Severus.

Shrugging her shoulders, Daisy kept her eyes down at his question. "I don’t know,” She started, brows furrowing slightly as she thought. “I just didn’t want you to be mad that I showed up unannounced and a little drunk.” But when Severus assured her that it was fine, and he tilted her head up to look at him, she instantly relaxed again. Her smile returned as his arms wrapped around her, and Daisy giggled softly as she hugged him back, squeezing him a little tighter than she normally would have. This was exactly what she wanted, and she really didn’t want to let go of him.

“I know I shouldn’t have apparated,” Daisy sighed, keeping her arms around him as she pulled back slightly to look at him. “There’s no need to lecture me. I promise I’ll never do it again. I just really, really wanted to see you.” Her head began to nod immediately at his offer for her to spend the night. She supposed that was what she was hoping the outcome would be, even though it had only been a day since they last saw each other, it felt like forever and she loved the idea of spending the rest of the night with him. “I would love that.” Daisy giggled, squeezing him tightly again before finally letting go of him. Turning around, she slowly made her way into his living room, trying her best to keep steady on her feet. “Did you have a good weekend?” She questioned, sitting down on the couch and pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged. “Did you miss me as much as I missed you?”

He raised an eyebrow, but kept his commentary to himself, knowing that in her current state (which seemed to be more than a little drunk, if you asked him) it was likely even easier for him to inadvertently upset her further. Loosening his arms without taking them from around her, he resigned himself to standing there for however long she wished to stay wrapped around him. Glancing down his nose at her as she pulled back, Severus sighed heavily at her petulant tone. "I'm not lecturing you, I simply like you with all of your limbs attached. After all," He continued, fighting a smirk. "It would be rather difficult to hug me with half an arm." 

He disentangled himself gently as she finally let him go, padding away almost immediately toward the kitchen, swiping his tea from the end table as he went by. "I'm not sure that's possible." He said fairly, giving her an amused look. Daisy seemed to feel everything, save anger, deeper than he did. A lifetime of keeping everything at arms length was not an easy habit to break, even if he had wanted to. He filled a tall glass with water before splashing a touch of spiced rum into his tea and carrying both back to the living room. He handed the water off to her and placed his mug back in its place before sitting next to her and pulling her legs over his own with a small sigh. "My weekend was fine." He assured her, only ready to divulge any further details if she asked. "How are your parents?"

Severus was right, there were a lot of things that Sirius had done to both of them that he seemingly just gotten away with. Hell, not even just gotten away with, but he had so much more than either one of them ever had. But, Regulus was trying his best to get over it. Sirius wasn’t going to be a problem for him anymore, he wasn’t going to let his anger towards his brother control him any longer. Making a conscious decision not to comment on the matter any more, he hoped that Severus wouldn’t think it was odd. The two of them had bonded over their mutual hatred for Sirius, after all, so maybe he would pick up on it. Either way, Regulus really didn’t want to talk about his brother anymore.

Topping up his glass with the remainder of the pitcher, he shrugged slightly. "I suppose just fine is better than not fine.” Actually, knowing Severus, him saying that things were fine probably meant that things were going quite well. Furrowing his brows, he stared at him for a moment. Regulus couldn’t think of even one person that would want the two of them broken up, perhaps it was somebody attempting to look out for Daisy. Although, he could think of an endless list of people who would likely do something like this just for fun. “D'you know who it was? Or have any ideas?” He questioned, sounding a little concerned. Honestly, if it were anybody else telling him this, he likely would have laughed about it, but he actually really liked Daisy and didn’t like the idea of anybody hurting her simply for being with Severus.

"Indeed." He agreed in a lazy drawl, only partly listening to what Regulus had said, still quite lost in his own thoughts. His gaze was glued to the empty pitcher, a drop of condensation slipping down the side, as he zoned out. He sighed heavily and finished his glass at Regulus' question, knowing he would answer truthfully despite his instincts. He could tell by his tone that he was concerned, at least marginally, and really - why did Severus care if Sylar looked bad? "Let me get a refill first." He nodded once, snagging the empty pitcher and making his way to the bar, using the time to collect his thoughts. 

He tapped absentmindedly at the bar top as he waited. Surely he could rely on Regulus' discretion in the matter, couldn't he? At least until he knew whether or not it was true. He supposed he was about to find out - it would be nice to bounce the idea off of someone other than Daisy. Returning, he set the pitcher down between them once more but held off on pouring himself another glass. "She thinks it was Flint." He admitted dully, meeting Regulus' gaze to try and glean anything from his reaction. "They, apparently, do not get along." 

