[ " we sort too soon. " ]

sev snape - potions master " nothing but time that's wasted & words that have no backbone " bio - connections - tracker - plots

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

magicalminerva:

Reputations to Uphold : Closed Starter

@lionheartedserpent Seven years wasn’t really all that long in the grand scheme of things, and it was more apparent than ever as alumni gathered in the Great Hall. It gave one persepctive of just how quickly things moved at Hogwarts. The familiarity of faces and names, the close knit nature of the wizarding community, and the bond of their houses all tied these people together in strange and tangled threads. 

There was an element of responsibility that weighed heavily on their shoulders as employees of their great institution, and Minerva bore that elegantly as she descended the staircase in her purple gown and robes. She had already confiscated several contraband items, not that she was surprised. Something about being back inside the halls of the school seemed to return people to a rather childish state. 

“Severus?” She clipped his name sharply as she approached him from behind. It was strange, she had to admit, working alongside someone who used to be a student. However, Severus intelligence and skill far superior to his peers, she saw a bit of herself in that respect. Hired only two years after her own graduation, she knew what it was like to sit in that particular aspect of his shoes, and wondered if the evening brought any familiar insecurities to light. Perhaps he was beyond such things, or had greater concerns. Still, it was a thought that crossed her mind as she saw many of his contemporaries gathering in the candlelight. 

“Would you happen to have caught sight of Mr. Wilkes?” She sighed slightly. “I warned him he would be escorted off the premises if it was revealed he was harboring any more magical creatures in the folds of his robes.” She fell into step beside him, following the crowds towards the banquet that awaited them. “He willingly handed over several rather bedraggled nixies earlier this evening.” 

Sev isn’t surprised when Minerva is the one to bother him, though he’d rather been hoping to avoid being approached the entire night. Apparently, standing against the wall and glowering darkly hadn’t gotten the message across. Nor had the (frankly depressing) unfestive color scheme of all black to show Sev’s distaste for the celebration, and the holidays in general.

He would have backed out, spent the night drowning his sorrows in his rooms, if not for the expectations coming by him from both sides.

“I’m afraid not, Minerva,” he replies, stiff, voice clipped. Maybe he’s just on edge tonight, but he’s itching to say something else, something keeps getting under his skin. Snape, if you would, or Sev. That isn’t my name. He hasn’t said those exact words to anyone, though, can’t reason it out, and anyway Snape is too formal, Sev is too familiar.

No one calls him Sev, anymore. Friends did once, but Severus has been short on those lately. Sometimes, he thinks he wants Minerva to be one. In other times, maybe, without the threat looming outside these walls (and, tonight, within them).

“I’ve been rather preoccupied attempting to avoid my former classmates, gathered together in one spot,” he concedes after a moment, dryly, the most honest he’s been tonight. “In any case, I can’t imagine Wilkes will cause a commotion at dinner, even if he is still hiding pixies away in his robes, or whatever it is he’s up to these days.”

Dinner. Eating’s never felt like such an unwelcome concept to Sev; he hasn’t been able to stomach the idea of food for two days, running off the sugar he stirs into his tea. He feels sick, his insides tied in knots. He’s been asked too much of.

Sev checks his timepiece. “Speaking of dinner, I... may have to slip out at some point, I’ve a particularly temperamental potion brewing in my workroom that needs stirred every hour on the hour.”

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

talldarkandmoody:

Moody stood on the other side of a door to an office he often tried to avoid. The only reason he was here was due to Minerva’s encouragement, and by the encouragement he meant…she forced him here entirely against his will and dumped his grumpy ass at this door with the threat that she wouldn’t speak to him again if he didn’t at least try to find a way to deal with his insomnia.

She meant well, of course. His nightmares had gotten to the point where he could no longer sleep. It was beginning to take the kind of toll on him that Alastor, as a leader, could not afford. Which is why his heavy hand raised to knock on the dark oak wood in front of him.

Minutes later he found himself being patronized by the one punk he wished he could shut up permanently. “Thank you, Severus.” He replied lowly, his tone thick with gravel. He didn’t want the stupid thing in the first place so abusing its properties wouldn’t exactly be an issue.  

