(no subject)

[wunderkind]

STUFF GOES IN HERE

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[parumcanis]

[Sirius reaches out and bats his hand away, impatiently.]

I already paid, you twit. I'm Sirius Black. Come on, open your chocolate frog, Edgeworth, I want to see which one you chose--

[bitty_justice]

[Sirius...was paying for him? Miles stares, a bit flummoxed, before nodding in acknowledgment to the witch at the cart and scooting off to the side, out of the way. And he ventures a shy:]

Thank you. Very much.

[And bobs in an abbreviated bow to reinforce his gratitude. So quickly, he opens the package, and - ]

Ahh!

[parumcanis]

What! What, what, who'd you get--

[It's good for Edgeworth that Sirius was so consumed with tearing open his licorice tongue that he missed that bow. Even at eleven years of age, he's uncomfortable with people bowing--to him, around him, whatever. It's strange. But his attention is caught again at that outburst, and he leans in, eager to see--]

Merlin!

[He gives Edgeworth an approving grin. This is clearly a good thing.]

Well, that's a good one to begin with--well done! See, I told you, you'd choose correctly, when the time came for it--

[bitty_justice]

No, it - it - it - it moved -

[Miles looks up at Sirius, his face a little bit pale. It's a miracle he didn't drop it; he holds onto it now with a very tight grip.]

There - there might be something alive in there -

[parumcanis]

What?

[He looks at Edgeworth, a little alarmed--and then peers at the card, uncertainly.]

It's just the picture. See, there's Merlin--winking at you--they hang around in the cards for a long time, it's not like portraits. I think they like being looked at, 'cos it's like someone is really remembering things that they did. Better than hanging on a wall getting dusty.

[bitty_justice]

No, the - the candy! The frog!

[He's pulled out the card, but clenched the little package closed on the candy itself. He holds out the bag to him, trying to show him - though that's all such odd information - what's that about portraits? No matter - ]

[parumcanis]

What?

[And he laughs, suddenly, as she takes the packet from Edgeworth.]

'Course it's moving! That's what they do! [And he tears it open the rest of the way, and the chocolate frog leaps out--right towards Edgeworth, first--]

[bitty_justice]

Ahh - augh!

[Miles, by luck or skill, in spite of his stumbling backwards, manages to catch it neatly between his cupped hands. He braces himself for further magically-animated trauma - and then realizes that he...caught it, and that it's contained, just hopping gently against his hands.

He's breathing hard, his eyes wide, and asks - ]

It's - it - You're supposed to eat it alive?

[parumcanis]

[He snickers at that reaction, but Edgeworth's question has such horror in it that it even gives Sirius a moment of pause. Er--]

It's not actually alive, y'know. It's a charm. They're all charmed like that. Anyway, that's half the fun, isn't it!

[bitty_justice]

[Miles peers down at his cupped hands. And he asks, firmly:]

You promise that it's not actually alive? Because if it's alive, then I'm going to release it.

[parumcanis]

I swear! And you can't release it--if you let it go, it's just going to melt, or someone else is going to eat it--

[The frog is struggling, and it's even making a faint ribbit every now and then, and Sirius points urgently to Edgeworth's hands--]

Eat it! Go on, it'll get away if you don't--

[bitty_justice]

[And Miles cracks open his hands to see the frog there, jumping, and he tries to imagine himself eating it and then shakes his head.]

I - I can't. I'm sorry! It's just...too...

[He thrusts out his hands.]

I can't. You - you eat it, and I won't look...

[parumcanis]

You're joking.

[He stares at Edgeworth's hands, then at his face, his nose wrinkled.]

You seriously don't want it? Fine--

[He's not yet developed any need to try to convince people to do what they secretly want to do, and he really likes chocolate frogs, so--fine, yeah, he snatches it out of Edgeworth's hands and shoves it into his mouth, all at once. One eye screws up, intently, and his nose wrinkles--]

Mphgf--

[bitty_justice]

[And Miles has yet to develop any real pride. He gives a little noise, and reaches up to cover his eyes; horror is tempered with a mad desire to giggle, because this is all so weird and strange and inexplicable - ]

Tell me when you're done -

[parumcanis]

Mghpf mghhrf myfnfds--

[The frog is struggling a little, and Sirius rolls his eyes, expressively, patting hard at his left cheek--and then he bites, once, very obviously, and swallows.]

