catalyst;

(   ╾   ★        she seemed relatively confident that they would, which ( in turn ) made him want to concede to her confidence & accept the very real possibility that she was on the right track. “what do we do in the meantime, though ??” remus inquired curiously, absentmindedly reaching for his bag. if he’d been alone, he would have retrieved his tablet once again & found a digital book to lose himself in. but considering that emmeline had parked herself next to him, that particular option would ( no doubt ) be seen as rude. but╾he supposed they could always play wizards’ chess.

“Anything we want to,” Emmeline supplied with a shrug. She glanced toward the bag he’d placed his hand on and inclined her head toward it. “Do you have anything interesting in there? Besides books, I mean. We don’t want to put the squid to sleep or anything.” The water in front of them still looked incredibly still, but she wasn’t going to lose faith quite yet. No one liked being ignored, and the squid shouldn’t be an exception.

Rather than being greeted by her father’s face, she instead saw entirely darkness. “Hello?” she asked, brows furrowing in confusion. She could hear rustling sounds, and the vague hints of talking, but she received no response. “Hello?!” she asked again, irritated. “Did you seriously pocket FaceTime me?” People had to be staring at her by this point given how loud she was becoming, but she wasn’t much bothered. In fact, she turned the nearest person to her, shoving the blank screen in their face. “How can someone pocket FaceTime? Does he have a thumb on his pelvis or something?” 

being petite was not one of pandora’s favorite things. barely reaching five feet made doing certain things around the castle particularly more difficult. studying was one of those things. it might not have seemed like it, reading a book and scribbling notes was simple, after all. what wasn’t simple was needing a book on the top shelf. and, of course, she had chose to leave her wand behind, of course she had. after enough attempts of jumping and waving her hands around, she finally turned to the other person in the aisle. “d’you think you could help?“ she asked politely, cheeks turning slightly pink.

Emmeline had been paying very little attention to her surroundings while she perused the shelves in the library. Until the girl had spoken out, she had actually been under the impression that she was in this particular aisle of books on her own. Tearing herself away from her search for a specific book on the topic of magical healing herbs, she smiled warmly at the girl and pulled her wand from her robes. With a small flick of it, the volume the girl had been reaching for floating down toward her. “There you go,” she said, stuffing her wand away again. “Sorry I didn’t help before. You must think I’m quite the ass.”

A single arm wrapped around her waist as the other beneath her legs, he waited until she had put her arms around his neck before hoisting her up as they began to make their way back to the castle. “ I apologize, I chose the wrong word for the situation at hand– “ The young man paused momentarily to push her upwards slightly before they continued to walk. Or better said, he continued to walk. “ I suppose you could say my mind is a little scattered momentarily. “ Lies. His mind was entirely as it should be, calculating as ever. Green hues remained concentrated on the path before them as he carried her through rows of trees hoping they would make it onto the path sooner rather than later. 

“ What happened to you anyhow? How’d you get injured ? “ Inquiring about the source of injuries was always a way to ensure at least the image of innocence in most people’s eyes. And so Rodolphus hoped that Emmeline would believe him. This once, if ever. Truly he was innocent within this disaster, it hadn’t been of his making– that didn’t mean he did not admire the structure and execution. Thoughts were thrown aside as he continued to set one foot down before the other, making his way swiftly towards the path, and hopefully the castle soon. 

Everything about this situation felt strange to her. It wasn’t a bad feeling necessarily, but it felt like something was out of place, as though there was something she was missing. Granted, Emmeline thought, it made sense for her to feel that way. She and her friends had just been attacked on Hogwarts grounds, a place they’d always taken for granted was a safe one. Still...that didn’t feel like all that was making her unsettled. She winced, feeling a sharp sting as she was hoisted into Rodolphus’ arms. It was a brief pain, though, and she recovered quickly. 

“How do you not know?” she asked, a little surprised at the question. He may not have been around for the event itself, but she had trouble believing he’d been sulking around near their campfire too. “Someone...they cursed the fire. It turned into a dragon and attacked us all. I don’t know where it came from or where the conjurer went.”

