(Severus Snape - PoV)
*BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM*
I briefly close my eyes.
Must she?
Every time?
*BAM BAM BAM*
"Enter," I command, barely keeping the exhaustion from my voice.
One day. One day I will get to sleep properly.
The heavy door swings open and she enters, as expected, slamming it shut behind herself.
My frown deepens when she marches straight over and throws herself into the nearest chair.
No theatrics, insults, or delays.
...Concerning.
Taking a break from my slowly decreasing paperwork, I regard her cautiously.
"Mi-"
"You went over why you are helping the twins. But you actually care about Iris or something, for whatever reason, right?"
"..."
Unflinching, she stares me straight in the eyes.
"You wanted all those answers from me before, give me one now. A simple, easy one. I don't care about why. Iris matters to you, doesn't she?"
...
Every instinct screams to deny...
But we have an...arrangement, of a sort. And she is here for a reason.
What happened?
...
I would prefer not to try digging into a Metamorph's mind.
I doubt Miss Black is among the actually dangerous ones, but if she is aware at all it makes light touches worse than useless.
"Yes," I finally admit.
She nods.
"Coeus and Phoebe just had another breakdown," she says casually, causing me to blink.
That is not exactly-
"It's dealt with. It was out of the way, no one else noticed, no one was hurt."
She grimaces.
"No one but my pride..."
Rolling her shoulders, she twists her neck.
"Did he do something this morning?"
...Annoying, veering onto other topics after insisting I answer her, but I will play along, for now. The point always comes around, one way or another.
"He blinded a third of Slytherin for making Iris uncomfortable by staring at her," I reply
She blinks.
"Hah!"
"Speaking of, one of my Prefects wanted to complain about you showing him a Lumos Maxima but not actually teaching him how to cast it properly."
She snorts.
"Yeah, that explains it," she replies, shaking her head.
"So. Near the end of his episode, I had disabled him, had him unarmed and wrapped up in my arms (he tried to fucking stab me!) and then he blew me across the room with accidental magic. So, watch out for that?"
"...I will keep it in mind."
"Oh, and he was already on the verge of magical exhaustion and running on an Invigoration Draught when he did so."
...
I grimace internally.
Those little monsters are not going to be controllable for very long, are they?
Just a couple of years and no one will be able to contain them.
...
Maybe...Maybe they actually will be able to kill the old bastards...
"Anyhow, I'm not certain what happened with Phoebe but I guess Iris kept her on the leash again."
I nod.
As long as she doesn't have a target of some sort, that makes sense. She seems less inclined towards (outright) aggression than her brother.
Dora nods as well.
"It is good they are friends. Iris seems to be great at helping keep her grounded, and Phoebe is apparently working very hard to prevent the many, many, many "bad ends" that almost look like they are actively seeking Iris out."
...
The girl has my full, undivided attention.
She only matches my gaze for a couple of seconds before looking away, throwing her head back and lounging in the chair.
"Phoebe set today off intentionally. It really fucked her and especially Coeus up and I am pretty sure she knew it would happen and did it anyway. What do you think it says when the seer is acting recklessly? Not, "dancing through the spellfire", reckless, but making sacrifices reckless?"
"...Nothing good," I horrifically understate.
"Hah! Yeah. In this case, it says that people won't stop dying and she is getting desperate to stop it."
She runs a hand through her hair.
"Merlin...With all the shit they pull on a regular basis I don't even want to know what they will pull if they actually get desperate. Cut loose entirely."
I don't hide my grimace at the thought. Certain comments about accidentally causing the end of the world come to mind.
However unlikely, I would rather not put them to the test.
Shaking her head, Dora re-focuses on me.
"Anyhow...the worst problem is apparently Iris. Everyone has some potential deaths, some more than others. Coeus is a problem, of course, but one that I assume she can handle. But she described Iris as having "all" the bad ends. As if everything wants to kill her...or something is out to get her."
My breath hitches as her implication hits home.
It...It can't...Not yet...
"I don't suppose you can think of anything, or anyone with some sort of grudge against Iris, can you?" she natters on.
"The Dark Lord," I whisper.
Not yet...Not yet not yet not yet!
"~~~~~"
We, We, I...I'm not ready! They aren't ready! We don't have a chance!
"~~~~~?"
...What? Right, right...She is still here.
Breathing carefully, I force my hands to still.
"Thank you for the information, Miss Black. I need to think it over. I will speak with you later."
"Wha-"
A flick of my wand and my door swings open. Another slides her, chair and all, out, door slamming shut behind her.
...
The Dark Lord...
The Dark Lord, active again.
And Iris...
...
Throwing back my head I laugh.
And laugh and laugh.
It just gets worse.
Always, always worse.
What am I supposed to do?
What am I supposed to do...
(Dora Tonks Black - PoV)
Blinking, I slowly turn back towards the door.
...Huh.
That was not how I expected that to go.
...
His hands...they were shaking, weren't they? For a moment.
And his eyes...
Fuck.
I've seen a lot more to Snape than I ever expected (or wanted), but seeing him afraid?
Terrified, even?
...
Swallowing, I take a moment to consider, what it actually means.
The Dark Lord. The Dark Lord, active once more and trying to kill one of my little ones.
The Dark Lord who fought the country to a standstill.
The Dark Lord, who scares Snape so bad the mere idea puts him on the edge of a panic attack.
...
"Fuck."
...
...
I'm keeping the chair.
