#Challenge 031 : and now for something completely different
Title: Searching for Underland
Rating/Warnings: G
Characters: Snape, Alice Kingsley (Burton’s Alice)
Summary: Snape needs to curb his noble impulses. That always leads to trouble- this time in the form of a baffling young lady who lives and breathes complete nonsense.
Word Count: 1483
Author's Notes: For some reason, I created a manip with Snape and Alice. And then I felt obligated to write about an encounter between them. I've never written a crossover before, so...no time like the present!
Registered purchases?: Purchased both and registered!
The last thing Severus Snape needed while en route to one of the infrequent but always delightful gatherings with the Dark Lord was to be sidetracked by teenage hijinks. Unfortunately, the student body was never as accommodating of the burdens he was forced to shoulder as it ought to be.
In the process of hurrying over the grounds to the gate and past the wards that prevented Apparition at Hogwarts, his sharp ears had caught a voice calling out somewhere in the copse of trees to his left. Night had fallen and it was definitely too late for anyone to be lawfully out and about. No, any student wandering the grounds at this hour was bent upon mischief.
Snape hesitated, caught between answering the summons from the Dark Lord and his instinct to investigate the sound, track down the would-be mischief-maker and terrify them badly enough that they would never dare to step foot outside after curfew again.
When he heard the voice calling out again, he heaved a long-suffering sigh and altered directions, moving swiftly in the unidentified student’s direction. The Dark Lord was generally understanding of his difficulty in slipping away unnoticed from the school, which was why he seldom was called to Death Eater gatherings during term-time, so he risked little in taking the few minutes to track down this miscreant.
Besides, the slightest chance that it might be that bone-headed Potter boy was more than enough to convince him to tarry a little-better to forestall the nitwit from falling into another blatantly obvious trap than to arrive to the Death Eater summons on time and find Potter was the guest of honor.
A flash of white caught his eye. Fixated on his prey, Snape moved through the darkness like a shadow himself, making no noise as he closed in on the unknown person.
There was a feminine gasp of surprise as he seized a slender arm. The student firmly in his grasp, Snape lit his wand and shone it upon the girl’s face.
“What are you doing out at this hour?” he demanded.
She merely blinked at him.
Only the lack of familiarity with this particular young woman halted the scathing diatribe on the tip of his tongue- Snape was, unfortunately, familiar with all the students at Hogwarts. Potions being a mandatory subject, he was forced to endure their varying degrees of ineptitude for five long years; there wasn’t a face he didn’t recognize.
Yet he could not place hers.
Furthermore, she did not wear the uniform of a Hogwarts student or even the casual Muggle clothing many adopted in their spare time, nor any of the current Wizarding trends. Even by the slow-moving Wizarding standards, her dress was old-fashioned.
Puzzled and increasingly suspicious, not to mention more than a little paranoid, Snape held his wand at her throat in a threatening manner. “Who, exactly, are you and what is your purpose here?” he asked in icy tones.
The girl didn’t appear overly perturbed by his hostile manner. Most girls her age would have been near tears, convinced the evil Potions master would cut them up and pickle their organs for some dark concoction if they provided the slightest provocation. While she regarded his wand with curiosity, she did not seem cognizant of the danger it could pose.
“My name is Alice Kingsley,” she said in polite, well-bred tones. “And my purpose is to search for a white rabbit, or at least, it was until you accosted me.”
“A…white…rabbit.”
“Yes. In a waistcoat. Holding a pocket-watch,” she clarified. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen him?”
Snape took a closer look at the girl. She did have fair-colored hair and her eyes did seem blue, but aside from the most superficial terms, she did not appear to share much of a resemblance to Miss Lovegood. Even if her mad comments implied a relationship. From this nonsense about a fashionably clad rabbit who could tell time, one might suppose she and Miss Lovegood were kin.
“Failing that, there’s no chance you know of any large rabbit holes?” she asked hopefully.
