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[darkart]

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SEVERUS SNAPE

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[pushfall]

Not as eventful as a fight over laundry, but I'd say that I did okay. [ She pauses, awkward. ] He has a lot of colorful opinions.

[darkart]

But you're still contacting me.

[ Dispassionate as he usually is, there's the barest undercurrent of genuine confusion there. He's not used to anyone seeking him out, much less anyone doing so after Gryffindor influence. It's unpleasantly like being in school. ]

[pushfall]

[ Claire doesn't respond right away, not necessarily confused but a little unsure about how to respond to that. Eventually she comes up with something sufficiently lame. ]

I thought it would be a good idea to make sure you didn't get sucked out of an air duct. [ More to the point, though. ] I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions about people.

[darkart]

I wasn't implying you aren't. [ He can imagine what Sirius said, but no matter how ridiculous it's always seemed to him, everyone else has always just.. believed it. But Claire has no context for house politics or blood purity, so perhaps that's a bigger factor than he anticipated.

Severus is still at a loss. ]

Is there anything you'd like to know?

[ Not that he's going to spit up the details of much of anything, but he can't help but wonder. ]

[pushfall]

[ She wastes a few moments deciding on what question she would like to ask first. Undoubtedly there are plenty that she could ask and wants to, but at the outset only one of them feels like it matters the most. ]

Is he the one who punched you five minutes after you got here?

[ Claire is fairly sure she knows the answer to that question but it never hurts to be positive. ]

[darkart]

[ Pause. Exhale. Clatter of something in a sink. ]

Yes.

[pushfall]

[ Honestly, she's a little surprised. He has no reason to be honest with her and yet. Claire knows that if their roles were reversed, it's unlikely she would be so forthcoming. ]

Why? [ It comes out very quickly on the tail of his confirmation and Claire shakes her head as if to dispel it, hair swishing against the communicator. And then - sorry, Severus. ] Are you in the bathroom?

[darkart]

[ He's not going to turn Sirius into security - how could he, even if he wanted to? - but he won't lie to protect him, either. ]

He hates me.

[ Besides, it's obvious. ]

Yes.

[pushfall]

[ When he puts it like that, it sounds so childish and petty, but she saw the blood. She wonders what Sirius looked like after the encounter and wonders how far she can push it with questions before she just starts to sound nosy. ]

Yeah, I kind of got that impression. It might have been the whole 'exceptional bastard' thing that tipped me off. What happened when you ran into him this time? [ And, oh, right - ] Why did you answer if you're in the bathroom?

[darkart]

Exceptional bastard. [ Severus sounds a bit like he might find that funny, in a really weird way. He's quiet for a while. ]

I'm just at a sink. [ Doing.. something. Don't make it weird, Claire!! Conveniently not remarking on the other question. ]

[pushfall]

Or something along those lines. It was in the middle of being lost in the corridors so that was more of my main priority.

[ Regardless, it made her feel weird, to intrude on some sort of tumultuous territory she rightfully has no business treading across. In her experience, there's usually a reason for that kind of disdain, although she has also been to high school and fully realizes the extent of petty grudges. Anyway. She's not stupid, Severus. Somewhat resigned: ]

What happened in the hallway?

[ Why she is mother henning him is lost even on her, and as soon as she presses that question again, she realizes what she's doing and feels a little stupid. ]

[darkart]

Do you need to ask?

[ Just like he didn't whine about it on the first day aboard, he's not going to go complaining now - but fuck, he really is tired of this. He's not letting Sirius do it again. ]

[pushfall]

No. [ She answers automatically, reflexively, though she's aware the question he's asking might not warrant that sort of answer. ] I didn't want to assume.

[darkart]

It doesn't matter. It shouldn't have happened but it's done and it won't be going on again.

[pushfall]

Did you agree to put aside your differences and get along?

[ Her skepticism speaks for itself. ]

[darkart]

I'd rather vomit slugs to be honest. [ Which sounds a bit hilarious in his oh-so-proper voice. ] I've never sought him out. That's the best to be done about it.

[ Severus will never forgive Sirius. He can function alongside him if necessary but his hate will never fade even to indifference. That's just life. ]

[pushfall]

[ In the interest of turning the conversation away from less unpleasant topics and because she can't help but ask about it: ]

Is that a real thing? Vomiting slugs?

[ Technically anyone could vomit slugs if they ate them, probably, but well. Magic. ]

[darkart]

One of the more relatively harmless side-effects I've seen of a spell backfiring, but none the less deeply unpleasant.

[pushfall]

Yeah, I can imagine. I've eaten oysters before.

[ Which is absolutely the same thing. ]

[darkart]

At your own peril. [ Dryly. Then he coughs, away from the communicator, and it doesn't sound particularly comfortable. But then, movement, like he's about done with whatever it is he's up to. ]

[pushfall]

I'm a very brave girl.

[ Movement brings her back to the crux of the conversation, and when Claire speaks up again, her voice is softer with concern. She can't help it, even if he probably doesn't want it. It's just a hallmark of her own personality. ]

Are you okay?

[darkart]

Yes. [ And he's not lying, either; as much as it had hurt and has pissed off as he's been, Severus is more than capable of repairing mere physical damage. He needed more than an episkey spell to handle this bout but, nonetheless, he's fine. ]

Despite the ... I believe the vernacular is nerds and jocks disparity, I am studier than I perhaps seem.

[ He sounds dispassionate about it but not offended she asked. He's not sure how to react to it, truth be told. ]

[pushfall]

[ Claire believes him, more out of respect than, she thinks, actually thinking that he's not lying, though she thinks that, too, and nods into the business end of the communicator, never mind that will go unnoticed. She assumes that he magicked it better anyway. Never mind that a quick fix doesn't always do the trick. ]

Speaking from experience, they can be a tough crowd. [ Which is... really sort of a bleak way of remembering her time spent among those ranks, but this isn't about her. ] Are you sure you don't want some ice or something?

oh my god i even edited and NOW i see more typos

[darkart]

I'd rather forget I needed anything, for now. [ There's-- a weird noise, then, sort of like a synthetic bird's wings, and then after that and a pause, that acoustic echo is gone. ] Change of heart?

[ About the jock thing. He doesn't believe her experience is from being nerd - not that she seems particularly stupid, but she's pretty and sociable. Which makes it even weirder that she's still talking to him. ]

hahahaha i didn't even notice!!!

[pushfall]

That doesn't make me forget that you might.

[ Is something that she really would have rather not said but them's the breaks. She covers it up by letting something - a cupboard of sorts - bang closed behind her. Not loud but not without volume. As for that question, Claire's answer is a little late in coming, if only because there's a lot more to it than just having had a change of heart, never mind that putting it that way is making a long story short. ]

More or less, yeah. [ Her voice gets less serious. ] I was a cheerleader. I was sixteen. Very impressionable.