The Chase (Tag;; Open)

[severus]

Run.

That was one of two things on the young boy’s mind as he scampered down the hall.

Run and don’t die.

Taking a not-so-sharp turn rather badly, the somewhat frantic boy crashed into the corner wall, his bare feet catching no traction against the slick stone floor to keep him from slipping around like some kind of greased pig. Smashing unceremoniously into the wall hadn’t been enough to stop him, though, the determined creature planting his hands against the stone to prevent his large nose from connecting with it, before pushing away from it forcefully and continuing along his escape route. He stumbled a few times, but managed to swiftly regain the momentum he had momentarily lost from the incident. His bare feet made heavy smacking noises against the cold floor, growing more sore and red with each step.

They had taken his shoes.

Peering over his shoulder, the potions prodigy Severus Snape slowed his pace, panting heavily as he came to a stop. He doubled over, gasping shortly for air as a smile spread over his pallid features. At least he had managed to get away from them. He took a deep breath, exhaling through his nostrils as he straightened once more. Swallowing a lump that had mounted behind his tongue, he moved his hands up over his head, glad to find all those years he had spent running from the Marauders, not to mention his father, were still working in his favor.

“He went this way!”

The clamor of feet progressing towards him, shouts and cheers suddenly drawing closer, made the boy freeze. He hadn’t gotten away after all. With a slightly off-balanced step backwards, Severus cursed his bad luck, turning tail and fleeing down the hall once more. He was trying to make as little noise as possible, but with the way the castle liked to echo it was damn near impossible. Where was everyone? At breakfast? In class? Why was the hall so damn empty the one time he wanted it to be crowded? At least then he would be able to blend his running within all the other noises. But no. There was no one around to inadvertently offer him aid. Darting into the entrance hall, Severus made for the door. On the ground he could find somewhere to hide. Plus, there had to be people out there.

Hopefully.

He was so busy preying to be spared that he hadn’t noticed the doors opening in front of him. That is, until he ran into one of them. With a yelp he pulled back, his hands instantly flying over his nose. His balance was gone, the potions prodigy falling back onto his butt with a muffled grunt. “God damnit!” he hissed, looking up at the doors and biting back tears.

“There he is!” Called one of the Gryffindors he had successfully managed to piss off not ten minutes ago. There were five boys chasing him, all of them very annoyed and no younger than seventeen. As Severus scrambled to get back to his feet, two of the boys seized him by the arms, yanking him up while a third punched him in the stomach. “Did you think that was funny Slytherin?!” he spat, “we’re not going to let you get away with making fools out of us!”

[lukejasperdenmark]

He was minding his own business, he wasn't involved, hell he didn't even know about what was going down. In fact, the boy wasn't even near the trouble. For now. He was crouched on the ground, having stretched, he was readying himself for a run. His blue eyes were dead set on the goal in front of him. He hardly noticed Hagrid standing there watching him as he tended his garden. Luke didn't notice anything except his goal. The castle's entrance, all uphill at a punishing angle.

He was off. Like a bullet from a gun. It was a straight charge, a long sprint. Luke's long blond hair fanned out behind him, he had one objective in mind. To get to the castle doors, tag them, and run back to slap his hand on Hagrid's hut. Without slowing down. Without stopping.

His feet hit the grass in a steady beat, his chest rising and falling as he charged up the hill like a juggernaut. He aimed to beat his own personal record. He hadn't done it the last time he'd tried it and though Hagrid had congratulated him up and down about his time, Luke wasn't happy. He wanted to prove to himself that he was getting better and faster. As he cleared the hill he put on a burst of speed, pumping his arms and legs furiously. He was going to do this and he wasn't going to allow himself to stop!

If he stopped, if he slowed down, then he was weak. He didn't want to be weak. He knew Hagrid was timing him, and he'd probably reward him with something he'd cooked (or tried to cook) himself. Luke wasn't exactly looking forward to any sort of reward from Hagrid and didn't want one, he wanted to beat his record. He wanted to improve. And so he kept on running, his long, powerful legs carrying him far. He was going to make it! He could see the doors getting closer and closer and as he went up the steps, he tagged the door and nearly turned, almost missing everything.

