(Iris Potter - PoV)
Phoebe takes off without a word the second we step out of class.
"H-Hey! Phoebe!" Coeus yells as we hurry after her.
Despite his prodding, she refuses to explain as we march through the halls.
I guess it is time sensitive?
Or...I dunno. Phoebe always seems to know what she is doing though.
"Eh? Yo squirts, what's up? Is there something wrong?" Dora asks, her cheerful expression becoming tinged with concern.
It looks like we caught her after class. I guess she stayed late?
Anyhow, Phoebe rushed us here to talk to Dora?
I didn't think there was anything wrong...
"It's time," Phoebe replies.
Dora sighs.
"Time?"
"For Brother's remedial training."
"Remedial!?" Coeus objects.
Remedial?
"Ohhoho? Is it now...?" An evil smile creeps onto Dora's face, her gaze fixated on Coeus.
"Yup""Bullshit! We just dominated in Defense! I do not need "remedial" les-"
He cuts off when Phoebe turns to pin him with a stare that I can feel.
"Defense went great. But have you already forgotten this morning?"
"T-This morning? But I didn-"
She takes a step towards him and he takes a step back.
"You, very nearly undid everything. All the work we put into our reputation. If that other moron hadn't spoken up, you would have been the one to get savaged by Hedwig. And then where would we be, hmm?"
"I-"
"You wouldn't be the nightmare prodigy who is tearing apart his peers and learning magic far beyond his years. The Black heir with the backing of the most feared family in Britain. The boy who terrified his year mates with his pet monsters."
She steps forward again and Coeus backpedals once more.
"No. You would be the idiot kid who got mauled by a bloody post-owl. It would take months to repair our reputation! Longer if we don't resort to, extreme, measures."
"Extreme..." Dora mutters under her breath.
...
"But..."
"It. Doesn't. Matter. The teachers, the other first years? They might understand. But most of the students?"
She shakes her head.
"They don't care how well you do in class. And demonstrations to make up for your stupid are not easy, not when so many others will jump at the opportunity to keep us down. Now, you," she pokes Coeus in the chest rather harshly, "are going to go with Dora so she can deflate your head. We are going to go visit Hedwig."
I blink at Phoebe as she turns and grabs my arm.
We are?
Huh. That does sound like a good idea.
Dora shakes her head as Phoebe begins to drag me off.
But...Coeus?
"Well well, little brother. It looks like I have you all. To. My. Self. What fun we are about to have!"
Phoebe is quiet as she leads me to the Owlery.
As in, she doesn't say a word.
I really don't know what to say myself so, we make the trip in silence.
...
The Owlery itself is pretty impressive.
It may be pretty bare of decorations but...that is a lot of owls!
And all of them are watching me.
...
This...may not have been such a goo-
Oh!
I can finally relax slightly when Hedwig flies down to join me.
"A-Ah! Hed..." I greet, giving her a half smile and a pat.
She stares at me for a moment before turning to glare at the other owls, who immediately look away.
Sighing in relief, I can't help but giggle.
"Thanks, Hed. Sorry about...everything. You doing alright up here? It doesn't look too bad, honestly."
Huffing at me, she nipps at my fingers and I roll my eyes.
"Really? You can't even answer a question or two first? Fine, fine..."
Pulling out my trunk I dig out the owl treats.
It takes a few minutes before I notice the problem.
Not with Hedwig, she seems to be doing great. But I didn't come here alone.
Saying my goodbyes to Hedwig, I make my way over to Phoebe, who is sitting up against a wall.
"Hey, Phoebe! Did you..." I trail off when I see the far-off look in her eyes, and notice the twitching.
Crap.
They are separated again, aren't they? I didn't even think about it.
But why? She did it intentionally this time...
Err, more intentionally?
Shaking my head, I step closer.
"Phoebe?" I ask.
She doesn't respond.
Slowly, I reach out with one hand and place it on her shoulder, and she jerks back into awareness.
"I...Ris...?" she asks.
"When did...oh. Right. We..."
She shudders.
"Are you good?" she asks. "Can we go back? I'd like to go back now."
She is looking in my direction but I don't think she is really looking at me. Just staring, wide-eyed, past...through(?) me?
"...Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Let's get you back," I reply, helping her up off the floor.
