Closed RP: Susan is Not Happy (and when Susan ain't happy, NOBODY is happy)

[usethepoker]

((Backdated to February 10, just after Stephen's popcorn-letter))

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[charlesmacaulay]

Thank God for small favors. Henry and Camilla must indeed have gotten the same letter Susan got, which would have made Henry understand Charles wasn't just talking nonsense.

Charles experienced the uncomfortably contradictory sensation of feeling at once bitter and grateful about the same thing. Under the present circumstances it was a damn good thing Henry could get Camilla to do what he said and be quick about it; all the same, Charles hated knowing it.

It wasn't fair that Henry saw precisely what Charles saw: Camilla would not see just how dangerous her friend really is, Henry had written, and that just drove the pain of it home to Charles. Camilla didn't see how dangerous Henry was, did she? She never had. But right now that was an asset. Henry was dangerous and Henry could keep Camilla safe.

Charles wrote back:

Camilla doesn't see anything she doesn't want to see. Doesn't matter if no one can die here, Susan's got a huge scythe and I don't think she'd hesitate to lop off heads. The last thing she's going to

[c_macaulay]

That definitely drove home how serious the situation must be. Camilla slung her handbag across her chest like a bandolier and, wand at the ready, followed Henry, her hand in his, her fingers interwoven with his fingers and knotting tightly.

She didn't once give a thought to her brother. Mister Whiskers, yes, but not once to Charles. She was thinking about how they were going to get off the grounds, and what on earth it was that they were trying to evade, anyway. They weren't moving stealthily. That would have been too slow. They were walking briskly. It's like we're afraid of missing our train, Camilla thought incongruously, and bit her lip to keep quiet.

In her mind she held the image of the map. Fort William. That's where we're going. As soon as they were off the grounds, that was where she would take them. They wouldn't splinch. She was positive of that much. She knew what she was doing.

[h_m_winter]

Henry, for once, was giving though to Charles--wondering how he was faring in his bid to...somehow control Susan. It was an undertaking that took more than a little courage, as even Henry had to admit, and though his own life would be made much easier if Susan were to kill Charles, he couldn't help but have a little respect. Which in itself was almost enough to herald the end of the world.

It was freezing out, but the moon kept everything from true darkness. He hurried them as fast as he dared, always watchful for a black silhouette with a scythe. A lesser man than Henry would have had their nerves frayed by the exercise, but this was Henry, who, as the old saying went, had no nerves to speak of. He didn't stop until they'd made it into Hogsmeade, and then he turned to Camilla. "Fort William," he said, though whether to remind her or himself, even he wasn't sure.

[c_macaulay]

The walk to Hogsmeade was for Camilla an exercise in absolute faith. She had to trust Henry knew what he was doing. She had to trust Henry knew what he was looking out for, because she didn't know what they were fleeing, if they were fleeing; she couldn't be vigilant against a specific threat. They could not stop to investigate every crackle of branches, and she could not know what merited panic.

She did not think to search the sky; she did not catch the brief and bizarre display of Wednesday's flight silhouetted against the moon. All the while she walked, she was concentrating on that map Henry had shown her, trying to orient herself spatially in relation to the point they'd want to reach via Apparition. Concentrating this way, distracted, she let Henry lead her along. She didn't want to let go of his hand. What he'd done before they left had unsettled her thoroughly. You didn't kiss someone goodbye if you were going with them, unless you thought the both of you might not get there in one piece

[h_m_winter]

No, Henry wouldn't have done such a spontaneous thing without a very desperate reason. Part of him was relieved to be here, so far away from Hogwarts, but another part wouldn't relax until something had taken Susan-as-she-was out of the equation, one way or another. Camilla was safe, though, or as safe as he could make her, and that was what mattered.

"I'm certain there is," he said, taking the suitcase. "I don't know how long we'll have to stay, but I'm sure we can find somewhere decent." He'd owl Charles as soon as he could, to see if he could get some kind of update, some idea of what the hell was going on back there. He still didn't dare tell Camilla just what was going on, for fear she'd try to Apparate right back to the school and thus get herself utterly killed.

[c_macaulay]

The resolve had gone out of her now. She'd completed her part of what needed to be done. She was shivering, and afraid, and determined not to let Henry see that she was.

"I'm sure I don't care where we stay," she lied. "Are we headed anywhere in particular?"

[h_m_winter]

"Anywhere in town will do," he said, knowing damn well she had to be afraid--he'd just yanked her out of Hogwarts, with almost no explanation, quite paranoid himself. "Let's look into that place." He nodded at the Lime Tree hotel, which sat a little more than half a block away.

