(no subject)
WHO: Barty, Sirius, and James
WHAT: Barty comes to visit Sirius - but alas, the party is crashed.
WHERE: Godric's Hollow
WHEN: Evening of Wednesday, 12 July, 1977
RATING: PG-13 for drug usage and bad language?
NOTE: Done mostly over AIM, with a summary at the end that we'll all fill in later via comments.
BARTY: It was easier getting to England than he thought it would be - all it took was the careful suggestion that the pain in his face was getting worse, and Marian Crouch all but insisted that Barty be apparated back to London and the dark corridors of the Crouch Manor. From there, several coins slipped into the hand of the butler ensured that he would not be loose-lipped about Barty’s secondary trip when they returned to Spain.
Barty considered letting Regulus know, but settled instead for sketching out a note and pinning it to his pillow.
Gone to London. Early appointment w/ healers. Back soon. Try to behave if at all possible.
-B
With that, he selected the most Muggle looking clothing he could think of, clothes purchased specifically to make himself appear “normal” in the nearby mixed town of Cumbre del Sol. With that done, he pocketed his wand as well as two full-up cigarette cases and went downstairs, where the family butler - the only non-house-elf help employed by the Crouch family - was waiting.
SIRIUS: Sirius's fingers tapped a rapid rhythm on the window sill he had perched himself on, his eyes scanning the front of the house. "Fuck," he muttered to himself as he itched to roll a cigarette between his fingers to calm his nerves. "Barty you ass, you'd better not be an idiot about this."
He had told James that he must have crashed after a long day working on perfecting the flying charm for his motorbike, and would go to bed early - for all he knew, James was asleep in his room, snoring comfortably or drooling over his vision of Lily Evans. With a tenuously secure alibi, Sirius could only hope that Barty didn't arrive in plain view or - the worst case scenario, Floo into the Potters' living room fireplace.
BARTY: Sirius need not have worried, however--Barty had a small sachet of floo powder in one pocket as an emergency route home. Floo-ing in never even occured to the blonde-haired youth--he simply instructed the family butler to Side-Along Apparate him to the sidewalk before the Potter's home. The duo appeared with a thin crack, standing along the street. Barty glanced up at the house to assure himself he was in the right place--then waved a hand and sent his escort away.
That done, Barty lit himself a cigarette and looked up at the house again, hoping Sirius was keeping an eye on the streets.
SIRIUS: Sirius jumped at the sound of the Apparition, turning his head back hastily in case James suddenly ran into his room - and then he realized he was being dumb about the entire matter. James was not his keeper.
But Barty was standing in the Potters' front yard. "Barty!" Sirius attempted to make his hissed whisper still sound from the upstairs window. "Get over on this side!" He motioned with his arm to the left side of the house, away from the rooms the Potters were probably in.
BARTY: Barty spotted Sirius in the window and took a long, thoughtful drag. He exhaled the smoke--smiled faintly, and waved back. Clearly Sirius was hissing something, though Barty couldn't quite make out what it was. He shrugged widely, letting the gesture demonstrate his confusion--and puffed on his cigarette once again.
SIRIUS: "For fuck's sake," Sirius muttered, and tried again, this time with exaggerated arm motions and over-enunciated words, although he didn't know how good Barty's lip-reading was. "Get. Over. There!"
BARTY: Smirking slightly, Barty pointed at Sirius, then himself, then waved the black-haired boy away. With an exaggerated, careless attitude, he began strolling down the sidewalk in the appointed direction, smoking his cigarette. Clearly, he supposed, James was not in on this little visit, otherwise Sirius wouldn't be jumping on hot coals to keep him out of sight and mind. The thought of being present without Potter's knowledge made Barty smirk to himself--it was oddly flattering that Sirius worked to keep company with him. At least one of the Black brothers found his hobbies worthwhile!
The thought of Regulus darkened Barty's mood, however--and once he passed the edge of the Potter's land, he settled down on the curb with his back to the house, waiting for Sirius to join him.
SIRIUS: Sirius rolled his eyes at Barty's assumed attitude before turning back to the business at hand. With a silent Wingardium Leviosa, he levitated two plastic bags of various liquors out of the window, and had them happily bounce along level with Barty until the Slytherin sat down. Once both Barty and the drinks were safely out of sight, Sirius put his wand in his back pocket and heaved himself over the window, climbing down the trellis until he could jump down the last foot and make his way over. "Had a look in the bags yet?" Sirius sat down on the curb next to Barty. " I figured they'd interest you a bit."
BARTY: Barty grinned unabashedly at Sirius and patted the crinkly bag beside him. Up close, the damage to his face was terribly obvious--blotchy blue-green bruises spread out across his right cheek, and his upper lip was scabbed--it had obviously been split open. His nose itself was puffy and swollen.
"Indeed I did... Muggle liquor? How far the might Black has fallen," he said amiably, pulling out one of the bottles and giving it a scrutinizing look. "from noble liquors such as firewhisky and butterbeer to the lowest, greasiest of Muggle booze. I don't suppose we have cups?"
SIRIUS: "There're some plastic ones in there - I couldn't take the Potters's shot glasses, so we can just measure as we see fit." He fished around in the bag and pulled out the two cups. "I've got real men's drinks in here - none of that butterbeer shit that we had when we were ten." He turned to give Barty a cup and let out a low whistle. "Shit - what'd you do, insult his bloodline?" Sirius asked, referring to his brother.
