Christmas With The Bros [Winter Break]

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil Hargreaves had finally reached the point where he could consider Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to be a sort of home, but his true home was still - and would always be - back home in London with his family. That wasn't to say that he didn't love Hogwarts, as it was an amazing place that he could not have failed to enjoy even if he'd tried, but the Hargreaves boys had been exceptionally close growing up, and it pained him to be away from his older brothers for so long. As the youngest boy, Emil had always looked to his three brothers for guidance, but now he was walking a path where they could not steer him.

But now he was home, and he had almost a full month to spend with them before he went back to school, and he was determined to make each and every second of it count! Unfortunately, the others hadn't seemed to be nearly as intent as he was on enjoying their time together. Camdyn, the brother with whom Emil had always been closest and who had always been there to give him advice had not so much as spoken to him once the entire time that he had been home! This terrified Emil, as he had thought at he and Camdyn had been finally starting to mend those wounds - but he supposed that they still had a long way to go.

It had been a very sad Christmas for Emil, his parents awkwardly trying to make everyone happy whilst Tyko was the only boy who seemed to have any desire to speak to Emil at all. But even Tyko wasn't much comfort as he only seemed to be interested in Emil teaching him how to fly or something - which of course Emil could not do. But he didn't tell his brother this, afraid as he was that he wouldn't talk to him if he knew.

And so Christmas and New Years had passed quite painfully for Emil, and every night he crawled up beneath his covers and cried himself to sleep, knowing that his brothers must surely hate him now. Today was seemingly no different, as Emil sat on the couch staring at the blank television screen quietly, wondering if he should just do everyone a favor and leave for Hogwarts early.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn had been hogging Camryn's attention ever since winter break started and they had returned home from Smeltings. It had been several days before Emil's return, so all three boys were rather loud and wandering the house like they hadn't just been away for so long. But it changed once Emil entered the house with their dad that first day. Things got a bit quieter as Camdyn kept more to himself and his twin than with his youngest brother. Sometimes he didn't talk to Tyko. His actions usually ended with him getting talked to by his parents. Neither could understand why he was behaving so poorly and treating the youngest Hargreaves child badly. But no matter how many times he was talked to, his attitude never changed.

Christmas didn't even phase him. He purchased his younger brother a gift like he did every year, but never paid much attention to how he reacted to it. He would just sit, leaning against his brother, engrossed in the Christmas candy their parents would give them. His favorites were the chocolate coins, but that was just him. And the days after Christmas, Cam just spent it with his other half, playing video games or watching movies in their bedroom.

The New Year wasn't brought in by any special manner and the days following it were uneventful. But the previous night Camdyn and Camryn had a heart to heart. And as an owl flew into his bedroom that morning, there was a knot in the pit of his stomach. He didn't care where his youngest brother was, as he pretty much raced about the house, nearly tripping over himself to find him. But he found him staring at the television.

"You're not going back to school. I won't allow it." Cam sounded a little out of breath as he stood in front of his brother, still dressed in his pajamas. He hadn't any plans of going anywhere so he had no plans of getting dressed. His hand was clutching onto the newspaper for dear life. It had only been kept between himself and his twin that he was trying to accept the world Emil now lived in. He was slowly understanding it but there was always things that popped up like this that made him not understand the magical world more. He pretty much had a stack of Daily Prophets hidden in a small trunk in his wardrobe. "And you're not allowed to argue with me." He added the last part a minute after forbidding his brother to return back to Hogwarts.

[Emil Hargreaves]

By this time, Emil had more or less accepted the fact that no matter how hard he tried he was not going to be able to get Camdyn to acknowledge him - much less be cordial with him. It made him sad to know that his older brother still was not going to accept him just because of what was really a genetic defect at the very worst. If he had to view this as a bad thing than it would be like Camdyn hating him because he had autism or something! Of course it wasn't just Camdyn, Camryn wasn't talking to him either - and Tyko only wanted Emil to show him tricks!

And so when Camdyn finally spoke to him, it was more the fact that he had addressed him at all that surprised Emil, rather than the words that were said. Indeed, Emil did not even hear the words out of his brother's mouth - all he knew was that his brother was finally speaking to him again! "Cam!" Emil explained, tears fueled by weeks of fear abandonment and neglect welling up in his eyes, "You...you spoke to me!"

