GIFT: Portable Path (G), for somigliana
Title: Portable Path
Author: qzee
Beta Reader: caitn
Recipient: somigliana
Rating: G
(Highlight to View) Warning: possible mythical creatures within, none of which were harmed in the creation of this fic..
Recipient's Prompt: Severus gets entangled in one of Luna's wild searches for a strange (and, to him, imaginary creature). How does his world shift when they actually find it?
Summary: Severus just wanted to collect potions ingredients in peace and thought being in the middle of a forest in Sweden would ensure that.
Severus walked along the Portable Path, breathing in the clear air. Though the spring equinox had come and gone nearly two weeks ago, there was still a lot of snow around. Yet there were hints that spring was on its way: the warmth of the sun, the flowing creek with ice along its banks off to his left, and the occasional bird chirping away happily. Normally he hired someone to collect the ingredients from this bit of forest deep in the Swedish countryside, but this year he was finally free to do it himself. He had no obligations to fulfill at Hogwarts, no Dark Lord to spy on, and no one but himself to please, and it pleased him to be out here with no sign of civilization in sight.
Besides, this way he could select the best quality ingredients from what was available. He had already gathered some rainbow moss from a fallen log with a bit of snow upon it, carefully laying the strips of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet in their own sections of his collection box. He had even found some Borealis Termites that hadn't gone into their spring hibernation yet, and a few Frost Beetles near them. He still had a dozen more ingredients to find, but this was definitely the kind of forest where they would be available. It was quiet, far from Muggles, had enough magic in the air to keep pollution away, and was full of both new and old life.
"Hello Professor."
Severus blinked and turned around. There, in the middle of nowhere, really, stood Luna Lovegood, smiling at him as if he were a long lost friend. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, the sunlight hitting it in such a way that she seemed to be surrounded by a halo. The wizard was amazed at the tingle of awareness he felt upon seeing her. She was beautiful, a woman now, and confident in her own skin-and completely, utterly unwelcome. How dare she intrude upon his solitude? How dare she interfere in his ingredient collection? How dare she stand there and smile at him as if he were a friend when they were nothing to each other? How dare she?
"Lovegood, what are you doing here?" Severus asked, unable to keep the disdain out of his voice.
"I'm looking for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, of course. One of the reindeer herders east of here said he saw a family of them in this forest once. I wasn't sure if I should trust him, but then I found this path here and realized that it must be the Snorkack's migratory route," Lovegood said, without the slightest hint of irony, indicating the path they were on.
"This is a Portable Path, one that I got from the wizarding section of IKEA for the express purpose of being able to travel through this forest. Alone," Severus pointed out to the witch, hoping she would take the hint and leave him alone.
"Well, it is incredibly convenient and should make it easier for me to get to the innermost part of the forest where the Snorkack is reputed to be. That seems to be where you're headed, so I'll join you," Lovegood said, and then stepped up to him, taking his arm and smiling up at him.
Severus knew he could not curse her. Not because he did not want to, no-it was because the Ministry had put a Restriction Band upon his wand as part of his "probation," thus limiting just what he could do with it; even the simplest curses were blocked. Severus also knew he had no hope of dissuading her now, for she had latched onto him and seemed completely unable to understand that she was not welcome.
The wizard sighed and started walking, using the foot-square, cardboard-thick controls to map out their route, "drawing" it with the use of a special quill. It was a task made easier by the quarter-inch square grids upon the face of the controls, each grid meant to represent one possible, three-foot-square section of the Portable Path. Not caring whether or not the witch could keep up, Severus kept up a brisk pace, not even bothering to truly listen to her as she nattered away about Snorkack hibernation habits, their warrens, their diet, and other invented facts-until, that is, she mentioned the miniature snow dragons that supposedly kept the Snorkack population under control.
"Are there snow dragons in this forest?"
"Yes, they're one of the protected species within this habitat. They like snacking on the Vaccinium vitis-idaea, which grow mostly near bogs. As you know, they're one of the few omnivorous dragons. There are five that live within this area, as far as the Swedish Ministry knows, and they keep mostly to the centre of the forest, which is why I think I'm most likely to find the Snorkack there," Lovegood said airily.
Severus supposed Lovegood's presence wasn't completely onerous, for if she had not come by, he would not have known that snow dragons lived nearby. They were small animals, about the size of Great Horned Owls. Instead of fire, they breathed out ice cold air that stopped their animal prey in their tracks. Their skin was very useful when it came to fertility potions and healing balms. It was even the best time of year to collect their skins, seeing as they normally shed them at or near the spring equinox. He was even thinking that perhaps he should start listening more closely to her nattering, on the off chance she mentioned other possible potions ingredients, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, gasped, and pointed off to the right.