Almost.

From the corner of his eye he saw a group of students, a flash of red and gold. Gryffindors. He would have ignored them, if it wasn't for what one of them said next. 'Did you think that was funny Slytherin?! We’re not going to let you get away with making fools out of us!' and he allowed himself another glance back, eating into his time. Every second mattered in this race against the clock.

They had someone in their grasp and upon closer inspection he saw it was Severus Snape. Dammit! All that guy ever did was read books, make potions and get his ass kicked by anyone who could do it. Two of them had him by the arms, the other had obviously just hit him in the stomach, powerfully too by the way Severus was reacting.

"Shit." He hissed and shook his head, there went his record! Walking into the Entrance Hall he gave the boy who hit Severus a mighty shove.

"If you want to kick his ass then at least don't be cowards about it. Since when does it take five idiots to beat one person up?" Huh. That almost sounded like the beginnings of a joke. Oh well, he wasn't here to be clever. "You seem to be doing a pretty good job of making fools of yourselves to me." he said, carefully gauging the boys. He figured he could take them in a fight, hell he knew he could. At least if it was two on one. Maybe three on one. But five on one? Even he wasn't too sure of himself.

Still, it was obvious that by stepping in and not helping them beat the hell out of Severus, he'd gotten himself in as much trouble as their victim had by doing whatever he'd done. IF he'd done anything at all. Sighing, he tucked the flute necklace into the collar of his shirt and went into a fighting stance. "Last chance." He said lowly, the look on his scarred face said that he meant business. "I'm in a really bad mood now, unless you want to end up in the Hospital Wing, I suggest you get the hell out of here. Now." he doubted they'd listen, but if he could make them hesitate, even a little bit he'd probably be able to gain the upper hand. Or at least take as many down as he could before they resorted to using magic. Then all bets were off and he'd probably just get as worked as Severus would have had no one come to help him.

[severus]

The Gryffindors looked at one another, then at Luke, a very confused look on their collective faces. They seemed a little bewildered that this very tall boy, another Gryffindor no less, was stopping them from getting their revenge on a Slytherin who deserved it. Didn’t he know that they were supposed to stick together, and take out assholes like Severus Snape? He deserved to be punished, which made it that much more annoying that they were being blocked by someone in their own house.

They just didn’t understand.

“What’s with you?” Growled one of the random boys, “he’s a git and you’re getting in the way! He has it coming for trying to make asses out of us in the first place, so why don’t you bugger off?”

“Yeah, this isn’t your bloody business, and we’re not a bunch of muggles! You look like you’re ready to box us!”

“He doesn’t look like a box…” a clearly oblivious pureblood Gryffindor commented, much to the annoyance of his friend. He would have to explain the meaning of that little comment a little later. Possibly when they weren’t being threatened by someone who looked like he could easily turn them into glue, even without magic. The same Gryffindor, the confused one, turned his head over his shoulder, frowning with a clear displeasure. “Looks like a professor’s heading this way… we should bolt before he catches wind of us, fellas.”

“You’re lucky,” one of the other Gryffindors huffed, “we’d have messed you up if the teacher wasn’t so close!” Yeah, right. They were thrilled for the chance to get the hell out of there before they were beaten to a pulp. One gave Severus a light kick with his foot before moving away, the others having already dropped him when Luke came onto the scene. “You’re both lucky, but don’t think we’re done here!”

As they made their leave, Severus growled, just catching his wind again after they had socked him a good one in the stomach. It was sore, but he knew there wouldn’t be any real damage. It would take more than a single punch to keep him down. Even his bloody nose from slamming into the door wasn’t going to slow him down too much.

Once he found his way back to his feet, anyway.

