Moon Magic 8
Oct. 31st, 2007 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_galMoon Magic 8
Faith/Snape --
Previous Chapters
Riley is pulled into a new world as the result of a vague spell, and now it's Faith to the rescue. But in the Harry Potter universe, rescues are never that easy.Rated: Teen
Faith/Snape --
Previous Chapters
Snape had long ago leaned back, his eyes blank. Faith finished her story and dropped onto the arm of the couch, draping one leg over as she propped an elbow on the back. "Uncomfortable as shit," she complained mildly.
"One is intended to sit on the cushion," Snape answered dryly without taking his focus on the far wall, a spot above the cage where Riley gave an occasional hiss from his cage.
"Whatever," Faith wiggled so that the wood arm wasn't poking her in any particularly sensitive spot, which left one boot braced on the cushion next to Snape. He glared at the boot in question for a second before sighing.
"You told Aurora I had brought a strumpet into my chambers. My reputation shall never recover." Strangely, Snape sounded suddenly tired and quiet and faintly Giles-like.
"Hey, I'm not just any strumpet. You have quality goods here, so it's not like you're slumming." Faith held her hands out and wiggled a little to show off her assets; however, Snape's expression didn't improve. "Not unless you have some reputation as a goody-goody, and babe, if that's the case, you simply have to work on the whole look. You kinda have the bad-boy thing going for you."
"Good? Hardly. However, I have always jealously guarded my privacy. I do not wish to invite others to become familiar, and Aurora is one in particular from whom I would wish to keep a certain distance."
"Ah," Faith said knowingly. Snape turned his full glare toward her.
"Give it a rest, babe. That look don't work on me. So, if you're playing the dangerous lone wolf, the question is why you would let her in your room when you had soldier-boy in the cage."
"The wrong people are already aware of the use of moon magic. I have shown him to one who was undoubtedly sent here by his betters, and I suspect that I shall have to show him to others before the two weeks is up. As long as we do not have to reveal your presence, that should not be a problem. And as for your question, I certainly did not give Aurora permission to enter my chambers."
"Shit," Faith said softly.
"Now you understand." Snape pushed his hair back from his face and a hardness settled into his face. "Something is underfoot, and obviously I have been excluded from certain plans."
"Funny, I'm usually pretty good at spotting a danger, but the woman came off as more twitchy than dangerous. The radar must be off," Faith shrugged.
"Not necessarily. Just because Aurora came in here does not mean that she did it of her own free will or that she even remembers."
"Oh, I'm pretty hard to forget," Faith said with a lusty look that made Snape raise an eyebrow, but he didn't respond. She sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks if they couldn't find Willow and hitch a ride home sooner. "You guys have some freaky shit around here, you know that, right?"
Snape closed his eyes for a second, and Faith could feel the fatigue, the stress that rolled from him like a fog. "You simply need to remain unobtrusive, so this has nothing to do with you. I shall go to someone who should be able to help."
"Unobtrusive," Faith nodded thoughtfully. They were so screwed. Her tone must have warned him because he suddenly shifted on the couch, focusing all his attention and one serious death-glare on her. "Chill, babe."
"Chill?" Both eyebrows went up.
"Chill, don't get your robes bunched up in your ass crack, calm down," Faith clarified. "But if you want unobtrusive, we have a problem."
"Why am I spectacularly unsurprised?"
Faith laughed at the dry humor. "Yeah, I don't do unobtrusive well. I'm not sure whether that's the slayer bits or just pure Faith, but I do tend to stand out from the crowd. However, you've got bigger worries than me."
"Yes, I do," Snape said, and the earlier humor had vanished. "If there is something I should know, say it now because I have work that needs to be done."
"The witch who sent me here, she makes me look like a regular wallflower when she gets going, and she's going to be trying to track us down."
"Wonderful." Snape sighed. "How long before she attempts to follow you?"
"Time out. You think I'd come to freaky central without backup? I do not have a death wish, not anymore, anyway. She came through with me, but we must have been separated during the spell because I landed here and she didn't."
"She attempted to enter Hogwarts?" Snape stood and faced Faith, his eyes narrowing.
"That was the plan." Faith calmly watched as Snape's eyes darkened.
"The idiot."
Sliding down to the seat of the couch, Faith curled her legs under her Indian style and smiled up. "Oh, I'd call Red all sorts of things, but an idiot wouldn't even be on the list. Now manipulative? Yeah, I could go for that one."
"One cannot apparate onto school grounds."
"Whoa, this is a school? Shit. I don't remember school being this..." Faith hesitated. The books and the dungeon atmosphere were kinda cool, but the furniture, that was all old-lady freaky, and not a good kind of freaky.