"Look," she whispered, her voice full of awe, her face alight with joy, so beautiful in that moment that Severus only reluctantly tore his eyes off of her to look where she was pointing.
Severus blinked. He rubbed his eyes with his gloved hands. He opened and closed his mouth and blinked again. Reasonably sure he had not just had a psychotic break, he could only stand there as he shook his head, unable to believe that what he was seeing was real.
"It's obviously related, somehow, to the Jackalope, which even Muggles have heard of. It has the body, face, and ears of a common rabbit, but its horns," Lovegood said, her voice full of excitement, "its horns are more like a gazelle's, and yet so very small. If it wasn't sitting in that patch of sunlight, I doubt I would have noticed them."
"True. Perhaps they shed their horns in the autumn, like Jackalopes, and regrow them in the spring," Severus suggested.
"If that is true, we should try to trace the Snorkack to its burrow. I know Jackalope horn is used in some potions," Lovegood said.
"Yes, mostly in tinctures and sedatives, but it can be used as a substitute for unicorn horn," Severus said, mostly because he could not help himself.
"It's chewing at the birch bark," Lovegood pointed out, as the shadows around them shifted and the Snorkack looked up.
It began to hop away, dodging this way and that through the trees-with a snow dragon quick on its heels. The snow dragon swooped after the rabbit-like creature, the dragon's scales such a pure white that they glistened whenever the sunlight hit them.
"If the dragon gets it, we may never find the others!" Lovegood cried out.
"I know," Severus said, and set off in pursuit of the dragon and the Snorkack.
He did his best to get the Portable Path to cooperate by drawing rapidly upon the face of its control parchment to make the path turn as the Snorkack did. The controls began to grind as rapid changes to the path were not recommended. He tapped the top right corner of the controls three times, and the path folded itself up and attached itself to the controls, doubling their thickness. It left no trace upon the ground of its existence, not even a bent twig. The wizard dropped the controls into his right hip pocket and left the path, stepping into ankle-deep snow to follow the creatures. Lovegood did her best to keep up as they dodged trees, bushes, and rocks, splashing through puddles and mud, through a small creek, and over some fallen logs before coming to a clearing.
"Immobulus!" Lovegood cried out, a streak of light leaving her wand and hitting the dragon and then bouncing off to hit a squirrel. "Oh, yes, of course," she said, obviously remembering that, like all dragons, its scales made it resistant to magical attacks.
"Conjure up a normal rabbit and see if the dragon will go after that instead," Severus suggested, wishing the Restriction Band on his wand would let him do it himself.
Lovegood did what he suggested, conjuring up a fairly large rabbit which then hopped off to the right; the dragon looking from it to the Snorkack before chasing after the conjured rabbit. "It worked!"
"So it did," Severus said, gasping, wishing he had not allowed himself to get so out of shape while teaching at Hogwarts.
"The Snorkack is stopping," Lovegood gasped.
"Good," Severus said, slowing to a stop, doing his best to conceal how badly out of breath he was and denying to himself that part of him wanted to impress the witch he was with.
"Its coming back toward us," Lovegood said.
Severus nodded and watched the creature as it slowly made its way toward them, cautious and wary.
"If it's truly related to the Jackalope, it may be intelligent enough to understand that we helped it," Lovegood said. "Perhaps it may even now trust us enough to lead us to its burrow."
"I believe the Jackalopes do that only after they mark the wizards and witches they choose to trust," Severus pointed out.
"True," Lovegood said, as the creature reached her and rubbed its body against her, its horns pointed away from her, little silver sparks glinting in the light as they jumped from the Snorkack onto Lovegood's leg.
The witch bent slowly, carefully, and petted the almost pure white Snorkack. This, under no circumstances, led Severus to be jealous of it.
The creature then came to him and rubbed against him, sparks leaping from it onto his leg, the animal again very careful with its horns. He bent and petted it, getting some fur on his gloves. The Snorkack then hopped toward the east, and Severus began to follow, even as he picked the fur from his gloves to put into his collection box. Lovegood joining him, the sparkles upon her joining with his. One corner of his mind wondered what they were, and desperately hoped they weren't some sort of magical flea even as he moved ever so slightly toward the young witch, drawn to her.
