[OPEN] All the angels on the wires || Gettin' dizzy from the heights...

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

WHO: Srs and YOU!
WHERE: ALL OVER THE PLACE
WHEN: All week long
WARNINGS: ...Sirius?
SUMMARY: Sirius flies around the city. Sort of.
FORMAT: ANY


Just because Sirius didn't have a day job didn't mean that he sat around idly. He'd moved his workshop to a new location, and had several projects going on at once to keep himself occupied. The project that concerned him most today was refining the broom that he and his friends had been working on for the past year / since he was 15, depending on how you looked at it.

...He tried not to look at it too close, it made his thoughts go crosseyed.

Having tried something different with the varnish on this one, he's decided to take it out for a spin, and will do over the course of the week as he tweaks this and adjusts that. And really, there are worse things to do than just fly around the city, seeing the sites and meeting people. All in all, it's been a rewarding enterprise.

Or it was, until something went a bit wrong, and a strong updraft sent him tumbling head over heels in mid-air!

Comments

[andromynous]

The commotion coming from Severus Snape's room is not exactly a gentle rumble; it's more of a horrible din, in fact. This is the reason she ventures out of her own apartment even though she'd just arrived home from job-hunting.

Several loud knocks on the door yield no answer, and when she thinks she hears furniture crashing about she lifts her wand to mutter, "Alohomora!"

Her wand is still raised as she steps through the door to find Severus and her cousin apparently engaged in a ... disagreement. She wasn't altogether surprised considering what she'd seen of their first few years of schooling together, but that wasn't to say that she wasn't disappointed. The floor looks glossy and if Severus' apparent inability to get up is any indication, it's probably slippery. He doesn't look well, either (not that Sirius looks much better, boils and all).

"I don't know what exactly is going on here," she announces loudly, with the authority only a mother can really radiate, "But it stops now!" She shoots them both an unimpressed look while trying to keep her balance on the slick floor (and mostly succeeding).

[onewrongword]

"I said, you miserable animal, that Harry Potter gave me that. He brought it to me my first miserable day in this city. It was a hard won moment, you--"

Wait, is the door opening?

The Duro potion is wearing off, and he's starting to really feel the earliest bruises. The potion has handled the rest, but -- there's nothing making that blinding headache any better.

But then there's Andromeda's voice-- and it sounds like thunder in his ears right now. He slides about until he's on his backside, sitting forward, blood starting to trickle from his nose.

"...not what it looks like." Which is them trying to kill each other. Resting his head on his knees, he breathes hard and fast, he's just going to sit there; Sirius will behave with Andromeda there as a witness. Bullies always go weak when there was a witness.

Snape was the rare type that'd bully WITH a witness, all the same.

[markofawitch.livejournal.com]

Nothing about this is good. Lily knows how the two of them feel about each other, and--

Oh. Oh. Yelling. And magic. Double plus ungood. Nothing about this is going to end well. And this is why Lily sets off at a run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. And when she finally reaches Snape's room, she doesn't even bother knocking before bursting in.

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

"Stop bloody calling me an animal!"

...Sirius this is not going to convince anyone that you are ready to stop behaving like one.

He stands there panting for a moment, eyes still on Snape. Who really did look quite terrible.

"Cousin, if you would be so kind as to make sure the old git isn't about to keel over because we needed to have a little discussion here? Lily, did your son actually give him a chemistry set?"

He should put his wand away, he knows, but Snape still has his and Sirius is not going to lower his arm first.

[andromynous]

Fortunately for Lily, the door of the apartment is already open because of Andromeda.

"Not what it looks like? Really? Because it looks to me like you two are still behaving exactly the way you did in Hogwarts despite your apparent age and experience!" Not that this is unexpected from Sirius, given where a good chunk of his adulthood took place ... but still. Explanations shouldn't always have to be excuses.

"Sirius - I'm not stepping over this floor until it's anything less than the death trap it already is. Both of you - put your wands down, or I swear to Merlin I am going to come over there and punch you both in the noses." Already-bleeding or not, Severus. There is muttering, mostly about old grudges and bloody stupid immature ... well, you get the point. She does start to slowly try and make her way over to where Severus is hunched, however.

[onewrongword]

"When you act like a dog, you'll be kenneled with them," Snape says, glowering from where he sits. Oh, Andromeda. It's so quaint that you think you can stop either of them. "Look at you! Barking when your fangs are pulled!"

He smirks, now; a small victory over Black -- that Harry doesn't loathe him. It's a win, he'll take it.

"There's no discussion. There's nothing to discuss. ANYTHING I do -- stopped being your concern years ago, and even when, there was nothing you could do about it! The only person I take orders was the same one holding your lead: Albus Dumbledore, and he's not here to yank your chain OR mine."