He let go of her arm and leaned against the nearest tree trunk, staring at her morosely. Why had he decided to hunt down the source of the voice? Oh, right, some stray noble thought of making sure the children didn’t stray into danger. Next time, it didn’t matter if it was Harry bloody ‘Chosen One’ Potter, he was letting the idiot get eaten by Acromantulas.
“Why are you asking nonsensical questions about rabbit holes, you foolish girl?”
“Oh, my,” she exclaimed, her eyes widening with delight.
This was not at all the reaction Snape was accustomed to when he growled questions at students, but of course, he had a feeling nothing was ever normal when it came to Miss Kingsley.
“You sound exactly like Absolem! He even calls me similar names, too. Or he did before he turned into a butterfly.”
“And who or what was this Absolem before he became a butterfly?” Snape asked with morbid curiosity.
“A caterpillar, of course,” she replied matter-of-factly, eyebrows drawing together as though she wondered whether he was a simpleton not to have worked that out on his own. “What else would he have been?”
“Indeed.” It made sense, actually. Of course a caterpillar would metamorphose into a butterfly; it was a basic fact of nature. How silly of him not to have expected that logic from a chit chasing waist-coated rabbits who could keep track of time. “And as for the rabbit hole- would any suffice or are you in search of a particular hole dug by a specific rabbit?”
It defied belief that he was actually having this conversation. He ought to just Stun her now and sort out this situation later, when he returned from the meeting. But there was something so earnest about her, something so compelling despite her obvious madness that he found himself lingering still.
“A particular one- I’m searching for the one that leads to Underland. I found it already, in the woods near my home, but while I was falling down it, I must have taken a wrong turn. I distinctly recall bouncing off a mattress and changing direction the last time, but the mattress wasn’t there this time. It follows that I kept falling in the wrong direction then, doesn’t it?”
“That would be logical.”
“I’m hoping the White Rabbit would have realized I’m lost by now and come looking for me, but if there are other exits, it might take him some time to track me down.” Miss Kingsley sighed. “I try calling out at intervals, though, in case he has come through here looking for me.”
“There is a greater likelihood that something more sinister and unfriendly would find you,” Snape warned her. “This close to the Forbidden Forest, any dark creature could come upon you.”
“Like yourself, you mean?” she asked guilelessly.
His eyes narrowed. He had walked right into that one. Damn. Before he could retort, his Dark mark twitched uncomfortably, writhing on his arm, and he gripped it convulsively. The Dark Lord grew impatient, evidently. It was past time he dealt with the chit and went on his way.
“For your own safety, I will have to insist-”
But he had lost her attention.
“The White Rabbit!” she cried out in delight and darted off- straight toward the Forbidden Forest.
With a roll of his eyes toward the heavens for plaguing him with troublesome teens lacking all instincts for self-preservation, Snape hastened after her. Nearing the boundary, he prudently increased the radius of the light cast by his wand so as to keep an eye out for danger- and promptly began to doubt his grip on reality.
For several feet away, there indeed hopped a white rabbit wearing the aforementioned waist-coat. While Snape watched in disbelief, it took out a pocket watch and shook it agitatedly, then with a stern glance up at Miss Kingsley, it hopped once more and then vanished- down a denser mass of shadow that could indicate a rabbit hole.
Miss Kingsley looked up as he neared her, and gave a merry wave. “It’s all right, my friend has come to fetch me and I’ll be on my way. But thank you for your concern!” And with that, she took a jaunty step forward and presumably tumbled down the rabbit hole as well.
Yet when Snape arrived at that spot and cast his light all around, he could find no trace of it. Staring at the solid ground, which gave no hint that it had allowed a rabbit and a young lady to disappear into its depths, Snape pronounced himself confused, bewildered and bothered.
He was also late, for a very important date.
Casting aside all thought of the peculiar girl and her ridiculously attired companion, Snape turned and hastened back the way he had come.