BARTY: "Excellent," Barty said, waving his fingers over the bottles for a moment and wondering whether it would be best to pick at random or ask for advice. "It's a long story, really. Involves a house of ill repute, if you can believe that. He wasn't even drunk--just elected to follow & assault me out of the blue," Barty shook his head, then immediately wished he hadn't. "Ah, shit. That stung. Pour me up something strong while I fish out my cigarettes?"
SIRIUS: "Idiot," Sirius stifled a laugh at Barty's nonchalant attitude while he pulled out the whiskey bottle from his bag and filled their cups. "Wedgie doesn't go knocking people out of the blue; I should know. But whatever you did, it pissed him off - I say we have a drink and a smoke to that." He held up his cup. "And was your visit to said house of ill repute worth the hit?"
BARTY: Barty's smirk widened into a grin as he recalled his night in the arms of a Spanish beauty. "It most definitely was-provided me with a new female friend and a new customer," he said, cheerfully, before raising his cup to knock against Sirius'. "To vices, and all their delicious repercussions," he toasted, before taking a drink. The moment he swallowed back the whisky, however, Barty’s expression shifted into one of disgust.
“…ugh! They drink this shit willingly?” he muttered, exhaling sharply as the alcohol stung his throat. It made firewhisky taste like grape juice, that was for certain. “Best wash it out with a smoke or two…”
Popping his own cigarette back between his lips, he offered Sirius a smoke and offered up his magical lighter.
SIRIUS: "Man's drink, I told you - Wizards don't know what they're missing. Some Muggles drink it every night." Sirius opened his mouth to let the burn of the alcohol evaporate in the evening air as he accepted the proffered cigarette and put it between his lips. "These normal or your blend?" He bent forward to light it, a hand sweeping back his hair lest the ends catch on fire.
BARTY: "My own," Barty said, casually. “Stronger than usual, though-I’ve been experimenting. Worked up a most fabulous tea, which I intend to sip during Divination-it will certainly make reading tea leaves a great deal more interesting. I’ve also been researching into the Muggle world-though if your turd of a sibling knew that, he’d probably pee blood. They use something called a syringe to inject themselves directly-supposed to be a hotter, harder high.”
He pulled out his wand, as well as a little velvet bag-tapping the bag twice, Barty muttered a few words and untied the string at its mouth. Though the pouch was tiny, the objects he pulled forth were full-sized. A syringe, a thin, short belt, and a small glass vial filled with clear liquid.
“Picked these up at said house of ill repute,” he said, offering the syringe for Sirius’ inspection. “Also, tablets-and some common Muggle drug. I think they called it by a woman’s name,” he said thoughtfully, raising a baggie containing two thin joints up to eye level and inspecting them in the moonlight.
SIRIUS: Sirius took a long drag of the cigarette as he took hold of the syringe and held the thin needle up to the light. "Muggles think up the damnedest things - poking yourself with hollow needles and shooting stuff in." He slowly tested the syringe, pressing down and shooting out air. "You know, they should be teaching this kind of stuff in Muggle Studies - it'd make the class at least a bit more interesting."
He slowly set the syringe back on the velvet pouch - even he, completely ignorant of basic Muggle healing techniques, knew better than to put it on the dirty ground. With his now-free hand, he took another drink and set the cup back on the ground. "What're the effects of those, you think?" He asked, indicating the tablets and joints with a cock of his head.
BARTY: "Tablets should be opium--for eating. Typical stuff… euphoria, eventual lethargy, lovely, releaxing dreams. The ... shit, what was it called? Mary someone. Or maybe that's merry someone? Is a "safe" drug, or so I was told. Whatever that means. You're welcome to it, though--I think I want to try the needle," he said, thoughtfully. He would finish his cigarette first, and hope that numbed his arm enough to make stabbing himself with Muggle metal somewhat less painful. He took a drag, and another short drink. "You don't see much of this around at Hogwarts. Your pretty Potter doesn't use, does he? I won't even bother asking about Lupin or Pettigrew--they're far too straight laced for their own good."
SIRIUS: Sirius's mouth formed a lazy grin. "You have fun jabbing yourself with that thing - I can't imagine any high worth willingly shish-kebobing yourself over." He held the bottle still between his knees as he unscrewed the whiskey and refilled their cups. "And I'll chill with the lady with the nice name." He took another drag and this time felt the effects of whatever Barty had laced the smoke with.
"James? You gotta be kiddin' me - he'd rather kill than touch this shit, I think. He'd probably kill me right now. But my baby brother? He'd probably kill you too, more for touching Muggle shit than anything."
BARTY: "So, Potter doesn't cut loose--this explains why I found you climbing out of your bedroom window," Barty, said, thoroughly amused by the thought. After he'd spoken, he experimented carefully, clutching his cigarette between his teeth and tightening the belt around one arm. "He's chasing skirts, right? I heard he'd set his sights on Miss Evans..."
SIRIUS: Sirius laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, you and the rest of the school - I don’t even know what the hell he sees in that bint. I mean, she’s just…” Sirius struggled to find the right word and finished off his cigarette instead, exhaling slowly so the smoke streamed out and extinguishing the butt on the curb. “You know, I heard that if you cut the blood off from your arm for too long, you have to amputate it,” he mentioned casually as he noticed the strap around Barty’s arm. “Want a different drink to go with a different drug? I’ve got vodka, tequila…” he furrowed his eyebrows and trailed off before checking the bags. “And some lemons for chasers.”