“I appreciate it.”

Sev watches Moody for a long minute, observing, evaluating. Despite the necessary coldness, he isn’t unnecessarily cruel, he never is with his clients. They come to him for a reason, and that’s particularly true where this particular potion is concerned. He’s been getting a surprising amount of requests for it lately, or perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising at all.

“No need to thank me,“ Sev says finally, and the corners of his lips twitch, barely, in something like amusement, “if you don’t mean it.“ He supposes he should appreciate it, but Sev has never been fond of these social platitudes.

And the lingering curiosity, of course, wins out. “I’m not surprised to see an auror in my office asking after that potion, but I do have to wonder why you seem incredibly put off by it,” Sev remarks dryly. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone so miserable when faced with the prospect of a good night’s rest.”

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

silencioevans:

     Lily knows she shouldn’t have come. She’s walked by many potions shops in the past few weeks, trying to work up the courage, and she knows she could get some from St. Mungo’s if she was desperate. But the thought of letting anyone know that she isn’t okay, that she isn’t functioning with this mess, makes her feel sick. 

     Asking Severus for anything makes her sick these days, too.

     She never thought he could have so much power to hurt her. Never dreamed he would try. Yet he spends all his time with those who would slit her throat and wrinkle their noses at the blood as if it was dirt, as if it was mud. He would, too, she thinks, but that doesn’t mean she can make herself believe it 100% of the time. 

     Her hands ball into fists, hidden behind his desk, while he speaks to her like a child. She could brew this potion in her sleep, normally. Of course normally the bags under her eyes don’t seem to weigh ten tons and the world doesn’t spin and damn, are those her hands clutching the edges of his desk like it’s the only thing holding her up? She shouldn’t have come here.

     Deep down, to the core of her, Lily doesn’t trust anyone else besides herself to make it right. If not Severus, then who? Who else has seen her weak and forgiven it? 

     ❝ I know the side-effects, Sev. ❞ After all these years, she can’t quite bring herself to say his full name. To make that distance real and final. Her hands are holding the wood in front of her tightly enough to leave her knuckles white. She sort of feels like she’s floating. Lily has not slept in two days. ❝ I have to recite them every time I give this out. Give me more credit than a first year, at least. ❞ She wants to hurl worse words than that, wants to point out that while her filthy blood might one day stain his crisp white shirt, it hasn’t hampered her ability to brew potions. But she bites her tongue, wanting to scream, wanting to haul him close and hold onto him, like she did as a child. As if it was the safest thing in the world.

     What a fool she is.

He has never wanted to hurt her, and yet, that is what Sev continuously finds himself doing. He never means it, and perhaps that’s the hardest pill to swallow. Better to mean it, to have purpose behind it, than continue in a manner that is not only self-destructive, but harmful to those around him.

Sev generally doesn’t care for those around him (or so he likes to pretend), but Lily has always been the exception--nevermind that they haven’t been close in years.

He hurts her and all he can do is watch, frozen in the space between them. Sev wants to reach out, and he does half the way, a hand shooting out as if to grab her elbow to steady her when she braces herself against his desk. He thinks better of it.

Lily lashes out, and Sev backs down. He has always been the weaker of them. When they were children, Sev leaned on her too much. Now, he has no one to depend on but himself.

“You’re right,“ he murmurs, and it’s oddly toneless. Sev ducks his head. “I suppose I’ve grown too accustomed to dealing with my first years. I’m sorry.” She’s the only person he’s apologized to in a long time. He should say something else, he should...

Sev’s hand falls to his side.

She asked for Dreamless Sleep. He knows what it’s for, he knows, this war is tearing everyone apart. He wants to take it back. He wants to be fifteen again. He wants to stop feeling like he’s going to be sick every time he rolls up his sleeves and looks down at his forearms.

He wants to comfort her, if he can. But Sev’s particular brand of comfort has never extended past listening impatiently to his students’ troubles and sending them off with a vial of pepper up potion or, yes, dreamless sleep.

