capeandcowllogs | My youth was nothing but a black storm

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My youth was nothing but a black storm

WHO:

brevipennate
WHERE: Nill's Church (...we are so sorry, Nill)
WHEN: Sunday!
WARNINGS: ...Snape and Sirius together in one place without proper supervision
SUMMARY: Snape has decided Nill's is a good place to ~~hide from his gaggle of mothering women~~ keep an eye on, without investigating whether or not other people are already doing so.
FORMAT: Paragraph!

It's Sunday, which seems like a fine day to visit a church. Not that Sirius is going to pray, mind you, as he hasn't been on speaking terms with God for a good thirteen years now, but there is one little angel that he always feels better for visiting. And after the week she's had, he figures she might benefit from some positive reinforcement.

Knocking on the main door, Sirius sticks his head in to see if she's at home.

"Hallo the church! Dovie? You in?"

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"You have just used the word 'divine' to describe a fragment of the most wicked, evil wizard to have existed in centuries, created by murder."

Did Sirius ever think before he spoke? Ever?

"I am not certain we wish to bring outside influence in where this is concerned," Snape points out. "They may not understand. Or their magic may be incompatible."

He thinks of Gemma; he can't imagine what her magic would be like under Voldemort's influence. All those pieces of dreams, that shadow reality... It's enough to make one's blood go to icewater.

Sirius looks at Snape like he'd just squatted in the middle of the church and stood up proud of his leavings. Which is...almost true, really.

"The human soul is God's providence, and thus it is divine. That Voldemort would debase his for personal gain is proof that he's an idiot as well as evil, but it does not change the nature of what a soul is. If you've forgotten the basic tenets of logic, Snape, I could recommend a few authors for you."

He'd seen a few copies of '___ for Dummies' around. Sadly they probably didn't make a 'How To Not Be An Utter Waste Of A Lot of Buttons And Swooshy Robes'.

"Of course you don't, you never learned how to share nicely with other children. If our priority is to destroy this thing, then we bring in whatever help we need to, and you certainly don't have the right to use the word 'we' in this context."

And here we are, back to bickering over details.

Having Danny let her stay at the church still was what she'd call a blessing. Since she'd been taken, the apartment just didn't feel safe anymore, no matter who was there with her. She knew Danny could protect her, but it wasn't enough. Without Heine in the city, it was hard for her to really feel protected by anybody.

Except in the church. Nothing bad had ever happened to her there. She had learned to read and write there, she had talked to Damian there, she knew every single stained glass window by memory. It was her haven, as cliche as it was for a church to be as much. She loved the old building, and was happy to spend her time just sweeping the floor or watching the occasional bat flit around the ceiling.

But she didn't like to hear raised voices echoing around the vestibule. Her wings flicked behind her as she approached the doors, which were open just a crack. She could clearly hear two men arguing, though about what she couldn't grasp. As silent as she could be, Nill inched one of the double doors open a bit more so she could peek her head inside the church. If there were people inside she didn't know, she'd run straight back to the apartment and tell Danny.

Luckily, it was only Sirius and Severus. They were good people, she knew that. She started quietly inside, but the hem of her dress caught on a splinter in the wooden doors. Just one step and the door slammed shut behind her, pulled along by the fabric. She jumped a bit, blinking rapidly at the sudden noise.

An apologetic smile and a small wave was all she could offer to the two men she'd interrupted.

"Did you find religion in Azkaban, Black?" Snape says, unaware that he has an eavesdropper. "I can't recall you ever being a pious man in your youth -- too busy shagging whatever would let you, drinking till you were stupid, and picking on the weak for you to have been quite Godly then."

He steps around the pews now, note book in hand, the other not far from his wand. "Or is this that man without sin casting the first stone? Hypocrite -- you don't have any room to talk about the divine, so don't presume to lecture me about your personal delusions about your relationship with it. You have none. Pluck that beam from your eye and we can talk about God; until then, can we keep this to--"

BANG!

That was the door and this is a Snape with his wand up; he stops, however, when he realizes it's Nill. Jumpy? Snape? Always.

"Miss Nill," he says, and with an eyeblink he has smoothed his expression into neutrality, the rage Sirius stokes lurking beneath the placidness of his expression, at the tick at the corner of his eye, the jump of his lips when he tries not to sneer. "Good afternoon."

Sirius is on his feet a heartbeat later, wand at the ready, but he lowers it when he sees Nill. Without sparing the other wizard a glance, he moves out of the pews and begins walking down the aisle.

