Who: Conway Clan
Where: The Flat
What: Lucy's Corner's got some s'plainin' (and dream crushing) to do! And good news to announce :]

Iris sat in the living room of the Conway flat, thumbing through the latest copy of Witch Weekly. The news about the Minister had been quite shocking and the worry over her father and his injuries only added to the stress of the holidays. She sighed to herself, now thinking of all the things that were left to do before her holiday was up. She knew that the decorations she'd thrown up around the living room would have to come down sooner or later, and leaving them for her father would mean they would still be sitting around come Easter holiday but she couldn't bring herself to tearing everything down. It'd been a good Christmas this year, despite everything going on with the ministry, and she wanted to cling to that memory for as long as possible.

She sighed, trying to find the energy to get up and bake something. Cookies sounded good, and she was sure her father would appreciate the gesture (even if it was a bit early in the day for a sweet treat). Maybe she'd try and talk her father into inviting Charlotte over later. She seemed rather nice, after all, and it'd be good to have her over so they could get more used to being around each other. It wasn't like she was horrible or anything.

Yes, he could have picked some old hag from the Ministry (or she could have ended up with Tremaine, but he wasn't about to bring that up to anyone ever, in accordance with his and Avis' agreement. He stepped into the living room with a slight smile and slid down on the couch next to Iris with ... well, with as much of a smile as he could muster right now.

They wanted him to be minister, which meant that he was going to be under more public scrutiny than ever -- and that meant he had to clear the air with Iris. He'd really meant to do this so long ago, but ...

"We need to talk."

...She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? Iris knew her grades weren't that spectacular, but surely he wasn't upset about that--she'd come clean about it back in March and--he wasn't going to get all put off by that now, was he?

"Oh?" she said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "What about?" Maybe she was getting worried over nothing. Maybe--maybe he just had to share something about what happened or maybe--no. She needed to stop fretting to herself.

Well, she was partially right. He took a deep breath in and then glanced over to her, bringing a hand up to stroke over the back of her neck. "You know I love you, of course. And that I wouldn't do anything that would hurt you, and I don't want to put in danger more than I already have." He pursed his lips.

"They want me to be Minister." That was a good start, right? Shock her first so she wouldn't be able to yell too much.

"Min--minister?!" she asked, almost not believing him. "But...that's a huge responsibility and I--you--but...so who'll take over the auror department and..." Minister. As if being the daughter of the Head Auror wasn't bad enough, now he was going to be minister?! Did he want her to have friends at all? And if the last one just died and...what if he were killed because of the job and. She sighed softly. "I guess that's good..."

"It's going to give me a chance that most people never have," he said quietly, "To fix things. Overturn all of this M.A.G.I.C. Act nonsense, for starters. Make sure that people aren't forced out of their homes for being Muggleborn." He knew that she wasn't happy about this. Damn. Damn.

Well. "There's ... something else, though. I know that there are going to be even more people sticking their noses in our business, and the fact is that I don't want them to ... find anything and threaten to tell you. So." Um. Yeah.

Turning over the M.A.G.I.C. Act would be good. It was something that needed to be done and him doing it would be--this was a good thing, it really was. But--something else? "Threaten to tell me what?" This didn't feel right. What would he possibly have to tell her that she didn't already know?

She bit her lower lip, now watching him carefully. "It's not--bad, is it?" Were they going to have to move, or? She didn't...she was so confused.

Okay, he wasn't going to back out of this and it wasn't like Iris was going to let him do as much right now anyway, right? Right. He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. Why was he so nervous about this?

"It doesn't change anything about the way I feel about you, Iris. I've raised you since your mother ... and, well. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that ... I'm not..." Ah, Merlin's sake. "I'm notreallyyourfather."

"Wait...what now?" she said slowly. She had to have misheard him. Because she thought he'd said that he wasn't really her father. But that was ridiculous because there was no way he wasn't her father and--"What do you mean that you're--you're not--" she could feel the urge to cry welling up in her. But--ugh, this wasn't right at all. He had to be joking. A rather cruel joke but--it had to be one.

He took a slow breath out. "Your mother ... well, she turned out to be more interested in John." His brother, and Iris would surely know that. He turned to face her more fully and opted to take one of her hands, hoping that it would help keep her calm. "But you should know that this doesn't change -- well, anything."

"You're--you're not..." Merlin's beard, he was her uncle?! This was just--she couldn't believe that--she let out a slow breath, keeping her eyes on their hands. How did this not change anything? She felt like--like the floor had dropped out and. This changed everything, it had to. She didn't know what to do or to say or--"Why didn't you...you kept this from me." How long had he known? Why hadn't he...it was horrible news, yes, but he couldn't have told her before now? And if he wasn't being set up to become the next Minister, would he have told her, or just...left her to never actually know?

"I didn't want it to change anything, Iris." Selfish, yes, and he knew that -- but he loved her and he was sure that if she knew he was her uncle she'd pull something like -- like saying that he wasn't her father the next time they had a fight and then she'd leave forever and he had not wanted that to happen ever.

"I'm sorry. I just ... didn't want you to think that it meant I loved you any less."

Iris huffed, teetering between pulling her hand away from him and just--she didn't know what to do. "No, I know it doesn't mean that but--but I deserved to know." All that time, she'd thought her mum was this--well, she didn't know but she obviously wasn't the good person she had thought of her as and. And technically, she was an orphan. "I...I need to think," she murmured softly, gently pulling her hand away. She felt upset and angry and confused and--she didn't want to say something she would regret later on. She just--couldn't believe he took so long to tell her.

Well, other things had come up -- the M.A.G.I.C. Act and everything else and ... well. It wasn't as if he'd been looking forward to having to tell her something like this. Corner let her pull away despite the fact that it obviously upset him ... and then sighed. "Of course, Iris. I'll ... well, I should call the Ministry, anyway." And neatly avoid thinking about how she was probably going to hate him forever for this.

She stopped, listening to the tone of his voice. She hated it when--ugh, she felt like he was guilt tripping her about this. And she didn't like feeling guilty, she hadn't been the one to keep this big secret from her and--ugh. She sighed softly before giving him a small hug. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. And she was afraid that saying something would just rile her up even more and--it just wasn't worth it.

Definitely not worth it. He wrapped his arms tightly around the girl, pulling her in for a hug that was more of a fatherly squeeze than anything else. Corner pressed a kiss into her hair and then sighed himself, giving her another cuddle before he glanced to the side and then to his niece.

"I love you, Iris."