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Post by Severus Snape on Sept 11, 2009 17:21:29 GMT -5
It had been a long day, and with times as they were, there was the potential for many more of them in the days to come. There was so much to organise, and Severus Snape had to organise it right, specifically, well enough to achieve the goals of one side of this little tussle without upsetting the other overly much. He played a precarious balancing act, but it was one that he negotiated well enough.
But that had not altogether been the cause of him deciding that he needed a glass of firewhiskey right now. He had known what he was getting himself into when he had taken on the job and he was dealing with it. What he had not been prepared for was the students, which at this very moment, as he sat down in his office and poured himself a measure, he felt the school could do with less of. Specifically, it could do without whichever bright nitwit felt that it would be a good idea to burn a hole in the ceiling of the common room, which being as it had been the Slytherin common room, was right under the lake. He did not know who had done it, or how, but if it weren’t illegal to spike students’ drinks with veritiserum…he blamed Sirius. It worked for everything else.
He sighed and threw back the firewhiskey, putting the glass down and the bottle back in his drawer. He had a penchant for the drink but not for losing his mind to it, it was not wise for an occlumens to not be in control of his own mind, after all. His Mark had been growing stronger over the past couple of days, it did not burn but it would be a good idea to see what was on the Dark Lord’s mind, as much as he would share in any case. Severus was not deluded into believing that he had the Dark Lord’s ear, nor that Voldemort would not kill a Death Eater that had become a nuisance. Out of a fondness, a platonic fondness, for Narcissa, he felt that someone should make Bellatrix aware of that, but it would not be him, he was torn in enough directions as it was even without the war.
He did not have much of a chance to reflect upon this, as there was a knock on his door. He pulled his sleeve down over the Mark, commenting to himself, “If there are no trolls at the gate, I might do something remarkably unpleasant.” He raised his voice, driving out the emotion that came with that vexation, “Enter.”
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Post by Twila Kaitryn LaCroix (Landry) on Sept 11, 2009 17:49:15 GMT -5
Not even waiting for him to tell her to do so, Twila pushed the door open and smiled. "Long time no see, Sevvy." She purred, her voice turning into a slight giggle. It was as if an apparition from beyond the grave was standing in front of him- Twila had been thought to have died fourteen years ago, yet here she was in front of him, just as beautiful as always.
"Miss me?" She quirked, looking around. She looked thinner, a little more gaunt than before, but there was no denying the former Slytherin queen was there. "Sure brings back memories."
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Post by Severus Snape on Sept 11, 2009 18:17:00 GMT -5
Severus had scowled to see his door being opened before he had even called, but he quickly schooled his expression and it was a stony mask that met the visitor to his rooms. He had a gift for faces, and Twila’s ran through his mind before he gave a dry laugh, “Well, if it isn’t Belladonna, or Twila to be less melodramatic, Lucius always has had a penchant for it.” There was just the slightest sneer in that, but nothing that would see Lucius seeking revenge, one did not react in such a way to a light poke.
He folded his arms, tucking his hands within his sleeves, “Either the Bloody Baron has been showing wayward ghosts to my door or rumours of your demise were over exaggerated. Being a believer of my own eyes, I would assume the latter, which would lead to the question as to why.” He wouldn’t push it if he weren’t given an answer, though he did wonder if the Dark Lord knew both where she had gone and that she was back.
A crooked smile touched his lips, “To not miss you would be to forget you and it is hard to forget the woman who has made the one poison even I cannot to this day reverse engineer.” His eyes narrowed, just a touch, “As honoured as I am that you have visited me, Twila, it occurs to me that you made some effort to disappear, which would mean that your visit is not a random whim. May I ask why I have the pleasure of your company?”
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Post by Twila Kaitryn LaCroix (Landry) on Sept 11, 2009 18:40:45 GMT -5
"Lucius doesn't know I'm back. Not yet." Twila's voice was quiet, and she reached out a hand to pick up a glass of what looked like rat livers. She studied them, then set them back down, her hands shaking slightly. She turned her violet eyes to Severus, a strange expression crossing her face, but it was soon masked over. Something about her didn't seem right, despite the fact that had reappeared- Twila didn't have as much control over herself as she once did. The calmness that was synonymous with her in school was now completely gone.
"I'm not dead. I never had the fortune to be." She paced over to the ingredients cupboard, rummaging through it before shutting it again, not taking anything. "No one knows it, though. Or... Not yet. I suppose it will be out now. It doesn't matter." She didn't answer why. Hell, the dark lord didn't know al of it- just that she was back, and she was taking up her old position of the poison mistress.
"You flatter me. Has anyone figured out how to reverse it- or even to make it- since I was gone? I was very careful to keep it to myself, but there's always... Well, let's just say not even one's own skull is safe anymore." She quit examining things and went to stand on the other side of his desk, staring at him searchingly. "Just checking up on old... friends... Seeing where loyalties lie."