(   ╾   ★         positively fascinated by this notion of playing hard to get╾the fact that people willingly act on it was enough to boggle the mind; it ( just ) seemed so complicated╾remus hung onto emmeline’s every word, wordlessly agreeing with the comparison. with the giant squid’s personality, perhaps pretending to no longer want that candid shot was the best way to go about getting it. “put like that╾i can almost understand its aversion to having its picture taken,” he disclosed with a faint smile. he didn’t much care for the thought of being watched either. & if he knew he could escape the attention by burying his head in the sand … well, he’d certainly be tempted. “i suppose we’ll just have to hope we get lucky this time around.” he would, at any rate, since he was the one who’d originally wanted to take the picture. 

“I’m sure we will,” Emmeline said, returning his smile and beginning to settle herself into the spot she’d picked. She would at least stay long enough to make sure her advice wasn’t some sort of grand disappointment. It would make her feel pretty guilty if she wandered onto the grounds the next day and Remus was still stuck by the water, playing hard to get with a squid. “And when it very least expects it--” She clapped her hands together, a loud crack ringing through the crisp air around them. “--you’ll get the perfect shot.”

Severus looked away. Even in his state, he knew that she did not care what he’d said, she would not be on his side. “You don’t understand.” he said, stepping back carefully, trying not to fall. He turned away from her, still unsure how he was going to get up the stairs to his room. “You want healed or not?” 

Andromeda had missed the bonfire, but was walking up a tower facing the Black Lake when she saw a burst of reds and oranges out of the corner of her eye. She and some of the other students around her stopped and looked out of the window at a big ball of flames, watching from above as the group of people ran away from whatever the hell it was. While she couldn’t identify any of the fleeing bodies (they all looked very similar from how high she was), Andromeda still took off back down the staircase and out towards the grounds. 

Her wand was already in her hand as she made it down to the ground floor, sprinting out towards the Black Lake. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, and she definitely would have trampled the person on the floor if they hadn’t spoken up. Andromeda extended an arm to help pull the girl back, up, her eyes wide and shocked. She was more worried than anything, knowing that it had to be some sort of spell gone wrong. Gryffindors were always trying to show off - though the look in Emmeline’s eyes didn’t seem like she had been the unfortunate target of a charm gone wrong. “What the hell happened? I was on my way up and-” she started, before taking note of the scorched skin on the the girl’s leg. “Lean on me, don’t even try walking on that.” 

Dark spots danced in Emmeline’s vision as she was pulled up, making her feel a little dizzy. Shaky but able to maintain her balance with the crutch of the person next to her, she took their advice and leaned against them until she could tell who exactly had stopped to help her. Andromeda, she finally noted. She shook her head at the girl’s questions. 

“I don’t know,” she responded. “We were at the bonfire, just being stupid like usual and then suddenly...” She tightened her grip on the other girl’s shoulder. “Suddenly someone was yelling about him coming and they cursed the fire. It--that’s how I got this.” She gestured to her leg. “Do you see anyone else? Did everyone get away?”

It was pride that surged through his every vein upon hearing the malicious laugh along with the announcement of the dark lord’s arrival. Corners of his lips arched upwards momentarily as his fingers immediately found their way to curl around his lower arm, the exact location where the dark mark remained prominent beneath his cloak. It was in that instant that Rodolphus also realized that it would be wise to remain silent about his ulterior motives—the school would go hunting for whomever aligned with this immediate threat. He would have to thread carefully. And so, the young man took it upon himself to turn away from the blazing inferno he so desired to admire further and make his way towards the castle hastily.

It hadn’t taken long for him to come across a loud voice yelling from the ground. And upon averting his gaze towards his feet Rod noticed a female figure crouched so close to the ground. Emmeline Vance. The dark haired individual lowered himself to the ground, without a word he pulled out his wand, “Vulnera Sanetur” and the blood began to dry up, skin began to slowly build over the blistering wound. It wouldn’t fully work its magic for a while longer, and so he looked directly into her eyes now; speaking calmly. “Alright, I’m going to lift you now. It might hurt, I need you to wrap your arms around my neck and hold on as tightly as you can.” It had always been in Rodolphus’ nature to remain calm in hectic situations, his mind being as clear as ice. “Can you trust me?”  

