Drabble Babble
Two little drabbles or something like that, if anyone is interested.
They are also on Ashwinder: http://ashwinder.sycophanthex.com/viewuser.php?uid=4420.
Completely silly:
A/N: This is one of those plot bunnies. I told it, “You are ridiculous. Hop away, bunny.” And it just looked at me and ate my shoe. So, this story has very little redeeming value. (Perhaps it is what was left of my shoe after the bunny got through with it.) It is AU, EWE, although mostly DH-compliant otherwise. And yeah, it’s just silly. Oh well, I suppose I’ll write something worthwhile later… maybe.
Thank you to septentrion for the encouragement and beta skills for this little romp.
*****
The Snake Prince
Blasssst and double blasssst, Severus thought to himself. Wincing - as much as was possible in his current form - he realized that he was even thinking in hisses.
He hated being a snake.
Nagini’s venom had seeped inside him as he had watched Lily’s eyes while the world faded into blackness. Finally, finally, he had thought he would get some sleep. As though years of patrolling the corridors while overcome with insomnia due to his rather precarious position weren’t enough. No, he had paid his dues, thank you very much, and yet here he was.
A snake.
Scowling - again, not an emotion that was readily apparent on a snake’s face - he slithered around the shack trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
The snake bit him.
That seemed perfectly logical. After all, the Dark Lord needed to be the owner of the Elder Wand. Blah blah blah. Severus had to die. Completely plausible.
He underwent paralysis followed by slight frothing at the mouth and a slow descent to darkness.
Classic symptoms! Nothing less than what he would have expected - a textbook case. Granger could have quoted it from one of her books in no time at all. He would not have even faulted her on her answer.
And yet…
The evidence around him was pointing very strongly to the fact that this was not at all a textbook case, that somehow instead of being killed by the snake, he had been turned into a snake.
It was all very confusing, and he found that the mouse shuffling around the other side of the shack seemed much more appealing than his current train of thought…
No! Must not think like a snake, Severus told himself.
It was unnerving. All those years he had spent with Slytherins, first as a member of the House and later as its Head, and he had always thought snakes were to be admired for their silky, smooth, sly ways.
Instructing himself not to think like a snake, he examined his options and came upon only one viable solution: Find Potter.
Potter was a Parselmouth. Potter would be able to understand the predicament in which he had found himself. Potter would fix… No, Potter would find someone smarter and more talented - probably the Granger girl - to fix this unfortunate… misunderstanding.
Yes, that was it. Severus had had a bit of a misunderstanding with nature. Naturally, things would need to be sorted out post haste.
Where would Potter be?
Oh yes, he thought, the Battle.
Winding his way past the bodies. Death Eater. Order member. Child. Death Eater. Death Eater. At least things were going somewhat in the right direction, although he did feel a twinge for the one student. What was her name? He quickly blamed his forgetfulness on having a smaller brain. Luckily, guilt was not an emotion he possessed in his current form.
When he finally found the Potter brat, he wasted no time in hissing… to get Potter’s attention, of course.
“Potter,” he said in the native snake language, “this is Severus Snape. As your no doubt limited intellect has processed, I have been turned into a snake. Fix this immediately.”
Potter stared at him for a long moment.
“Now,” Severus hissed, hoping his tone would translate in Parseltongue.
“What’s it saying, Harry?” the Granger girl asked, her brow knitted in worry and curiosity.
“I… I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean, I can’t understand it.”
“But Harry, you’re a Parselmouth,” Ron said, stating the obvious. Severus raised his upper body off the ground in a strike position. He was ready to kill if this did not get sorted out soon.
“The scar!” Hermione yelled, startling them all.
“What?” Harry and Ron both asked. Dunderheads, the both of them. Even in his snake-mind, Severus could see where Miss Granger was going.
“When Voldemort died, the curse in your scar ended. So, you don’t have his Parselmouth ability anymore.”
“Oh,” Harry said, disheartened.
You think you’ve got it bad, Snape thought snidely. Just put yourself in my skin.
“Well, if Ron could speak Parseltongue, then it must be possible for us to learn. We’ll simply have to find the right book. Come on, Snake. Let’s go to the library!”
Severus examined the trio for a moment, repeatedly coming back to the Gryffindor bookworm. He supposed that in his current state, he didn’t have anything better to do. Besides, he could always strangle them if it didn’t work out.
Also, he was tired. He had endured a rather rough few years. So, he decided it would be best for all considered if he simply slithered up the Granger girl’s leg and rode on her shoulders for the trip to the library.
He found he liked her shape as he traversed it. Her curves were interesting, and he could imagine wrapping himself around her and just… squeezing. In a non-threatening way, of course.
