another girl another planet,, OPEN!

[severus snape]

Severus' lip curled in memory of various requests from his father. " Hugs, more alcohol, company......amongst other things." The other things were especially odious sounding with his particularly venomous tone. He looked up at her carefully, searching her eyes. "I'm sure you must know what I mean." HE looked down again, feigning casual conversation, but waiting for her reaction which could prove or disprove the forming theory in his mind.

He'd managed to embarass her, while messing up what should have been an easy throw to guarantee himself a win. Even with the blonde's last mildly less dismal than normal throw, Severus was still annoyed that he wasn't one hundred percent guaranteed winning. He rolled the gobstones between long fingers with expert skill, he'd seen his mother do it and had practiced it in his room, wanting to be just as good as her and somehow convincing himself that being able to fiddle gracefully would make him better at the actually skill requiring areas of the game.

It didn'tand he'd had to practice the rest of it too. While it was funny at five to be sprayed with the foul smelling liquid as long as his mother was sprayed a little too, normally due to her own machinations, after the age of seven it started to get annoying abd unpleanat. That was when he had really started to push himself to get better. And when she had died...Then he practiced to..continue her legacy or keep part of her alive or just something so that she wouldn't be gone.

How stupid he had been. No amount of gobstone games would bring her back, and no amount of wins could earn her respect now. Neverthe less, he was going to win this. If only to prove he wasn't just some pathetic loner who would never be as good as a pureblood.

He looked up from the game, having not made a move for quite a time. "clarifying the exact nature of the favours. For example, I might ask you to do my homework, but then should I win, claim my prize, as it were, thus: that you would have to do all my homework in every subject and that you must do so before attmepting your own and that it must be to a reasonable standard, for example an Exceeds Expectations." He spun one of the gobstones before trapping it under his hand. "That, obviously, would not be fair. I would have to state my intentions fully beforehand, and you yours as well as a forfeit should we fail to complete the agreed favour. That would allow both parties to come up with equivalent favours." An example to illustrate his point...what had he gambled before..hmm..ah yes. "Were you to ask me to brew you veritaserum, I would ask you for a suitably-" Oh wait...Veritaserum was illegal...oops."-i-illegal and difficult task, such as stealing me a timeturner or some such favour. The forfeit would be similar in value and agreed by both parties. Normally in the form of something humiliating." He crossed his legs at the ankle and gently rolled the gobstone towards the others hearing the small clink as it shunted his previous throw forward between Tanith's last throw and the 'jackstone' they wer aiming for. "Some sort of binding magical contract should also be made, and Unbreakable Vow perhaps or the conditions sworn in blood."

Strangely, he was feeling a slight compulsion to bet on the outcome now, though this round was too late, perhaps they could play a different game and bet on that....nothing too strenous..unless of course...Tanith might make a demanding request and then he would have to respond with an equivalent one for her else be labelled a fool. And Severus Snape was certainly no fool. Not when it came to gambles and favours. And never when it came to humiliation.

[tanith]

Tanith's eyebrows stayed furrowed under her messy bed-head hair as Severus listed through the requests of the anonymous drunkard. " Hugs, more alcohol, company......amongst other things." She shrugged jerkily, sipping from her coffee to distract herself. It was becoming clearer to Tanith that Severus was talking about a specific person. Being quiet didn't mean being stupid, and in Tan's case it had proved to have several benefits. Reading subtle changes in expression was one of them, and she had glanced at Severus' fleetingly-darkened features as he spoke, saw the thinly pursed lips as he recalled details. But she wasn't willing to test her theory, unlike Severus. She had seen him snap before, and he seemed to be naturally defensive, so even if she were right about his source of bad memories, she was quite sure he'd never admit it.

"Oh yeah, I suppose.." She murmured rather non-commitally. The more alcohol thing she agreed with, she was used to seeing empty bottles being hurled at jittery house-elves to be refilled. They had a store downstairs. A house-elf told her when they had inherited the house from a great-uncle Malfoy, it had been filled with hundreds of bottles of expensive, ancient meads and whiskeys. It was heavily depleted now, naturally. The hugs, the ominous 'other things' she couldn't agree to, publicly at least. She couldn't remember being hugged by Porcius, sober or otherwise. In fact, if she did cross his path as he retired from his study absolutely wasted, she abhorred it if he approached her, was close to her at all. Now that she thought about it in detail, Tanith realised that the real thing she hated most was the heavy smell of stale alcohol on someone's breath as they leaned close to hiss in your face. She was jolted from her reverie by Severus' next comment. It startled her, and she looked up for the first time in a while, staring wide-eyed at him. Then, realising how stupid and incriminating this looked, she feigned a clueless expression and shrugged.

