Breaking Away (Severus)

[Natalie St. Clare]

Things like detention and lost points were not even considerations for Natalie. Living in the castle as a non-student the previous year had made her careless; she was used to walking where ever she went, visiting her sister or her uncle or Severus without fear of punishment. And besides, she didn't really care about this silly infractions. She always had heavier things on her mind.

They were almost at the kitchen then; she could see the painting of the fruit up ahead. "It seems so ordinary," she commented. "If people didn't know where it was, they'd never think to look here."

[Severus Snape]

Severus smiled and nodded "That's what makes coming to this castle so much fun, Even if you're parents are Wizards and Witches, finding things in this place is fun, it makes you remember it when you're gone." Severus always relied on his memories of school when he had to go home for the summer hols. While other students had fun or vacations or happy families, Severus had his unhappy home on Spinner's End.

[Natalie St. Clare]

It was strange; Natalie couldn't imagine Severus anywhere but here at Hogwarts. He seemed to belong here, and even when he was unhappy, he seemed glad to be here. She had seen glimpses of his home life in flashes. And he had told her a little bit, as well. So she understood just how miserable he was at home. She wished there was a way to save him from that; to let him stay here where he belonged.

"Maybe sometime you can show me some of the other hidden places around the castle," she suggested, looking at him from the corners of her eyes.

They were standing in front of the painting now, and Natalie turned to him. "Do you want to do it, or should I?"

[Severus Snape]

"I'll do it." he reached out and tickled the pear, it wiggled as if giggling and the painting swung open. House Elves were scurrying to and fro with plates on their heads and baskets of things for some meal or another. "I know short cuts around the castle, it's the reason I'm never late for classes. There aren't very many I think. " the few that he did know of made him feel like he had an edge over other's who didn't. He wasn't sure that so many of them knew about the ones he knew of. "Maybe we could find more together." he said looking at her a bit shyly.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie smiled slightly as she watched him tickle the pear. It seemed such a silly thing to do, and the fact that the pear seemed to react made it all the sillier. But the painting slid open, allowing them to enter the kitchen.

Of all the places in the castle, Natalie immediately decided that she liked it here the most. The house elves may have been slaves, but they were well treated and contented, and it showed in the way they did their work. They did it with pride and the satisfaction of doing a good job. And she could tell that this was true, because when she sensed their emotions, she could find nothing negative. it was rare to come upon a room full of beings who were not secretly unhappy about something. Natalie found it refreshing.

"Are you sure they don't mind us being here?" she asked. "They're so busy working, I don't want to bother them."

[Severus Snape]

Severus laughed "No! they love it! it makes them even happier! They always call me "Young Master Severus" and love giving me snacks, I think they love it more because they are never really seen by most students." he said walking further in and to a scrub board table with many cutting boards and blocks where knives were held in place. He pulled out two stools where the elves would perch themselves to work. "Come on!" he waved Natalie to his side and one of the elves bounced forward.

"Would Young Master be needed anything tonight? Works so hard you do on your work!" it chirped happily, and probably proud of Severus's good grades.

"Yeah, I need it to be easy to take with me tonight, Some bread and soft cheese would be nice." he said to the elf, he had yet to know it's name, or if it was even not an 'it' at all, but he wasn't rude to it.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie covered her mouth in a tiny giggle. "They're cute," she said. "And so happy. I thought it was wrong to keep house elves as slaves, but they must be comfortable with their place in life, just knowing that they can be useful and cared for."

She perched herself on one of the stools, looking like a fragile fairy princess high up on a pedestal. "You must come here a lot. They like you. It just shows how smart they are."

[Severus Snape]

Severus puffed out his chest without really realizing it, "They seem to think that I will die without extra food." he said sheepishly.
He felt that he was never going to gain any sort of real shape, He still feel like a plant that had been shut in a cupboard to grow. He sat up straighter and thought he felt taller for not hunching forward, the way he normally did when he was alone. Severus didn't think they were the smartest of creatures, but he secretly liked them, because they were so happy with where they were.

[Natalie St. Clare]

"Well, you are skinny," Natalie said lightly. It was the closest she could come to joking and teasing. "But then, so am I."

Perched up on her stool, she gave him a sideways look. "The other people in your house.... they give you a hard time about being friends with me, don't they? Because I'm not a Slytherin? Is that why you were treating me like I didn't exist when you were with your friends?"