He looked surprised to see her, which she supposed she should have expected. She did tell him that they could go all weekend without seeing each other, but Daisy couldn’t stand to go another second without seeing him. Perhaps if she had stayed sober she could have waited until the next day, but all she wanted in her current state was to be with Severus. Nodding her head as he repeated her statement back to her, Daisy giggled softly at his confusion. “Yes, I want a hug. I’ve gone almost two whole days without a hug.” She pouted slightly at the thought, but it was only a moment before her smile returned again. Taking a few steps inside, she wobbled slightly as she took her shoes off, more giggles falling from her. There was nothing funny about it, but she couldn’t stop herself.

Once she had gotten her shoes off, Daisy turned around to look at him. “Are you mad at me for coming over?” She asked, obvious concern in her tone. The last thing she wanted was to upset him, but it was clear that he had been planning on staying in. She hoped she hadn’t ruined his evening by dropping in unannounced and drunk. “I just really, really missed you and wanted to come see you.” Moving closer to him, Daisy looked up to him with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, please don’t be upset with me. I know I said you could have the weekend to yourself but I couldn’t wait.” Pouting again, she looked down to the floor and sighed, feeling bad that she was taking time away from him. Perhaps she should have stayed home. “I’m sorry. I can just take my hug and leave if you want.”

"Merlin forbid." He murmured under his breath, turning back to her as the door closed behind him, watching as she wobbled. "How did you manage?" His words were sarcastic, but his lips were twitching as he held back a smile, teasing her. Honestly, he wasn't as bothered as he might usually be to be interrupted - not only was it because it was Daisy, but because he'd already accomplished most everything he'd set out to for the weekend. His book would certainly still be there tomorrow. "Mad? Why would I be mad?" Is that what she thought of him? Had he lost his temper with her that often? He knew he wasn't exactly the most cheerful, but he hoped it was just the alcohol making her worry unduly. Perhaps he would have to be more mindful in the future. 

"Daisy, it's fine." He assured her, trying not to sigh as he said it. Severus watched her, fighting the most ridiculous urge to laugh. But it was kind of cute - the way she got herself all worked up sometimes. He reached a hand out, gently tilting her chin back up so she would look at him as he spoke. "Promise." He nodded once before wrapping her in the hug she apparently desired so deeply. "But you're not leaving until you’re sober - you shouldn't have apparated to begin with." He frowned slightly, not enjoying the very real possibility that she could have been splinched. "Why don't you just stay here tonight?" 

After spending time with Severus every day for the past couple of months, it was strange to go a couple of days without him. She managed Saturday, seeing her parents was enough of a distraction not to worry about him too much, but now it was Sunday night and she was lonely. Usually the two of them would get dinner and watch a movie together on Sundays, so being alone for the first time in awhile felt odd. It was while she was cooking that Daisy noticed the bottle of rum sitting on the counter. She could only assume that Severus had left it there, seeing as she hadn’t bought it, and it gave her an idea. Every time she had a drink, it always seemed to put her in a better mood, so perhaps it would help her miss Severus a little less.

It didn’t seem to work, though, after four drinks she seemed to only miss him more. Eventually she couldn’t take it anymore, she just wanted to see him and make sure he was okay, so she decided to pull on her shoes and jacket and head over to Severus’ place to check up on him. Apparating just a few feet from his door, she took a moment to stable herself as she landed, giggling to herself at how wobbly she was. Marching up to his door, Daisy contemplated simply trying the knob and letting herself in, but she figured Severus wouldn’t just leave it unlocked and she knocked instead. It felt like she was waiting forever for him to answer, but when the door finally opened, she could feel her features light up as she looked at him. “Oh, good! You’re home.” She giggled, staring at him with wide eyes, “I missed you, and I really wanted a hug.”

@sevrustobias​

It had been a rather nice day, all things considering. Severus never usually had particularly high hopes for his weekends - he went to bed on Friday nights in the hopes that the next two days may be at least slightly less miserable than his working week had been. But this weekend had been better than most. It wasn’t that he was happy about not seeing Daisy, in so many words, but to have some time where he wasn’t accountable to anything but his own whims had been more relaxing than he had anticipated, and Sunday night found him in higher spirits than usual with a mug of tea and a newly acquired autobiography he’d picked up at Flourish and Blotts earlier in the day. That was, until the tell tale crack of apparition came - not entirely unusual, and certainly not unusual enough for him to spare it more than a passing glance upward - followed quickly by a rap on the door at half past seven. He closed the cover of his book with a sigh and trudged to the door, but upon opening it he simply blinked in surprise. “Daisy?” Severus could hear the slight alarm in his voice - had something happened? Again? Did she need his help? A potion, perhaps?

