"I do not see the reason to give me an assistant— not one that is so inefficient and inadequate." Snape was fuming with visible anger that showed in his eyes as well as his body movement. He turned to Merlin and looked him up and down before releasing another loud burst of complaints, "The man can barely dress properly," he gestured with a hand, wafting it in the air before pinching the bridge of his nose.
Merlin made an unruly face, his brows lowered and his nose wrinkled up. Never before has he ever been so utterly insulted in his life — except, of course, when he was with Arthur, but he was an exception. That was also just whenever they were in the middle of their banter between each other, but this, this was different. Snape knew of his presence and the fact that he could hear every little disparage he hurled his way, he just didn't care enough to bother. He wasn't going to apologise for it either, that much was clear.
"I'm right here, you know," Merlin blurted, having been unable to hold back his sharp-witted tongue for any second longer than was necessary. Regrettably, he was tossed a sour look from Snape, his deep black eyes penetrating through his barriers. He shrunk back into the background, tentatively shuffling along the polished wooden planks as Dumbledore gave a soft chuckle from behind his desk. Merlin tried to distract himself with the delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke, momentarily admiring the incredible collection of books that were each carefully aligned among the towering bookcases that reached the roof.
As the Potion Master continued to batter his numerous complaints and protests against him having an assistant to help him around his classroom with the headmaster, Merlin strolled around the office absent-mindedly, trailing a lone finger along the spines of the books before fleetingly idling in front of the phoenix that was perched on its standing pole. Fawkes — as he had remembered him by — was coated in crimson features and a golden tail that extended slightly longer than a peacock's. He was similar to an eagle in a way, only, he was roughly the size of an adult-sized swan. His claws and beak were gleaming in gold and his eyes were black, only deeper than Snapes. And as tempting as it was to recklessly reach out and stroke his golden tail feathers, he kept his hands to himself and tucked away within his pockets, fully knowing what would happen if he were to even graze a finger against them. And he was happy to say that he would rather not be burnt than the latter. Although he was pretty sure that the unique bird could control the temperature of his tail feathers — he just didn't want to risk the chance of getting scorched in front of the headmaster.
"Hey, Fawkes." Merlin greeted, holding out an arm to check if he was still accustomed to his scent. Part of him had his fingers crossed that the bird still had a small recollection of memories about him, seeing as, after all, he was the first human he had come across since being born. "Remember me?"
He earns a loud but restful squawk in response, a good reaction he noted. Their eyes meet in an almost stationary movement, Merlin being the first to soften his gaze as the phoenix gave in and gently climbed across his sleeves, disregarding the potential of his claws marking holes within his fabrics. The warlock grunts at the latent damage that was hiding beneath them but plasters on a smile anyway. Probably going to have to stitch that up for later uses.
Automatically, he tunes himself back into the conversation conversing between Snape and the headmaster at the mention of his name. "—Mr Evans will only be an assistant, Severus. I'm afraid I don't particularly understand why you are so against the idea of it." Dumbledore gave a long sigh, softly massaging his temples together before drawing himself from his chair. Snape backed off almost immediately with his hands folding behind his back, knowing that he wasn't permitted to push any further than he already was. At all, it was a surprise that Dumbledore was even allowing him to ramble on while he endured his words.
"I won't be any trouble for you," Merlin piped up, rearranging his arm positions by jerking the one that held onto Fawkes away from his face. Snape swivelled around on the spot, his shoulder-length hair whipping at the air before laying dormant over the sides of his face like draping curtains. "I promise."
"Why, Fawkes. What in Merlin's beard are you doing?" Dumbledore chokes between words as his surprised laughter cuts in suddenly, Merlin tilting his head to the side, nonplussed by the wizard's peculiar use of an exaggeration. Merlin's beard? He questioned, furrowing his brows deeply before shaking it off and turning his awareness towards the phoenix that had nestled comfortably on his arms. He'll ask about that later.