"Don't mind us, Dovie. Mister Snape and I were about to get into a spirited debate about the works of Cornelius Agrippa and how magic relates to the soul." Sirius isn't even trying to hide the fact that his blood is up, snarling over his shoulder at the other man, too angry to care how childish his behavior was. It was this or just fly at the man.

"He's taken it rather personally," Sirius spins, and yells back at Snape as he continues backwards toward the door, "because he doesn't like it when other people know things."

Having vented, Sirius takes a deep breath, gives Snape one last sidelong glance, and is able to speak to Nill in a gentler tone. "And I don't like him, period. I do, however, like you, and I'm sorry I yelled in your church. Are you well?"

And when suddenly there were two wands pointed at her, her stomach dropped. She knew that they used those for magic, and neither of them looked happy at all. In her mind, it didn't bode well. It meant there could be pain, there could be a fight. She could bear being hurt and hit, but to see people she liked fighting, that was the worst. Because she knew there was nothing at all she could do to stop them. She simply wasn't strong enough.

Her wings pressed close to her back, her body shook. Even as they greeted her, she couldn't do anything but stare, unable to do anything about the fear that was overtaking her body. She shouldn't be afraid of them, she knew, but it was so hard. Shouting men, the hateful atmosphere. It was so familiar, too familiar. All she could see was the whorehouse, the men chasing her down, Heine being shot out a window. The scream she wanted to let out but couldn't.

Reality hit her as Sirius' tone changed, and she was able to bring herself back to the church, back to what was really going on. She forced her wings to extend, stretch, and relax. She forced herself to nod and offer her friend a smile. Heine said it, sometimes: That girl is sharper than you think. She knew what Sirius wanted to see then, and that was what she gave him. She just hoped he would believe it.

"Are you done scaring the girl?" Snape asks, sliding his wand away. "I thought it was my job to become young people's boggarts."

Not that he doesn't know that there's a perfectly good reason WHY Neville Longbottom had him as a boggart -- beyond the fact that the boy had been raised to have no spine -- and neither is he proud of it nor, really, ashamed. That was at the moment, unimportant. What he was at this moment, was trying to remember what had been asked of him, and applying it as it was needed.

It was just so hard with Sirius Black being anywhere near him, making him remember so many things...

And seeing Nill quake reminds him of how he had just failed it. Unlike Sirius, he does not approach. Instead, he goes to gather his things, picking up the notepad and pens he'd been using, as if he might take his leave without another word.

The steely anger is back in Sirius's eyes for a moment as Snape's flings his self-righteous comments across the room - of course he wouldn't take any of the blame, oh no. Poor ickle Snivellus, never at fault for anything.

He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath and ignores Snape. It's not Nill's mouth that Sirius is watching, but her eyes. He gives her a sheepish smile back.

"You're polite to say so, dovie, but you can scold us for scaring you. Heine'd have skinned us by now." What? Body language was still language.

"I gave Mr Snape a present since he was here, but I originally came to deliver some flowers to you. I'd like to give them to you, if that's alright? I can go after that if you've had enough of my growling for one day."

He was right; Heine probably would have shot both of them, or at the very least beaten them up. That wouldn't have helped her, of course, but it would have made him feel better. But she doesn't give any indication that she's going to reprimand them for shouting and such. Just because she was easily frightened didn't mean they had to tip-toe around her when it came to their own personal problems. She just keeps on smiling.

Flowers would be nice. She nods and ducks around him to start up the aisle. She saw that Severus was packing up, and she wanted to give him a proper hello and goodbye. The two of them reminded her a bit of Heine and Naoto; they didn't like being around each other, but managed to deal with it while she was around. At least for a little while. It was obvious that Severus wasn't going to stay long, but Sirius would probably hang around. Even if he said he could leave, she hoped he knew she didn't particularly want him to.

She paused a foot or two away from Severus, and gave him a little wave.

Snape glanced to the side -- down at Nill with black, beady eyes that gave no clue to how he felt about the display, or her disturbance. She was a small, frail thing and Albus, he was sure, would have adored her and showered her with sweets.

Snape could only look at her impassively, and say, "I won't be long."

The mirror was carefully wrapped in a conjured cloth, and the other items he'd had, with names and notes scribbled on them, were tucked into a messenger bag and then slung back over his shoulder.

A curt nod to Nill; as silent as she is-- then he was striding down the pews-- on the OTHER side of them, as not to bring himself in Sirius Black's reach. He trusted the man about as far as he could throw him with his bare hands.

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My youth was nothing but a black storm

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