Sister's Keeper

[Markus Schwarz]

Mark had honestly hoped to meet Joseph again in better circumstances than this. He hadn't seen his old friend in such a long time, and he'd really been looking forward to the chance to meet him again. But after what Clara said...Mark shook his head. He couldn't believe it at first, Joseph and Clara had slept together? Joseph? As if he would sleep with Clara, he'd always seen her as nothing but a stupid little girl, an annoyance. Why would he have slept with her? But she was so insistent, and Clara didn't often lie to him. Besides, he was blinded by his horror at the fact that his precious little sister could possibly be...no, Mark didn't want to think about it.

So, he was at the Schwarz Manor, a place that had not been lived in for a while - not since Clara and Ava had lived there - sitting in the living room, waiting for Joseph to arrive. He had some important things to say. Things he really didn't want to say, but needed to say regardless. Closing his eyes, Mark sat back with a pained expression on his face. Why did he have to deal with this? Why!

 

[Joseph Adler]

Joseph and Clara had spoken again since they had been together that day but this conversation was only in passing, yet in it, Joseph had heard two things he did not want to: Firstly, that Mark wanted to see him at the Schwarz Manor- A place Joseph hadn't been to in year- and secondly, Clara was, allegedly, pregnant. She had left before he had a chance to answer and now Joseph, pale as ever but still suited up with a cool-as-a-cucumber attitude, taking a moment to breath deeply and prepare himself for the trouble that lay within.

Joseph tapped with the large knocker against the solid front door and waited for an answer. Of course it would have probably been less awkward to just apparate directly into the living room but Joseph had already done one terrible thing and he didn't want to do another.

((Sorry it's short))

 

[Markus Schwarz]

Mark sighed as he heard the knock on the door, and slowly got to his feet and made his way to the door. He didn't want to have to see Joseph, or talk to him about this, but it had to be done. Sometimes he wished Clara had more maturity. Then she could handle her own damn problems herself. This wasn't his job. But she was his sister, and he cared a lot about her. Besides, she knew how to get her way. And Mark was very protective of those he cared most about. Unfortunately for him, Clara factored in to that. As did Joseph, being a good friend.

"Joseph," Mark began, not coldly, but not exactly welcoming either. "Come in," he said, gesturing to the living room, and closing the door behind him. "I...I trust you heard from Clara, then."

 

[Joseph Adler]

Joseph stepped inside and walked to the living room, nodding his head in reply to Mark. "Yes," he said, seeming quite calm. He would have preferred to have been meeting Mark under different circumstances but that could no longer be helped. "She found me and mentioned you would like to see me. She mentioned that and.. other things." Of course Joseph was not just going to blurt out what Clara had told him; he wasn't a complete idiot.

Joseph pulled one of his fine rolled cigarettes from his pocket, holding it. "Mind if I smoke?" he said, as calm as was possible in such a situation. He and Mark had been close once- the closest of friends there was but after years of being parted and what had happened now, Joseph thought their friendship unlikely to ever be so strong.

 

[Markus Schwarz]

Mark nodded. "You're more than welcome to." He, himself, went and grabbed the Firewhiskey he'd sat down by the couch. He'd needed it after what Clara told him. "Yes the...other things," he muttered, shaking his head. "Frankly, I'm astounded. I couldn't believe that you...that you and her...you..." he couldn't bring himself to finish his sentance. What, exactly, was he meant to say? "Gott verdammt, Joseph, she's my sister! That annoying little brat who always followed us around at Durmstrang!"

Mark pressed his palm against his forehead, taking a breath. "I'm sorry. I don't blame you. Even if you did do it. I just...I'm really surprised that you did. And now this..." Mark shuddered. "Why? And what the hell do we all do now?"

 

[Joseph Adler]

Joseph had just lit his cigarette and was taking a puff when Mark dived in and said what they both knew but without any dilly dallying about. He coughed a little on the smoke which had gone down wrong. Joseph, though he envied his sister, would react the same way in such a situation.. Though, perhaps with slightly less mercy. "It wasn't planned or anything." Joseph added quickly, drawing another breath from his cigarette. It kept him somewhat calm. "One minute we were arguing, I was about to kill her, the next.." Joseph could see it all happening again in his mind. He could remember it clearly.

