Severus wanted some peace and quiet – and while normally he found solace in the potions classroom, currently it was occupied by some kids getting extra potions homework. What better place than the astronomy tower? It was normally deserted, plus he got a great view of the grounds from here. He was standing on the edge of one of the windows, looking down and out. Hogwarts was his home, it was the place he could be free from his father – free from the muggles – free from so many things. And yet this home contained four extremely annoying boys. If only they didn't exist Hogwarts would be perfect. Yet somehow, he had found himself caring for the sister of one of them. Well, she wasn't like her brother.

He had been working on a spell – he was fairly good at creating spells after all, and the current one would be similar to diffindo – except it would work on the emotions of the user. IF they were panicked, it would be a frenzy of cuts – focused? It would be a deep gash, deeper than diffindo would do to a person. Of course, it was dark magic, given the way he had designed it – and it was for use on enemies – meaning those four boys or someone who tried to hurt him or tease him.

However, in the middle of his thoughts, he heard the door close quickly and Severus quickly moved behind one of the pillars in the tower. He peeked around, seeing Sirius Black, one of the aforementioned boys, at the door. It would be so easy to test out the spell. However, as he adjusted in order to pull out his wand, his robes swished, and he cursed under his breath – he'd heard him. The element of surprise was gone now.

He emerged from behind the pillar, wand drawn and pointing at Sirius. "What are you doing here, Black?"

He scoffed. Typical Black arrogance. Thinking he owned the place. He was pretty sure from how quickly Black had come in and his reaction, Black had done something, or was running from someone. That was something very typical of him too. Pulling those 'pranks' on people and hoping not to get detention. Severus could feel his eyes rolling back in his head. Regardless, he still had his wand trained on the kid. After all, he couldn't trust Sirius wouldn't hex him. Boy, he would love if Sirius struck first – then he could claim it was in self-defense truly.

"Maybe I just wanted to enjoy the view from up here," He echoed with an annoyed look. "Of course, I would be down in the dungeons if there currently wasn't a tutoring session for first years going on. Oh, perhaps you should be down there. Your skills are on par with many of the students there after all. Might learn a thing or two, well, if your skull weren't so thick." His lips curled up and he began thinking the incantation he had come up with for his spell. Black wasn't one to have any sort of restraint – at least in Severus's opinion – and so it wouldn't take too much, he thought, to push Black. Then again, these were petty insults. And once more, it was Black, so why waste so much effort on upsetting him when it was pretty easy to get a rise out of him regardless?

Severus smirked. While Sirius had dropped his wand, Severus considered for a moment what he should do – it would not do him any good if someone came through that door and saw him pointing his wand at a 'defenseless' Sirius Black. With that in mind, he lowered his wand arm, though his grip on his wand was tight and his wrist was ready to flick at any sign of trouble. "Ah, your brain must be too small to register big words too. Let me repeat myself in terms you understand. 'Babies got booboos in doing good. You get lots of booboos too. Babies would help you recover your booboos.'"

An eyebrow quirked up – girls aren't too fond? While yes, his hair was… not the best in the world – it wasn't something he could really help very much. No matter how much he cleaned it, his hair always ended up looking like this. It'd always been that way really. However, the smirk didn't fade. He had an ace in the hole. "Well, I don't quite know about that, Black. Perhaps you should talk to your friend – you know, the one who always gets sick right around the same time of the month or has some sort of emergency – he might inform you that I do in fact I have a girlfriend! His sister to be precise. Rose Lupin. Beautiful girl. Very kind. And a great kisser." He makes an 'okay' sign with his hand and gives an over exaggerated wink.

He pursed his lips, his cheeks sucked in just slightly before they were released. Truth be told, he didn't quite enjoy being around Bellatrix. However, she was an avid supporter, and so in order to get into the circle he was hoping to get into, he needed to make nice with her, even if she had a few screws loose. "Yes well, it does seem to run in the family to need that sort of dumbed down explanation." Oh he didn't care if Sirius went crying to Bellatrix saying he insulted her – not that Black would, he was a disgrace to their family as it was – after all, the others exchanged insults all the time.