She seemed to like it, too, for when he reached her shoulders, she leaned over and put her face even with his.
“Harry, have you ever seen a snake so black? He’s just beautiful. Even his eyes are black. I think he’s marvelous.”
I think you’re pretty marvelous, yourself, Snape thought.
Wait a minute. That was the snake in him talking. It had to be…
Hermione brushed her lips against him in a quick kiss.
Pop!
The noise sounded like Apparition, and smoke curled around the group like a thousand snakes. When it cleared, Snape was standing among them. As a man.
He was back in his own body all thanks to one unknowing move from the know-it-all of Hogwarts.
“Professor!” Hermione squeaked.
Severus decided that there was one aspect of his former condition that he wished to retain. He was ready to shed his skin. So to speak.
Grabbing Hermione in one fluid motion, he pulled her to him and claimed her lips in a kiss. Their tongues danced and their bodies melded together. He was about to suggest they find someplace more private when…
Pop! Pop!
When the smoke cleared, Harry and Ron looked around, trying to find Hermione and Severus. But all they could see were the tracks of two snakes… slithering off into the sunset.
Summary: After being bitten by Nagini, Severus finds himself in a slippery situation. This could be considered a fractured sort of fairy tale.
For something a darker shade:
So this is death.
Severus felt the poison moving through his veins. He could picture it crawling up his arm, aiming for his heart.
Oh happy dagger.
Hysterical laughter, unable to bubble to the surface. He was a cauldron that was simmering when it should have reached a boil.
I can teach you to bottle fame…
Eyes green as a bottle. An emerald? Two of them, jewels, his treasure.
Brew glory…
He never thought he would go like this. Alone, perhaps. Shrieking Shack with Harry Potter, no.
Even put a stopper in death.
So much for pretty words. Farwell, my…
*****
So this is death.
This aching in his chest, the part he thought had hardened.
Hand clutching, reaching, but for what? To whom?
Muggle medicine on a shelf, gathering dust.
For your heart, she had told him.
What heart?
She had married Weasley. He could have stopped her, made some grand gesture. He was not dramatic when it mattered.
The Healers had told him his heart was too weak; the venom had sunk in too deep. His heart would never heal.
As though that were news.
He understood aching: longing, loss. But this was something else…
So this is death.
Summary: Severus's thoughts while dying in two 100-word drabbles. DH-compliant.
Enjoy!
They are also on Ashwinder: http://ashwinder.sycophanthex.com/viewuser.php?uid=4420.
Completely silly:
A/N: This is one of those plot bunnies. I told it, “You are ridiculous. Hop away, bunny.” And it just looked at me and ate my shoe. So, this story has very little redeeming value. (Perhaps it is what was left of my shoe after the bunny got through with it.) It is AU, EWE, although mostly DH-compliant otherwise. And yeah, it’s just silly. Oh well, I suppose I’ll write something worthwhile later… maybe.
Thank you to septentrion for the encouragement and beta skills for this little romp.
*****
The Snake Prince
Blasssst and double blasssst, Severus thought to himself. Wincing - as much as was possible in his current form - he realized that he was even thinking in hisses.
He hated being a snake.
Nagini’s venom had seeped inside him as he had watched Lily’s eyes while the world faded into blackness. Finally, finally, he had thought he would get some sleep. As though years of patrolling the corridors while overcome with insomnia due to his rather precarious position weren’t enough. No, he had paid his dues, thank you very much, and yet here he was.
A snake.
Scowling - again, not an emotion that was readily apparent on a snake’s face - he slithered around the shack trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
The snake bit him.
That seemed perfectly logical. After all, the Dark Lord needed to be the owner of the Elder Wand. Blah blah blah. Severus had to die. Completely plausible.
He underwent paralysis followed by slight frothing at the mouth and a slow descent to darkness.
Classic symptoms! Nothing less than what he would have expected - a textbook case. Granger could have quoted it from one of her books in no time at all. He would not have even faulted her on her answer.
And yet…
The evidence around him was pointing very strongly to the fact that this was not at all a textbook case, that somehow instead of being killed by the snake, he had been turned into a snake.
It was all very confusing, and he found that the mouse shuffling around the other side of the shack seemed much more appealing than his current train of thought…
No! Must not think like a snake, Severus told himself.
It was unnerving. All those years he had spent with Slytherins, first as a member of the House and later as its Head, and he had always thought snakes were to be admired for their silky, smooth, sly ways.
Instructing himself not to think like a snake, he examined his options and came upon only one viable solution: Find Potter.
Potter was a Parselmouth. Potter would be able to understand the predicament in which he had found himself. Potter would fix… No, Potter would find someone smarter and more talented - probably the Granger girl - to fix this unfortunate… misunderstanding.
