"Right, I'm backing away from you now," Severus chuckles. "See, it didn't start when I was given the House as well as the classroom to fret over, and it didn't start when I was in fifth year and I heard about dead street performers and worried, and it didn't start on the Express when I failed to realize Narcissa didn't need any help and got myself thoroughly thrashed, and it didn't end there, either, so you'll realize it's a bit entrenched, and it's not that I don't think you're up for the task, it's that I'm not especially keen to be on the wrong end of your determination for quite that long."
"Only if you want to be called Hagrid all year," he laughs, determining to see a painter about it, since the creatures don't actually exist.
"Oh, well," he says bashfully, ducking his head on a flattered flush. "I thought I was restraining myself." With a quirky half-grin, "We haven't set matters up so you can miss, Rus. High enough, though, I'd wager--two of them, anyway."
"As long as you like," he purrs, liking the idea of the three of them in a stew. One containing brussels sprouts and cabbage and two-day-old fish, for preference, with the heat building slowly enough to cook a live frog. "With six darts?" He looks at the board dubiously, and throws a five-point star or pentagram, with the sixth dead center.
Yeah... it helps with that desire for babies, I guess. I like other people's kids just fine... He definitely would have been good. Or any of the Ians, if they could have been gotten. I eventually grew to like whatsisname for illustrating DD's ruthless edge better than Richard Harris. Which, it wasn't supposed to be a visible edge, but it *was* supposed to be there, and, well, I think in order to keep the plot, the DD actor would have had to either go the hard or the creepy route. But it was very sad about him. :( Wouldn't it? :D There's a casting problem, though. T.T