“It’s all a part of your image, I don’t believe a word of it.” ~phoenixchosxn

What an absurd situation this was. Caught out by a student mere moments after a meeting, Severus was still in enough of a strained state to not be thinking clearly. When he’d ran into the boy (unfortunately rather literally) an involuntary note of pain had escaped him, resulting in Potter demanding to know what had happened.

Severus thoroughly blamed the Befuddlement Draft he’d been made to imbibe during an interrogation (in order to drop his Occlumency guards, of course) for the fact he had actually excused himself to a student, let alone Potter. Admittedly it had been harsh and a complete lie, but usually that worked.

Merlin preserve him from obstinate Gryffindors who were perceptive only when it suited them to be. “You’re typically content enough to follow appearances without question,” He mused, too tired to argue and admittedly in too much pain to put up appearances. Shifting subtly to draw his cloak tighter about himself to better conceal the slightly darker spots on his overcoat where his wounds had seeped into the fabric, Severus crossed his arms and eyed the teenager thoughtfully a moment before changing tactics – rather than explaining his presence along the forest’s edge, he rapped out, “What are you doing out of bounds at this hour in any case Potter? I know for a fact Hagrid is out, so you had best have a good explanation.”

/// Mun note: continued and concluded on discord.

✘ areyouinthebeyond

{ Meme.

✘ = hugging them }

Severus had never been overly fond of

Sybill – mostly due to the fact he considered divination as a class to be an exercise in futility. One was a seer or one wasn’t; they were born, not made and everything else was mere parlor tricks and inferences born of what one wanted to see as opposed to any genuine divinity. She was far too dedicated to her role, and she consistently reeked of incense and yet.

To have her this distraught was beyond the pale in his opinion. Naturally he was well aware of what the Ministry’s toad had done, but he hadn’t been present for the affair itself. The woman was beyond being a wreck if she was hugging him, but he made no move to push her away. Her terror and panic was genuine and fair, and as far as he was concerned Umbridge could do with a proper challenge.

As it was, he simply set his arm about Sybill’s shoulders and held her securely, offering a firm and stable form to lean upon and glaring heatedly at a point across the hall, as much out of his anger at the Ministry’s flagrant disregard for the sanctity of Hogwarts as to quell anyone from commenting on the fact he hadn’t pushed her and ran for it. Though that did remain a possibility.

“You’re safe,” He assured, knowing better than to say that things would be fine. “Albus has already ensured you will not lose your home.” Umbridge’s threat notwithstanding of course. “I’m certain he’ll figure something out – he’s quite fond of you.”