(Untitled)
Date: Thursday, 7 December 2000
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Spinner's End
Characters Involved: Cormac McLaggen, Mandy Brocklehurst, Severus Snape, anyone else who feels the need to threaten or check Cormac out before they leave Spinner's End.
Rating: R
( What big teeth you have ... )
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Spinner's End
Characters Involved: Cormac McLaggen, Mandy Brocklehurst, Severus Snape, anyone else who feels the need to threaten or check Cormac out before they leave Spinner's End.
Rating: R
( What big teeth you have ... )
Not prone to fits of vanity or exertion over her appearance Mandy only ever visited this room of the whose for certain bodily functions. Now, however, fingers ran over silvery scars and rubber skin as she stared at her reflection.
Turning herself halfway around she admired her back that mirrored the front with criss-crossing scars and burnt skin. She exhaled and placed her hands on her hips. Was she really going to do this?
Shaking her hair out that was down from its usual ponytail she reached for the pair of jeans and top that was folded on the sink. Dressing quickly she chanced one final look at herself and pouted. What part of her had thought this a good idea?
She'd heard Severus call up the stairs just moments before the door was opened and rather than subject Cormac to his snark and suspicions for too long she hurried out of the bathroom and for the stairs.
"She knows." She said with a soft smile as she strode into the room. "Sorry you were kept waiting." She smiled indulgently at Severus as one might do to their overprotective father, knowing full well he'd taken advantage of the few moments alone with the poor Gryffindor.
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"If that's the end result, I don't mind in the least."
Knowing very well that Professor Snape was probably snarling at his back, he made an effort not to look back at the man. Snape would either come to accept him or not. He wasn't going to change his quite harmless behavior simply to humor the man ... unless he yelled, of course.
"Do you have your suit?"
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Severus was doing all this and more. However, contrary to his behaviour, he was not her father, (though old enough to be), and really had little right to even suggest her actions, let alone try to forbid them.
Not that righteousness, or lack thereof, had ever prevented him from voicing his opinions, before.
Yet another odd side-effect of finding himself part of this very motley 'family'.
"A moment, if you please," Severus said, not waiting for her to answer about her 'suit'. At least he was comforted to know it wasn't their intent to swim naked!
Rising briskly from his chair, he crossed the room to the base of the stairs and summoned something from his room - large, thick, and black, like a great fluffy rug. Severus did have a few indulgences to physical pleasures, and one of these was a thick, soft terry-cloth dressing gown with a warming charm on it. This one was fresh and clean, since it was here at the house - he had another just like it at the school. A tap of his wand transfigured it from black, to a soft, off-white. As he did this, he surreptitiously slipped something in the pocket of the robe.
Crossing the room to Mandy, he deliberately turnt his back to Cormac. This close to the full moon, it would be possible to speak so quietly that the boy would not hear, but the girl would catch every word.
"If you insist on swimming outdoors this time of year, take this," he said in normal tones, thrusting the robe at her. "I'll not have you catching pneumonia and adding to my brewing load at this juncture."
Then, dropping his voice to the merest whisper, he sought her gaze with his piercing black one.
"There is a contraceptive potion in the pocket. I do not even want to know if you have used it. Be careful. I will keep my journal at-hand, with an auditory charm like June uses in case I fall asleep. If you need assistance, you call me."
Half naked bodies, warm water, cold outside air? How romantic.
Severus would much rather forbid her to go - but this was as good as he could get.
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The sudden motion of Severus rising and moving towards her was enough to nearly send her shuffling backwards towards the stairs. She nodded softly and watched as he transfigured the robe before handing it to her, in her hands she could feel the soft warmth it gave off, "Ohh.." A pause. "Thanks, Professor." She said with a nod before starting to move away. Stopping though as she realized he wasn't quite finished with his 'gifting'.
The mere mention of the contraceptive potion was enough to cause heat to rise in her cheeks, staining them a bright red.
She'd never even been felt up!!
And here he was offering her contraception. Unbelievable.
