You Watch Me Bleed Until I Can't Breathe

Albus Severus Potter Sixth Year Ravenclaw Middle child of a family you may have heard of once or twice.

[storyshipper7]

[dante-kitchenboy-blog]

“That’s the side effect of the potion.” Maya replied him without much expression in her voice, as the boy tried to stand. The lab isn’t far just 2 classrooms away, He should be able to make it without her help - besides she was already helping him by brewing the potion. The brunette turned away from Albus, slowly making her way to the lab while making sure that he was close behind her.

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

He managed to stand up and get a good grip on the wall when she started walking. He followed shakily behind her, doing his best to stay as upright as possible which was proving rather difficult. The wall helped but he was pretty sure his arm was getting cut up from falling into it so many times. “Thank you. I really do appreciate this,” he said, knowing full well that she could have left him in the hallway without doing a thing.

[lorgannott]

“Music to my ears. Now, be nice and start walking. Or do you not know how to get to Hogsmeade?”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“I’ve only been once and it wasn’t recently. You’ll have to lead the way/”

[madnessofmichelle-blog]

Michelle laughed, “That’s a big honor, considering I don’t even trust myself with a pot of tea.” She didn’t think she was awful at being a prefect but Michelle was bad at receiving compliments and always felt they were unjustified when given. She didn’t even realize she was refuting them, it just felt like what you were supposed to do after being complimented. At Albus’ comment, Michelle raised her head, surprised. “How… Did you…” Michelle shook her head, there was no way they would have made a kid serve her. She remembered her servus being young, but it wasn’t always the same one. She doubted Albus was there. “Never mind. Sorry. It’s in the past. I just wish I knew what happened to him.”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“In your defense, tea can be quite difficult at times,” he offered. He watched her as she seemed to be questioning what he’d said, how he knew, and he wondered if it was worth telling her or not. He liked that she didn’t know it had been him, but at the same time, he didn’t want her beating herself up over it.  Of course, there was always a chance she had a Servus after him that she had treated worse, but he somehow doubted that. “He turned eleven and went to Hogwarts. You have a surprisingly large closet so it could have been worse. And after very minimal counseling, there was absolutely no lasting damage. Though I’m offended I didn’t make more of a lasting impression on yourback then,” he grinned, clearly having gotten over everything that had happened. If anything, it had made him better prepared for Hogwarts. 

[madnessofmichelle-blog]

Michelle shrugged, “True, but I still didn’t want to be here the first few years. So many eyes on you all the time.” She tilted her head, “I always thought I was a prefect so they could get me to leave the library once in a while,” Michelle laughed. “Perhaps one day I’ll take you up on that.” She couldn’t imagine a world where that would be a safe thing to do but the offer was sweet none the less and she wanted to be sure that Albus knew she appreciated that. “Perhaps….” Michelle let the subject drop, eager to search later for any possibility that Adrian had done the same but afraid to let Albus know what her intention was. “Maybe but I was only 9, I don’t know if I would have really understood if someone told me straight out. I needed the example…” His apology made her shiver for a second, as if some great worry in her heart was relieved, though she couldn’t find the source. “I don’t know about that, but thank you…” Her voice was quiet, the idea of her younger self still bothered her but the past couldn’t disappear, no matter how hard she tried.

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

If anyone knew anything about having eyes on them, Albus did. Not only was her a Servus but a blood Potter. And the Potter who looked exactly like his bloody dad - so he understood the want to not have unnecessary attention thrown his way. “Nah, if you’re a prefect, it’s because they saw something in you - an ability to lead. They trust you, and thats pretty cool,” he said with a small shrug. Of course, there were plenty of people currently in power who did nothing but abuse it, but Michelle had never seemed like that type of person. “Exactly. You were nine. Stop stressing so much about it,” he said as he nudged her gently. “You’re nothing like how you were. Or I assume. And that’s brilliant. You can’t keep beating yourself up over how you were as a kid; it’s a waste of time.”

[dante-kitchenboy-blog]

The raven haired girl rolled her eyes, “Cleaning up after a Servus” She thought, “and here I thought that they were meant to assist us.” She thought hard if she should help the boy, the effect would pass soon enough but he would be in agony till then. Giving out a heavy sigh she asked him “Can you walk?” She did not have the antidote but she could easily brew it from the lab down the hall.