BARTY: "Tequila," Barty said, filling his syringe, tapping away bubbles, and somewhat clumsily shooting up. He jabbed at his arm with the needle, and got the distinct impression that it should have hurt more than it did--but he guessed the cigarettes were working, and slowly injected himself with the clear liquid. "Tequila and lemon..." he said, undoing the belt and downing the rest of his drink. "So you've been backseated to the lady-friend you aren't particularly fond of?" he said, feeling the effects of the whiskey beginning to set in. It made him feel unusually talkative... "What's that like? Aggravating? Annoying? Liberating?"
SIRIUS: Sirius poured what, to his spinning mind, looked a bit like a shot, although it was probably too much. He passed a cup - a shot, Sirius corrected - of tequila to Barty, and split the lemon into slices with his wand. "Drink it fast, and then bite the lemon," he instructed before downing his own and examining the joint closely.
"And don't get me even started with that....that absolute cunt." His eyes narrowed as he rolled the joint between his fingers. "And I've got to hear James going on and on about her eyes and her hair, and he can definitely do better than a stick-up-the-arse bitch who spends her free time dreaming up ways to fuck him over. Got a light?"
BARTY: Barty obliged, leaning over and lighting the stubby joint for Sirius. As he did so, he couldn't help but marvel--only two days ago he'd done the same for Sirius' sibling--and if Regulus knew, he'd certainly never speak to Barty again. "You can't trust women, mate," he slurred slightly as the drugs kicked in--it was as if he'd dropped pounds and pounds of weight--he felt light and breezy, sitting there on the sidewalk with the world spinning around him. "They're never any good--not a one of them. Weak, that's what they are, an' only a fool'd let one take over his life. Not meaning to belittle Mr. Potter, naturally--but being smitten is as good as being owned."
SIRIUS: Sirius took a long drag and held the smoke in his lungs before letting it out. "Fuck, don't tell me that - I know it all well enough. Tell him." Sirius then began to feel the effects of the marijuana - the vivid lights and relaxation and elatedness. "I don't get the whole - couple, let's just fuck one person for life and know each other deeply in our souls shit. We've got friends to know us, and girls to fuck with. Why mix them?"
BARTY: Barty was silent for a long moment, before leaning back and sprawling out on the sidewalk, staring up at the stars. "I don't know. Are friends and lovers really all that inseperable? Friendship and love--mostly the same thing... Tempered with arguments, and jealousy, and bickering... worthless at times, precious at others..." he trailed off, realizing his sentiments might best go unvoiced. "The only difference I see is the sex. Which is in and of itself a thoroughly pleasurable yet utterly unnecessary thing..."
Barty laughed slightly, a lighthearted laugh quite unlike his usual sinister chuckle.
"Of course, what do I know? Dad wants me to find some nice pureblooded bitch to settle down with--as if there are any out there we aren't somehow related to!" Truth be told, his father's encouragement was all it took to turn Barty off to the idea of dating in general--but he wasn't sure how much of that he was willing to share with Sirius.
SIRIUS: "You're fucking lyrical when you're high off your ass, you know that?" Sirius laughed and took another drink and drag. "But I say love's just friendship plus the sex, and people just like to say they're in love because it makes them feel fucking special. But really? It's not." Sirius offered his half-smoked joint to Barty for a try.
"And all this marriage stuff's a fucking lie - at least you people know that. But here, everyone tries to cheat themselves to think they're in love and want to get married when it's all just for convenience. It's..." he trailed off before he began to complain about his friends and housemates too much. "Take a smoke of this, you'll like it, I think."
BARTY: Barty took the lit blunt and took a long hit and exhaling in a puff of smoke that trickled through his lips and nostrils. "Smooth," he said, shortly, "moreso than cigarettes. I think your brother like me more when I'm stoned, too. Takes that edge off, I suppose," he said, laughing slightly. "At least James has never broken your fucking nose! I don't believe in love, anway... I'm with you on that one. Hell, I'm not even sure I believe in friendship... consider this--and I think you'll sympathize: I feel absolutely nothing towards my parents--nothing short of revulsion and pity. The love of parent and child is supposed to be purest love there is, and that's proven to mean nothing at all. I'm fifteen, and I've never found a woman that made me feel anything more than twenty minutes of pleasure... no love there. It's worthless. It's an excuse to make yourself weak for the sake of another person and act as if it's noble, or sacred, or ... whatever."
SIRIUS: Sirius opened his mouth. Closed it. Took a long drag off the joint again and washed it down with a new cup of whiskey. Was his camaraderie with Peter an excuse to feel normal? Was his overprotectiveness of Remus just a way to give himself a mortal weakness and nothing more?
Was James? "Fuck," Sirius finally exhaled without venom. "You draw a hard line there." He mussed his hair up with a free hand to jog his thought process, which seemed both enlightened and completely muddled.
"It's..." He trailed off again. "I don't think any of that shit's really conscious, though. Like, who the hell would try to give themselves a weakness? I sure as hell wouldn't, and yet, here the fuck I am. Hell, I'd die for others - and even if I say I won't, I know I will in the end. There's gotta be a name for something like that." He pursed his lips. "I'd call that friendship. And love's just....friendship that we wish was something different but don't realize it's nothing better than what we've already got." Sirius shook his head, and picked up a bottle of alcohol, resting his head on his hand before he wavered too much and fell over. "Refill?"