"It is a magical school, and various protections prevent apparition."
"Babe, you have got to learn to use little words. We both know I can kick your ass, but I'm not even going to pretend to understand all the shit you say." Snape looked at her for a second, frowning.
"Apparate, to appear by magic. Disapparate, to--"
"Disappear. Got it. I suffer a lack of education, not intelligence, so play nice or I'll give you another demonstration of how well I can kick your ass," Faith warned. "And I hate to break it to you, but your protections aren't that good." Faith stood up so that she was right in Snape's personal space. He quickly backed off a step and then glared at her. Man was kinda cute when he got pissed. "I seem to have come through just fine."
"You are a magical creature. Wizarding magic does not prevent house elves from apparating and disapparting at will, so I am hardly surprised you came through."
"Wait. You mean Willow got bounced off some fucking shield?"
"Probably," Snape agreed. "The complexities of traveling realities and the power of the witch in question would certainly affect the results, and I have no way of evaluating either."
"Red? She's one scary ass witch. She channeled some sort of earth magic and activated every potential slayer on the planet. Hell, she even brought Buffy back from the dead."
Snape had been looking around the room, his eyes skimming the bookshelves, but now that sharp gaze locked on Faith. "Creating Inferi is powerful and dark magic."
"Yeah, Red sometimes goes pretty dark on us, but we've already talked about the big words, so don't make me repeat myself."
Snape blinked at her for a second before rolling his eyes. "Inferi, the walking dead, bodies reanimated by the will of a witch or wizard who controls them."
"Zombies? No, Buffy is not a zombie, and Willow is definitely not in control there. No, Willow brought Buffy back good as new. Something about how Buffy died made it possible to haul her ass right out of heaven all shiny and new. Still freaks me out because when I'm dead, I want to stay dead. One time on this merry-go-round is plenty for me."
"She brought someone back? And what is she likely to do now that you've been separated?"
"Oh, I figure she'll start by keeping her head down and playing it quiet. After a while, she'll get all panicky and babble at random strangers, but eventually, the girl's going to lose her mind and start making a whole lot of noise."
"Wonderful." Snape turned and headed for the fireplace, not even trying to hide the sour-milk expression on his face. "How long before this person makes herself conspicuous?"
"Who knows?" Faith shrugged and watched as Snape pulled Riley out of his cage and pointed his wand. Without a word, Riley was suddenly on the ground in human form, and from his expression, he was not a happy soldier.
"Faith," he said curtly.
"Thanks for the backup."
"For all the help I was," Riley said, clearly not happy with his own ineffectiveness.
"That was foolish. I would not suggest you try it again," Snape warned darkly, and Faith could smell the testosterone start to build.
"Backing Faith was my best chance, and considering that she did end up beating you, I would back her again."
"Whoa, hey, right now, we're all on the same side here, boys. Let's play nice."
Both men stared at each other, but Riley was the first to glance away, his body still tight and stiff and all soldierly, but at least he wouldn't push things. After hearing Buffy's stories, Faith suspected that it was an act because Riley wasn't the kind to just give up easy, but right now, she had priorities other than soothing male egos.
"I shall make some inquiries and endeavor to find where your witch has gone," Snape said, his own gaze still locked on Riley.
"We're going with you to get Willow," Riley said quietly, his gaze unfocused.
"No, you aren't."
Now Riley looked over at him.
"And if you argue, you can go back in your cage."
"No way, Riley's staying on two legs, or you and I are going to have another tussle," Faith warned.
"And if you try to talk to Willow alone, she will panic," Riley said calmly. Of course, Faith could see the way he had stiffened at the threat, so she was guessing he was feeling a whole lot more stress than he was showing.
"Define panic," Snape demanded.
"Willow and Xander, they back up the slayers, they aren't the front-line fighters. She's perfectly comfortable standing behind Faith, but being alone, she's going to be scared and overly emotional. I don't know how your magic works, but with Willow, the more emotional she gets, the more unpredictable her magic is. If someone confronts her and she feels trapped or thinks she's in danger, she could do anything from levitate rocks to make someone explode."
"She would kill?" Snape didn't looked surprised at that, just thoughtful.
Riley considered his answer for a moment. "I don't think that would be her first reaction, but she has killed in the past, and she regularly slays demons, so if she comes to think of you as evil or demonic, she is very capable of killing."