"You…. wanted a hug." He repeated, slowly, as if he was having trouble understanding her words. In truth, the concept was completely foreign to him, and if it were anybody else to show up on his doorstep with such an outlandish request, he'd figure he was either the target of a booty call, or a rather poor attempt at a crass prank. It didn't take a Potions Master's nose to detect the faint smell of rum wafting from her as she spoke and he sighed slightly - so much for his book.  "You'd better come inside." Severus stood aside to let her in, watching her closely and fighting back the urge to grab her wrist and help her along. He took a step out, giving the hallway a cursory before he closed the door behind her - almost as if he didn’t believe this was what she said. Had she really missed him enough that she’d had to come see him? Missed him? It was hard to believe.

textsfrommtolympus​:

marriottsthighs​:

Get To Know Me Uncomfortably Well

PLEASE DON’T LET THIS FLOP AHHHH

1. What is you middle name? 2. How old are you? 3. When is your birthday? 4. What is your zodiac sign? 5. What is your favorite color? 6. What’s your lucky number? 7. Do you have any pets? 8. Where are you from? 9. How tall are you? 10. What shoe size are you? 11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? 12. What was your last dream about? 13. What talents do you have? 14. Are you psychic in any way? 15. Favorite song? 16. Favorite movie? 17. Who would be your ideal partner? 18. Do you want children? 19. Do you want a church wedding? 20. Are you religious? 21. Have you ever been to the hospital? 22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? 23. Have you ever met any celebrities? 24. Baths or showers? 25. What color socks are you wearing? 26. Have you ever been famous? 27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? 28. What type of music do you like? 29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? 30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 31. What position do you usually sleep in? 32. How big is your house? 33. What do you typically have for breakfast? 34. Have you ever fired a gun? 35. Have you ever tried archery? 36. Favorite clean word? 37. Favorite swear word? 38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? 39. Do you have any scars? 40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? 41. Are you a good liar? 42. Are you a good judge of character? 43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? 44. Do you have a strong accent? 45. What is your favorite accent? 46. What is your personality type? 47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? 48. Can you curl your tongue? 49. Are you an innie or an outie? 50. Left or right handed? 51. Are you scared of spiders? 52. Favorite food? 53. Favorite foreign food? 54. Are you a clean or messy person? 55. Most used phrased? 56. Most used word? 57. How long does it take for you to get ready? 58. Do you have much of an ego? 59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? 60. Do you talk to yourself? 61. Do you sing to yourself? 62. Are you a good singer? 63. Biggest Fear? 64. Are you a gossip? 65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? 66. Do you like long or short hair? 67. Can you name all 50 states of America? 68. Favorite school subject? 69. Extrovert or Introvert? 70. Have you ever been scuba diving? 71. What makes you nervous? 72. Are you scared of the dark? 73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? 74. Are you ticklish? 75. Have you ever started a rumor? 76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? 77. Have you ever drank underage? 78. Have you ever done drugs? 79. Who was your first real crush? 80. How many piercings do you have? 81. Can you roll your Rs?“ 82. How fast can you type? 83. How fast can you run? 84. What color is your hair? 85. What color is your eyes? 86. What are you allergic to? 87. Do you keep a journal? 88. What do your parents do? 89. Do you like your age? 90. What makes you angry? 91. Do you like your own name? 92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? 93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? 94. What are you strengths? 95. What are your weaknesses? 96. How did you get your name? 97. Were your ancestors royalty? 98. Do you have any scars? 99. Color of your bedspread? 100. Color of your room?

ASK AWAY!! Feel free to ask me anything else not on this list 😊

Daisy sighed softly, shaking her head slightly. "No, you’re allowed to talk to anybody you want,” She clarified, “I just don’t understand why you would want to talk to somebody when you clearly hate them so much.” It didn’t make any sense to her, even if Sirius was in his way, why wouldn’t he just move around him instead of starting a fight? Though, she supposed she wasn’t there, and she wasn’t getting any useful information from Severus, so perhaps there was something that she was missing. Frowning as he pulled away from her, Daisy took a few steps back to continue picking berries. “Don’t worry, Sirius has been nothing but friendly towards me.” She confirmed, though she wasn’t sure if he would continue to be nice to her once he found out about her relationship with Severus.

“If you really don’t want to talk about it, I’ll drop it.” Daisy mumbled softly, keeping her eyes fixed on the bush in front of her as she spoke. “I’m just worried about you. I hate it when you show up covered in bruises, and I think it’s even worse knowing that it was over something that could have easily been avoided.” She turned her head to glance at him for a moment, brows furrowed. She didn’t like it when he was angry, though she supposed it was her own fault for bringing it up again. All she wanted was to know what happed, but that seemed like wishful thinking. Perhaps she could question Sirius about it the next time she ran into him. Deciding to change the subject, Daisy cleared her throat and allowed a smile to return to her lips, “The reason I wanted to go visit my parents this weekend is because my mother wrote to me and told me she’s been baking all week. Apparently she needs me to come take some cookies off her hands.”

