like a halo in reverse -- cissa&harp

[severussnape2]

Severus hated school.

That's not to say he hated learning, he just hated school. The whole business was largely a waste of time, as far as Severus was concerned. He'd lately spent countless hours doing homework and writing essays about things he already knew. Just thinking about it brought a scowl to his face. In all honesty, he couldn't wait for this rubbish to be over with. "Describe the seven uses for white asphodel leaves in modern potion making." ... right. He could do that in his sleep.

He wasn't quite sure when school began to get boring. Probably right around the time NEWTS came into the picture, since all they'd ever done in every single one of his classes was prepare for it, which meant endless, brain-melting review. Not for the first time, Severus thought that he could probably do a better job than his teachers, since they were currently getting paid to teach him nothing at all. For a start, Severus-as-professor would teach his students above and beyond what they were "supposed to know". Why settle for being average? Honestly, being average was boring him out of his mind.

Nevertheless, he had come to the grounds to work. It was an uncommonly warm day, for October. Severus had settled in his usual spot by the entrance to the school, nestled on the other side of a tree nearby so he would remain largely unseen by passers-by. He liked being close enough to the school to escape if any trouble happened to befall him, but that meant that pretty much everyone had to go past him to get out or in. His position was both risky and safe, but it was better than having to sprint across the grounds from some obscure hiding place whenever it began to rain.

It was mid-afternoon; Severus had skipped lunch since he also had a free period afterwards, and he had settled down in anticipation of the most arduous homework session of his life. He'd fallen a bit behind in his work since the transfers had arrived... There was something different about all of them; he just knew it, but so far he'd had nothing to base his speculations on. The lure of solving the mystery had seduced him for weeks, but he hadn't had many opportunities to speak to any of the students.

Draco Malfoy was the only one that seemed to be who he said he was. The only thing that tied him to the others was the fact that he'd arrived at the same time. It could be a coincidence, but Severus didn't really think so. Even if Malfoy was telling the truth about everything else, Severus could tell there was something missing, and he wanted to know why.

Frustrated with his work, he shifted his position on the ground, tucking his legs beneath him. Sighing, he scratched out a couple of sentences about the properties of sliced leaves as opposed to ground ones. He rubbed his eyes, tugging his shirt sleeve down. Then, he brushed a strand of hair behind his ear before writing a few more words.

If the viscosity is-

Scratching his nose briefly, he shifted again, crossing his legs at the ankle in front of him as he settled his parchment better on his legs. Putting his quill to the paper, he sat, staring at the page as if willing it to just write itself. After nothing came to him for a full three minutes, he groaned, shoving the essay away and leaning his head back on the tree.

Whatever. If he was going to be honest with himself, he had been doing more fidgeting than essay-writing anyway.

Hopelessly irritated, he wished for something, anything to happen that would pick up his spirits. Maybe then he could get some work done.

[harper]

Whoa, buddy.

Harper Marowski usually was not outside in the middle of the day, but nobody wanted to be in History of Magic, so why the hell go? Lunch had been particularly delightful - for some reason the treacle tart had been a lot more delicious here in the past than it was in the time she'd originally come from... twenty years down the road. It was kind of funny, she was beginning to realize, all of the funny little things that she'd never noticed before about her time were becoming like major differences between the past and the future... or the present... whatever she could call it. Like how the atmosphere wasn't all grim and "You-Know-Who is back, let's all just mope around". This felt more like... the calm before the storm. Like how the sun seemed to shine brighter, or the lake looked all the more inviting and less... scary.