The animal began to move, and Severus shook himself out of the slight daze he felt upon standing so close to Lovegood. He chose not to take out the Portable Path, not wanting to scare the Snorkack away. He knew that Lovegood would follow. The Snorkack took them through the clearing and into the forest again. Severus helped Lovegood as best as he could to navigate the obstacles in their path, glad that the Snorkack was sticking to slow hopping. Severus marked the presence of various potions ingredients in his mind as they passed them even as he kept up the brisk walk needed to follow the animal.
He saw a few bushes with one or two red berries along their path and knew that if Lovegood's information was correct, that Snorkacks liked to eat lingonberries, that they could be drawing close to the creature's home. The animal began to slow down and went around an evergreen tree. It hopped up to a tall deciduous tree, one with a slight hollow in the bottom of its truck, facing east. The Snorkack looked at him and then toward the tree, which was when Severus saw the small hole leading underground, and a horn, half covered with snow, on the hill beside the tree. He could only begin to wonder how many other horns might be hidden nearby.
"Oh my," Lovegood gasped, clutching his hand in hers.
Severus could only agree with the sentiment, for another Snorkack had joined them. This one was almost as big as a jackrabbit, with grey whiskers and twisted horns.
It slowly came up to them, even as others emerged from various trees nearby. There were twelve in all, ranging from kitten-sized to the huge grey whiskered one before them. The biggest one rubbed against Severus, allowing him to pet it before it went to rub against Lovegood. Each Snorkack greeted them in this way. The biggest one then returned to Severus and nudged him with a horn before hopping toward a snow-covered hill. It began to dig, and the other Snorkacks helped, uncovering a huge mound of horns-which was when Severus realized that he wasn't upon a normal hill.
"Oh, this is truly amazing," Lovegood gushed, and Severus squeezed her hand.
"It is," he said, bending down to pick up a horn, keeping an eye on the biggest, and presumably oldest, Snorkack to make sure it was allowed.
The animal seemed okay with it, so he began to collect horns of various sizes; the smallest was just one centimetre in length, and the longest was nearly sixty centimetres long. The longer ones were gloriously curved. Severus and Lovegood compared the horns, collected one of each size, and left the rest.
"Thank you," Severus said, addressing the grey whiskered Snorkack. "May we stay awhile and watch you and your family? We wish to learn more about you."
The Snorkack came to him and rubbed against his leg again, then rubbed against Lovegood's leg.
"I think that means we can stay," Lovegood said, with a smile. "I just wish my father could see this."
"Perhaps before we leave we can ask if we may return with him," Severus suggested.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! I do hope we will be able to," Lovegood gushed. "In the meantime, let's do all we can to learn more about Snorkacks."
"Of course," Severus said, handing a few vials and other collection tools to Lovegood even as he began to pluck the fur from his trousers.
~*~
Luna began collecting samples of nearby plants and whatever spoor she found, knowing that it would help her and Severus to determine the Snorkack's dietary habits. She smiled as she watched him go about collecting other things, admiring the long length of his body and his elegant fingers. Her plan was working much better than she had hoped. She had, after all, intended only to "accidentally" bump into him and worm her way into spending part of the day with him, and now it looked like he might be willing to tolerate her company for an extended period of time. He might even be willing to help her test the various samples, take pictures of the Snorkacks, and help her convince the wizarding world that the animals were as real as Jackalopes.
"Do you think there could be others out there?" Luna asked, waving her hand to indicate the rest of the forest, and by extension, the world.
"It's possible," Severus conceded. "This is not the only area of the world to have this collection of plants and animals in it. There are places in Norway, Denmark, and Canada that have Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the snow dragon, birches, etcetera, in them. A few of them are within magical forests. I would suggest that we look in the magical areas first, ones with similar plant life to what we find here, and near where the snow dragon, or possibly Chinook dragon, lives," he said, mentioning the close relative of the snow dragon, one whose breath was warm enough to melt the snow around it rapidly and was able to create large flashes of light that temporarily dazed its prey.
"We?" Luna asked.
"I would like to go with you, if only so that others will believe us when we tell them about it. I'm afraid you and your father have a reputation within the wizarding community," Severus said.
"I know." Luna sighed. "I do wish that people would give us a chance to show them who we truly are, though."
~*~
"Yes," Severus said, knowing the feeling. "But I'm afraid you will have to prove yourself again and again before other people accept you."
Lovegood smiled. "As you have."
"Yes, as I have," Severus acknowledged. "Besides, I am hoping to be able to determine the properties of Snorkack horn, fur, droppings, etcetera, and be the first to test their efficacy in potions."
"I would be willing to help you with that if you think I'm up to it," Lovegood offered.
