June 14th, 1888 - London; Scrimgeour Household The better Scrimgeours

The Scrimgeour name seemed to be falling apart. Even though this started with Bella, Uncle Argus seemed to be the root of the problem. He did always seem a little off to her. Having never wanted to be disrespectful, she had never once addressed it, not even to Holly. After all, how would her older sister have handled the information that Camille, her own sister, was having doubts about one of their blood? Camille couldn't imagine the result.

Now seemed to make things different. Bella and Uncle Argus had made it obvious that they apparently wanted to be talked about. After all, both were all over the papers, and everyone at school seemed to be talking about it. Though she was still hesitant to speak with Holly on the topic. After all, it had taken her this long to even consider it. However there was also the whole 'I broke your wand' factor that also played a part. Sitting next to her sister for breakfast. "Good morning Holly." She said, mainly in an attempt to start off with small talk.

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Holly Scrimgeour

  

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Magic by MJ

Holly had been following Madam Sykes' advice in the days since writing her by trying to ignore the situation that was so obviously causing her family distress. She was just twelve, she reminded herself humbly. It was not her responsibility to handle the situation regarding her disastrous family, nor did she have any bearing on how things turned out. Any attempts to meddle would only lead to trouble and frustration.

But oh how she wished to give everyone a piece of her mind.

She was still in her nightgown when she'd wandered down for breakfast, having already adopted a rather lazy sleep schedule after her first year of Hogwarts had concluded. Her blonde hair was loosely braided down her back, and her face was red and sensitive from the harsh scrubbing she'd given it that morning. It was time for food—and apparently small-talk, she noted in annoyance as her sister sat down beside her.

"Good morning, Camille," she responded dully. "I hope you slept well?"

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— set by MJ <3 —

One thing that she kept repeating in her mind to reassure herself that her future would be fine was that one day she will marry and then her last name will change. When that day comes, she shall no longer have a name tied to a bunch of crazies. Until then she practiced patience. Patience had been a dear friend to her. Though it had faded away at loosing her twin, it surfaced now at this new time of stress.

It had actually been a shock that Holly hadn't broken down and started screaming to at least one person. Or at least demanding that the staff members of the household charm her howlers for her. Both options made much more sense, and were options that Camille was far more prepared to handle emotionally.

Already seeing the sleep and annoyance filled expression on her face, Camille was hesitant to speak at all. But alas, she had already said something. It would be quite rude to ignore her sister's response. "I had a very odd dream last night. It even woke me up in the middle of the night. Then I fell back asleep to no dreams at all. Both occurrences still seem to be a bit flustering." She responded thoughtfully.

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Magic by MJ

Holly gave her sister a look. "Dreams are no more important than passing thoughts; I would not ponder on them," she advised, reaching out for someone to pass the ham. She glanced towards her Camille once more, brows raised. "It's not as if you're a seer, anyways. I don't see how any of that should be flustering." Holly was not the type of girl who typically had dreams, and when she did, she tended to disregard them.

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— set by MJ <3 —

And thus the beast known as Holly's temper seemed to have awoken, though it was still a sleepy beast. Slightly frustrated to get such a dismissive response from her sister, she hid it well. It was of no interest to her to start any argument. Though the mention of seers did make her scoff slightly. "I said nothing of a realistic dream. Just a flustering one." She pointed out. Sighing, she watched her sister in a brief moment of silence. "Perhaps if you knew what the dream was, you'd understand how it might fluster me." She stated as she looked back at her own breakfast.

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Magic by MJ

Holly was unsure what in Camille's dream could have engrossed her enough to carry on a conversation. Not one to argue with the prying eyes of their governess, Holly thought it might be best to humor her sister—but not without being a little shit first.

"I hardly doubt it; like I said, I see no point to pondering on dreams," she said condescendingly with a side glance. "But because you're my sister and it's my duty to listen to your worries, you may tell me."

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— set by MJ <3 —

Why was it always such a hard task to make a conversation with Holly? Any one of Camille's friends would simply ask what the dream was, she would tell them, and that would be that. Everything seemed to have to be an argument when it came to her sister. Not even a pleasant hello was met with a simple 'hello' response. "Forget it Holly. I will not trouble you with my thoughts any longer." She said with a sigh. In fact, it might be better this way. Holly could very well call her stupid for describing the dream at all.

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Magic by MJ

Holly cast a sideways glance at Camille, her brows perched high on her forehead.

"Well you're feeling considerate today," she responded, resisting the urge to let out an unladylike snort. "I don't suppose you feel like continuing that streak? I have some classwork that needs to be double-checked." And preferably by someone who was in her year and who wasn't completely stupid.

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— set by MJ <3 —

There was more judgement in her sister's eyes. It seemed that this would always be her life when it came to Holly. At least Camille knew what was happening in that part of her life. Not everything was that guaranteed in life.

An attitude was not helping anything. Rather than stoop to her sister's level, she kept a calm demeanor and pretended to consider her sister's words. Might as well try to be nice, even if her sister wasn't nearly as motivated to share such kindness. "If you truly want me to, I will help you look through your homework." She responded.

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Magic by MJ

Holly would have scoffed at her sister's willingness if she hadn't expected to receive a scolding from the adult who sat across the room. Camille was so willing to let her walk all over her like a doormat, and while she appreciated it sometimes, other times it was boring. Who could like someone with no backbone? Some Gryffindor she was.

"It's Astronomy homework. I don't know how, but Hogwarts has made me hate the skies," she said, sounding almost as bratty as she really was. "It's just alignments and stuff. You can check it."

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— set by MJ <3 —

Any one but Holly would have been met with a snappy comment instead. Holly wasn't anyone else. She was the last sibling that Camille actually cared about. Their half-brother was an annoyance, their step-mother was simply unwanted, and their father was distant. Her sister was all she had. It wasn't ideal, but it worked. Family was important to Camille, and anyone else would not receive nearly as much patience from the young Gryffindor.

Stars, how could that be hard? Witch Weekly talked about one aspect of stars fairly regularly. "I doubt you did anything wrong, but I'll take a look." She said simply. Merlin, hopefully their attention stealing half-brother won't be nearly this whiny when he gets older.

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Magic by MJ

Willing to discuss it no further, Holly waved a dismissive hand and nodded.

"Get on it then. I might check you History homework if I'm feeling generous!" she added.

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— set by MJ <3 —