“I can have it started immediately, though of course you know it’ll take about an hour to prepare. You can accompany me to my workroom if you’d like to check it’s made correctly,” if you’d like to watch over my shoulder to make sure I’m not going to poison you, “or--I could put on a tea kettle and let you wait here.”

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

                    - - - yule ball robes

he stands in the corner like some unfortunate, dark wallflower, making a great effort to glare at anyone who so much as thinks about making an approach. (and god forbid anyone actually ask him to dance.)

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

don’t mind me, just an aesthetic tag dump! and honestly props if you can place most of these lyrics

[severusdefender]

severus: i’m such a mystery. who am i attracted to? what is my gender? who knows? not me.

[imperialvestra]

warm drinks & cold company

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

maraudingstag:

For a second, James waits, expecting a punchline, but it doesn’t come. That’s probably for the best, he doesn’t remember the kinds of punchlines Snape hurling his way in school being particularly pleasant. It still seems… an odd choice.

“Why?” he asks the question almost without meaning to. “It’s just… I don’t remember you being much of a people person, Snape.” Just judging by a few glances, James is willing to bet that hadn’t changed much. After all, there’s another much less dank and depressing pub he could be grading his papers in, one where he would likely be swarmed by students and other teachers. It can’t be an accident that he picked the Hog’s Head instead.

“Isn’t spending all day with children just maddening. I’m fairly sure you hated children even back when you were one.” James certainly doesn’t remember Snape being much of a social butterfly. He hadn’t been popular, but James had always gotten the impression that he didn’t particularly want to be. Then again, it had been rather hard to like Snape much when they were so often throwing curses at each other.

Leaning a little further along the bar, his eyes flick over the essays again. The subject sounds vaguely familiar, probably something he hasn’t touched since he was in sixth year.

“Aren’t you a bit…” A number of possibilities cross his mind for how to finish the question. Awful is the first, though that sounds like James’s fifteen year old self talking. Creepy is next, but that had always come more with the Slytherins in their year in general, and Snape had his moments certainly, but he was far from the worst. “Young for the job?”

Yes, that works, probably less likely to get jabbed with a quill for that one, or worse.

Well, he was expecting that. Sev clenches his jaw, but for some ungodly reason the questions and comments aren’t as grating from Potter as they have been from others. He’s... he’s being respectful, in his own way, Sev realizes while staring at him, practically watching the gears turn in his head. As respectful as Potter can be to him, anyway.

Somehow, Potter manages to ask why with less judgement than... probably anyone else Sev’s talked to about his job. He feels a headache coming on, and wonders if this is what it’s like when Muggles are forced to comprehend the impossibilities of magic for the first time. Potter being cordial to him is just as much of an impossibility.

“Hating one’s job isn’t an unusual state of being,” Sev points out, eyebrows raised as if to point out how stupid it was for Potter to rehash that Sev isn’t a people person.

Though, he doesn’t exactly hate his job. Not all the time. But he isn’t about to admit that, if only out of spite for Albus, who’d memorably said he’d grow to enjoy the joys of teaching.

“I may be unusually young for the position, yes, but the school was in need of a replacement for Slughorn immediately, and a former Slytherin at that--the Head of House position was regrettably passed onto me by default. The teaching, I care less for.” And that’s only the slightest bit a lie. “The duties of Potions Master are marginally better.” He never wanted to be a potioneer, not really.

Sev frowns, pauses in thought, and there’s a little bit of dry humor that follows. “But I’m not certain I should be the one you’re asking why. My presence at Hogwarts does say something about Albus’s hiring practices, doesn’t it?”

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

marvelousmarley:

❝You’ve always been incredibly b o r i n g.” she rolled her eyes, moving from leaning against the wall on the opposite side to the room to a chair, where she sat and crossed her arms before pouting. “But I suppose you’re the professional here, I promise I’ll do as you say. Happy?❞

Marlene was a smart young woman. She knew the side effects well. Being friends with Lily Evans meant hours in the library being quizzed on information that Slughorn never really bothered to ask for during the lesson. If anything, those hour long study sessions were one thing Marlene missed. Things were easier back then. When they were students, all they worried about was who snuck off with who for a quick make-out session and how many times could James Potter and his little gang mess with Severus Snape before he snapped and killed the lot of them.