"You have a decent hand when it comes to preparing ingredients and are not a complete dunderhead when it comes to brewing," Severus conceded.
Lovegood grinned. "Why, thank you Severus."
"You're welcome," Severus replied, and set his collection case down. "I believe we've collected enough samples for now."
Lovegood nodded, and then reached into her pocket, producing her camera. "I'll just take a few pictures and observe them for awhile."
"Perhaps we should break for lunch first. I brought a few sandwiches along," Severus said.
"I have a thermos of soup and a few other things," Lovegood said, taking them out of her satchel.
"Let me see if I can convince the Portable Path to cover just a small area," Severus said, and worked at the controls, managing to create a three-foot-square area of bare ground for them to sit upon.
Lovegood took a handkerchief from her pocket and enlarged it, laying it over the cleared area and then sitting upon it. Severus joined her, this time not noticing the sparks the Snorkack left upon him and Lovegood and how they kept dancing from one person to the other, not noticing how mesmerized he was by Lovegood and how he longed to sit closer to her. He only noticed how soft her hands were as they began to split up their supplies with each other.
"I never expected to be sharing a picnic lunch with you, Severus," Lovegood said, grinning.
"Nor I with you, Miss Lovegood," Severus replied.
"Please, call me Luna. I'm not your student anymore."
"True. Luna it is," Severus murmured. "I must say that I thought you were imagining things when you claimed there was such a thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"I know," Luna acknowledged. "I don't think anyone other than my father and I truly believed they existed. I'm really glad that I finally will have proof of their existence now and a reputable wizard to back me up on that."
"My reputation isn't as good as it might be," Severus warned.
"Your professional reputation is the best," Luna protested.
"My personal one isn't, though."
"But it is improving with each day that goes by, especially with Harry speaking so highly of you every chance he gets. I'm sure that when you're finished serving your probation and the Ministry takes the Restriction Band off of your wand, the wizarding population in general will begin to accept you as being an honourable man."
"Perhaps. I am a Slytherin, though, and many people condemn anyone who comes from that house," Severus cautioned.
"I know. They are quite wrong to do so though. After all, more than fifty percent of the healers come from Slytherin, as do a lot of good people, yourself included. Most Ravenclaws accept that, and I've been doing what I can to get them to spread the word. Your house deserves recognition for all the good it has done throughout the years."
"It does, but it will be an uphill battle to convince the public."
"True," Luna said. "It's a good thing we Ravenclaws and Harry are stubborn enough to stick to it then."
"Potter? What does Potter have to do with it?" Severus asked.
"He's doing what he can to point out all the good Slytherins have done throughout the years, and pointing out that the Sorting Hat wanted to put him into Slytherin."
"Thank Merlin it didn't!" Severus exclaimed. "If Potter had ended up in my house, I would have been driven insane within his first year."
Luna laughed. Her laugh was musical to Severus's ears, and it drew the attention of the Snorkacks, most of them going over to her to rub against her.
Severus blinked. "They really like your laughter."
"Yes, the do. I wonder if it's laughter in general, or just my laughter?" Luna asked, looking at him.
"I hope you don't expect me to laugh," Severus growled.
Luna grinned. "I'll excuse you from testing your laughter on them, but I will see if my father's laughter effects them in the same way. And perhaps, in time, I'll see if other witches' and wizards' laughter draws them near."
"As you wish," Severus said, brushing the crumbs off of his trousers and then standing up. "I will start writing down my observations of these creatures, and then create permanent Portkey coordinates to mark this area, perhaps so we end up in that clearing we went through to get here, and making sure that only you, I, and your father can use them. We'll want to try to get the Snorkack on the endangered species list."
Luna smiled, stood up, and walked up to him, took his hand, and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm glad you were with me when the Snorkack discovered us."
Severus nodded and hoped that the slight blush he felt was not visible while waiting for the Snorkacks to get off of the Portable Path before putting it away.
He and Luna spent the rest of the day amongst the small family of Snorkacks before walking back to the clearing as dusk fell, hand in hand. Severus did his best to deny to himself how good it felt to hold Luna's hand. Being honest with himself, he was thrilled, and not because of the potential breakthrough the Snorkack find would bring about in potions research. No, it was because of the young woman beside him. She might be a bit more eccentric than the average witch, but she was also more intelligent and quietly beautiful besides. Her only flaw was her tendency to natter on and on about whatever was going through her mind. It was a "flaw" that was steadily growing on him to the point where he was almost smiling to hear her speak about Wrackspurts and Nargles and other creatures, creatures he wasn't so willing to dismiss as being imaginary now that he had seen a Snorkack and survived.