Snape watches from behind, his mouth slightly ajar before curling his lips up again in a stern expression. "It would seem that Fawkes has taken an unusual liking towards you." He remarked, muttering in a hushed voice, "For some ungodly reason that I can't decipher…"
"Indeed, it would seem so," Dumbledore added, humming in agreement with the Potions Professor. It was an extraordinary discovery to find Fawkes fawning over someone other than the headmaster himself, seeing as he was rather twitchy and easily irritable when he was touched abruptly. The phoenix was loyal and courageous, yes, but even he had his boundaries and limitations when it came to his nerves. "You always did have a special spot for creatures, didn't you, Mr Evans?" He deliberately pointed out his last name, a surreptitious grin growing across his lips. Snape narrowed his eyes, perplexed but intrigued by their secretive exchange of looks and words. He felt rather out of place more than anything.
"So you've noticed, I'm flattered." Fawkes hobbled on his arm when he was beginning to drift to the side, hastily pulling his weight up with him. Merlin glanced up at his jagged beak before hoisting his free hand to brush against his crimson features. Snape was the first to flinch at his reckless action and took a step forward in case matters took a turn for the worst, only to be stopped by Dumbledore raising a hand against his hardened chest, his half-moon spectacles lowering moderately. "I'm grateful that Fawkes here managed to find you." he murmured.
"Certainly," The headmaster replied, his soul-piercing blue eyes twinkling with warmth and mischief. "But, well, I must ask; what do you mean exactly by managed to find you? Surely you don't mean that you were the one that sent him on his way to me. That was years ago, after all." He beamed.
Merlin shifts his fixed gaze away from the fiery phoenix with a long smile that almost reached his ears, accentuating his own dazzling eyes that seemed to outshine Dumbledores without even trying. He mused on his response, thoughtfully, roaming his eyes around the room before landing them back on the two standing idly in front of him — one of them being incredibly patient, while the other was restive and eager for an answer. Though Snape did his best to conceal his keenness, there were cracks in his barricade that revealed its traces. Merlin's smile seemed to thicken at the Potion Master's expression.
"All wizards have their secrets, Albus. Surely you must understand that." The warlock gives a silvery chuckle that roughly mimicked that of a voice deeper than Dumbledores, only, his was more smooth and silky — younger to put it simply. And it was, without a doubt, that the headmaster acknowledged his reasons behind sheltering his motivations. Although, that still didn't quite satisfy his eagerness to comprehend more about the said wizard. He was shrouded in murky mystery, one that he couldn't quite precisely define. He was no evil Death Eater, that was for sure and quite obvious just by looking at the lad — nevertheless, it continued to make him feel dubious and uneasy.
"It would seem so," he replied, latching two fingers on the end pieces of his spectacles and thrusting them up with his mouth unlatched briefly. "In any case, I suppose we shall discuss your organized classes that you'll be in — assisting, of course." He spared a glance at Snape who only scowled in response, much to his own personal amusement. Satirizing the professor never seemed to get old, nor did the entertainment it brought to him fade away. In fact, it appeared that it only encourages it.
"A-Already?" Merlin stammered uncertainty, hooking Fawkes back to his pole before promptly ensuing Dumbledore who had taken his seat behind his desk once again. Snape steadily brought his hands together in front of him before turning on his heel to face the headmaster like his newest — if not bungling and tedious — colleague by his side. Upon observing the two raven-haired soon-to-be associates, Dumbledore couldn't help but hold back another soft chuckle in the back of his throat. Mr Evans, — as he knew him by — was earnest and relatively pensive if not a little tactless as well as cunning in his perspective. Snape, on the other hand, was quite the opposite of him. The Potions professor was more mundane and dull — basically, he was pessimistic — as well as incredulous to almost everything and anything. Eventually, he found himself comparably captivated in how the relationship between the two of them could go. In rather large and extensive ways, it was easy to mistake their somewhat similar appearances as if they were relatives of blood-related. It made him ponder on the rumours that may spread if the students were to see the two together — it made him a little excited if not enthused by the overall results.
Once he was properly able to collect his thoughts together in one file, he looked at Merlin with a glinting smile, "Of course," he planted a hand against the wooden surface of his desk, "I am always prepared for the unexpected, Mr Evans. But then again, I suppose that you would already know that, am I or am I not correct?"
