p id="docs-internal-guid-0e1f456a-e881-57d2-186b-38f3a712aad9" dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Screaming. There was so much screaming. And blood. The scent of it hung in the air as her body hit the floor. He didn't know what to do. There was blood on his face, his hands. How…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He looked down at the woman who was missing two of her fingernails and the top half of her right ear. There was so much blood. It smelled so strong. Of… of cider and sourdough. His tongue wanted to flick out to lick some of the spray that had landed on his cheek as she had spun around in confusion, flinging blood everywhere. He refrained, and instead removed some with a single finger and sucked off the liquid. So good, so-/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The screaming stopped. He blinked, and the odd slowing of time stopped. He blinked again and the total silence brought him back to himself. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Shit. The ten seconds between landing and now was far too long. Any head wound bled profusely, ears were no different. Finger tips were little better. Why did mortals have to bleed so much? He cursed out loud and with a flick of his wand summoned a regrowth potion. Similar to skelegrow, it could easily regrow missing body parts in their entirety, but only if the body hadn't been healed in any way beforehand. That included blood replenishers. It meant in the midst of battle or the middle of nowhere, they were unfeasible. It still took time to regrow an arm. It's why aurors often had missing body parts, but students didn't. They also ceased to work if the wound was cauterized, or over four hours had passed. They were very situational. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He still kept them on hand. They were generator potions, fortunately. THe potion slapped into his hand and he looked down at Clara. The foolish woman. She had passed out, thankfully. He quickly cast a rennervate and she woke up spluttering. She turned to the side, heaving./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"And now There was vomit on his carpet. She fell back down in a faint and now there was vomit in her hair. It was everywhere. For a brief second time reversed and he remembered the smells from battle, from dungeons. Bodily fluids released as people died, blood sprayed across stone and grass. The screaming and the silence. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then it passed. He forced the memories away, further down into his psyche so the smells wouldn't cause such reactions again. He took a breath; vomit, blood. That's it. That's all it was. He spelled the potion into her stomach and watched as her fingernails began to regrow, along with her ear. Soon enough the wounds were gone and he exhaled. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape sighed and pinched his nose. What the fuck should he do now? He honestly shouldn't apparate any more, he shouldn't have to begin with, not with how much magic that surely expended. Still he needed to get her home, and the vomit out of her hair. And the blood out of both their clothes. He looked at the mess and curled his lip. He wasn't going to take her to his sink or bathroom and hand wash it certainly. No, besides the very slight risk of asphyxiation it was far too personal. But… any other way would use up magic. Magic he didn't really have to spare after everything he just did. Small things were fine, but too many could add up, like cleaning and drying an entire head of hair. Should he rennervate her again? That would take up energy too. Besides, he didn't really want her seeing where he lived… or how he lived. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He took a brief look around his house. Everything was… dark. Dusty. Bleakness fell with the dust motes that were illuminated by the last rays of the sun. Apathy sat in the unpolished knobs that were green with age. It didn't look like anyone lived here… they merely existed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He looked back at clara and with a sigh waved his wand to clean her up. He just vanished the vomit, it would have to do. Then he lifted her over to his chair and set her in it. She was deep asleep, which he supposed was good as regrowing fingernails isn't exactly comfortable. She looked so… out of place here. Far too brightly colored and… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Asleep, passed out, vulnerable. Her heart was steady and her breath even. There was a woman in his house. A mea- a human woman. He'd… he'd never even taken Lily inside his home. It… this shouldn't be how this had happened. He'd dreamed of taking Lily home to his mother, to announce they were dating. He'd lost all rights to any semblance of that after his monumental mistakes and now, now there was an innocent defenseless Muggle woman in his goddamn house. Once, once upon a fairy tale this could have been… something else. He couldn't imagine a woman coming into his home for anything nice now. Or at least anything nice for them, what with how tempting the beating heart w- /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had no right to such a thing as bringing someone home for… Well, that was rather the problem wasn't it? What would he bring someone over for? He had no food to offer, and he wasn't about to go buy some with how rarely he had guests (never). His house was barely fit to live in, let alone host anyone. He didn't even want to fathom having sex here. Not where… Not yet… maybe never. Self gratification was one thing, but with another person… The intimacy, the idea of it, felt wrong here. Too many memories of the opposite were present. His lies, his subterfuge, his very being and blood, were too reminiscent of the horrors he'd heard… maybe endured… He'd passed out and had no clue by the time he'd woken up, too much