Emmeline jumped, having not heard the footsteps slow or the person who she’d feared would tumble over her stop. There was such a cacophony and sound wrenching through the night air, the only thing that alerted her to the fact that someone had stopped to help her was the strange feeling she felt in her leg at their spell. Immediately, her wound looked better, though still angry. As she turned to face her healer, she saw that he was staring at her in a way that nearly made her feel uncomfortable. What in the world made him look so calm in this situation? 

“I can walk,” she tried to argue, though she doubted she could so well. The wound may have been healing, but she knew the moment she applied pressure onto her leg, it would feel like it was ripping apart.  “I don’t really know if I’m in a place to trust anyone at the moment. Don’t really think I have a choice, though, so...” she sighed, extending her arms toward him. “I suppose I’ll have to.”

Severus looked up at her with concerned eyes. “Dark magic is my protection.” He said seriously. Well, as serious as he could at his state. It was something Severus held dear to him because it kept him safe. “Its not to harm…innocent people…” he tried to explain, but for Severus, sometimes words were a bit too much to explain himself, especially while he was drunk. He knew they were nearing his dormitory and he stopped in front of the door and looked at Emmeline. He was struggling to stay upright but he grasped at the wall, so he didn’t have to hold on to her anymore.

“…do it to…to…” he couldn’t get the words out. “People like Tobias deserve everything thas comin’ to ‘um.” he slurred, the words finally tumbling out of his mouth. A huge part of him loved the revenge dark magic could be used for and to give people what they deserve. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath, his eyes casting downwards.

 “I jus’ wanna be so good…so good.” he said to himself. Another part, was because of the challenge of casting such magic. Because of the way it made him feel powerful. In his situation, Severus wasn’t anyone. Everyone had hated him before he ever even cast his first dark curse. He knew dark magic made everything worse, but for Seveurs, using dark magic and writing his own spells, hell, even potions, made Severus feel like he was finally living up to some high expectation he had for himself. To be so good, they can’t ignore him. “Jus’ don’ wanna be ignored anymore.” He looked up at the girl finally, suddenly very tired. “I didn’t do…out there.” he attempted to tell Emmeline that he had no part in what had happened at the bonfire.

It was incredibly apparent that unfortunate circumstances had made the boy think the way he did. He’d just told her himself and, to some extent, she could understand. But she still didn’t see eye to eye with his reasoning. In any case, this entire conversation, along with the entire evening, was far too weird for her to fully comprehend. Of all the things she could picture herself doing after an attack like the one she and her friends had experienced, walking a drunken Severus Snape back to his dormitory while having a deep philosophical conversation about Dark Magic was probably nearly at the bottom of the list. 

Emmeline Vance // Moodboard #1

Sirius’ brow furrowed, confused, and he opened his mouth to speak just as she spoke again. His eyebrows shot up, nearly disappearing into his hair. He didn’t quite know what she was implying, there. “Emmeline.. how about you just ask what I was doing and I’ll tell you, because your realizations are just confusing me.”

“Could have sworn I already did,” Emmeline responded, a little confused herself. Maybe she was still half sleeping at this point. “But fine. What are you doing, Sirius?”

Severus awkwardly leaned against Emmeline, letting her lead him down the corridors. It was odd for Severus, to trust someone and to let his guard down. He knew drinking so much was a terrible idea before doing so and Severus didn’t usually particularly like drinking in the first place, since it slowed his reaction and exposed his true emotions. He wasn’t quite good enough at occlumency to keep everything hidden and shielded away while under the influence. But he wanted to let loose a little. He wasn’t planning on drinking as much as he did, but here he was

Severus knew laughing hadn’t been appropriate for the situation, but here he was, letting a Gryffindor walk him home because he couldn’t walk straight to save his life. It was silly, really, Severus Snape actually needing someone’s help. “Thanksss…” He drawled, letting her lead him. He felt bad for leaning so hard on her, so he tried to lighten up on her arm. “You need healing.” he stated the obvious. “Lemme….I’ve got potions…for that.” he gestured openly with his free hand. “They all think…” he paused to gather his thoughts or to take a breath, he wasn’t sure which, “All think I’m…fff-fucking the dark lord. ‘m not, swear.” he slurred, not really realizing anything he was saying and Severus was sure to regret everything in the morning.

