InsaneJournal

Who: Meg and Severus, with Castiel later on
When: Saturday afternoon (backdated to after this) Forward dated to Monday the 9th, by request
Where: Her room
Rating: PG-ish
Warnings: A bit of language
Summary: A demon seeks protection of the sort that a wizard can provide.
Status: Closed/Complete

Even now, Severus wasn't entirely certain why he was doing this. Other than a general guiding principle of his: that any being had the right to defend itself. Granted, he imagined that demons were a bit better equipped than most beings in that regard, but such a thing held true even amongst humans. Some were stronger, some faster, some cleverer, and some possessed more powerful magic. Regardless of the inherent inequalities displayed within any diverse population, however, he doubted that anyone here would dispute a human's right to self-defense. But as soon as a demon entered the picture, what was normally taken as an axiom was suddenly up for debate.

Was it because they were 'evil'? While there was no doubt in his mind that would be cited as the reason, Severus really didn't think that was the issue at the heart of the matter. After all, humans were also known to slaughter snakes and sharks, manticore and quintapeds, and many other creatures, regardless of those creatures' motivations for attacking them. Of course, the last three were well known to devour humans, but even snakes, when they were doing nothing more than defending themselves from human who encroached on their territory, were vilified. It was a visceral response -- not even conscious, he suspected, for most people -- but undoubtedly a strong one.

It was no coincidence in his mind that a serpent had been chosen for the Biblical representation of Satan in the Garden of Eden. Though whether snakes were considered evil because of that association, or they were chosen as the symbol of evil because of the already-present fear, was not as clear. Severus strongly suspected that it was the latter, however, and snakes were taken as 'evil' simply because people were predisposed to loathe them. It was far easier than thinking about things, which people -- for the most part, in his experience -- were just as loath to do. Or perhaps this simply hit closer to home for him than others, since a snake was the symbol of his House at school, and Slytherins were generally considered to be 'evil' as well, as a result.

But evil was defined by one's actions. It was not -- could not -- be an inherent trait, like strength or intelligence. Someone could be strong or intelligent whilst simply standing there, drawing breath. But evil required performing an action that transgressed a moral code. As far as he could tell, Meg just wanted to be left alone, to live her life. There was nothing evil in that, since that was what just about everyone else here wanted to do. She wasn't even trying to kill Jo anymore, if she had actually tried to do in the first place. If what Meg told him was correct, then Dean was the one to blame in that situation.

Not that he was taking everything Meg said as the gospel truth. He had told her that he was taking Jo's statements with a rather large grain of salt, and the same held true for her. After all, she hadn't said that she wouldn't lie to him. Just that she wouldn't unless she wanted to. Hardly reassuring, that. Still, as he had told her, if she was bent on death and destruction as Jo claimed, she seemed to be doing a poor job of it. That was, after all, What Demons Did, according to Jo. But evil was What Slytherins Did according to ... pretty much everyone in the wizarding world, and he was living proof that there were exceptions to the rule. Perhaps Meg was just another exception.

The thought had occurred to him that she might have been responsible for the 'disappearances', of course, but there had been no mentions of bodies and or even signs of a struggle. On the contrary: all their belongings were gone, as well, so there was nothing left to even show signs of a struggle. But there had also been no screams, no commotion, and no one had seen anything. Which could also mean that she was simply terribly good at covering her tracks, of course, but in the absence of any evidence, he wasn't going to jump to any conclusions. Even if he knew full well that an absence of evidence was not evidence of absence.

Naturally, he was sure that she had done things that qualified as evil before she'd come here, but so had he. Committing murder? Yes. Causing others to die, even if he didn't kill them directly? Also yes. Sitting by and watch someone be murdered in front of him, without lifting a finger to stop it? More than once, actually. Yet nobody was proposing he be trapped or killed for it. Not even Potter or Black, when they'd been there, and they hated him, almost as much as he hated them. Then again, only Jo seemed to have been proposing that with Meg, as far as he could see. Though there remained a strong possibility that the hunters were plotting something behind filters that he couldn't see. They had no reason to trust him, after all.

Even less, if they knew he was doing this. Aiding and abetting a demon? That would go over so well, wouldn't it? But if he was only aiding and abetting her in ... living her life, undisturbed ... he could cope with any guilt arising from that. The thought had also occurred to him that instead of casting his wards, he could turn her entire room into one large devil's trap. If a conjured one worked, that was, and he still had no guarantee that it would. If it failed, even if she didn't kill him for the attempt, she would never speak to him again. And he didn't want that. Because he still had so many things that he wanted to ask her, even if he'd stopped talking to her a while ago, rather than press his luck.

There was also the possibility that she had asked him here in order to kill him, he supposed, or 'send him home', as everyone would think. Never mind that in his case, going home and dying were one and the same. He couldn't think of a reason she might have for wanting him out of the way, but that didn't mean there wasn't one. Or she could just intend to capture him, and keep him as her 'pet', rather than worry he'd gained knowledge of special weapons that could kill demons from the hunters. She could even be planning to possess him, in order to make use of his powers, but he still didn't really consider that a possibility. He honestly doubted that he possessed any powers that she didn't already have.

Besides, in order to do that, she'd have to leave her current body, of which she seemed to have become fond -- if her pique at his confession that he hadn't found her irresistibly attractive was any indication. He definitely couldn't see her thinking that his body would be an acceptable substitute, regardless of her facetiously referring to him as 'handsome', on occasion. So again, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, he was going to assume that her stated aim was her actual one. And if that turned out not to be the case, he would do what he had to do. Whether that involved trying his hand at a conjured devil's trap, or Apparating away, or perhaps a combination of both.

Even if he wasn't entirely sure why he'd come here, now he had a general plan of action, he felt better about things. He was still nervous, no doubt about it, and he clutched his wand tightly in his hand after he'd knocked. At least he already had an excuse to have it out. This would be the first time he had seen her in person since he had learned that she was a demon -- 'in person' being relative, of course. Still, he took comfort from the fact that her first instinct upon learning that her secret had come out was to go into hiding. That hardly screamed 'evil' to him. In fact, perhaps just as a snake, she was more afraid of the people here than they were of her -- regardless of whether she showed it.

A snake coiled up to strike was only assuming a defensive pose, after all, however much dread the sight might cause a human who happened to observe it.