(Coeus Black - PoV)
"You're going to give him an aneurysm or something you know?"
Dora is leaning in the doorway, arms crossed, a smile on her face.
Phoebe ignores her, not even looking up. She is once more laying on my chest, her hair spread every which way, legs tangled up in mine.
Iris, laying next to us, head resting against my shoulder, speaks up.
"I always thought Uncle Vernon would have one. He would get so angry, all the time. His face would turn purple and his veins would throb so hard I could see them. Never happened though."
We aren't asleep, obviously. Haven't been for a while. Despite our late night, we still woke up at a...somewhat decent time. But, given that we missed breakfast, is there any point in getting up?
No, no there is not. Thus, here we are, cuddling in the comfort of Iris's bed.
Or at least we were, till someone decided to rudely interrupt.
"Heart attack or stroke would have been more likely," Phoebe says. "Probably a stroke. Would have been funny, watching him pathetically flailing about while wetting himself. Still trying to yell at everyone when he can't even talk."
That would have been an almost tolerable end for him. Pity it would take too long to come around. Then again...
"I'm sure there are spells for that," I say. May take some practice to get them down, but we would have a great target for testing.
Iris actually looks rather interested. I meant it as more of an idle comment, but now I may have to actually look into it.
Dora sighs, shaking her head.
"You lot do realize I was making a joke, right?"
I shrug, as much as I am able, half-covered in girls and blankets.
"Would an aneurysm even hurt him any? Might actually improve things in his case."
She snorts.
"Point. Anyhow, lunch is ready. If you lot want to eat anything before heading out you might want to come down. Mum even fixed up more bacon for the idiot."
I would throw something at her, but nothing seems to be at hand. Damn.
I settle for giving her the finger instead, but I am not sure if she even sees it as she turns around and leaves.
I suppose it's the thought that counts.
"So," I start us off.
"So?" Iris asks.
"Food?" I ask.
"Food's good." She agrees.
I lightly poke the girl lying on top of me.
"Phoebe?"
"Mmm. Food's good but...too lazy. Carry me."
...
I sigh. Slowly I start working my way off the bed. Phoebe, of course, makes no effort to get off of me. Quite the opposite, in fact. She does at least release Iris, I suppose, allowing her to cling to me with both arms rather than the one she was using before.
Slowly, carefully, I manage to maneuver myself off the bed despite my new accessory. Huffing, I stand. I am all but carrying Phoebe, who, despite being upright, is making no attempt to stand herself.
She hmms in contentment, her head resting on my shoulder.
Iris quickly follows us.
"Uh, are you two ok?" she asks.
I sigh again, struggling to carry Phoebe as she drags along the floor, arms wrapped around me.
"I can do it, but some help would be appreciated."
We decide to skip changing for the morning, and instead work together to carry Phoebe down to bre-lunch.
The stairs are a particularly interesting challenge.
Dora watches us descend the last few steps, her head resting on her hand, elbow on the table.
"Having fun there?" she asks.
"Loads," I reply sarcastically, propping Phoebe up in her chair.
Once settled in she sits normally, allowing Iris and I to take our seats and start collecting food.
"Is everything quite alright?" Andy asks, rather concerned.
I wave her off.
"Phoebe wanted to be lazy."
I can hardly blame her. We all have days like that, right?
Andy opens her mouth, waits a moment, then closes it, shaking her head.
"I see. Well, I do hope you are going to at least change before you leave?"
I shrug, chewing on my bacon.
"Probably." I can't say I particularly care about dressing up for him, but I also would prefer to have on real clothes before going out in general.
Oh, we could dress up as Slytherins!
"What do you think Phoebe?" I ask.
Frowning with her mouth full, she takes a moment to consider before shrugging.
She swallows.
"I like it. Lets him know where we stand."
Excellent.
Nodding, I return to my bacon.
Andy stares at us for several moments before returning to her food.
Dora mutters something I can't make out.
She talks to herself a lot. Maybe it's a Metamorph thing?
Or a Black thing. It could be a Black thing.
We aren't crazy, the voices in our head tell us so!
Everyone but Phoebe gives me odd looks as I snigger.
I choose to ignore them and focus on food. And the voices.
Well, voice. It doesn't count if it is your own voice, right?
