(1939-01-13) The Situation
Details for The Situation
Summary: Lucretia and Ignatius bump into each other in the Owl Tower and Ignatius confesses to a little awkwardness over their betrothal.
Date: 1939-01-13
Location: Owl Tower, Hogwarts.
Related:
Characters
IgnatiusLucretia

The Owl Tower's floor is covered in owl droppings, straw, and small animal skeletons. Six huge windows are embedded both in the bottom of the north and south wall sections of this rounded room. The windows are open to the elements and allow the owls to fly in and out as they please. The tower is quite tall and has many recessed arches for each owl to have their own home. The walls below each of the recesses are also covered with splotches of owl droppings and actually give an interesting contrast to the old stone work behind. During the winter, the room is quite cold and there is a danger of ice on the floor. Arching off the south side at the top of the tower, is a sky bridge that leads to the palisades of the castle.


There's very little warmth to be found within the owl tower. At this late hour, just before dinner, the traffic of communication has died down. In the background a few of the owls hoot while settled upon their perch, either ignoring or watching Iggy approach one of the brown feathered birds with a folded letter pressed between his dry lips. In his hand was a small brown paper bag where he attempted to tie it off with twine to ensure it remained closed. "Olth hiss." He muttered to the owl while holding up the brown sack to its claws.

"Hello Ignatius." Lucretia, having been obscured by some of the gloom within the tower, steps in front of a window. It'd be hard to say how long the young Black has been up here, a woolly knitted hat pulled down firmly over her dark hair so that just a few curls escape at the edges to frame her face. The tip of her nose is slightly pink and its to this that she pays attention to with a rub of one finger, breath escaping in a small curl of white from her lips. "How are you? I've not seen you since the holidays." If there's a touch of awkwardness to her voice, its probably to do with the 'situation' between the pair, which is how Lu likes to refer to their betrothal. She sometimes even capitalises it to 'The Situation' when the mood takes her.

Her intrusion had caught him off guard. Iggy snapped around, the envelope flew right out of his mouth via momentum and the owl arrogantly flapped his wings. "Huh oh… Aya Lucretia." Not so awkward as he's been in her company at least more than once. Iggy walked towards the envelope that had taken flight in order to retrieve it. "Good. Well could be better when spring gets here." Snatching up the envelope should Lucretia catch the name scrawled onto it, it would be his brother's. He turns to face her, a lengthy wool maroon scarf is wrapped around his neck. Iggy then licked his dry lips, "That was just last week wasn't it?" Girls were odd. Maybe two weeks ago. Never minding his own question he lifts the envelope, "Forgot my brothers gift here." As though it needed to be explained. He had also not given Lucretia her gift. Yet.

Lucretia pushes her hands deep into the folds of her cloak and leans against the wall, watching Ignatius' fumbling of the letter. "Its late to be sending mail out. Must be important?" She has this way of placing inflection and tone within her voice that can make a couple of words into a question, and as she waits for his response she pulls a small bag of sweets from her pocket and picks one from within it. After disappearing it into her mouth, she offers the bag over to him with a small shake of her hand. "Want one? They're only bullseyes but not too bad." Watching his struggle a moment longer, she levers herself from the wall and takes a couple of steps closer to Ignatius, holding out her free hand. "You're getting in a tangle, want me to hold something before you drop anything else?"

"They don't mind." The night owls. Iggy glanced to the one that was already holding a parcel and he had yet to attach the envelope. But when she offers the sweets the boy is all too quick to accept. "Yeah." And carefully plucks one, then a second from the bag. "I'll be fine." Both candies were tucked inside a pocket of his coat for now. Back to the task he's turning about moving towards the owl for the challenge of tying the letter onto the parcel. "My sister is considering of teaching in France. She's always wanted to go." Small talk as he wraps the letter. "But she said she can't go now becuse of what happened at the Sykes Gala. I wasn't there. Alphard was, wasn't he?"

Lucretia nods, scrunches the top of her bag and squirrels it away back into her pocket. "France? I hope she doesn't get caught up in any of muggle problems over there. Not that she should. But still." A crunch is given her sweet to reduce its bulk and she shifts it from one cheek to the other. "I wasn't there either, I caused trouble at Alphard's party so thought I probably shouldn't show my face, but yes. He was there. He was a proper hero too. Did you read about that? It was all over the Daily Prophet." There's a small touch of pink to her cheeks as she mentions her cousin and its difficult to miss the obvious pride in her voice when she speaks of him.

Victory! Iggy removed both hands after successfully attaching the letter. "Off with you to Coakley. Go on." He tells the bird who then spreds it's wings and leaps off into flight. That finished the freckled face young man is returning all attention unto his betrothed. "I heard. I wager your gave him quite the hero's welcome afterwards. Good on him though. And in truth I'm glad you weren't there." He admits casually, then reaching into his pocket for that sweet he stashed away moments ago. "What do you mean trouble? This I have to hear." Grinning, far too big, Iggy popped the candy into his mouth.

"My grandfather was there," Lu says quietly. "He'd not have let them get to me." Absolute faith, some might say blind faith, in the abilities of the infamous Sirius Black II to have protected her when so many were hurt without impunity resonates in the young witches voice and she lifts her eyes to meet with those of Ignatius. "Though," and here she hestiates, "… I am quite glad too that I wasn't there. From what I've heard it wasn't something that anyone would have wished to witness. People were changed forever. My friend, Weasley, was one that was tortured and where he had sympathies for muggle-borns and half-bloods before, now he has not. He saw a place for them within our world and now he doesn't." Another crunch to her sweet and a slow exhale of mint-flavoured breath through her lips. "Trouble between the Germans and their neighbours. France is a neighbour so I hope Muriel stays safe if she goes."

A hand reaches up, rubbing at the back of his head and neck as Lucretia speaks. The weight of his thoughts had deepened in his brow. "I didn't know Weasley was hit with the curse. Sort of hard to feel impartial toward that lot now." Iggy lowered his eyes then, staring at the owl soiled ground momentarily before raising them again. "She will, she's very adept at maneuvering through the muggle world. Always running towards a fire that one." A family trait perhaps. "So… are you alright here? I mean with other students here."

"Of course. What an odd question," Lucretia says, a small crinkle of her nose given with the smile that comes to her face. "Hogwarts is my second home, and of course I would rather it weren't infected by parasitic mudbloods, but so long as they stay out of my way, its not so bad." There's a brief pause as she swallows her now fully crunched up sweet and she pulls her hat free of her head, running fingers through helmet hair to loosen it from her scalp. Balling the hat up, she thrusts it into her pocket, the smallest of frowns just finding its way to her face. "You ask that like I shouldn't be, is there something wrong?"

The first response was a simple shrug of his shoulders. "No. Nothing wrong. Just asking. I'm supposed to ask aren't I?" Poor Iggy would appear a bit lost in how to interact with someone promised to him. Quickly he searches for that other piece of candy then pops that too into his mouth. "This is awkward." Finally, he admits it though it was murmured.

Lucretia smiles at Ignatius. "Its not that awkward. Not really. I know you're supposed to show concern for me, but you know…" A small shrug of her shoulders is given and she walks over, standing on the tips of her toes to dot a kiss to the older boy's cheek. "I'm thirteen. We're going to be betrothed a long time yet before we're married and you really have to worry about being married to the terrible Lucretia Black. Good night, Iggy." And she drops his nickname in there before touching him lightly on his arm and heading down the stairs.

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