"Well, lucky you." Severus sneered, something in the confirmation rubbing at him the wrong way. He was glad that Daisy didn't have to deal with what he did at the hands of the marauders, certainly, but it still made him mad. Why him, then? They'd bullied him long before he'd done anything to deserve it. "Been avoided?" He seethed, jaw working in an attempt to not let his anger get the better of him. After all, as he reminded himself again, he wasn't angry at Daisy. "I've tried to avoid Black. I tried for six years and it didn't change anything. " He said coldly, now in too deep to get out of explaining himself. But perhaps, if she knew more of the whole story, she might spare him from trying to talk about it again in the future. It wasn't strictly true, but it was close enough - he'd done both, after all. While, yes, he may have incited his fair share of altercations, he had tried to ignore them as well, and it almost never tended to come to any different outcome. 

"You think I don't like Black and his friends simply because they're annoying?" He asked, swallowing hard. "No - they're hypocrites." They all preached acceptance, did they not? No one was inherently any better than anyone else? But they had gone after Severus no better than the Death Eaters were after them. But something in him told him he was likely wasting his breath - Daisy wouldn't see it that way. No one did. Everyone sang their praises and turned a blind eye to any behavior that didn't match their pristine vision of the four men. "Forget it." He said with finality, promising himself he wasn't going to talk about it anymore, even if it meant she sought her answers elsewhere. Severus moved onto his next task, careful to take more care with his movements as he kept his back to her. He was quiet as she went on, glad for the change of subject, even though he knew it would be harder to calm himself down for a second time today. He had to work to keep his voice level as he answered, only partially successful as it came out rather disinterested. "I hope you don't expect me to help you eat them." 

Regulus kept his head tilted downward as Severus spoke, though his eyes grew slightly wide at his words. If this were a few weeks ago, hell, even a few days ago, he would have easily agreed that they should put Sirius in his place. But a lot can change in a few days, and that wasn’t what he wanted for his brother anymore. He shrugged his shoulders, returning his features to a more neutral expression before glancing back up to him, being sure to be careful with what he said next. He couldn’t admit to anybody, especially not Severus, that he actually wanted to see Sirius do well for himself. "I’m sure he’ll get what’s coming to him one way or another.” Regulus said, taking another drink from his glass before setting it down. “Karma works in mysterious ways.”

Tilting his head slightly, Regulus’ eyebrow cocked slightly at his answer. “Just fine?” He questioned, almost surprised by the answer. Surely things were going better than just fine if they were still together, but he supposed he shouldn’t have expected more of an answer from Severus. His next words were concerning, however, and a puzzled look overtook him. “Someone impersonated you?” He asked, clearly in disbelief. “Who would want to impersonate you?” It sounded more like an insult than he had intended, but it was still difficult to believe. Why would anybody want to break them up? Regulus really didn’t see any issues with the two of them being together - Daisy was a pureblood, a Code Two, and she was actually very good for Severus, in his own opinion. So why would somebody go out of their way to try to break them up? “She’s alright, yeah?” He questioned, feeling quite bad for her. Even though she was good for Severus, perhaps he wasn’t very good for her if she would be subject to such cruelty.

"Yeah, well, sometimes karma needs a little help." Severus snarled, scoffing as he turned his head, taking in the rest of the nearly empty pub as he thought. Since when was anything down to some half assed, made up concept? Fate, karma, destiny… They all had no place in his life - little more than daydreams thought up by people too weak to take control of their own lives. Was it his karma at six years old that made it fall to him to bear the brunt of his father's anger? Or to become a punching bag for a bunch of boys he'd never met before when he was thirteen? No. Severus Snape did not believe in karma. But rather than get riled up and rehash the problems of his own sordid past, he poured himself another drink and sighed, trying to expel his pent up anger with it. 

Severus raised one of his own eyebrows in response. "Were you expecting more?" He drawled, snorting a derisive laugh into his glass as he lifted it to his lips for another long drink. They'd need another pitcher, for sure. He glared at Regulus over the top of his pint, rolling his eyes as he set it down. "Thanks." He murmured sarcastically, before taking a deep breath and settling back, contemplative. "That is the question though, isn't it?" He mused, far from actually being offended. In fact, he rather agreed with Regulus. There would be very little payoff to impersonate him, and he wondered if it wasn’t nothing more than a cruel prank. He sighed again, more tiredly this time. "Yeah, she's fine." He waved away Regulus' concern. But would she stay fine? He wondered idly, frowning.

Really, she knew it likely wouldn’t be worth the effort to attempt to change anybody’s opinion on him, but Daisy wasn’t going to let anybody say such horrible things about Severus without trying to defend him. As much as she wished everybody could just get along, she knew it would never be that simple. "I know you pretty well,” She said, furrowing her brows at his statement, “And I don’t hate you.” Although he hadn’t given her any reason to hate him, perhaps that was different for others. He was right, though, no matter how angry Mary was, she was confident she couldn’t manage something so cruel.