[Severus Snape]

Severus felt uncomfortable, but he might was well explain now. "That was part of it... I was hounded, before it wasn't so much of a problem, because early on Rori, Professor Voltaire's daughter, became wrapped up in school and other friends, and you weren't in a house really." He had been fairly alone, "There was one friend I had in Slytherin, but she has more trouble with her boyfriend than...anyone really should if they aren't married." He realized it sounded very selfish, but he tried to fix the situation but it only got worse, this was the best it had been and he wasn't going to give up now on her.
"I really didn't want to confuse you, with everything that was going on in my head...I thought the best way to deal with the situation was to take apart what I was feeling find the reason then diffuse the problem...That didn't work." but he had thought it was logical, but feelings weren't very logical.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie's legs were dangling from the edge of the stool and she began to swing them, as if she were a smaller child than she was. "I get comments, too, you know," she said. "Girls asking me why I spend so much time with you and why I don't think you're weird. But I don't care," she said honestly, looking him right in the eyes. "Those same girls probably say the same things about me behind my back. I don't actually care what people like that think of me. I can see what goes on inside, and I know they only do it because they think it will make them feel better about themselves if they put other people down."

This was one of the peculiar insights she had gained into other people by being able to sense their emotions and look into their minds. Some of the meanest people around were secretly only acting the way they did because they hated themselves and wanted to bring others down with them. It was pathetic, really. Sad, childish behavior. And even adults were guilty of it.

[Severus Snape]

Severus blushed a bit, He was guilty of doing that too, but he was more picked on than most. He realized it was a flimsy justification but he sighed and looked at her "You're saying I should of been stronger," he was going to continue, but a large basket of food and teapot in a cozy were put into his lap.

The Elf did a bow and chirped "Jimsy is happy to help!" and it bounded away in a towel toward the other end of the kitchen.

"We should get going." he said smiling a little sadly to her. She was always going to know he thought, he might as well understand that and accept it. he pushed open the painting and looked each way before going back to offer Natalie his hand. "Come on, you'll feel better." he said with a bit of a happier smile.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie took his hand and jumped down from the stool. "Not at all. I'm just saying, when people act like they're better than everyone else, it's usually because they think they're not. Everyone has insecurities. There's no use in letting anyone intimidate you. We're all equal, deep down inside."

She liked the feel of his hand in hers; it was warm and moist. She was able to focus on that and not read into his thoughts too much. It was strange how his presence seemed to quiet the noise.

[Severus Snape]

"It's a hard lesson I guess." He liked the feeling of her hand in his. Her hand was always warm and welcoming. he put the basket under one arm and walked a bit quicker to the painting. "Well! the night is young, It may not be a slug club meeting, but the company is better." he said with the tips of his ears a blushy red.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie was quiet as the painting slid open and they stepped back into the hallway. As they walked through the hall, she pushed her hair back behind her ears and glanced over at him shyly. "If I had stayed at the party, would you have talked to me? In front of everyone?"

She knew she was putting him on the spot and asking a lot of him. But she had also seen the best of him, and the worst, when she looked inside him. He was forever standing on the edge between good and bad, right and wrong. She wanted to give him the gentle nudge to the side of good, because she felt that, ultimately, he was a good person. But first he needed to face the bad and make a choice.

[Severus Snape]

Severus took a moment and looked at her as they walked down the hall, "I was in the middle of deciding that when you ran from the party...I was going to go to you...but you left and I knew I couldn't let you go." He felt a chill run up his arms. in that moment he couldn't understand why people say they fall in and out of love so easily, to Severus it was Hard enough going in, he never wanted to Imagen what it was like falling out, well not anymore than what had already passed.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie felt a funny fluttering feeling in her stomach at his words, like there were butterflies flapping around inside her. It made her feel much better to know that he cared. She'd had no idea that he would go after her when she had run.... but she knew that she would have gone after him, if the situations had been reversed.

"I'm glad you came after me," she said shyly as they reached the stairs leading out of the dungeons.

[Severus Snape]

Severus blushed and said "So am I." he followed her up the stairs and made sure the basket wasn't swinging as he climbed up the stairs. He wondered if he stopped thinking about everything would he be braver, but he pushed the idea aside. he was nothing if not a thinker, he thought maybe he was better with just moments of impulses.
"I think there's a stair case on the other side of one of the tapestries that leads to one of the towers."

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie followed him willingly into the hall and began to look under the tapestries for a staircase. Behind the third one she checked, she found an opening that lead to a long, winding staircase. "Here it is," she said, nodding him over.

Ducking behind the tapestry, she stared up at the stairs with interest. "They're kind of creepy," she said. "You can't look down or you'll get dizzy."

[Severus Snape]

Severus laughed "It's not so bad... It's very much like passing everyone by through a void. Void of light and noise and everyone." Severus really didn't like to be caught by anyone's attention, other than people he wanted to be noticed by. He considered it a bad trait to be showy.
"Heights aren't so bad... when your feet are on something. I don't do so well on a broom, not house team worthy anyway." Severus never even considered playing for his house, he'd only make a fool of himself, he thought anyway.