Andy picks up her plate and gets up, making her way toward the kitchen.
I stare after her.
You know, in retrospect I should probably avoid crazy jokes in front of her, considering Bellatrix and all.
I don't think she would appreciate them.
I look over to Phoebe for confirmation, but she is busy playing with her eggs.
I poke her until she looks at me.
Would Andy get upset if I make crazy people jokes?
She stares at me for several seconds before shoving me out of my chair.
Ow...
That means yes.
And...I probably deserved that. Luckily I didn't drag anything down with me.
Iris looks over at us, her gaze switching between Phoebe and I, uncertain how to respond.
Dora steals my bacon while I am down.
"Hey! Mine!"
Clambering to all fours, I lunge, tackling her where she sits.
I'm not entirely clear on what happens next. There is a great deal of flailing limbs, ripping fabric, and butting heads as we roll across the room smacking into walls and furniture. Andy eventually pulls us apart.
Panting heavily, I assess the situation.
We knocked over a desk and a couple tables. And I think that used to be a vase? Those were definitely picture frames. The chair on the other hand is just gone? Wait, I guess that explains the wood all over the place. Wow, I don't know if that one can even be Reparo'd.
Ok, how about injuries?
My lip is busted and I can't open my left eye. The knuckles are bleeding on my right hand, and I hurt...all over. Could be worse, nothing seems broken.
Dora looks fine, of course, cheating Metamorphs, but I tore her shirt up pretty good. Well, I think it used to be Andy's shirt? Close enough I guess.
I nod.
Yup, Dora won't be messing with me again any time soon. She liked that shirt.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Oh, right, Andy is yelling at us. Forgot about that.
I look in her direction and pretend to pay attention.
Yadda yadda yadda.
Could we hurry this up? I have things to do.
...
Oh, damn. I actually do have things to do...
...
Actually, I guess I could use that?
"Can I go clean up? We are supposed to meet Sirius sometime soon."
It's fun watching her face twitch as the conflicting desires war.
"Don't think this lets you off the hook Mr!" she threatens, even though it totally does.
"But fine. Hurry up and get ready, I am sure Sirius is pacing a hole in his floor waiting for you three."
She looks over to Dora. "Now you, you are old enough to know better! You come with me," she demands, turning around and leaving the room.
Dora rolls her eyes but follows. She flips me off as she leaves.
I stick my tongue out at her.
Steal my bacon, will you?
I return to the table, battered but victorious.
Clean up? Cleaning up can come later. Victory bacon awai-
...
"Where did all the bacon go?"
"Phoebe ate it all while you were fighting," Iris answers.
I stare at my sister in absolute betrayal.
She looks back, straight into my eyes, and slowly licks her fingers. One. by. one.
After dejectedly trudging upstairs, I do start to get ready, the girls following after. First, is finding potions.
Well, Bruisewort Balm specifically. Luckily it is not hard to find, a stack of it being near the top of everything. Useful stuff, that. I uh, might need it on the regular.
Phoebe grabs one, opening it up.
"Take off your robes," she orders, "So I can show Iris how to do this.
I comply, shucking my robes and shirt.
Iris promptly turns red.
"Iris, pay attention, ok?" Phoebe asks.
She jerks her head around to look at my sister.
"It's pretty straightforward," Phoebe explains. "You just take out a dab, however much you are comfortable with. I tend to use a bit more, but you can start smaller. Then you place it on the bruise, like this. If it's cold you can breathe on it to warm it up first even, but honestly, you don't need to, it really isn't a big deal. Then you gently spread it across the bruise."
She demonstrates.
"Very, very gently. You are touching a bruise, after all, it is very sensitive, and you don't want to hurt the patient. Probably."
I barely even flinch as Phoebe works, her fingers smoothly spreading the balm across my skin, the only annoying bit being the eye. I don't know how much of Phoebe's skill is talent, how much is experience, and how much is her cheating with Sight, but she is damn good. Really, she could totally be a Mediwitch if she didn't prefer causing injuries to fixing them.
I do flinch as she intentionally jabs me in the ribs.
"What?" I ask, "It's true."
She ignores me, turning to Iris.
"Ok, I got most of them. Your turn!" she says.
"W-what?!"
