break away // Vanessa

[DAX VINCENT VELTRINO]

Dax had spoke to his parents about how someone had found his sister. He wasn't sure what to expect, sure he knew his sister had been in Hogwarts with him, but was she seriously that stupid to stay here in London? Dax Veltrino had happily followed his parents in their dark practices but he wasn't good enough for them. No Vanessa was due to become the next Victoria Veltrino. He couldn't stand that his parents wanted the daughter that didn't want them so much more than the son that they had who was perfectly capable of doing what he needed to to make them proud.

He'd heard that she was working at the Menagerie in Diagon Alley and he'd carefully let the hotel and casino making sure no one followed so he could make his way there to see if what was said was true. He knew the backlash he would receive for actually going to speak to her. He didn't know if she knew anyone knew about where she was or what was going on but he wanted to tell her. He wanted to warn her, because he didn't want her to be around. He didn't want his parents to try and get her back.

He apparated into Diagon Alley and made his way to the Menagerie and carefully opened the door. His blue eyes scanned the small shop and laid upon a clerk at the desk. ”'Scuse me, I'm looking for Vanessa, is she working today?” he asked the clerk, ”if so I'd appreciate it if you can send her my way, I'm going to browse a bit,” he told her. Then he turned and began to look around the shop. He used to love this shop when he was a kid, not as much as the Apothecary but it came in a close second. Potions would always take a first in his mind though. That was his true love.

Words: 323
Tagged: @vanessa
Notes: Hope you don't mind that I finally started this

[Deleted]

When Vanessa heard someone was looking for her, she smiled a bit. She thought it would be her Freddie, or if not him one of the Weasleys or Sarah. She found a stopping place in the stockroom cleaning she was doing and quickly made her way out...

Then the clerk pointed out to her the person who wanted to see her and she thought she was going to be sick. Her brother, Dax. Her father had tried to send several of his goons after her the past while, and none of his efforts had worked since she was under the protection of the Order of the Phoenix now. But her own brother? She knew he was clever and powerful. She knew that from a young age. She had to play this carefully. She removed her wand and approached him as bravely as possible. It was time to prove once again why she had the Sorting Hat place her in Gryffindor.

"My terms, Dax..." she said almost coldly as she approached him. "You speak to me here where others can see, not in private. And the second I see you go for your wand, I reserve the right to knock you out cold with mine. Do you accept?"

DAX VINCENT VELTRINO

[DAX VINCENT VELTRINO]

Dax looked around at the different options of owl food, not that he was interested, he was just trying to portray the normal person in the end. His eyes scanned the walls around him but he had a much better reason to be here. He just hoped that she wouldn't come out trying to hurt him or anything. He'd held her secret from the time he knew she started at Hogwarts. He had no reason at all to make her come home. She had to believe that he didn't want her there. He was happy letting her live her fantasy out here not being who their parents wanted her to be.

As he looked around he heard her come up behind him. ”My terms, Dax... You speak to me here where others can see, not in private. And the second I see you go for your wand, I reserve the right to knock you out cold with mine. Do you accept?” Dax turned to face Vanessa and he rolled his eyes. ”Oh stuff it away, if I wanted to take you home I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of asking the clerk to get you I would have come in here with a bombardment,” he told her, ”besides I wouldn't pull a wand on you I've got better, all of which are at home.”

”Dad asked for a meeting with Mum and I about you, apparently you've been found, and of course being the second best child Dad believed he had the right to accuse me of knowing where you've been this entire time,” he told her. Obviously he was still pretty mad about that. How dare he accuse him of such things. Even if they were true. ”Anyways, I'm assuming you already know that Mum and Dad know, but that was why I came here, I was trying to tell you that they knew, that you should leave,” he told her. His eyes scanned the shop again. ”But I'm not here to attack you, Vanessa,” he said softly.

Words: 341
Tagged: @vanessa
Notes:

[Deleted]

Dax sounded harsh to her... cold. She expected no less. She never got along with her older brother, even when she was seemingly "one of the family." However, something in his voice when he said he wasn't there to take her home made her believe him. And Dax always had a cold honesty about him in her eyes, unlike her lying father.

"Alright..." she said. "So why are you here?" Her voice was still bitter.

She then listened to Dax. He spoke of as few things she already knew... or at least assumed. Morgaine Deluna made it clear to her that her parents were going to find out. All Dax did was help confirm this. He then told her she needed to leave. Why did Dax want her to escape? Wasn't he a member of the Black Army? Wouldn't he benefit from having her brought into the fold? But that wasn't the worst thing on her mind now.