Yes, that was it. Severus had had a bit of a misunderstanding with nature. Naturally, things would need to be sorted out post haste.
Where would Potter be?
Oh yes, he thought, the Battle.
Winding his way past the bodies. Death Eater. Order member. Child. Death Eater. Death Eater. At least things were going somewhat in the right direction, although he did feel a twinge for the one student. What was her name? He quickly blamed his forgetfulness on having a smaller brain. Luckily, guilt was not an emotion he possessed in his current form.
When he finally found the Potter brat, he wasted no time in hissing… to get Potter’s attention, of course.
“Potter,” he said in the native snake language, “this is Severus Snape. As your no doubt limited intellect has processed, I have been turned into a snake. Fix this immediately.”
Potter stared at him for a long moment.
“Now,” Severus hissed, hoping his tone would translate in Parseltongue.
“What’s it saying, Harry?” the Granger girl asked, her brow knitted in worry and curiosity.
“I… I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean, I can’t understand it.”
“But Harry, you’re a Parselmouth,” Ron said, stating the obvious. Severus raised his upper body off the ground in a strike position. He was ready to kill if this did not get sorted out soon.
“The scar!” Hermione yelled, startling them all.
“What?” Harry and Ron both asked. Dunderheads, the both of them. Even in his snake-mind, Severus could see where Miss Granger was going.
“When Voldemort died, the curse in your scar ended. So, you don’t have his Parselmouth ability anymore.”
“Oh,” Harry said, disheartened.
You think you’ve got it bad, Snape thought snidely. Just put yourself in my skin.
“Well, if Ron could speak Parseltongue, then it must be possible for us to learn. We’ll simply have to find the right book. Come on, Snake. Let’s go to the library!”
Severus examined the trio for a moment, repeatedly coming back to the Gryffindor bookworm. He supposed that in his current state, he didn’t have anything better to do. Besides, he could always strangle them if it didn’t work out.
Also, he was tired. He had endured a rather rough few years. So, he decided it would be best for all considered if he simply slithered up the Granger girl’s leg and rode on her shoulders for the trip to the library.
He found he liked her shape as he traversed it. Her curves were interesting, and he could imagine wrapping himself around her and just… squeezing. In a non-threatening way, of course.
She seemed to like it, too, for when he reached her shoulders, she leaned over and put her face even with his.
“Harry, have you ever seen a snake so black? He’s just beautiful. Even his eyes are black. I think he’s marvelous.”
I think you’re pretty marvelous, yourself, Snape thought.
Wait a minute. That was the snake in him talking. It had to be…
Hermione brushed her lips against him in a quick kiss.
Pop!
The noise sounded like Apparition, and smoke curled around the group like a thousand snakes. When it cleared, Snape was standing among them. As a man.
He was back in his own body all thanks to one unknowing move from the know-it-all of Hogwarts.
“Professor!” Hermione squeaked.
Severus decided that there was one aspect of his former condition that he wished to retain. He was ready to shed his skin. So to speak.
Grabbing Hermione in one fluid motion, he pulled her to him and claimed her lips in a kiss. Their tongues danced and their bodies melded together. He was about to suggest they find someplace more private when…
Pop! Pop!
When the smoke cleared, Harry and Ron looked around, trying to find Hermione and Severus. But all they could see were the tracks of two snakes… slithering off into the sunset.
Summary: After being bitten by Nagini, Severus finds himself in a slippery situation. This could be considered a fractured sort of fairy tale.
For something a darker shade:
So this is death.
Severus felt the poison moving through his veins. He could picture it crawling up his arm, aiming for his heart.
Oh happy dagger.
Hysterical laughter, unable to bubble to the surface. He was a cauldron that was simmering when it should have reached a boil.
I can teach you to bottle fame…
Eyes green as a bottle. An emerald? Two of them, jewels, his treasure.
Brew glory…
He never thought he would go like this. Alone, perhaps. Shrieking Shack with Harry Potter, no.
Even put a stopper in death.
So much for pretty words. Farwell, my…
*****
So this is death.
This aching in his chest, the part he thought had hardened.
Hand clutching, reaching, but for what? To whom?
Muggle medicine on a shelf, gathering dust.
For your heart, she had told him.
What heart?
She had married Weasley. He could have stopped her, made some grand gesture. He was not dramatic when it mattered.
The Healers had told him his heart was too weak; the venom had sunk in too deep. His heart would never heal.
As though that were news.
He understood aching: longing, loss. But this was something else…
So this is death.
Summary: Severus's thoughts while dying in two 100-word drabbles. DH-compliant.
Enjoy!