An Unused Potions Room

...

Theo ran into the old Potions room, and angrily threw his bag as far as it would go. To hell with the delicate pencils inside, he was upset. He'd known that Draco would be here, duh. He'd known that Draco could be a man whore, duh. He'd known that Pansy had liked Draco, duh. But seeing it all unfold before his eyes was making him scream in pain and anger and sadness on the inside. Running to his book bag, he grabbed the locked book he kept hidden in a secret pocket and flipped it open with a muttered Alohamora. Draco, Draco, Draco, every page Draco. From different angles, with different backgrounds, in different stages of dress and undress....

Severus walked into the room with a bag slung over his shoulders, a rather sullen and deadened look in his eyes after having passed Lily in the hallway, although she hadn't seen him. He hardly realized that the room was occupied in his apathetic state, until he'd taken a seat at a table in the corner. "Oh. Hey," he muttered, pulling out a textbook. The room wasn't anyone's, if the other guy wanted, he was free to leave and find some other place to be. It wasn't as if Severus wasn't used to having people try their hardest to be as far away from him as possible.

Theo looked up, and then slammed the book shut. "Hi there. I'm Theo. Are you reading a textbook?" Theo was trying to make conversation desperately. He'd rather have pointless conversation than think of Draco.

Severus was honestly surprised when the kid didn't either ignore him or leave, and he wasn't really being mocking, which was even more of a shocker. "Yes, I am. Advanced Potions Making. I'm not reading the textbook itself, I'm reading my own notes, I'd forgotten what I'd written down the other night," he replied, realizing he hadn't actually spoken a word to anyone other than a professor since he'd arrived at school. He'd become rather quiet over summer, since the events of last May, and was slowly evolving into some kind of mute.

Theo grimaced. "I dislike potions, although i'm not too bad with them. And i never take notes, i tend to doodle in the margins instead." He pulled out his Charms text book and held it up, displaying the pages covered in intricate designs and small sketches.

"I rather enjoy the art of potion making myself," he remarked, leaning forward in his seat to look at the drawings. "For doodles, they're quite well done," he said decidedly, offering Theo the barest hint of a smile. "My name is Severus, by the way. Severus Snape," he replied, realizing he hadn't bothered to introduce himself. "Seventh year Slytherin, obviously, I've seen you about the common room."

Theo nodded. "Ah, i've heard of you. The Potions professor sings your praises in class." And i've heard all the little jokes about you, and rumors, but you don't seem that bad. Theo thought. Your nose is a bit large, and your hair is greasy but that's okay... "So, Severus, what brings you here to this lonely, empty, dusty room?" Theo smirked cynically.

Severus shrugged. "I like to hang around places that are typically devoid of other people. I don't like people, and they don't like me," he said rather bluntly, then realized what he said could come off as rather rude. "Not that I mind speaking to you, of course. You're alright," he ammended, though he couldn't force himself to smile-- that was pushing it.

Theo nodded. Of course. "Well, you need to learn to at least smile, okay? Smiiiile. Like this." [and Joel wants this to be used later...when we enact the S/T plans...] Theo grabbed either side of his mouth and pulled, making a rigor mortis grin. "Smile. It helps a lot when you run into random people that are 'alright'."

Severus looked at him in shock as his face was suddenly grabbed and forced into something resembling a smile. He quickly and firmly grabbed Theo by the wrists, though not gripping them tightly enough to cause the boy any pain, slowly prying his hands a way with a rather dangerously calm look in his eyes. "I said you were alright, I didn't say that you could touch me," he intoned, his expression hardened.

Theo just walked away and sat down, looking a bit bored. "Sorry. But you should smile more often. You don't look as harsh." Theo pulled out a sketch book. "I'd love to sketch you, if you'd smile. No jokes."

Severus blinked, and laughed harshly. "Sketch me? Don't most people sketch pretty things?" he questioned, looking at Theo curiously. "I suppose I could smile, if I tried hard enough," he muttered under his breath, thinking of all the times he'd spent smiling around Lily, before... Before.

"I sketch whoever and whatever the hell i want. And pretty matters on the eye of the beholder." Theo looked at Severus strangely. "And i think you look perfectly fine. Sure, you need a good hair-wash, but besides that..." he trailed off, thinking. "I'd really like to sketch you. With a natural smile, not anything cynical."