Making our way out of the owlery and back down the staircase, I can't help but think back to the Sorting. The infamous, ethereal "seer/dreamer" walk she did.
Bullshit.
That must have just been one more part of her act...of all seer's acts, I guess, if it's so famous.
Because right now? I am pretty sure this is the real walk.
Stumbling down the stairs like a drunk. I'm pretty sure she would have fallen by now if I wasn't here.
This is going to be a long walk.
At least she isn't trying to kill anyone?
(Nymphadora Tonks - PoV)
What.
The.
Hell!
Coeus put on a pretty good show at first. Stupid good for a firstie, but about what I expected after this summer. But then he started getting sloppy.
Sloppy, and then...this.
"Stupefy"
He makes it two more steps before falling down.
I didn't even know that was possible. You either get stunned or you don't. Not this, twitchy, unconscious half-resistance he is doing.
He isn't even trying to pick up his wand after I revive him anymore.
He just gets up and charges.
...
Sighing I run a hand through my hair, glancing at the door behind me.
Fuck I hope those two get back quickly. This is not what I had in mind for training.
What the hell was Phoebe thinking? Did she pull this shit intentionally?
...
She is doing better than Coeus, right? She's the one who suggested they split up in the first place.
...
With another sigh, I wave my wand at Coeus once more.
"Rennervate" I mutter.
"Oi, Coeus, look. Practice over. Can you tell me how Phoebe is do-This isn't working, is it..."
Ignoring everything I say he jumps up and promptly rushes directly at me once more.
Well, let's try something different. He can still answer questions if he is tied up.
"Incarcerous"
The ropes fly towards him and as usual, he makes more or less no attempt to dod-What?
A flash of silver cuts through the ropes before they hit.
Is that a knife?
That's a knife. Aaand he is still coming at me. Great.
"Expeller-" Cancelling my cast, I roll away. He's faster than I thought.
And he...He actually just tried to slash me...
Ok, no more playing around. Letting him close again, I wait for him to swing once more before grabbing his wrist with my free hand.
Slipping my wand into its holster, I grab his other wrist as well, quickly immobilizing him.
"Ok now little brother, that's enough of th- !*!*!*!*!*!*!
The blast throws me across the room.
Fuck.
Fucking ow.
I might be a Metamorph but stone walls and backs are still very unmixxy things.
Merlin, damnit.
I should have expected that.
Accidental Magic.
Fuck.
Rolling to my feet, wand in hand, I search the room for Coeus, only to find him running out the door instead of charging me?
That...makes a lot of sense, actually. He wasn't trying to attack me, he was trying to get past me to get to Phoebe, wasn't he? Fuck. I feel like shit now.
Aaaand I...still can't let him do that, can I? Who knows who he could run into out there. Anyone under third or fourth year would...probably die.
...Actually, given our standards in Defense right now it's probably a toss-up for more than a few older students too.
Ignoring my aching everything, I rush across the room and out the door, only to literally trip over Coeus, who is lying on the floor just outside the doorway, and go sprawling across the hall.
"No one saw that!" I shout reflexively.
...
Slowly, carefully, I look up and down the hallway from my crumpled position.
Huh.
For once it is actually true?
Weird.
Standing up, I brush myself off and check on Coeus.
Seriously.
What the fuck?
He nearly shrugs off stunners.
Cuts Incarerous out of the air.
Blows me arse over teakettle with Accidental Magic.
And then just kneels over the moment he gets loose?
Now, I'm no Pomfrey, or Dad, but I know some basic first aid and diagnostics. Let's see...
*Sigh*.
Low-level magical exhaustion. That checks out.
That totally checks out.
Shaking my head, I pick him up and carry him back into the room.
Glancing about, I sigh once more, this time at the lack of furniture.
This was not a problem just a minute or two ago.
Conjuring a sofa (in Hufflepuff colors) I sit down, resting his head in my lap.
"Uggghhhh..." I groan. "Can you not go a day without something?"
Running a hand through his hair, I shake my head.
"Idiot. Phoebe better get here soon so we can get you to bed."
Grimacing, I adjust my position slightly.
"So we can both get to bed. Merlin, Coeus. What the hell would that blast have done if you hadn't already been exhausted?"
And I shudder to think what Iris could do.
Hmm?
Speak of the devil, perhaps? I hear footsteps...
