the incompatibility of secrets and younger sisters // raffaele cassan

Guest

It was high noon already and yet Raffaele still wasn't answering his phone. Adelaide was confused for a moment, wondering if Raff actually had a Curse Breaking trip she had forgotten about. She checked her planner, and upon seeing that she hadn't made a mistake, she unlocked the apartment door without waiting for Raffaele's response.

The first thing that caught her eye was the empty Firewhisky bottle on the counter. Frowning, she scanned the room and saw two empty shot glasses on the table, and there were some chocolates and even an antique-looking tea box on the table. She picked up the glasses and put them in the sink, noting that she would have to wash them later. With worry creeping inside her, she walked towards Raff's bedroom door and found it locked.

For Raff to finish his Firewhisky (which she was sure he had just recently bought) was one thing—she knew how much he enjoyed his Firewhisky, and how his drinking constitution was probably even stronger than their father's, who was an Irishman through and through. The two glasses were suspicious, though, and the locked door did not help.

She could use one of her spare keys on his door, but if he were with someone, she'd be in trouble. Instead, Addie knocked loudly on the door, hoping her annoyingly cheerful voice would wake up her older brother. 'Raff! Hey, wake up!' She continued to rap on the door as she spoke. 'You said you'd take me to the museum this morning!'

Guest

The hammering of his head brought Raffaele around the next morning, or, so he thought. But the sound of his sister's voice echoed around his head, and he realised the hammering was no in his head like he first thought, but instead, it was Adelaide knocking on the door.

'You said you'd take me to the museum this morning!'

Shit.

Groaning a little as he moved his hands to his eyes, rubbing the sleep from the and stretching. As he stretched, though, Raffaele felt the contact of skin on skin and froze. His head went from fuzzy to insanely clear a moment later, the events of the previous evening washing over him like a tsunami. But even though he already knew who was going to be led beside him, Raffaele turned his head and took in the sleeping features of Sabrina.

Double shit.

"Yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming, Addie. Be a love and go to the shop for us, eh? I need some milk for my coffee. My wallet is on the side, grab yourself something if you want. I'll be ready in no time." Adrian called out, leaning over the side of the bed to pick up a pair of boxers and carefully slipping them on. Standing up didn't help the situation - he had drunk too much last night, and now he was in an awful mess.

Moving to his chest of drawers, Raffaele pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans, pulling them on after spraying a bit of deodorant before taking them off again. All he could smell was sex and if he could smell it, there was no doubt Addie would be able to too. That was not something he was going to allow. Hurrying in to the ensuite, Raffaele showered quickly, making sure to get rid of the smell of Sabrina from his skin before dousing himself in way too much deodorant and after shave.

And then he was back in his room, looking at the figure that he'd slept with and knowing that this was not a good decision. If he had just stuck to tea, this would have been fine.

Sighing, Raffaele unlocked the door, and slipped out, locking it back up with his wand once he'd vacated. Sabrina would be able to unlock it, but he was not letting Addie know what had happened.

Not knowing whether Adelaide had done as he asked, Raffaele moved towards the kitchen, grabbing himself a glass of water to aid the hangover that had struck him.

Guest

With a sigh, Addie grabbed the wallet to do as her brother had asked. She was used to do this—as one of the younger Cassans, Raffaele and Giovanni often asked her to do some errands, and she loved them too much to tell them to go suck a warlock's toe. At the shop, Addie grabbed some milk and cereal. She was about to pay at the counter when an idea came to her head.

She would buy her brother some protection.

Smiling to herself as she walked back to her brother's flat, she knew it might get her in trouble, but trouble was worth the look on Raffaele's face when he sees what she had bought for him. 'I'm back,' she called out as she unlocked the door, her voice ringing a bit too cheerfully for someone who was almost ditched by her brother.

He can try ditching her again after this.

Raffaele was in the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water. The door to his room was still closed, and Adelaide assumed, locked. Addie rolled her eyes. Her brothers probably weren't aware of it, but she was already 15—kids in Hogwarts sneaked around all the time to do things, and though she has never had a boyfriend, Addie knew what went on whenever a couple entered an empty room late at night.

She wouldn't begrudge her brother for doing such things. It was his life, after all. But for him to ditch her for a woman (or a man, who knew if her brother was actually bisexual) was a different thing entirely, and Adelaide was pissed off.