Severus frowned, looking way up at Luke as the other Gryffindors made their leave. He had seen the boy around, though he hadn’t spent a lot of time getting to know him. Who hadn’t seen him? The guy was hard to miss.

“You didn’t have to help, you know,” he grumbled, his voice still a little hoarse from the punch, “I could probably have handled it… “ Yeah, he could have beaten them all off by letting them tire themselves out wailing on him, or something.

He just wasn’t very good at saying thank you.

[lukejasperdenmark]

"Yeah, well, like I said you're doing a nice job of it on your own." Luke growled, hoping they leave before things got too rough. Good. A professor was spotted and they soon scattered, it was lucky for all of them. Losing house points would not be a good thing, nor would it be good if he kicked their asses and word spread to the rest of the house.

Secretly, Luke was glad that the boys decided not to fight, he didn't want to fight. He wasn't too sure he could have taken them all at once. As they left, he glanced back down to Severus.

"....Yeah. Sure you could have taken them. Would that have been before or after they turned you into hamburger meat?" Luke quipped, shaking his head with a smile, "What did you do to them to make them so mad anyway?" He asked and then, realized something "....They took your shoes too? Damn...."

He reached into his pocket, taking out a packet of tissues, "Here. Your face is pretty bloody." He pointed out, handing them over. "So, do you know where they hid your shoes or can you just summon them?" It was probably easier to summon them, and he hoped Severus had his wand, he didn't want to explain to the boy that he couldn't do a simple summoning charm without difficulty.

He glanced ruefully at the door and sighed, he supposed he could just get Severus to time his run and then on the way to Hagrid's, let him know he was still alive before he raced back, it was the same distance, but he didn't think Severus would agree to that.

Something told him that Severus wouldn't willingly help a Gryffindor, even if said Gryffindor was nothing but nice to him. He stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do or say at this point. He could just leave, but what if those boys came back? "Look." He said, "I was trying to beat a personal record, but that's not going to be happening now. I'm starved, I'm getting something to eat from the kitchens. If you want to join me you can. Either way, I'm going and I don't think those Gryffindors will hesitate to drag you off for a beating if they find you alone again."

and off he started walking, leaving it up to Severus as to whether or not he wanted to follow him. He didn't really mind the Slytherin as much as everyone else seemed to.

[severus]

Severus frowned- yes, hamburger meat was probably an accurate way to describe what they would have turned him into if he had been alone. Luke really had stepped in at the right moment, even if he didn’t want to admit that a Gryffindor had given him a hand. He would have been much worse off than a bit of wounded pride if not for the tall boy’s help.

Annoying.

“I may have practiced a new spell on one of them,” he muttered lowly, deciding there was no point in trying to lie about what had happened- it was unlikely that anyone would believe he was completely innocent if a batch of Gryffindors were after him. Everyone seemed to love thinking he was a bad guy who was always up to no good. Maybe it made not helping him when bad things happened, or picking on him in general, more acceptable. Honestly, he didn’t understand and he didn’t want to. Being a social outcast was fine.

“I didn’t know how many were actually there until after I case the spell… then they grabbed me and I had to try and get away. They used a spell to glue my shoes to the floor so… I slipped out of them and ran.” Thank Merlin his shoes had been so big- they had been easy to almost leap right out of in his escape.

Though now he would have to go back and find them, and he couldn’t remember outside which classroom the whole thing had gone down.

When Luke offered him the tissues, Severus was a bit suspicious at first, simply because it was in his nature not to take anything at face value. What did this guy want with him, anyway? Now that he had helped out, was he looking for some kind of reward? Damn Gryffindors… they couldn’t be trusted. Still, his nose was bloody, that fact could not be argued, so he took the packet and used a tissue to wipe off some of the crimson liquid. A spell would have been easier, but his halfblood mind hadn’t really brought the option up to him. A pureblood might have thought it a little strange.

He needed to keep that kind of thing in mind constantly, and he had let himself slip up just because he had slammed into a door.