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn stared at his brother. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or what that his brother seemed to ignore the words he just said. Instead, Emil just seemed happy he had spoken to the younger boy. Alright, so maybe he hadn't been playing the big brother role all that well lately. Okay, so he hadn't really been playing that role at all. But that didn't change the fact the young wizard before him was his younger brother.

"Yes. I spoke. And you're not going back to school." He repeated himself once more. "Alright?" He really wouldn't leave room for argument. He wasn't going to go let his brother go back to school when there were complete lunatics running about in this wizarding world of theirs. His baby brother could get killed if these Death Eaters or whatever they're called somehow got into his school. Would those Professors really be able to protect every last student?

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil was giddy with excitement, and he leapt up on the couch with the intention of telling Camdyn how happy he was that they were finally speaking again, and how he had missed his older brother so much and how upset he had been when he had ignored him - and ask him why oh why he had left him in the dark for such an unbearably long time! But before he could get even a single word out, Camdyn spoke again, telling him that he was not going back to school - that's right, telling him, as though he was the boss of Emil!

Well, at one point that might have been true, three years ago - hell, even two years ago, Camdyn more or less was the boss of him. But then he had left him in the dark for so long that Emil had been forced to figure out how to make his own decisions - and now that he was doing things on his own he liked it ... and he did not want to go back to doing everything that Camdyn said anymore. "What?" Emil asked, too surprised to formulate a complete sentence. "What are you talking about, of course I'm going back!"

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn stood his ground even when his brother seemed to want to protest. He had made up his mind. As the eldest Hargreaves boy, it was his duty to look out for his younger brothers. And he was going to do just that. He wasn't about to just let his younger brother go back to a dangerous world. Alright, so it had always been dangerous because of that magic stuff, but this was different. This time it involved people who killed non-magical people or magical people born of non-magical parents.

"No. You're not." Cam pushed the newspaper towards Emil. "There are these... These people that kill non-magical people or magical people born from them. They escaped from Azkaban and are on the loose. This Azkaban place is the wizarding prison. They're bad people, Emil. And I refuse to let you go back to a place that they could get you." Alright, so maybe he was being a little paranoid. But who better to prey on then students who couldn't properly defend themselves. Could they even defend themselves?

Camdyn never once stopped to think that his words actually showed that he had been reading up on the magical world lately. Or that he actually followed what was being written in the Daily Prophet.

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil was completely drawing a blank when Camdyn told him that he could not go back, but when Camdyn pushed a copy of the Daily Prophet towards him, things started to make sense. So all this time, Camdyn really had cared - he'd been reading the Daily Prophet to try and understand what he had been going through, and the world into which he had fallen, and Emil had honestly thought that he did not care at all! But then why had he not spoken to him? Emil did not understand that part - and he highly doubted that he ever would when he thought about it all, but maybe one day Camdyn could explain it to him.

"Cam I...I..." Emil sputtered, not having an answer to this. "I'm fine - Hogwarts is safe..." but was it safe? There was that Umbridge woman doing God-awful things to all of them, and Emil's hand twiched slightly as he checked to make sure the bandage he had plastered over the cuts was still covering the letters. Everything else aside, he knew that Camdyn would never allow him to go back if he knew about the Detentions...

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn didn't know how he could explain to Emil why he read the Daily Prophet without exposing the fact he had been trying to understand the magical world since the summer after Emil's first year. Camryn had practically torn him apart over his treatment over Emil and Cam had to tell his brother he was actually afraid this world would end up getting his younger brother killed. It was Camryn's idea for Camdyn to read the magical newspaper and Cam would secretly get books when they had to take Emil to Diagon Alley. He'd also read some of Emi's school books when he was home and wasn't using them. It was just embarrassing to try and tell your little brother exactly what had been going on without seeming like a complete fool.

Cam listened as Emil tried to convince him that he was safe at Hogwarts, but the eldest Hargreaves boy wasn't buying it. "You don't sound as if you're even sure of that." When the other looked down, Camdyn couldn't help but wonder what the other was looking at, figuring it the Daily Prophet. But when he noticed the bandages, he grabbed his younger brother's wrist. "What did you do, Emi?" Cam used the nickname all the brothers called the youngest boy. "You know you should try and be a little more careful. Me and Camryn aren't there to pick you up if you topple down stairs." Not that the youngest Hargreaves boy had fallen down a flight of stairs before.

