buon anno || clement
DECEMBER 31ST, 2022 :: HOGWARTS EXPRESS
The train home was empty. He could have taken a bus, in all honesty, but his parents insisted on the whole Hogwarts Express taking him back to London. They had difficulty doing things halfway.
The journey from the Hogsmeade station to King’s Cross wasn’t a long trip by any means, and Clement knew wishing for an accident or something to stop the train was not only childish but completely useless. He did it anyway. It gave him something to think about, to preoccupy himself with. His avoidance tactics may not be healthy, but they’re sure well-developed.
He was dreading this meeting. Not just this meeting; he was dreading everything about returning to London. Seeing his parents again– seeing his mother again– and discussing being disowned. Perhaps his brothers would be there. For the first time in years, he wanted to see Alen, even if it was only to ask why Katarina wouldn’t respond to him.
DECEMBER 31ST, 2022 :: KING’S CROSS STATION
No one was there to pick him up. Logically speaking he knew they were just running late, but there was still a part of him that worried, a subtle fear that pressed against his throat and made it harder to breathe the more time passed. He hated it. He hated how his parents make him this nervous for something so simple, so childish. It reminded him of when he was a child, when he spent every moment he was outside of the house wondering if this would be the time they forgot about him for good. They never did, and he scoffs at himself now, but for a young child who already knew his parents didn’t care for him, it was a genuine fear. That fear had never faded completely.
The station wasn’t busy, but there was still a steady buzz around him, muggles heading to work, or family, or friends. Or parties, he supposed. It was New Years Eve, even though the sun had only risen a few hours ago. He wondered if there would be parties at Hogwarts tonight. Maybe Jack would throw one. He frowned. Thinking about Jack right now, when he’s already struggling to keep calm, wouldn’t end well. He pushed the thought away and checked his watch.
Another ten minutes passed and Clement was about to just forget his mother’s instructions and apparate himself. A few seconds before he followed through with that, his brother showed up. It always seemed to work like that.
DECEMBER 31ST, 2022 :: OUTSIDE THE KINGSTON MANOR
Alen had barely nodded at him before taking his arm and apparating. He didn’t let go until Clement yanked away from him.
“Hi,” Clement said dryly, brushing down his clothes and looking over– and up– at his older brother.
“Clement,” Alen responded in greeting, the first word he had said to him in a year and a half.
Clement had to walk quickly to keep up, his brother’s legs longer than his as he turned on his heel and started towards the house. Alen made no effort to slow down.
“Where’s Kat?” Clement tried not to look like he was struggling. “I haven’t heard from her lately.”
Even from his position a few feet behind Alen, he can see his brother’s fists clench.
When the man spoke, his voice was carefully controlled. “Katarina is indisposed.”
They spent the rest of the walk in silence.
DECEMBER 31ST, 2022 :: FOURTH FLOOR GUEST BEDROOM
He wasn’t allowed to see his mother yet. Being confined to his bedroom wasn’t a new thing for him, but he had hoped it would stop once he no longer lived at the house. Instead, he was just confined to a guest bedroom. There were other places he’d rather be on New Years Eve. Any place but here, really.
Two more hours passed. Every time he had opened the door one of the staff would step in front of him. It was never outright stated that he wasn’t allowed to leave, but he could take a hint, and after the first while he didn’t see a point in doing anything to resist.
By the time he had been there for an hour he was already bored out of his mind. He had written a letter to Freya, and then one to Kat. He tucked them away to send later, when his windows were no longer figuratively barred. Another half an hour went by before he resorted to writing a letter to Helena as well.
At 3 o’clock, four hours since he had first arrived, there was a knock. One of the staff gave him some food. His nerves kept him from eating a single bite.
By 5 o’clock, he was fed up. This was ridiculous. He had been asked to come home and now here he was, stuck in his room like a prisoner or a misbehaving little kid. He hated them. He wished he hated him. He hated how they could call him here and then ignore him, he hated how they always ignored him, he hated how he could say whatever he wanted when they were gone but lose his voice upon sight. Most of all, he hated how they despised him, but he could never bring himself to feel the same way.
JANUARY 1ST, 2023 :: KINGSTON MANOR
One minute past midnight according to his watch. Alone in his room. There were flashes of light, of colour, outside the window, but he stayed on the bed. The last knock was eight hours ago. He closed his eyes, knowing he’d need rest to face his parents tomorrow. Happy New Years. He wondered what Jack was doing.
