A Difference in Opinion

[Ioan Finch]

Stepping out of his home, Ioan had no specific destination in mind. He spent far too much time on Bleak Street these days and was growing tired of its stores and its people. He didn’t really feel like heading to the mall, Obsidian or Brightstone either. With a sigh, Ioan headed back inside to change and then he apparated to the one place where he thought he might find something interesting to do. He hoped that the beach would provide the entertainment he sought because Ioan knew better than anyone that when he was bored, he tended to get into trouble.

Dressed in swim trunks, a tank-top and with a towel draped over his shoulder, Ioan was about to head straight for the water. He paused, realizing that his death eater tattoo was still visible. Stepping into a corner near a little hut of some kind, Ioan pulled out his wand and quickly used a disillusionment charm to hide his tattoo. Stowing his wand again, Ioan found an empty spot on the sand to place his towel and wand, which he wadded up in the towel. After removing his tank top, Ioan headed toward the water, smirking as a pair of muggle girls tried to get his attention. With a sneer, Ioan jogged the rest of the way into the water and began swimming.

Twenty minutes later, Ioan stepped back onto the beach. One of the girls stepped over to him as Ioan brushed his wet hair back. “Umm…can you help my friend and I?” she asked with a smile, looking over at her friend to be sure she was watching the exchange.

Ioan stared at her for a moment, his eyebrow raised. Then, he rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time to help a mug…you” he said rudely and kept walking, leaving the two girls confused. Ioan shook his head unable to believe the audacity of muggles as he reached his towel, stretched it out and laid down on it.

 

[Izaak Finch]

Of the seven days of the week, Izaak had spent six on duty on the shores of Bondi. But even though today was his day off, he had swapped his uniform for a pair of boardshorts and a rescue board for one of his own and headed eagerly into the surf. The beach was like his second home- no, scratch that, it was his home. It was no secret that he spent more hours there then he did inside of his own house. Perhaps Alexis being at school played a part in that, but regardless Izaak much preferred the waves and the sand to lounges and beds anyway.

The nineteen year old trudged out of the whitewash, the fibreglass board beneath his left arm as his right rose to brush the excess water from his shaggy brown hair. Finding that this was practically a useless gesture as the droplets continued to stream irritatingly down his face, he shook his head a couple of times before flicking his fringe out of his vivid blue eyes. Now free from distractions, Izaak scanned his gaze along the beach in hopes of landing upon someone he knew. Being that he was a regular beach-goer, he didn't have to look too far. A smile carressed his lips as he picked his towel up from the sand and replaced it with his board before making his way over to the two girls, Sam and Ashleigh, that he had become close to through the links of other friends. "Hey girls, what's up?" He grinned curiously, flicking his azure eyes across their dumbfounded expressions. They turned at the sound out his voice and immediately their features went from blank to joyous. "Izaak Finch!" Sam exclaimed so loudly that it turned a few heads in the trio's direction, quickly forgetting about the bitter rejection that she had just been subjected to. "Where were you Friday night?! Aaron said you were going to come!" Izaak merely shrugged, not particularly wanting to share with her that he had been with Isabella. No one in Bondi knew about the pregnancy yet, they barely knew about his infidelity. "Something came up?" He grinned sheepishly, trying to edge away from that conversation.

lame.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan was enjoying the cool sea breeze with his eyes closed for a moment before the voice of the girl who had spoken to him a moment ago invaded his ears. Turning his head, his eyes in slits because of the sun, Ioan could see that the girls were talking to a guy. There was something very familiar about the guy, and Ioan found himself listening to their conversation as he struggled to recall how he knew this guy.

They seemed to be talking about some event, a party probably, but Ioan nearly jumped up when he heard his surname being called loudly. Izaak? Ioan thought to himself as he sat up for a better look. Sure enough, talking to the muggle girls was none other than his younger cousin. He couldn't even recall the last time he had seen the boy. It had to be before his mother died because she was the only one who could ever have convinced him to attend a family function. Standing up and brushing the sand off of his shoulders, Ioan made his way to the group, wondering what his cousin was doing with the muggles.

Ioan glanced at the girls before directing his attention to the guy. "Izaak? Is that really you?" Ioan asked, interrupting the conversation that was happening and not yet introducing himself. He was pretty sure that it was his cousin because now that he was in front of the boy, he could see the trademark blue eyes that most of the Finches had. Ioan's eyes were slightly more of a greenish blue, but everyone else in the family had blue eyes.

