Grand Opening!

[golden_armor]

Date: May 14
Time: 9 AM
Location: Alecto's Animal Emporium, Diagon Alley
Characters Involved: Aurin Helm, anyone in need of animal supplies or vet care!
Rating: We'll make it PG-13, just in case.
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[subtle_simmer]

Aurin Helm clearly ran a tight ship. Severus could easily appreciate someone who took their business as seriously as he took his own. The animals were exceptionally healthy, the displays carefully controlled to provide the precise environment needed by its inhabitants. All in all, even considering the place was quite new, it had the air of careful attention and deliberate organisation.

Severus walked closer to the Fwooper cages and peered critically at the birds, all of which appeared to be in excellent health, until he noticed a slight rash on the leg of one of the birds, causing the scaly-appearing flesh just above the talons to appear dry and patchy rather than sleek and shiny. He pointed this out with a nod.

"I will purchase six feathers today, but none from this bird - it appears to have been affected by its transportation."

A fairly common occurrence from the stress of moving from place to place, it was probably something entirely benign and easily healed. Indeed, casual shoppers would not likely have noticed it, the bird appeared just as fine and healthy as the others. Severus, however, was exceedingly picky about his ingredients and tried to make certain he was choosing only the healthiest stock.

Even when they were destined to be disemboweled and pickled, like the toads.

"As to your Runespoors, if they manage to hatch any eggs, I will pay ten percent over market for the shells - you clearly tend to your animals well. Same for the skins if they shed whilst in your possession. If you contact me the moment either shell or skin is discovered, I will arrange to pick them up, personally. Such things tend to be damaged easily in shipment."

[golden_armor]

Aurin nodded as Snape pointed out the rash on the Fwooper's leg. "I quite understand. I'm treating it, of course."

He opened the top of one Fwooper's cage and reached in to collect the three long tail feathers that the bird had shed so far that day. As he was opening the second cage, he replied to Snape's request about Runespoors. "I'll write you in the journals as soon as I have any shells or skins. I expect to get the Runespoors in a few weeks, during shedding season, so the skins should come along fairly soon."

Aurin gave the Fwooper an affectionate scratch on the back of the head as he withdrew his hand, holding three more feathers. The bird opened its beak in what would have been a trill, had the silencing spells not been in place. Holding the six feathers out to Snape for inspection, he said, "If these are satisfactory, we can head up front and have my brother ring your purchase up."

[subtle_simmer]

Severus did, indeed, inspect them quite thoroughly, and find them to be in excellent condition.

"These will be most satisfactory, I thank you," he said with a polite nod. "I will watch for your communication in the journals about the Runespoors, then."

Following the direction Helm had indicated to the register, Severus paid for his feathers and returned to June where she was standing near the Harpy Eagle, uneasy as to whether he had left her waiting overlong as he haggled about Potions ingredients.

"June? Are you ready to leave?"

[sightlesswolf]

"Already?" she asked with some surprise, answering his uncertainty without realizing it. She and Romero had come to quite a satisfactory understanding while waiting; she loved the feel of his sleek feathers and powerful muscles beneath her fingers and he clearly relished the attention, so it worked out well for everyone involved.

"Well, Romero, I suppose that's my cue. It's been very nice meeting you, and your friend Aurin. Behave yourself, all right?" Giving him one final affectionate scratch on his crest, she allowed herself to be drawn from the shop.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked as they left. Though it hadn't seemed like long, he'd spent enough time with the man that he must have had some luck - and she'd half-registered hearing him purchasing something, though her attention had been on Romero and she hadn't caught what. "Sorry if you were expecting me to be more help - I wasn't sure what to do."

[subtle_simmer]

Severus tucked her hand carefully in the crook of his arm, as though it was common place for him to escort her about places. It would hardly do for him to 'lose' her or allow something to happen whilst she was with him, after all his admonishments to her to be cautious.

"Not at all, I expected nothing of you. It was not the sort of establishment I expected, but I have half-a-dozen excellent quality Fwooper Feathers, and expectation to obtain valuable Runespoor parts, so the visit was by no means wasted. You seemed to be amused with the bird? I recollect you played Quidditch in school, I suppose you must miss flying?"

