| Details for Lover, Not a Fighter |
| Summary: | Penelope witnesses Sierra's lesson to Angelus and tries to help, with a run in with Graham. Madeline is out on the grounds on their way into the castle. |
| Date: | December 13, 1939 |
| Location: | Central High Street, Hogsmeade - Hogwarts |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Angelus tries not to show the pained grimace on his face, but it flickers there as he shifts, glancing after the other two students in their departure. For several seconds afterwards he remains in a hunched state, one knee just about touching the ground. Drawing in a deep breath, the youth eventually picks himself up, starting to let out a short chuckle when he winces and brings a hand to his stomach.
Penelope Iblis had a great day in Hogsmeade. Of course, she spent most of it in the bookshop, but that qualifies as an excellent day in Penelope's mind. And after ending her trip with a visit to Harkiss' Candy, Penelope is returning back to Hogwarts with pockets full of candy and a couple of new books on Norse runes. And as she's walking up the road, Penelope is a witness to the little conversation between Angelus and Sierra; more like between Sierra's fist and Angelus' gut. While part of her smiles to see the smarmy git receive some comeuppance, she realizes that such thoughts aren't exactly in keeping with the Christmas spirit. So, the blonde Ravenclaw takes a deep breath to gather the strength she's sure she'll need for this, and then strides over to Angelus, the snow crunching under her shoes. She doesn't say anything yet, instead Penelope reaches into a pocket and pulls out a chocolate frog pack, handing it to Angelus. "Here," she says in a fairly neutral tone. "You look like you could use this."
Graham is heading up the street apparently he'd arrived a bit before and had just been moving about the town though he does carry a small parcel with him. He had missed though the confrontation only seeing a student kneeling and looking to be in pain, his pace quickens a bit though the other stands and so that's good news at least. The young man spots another move over and ponders a quick second before he cannot help but move the rest of the way. "Hm, are you alright?" he asks curiously, though his face is straight not much emotion there.
Despite the twinge it brings, Angelus lets out a laugh as he casts his gaze to Penelope. “Why would you think that, Iblis? I’m perfectly fine.” His lips curl as he gives the pack a look, lifting his gaze to the girl with a short shake of his head. “Keep it,” he murmurs as he flicks a single shoulder. He releases a heavy sigh. Ow. He manages to keep the grimace from completely showing as a smile flashes across his face, looking at Penelope. His smile tightens as the adult arrives, but his head lifts and he turns to offer Graham a polite bow of his head. “Good day, sir. Yes, of course.” He lowers his head in a nod. “Are you on a special assignment, sir?” He looks up at the Auror with interest, arching a brow. Well, if something’s happening in Hogsmeade, he wants to know!
Not looking at the Auror yet, Penelope sighs. She forces the chocolate frog into Angelus' hand. "The polite and noble thing to do when someone is trying to do something nice for you is to say 'thank you' and accept it, even if you don't think you need it." Now, Penelope turns around and sees Graham. She curtsies a little to the grown-up and smiles. "Good day, sir. It's a lovely day today, isn't it?"
The auror will raise an eyebrow at the response but nods. Graham isn’t here to press the students for information. "I'm afraid not, nothing so serious just visiting a few friends and shopping a bit since I’m here." he says truthfully though looking to the other student a small bow of his head. "It is quite a nice day indeed." he responds after a quick look about the place. "I'm Graham Cohen." he'll offer a hand to shake.
The chocolate frog box is forced into the boy’s hands, and Angelus lets out a sigh. As he glances down at it he rolls his eyes, but dons a sweet smile as he looks back up. “Thank you, Iblis,” he states, dipping his head in a nod. He is, after all, such a well-behaved young man, looking up to Graham as he nods his head at the grown up. “It is a pleasure to meet you again, Auror Cohen.” His smile tightens briefly, glancing to the side briefly. “I really must be returning to the castle though. I apparently have an appointment to meet with someone.” Like Madam Spleen - because he’s certainly not going to put up with soreness, even if it’s just a little bit.
"Penelope Iblis, sir," Penny says as she shakes the offered hand. "Fourth year, Ravenclaw. It's an honor to meet you." When Angelus says that he needs to get back to the castle, Penny looks over at him. "I was on my way back to Hogwarts just now, Eibon." When she says his name, it's not in a nearing or teasing tone, but as one addressing an equal. "Would you care for some company?"
Graham nods to Angelus "Likewise, enjoy the holidays." He looks back after the introduction smiling "Pleased to meet you Miss Iblis as well, and you enjoy your holidays as well if your headed back to the school as well." he chuckles though he will wait till they are both headed off before he walks away or anything just in case though a stop at the pub might be next on his list of things to do one way or another.