“I can find them,” he said, hopeful he wasn’t lying about that. He looked up, listening as Luke made his comments. For a moment, Severus wasn’t sure if he should follow or not, stuck watching as Luke wandered away from him. Was it really safe?

Safer than letting those other Gryffindors find him, he supposed.

Slowly, he followed after the other, falling in stride beside him. “I suppose I need to give it some time before they forget about me,” he muttered, not wanting to admit that he was simply curious to find out more about the strange Gryffindor he had heard so much about. Could he be blamed? Luke was an anomaly.

Just like him.

“What did you mean,” he added as they walked, “about a personal record? A personal record for what?” He assumed it would have something to do with magic, since they were in a magic school and all.

[lukejasperdenmark]

"I'm guessing this spell wasn't any pleasant either." Luke said with a shake of his head, wondering if Severus just liked to cause trouble.

"Ah, so basically you needed a test subject for your spell, but forgot to count just how many people were around before you actually cast it." he chucked lightly, "And they got pissed and decided to tear you apart." it wasn't funny, not really ".......You shouldn't have done that but ....they also shouldn't have ganged up on like that either. I'm sure you'll get your shoes eventually. I'd lend you one of my old pairs, but you could probably get lost in them."

Glancing back he nodded, "Yeah, give them some time. They'll find something else to do besides wait around for you."

"Oh. Uh, I....I'm really into martial arts and personal fitness." He said, surprised that Severus was actually interested, "I was timing myself or....rather Hagrid was. To see how long it'd take me to run from his hut, to the Entrance Hall doors and back again. I figure if I can beat my old time, even by a few seconds, it means I'm improving." he explained, "That's mostly what I do during my free time. Train myself."

He made his way to the kitchens and tickled the pear, opening the door as it appeared. He went inside and instantly, felt like a true giant. All the little house elves rushing around, not one of them even came past his knees. He moved carefully, not wanting to step on any of them and that was a real possibility too. He smiled down at them as they asked him how they could serve him.

"Just a sandwich and some orange juice will do for me. Thanks guys." He said and within moments, they presented him with a sandwich and his juice, trying to get him even more food. They milled about his feet, some were trying to serve Severus. "Hey, I'm going to eat this in the corridor before I turn one or more of these guys into pancakes."

Luke dodged some of the smaller ones, taking his food out into the corridor. He sat against the wall and started to eat, waiting for Severus to come back out. His sandwich was big enough for at least three people to share, but he didn't seem to be bothered by the size.

[severus]

“It wasn’t anything dangerous,” Severus replied, “just a bit of a twist on a confusion spell, that’s all. They over-reacted.” Or he shouldn’t have been messing around with his spells in public. Either way, it was done. There was no way that he would be able to take back his actions, and he didn’t really want to. If anything, he would have just picked a smaller cluster to try his spell out on. Now he had to make sure he waited long enough for them to give up on him before he left the company of his tall… companion. It was a little weird, being next to a Gryffindor, but since he wasn’t in pain maybe it wasn’t all bad.

He would have to deal with it.

“Seem strange, but I guess it’s no different than training to be better at spells or potions,” Severus said with a shrug of his shoulders. Maybe it wasn’t so nutty. After all, he spent his free time making spells and creating new potions, so he couldn’t say Luke was doing something weird. Just because it wasn’t magic, did that make a no-no? To some, perhaps, but he wasn’t a pureblood. He was only a half blood, and lived a very muggle life when he wasn’t at school. So he wasn’t going to judge Luke on how he spent his free time, even if it did make him wonder about his magical abilities. Was he putting his energy into something else because he wasn’t very good at what he was supposed to be at school for? Call him a cat, but he was curious.

Silently, he followed him into the kitchens, sneering at the house elves as they bounced around. God, he hated them- they were little gnats and he really didn’t see why anyone would want one in their home. Slaves, and creepy ones at that, did not appeal to Severus.

But at least the Hogwarts lot was content, if still just as creepy.