"I shall have to make sure Miss Granger knows how much I appreciate the complications she has brought into my life," Snape sighed. Faith had expected him to dismiss Riley's words for no reason other than the fact that Riley had said them. In her experience, guys just did that. Hell, get Angel, Spike, and Xander in the same room with three doors, and they'd starve before they'd all agree on one door to try, just on the principle of it. But Snape seemed to have accepted Riley's conclusion. "I need to speak with someone. I will return," Snape announced. He pulled something from a pocket and tossed it on the fireplace. The part that freaked Faith, though, was when he walked into the flames and vanished.
"Shit."
"And I thought I hated magic on our world," Riley agreed softly. "So, you're the rescue party?"
Faith looked at the man she had once tricked into bed and shrugged. He'd been good--a little conventional for her tastes, but good. "I figured I owed you one after, you know." Even now, Faith found it a little difficult to face the people she had so thoroughly screwed over.
"Thank you," Riley said. "The thought of having to rely on Professor Snape's word was not good for my digestion."
"Snape's okay. If all else fails, he'll get us home in two weeks."
"But hopefully Willow will get us home sooner."
"Yeah. I don't think I can put up with two weeks of this shit." Faith dropped onto the couch and looked around. "No TV."
"It's a lot more comfortable out here than in the cage," Riley pointed out. After that, there wasn't anything else to say and an awkward silence separated them. Riley walked the room studying the titles of the books that lined the wall. Faith sat and picked at a long, shallow scab on her leg. Oh yeah, this was so going to be a fun two weeks, just a non-stop party. Telling herself that she was earning bonus karma points for this good deed, Faith leaned back and started counting the circles carved into the stone ceiling.
"One is intended to sit on the cushion," Snape answered dryly without taking his focus on the far wall, a spot above the cage where Riley gave an occasional hiss from his cage.
"Whatever," Faith wiggled so that the wood arm wasn't poking her in any particularly sensitive spot, which left one boot braced on the cushion next to Snape. He glared at the boot in question for a second before sighing.
"You told Aurora I had brought a strumpet into my chambers. My reputation shall never recover." Strangely, Snape sounded suddenly tired and quiet and faintly Giles-like.
"Hey, I'm not just any strumpet. You have quality goods here, so it's not like you're slumming." Faith held her hands out and wiggled a little to show off her assets; however, Snape's expression didn't improve. "Not unless you have some reputation as a goody-goody, and babe, if that's the case, you simply have to work on the whole look. You kinda have the bad-boy thing going for you."
"Good? Hardly. However, I have always jealously guarded my privacy. I do not wish to invite others to become familiar, and Aurora is one in particular from whom I would wish to keep a certain distance."
"Ah," Faith said knowingly. Snape turned his full glare toward her.
"Give it a rest, babe. That look don't work on me. So, if you're playing the dangerous lone wolf, the question is why you would let her in your room when you had soldier-boy in the cage."
"The wrong people are already aware of the use of moon magic. I have shown him to one who was undoubtedly sent here by his betters, and I suspect that I shall have to show him to others before the two weeks is up. As long as we do not have to reveal your presence, that should not be a problem. And as for your question, I certainly did not give Aurora permission to enter my chambers."
"Shit," Faith said softly.
"Now you understand." Snape pushed his hair back from his face and a hardness settled into his face. "Something is underfoot, and obviously I have been excluded from certain plans."
"Funny, I'm usually pretty good at spotting a danger, but the woman came off as more twitchy than dangerous. The radar must be off," Faith shrugged.
"Not necessarily. Just because Aurora came in here does not mean that she did it of her own free will or that she even remembers."
"Oh, I'm pretty hard to forget," Faith said with a lusty look that made Snape raise an eyebrow, but he didn't respond. She sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks if they couldn't find Willow and hitch a ride home sooner. "You guys have some freaky shit around here, you know that, right?"
Snape closed his eyes for a second, and Faith could feel the fatigue, the stress that rolled from him like a fog. "You simply need to remain unobtrusive, so this has nothing to do with you. I shall go to someone who should be able to help."
"Unobtrusive," Faith nodded thoughtfully. They were so screwed. Her tone must have warned him because he suddenly shifted on the couch, focusing all his attention and one serious death-glare on her. "Chill, babe."
"Chill?" Both eyebrows went up.
"Chill, don't get your robes bunched up in your ass crack, calm down," Faith clarified. "But if you want unobtrusive, we have a problem."
"Why am I spectacularly unsurprised?"
Faith laughed at the dry humor. "Yeah, I don't do unobtrusive well. I'm not sure whether that's the slayer bits or just pure Faith, but I do tend to stand out from the crowd. However, you've got bigger worries than me."
"Yes, I do," Snape said, and the earlier humor had vanished. "If there is something I should know, say it now because I have work that needs to be done."