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

Last time he took some random potion from a Dominus to see if they’d done it right. Being a test subject was getting exhausting. How long was this supposed to last? And would he get physically ill before it wore off? Those were the important questions. “Last time I walked I fell into a table,” he admitted honestly, sheepishly. “I could try if I can hold onto the wall,” he said, already trying to push himself up off of the ground. 

[dante-kitchenboy-blog]

Maya was roaming the halls when she saw Albus Potter laughing to himself while on the ground. It looked like the had one too many butterbeers to drink. “Too much to drink?” She asked the boy as she walked up towards him.

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“Potion gone wrong,” he corrected at the voice, knowing how bad this must look. “Dizzying Draught instead of Calming, I imagine,” he said as he closed his eyes tightly, trying to get everything to stop spinning. He tried his best to place the voice but couldn’t quite so he risked a glance up at who it was. Right. Malfoy’s sort-of -girl. “Any chance you’ve got an antidote on you?” he asked hopefully. 

[ravenlysander-blog]

“The conclusion would take a very long time to explain, I don’t want to waste your high on it,” he dodged smoothly, not eager to divulge any of what he really thought. Albus was more clever than most of the Dominus he had met, and he knew the day he turned on him was inevitable, but Lysander planned to have him locked in with a bizarre combination of blackmail and loyalty when he tried. “Charms aren’t my strong suit, but I’m sure I could find a way. I’m more likely to get it perfect with potions, and whether I soak it before I paint or after wouldn’t really matter. It would have the same effect.” With thoughtful hum, he tipped Albus’s head up towards him a little more so it wasn’t casted in shadow, relishing being taller than him for at least half a minute. “That’s the draw of it for me too, so you don’t have to worry. Doing something because you choose to is where all the power lies.” With the right charm he could force anyone to do anything, but Albus chose to listen and it was always an addicting thing when he did. That train of thought brought him to an even darker one, because Albus might be smart but he was also defenseless in so many ways. “Have you ever gotten resistance training for the Imperius curse?” Lysander’s mouth turned in a half smile at Albus’s thought, a sweet and boyish one. Childish moments were fine, but children didn’t accomplish any of the things he wanted to, and he felt like until he did there would always be a restlessness that he couldn’t shake. “Does this room have alcohol stashed anywhere?” When it seemed Albus only wanted to use mouths for talking just then, Lysander took the free side of the bed, stretching out so he could stare up at the ceiling while he thought it over. “Aren’t you curious? Mine….it turns into a wall and starts pressing in. I almost got crushed the first time. I’ve always hated tight spaces, so it probably has something to do with a fear of a lack of control, too. My best guess, anyway.”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“You should still tell me at some point,” he said with a definite nod of his head, knowing his curiosity for how Lysander really thought of him wasn’t something that was going to go away with the high. He allowed his head to be tipped back without resistance, eyes looking up at Lysander through long lashes and slightly unruly long hair. He liked Lysander from this angle - was used to it from all the time he’d spent on his knees over the last several months. He’d been about to respond to the part about doing things out of his own free will when the question about the Imperius curse caught him off guard. Malfoy had mentioned it and while Albus had been under an Unforgivable before, it wasn’t that one. Not to his knowledge anyway. He shook his head no, not sure his voice would work right then as the reality of the potential situation managed to sink slightly through his high and his fingers tightened lightly on Lysander’s hips trying to focus back on the sensation and the feel of things instead of the overwhelming and sudden panic about whether or not he trusted Lysander enough to ever Imperio him. Which he knew he did and that was the horrifying part. “Can’t really say there’s a lot of resistance training in the Servus curriculum,” he said with a small laugh. He thought about the alcohol question as Lysander moved and he remembered where he’d stashed some during summers. He felt like he always needed it so hopefully now was one of those cases too. Standing up on slightly unsteady feet, he then crouched next to the bed, pulling the top mattress up and fishing out a bottle of Firewhiskey with a grin. “This room is way cooler than the stories I’ve heard,” he said with an amused laugh as he moved over to Lysander’s side of the bed, setting the bottle down on the night stand before kneeling onto the bed, arranging himself so that he was straddling Lysander.  Hands found his chest and his movements from earlier continued as if they’d never stopped, only this time over the fabric of the shirt. And god, that felt so weird against his hands but he couldn’t seem to stop.  “You would be a terrible top if you’re scared of tight spaces,” he said with a bright laugh, clearly kidding. “I’m glad it didn’t crush you. How many tries did it take until you mastered the spell to get rid of it?”

