for her. While this journal wasn't terribly interesting- Carlotta merely noted some small events in her life and her excitement for having a baby- Cora felt like she could tell what kind of person her mother was. It was clear that Carlotta was kind and caring, but Cora thought she could detect a strong will, not unlike her own. Yet, her mother seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Cora knew that she differed from her mother in that respect; she felt very lost a lot of the time.

[littlebit]

It didn't take long for Dean to finsih reading the whole of the diary. It was only a small one, and he had long been known for being the fastest reader in the family out of everyone else. It was not hard to figure out why he had been placed in Ravenclaw instead of one of the houses that one of his siblings was in. "It makes you think," said Dean, handing the diary back to his sister, "what our lives would have been like if she hadn't died."

[girlingreen]

Cora nodded slowly, taking the journal back from Dean. She stowed it in her pocket. "Different, that's for sure," Cora replied thoughtfully. "I guess it's weird because I feel like I miss her, but I've never even met her." Carlotta had died two days after Dean and Cora had been born; Cora didn't remember her at all. She could only remember a few old pictures that Bradly had shown her once.