"Leave?" she said. "I... can't leave here. I have people who love me. I have an amazing boyfriend, someone who cares dearly for me and I him. I can't walk away from then." She then shook her head as he spoke softly. "Why are you helping me, Dax? You and I... we practically hated one another."

DAX VINCENT VELTRINO

[DAX VINCENT VELTRINO]

Dax hadn't liked his sister much of ever, but he was trying to help her. It was his own gain if she didn't come back home. He'd kept the secret of who she was since she'd arrived at Hogwarts. He wouldn't tell his parents anything unless his father gave him Veritaserum. There was very few he kept from his parents but this was one of them. Only things were kept close when they were for himself and not for someone else.

She asked him why he was here and he had told her. He confirmed things that she may or may not have already known. He was on the inside and he could help protect his life. ”Leave? I... can't leave here. I have people who love me. I have an amazing boyfriend, someone who cares dearly for me and I him. I can't walk away from them.” Her head shook and he sighed. ”Why are you helping me, Dax? You and I... we practically hated one another.” Dax glared at her. How could she be so stupid. ”Hate would be more of the accurate word, it's still very much still there despite the years between the time you've been gone,” he told her, ”you're all they talk about, Mum and Dad, ever since you ran away, why care about a son who is practically worthless, right?”

He looked around and sighed once more. ”I'm not helping you, or maybe I am, but I have my reasons, if I'd cared enough to tell our parents about you, I would have done it long before now, like y'know during your first year at Hogwarts, imagine them knowing that you were a Gryffindor of all houses, I think they'd have a heart attack, I've known where you've been since we were in school, and I've kept it, sure keeping what I have is not exactly smart on my part especially with my position in the Black Army, but I'm keeping it for my own reasons and my own gains,” he said in a hushed annoyed tone. He looked away from her before telling her, ”They know where you are, Dad will find a way to get you back, if that means killing those people you love, your boyfriend who cares so deeply about you, he'll do it, I promise that, none of your friends are safe unless you leave, but every stone in London will be turned until you're back at the Casino, I'm warning you, that's what you get from me, I can't do anything but send them on a faux trail take your chance whilst you have it, or you'll regret that you didn't,” he told her.

Dax was a jealous older brother. Extremely jealous of his younger sister. Maybe she wasn't all they talked about but it sure felt like it. She was his younger sister but they put all their hopes into her, all of the lessons into the person who didn't want any of this. This was easily expressed in his frustration. ”Get out of London and you'll be safe for a while, I'm not asking you to leave the country, at least for now, but when you left when you were eight, you set this in motion, you're on the run for the rest of your life, or at least until Dad dies, maybe Mum as well,” he told her.

Words: 565
Tagged: @vanessa
Notes:

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Vanessa despised Dax, but unlike their parents, she never saw him as worthless. It didn't take sibling love to recognize when someone had great skill at things.

"That's not true and you know it," she said. "I remember how good you were at potions. You could be a great Potions Master at St. Mungo's if you could get your head past all this Black Army rubbish. You could really help people, show people you're more than your last name as well." Maybe Vanessa didn't hate him as much as she claimed. Maybe in Dax she did see a slight bit of hope. Selfish or not, he was here trying to "help" her after all.

Vanessa thought she was going to be sick right then and there. Dax had a snake's tongue, but that tongue told the truth. She and all she loved were now in danger. And if anyone died, it would be HER fault. She couldn't live with that guilt. Perhaps... she did need to leave.

"I'll... I'll think about it," she sighed. "It won't be easy. Believe it or not, turning my back on our family was not easy. And turning my back on those I love now is going to be even harder."

Was Dax right? Had she cursed herself to a life of fear by running away? An eight year old didn't really take that into consideration. But when he said this would happen until her parents were dead, Vanessa thought of an alternative. Azkaban. But how would that happen? Vincent and Cordana had avoided the authorities for years.

"I know you came here for selfish reasons, Dax... but... thank you," she said. And she meant it.

DAX VINCENT VELTRINO

[DAX VINCENT VELTRINO]

Dax looked away when she told him that he was good at potions and how he could be a great Potions Master at St. Mungo's but only if he could get past the Black Army. ”You have no right to insult my choices, I know what I'm capable of, but I don't want to help people, I make poisons, I'm not skilled at healing, I make things that kill, things without antidotes, Vanessa, I'm not you, I believe in this and I'm willing to fight for my beliefs,” he told her.