That was probably why there was a halfway reminiscent and halfway homesick expression on Harp's face as she walked along the edge of the lake, working off her digestive system's massive intake of treacle tart and ham. Her chocolate brown eyes wandered over the landscape, and she wondered if she would have been able to do something like this in her own time. With all the grim feelings all over the castle, people couldn't do much of anything anymore. Here, everyone seemed so much more carefree... even though it was nearly as dangerous to be a halfblood or a muggleborn. It was a nice change, but there were some changes that Harper wasn't getting used to and probably never would unless she got the chance to go back. Like her parents. Her loving father, and her loving mother, and her beloved siblings that she adored so much. At this point, if Harper remembered correctly, her father hadn't met her mother yet in this time, and her only hope was that things were going to go the exact same way they did before.

But honestly, Harper didn't know what to expect. Professor Dumbledore hadn't really been big on plans to send them home, which worried her to an extent. Without them in the future, what was going to happen? If she got the chance to go back, what would she have to return to... and would she want to return to it? Would her family still be alive, or would they be in the obituaries of the Daily Prophet? Or would they be in hiding to try and save what was left of their family? Were they worried about her, or did they even know she was gone? What would they think?

Harper snorted and shook her head. No time to think about all that boring and depressing stuff. Let the brainiacs handle that sort of stuff. For now, all she wanted to do was kick back and enjoy her time here in the past, whether that time would end up being a permanent change or not. And besides, who cared? She flicked some of her long dark hair over her shoulder and started to head back for the castle. Maybe the abnormal heat was getting to her head. Besides, there were more important things to think about, like the Halloween masquerade that was coming up. Was she going to pick a date, or just fly solo? Now those were thoughts worth her addled brain.

She came back nearer to the castle and a spot of black hair on the other side of a tree, and raised an eyebrow. What was a lone Slytherin doing out here in the heat, working on his homework? Who would even want to work on homework when there was obvious good weather to enjoy? Granted, she was supposed to be in History of Magic right now, and she was mainly staying outside to avoid detection by a prefect who meant something or a professor. But there was still nice weather to enjoy, and then there was this Slytherin kid - who looked shockingly like a young Professor Snape (she snickered silently to think that he was actually in school), but decided to keep that last bit to herself. Harper sidled over to him, curious to see what kind of work had him so fixated on something else other than fun.

"Writing an essay? Really? You're doing that instead of enjoying the weather and having some real fun? I thought that snakes had to sun for at least five hours a day to survive," she remarked, her eyebrow still raised.