Part of him was still tense, still wary, as though half-afraid Susan had followed them, even though he knew the idea was rather ridiculous. Another part of him was vastly relieved, since Camilla was out of range. Safe. Safe, and protected, and (for now) blissfully ignorant of what was going on back at Hogwarts.

[c_macaulay]

Camilla would have gone right back there, too, had she known what was going on. She would have Apparated straightaway, leaving Henry alone with their suitcase

[h_m_winter]

Henry, now that they were somewhere at least somewhat safe, was trying to figure out just what sort of excuse he could give Camilla--since now she was almost sure to ask questions, even if only a few.

"No, I doubt it," he said, distracted, standing by the open window to smoke. "I hope we won't have to be here long enough for it to be an issue. I think I'll get word when it's all clear."

He looked at her. "Thank you for not asking questions," he said. "It was just...very important that we get somewhere safe."

[c_macaulay]

With the window open, the room was cold. Camilla didn't take her coat off, or her boots.

"I trust you," she said quietly. "You wouldn't say we needed to leave if it weren't so. Only I'd like to know what we're supposed to be safe from. I thought Hogwarts was safer than anyplace." The no-kill enchantment.

Unconsciously she'd begun to nibble at the nail of her index finger. "I guess it doesn't matter what happens to Bunny." She hadn't referred to him by his proper name since they turned him into a hamster. It was a measure of her present agitation that she did so now. "But what about Charles? Is he going to be all right?"

Yes, she'd finally remembered she had a brother.

[h_m_winter]

Honestly, Henry was amazed it had taken her that long to think about Charles. "I think he will be," he said, and then, in a burst of actual honesty, "he's the one who warned me. He can take care of himself."

And that was another thing that rather amazed him--that Charles, whom Henry had always taken as completely worthless, was putting himself in what was undeniably grave danger rather than running away as fast as he could. While this didn't make Henry despise him any less, it did inspire a certain half-unwilling respect. Whether it was bravery, madness, or a little of both, trying to do something about whatever creature Susan had become was not something Henry would ever have expected of Charles. Ever.

[c_macaulay]

...

...

"He did what? Why?" At once Camilla leapt up and, rather Charles-like, began pacing. "What does he possibly think he can do on his own?" She didn't even know what the crisis was. She was simply positive her brother couldn't handle it without her.

The why was a rhetorical question, really. She knew why he must have done it. He wanted her out of the way. He wanted to know she was safe, wanted it badly enough to have colluded with Henry. That meant he really did love her, didn't it?

"We have to go back," she said, predictably.

[h_m_winter]

"No," Henry said, looking at her, "we most certainly do not." It galled him to say it, but he said it anyway. "Your brother is quite capable of taking care of himself. Besides, this is...personal...for him." And Henry really did believe it was--the fact that Charles had stayed to deal with Susan effectively smashed many of Henry's doubts as to the nature of Charles's intentions toward Susan.

He had an unfortunate feeling that she was going to press the issue. He didn't want to have to sedate her, but there was no way he could let her Apparate back there.

[c_macaulay]

Camilla looked at Henry as though he'd sprouted an extra head. Could she possibly be hearing this right? "He is not capable of taking care of himself." Henry, saying Charles was competent? Hell must have frozen over. "What do you mean, it's personal? Is he drinking again?"

The idea Susan might be involved had not occurred to Camilla yet.

[h_m_winter]

Here at least Henry could tell the truth, or the truth as he knew it, anyway. "Not that I know of," he said. "And just now he believes he can take care of himself." And who knew, maybe he could. Henry wasn't sure he'd put money on it, but Charles had already surprised the hell out of him once this evening.

He didn't need Camilla figuring out what this was really about, but just now he was so distracted himself that he wasn't sure how to distract her. Instead, remembering what he'd promised Charles he'd do, he took out a piece of parchment and a pen, sitting at the small hotel desk to jot out an owl.

[c_macaulay]

"Charles believes a lot of things." Camilla raked a hand through her wind-tousled hair. A few strands came away with the roughness of the gesture. "I'm not even going to go into all the things he believes. He oughtn't to be allowed to cross the street by himself," Camilla completely unaware of the irony here, unaware Charles said almost the exact same thing about her.

She became aware she was chewing on a fingernail. This wasn't something she was supposed to do. Patting her pockets, she found she didn't have any cigarettes on her. Well, she'd steal one of Henry's. "You and I have one another, but he hasn't got anyone to look out for him," she said, her voice taut and fraying, as she came up behind Henry's chair. She reached down over his shoulder to dip a hand into the pocket of his shirt.

Not coincidentally, she looked over his shoulder as she did so. She hadn't quite planned it that way; she really had just wanted a cigarette; but now that she was standing here, how convenient was this?