Sssh. Be vewwy vewwy quiet, I'm hunting Bellas Who: Severus Snape/Bellatrix Black What: A little friendly game of cat and mouse Where: The outskirts of the village into the forest When: 28 September, after this
Severus was confident that he'd gotten the wolfsbane potion modified properly. He hated to rush the thing like that. It would be scarcely better than Belby's original version, but it couldn't be helped. Now that it had been modified, though, Severus had transfigured a camp bed in the brewing area in the back of the apothecary. Instead of needing attention once every twenty-four hours, he was having to add ingredients and stir every six to twelve hours. It was best to stay very near.
But he had several hours at a time in which it was perfectly safe to soundly lock and ward the shop and tend to other business. Like that stupid play!
Or skulking about the village to keep an eye on things. Like Bellatrix. Severus hadn't actually encountered her face-to-face, but he'd been out and about in the village and surrounds enough to recognise her mark when she'd delineated the boundaries. And he knew the workings of her mind enough to have a reasonable guess where she might go to hunt him. Instead of looking for a spot Bella might lurk, he went to a spot in the woods where some particularly valuable mushrooms grew. Where would Bella go to hunt him? In a place where there were good potions ingredients!
Still, he wasn't certain. Bellatrix was nothing if not unpredictable. He was probably still a quarter of a mile away from the place he had in mind when the woodland sounds grew subdued. Severus's alertness increased and he clung more to the shadows.
He was slipping. He almost didn't see her. She'd gone high into a tree, clearly by magic as there were no traces of her below on the ground or branches. The only thing that gave her away was the angry chattering of a bird whose nest she was probably threatening. Severus glanced about to see what had it so distressed and caught the faintest glimpse of pale flesh amid shadows. A hand or ankle perhaps.