Done! The chocolate is really good, mate, you have to have one! You can't go your whole life without having a chocolate frog, c'mon--

[His arms are full of sweets and things, but he fumbles around till he digs one out and holds it out to Edgeworth, expectantly, grinning, chocolate on his teeth.]

Oi. Weirdo. Open your eyes!

[bitty_justice]

[And Miles opens his eyes, reluctantly, and then wrinkles his nose at the barbaric appearance of the boy in front of him. Still, he's not going to comment, because he doesn't want to seem a scaredy-cat, and doesn't want to seem like someone overly sensitive. So, nervously, hesitantly, he says:]

I'll - open it for the card. I quite like the cards, at least.

[And so he takes the package from Sirius, and cracks it open only enough to slip the card out - ]

Um - Salazar Slytherin. That's my next one.

[parumcanis]

[Sirius takes the package back--it's already begun to struggle, a frantic croaking coming from within--but he holds it firmly as he glances at the card.]

Oh. I've got about a hundred of him.

[He doesn't sound too impressed. In fact, something shut-up has come over him; he twists his fingers around the frog package, a little too firmly. The croaking takes on a slightly more desperate air.]

Well, keep it. You'll need at least one if you're going to have a decent collection.

[bitty_justice]

[And Miles takes it, but his eyes are fixed on Sirius' face. He tilts his head very slightly to the side and asks, with hardly a bit of self-consciousness:]

Is something the matter with him?

[parumcanis]

[He shrugs, kicking at the floor a little.]

Nah. He was a really great wizard.

[A beat.]

Did you hear about all of the Houses, yet?

[bitty_justice]

[That sounds like a lie - maybe? Miles can't quite tell, but there's something else there. He can't tell...but he's been asked a question, and so he answers:]

No, I - I don't think so. What are they?

[parumcanis]

Really?

[He's genuinely surprised by that answer, but he's also please just to have something else to talk about. It will lead back to Slytherin, of course, but that's all right, for now--]

The four Hogwarts houses. Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. When you get Sorted. You do know about the Sorting, right?

[bitty_justice]

[Miles shakes his head. Apologetically, with a hesitant smile:]

Sorry. I'm...pretty new to this.

[parumcanis]

Whaaaaat!

[His disbelief is more fond and amused than anything accusatory.]

Merlin! What do you know-- well, c'mon, let's get in the compartment, I'll tell you about it. You can't get to Hogwarts and know absolutely nothing--

[He ducks past Edgeworth, to the compartment he and James claimed for themselves--that girl Evans and the greasy Snape have long since fled, thank God, so it's blessedly empty. He holds the door open for Edgeworth, expectantly.]

Come on!

[bitty_justice]

[Miles' luggage is three compartments back, and he does hesitate a moment, because they'd spent a good amount of that strange money on robes and cauldrons and all of that, and if it ends up stolen - But a worse prospect, he thinks, than losing a few books is losing the possibility of earning the friendship of Sirius Black, who's strange and a little bit barbaric but also really nice and funny. So it's a short moment he pauses - and then he ducks inside after him, answering that (possibly rhetorical) question.]

There was a man from the Ministry of Magic who came to our home, but he only was there for about ten minutes before he left. He hardly answered any questions. And the boy in my compartment was very, very rude and wouldn't talk to me.

[There, Miles feels no compunctions about having a bad word to say about someone. The translucently pale boy had turned up his lip in a blatant sneer when Miles had tried to strike up a shy conversation. There were many things Miles had been taught to forgive; such base unpleasantness wasn't one.]

I know that Hogwarts is very architecturally impressive. The man from the ministry left us a, um, pamphlet.

[parumcanis]

Who was he?

[Sirius will know the boy, whoever he is. He'll have met him before, at one stilted party or another, and he will not like him, but he will have had to pretend as if he did.

Dismissively, he snorts, as he climbs back into his seat. James' trunk is shoved above their heads, precarious. Sirius' is wedged very particularly into place. The side of it bears his initials in gleaming gold; he stares at it a moment before he looks at Edgeworth, his nose wrinkled.]

A pamphlet. Hogwarts is too great for a pamphlet. There's four Houses, right--Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Slytherin is for the clever and the crafty--Gryffindors are courageous and foolish-- [Though despite himself there's a touch of admiration to his tone, foolish, it's brilliant, being brave and foolish, too much time spent with James Potter already--] Ravenclaw is for those clever with books and things, and Hufflepuff is crap, you don't want to be Sorted into Hufflepuff.