He didn't mean to stress how much it would be her fault but it was the truth and lying wasn't Dax's strong suit, or at least not most of the time. He wasn't going to tell her that if she stayed life would be all dandy, no that would be stupid on his part. But she told him that she would think about it. ”It won't be easy. Believe it or not, turning my back on our family was not easy. And turning back on those I love now is going to be even harder. ”I'm not telling you to turn your back on those, I'm not asking about your feelings, I'm telling you what's in store, go into hiding, at least stay out of Diagon Alley if nothing more, they know where to find you and father has recruited me into helping find you and bring you home,” he shook his head, ”go somewhere safe, but here is not the place.”

Dax looked down when she said 'thank you'. He didn't get to hear those words often but he knew one thing, he was in this for himself. ”I'm not ready to share my life with someone who deserted us for a different life, I don't want you home, but listen to what I say, because the next time I come here, it will be to bring you home, despite what I do or don't want,” he told her seriously. He couldn't take any words that were even remotely sweet. He wasn't raised in that environment. She could say something nice, or even something that was slightly meaningful, it wasn't in his nature to grasp that concept.

Words: 370
Tagged: @vanessa
Notes:

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Vanessa just sighed and shook her head when Dax said he would continue doing potions for dark purposes and for the wrong people. She hated seeing one so talented waste such a talent.

"Fair enough, Dax," she said. "I just.. I just think you're much more than that, that you're much more than what our parents have made you out to be."

She knew Dax was right. She wasn't safe in Diagon. She had to hide, and the only place to do so was with the Weasleys. She knew they could protect her. And really that was her only option. Her foster parents were Squibs and would be powerless against the Black Army.

"Alright, Dax, I'll... find a place," she said, not daring to tell him where. Even if he was "helping" her, it would be foolish to do so.

When Dax promised to bring her home the next time he came, Vanessa knew he was right. He would have to, or he would suffer the wrath of his parents and the Dark Lady. She wouldn't put it past their parents to slay Dax without a second thought.

"I'll be gone," she whispered. "I promise."

DAX VINCENT VELTRINO

[DAX VINCENT VELTRINO]

Dax looked at her as she sighed and shook her head at his answer. He didn't care what she thought he was wasting in his talent. He was good at what he did and she still believed that he was better than what he currently did. ”Fair enough, Dax. I just... I just think you're much more than that, that you're much more than what our parents have made you out to be.” His blue eyes looked at her carefully. ”I'm not who they made me be, I am myself, Vanessa, I will never be like you, I could never be out of this life, don't try to convince me otherwise, I will always be me, I will always believe in the ideals of the Dark Lady and of the past darkness, I do not need to explain myself to you, to the girl who left our family, the girl who disowned who she could have been, if we want to talk what we could have been, that we're much more, you're much more than a person working in a Menagerie, you could have been a great person, someone who could have helped your family with who you could have been,” he told her. He didn't want her back but it was the truth. All they have taught him about who is sister could have been. Even then he lived in those shadows. He'd lived in the shadows of who his sister could have been if she wasn't some good witch. No, instead Dax had minded his own business and helped with what he could always feeling a bit forgotten because of the stories, because of her.

When she finally realized that he was right that she needed to leave here, he knew well enough that she wasn't going to tell him. No, veritaserum was a common place here in this world, especially among the dark wizards. If someone though you were lying they wouldn't hesitate and for him to know such vital information would be foolish on her part.

She promised him that she would find a place that wasn't here and he gave a small smile. ”Vanessa, I may not like you, but you are still my sister, please remember that, and no matter what, I will protect you from this,” he told her, ”from what you don't want to be.” Maybe he was a better older brother than he thought. No, he always had done things like this for very selfish reasons. He'd never told his parents about her, but was it to actually protect her, or was it to protect himself? He never had a right answer for that, maybe in the end it was a mixture of both.

Words: 454
Tagged: @vanessa
Notes:

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Vanessa sighed and nodded, the glimmer of hope that her brother could change for the better fading quickly.

"No, you don't need to explain yourself to me," she said. "You don't owe me anything, Dax. I was never a good sister to you. Back then, I looked at you as trying to kiss up to other mother and father and their ideals. Now I know that you were just trying to earn the same respect and admiration that I didn't want. I'm truly sorry for that, Dax. If I could have gone back and changed that, I would have, but I can't. I... understand why you hate... hated me."

The glimmer of hope came back when Dax promised to protect her as best he could. It was a start anyway.

"Thank you, Dax," she said. "And again I wish things could have been different between us. The people who found and raised me have a daughter. She and I became like sisters and love each other dearly. We formed a bond. You should have had that with me." She then extended her hand to him. "Take care of yourself, Dax. And remember in the end, you and you alone have the right to determine your own fate, just as much as I or anyone else does."

DAX VINCENT VELTRINO