Author: qzee
Beta Reader: caitn
Recipient: somigliana
Rating: G
(Highlight to View) Warning: possible mythical creatures within, none of which were harmed in the creation of this fic..
Recipient's Prompt: Severus gets entangled in one of Luna's wild searches for a strange (and, to him, imaginary creature). How does his world shift when they actually find it?
Summary: Severus just wanted to collect potions ingredients in peace and thought being in the middle of a forest in Sweden would ensure that.
Severus walked along the Portable Path, breathing in the clear air. Though the spring equinox had come and gone nearly two weeks ago, there was still a lot of snow around. Yet there were hints that spring was on its way: the warmth of the sun, the flowing creek with ice along its banks off to his left, and the occasional bird chirping away happily. Normally he hired someone to collect the ingredients from this bit of forest deep in the Swedish countryside, but this year he was finally free to do it himself. He had no obligations to fulfill at Hogwarts, no Dark Lord to spy on, and no one but himself to please, and it pleased him to be out here with no sign of civilization in sight.
Besides, this way he could select the best quality ingredients from what was available. He had already gathered some rainbow moss from a fallen log with a bit of snow upon it, carefully laying the strips of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet in their own sections of his collection box. He had even found some Borealis Termites that hadn't gone into their spring hibernation yet, and a few Frost Beetles near them. He still had a dozen more ingredients to find, but this was definitely the kind of forest where they would be available. It was quiet, far from Muggles, had enough magic in the air to keep pollution away, and was full of both new and old life.
"Hello Professor."
Severus blinked and turned around. There, in the middle of nowhere, really, stood Luna Lovegood, smiling at him as if he were a long lost friend. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, the sunlight hitting it in such a way that she seemed to be surrounded by a halo. The wizard was amazed at the tingle of awareness he felt upon seeing her. She was beautiful, a woman now, and confident in her own skin-and completely, utterly unwelcome. How dare she intrude upon his solitude? How dare she interfere in his ingredient collection? How dare she stand there and smile at him as if he were a friend when they were nothing to each other? How dare she?
"Lovegood, what are you doing here?" Severus asked, unable to keep the disdain out of his voice.
"I'm looking for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, of course. One of the reindeer herders east of here said he saw a family of them in this forest once. I wasn't sure if I should trust him, but then I found this path here and realized that it must be the Snorkack's migratory route," Lovegood said, without the slightest hint of irony, indicating the path they were on.
"This is a Portable Path, one that I got from the wizarding section of IKEA for the express purpose of being able to travel through this forest. Alone," Severus pointed out to the witch, hoping she would take the hint and leave him alone.
"Well, it is incredibly convenient and should make it easier for me to get to the innermost part of the forest where the Snorkack is reputed to be. That seems to be where you're headed, so I'll join you," Lovegood said, and then stepped up to him, taking his arm and smiling up at him.
Severus knew he could not curse her. Not because he did not want to, no-it was because the Ministry had put a Restriction Band upon his wand as part of his "probation," thus limiting just what he could do with it; even the simplest curses were blocked. Severus also knew he had no hope of dissuading her now, for she had latched onto him and seemed completely unable to understand that she was not welcome.
The wizard sighed and started walking, using the foot-square, cardboard-thick controls to map out their route, "drawing" it with the use of a special quill. It was a task made easier by the quarter-inch square grids upon the face of the controls, each grid meant to represent one possible, three-foot-square section of the Portable Path. Not caring whether or not the witch could keep up, Severus kept up a brisk pace, not even bothering to truly listen to her as she nattered away about Snorkack hibernation habits, their warrens, their diet, and other invented facts-until, that is, she mentioned the miniature snow dragons that supposedly kept the Snorkack population under control.
"Are there snow dragons in this forest?"
"Yes, they're one of the protected species within this habitat. They like snacking on the Vaccinium vitis-idaea, which grow mostly near bogs. As you know, they're one of the few omnivorous dragons. There are five that live within this area, as far as the Swedish Ministry knows, and they keep mostly to the centre of the forest, which is why I think I'm most likely to find the Snorkack there," Lovegood said airily.
Severus supposed Lovegood's presence wasn't completely onerous, for if she had not come by, he would not have known that snow dragons lived nearby. They were small animals, about the size of Great Horned Owls. Instead of fire, they breathed out ice cold air that stopped their animal prey in their tracks. Their skin was very useful when it came to fertility potions and healing balms. It was even the best time of year to collect their skins, seeing as they normally shed them at or near the spring equinox. He was even thinking that perhaps he should start listening more closely to her nattering, on the off chance she mentioned other possible potions ingredients, when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, gasped, and pointed off to the right.