'I got your milk, and some cereal too,' she said as she set down the paper bag on the counter and took out the items she bought. She placed the milk in the fridge and the cereal in the cupboard, saving the small box for last.

Her brother smelled awful. He had put on too much deodorant, and Addie was used to living with a bunch of (occasionally vain) men. She kept her expression neutral, though, struggling to hold back a smirk as she walked closer towards her brother and moved to hand him the box. 'I got you something else, too. It's probably too late for this, but just in case there's a next time, it could be useful.

'I reckon that dating app's been working for you, then, fratellone?'

Guest

[OOC: Permission to post as Sabrina given by Jake]

The first thing that filled her senses was a strong, masculine smell. Her eyes fluttered open, taking in the strange room she was in, and the empty but recently slept in spot beside her.

Then she truly awoke with a start.

Underneath the sheets, she was wearing nothing, her clothes scattered on the floor and her hair a tangled mess. Merde, merde, merde. She bit back the curse as she struggled to look for her clothes—first, for her underwear, then for the sundress all wrinkly and crumpled on the floor.

What on earth had she done?

There was a female voice coming from outside the bedroom. Sabrina placed the voice as that of a teenager's; a young, energetic one based on the way she spoke. It could only have come from Adelaide, which made Sabrina smile for awhile, only for her to remember that one, she should leave as soon as possible, and that two, last night was fun, but it was also a huge mistake.

Once she had put on everything, she looked around for her stroller bag. She groaned and slapped her forehead as she remembered leaving it in the living room. Adelaide would have noticed the bag by now, and if she looked closer, she would be able to read 'Sabrina Caro' on the name tag and the flight number on the sticker. CDG to LCY.

This was too much for her to handle. Thinking it was best to leave, Sabrina sighed and apparated to her own flat. She could just come back later... once Adelaide wasn't around anymore.

Guest

With Addie back, Raffaele flinched slightly at her loud, cheery tones. His head hurt, but that didn't mean he was going to bail on their plans. No, Raffaele kept his promises, especially with Adelaide, because he wanted to make sure she knew he could be trusted. With anything, and everything. "You're a star, thank you!" Raffaele replied when she said she'd gotten the milk. "I meant to get some yesterday, but I forgot." He added, moving to get the kettle and filling it up enough for them both.

"Want anything?" He asked politely, pulling down a cup for himself and hovering for a moment until his sister had made a decision. After, he busied himself with the preparation, making himself an a coffee with two heaped scoops of the granules in the hope it would make any difference to his head.

But, Addie had exceeded expectations when he turned to see the other thing she'd brought. He almost laughed, but caught himself, and instead frowned. "I don't need those." He responded - half trying to cover up what had happened last night, and half in complete honesty, he prefered magic as a form of contraception, much less likely to go wrong, and oh so much more pleasurable. Of course, he wouldn't expect Addie to understand any of this. She was too young.

'I reckon that dating app's been working for you, then, fratellone?'

That made Raffaele sigh, lifting his coffee mug to his lips and taking a cautious sip from the hot liquid. "Please, can we not do this." Raffaele responded to her teasing. He was not going to tell Addie anything about what may or may not have happened, because... quite honestly, he didn't know what he'd just gotten himself in to, and whether he actually wanted anything more from this situation.

"Where are we going, again? Which museum?" Raffaele asked, trying to divert the attention from himself and ready himself for the time they were going to be spending walking around rather than laying in bed feeling sorry for himself.

Guest

Adelaide raised an eyebrow at Raffaele upon hearing him say he didn't need the condoms. Was there a type of protection she didn't know about? Deciding to shrug it off and not bother him about it until later, she poured herself a glass of milk. 'The Freemasonry one,' she said, 'at Great Queen Street. Think it'll be interesting? You really should just take me with you to your next Curse Breaking trip, though.'

Something caught her eye as she spoke. There was a fancy-looking stroller bag in the corner of the room, which Adelaide had missed when she first entered Raffaele's flat. Since her brother travelled a lot, she figured it was just one his unpacked bags. Upon second look, though, the beige bag turned out to have a rather feminine design. Squinting her eyes at it, she could just make out the airport codes on the sticker: CDG to LCY.

