Participants:
| Scene Title | Kreacher Comforts |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Holly and Sirius attempt to live together in the old Black household. It's like a sitcom! Without the comedy. |
| Location | Number 12 Grimmauld Place |
| Date | 10 Dec 1994 |
| Watch For | SABOTAGE!! |
| Logger | Mistletoe Holly |
While not exactly 'settling' in at Grimmauld Place, the fugitives are making themselves as comfortable as possible. To burn up a lot of the energy Sirius is feeling about being trapped, and the grumpy gus demeanor about being in his old home, he's cleaning. With a vengeance. He started with the bedrooms, namely one of the more inhabitable guest rooms for Holly. That took a few days, seeing as Kreacher kept interfering, Walburga's portrait was screaming, and the house was decidedly putting up a fight. And this was just with one room. With magic. No, Sirius isn't the type to clean from nervous energy, it was just something to do, and dammit, if he's staying in this house? It's going to be fit for human habitation.
—-
Well, it's a place to stay. That about sums up Holly's feelings about the old Black house. She can't be to thrilled with it, because it's, to put it bluntly, a bit of a dump, but she also can't be too upset, because - as previously stated - it's a place to stay.
In any case, she's learned to be quiet while she's here. It's not that she's trying to sneak up on Sirius, it's just that she doesn't want to wake that damned screaming picture again. "Do you want a little help?" she asks. It seems she's already planning on doing just that, whether Sirius wants her to or not. In her hand is a bucket, and over her shoulder are a few old rags that were hard-won from Kreachur's collection.
—-
The house hasn't always been a dump. It was actually a very nice and upscale place once upon a time. Then Orion and Walburga passed following the death of Regulus and their eldest boy being a blood traitor.. and the elf went around the twist.
Having finished with one of the guest rooms, mostly, as it may not be sparkling, but it's /clean/, Sirius is caught off guard by Holly being quiet and suddenly appearing. He whirls around on her, wand at the ready before it clicks that it's just the American. Grumbling to himself, he puts the wand away. "I'm actually done with this room. The sheets are clean and you won't need to worry about the pillow smothering you in the night. It will be far more comfortable than the sofa down in the drawing room or on the floor. /Mum/ only had the best purchased," he says with a sneer in his tone. "I thought I'd tackle the kitchen again. I swear that elf is fouling things up behind me as I go."
—-
Sneaking up on people who've been in prison for a long time is a very bad idea. Got it. Holly nearly drops the bucket when Sirius startles, though she manages to keep it from falling to the floor and dumping soapy water all over the place. That's one way to clean the floors, if you're going for 'annoying.'
"It's just me," she says, holding up her free hand, which then moves to her shoulder to retrieve one of the rags, which she drops in the bucket. "All right. I still don't get why he's so nasty. You guys didn't kick him when he was a baby, did you?" She cracks a bit of a smile. It's a joke, mostly. Even then, though, she's never known a house elf to be so … ornary. Nasty. Foul.
"So I'm helping you clean. That means I'm buttering you up enough to ask you a favour, right?" she asks hopefully.
—-
"He thought the sun shone out of my brother's arse. He should have been eldest, not me," Sirius says in a rather rough manner. "I'm the blood traitor, always have been, always will be. If he could find a way out of serving and following orders, he would. Little toe-rag. No telling what mum's been telling him to do over the years." Twisted elf meet crazy portrait, hilarity ensues. Only not so much. "Come on, let's go down to the kitchen. We can at least cook without feeling everything should be sanitized afterwards.. and what sort of favor?" He looks skeptical over what this request could be.
—-
"If your family was all like that elf, I'm glad you're a 'blood traitor.' The hell's that even mean, anyway?" She's careful not to knock the bucket on the railing as she heads down the stairs, though it's full of water, and she's been carrying it for awhile, and she's sure she's seen sharp little tacks and the like left around where there were none before for her to step on. Either someone's got it in for her, or she's imagining things.
"Well. I need you to let me go get my cat. She's been alone for a few days now. Mo can take care of herself, but I kinna want a house to go back to when this is all over. And… There's no sayin' how long we're going to be laying low."
