Caught in the Undertow [Open]

[SEVERUS SNAPE]

Severus Snape entered a spare bedroom at Grimmauld Place. There were plenty of them to go around and he had sort of claimed this one as his own. It was sparsely decorated, which suited him just fine because he had no need for any unnecessary furniture. Aside from the normal Slytherin-esque knick-knacks about the area, there was only one thing there that didn't belong: it was a small chibi-sized plush Harry Potter toy. It looked exactly like the boy from the Gryffindor robes to the lightning bolt scar. This was the only thing that kept him sane these days.

If he acknowledged the fact that Lily's son was dead then he would lose it. He figured the same thing would happen should he ever see Hogwarts in ruins, which was why he avoided the former castle/school like the plague... It had been bad enough just to skim a glance at it in the papers; just to hear the Death Eaters talk about what had happened with a note of pride and no hint of remorse. He shook his head forcefully as he tried to rid these thoughts from his brain; it was getting harder every time just to do so. As Snape picked up the plush toy of Harry Potter he couldn't help but to wonder if perhaps he was already mental, except he was unaware of it at the moment.

"Potter, you insufferable brat, you had me half-mad with worry. When will you learn to stay in your place?" Severus drawled out in a sneer. He must have sounded utterly cracked, but he didn't care.

He whacked the plush Potter in the back of the head. It was a surprisingly gentle move despite his known hatred for the Golden Boy (as Snape had called him on occasion in the past) and the fact that it was just a toy instead of an actual person. If he just pretended that Potter was still alive then the pain wasn't as bad anymore. Severus dropped the plush Potter in a chair and fixed him/it with a scowl.

"I know it must be frustrating, but this is for your own good, Potter."

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Tag: Open
Words: 355
Location: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; Random Bedroom
Notes: ---

[cassiejayce]

Cassie was bored. There was really not a whole lot to do while waiting. One can only read books so many times, and while she wasn't supposed to be even upstairs yet, Cassie decided to explore the house. The bedroom area seemed interesting. there was a stair case leading up to the hallway with the rooms. Cassie knew she shouldn't go upstair without permision, But after all this was the Black family home before it became order hq, and she was related to the blacks thro marriage. Would it really hurt if she just walked around and not went inside the rooms she wondered. "I should really have asked taylor if it was ok.." She said to herself. then she heard some one speaking upstairs. She slowly pulled out her wand, and took a deep breath and walked towards the speaking. She stopped at the door where it was comming from and knocked. She figured that it couldn't have been Snape, Snape wasn't always there, but it was "his" room the sound was comming from.

"Hello? anyone there? this is private property, and if you do not leave, i will call the police!" she said to the sound. No answer. "Again i repeat, this is private property! you need to leave!" She said with more force. still no answer. She decided to knock again on the door. When no one answered again, Cassie called out for backup.

She KNEW she'd get in trouble but at least she could make it up to the people of the order. "professor Snape?! Are you there? there's some one in the bedrooms! i don't know who it is.. can you please come help me? i'm scared to go in there alone. Well i'm not scared, but i don't want to get into a fight with a werewolf with out you!" She said half joking. She had no idea inside the room was Prof. Snape, slowly going mad. Cassie had never liked the greasey haired bat faced git in school, but she did feel a part of her was lost when the school was destroyed,Same as Prof. Snape. The carefree days of walking the halls were over. That's when she thought about the voice... the terms.... it all sounded like Prof. Snape, so Cassie called up the stairs, "Professor snape?? are you home? i'm stumped on how to make a Poly juice potion!" That would get the old professors attention. Poly juice potion wasn't something a first year student, Let alone a former 6th year student, should be brewing, and cassie wanted someone to talk with, someone to discuss theory with, or to try and make her laugh. "is it 2 or 3 drops of leach blood? i can't find it in my notes!"

[SEVERUS SNAPE]

Caught in his scenario, Severus Snape didn't hear the knock at the door nor the voice that called out to him. He was momentarily lost in his own head; struggling between what was real and what was just fantasy... It actually took a minute for him to break out of the trance. He looked around the room briefly as if not fully understanding how or why he had come to be here. He couldn't remember the reason for his actions and that scared him. He didn't even know the time, the day, or even the month... Had seconds passed or hours? He wasn't sure. He gave a slow blink as he took back his control - whatever was left of it, that is - and leaned forward somewhat at the sound of his name.

"Professor Snape??" The title grated on his nerves. As if he needed reminding that he no longer taught Potions or had, at one point, been the Head of Slytherin; as if he desired to remember the fact that Hogwarts was no more and had been reduced to rubble by the bloody Dark Lord. "I'm stumped on how to make a Polyjuice Potion!" That got his attention.

So, without further ado, Severus pulled open the door and stuck out his head. He was surprised when he was met by Cassandra Malfoy who was standing out on the landing. She was hardly qualified to brew a Polyjuice Potion... It was a dangerous and temperamental concoction and furthermore he couldn't help but to wonder why she needed it. In his opinion she was much too young to be an Order member at all since she was sixteen, but there was nothing that he could do about that because there really wasn't anywhere else she could go.

"Why on earth would you even have need of a Polyjuice Potion?"

---

Tag: Cassie
Words: 307
Location: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; Random Hallway
Notes: ---

[cassiejayce]

Cassie grinned. "ah, KNEW that would work. Cassie is majorly bored and in need of Great Snape's knowledge. that and i have a very cunning plan.... so cunning, you can cut it with a knife" She said with her trademark laugh, the laugh that had made Snape wish the young girl had never been accepted.