Merlin stares dumbfounded, gaping his mouth open before clamping it down in a repeated action while Snape rolls his eyes indignantly from the sidelines of their view. A bright smile crawls across his lips before flourishing his hands with a shrug, "Uh, I guess so! When… when do I, uh, start?" Fawkes gives an unnerving screech from behind the three men, fanning out his rich, scarlet feathers agitatedly across the office, knocking down a few books and papers with his strength. All three of them give him their full attention, Dumbledore seeming to be unfazed by his familiar's sudden tantrum.
A blistering flame assaulted their eyes as the phoenix was soon devoured by flickering licks of flames that engulfed his entire body, separate pieces of parchment being ignited without a moment's notice — most of which were already soaring across the air wildly. Dissolving into small particles of ashes, each and every grain piled up against each other like they were magnets attracted to each other. Merlin bulged his eyes out for a second before blinking vacantly, slowly shuffling on his feet to face Dumbledore. He was about to question the occurrences of what just unfolded before his eyes before something clicked. Fawkes was obviously no ordinary bird — he was a fabled phoenix after all — and their species never exactly died. Returning his gaze back to the pile of ashes that were compacted together, he hurriedly sprinted towards the table of where they were all gathered up jointly.
"They do get reborn, right?" he inquired worriedly, his eyes fixated on the unmoving heap. If his knowledge served him correct, once a phoenix dies in any kind of way, they wither into ashes before renewing themselves into a smaller baby-ish form. Hence the term, reborn. He waited impatiently in anticipation, fidgeting with his fingers close to his chest. "Right?" he repeated, this time looking back and forth as if impatiently.
Snape strides forward before speaking eloquently, "Yes, they do," he assured him. With Snape being himself, he decided to add a small note that he was sure would add some weighing anxiety to the new professor's heart. "I think," he smirked, holding back the urge to chuckle darkly at the look on Merlin's face. Once Dumbledore looked at him rather disapprovingly, his smug look was automatically wiped off his face as he composed himself. As much as Dumbledore had his charms and praises for mischief, he didn't take too kindly to teasing his close long-term acquaintances all too much, even if it were Snape himself.
Suddenly and almost out of nowhere, a miniature chick extruded out from the pile of ash, a high-pitched chirp emanating from it before turning into a short-lived screech. Merlin huffed a breath of relief before curling his lips up into a bright smile as his eyes twinkled with solace. He chuckled faintly before reaching out a finger to gently poke at the newborn, prudent and wary of how much force he put into it. The phoenix gave another tweet in approval, Merlin quickly drawing in his hands by his chest as he stood up, straighter and more hopeful this time. He shot a directed frown at Snape before softening and looking back at Dumbledore, who looked even more optimistic than him.
Severus was expecting a complaint or remark from the newly recruited professor but was thrown off by the sudden gentle expression he wore across his face. It was unpredicted by far, but he rubbed it off and slid it off his back. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all — at least he didn't lose his temper so easily. Now it made the Potions Master curious, it made him wonder just how far he could bring the boy to the edge of frustration. All wizards and witches had their limits, even Dumbledore himself had one, but no one dared to push his buttons. He took it as a challenge.
The headmaster flashed a smile as his twinkling blue eyes locked in with the warlock opposite of him, "We will be expecting new first years by the first of September," he elucidated. Merlin's eyes flew skywards as they practically popped out from their sockets — that was tomorrow. "You will be given your own personal chambers, to which you can acquire the keys from Argus Filch — the caretaker of the school — downstairs."
Merlin took a few lingering seconds to organize his inner thoughts to himself before nodding once, another beaming smile engraved across his mouth. With an effortless flourish of his hands as they slapped back against his sides, he breathed a chortle before sighing. "So, tomorrow then?" He didn't make any hesitant attempts to hide his excitement, he just allowed it to flow out as his smile became impossibly larger, much to Severus' displeasure as he gave an irritated look before it mellowed down to a mere frown.
"Definitely."