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Post by Severus Snape on Sept 11, 2009 18:59:50 GMT -5
Severus listened to Twila, watching as she looked around the office and sorted her mind out. He was slightly disturbed by her demeanour, she had always had an infallible control, he had to wonder what she had been through to lose that. She had been in school when he had, they had shared a common room as students, he would be lying if he said he had not had some form of feeling for her, as much as his mind was set on a relationship that had not seemed likely.
He raised an eyebrow as she said that she had not been fortunate enough to be dead, this could mean quite a few things, depending on what she were to choose to do. He did not chance to predict any further than the here and now, she had already showed herself to have changed. He spoke softly, “No one shall learn from my lips if you do not wish it.” He was a skilled occlumens, he could both keep that promise or lie about having kept it, but he generally liked to keep his word. He took the firewhiskey out of his desk and motioned towards a glass in invitation.
“And that would be part of the reason I have not reverse engineered it. Though people have tried to make something similar, it has never quite been successful.” He did not look away from her gaze as she came to stand opposite the desk, “The Dark Lord knows my loyalties, Twila.” He had been asked about his loyalties in the past, playing a double agent meant that they would always be in question. He brushed the topic aside, “How long have you been back?”
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Post by Twila Kaitryn LaCroix (Landry) on Sept 11, 2009 19:14:11 GMT -5
"I can trust no one, Severus." She breathed, running her fingers through her jet hair. The snake bracelet she had always worn in school was still on her wrist, but it looked as if it had been crushed by something at some point. One of the emerald eyes was missing, and the snake's body, once a perfect loop, was now dented in several places.
She moved her gaze from him, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Severus always had an eye for detail, a trait she had praised many times. He- and Lucius, of course- were the only ones that had ever seen the illegal lab she had set up in school. She had even taught Severus a few of the things she knew about poisons. She genuinely liked the man that was in front of her, and she would even- to herself, anyway- go as far as to say at one time she had had feelings for him. Feelings for anyone were beyond her now. She was too scared.
She wrapped her arms around herself tightly before taking a deep breath. "Good. He still has a use for me, then."
Her eyes flashed dangerously and she glared at him. "It's not your loyalties to him I question, Severus." She brought a strand of hair to her lips and chewed on it momentarily, the idea making her look strangely childish. "I've been 'back' for three days. You're the second I've seen... Though I was never really gone."
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Post by Severus Snape on Sept 12, 2009 6:23:26 GMT -5
Severus noticed fine details. It was what had served him well in potions and in creating jinxes, the observation of some small thing that others, even those who wrote the textbooks, missed. He gave a brief shrug, “I would say that you can trust me, but such is often a protest by those who deserve trust the least.”
Severus had found Twila easy company when they were at school. He had always been fascinated by poisons and potions, of course, and there as the fact that they had just got on. It was possible that he could have given those attempting to duplicate Twila’s poison, he not having been one of them out of respect to her, some aid. They would have come closer but it was such a complex poison that the key could only truly be given by her.
He nodded, “As I say, no one has quite succeeded, I doubt that they would without your help. I chose not to throw my own efforts into it, sometimes imitation is just that rather than flattery.”
He caught her glare and met it only with a calm demeanour, ”If you mean my loyalties to you, Twila, I have always held such above any of the other Death Eaters and that is something that has not been changed by your absence.” Again, he gave that almost careless shrug, “Of course, I am an occlumens and quite accomplished at such, so whether you believe me or not is up to you.” He reached out to touch the back of her hand as she toyed with her hair, nothing in the gesture but an attempt at giving some small measure of comfort, ”Where have you been?”
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Post by Twila Kaitryn LaCroix (Landry) on Sept 12, 2009 8:12:29 GMT -5
A glimmer of her old smile crossed her face at Severus' comment, but it was fleeting. Trading witty remarks had always been a pasttime of theirs- usually at Lucius' expense. She found Severus' views on life rather refreshing, if a tad ironic. "It's better I don't, Sevvy." She said quietly, using the nickname she always used for him. Unlike if someone else had said it, however, Twila wasn't trying to be condescending- at least, not to him. It was mere teasing.
Knowing that her little secret was still safe with her made Twila feel at least a little better. Even after all the years, she still managed to retain that one little thing, and it kept her sane. She was irreplacable, and everyone knew it. The Dark Lord couldn't kill her for going AWOL, because he would lose something too valuable. "You would have never figured it out. I'm surprised I ever did." Her lips quirked into a smile of inner humor. It had been an accident that had led her to the true ingredients of her potion. Pure accident, a careless mistake made while tired one evening.
She seemed reassured by his comment, and she nodded slowly. "Good. It is nice to know that I have at least one friend left to me."
She jumped when he touched her hand, and her eyes swung to his, wide with a momentary panic. Seeing it was just Severus- her Sevvy- she calmed down. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." She said honestly. "You'll hear it soon enough, better to from me... I'm... married... now." She spoke the word with such coldness that it was obvious there was more to the story. "Alexander. I'm sure you've met."
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