wunderkind | (no subject)

wunderkind

STUFF GOES IN HERE

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From:

bitty_justice

What about things that can kill people?

From:

parumcanis

Well-- like what?

From:

bitty_justice

[He watches his feet as they scuff unhappily at the floor of the compartment.]

Like...heart disease.

From:

parumcanis

Er...

[He considers this, then shrugs, again, still flippant.]

Dunno. You'd have to ask a mediwizard, probably--but I'll bet they can do something. That's how come wizards live so long, y'know, they don't get ill like that. Why?

From:

bitty_justice

That's, um -

[His voice breaks; he tucks his feet under the bench, as though that will give some sort of courage and strength.]

That's how my mom died.

From:

parumcanis

[....oh. Stupid, he should have been able to read him better--he should have been able to see that something was wrong--well, he had seen that something was wrong, but he hadn't made sense of it. Now he stares at Edgeworth, without knowing what to say.]

I'm-- sorry.

From:

bitty_justice

No, it's...

[He shakes his head, not looking up.]

It was...a long time ago. When I was little. I just -

[Some unpleasant feeling twists inside him.]

I just would want to know.

From:

parumcanis

[Sirius nods, and stares at his hands. He wasn't to know, of course--perhaps he should have put it together--and he still does not know what to say. He has been to funerals before but they were practically social engagements. He has never been faced with someone his own age that knows someone who died--not like this.]

We can find out.

[He darts a glace at Miles, cautiously.]

The Hogwarts library has books on everything. Right after the Sorting, we'll go and find out.

From:

bitty_justice

[And Miles looks up, startled, meeting Sirius' eyes. The thing is - The thing is, he doesn't know what he wants the answer to be. No means there was no saving her; yes means she could have been saved but she just wasn't. One of those answers would be worse to hear than the other, but Miles doesn't know which one - and he knows he has to find out at some point...

But the image of sitting there, coldly staring down at his Mom's fate in a book is different if it's him in solitude doing it versus...with a friend beside him. Best would be if he could look with Dad; second-best is that, Sirius with him, and Sirius...

Sirius is just really great, isn't he?]

Yeah.

[That sounds a little small; he tries again, and this time it comes out braver.]

Yeah. We find out if a cure exists, and if one doesn't, we invent one.

From:

parumcanis

Yeah.

[He likes the sound of the second part--not better, necessarily, because that means he's in it for some glory or something. Either option is better than having nothing to do. At least they have a goal in mind, something that they can work on.

And it would be fun to invent something new, something that could save lives.]

We'd be good at that, I bet.

From:

bitty_justice

[And that's enough to make Miles let out a little breath, look up, give a little half-smile.]

Of course we would. We'd be good at anything and everything.

From:

parumcanis

We are good at anything and everything already. But we'll just get better, and better, as we get older.

[He leaves school out of it. School will be brilliant and fun in its own way; it will have a little to do with their skill, but it won't be school alone. They're clever, that's where it begins.]

From:

bitty_justice

[And Miles nods, well-cheered, and sits forward.]

Who else have you made friends with?

From:

parumcanis

Er-- well, before I met you, I met this kid called James Potter. Have you met him?

[He's already grinning a little, though; clearly James Potter is brilliant.]

From:

bitty_justice

[He shakes his head.]

You're the first person I've talked with. Aside from that stuck-up blond kid in my compartment, but I was mostly talking at him.

[That had stung him before, and up to this point he'd been brooding over it in misery and hurt; now, though, it seems more funny and ridiculous than anything, and Miles grins.]

Is he, um, cool? Mr. Potter?

From:

parumcanis

[He nods--already he's convinced of the coolness of James Potter, not that that took very much for him. James is cool.]

Really cool. You'll like him. He knows loads about quidditch as well, we'll teach you, between us, don't worry. And he said he wants to be in Gryffindor.

From:

bitty_justice

[And Edgeworth brightens - ]

That's perfect! Then the three of us can be friends all together.

[And then, having to be a bit dubious - ]

So long as he likes me.

From:

parumcanis

'Course he will. Why wouldn't he?

[He fixes Miles with a sceptical look at that, either because he's being ridiculous for suggesting that might actually happen, or because he's trying to work out if there's some secret to him that he ought to know about.]

From:

bitty_justice

Well - just because...sometimes people don't like people. That's all.

From:

parumcanis

Well-- yeah, like gits, and prats. But you're not either one of those, so--

[He shrugs, magnanimous in his exceptions.]

You'll be find. He ought to be along in a bit, you'll see.

From:

bitty_justice

[Miles smiles, and gives a little bit of a laugh of delight, because Sirius is so strange; there is something so very strange about declaring someone not a git or a prat. And so he nods, cheerful - ]

Well, if you like him, too, then I definitely will as well. I trust your judgment.

From:

parumcanis

Good, 'cos you should.

[Arrogant and happy at the same time, he flops back against the seat and stares out the window with a sigh of satisfaction.]

D'you want a pumpkin pastie?

From:

bitty_justice

What is it?

[Which is a stupid question, he realizes as soon as it's out of his mouth, so he tries to cover by playing it cool - ]

You know, just because...there are a lot of wizarding things that aren't what they sound like.

From:

parumcanis

It's a pastie, with pumpkin in it--but sweet. They're really good. And they don't move or hop around at all, I promise.

[He's sort of teasing on that bit, referencing back to the chocolate frogs, but he grins a little as he hands over one of the pasties.]

Here. Try it.

From:

bitty_justice

[And Miles takes it with a grin, and then makes a great show of opening it - making sure it doesn't hop about at all - and then extracts nothing worse than a pasty, appropriately immobile. He bites into it enthusiastically and incautiously (a habit which will of course be lost in future years, particularly since he'll be hanging about Sirius Black, and in time one learns to try what Sirius Black gives one with care) and is rewarded with something phenomenally delicious - ]

Oh, brilliant! This is -

[He hadn't been able to eat the chocolate frog, but the pasty is devoured enthusiastically. In between bites:]

The food here is so good. Dad said -

[He swallows.]

That I must still take care to eat a balanced diet, but I mostly just want five more of these.