Thirteen -- action (Claire Bennet & Severus Snape)

[facesdeath]

While there's a pool of blood outside the shop's front door, it's small compared to the one just inside it - spread beneath the dead body of one Regulus Black. He's been sprawled there for some time on his side how he fell; dead before he even hit the ground

Comments

[adamantined]

Claire comes in the back way, for once - mainly because she wants to leave the plate of turnovers she made last night somewhere she's sure Severus will see them - and keeps her head down until she's hung her coat up. After that she goes through routine, though it's strange because normally Regulus has lit lamps and pulled things out of places, on and on, by this time.

Eventually she makes her way into the front, heels clicking - because she likes heeled boots - and turns to start opening the register. It's nice outside and she'd rather be outside and there's only so much that -

Claire is moving before she realizes, exactly, what's going on or what could have possibly happened. She knows nothing about taking care of anything like this - why would she? She doesn't have these problems - and even if she's seen a body like this before, she still drops her phone because her hands get too tense to hold onto it. She can't pull something out of his head and recharge his battery, like she did with Peter, so she doesn't know what to do.She

[eduronox]

It's a matter of luck, really, that he's at the network when she tries to contact him. He's rarely on the thing.

Her messages are not anything that he could have predicted.

Most people will become enraged at such a situation. Severus is not most people. He has a temper, yes, and he's easily set off - but in truly dire situations he becomes cold. Efficient. He Apparates directly inside the shop, loud crack and reside of black smoke - from the spell or the potions he was working on - heralding his arrival. He sees Claire without looking at her and kneels immediately at Regulus' side, pale hands going out to rest rigor mortis and twist at his body. He needs to know how it happened.

[adamantined]

Claire gets out of the way. Regulus is already dead so it's not as if she's capable of helping him in any capacity - would that even work? - and since she doesn't know what else to do other than sit back and hold her breath, she moves.

Or, rather, she word vomits.

"I just came in and he was like this. I didn't even look - I'm sorry - I didn't know anyone else to get ahold of." She says a few other things that are utterly meaningless but mostly just watches Severus move Regulus. Her stomach feels sick, the way it did when she saw Jackie, and she has to swallow to stop herself from saying anything else too inane for this situation.

[eduronox]

Before he responds he conjures a black sheet to cover Regulus with. His face is drawn, expression unreadable. When he finally does look up at her, the only hint at his mood is the fact that his the hand holding his wand is drawn tight enough to make the skin over his knuckles even more pale than usual.

"He'll have been here a bit before you arrived," he says, his voice quiet. He stands, and ushers her to the back room, not wanting her to stare at it any longer.