❝Thank you for this.❞ Never in her life did she ever thing she’d go to him for any kind of help. She often avoided him like the plague, but things were different now. Marlene no longer stayed up to giggle about boys and pretty robes she wanted to buy. Now constant what-if’s kept her awake. Marlene needed to sleep, she had to keep the appearance of a youthful, vivacious young woman and the dark circles that were beginning to show did not help her in the slightest. ❝Promise me you won’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want to be the talk of the town.❞

Sev is many things, has been called many things, but not once has someone told him he’s boring. He was always too peculiar to be boring, too strange and out of place. Creepy. Weird. He suspects life would have been much, much easier for him had he been ‘incredibly boring’.

The comment isn’t what bothers him, though he wonders a little about it. No, it’s the attitude. Pouting, eye rolling. Behaviors he’s all too familiar with, only, it’s generally his students he’s on the receiving end of such looks from. The older Slytherins mostly, the ones who think they can get away with things.

Sev loathes letting them get away with things.

“You’re an adult,“ he says curtly, dark eyes glittering. Ultimately, he ignores her thanks. “Act like one.”

He’s made a point, since gaining this position, of not tolerating nonsense. Lily’s friends never liked him, but Sev had hoped his old classmates would have the decorum to put aside the old school grudges and be cordial at the very least. “Must I remind you, McKinnon, that I am in no way obligated to continue doing business with you should it become tedious? In any case, I wouldn’t advise antagonizing the one brewing your potions. As for your request: I wouldn’t be in the underground potions brewing business if I couldn’t keep secrets, don’t you think?”

[imperialvestra]

warm drinks & cold company

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

maraudingstag:

Frowning, James tries to think of a shop in the village where Snape would possibly be working. It had never really occurred to him to wonder what had become of him after they had left school. They had quite a lot of classmates after all, James couldn’t very well keep tabs on all of them, nor did he want to. At the time they left school, he would have been quite happy to never have to see Severus Snape again.

At the moment, he’s still not sure that he’s changed his mind about that.

“You work in Hogsmeade? I would’ve thought you’d get a spot working in some potioneer’s lab.” He does remember Snape being quite good at potions. Evans and he had always been at the top of the class, and James knows he had likely been something of a disappointment to Slughorn in that he wasn’t always up there with them, having only partially inherited his father’s flair for the subject.

His eyes flick to the papers in front of Snape and he squints, turning his head to the side to try to make out the letters. The handwriting doesn’t look like Snape’s, from what little he remembers of that anyway. No, and it doesn’t look like a typical business sort of paper either. Shifting a bit closer, he tries to get a better look.

“Are those… essays?” Now what in the world would Snape be doing with a stack of essays in a pub? James doesn’t particularly care… or he doesn’t want to. But he’s never truly been able to master his curiosity. Perhaps Snape got himself a job reviewing essays for some potions journal. That sounds like it might play to his strengths, potions and being generally unpleasant to people.

A spot working in some potioneer’s lab? Sev might laugh, if he wasn’t aware why Potter would think that. He knows how unusual this is, he was privy to the amount of criticism the Headmaster was subjected to for allowing someone so young and inexperienced to take such a prestigious position. Despite everything else, Sev takes a small amount of pride in that. It’s the only thing he can have pride in, doing his job and doing it well (or... relatively well, not counting for how unpleasant he is in class--but his students always learn, and that, Sev supposes, is the important part).

“Not quite,” he replies coolly, blots his quill and sets it down. “I skipped over the shopkeeper stage in my life, apparently.” Despite what was likely expected of him. Someone from his background, his social standing, cannot be successful. This is what he was told up until the job offer from Albus, this was his truth. But, then... Potter never took shots at him for that, did he? His looks and general state of being, certainly, but not once did Potter give him grief over being poor.

It’s strange to realize, that the worst of it really came from his own house. People he still associates with, because he has no choice, hasn’t ever had one. 

Then, on the flip side, here is James Potter, scooting down the bar, trying to get a peek at Sev’s essays. Sev could leave, but... no, he stays put, with the newfound knowledge that Potter’s company truly cannot be worse than the company Sev usually has to keep.