[Emil Hargreaves]

If Emil had known that Camdyn was trying so hard to understand what was going on he might have broken down then and there and hugged his brother tightly before promising that he would never leave home again. Of all the Hargreaves boys Emil was by far the most sensitive of the lot - and even with his limited understanding of the fact that Camdyn did in fact care he was struggling to keep himself together. Confused and scared as he was he at least knew that he had been wrong, and that Camdyn had not spent the last two years hating him like he had thought.

When Camdyn grabbed his wrist, Emil's eyes widened as though half-expecting Cam to peel away the bandages and shout that he had known all along before locking him in his room so that he could not leave. But Camdyn, of course, did not do this, and Emil pulled his hand back sharply and whined "I told you not to call me Emi all the time! Honestly, when you say that in public people think that I'm a little girl who's trying to look like a boy or something! The second that he could Emil was going to grow a mustache and never shave it off!

"Oh come on Cam, that happened one time, and I was six!" Emil retorted when Camdyn acted as though he was toppling down staircases every other day. "I just..." he fumbled around for a lie before saying "Uhh...you know..." he was in trouble now. Camdyn would know better than to believe Emil had forgotten, and he would be all over him now.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Neither brother noticed the second youngest Hargreaves boy had been wandering through from the kitchen, "You mean you're not a girl, Emi?" The teen dashed out with a laugh before either brother could say much. Of course, Camdyn was a little awestruck over what just happened. He had to remember to close his mouth quickly as he stared at where his brother just was before turning back to his baby brother.

"Doesn't mean I don't have to worry about you getting hurt." The elder boy huffed. It was his duty as eldest brother to make sure all his brothers were safe. But his need to protect his brother grew when the other couldn't produce an explanation as to what happened. That left Cam to figure things out by himself, thus he started to undo the bandages without a word.

[Emil Hargreaves]

"Shut up Tyko!" Emil screeched at his brother as the next-youngest member of the Hargreaves family sprinted off with a howl of laughter. Emil was quite angry, even though he knew that was just Tyko - and the brothers joked like this all the time - right now was not the best of moments. Of course, he supposed he should be pretty grateful to Tyko right now, as he was the only one who had been decent to him this last few weeks - but that was completely secondary right now.

Emil looked down at the ground at Camdyn's words, and when his older brother started tugging at his bandages, Emil's hand jerked slightly but did not leave his brother's grasp as he whispered "Don't Cam...please don't..."

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn laughed at the exchange between his younger brothers. It felt quite enjoyable, surprisingly. It wasn't every day that the house didn't feel suffocating. It was probably because he was actually interacting with his youngest brother and not trying to avoid him like the plague.

"Emil... What happened? The truth." He didn't let go of his brother's hand, but he didn't hide the pleading in his voice to hear what happened. He was willing to let his brother explain what happened before he would just force the other to explain once the bandages were removed. Of course, he would probably feel bad if his brother had sprained his wrist or something. But otherwise, he just wanted to know.

[Emil Hargreaves]

"I can't tell you..." Emil said, his voice barely more than a whisper, when Camdyn asked him what had happened. He couldn't tell his older brother what was going on, he would never let Emil go back to Hogwarts if he knew! But he didn't feel comfortable keeping secrets from Camdyn. Scratch that - he couldn't keep secrets from Camdyn, and that was why despite everything he never tried to extract his hand from Camdyn's.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn didn't know what to say, or what to do, when Emil said he couldn't tell him. "Alright then." Cam muttered, undoing the bandages himself. If the other wasn't going to tell him why he was wearing bandages, then he would just have to check out the injury himself. He was good at recognizing different injuries, since he was the eldest brother and they had been curling for so long. Not only that but Camdyn was already starting to study medicine so he could get into a good medical school when he had to take the exams. Whatever Emil was hiding, Cam would get down right to figuring out how his brother injured himself.