Severus rolled his eyes at the mention of a hairwash, but shrugged. "I suppose I could pose for you while I study, I don't mind. I can't promise I'll be able to keep up this smile for you, though," he said with a shrug. He could smile, right? Like a patronus, just focus in on a happy memory. But what was a happy memory? A happy memory was sitting in the grass with Lily hugging him, telling him things at home would be alright. It was sitting with her in the library, looking up at her bright eyes as she laughed at something he'd said. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and thought about her, and sure enough, the tiniest smile crept onto his lips, if only for a moment.

Theo was fast, catching the small smile first and then, almost as if in a trance, finished the rest of the sketch ina flash. His eyes never left Severus' face, and he decided that he'd try to be this boy's friend...stress on the try. "There. I got it, would you like to see? You're lucky you posed that way...it makes your nose look smaller." he passed the drawing over to the other boy.

Severus was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to care about the nose comment, and peered over. "You're truly an amazing artist, Theo. I still think you ought to be sketching things people will actually want to see, though. But I should get going, I wanted to get to my next class early. I'll see you around," he said, collecting his things and waving on the way out, unsure what to make of Theo, who was neither wholly friendly nor an enemy, so far.

Theo waved at Snape's retreating back. "See ya. And how do you know no one would want to see it?!" he yelled after him. "Maybe i'd like to see it. I'll prove you wrong." He didn't care he was sounding stubborn and therefore idiotic...or Gryffindorish.

James wandered in to test out his newest potion for Snape humiliation. A modified shrinking potion that, when spilled on Snape, slowly throughout the day shrunk Snape's clothes. Awesome right? Yeah. I know. ENTER SIRIUS.

SIRIUS APPROVES
SNAPE SCOWLS

Sirius' BFF sense are tingling, and he bursts into the room loudly yelling "JAAAAAAAAAAAAMES! Prongs, my man! HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU, MATE?!" He promptly tackles the second coolest guy in this school, in Sirius' own opnion, of course.

The coolest guy in this school gets tackled, sloshing some of the potion out of the cauldron. "Well there goes that idea. Unless you can correct for about... .2 liters of spilled potion to add the rest of the stuff?" Oh wait. This was Sirius. "PADFOOT!!! WHERE'VE YOU BEEN, MATE?"

"I HAVE BEEN AROUND! BEING SURROUNDED BY GORGEOUS, BLONDE WOMEN, AND BEING SNOGGED BY SOME, AND SEDUCED BY OTHERS! IT'S BEEN WONDERFUL! I hear that you already got rejected by Lily, BUT YOU ALSO WROTE HER A POEM ABOUT PIZZA, WHICH I MUST READ. DO YOU THINK IT REALLY WORKS ON THE LADIES? I MUST TRY IT, BFF!" Loud Sirius is Loud.

"ALL WOMEN LOVE POETRY. IT'S A FACT. AND I DIDN'T GET REJECTED. SHE'S JUST NOT READY TO CONFESS HER LOVE YET." And really, when WASN'T Sirius surrounded by gorgeous blondes? Of both genders, really... James smiled just thinking about that time last year in Charms when that one quiet kid... Heh. Sirius was just irresistible like that for some reason. "Hey you're irresistible for some reason. Wanna tell me how to get Lily Evans to go out with me? I'm not sure if Remus' poetry idea worked."

"To get Lily Evans to go out with you? I don't know, learn how to read? That might work," he teased, ruffling his friend's hair. "Poetry does NOT work on all women! Some women just need... well, I don't know what women need, they just flock, man! Oh man, I gotta tell you 'bout this one chic, Alice Prewett, she's a fifth year but DAYUM, JAMES! YOU GOTTA CHECK HER OUT! SHE LIKE, MET ME ONCE, THEN WAS ALL OVER ME THE NEXT DAY, SNOGGING AND SHIT!" Sirius is totally exaggerating, all she did was give him a long, wet kiss, but he's Sirius, you know.

"... Prewett? PREWETT??" James had a minor hyperventilation fit. "PREWETT?!?!?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? SIRIUS, THINK! THE PREWETT BROTHERS." So now James has met Molly and heard about Alice, but nothing about the actual brothers... eerie.