“Yes. Essays that I, unfortunately, must have marked for my sixth years tomorrow. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard. Slughorn finally retired a few years ago, like he’d been talking about the entire time we were at Hogwarts. I’ve taken his position as Potions Master.”

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

thread tracker!

last updated: 1:15 am pst, friday 12/22

i owe: minerva, marlene, james

i’m owed: lily, alastor

total threads: 5

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

                    bitter medicine || open

“Potion for Dreamless Sleep?” he repeats, and the harshness of his voice is curbed slightly by curiosity. That’s not to say it isn’t there, he’s as unpleasant as he always is when someone floos into his office to discuss business, but it’s muted, there’s something else underneath. Sev crosses his arms.

“Of course I can brew it. Though... I would be careful on the dosage. Misuse of Dreamless Sleep can lead to unpleasant side effects.” The eye Sev casts his visitor is critical. He understands why they’re asking, or at least suspects it. Current events have been weighing heavily on everyone’s mind. He’d be surprised to find someone who’s sleeping soundly, these days.

Wars do that. Sev has been in the thick of it, so it stands to reason that maybe, with this particular potion, he’s speaking from experience.

“If I am to brew this potion, you will follow my instructions, to the letter. This is not a cure, merely a temporary solution. Twice a week at most.” Coldness for emphasis, not disdain or disapproval. He must be understood, and understood clearly.

[jennarosepetrella]

Visit Original Link

waking up (acoustic)

// pvris 

[imperialvestra]

warm drinks & cold company

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

maraudingstag:

closed starter for @lionheartedserpent

The Hog’s Head isn’t exactly James’s favorite place in Hogsmeade, but it’s a decent enough pub if one needs a quiet place to drink and talk. He’s there on Order business, well… more or less. And, alright, he’s not in the pub specifically because the Order wants him there. With everything that’s been happening lately, it doesn’t hurt to have a few more members wandering Hogsmeade, just ensuring that everything is as it should be.

So it’s less a mission and more just a casual lookout job. James isn’t expecting much trouble. It’s been quiet and he’s fairly certain it will continue that way, so it can’t hurt for him to get off his feet for a bit.

He pushes the door open with less of a flourish than he wants to. Keeping a low profile isn’t one of James’s strong suits, but he’s been doing his best to keep his head down. In a way, it’s a bit infuriating. There are some secrets he likes keeping, like the invisibility cloak tucked into a hidden pocket of his robes or the antlers he can sport should he feel the need to. But telling no one about the Order is like not being able to tell anyone he was just made starting chaser for the Ballycastle Bats.

Casting a glance around the pub, he moves to take a seat at the bar. The place isn’t particularly crowded, it rarely is. There’s a familiar figure a few seats down, though it takes him a few looks to recognize the profile.

“Snape?” James is quite proud of himself for the fact that the old nickname doesn’t slip out instead. Times have changed, and he likes to think he’s calmed a bit since school ended, wouldn’t be quite so willing to start a duel with Severus Snape in the middle of a public place. There’s an itch though, a question that he can’t stop himself asking.

“The hell are you doing here?”

Sev does not notice his new company until he’s addressed directly. He used to think this was one of the upsides of going to the Hog’s Head for a drink, the not being bothered bit. The pub has a reputation for being frequented by a shady sort of crowd, and since Severus chooses to do his business dealings elsewhere (for fear of Albus’s brother, more than anything), he’s generally unlikely to run into anyone he knows, teacher or student.

It’s convenient, then, when he doesn’t want students dropping into his office, and when the castle starts feeling too much like a prison, to bring his essays down to the Hog’s Head, have a drink, and mark them at the bar.

That false sense of security is shattered the moment he hears his name on James Potter’s lips.

Sev’s grip tightens, the quill in hand threatening to snap under his thin fingers. He restrains himself. Counts to three in his head, slowly, then turns his head to the man seated just down the bar.