—-
"It means.. that my family strove to be as pure as they could be. No associating with muggles, muggleborn, mudbloods in my parents' eyes.. Supporting of the policies of Voldemort. Essentially, I despise what my family stands for, so much that I don't even consider them family. Blood counts for incredibly little." Sirius shrugs as he looks around the room, reminders of childhood and shakes off further dark words. "Perhaps if you're bored enough I'll go over the family tree with you. That's a treat, that is." He leads the way down from the current floor and to the drawing room. When he speaks again, he takes care to keep his voice low, that is, until he swears. Fortunately, they aren't on the same floor as the painting, so no wails yet. "Are you mad? They've /got/ to be watching your place. I know you're worried about your cat, do you have any idea of the risk involved in fetching him? As much as I'd like to set her on Kreacher, it's not a good idea to just go get her."
—-
"Sounds like a really sad life, if y'ask me." How limiting must that be? How horrible is it to just… see the same people over and over because you won't associate with most of the population of the planet? Is it normal to ask someone if they're Pure-Blooded just as much as it is to ask their name? Holly would think that'd be awfully rude. Still, she knows stuff like this goes on.
"Think I said before, it's not as bad in the United States. It's 'cuz there's so many people from all over, it's impossible to really tell who's Pure Blood and whatever just by looking at a family tree." Melting pot of the world and all, woo-hoo.
"Well, of course they're watching the place. That's why I didn't ask for you to come with me. It'll be easy. I'll just apparate in - I'm sure they haven't made it so I can't apparate, because they're probably hoping that's what I'll do - and then I'll apparate out before they can get to me. And, look, if they're watching my place, eventually they're going to hurt my cat, and I can't let that happen."
—-
"You've /no/ idea, of course you're probably worst of the lot. Being foreign and from an incredibly mixed up background with no idea of your bloodline," Sirius says matter of factly. "Let's go lecture mum's portrait later, then Phineas's, I'm sure they'll /love/ it." Once Phineas is done being rude that is and Walburga stops drooling. Like /that'll/ ever happen. Holly gets a look that clearly says 'you are naive,' as she keeps on the idea of fetching Mo. "No.. because that's probably what they expect you to do. They could be inside, they could have set up a caterwauling charm, any number of spells designed to go off upon triggering. We should think of another way." Even if it's for a bloody cat.
—-
Yeah, but… Holly loves her cat. And there's very few things in the world that make her stupid, but Mo might just be one of them! In fact, even though she concedes with a nod and says nothing else about the subject, she's still planning on going. Sirius does, after all, have to sleep at some point. All Holly has to do is wait. Or, heck, even go to another room. The house is big enough. Still, to prevent him from potentially hearing the sound that comes with apparating, she should probably at least go outside…
"Fine," she says. It's almost childish. Frowning, she looks at the floor; clearly, being cooped up here is getting to her, and she's never done this 'on the run' thing before. It's new. It seemed crazy and fun at first, but now, she'd very much like to owl her sisters and tell them she's okay. To go into London and watch something on one of the TVs in the pubs. This is driving her insane. "As long as you think of something else."
—-
Sirius knows about loving things so bad it makes you stupid. Which is why he's not flat out putting his foot down on 'no'. He also is smart enough to realize that Holly will be sneaky behind his back. If he knows anything, it's stubborn. "Jack Noble," he then says as he takes the bucket from Holly, in preparation for some cleaning. "He may be along this way. If he's coming to stay, I can send a message asking if he'd kindly see about getting Mo." He has a feeling Jack's up to the task of being a sneak-thief. Holly? She's far too green to try something.
—-
"Yeah, Jack. Jack can get her." Holly trusts Jack, at the moment, anyway. Until she gets to thinking about the fact that Mo might try to eat him if she's particularly stressed out, and the fact that she could end up running away as soon as he gets her outside, and she's most likely going to go anyway. Just to make sure. And, hey, if Jack's there, all the better. The moral of this story is 'Never get between an American and her Fast Food.'
No, that's not the one.
Never underestimate people. She might be 'Green,' and she might fight her battles in court rather than toe-to-toe with Death Eaters, but she is also fully capable of doing that more hands-on stuff on her own, too, she's sure of it. Holly would do well to learn that, too, since she's currently underestimating the Ministry. Surely it can't be that bad. "So, let's get to cleaning," she says once they reach the kitchen. Dropping a wet rag on a floor that's currently foot-printed with black elf prints, she looks up at Sirius. "What would possess him to walk through the ashes in the fireplace?"