Bye bye, blackbird

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*It would've been easier to Apparate to Harpenden. It's true. But it's only noon and it's already been a long day, and Rose had needed to think, and when she needs to think, she drives. Her car is kept at her parents' estate in Dover, a solid 85 miles from the Mulciber's, but she makes the drive in a little over an hour. (The car is her baby, a birthday present when she was a teenager. It's a 1939 Triumph Dolomite Roadster - red, of course - and she loves it almost as much as the horse she also keeps at her parents'.) When it pulls up in front of the manor (doubtless the only car ever to do so, ever), she takes the time to remove her head scarf and sunglasses. Normally she doesn't bother, she rather likes teasing Damien with the whole cheeky-pin-up-girl look, but today's not a normal day, and this isn't a normal visit.

Rose never liked Severus. They'd been in the same house and year at Hogwarts, and she'd known him since they'd been eleven years old, but she'd never liked him. He was odd, and oily, and the way he twitched struck her as grotesque, and she didn't share her classmates' predeliction for the Dark Arts. But she had known him half her life, had spent nearly every day around him for years. He's the first casualty of the war to be someone that she knew, and she's far more shaken than she'd ever have thought she'd be.

She knocks on the manor's grand doors, purse in hand, perfectly made up as always but far more serious than she's ever been when calling here. And, perhaps most curiously, the pity she feels for Damien, the drawn and tired sympathy in her face, isn't even really forged.*

Comments

[aurora-mulciber.livejournal.com]

*It's Aurora's second glass of wine so far and she's certain a glass or two will follow before the day it over. It's been hard witnessing Damien in such a state, especially when his no good excuse of a father did nothing more but offer a pat on the back and a cigar. Embarrassing, really. Shameful. Yet she swelled with pride when Damien gave the cigar a sour look and humored his father with a disingenuous, "Thanks."

Perhaps it was silly to compete with her husband over something so serious. Perhaps not.

Aurora nearly drops her glass of wine in surprise when she hears the sudden knock on the door, but she doesn't hesitate to stride purposefully across the foyer and open it. The sight before her is a peculiar one. Well, Rose isn't the peculiar part, but the car certainly is. Aurora squints at it for a moment, wondering if that contraption is safe for such a young woman to handle, before giving Rose a small smile.*

Luckily, my husband is away for the rest of the day. He'd surely hex that thing into oblivion if he saw it on the property.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

I'll hex him into oblivion if he so much as draws a wand on it.

*She's really, really not joking; she likes Aurora well enough - she's surprisingly sweet, considering Damien - but Demetrius is a right bastard and she'll shove his wand up his nose if he touches her car.*

I saw the paper, is he...?

[aurora-mulciber.livejournal.com]

*Aurora certainly wouldn't mind Demetrius getting a proper hexing, and the thought causes her lips to twitch into some semblance of a smile.*

He's not well but I'm sure he'd love to see a familiar face. He was napping when I was last with him but he might be awake now.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

Okay if I check?

[aurora-mulciber.livejournal.com]

Of course, darling.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*Squeezing the older woman's hand briefly as she slips past, Rose offers a faint smile and makes her way through the manor to his rooms. She tries the bedroom first, leaning against the frame and taking a second to pull herself together before knocking softly. It's never been questionable before where the line was between real and fake, spying and the act, but at the moment, she isn't completely sure.*

...Damien?

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

*Mulciber has been staring at a crack in the wall for the past hour. A cigarette dangles from his mouth rather precariously and nearly falls out of his mouth when he hears Rose's voice. His surprise is still masked with lethargy.*

Come in.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*He sounds bad. It's not like she expected any different, but still, he sounds bad. Rose opens the door slowly and slips inside, pressing it shut behind her and leaning back against it, watching him.*

...I saw.

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

*Mulciber rubs his eyes and scoffs around his cigarette. He slowly moves into an upright position, back leaning against the giant windows adjacent to his bed. His hair is in a complete state of disarray, a sight that is far more telling of his distress than he realizes. He scratches his bare stomach and takes a drag.*

Want to know what my favorite bit of the article was? Suffered a fatal stroke. Suffered a fatal stroke my left bollock. He was twenty-fucking-one, not seventy!