BARTY: Barty laughed--it was a hard sound. "I don't think I've ever felt that way about anyone. Maybe it's the company I keep? But would I die for your asswipe of a brother? No. I mean, I don't even keep the company he'd have me keep... in fact, I despise doing what he wants simply because that's what he wants. Being here with you--I mean, I like you, and getting pissed with you--but if I were an actual friend, I'd be elsewhere, not thoroughly enjoying getting wasted with you. And if spending six, seven, however many years with Regulus doesn't makes us friends, I might as well give up the cause..." he trailed off. "Refill. Yes. But then, you're the noble sort--anyone who'd give up piles and piles of inherited gold for the sake of Doing The Right Thing is ridiculously noble. And possibly a bit daft, no offense. But noble...and maybe that's what it takes to get along with people? People and all their stupid idiosyncracies, and pet peeves, and nose breakings..." Barty stubbed his cigarette out on the sidewalk, not meeting Sirius' eyes.
"Every now and then I look around me at my fellow students and wonder if I missed some great hint about how to be "friends". Am I the one who's barking, or if you noble lot are really just off your rockers? I mean, you'd die for James, even though he makes you crawl out of windows and climb down trellaces just to enjoy a drink...?"
SIRIUS: "Oh come on," Sirius scoffed lightly as he refilled their glasses. "You of all people'd see the brilliance of my disinheritance. What could possibly have pissed my parents off more than seeing their favorite son up and join the enemy?" Sirius tossed the finished joint over to the side of the curb. "But making friends probably does need a bit of stupidity - James and I always took the rap for each other in pranks or took it together, and you? You wouldn't take the blame for someone else if they fucking paid you. So you're right - you probably did miss the boat, 'cause you're never out for anyone but yourself. And people can respect that or understand that - hell, I'm risking having my head chopped off by James to get stoned here - but frankly? No one'll give up anything for you. And you won't for anyone else." Sirius shrugged and sipped his drink - he couldn't even tell what it really was, anymore. "Your call if you want to do it on your own. I like knowing someone's got my back."
BARTY: "Maybe if they paid me," Barty said, reasonably. "I mean, with the proper payment, anything is possible. I'm not one to rule out possibilities and all that... were someone to pay me to get their back, see, that would work well. I figure sooner or later, if I play my cards right, I'll be done with the bloody Crouch family name and making my own way in the world...but then, my habits tend to get expensive... can you believe my Maybe you can hire me as a back-watcher with all your newfound wealth... though, er, everyone we know would be irritated at us. Hah. I think I'd like that..." With that drunken speculation hanging in the air, Barty stuffed a hand into one pocket, fished about for the case and another cigarette. He set the slender case out on the sidewalk, leaving it open as he fumbled about for the lighter.
SIRIUS: Sirius laughed at the thought. "I'd have to worry about someone stabbing you in the fucking front if that happened. In broad daylight. The second you walked into the room." As Barty lit his cigarette and took a puff, Sirius began eyeing the open case. "Ah fuck. Why the hell not. One more for the road or whatever." He clumsily pulled out a thin smoke from the case, and even more clumsily attempted to start Barty's lighter, to no avail. "You and your - fucking - gadgets." Finally, he gave up and tossed the lighter to the side. "You just hold still and I'll get this thing lit."
Without much pomp or ceremony, Sirius put the cigarette in his mouth and bent forward, pressing the tip of his unlit cig to Barty's lit one, one hand on the Slytherin to steady himself in the off-balance position, cheeks hollowed out as he inhaled.
BARTY: Barty leaned forward, carefull to hold still--all he could hear was the sound of the wind in the trees, and Sirius's faint breathing. He smiled slightly around his own cigarette--how was it possible that being around Sirius brought out the honesty in it him? It was alarming--but, oddly, not entirely unwelcome. It was a fresh view in a world that sometimes felt all to claustrophobic and small...
SUMMARY: James, in the meantime, had woken up during the night - why, no one may ever know - and realized that Sirius's room was oddly quiet. Silent, in fact, in comparison to the normal sounds of a restless sleeper. He entered the room, and found an empty bed and an open window. Which, of course, he had to investigate.
A trellis later, it didn't take much to follow the stench of smoke and alcohol.
Needless to say, James was not amused at finding Sirius and Barty together. Perhaps it was the fact that Sirius was keeping company with a sleazy Slytherin. Perhaps it was the alcohol and illegal drugs (which he didn't approve of) or perhaps it was the fact that his best friend had summarily Ditched him, for all intensive purposes, in favor of someone else's company.
Regardless, James was very, very angry, and showed it in true Gryffindor style. He bitched them both out.
Between Sirius and James's capslocking argument and Barty's stoned out but still cutting insults, it was an achievement that the house didn't burn down or James's parents notified. The end result, though, was probably what few of them wanted, as Sirius decided angrily that he would move out of James's place and live under his own rules, and James summarily hated Barty with a greater passion, if possible, than before.
The next morning, there was nothing but an empty bedroom and a polite but detached note on the Potters' table addressed to James's parents:
Thought it was high time I grew up a bit and started forging my own way in life. Thanks for the support you've given me, and for letting me stay here for longer than I probably should have.
-Sirius
The actual fight itself will happen via comments here, and slowly. First tag goes to Sarah, I think!