“An excellent question,“ he replies, voice soft but with the patronizing quality he generally reserves for particularly stubborn third years, “let’s see if we can’t figure it out together, hm?“

It’s been five years since Sev has seen him, and what a reunion. In a way, it delights him to be in a position--older, distinguished--where he can talk down to Potter. On the other hand, he’s starting to thing being a teacher is ruining him.

“What might a person be doing sitting in the closest pub to his place of employment, this fine evening? Do you think he could possibly be having a drink after work?”

[lionheartedserpent-blog]

                    poisonous || open

Professor Snape is not, strictly speaking, actually in Knockturn Alley in the interest of acquiring 50ml of acromantula venom. That is a trivial plus side. No, what Sev is truly after is far more valuable and far more evasive than even a controlled potion ingredient: Information.

Information is more valuable than anything in these times, and Sev, more than anyone, likes to remain up to date. By virtue of keeping quiet and obedient, he overhears far more than he is generally supposed to at Death Eater meetings. Sev is a non-threat. This is important. But even so, he doesn’t hear all the pieces.

Right now, he’s curious just what has been the use of the latest batch of poison requested of him, and well, every dark witch or wizard passes through Knockturn Alley at one point or another.

Perhaps this is too often of an occurrance; he’s fallen out of favor with the usual shopkeepers lately, and has been thrown from Borgin and Burkes at least once. Too many questions, not enough gold changing hands. There’s this muggle saying he heard growing up: Curiosity killed the cat.

Sev does not have nine lives.

Ultimately, he leaves disappointed, empty handed save for the acromantula venom. He’s irritated, but not excessively so, when he rounds the corner near the apothecary (a dark and sinister mirror of it’s Diagon Alley counterpart) and nearly collides with someone who clearly is not looking where they’re going.

Sev almost drops the bottle of venom, avoiding catastrophe narrowly when he manages to catch the neck of the bottle between his fingers at the last minute.

“A fraction of an inch to the left and you would have had this,“ and he shakes the bottle threateningly, “eating through your shoes.“ Sev doesn’t particularly care who it is--he’s been irritable with everyone lately. His tone is harsh, but not uncharacteristically so. “I understand the atmosphere can be overwhelming, but do tell me you’re capable of controlling yourself on a public street.“

[silencio-rparchived]

Severus Snape ✦ 23 ✦ Half Blood ✦ Death Eater ✦ Slytherin

“I can’t answer why, just go with me, and I’ll take you home.”

Traits

+  Insightful  /   + Devoted   /   + Meticulous - Forceful   /   - Manipulative   /   -  Obsessive

Description

A small boy born in the depths of winter to a mother who couldn’t bear to meet her child’s eyes, Severus has had to fight for survival for as long as he can remember. Rejection has been a hymn sung to him so often that he can hear its refrain in the silence around him. As rebellion rises on the horizon, Severus sees a chance to change the cards, and to find a place where he is not only wanted, but celebrated. It’s a far off dream, but right now, it’s all that he has.

Connections

Lily Evans: The only woman he’s ever loved, and perhaps the only woman who ever loved him. But those days are long gone now, and he only has himself to blame. There was a time when he would have done anything to get Lily back, but the times are changing.

Rodolphus Lestrange: He parades around as if he is Lord Voldemort himself, and Severus despises the man and his pride. To make matters worse, Rodolphus seems to have decided Snape is some sort of spy. It won’t be long before the two meet head to head.

Remus Lupin: He cannot stand the way he looks at him, a gaze filled with pity. It should have been Severus who pitied Remus, not the other way around. Yet somehow he was never able to bring himself to hate the man the way he hated the others who tormented him.

Occupation: Hogwarts - Potions Professor Faceclaim: Lee Hyun Jae Status: Unfortunately for you Severus is Taken!

[silencio-rparchived]

Lex, we cannot tell you how excited we are to have Severus Snape joining us. He is one of our favourite characters, one who is so often underplayed and misunderstood. We love your unique take on him and know you’ll do justice to such a complex character. Thank you so much for applying & welcome to the family.

But now it’s time to get down to business. Head on over to the New Member Checklist for your first Assignment.

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you should know where i’m coming from BANKS

what if i knew i would just rip your mind apart? would you let me out?