[`narcissa virga black]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #d3d1d1; background:url(http://i53.tinypic.com/sutzmh.jpg); width: 300px; height: 400px; -moz-border-radius: 2em; border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em; border: #d3d1d1 3px solid;] beautiful & dirty rich , Narcissa stared down at her rather filling lunch of a spinach and celery salad, freshly removed of any unwanted bites of croutons or chicken. The smallest amount of light vinaigrette was sprinkled onto it, giving the rather pathetic version of lunch something that resembled a flavor. She had taken her time eating it. Most of the students crowded into the Great Hall stuffed their faces and rushed through meals. They had a short lunch time, it was true, but if you planned correctly the time could be spent tasting and enjoying food rather than merely shoving sustenance down their throats. Narcissa wasn’t a big food taster, as displayed by her lacking lunch but she preferred taking her time instead of packing her gut. She took her sweet time today, even more so than usual. Each bite and each sip of cranberry juice was savored and appreciated. She even had spread out a copy of Witch Weekly next to her bowl and was able to read the articles rather than skimming them. There was a wonderful section on charms to remove freckles or at least fade them a few shades. ‘Cissa bent the corner of the page and made a mental note to give them a try. She did not have many freckles, but the ones she did have stood out in a most unseemly way. She normally didn’t take her time as she did right now but she had no intentions of going to her next class. She’d gone beyond avoiding the new Potion’s Master to now pushing her limits with him. At first, today, her intention had been to simply where street clothes beneath her school robes. And then she’d forgotten her school robes when she noticed a brand new edition of the magazine on one of her roommate’s bedside table. By the time she’d gotten to this point in her lunch she decided she just wasn’t going to go to class today. Potions was her last class for the day and she simply did not want to go. Of course, not attending class was another step past the line. She’d stuck to ignoring deadlines and talking back until now. When her salad was gone the Great Hall was already almost empty. The bell signaling the start of after-lunch classes had gone off and sent the students fleeing for fear of their teachers almost a full fifteen minutes ago. She had watched them go, waving a few of her classmates along when they’d stopped to wait with her to walk to class. She had, unlike them, no intention of sitting down in the cold dungeons when one of the last few days of warmth was happening (another reason on her list of why she shouldn’t go to class; she should really write them down for future reference). She stood up and slid the newly acquired magazine into her leather bag, smoothing out her skirt in the process. She checked her stockings for runs, her boots moving against the stone of the floor with ease. She was proud of her appearance from the ribbon in her hair to the heavy black-diamond earrings down to the black leather high heeled pumps the laced from toe to mid-calf. The way she walked from the hall and out the entrance hall door displayed as much, though her confident stride was slightly hindered by the soft soil and last puff of fresh grass. Her nose was up in the air even as she searched around to find a place dry and comfortable enough to sit. Narcissa couldn’t help but notice the small commotion starting just a stone’s throw away from her. She took a few more steps in the direction of the girl speaking. She’d just barely caught what she had said but references to snakes meant that she had to be harassing one of her own house. She felt a protective tender about the ones who needed protection. Many wouldn’t believe it and they’d wonder why and how. Perhaps it was because she was raised to be a mother and a wife. Perhaps it was merely because predators protected their own and Slytherins were all predators. She strode up, sneering slightly. Of course the girl was a Gryffindor. How stereotypical. They always felt the need torment and torture the kids in green who then retaliated. And then who got blamed? Hmmm. She recognized the boy beneath the tree just as she opened her mouth to speak. “One can enjoy the sun while doing work. But I have the strange feeling at least one of you is supposed to be inside in a classroom and I know it isn’t Severus. Why would one skip class to do more work? Shall I dock fifteen points and send you off Miss…?” She asked, dropping her bag next to Severus and crossing her arms. Her wand was sticking out of a side pocket, the glittering of the diamond end clearly visible in the afternoon light. WORDS: 828 WEARING: Click! credit to hay shay ! at caution 2.0

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[severussnape2]

Somewhat astonished at being thus addressed, and by a Gryffindor of all people, Severus just looked at the girl who had spoken to him. With the odd mood he was in, if he reacted any other way he might do something stupid and hex her. Or worse; he might just laugh in her face.

This is what school did to him. It gave him insane visions of doing completely erratic things just to assuage the ever-present boredom he'd been subjected to for so long.

Despite the odd paths his mind was wandering, he maintained control of himself enough to give her a cursory glare before turning away to grab his essay from beside him, intending to simply ignore her. Honestly, he didn't even know who she was, which meant she couldn't possibly be all that important, now could she? However, that plan was made rather obsolete by the arrival of Narcissa, who promptly stuck her nose straight in the air and spoke to the Gryffindor as if she were a grass stain on her summer dress. Not that Severus found that to be such a horrible tragedy, but it seemed like the sort of superficial event that would infuriate Narcissa.

As amused as he was at Narcissa's preparations for war, he was in no mood to get in the middle of it. He could sit there all afternoon and name all the things he would rather be doing than listen to a couple of girls squabble about hair accessories, or whatever it was that girls found insulting.

He had begun thinking of ways to tactfully escape the situation when he took a closer look at the Gryffindor girl. She was a transfer, he was positive about that. He remembered her from when Dumbledore had announced the "new students"... she had sat down at the Gryffindor table with such an obvious air of belonging there that nobody at the table had had the heart to tell her she was sitting with all the second years. She apparently had all the bravado that was typical to Gryffindors, and an over-inflated sense of self-importance to boot.