Keeping her head low she mumbled her understanding, wanting nothing more at the moment then to turn tail and head back to her cozy, cave-like room and not leave it again for a month. What had she been thinking in accepting this date?
What she had been thinking she could never be sure, but what she had not been expecting was Perry's concern or Severus' contraceptive.
This was a prime example of why she chose to stay in her room.
Though even through her mortification and the furious blush staining her cheeks she had to admit the care and concern was endearing. It was more than obvious that her housemates cared.
Ducking away from Severus and attempting to hide the color in her face she moved towards Cormac, "Are you ready?" Her voice a hushed whisper. She needed to get out of Spinner's End then before Severus insisted on sending Zak or Perry along for safe measure.
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"Very ready," he told her with a smile. "After you."
He gestured for her to leave first and followed her out of the house. Walking a bit from the house, he held out his hand for her.
"Don't worry, I've done this a good number of times. I've yet to splinch anyone. Well, okay, there was that once, but she's fine now."
He flashed her a grin to let her know he was kidding and waited for her to take his hand.
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The color had begun to drain from her cheeks as they strode down the path, and she chanced a look up at the nearly full moon. She could feel it upon her skin, pulling at her, and she gave a slight, involuntary shudder. Half in fear that it might bring forth the wolf inside her this night, half in fear of what she knew it would bring forth in mere days.
She nodded softly as they came to a halt, nerves slowly calming in anticipation of the apparition. It was quite unlike her to put such blind trust into another person, but Cormac was charming, he put her at ease. So even as her heart raced she waited for the familiar senstion of apparition with no sense of foreboding or doom. Hoping that he was as capable of this as he appeared.
Though then there was that whole bathing suit bit to get over.
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Arriving safely, as he'd known they would, he flashed her a playful grin. He squeezed her hand before releasing it. The entire situation was a little awkward considering how little they actually knew of each other.
"So," he drawled, "this is my home."
He gestured toward the large house before them. Seeing it with new eyes, he appreciated its beauty. Still, his eyes couldn't help but notice the little things that had changed since his father's death. The gardens were more meticulous than ever, having everything to do with the fact that his mother no longer tended them, but the house elves did instead. There were no candles in the window sill, no wreath on the door. He could order them put up, but neither of them felt particularly jolly this year.
"Dinner ought to be ready."
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Managing a smile as her nerves and stomach calmed she nodded, her hand tingling somewhat from where he had squeezed it, "It's.. bii- beautiful." She said with a laugh. "Forgive me, I've been living at Spinner's End for nearly a year now.. And before that it was encampments throughout the woods." She laughed, "It's been awhile since I've seen a proper English estate."
Not that Severus hadn't been infinitely generous in opening his home to the pack and caring for them, but even with the transfiguration and enlarging charms the home was still filled to bursting with residents. It wasn't exactly a sprawling demense by any definition of the word.
Inwardly she chided herself at her ridiculous words and and shook her head nearly ready to apologize again. Honestly not believeing she had admitted to him how the pack had lived before the war ended. Though even now with a roof over their heads the conditions were not much better. Her hand absentmindedly fingering the collar at her neck with the thought. Really she shouldn't be allowed to socialise any longer. She was a mess.
Resolving to just keep her mouth shut for the rest of the night, or as much as possibly atleast, she nodded softly, "Ok."
"Oh! I forgot to bring the dessert!"
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"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I could never deal with that. The wilderness would be hell on my styling needs."
He flashed her a playful grin, knowing that it was a little stupid but not sure what else to say. Dwelling on things wouldn't help her relax or make the evening go any more smoothly. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel self conscious.
"Oh, it's okay. I didn't have the nerve to remind you in front of Snape. We have plenty of food here."
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Possibly the first time she had admitted that aloud. "Even as reclusive and closed off as I've been.. I wouldn't have survived on my own." She returned his grin and shrugged before starting for the house.
"Anyhow. I've not willingly left the house, without the pack, in nearly - well a long time, and certainly didn't do so to discuss the war or lycanthropy. Merlin knows I hear enough of it at home."