Severus sounded surprised by her accusation, but really, Sylar was the only person she believed could do something like this. The whole situation felt so familiar, and now that Daisy was thinking about it, the day he decided they were no longer friends went in a very similar way. It was direct, to the point, quick, and just as heartbreaking. “To be honest, I have no idea why Sylar hates me so much.” She admitted with a shaky sigh, suddenly feeling even more hurt over everything that happened. “He was my best friend when we were kids, we did absolutely everything together. But as we got older he kind of got into the wrong crowd and one day decided that I wasn’t worth his time anymore.” Daisy pouted, her arms folding across her chest as she thought about it. Sylar probably didn’t even know how badly he had hurt her feelings back then, but he likely knew exactly what he was doing this time. If it was him, anyway. “Now every time we see each other he tells me that I’m naïve and that I need to grow up, and intentionally tries to get under my skin. He never did give me a proper explanation as to why he decided we weren’t friends.”

"I suppose it won't make you feel any better to know he doesn't seem to treat his friends much better?" If they really were once as close as she said, he could only imagine that Flint wasn't always the man he is now - and it wasn't a far leap to assume that Daisy didn't think it an improvement. Severus might not understand her pain, but he could tell that she was in it. Whatever had happened between her and Sylar had clearly stuck with her all these years, and it made him want to throttle the man - except, of course, he couldn't really do much of anything about any of it. His hands were tied - as much as he might want to make the other man pay for what he’s done, it wasn’t as simple as that. Although, secretly, he had to agree with him on one thing - Daisy was naïve, but she certainly didn't need to be condemned for it. 

He nodded once, unsure of what to say to comfort her - what he really thought was that she didn't need to be around him, anyway, if he was going to treat her so poorly, and she was better off. But he had learned that people didn't necessarily love to hear such things, and with Daisy he actually cared if he hurt her feelings, and so he found himself at a loss. He took a step closer, his expression softening as he opened his arms to her and wrapped her within them. It sounded similar to himself and Lily, really, and he hated the thought, so he pushed it away and squeezed her tighter before letting her go with a kiss to the top of her head. "Do you still want lunch?"

Daisy sighed softly, it was unfortunate that it seemed like everyone she cared about hated Severus for one reason or another. Mary had been rather vocal about it, but she didn’t believe for a second that she could sink this low, no matter how much she hated him. "She really didn’t have anything nice to say about you.” Daisy shrugged, she supposed she would have to get used to people trying to convince her that Severus wasn’t good for her. “I tried to convince her otherwise, but I don’t think anything I could say would change her mind.” She sighed again before smiling up to him. It didn’t matter what anybody else had to say about him, Daisy knew he wasn’t the cold and heartless person everybody else tried to make him out to be. As long as she knew that, she supposed that was all that mattered.

She stared at Severus for a moment unsure if she wanted to tell him about her suspicion of Sylar. Even if the two of them weren’t friends, and even if he had gone out of his way to hurt her for no reason, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. But she knew that now that she had said something out loud she wouldn’t get away with trying to brush it off. “I can’t be certain,” Daisy started, moving towards the door so they wouldn’t waste any more time. “But I have a feeling it was Sylar…” Saying it out loud felt right, he seemed to be the only person that disliked her enough to do something like this. “He’s a metamorphmagus, and he really hates me.” She shrugged as she pulled the door open, taking a few steps outside before turning back to Severus. “But, I don’t know.” Daisy shrugged, “I guess we’ll never know for sure.”

Severus almost laughed, but really, there was nothing funny about the situation. Still, the idea that Daisy would defend him to Mary, of all people. Mary was probably one of the only people who saw him for who he was. Even she'd given up on him, and he couldn't blame her. They shouldn't like him. "You're wasting your breath if you're trying to make her see any differently. She knows me too well. At least, she used to." He shrugged. Really, he couldn't care less. He didn't like them, either, but he wasn't sure the comment would go over particularly well with Daisy. "Anyway." He continued quickly, hoping to stave off any further arguments about his character. "It doesn't matter, I don't think Mary capable regardless." 

He narrowed his eyes as she hesitated. If she knew who it was, he needed her to tell him. He'd find out regardless, he was certain of it, so they might as well cut to the chase. Severus waited more patiently than he felt, unmoving even as she edged closer to the door. He wasn't leaving until he got an answer. "Sylar?" He questioned, taken aback. He wasn't sure who he'd been expecting her to accuse, but it certainly hadn't been him. "Flint?" Severus furrowed his brow, considering. He was certainly cruel enough, but the two didn't even talk anymore - did they? Severus himself could count the words they’d exchanged on one hand. Suddenly, he was suspicious - but even more than that, he was confused. Had Daisy given him a reason to hate her so much? He didn't want to think about the possibilities that lay in that train of thought. "What the hell did you do to Flint that would make him do something like this?" 

