capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: Lily Potter and Sirius Black (

purmoncul)
WHERE: The Moonybase kitchen
WHEN: In the morning, a few days after her arrival
WARNINGS: Um…there might be some angst? And Sirius is….Sirius. So this is a general Sirius warning.
SUMMARY: Sirius has been avoiding Lily, because he knows what’s coming. And Lily is tired of waiting for the shoe to drop. So she corners him in the kitchen and there is no escape. Conversation happens.
FORMAT: Whatever happens happens!

Lily wasn’t entirely sure, but she had a feeling that Sirius Black was avoiding her. And, more often than not, when she had a feeling about something involving Sirius Black, she was right. Even if she wasn’t, and he wasn’t actively avoiding her as much as he possibly could when living in the same basement as her, she felt like she hadn’t had nearly enough time with him since she’d arrived in the city, and that needed to change. And he didn’t have a choice.

She had a plan, though, just in case he actually was avoiding her. Like all good plans, it involved food. Lily cooking a very delicious smelling breakfast, to be precise. And once Sirius came into the kitchen to investigate the delicious smelling breakfast, there would be no escape. He would be stuck. And the two of them would finally get a chance to sit down and talk.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This was dirty pool, and no denying it. Not only had she started this early enough that Sirius was too bleary to wonder why someone seemed to be making all of his favorite things for breakfast, he also missed the fact that she'd arranged for there to be no one else around. Obviously James would come along soon enough, there was no reason why Lily would be cooking otherwise, that he could think of. Little did he know...

"...Is that black pudding I smell? Is this heaven?"

Edited 2011-06-30 14:55 (UTC)

When Lily cooked, she made enough for an army, and she hoped that all of the different types of food would distract him long enough for her to seal the exits. If she sealed the exits. She was trying to decide whether or not to do that as she loaded up a plate for him, and put it on the table.

"Sit down, and you'll find out."

Wrapped in his old bathrobe and muzzy from sleep, Sirius certainly looked 34 years old and then some. His hair was cut short, though, and that was a marked improvement. The young man came through a little bit at the sight of the very best breakfast imaginable, made and served to him by his best friend's wife who was not dead and was here being wonderful at him.

Oh hell, he was not going to cry into his sausage. QUICK, MAKE A JOKE.

"You know Lily, for Old Bill's old lady, you're alright."

All the gratitude is there in his smile, though. One thing that had to be said for Sirius is that he could smile at you like you were the very best person in the world.

Plan to soften up Sirius Black: EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE.

"I'm glad you think so. I do try my best, you know." Lily laughs, and reconsiders her plan of locking him in. Sirius Black's smile can make her heart melt like butter, and that's exactly what it's doing to her now. Maybe putting charms on the windows and doors to keep him from escaping is a little extreme. After all, he has a plate full of food in front of him, and she hopes that will keep him in place.

...still. Maybe one charm on the doors won't hurt.

A cup of tea and a quick, sneaky charm later, and she's sitting across the table from him, getting ready to put phase two of of her plan into action. "We haven't really seen a lot of each other since I arrived."

"Sorry about that, Lily. I do get distracted by the City, especially when my old friends need help. Besides, James needed time to catch you up and just... he didn't like to show it, but it was hard for him, not having you here. Now that you're back, I knew we'd have time."

Excuses excuses.

"Are you settling in to the house? It'll be good for Ruka, having you around, even if she and Remus are moving." There's a quietness there, a careful neutrality under Sirius's tone, before he covered it back up with warm fondness. "Remus has taken to fatherhood like a duck to water, but you benefit from a certain perspective when it comes to the life and times of a young girl."

"Having once been one, I'd like to think so." And Lily really couldn't help but mother pretty much everyone in sight, anyway. "I'm settling in well. Some things are more difficult to adjust to than others," like Sirius and Remus being older, not having a baby around anymomre, and Sirius being, well, Sirius, "but it's nothing I can't handle."

"And what about you? I see you've cut your hair."

His hand goes up to it - he's not used to it being so short again.

"Yes, well. Someone pointed out that I looked rather a mess, and there isn't a spell in existence that could've untangled it, so... nothing for it really.

"If anyone gives you trouble, let us know. Between Remus, James and I, we know everybody." This is a gross exaggeration, but between the people that they know and the people that they know, 'everybody' is a fair approximation.

"If anyone gives me trouble, the three of you will be the first ones to hear about it." Sirius was doing a good job of getting her off track, but Lily had a mission, and it was a mission that was not easily ignored.

"So, about the hippogriff in the garden..."

He pauses and looks at her, all innocence and forkfulls of eggs.

"Buckbeak?"

Lily knows that when he looks at her like that, he is rarely innocent. "Yes, Buckbeak. Why is he in the garden? I'm sure there's a story there."

"Well he's got to go somewhere! It's hardly his fault the Porter got a little more grabby than usual, poor thing. We're lucky Remus was thoughtful enough to get a house with a garden at all in this City."

Sirius swallows his eggs and leans back, pensive.

"I'm a bit worried about that, actually. I can't imagine the place is zoned for hippogriffs, first off. They'd probably group him in with horses, I suppose... And then there's making sure he's got room to nest. I'd be happier with him nearby where we can be sure he's alright, but he's eaten at least one of the neighbors' cats already and it's only a matter of time before one of the children's friends run across him and get clawed because they don't understand the etiquette. James and I have got a workshop in a warehouse where he'd have enough room to stretch his wings... I don't know. I just don't know what the kindest solution would be for him."