But... she was also a transfer. Against his better judgement, that one fact compelled Severus to stay. He was beyond curious about them, and he had just been waiting around for the right person to squeeze information out of. If this girl was as headstrong and impulsive as every other Gryffindor Severus had met, then there was a chance that she would let some little piece of information slip. Severus would regret it if he left now, before he'd had a chance to find out anything.

That didn't mean he wanted to be the center of attention, either. It was interesting that Narcissa would assume Severus to be free of blame automatically, though, of course, in this instance, he was entirely blameless, but he had no idea why he had received such a glowing recommendation from her. Perhaps it was simply House loyalty, or she was prone to exaggeration, but, regardless, it made him a bit uncomfortable. He had no idea why he should feel that way, though.

"Now, now," he commented patronizingly, his haughty smirk directed toward the transfer girl. "You know Gryffindors aren't taught proper manners, Narcissa. It's not their fault that their entire house is full of arrogant fools who haven't even the decency to attend their classes."

"If you'll excuse me," he said with mock courtesy. "I fully intend to take advantage of my superior wizarding education, even if you-" He pointed to the Gryffindor girl with the feather end of his quill, the movement screaming disdain. "-do not."

Casting a dry look at both of them, he made a show of going back to his work, though he was still listening quite intently to whatever it was that was left to be said.

[harper]

The second someone's voice reached Harper's ears, she huffed and looked over her shoulder to see a petite blond coming towards them. And the second she was near enough, her eyes zeroed in on the green and silver on her badge and resisted the urge to groan. These Slytherins - it was like they were multiplying, and that they were everywhere. Not to mention they had like a homing device that seemed to call them to one another, like when one of them was in trouble or needed a hand. Then again, Harper had no intention of bullying Snape or getting him in trouble, she was only asking an honest question. So immediately the Gryffindor crossed her arms defensively and allowed herself to glare at the Slytherin prefect, not feeling generous towards her at all. Why she had to assume that she was being cruel was beyond Harper.

"No, you really shan't," Harper retorted in response to her threatening to take away points. Her eyes narrowed at the blond, most certainly not missing that her wand was sticking out for everyone to see. She wasn't entirely sure if that was meant to be a threat or not, but Harp was most certainly not one to be scared off by such a display. If anything, this made her want to stand her ground more, especially considering as now her bravery might be in question. "And for future reference, History of Magic does not constitute as a legitimate class considering as the history of this world is boring and ridiculous and I would even rather spend my time listening in Muggle studies about World War I, so I'd suggest you simmer down, princess."

Honestly, these guys really didn't know how to take a joke. At least in her time, there were a larger number of Slytherins that were reasonably tolerable, and while they happened to be just as high-and-mighty as these blokes, they at least weren't so vicious. Harper felt like she was a bird about to be trapped in a cage, almost ganged up upon by Snape and this blond. Come to think of it, she did look reasonably familiar, with that hair of hers she almost looked like... hm. Maybe this was Narcissa Malfoy, or, as Harper remembered, Narcissa Black around this time. At least, that was who she was, wasn't it? Really, she wasn't really a girl to be too interested in who was who in the past... the only people she cared about were really those of her own time, mainly because they all had to look out for each other here in this alternate time period. Especially considering everything seemed so much more versatile and dangerous here, even if the stakes were higher back home. It was probably part of the reason why Harper felt so threatened at the moment. The Slytherins... they were different in this time period. They weren't afraid to get nasty. Not that Harper wasn't afraid to get nasty right back.

Harper rounded a glare back at Severus, her chocolate brown eyes alight. She recognized a good insult when she saw one, but considering as this one was aimed at her, she was not so pleased. "I'd rather be in a house of arrogant fools than in a house full of evil worms like yours," she snapped. "You two are acting like I skip all off my classes, which is clearly not the case." She now uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips, and she couldn't help but feel like she was being looked down upon. But then again, Slytherins often did that, didn't they? Or maybe that was just a pureblood thing. Harper honestly didn't know, considering as she was neither of those things.