*patter patter patter*
The door slams open and Phoebe rushes in, throwing herself across the room and essentially tackling the (unconscious) Coeus.
...Damnit, Phoebe. She clearly didn't have an easy time of it either.
Why did she do this again?
...
I pat her on the head.
...
Iris enters the room rather more sedately several moments later, looking rather exhausted.
Ah, damn.
Carefully drawing my wand once more, I conjure her another chair.
She hesitates for a rather long time before taking it, eyeing our pile very carefully, even when it is quite obvious there is no way she can join.
Okay, no reasonable way. I am pretty sure she was considering just draping herself across the top of everyone no matter how uncomfortable it would have been.
...
"So," I begin.
...
Phoebe doesn't respond at all, lying on Coeus. Iris fidgets awkwardly.
"I have questions," I continue.
Phoebe sighs.
"No you don't."
...
Little shit.
"Fine. Many of them I know, or can guess, the answers to. But I do have some."
...
...
"Why, Phoebe," I prompt when she doesn't respond.
...
"I don't know," she eventually replies, not looking at me, her face still buried in Coeus's side.
"Lots of reasons. I couldn't let Iris go alone! I was mad. It makes things better. And we...need the practice."
"The practice?" I ask.
At...seperating?
I mean, she's not wrong but, I am not sure if this is the way to go about it.
Because holy shit.
There is no way they can "practice" this regularly without someone getting killed, never mind what it does to them.
Coeus was willing to have a go at me for getting in the way.
"...Can we go to bed?" Phoebe asks, ignoring the question. "Brother took an Invigoration Draught this morning and really needs to sleep it off."
He what?
No bloody wonder he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut!
Pinching my nose, I take a deep breath before replying.
"Phoebe. Coeus had to take an Invigoration Draught this morning, showed off in Defense, and then you still set him up against me? Without telling me?"
"...He needed encouragement?"
She wiggles nervously.
"What? I knew it wouldn't be an issue! I was being careful, and with Iris, and he was with you, and the day was actually really light overall so he wouldn't go anywhere near burnout or anything dangerous!"
"So, as long as it only hurts "a little bit," it's fine? What the fuck Phoebe? I don't care if it isn't "serious", why would you do that shit to your brother?"
"TO KEEP HIM ALIVE!" she shouts.
"TO KEEP EVERYONE ALIVE! I'll...I'll...Hah..."
My heart clenches at her words, and...fuck.
"I'll do whatever it takes to make the bad ends stop."
She shakes her head.
"Anything. Anything to make them stop..."
Merlin damnit, I swore I would help them. And now here I am causing Phoebe to have a breakdown.
"M-Make them stop..."
"Phoebe," I start.
"I've seen you all die. Andy and Ted die often enough. You die a lot. Brother..."
She shudders rather than answer.
"And Iris..."
Swallowing, she turns to look at Iris, who has been so quiet I almost forgot about her.
"Iris has all the bad ends. More than anyone I've ever met."
...
She shakes her head.
"She's so strong...but it's like everything wants to kill her. And I don't understand why."
Iris frowns.
"Didn't we..."
Phoebe nods.
"You were being bad. But even if you don't it...it doesn't help as much as it should? It's like something is out to get you!"
...
No, that's not concerning at all.
It's not like there is a potentially not-so-dead dark lord with a grudge against her or anything.
Or his army of ex-minions that my cute little siblings are oh so eager to make friends with.
"They just won't stop..."
I rub her back.
"Phoebe, don't forget we are not just puppets, you know? You can come to us for *help*. You don't have to handle everything by yourself."
"I did. You are going to help beat sense into Brother, and help train him. As long as he doesn't get too stupid, Brother listens to me, and I will make him avoid the wrong paths."
"...That's...not exactly what I meant but...ok. If that's what you need from me? Ok."
I'll just... take what I can get right now.
She nods.
"And can you carry him back to the dorms? I could maybe levitate him but..."
"Yeah, given all the staircases on the way to the dungeons let's not try that."
Not as a first-year, no matter how awesome they are. Especially given that you can't actually levitate people, only their clothes.
"You good Iris?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Alright then."
Levitating and disillusioning Coeus, (he is a bit heavy to carry all the way down) I vanish the chairs as we finally make our way out.
Merlin, what an end to the day.