Angelus meets Penelope’s eyes with his, his lips twisting lightly in contempt. “No, thank you, Iblis,” he returns. His tone, however, holds a hint of superiority. “A kind offer, but I can assure you I can see myself back.” His fingers tighten slightly on the chocolate box, barely moving his head in a nod. A short breath escapes him, turning stiffly - ouch - as he offers another polite bow of his head to Graham as a means of dismissal. A quick glance is shot at Penelope, a faux smile slipping across his lips before he starts walking.
That sharp intake of breath and the stiff turning tells Penelope that no, Angelus is not alright. But his stubborn pride is getting him into trouble. Again. "I'm already heading back to Hogwarts, Eibon," she says, looking and sounding like she's not going to take no for an answer. And as she looks between Angelus and Graham, she gets an inkling of why Angelus is being so bull-headed stupid. Besides the usual reason of him being Angelus, that is. "Look, you took that bludger pretty hard at the last match. So you might have re-injured yourself. Let me walk with you in case that hit hasn't fully healed." The smile on Penny's face wouldn't be described as 'sweet', but 'saccharine' would be appropriate. "You don't want to miss a match, do you? Your House can't win that friendly match without you."
Angelus says nothing to the fact that she’s already heading back to Hogwarts. He simply walks without looking back at her. When she brings up quidditch Angelus gives a roll of his eyes, pausing momentarily to give Penelope a disapproving look. “I no longer have the time for quidditch. I’ve been very busy, Iblis,” he states, shaking his head. If she wishes to follow, he certainly isn’t going to stop her, but as he walks along the street back to the school, he snubs Penelope with an airy lift of his head. As he strolls along, putting distance to the Auror, he suddenly lets out a distasteful hiss, rolling his eyes and giving the chocolate frog box a lazy, backhanded toss out into the street. He clears his throat purposefully.
Penelope keeps stride with him, walking at his side. "I know you don't play quidditch anymore," she says after they have left the Auror behind. "I was trying to give you an excuse so that you wouldn't have to admit to an Auror that you were doubled over by a punch from a girl. Not exactly the sort of thing that you'd want people to know, I'd imagine. It certainly wouldn't do your reputation any wonders." She doesn't flinch or blink when he tosses away the chocolate frog, either. "And that's not a threat or blackmail or whatever you may be thinking. As far as I'm concerned, it's between you and Sierra."
Angelus closes his eyes briefly in a dignified blink, tilting back his head. “What are you going on about, Iblis?” As he walks he ignores the slight soreness, snorting. “Higgins gave me a tap. Barely felt it.” A smirk touches his lips. He stares into the distance, watching the gates in the distance as he keeps his gaze away from Penelope. “Her kiss hit harder than that - you did see the kiss, too, right?” And amused smile slides across his face, inclining his head as he continues on.
"The only kiss I saw was her fist kissing your stomach," Penelope says with a smirk as she keeps pace alongside Angelus. She shrugs and shakes her head. "Look, lie to yourself if you want, it really doesn't matter to me. But this pride of yours isn't going to do you any favors when things get serious. I suppose that if a dragon bit your arm off, you'd still be insisting that you were barely scratched right up to the point where you collapse from blood loss." She shakes her head more, adding, "If you'd stop lying to yourself, maybe you'd actually get a girl to kiss you instead of push or slap you someday before you graduate."
“Oh, I’m not some ignorant Muggle-born who’d be silly enough to go near a dragon,” Angelus remarks with a smirk. His gaze glances around the street as he walks and there’s flicker of his lips before he suddenly stops. “Iblis,” he says on a sigh, giving his head a small shake. He suddenly whirls around to face Penelope, despite the brief wince, and reaches out his hand in an attempt to seize her chin lightly in his fingers. “My kisses have been known to melt the hearts of girls. You want to feel that legendary experience right now, sweetheart? You are a darling to look at.”
Penelope does flutter her eyes, but in a sarcasm that matches the tone in which she speaks to Angelus. "Oh, but I couldn't! Imagine the scandal that you would have to endure if my Half-Blood lips touched and sullied your pristine Pure Blood ones…" Dramatically, Penny pushes Angelus away and turns from him in a scene worthy of Olivia DeHavelin. “No. We must forever be apart…" Pause for effect…and then Penny looks back at Angelus with eyes of steel. "Grow up, Eibon. I'll be kissing the Slytherin mascot before I ever consider kissing you." Then, Penny's features soften, like she feels sorry for Angelus. "Believe it or not, I am trying to help you here. There's a good, decent person inside you; there has to be for the Sorting Hat to have found it and put you in Gryffindor. I think I'd like to meet that kind and noble Angelus Eibon that the Sorting Hat saw. Because I think he deserves a chance to show what an amazing wizard he'd be."