"What's that supposed to -- N.. No. I don't know what you mean" She hadn't meant it to stammer at the start, or sound so harsh. Quickly, Tan looked back at the gobstones game and tried to dispel the frown that had appeared along with her furrowed brows. After a moment she realised she'd been twirling her now empty coffee goblet subconciously between her pale thin fingers, and she set it down sharpish. She made a concious effort now to focus solely on the game, unsure whether or not Severus would drop the alcohol comment. She wasn't sure how convincing she'd been. She watched his throw intently (it had taken a long time - he'd been twirling the gobstones like she'd handled her goblet, and she half-wondered what he'd been thinking about), and smirked grimly.Still losing, only just though. If she just kept her cool she might at least fail by a small margin.

She couldn't help but smirk at Severus' surprising detail into their gambling conditions, stopping herself from haphazardly taking her own turn. "You think very deeply about things" She observed thoughtfully, and then shrugged. Silly judgements weren't usually Tan's thing, especially not uttered aloud. "Despite your gambling and gobstone knowledge being slightly foreboding, I think we should have a go" She knew she was losing of course, so it was foolish. But she supposed it was an attempt to cover up the previous mishap, the stammer and the 'deep thinker' comment. "A bet I mean, if you'd like"

[severus snape]

It wasn't much. But her moment or resembling a rabbit in the headlights was enough. She did have a drunkard relative, or friend. He favoured the former since he couldn't imagine maintaining a friendship with someone so weak as to requie alcohol just to survieve the day. No...Tanith Malfoy had an alcoholic relative, and close too if he was any judge. And since Lucius had never made mention of it, it was unikely to be someon on his side of the family. Who was it though? He wished he knew the family trees better.

Her unconscious fiddling he never linked to his own, unable to see himself as so readable. The frown and the stammered denial were all he needed for confirmation. Should he press her though? It would be nice to have someone he could talk to about Tobias...But what hf that led to the revelation that his father was not only and utter sop, but a muggle. That would lead to social death, and in the current climate, quite possible actual physical bodily death. And neither of those were high on his 'What I want to happen in the future' list. Perhaps e should leave it alone. At least for now.

The deep thinker comment caught him off guard, was a hint that he was paranoid? Or was it instead a compliment? The tone suggeseda compliment, but Tanith was a malfoy and a Slytherin, both of which were very prone to displaying pleasant smiles to hide their viciously barbed comments.

He almost informed of her of the fact that they were inded having a go at gobstones already but then she clarified her comments and he paused, tapping the stone in his hand on the table. A little preamble perhaps as he considered.

"My mother taught me. She played quite well, apparently." as though he didn't know, and hadn't seen the cuttings the letters and the trophy. Her name was innocous enough and pure enough to give him a slight social footing with the Malfoys. "Eileen Prince, Tiberius' eldest Daughter."

He stopped tapping and leant forward.

"alright. I acccept, name your terms, and I'll name mine." He needed to steer her away from monetary bets though. "Should you win, I have a wide knowledge of various potions, apparently felix felicis is popular amongst our peers, and the ingredients are readily available." He 'mused' with faux-thoughtfulness, implying covertly that he could make her a potion woth a pretty peny at market value. And indeed he could. Though his last attempt had been stymied by Slughorn's discovery of the potion in its median stages And his subsequent 'disposal', which severus believed had instead been the use of it for his own batch of felix felicis. Luckily he hadn't been suspected, or hadn't been punished at least.

[tanith]

Tanith was grateful that Severus didn't push the alcohol topic. She was only too aware of her mistake, her brief moment of exposure where she had looked suspiciously well aware that she did know what he meant. She scolded herself for being such an idiot, and shifted slightly on the sofa beside him, sitting with her legs crossed indian style and her eyes focused on their board. That way she could escape anymore gaffes over her family. Tan pushed the brief moment of embarrassment to the back of her mind, blaming her lack of sleep.