[lilypot-ter-blog]

“If she is alive and would have found a way.” She was adamant on that matter. She knew Rose better than she knew herself, and never in her life she doubted her best friend. She wouldn’t start now. 

“Changes from the inside? All right, you have been doing this for six years now. What have you accomplished? A big load of crap. In two years you will be off Hogwarts and serving only just one person. At least by fighting we stand a chance at hurting some of them, making our voices heard, inspiring others to do the same.” Her words weren’t hers, they were paraphrases of things Eliana had said to her by the Black Lake. Things she had disagreed with. But right now, weeks later, the words finally made sense 

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“That’s a very simple way of looking at it,” he said, annoyed that she was being so simple minded when it came to this entire situation. She was becoming entirely too much like their brother and he wasn’t happy with it. 

“I’ve gained knowledge. And knowledge takes time. I’d rather take my time until it’s the perfect opportunity than rush into something with force and no information simply because I’m desperate to try to change things this second. Besides, it’s not about hurting them. It’s about changing how things are. Come on, Lils - you’re smarter than this, You want to make a scene? Fine. But it’s only going to set things back - make things harder for us. Any small amount of trust we’ve gained is going to be gone because you and your hot headed friends were reckless and it’ll be that much harder to start a real revolution instead of a hissy fit,” he said, growingly increasingly finished with this conversation. Nothing good was going to come from lashing out only because she wanted to try to accomplish something. That wasn’t how changes were made. 

[ravenlysander-blog]

“I know. I hadn’t made up my mind about you.” Lysander answered truthfully. It was a process he was still undergoing, but at least he knew Albus wasn’t going to jinx him in the middle of it. “Snitches are charmed for flesh memories. I’m not sure how I’d be able to replicate that with a potion, but I could figure it out. I’ll look into it. Thank you.” The talk had been helpful in giving him a few avenues to follow, even if he hadn’t figured out the practical use of such a painting yet. If it couldn’t be used to his advantage, he could sell it to a more creative individual for a profit. “We just established that I don’t need a painting to compel you to do something. I wouldn’t get squeamish now.” His breath hitched in surprise as fingertips dug into his muscles, tensing against the touch before relaxing. This current technique was making him want to do some very adult things, so he was surprised when the conversation took yet another swerve. “I enjoy the whimsical sentiment, but there comes a time to put away childish things.” At least it was true in the world they lived in - everyone in his generation had to grow up fast if they wanted to mentally survive. “I will take that into consideration the next time I need any freezing practice. Now. Hold tight.” He hopped off the bed and went to his bag to get out another vial and downed it, the instant feeling of basking in the sun coming over him along with the taste of butterscotch. Just a few weeks ago he had abandoned him in the oversized bath because he was afraid of Albus drowning him, and now he was willingly slowing his reflexes and lowering his inhibitions. Casting around for another question to get him more dirt on Albus. Thinking was suddenly much harder as he stood next to the bed, fingers tracing the outline of Albus’s jaw. “What form does a boggart take around you?”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

 “And have you now? What’s the conclusion so far?” he asked, simply wanting to know how Lysander viewed him. Not that he expected a truthful and honest answer, but maybe he’d end up being surprised. “Couldn’t you charm the paint?” he asked, wondering if he’d missed something throughout the conversation that said it had to be a potion. Sure, he’d found some potions that did those things, but if he could charm the actual paint, it seemed like it would skip a million or so steps. Lysander pointed out that he didn’t need paintings or spells to already get Albus to do what he wanted and while that was true, he still didn’t want to be controlled through magic. “I’d rather choose to do what you ask of my own free will than be forced into it by magic, though,” he shrugged, not sure that it really mattered in the long run. He rolled his eyes when Lysander mentioned having to give up childish things. It was hard to give something up if you never got them. “We were all forced to grow up the second we started to walk. No one got a real childhood - so why shouldn’t we take the small opportunities to have fun for fun’s sake when we get them? You’re still in school - you’re not doomed to complete adulthood quite yet,” he teased, squeezing one of Lysander’s sides playfully. He pushed himself up so that he was leaning on his elbows while he watched Lysander move across the room, already mourning the loss of his heat and weight. But he quickly grinned when he watched him take the potion and as Lysander moved to stand in front of him, Albus’s hands eagerly found Lysander’s hips. “’ve never been in front of one,” he answered, thoroughly distracted by the perfectly rough hand against his jaw. Thank Merlin for Quidditch and handsome fit Quidditch players. “That’s on the Dominus curriculum, not ours. And I never felt the need to seek one out.” Which was unlike him since he was always hungry for knowledge. But part of him was afraid to see what he was truly afraid of. “What’s yours?”

