The Boy With Black Eyes

He Knows

*I HOPE YOU KNOW HOW THIS GOES BY NOW. IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY: TORTURE, BLOOD, MANIPULATION, SITUATION OF DUBIOUS CONSENT AND/OR RAPE: DO NOT READ. HOW DID YOU MAKE IT THIS FAR IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THESE THINGS? THIS IS YOUR WARNING*

Melissa did not check with him before she started bringing Turul with her to read about Nox. The falcon had a sharp beak and sharper talons, and would perch on her shoulder, keeping harsh dark eyes on the potioneer that moved about the small space. Melissa also no longer sat in the high-backed chair that faced toward the fire, and moved back to the wooden chair so she could keep her eyes on him. The tip of her wand remained in her palm, and she was no longer reading as deeply into the text, skimming more and analyzing less. 

Vesper spent a few days in her rooms recuperating before Melissa drafted a couple of letters to Gus and sending the good copy over the Atlantic. Her two birds got along rather well, as long as they had some space between each other. Vesper was cuddly and sweet, Turul was protective and aloof and somehow they were compatible. It was fabulous. And the soft feathers of Vesper's pale wings were a wonderful greeting first thing in the morning. Instead of her alarm going off or Turul pecking at her chest to let him out. 

Snape asked her questions before she was able to pick up the book. Somewhere, there had been three questions missed, he asked her before she sat down. 

"If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?"

"Paris. With a view of the Seine and Notre Dame. Or of the Basillique de Sacre Coeur." Melissa watched him as carefully as he watched her, his fingers steepled. Turul was watching for her when her head was dipped, or when she blinked. 

"How many languages do you speak?"

"Fluently? Only English and French. However, I can understand Spanish, Cree, Italian and pieces of German."

"Do you have a partner?"

"My romantic endeavors are none of your business, professor." He arched an eyebrow at her, and her lips pulled back from her teeth ever so slightly. It was none of his business. She hoped, vainly, for something, anything from any one of her male friends, but they always seemed intimidated by her rather headstrong personality, prideful nature and old soul. Of course, she was still on the fence about her newest of friends, Gus, who both intimidated her and fascinated her. "No."

With that, she pulled Nox toward her, and lifted a treat up to Turul with her left hand. The falcon took the hard biscuit and crunched it into several pieces that fell to the floor of the Potions Master's otherwise immaculate study. 

**********

"Wait, wait, wait..." Nox was pouring over her Ancient Runes notes with Remus, the pair of them sitting under low-burning oil lamps in a back corner of the library, having avoiding the piercing eyes of Madame Pince for the last half-hour or so. There was a huge test coming up tomorrow, and due to what Nox thought was a trauma-related memory loss, there seemed to be a huge gap in her lessons. She remembered the most recent of lessons, and the ones about two weeks ago, but there were at least four lessons missing. "So the rune for horse before the rune for man means centaur, but the other way around is like, Mongolian or something?"

"Not Mongolian. Barbarian. But it depends on what set of runes you're using."

"...Jesus Christ..."

"Well, actually, it's Remus Lupin, but..." She reached across the table and struck him on the shoulder, a playful little swat that had him smirking, and clutching to him arm like she'd given him a deep, horrible, tetanus-filled wound. He reached across the table once, twice, before collapsing face-first on the table with a grunt. "J-judas...why hast thou forsaken me...?"