"Look," she whispered, her voice full of awe, her face alight with joy, so beautiful in that moment that Severus only reluctantly tore his eyes off of her to look where she was pointing.
Severus blinked. He rubbed his eyes with his gloved hands. He opened and closed his mouth and blinked again. Reasonably sure he had not just had a psychotic break, he could only stand there as he shook his head, unable to believe that what he was seeing was real.
"It's obviously related, somehow, to the Jackalope, which even Muggles have heard of. It has the body, face, and ears of a common rabbit, but its horns," Lovegood said, her voice full of excitement, "its horns are more like a gazelle's, and yet so very small. If it wasn't sitting in that patch of sunlight, I doubt I would have noticed them."
"True. Perhaps they shed their horns in the autumn, like Jackalopes, and regrow them in the spring," Severus suggested.
"If that is true, we should try to trace the Snorkack to its burrow. I know Jackalope horn is used in some potions," Lovegood said.
"Yes, mostly in tinctures and sedatives, but it can be used as a substitute for unicorn horn," Severus said, mostly because he could not help himself.
"It's chewing at the birch bark," Lovegood pointed out, as the shadows around them shifted and the Snorkack looked up.
It began to hop away, dodging this way and that through the trees-with a snow dragon quick on its heels. The snow dragon swooped after the rabbit-like creature, the dragon's scales such a pure white that they glistened whenever the sunlight hit them.
"If the dragon gets it, we may never find the others!" Lovegood cried out.
"I know," Severus said, and set off in pursuit of the dragon and the Snorkack.
He did his best to get the Portable Path to cooperate by drawing rapidly upon the face of its control parchment to make the path turn as the Snorkack did. The controls began to grind as rapid changes to the path were not recommended. He tapped the top right corner of the controls three times, and the path folded itself up and attached itself to the controls, doubling their thickness. It left no trace upon the ground of its existence, not even a bent twig. The wizard dropped the controls into his right hip pocket and left the path, stepping into ankle-deep snow to follow the creatures. Lovegood did her best to keep up as they dodged trees, bushes, and rocks, splashing through puddles and mud, through a small creek, and over some fallen logs before coming to a clearing.
"Immobulus!" Lovegood cried out, a streak of light leaving her wand and hitting the dragon and then bouncing off to hit a squirrel. "Oh, yes, of course," she said, obviously remembering that, like all dragons, its scales made it resistant to magical attacks.
"Conjure up a normal rabbit and see if the dragon will go after that instead," Severus suggested, wishing the Restriction Band on his wand would let him do it himself.
Lovegood did what he suggested, conjuring up a fairly large rabbit which then hopped off to the right; the dragon looking from it to the Snorkack before chasing after the conjured rabbit. "It worked!"
"So it did," Severus said, gasping, wishing he had not allowed himself to get so out of shape while teaching at Hogwarts.
"The Snorkack is stopping," Lovegood gasped.
"Good," Severus said, slowing to a stop, doing his best to conceal how badly out of breath he was and denying to himself that part of him wanted to impress the witch he was with.
"Its coming back toward us," Lovegood said.
Severus nodded and watched the creature as it slowly made its way toward them, cautious and wary.
"If it's truly related to the Jackalope, it may be intelligent enough to understand that we helped it," Lovegood said. "Perhaps it may even now trust us enough to lead us to its burrow."
"I believe the Jackalopes do that only after they mark the wizards and witches they choose to trust," Severus pointed out.
"True," Lovegood said, as the creature reached her and rubbed its body against her, its horns pointed away from her, little silver sparks glinting in the light as they jumped from the Snorkack onto Lovegood's leg.
The witch bent slowly, carefully, and petted the almost pure white Snorkack. This, under no circumstances, led Severus to be jealous of it.
The creature then came to him and rubbed against him, sparks leaping from it onto his leg, the animal again very careful with its horns. He bent and petted it, getting some fur on his gloves. The Snorkack then hopped toward the east, and Severus began to follow, even as he picked the fur from his gloves to put into his collection box. Lovegood joining him, the sparkles upon her joining with his. One corner of his mind wondered what they were, and desperately hoped they weren't some sort of magical flea even as he moved ever so slightly toward the young witch, drawn to her.
