closed RP: reunion (Henry Winter, Camilla Macaulay, Francis Abernathy)

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

True to her word, Camilla had come by the Sorting Room to collect her old friend Francis when his Sorting ended. She'd worried a bit that the talking hat would send him into another anxiety attack or something, and was pleased to find he'd weathered the final interrogation scarcely breaking a sweat. "There's a bar in Ravenclaw but it really isn't a good idea to bring Henry there," she confided. "Henry and Charles still aren't getting along. I'm taking you back to Gryffindor, and we can have a drink in the common room there, the three of us. Gryffindor's my house."

She didn't actually specify who she meant by the three of us, but assumed that was obvious enough.

She murmured the requisite password to the Fat Lady for entrance to the common room, with an aside to Francis, "I'm sorry -- you'll get used to things here, in time. The portraits do move and talk." He seemed awfully tense. A cocktail or two should settle his nerves. "I'll bring you some of Henry's cigarettes, how's that?" Nicotine might help too. "Unless Priscilla's finally weaned you off smoking. I stopped a while ago, when Nana got very very sick toward the end. Henry still does smoke." And why shouldn't he? Dead people couldn't get lung cancer, Camilla imagined.

Ever the hostess, Camilla settled her friend into a cozy armchair. "I'll just be a moment. I don't know whether Henry's reading or napping or what, but he'll want to come down, I'm sure." With that, she left him alone.

Comments

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

Francis was relieved when the sorting ended. The talking hat had been... interesting, but it was at least relatively sane compared to at least one of the people he'd talked to.

"A cigarette would be great," he told Camilla before she left. "And a martini. Definitely a martini."

He leaned back in the armchair. This was a lot to take in, and he congratulated himself for somehow managing to deal with it all in a calm, reasonable manner.

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

Henry was smoking and reading when Camilla came in--recreational reading, for once. He looked at her, surprised and pleased when she said she'd like them to have tea with Francis; Henry didn't know he'd gotten Sorted yet. He set aside his book, grabbed his cigarettes, and followed her down to the common room. It was good to know Francis was here--Francis could be trusted, he was sure. Francis was a friend.

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

By 'tea', Camilla actually meant 'a fair amount of hard liquor.' She could set a nice privacy ward that would enable them to talk without being heard, with the bonus of filtering their atmosphere somewhat so that the men could smoke like chimneys if they wanted without making a nicotine ring around the ceiling.

"It's a lovely old place, isn't it?" she said cheerily, when they'd all settled, and a house elf had been dispatched for whiskey ("oh, just bring the bottle, and some glasses"). "Red and gold everywhere, in Gryffindor. Every house has its heraldry. And there are really some nice pieces of furniture." Of course, the nicest thing about Gryffindor was that Bunny was not in it. "The Hat sorted Francis into Hufflepuff after all," she told Henry.

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

Henry smiled on seeing Francis, tapping out a cigarette and lighting it with quick, pleased movements. "It's a good house," he said, choosing an armchair. "I've never been in the common room myself, but they all tend to be fairly secure--well, except Ravenclaw, but that's what they get for having a bar." Ravenclaw of course meant Charles, but he sailed smoothly right over that. "How are you finding things, now that you're out of the Sorting Room?"

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

When the house elf (who was excused for being weird by virtue of the fact that it brought alcohol) left, Francis poured himself a glass of whiskey. "The castle does have a certain ambiance I like," he admitted. "But I would happily not go through that again. Are all sortings like that? With people scrutinizing everything about you and passing judgment accordingly?"

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

(( Actions written for Henry were approved by Henry-mun, so that the char can respond in the next tag. ))

"They're all like that, unfortunately, yes." Camilla poured a glass and handed it to Henry, then perched on the arm of his chair. "I hope no one was very hard on you," she said to Francis, solicitous. "People asked me all sorts of awkward questions when I was Sorted. The process is the same whether one meant to come here or not. Sometimes it can be very unpleasant." She thought of Charles's Sorting and shivered. Unpleasant could be an understatement. She took the drink from Henry's hand and sipped at it, for fortification.

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"Fortunately, you only have to go through it once," Henry said, taking a deep draw off his cigarette. The significance of Camilla's sharing his drink was not lost on him--she had always done so with Charles, but never with him; the fact that she did so now was...telling, and in a very pleasing way. He put a hand on her knee, smiling at her. "You don't wind up under that sort of scrutiny again unless you really want to."

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

Francis nodded. "I certainly hope not," he answered. "I think I'm done with scrutiny for a while." The significance of Camilla's sharing Henry's drink wasn't lost on him, either. It seemed so... intimate and ordinary.

He allowed himself to relax, smoking another cigarette. "You managed to... not tell people too much, I assume?" he asked in a low voice, glad of the privacy ward Camilla had put in place.

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

Intimate, maybe, but not at all ordinary; Francis might have forgotten the twins' habits, after so many years of Charles's absence. There was no significance in letting Francis see it, though -- or, rather, no intentional significance. It did mean that Henry and Camilla felt sufficiently comfortable in the presence of their old friend that they'd act naturally, whatever passed as natural for them now.

Henry, holding court, relaxed in a way Francis wouldn't have seen in ages; and Camilla at his side, sharing his drink and settling on the arm of his chair in the way she only ever used to do with her twin. Camilla, radiant.

Her face clouded at what Francis said, though. "We haven't said anything to anyone. Of course."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"Not at all." That did not mean Bunny had kept silent--indeed, Henry would be quite suprised if he had. He didn't know if Camilla had yet told Francis about Bunny, but he wasn't about to bring it up--if Francis didn't already know, Henry wasn't cruel enough to drop that bomb on him just yet.