"The witch who sent me here, she makes me look like a regular wallflower when she gets going, and she's going to be trying to track us down."
"Wonderful." Snape sighed. "How long before she attempts to follow you?"
"Time out. You think I'd come to freaky central without backup? I do not have a death wish, not anymore, anyway. She came through with me, but we must have been separated during the spell because I landed here and she didn't."
"She attempted to enter Hogwarts?" Snape stood and faced Faith, his eyes narrowing.
"That was the plan." Faith calmly watched as Snape's eyes darkened.
"The idiot."
Sliding down to the seat of the couch, Faith curled her legs under her Indian style and smiled up. "Oh, I'd call Red all sorts of things, but an idiot wouldn't even be on the list. Now manipulative? Yeah, I could go for that one."
"One cannot apparate onto school grounds."
"Whoa, this is a school? Shit. I don't remember school being this..." Faith hesitated. The books and the dungeon atmosphere were kinda cool, but the furniture, that was all old-lady freaky, and not a good kind of freaky.
"It is a magical school, and various protections prevent apparition."
"Babe, you have got to learn to use little words. We both know I can kick your ass, but I'm not even going to pretend to understand all the shit you say." Snape looked at her for a second, frowning.
"Apparate, to appear by magic. Disapparate, to--"
"Disappear. Got it. I suffer a lack of education, not intelligence, so play nice or I'll give you another demonstration of how well I can kick your ass," Faith warned. "And I hate to break it to you, but your protections aren't that good." Faith stood up so that she was right in Snape's personal space. He quickly backed off a step and then glared at her. Man was kinda cute when he got pissed. "I seem to have come through just fine."
"You are a magical creature. Wizarding magic does not prevent house elves from apparating and disapparting at will, so I am hardly surprised you came through."
"Wait. You mean Willow got bounced off some fucking shield?"
"Probably," Snape agreed. "The complexities of traveling realities and the power of the witch in question would certainly affect the results, and I have no way of evaluating either."
"Red? She's one scary ass witch. She channeled some sort of earth magic and activated every potential slayer on the planet. Hell, she even brought Buffy back from the dead."
Snape had been looking around the room, his eyes skimming the bookshelves, but now that sharp gaze locked on Faith. "Creating Inferi is powerful and dark magic."
"Yeah, Red sometimes goes pretty dark on us, but we've already talked about the big words, so don't make me repeat myself."
Snape blinked at her for a second before rolling his eyes. "Inferi, the walking dead, bodies reanimated by the will of a witch or wizard who controls them."
"Zombies? No, Buffy is not a zombie, and Willow is definitely not in control there. No, Willow brought Buffy back good as new. Something about how Buffy died made it possible to haul her ass right out of heaven all shiny and new. Still freaks me out because when I'm dead, I want to stay dead. One time on this merry-go-round is plenty for me."
"She brought someone back? And what is she likely to do now that you've been separated?"
"Oh, I figure she'll start by keeping her head down and playing it quiet. After a while, she'll get all panicky and babble at random strangers, but eventually, the girl's going to lose her mind and start making a whole lot of noise."
"Wonderful." Snape turned and headed for the fireplace, not even trying to hide the sour-milk expression on his face. "How long before this person makes herself conspicuous?"
"Who knows?" Faith shrugged and watched as Snape pulled Riley out of his cage and pointed his wand. Without a word, Riley was suddenly on the ground in human form, and from his expression, he was not a happy soldier.
"Faith," he said curtly.
"Thanks for the backup."
"For all the help I was," Riley said, clearly not happy with his own ineffectiveness.
"That was foolish. I would not suggest you try it again," Snape warned darkly, and Faith could smell the testosterone start to build.
"Backing Faith was my best chance, and considering that she did end up beating you, I would back her again."
"Whoa, hey, right now, we're all on the same side here, boys. Let's play nice."
Both men stared at each other, but Riley was the first to glance away, his body still tight and stiff and all soldierly, but at least he wouldn't push things. After hearing Buffy's stories, Faith suspected that it was an act because Riley wasn't the kind to just give up easy, but right now, she had priorities other than soothing male egos.
"I shall make some inquiries and endeavor to find where your witch has gone," Snape said, his own gaze still locked on Riley.
"We're going with you to get Willow," Riley said quietly, his gaze unfocused.
"No, you aren't."
Now Riley looked over at him.
"And if you argue, you can go back in your cage."
"No way, Riley's staying on two legs, or you and I are going to have another tussle," Faith warned.
