Hogwarts AU: New York City

[serinusniger]

It's been days.

She doesn't know how many. But if must have been days. There's been food, there's been the occasional sleep.

Not enough of either.

Dinah has told them... she can't remember right now quite what she has told them, but it feels like she's told them everything. Like there's nothing in her lefty to tell them. She'd tell them more, if they asked her.

She gave up trying to escape a long time ago. She gave up hoping for a rescue not long after.

Now she's just waiting, and hoping it ends soon.

Comments

[mnt_raph]

Raph takes a step forward, and even though this puts him well into Mike and Renee's personal space, his eyes never leave Leonardo.

Mike instinctively reaches for Renee's hand.

"Oh you're damn right I can. And I will."

"Raph, back off," says Don as he puts a hand on Raph's shoulder.
A fraction of a second later Raph turns on Don, arm raised in a fist. The taller brother flinches.

"Enough!" This time it's Leo. And he follows it up with a string of Japanese.

Raph snorts in displeasure, but backs down, going so far as to distance himself from the group until Casey arrives.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee squeezes Mike's hand, and then drops it as Raph finally backs off.

She shoots a questioning look at Mike, but she doesn't expect an answer. Yet, at least.

[mnt_raph]

After Raph is out of arms reach Mike chances a glance at Renee and offers her a weak smile.

Don takes the opportunity to go and check with Leo, and the two quietly confer until interrupted by the screetching tires of a yellow cab taking corner far too sharply. The sounds only get louder, and soon there're headlights bearing down on them as well.

"Looks like Casey's here," Mike murmurs to Renee.

[interrogoiterum]

"I don't know if I can stand being around another of Raph's friends," Renee mutters. "He's got terrible taste in friends, have you noticed?"

[mnt_mike]

"I don't know," Mike whispers back, his thumb strokes the back of her hand. "Some of them are pretty hot."

The headlights stay on high, and a shape steps out of the car.

"Yo, Raph? That you?"

"Why don'cha just announce it to the whole freakin' neighborhood, fuckin' moron."

"Oh ho ho! This is the thanks I get for dropping everything to come and cart your hokey ass around?"

"Dropping everything. Really. Were you holdin' everything in your right or your left hand?"

Raph's accent only gets stronger the longer this exchange continues.

Don couldn't possibly roll his eyes any more without causing himself physical harm. Leo says nothing.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee rolls her eyes at Mike, but it's not obvious whether that's because of his blatent PDA or because Raph's being Raph.

She darts around in front of her fellow Gryffindor and smiles sweetly at Casey.

"You must be Casey. Hi, I'm Renee. We really appreciate what you're doing here. It's really kind of you."

Unspoken is especially for putting up with Raph's bullshit.

[mnt_leo]

Casey was just about to level another insult Raph's way when Renee enters his field of vision. It's almost as if his vision has been replaced by a soft focus lens and Dreamweaver has just started to play.

"Well hello, Princess," he says running his hand through his hair in an attempt to look cool.

The brothers all turn to each other, eyebrows raised.

This can only go poorly.

[interrogoiterum]

A pause, in which Renee's sweet British politeness freezes for a second.

"Yeah," she manages. "Hi. This your cab? Thanks for that. C'mon boys."

[mnt_don]

Don is impressed.
Leo is impressed.
Raph ... is Raph, and is far too entertained by seeing his friend than really giving much thought to the fact that he's just hit on Renee.

Mike, on the other hand, is trying his damnedest to NOT break out into a rather loud peal of laughter.

"For you, Toots? Any time."

Raph takes Shotgun, which leaves the other four to pile in the back of one of New York's cleanest Yellow Cabs.

Which...isn't saying much, by the way.

[interrogoiterum]

"Chaaaaarming," Renee says, propping her large umbrella up between her legs and making the space issue much worse by fumbling in her pockets.

"Welcome to America, right?"

She pulls out her matchbook, and glances past Mike at Don. Do they need to hide their magic while they're in a cab?

[mnt_mike]

"Give us your tired, your weak, your hungry, and your strong-stomached, yearning to be free," Mike says with a snicker.

"Hey! I cleaned!" Casey complains as he slams the driver's side door and checks his mirrors.

Raph, turns to smack Mikey upside the head and sees Renee thinking about the matches. "Case's cool, if that's what you're worried about."

Don turns, curious..."Those are pre-charmed, I'm assuming?"

[interrogoiterum]

"Yeah," Renee says. "I'm just wondering if we need to get one going in here or can it wait 'til we get there?"

[mnt_raph]

"We ain't goin' far," says Raph as he turns back around and puts on his seat belt.

"Nah, we're just to Hell's Kitchen. Won't take long. Ain't like we're going to Jersey or anything."

"especially the way he drives," Mike adds under his breath.

"I heard that, Mikey. You know you're always welcome to get out an' walk, if you don't like my driving."

[interrogoiterum]

Renee shrugs and puts the book back in her pocket, but not after nudging Mike in the ribs briefly with a smirk.

[mnt_don]

The rest of the ride is pretty uneventful.