"I wasn't trying to start trouble. I honestly wanted to know why you'd want to write an essay on such a beautiful day. Obviously it's beyond the pair of you why someone would be curious why people don't want to have fun, considering fun for you people seem to be ambushing Gryffindors and abusing powers that you apparently don't deserve." Harper had rounded her attention back on who she believed to be Narcissa. "And in case you were curious, it was Miss Harper Marowski, for your apparent lack of information."

[`narcissa virga black]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #d3d1d1; background:url(http://i53.tinypic.com/sutzmh.jpg); width: 300px; height: 400px; -moz-border-radius: 2em; border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em; border: #d3d1d1 3px solid;] beautiful & dirty rich , Narcissa’s baby blue eyes flickered between Severus and the girl quickly. “One expects them,” She began as her eyes finally settled on the Gryffindor rather than Severus. “To, at bare minimum, pick up some half-hearted semblance of manners. They spend enough time around good, decent people at this school –don’t they?” The blonde clicked her tongue and shook her head, as if she was addressing the cookie-sneaking habits of a small child. Of course, that’s how many of this girl’s house did act. They were all childish, she believed. They were better, she supposed, then those that belonged to Hufflepuff (there was little worse than being in a house made for people who weren’t wanted elsewhere) but that was the only redeeming thing about being a member there. She ignored the girl’s first comment her way. There was no point in beginning a nitpicking fight about it. Narcissa could and would take points from this girl whether she told her to or not. Merely telling her that she wouldn’t wasn’t going to do anything to stop her. In fact, it made the task all the more appealing. Of course, the second part of her declaration and protestation was so ridiculous that Narcissa had to not only comment, but she had to laugh. It was a small, cold laugh. The smile that spread across her lips was not one of frivolous joy or rampant playfulness. “One cannot decide that a class is illegitimate because it is dull. I find many a person to be dull and ridiculous but they do not suddenly disappear. It is just like you lot to find something distasteful and scoff it off thinking you can get away with it. No matter how boring something is it is better than hearing about animals fighting with each other. Perhaps if you find magical culture and history so boring you ought to leave it behind and run off with your muggles.” Narcissa sniffed, a sneer slowly replacing the small smile. She took offense to the comment, perhaps more so because she was already annoyed by the girl. It was a slight on all Wizarding history and culture, the way this girl treated the class. Yes, it was boring. But never would Narcissa would never replace that class with one about muggle culture and history. It was insulting and disgusting. She did take things against her culture and blood personally. She was raised that way. She was proud of her heritage and of being a witch. Her family worked to preserve their culture. Blood traitors were eliminated; squib children were euthanized at a young age. And it was all to have some prissy little Gryffindor slight a class on their history. “We’re not worms. We’re snakes. If your slow, malformed, and childish mind cannot even grasp the difference in those two things you shouldn’t be at any school for higher learning, nevermind Hogwarts. Perhaps you’d do better on your own, at home with a private tutor that can understand how poorly your mind functions.” Her tone had grown more terse and sharp, wanting to put the girl down now. She had lost sight of why she’d originally come over, to protect Severus. In fact the boy was busying himself with packing his things, wanting to leave and get away from this whole situation. Or perhaps he didn’t want to be a witness. It was even possibly that he did have something to do other than listen to this girl be brought down a peg. Narcissa merely chose to believe this girl was driving him away. She caught her breath, unaware that she’d even begun to lose it in the first place. “And why, in Merlin’s name, would I know if you skip classes or not? Why would I care? In fact, I care just as much as how often you skip classes as your excuse for this time,” Narcissa had pretty much ignored and zoned out the girl’s little speech on not meaning to start trouble. “Well then, fifteen points from Gryffindor Miss Marowski. I suggest you go to class and tell Binns that Narcissa Black sent you.” WORDS: 688 WEARING: Click! credit to hay shay ! at caution 2.0

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[severussnape2]

Severus rolled his eyes dramatically at all this "worm" and "snake" business. Honestly, did these Gryffindors think that that was a clever insult? To call them snakes? Because really, it just made them sound infantile. So, the animal associated with Slytherin was a snake... so what? It wasn't like calling them gryffins in a nasty tone was going to bother them; why in the world would he be offended at their feeble attempts at mockery?