She was even more grateful when Severus eluded to his own family. Tanith had never actually heard Severus talk about his family. She supposed that they had that guardedness in common. And she didn't need to feign polite interest like she did when other pompous Slytherins regaled her with well-known anecdotes of their pureblood relatives, because Severus wasn't someone who bragged about his family constantly. She raised an eyebrow as he mentioned his mother and smirked slightly, but not in a wholly unkind way. "Oh I see, so you have an unfair advantage then!" Tanith then realised that Severus had used the past tense, his mother had played and she forgot her subtlety in her slightly numbed sleep-deprived state. "Hmm, doesn't she play anymore?" She inquired curiously, picking at a loose thread on her pyjama top.

She realised that he had used the last name for a reason, obviously. Tanith was used to name-dropping within their house to gain status. He had mentioned 'Prince' to her as a Malfoy, assuming she would know it. So it must have been a pureblood family, Tanith reasoned. Shit, why can't I remember this stuff?! She mentally ran through the list of names at their usual boring dinner parties and her mother's friends. But Prince had never come up. Either Tanith was incredibly stupid (or she had learned to tune out to the aforementioned topics) or the Prince family had died out. Did that mean Severus wasn't pureblood. Tanith furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Oh.. Prince. Yes I think I might have heard of it" Now she really thought about it 'Tiberius Prince' sounded a semi-familiar and convincing pureblood name. But Eileen, Severus? Besides, he was Snape, not Prince. "Sorry, I'm useless with that stuff" She admitted, shrugging sheepishly to get off the subject.

Ah, the bet. Somewhat lighter territory. And if she won (though it was unlikely) Felix Felicis would be a wonderful prize. A day free of accidents and awkwardness, she didn't even care to inquire where he would get it from. Tanith grinned "Pretty impressive. Okay, if you win.." She paused and furrowed her brows again. What could she give him. She was sure they should steer clear of monetary bets. Tanith could afford it easily, but she thought Severus might be slightly offended by her throwing her gold around. She blinked and shrugged again. "Well er, what do you want?"

[severus snape]

He shrugged. It was true. And he perhaps should have kept his ability to himself until after the bet was made, allowing her to assume she would win and therefore earning himself a very worthy prize for playing moderately...Now he would probably have to play left handed in order to even the odds enough for their game.

He frowned, focussing solely on the board. Of course...the dead did not play gobstones, so he shook his head briefly. He didn't want her to launch into pity as girls often did.[[he's sexist, not me]] So he did not lie but ddi not tell the whole truth either. "No..she doesn't any more."

She was frowning...did she know his mother had been disowned? No..phew. He had taken the gamble and it had been worth it. Due to her lack of knowledge...That was strange...were'nt purebloods supposed to be aware of all their family? hm..Perhaps it was only the sons. Still..either way, he would need to find out to be sure he did not appear too ignorant or too knowledgeable about his relatives. Either one would be suspicious.

TAnith Malfoy was far too trusting. you never gave a slytherin free reign to name both sides of bargain. Perhaps she was intending to check before agreeing though.

" I have a experimental potion." He twirled a stone in his fingers again, seeming nonchalant as he could. " I need someone to test it. I can assure you that it will not poison you as I have tested it myself already. However, I cannot study the effects unless someone else tkaes the potion and allows me to observe.

[tanith]

Usually Tanith had a bad habit of coming up with good ideas immediately after giving a shoddy answer. But this was not one of those occasions. She had never been very into the culture of bets and pranks that most students in their year seemed to enjoy, that sort of thing she left to the likes of Mulciber and Avery who seemed to have become quite adept at being Slytherins' answer to the Marauders. She'd never even played truth or dare so there was no use looking for possible inspiration there. All in all Tanith surmised that perhaps her room-mates were right and she was quite boring. But here she was throwing caution to the wind and actually betting for fun, so perhaps she was coming out of her shell. Either that or she was hopped up on caffeine and excited at the prospect of getting some Felix Felicis.