[ravenlysander-blog]

“I’ve wanted to paint you for a very long time,” he admitted, though it wasn’t the romantic statement it might appear at face value. He got the urge whenever color or lines were interesting, or when he wanted to capture a feeling or make sense of something. Now he’d have a nice distracting thought sitting in his brain until he got to it, constantly thinking about what lighting or what pose he wanted for Albus when he should be focusing on other things. Like the potion still happily brewing away for the next three weeks that would tie Albus to him tighter than ever. Lysander liked having a pulse on what was happening with the Servus, even if the other wizard never divulged much to him. “It would take multiple attempts, sure. I’d have to control where it was hung and who say it, and I’d have to master getting it to work at all before I could tailor it to individual people. There’s a chance I could study the Polyjuice potion and see if there was a way to target one specific person through hair. Or protect one person in the same manner,” he trailed off thoughtfully, glad to finally have a member of his own house as a sounding board to help him. At his noise he felt Albus’s hands slip out of his hair and he immediately regretted it, somehow as eager for the touch as someone under euphoria’s effects. Strong hands drifted over his throat but he didn’t tense for a second, though he let out a satisfied hum as his shirt was pushed up and out of the way as palms pressed against his abs. One of the benefits of being such a control freak on the pitch was that all the extra hours of intense practice left him toned and tan. And his team only sometimes resented him for it. “You can jump on the bed. I have plenty of books to distract me while you act like a child,” he allowed. With the dizziness still in play Albus would probably end up launching himself off the bed, but he could heal whatever new injuries he got. “Good,” he breathed softly, momentarily satisfied with the answer. If the opportunity to eat or drink came up anytime soon, he was still slipping him truth serum. “No, I’m having fun watching you be an idiot with no potion.”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“You could have asked,” he pointed out. “I usually do whatever you want.” Except for that one time he’d said no but that had been a very isolated incident. Otherwise, he always did what Lysander asked of him or wanted from him. Being painted would have been one of the easier things he’d agreed to.  He wrinkled his nose slightly at the mention of trying to use a Polyjuice potion to help specify who the magic was or wasn’t for but that didn’t seem like the easiest way. “What about a snitch? I mean, not an actual snitch but something similar to their flesh memories? You could figure out how those work and tweak it so that it only needs the person’s presence that it’s already programmed for to trigger it. If you wanted it to be a specific painting, though. Also be aware I never want to see one of your paintings first hand now. Through mirrors only,” he teased. It wasn’t like this made Lysander any more or less dangerous than he had been before - he’d always been deceptively dangerous and Albus had to keep hoping that he never felt like turning it towards him. His fingers dug lightly into hard flesh before brushing over it, tracing patterns and drawing pictures against the overly warm skin of Lysander’s stomach. He was pretty sure he could do nothing but that for the next several hours and he’d be more content than he could remember recently being. “What’s so wrong with acting like a child?” he asked. It wasn’t like he’d even really gotten much of a childhood, so he’d take it where he could get it. Adulthood came too quickly and he was happy to avoid that part of his life for as long as possible. “I’m not going to jump by myself, that sounds boring. I’ll keep touching you instead,” he hummed happily as his hands continued to move with no real intent other than to feel. “Next time you freeze me, you should use this potion instead of the Pepper-Up - I’ve never felt so warm in my entire bloody life.”