He asked it casually, but with ulterior motives. If he could gently encourage her to think on the things she was 'missing' without her sight, he might eventually be able to discuss the subject of reconstruction to make prosthetics a possibility for her.

[sightlesswolf]

The trip had done June a lot of good. Between getting away from the house and the encounter with the harpy eagle, she was feeling more relaxed and cheerful than she had in a while; her thoughts had found ample distraction from the worries that had been dominating them and she felt good with the world again. For a few precious minutes, anyway. She was nodding, pleased that he'd had some success at the shop, pleased to talk about Romero, not anticipating where this line of conversation was leading. And then he dropped that last offhand question and her smile disappeared like a cloud passing over the sun.

'I suppose you must miss flying?'

Her steps faltered. Casual as his question had been, he could hardly have struck deeper had he been trying. Nothing she had lost that day ate at her more than that. Not the ability to read people's expressions or to assess a room at a glance or to know the time of day without having to ask. She missed all those things and many more, of course she did, but for the most part she'd grown used to the changes over time.

Not so the loss of flight. The ache of yearning she felt now was as sharp and bittersweet as it had ever been, with each passing year only etching it more indelibly into her heart. He didn't need to 'remind' her of how much she missed it; every mention of Quidditch or broomsticks or flight in her hearing did that for him.

A lump had risen to her throat unbidden. She swallowed it down and pushed her feet into motion again before (she hoped) he noticed how the question had affected her.

"Yes, I do." Her response sounded almost defiant, though it was the hurt within her, not him, that she was defying. "Very much. He was a sweet bird, wasn't he - Romero?"

[subtle_simmer]

He winced, in spite of himself. True, it had been a deliberate attempt to try to 'soften her up' for his eventual hope that Ginevra could manage some level of reconstruction - particularly if he was successful in the adjunct, lycanthrope-specific healing potions.

It was impossible to fail to notice that he had hurt her, with his question, and that had not been his intent at all.

He accepted the awkward change of subject, uncertain how to soothe the disruption he had caused in their otherwise fairly pleasant outing.

"He seemed to take to you well enough, though he clearly didn't think much of me," Severus said dryly. "That suggests a good deal of intelligence, if nothing else."

Then, because it bothered him a great deal to have upset her, he added, almost in spite of himself, "I did not mean to upset you, June. I was no Quidditch player, but I have a broom. If you would like, I would be glad to to take you to Hogwarts grounds sometime, and take you flying?"

[sightlesswolf]

"Considering you were the one suggesting you'd like to take bits and pieces off him, I can't imagine why he didn't take a shine to you right off," she countered quickly, relieved that he'd allowed the change of subject. A relief that turned out to be short-lived.

His apology (for she recognized it for what it was despite the lack of the words 'I'm sorry') didn't surprise her. Regardless of his sometimes harsh demeanor and his reputation at Hogwarts as a teacher who enjoyed making his students suffer, he'd never, in the time since they'd come to Spinner's End, ever deliberately gone out of his way to cause hurt. Had, in fact, expressed regret on several occasions when he thought he might have inadvertantly done so.

And he couldn't have known how raw the wound was he was prodding at. It wasn't as though she went around loudly bemoaning the loss. Mourning something that was past and gone forever wasn't her style. She ought to have let it go by now; she wanted to let it go. But the yearning just... refused to fade.

The offer, though - that was a surprise. And brought with it a torrent of conflicting emotions. That he made such a proposition at all astonished her, largely because no one else ever had. With all the accomplished fliers and Quidditch players of her acquaintance, apparently it had never crossed anyone's mind to suggest it. Certainly it had never crossed hers. Instead the first one to think of it was a dour Potions Master who she had difficulty picturing on a broom at all.

It wouldn't be the same.

But it'd be better than nothing!

What if it's a disappointment? He just said he's no Quidditch player, he can't fly like I can...

Like I COULD. That's over now. It's over.

"You didn't upset me," she lied unconvincingly. Admittedly she wasn't trying very hard to deceive him; he was extremely perceptive and she was a terrible liar, so there seemed little point. Only that she didn't want him to feel bad because she wasn't able to grow up and get past this. So it wasn't a lie, really; the one who had 'upset' her wasn't him, but herself. "Thank you, though... I- I'll have to think about it, but... it's really nice of you to offer."