Cassie's mother's laugh, the laugh that followed a prank from James Potter, or a silly joke told by someone, and here was this little first year girl with that very same laugh. "i want to know what my mom looked like. figured i could use a poly juice potion to become her." she said. Cassie really truly missed her mother, she though it wasn't fair. Snape and all of them got to know her longer then she did! It really wasn't fair,but then life never is. "Actually i was wondering if i could borrow your notes..." She said rubbing the back of her neck.

That was always a sign Cassie was avoiding the real reason. She wanted to belt snape right in that hook nose of his. Then it happened. Her mental wall she'd built up cracked,not that it was hard for snape to peek into one's head. "Professor, I have something for you. it's not very good, but it's all i have.. i want to share a memory i have of my mom with you if it's ok?"

[SEVERUS SNAPE]

Snape merely raised an eyebrow at her. The trademark laugh that so resembled her mother's didn't bother him as much as Cassie thought it did. Of course he had been close to Allison mostly in part because of his relationship with Lucius Malfoy, but he had dealt with that part of his past. He had only ever been extremely close to Lily and after she had died, Severus cut himself off from ever having any real friends so he wouldn't be hurt again. At the girl's request he pursed his lips for a moment.

"Surely your Uncle has shown you pictures of your mother, yes? The Polyjuice Potion won't work without a snippet of her hair and that would be pretty hard to obtain..."

His tone was emotionless and neutral. He didn't mean to sound cruel by bringing up the fact that Cassie's mother was dead. Although Purebloods were known to hoard anything material, it wasn't very common for them to keep something as simple as a snippet of hair. Severus stared down his long and crooked nose at the girl when she made the second request. Both of his eyebrows went up at that for anyone who knew him well was aware of the fact that he guarded his notes jealousy ever since his copy of Advanced Potion-Making had fallen into the wrong hands... Now if he figured out a new short-cut to one of his brews or had invented a new spell he mostly protected such information in his head, unless he absolutely needed to write it down and then he shielded it as strongly as he was able to.

He knew she was avoiding whatever had compelled her to see him. Severus inclined his head somewhat, silently agreeing with her that it was all right. "Very well. Come with me." He retreated back into the bedroom and waited.

---

Tag: Cassie
Words: 308
Location: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; Random Bedroom
Notes: ---

[cassiejayce]

Cassie followed him inside the room. "i'm guessing this was Regulas' old room." she said looking around the room. "good pick for someone that was in Slytherin" She grabbed a chair and sat down. "this would have been like my room at home, if i was in slytherin like a good little malfoy, but i'm not. Now the gift i have for you. i was thinking about my mom and this memory popped into my head. She basically braced herself for the spell and couldn't help but hope that snape saw a softer side to her mom, other then the tag along little sister. the Lady she was with Cassandra. She only hoped that it would get his mind off of potter, that and she had a susprise for him. Lilly potter was in the memory. she only hoped it didn't make him sadder. Memories of people we lost tend to do that to us,but now it was Cassie's turn to show him a memory.

[SEVERUS SNAPE]

Snape remained as blank and impassive as ever when she followed him into the room a few seconds later. He merely raised an eyebrow at her first comment. He wasn't sure if this had been Regulus's old room or not nor did he care. The decor suited the prestigious Black family name and led Severus to believe that this place had once been used in the past by the youngest member of the house rather than being turned into what it was now... Everything from the green Slytherin banners to the snakes that were etched into the bed posts and some other things that were even less savory spoke volumes. The paintings, for example, depicted blood and gore; decapitation; and the 'impure' being taught their proper place. They weren't moving as the Magical portraits did (as a matter of fact they were downright Muggle in nature), but they looked very real regardless. The former Potions Master stared at Cassie for a bit, still not comprehending why she was here or even the reason behind her reaching out to him.

Such a thing was uncommon and unheard of where Snape was concerned. He hardly radiated a sense of calm or understanding and he had been cruel towards the girl as he had been towards everyone else in his life. Somehow this wasn't making sense to him. He pursed his lips for a moment at her words for he had a feeling about what she wanted him to do. She spoke of a memory that had popped into her head about her mother and then braced herself, as if expecting him to pry it from her mind. Severus did no such thing. He was against invading privacy since he valued it above all else; it was a thing he had rarely had in his lifetime so now he took pains to stay aloof in order to protect himself. He wasn't very good at Legilimency either, but his eyes spoke differently because he seemed to have the power to know what someone was thinking sometimes or, when that failed, he had the ability to seemingly peer into someone's soul.

It just came from practice. Snape couldn't read minds willy-nilly. He had to cast the spell first and then delve past any barriers that were there. Sometimes he couldn't even do that much. Shielding made it difficult for him to glean anything more than a couple of useless memories and a natural - such as himself - was out of his league. Dumbledore had only taught him Legilimency because it went hand-in-hand with Occlumency and it had been a useful power to learn. He eyed Cassie for a long moment before he decided to fall back on the defensive.

"What are you talking about?"

But what she was talking about Severus would never know for at that EXACT moment, his Dark Mark seared painfully across his left forearm. His right hand flew out to clutch at the writhing tattoo beneath his robes and his body tensed for a moment. He squared his shoulders and cursed to himself silently. None of his reaction ever touched his face. It was oddly closed-off from the rest of the world at the moment; his mind focusing on somewhere far away from Grimmauld Place.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." His voice was clipped and his breathing was short.

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Tag: Cassie
Words: 555
Location: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; Random Bedroom
Notes: ---