When Drakes Smile (Ethan)

[Lilac Drake]

"Ethan..." she began speculatively however continued eating so not to draw importance on her next words, " ...Why do you think I wasn't put into Slytherin?" she asked and a bit rushed at that as if she hadn't asked the question at all.

She wasn't even looking at him for that matter but had her nose pointed downward her eyes on her food.

[Ethan Drake]

Ethan looked over. He often wished that she had been sorted into Slytherin, justbecause it would be so much easier to keep their parents pleased and to keep her out of trouble. Not to mention the fact that it would be so much easier to keep an eye on her.

"Well, I suspect it's because you're a much better person that I am," he said with a little shrug as if it were no big deal.

[Lilac Drake]

"But if I was a better person wouldn't I have been placed in Slytherin?" she asked innocently enough, better meaning that it was better to be placed in slytherin. Ethan was talking morals and she was talking in general, wasn't it better to be bad? Was she bad for being good?

[Ethan Drake]

"No. Slytherins are cunning and evil and mean and... well, you know the reputation."

He was still eating while he spoke with her, being casual and trying to make her see that he didn't care... even if he did, a little.

"Gryffindors are brave and kind and good hearted."

[Lilac Drake]

She laughed at his descriptions, "Oh, but Ethan you're brave, and kind, and good hearted...and you're not mean at all, you could never be evil."

As she lavished praise on her brother she wasn't even aware that she could be his exception.

[Ethan Drake]

Ethan wanted to laugh, but he kept quiet instead, and just murmured a soft 'thank you.'

Ethan knew he wasn't always a nice guy, but as long as Lyla thought he was... that was all that really mattered. The truth was, he fit the Slytherin stereotype pretty well.

"I guess you're just braver and kinder and more good hearted than I am, and the hat couldn't handle both of us in the same house."

[Lilac Drake]

She smiled at him for that and kissed his cheek, "Thank you Ethan." she said softly, she doubted that was really the reason but he was so incredibly sweet to say it was, she loved her brother, he took care of her, not just her physical health but her feelings too, and she knew that despite what her father thought of her she was still well loved.

[Ethan Drake]

"Why are you thanking me for how good you are?" He asked, not quite letting her see how much her gratitude meant to him.

"Oh, I see. You mean thank you for being the slightly worse seed so you could be seen as the golden child. Well, in that case, you're quite welcome."

[Lilac Drake]

She laughed, pure and wholesome ringing sweetly in the air, that was how it was between them. She loved him and he took care of her, she always smiled and laughed when he was around, nobody else could reach this side of her, how happy he made her.

She knew well enough that she was not the golden child but to say such a thing made her laugh anyway.

She glanced around them, her eye landing on the cake she had brought, but she wanted to wait for him to finish his food before she started in on that.

[Ethan Drake]

God, that laugh reminded him how completely innocent she was, and he frowned slightly, almost unnoticeably.

"Lunch is great by the way... you and the house elves are far too good to me for my own good." He was close to being finished, but taking his time just to chat with her. "So, tell me what else is going on in your life, love."

[Lilac Drake]

She laughed again, "You ask the same questions." she grinned, " I have the same answers, although I excelled at potions the other day...I think I'm making slughorn happy...and I know father told me to get into that man's good graces so I'm trying. I'm doing good in all my classes actually, you can ask the teachers. Do you think I could have them write notes home?" she asked quietly, "Maybe if father sees how well behaved I am, and he sees that I'm excelling, it would make him happy."

[Ethan Drake]

"I don't need to ask the professors, love," Ethan said. "I believe you. And there's no need to have them all write notes home. I'll mention it in my next letter, okay?" He told her. It worried him that she was so caught up in making their father happy. The man was ridiculously hard to please, and he doubted good marks on her part were really going to help.

"I'm proud of you.," he said, hoping it meant something to her.

[Lilac Drake]

It actually meant the world to her. She could only fool herself so much and allow the charade of dutiful daughter to last so long before the buried memories and painful instances reappeared in her life, but the one thing she was sure of was Ethan. Her brother loved her, and was proud of her, and that counted, that mattered so much to her.

It showed as well when she relaxed her entire frame and merely sat with him. "I'm so proud of you." she said after a while thinking about how much her brother did, how strong and brave, how cunning and resourceful. He was the epitome of everything that was good and sweet in a child's eyes.

[Ethan Drake]

Ethan sighed quietly. He didn't want her hearing it, anyway, and he showed her a smile for it.

She loved him unconditionally, no matter what he did, and to her, he was that great person she idolized. To the rest of the world... well, he was an average teenage boy. He had his moments, and he was in Slytherin for Merlin's sake. But everytime she said something like that, it reminded him that he should work harder to be worthy of such adulation from her.

"Let's try this dessert now, hm?"

[Lilac Drake]

She nodded eagerly then got out the dessert she had brought and served him some of it waiting for him to eat before she would to see if he liked it, his approval did mean the world to her after all. You couldn't tell her a single bad thing about her brother, first of all she wouldn't believe it, secondly she'd hate you for the rest of your life, third she was the kind of person you hated to hurt in anyway, and by disillusioning that "knight in shining armor" veneer she placed on her brother's shoulders would be akin to destroying her. It wasn't fair that she placed the sun and the moon on Ethan's shoulders, but it's what she had to do.

As a young girl growing up she had nobody else, only her brother who loved her and she had learned that other people hurt you...so he was the only one she felt safe with.

[Ethan Drake]

Maybe it wasn't fair, but Ethan would do the best he could, for the rest of his life, to carry the world on his shoulders for her. She was pretty much the only person that got this kind of treatment. He was teased in Slytherin for his gentle demeanor overall, but they made no mistake that he could be ruthless when he needed to be. Lyla didn't need to know that.

"This is delicious, Lyla," he told her, encouraging her to eat.

[Lilac Drake]

Lyla started then agreeing that the dessert was delicious and pleased that she had pleased him. She did this right, their picnic, which made her pause in thought, she was looking at her dessert while she brought the subject up to her brother, " This was fun wasn't it?" she asked, "I mean...it was well done? The picnic?" she was looking around once more making sure they had napkins, that she had picked his favorite foods and the dessert was good.

" I think Father would approve. Don't you?"

[Ethan Drake]

Ethan frowned. Why was she so concerned about what their father thought?

He reached out and tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him. "Yes, he would, but I don't see where that matters. Is he here eating with us? Shouldn't you be more worried about whether or not I approve of it? Which I do, of course."

[Lilac Drake]

Lilac loved her father, she respected him, and she catered to him, but she feared him most of all. She didn't know what it was about the way that he would look at her that made her skin crawl and her hands perspire. She didn't know why she felt as if he were always watching her, waiting for her to mess up. She didn't know why she asked Ethan all the time if their father would be proud of her, perhaps it was just a lonely girl's longing for the father she didn't really have, or perhaps it was more.

"Of course I'm concerned with what you think." she said quickly apology in her voice, " I just, I thought that maybe when we went home for Christmas...maybe I could get father to ..." she shrugged then, " I don't know, never mind." she said quickly then smiled up at him, "Of course you loved it." she said more confidently.

[Ethan Drake]

He eyed her suspiciously. She wanted to let it go, but this was one of the things about her that he wanted to understand. He always felt like he understood girls, but his sister was different.

"No, please go on, what are you hoping from father when we go home?" One year... next year, it would have to be, he would keep her here over the holidays. He just hadn't been able to leave their mother alone.