[ravenlysander-blog]

“Not better than me.” Lysander had years of opportunities Albus never got, but at least he knew if push came to shove he could beat him in a duel and most challenges based in wit, plus anything to do with potions. Albus was a terrific pet but one day he was going to turn rabid and bite. “I paint,” he repeated, watching the curve of Albus’s eyelashes every time he blinked with utter fascination. “If you’ll be my subject. You’d look divine on canvas.” Lysander was glad Albus seemed to be out of his wits, otherwise lying on top of him on a bed wuld have felt tragically domestic. That’s why he kept it to public places, quick and dirty classrooms with stone that would make Albus’s knees feel it for days. Lysander nodded lightly at the assessment, always surprised by his level of knowledge. The book that spoke of them didn’t give specifics about potions, and the aged yellow pages that stuck together with every turn spoke of how out of date it was. Lysander would have to start creating his own potions if he wanted any results. It was what he had always wanted to do, but it wasn’t something he had ever dabbled in. He improved upon existing potions, sure, but this was a whole new game. “Exactly. That as the base, stewed down for a few hours will help with the compelling. Wormwood essence paired with Salamander blood will protect it from damage if anyone tries to destroy it. I can shakily follow the outline of the potion that makes photographs move. Just a system of guess and check.” He made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat when Albus traced large hands through his hair, but didn’t move away from the charged touch. When did he start letting him touch his hair? There were distinct memories of him always shoving his hands away so he wouldn’t mess it up. “Sleakeazy’s hair potion with a few drops of avocado oil. You should try it.” Lysander knew he was lighter than Albus and wouldn’t be able to keep him down for long, but he was enjoying the new string of information. “We’re not jumping on the bed. You seem to do a lot of pretending. Are you pretending with me?”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“Not better than you,” he agreed with a small nod of his head. He was surprised at Lysander’s response about watching him paint, not able to keep it from his face in time. “You’d want to paint me?” he asked, wanting to make sure he heard correctly. “I’ve never been painted,” he said stupidly. Obviously he’d never been painted. Hell, he’d barely ever even been photographed. Of course, there was a chance that the entire point of the painting would be to make some point about him as a slave or have it so that he could burn it or sell it to someone else who would want to burn a Potter Portrait, but it still sounded tempting either way. “Okay,” he said with a grin, excited by the prospect. Plus that meant more time with Lysander and while that had used to simply be something he put up with, he found he was looking forward to it more and more with each passing day. He listened with intense interest as Lysander spoke about the paintings, trying to absorb every small bit of information as his hands continued to idly move through Lysander’s hair, mesmerized and slightly calmed by the feeling. “Would be hard to control who saw it, wouldn’t it? Hard to control who the painting would reach out to. Though depending on what it did, it wouldn’t matter. Could you make it so that it only effected certain types of people?” he asked curiously. He was confused by the noise that Lysander made before he remembered all of the times he hadn’t been allowed to touch his hair. Which usually wasn’t a problem since Albus was typically on his knees anyway. “I promise I won’t mess it up,” he said quickly before dragging his hands reluctantly out of it anyway, large hands trailing down Lysander’s hot-to-the-touch throat and neck before quickly moving them from there, not wanting Lysander to feel threatened in any way. Instead he moved them to a safer place as he pushed up the hem of Lysander’s shirt and sprawled his fingers over hard abs, simply needing to touch. “Why can’t we jump on the bed? When’s the last time you did that? It’s fun and this bed seems perfect for jumping,” he tried to argue, not willing to pass the opportunity up. He pulled his lip lightly between his teeth at the question before releasing it, trying to figure out the answer for himself. Sure, at first it all had been nothing but pretending - but the lines seemed to be getting increasingly more blurred. And when he wasn’t high out of his mind, he was going to have to reevaluate this whole thing. “This is the least amount of pretending I’ve done in a long time,” he finally settled on. “Now....jump on the bed with me,” he said, bright smile returning. “Or take some of that potion and then you’ll definitely want to jump on the bed.”