Word count points: 1483/30 = 49.4
Bonus points: 10
Total: 59 points for Slytherin
Annie//Slytherin
Rating/Warnings: G
Characters: Snape, Alice Kingsley (Burton’s Alice)
Summary: Snape needs to curb his noble impulses. That always leads to trouble- this time in the form of a baffling young lady who lives and breathes complete nonsense.
Word Count: 1483
Author's Notes: For some reason, I created a manip with Snape and Alice. And then I felt obligated to write about an encounter between them. I've never written a crossover before, so...no time like the present!
Registered purchases?: Purchased both and registered!
The last thing Severus Snape needed while en route to one of the infrequent but always delightful gatherings with the Dark Lord was to be sidetracked by teenage hijinks. Unfortunately, the student body was never as accommodating of the burdens he was forced to shoulder as it ought to be.
In the process of hurrying over the grounds to the gate and past the wards that prevented Apparition at Hogwarts, his sharp ears had caught a voice calling out somewhere in the copse of trees to his left. Night had fallen and it was definitely too late for anyone to be lawfully out and about. No, any student wandering the grounds at this hour was bent upon mischief.
Snape hesitated, caught between answering the summons from the Dark Lord and his instinct to investigate the sound, track down the would-be mischief-maker and terrify them badly enough that they would never dare to step foot outside after curfew again.
When he heard the voice calling out again, he heaved a long-suffering sigh and altered directions, moving swiftly in the unidentified student’s direction. The Dark Lord was generally understanding of his difficulty in slipping away unnoticed from the school, which was why he seldom was called to Death Eater gatherings during term-time, so he risked little in taking the few minutes to track down this miscreant.
Besides, the slightest chance that it might be that bone-headed Potter boy was more than enough to convince him to tarry a little-better to forestall the nitwit from falling into another blatantly obvious trap than to arrive to the Death Eater summons on time and find Potter was the guest of honor.
A flash of white caught his eye. Fixated on his prey, Snape moved through the darkness like a shadow himself, making no noise as he closed in on the unknown person.
There was a feminine gasp of surprise as he seized a slender arm. The student firmly in his grasp, Snape lit his wand and shone it upon the girl’s face.
“What are you doing out at this hour?” he demanded.
She merely blinked at him.
Only the lack of familiarity with this particular young woman halted the scathing diatribe on the tip of his tongue- Snape was, unfortunately, familiar with all the students at Hogwarts. Potions being a mandatory subject, he was forced to endure their varying degrees of ineptitude for five long years; there wasn’t a face he didn’t recognize.
Yet he could not place hers.
Furthermore, she did not wear the uniform of a Hogwarts student or even the casual Muggle clothing many adopted in their spare time, nor any of the current Wizarding trends. Even by the slow-moving Wizarding standards, her dress was old-fashioned.
Puzzled and increasingly suspicious, not to mention more than a little paranoid, Snape held his wand at her throat in a threatening manner. “Who, exactly, are you and what is your purpose here?” he asked in icy tones.
The girl didn’t appear overly perturbed by his hostile manner. Most girls her age would have been near tears, convinced the evil Potions master would cut them up and pickle their organs for some dark concoction if they provided the slightest provocation. While she regarded his wand with curiosity, she did not seem cognizant of the danger it could pose.
“My name is Alice Kingsley,” she said in polite, well-bred tones. “And my purpose is to search for a white rabbit, or at least, it was until you accosted me.”
“A…white…rabbit.”
“Yes. In a waistcoat. Holding a pocket-watch,” she clarified. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen him?”
Snape took a closer look at the girl. She did have fair-colored hair and her eyes did seem blue, but aside from the most superficial terms, she did not appear to share much of a resemblance to Miss Lovegood. Even if her mad comments implied a relationship. From this nonsense about a fashionably clad rabbit who could tell time, one might suppose she and Miss Lovegood were kin.
“Failing that, there’s no chance you know of any large rabbit holes?” she asked hopefully.