They were asking him what he wanted, as they worked on Luke’s sandwich, and Severus responded with a bit of a frown. “I guess… just a sandwich, too. Ham.” He watched them work, glad they were quick and efficient. Meant he could get out of there as quickly as possible. With food in hand, he left the kitchen again, joining Luke in the hall.

“You sure eat a lot,” he commented without meaning it offensively, “if I ate like you, I suppose I wouldn’t be such an easy target.” He was a thin, clearly defenseless looking boy, he knew that. But he wasn’t going at working out or the things Luke seemed to enjoy doing.

He chewed on his sandwich, deciding it was good even though it was handled by those house elves.

[lukejasperdenmark]

"A variation on a confusion spell? What did it do? Make 'em all think they were six year old girls or something?" Luke asked with a smile, it was an interesting image "I think I'd overreact to something like that."

He nodded, "Yeah it's not any different. I mean, it's something I like to do and it's what I'm good at. I've been doing it since I was a little kid." It seemed odd that Severus found it strange, but then he figured it must have been a pureblood thing. To think anything a muggle did was weird.

Laughing, he shrugged slightly "I'm a bit bigger than your average person Severus." He said "I take a lot of filling up." he looked at Severus and it was true, he looked like if you attached a string to him, he'd make a very fine kite. "You don't have to be strong." He said, "Martial arts isn't really about physical strength, though it does help. Mostly it's about being ready and confident. You don't have to be able to kick anyone's ass, but if you learn just a few basic moves, I'm sure people would be more inclined to leave you alone."

He kept eating as he explained between bites, swallowing first each time. "The first one would be how to stand, if you stand like you're ready to defend yourself, it'll help a lot toward getting people to back off. Standing sideways helps too, makes you a smaller target to hit. The second thing you should know is how to use a person's weight and momentum against them. If you did it properly, you could even flip me over your head without using too much strength."

He then added, "But if you're good at magic, you don't really need that. But if you're ever unarmed, then you'll have to. That's why I want to teach both muggle and witch and wizard kids how to fight. I'd open my own dojo and have one side teaching magical kids and the other side muggles. Separated of course since we'd be teaching the magical kids how to dodge certain spells unarmed."

He laughed lightly, "Besides Defense against the Dark Arts, I'm not too good at magic. I'm starting to think there might be a little bit of squib in me or something. I struggle with Charm and Transfiguration. But DADA, I'm surprisingly really good at." He admitted, he was okay at Potions, and he was certain that if the classes weren't held in the dark and creepy dungeons, he'd have better results. His tries were always teetering between average and terrible. Terrible because during class he was jumpy and nervous and average because when he had to do essays or work on a potion for homework, he would brew them in alone in the dungeons with enough light to make a deer freeze.

A few Slytherins who would see his efforts and tease him about it later and each time, Luke just ignored them. (Well almost each time. There were times when he got angry enough to punch one of them)

[severus]

Severus didn’t really feel like explaining what his spell had done, simply because he didn’t want another Gryffindor getting mad at him. He still didn’t trust that the whole thing was going to work out in his favor- for all he knew, Luke was just trying to get information out of him. So maybe he still needed to be careful, even if he wasn’t feeling that usual tension when dealing with a Gryffindor.

He didn’t want to get beaten up for a second time that day- once had been more than enough.

Sighing softly, Severus nibbled at his sandwich, glad the other was easily distracted with different conversation points. He didn’t really think he would be learning about self defense any time soon, but he would be lying if he said he had no interest in it. Might be nice to fend off his father for a change. When he was at home, he didn’t have magic to defend himself with, so it seemed a good idea to learn some way to deal with his father. However, he wasn’t completely blinded by the allure of self defense- he would be an idiot if he actually tried to use anything like that against his father.

Even if it was meant just to block or defend, the moment he tried to take any kind of stance, or the first time he managed to knock a hit away, his father would go ballistic. It would turn a normal pounding into a damn war, and Severus knew he would never be skilled enough with hand-to-hand combat to fend off a guy willing to throw bottles and break furniture. The guy was not a normal opponent.