[madnessofmichelle-blog]

Michelle scoffed, “Oh yeah. I bet they’re real happy to have this liability on their hands,”she indicated down at herself. “Though I’m sure everyone’s glad I’m out of the house now. So there’s that at least.” She rolled her eyes at the idea of people at home missing her. It had been so long since her mother had sent any word from home she wondered if her mom even remembered she still had children. “I’m sure there’s some spell that would indicate the wand isn’t originally yours if they tried, though you’d have to throw suspicion first. Also I heard that during the war everyone’s wands got mixed up so maybe there are more protocols now.” Michelle crossed her arms and kicked the floor, “No… I don’t deserve them to forgive me. I was bloody awful. A real terror probably. The worst type of spoiled brat. I just don’t understand why no one told me sooner. You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken.”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“Everyone has baggage. You wear yours a little more on the outside than most. That’s not a bad thing. You’re clever and smart and surprisingly empathetic. Clearly the school is glad to have you or else you wouldn’t have been made Prefect,” he said, using factual evidence to back him up after his own opinions earlier were shot down so easily. “And if your family’s glad you’re out of the house...that’s their bloody loss, yeah? Like I said - you’re always welcome to a Potter dinner,” he said with a smile. Though he’d probably have to sedate his siblings. But his parents would probably be okay with it. “If there were more protocols, I can’t imagine they’d be hard to get past with some magic. Servus don’t know much so the protections wouldn’t have to be very severe,” he pointed out. He frowned slightly when she was still upset up what she’d done. And it hurt slightly that she didn’t remember him but it wasn’t like he didn’t already known that. “I’m sure people told you before that. Servus, probably. It took hearing it from someone you loved and trusted for it to really sink in. And that’s okay because it clearly did. You’re forgiven,” he said softly. “Everyone deserves forgiveness.”

[misscrissfemmefatale]

[madnessofmichelle-blog]

Michelle shrugged, slightly uncomfortable with the subject, “I’m not very good with… people.” She admitted awkwardly, “I didn’t want to be in such a group setting.” She was not only extremely socially awkward when she first got to Hogwarts abut also, as her mother often tried to hide, a little mentally unstable. She was prone to random outbursts and she knew it made her different, she didn’t want anyone else knowing about crazy Michelle than those that already did. But inevitably it had gotten out, though she had done much better than she thought she would have. Well, until Adrian disappeared that was. “Lab-rating sounds more dangerous than espionage, but I guess you would have to do what you’re told to avoid being discovered. Though, I guess if you went over seas and people didn’t recognize you, you could pretend to be a dominus. But then again you would have to avoid pulling your wand out, huh?” Michelle’s mind started racing, trying to figure out how she would go about “faking” a dominus. It would be much easier if there was a dominus with the servus, they could teach new spells and- Her train of thought stopped. What if that’s what Adrian had done? It wasn’t impossible. She shook her head, this was a possibility to work out at a later time, when Albus wasn’t standing right there. “I guess. I feel like I should have known though. How did I miss something like that? Maybe I’m not as smart as I like to think I am. I can just hope that they don’t hold it against me. Even though they have a right to.”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“For what it’s worth - Hogwarts is lucky to have you,” he said sincerely. Sure, he’d heard rumors and stories about Michelle, but he’d always liked when he got to be around her. And didn’t everyone have their own issues? Hers were only slightly more  on the surface than usual, that was all. “I don’t think it’d be that hard to go overseas and fake it. I mean, I couldn’t since I’m the bloody spitting image of my dad but.... I can’t imagine it’s that hard to learn magic - to find books and practice on your own. And swiping some Dominus’s wand wouldn’t be that difficult,” he shrugged, wondering if that was something he should consider for himself. He’d certainly been trained in magic plenty from his parents and from his own reading. But he could never leave - not when their world was how it was. He had to help others to a better world more than he had to help himself. He bit down on his lip slightly as he tried not to let the unkind feelings he’d had for a long time towards Michelle bubble back up. She didn’t seem the same that she was then and he didn’t have the energy to truly hold a grudge. Not one any bigger than he had against all Dominus, anyway “Do you remember the ones you weren’t kind to?” he asked curiously. “You were...I mean it’s like the dragon thing. You were taught a ‘truth’ by your parents and you can’t be faulted for believing it. But you had the decency to accept that there might be more to it and you’ve grown and gotten better because of it. I’m sure the Servus don’t hold it against you.”