She smiled to herself as she watched Severus do as she asked. It was nice to have him working alongside her, she always loved having company with her in the greenhouse, but it was even better when it was somebody she cared so much about. "Don’t worry if you don’t have time, or even if you don’t want to.” Daisy smiled, not wanting him to feel pressured to visit her after she told him not to, “You deserve to have some time to yourself, after keeping your promise for so long I’m surprised you’re not sick of me yet.” She giggled, turning her attention back to the baneberry bush in front of her. Severus had been incredibly patient and understanding with her, giving him a couple of days without seeing her was the least she could do, no matter how much she would miss him.

Daisy sighed softly, his demeanor shifted so quickly as she brought the conversation back to his fight. “No, I don’t think you go looking for fights,” She clarified, shaking her head, “I just know that sometimes you have a hard time keeping your thoughts to yourself.” She hoped he wouldn’t take that the wrong way, it was one of the things she liked about him, after all. Turning back to face him, Daisy noticed him getting rough with the plant he was working on, and she took a few steps towards him, placing a gentle hand on his arm in an attempt to keep him calm. “I think that’s the part I’m confused about. What were you trying to talk to him about?” She asked, her brows furrowed as she tried to think of what he could possibly want from Sirius. “If you hate him so much, why would you talk to him instead of avoid him?”

Severus grunted, thinking if anyone were to get sick of the other, it certainly wouldn't be him. It was nice to know, however, that his time would be purely his own in the coming days, and he was more grateful to Daisy for the small reprieve than he could say. It wasn't that he didn't like to see her - quite the opposite, really - but it had posed more than a few challenges to him recently. He kept his head bent as she went on, wondering idly why it mattered to her so much. So he'd gotten into a fight - it was over and done with now, and talking about it wasn't going to change anything. 

He wasn't sure what Daisy knew about his history with the other three men, but he knew he hadn't said much about it, and he didn't really cherish the thought of starting now. "So now I can't talk to them?" He fumed, although his movements halted as she placed her hand on his arm, even if his posture was still rigid and closed off. He didn't particularly want to, but that didn't mean it didn't happen on occasion, regardless. "I don't avoid anything." He muttered, expression darkening further. Severus wasn't about to run and hide - he would stand his ground. He wasn't the same man he was even just a few short years ago - he wouldn’t let them get away with it anymore. "Besides, he was in my way." It wasn't strictly the truth, but it wasn't enough of a lie for him to feel bad about it, either. It had all started with a move, mutt but that was neither here not there. "I don't expect you to understand." He said brusquely, moving his arm out from under her touch rather pointedly as he moved along the bench to hang his last few bundles up down the line. "I doubt Black has ever shown you the side of him that I get the pleasure of interacting with." His eyes flashed at the mere thought - he wouldn't put it past the other to react in a similar, worse way than her other friends had. "At least, he better not." 

Daisy sighed softly, relaxing against Severus as they hugged. Having his arms around her definitely helped things, but she was still uneasy about everything. How could she trust anything if she couldn’t even trust that she was actually talking to her boyfriend anymore? Her head shook at his words, he may believe that they were trying to hurt him, but Daisy really didn’t think so. It felt far too personal to be directed at anyone besides her. "I don’t know…” She sighed as she looked up to him. “I think if anybody was going to try to hurt you over us, it would be one of my friends, right?” It made sense to her, anyway, why would one of his friends try to hurt him? “I don’t think any of my friends are upset enough to do something like this… Well, except maybe Mary. She shouted at me when she found out we’re together… But I don’t think she would have done this.” One of his friends doing this to scare her away seemed logical. As much as Daisy hated judging people before she knew them, Severus’ friends seemed more like the type of people that would intentionally hurt somebody for seemingly no reason.

Smiling at his confirmation, she squeezed him a little tighter. Even if it was a fake break up, it still hurt, and hearing him say that he still loved her definitely made things a little better. “I guess you just get to prove how much you listen to me.” Daisy giggled softly, even if she hated the idea of him having to prove his identity every time they saw each other. Keeping her hands on him as he took a step away, she nodded her head slightly. “We can go back, if you want.” She smiled, “Perhaps we’ll run into your doppelgänger. Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t walk right by them on your way to the Leaky…” Her brows furrowed as she thought. Really, they should have passed right by each other, if they had used polyjuice potion, the effects shouldn’t have worn off so quickly. Unless it wasn’t polyjuice. It hit her suddenly, realizing that she knew a metamorphmagus, one that had been trying to hurt her for years. Daisy sighed again, running a hand through her hair out of frustration. “I think I know who it was.”