The animal began to move, and Severus shook himself out of the slight daze he felt upon standing so close to Lovegood. He chose not to take out the Portable Path, not wanting to scare the Snorkack away. He knew that Lovegood would follow. The Snorkack took them through the clearing and into the forest again. Severus helped Lovegood as best as he could to navigate the obstacles in their path, glad that the Snorkack was sticking to slow hopping. Severus marked the presence of various potions ingredients in his mind as they passed them even as he kept up the brisk walk needed to follow the animal.
He saw a few bushes with one or two red berries along their path and knew that if Lovegood's information was correct, that Snorkacks liked to eat lingonberries, that they could be drawing close to the creature's home. The animal began to slow down and went around an evergreen tree. It hopped up to a tall deciduous tree, one with a slight hollow in the bottom of its truck, facing east. The Snorkack looked at him and then toward the tree, which was when Severus saw the small hole leading underground, and a horn, half covered with snow, on the hill beside the tree. He could only begin to wonder how many other horns might be hidden nearby.
"Oh my," Lovegood gasped, clutching his hand in hers.
Severus could only agree with the sentiment, for another Snorkack had joined them. This one was almost as big as a jackrabbit, with grey whiskers and twisted horns.
It slowly came up to them, even as others emerged from various trees nearby. There were twelve in all, ranging from kitten-sized to the huge grey whiskered one before them. The biggest one rubbed against Severus, allowing him to pet it before it went to rub against Lovegood. Each Snorkack greeted them in this way. The biggest one then returned to Severus and nudged him with a horn before hopping toward a snow-covered hill. It began to dig, and the other Snorkacks helped, uncovering a huge mound of horns-which was when Severus realized that he wasn't upon a normal hill.
"Oh, this is truly amazing," Lovegood gushed, and Severus squeezed her hand.
"It is," he said, bending down to pick up a horn, keeping an eye on the biggest, and presumably oldest, Snorkack to make sure it was allowed.
The animal seemed okay with it, so he began to collect horns of various sizes; the smallest was just one centimetre in length, and the longest was nearly sixty centimetres long. The longer ones were gloriously curved. Severus and Lovegood compared the horns, collected one of each size, and left the rest.
"Thank you," Severus said, addressing the grey whiskered Snorkack. "May we stay awhile and watch you and your family? We wish to learn more about you."
The Snorkack came to him and rubbed against his leg again, then rubbed against Lovegood's leg.
"I think that means we can stay," Lovegood said, with a smile. "I just wish my father could see this."
"Perhaps before we leave we can ask if we may return with him," Severus suggested.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! I do hope we will be able to," Lovegood gushed. "In the meantime, let's do all we can to learn more about Snorkacks."
"Of course," Severus said, handing a few vials and other collection tools to Lovegood even as he began to pluck the fur from his trousers.
~*~
Luna began collecting samples of nearby plants and whatever spoor she found, knowing that it would help her and Severus to determine the Snorkack's dietary habits. She smiled as she watched him go about collecting other things, admiring the long length of his body and his elegant fingers. Her plan was working much better than she had hoped. She had, after all, intended only to "accidentally" bump into him and worm her way into spending part of the day with him, and now it looked like he might be willing to tolerate her company for an extended period of time. He might even be willing to help her test the various samples, take pictures of the Snorkacks, and help her convince the wizarding world that the animals were as real as Jackalopes.
"Do you think there could be others out there?" Luna asked, waving her hand to indicate the rest of the forest, and by extension, the world.
"It's possible," Severus conceded. "This is not the only area of the world to have this collection of plants and animals in it. There are places in Norway, Denmark, and Canada that have Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the snow dragon, birches, etcetera, in them. A few of them are within magical forests. I would suggest that we look in the magical areas first, ones with similar plant life to what we find here, and near where the snow dragon, or possibly Chinook dragon, lives," he said, mentioning the close relative of the snow dragon, one whose breath was warm enough to melt the snow around it rapidly and was able to create large flashes of light that temporarily dazed its prey.
"We?" Luna asked.
"I would like to go with you, if only so that others will believe us when we tell them about it. I'm afraid you and your father have a reputation within the wizarding community," Severus said.
"I know." Luna sighed. "I do wish that people would give us a chance to show them who we truly are, though."
~*~
"Yes," Severus said, knowing the feeling. "But I'm afraid you will have to prove yourself again and again before other people accept you."
Lovegood smiled. "As you have."
"Yes, as I have," Severus acknowledged. "Besides, I am hoping to be able to determine the properties of Snorkack horn, fur, droppings, etcetera, and be the first to test their efficacy in potions."
"I would be willing to help you with that if you think I'm up to it," Lovegood offered.
"You have a decent hand when it comes to preparing ingredients and are not a complete dunderhead when it comes to brewing," Severus conceded.