A snicker escapes Angelus, bringing a finger to push against his lips in a shushing gesture. “You keep talking about needless things when you could be putting that mouth to better use.” He smirks as he tilts his head, stepping back fluidly from her hand. There is a brief flicker of disappointment, but he turns to resume walking. “The noble House of Eibon is forever principled and magnificent.” His head rises with his pride. “You’re opinions are quite beneath me, so excuse me if I don’t get right to writing that down.” He snorts.
Penelope keeps in stride with Angelus, raising an eyebrow. "Why's that? Because your blood is pure? Because you have nothing but disdain for the Muggle world?" Penny's not shouting or speaking angrily, just trying to patiently explain a certain point of view to him. "Let me tell you why the Muggle world should concern you. Because the war going on right now, one of the nations involved is enslaving a group that they feel is 'inferior'. At first, they targeted full-blooded Jews. Then, they went on to half-blooded. Then people with less and less traces of Jewish ancestry started getting arrested, houses and property confiscated. Even Muggles that had noble titles were stripped of everything. So here's a question for you? How 'pure' is your blood? Do you know for sure that you've never had a Muggle ancestor? Are you willing to bet that someone won't accuse you of having muggle blood in some quantity that the other pure bloods find unacceptable? Because there are many German Muggle families that thought they were safe. And now they've had everything taken away from them in the name of 'purity'." Penelope shakes her head. "Hatred is the same in the Wizarding world as the Muggle world. If you want to see what the future for Wizards is, take a look at Muggle Germany, because it's not a nice place at all. And no-one is safe there."
On the castle grounds, playing in the long grass is a girl and her raven. Madeline tosses her ball of parchment in, and Mischief dives in, rustling about until she finally finds it, and bounces out triumphantly. Each time she drops the ball into Madeline's hand, she's rewarded with praise, and a bit of fresh, raw meat she bought in Hogsmeade. "You're such a good bird, Mischief! Alright, I'm gonna make it reeeeeally hard this time! You ready?" She tosses the ball again - throwing it a little harder.
“Go away, Iblis,” Angelus remarks simply with a twist of his lips. He doesn’t glance at her, keeping his pace. In fact, he adds a little speed to his, brushing his hand through the air dismissively. “We’re past the gates, so why don’t you bother someone else with your ignorance.” A heavy, impatient sigh escapes him, causing him to pause briefly, and he uses that opportunity to glance at Penelope. “You’re Muggle problems are of no interest to me. We are a separate world.” His head lifts regally, though as he sucks in a breath to inflate his chest he ends up letting out a wince. “We should be by far more severed off than we are. It will be a better place once we don’t have to put up with such uncouth behaviours and obliviousness. Now run along, Iblis,” he says as he turns to start walking, frowning as he catches sight of Madeline. “Look, why don’t you go on and talk to someone that fits your status better.” His voice raises at the last part, “And don’t forget to let Evans know that she needs to shine my shoes tonight.” He clears his throat, tosses his head as he carries on.
Penelope sighs and shrugs. "Okay, Eibon," she says, still using his name as if they were equals. "But ask yourself this? If you're so much better than me because you're pure blood and I'm a half blood? Why do I get better marks than you in Herbology? And Divination? And Ancient Runes? And Transfiguration? Where the only class you get better marks than me is Potions?" She smiles sweetly, then gives Angelus a hard pat on the side he's clutching that's obviously in no way causing him pain whatsoever. "See you in class." Penelope waves to him as she walks off, giving Maddie a smile. "Hey, Maddie," she greets the Gryffindor with genuine affection. "I should hear back from my parents tomorrow, so I'll let you know about the cinema after lunch. Bye!" And the Ravenclaw girl heads into the castle, smiling happily.
"Penny!" Maddie greets the older girl with a cheerful voice. She glances past her and spots Angelus - but quickly turns her attention back to Penelope, as if no one were there are all. "Oh, that's wonderful," she remarks cheerfully. "I hope they'll let you go along! Whether the rest of the family can come or not. Maybe we could even pick you up," she suggests. "I'll be back in the castle later - just training with Mischief." As she talks, her bird rummages around in the grass, searching for its ball.
Angelus rolls his eyes in response to Penelope. “You know so little,” he murmurs. Walking, he freezes briefly when she pats him. Ow. There’s no outward display from any tenderness, and he simply eyes Penelope as though she were a child. He barely glances at Madeline as he continues on ahead toward the castle.