"And if you try to talk to Willow alone, she will panic," Riley said calmly. Of course, Faith could see the way he had stiffened at the threat, so she was guessing he was feeling a whole lot more stress than he was showing.
"Define panic," Snape demanded.
"Willow and Xander, they back up the slayers, they aren't the front-line fighters. She's perfectly comfortable standing behind Faith, but being alone, she's going to be scared and overly emotional. I don't know how your magic works, but with Willow, the more emotional she gets, the more unpredictable her magic is. If someone confronts her and she feels trapped or thinks she's in danger, she could do anything from levitate rocks to make someone explode."
"She would kill?" Snape didn't looked surprised at that, just thoughtful.
Riley considered his answer for a moment. "I don't think that would be her first reaction, but she has killed in the past, and she regularly slays demons, so if she comes to think of you as evil or demonic, she is very capable of killing."
"I shall have to make sure Miss Granger knows how much I appreciate the complications she has brought into my life," Snape sighed. Faith had expected him to dismiss Riley's words for no reason other than the fact that Riley had said them. In her experience, guys just did that. Hell, get Angel, Spike, and Xander in the same room with three doors, and they'd starve before they'd all agree on one door to try, just on the principle of it. But Snape seemed to have accepted Riley's conclusion. "I need to speak with someone. I will return," Snape announced. He pulled something from a pocket and tossed it on the fireplace. The part that freaked Faith, though, was when he walked into the flames and vanished.
"Shit."
"And I thought I hated magic on our world," Riley agreed softly. "So, you're the rescue party?"
Faith looked at the man she had once tricked into bed and shrugged. He'd been good--a little conventional for her tastes, but good. "I figured I owed you one after, you know." Even now, Faith found it a little difficult to face the people she had so thoroughly screwed over.
"Thank you," Riley said. "The thought of having to rely on Professor Snape's word was not good for my digestion."
"Snape's okay. If all else fails, he'll get us home in two weeks."
"But hopefully Willow will get us home sooner."
"Yeah. I don't think I can put up with two weeks of this shit." Faith dropped onto the couch and looked around. "No TV."
"It's a lot more comfortable out here than in the cage," Riley pointed out. After that, there wasn't anything else to say and an awkward silence separated them. Riley walked the room studying the titles of the books that lined the wall. Faith sat and picked at a long, shallow scab on her leg. Oh yeah, this was so going to be a fun two weeks, just a non-stop party. Telling herself that she was earning bonus karma points for this good deed, Faith leaned back and started counting the circles carved into the stone ceiling.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 03:49 am (UTC)I somehow can't see Faith or even Riley staying cooped up for 2 weeks as they'd go stir crazy being so physical (OTOH if it was Willow I could see her curled up reading all those magical tomes and barely moving a muscle *g*)
Shakatany
no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 12:10 pm (UTC)Oh this is just cracking but I think I mentioned that already!
no subject
Date: 2007-11-02 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-01 07:54 pm (UTC)Actually, I'm friending you anyway. So hope you don't mind. I look forward to getting to know you better. By all means drop by and see what I'm about too, if it doesn't cut into your writing time.
Hob
no subject
Date: 2007-11-02 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-02 12:23 am (UTC)I came to LJ for Buffy reasons, but recently HP sucked me in, too. I just completed my first post DH fanfic, and it's quite Snape-centric. But I'm starting another for Nano where I will have to treat him more Snape-ishly-- as a ghost without memory I could have a bit of leeway refashioning him to what I could handle.
Anyway, looks like we have a bit in common, and I look forward to reading more of your work.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-02 12:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 07:29 am (UTC)The description of Willow was nicely pitched - just enough uncertainty to cause concern, without making her sound unrealistic.
And two more parts posted, hee, off to read.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-31 07:07 am (UTC)Something we all need to ask ourselves! Faith DESERVES to be played with, damn it!
The "lack of eduction/not intelligence" line is a perfect description of Faith. It also works well for Xander, imo...they're both like working class versions of Giles and Buffy, in some ways. I get very tired of degrees and diplomas being the benchmarks by which a person's worth is judged. Such snobbery!
Very good assessment of normal Willow. I also like Riley's ability to put things aside and be self-disciplined. He's a good guy and it's nice to see him getting some non-bashing treatment. *pets Riley*
no subject
Date: 2007-12-31 05:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-08 06:28 pm (UTC)Xander's got his own good qualities, and if this was set in a hospital or orphanage, some place where nurturing, being amusing, or teaching were high priority, then he'd be a good choice.
Snape would *definitely* turn Xander into a beastie and keep him in a tank.
Pesti
no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 09:32 pm (UTC)