His crooked teeth flashed in a grimace, a rictus grin.

"I'm my own man, for the first time in years. Don't think you're going to tell me what do, Sirius Black!"

[markofawitch.livejournal.com]

It takes a moment for Lily to collect her thoughts about everything that's going on. Three people in the room, and a whole lot of things happening at once. She's glad that Andromeda's there, so she doesn't have to deal with Severus and Sirius on her own.

"My son did what?" She doesn't even know what Harry did, and she's curious, but now isn't really the time. "Wait, no. Tell me later. What is going on here?"

She feels like she's fifteen, back at Hogwarts, and trying to get Sirius and James to leave Severus alone.

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

Sirius flicks his wand just enough to dispell the magic-slick on the floor.

"Your old friend was being his usual charming self, Lily. And lo and behold, as usual, he's been saved by a girl. Two, even, well done Snape."

The tiny couchrodile makes its way toward an unoccupied wall, as flailing humans were a great deal less interesting when they were so big. Broken glass clinks as it moves. And Sirius still has his wand up, and his eyes on Snape.

"He thinks Harry gave him a present...but he'd rather be foul than enjoy a present from a Potter, and foul people get their things broken. Tut tut, and here I thought you might learn."

To say that he is still angry would be putting it mildly. God knows how far this would have gone if he and Snape were still alone.

[andromynous]

Andromeda Tonks has been in this City for less than a week. During that time, she's found that many, many people she knows are cold and dead (recently or not) are in fact alive in this place. Overwhelmed doesn't begin to cover it.

The idea that Sirius and Severus, even in this place that brings such wonders and pains, can't be adults for the length of time it would take most people to have a normal conversation, makes her teeth clench for a moment.

Punching seems like it would take far too much effort - she's much more adept at using charms than she is at using her fists - so she lifts her wand and points it at Sirius and Severus in turn. She still needs to speak the silencing charms for them to work, but she does so quickly enough.

"If you are both going to act like petulant children, I don't think Lily nor myself needs to hear it -- and we will treat you like petulant children." Besides, they'll be more likely to diffuse the situation if they aren't fuelling each other -- and she knows it. She tries to keep her voice steady even if it's wavering with the sort of

"Sirius, if you feel the need to speculate about how Harry Potter feels about Severus, perhaps would be better off asking him yourself." She takes a deep breath in and looks down at Snape, "And if you would not like for me to drag you to the nearest muggle hospital and strap you to a bed, I suggest you too let this be finished for the day."

[onewrongword]

With his Mac no longer become a slip-n-slide of doom, Snape manages to wobble to his feet. It's not steady--his head is killing him and his legs and chest are aching from impact by couchodile head... which is romping around over there in the corner, still.

But he manages to get to his feet, fold his arms across his chest, and assume the position best known as 'defiant teenage brat'. He ought to know, he used to strike it all the time, and he bemoaned it daily to Albus in reference to Harry Potter.

But, silenced, he doesn't even try and speak; nor does he drop his wand or put it away. Not while Sirius is there, in his now-wrecked apartment.

[markofawitch.livejournal.com]

Lily gives Andromeda an appreciative look. Silencing charms were on her list of things to try, if the two men couldn't settle down and stop acting like children. She was hopeful that they could, even if experience told her they never would. She's just glad James isn't here to join in the fight.

"She's right. About everything. Unless the two of you intend to work things out like adults, Sirius, I suggest you march yourself home, and give the both of you a chance to cool off."

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

The look Andromeda gets from Sirius...let's just say that it does not appear withing the 'appreciative' category. The one he gives Lily seems...almost betrayed.

He looks down at the mess on the floor and moves his wand again. Pieces of broken glass twinkle and pull themselves back together, and soon a rack of vials and boxes rocks itself upright, just as it was before the couchrodile hit. Sirius walks forward and picks a small empty ampule up and looks at it for a long time.

Somebody knew just what a Potions Master would want.

His grey eyes are still hard as he looks up, first at Lily and then at Andromeda. When neither of them give him any clear confirmation, he looks back down at the little glass object for another moment before pocketing it.

[andromynous]

"Sirius." She doesn't like this, having to put herself between her cousin, whom she likes, and this man who she feels she ought to at least defend -- but she'll do it, because it feels as if it's the right thing to do. It might've been easier for her to let him walk away with that little ampule, but she suspects that Snape won't tolerate it and she's not going to let this situation explode again when it seems like it's finally starting to calm down.

"Please be so kind as to deposit that back where it belongs on your way out." Prove to me you're better than this, she doesn't say -- because saying it out loud leaves more room to be disappointed, and she'd been around her family long enough to know that disappointment was something they did well. She'd given her family her full share of it running off and marrying Ted, and she was sure she'd failed them many times before that in their eyes.