time had passed and his entire body too bruised to differentiate. He wasn't sure he wanted to know either way./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Still, he was defiled in other ways if not... Despite that, this woman had offered, been inclined to-to take him to bed! What… why? He couldn't imagine why she would have any interest in such a thing. He was dangerous, vile, a vampire. He was ugly, rude and off putting. He'd never really had any type of relations with someone who wasn't after something. Even if it was just sexual gratification. Perhaps… perhaps that was it. She just wanted someone to fuck and he happened to be available. Yes, that was surely it. He could provide that if she wanted, he had done such things before. He usually enjoyed it too… usually. It wasn't a betrayal, it wasn't seeking a relationship, he was letting himself be used to solidify an alliance. Standard procedure all in all, though he usually provided other services, like potions. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He wondered if things could have been different if he'd had any such experience before he'd graduated. If someone had shown him sex was more than an exchange of favors for most. Sex was about trade, or power, or stress relief, not love. He had a vague idea that sex could be an act of love, had realized it when he found he'd rather hang himself than ask Lily for such a thing in return for a favor or power over him. He'd also felt he'd lost his chance at sex being anything but transactional long ago. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He shook himself out of the past and banished it to the back of his mind. He didn't have time to ponder what ifs and should haves. He had an unconscious woman in his house and he did not want her there, for multiple reasons. He looked down at her form again and ignored the slight urge to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"eat/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". There was nothing for it really. He flicked his wand and cast rennervate. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Clara groaned and twitched as she came back to consciousness. She stretched languidly, showing off far too much of her stomach, then frowned and turned over. And… went back to sleep./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape blinked. Had she really just… No… she fucking had! He scowled. This woman was not right. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Get up. I will not have you-"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Fivemoreminutes Dadplease." The words ran together in her mumbles./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He sneered. "I am not-"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Don'tcare. Haven'tslept… two days."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape paused. Two days? So… since he revealed himself. Perhaps she wasn't as stalwart and fearless as she appeared. Snape regarded her closely. A very good actress. Of course, retail would do that. But what to do? He scowled at her sleeping form, breathing lightly in his chair, in his house, in his domain. It didn't feel right. It made his skin crawl as the, for all intents and purposes, defenseless mortal, snored lightly away in front of him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Get. Up." He hissed in his coldest voice, that didn't bring any reaction as she had already fallen deeper asleep. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Get up! Out! This is-"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Fuckoff Arnold, I'llsleepinthe chair if I want. I love you but le'mesleep." She muttered and turned over again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He felt frozen solid. Love? Arnold? Perhaps, probably, her husband. She was mistaking his voice for her husband's? How could… and … the voice and cadence was so casual, calm. He scowled and fled the room. He couldn't deal with that right now. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He headed up the stairs to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face, cleaning off the blood. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked tired, he looked… He removed the glamour and sighed. He looked… healthy. He'd been eating, he'd been sleeping, he'd been getting… exercise and stress relief. And yet, his eyes looked tired. He'd been using up far too much magic in a place where he couldn't rejuvenate it. He paused. Perhaps he could. His thrall was possibly a third generation squib, perhaps he had /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"some/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" magic to steal. It was as good a plan as any. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He made use of his facilities, the meal Clara had cooked was worth being inconvenienced by false bodily functions, then headed down stairs. He looked at the woman sleeping in his chair and frowned before turning away. He sat down at the kitchen table, head in his hands. He felt sick, the thought of her in this house, unconscious, made him sick. It was too risky for her to be here. If anyone found out she'd die, either by his hands or another's. It was also uncomfortable to have her here, laying witness to his childhood, to his darkness. It was mildly tempting too, she tasted divine and no one would ever know where she'd vanished to. He was sick, disgusted by all those things, his thoughts, his past. He needed her out of here. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He stood up and quickly headed over to her. He reached over her body and opened another hollow book from which he removed a stack of muggle money. He closed it and returned it to the bookshelf before pocketing the money and taking a deep breath. He looked down at the woman, looked but forced himself not to see her. He took another breath. Steeling himself he, lifted Clara up, shifted her weight, and immediately turned on his foot and vanished. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He exhaled as they landed in her living room. He was tired. He was… very tired. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He laid her down on the couch and watched as she shifted her arms under her head, then grabbed a pillow and stuffed it between her legs. Obviously she had fallen asleep here before. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He turned away, unwilling, unwanting, to see more of her peaceful slumber after she had… had offered him something… no. She just wanted to use him. She was horny, he was available supposedly. Would it be so bad… just being used in such a benign way? He'd done so before, used and been used. It was just sex, just stress relief really. But if it was just sex… then why had she been reluctant to let him go? Surely she wasn't that desperate, although perhaps she was if she was turning to him. No, she wasn't ugly, cruel, ostracized from society. She could surely easily find someone to make use of, so that didn't make sense. She had seemed… concerned at his anger and then… So much blood… So much… /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He swallowed and opened the front door, locking it wandlessly and silently behind him. He looked at the sky, the sun was setting. People were out and about after work, or heading to evening shifts, however many were already home. He could head to his thrall./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He headed over to Dorfus' house, ignoring the beautiful sunset, the chattering people, the nice breeze. He didn't care. He didn't care about his itching skin, the smell of rain and various dinners in the air. He felt unnerved and discomfited, out of sorts after the insane offer and intrusions into his home. He walked quickly, driving thoughts from his head and letting his senses go into overdrive. The information returned to him was pointless, useless, but it occupied the space reserved for thoughts with techniques used to ensure his survival. A blank mind aware of every minute change around him. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The smell of chicken wafted through the open window to the right, seasoned with a heavy hand, the rosemary was far too strong. Three people in the house with the clinking of utensils and beating hearts. Across the street, a woman and her dog, a small breed incapable of being a true threat unless you were taken by surprise or utterly incapable. Her black jacket was moving too lightly in the breeze to conceal weapons, same with her pants. He doubted there was anything in her pockets other than a wallet. A car drove by, approximately two kilometers over the legal speed limit, scrapes told of previous accidents as did the faint smell of alcohol under the petroleum. He took note of all these things as he did when in a death eater meeting, when hunting, when in a duel, when surviving. He took note and discarded them and moved on to more and more minute details in order to occupy his thoughts. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A crack in the sidewalk, widened by foot traffic, had a coin lodged in it. The ivy that had somehow taken root on a building had three different shapes of leaves, telling of different nutrients, weather patterns, and more that each node had access to during its growth. He should come back and harvest some. The window on the second story had grout sealing up cracks from a bullet hole. An easy access point by the poor job, he'd still need an invitation. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eventually, he knocked on the man's door, and waited. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He didn't have long to wait, the door opened with a suction of air and his thrall stood before him. Before he could speak he was being ushered in./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I was hoping you'd come. The the quarterly meeting was moved up to...today. I could really use a damn drink." Said the man as snape scowled. He was supposed to be in charge here. Though, this was rather opportune. Alcohol would certainly keep his mind blissfully blank for a while. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I am available if you want to imbibe this evening. I have some matters to discuss with you first though."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus waved for him to continue as he headed to the kitchen. Snape followed and watched as the man removed two bottles of whiskey from the freezer. One was half empty. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I have made a deal with the homeless camp down by the river. I will pay them 300 pounds a month to provide reports on the goings on about town. They will place the reports in a bottle that you will leave in the bushes nearby, along with the money." Snape held out a stack of muggle money and noted how his thrall's eyes widened. "Money that you will not spend yourself, merely deliver." His thrall slumped but nodded as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard. He paused and looked at Snape. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Assuming you don't want your own glass?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You assume correctly. I'll drink after you."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""After? You afraid of poison or something?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape just answered the stupid question by dropping his glamour. He was rather satisfied when his thrall flinched. The man swallowed and nodded, closing the cabinet with the glass and taking the two bottles to the sitting room. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The room was sparsely decorated. A TV, the books, a small low table with checkered embossing and glass on top. Two armchairs with very faint plaid patterns sat on one end of it. A couch sat between them so it was facing the TV. Snape watched as Dorfus took a seat on the couch, in the center, and set down his tools of slow suicide. Snape took one of the chairs and watched some of the tension ease from the man's shoulders. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So… what you been up to?" Said Dorfus as he poured the whiskey, failing in his attempt at nonchalant conversation./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Nothing of import. I made an alliance or two, ate an old enemy, brewed a potion." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus nearly choked on his sip of whiskey. He swallowed, had a few more swigs to help, then looked at snape before finishing the glass entirely. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You… ate someone?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I believe I just said I did, are you thick?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus swallowed again and shook his head. "No. No, just surprised."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Why? Surely you're aware I'm capable?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus poured himself another drink and downed it immediately. "Oh, yeah… I mean I guess. I just… hadn't really considered it. That you might kill someone. It's…" The man poured himself another drink while Snape let him dig his own hole. "Terrifying."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, that was true enough. Killing a person was a terrible act. That didn't stop people, let alone him. He didn't want to dwell on that fact though. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So, tell me about this meeting that has you trying to drown yourself?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus muttered, a string of curses and defamations against a Marjorie and a Dean. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Fuckin CEO doesn't know a thing about intake. I do not control when the shipments arrive. I can tell him when they are supposed, order items so they should arrive by a certain date, choose the shipping company, pay extra for expedited shipping. None of that matters if the factory producing the springs breaks down! None of that matters if the boat sinks! He expect me to deliver our shipments as if i control the weather, the time, the pollen count! And then, he doesn't understand any of the programs we use to catalog intake. He wants me to report the number of items in each box exactly. That's not how that works with things as small as springs, we get an estimated bulk delivery. Of course Marjorie understands all this, but does she say anything? No! She complains about how the crates are organized, as if we haven't been using that system since before she started."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape listened to the man gripe, let him voice his anger and vent his annoyance as the whiskey in the first bottle vanished. He listened, nodding where appropriate, occasionally asking questions. He wasn't interested, but it was something to occupy his thoughts with. The second bottle was open about half an hour later, and the man was starting to slur very slightly. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Annnd I really am glad sheee got a bonus. She deserved it, she did! Her packing rate was insane, and her with a broken foot having to staaand!" /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""They force their workers to stand despite injuries?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus snorted. "Course. They're idiotss. They don't care about employee retention or orrr health."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hmm." Snape replied, content to let the man continue. He reeked of alcohol, his blood did too. Whether or not Snape got any magic from his meal tonight would be rather overshadowed by the fact that he was about to get /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"proper/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" drunk for the first time in a good long while. He was looking forward to it. He didn't like to get drunk frequently, no, too reminiscent of his home life. Once in while though, it was nice. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I've… I've half a mind to poooint out som'addresses to you." Said Dorfus as he took a swig from the bottle directly. "They don treat us righ… they shouldn be in charge!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape smirked in amusement. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Really? You'd send me as an assassin to your higher ups?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Third time they passed me over fer a prmotion! Third!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Do you really think they would be replaced by someone better if they vanished?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah! Me!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Pity I refuse to be a tool of yours then."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Awww. What… What if I bring 'em overrrr to you?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape raised a brow. "If you can manage to get them here when I request food, then I suppose that is what I'd eat. However, you'd have to deal with the fallout of their disappearance if it's known they came over. I'd be displeased if you were thrown in jail and made unavailable."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus frowned and took another swig, swaying back and forth now. He set the bottle down./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Welllll shit. That… might be worth having a conversation when m sober. Can tell I'm… I'm done if you don want me passed out."