 

[Izaak Finch]

A playful pout curled Ashleigh’s lips as Izaak answered Sam’s question and she placed her hands defiantly on her hips, ready to wittily chide him. The words were dancing teasingly on her tongue and Izaak could see them as he waited in plain amusement. However their good-humoured jesting was halted as a male’s voice rose next to the group of three. The first thing Izaak noticed was the bitter expression on Samantha’s expression, and the way that Ashleigh had clasped her hand over her mouth, clearly to suppress a bout of giggles. Amused by their reactions and puzzled as to who the owner of the voice was, Izaak brought his striking blue eyes into a full frontal stare at the male before him. “ Yeah… Sorry, I don’t think I…” Izaak paused, the features of the older male growing more recognisable by the mere second. “Ioan?”

Sam’s jaw dropped in pure shock as she shot a glare towards Izaak, trying to catch the attention of his azure blue eyes but they remained solely and widely on the man that had so rudely rejected her. Ashleigh could no longer contain herself and burst out in a fit of sweet giggles. For a brief moment Izaak’s eyes darted to them, wearing an expression that questioned their strange behaviour before fixing back on his cousin. “Um, wow. What are you doing here?” Izaak had not been particularly close to Ioan, he was several years older after all in addition to the fact that he reminded him too much of his own father, so his question was more surprised than excited. Leah had mentioned that she had run into Irene, so perhaps it had only a matter of time before the two male cousins met again.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan nodded and glanced at the girls, smirking at their expressions. He was just about to say something to them, and had even opened his mouth to do so, when Izaak asked him what he was doing here. Pausing for a moment, Ioan contemplated giving a serious answer to the question, but couldn't help himself. "Uh...swimming" he said with an eye roll and then shook his head, smirking as he did so.

"I could ask you the same thing. I moved here a year ago...I was tired of Romania and had better offers here" he said cryptically. He didn't want to go into the whole story of his mother dying, his argument with his dad or anything else, especially if his cousin already knew the story and certainly not in front of a bunch of non-wizards. He also had no intentions of mentioning his involvement with the death eaters though he did enjoy dropping hints about it. He hadn't seen his cousins in years, so he had no idea whether or not the Finches were all still one big happy family gathering during the holidays or anything.

Ioan noted the surprise in Izaak's voice and mirrored it. He was pretty surprised to see his younger cousin here himself and especially in present company. It wasn't something that either guy would have been allowed to do back home. "How about you?" Ioan asked and then scratched the back of his shoulder where his phoenix tattoo was. "You keep lovely company, I see" he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. He smiled at the girls, wondering if they would catch the insult. Somehow, he doubted they would.

 

[Izaak Finch]

An audible huff of breath, one that ranged half way between amused and irritated, broke from Izaak's chest as his cousin stated the blindingly obvious. He couldn't be bothered holding up a conversation if sarcasm was all that he was going to be returned with but Ioan continued to explain his presence and Izaak found himself settling into deciphering his words. Better offers? Obviously it had something to do with magic. Talk of their blood was taboo in front of muggles, not that Izaak wanted to even think about his blood status. Life as a wizard was something he'd well and truly given up on after graduation and it was a life not sorely missed, not in the slightest.

Izaak's jaw unhinged as the first syllable of his reciprocated answer flicked to the tip of his tongue but he swallowed it harshly at Ioan's subtle insult. His azure eyes shot immediately to Ashleigh and Samantha, checking in paranoia if they had gotten the bite of his comment. They merely looked confused, knowing that the remark was meant to insult them in some way but not understanding how. The line of Izaak's jaw squared and clenched ruthlessly into place as his boiling gaze fell back over his cousin. The definitive lines of muscles in his shoulders and upper arms strained taut and tense against his skin. The azure in his eyes flashed warningly, burning something dangerous as they hooked on the more greener hues of Ioan's. It had been quite some time since Izaak had seen this sort of prejudice, he had been sheltered from it for so long that it triggered an instant defensive reaction within him.