WHAT: Barty comes to visit Sirius - but alas, the party is crashed.
WHERE: Godric's Hollow
WHEN: Evening of Wednesday, 12 July, 1977
RATING: PG-13 for drug usage and bad language?
NOTE: Done mostly over AIM, with a summary at the end that we'll all fill in later via comments.
BARTY: It was easier getting to England than he thought it would be - all it took was the careful suggestion that the pain in his face was getting worse, and Marian Crouch all but insisted that Barty be apparated back to London and the dark corridors of the Crouch Manor. From there, several coins slipped into the hand of the butler ensured that he would not be loose-lipped about Barty’s secondary trip when they returned to Spain.
Barty considered letting Regulus know, but settled instead for sketching out a note and pinning it to his pillow.
Gone to London. Early appointment w/ healers. Back soon. Try to behave if at all possible.
-B
With that, he selected the most Muggle looking clothing he could think of, clothes purchased specifically to make himself appear “normal” in the nearby mixed town of Cumbre del Sol. With that done, he pocketed his wand as well as two full-up cigarette cases and went downstairs, where the family butler - the only non-house-elf help employed by the Crouch family - was waiting.
SIRIUS: Sirius's fingers tapped a rapid rhythm on the window sill he had perched himself on, his eyes scanning the front of the house. "Fuck," he muttered to himself as he itched to roll a cigarette between his fingers to calm his nerves. "Barty you ass, you'd better not be an idiot about this."
He had told James that he must have crashed after a long day working on perfecting the flying charm for his motorbike, and would go to bed early - for all he knew, James was asleep in his room, snoring comfortably or drooling over his vision of Lily Evans. With a tenuously secure alibi, Sirius could only hope that Barty didn't arrive in plain view or - the worst case scenario, Floo into the Potters' living room fireplace.
BARTY: Sirius need not have worried, however--Barty had a small sachet of floo powder in one pocket as an emergency route home. Floo-ing in never even occured to the blonde-haired youth--he simply instructed the family butler to Side-Along Apparate him to the sidewalk before the Potter's home. The duo appeared with a thin crack, standing along the street. Barty glanced up at the house to assure himself he was in the right place--then waved a hand and sent his escort away.
That done, Barty lit himself a cigarette and looked up at the house again, hoping Sirius was keeping an eye on the streets.
SIRIUS: Sirius jumped at the sound of the Apparition, turning his head back hastily in case James suddenly ran into his room - and then he realized he was being dumb about the entire matter. James was not his keeper.
But Barty was standing in the Potters' front yard. "Barty!" Sirius attempted to make his hissed whisper still sound from the upstairs window. "Get over on this side!" He motioned with his arm to the left side of the house, away from the rooms the Potters were probably in.
BARTY: Barty spotted Sirius in the window and took a long, thoughtful drag. He exhaled the smoke--smiled faintly, and waved back. Clearly Sirius was hissing something, though Barty couldn't quite make out what it was. He shrugged widely, letting the gesture demonstrate his confusion--and puffed on his cigarette once again.
SIRIUS: "For fuck's sake," Sirius muttered, and tried again, this time with exaggerated arm motions and over-enunciated words, although he didn't know how good Barty's lip-reading was. "Get. Over. There!"
BARTY: Smirking slightly, Barty pointed at Sirius, then himself, then waved the black-haired boy away. With an exaggerated, careless attitude, he began strolling down the sidewalk in the appointed direction, smoking his cigarette. Clearly, he supposed, James was not in on this little visit, otherwise Sirius wouldn't be jumping on hot coals to keep him out of sight and mind. The thought of being present without Potter's knowledge made Barty smirk to himself--it was oddly flattering that Sirius worked to keep company with him. At least one of the Black brothers found his hobbies worthwhile!
The thought of Regulus darkened Barty's mood, however--and once he passed the edge of the Potter's land, he settled down on the curb with his back to the house, waiting for Sirius to join him.
SIRIUS: Sirius rolled his eyes at Barty's assumed attitude before turning back to the business at hand. With a silent Wingardium Leviosa, he levitated two plastic bags of various liquors out of the window, and had them happily bounce along level with Barty until the Slytherin sat down. Once both Barty and the drinks were safely out of sight, Sirius put his wand in his back pocket and heaved himself over the window, climbing down the trellis until he could jump down the last foot and make his way over. "Had a look in the bags yet?" Sirius sat down on the curb next to Barty. " I figured they'd interest you a bit."
BARTY: Barty grinned unabashedly at Sirius and patted the crinkly bag beside him. Up close, the damage to his face was terribly obvious--blotchy blue-green bruises spread out across his right cheek, and his upper lip was scabbed--it had obviously been split open. His nose itself was puffy and swollen.
"Indeed I did... Muggle liquor? How far the might Black has fallen," he said amiably, pulling out one of the bottles and giving it a scrutinizing look. "from noble liquors such as firewhisky and butterbeer to the lowest, greasiest of Muggle booze. I don't suppose we have cups?"
SIRIUS: "There're some plastic ones in there - I couldn't take the Potters's shot glasses, so we can just measure as we see fit." He fished around in the bag and pulled out the two cups. "I've got real men's drinks in here - none of that butterbeer shit that we had when we were ten." He turned to give Barty a cup and let out a low whistle. "Shit - what'd you do, insult his bloodline?" Sirius asked, referring to his brother.