That was strange. As far as she knew, Raffaele's assignments usually had him travelling to countries farther than France. Besides, she doubted Paris had secret ancient tombs.

Placing down her glass on the table, she stood up and walked towards the bag. 'Raffaele,' she called out, 'whose bag is this? Did mamma go to Paris without telling us?'

It was certainly a design her mother would've favoured—classic, elegant and chic. Fashion and luxury items were something Adelaide never understood, but she could still recognise them due to her mother's good taste. What surprised Adelaide, though, was that she recognised the name on the tag, and it wasn't her mother's.

'Sabrina Kathleen Caro.' Her eyes widened as she read the name out loud. It was a name she had not heard in a long time, but it was a name that was special to the Cassan household a long time ago.

'Sabrina—sorellone? Sorellone was—fratellone, who's in the bedroom?' Without waiting for Raffaele to answer her, Addie headed for the bedroom door. Of course, she couldn't just unlock the door with the spare key. It would be rude to just barge in when she was probably naked and asleep. Instead, she looked questioningly at her brother as she held a fist by the door, ready to knock loudly if her brother does not cooperate.

Guest

The information on where they were going made Raffaele nod along. It was a good museum to go to, though not his favourite of the ones in London. However, this was for Adelaide, and not him, so it really didn't matter. "I think it'll be as fun as we make it." Raffaele responded with a smile - he meant it too, museums were only fun if you wanted them to be.

"And, you know I can't take you on my mission. They're dangerous, Adelaide. Not to mention top secret at times. Mama would have a seizure if she found out, too. And, don't you dare try to pull the 'she would never find out' because mama always finds things out. Even when I don't want her to." Raffaele explained. Even if it might be fun to bring Addie along, he would never put her at risk for a good time. Himself, yes, but not his little sister.

With his name being called out, Raffaele put his cup down, and at the mention of a bag, his eyes went wide. "Oh that's uh, that's just-"

'Sabrina Kathleen Caro.'

Anyone but hers. Raffaele finished in his head a moment later, letting out a sigh as he waited for an explosion of questions from his sister. How was he supposed to talk his way out of this now? He'd been so stupid, this was such a mess.

"Adelaide." Raffaele warned, moving across the room to his bedroom door and putting himself between it and Adelaide. "Look, I can't explain this, I really can't. But barging in there is really not going to help what is already a very messed up situation, okay?" He tried to tell his sister. He couldn't lie, not now. But, it didn't mean he had to tell his sister the whole truth, either.

"We ran in to each other yesterday." Not a lie, just not the whole situation. "And we got talking, so I invited her here. And, yes, I know it was stupid of me to do that. And, Sabrina ended up staying the night." Again, not a lie, but not the whole situation.

"What is it going to cost me to get you to stay quiet about this?" Raffaele added, his eyes pleading with his little sister not to tell the rest of the family, because this was certainly not what it would seem to the rest of them.

Guest

Adelaide couldn't quite comprehend the strange mixture of feelings she felt upon hearing Raffaele's answer. Memories of the past came back to her—though they were mostly vague, she could still remember her sorellone's laugh. How sorellone often brought her gifts, ranging from books to Quidditch gear for kids. How having sorellone around made the family livelier, with their mother cooking her best dishes and Felipe and Giovanni acting nicer and more well-behaved.

But she remembered, too, how she had stopped coming over all of a sudden. How the name 'Sabrina' became a banned word in the house, and how Raffaele moved out to get himself a flat soon after.

Stepping away from the door, she could only try and understand what Raffaele must be going through. At the moment, though, he only seemed anxious to keep her away from the bedroom, and Adelaide could do nothing but shrug. 'Fair enough,' she eventually said, turning back to her glass of milk. 'It's nice of you to have her over and let her stay for the night.'

If it were any other secret she had stumbled upon, perhaps blackmail would have been fun. Raffaele was just so fun to annoy, but Sabrina was a different matter. If she wasn't careful, Raffaele might get angry or upset, and that wasn't something Adelaide liked seeing. What worried her the most, though, was that Raffaele was probably keeping even more secrets from her. What if Raffaele and Sabrina had gotten back together, and he just was hiding it? What if Sabrina leaves him again, in ruins like those sites Raffaele's Curse Breaking team visited?

What if all this drives Raffaele even farther away from their family?