All of which can be loosely interpreted as DISTRACTION DISTRACTION DISTRACTION! Sirius, you are just lucky you'd changed out of your BLATANT PRISONER CLOTHES before she saw you.

Sirius's attempts to distract her work momentarily, but then she realizes how what he's doing and her mind gets back on track.

"That still doesn't explain why you had him with you when the porter grabbed you. "

Damn. Sirius sighs, sets his fork down, and folds his hands over his torso. There are tattoos on each of his fingers, and visible on his chest just above his collar.

"How much have you and James talked about, regarding the future of our world?"

Lily knew it was just a matter of time before she got him to crack.

"He told me what happens to us, but that's it, really. Poor Harry, having to live with my sister and her husband all that time. " The last bit is a weak attempt at humor, considering the circumstances. "I can't really believe that Peter would.... " She doesn't finish the sentence. She doesn't need to.

"No. I couldn't... I never would h-..."

And as quickly as that, he shuts down again.

"Your son grew up into a fine young man, Lily. No muggle oaf and his close-minded wife could keep the son of James and Lily Potter down. I'm only...glad that I got to be there to see him."

The plate is only half-finished, but he rises anyway, taking it to the sink.

"The hippogriff is here because I was riding him away from Hogwarts, Lily. He was to be killed on ministry decree because he attacked Lucius Malfoy's son. As the boy seems to take after his father, there's no doubt in my mind that he deserved it, but there's justice for you." He is sad and bitter and no longer looking at her.

"Thank you for breakfast."

Edited 2011-07-01 19:19 (UTC)

There are some obvious holes in his story, and Lily is not going to let him go that easily. She wants to know more about him than the hippogriff, and can tell he's avoiding the subject.

"Sirius, sit down. " She says it in what can only be described as her best "mom" voice. Firm, but gentle. "Please."

"You want to know what happened. Why I'm so much older, why I look like this. So be it, it's the least of what I owe you."

Turning, he returns to his seat, but just stands behind it, holding the back of the chair.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I talked you and James into switching Secret Keepers, and your family was destroyed because of that decision. I rode my fucking motorbike to your house when I went to check on Peter and found him gone, rather than apparating to Godric's Hollow, and so arrived too late to help you when Voldemort came. I left H- I did not go upstairs to get your crying son for- for I don't know how long, because James was- he was at the foot of the stairs. And you were in front of the cradle."

He sucks in a breath like a man drowning, knuckles white on the chair. His eyes are open, but they aren't looking at the kitchen.

"I...let Hagrid talk me into giving Harry up to Dumbledore, knowing that he would be left to be raised by muggles who hated you and James, and would hate him simply for what he is. I allowed my anger to overcome me, and walked right into Peter's trap, ensuring that I would never see Harry again. Even when I did manage to escape Azkaban, I was so focused on my revenge that I nearly threw Harry away a second time in order to get to Peter. The dementors threatened your son's life multiple times because I led them to Hogwarts and he tried to defend me when they finally caught me. Harry broke enough rules to be expelled and imprisoned himself helping me escape Hogwarts on Buckbeak's back. That is the story of why there is a hippogriff in the garden."

At first every word seemed to cost him, but by the end of his soliloquy, he was just empty.

There isn't anything to say at first. How could there be? Lily has to take a while to sort through his story, putting some bits and pieces together. It's weird, to hear details of how you died, and what will happen to your son and one of your best friends in your future.

Actually, weird is an understatement. But Lily thinks she's taking the whole thing pretty well, considering.

After a few moments to process his story, Lily follows her first instinct, and hugs him. Whether he likes it or not. Lily hugging him is just another one of those things this morning that there is no escape from, and it's one of those hugs that someone gives to someone when they want to protect them from the entire universe and everything in it.

"I am so, so sorry."

He can't bring himself to hug her back, but he leans into it, resting his temple against her for just a moment before stepping back and laying a hand first against her hair and then on her shoulder.

"No, not yet you're not. But someday you will leave here, and then you will be. And I will take that day and all that I would give to have stopped it with me to my grave. Seeing you again is a greater blessing than I deserve, and I will do anything, anything, to keep you and James safe."

Lily wishes there was something she could do to just make it all better, but there isn't, and she knows it. And she knows that she can't say it's all okay, because it isn't and she's going to die when she gets home. And that might just possibly make things worse.

"Thank you."

Reaching up to give her a last pat, Sirius steps back and clears his throat before turning to the sink.

"Well. Now you know. Remus is from a little...further on down the timeline so as always he's really the one with the answers. And now that I'm free and he and I...well. Together we'll find Peter and I'll make sure Harry has a place to stay where he'll be loved."

...As long as he's over here he might as well start the washing-up. Sirius is no good whatsoever with housework, after first growing up with servants and then just using magic to do everything, and then prison... but it doesn't take a genius to rub soap on a plate.

"But none of that is here and now. Here in the City we now have a chance to have the life that the war stole from us. You and James and Harry...and me. Remus. All here, alive, friends. Here we can have everything."

He looks up at her, and smiles. "And if that isn't the most wonderful miracle, I don't know what is."

"All the more reason not to avoid me, or act weird around me, then." She's glad to see him smile, and smiles back at him as she joins him at the sink to help with to help him with the wash. "Focusing on what we have here, and now, rather than what's waiting for us back home, seems like the thing to do."

She says the last part for herself, as much as she says it for him. she's been trying to put out of her mind what she knows is waiting for her whenever she leaves this place and goes home. It's a reminder for herself to push that back, and focus on what she has now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only