"You overestimate the people I keep company with." He murmured, the list of people he considered 'friends' overlapping considerably with the list he was compiling of people who might have done this. Hell, they'd do it just because they thought it might be funny. But still, as unlikely as it seemed to him, he supposed it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that it had been directed at Daisy. She would know better than he would. "Yeah, well, Mary probably thinks I personally saw to the demise of Mr. Evans." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Severus hadn't really meant to bring up the night of Christmas Eve, but it had certainly been a turning point in his and Mary's relationship. They hadn't been friends for quite some time, but now things were distinctly more frosty between them. But he had to agree, he wasn't sure Mary was cruel enough for something like this. Black or Potter, however…. 

As she pulled back, his hands fell away from her, running gently over her shoulders and down her arms where they rested lightly. He might not have been the one to have been broken up with, but the thought wasn't a pleasant one, regardless. He huffed slightly at her comment, although he wasn't worried in the least about it. Severus listened to everything, especially Daisy. Proving himself would probably be the easiest part of his day. "If you're sure." He agreed easily, not having loved the prospect of having to eat in to begin with. He bristled slightly at the idea of running into whoever had done this, and his anger rose to the surface once more. "I should be so lucky." He growled, the ways he would make them pay flashing through his mind. His hand dropped to grab her own, turning slightly to go, but her next words stopped him in his tracks and he turned back, his eyes flashed up to hers. "Who?" He demanded. 

As much as she hated the idea of not seeing him all weekend, she figured he would enjoy having some alone time. Daisy smiled, glancing back to him just in time to catch the smirk on his lips. Good, maybe he was finally feeling better. "It won’t be counter productive if I can help you.” She giggled, turning her attention back to the bush in front of her. “But, you can still come see me if you want to, or if you miss me. Because I know I’m definitely going to miss you.” It would be weird going all weekend not seeing him after spending every day with him for the last little while, but maybe it would be good for them to have some time apart. Looking into the basket to inspect his work, Daisy nodded and pointed to the wall where she had hung the knotgrass. “Bundle them, tie them together and hang them up there, please.” She instructed, “And after that, you can do the exact same thing with the wormwood.” She smiled, realizing that things were moving much quicker than she had expected them to and she was very thankful for Severus’ help.

Dropping another handful of berries into the basket, Daisy sighed and turned to him. “Are you ready to tell me what actually happened yet?” She asked, the words falling from her before she could stop them. She couldn’t help but to be curious, there had to be more to the story than what he had told her, it didn’t sound like Sirius to just attack him out of nowhere. “I don’t mean to pry, but something doesn’t seem to add up to me and I just want to know if there’s something you’re not telling me.” She frowned and began picking berries again. “I won’t be upset if there is something else… Like if you started it, or something along those lines.”

He nodded once, succinctly, before taking his basket to the wall where she'd instructed, finding the twine along the workbench and setting to it. It was just as tedious as picking the damn things had been, although he was glad for the opportunity to stretch his legs. He was used to standing while working, after all. "I might have a few moments to spare in the evening." He conceded, although he was careful not to commit to anything. The last thing he wanted was to upset her again, and he was fairly certain now being able to show up when he'd said he would might prove just the ticket. 

His fingers moved quickly, twisting the twine into expert knots around near identical bundles - this he was much more familiar with. "Asking after something I've chosen not to talk about is the definition of prying." He said coldly, stiffening at the turn in conversation. Still, he supposed he'd prefer she hear his version over the damned dog's, and he wouldn't put it past her to go ask him next if she didn't get an answer from Severus. His lip curled slightly even before he spoke, though he kept his head bent toward the plants before him. "I don't go looking for fights, if that's what you think of me." He clarified, trying to keep his voice neutral although, admittedly, not doing a very good job at it as his earlier anger started to return. "All I did was talk to him, and his answer was a fist to the face." Severus spat, taking his frustrations out on the plants beneath his fingers as his movements became far less gentle. "It's not my fault the man has never been able to handle the truth."

Regulus nodded, glad to hear that their fight had nothing to do with him. Perhaps Sirius would have held back if he wasn’t already in his feelings over what happened between them, but he could never know that for sure, and decided it was better not to think about it. He didn’t come here to think about his brother, after all, he came to forget. “You’re not wrong.” Regulus agreed half-heartedly, taking another drag off his cigarette followed by another drink. The best way to forget was to get drunk, and the faster that happened, the better.