JANUARY 1ST, 2023 :: SECOND FLOOR DINING ROOM
She was late. Again. The house eleves offered him food but he turned them all away, his stomach twisting too much to keep anything down. The last time he saw his mother was the end of the summer and even then she had barely acknowledged him. There was the dinner with the Fraziers– the disaster that was– but the last time his mother had spoken to him, and just him, was when she had confronted him about Freya afterwards. His cheek stings at the memory. There’s still a mark from her ring.
Needless to say, they hadn’t parted on good terms. He didn’t even know if Amedea Pais had ‘good terms’, especially with her youngest son.
The door opened and his heart jumped to his throat.
His mother swept into the room without so much as a greeting, taking a seat at the head of the table despite her son being stationed halfway down it. He had to turn to face her. Only once she was sitting did she look at him. Her gaze was cold. He shrunk back against his chair.
“You know why you are here.” She went straight to the point. “Your father and I are considering legal disownment for you.” She paused. He still couldn’t speak. Hearing his brother tell him that was one thing, but the words actually coming out of his mother’s mouth made him freeze. When it was obvious he wasn’t going to speak, she continued. “You are aware of what that means?”
He nodded. She explained it anyway.
“All inheritance will go directly to Alen and Russel. Anything that may become of you will no longer be of our concern. We will have no legal connection to you.”
Clement already knew all this, but his throat was too tight to speak. Something about his mother’s presence struck fear through him.
“Well?” she sounded impatient and he frowned, staring at the table. If he looked at her he wouldn’t be able to respond. “Defend yourself.”
Clement swallowed. He had thought of reasons on the train, reasons they shouldn’t do this to him, but now that he was faced with actually putting them to use, his mind was blank.
“Family image,” he stated, then swallowed again, his voice coming out dry. “It would be bad for–“
“We have considered that,” she cuts him off and he falls silent immediately. Normally he liked being quiet, like not having to speak, but he didn’t like this. He liked control, he needed control, but he wasn’t in control now. He was just a kid getting scolded by his mother. “We were hoping you would have some new insight.”
“Name,” he blurted out, lacking his usual calm, carefully worded sentences. “I’ll have your last name still and if I–“
“Again, already considered.” She almost sounded like she pitied him, but not because of what she was doing to him– it was the the sort of pity someone would feel for a small child who was struggling to understand why they weren’t allowed to do something. The type of pity one would feel for someone far more simple minded. “It’s a shame you are not a Ravenclaw like your brothers. They could provide reasons. I had hoped none of my children would end up stupid.”
The words weren’t new or especially creative, and he’d heard them hundreds of times before, but they still stung. It was obvious she just wanted to insult him now. His face burned as he shrunk further back into his chair. He could feel her eyes on him for another few seconds, examining him for something– whether it was weakness or resistance he wasn’t sure, but she didn’t seem satisfied with what she found.
“If that is all–“
“Useful! I can be useful.” He didn’t know what he was trying to do now, but he was sure if she left the room his fate would be sealed. It worked. She paused.
“Go on.”
Clement licked his lips, knowing now might be his only chance. He was well aware his next words could prove dangerous for him, but he didn’t know what else there was to do. Without his money, without his family– he was nothing.
Jack’s words came to mind all of a sudden, the reassurance he had been given during that last night they had spent together, sharing secrets. Jack had liked him for something else, something his mother couldn’t take from him. The memories strengthened his resolve. Jack hadn’t liked him for his money, but now– now Jack didn’t even like him at all.
“Anything you want,” he responded finally. His mother’s smile unnerved him. He had never seen her smile at him before. He thought of Avalon suddenly, of how the woman at the table with him was directly responsible for her parents’ deaths. He thought of Freya, who his parents hated and finally had enough leverage to get him to stay away from her. There was Helena, too, who his parents actually liked despite her house. She wouldn’t like him without money. He was sure of that. There was no doubt in his mind that she would want him to do whatever he could.
Did he even have friends other than them? He blanked. Jack didn’t like him, and Clement wasn’t sure if they had been friends in the first place. It was as though he had gone straight from barely knowing the boy to falling–
No, he didn’t need those thoughts now.
Helena wasn’t his friend either. He had made that clear even if part of him was beginning to reconsider. No matter what way he looked at it, there was nothing or no one– he tried not to think about Freya and his feelings for her– worth losing his money over.
He turned to face his mother fully and repeated himself. “I’ll do anything you want.”