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*No one will believe that, but then, no one will probably care. It's the kind of truth Rose would normally not hesitate to point out, but she just doesn't have the heart to do it right now. Instead she crosses and sits by him on the bed, nodding and looking at her shoes.*

I know. No big shocks what that's a euphemism for.

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

They'll get theirs, those Ministry pricks. You can count on that. I'll show them a fatal fucking stroke.

*The corner of his mouth spasms into a little smile, only for a moment, before returning to their sullen, downcast position.*

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*And that's just the thing - it's easy to forget it, but this is a three-way war. Rose is under no mistaken assumption that the Ministry wouldn't brand the Order as dangerous fringe activists, too, in a heartbeat. And what would happen to her if Damien got taken in, if their association these last few months got blabbed? Would sleeping with a Death Eater be enough for a conviction? Would the Ministry even care if it was enough?

She taps out a cig and lights it; she needs to focus.*

This is probably the part where I'm supposed to tell you not to do anything stupid.

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

*He supposes the valiant thing to say would be, "What the fuck have I got to lose?" But the answer to that question is insultingly simple: Everything..*

There's nothing stupid about getting things sorted. The Ministry has been asking for more shit to hit the fan. It's just a matter of when now. And who. I'm sure there'll be a way to find out who exactly was involved in Severus'—

*Murder.*

It's not just the Ministry, you know. None of this would have even happened if it wasn't for that Mudblood.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*She's not watching, still busy drawing on her cig as it lights properly.*

Who?

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

You know. Evans. The Mudblood. He—

*Mulciber carelessly taps out the ashes of his cigarette onto the floor rug. His next words seem more fit at a child's slumber party, whispered in hushed, high pitched voices through missing front teeth and sugary biscuit breath. But Mulciber has tobacco breath instead, and there is an air of darkness and vulnerability in his tone.*

You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Do you understand? If word gets out about this to the others, word that I knew...

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*And just like that, he has her absolute and undivided attention. Lily's name is enough to get it, but the way he presses on, the edge of danger heavy between them in the air, has Rose looking at him rapt and a bit more wide-eyed than she'd like. This is exactly the kind of chink in his armor she's spent months looking for, the whole reason she's even been sleeping with him.*

...Okay. Cross my heart.

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

*He takes a moment to mull over his words, practically grinding his teeth until he clenches his eyes shut and sighs heavily through his nose.*

We thought...we thought Severus agreed to be a spy for us, to spy on the Order. But instead he was spying on us, our side, for months. He was giving them information, important information.

*Mulciber hangs his head low and quickly swipes at his reddened eyes.*

And I found out and—you can't tell anyone that I know the truth. If You-Know-Who finds out that I've kept something like this a secret, he'll kill me.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*She doesn't have to ask if Damien means that literally or not. The worry in her face is not for him, but she threads her fingers through his hair anyway, then strokes down to rub his back soothingly. The connection's too clear now - Damien figured out that Lily was Snape's primary contact with the Order. And that puts Lily in a very bad position; Damien's dangerous anyway, but hurting after a dead best friend like this....

Marshaling her thoughts, Rose speaks up quietly. She can't fuck this up, Lily can't afford for her to. It's strange, feeling responsible for someone else. It doesn't wear well on her.*

Shhh, baby, I wouldn't do that to you. You know that. So - what does that mean, what happens now?

[whysosadistic.livejournal.com]

*Mulciber leans in to her touch, her fingertips leaving behind a warmth in his core he hasn't felt all day. It's almost encouraging.*

Easier to go after the Mudblood first. I have to plan. It has to be perfect. No fuck ups, no misunderstandings, no sloppiness. It'll send a message, to her and the rest of those fucking morons.

*Then he feels something twinge in his muscles, an exciting sort of burst of energy. Epiphany. Excitement.

He shifts so that he is looking at her head on, eyes meeting eyes, and grasps her hand.*

You can help me, Rose.

[gin-and-smoke.livejournal.com]

*She isn't quick enough to mask her fear and she knows it, but it reads in-character anyway - inside this ruse or out, Rose isn't accustomed to causing violence. She's been slapped around a little, sure, and she carries a pistol, but she's never had to use it. Eyes wide, she takes a hard drag on her cig, cheeks hollowing a little as she gropes for an answer and fails.*

I - what?