Sighing, he wrote out a few words to make it look like he was actually doing his essay, when really he was just eavesdropping. He'd come out here to work, and, despite all this Harper girl's nagging, he was not a person who admired the weather conditions. So, it was warm outside. Who cared? He would honestly rather be in the dark, musty dungeons brewing something-or-other than out here "enjoying the weather" of all things. He was only here because being outside forced him to either do his homework, or be bored. There was nothing interesting about being outside, and, if he stayed in the castle, he knew that he would go looking for a fight, lounge about in the library and sift through books, or, more often, find himself in a practice room brewing a potion.

Now, though, there was certainly something interesting going on, which meant work would not get done. Severus wasn't sure if he was irritated or relieved.

Both, probably, since that girl had been whining about how much better Muggle history was. Mind you, the Goblin Wars of 1560 were not in the least bit interesting, but at least most of Wizarding history wasn't terrifying. His father had been full of horror stories about the World Wars, how millions of people had died. Some of them were tortured, murdered in front of their families, their bodies carelessly deposited in a large hole to rot simply because they were different. His father had called them "Jews", but, really, how easy it would be for those Muggles to nourish a prejudice against wizards, destroying them with their gases and guns just as they destroyed their own kind? Of course, most of those who died in the wars were Muggles, which hardly concerned Severus, but Muggles had things like nuclear bombs. Incredible weapons that leveled entire cities in a matter of seconds, completely annihilating every person for thousands of miles. Who could say how many of them had been witches and wizards, hapless victims of Muggle viciousness? Muggle history was full of violence and a reckless passion for destruction. How could this girl want to study the past of such a brutish species? Severus could not even conceive of it.

Nevertheless, he held his tongue, even as he made his disgust plain in the way he stiffened and frowned. This girl was so ignorant and self-confident, and it grated on his nerves, but he still had no wish to get in between the two girls, who seemed to be managing to fight spectacularly without his help.

In the end, though, he had to say something. He liked her less and less the longer she stood there and blathered stupid things. "You know, it's rather brainless of you to argue with someone who obviously has more authority than you," he told her, his voice cold. "You've made it plain that you are a rather spectacular brand of idiot, but surely even you can see that Narcissa is superior to you in both intelligence and rank?"

After having satisfied his desire to be nasty to her, he felt marginally better about the situation. And too, he was able to affirm his allegiance to Narcissa, in this instance at least. She seemed like she was beginning to see his usefulness, and he thought that perhaps she would not be such an awful person to get to know. Even if he sometimes found her worries rather insignificant...

[harper]

"Ha! If by good, decent people, you mean yourself, there's a reason I haven't learned any manners yet there, sweetheart," Harper replied, rolling her eyes. Honestly, when were Slytherins ever going to learn that the sun didn't shine out of their asses? Obviously not for twenty years, because as far as she knew the snakes in her time weren't much better than this. Granted, they weren't as outwardly vicious, but they certainly weren't the cream of the crop when it came to compassion or understanding other folks either. Then again, the only Slytherins left back in her time were the ones who hadn't already run off to become Death Eaters. "Well, no wonder dull and ridiculous people don't disappear, because that would mean you'd disappear too, wouldn't it?" Harper batted her eyes, feigning an innocent expression even though there was mischief in her eyes and anyone with the sense of sight could see it.

