"No. . . it is fine. I will do it on my own."
. . .
That conversation started in a way that he wasn't expecting.
"You did the right thing," Ivy said, and there was a sense of pride in her words. "Those disgusting Death Eaters deserved their fate. You don't need to blame yourself for anything— who knows what would've happened if they were left alive, they would've gone after some Muggle-born or muggle. They might've even harmed the Aurors there. You did well."
Quinn stared at the girl. Like the different magic used in two pairs of two-way mirrors, both girls had their unique reactions. Daphne had been uncomfortable with his confession, and he knew that it would take some effort from his side to bring things back to normal, stronger than before. But Ivy didn't show any revulsion to his actions— it was definitely because of his victims, but the fact remained that she was ignoring that he was a killer.
". . . You're fine with me being the Invisible Vigilante?"
"Of course not!" she said, smacking his shoulder. It seemed he had thought too soon. "It is dangerous! The Death Eaters are trying to kill you. The Aurors and even the Hit Wizards are allowed to use substantial force against you. I'm afraid the next time you pop up in front of any one of those people, they'll try to take your head off. Do you think anyone's girlfriend would like that?"
"It is fine; as long as they don't get me in my sleep— or poison me— they won't get to me," said Quinn and got another smack from Ivy.
"Don't joke about that," she fixed him with a mock glare. Ivy sighed, "I can't believe Dumbledore tried to blackmail you," she looked revulsed. "Just wait till I tell mum and dad— I could only imagine what the next Order meeting would be like."
"No-no, don't do that. I don't want this to go out more than it needs to. No offense to the Order of Phoenix; they stand for something important, but I don't trust the people I have never met, and there are so many Aurors in the secret group. . . that could only go one way."
Ivy pursed her lips in dissatisfaction before agreeing to keep quiet.
"You didn't tell me how you made Dumbledore stop from going to your grandfather?" she asked.
There it was. This was why he had gone to Daphne before Ivy. It was this part of the talk that he wanted to avoid more than he wanted to avoid coming out to his family as the Invisible Vigilante.
"About that. . . because he blackmailed me, I held something he would care about hostage over his head," said Quinn, his voice softer than usual.
For a moment, he didn't know what to do with his hand and what expression to make as Ivy listened to him attentively. A part of his mind was telling him to make another excuse and hope that it'd hold for a lifetime, but he knew that wouldn't work.
"I told him that if he didn't stop, I was going to hide one of the Dark Lord's Horcrux," the moment he said, Ivy's expression turned. The green eyes widened as her face twisted in red anger like her hair; her narrow shoulders trembled, and blood receded from her hand as she clutched a fest. "Ivy, listen, I'm sorry, I should've—"
He reached out to hold her only to get a tight slip in return.
"Y-You!" she breathed heavily. "I was expecting you to have secrets, you bastard! I knew that it would take time for you to open up to me; that you'd share them a little-by-little over time, and I didn't mind for it to happen this way. . . I was ready for it to slow because I knew it was going to be rewarding." She roughly pushed him, "But you do this!" she yelled. "You know how important this is to me! To Harry; to my family! You knew this, didn't you?!"
"Y-Yes, but Ivy—."
"Then WHY?! Why did you hide this?!" She weakly staggered a step away from him, "Is this what it's going to be like, Quinn. . . being in a relationship with you? Finding these secrets of yours that keep hurting me?"
"No, of course not. I had to—"
Ivy shook her head distraughtly. "You had a Horcrux with you, Quinn! My brother's life depends on one of those. You knew that, of course! I wouldn't know about it otherwise. Why in the world would you hide it?"
"I didn't know if I could trust anyone with that knowledge. It was too dangerous."
"You're talking like Dumbledore," she scoffed.
"I am not!" Quinn protested. "Unlike Dumbledore, I have worked alone from the start. Even after I was revealed to be in knowledge of the Horcrux, I wasn't keen on working together with that old manipulative bastard. I couldn't tell you about the others because that would've meant you telling your family, who would've undoubtedly told it to Dumbledore— and then the manipulative Headmaster would've tried to spin some scheme that I didn't want any part of.
And if you don't remember, Quinn West wasn't associated with the Invisible Vigilante back then."
There was tension between the two. It was dawning on him that Ivy was going to take much more effort than Daphne. . . that is, if this relationship was salvageable after today.
"Why haven't you destroyed the Horcrux yet?" she asked. "If you have it, you should've destroyed it."
"I have my reasons," he said.
"And what might they be?"
'That I don't have the bloody Horcrux, that it is locked in a vault inside Gringotts, that's why?' he thought. But it wasn't something he could say. "I can't tell you that," he said. "If I tell it to you, there's a good chance that Dumbledore would know about it."