He let go of her arm and leaned against the nearest tree trunk, staring at her morosely. Why had he decided to hunt down the source of the voice? Oh, right, some stray noble thought of making sure the children didn’t stray into danger. Next time, it didn’t matter if it was Harry bloody ‘Chosen One’ Potter, he was letting the idiot get eaten by Acromantulas.
“Why are you asking nonsensical questions about rabbit holes, you foolish girl?”
“Oh, my,” she exclaimed, her eyes widening with delight.
This was not at all the reaction Snape was accustomed to when he growled questions at students, but of course, he had a feeling nothing was ever normal when it came to Miss Kingsley.
“You sound exactly like Absolem! He even calls me similar names, too. Or he did before he turned into a butterfly.”
“And who or what was this Absolem before he became a butterfly?” Snape asked with morbid curiosity.
“A caterpillar, of course,” she replied matter-of-factly, eyebrows drawing together as though she wondered whether he was a simpleton not to have worked that out on his own. “What else would he have been?”
“Indeed.” It made sense, actually. Of course a caterpillar would metamorphose into a butterfly; it was a basic fact of nature. How silly of him not to have expected that logic from a chit chasing waist-coated rabbits who could keep track of time. “And as for the rabbit hole- would any suffice or are you in search of a particular hole dug by a specific rabbit?”
It defied belief that he was actually having this conversation. He ought to just Stun her now and sort out this situation later, when he returned from the meeting. But there was something so earnest about her, something so compelling despite her obvious madness that he found himself lingering still.
“A particular one- I’m searching for the one that leads to Underland. I found it already, in the woods near my home, but while I was falling down it, I must have taken a wrong turn. I distinctly recall bouncing off a mattress and changing direction the last time, but the mattress wasn’t there this time. It follows that I kept falling in the wrong direction then, doesn’t it?”
“That would be logical.”
“I’m hoping the White Rabbit would have realized I’m lost by now and come looking for me, but if there are other exits, it might take him some time to track me down.” Miss Kingsley sighed. “I try calling out at intervals, though, in case he has come through here looking for me.”
“There is a greater likelihood that something more sinister and unfriendly would find you,” Snape warned her. “This close to the Forbidden Forest, any dark creature could come upon you.”
“Like yourself, you mean?” she asked guilelessly.
His eyes narrowed. He had walked right into that one. Damn. Before he could retort, his Dark mark twitched uncomfortably, writhing on his arm, and he gripped it convulsively. The Dark Lord grew impatient, evidently. It was past time he dealt with the chit and went on his way.
“For your own safety, I will have to insist-”
But he had lost her attention.
“The White Rabbit!” she cried out in delight and darted off- straight toward the Forbidden Forest.
With a roll of his eyes toward the heavens for plaguing him with troublesome teens lacking all instincts for self-preservation, Snape hastened after her. Nearing the boundary, he prudently increased the radius of the light cast by his wand so as to keep an eye out for danger- and promptly began to doubt his grip on reality.
For several feet away, there indeed hopped a white rabbit wearing the aforementioned waist-coat. While Snape watched in disbelief, it took out a pocket watch and shook it agitatedly, then with a stern glance up at Miss Kingsley, it hopped once more and then vanished- down a denser mass of shadow that could indicate a rabbit hole.
Miss Kingsley looked up as he neared her, and gave a merry wave. “It’s all right, my friend has come to fetch me and I’ll be on my way. But thank you for your concern!” And with that, she took a jaunty step forward and presumably tumbled down the rabbit hole as well.
Yet when Snape arrived at that spot and cast his light all around, he could find no trace of it. Staring at the solid ground, which gave no hint that it had allowed a rabbit and a young lady to disappear into its depths, Snape pronounced himself confused, bewildered and bothered.
He was also late, for a very important date.
Casting aside all thought of the peculiar girl and her ridiculously attired companion, Snape turned and hastened back the way he had come.
Word count points: 1483/30 = 49.4
Bonus points: 10
Total: 59 points for Slytherin
Annie//Slytherin