She'd intended to leave it at that, but something about his quiet, steady presence prompted her to go on. "I always... always wanted to fly, you know, when I was little. There were always hawks and falcons overhead, sometimes eagles too... I used to watch them all the time and imagine what it would be like to be up there with them. Then I got my letter and came to Hogwarts, and there was Madam Hooch handing out brooms and telling us we were about to learn to fly." She smiled a little, remembering the incredulity and joy of that first flying lesson. She'd been no prodigy, of course, just another first year who'd never been on a broom before. But simply to know that before long she'd really be able to do what she'd always dreamed about...

"My imagination didn't even come close."

[subtle_simmer]

"I understand," he said softly, surprising even himself with his compassion, and the fact that he did, indeed, understand. "My Muggle 'childhood' left little room for flights of fancy, but my first flight on a broom, too, was like a leap into unimaginable freedom."

Well, as soon as he figured out how to get the thing to stop trying to buck him off like a wild horse! Brooms, it transpires, answer far more to the feel of the flyer, than the will of the flyer. It was a valuable lesson, but was the handicap which meant he could fly well enough for transportation, and the occasional bout of refereeing the Quidditch as a Professor when the occasion (or Harry Potter) had needed it.

It had been obligatory, though, to humiliate himself completely, in his second year. All the second-years were trying out for their House teams, whatever the open positions happened to be, and the shame might have been worse had he failed to at least make the attempt. Besides, at the time, like every twelve-year-old boy in the school, he had WANTED to play!

Only two chaser positions had been open in Slytherin at the time, and Severus' tryout had been the worst of the lot. Not only did he not make a single goal - he hadn't come close. His flying, by then, had become adequate, but he was nervous of letting both hands off the broom to handle the ball, and already growing long and gangly with limbs which didn't want to obey his commands, fumbling clumsily with the ball, releasing too soon or too late until it went wildly off course to peals of mocking laughter.

It had quite completely squashed any enjoyment of the sport - he hadn't been that fussed about it to begin with. Potter's successful appointment to Gryffindor Chaser and resultant talent at the spot merely added another facet to rivalry and jealous hatred in a situation which already needed no assistance!

"I have come to understand you a little, June," he said, a gentle admonishment in his voice. "I believe you tell me you will 'think about it' and 'let me know' when it is a subject you would rather not think about, at all, in order to get me to drop it."

It was what she had done with the offer of her scars, for example. This seemed very similar.

"I will give you time to consider the offer, but I'll not forget. Expect me to ask again, rather than wait for you to 'let me know'."

[sightlesswolf]

'A leap into unimaginable freedom.' That was it exactly. One of the purest and most glorious feelings she'd ever experienced. And it had never gotten old, never lost its magic, no matter how often she'd experienced it. Just as the memory of it never lost its intensity, no matter how long she'd been without it.

His admonishment distracted her from her thoughts and made her feel, for a moment, guilty, as if she'd been caught trying to get away with something. She hadn't, really. She just needed time to sort through her feelings on the subject - as she'd needed time to sort through her feelings about allowing him to work on her scars.

Of course, she never had fully sorted those out, or at least had never come to a conclusion. Even having (almost by accident) finally committed to a course of action, her feelings about the whole situation were still very mixed. And perhaps this would be the same.

"Duly noted," she said, ducking her head a bit. "I'll try to have an answer for you before then."

[subtle_simmer]

Annoyance rose to the surface as she acted as though he'd just shouted at her, when his admonishment had been remarkably 'gentle' - for him!

"You need not fear I'll demand you go against your will, child," he retorted with asperity. He was frustrated not only with her, but with himself, and his apparent ability to destroy her 'good mood' with remarkable ease.

Before he dug himself any deeper, it seemed wisest to just return home.

"I have nothing more I need here today. Was there anywhere you'd like to go before we return to the house?"

[sightlesswolf]

Oh, 'child', was it now? What was that all about? And why did he sound so annoyed all of a sudden? Had she not been agreeing with him?

"I know that," she retorted, not quite able to keep her tone from developing a tart edge. Nor to stop herself adding a little verbal sting on the end, in the form of a title she now knew he disliked as she disliked the one he'd just given her. "Professor."

Merlin, he really brought out the worst in her sometimes.

With a little sniff, she turned her face away. "No, nothing else I can think of. I'm ready to go if you are."