Severus blinked a couple times. He didn't quite expect that answer. He was sure that Sirius would get pissed or something. However, the fact that he essentially said it was alright and just not to hurt her (that wasn't the plan, while it was a sudden thing that had bloomed thanks to Damocles and his invention of the Wolfsbane Potion, he didn't want to lose the second person who had ever really been kind to him), really stunned him. For a moment, his guard was dropped, but then he quickly recovered himself.

"… In a way, yes, I did feed her a potion. Something that would help… with her particular condition. Something she shares with her brother. Turns out spending a good amount of time with someone, even while distracted with brewing a potion, makes people enjoy each other's presence." Severus was fairly sure that Black had to know about it – and for some reason he wanted to make it firm that this wasn't because he gave her a love potion… but he was helping her. Why did he want to prove it to Black? He didn't know, and it was frustrating.

He pursed his lips again. "It's not like you wouldn't find out eventually anyways. She, as you likely don't know, is a very… affectionate person. Almost too much at times."

This was extremely awkward. How were they having a civil conversation? They were alone, he could easily attack him, possibly push him off the edge of the tower (not kill him of course), and yet here they were, having a normal conversation. Well as normal as it could be when one of them was attempting to hint how he knew about his friend's condition and gave 0 shits about revealing it if need be.

"And expensive. Luckily, Rose is a… resourceful young woman. And unfortunately for her brother, well, there's just enough for her and my own purposes. Not that I would help him out anyways," He gave Sirius a look before crossing his arms. "It would be a shame if someone found out about her brother, you know?" There we go, he was being too subtle before, now it was obvious what he was getting at here.

"Right." Severus looked to the side, and stared at the wall for a moment, tracing a crack with his eyes, "I certainly hope you'd never find out any other way." He looked back at Sirius. "If I find out you've touched her or touch her in any inappropriate way in the future, I'll kill you. I'm not kidding either or exaggerating. Even if the two of us break up, or get in a fight, I'll kill you if you try anything with her. Though I'm sure her brother probably would do the same."

He raised an eyebrow. He had already come up with a lie of how he found out about it – after all, Rose would probably not be happy if he just went out and told them she essentially told him (though technically it was her saying she needed the potion that told him first). "It doesn’t take a magizoologist to tell what they are. The disappearances right around the same time. His scars. Knowing how soft Dumbledore is and how he would likely allow creatures like that at Hogwarts." He shrugged.

"I'm more surprised Dumbledore isn't providing the potion himself, because while it is brand new, it is expensive. And I doubt purchasing the ingredients will be sustained for too long given their… lack of funds in general." He bit his lower lip. Not even he could continue to buy the ingredients for just Rose – honestly with the two extra potions he was keeping, he thought he might take half of the ones he would give to the Dark Lord and save them (the second potion he kept was for experimental purposes, which who knew if those could be used).

Severus considered for a moment, looking at the Gryffindor suspiciously. He didn't trust him, but at least it seemed fairly reasonable that he was telling the truth. There was the first time for everything wasn't there? "Well… good then." It was said as if he was attempting to retort to something, despite the words not being combative. "We won't have an issue… at least regarding that."

Severus rolled his eyes. Of course, they were still human. At least Rose was. Remus? He was a monster in his own right, just like Sirius and James and Peter. Some might say he was being dramatic, but that was just how he viewed it. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Monsters aren't because of something they can't control, blah blah. In general they are monsters, but there's a few exceptions that you have to keep your mind open for. Like mudbloods and muggles. Lily's an exception." Casually dropping that slur.

"Puh-lease," Severus countered with a scowl, "He wouldn't even let them be here if he didn't need them for something. Just look at you little friend. He's so far wrapped around Dumbledore's finger. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to use him to get others like him on his side. Inside agent. I think he wants them to be unmedicated. After all, isn't it better to be accepted by others if you aren't? Since a lot probably think its offensive to take the potion." He shook his head. "Plus given their senses, they'd probably be able to tell if someone has taken the potion. I know they can tell when someone has lived among people not like them."

Conspiracy theories at their finest. But knowing Dumbledore and how at the moment Snape did not trust Dumbledore at all, they could probably be true.