Harper had never liked this type - the kind who enforced the rules especially against those they didn't appear to like. She wasn't really even doing anything wrong, Harp was just skiving a class and what student didn't do that every once in a while? In this Gryffindor's eyes, she wasn't even committing a crime. She realized the only reason she'd attracted this little blond's attention was because she'd been asking Snape a question, and it probably had looked like she was about to bully the poor guy. By the looks of him, he was teased a lot (gee, Harper wondered why if all he was doing outside was writing an essay for goodness sake), so maybe this Narcissa was just getting defensive. But she was getting vicious about it too, which only made Harper stand her ground.

"If my mind functions poorly, I don't even want to know how bad yours functions," Harper claimed, her eyebrows going up as if she was disappointed in Narcissa's response. "I do suppose you wouldn't know that I chose to not use the word snake considering as I felt the word 'worm' would be more suitable for you. I don't even think you have the weight to be a snake - you're much too small for that." Sure, Harper usually wasn't one to make hits on another girl's appearance, and in many cases that would be a low blow for her, but at this point this Narcissa Black was getting on her last nerve. It showed in the tense position she had herself in, and it didn't help that she felt cornered like a cat in a cage with both of these Slytherins watching her every move.

Harper huffed and folded her arms across her chest as she observed the two Slytherins in front of her. "Why tell Binns it was you? The pair of you friends? No wonder you're so dull." Harper smirked, but she knew this battle was far from over. If there was one thing she'd give the Prefect, it was that it was obvious she wasn't one to give up on something. Unfortunately for their situation, neither was Harper Marowski. She had too much Gryffindor in her for that. Her head turned and she sent a withering look towards the young Snape. "If she were superior in intelligence, she would have walked away a long time ago. Having a higher rank is just another way of saying she's a suck-up to someone, so what's the point in listening to someone like that?" Her attention went back to Narcissa. "Because trust me, there really is no point in listening into a tiny blond who thinks that acting like a snob will get a halfblood like me to run away with her tail between her legs."

[`narcissa virga black]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #d3d1d1; background:url(http://i53.tinypic.com/sutzmh.jpg); width: 300px; height: 400px; -moz-border-radius: 2em; border-radius: 2em; -webkit-border-radius: 2em; border: #d3d1d1 3px solid;] beautiful & dirty rich , Narcissa gritted her teeth as the girl began her replies. She wondered how on earth all the Gryffindor, even the transfer students who had been placed in the house, all had an endless amount of self-righteous cockiness. They all believed themselves to be free of any crime and better than everyone else in everything. She would not deny that she was vain, narcissistic, and rather wrapped up in herself but the little lion cubs all did it in a way that could make the youngest black grind her teeth or break a nail. It was infuriating. This ugly, wisp of a girl was clearly invading her housemate’s me-time and skipping class with no better reason then she wanted to because it was dull. Narcissa was as far from being in the wrong as she could possibly have been just then. She may have been a little sharp, but that was her personality. If the school hadn’t wanted to infuse her sense of self into the title of prefect…well, they shouldn’t have sent her the badge. It was a simple matter. She picked up her bag to begin looking for a slip to write her teacher a note, but stilled when she finally couldn’t take the girl’s voice any longer. “Do you always automatically assume that people who dislike you are boring? Do you really believe so highly of yourself? Do you also vomit stars, excrete glitter, spit rainbows, and defecate sunlight? You listen to me, girl. I don’t know what it is with you transfers but the lot of you are rude, stupid, egotistical, arrogant, and have little respect for those in positions of importance. Do you talk to your prefects and your teacher at your former school the way you do here? Hogwarts doesn’t tolerate people like you. Twenty-Five points from Gryffindor for your insolence. Continue and I shall raise the amount in an exponential fashion and begin adding detentions.” Narcissa tilted her head to the side, her hand firmly gripping onto her bag as a crack ran through her neck and back. “Because you little twerp, I hardly want the professor thinking that you were smart enough to return to class on your own accord. It also forces you to announce to the entire class that you managed to get into trouble for skipping class, though that won’t be hard to do. I’m sure your head of house will speak to you about losing almost fifty point for your insolence and stupidity. I can increase that number, as I’ve already told you, if you’d like.” Narcissa returned her nose to the air, looking between her and Severus.”And when you’re going to insult me, say something to my face. I hardly sucked up to anyone to become prefect; I haven’t said more than a handful of words to Dumbledore…and he’s the one that chooses. He saw value in me, even if you do not. But I will thank you for the compliments, I have been strictly dieting. Hearing someone that is not a close alliance confirms that it’s working.” Of course the tiny little blonde never let a compliment go unnoticed like that. Her vanity was far easier to stomach than this Miss Marowski’s. “Now I very strongly suggest you move along back to your class and leave both Severus and myself alone. If not…as I’ve said repeatedly, I will punish you. And if that threat and those actions aren’t enough I have no qualms about going to Professor Cadmus, the bastard that he is, and having him report you to your head out of house. My point-docking and petty detentions will be nothing compared to what those two teachers will lay at your feet and shove down your throat.” And with that she dropped her again bag (a small white kitten unfolding itself from one of the side pockets and moving into Severus’ lap with ease) and slid her arms across her chest. WORDS: 655 WEARING: Click! credit to hay shay ! at caution 2.0