“Maybe I could use some of that again the other Gryffindors,” he chuckled dryly, deciding to leave it at that. They would end up a much easier batch to fight than his old man any day of the week.

He didn’t finish his food, but he didn’t feel much like eating, either. Sighing softly, he set the sandwich down on the plate, leaning back on his hands while the dish floated in the air beside him. A simple spell, no wand or words needed, was all he required to have it waiting beside him faithfully.

Magic was his strength, not his body.

“Strange you would be good at the more difficult magic, and not good with the basics,” he commented idly, “most can’t work the defense against the dark arts spells because they just aren’t very good at magic. You’re kind of weird to be the reverse of everyone else.” It didn’t make a lot of sense to him, but that was starting to seem common when it came to Luke. He didn’t seem that… normal, for lack of a better word. Good. Someone else to be weird like him.

“Maybe I’ll help you with some of the magic you don’t get, if you help me with some of those defense moves you were talking about. Seems like an even trade to me, don’t you agree?”

[lukejasperdenmark]

"You totally could." Luke said, "You're smaller, so you could be nimble and quick if you worked at it." he pointed out.

"I think it's because I've always been good at defending myself and I find that class a lot of fun. There are times in Transfiguration and Charms that spells come a little easier, it just depends on the spell really." He said quietly, "I mean I'm really good at summoning charms, but I suck at vanishing spells. I'm good at the fire spells and water spells, and hovering charms. But once I get a good grasp on the spell, it's a lot easier for me to use it. I might be the last person to get the spells right each time, but I get them eventually." He told Severus, "But yeah, I'm a lot better at DADA than I am any other class."

He watched the plate floating, wondering if Severus done that on his own or if it was an enchanted one. He doubted it and that proved that Severus was indeed good at magic.

"Alright." He said, "You've got yourself a deal." and he nodded "We can start with the magic first if you want. It's not good to train on a full stomach. Trust me." and he stood, "Since you're not busy we can start right now if you want." And he headed off for a different part of the castle, away from the darker part of the dungeons. The kitchen area was well lit, but the dungeons had that dark, creepy feeling which reduced people to just shadowed figures the farther away they were. He wouldn't be able to concentrate down there.

"I don't think we should practice in the dungeons." He said, glancing back at Severus. "I'm not really comfortable down there, which is part of the reason I think I'm only okay at Potions. I mean I like it, it's interesting but I can't focus on the task at hand down in the dungeons so I mess up more often than usual. Outside the dungeons, my potions improve a lot. I'm not saying I suddenly become some master or something, but I'm better at them when I'm not freaked out."

he walked into a well lit, open classroom that was obviously unused. "Alright." He said brightly, "Which spells should we work on first?" He asked, eager to get this started. He wanted to improve, he wanted to become better at charms or transfiguration and prove to himself that he wasn't a failure, that all he needed was a little help and he'd be able to do it. Maybe Severus would be able to figure out what he was doing wrong.

The Professors could, but Luke always got nervous when he was called out in front of everyone for doing something wrong and then, he'd totally screw up his spell. Maybe with no one else watching, he'd be less nervous and would be able to perform the spell a little better, at least well enough for Severus to point out what he was doing wrong.

He noticed something though, Severus wasn't the slimy jerk everyone said he was. It seemed that without being picked on, made fun of, bullied or attacked, the Slytherin was actually pretty cool. It made him wonder why people picked on him in particular. Then it hit him.

"......Everyone who gives you a hard time, is just like a sheep." He said, "And James is the ram. Sheep don't think for themselves, they all just follow the leader. Which is James....or Sirius." he told him, explaining his logic "None of them are free thinkers, they all give you a hard time just to go along with everyone else. Just like sheep."

He drew his wand, ready for a lesson and then he added, "I won't attack you. I don't attack anyone without a reason." and Severus hadn't given him any reason to beat the hell out of him.