Raph and Casey keep their own company by mostly discussing Muggle sporting related activities. At one point there's a play by play digression of the last Yankees' game.

Don spends most of his time fiddling with the knobs of something that looks suspiciously like a Star Trek tri-corder.

Leo is quiet, his attention focused on the buildings that pass by at a break-neck pace.

Mike attempts to be as entertaining as possible to Renee.

Until eventually the cab comes to a screeching halt outside a rather unimpressive looking brownstone.

"We're here. Casa sweet casa. Okay here's the deal. This is my Mom's place. She lives on the first floor, but I've got the whole basement apartment to myself. We just gotta get in the house without her hearing us, otherwise there'll be questions."

He shifts the rear-view mirror around to take a gander at what everyone is wearing.

"Any purple or red you got on you should take off or cover. This is Purple Dragon territory."

[interrogoiterum]

"Oooh, exciting."

Renee lives in East London, so she's used to gangs. This is proper New York gang activity though, so it's very West Side Story. She gives herself a quick glance over on her way out of the cab, and looks up at the building in front of her.

She can be quiet. And she knows her boys can, too.

[mnt_leo]

"These guys don't dance," Mike says to Renee, knowing exactly where her mind went. "I know because I've asked them."
Zing!

"Pipe down, Mikey," grumbles Raph.

Then, all suave like...so really the opposite of that, Casey exits the cab, and makes his way for the small set of stairs that leads to a basement doorway under the elevated stoop.

Normally it'd be Mike who took point, but Raph's more familiar with this place and switches on all the lights as he comes into the room. Everyone else files in one by one, until eventually Casey locks and bolts the door.

Casey's apartment looks exactly like what you'd expect a bachelor pad of someone like Casey to look like. There's a wall of quasi-functional tvs on one side of the room, a beat up fifth hand couch holding court on the other. Pizza and take out containers are everywhere, and the only cold thing in the fridge is beer.

[interrogoiterum]

"Then they're no friends of mine."

WHAT.

Renee follows Raph in, and is pulling her matches back out of her pocket by the time Casey is locking the door. Then she lights one, and gives it a waves around before shaking it vigorously put, letting the smoke thin out and fill the room, until it clings gently to the walls and stays there.

"A'right, room's clear." And in the next moment she's pulling her wand out. "Scourgify."

Because really.

[mnt_mike]

"I knew I loved you for a reason." Mike's grin is damn near audible.

"Hey! My stuff!" Casey goes around trying to catch some of the containers of food that might still have something edible inside.

Don looks up from his tricorder.
"Wow, that was faster than I thought it'd be."

"Faster than you thought what would be?"

"I thought There'd at least be a thirty count before she cleaned the place. I owe you five bucks, Leo."

Leo, who's stayed by the door...just smirks.

"Donnie you ain't never been here before," Raph says. "How'd you know what it was going to look like?"

"I might not have been here before, but...I have met Casey."

[interrogoiterum]

"Would have done it in the taxi but I wasn't gonna waste a match."

Renee throws herself down on the couch, and pulls out the folded paper from her pocket.

"Accio beer." Then she glances at Leo. "So what now, fearless leader?"

[mnt_mike]

The only thing funnier than watching Casey attempt and save a flying four-day-old-slice of meat lovers pizza from a cleaning spell is the look on his face when his fridge opens on its own and a beer comes flying out.

"Hey! I didn't sign on for all this flying and magic!"

Heck, even Raph is laughing.

"Quit you're squawkin'. You know you're gonna get compensated for this, you knob."

"Handsomely," Don adds.

Leo sighs. "Now? Now I guess we follow any leads we have."

"Well it's a good thing we've only got the one then, huh?" Oh Mike, ever the optimist.

Raph goes to the fridge and fetches two more beers, which he then opens on the edge of Casey's kitchen counter. He hands one to his friend and keeps one for himself. Everyone else can get their own drinks.

"Casey, we've been out of circulation for a while. What's at C & 9th these days?"

Casey thinks while he drinks.
"Nothing to write home about. Couple of parks, couple of restaurants."

Don looks up from his gizmo.
"What kind of parks? Neat and tidy numbers? Or overgrown and kind of wild?"

"The second one. Big tall weeping willows on the corners. Why?"

Don and Leo share a look.

[interrogoiterum]

"So just going there's out of the question, huh? Unless you wizkids know how to break a fidelius charm."

Renee unfolds the paper carefully and lays it out on the seat of the couch next to her.

She had intended just to study it, but when it unfolds itself, the creases from the quartering are gone.

"Huh."

[mnt_raph]

"Huh, indeed," says Don, who wastes no time crossing the room with his tricorder out.

"Casey, stay back. Mike?" Leo turns to look at his youngest brother. "Wand out, healing charms at the ready."

"Just hold still, Renee," Raph warns, his wand at the ready.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee rolls her eyes at Raph.

"Didn't we already check this?" she asks. But she stays perfectly still, once her wand is back in her hand.

[mnt_don]

"We did, yes. Which is why I'm more than a little disconcerted." Don turns a dial or two, and the tricorder bips.

"We weren't in a charm field last time," adds Mike from where he stands outside of the potential blast radius.