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape nodded. He was about to say as much. He stood and walked over behind the couch, watching his thrall tense ever so slightly. He stopped behind the man and then pulled his head to the side slowly so he wouldn't topple over. He bent down, breathed in the scent of booze, blood and sweat. The man twitched, and when he did Snape bit down… and drank. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sweet. Dark and rich. His. It burned on the way down, the alcohol overpowering all other flavors except for a faint ticking sound that he hadn't noticed last time. He was heady quite quickly, but continued to drink, a pleasant haze settling around him. He felt himself relax as his orderly mind became a bit muddled, as memories and feelings he pushed away faded in a miasma of whiskey and blood. He was left with very little but the present and a sense of self. It was wonderful. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He took a moment to breathe, letting the air accentuate the whiskey on his tongue. His thrall was humming happily, oblivious to the sensations due to how fucking plastered he was. Snape went back to his meal./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Eventually he felt a bit more energized, not much, but not dog tired. His thrall had magic, faint and weak. He didn't have a core, but obviously there was something. Perhaps he'd run some experiments later. Still, for now it was a slight pick me up, like a weak cup of coffee or a second steep of tea. It was enough. He briefly wondered if it would be enough if he did actually have to hide here. Could it keep him from going catatonic? Or perhaps he just needed to practice… existing with little to no magic in his core. Perhaps it was impossible. Perhaps it was a moot point because Clara was going to… He let go and stood up straight, releasing the back of the couch and backing away. He immediately swayed a bit. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He…. Was….drunk. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So drunk./spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" He tried to just stand still but the world tilted on its access. He leaned down, hand gripping the back of the sofa again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus chuckled. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're drunk."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""As… are you. I believe I am inebri… briated… due to that fact." Merlin, he was stumbling over words. He took a moment to gather himself./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus grinned. "Yeah." /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape sniffed at that, and made his way around the sofa, clutching the furniture the entire time. He sank down into the cushions as soon as he could and exhaled. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He felt good. Relaxed. He sighed. He could get used to a quarterly binge like this. He wasn't sure it was good for his thrall if he was attempting to get the man to cut back, but fuck it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Y'good?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape just nodded, eyes closed and hands over his stomach. In repose. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So… do'ye mind if I continue?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snspe opened an eye. "Continue drinking? I feel that is a poor choice."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dorfus frowned. "Yeah, but it's how I wind down and fallll asleep after these. Don't know if I'lllll be able to sleep at all if I d-don't."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape huffed and shook his head before removing his wand. Dorfus backed up on the couch, hitting the other arm and grasping it. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Uhhh. I I donneed help."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Too bad that you are getting it then. Somnus."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The man fell forward and Snape barely managed to prevent him from hitting the table with a quick flick of his wand. He pushed the man into the couch back with his hand and a sneer before laying back himself and enjoying the buzz in his head that was a complete lack of anything. He eventually went back for another drink while his thrall slept. Red, warm, and burning it coursed through him and made him feel slightly alive. He forced himself to stop after a few swallows. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He sat with his eyes closed, ruminating over the chaos, throwing his mind back to all he'd learned. It was a good practice. Organizing one's thoughts, deciding where to put them in his mindscape, what layer of falsehoods they needed to be behind, which version of him they represented the most. So he pondered all he'd failed to ponder in the domino like days that had fallen and passed. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Like the boy Potter. Snape frowned. He didn't like the boy. The brief glimpse he saw into his mind was displeasing. He didn't know how long that…. Space had been the boy's 'room'. Hopefully only a year or two. He wasn't even eleven, he knew Potter would have acted out. Been loud. Still, he hadn't seen any physical abuse, definitely no sexual. He had made /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"damn sure /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"of that. He was fairly sure he'd be in Azkaban right now if he'd found evidence of that. The Dursleys would be dead though, so that would have been nice. Tuney had completely failed to mature. The utter cunt. Still, the boy was housed, and fed. More so than he was at least on that last count. The whale of a boy was a bully, but he was sure Potter was cheeky enough to deserve it. He needed to learn to curb his tongue or he'd suffer far worse than bruises in the wizarding world. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He pushed the small voice that said he was making excuses to the back of his head. He was quite aware. If he didn't he'd go back and steal the child away and burn the house to the ground to hide the evidence. He was /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"not/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" a fit guardian for the boy. And there were few else he'd trust to keep the surely chaotic and impudent child alive. Albus was one, and he was far too busy. Far too manipulative and at the same time… far too manipulated by his own heart. Of course, if that hadn't been the case Snape himself would be quite dead. These thoughts were quickly relegated to his most inner self, to be brought up infrequently. He couldn't afford to think on them. The boy needed the blood wards according to Albus, so besides resigning with either of them, which was impossible, the boy's best bet at staying alive was with his… blood relatives. They were certainly not his family. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape then considered Minerva, again. The annoying bint. Overbearing mother or aunt, she pushed and prodded and insisted on forgiving him. No matter how he pushed her, she seemed to be aware that half his actions were meant to do just that. Push her away. The fact that he cared for her safety, for any of his colleague's safety, was dangerous on many levels. If it was found out he cared they would be used as leverage, or killed. If they were captured he'd have to sit and watch… or /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"participate/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" in, their torture and demise. Who was he kidding, if it was possible he'd volunteer, claiming revenge. It'd be better than the true torture they'd receive from the others of his ilk. He'd have to just deal with the huge amounts of guilt, pleasure, self loathing, and such. It was par for the course. He'd shove it away to examine later. Not feel. Merlin's beard no. He'd examine what he would have felt, felt twinges of, but to feel the full weight of conflict he felt during the actual act? He already felt the weight of his sins, he didn't need more. He was aware that was dangerous, but the mindscape was, as far as he could tell, infinite. He had no intention of living forever and finding out if he'd have to remove memories to make space for new ones in 600 years. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Snape sighed and looked at the clock. Three thirty am. And he was sobering up. And he had a headache. He was still quite drunk, but sober enough to be thinking again. He didn't want to be. He didn't want to be thinking of impossibilities and what ifs. He looked at his snoring thrall. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He slowly stood, more so as to not fall than not wake Dorfus. He doubted elephants could wake the man. He took the few steps over and bent over, holding himself up on the couch back, and breathed in the scent. The man smelled like booze, and mechanical grease. And like /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"his/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;". His thrall. He couldn't name the scent if he tried, he could just tell when he was close that the man was his. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He bit down again, drinking greedily but gently. He wanted more, he always did, but tonight he wanted more in the sense of what Clara was offering. Not sexual, just that it was /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"more. /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Deeper. More. He couldn't have that, but he could have more blood. But it wasn't enough. He wanted life after life after life and he was disgusted with both, all, of his wants. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Alcohol would dull them. Alcohol dulled everything. Even hunger seemed… not less there but less important certainly. So he drank greedily of the only 'more' he could have, the only one he could half pretend he deserved; more drunk. He finally let go, feeling satisfactorily numb and heady again. He shifted over to the other side of the couch and fell asleep to the soft snores of his thrall./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Or he would have, if a haunting tune had not wafted through the walls. It was not haunting in its tone, nor its melody. No, it was haunted by ghosts of the past, of connotation and memory. Snape shifted awake, feeling lethargic and decidedly not wanting to move. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He listened to the violin. It was a recording coming from next door. There was a baby whimpering quietly underneath the noise, alongside whispered nothings of comfort. A male voice. He shifted. Such noises brought up unpleasant questions. Had his father ever done such things? The recorded lullaby skipped on the record player, from the slight crackling noise the record was obviously old. The tune was familiar. Why? His mother hadn't sung it, he was sure. Then… It must have been his father. He tensed as a memory forced itself through layers of false mindscapes to his active thoughts. A violin, fingers flying along strings. Soothing, comfortable afternoons. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He thrust the thought back into the deepest morass of his mind. It struggled, wanting to be heard. He fought it, forcibly threw it into a box, locked it away, and swallowed the key. He felt his stomach gurgle a bit at that thought. Disgusting, he was disgusting./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The music stopped and the box that held the memory stopped shaking. He sighed. What was it he had read once? Something about triggers… No matter. It was done now. He'd just cast a silencing charm on that wall next time. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He laid his head back and fell into a fitful rest. /span/p