BARTY: "Excellent," Barty said, waving his fingers over the bottles for a moment and wondering whether it would be best to pick at random or ask for advice. "It's a long story, really. Involves a house of ill repute, if you can believe that. He wasn't even drunk--just elected to follow & assault me out of the blue," Barty shook his head, then immediately wished he hadn't. "Ah, shit. That stung. Pour me up something strong while I fish out my cigarettes?"
SIRIUS: "Idiot," Sirius stifled a laugh at Barty's nonchalant attitude while he pulled out the whiskey bottle from his bag and filled their cups. "Wedgie doesn't go knocking people out of the blue; I should know. But whatever you did, it pissed him off - I say we have a drink and a smoke to that." He held up his cup. "And was your visit to said house of ill repute worth the hit?"
BARTY: Barty's smirk widened into a grin as he recalled his night in the arms of a Spanish beauty. "It most definitely was-provided me with a new female friend and a new customer," he said, cheerfully, before raising his cup to knock against Sirius'. "To vices, and all their delicious repercussions," he toasted, before taking a drink. The moment he swallowed back the whisky, however, Barty’s expression shifted into one of disgust.
“…ugh! They drink this shit willingly?” he muttered, exhaling sharply as the alcohol stung his throat. It made firewhisky taste like grape juice, that was for certain. “Best wash it out with a smoke or two…”
Popping his own cigarette back between his lips, he offered Sirius a smoke and offered up his magical lighter.
SIRIUS: "Man's drink, I told you - Wizards don't know what they're missing. Some Muggles drink it every night." Sirius opened his mouth to let the burn of the alcohol evaporate in the evening air as he accepted the proffered cigarette and put it between his lips. "These normal or your blend?" He bent forward to light it, a hand sweeping back his hair lest the ends catch on fire.
BARTY: "My own," Barty said, casually. “Stronger than usual, though-I’ve been experimenting. Worked up a most fabulous tea, which I intend to sip during Divination-it will certainly make reading tea leaves a great deal more interesting. I’ve also been researching into the Muggle world-though if your turd of a sibling knew that, he’d probably pee blood. They use something called a syringe to inject themselves directly-supposed to be a hotter, harder high.”
He pulled out his wand, as well as a little velvet bag-tapping the bag twice, Barty muttered a few words and untied the string at its mouth. Though the pouch was tiny, the objects he pulled forth were full-sized. A syringe, a thin, short belt, and a small glass vial filled with clear liquid.
“Picked these up at said house of ill repute,” he said, offering the syringe for Sirius’ inspection. “Also, tablets-and some common Muggle drug. I think they called it by a woman’s name,” he said thoughtfully, raising a baggie containing two thin joints up to eye level and inspecting them in the moonlight.
SIRIUS: Sirius took a long drag of the cigarette as he took hold of the syringe and held the thin needle up to the light. "Muggles think up the damnedest things - poking yourself with hollow needles and shooting stuff in." He slowly tested the syringe, pressing down and shooting out air. "You know, they should be teaching this kind of stuff in Muggle Studies - it'd make the class at least a bit more interesting."
He slowly set the syringe back on the velvet pouch - even he, completely ignorant of basic Muggle healing techniques, knew better than to put it on the dirty ground. With his now-free hand, he took another drink and set the cup back on the ground. "What're the effects of those, you think?" He asked, indicating the tablets and joints with a cock of his head.
BARTY: "Tablets should be opium--for eating. Typical stuff… euphoria, eventual lethargy, lovely, releaxing dreams. The ... shit, what was it called? Mary someone. Or maybe that's merry someone? Is a "safe" drug, or so I was told. Whatever that means. You're welcome to it, though--I think I want to try the needle," he said, thoughtfully. He would finish his cigarette first, and hope that numbed his arm enough to make stabbing himself with Muggle metal somewhat less painful. He took a drag, and another short drink. "You don't see much of this around at Hogwarts. Your pretty Potter doesn't use, does he? I won't even bother asking about Lupin or Pettigrew--they're far too straight laced for their own good."
SIRIUS: Sirius's mouth formed a lazy grin. "You have fun jabbing yourself with that thing - I can't imagine any high worth willingly shish-kebobing yourself over." He held the bottle still between his knees as he unscrewed the whiskey and refilled their cups. "And I'll chill with the lady with the nice name." He took another drag and this time felt the effects of whatever Barty had laced the smoke with.
"James? You gotta be kiddin' me - he'd rather kill than touch this shit, I think. He'd probably kill me right now. But my baby brother? He'd probably kill you too, more for touching Muggle shit than anything."
BARTY: "So, Potter doesn't cut loose--this explains why I found you climbing out of your bedroom window," Barty, said, thoroughly amused by the thought. After he'd spoken, he experimented carefully, clutching his cigarette between his teeth and tightening the belt around one arm. "He's chasing skirts, right? I heard he'd set his sights on Miss Evans..."
SIRIUS: Sirius laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, you and the rest of the school - I don’t even know what the hell he sees in that bint. I mean, she’s just…” Sirius struggled to find the right word and finished off his cigarette instead, exhaling slowly so the smoke streamed out and extinguishing the butt on the curb. “You know, I heard that if you cut the blood off from your arm for too long, you have to amputate it,” he mentioned casually as he noticed the strap around Barty’s arm. “Want a different drink to go with a different drug? I’ve got vodka, tequila…” he furrowed his eyebrows and trailed off before checking the bags. “And some lemons for chasers.”