[madnessofmichelle-blog]

“That’s true, and thankfully that’s why my mom didn’t let me continue having a governess. I never wanted to go to Hogwarts you know.” While the statement was true, that wasn’t the whole story and hopefully Albus wouldn’t press it. When Albus winced, Michelle took notice wondering what he could possibly have been worried about in her fantastical retelling of her favorite spy novel. There was no way he was actually working for some crazy crime boss, she had probably imagined it. Smiling she nodded, “That’s true, I do love all that espionage and intrigue, though I couldn’t imagine actually doing it myself.” Michelle shrugged one shoulder at his addition, “Well of course, that too. Everything is dangerous if you look at it in the right light. It was actually an old comparison from my brother when I was little. I guess the metaphor helped me understand that servus,” Michelle’s voice got slightly uncomfortable and she shifted awkwardly, “Well were real. I guess as a kid I wasn’t always nice to them.”

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“Why didn’t you want to come to Hogwarts?” he asked, genuinely curious. He’d always been curious from his parents’ stories, but he hadn’t exactly been eager. Of course, it was a different school for a Servus than it was for a Dominus. “Espionage sounds dangerous and risky and I prefer to not put myself into risky situations. If you ignore all of the lab rat-ing I do for Dominus,” he said with a small laugh. Because it was kind of really risky taking random potions and being target practice. Still...he didn’t plan on getting close enough to Lysander or anyone else for it to be a danger to him. And if he was brought down in all of this, at least people would finally know that he’d only been trying to make things better for everyone. He pursed his lips slightly when she said that she hadn’t been nice to Servus, having particularly vivid memories firsthand of how not nice she’d been. “It’s good your brother told you that, then. Reality is never what we’re raised to see it as. Everyone needs a person to properly point it out.”

[madnessofmichelle-blog]

“While I agree with that, it’s not as if simple proximity improves one’s intelligence.” Michelle shrugged, “Oh come on, being a spy would be awesome. You would get close with the enemy and then report back to some secret crime syndicate that you work for. Plus you’d get all these cool magical items and pass codes and even contraband spells.” She started listing off all her favorite plots from the spy books she read, “And then you’d get so deep undercover you’d start to feel sorry for the enemy but then the one you thought you could trust on the other side (usually your lover) will screw you over and betray you to their boss.” She smiled, “Now doesn’t that sound at least a little fun?” Michelle scrunched her nose, “You know, that’s not really true. A fire is expected to fulfill its duty perfectly and effectively every time and, if it does its job right, no one knows it’s there. Now, if it fizzles out or fails everyone gets irritated and might throw it or something out of frustration. But if you don’t feed it and take care of it, its bound to go out some day. Isn’t that kind of like a servus?” Michelle wasn’t making the metaphor up on the spot, it was actually a rehash of the exact conversation she had about five years previous with Adrian. Around Christmas time, a servus almost her age had spilled milk on one of Michelle’s favorite drawings of the day. Then, it must be confessed, Michelle had thrown a full out tantrum and locked the servus in the closet. Being only 10, she promptly forgot about the issue and played in the snow until dinner. The poor servus wasn’t found until the next day, when Adrian had gone into the nursery closet while playing hide n’ seek with Michelle. He had become very cross with her, especially as it had seemed that the young servus had been very mistreated over the last several weeks. It was then that Adrian had sat his little sister down and explained that the servus were people. He used the fire as a metaphor, explaining how it helped and warmed her daily and she needed to be thankful of it, just like the servus. From that day on, whenever she looked at servus she thought of them as a kind of fire, though whether or not Albus got her meaning was an entirely different question.

[albusfreakingpotter-blog]

“Well, no, you can’t learn via diffusion. But being around people who’re smarter or know different things....you can talk and share knowledge and experiences and learn and grow from that,” he explained. He listened to her talking about being a spy and he realized that the only person he had to report back to with his information was himself. Which was probably safer. Though the part about a lover’s betrayal struck a little too close to home and he winced lightly. “That doesn’t sound fun at all. You’re such a lion,” he said with a good hearted laugh. Only a Gryffindor could find that kind of risk exciting and fun. “I’d rather stick with something a little less dangerous and unpredictable.” Her talk about the fire was interesting and he could see what she meant by it. But she seemed to be missing one very important factor in the entire analogy. “But you’ve got to remember....fire can get unexpectedly out of control. It can destroy everything in its path without much more than oxygen to feed it.” Which he supposed also applied to Servus. Or....some of them, anyway. Certainly not all of them.