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[severussnape2]

Severus could handle deadly poisons, dark magic, verbal sparring, Death Eaters, and idiots in general. He bravely soldiered on when his potions produced volatile results, and he handled various life-threatening situations with an extraordinary amount of aplomb.

He could not handle this kitten.

It was just staring at him with it's horrible, watery eyes. Wide and yellow, they assessed him, scoping out his weaknesses before striking; Severus grimaced something awful when it leaped up onto his thigh like it belonged there. Honestly, the last thing he needed was a bloody kitten thinking it could do with him as it pleased. When it landed on him, he tensed, which jostled the kitten some, causing it to dig it's claws into his leg in an effort to stay grounded. Resisting the urge to wince at the pain, he gingerly wrapped his hand around its body to pull it away, but it gripped the fabric of his trousers in desperation.

Annoyed and uncomfortable, he used his other hand to pry its claws away from his clothing. It's small, frail body was sprawled out in the air as a testament to its anxiety over being uprooted from its safe location. The evil little tuft of white fur was mewling pathetically too, like Severus was abusing it or something. It sounded so helpless and innocent, Severus almost expected fire and brimstone to rain down on him any second. Worried that it might draw too much attention to him, he frowned deeply before setting the kitten back on his leg.

Immediately, it stopped complaining, though it did give him a rather haughty look as it sat there, regally licking a paw. Manipulative little thing, wasn't it? He leveled a stern glare at it, but his ire was entirely wasted since it completely ignored him.

Severus was careful not to disturb it again as he turned his attention back to the two girls, who seemed to be getting more and more worked up by the second. Narcissa continued to use her prefect status against the other girl, but apparently the girl just didn't know when to quit. He wondered if that was a Gryffindor trait, or if this girl was just especially stupid.

One interesting thing that was mentioned, though... this Harper girl was a half-blood. It was not all that significant a piece of information by itself, but it may be useful in establishing some sort of pattern. Not that Severus could draw any similarities between this loud-mouthed girl and Draco Malfoy. He still figured Draco was in his own category as far as that was concerned, but he couldn't be sure until he'd met more transfers.

Harper's bold comments about defying authority aside, she was still subject to Narcissa's power. Harper must have had a great deal of foolish bravery, to challenge one of the Black sisters. Even though Narcissa was arguably the most delicate of them all, it was no secret that she had a temper. And even if one was able to best her, they had the rest of her family to contend with. Really, how could any enemy of Narcissa Black stand a chance? "Narcissa is plenty intelligent enough to know when rules are being broken," Severus commented blithely. "You, however, are decidedly not. Skipping class is, and always has been, a punishable offense, a fact that you seem to have forgotten. Or do you enjoy spending time in detention?"