Lovegood grinned. "Why, thank you Severus."
"You're welcome," Severus replied, and set his collection case down. "I believe we've collected enough samples for now."
Lovegood nodded, and then reached into her pocket, producing her camera. "I'll just take a few pictures and observe them for awhile."
"Perhaps we should break for lunch first. I brought a few sandwiches along," Severus said.
"I have a thermos of soup and a few other things," Lovegood said, taking them out of her satchel.
"Let me see if I can convince the Portable Path to cover just a small area," Severus said, and worked at the controls, managing to create a three-foot-square area of bare ground for them to sit upon.
Lovegood took a handkerchief from her pocket and enlarged it, laying it over the cleared area and then sitting upon it. Severus joined her, this time not noticing the sparks the Snorkack left upon him and Lovegood and how they kept dancing from one person to the other, not noticing how mesmerized he was by Lovegood and how he longed to sit closer to her. He only noticed how soft her hands were as they began to split up their supplies with each other.
"I never expected to be sharing a picnic lunch with you, Severus," Lovegood said, grinning.
"Nor I with you, Miss Lovegood," Severus replied.
"Please, call me Luna. I'm not your student anymore."
"True. Luna it is," Severus murmured. "I must say that I thought you were imagining things when you claimed there was such a thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
"I know," Luna acknowledged. "I don't think anyone other than my father and I truly believed they existed. I'm really glad that I finally will have proof of their existence now and a reputable wizard to back me up on that."
"My reputation isn't as good as it might be," Severus warned.
"Your professional reputation is the best," Luna protested.
"My personal one isn't, though."
"But it is improving with each day that goes by, especially with Harry speaking so highly of you every chance he gets. I'm sure that when you're finished serving your probation and the Ministry takes the Restriction Band off of your wand, the wizarding population in general will begin to accept you as being an honourable man."
"Perhaps. I am a Slytherin, though, and many people condemn anyone who comes from that house," Severus cautioned.
"I know. They are quite wrong to do so though. After all, more than fifty percent of the healers come from Slytherin, as do a lot of good people, yourself included. Most Ravenclaws accept that, and I've been doing what I can to get them to spread the word. Your house deserves recognition for all the good it has done throughout the years."
"It does, but it will be an uphill battle to convince the public."
"True," Luna said. "It's a good thing we Ravenclaws and Harry are stubborn enough to stick to it then."
"Potter? What does Potter have to do with it?" Severus asked.
"He's doing what he can to point out all the good Slytherins have done throughout the years, and pointing out that the Sorting Hat wanted to put him into Slytherin."
"Thank Merlin it didn't!" Severus exclaimed. "If Potter had ended up in my house, I would have been driven insane within his first year."
Luna laughed. Her laugh was musical to Severus's ears, and it drew the attention of the Snorkacks, most of them going over to her to rub against her.
Severus blinked. "They really like your laughter."
"Yes, the do. I wonder if it's laughter in general, or just my laughter?" Luna asked, looking at him.
"I hope you don't expect me to laugh," Severus growled.
Luna grinned. "I'll excuse you from testing your laughter on them, but I will see if my father's laughter effects them in the same way. And perhaps, in time, I'll see if other witches' and wizards' laughter draws them near."
"As you wish," Severus said, brushing the crumbs off of his trousers and then standing up. "I will start writing down my observations of these creatures, and then create permanent Portkey coordinates to mark this area, perhaps so we end up in that clearing we went through to get here, and making sure that only you, I, and your father can use them. We'll want to try to get the Snorkack on the endangered species list."
Luna smiled, stood up, and walked up to him, took his hand, and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm glad you were with me when the Snorkack discovered us."
Severus nodded and hoped that the slight blush he felt was not visible while waiting for the Snorkacks to get off of the Portable Path before putting it away.
He and Luna spent the rest of the day amongst the small family of Snorkacks before walking back to the clearing as dusk fell, hand in hand. Severus did his best to deny to himself how good it felt to hold Luna's hand. Being honest with himself, he was thrilled, and not because of the potential breakthrough the Snorkack find would bring about in potions research. No, it was because of the young woman beside him. She might be a bit more eccentric than the average witch, but she was also more intelligent and quietly beautiful besides. Her only flaw was her tendency to natter on and on about whatever was going through her mind. It was a "flaw" that was steadily growing on him to the point where he was almost smiling to hear her speak about Wrackspurts and Nargles and other creatures, creatures he wasn't so willing to dismiss as being imaginary now that he had seen a Snorkack and survived.