He was right and she knew it, but she was also stubborn. It bothered her immensely that when she’d needed to conjure her ability to heal in a time of panic, she’d blanked. She was determined to fix this herself, though she knew it was stupid to think that way. Part of her wanted to say so, but she was caught off guard by the rest of his declaration. 

“ ugh— you’re killing me here, em. a'ight, how about you get into trouble away from me, so i don’t have to deal with it ? win-win. ”  letting out a laugh, lily let her head fall against the back of the chair, turning it to take a good look at her friend. it was funny, that now that the summer was over and she got to be around the people she cared about again, the witch found herself missing them more than ever. perhaps because in a few short months life would change—- there would be no  ’ i’ll see you whenever i want for nine months straight ’  when seventh year was over. adulthood was knocking, and lily was more than happy to ignore the calling until the time came.  " you’re a god-sent, emmeline vance. “  her eyes took a special glow as the redhead’s face lit up, more than happy to take the chocolate— letting out a half-groan, half-moan at the taste of the beautiful sweet. she was slightly allergic, sure, but there was no caring when she needed chocolate.  ” can i keep you forever ? “

“That’s still asking quite a lot of me, but I think I can wind up managing to get into trouble when you aren’t there. At least most of the time.” Although she was just teasing the girl, it pleased Emmeline that her gift was well-received. Though she definitely couldn’t help with much else, at least she could be a pretty good chocolate supplier most of the time. “You haven’t got any choice but to keep me forever. If you can’t even stop me from getting into trouble, do you really think you can get rid of me either?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Daisy’s lips. “It sounds like you’ve done that before,” she commented. “That does sound a bit relaxing. I might go scream my frustrations to the sky when I’m done here.”

“Oh, sometimes I do it a few times a week. It’s even better when you do it in the middle of the day and confuse all the first years wandering on the grounds. I think I may have started a few rumors that way,” she laughed. “Let me know how you like it. I’m more than willing to share my screaming spot.”

“Oh, my dearest Emmeline. It’s 2 am and I’m sneaking down in the castle for good reason. It’s a tradition, what can I say? Can’t end it seventh year.” Sirius said as nonchalantly as he possibly could, his eyes not wavering from the girl. “Also, what would I explode here? I don’t think that would be very fair to the house-elves, do you?

“Tradition?” she asked. A little confused, she took him in again. If they had been in a cartoon, a lightbulb would have popped up above her head at that moment. “Oh, God, seriously?” she asked, laughing now. “Did you--er--have a bit of wrench thrown in there?”

“If this was your attempt at comedy, I would urge you to reconsider your choices in life because I can assure you, you’re not going to make it very far.” Amycus’ expression remained as blank as was humanly possible, dark orbs directed her way as his teeth gnarled down against one another, jawline becoming more prominent in imminent anger. This feeling of rage only started to fade ever so slightly as she placed his notes back on the table once more– so she did know what was good for her after all. 

“Sorry, but I don’t think you’re the person I’d go to for an opinion on humor. I doubt you even have the capability to laugh.” It was a fairly safe assumption that she made him nearly as infuriated as he did her, but it didn’t bother her all that much at the moment. Despite his threatening nature, she’d stopped being afraid of him eons ago. “Would you quit with that face?” she added, assessing the tension on his features. “You look painfully constipated and it’s a bit disturbing.”

Severus shook his head, leaning on Emmeline. “No. m’fine.” he slurred and looked down at her leg. She appeared to be injured and Severus was sure he could probably help, if he wasn’t so damn inebriated. “Your leg.” he stated, eyes still fixated on her lower half.