BARTY: "Tequila," Barty said, filling his syringe, tapping away bubbles, and somewhat clumsily shooting up. He jabbed at his arm with the needle, and got the distinct impression that it should have hurt more than it did--but he guessed the cigarettes were working, and slowly injected himself with the clear liquid. "Tequila and lemon..." he said, undoing the belt and downing the rest of his drink. "So you've been backseated to the lady-friend you aren't particularly fond of?" he said, feeling the effects of the whiskey beginning to set in. It made him feel unusually talkative... "What's that like? Aggravating? Annoying? Liberating?"
SIRIUS: Sirius poured what, to his spinning mind, looked a bit like a shot, although it was probably too much. He passed a cup - a shot, Sirius corrected - of tequila to Barty, and split the lemon into slices with his wand. "Drink it fast, and then bite the lemon," he instructed before downing his own and examining the joint closely.
"And don't get me even started with that....that absolute cunt." His eyes narrowed as he rolled the joint between his fingers. "And I've got to hear James going on and on about her eyes and her hair, and he can definitely do better than a stick-up-the-arse bitch who spends her free time dreaming up ways to fuck him over. Got a light?"
BARTY: Barty obliged, leaning over and lighting the stubby joint for Sirius. As he did so, he couldn't help but marvel--only two days ago he'd done the same for Sirius' sibling--and if Regulus knew, he'd certainly never speak to Barty again. "You can't trust women, mate," he slurred slightly as the drugs kicked in--it was as if he'd dropped pounds and pounds of weight--he felt light and breezy, sitting there on the sidewalk with the world spinning around him. "They're never any good--not a one of them. Weak, that's what they are, an' only a fool'd let one take over his life. Not meaning to belittle Mr. Potter, naturally--but being smitten is as good as being owned."
SIRIUS: Sirius took a long drag and held the smoke in his lungs before letting it out. "Fuck, don't tell me that - I know it all well enough. Tell him." Sirius then began to feel the effects of the marijuana - the vivid lights and relaxation and elatedness. "I don't get the whole - couple, let's just fuck one person for life and know each other deeply in our souls shit. We've got friends to know us, and girls to fuck with. Why mix them?"
BARTY: Barty was silent for a long moment, before leaning back and sprawling out on the sidewalk, staring up at the stars. "I don't know. Are friends and lovers really all that inseperable? Friendship and love--mostly the same thing... Tempered with arguments, and jealousy, and bickering... worthless at times, precious at others..." he trailed off, realizing his sentiments might best go unvoiced. "The only difference I see is the sex. Which is in and of itself a thoroughly pleasurable yet utterly unnecessary thing..."
Barty laughed slightly, a lighthearted laugh quite unlike his usual sinister chuckle.
"Of course, what do I know? Dad wants me to find some nice pureblooded bitch to settle down with--as if there are any out there we aren't somehow related to!" Truth be told, his father's encouragement was all it took to turn Barty off to the idea of dating in general--but he wasn't sure how much of that he was willing to share with Sirius.
SIRIUS: "You're fucking lyrical when you're high off your ass, you know that?" Sirius laughed and took another drink and drag. "But I say love's just friendship plus the sex, and people just like to say they're in love because it makes them feel fucking special. But really? It's not." Sirius offered his half-smoked joint to Barty for a try.
"And all this marriage stuff's a fucking lie - at least you people know that. But here, everyone tries to cheat themselves to think they're in love and want to get married when it's all just for convenience. It's..." he trailed off before he began to complain about his friends and housemates too much. "Take a smoke of this, you'll like it, I think."
BARTY: Barty took the lit blunt and took a long hit and exhaling in a puff of smoke that trickled through his lips and nostrils. "Smooth," he said, shortly, "moreso than cigarettes. I think your brother like me more when I'm stoned, too. Takes that edge off, I suppose," he said, laughing slightly. "At least James has never broken your fucking nose! I don't believe in love, anway... I'm with you on that one. Hell, I'm not even sure I believe in friendship... consider this--and I think you'll sympathize: I feel absolutely nothing towards my parents--nothing short of revulsion and pity. The love of parent and child is supposed to be purest love there is, and that's proven to mean nothing at all. I'm fifteen, and I've never found a woman that made me feel anything more than twenty minutes of pleasure... no love there. It's worthless. It's an excuse to make yourself weak for the sake of another person and act as if it's noble, or sacred, or ... whatever."
SIRIUS: Sirius opened his mouth. Closed it. Took a long drag off the joint again and washed it down with a new cup of whiskey. Was his camaraderie with Peter an excuse to feel normal? Was his overprotectiveness of Remus just a way to give himself a mortal weakness and nothing more?
Was James? "Fuck," Sirius finally exhaled without venom. "You draw a hard line there." He mussed his hair up with a free hand to jog his thought process, which seemed both enlightened and completely muddled.
"It's..." He trailed off again. "I don't think any of that shit's really conscious, though. Like, who the hell would try to give themselves a weakness? I sure as hell wouldn't, and yet, here the fuck I am. Hell, I'd die for others - and even if I say I won't, I know I will in the end. There's gotta be a name for something like that." He pursed his lips. "I'd call that friendship. And love's just....friendship that we wish was something different but don't realize it's nothing better than what we've already got." Sirius shook his head, and picked up a bottle of alcohol, resting his head on his hand before he wavered too much and fell over. "Refill?"