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

Francis did not want to bring up Bunny, either, but it seemed he was going to have to. He wanted to be forewarned before he had to actually meet the man. "And what about Bunny?" he asked. "Richard told me he was here. And so did Charles. And he's never been good at being circumspect."

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

Camilla shot Francis a concerned look. He'd been talking to Charles? What had Charles been saying? She'd have to try to get Francis alone, later.

"Yes. Bunny is here. He's said some awful things to us -- to Charles and me," she admitted, knowing the clarification to be necessary. Henry hadn't been with her at Bunny's Sorting. The memory of that, in turn, did not sit well. They'd had an argument after that. Her hand slid unconsciously to cover his where it rested on her knee, seeking reassurance. "But I'm not sure what else he might have said to anyone else. Or done."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

He'd said some awful things to Henry, too, though not nearly so many as Charles had.

"Bunny is...a problem," he said. "So far he hasn't really done anything, but all that tells me is that he's still planning. I can only hope that his unfortunate attention span has followed him into this incarnation." Attention span and academic skill both, really.

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

Francis sighed. "That's... not good. although I'm not surprised." He took another convulsive sip of his whiskey. "I don't want to see him. I'm sure he'll eventually realize I'm here, but I'd just as soon avoid that conversation... although knowing Bunny, I'm sure that isn't going to happen."

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

"None of us wants to see him," Camilla said dryly. "We all have better things to do than entertain Bunny's tirades. Goodness, he got into a fistfight with Richard."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"His belligerence at least has not changed," Henry observed, just as dryly. "It may prove a hindrance to any plan he might form, since I can't see him making many friends here." Bunny was a rotten liar, and such was his nature that he probably wasn't going to fool anyone for an extended period of time.

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

"Richard?" Francis asked, surprised. "I wouldn't have thought he would be *that* beligerent." He reached for the bottle and poured another glass. "But you're right. I don't see Bunny making lots of friends here. At least, if the general student body is anything like the representative sampling in my sorting."

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

Camilla shrugged uncomfortably. "Richard's a little different than he was when we went to school with him." She was about to say you remember how he was in Boston, then stopped herself, because when they'd all three been together Richard hadn't actually been all that different. It was when Francis wasn't there. "I think dwelling on Tourneur got to him," she said instead, with an effort toward lightness. She was careful not to look at Henry. "Bunny, on the other hand ... it'd be hard to say. I've been avoiding him. I couldn't say whether death changed him. All I've seen out of him is nastiness."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no, I meant Bunny's belligerence hasn't changed," he clarified. "Richard...I was glad to see Richard." Was, and might perhaps still be--he still hadn't sorted out just what Richard's stance was with Camilla. It was good to have all of them, except for Charles--Charles he could definitely do without. At least, if they really had to deal with Bunny, they could do it as a group--four minds were much better than one, although in Bunny's case even one mind was likely better than his. To have Camilla and Francis and Richard...well, they'd done it the first time. Surely, surely they could do it again. "I think it's safe to say he will not have changed for the good," he said at last. "We can hope at least that he has not grown more intelligent."

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

Francis sighed, setting his glass down and lighting a cigarette. "This is... rather morbid," he murmured. "I think we should talk about something else." But then, inexorably, he found himself asking, "But what can we do about Bunny? I mean, we can't kill him again..."

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

Biting her lip, Camilla darted a glance from Henry to Francis and back again. "Well, really, anything we can do is going to sound morbid," she said finally.

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"It really would." Especially Camilla's suggestion of removing certain appendages, and leaving them in the care of Silas. Even Henry had been unnerved by that one.

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

"I suppose that's true." Francis topped off his glass again. He fell silent then, unable to think of anything else, but unable to figure out how to change the subject.

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

Camilla understood. "It's going to be all right. He can't get in here at all -- into Gryffindor House, that is. Silas makes sure of that. We're working on a more permanent solution, of course. We really are. And then we'll all be together again, as we should have been, without him."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"We'll have to introduce you to Silas soon," Henry said, also understanding. "He looks a bit...intimidating...but he's intensely loyal." To Camilla, but that shouldn't be a sticking point, since the whole point was that both Henry and Francis were loyal, too.

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

"I'd like that," Francis said, smiling. "You've said much about him. I have to admit, I'm more than a little curious about him."

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

"Yes, you'll have to meet him formally, so he'll know you're allowed." Camilla lowered her voice, unnecessarily given the privacy ward; she did it out of habit. "He thinks I'm literally an angel. It's best not to disillusion him, the poor man. He isn't the most stable person."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"Indeed he is not," Henry admitted. "However, I trust him. He needs something divine to worship, I think, and if he believes he is protecting an angel, it gives him some kind of anchor."

[fabernathy.livejournal.com]

Francis smiled at Camilla, a glint of teasing entering his eyes. "You mean you're not an angel? I'm crushed." Then his expression sobered. "I won't disilusion this friend of yours, though it seems a lot of people around here are... well, unstable."

[c-macaulay.livejournal.com]

"Yes, the school is about as selective as ... well, Hampden," Camilla said, with a glint of wicked amusement. "What did Charles use to call it? "The last place on earth for the worst people in the world.' "

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"You've no idea," Henry muttered, shaking his head. "Some of the people here shouldn't be allowed anywhere but a padded room--I've met some who make Silas look normal." And anyone who could manage that was extremely odd indeed. "Some of them are nice enough, though," he added. "Odd, but nice."