[severus]

Severus frowned and got to his feet, following after Luke just because he didn’t know what else he could really do. It seemed Luke was eager to get to learning something about magic, though Severus was a little unprepared to leap into teacher mode. Normally, he didn’t really like trying to teach other students- he thought they were all idiots, so why on earth would he want to try and get anything through their thick skulls? Maybe he had been kind of stupid to offer his services in the first place. Now he had to wonder what he had been thinking. Oh, right, he had been thinking about being able to defend himself.

He didn’t really want to start with teaching magic- it made it feel like he wasn’t the one in control of the trade.

He only nodded when Luke offered his explanation of why he didn’t really want to go into the dungeons. Really, he could have just said he wasn’t going down there. He could have just… not gone. Severus didn’t need to know his secrets. It was awkward. Were they getting to know each other? Wasn’t that what friends did? Severus didn’t have a lot of honest friends, and certainly none from Gryffindor.

This was getting extremely uncomfortable for him.

Following Luke into the unused classroom, Severus instantly leaned himself against one of the desks. In all honestly, his stomach was still hurting him a bit, and he had to wonder if he was being pulled into some kind of trap. Always suspicious: he couldn’t believe that someone was hanging out with him simply because they wanted to. Hell, he couldn’t believe that someone was hanging out with him simply because they wanted to learn something from him. When people used him, they normally concluded the effort by beating him up or making some kind of threat. It was never simple. This… seemed too… nice.

And he didn’t know what to think about it.

Before he could answer about where they should start, Luke spoke again, Severus listening with a frown. “Yeah, I’m already aware of that,” he grumbled, though he imagined Luke meant well. Still, they wouldn’t feel so inclined to follow the leader if they didn’t think he wasn’t worth much consideration. They would have a much harder time following someone in picking on Lily Evans or James Potter. It was just because they already saw him as a nobody that they felt so free in tormenting him collectively. That was probably the most painful thing about it- it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to pain in general. But knowing they didn’t find him human enough to consider his feelings… that kind of sucked. However, he didn’t really want to dwell on it, especially when he had to deal with someone else being there with him.

Pulling out his wand, he gave a grunt. “How thoughtful,” he teased mildly, “but if you’re as rubbish as you say you are at some of these spells, I don’t think I have too much to worry about. What do you want to learn about first? I don’t know if I’ll be any good at actually teaching you anything, but I guess I’m not unwilling to try.” He didn’t want to promise that he could make Luke some kind of super-student.

He just wanted to show him a thing or two and then move on, so he wouldn’t have to continue playing professor. Honestly, who would willingly want to teach?

[lukejasperdenmark]

"Uh....thanks." Luke said with a laugh, shaking his head "Not very good at motivational speeches are you Severus?" he asked and then paused, "The aqua eructo spell is one I'm not really too good at." He muttered, "I mean I can make the water come out no problem, but controlling it is a different thing all together! I can do it but....not for very long." he said, "It tends to go in another direction after just a couple seconds."

And he drew his wand, casting the spell and sure enough, the stream of water came out and he tried to direct it into a wastebasket, but sure enough it missed the mark, but not by much. It turns out, he hadn't waved his wand properly, and that had thrown off his spell. That was part of his problem, that and a tendency to get nervous and try too hard. He sighed and tried again. Once more then wand movement was wrong and it caused his spell to be a little harder to control then normal.

As he tried the spell, it was obvious that he was concentrating on the task at hand and he was determined to get it right and once he missed the wastebasket a third time, and water soaked the floor again he sighed and went over to clean it up. A simple siphoning spell stared sucking up all the excess water back into the tip of the wand.

"I think most of the time I'm too worried about messing up and that throws me off." He muttered as the water was sucked up "And then that makes me try too hard." He reasoned and stood, heading for the center of the room. "Let's try this again." he said to himself and did so, again he missed the mark. He scowled "What am I doing wrong?" he growled lowly.