Admitting exactly how long she had been a recluse sounded awful, even to her own ears, and when had Spinner's End become home?
"Well, I feel awful as I did say I would bring some. I'll have to send you home with some later; no doubt Zak will have doubled what's there by morning." She said with a playful grin.
"And Severus really isn't quite so bad. Once you get past the image of him as an overgrown bat, and the gruff, snarky exterior, or the Snape is a vampire theory, and well that whole murdering death eater bit doesn't help, but..." Her face screwed up, perplexed, "Well, he's been good to us, the pack, I mean. Giving us his home, brewing the wolfsbane monthly, and tending our wounds after the full. There must be some good in him somewhere to do all that for nothing."
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He took her hand again, wanting to be closer to her after her sharing. Her admission of not leaving the house in quite some time made him even more desperate to make this night enjoyable for her.
"Then I suppose I can understand their over protectiveness. They probably couldn't understand why you would finally leave the house only to come here with me." He couldn't say he understood it himself. Considering how their conversation had started, he never would have imagined it to end this nicely. "Why did you decide to come here? My charming banter, obviously, but what bit did it for you in particularly."
He walked with her toward the house as they spoke. He could only nod at her idea of Severus. He did sound oddly kind, but he wasn't ready to speak about his father just yet. It was bad enough having to broach the topic of his mother.
"Mandy," he stopped her before they could go inside the house, "my mother's inside. She's a kind woman, but she hasn't been feeling well lately. Just ... don't be too shocked if she comes by."
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Instinct took over as she almost jerked her hand away. His hand taking hers before apparition had all be a part of the process, but this, this casual, familiar touching was enough to turn her again into a skittish rabbit. For the moment though she was content to return the gesture, even if her shoulder was itching to pull her arm away.
"No, you're right, they couldn't." She said with a chuckle as she thought back to the earlier conversations about her evening out. "I think it caught them all off guard, judging by their reactions."
She paused for a moment to think about the question that had been posed. Studying the grass intently, "Oh, umm.. Well.. I'm not sure.
"To be honest I found you rather dodgy to begin with, and then you didn't seem quite so bad. Just a shamelss flirt. Harmless, I should think. Though I really don't even know how or why it happened. At first I was insulting you, then we were arguing, discussed politcs, and well.."
She grinned, "Personally I think it was the politics that did it, y'know. I'm in, or well I was, in politics before last Christmas. Anyhow, I'm still trying to figure out why and what I agreed to."
Stopping at the porch she looked up at him, taken by the sudden serious tone of his voice. Somehow she didn't think his mother would take to kindly to the young werewolf in her home, but Mandy simply nodded and looked towards the door. "It's fine. I'm sure."
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He did find it encouraging that she came to him because of their shared interests. That, beyond her obvious curiousness toward him, might actually make it possible for them to become friends.
"It should be fine. She probably won't even come down."
Despite her pain, she was still a kind and loving woman. She would never want to do something to hurt of embarrass him.
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"Perhaps. Verdict's still out on that one. You may turn out to be a lecherous arse yet..."
She looked back towards the door, "So, is it part of your plan to keep me out here all night, McLaggen?"
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He grinned, opening the door for her. The smell of cooking hit them as they came in. He was pleased that only the smell of bread and light traces of their meal was present. It would be stronger to her, but he'd asked specifically that nothing too spicy be made.
"Let me know if something isn't good for you. Don't hurt yourself just to spare my feelings."
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The smell of dinner was pleasant, strong to her sensitive senses, but not overpowering. Not unlike the smells that filled Spinner's End as Zak slaved in the kitchen daily, perhaps a bit more heady, thicker, and her stomach rolled gently in hunger. Though the smell of holiday food did nothing more than make her feel guilty over her inability to present her packmates with gifts.
"Thank you." She smiled genuinely, the gesture appreciated.
"Though I doubt that will be necessary, I'm sure everything is fine."
She shrugged and looked about the foyer, waiting for Cormac to lead her towards the dining room.
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