"What, you think I will tattle to Dumbledore?" Ivy sounded offended.
"No, I don't think that," Quinn sighed. He pointed to his temple, "But I don't trust Dumbledore with your mind. I'm half sure that he knows of our relationship— that man has an eye for people and human nature— and if I told you the specifics, I wouldn't put it past him to not try to pull that information out of your head. . . so no, I can't tell you."
He knew that it wasn't a good look and not in any way a solution to the problem. But he hoped that Ivy's logical mind would see his reasoning. . .
"I don't care, tell me," she said.
"Ivy. . ."
"I'm your girlfriend, and my brother is a living Horcrux. I don't care about Dumbledore or the game of schemes he's playing; I want to know," she said.
"It will put my family at risk," Quinn argued.
"I only wish to know why haven't you destroyed it yet. Can't you even tell that much?" she said, stepping closer to Quinn. "You're not the only one who cares about their family."
Quinn gritted his teeth. He turned away from Ivy; his hand went to his hair as he paced a few steps. He turned back to her with a look that said he wasn't pleased about what he was about to do, but with a sigh of resignation, he stepped closer to Ivy and pulled out a chain from around his neck with a triangular locket hanging from it.
"For an answer, I will only show you this," Quinn grabbed the locket in his fist, and when he opened it up, there was a black carved gemstone laid upon it. "Look at this design. . . yes, the triangle one. . . this is why I haven't destroyed the Horcrux."
"What is this?" she asked as Quinn placed the black stone on her palm.
"I want to rid the world of the Dark Lord. Horcrux makes him unkillable, and so to make him mortal, we destroy them— that much we already know. But after that, we still need a way to kill him and someone as powerful as the Dark Lord. Yes, we have Dumbledore; despite that, it is in our best interest to weaken him. I'm trying to find a way we can accomplish that."
"And this will help you do that?"
Quinn curled his finger, and the black gemstone rose from Ivy's palm. "I think it will. . . I hope it will," he said, grabbing the stone.
"What exactly is it?" she asked, her eyes on Quinn's chest where the locket sat.
"That is for you to find," he said, confusing Ivy. "If you can find what it is, you will find the answer to what I'm trying to do."
"Why can't you tell me directly?!" she exclaimed, confused.
Quinn stepped close to Ivy and put a gentle hand on her cheek. She seemed to freeze as if she wanted to pull back but hesitated to do so. "I can't give you the entire truth because I fear that when you find the meaning, you will go out looking for trouble. So I give you this tiny sliver hoping that it will keep you busy until I have figured out what I wanted," he said.
". . . Is this all really necessary?" Ivy asked. "You don't want me to go in danger while you intend to go out there doing who knows what."
Quinn weakly chuckled, "Didn't I tell you a long time ago before we were even friends. . . I'm a hypocrite of the highest grade, Ivy. You knew what you were getting into," he paused, "do you regret it?"
"The feeling I have is not regret, but I don't know what is. . . . Want to take a look inside and tell me what they actually are?" she asked, leaning in closer. Quinn couldn't tell if she was tempting or daring him.
He pushed her away, "I don't use Legilimency on people close to me. You know that, Ivy."
Ivy pulled away and began stepping back towards the passageway where she had come from. "That's the problem, Quinn. Right now, I can't tell if you're speaking the truth or lying because of something you can't tell me."
"Ivy, please. . ."
Ivy shook her head, and without saying a single word, she disappeared from his sight, leaving behind Quinn standing alone with clouds thundering above in the sky.
He clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood. It had been only a few days since Dumbledore had first approached him, and so much had changed— he had lost his home, the trust of his family, and had damaged his relationship with the two people he loved from the bottom of his heart— and now, in this moment, he couldn't even tell if they could be repaired.
Was all of this his fault? Having the knowledge of a possible future had made him get involved when there was no need for him to do so. Or was it the fault of the Dark Lord who was the root of all problems, who would not stop until he got the rule he wanted?
'This is all Voldemort's fault,' he thought. Quinn repeated it again inside his head to assure himself of his views, strengthening the feeling of hate and anger inside him.
However, despite all of that, he couldn't stop hating himself.
He felt something slide down the side of his face. He looked up as drizzle began falling from the overcast sky full of dark clouds. In moments, the heavens cried down on him, and he stood there taking what it gave.
.
-*-*-*-*-*-
.
Quinn West - MC - ". . ."
Ivy Potter - Confronting - Has full intention of exploring what Quinn has given her.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - Well. . . shit.