Wanting a subject change, Regulus decided to turn to something that was as far away from his brother that he could think of: Severus’ relationship. There was no way that asking about his girlfriend could somehow turn back to Sirius, right? “How’re things with Daisy?” He asked, finding he was genuinely curious. Although he had only met her a couple of times, he did like Daisy, and felt she was rather good for Severus. He still had no idea what a nice girl like her saw in him, but that wasn’t any of his business. “The two of you have been spending an awful lot of time together, I’m starting to get jealous.”

"Of course I'm not wrong." Severus scoffed, rolling his eyes as his hands gripped his glass tighter, getting riled up about it all over again now that it was at the forefront of his mind. He scowled into his beer, relaxing his grip and stretching his fingers once he noticed he was quite literally white knuckling the thing. The last thing he needed was to go back to Daisy with another injury, let alone from shattering a glass due to nothing but his own temper. "We should put him in his place." He grumped, taking a long drink before meeting Regulus' gaze once more. "Six feet under." He murmured darkly, his eyes drifting over his friend's bruises. He didn't know which made him angrier - the fact that Sirius had hit Regulus, or himself. 

He let out a blustery sigh, shrugging slightly at the mention of Daisy. "Fine." Severus leaned forward, placing his chin in his palm. Honestly, things had been going rather well lately - their last real argument having been at the festival, but it had been peaceful since. Severus snorted, about to mention the free pass he'd been given for the weekend when another memory surfaced, one that had slipped his mind while he'd been worked up over Sirius, but it was undoubtedly more troubling. "You know someone impersonated me and broke up with her?" He asked, expression darkening again. Daisy had mentioned her suspicions, and he had to admit he thought she may be right, but he wasn't sure he wanted to air them out loud. Not just yet, anyway. After all, Sylar was one of their own, and he was fairly certain that Regulus' opinion of the man was much higher than his own. No, it was best to feign ignorance on that particular front. After all, he wasn't certain it was him, anyway. "Had a right time calming her down after that one." 

Daisy stared at Severus, standing completely still as she tried to wrap her brain around what was going on. Nothing made sense to her, if it wasn’t Severus she had spoken to at the Leaky, who was it? Why would they do something so terrible to her? To answer his question - no, she absolutely wasn’t feeling okay. She was confused and hurt and she was certain Severus was angry at her for not listening to him. She should have just believed him in the first place, she should have known he wouldn’t lie. Not to her, anyway. But it felt so real, they knew exactly what to say to hurt her. “I’m sorry,” Daisy sniffed as he reached for her and she took another step towards him, letting him wrap his arms around her.

It did make her feel a little better to know he didn’t really want to break up, but it didn’t make her any less confused about the whole situation. Daisy sighed and wrapped both of her arms around him tightly, resting her head against his chest. “I still don’t understand what’s going on.” She admitted softly, not pulling away from him as she spoke. “Whoever it was, they looked just like you. And they knew exactly what to say to hurt my feelings. Why would anybody do that?” There were quite a few people that didn’t necessarily approve of their relationship, but why would anybody go out of their way to hurt her like this? “You promise you still love me?” It almost felt stupid to ask, but she still couldn’t be certain until she heard him say it. Pulling back slightly, just enough to look up at him, Daisy sighed again. “I’m sorry I got upset with you, whoever I spoke to at the Leaky did a good job imitating you.” Her head shook, a tiny smile hitting her lips for a moment, “Be prepared to answer security questions every time we see each other now, because I’m never going to believe it’s actually you anymore.”

He could feel himself relax - slightly - as Daisy let him wrap his arms around her and he held on tightly. But he couldn't deny the anxiety gnawing at his gut at what had happened. He'd solved one problem, but now he had another to focus on. Someone was impersonating him, and he might not know who or why, but he knew it couldn't be good. "I don't know. I suppose I've made someone quite angry." He sighed slightly. It wouldn't be the first time, after all, and he hadn't the faintest where to even start in order to narrow down the prospects. "I'd wager they're trying to hurt me, not you." Severus clenched his jaw at the thought of Daisy being caught in the crosshairs again, and took a deep, steadying breath as a thought struck him. "The bruises, though." He murmured, furrowing his brow as he planted a lingering kiss to her hair, distracted. How well could this person know him, if they didn't know that much? They’d clearly not even done much research beforehand, which only confused him further.

He shook himself, deciding to devote his time to it later, when he was alone. "I promise." Severus huffed at her question, but answered gently nonetheless. "I love you." He nodded once, his arms tightening reflexively around her for a second. Plus, if he were going to break up with her, even he would have the decency not to do it in public, although he figured that particular thought probably didn't need to be voiced at the moment. "I think that wise." He agreed, no matter how frustrating the practice would probably prove to be. Was it supposed to be this difficult? Just to simply be together? Some days it seemed as if the universe itself was trying to tear them apart. He sighed heavily as his stomach grumbled, not keen to let her go, but he took a slight step back. "I would still like lunch, though, if that's alright. We can stay in."