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil looked away from his brother as the bandaged fell away, revealing the words 'I will respect authority' which had been bloodily cut into the back of his hand. He didn't say anything, and did not look up to meet his brother's eye. He already knew what was going to happen, he was just waiting for it now.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn didn't know what to say when he saw the words on the back of his brother's hand. He knew Emil. He knew that his younger brother would never harm himself. No. It had to have been someone else. Cam was so confused. He didn't know what to do. He slowly drew his brother's hand up and just stared at it. He didn't know what to say. He was quiet before just kissing it like their mother would do to them when they were little and got injured. "Who did this to you?" His voice was quiet.

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil would not look at Camdyn, would not even gaze in his direction as he remained fixated on the ground in the opposite direction. "I don't want to talk about it." he said quietly, not sure what he would say even if he did - ignoring everything else, Camdyn would have him locked away in a heartbeat if he knew that a teacher was responsible for this.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn had to stop his hand from clutching his brother's hand tightly. Instead, he tugged his brother into a hug. It was a rather rough hug, possibly a little too tight. But Cam actually feared for the safety of his youngest brothers. "You're injured and there's nothing I can do to help you. You won't even tell me who did it to you. How am I supposed to be a good elder brother if you won't even talk to me?" He rested his cheek atop his younger brother's head. "I've been trying for a while, trying to understand magic and this world you live in. It's dangerous, you know. People like these Death Eaters running amock. But I can't talk that world away from you. And I think knowing I can't protect you from this Wizarding World... It drives me nuts."

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil was surprised when Camdyn pulled him into a hug, and he was too shocked to do anything other than wrap his arms around his older brother and tightly hug him back. He had been so convinced that Camdyn didn't want anything to do with him anymore that this change of pace was something he was utterly unprepared for. "I just don't want you to worry about me." Emil said quietly, though it was obvious that Camdyn had due cause to worry.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn was actually scared for his younger brother. He didn't understand what was happening to his brother. It was tearing him apart. He had been so nervous about this world at first and now he had good reason to be nervous of it. If it was hurting his brother, then certainly wasn't a good thing. "You're my baby brother, Emi. I'm always going to worry about you." It was the truth. Camryn could atone to that. Cam was pretty sure his twin was sick and tired of listening to him whine and worry about Emil while they were away at Smeltings and Emil was away at Hogwarts. He didn't even know how to repair the rift that he had unknowingly caused. But he planed the try to do whatever it took to reassure Emil that he didn't dislike him and that they were brothers through thick and thin.

[Emil Hargreaves]

"But..." Emil stammered, now thoroughly confused as he looked at his brother imploringly and asked "Then why have you been acting so weird towards me?" He didn't understand it, nor did he think he ever would. He had never given Camdyn any reason to act so strangely toward him - other of course than being magical in the first place.

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Camdyn frowned at the question. He really had never wanted to be asked that question. He actually released his hold on his younger brother, moving a couple steps away. He actually had to turn away to hide the fact he was embarrassed. How did he want to phrase this? "I was jealous, alright? Hated that you were going to be away from us, away from my protection. But jealous that you had a whole new world open for you and yet I'm stuck in the same boring one." Curling was alright. But with college exams and the pressure from his parents to make something of himself while they sit and be amazed over the life the youngest boy got to have... It just wasn't fair. It was never fair and Cam figured he would never find it to be fair. He just had to learn how to except it.

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil was unable to hide the shock on his face. Camdyn was jealous of him? How could that be possible? Camryn was so cool, and awesome, and popular, and good at everything that he did. Emil on the other hand? Emil was boring, lame, shy, and didn't have anything that he was remotely good at doing. "You..." he began slowly, with a genuinely shocked expression on his face "Are jealous of me?"

[Camdyn Hargreaves]

Cam seriously couldn't face his younger brother. He was supposed to be the cool brother, the one everyone looked up to. And yet he sometimes got jealous. He was only human. "Yes, I'm jealous of you." Camdyn sighed. He wandered away from his brother to settle on the couch.

[Emil Hargreaves]

Emil continued staring in shock. This did not compute, it was something wrong! Something very very wrong indeed! Camdyn did not have any reason to be jealous of him! "That...that doesn't make any sense!" Emil said with some degree of a stutter. "You're not supposed to be jealous of me. I'm the one who's jealous of you!"