But it was all only for the briefest of moments as he felt Ashleigh touch her palm tentatively to his shoulder and heard Sam, through the heat of his sudden rage, questioningly coo his name. It was rare that Izaak ever grew angry, and if he did it was most definitely for a notable reason. But as it wasn't apparent to either of the girls, coupled with the fact that in the time that they had known him they had never seen him mad, their concern and fear was immediate and intimate. Izaak pressed them a trying smile from over his shoulder before looking back at his cousin who, unsurprisingly, reminded him uncannily of his father. "Oh, only the best." Izaak was sure to remove each sliver of sarcasm from his voice so Ioan knew that he was serious, keeping just a subtle hint of bitterness to dare him to bite back. "I moved out years ago with Leah, been here ever since."

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan watched with interest as Izaak’s jaw clenched as if he were angry. It amused Ioan and a smirk spread over his face. He had always enjoyed pushing Izaak’s buttons when they were younger, and he was glad to see that he could still do it quite easily. He almost wished his cousin would pull out his wand because then they could have a good old fashioned duel like they used to. This time though there wouldn’t be any sisters around to break them up. Perhaps his cousin simply needed a reminder of what he was capable of. As the two cousins got caught up in a staredown, Ioan’s face lost its smirk as his expression grew more serious and cold.

All this over mudbloods? Ioan questioningly thought, unable to believe the obvious affection that passed between the trio. Izaak had grown up in much the same way that Ioan had, knowing that those with magic were superior to those without. Their fathers were brothers after all, and the two of them had shared many of the same opinions about the importance of blood status and mudblood inferiority. He didn’t know what had changed within his cousin for him to think otherwise.

At Izaak’s remark, a sneer appeared on Ioan’s face. He glared at his cousin as he realized that his cousin was not joking, but appeared to be deadly serious. It surprised him when Izaak went on to answer his question. “I doubt it” he retorted, glaring at the two girls before he forced his voice back into a more calm tone and his face into a more calm expression. “I didn’t realize Leah was here too” he responded, wondering if she too had turned her back on her pureblood status. Leah had always been closer to Irene, and it had been years since he had seen her. “Irene is here too…guess it’s like a big family reunion” Ioan added as an afterthought.

 

[Izaak Finch]

The heat in Izaak's gaze did not falter as his cousin spat forth a retort, accompanied by a well-aimed glare in the direction of the girls. Catching on that the man before them did not at all approve of their presence and realising that Izaak was on their side, Sam and Ashleigh shot Ioan a disgusted sneer. "Oh yeah, set a date and we'll all be there," The amused sarcasm in his voice shot to an all time high as he tried to imagine all four of the cousins together once more. He, Leah and Irene would all get on well but throw Ioan into the mix and it was sure to be a disaster. "Wouldn't that be interesting?" Izaak was aware that his temper was rising with every snide comment and knew that it probably shouldn't but Ioan had wound him up and it was going to take a while to settle back down again.

The girls looked at one another anxiously, sensing that now was probably a good time to leave before the situation got any uglier. "We better be going Izaak," Sam sighed, leaning up in search of a hug from her friend. Izaak was glad to succumb to her wishes and curled his arms tightly around her back, looking over her shoulder at Ioan with a challenging expression arching on his features. And just to prove his point further, he pressed his lips to her cheek and repeated it in a similar manner for Ashleigh. "Seeya girls," Izaak grinned, throwing them a wave as they walked up from the shoreline, whispering quickly to one another.

"What's your problem Ioan?" Izaak spat as he turned to his cousin, trying his best to keep a guttural growl from the heavy tones of his voice. "Enlighten me. Why are they so bad?" Although no matter what Ioan said, it was not going to change his mind.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan would have been angry if he wasn't so amused to see the girls sneering at him. He watched in silence, crossing his arms over his chest as his cousin said goodbye to each of his friends and gave them a kiss on the cheek. The young death eater knew somehow that the kiss was meant to make some kind of point and his eyes narrowed as he continued to watch in silence. He was simply glad that the girls had finally gotten the hint and were leaving. "Yea, seeya girls" Ioan added coolly as the girls left, whispering furiously as they did.

When Izaak turned to him and asked him what his problem was, Ioan's eyes widened. Is he serious? Ioan thought to himself before opening his mouth. "You seriously think I'm the one with the problem?" he began in a harsh voice. "It's really quite simple. We have magic for a reason. I'm sure they have their uses, but we are meant for something greater. You'd really turn your back on your own kind for them?" he asked, incredulous at the very idea.