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in_the_grass (in_the_grass) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-02-16 19:44:00

Entry tags:

!1998: 02, !incomplete, !open, luna lovegood, severus snape

Who: Severus Snape, Luna Lovegood and OPEN to others at Grimmauld Place
What: Captives have to be fed
When: Backdated to Sunday night, Feb. 14th
Where: Grimmuald Place, in the basement
Rating/Warnings: Low, TBA

The kitchen at Grimmauld Place was probably Severus's least favorite part of the house - stuck down in the basement, it reminded him a little too strongly of the stifling, crowded kitchen he'd grown up with. It stunk of Black, like everything else here. It had all the noise and overabundance of steam that always seemed to attend the cooking, even if it was only for a few people. He found it thoroughly uncomfortable, and only stopped in when absolutely necessary.

As it turned out, children absolutely needed to be fed, or they would quiet down permanently. And so he put together a plate of food from the pantry, and took it just down the corridor to the little emptied closet where the Lovegood girl had been installed. He drew his wand, opened the door, and sent the plate floating slowly to the floor as he stood on the threshold.

"Dinner," he said curtly, knowing perfectly well any attempt to stave off conversation was doomed to fall in an avalanche of dreamy prattle, but resolved to try. "And be quick about it. I want the fork back when you're finished."

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lalalune
2010-02-24 02:48 am UTC (link)

"You really should buy some more forks," Luna informed him, as she received her floating plate. "What on earth do you do if one gets bent? Does someone have to wait till the others are finished eating?" And was the plate not as important as the fork? How odd.

She was already sitting, so she settled the plate on her lap, balancing it carefully before beginning to eat. She wasn't going to scarf things down just because Severus Snape was waiting around for the fork.

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in_the_grass
2010-02-24 03:06 am UTC (link)

"Scarcity is hardly the issue." He crossed his arms over his chest, his wand aimed casually down at the floor between them. He gave a quiet, exasperated sniff and glared at the plate in her hands - naturally, she would insist upon wasting his time. (Not that he wasn't more than capable of doing that on his own, these days.) "I'm not going to leave you in possession of anything with points. I've seen the havoc you nitwits can wreak with nothing but a stirring rod and an ounce of scurvy-grass." Somehow, he managed to refrain from tapping his foot. "Quickly, Miss Lovegood."

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lalalune
2010-02-24 03:20 am UTC (link)

"Eating quickly is bad for your digestion," Luna reminded him. Besides, she'd learned that Professor Snape, oddly enough, wasn't prone to using violence to force his way. Intimidation, to be sure, but she was certainly used to that: she'd had his class for past five years, hadn't she? "Besides, the plate would be just as dangerous. It's ceramic, and easily broken. It might be more dangerous, really." Not that she'd expected him to leave the plate; she was simply pointing out the logical inconsistencies.

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in_the_grass
2010-02-24 03:34 am UTC (link)

"It is not." Severus sounded slightly more testy than was perhaps merited, but Lovegood's way of trotting out old witches' tales and pure stories had always been hard to suffer even in the best of moods. He was not in the best of moods. "If you'd like to try to fight your way out with a bit of broken plate, you have my blessing. So long as I'm not the one to clean up the mess." In truth, he wasn't sure how much he ought to be concerned about the girl. She was not, as far as he could tell, essential ... which didn't bode well for her safety, but might mean she could count on being forgotten sooner rather than later. And the basement of Grimmauld Place was far from the worst place to ride things out, even if the company was wretched.

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lalalune
2010-02-24 04:01 am UTC (link)

"Sure it is," Luna responded, pausing her eating to look at him in surprise. "The faster you eat, the less likely you are to thoroughly chew your food. Lumps of food take longer to digest, and are more likely to cause stomach problems."

She looked back down at her plate, pushing the food around a little bit before deciding on something. Picking up a pea with her fingers, she turned slightly to one side, clicking her tongue. No doubt infuriating Snape, she continued to cluck gently until a mouse poked its head out. Holding out the pea, she waited for Barnabas to take it from her before returning to her food, eating and occasionally offering morsels to the mouse.

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in_the_grass
2010-02-24 04:53 am UTC (link)

"The faster you eat, the less likely you are to be force fed. I imagine that's equally uncomfortable. - Will you kindly not play with your food." He watched with increasing irritation as she made incomprehensible noises at the wall. Captivity could drive people quite mad, of course - he'd seen more than enough proof of that - but it hadn't been so very long, and she never had been all there in the first place.

... As she was now demonstrating. "That is unsanitary," he snapped, before reminding himself how profoundly he did not care. One of the only benefits to being away from Hogwarts was that he didn't have to give a damn when some child misbehaved, or acted like a fool ... but it seemed to have become human nature, which was truly depressing. "Are you quite finished?"

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	lalalune 2010-02-25 04:36 am UTC (link)
	Luna glanced at him in surprise. "It is not," she told him. "Barnabas is a very clean mouse. Besides, it's certainly no less sanitary than living in one room day in and day out, with little water to wash with and none of it hot." She was very matter of fact about it: pointing out facts, and not being accusing. She continued eating between sentences. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-02-25 11:38 pm UTC (link)

"Admittedly, 'clean' is a relative term." That only made him want to leave even sooner. He could never have been called fastidious, but the thought of spending days unwashed in a stale and windowless room was still deeply unpleasant. "You probably are roughly on a level with the vermin, at this point. If you want to spend your time communing with them, that's your affair." Except that she was on his time, now; he waved his wand, summoning the plate sharply back up to him. He had been especially impatient, lately, and the knowledge that he would have to do something about her, sooner rather than later, did not improve his mood.

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lalalune
2010-03-03 02:09 am UTC (link)

Luna sighed as the plate was taken from her, and settled her hands in her lap complacently. She was lucky to be fed at all, she knew, so she wasn't going to complain, but it did seem unfair that he begrudged her even this small amount of time. "You're not leaving already, are you?" she asked, plaintively. She realized she still held the fork; he hadn't summoned that along with the plate. She got to her feet, and holding it up so that he could see it, walked over toward him. "Besides, you forgot the fork after all that."

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in_the_grass
2010-03-03 02:50 am UTC (link)

"Indeed I am." He watched her approach, and held out his hand - he wasn't terribly worried about being attacked with cutlery. Especially not by this one. He took the fork, set it noisily on the plate, and briefly entertained the thought of leaving it with her. But he'd probably have to come up with a real plan to get her out, and goodness knew what she'd do with it in the meantime. "So I did. I must have been distracted. Perhaps next time you'll keep your mouth shut, and things will progress more smoothly." He couldn't imagine why ... but the mice were making it very difficult to stand calmly by. He had no doubt they were infesting the rest of the house too, of course. Miserable place.

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