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

[littlebit]

Dean nodded. His mind began subsonciously playing around with different scenarios. If Carlotta had not died then perhaps their father might still be alive too. Maybe they would have a proper family, Bradly wouldn't have to be their guardian, they could all have been normal kids. Dean sighed. "I can understand that," said Dean. Sometimes on nights where he couldn't sleep he would sit up in his bed, knees pulled to his chest, and eyes closed trying to remember something, anything, about their mother. Dean had not had any luck in his endeavours, but he supposed even people with the very best photographic memories couldn't remember the first two days of their lives.

[girlingreen]

Cora nodded. She knew there was really no point in dwelling over it, but she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Carlotta hadn't been killed. Things would probably be very different, then. Cora somehow didn't envision her father in the picture though. Just the thought of him with Carlotta in the memory was enough to make Cora shiver, and to let her know that it wouldn't have worked out between the two of them if he hadn't killed Cora's mother. "Are we even allowed to be sad?" Cora asked, half to herself and half to Dean. "We never knew her, so we never got to grieve over losing her." It was all very odd to Cora; she didn't quite know what to think about her mother's death.

[littlebit]

"We've every right I think," Dean said thoughtfully, frowning a bit to himself, "she was our mum, even if we can't remember." He thought vaguely that maybe he should ask Bradly sometime if he recalled anything about their mother. Of course, he too had been very young when Carlotta passed away, but maybe he had a small sliver of a memory. Her singing to him, holding his hand, something, anything.

[girlingreen]

"I guess you're right," Cora replied with a slow nod as she stared off into space. They her eyes went back to Dean. "I just wish we could remember her somehow. All we have are things that Bradly tells us and these journals that I found. But it's not really the same." Cora frowned slightly; her mother had always been the greatest mystery to her. Cora had devoted a good portion of her young life to figuring out the type of person that Carlotta was. It was extremely frustrating.

[littlebit]

Dean nodded, but found that his tongue did not want to make any words. He kept quiet, fixing his gaze onto the fire place, the fire that had previously been in it reduced to nothing but glowing embers. They still radiated heat, although not quite enough to completely warm the room. Dean did suppose it was still a trifle warmer here than in the dungeons- even if the castle was chilly. He wished he knew what to say, the silence was slowly killing him.

[girlingreen]

Cora silently fought for words, knowing that the conversation about their mother was pretty much dead. She opened her mouth to ask Dean if he was ready for the upcoming exams, but something different came out instead. "I'm sorry," Cora blurted. She hadn't meant to say it, but the words were true, so Cora didn't try to take them back. Cora had realized that she had never said that to Dean before concerning the incident last year; she regretted that now.

[littlebit]

Dean blinked a few times, he had not been expecting those particular words to come from his sister's lips. He wasn't really sure what to say, until recently had had been pretending that he didn't have a sister. They were somewhat getting along now, particularly after the incident at the Quidditch match earlier in the year, but Dean wasn't sure he wanted to forgive her yet. "Why did you do it?" Dean said quietly after a pause, mentally deciding he wasn't going to be interested in her apology until Cora had explained herself.

[girlingreen]

Cora bit her lip, not sure exactly what to say with that. She had her reasons, of course, but she wasn't sure that she was ready for Dean to know everything just yet. It wasn't that Cora wanted everything to herself or was being dramatic, but some things just hurt too much to talk about, even with her twin brother. "It's sort of a long story," Cora said awkwardly, looking at the nail polish on her toenails, which was half rubbed off.

[littlebit]

"I've got time," Dean responded without much hesitation. It was the middle of the night, he didn't have anywhere he needed to be. Besides, any trace of tiredness he had previously had was now gone after reading his mother's diary and talking with Cora. Dean wanted the truth, even if it would take the rest of the night to get it out of his sister.

[girlingreen]

Cora sighed, she had been hoping that Dean wouldn't say that. She turned her face away for a moment, but when she looked at Dean again, her eyes were beginning to well up with tears. "Okay," she said quietly. "I guess it starts with the fact that I've always been overly curious as to what Mom and Dad were like. Obviously, I don't remember anything about Mom. But I do remember a bit about Dad. And they're not exactly happy memories." A single tear rolled down Cora's cheek. She had never told anyone about the Christmas when she was eight before. Even thinking about it hurt. Subconsciously, she put her hand on her abdomen.

[littlebit]

Dean listened quietly, he could tell just by the look on his sister's face that she did not want to talk about it right then. But he felt that as her brother he had a right to know why she had subjected him to that, when he would have permanent reminders etched across his chest for the rest of his life. Dean didn't say anything, but leaned in a bit, waiting for Cora to further explain.

[girlingreen]

Tears threatened to pour down Cora's cheeks, but she forced them back, wanting to be able to tell Dean the whole truth. "It was Christmas eve and we were eight when I found out that Dad was the instrument of Mom's death," she said, her words slowly more and more the closer she got to the end of the sentence. "Because Bradly was at school and you were at a friend's and dad came home drunk and tried to kill me." Cora couldn't stop the tears any longer, but she attempted to wipe them from her cheeks. "He thought I was her," she said, her voice very quiet all of a sudden.

[littlebit]

[blockquoe]

Dean sat, thinking a moment, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Perhaps it was a girl thing, but he really wasn't certain why that was even relavent to her running off to join the Death Eaters. "I don't understand, if he tried to kill you, why would you want to make the same mistake he did?" said Dean, unable to hold back that question. Was he sorry that happened to his sister? Certainly, but Dean needed to make some logical sense out of all of this- he was a Ravenclaw after all.

[/blockquote]

[girlingreen]

"You've missed the point," Cora said softly, though not angrily. She should have suspected that Dean wouldn't get it at first. Even Cora didn't understand her own logic sometimes. She often considered herself to be some sort of crazy. Who else would join the Death Eaters to figure out something that seemed of little importance? "It's not about him," Cora said, struggling to explain herself to Dean and starting to become a bit frustrated with herself. "It's about her. Why would he want to kill his own wife after all?"

[littlebit]

"Dad was crazy, Cora," said Dean, shaking his head slightly. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to get his sister's logic behind it- joining the Death Eaters seemed like a foolish idea by every shake of the stick. But perhaps that was his own bias shining through, but he still failed to see the reasoning. Sure, maybe she might have thought about it on a whim, but Dean had thought Cora would be able to control her impulses.