Joseph drew on his cigarette again. "I remember how we used to laugh back at Durmstrang, how we used to tease her. I miss the good old days when there was nothing serious to worry about.. I'm not ready to be a father." Joseph had said this without thinking but the moment he said it, it clicked. He felt sick to his stomach and became a very pale green colour. If he was going to tell Mark- which he was planning to eventually- he had not intended to do it this way. Joseph found his hand moving towards his pocket, should he need to defend himself.

 

[Markus Schwarz]

Mark sighed. Bloody Clara. Just the type of thing she'd do. Well, he supposed it was a good thing Joseph didn't kill her, but still, they'd...Mark was so confused. And he didn't want to be mad at Joseph, really, he didn't, but he was starting to feel tension build in his stomach. After all, he was very protective of Clara. She didn't seem to need protection, but Mark knew, of course, that although she was twenty-three and somewhat untouchable, she was still a precocious little girl, still desperate for attention, still so easily shaken...it always amazed Mark how calm she could be. Back when she was little, she always threw the worst tantrums. Now she appeared to have matured, but Mark knew she had a long way to go.

He swore at Joseph's next statement. God, he would give anything to have the good old days back too, but dammit, Joseph had bloody well gone and got his precious little sister pregnant. "Dammit, Joseph!" Mark exclaimed, his shaking hand making his way to his pocket, in order to take out his wand. "You knocked up my sister, and now you tell me you're not ready to take responsibility?" Mark swore again, shaking his head. "We all do stupid things, but you need to bloody well take responsibility for what you did to her. God dammit, you're my friend, Joseph, but right now, I could kill you!"

 

[Joseph Adler]

Joseph pulled his cigarette from his mouth, gripping it in his left hand and suddenly his right fist was clenched, his body tense. He was ready to strike. "Yeah, you could kill me, Mark," he started, anger building. He really needed to learn to control his rage. "But you wouldn't. You were always weak, even at Durmstrang. You always stopped the torture before anyone got really hurt, didn't you, Mark? You're pathetic!" he spat these words venomously. No way was he going to be bad mouthed. Joseph didn't let anyone do that. Especially not Ruth.

"Besides," He said, appearing to regain his cool long enough to puff his cigarette, "It's your sister's own fault for dressing like some lady of the night!" Too far. Even in his state of anger, Joseph knew this was overstepping the line. "Mate, I'm sorry." he breathed. But it was too little, far too late.

 

[Markus Schwarz]

Mark was furious. Joseph raised a pretty good point - even for a Death Eater, Mark hesitated at killing. It just seemed a little too brutal, and while some deserved it (and he had killed before), Joseph was a friend, despite all this, and he could never kill someone he trusted. Well, mostly trusted. His trust had taken a bit of a nosedive, all things lately considering. "Joseph, you don't know what you're saying," Mark said, his voice trembling. He was right, of course, Mark would be the one to cease the torture. He felt it so wrong - he'd suffered, too, and despite everything, Mark was nothing if not somewhat compassionate. After all, he worked with magical creatures. But he wasn't pathetic. Not at all. Just cautious.

But nobody, nobody badmouthed his sister. Sure, his view of his sister was extremely biased, but that was just because he cared about her. A lot. "Don't you ever say anything like that about Clara again, you bastard," Mark spat, his vision clouded with rage. He raised his arm to strike - magic seemed like too much thought, too much effort, when he just wanted to beat the living daylights of out Joseph - but just as he swang, he heard an all too familiar laugh, causing him to stumble and miss. How long had she been there?

 

[Clara Schwarz]

"So sorry to interrupt your little 'display'...but for once I wasn't in the mood for bloodshed." Clara made herself reappear with ease, having cast a disillusionment charm on herself and hidden in the hallway to watch what happened. The men were too wrapped up in their discussion to notice her presence anyway. "Mark, mein bruder, you're lovely and all, but you really need to learn to not be so trusting. Even of your own darling sister." A callous smirk crossed her face as she took a few steps closer to stand in between Mark and Joseph, her hands on her hips.