BARTY: Barty laughed--it was a hard sound. "I don't think I've ever felt that way about anyone. Maybe it's the company I keep? But would I die for your asswipe of a brother? No. I mean, I don't even keep the company he'd have me keep... in fact, I despise doing what he wants simply because that's what he wants. Being here with you--I mean, I like you, and getting pissed with you--but if I were an actual friend, I'd be elsewhere, not thoroughly enjoying getting wasted with you. And if spending six, seven, however many years with Regulus doesn't makes us friends, I might as well give up the cause..." he trailed off. "Refill. Yes. But then, you're the noble sort--anyone who'd give up piles and piles of inherited gold for the sake of Doing The Right Thing is ridiculously noble. And possibly a bit daft, no offense. But noble...and maybe that's what it takes to get along with people? People and all their stupid idiosyncracies, and pet peeves, and nose breakings..." Barty stubbed his cigarette out on the sidewalk, not meeting Sirius' eyes.
"Every now and then I look around me at my fellow students and wonder if I missed some great hint about how to be "friends". Am I the one who's barking, or if you noble lot are really just off your rockers? I mean, you'd die for James, even though he makes you crawl out of windows and climb down trellaces just to enjoy a drink...?"
SIRIUS: "Oh come on," Sirius scoffed lightly as he refilled their glasses. "You of all people'd see the brilliance of my disinheritance. What could possibly have pissed my parents off more than seeing their favorite son up and join the enemy?" Sirius tossed the finished joint over to the side of the curb. "But making friends probably does need a bit of stupidity - James and I always took the rap for each other in pranks or took it together, and you? You wouldn't take the blame for someone else if they fucking paid you. So you're right - you probably did miss the boat, 'cause you're never out for anyone but yourself. And people can respect that or understand that - hell, I'm risking having my head chopped off by James to get stoned here - but frankly? No one'll give up anything for you. And you won't for anyone else." Sirius shrugged and sipped his drink - he couldn't even tell what it really was, anymore. "Your call if you want to do it on your own. I like knowing someone's got my back."
BARTY: "Maybe if they paid me," Barty said, reasonably. "I mean, with the proper payment, anything is possible. I'm not one to rule out possibilities and all that... were someone to pay me to get their back, see, that would work well. I figure sooner or later, if I play my cards right, I'll be done with the bloody Crouch family name and making my own way in the world...but then, my habits tend to get expensive... can you believe my Maybe you can hire me as a back-watcher with all your newfound wealth... though, er, everyone we know would be irritated at us. Hah. I think I'd like that..." With that drunken speculation hanging in the air, Barty stuffed a hand into one pocket, fished about for the case and another cigarette. He set the slender case out on the sidewalk, leaving it open as he fumbled about for the lighter.
SIRIUS: Sirius laughed at the thought. "I'd have to worry about someone stabbing you in the fucking front if that happened. In broad daylight. The second you walked into the room." As Barty lit his cigarette and took a puff, Sirius began eyeing the open case. "Ah fuck. Why the hell not. One more for the road or whatever." He clumsily pulled out a thin smoke from the case, and even more clumsily attempted to start Barty's lighter, to no avail. "You and your - fucking - gadgets." Finally, he gave up and tossed the lighter to the side. "You just hold still and I'll get this thing lit."
Without much pomp or ceremony, Sirius put the cigarette in his mouth and bent forward, pressing the tip of his unlit cig to Barty's lit one, one hand on the Slytherin to steady himself in the off-balance position, cheeks hollowed out as he inhaled.
BARTY: Barty leaned forward, carefull to hold still--all he could hear was the sound of the wind in the trees, and Sirius's faint breathing. He smiled slightly around his own cigarette--how was it possible that being around Sirius brought out the honesty in it him? It was alarming--but, oddly, not entirely unwelcome. It was a fresh view in a world that sometimes felt all to claustrophobic and small...
SUMMARY: James, in the meantime, had woken up during the night - why, no one may ever know - and realized that Sirius's room was oddly quiet. Silent, in fact, in comparison to the normal sounds of a restless sleeper. He entered the room, and found an empty bed and an open window. Which, of course, he had to investigate.
A trellis later, it didn't take much to follow the stench of smoke and alcohol.
Needless to say, James was not amused at finding Sirius and Barty together. Perhaps it was the fact that Sirius was keeping company with a sleazy Slytherin. Perhaps it was the alcohol and illegal drugs (which he didn't approve of) or perhaps it was the fact that his best friend had summarily Ditched him, for all intensive purposes, in favor of someone else's company.
Regardless, James was very, very angry, and showed it in true Gryffindor style. He bitched them both out.
Between Sirius and James's capslocking argument and Barty's stoned out but still cutting insults, it was an achievement that the house didn't burn down or James's parents notified. The end result, though, was probably what few of them wanted, as Sirius decided angrily that he would move out of James's place and live under his own rules, and James summarily hated Barty with a greater passion, if possible, than before.
The next morning, there was nothing but an empty bedroom and a polite but detached note on the Potters' table addressed to James's parents:
Thought it was high time I grew up a bit and started forging my own way in life. Thanks for the support you've given me, and for letting me stay here for longer than I probably should have.
-Sirius
The actual fight itself will happen via comments here, and slowly. First tag goes to Sarah, I think!