She glances to Severus briefly, brow arched at the sulky teen look. "I swear to Merlin, if I have to bind you to your bedframe for a week so that you don't undo someone else's hard work of not letting you die, I will."

[onewrongword]

Silences or not, Snape's eyes flash with unadulterated hatred as Sirius dares to take what was both hard won and freely given to him. His hand is up, wand pointed again, uneven teeth ground.

But Andromeda is buying Sirius time to prove he can be the better man as Snape fights the charm, breathing still labored and harsh. His eyes flick to Andromeda as she addresses him, and he drops the wand a fraction of the inch, but manages a voiceless snarl in Sirius' direction. He will not let that man treat him like this, not after so much at the hands of these tormenters.

Of course, he's just tossed a couple of days of healing right out the window... much like how his good intentions sent them out there afterwards, to help the man.

Next time, he'll just let Sirius risk splattering himself on someone's window. Will serve him right.

[markofawitch.livejournal.com]

The look Sirius gives her stings a little, but she swallows that, and gives him a look, because really, he's acting like a toddler, and it's not something she wants to deal with. "Give it back, Sirius." She says it quietly, in an 'I'm disappointed with you' sort of voice.

[purmoncul.livejournal.com]

Sirius rolls his eyes at Andromeda, and then looks at Lily with disgust when she also misinterprets what he's dong. It's a look he hasn't given her since their early days at Hogwarts when she used to defend Snape's behavior. Snape doesn't even warrant his attention. He holds his palm out and suddenly there is a second, identical vial in it. He tosses one of them, presumably the original one, more or less at Snape, grabs the broom where it's floating in midair, and apparates away.

He could have flipped everyone the bird, but that lacked the proper nuance.

[andromynous]

Unfortunately for Sirius, Andromeda has the disadvantage of a number of years away from her cousin. Clearly they have diminished her ability to understand exactly what he's doing.

Once Sirius apparates, she lets out a breath and then sighs.

"Finite incantatem," she mutters, wand pointed at Snape. She looks over to Lily, glad to see that -- well, they didn't have to forcibly remove anyone.

"Now, would you like to make some attempt at explaining what exactly we walked in on?" Because, unlike some of her other relatives, she does give people the chance to explain themselves to an extent.

[onewrongword]

One hand greedily snatches that ampule out of the air, careful not to crush it in his palm... but still, once he's freed from silence he exhales, all his hate coming with it, "Son of a bitch!"

He looks between Andromeda-- harsh, unforgiving-- and then at Lily; and oh, this is where he falters. "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," he mutters to himself, and then goes to fetch his mini couchodile from where it romps in the corner, holding it by it's tail. Well, then.

"Black was about to splatter himself against the wall. Next time I'll recall that death has little meaning here, and let him do so," he says, as the irritable transfigured critter snaps at the air. "Ingrate."

[markofawitch.livejournal.com]

Lily gives Severus a look when he calls Sirius a name. You're not helping, Severus. He really isn't. "And how did the two of you end up trying to kill each other?"

That is what she really wants to know the answer to.

[andromynous]

Andromeda is also eager to know as much. She's also concerned about the fact that Severus has severely overexerted himself, though, so she's more watching his body movements than paying attention to what he's saying since Lily is here to do that much.

"Yes, do tell."

[onewrongword]

Well, this isn't familiar at all. Andromeda's a new factor, but still. \

"Words were said. I replied in kind. He pursued," he says, leaving out as much detail as possible as he walks toward the bathroom, one hand coming up to his temple. This headache's going to be killer.

Dropping the couchodile in the trash, letting it rumble about there for a moment, he washed his face to as much calm himself as clean up. For a moment he's quiet, before he comes back, eyeing the two women, before he adds: "He's started with packages, stupid childish things. Told him what I thought of it, he didn't like it much and it went from there."

[markofawitch.livejournal.com]

Lily sighs and shakes her head. She wasn't expecting anything else, really. "Thank you, for keeping Sirius from splattering himself all over a wall."

She'll leave Severus to Andromeda. She has to go deal with Sirius, and maybe apologize to him. "I'll talk to you later. Try not to get into it with anyone else in the meantime."

And with that, Lily apparates out, back home.

[andromynous]

Apparently after she left Hogwarts, they continued to behave exactly as they had for the first few years of their school careers. Considering her cousin and the rest of her family, she wasn't -- altogether surprised.

Still.

"You realize that you're now going to have to sit through me prodding you again."

[onewrongword]

The look that Snape turns on Andromeda would wither -- anything, really. He just stares at her for a moment, before he says simply, "I'm fine. You can see yourself out."

He'll clean up the place from here. Alone. Totally.

[andromynous]

She grew up with Bellatrix and Narcissa; she still knows what the look is, but looks can't really wither anyone.

"You are most certainly not fine."