POLARIS / FIDELIUS

Her head canted slightly; but there was no time to ask questions if what the wizard said was true. She couldn’t stay in this forest, and though she supposed she could try to press on, the mere thought of it made her hooves ache.

“I will go with you…” she finally said, and waited for him to lead the way out from between dark, twisted trees and gnarled roots, stepping carefully as she followed.

The unicorn was silent a long time, wary and fending off a growing anxiety. “What sort of creature would feed on a unicorn? We’ve been captured…had our horns stolen from us…harpies and manticores may try to kill us and take our forests, but never…feed on us.”

His wand cast a pale light over the leaves that coated the forest floor, the senescent musk of their decay lingering in the autumn air. ❝ You are the last of your kind in this forest, ❞ he muttered. ❝ The others have been killed or have fled. ❞ Truthfully, he had been surprised to stumble upon her, thinking there were none of them left, and thus had quickly leapt to the conclusion that she had come from afar and was therefore unaware of the dark rumors that had surrounded Hogwarts of late.

       It comes naturally to me, I suppose. And there, brewing somewhere in the middle of Regulus’ very small chest was a bubble of jealousy. For Severus to already have discovered an innate talent of his was enviable. It was not that Regulus was untalented or unfortunate in any way but he wanted more for himself than the things he already recognized. Look at your brother. Look at Sirius. He’s magnificent! And what are you? 

      Severus offered a more practical explanation than Regulus had ever expected and he tipped his head back, imagining the scene unfolding in front of him. It was a thing of trust, wasn’t it? It was easy to pass galleons over the countertop in exchange for goods but one was assuming that the goods were of high quality. It was one thing to purchase a coat made of faulty fabrics and another to ingest potentially fatal substances… or improper substances that failed to do what they promised.

      “It sounds like a lot, though,” he noted, twirling his finger in the air, “Because unless you have knowledge of every potion and every ingredient then how would you know? You’d really have to be certain. Is it really practical for a person to memorize every potion there is? I suppose you could specialize but then, what if you’ve missed something…” too many questions. Much too many.

      “… That’s very clever, though,” he whispered, “Incendio. It’s…” he wouldn’t have thought of it, himself. “Is that what you want to do? Be a duelist? Or maybe, I suppose, making potions is what you’re after…

      “Maybe I can buy them from you!”

❝ Well see, that’s the most important part of why you’ve got to know them, ❞ Snape insisted, bobbing excitedly on the balls of his feet. ❝ Especially with the more complex potions... it’s almost impossible even for the most skilled witch or wizard to counteract them. It’s not all so simple as casting a spell most of the time; that only works on the simplest of potions. ❞ 

Had he given himself pause to think past the sheer excitement of a welcoming ear and the signs of friendship, he might have realized that his was, perhaps, the only person aside from Lily who had ever cared to know his thoughts. There had been many a time of course, where his attention had been sparked by the usual interests of a child - a curious beetle, the goings on of the local playground - but his childish enthusiasm had only served to anger Tobias and irritate the perpetually tried nerves of his mother. He had learned to stay silent - but he had thoughts, many of them, and he desperately wanted to be heard.

CLEVER - he had called him clever... he was taken aback a moment by the praise, unsure of how to welcome such a thing but, after a moment, he effused happiness and confidence. ❝ Do you really think I could? ❞ He asked, voice tinted by hope. ❝ Would you really? Would you really buy them? ❞  

Yeeeah he do sex