"Your turn! I got the hard ones, just do a few on the torso and we are done."
Iris looks back and forth between me and the balm several times, her face incredibly flushed.
"Come on, we don't have all day. We still have to go visit the doghouse."
Oh, I like that name. I am totally calling it that. Or maybe the kennel? Or the pound?
Hmm, or would the last one be too much like prison? There are limits.
Of course, it is all dependent on Remus staying with him, but I can't see Sirius being that much of a dick, right?
Regardless, the comment seems to make up Iris's mind. She finally accepts the balm and approaches me.
Her fingers are both more hesitant and yet rougher at the same time as she applies the balm, naturally lacking Phoebe's surety. Still, she is not terrible and has good dexterity. The fact she is working the easy bruises helps.
Her face is still red, but her eyes are determined, and her focus sharp as she works. At least, until she finishes. I can see the moment she does, as her eyes begin to dart all over the place.
"O-ok. I think I'm done?" she says, starting to draw back.
"Let me see," Phoebe says, coming up behind her, blocking her in.
"Hmm. Looks good. How do you feel brother?"
I stand up and try stretching.
Ugh. I wince, but only a little. Much less than before at least.
"Not bad, it is certainly working.
Smiling, I step forward and wrap Iris in a hug.
"Thanks," I say. "Keep practicing maybe? Healing is always a good skill to have."
I don't have much talent at it, I don't think. It's just not in my nature.
"I agree," Phoebe says, wrapping around Iris from behind. "We should do this more often. You want to be the one to beat him up next time?"
I roll my eyes.
Then I stop and think about it. She might actually be serious.
"Please don't?" I request.
Iris is breathing deeply but not returning the hug. I look over at her. She is still blushing scarlet.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"N-nothing!" she squeaks. "Nothing's wrong! Just...We need to change, right? To leave?"
Ugh, right.
"Fine, fine."
I reluctantly pull back, heading towards the trunk to pick out our clothes.
"Oh, we are planning to wear Slytherin-themed clothes," I tell her without looking up. "Green and silver are the colors, snakes are the animal. You can ask Phoebe to help you if you want? It would be awesome if you matched us."
"Ok." I hear from behind me. The door opens and shuts.
I am shifting aside a set of Navy Blue robes when it hits me.
Phoebe did go with her and...
...
I don't like it.
I grip the edges of the trunk and take a deep breath.
It's fine. She is just in the other room, looking through clothes. I can still feel her. It's not a problem.
We've done this plenty of times.
There's no problem here.
No.
Problem.
...
Slowly, I sort through the clothes.
No.
Problem.
Green and Silver.
Everything is fine.
Snakes.
I can feel her amusement at something Iris says.
These robes look great. Perfect really, silver snakes on black robes.
And her concern over my own volatility.
It's fine. I let her know it's fine.
I know, I'm a sucker for black and silver. My favorites. We can include a green shirt maybe? Oh, some silver jewelry with emeralds, perfect.
Phoebe likes that idea as well and demands some. She has a particular piece in mind for Iris, I can practically see it.
See? It's fine. We may as well be in the same room if we can still do things like that.
There's no problem here.
The clothes are all laid out and ready. I find the necklace Phoebe wants for Iris.
It falls into the trunk when I drop it because my hands are shaking.
Stupid hands. Can't they see it's fine?
A bit of digging and I pull it back out again.
No more shaking.
I put my new robes on.
Then I take them back off because I forgot to change everything else.
Ok.
I properly change clothes. Change everything.
Good, all ready now?
I check in the mirror.
...
I look terrible.
And my shirt is on backward.
That explains a lot.
Sighing, I start undressing to try again.
But the stupid robes just. Don't. Want. To. Come. OFF!
...
...
Panting, I stand, arm outstretched, staring at where I threw them across the room.
...
...
I...don't think that's supposed to happen.
I hear the door open and close once more, but I don't turn around. Arms wrap around me from behind.
"It wasn't alright," I reluctantly admit. "It wasn't alright at all."
"I know," Phoebe says.
...
"It's not supposed to be like this."
"It's not."
...
"Will it get better?"
"Yes."
She rubs her head against my shoulder.
"It never goes away," she says. But it gets better."
I nod.
That sounds ok.