(Sorry about the length. Longer next time. I promise.)

[severus]

“If you already know why you’re doing things wrong, it doesn’t seem like there’s much reason for me to be here,” Severus replied idly. It didn’t seem like the kid needed help anyway- he had said he wasn’t good with some spells, but being only slightly troubled by them didn’t seem like the kind of thing Severus wanted to waste his time with. He had been expecting Luke to actually need some kind of help, not the odd tip or trick to make the spell work properly. It was the kind of thing he would be able to figure out if he paid closer attention in class.

Now Severus was more annoyed to be playing teacher.

Severus watched him, frowning. He knew right away what the boy was doing wrong, but he let Luke try a couple of times as he explained himself. Didn’t seem to be any harm in letting him try and figure out what he was doing wrong on his own- maybe he would see that he didn’t actually need help at all and was kind of only fooling himself if he thought he had an actual problem. Vexing. Was that how the people who had it all liked to act? He didn’t really like it, though he imagined Luke was oblivious to how he appeared. Severus tended to have a rather unique perception of others- he had been told that several times be various people who had come and gone from his life. They said he wasn’t fair. He judged too quickly. He didn’t heed all the information he gathered.

Whatever. First impressions were supposed to be important, right? It didn’t make sense to him that he should ignore them and ‘get to know someone’ better before passing any real judgment.

When Luke asked him what he was doing wrong, he produced his own wand, flicking it absently to make the spell ignite. For him, the motions were simply and he didn’t have to think about them, the water going where ever he wanted it to, without the slightest look of trouble, or even concentration, on the face of the Slytherin.

“You’re not moving your wand in the right way,” he sighed, “just watch this and you should be fine.” He showed him how to move his wrist, flicking the wand a few times without using the spell, just so Luke could see it without water shooting off in random directions.

[lukejasperdenmark]

"Because that might not be the only problem." Luke pointed out as he worked, frowning slightly as he watched the water slowly start making its way over and then, miss each time. He sighed slightly, and shook his head. "Damn." He grumbled and kept on trying but no matter what he did, he missed.

Then, Severus did the same spell and he frowned a bit, watching him perform it with ease! Was it really all that simple or was he just terrible at magic. At least until the boy told him he'd been doing to spell wrong. "I....I am?" He asked and then, tried again, following Severus' example and sure enough with a little bit of effort, he directed his water into the wastebasket.

"YES!" He whooped and then tried again, making sure to move the wand the right way. He smiled, and said "Let's try another spell." and he tried some more spells, such as the bluebell flame spell and it was all a matter of concentration and pronunciation. As he tried to make the flames go out, instead they swirled around in the jar and grew bigger. It turned out he was indeed trying too hard and his motions were correct, but too fast and jerky. Once corrected he was able to do the spell perfectly.

With every spell they tried, it was all down to technique, except until they reached one of the more difficult spells, "Let's try something more difficult." he muttered, "A patronus charm is one I'm not very good at, even in DADA." and he tried it, "Expecto Patronum!" he said with all the conviction he could, he was waving the wand correctly but all he could do was make a wimpy little silver fog. "Damn." he tried again and again, trying to focus on a happy memory, but all he could think of was having to face down a dementor and being forced to relive the worst moments of his life.

He tried a fifth time and scowled, "......I can't concentrate hard enough! All I can think of is actually having to use this and how much more difficult it'd be." He sighed and looked to Severus "Do you have any suggestions on a spell that's difficult but not ..... too dangerous or .....challenging? I figure if I could pulled off a spell like that I'd know I can pull off a lot more spells and....improve." He said sheepishly and tried the charm once more, but failed. "We can always go back to this later."

'Or,' he thought, 'We can just forget this whole thing for now and I can teach Severus to defend himself'. He would wait though for Severus to suggest moving on though, it was his call as to when he would learn anyway and maybe he didn't want to learn at all, but if he didn't, then Luke would have to think of a different way to make things even between them.