"Joseph, darling," Clara purred, venom obvious in her words. "This was rather fun to watch, I'm almost ashamed to call it to an end. I'm not pregnant." She grinned at this, more innocently. "But my God, it was hilarious to watch you suffer while you thought I was. Oooh, the beautiful torture." She gave an hysterical laugh at this, before stepping back out of hitting range. Clara couldn't wait to see their reactions. If she was a more caring person, she might have actually felt bad for Mark. In a way, she did, but the hilarity of the situation made up for it. Joseph, however - well, any way she could make him suffer...

 

[Joseph Adler]

Joseph watched as Mark swung for him, braced himself for the impact of Mark's fist against his face, closed his eyes but.. Nothing. He turned to look out into the hallway and at first he could only hear Clara. It was a moment before she appeared. Joseph stared at Clara, his eyes falling briefly to her stomach. He didn't want to look at her. She was carrying his child and that was something he did not want. But then..

Joseph's mouth dropped open and now he stared straight at Clara. He closed his mouth, still in shock. "Not.. pregnant..?" he said, almost wordlessly. He almost couldn't believe she would do such a thing, such a cruel trick. But then, this was Clara. Joseph was still holding the burning cigarette in his hand and he had the urge to extinguish it on Clara's arm, just to get back at her. He turned, now, to face Mark. His old best friend had tried to hit him. Although, in all honesty, Joseph had badmouthed Mark's sister. But still, this caused him to stare at Mark for a moment, judging him accordingly.

 

[Markus Schwarz]

What the hell had he done? "Clara," Mark growled, all his anger transferred from Joseph to Clara. How could he have been so callous to his friend, so blinded by his own sister? She was right, of course, he needed to stop trusting her so easily. But he couldn't help it. She was his sister, and he cared about her to the point where he'd believe whatever lies she told because he couldn't see that she was lying. He swore. "Clara, why?" he asked, shaking his head. "Stupid girl. Why did you do something like that? I can't believe you'd do something so cruel." Well, technically, he could, but to her own brother and his friend? He wasn't quite sure of the full story about what happened with Joseph and Clara, and frankly, he wasn't sure he wanted to know, but...they obviously didn't seem to have the most cordial of relations. Even though they went and slept together.

"God, Joseph," he muttered, turning to his friend. "I'm sorry," he said, truly meaning it. Now he felt like such a terrible person. Thanks, Clara. He wasn't sure why he'd needed to be on the recieving end of Clara's wrath, but he knew he'd have to get back at her somehow. "I have terrible perception."

 

[Joseph Adler]

Joseph thought for a moment about what had happened. Mark's judgement was clouded by the fact Clara was his sister. Naturally, Joseph would have to get Clara back but first he needed to gage who was ally and whom was enemy. "Terrible depth perception, perhaps," Joseph replied at long last. And his face slowly changed from that of shock and anger to one of a smile, a laugh. He wasn't going to be a father. He had never felt so relieved in his whole life. "You were about a mile from my face.. I shall have to teach you how to hit." He smirked at Mark. Joseph was not normally the forgiving kind and, naturally, he wasn't letting Clara get away without some punishment. But he felt inclined to forgive a friend. Yes, he called Mark a friend. An ally.

"Come on, Mark, let's get you down the pub- we could both do with a drink." Joseph said happily before turning to Clara, a sly look upon his features. Of course she had scared the crap out of him but Joseph wouldn't let her have the satisfaction of knowing just how scared he had been, how terrified of being a father he was. "You do realize this means war?" he said to Clara, and his tone, though pissed off was somewhat playful.

 

[Clara Schwarz]

Cruelty. Clara thrived on it. She folded her arms across her chest in a satisfied way as she saw Joseph's shocked reaction. She couldn't care less about Mark, who looked so pale and shaken. "Think on it, bruder," she said, with a smirk, as Mark merely nodded at Joseph's statement about going to the pub. At least he and Joseph made up quickly. As for her relations with Joseph? Well, it would be fun to see how things turned out.

At Joseph's question, Clara grinned and nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way, love," she winked, nonchalantly, before apparating away - only to her room in the manor. She had a lot of laughing to do - as well as planning on how next to get at Joseph. Oh, this was going to be fun.