Severus Snape POPs! Open RP.

[methleigh.livejournal.com]

The Unpopcorning of Severus Snape
approved by the mods, etc.

He was coiled small, his knees pressed to his forehead, his forearms pressed close to the outsides of his calves. It must be so. How else could he be so compact, so dense? It was dark. It was silent, and the only difference was an occasional disorienting tumbling when some small earthquake rolled him over and over down a very rocky hill. He didn't understand why he couldn't put out a hand or foot to stop himself on these occasions. And sometimes he detected from the force of gravity that he was upside-down and he wondered why the blood did not rush to his head.

It was always as if he had just curled up, but time must have passed because he noted events - the variations of sudden rolling, the occasional temperature changes. Could it be a petrification spell? But that would not have rendered him blind, or deaf. What was it? Sometimes he tried to puzzle it out, to count occasions of movement, but he lost track, conciousness, concentration. That was not like him at all, and he wondered at himself. It must be a curse, but there was no pain.

The temperature rose. Higher this time. He was surprised he wasn't sweating, his robe clinging to him, but he was able to detect no robe. Was he naked? No.... Merlin, it was hot. And he felt so... tight. Why couldn't he move? He expected his breath to arrest with the heat, his lungs to seize with the pressure. But he did not seem to be breathing. Pressure? He seemed to be... Was it infection, a swelling within him? No pain. No pain. He was confused.

Merlin. He felt... Why didn't he ache? Why didn't it hurt? Dark curses he could understand. He had invented enough, felt enough, but...

Then suddenly he was aware. It smelled like a fair... He had once been to a fair. He unclenched his arms from his legs, straightened his spine, curled around himself, lifted his head and...

BANG! There was an explosion beneath him, no through him, no... It was too sudden to analyse. Severus was launched into the air, his arms and legs thrown splayed, his hair flung up and spread wide, his mouth open in a wide O of almost shock, though it was not unpleasant, more startling. He crashed down into a pile of hard yellow kernals, bruising his skin , so tight over his bones. And now his black robes stuck wet to him, no, not wet...

He passed his hand through the hair soaking over his face, sticking and obscuring his vision, dripping into his eyes. Rich shining yellow drops flew behind him, almost beautiful. A door. There was a door. He waded over to it and was surprised to find it unlocked. It was the old stone corridor of Hogwarts. He wandered out disoriented, hoping to find the dungeons.

Comments

[lemondrop-party.livejournal.com]

"I did not say I trusted the Headmistress," Albus corrects very gently. "I must trust there is a purpose for what has happened here, that is all. Further, it is not exactly a democracy. The Hat and the students call the process 'voting', yet the Hat pays little attention to the students' votes." It is so much to digest, he knows.

He knows Severus has always been proud. More, Albus has always believed in letting his students find their own way. It makes them stronger. It makes them self-reliant. (Why else would he have let Harry muddle through so many years of misinformation and confusion?)

"There is no Head of Slytherin, and likely will be none. None of the Houses have a Head except for Ravenclaw, I believe. You may meet its Head in time. You are still a Slytherin, anyhow, and you should still have a room there. The dormitories are not as they were, either, since the students are mostly adults. Students now have rooms, some shared, some single. You may have some privacy there."

[methleigh.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps, Albus, I will go down to Slytherin - to my room - to wash and rest a little." He shifts his feet uncomfortably. There is so much to think about and he feels awkward standing bewildered in the hallway. The students are adults... not of wizarding families... He doesn't understand. Maybe they are exiles like himself, taken in. Ravenclaw seems to have risen in prominence. A bar, a Head of House, where the other Houses had none, their own laboratory. He tries not to be resentful. But he is glad too that, if he is here in unclear capacity, he would not have to submit to authority of another in his old position.

The quiet dark dungeons, a room with a door. Maybe his books would still be there, his desk. And he must bathe, he reminds himself, at once.

"Should I afterwards make myself known to the Headmistress?"

[lemondrop-party.livejournal.com]

"The Headmistress has likely already been apprised of your arrival. Her secretary keeps her abreast of such developments as popcornings and their reverse."

He could tell Severus more about Kojiro later, if need be. For now, it would be just more senseless information atop an already crushing heap of such information.

"Resting would be wise, I think. Logic suggests a great expenditure of energy must take place when a person is unpopcorned."

[methleigh.livejournal.com]

"There was an explosion, and... energy does not come from nowhere. I feel weary, and oily." Severus frowns. He is always being accused of oiliness and an instance of clear demonstration can only be ridiculed.

"Perhaps afterwards, we might have some tea. I am still a little concerned I will not have a real place here without teaching or official duties. Surely they would not simply keep me here, and I would not want to live here for... pity." His voice hisses a tiny bit and he speaks this softly.

"It is different for you. You contribute by your mere presence, by your wisdom, by your experience, by..." Something ineffable, trustworthy, sure, reassuring.

"But I... do they know I had killed you?" Will they hate me?

[lemondrop-party.livejournal.com]

Albus knows this all too well: Severus cannot abide pity or charity.

"I do not think you would wish to be professor of astronomy, but ... Madam Pomfrey's old post is open, Head of the Hospital Wing. With your mastery of potions and healing arts, you could well fill that post, had you the interest in doing so. You would have to deal with many students who had done things you would consider foolish and unwise ..." Albus knows that patience is not Severus' strong suit. However, he had patience enough to teach Potions for years while waiting in desperate hope for the DADA position, and patience enough to guide bumbling children through explosive cauldron messes. "You would be doing much-needed work. You would become once again indispensable to Hogwarts."

That is the key.

His voice lowers. "Yes. Harry Potter is here, and Ron Weasley, and some others of the children we last taught. They know, Severus, that you are the one who killed me. I will speak to them if you wish it."

[methleigh.livejournal.com]

"I believe I could make myself useful in the Hospital Wing, and I can also brew any necessary potions, antidotes and healing draughts. And certainly, if the position is open, that must be very dangerous." He thinks of his Potions classes. "I understand that the beds would be filled with the unwise and foolish, but... I would have them after the fact, with their foolishness already impressed upon them." There might be a certain satisfaction there. He could heal and show them an example of efficiency and knowledge. And there would perhaps be tutorials for the brighter, more focused and appreciative students. His lips lift at this much better prospect of his immediate future and feels less awkward at once.

"Perhaps we might speak to them together? I would prefer to face that in person, if it is possible. Your presence would surely give them cause to hesitate before hexing me." His mouth tightens for a heartbeat at the irony. "Not that I am incapable of defending myself, but it is better to avoid that."

[lemondrop-party.livejournal.com]

Albus inclines his head. He does not want Severus to see the compassion in his face. "We will speak to them together, then; perhaps not right away. You should settle in, first. Take your bath, rest up, owl your curriculum vitae to the Sorting Hat when you are ready to be considered for the Hospital Wing post. Once you have settled into the Hospital Wing, there will be time for the rest."

[methleigh.livejournal.com]

"Thank you, Albus, for everything." He cannot even begin to consider all Albus has done for him, all his life. He shudders to think what he would have become. And this welcome home is one more kindness that respects his dignity.

"I will bathe then, visit my rooms and attend to the owl." He smiles again and lets him see the real warmth he feels. "And later, we will speak to the children."

[lemondrop-party.livejournal.com]

Albus returns the smile, a warm and welcoming smile, though it pains his heart to know how infrequent the occasion for Severus to smile at anyone. "Later, then."

And he takes his leave.