She gulped the rest of her milk and washed the other empty glasses. Glasses which reeked of alcohol. As she stared at the empty Firewhisky bottle, she had to stop herself from commenting on the amount of alcohol they had. 'I'm not telling mamma or anyone else, fratellone.' The usual cheer in her voice was gone and replaced with a sobriety she wasn't used to. 'I'm worried, though. I hope you won't hurt yourself again.'

Before Raffaele could protest against what she said, Adelaide continued. 'I know, I know, I'm being annoying again. But you moved away not long after... after graduation. Your Curse Breaking trips take you abroad most of the time. I just don't want you to be driven even farther away from us.'

Guest

The idea of being nice for letting Sabrina stay the night was a conclusion only Adelaide could have come to. Likely his brothers would have used a different adjective for what he'd done, and his mother another adjective again. But he wouldn't allow his sister to change her mind on that much, if she saw him as a nice person for sleeping with his ex-girlfriend after a drunken evening of catching up, then he would be just that.

Nice.

As Adelaide moved back to the kitchen Raffaele followed, leaning on the kitchen counter as she washed up the empty glasses from the night before. Raffaele nursed his coffee, watching as his younger sister sobered up. Guilt filled him to the brim in that moment, and the Curse Breaker knew he was hiding too much from his family, but it was for the best.

He didn't know what was going to happen between him and Sabrina now. They were living next to one another, but further than that, Raffaele was clueless to what they might call one another.

"Grazie sorellina." Raffaele replied to Addie as she told him she would keep quiet about this. He might have to tell her more, but at least it would only be Addie. But, whether it was his unsettled stomach from the alcohol from the previous night, or the fact guilt had ripped through his stomach with Adelaide admitting she was worried, Raffaele could not be sure.

And... the realisation of the timings of his moving, and the break up... he'd never looked at it that way. "I..." Raffaele started, before losing the stem of thought that made him wish to speak in that moment. Instead, he moved around the counter, and pulled his little sister in to a hug.

"Nobody will drive me away from you, sorellina." Raffaele insisted, pressing a kiss on top of her head. "Felipe, maybe, but not my sorellina." He joked, trying to lighten the mood. No, family was everything, and without his family, Raffaele would have nothing.

Guest

Adelaide couldn't help but smile as she hugged her brother back. In spite of their relatively large age gap, she had always felt closest to Raffaele. She believed her brother—despite living away from the family, he always made sure to spend time with them whenever he was back in either England or Ireland. And yet sometimes, Adelaide wondered if his visits were more out of duty as the eldest son than a genuine desire to spend time with his family.

Their parents, after all, could be difficult sometimes. They were loving, of course, but she could only imagine how annoying it was whenever they not-so-subtly hinted at wanting grandchildren.

Picking up her fratellone's attempt at lightening the mood, she splashed him with some of the water from the faucet. 'This won't drive you away?' She asked, chuckling as she quickly turned off the faucet and ran away in case Raffaele retaliated. She didn't want to change the topic and just let it go, but if Raffaele was uncomfortable, she wouldn't push it. Perhaps she could ask again later, once Raffaele was more ready to talk about his feelings. Knowing her brother, though, he would probably think that she was still too young to talk about such things.

By the front door, she laughed and watched to see if her brother would follow her. Before he could say something, though Adelaide decided that it was perhaps time to show her brother that she, too, was maturing. That she was slowly understanding relationships, and all that sort of thing. At least, she felt like she wanted to.

'Fratellone,' she began slowly, hoping that she was making the right decision by sharing, 'I, uhm. I've got something to tell you. So, I think I might have a crush on someone.' It was probably stupid of her, to develop a crush when she didn't even know him well enough yet, but Chee Wye was quite a fascinating guy... even if she could never understand half of what he said. She knew, too, that declaring such a thing with any of her older brothers was dangerous territory. Felipe probably wouldn't care—he had himself messed around with one too many girls, after all—but there was a high chance of Raffaele or Giovanni asking to meet the guy, and maybe challenging him to a duel. Adelaide bit her lip.

'Don't worry,' she added hastily, 'I haven't done anything about it. I mean... he doesn't really know. I just... I just find him cute, that's all.' She made a show of looking at her watch before she looked back at her brother. 'Anyway, we should get going soon, don't you think?'

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