During a particular year of Hogwarts, a young lady, (about 35 not too young), who went to school with sevi, turns up inquiring about teaching positions (specifically in potions or ingredient cultivator)
now mind you, before Severus liked lily, he l...
I made short work of getting to Albus. As Unicorn blood was a serious thing to find so close to castle grounds- only something of pure evil could bear to kill such an innocent creature.
Handing him the vial I swallow my nervousness, "Sir, you know what this is indicative of."
"I suspected as much," he takes the vial, examining it carefully, "-you said you found this just inside the woods?"
"Yes, I almost fell, and when I was getting my footing I found a trail of it." I hold my hands behind my back, rubbing my fingers out of habit. The scars on my back sting veraciously and I wince uncomfortably. Albus notices, turning his head to the side, "is something wrong, ethera?" He sets the crystal vial down, coming towards me.
"It's a long and complicated story sir- I just pray that it is not so." I bow my head, flashes of blood stained memories filling my mind.
////////// Voices nag in my ear, "tell us..."
Blood drips from me, as more voices chime in, "Tell Us..."
A bright flash causes me to cry out, pathetically, begging for my very existence, "I already told you, I told you everything!"
So hysterical I don't even notice that the voices have ceased, and that I was being lowered down slowly. On the cold stone table, I laid in a pool of my own blood, dark and smelly in its putrescence. It's cool congealed texture felt almost relieving against the broiling heat of my face. I laid their face down, far too weak to move.
Before my mind went completely black, a strange sight filled my vision; a strange face, with what looked like a prosthetic eye. /////////////////
The memory is lost as I pull it from my temple with my wand; like a string made of tears, glowing with a faint blue.
"You'll want this." I say, as he sets the the unicorn blood aside.
He guides me over to a scrying stand, and I drop the memory into it. I stand by, while he views the memory, rubbing the grip of my wand out of old habit; it seemed like all I could do these days, think about old habits.
A sudden gasp draws my attention, albus turns to me, eyes soft and voice softer, "I see." He immediately begins to approach his desk, "I thank you miss Felborne, I ask you to please return to Severus for the day."
"But, sir. I'm worried about what this could mean." I reply earnestly, following him.
He looks up at me again, "Trust me, everything is going to be alright." And with that, he returns to his paperwork- what looked like several envelopes in a neat stack.
Nodding, I know when to take a hint- yet as I went to the door way to leave a chill crept up my arms; shaking my head, I continued down the moving staircase. At the bottom stood a thin, pale man, dressed in copious amounts of purple robes and a quite strange hat.
"Excuse me, sorry," the man babbles, eyes ever averted, his voice a frail crackle, "you're the new potions assistant, Felborne, y-yes?"
"Oh, why yes that's me. And you are..?" I smile, facing the thin figure.
"Q-quirinus, Quirrel. D-ddefense against the dark arts." The man is practically quivering, vibrating with an odd nervous energy.
We shared a moment of uncomfortable silence before I shook my head, "it was a delight to meet you professor, but if you'll excuse me..."
"Oh-oh of course, yes, me as well." He continues to chatter as I walk away from him. What a strange little man.
/////////////////////////
The walk back to the dungeons was shorter than I'd like, and I silently dreaded coming face to face with the vile snake that was my overseer.
The ancient oaken door loomed over me, and I could feel his sour presence inside. Longing for a friend that no longer existed, I pushed the door open; he sat at his central desk, eyes down cast into a cauldron. He seemed uncharacteristically unaware of my existence, and stared into the broiling bowl with a feverish intensity, border line obsession.
My eyes watered with unspoken wishes. He never knew, how I used to feel about him. And he would never know. I break the thought into tangents over and over, eyeing his dark frame; a subconscious need for closure gnawing at the back of my mind.
"Enjoying yourself, Ethera?" His low, gritty voice plucks me from my tangents; like dunking my head neath ice water- reality rushes back into my perception.
"Maybe..?" I pause, growling for thinking aloud, "not that it matters to you, Severus." I hiss his name, returning his venomous tone from earlier this morning.
My reply is met with silence. His gaze never leaves the cauldron as I come further into the classroom.
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"What is it, that you smell, as of now?" His curious question catches me off guard. Simply tilting my head, I inhale sharply.
Freshly picked thistle, boggy pond mud. A hint of cypress sap, and stale ink.
"Daresay, is that Amortentia?" My heart sinks, as I glare daggers into the side of his head.
He seems to shift slightly, annoyed tone, "that's not, what, I asked." An impatient twitch of his hand, he leans over the cauldron again, "what, do you, smell?" He presses, rather firmly.
"I smell the lake we used to lay next to. The flowers we used to pick." My voice is shakey, as I close my eyes, recalling pleasant and painful things alike. I sigh, drawing my cloak over my shoulders, "I smell the Slytherin common rooms were we used to study almost every night together."
I crone my head down, and shake my head, "you already knew what I was going to say, why even ask me?" I scoff and again I pinch the edges of my cloak.
"Perhaps I did not, did that thought ever cross your brilliant mind?" Irritation rings out, his gaze a sharp wip, glancing from the potion back to me.
"No it didn't." I spoke frankly, it seemed to shock him. "I thought you had stopped thinking about me after that Gryffindor girl stole you away!" Anger threatened to swell in my chest, as my cheeks flushed vibrantly.
"What, even?" He shook his head furiously, "you left, no one took anything, from you."
Practically fuming, I stamped my foot before standing up, "It wasn't my choice, you have no idea what happened to me- to my family!" I growled, nearing his desk.
"You never cared, to explain, or so it seemed. As you never returned. I thought you were dead. Dead, Ethera." Eyes vile, threatening to pierce my very essence.
"After seeing how happy you were talking to that, that Lily, I figured there was no reason for me to come back." I held his stare, matching his intensity, with a firey hatred I'd held inside all these years, "now, do you have duties for me? Or am I excused, potions master."
Exasperated, he cringes slightly, "go. I expect you to return by seven in the morning." Waving his hand in a shooing motion, he turns his broad back on me.
/////////////////
I stormed back to my room, tears threatening to fall. I could understand his side of things, but his understanding it seems would be a bit harder to obtain.