Nethertheless though, the bet that he had come up with couldn't help but arouse some suspicion in the blonde Slytherin. Test a potion? Perhaps Severus had been right in his thoughts (albeit she was oblivious to them) that Tanith was too trustworthy. Most people in their house, after all, would have hit Ol' Snivelly with the daily prophet and slunk off back to bet avoiding him. But instead they had somehow ended up having Gobstones and coffee. But trusting as she may have been, Tanith wasn't stupid. She wrinkled her nose, smirking slightly. "You thought my coffee was poison, but you expect me to test your 'experimental potion'?" She raised an eyebrow looking slightly guarded, adding without much optimism. "If you win of course"

But then again, Tan reminded herself. She had let him pick his half of the bet. Wasn't that something to do with good-sportsmanship, she couldn't back out now. Besides, she didn't want to look weak or afraid of some potion that was probably about as potent as pumpkin juice. So, holding up her hands, Tanith compromised somewhere between paranoia and and stupidly going along with the plans unquestioningly. "I want to see you try a little first, just to be.. doubly sure?" Besides, she was quite curious, and she was in Severus' potions class, he was much better than her and Potions was one of her favourite classes. "Well, what kind of potion, what does it do?" Despite herself, Tanith was eager now, more into the idea of the bet than she was letting on. Straightening her back, she focused as much as her exhausted brain would allow on the board where itwas Severus' next move. Either way, whether she ended up with the Felix or the rather ominous sounding ~experimental potion~ it was proving to be a rather interesting evening to be an insomniac.

[severus snape]

Severus shared a dorm with Mulicber and avery so he knew exactly what betting was. Those two could-and would-bet on anything. They used to bet on the length of time relatinships would laugh and then use tactics to break couples up quickly so that they would win, or keep them togeher for that same reason. They could be the best matchmakers in the world if they put their mind to it. It irritated Severus that they threw such large sums of money around so carelessly. A Galleon says Bridget Vaisey and Humphreys don't last the week meant pay me a galleon and i'll break up those two in the cruellest way i can.

The pale youth raised an eyebrow, a little conceitedly perhaps, but he had a right to be didn't he? "You are not reknowned for your spectacular coffee making skills, i am the best in the year at Potions. I think that it's a little different. " He looked back at the now tepid coffee and rolled his eyes, taking another sip of the stuff before his next move.

He shrugeed. That was reasonable. He would have done the same. He picked up a badge, jabbed his finger and wiped the droplet of blood into a smear on his palm. He held out badge and hand. "done." Now she had to agree too and then they would agree to the game rules.

Severus gestured airily, something uncharacteristic of him. "oh it's just a commercial relaxation brew. A little like the Calming Draughts one finds in hopsitals, but with an added layer of enjoyment to it. don't worry, it's nothing sinister." Well that is what he had to check after the last time he'd taken some. He was sure he had fixed the nightmarish visions it had caused.

"So..the rules. I am willing to give you the advantage of either, another stone, or a headstart of say.... an inch. So i would have to win by more than an inch on my three closest stones." He was confident that that wouldn't be a problem.

[tanith]

[wwooooah, i feel like this thread's gone on FOREVAH xD]

Tanith still wasn't sure if she believed him. On the one hand, he was telling the truth about one thing at least. She certainly wasn't renowned for making great cups of coffee for insomniac fellow housemates (if she was she'd be much more popular at least), but Severus was indeed 'the best in the year at Potions'. Tanith had noticed this before, with grudging admiration but a fair amount of annoyance. Potions was one of Tan's favourite classes, along with Charms and Astronomy, and when she liked something she wanted to be good at it. And she was fairly good at Potions, but in a class next to the likes of Severus and Lily Evans, she was easily overshadowed. At the minute Tanith was averaging at a high 'E' in Potions, but she'd never have been able to manage to brew up some Felix Felicis. Which made the offer all the more tempting.

She wasn't sure if she trusted him still, about how harmless the potion was, but his ability did impress her, and the gesture with his badge, jeuvenile as it was, seemed to be an attempt to get her to trust him more. Tanith frowned, considering this, before shrugging grudgingly. "Er- Alright then. Okay, it's a bet." After all, she couldn't very well backout now, halfway through the game and having already discussed the terms. Plus, she didn't want Severus to use her awkwardness when they were talking about drunkenness to spread any rumours about her. Besides, a calming draught wouldn't be that bad. Tanith could do with a relaxation potion, she hated being so jittery and awkward a lot of the time. And, his rules seemed fair, she even thought it might be a bit generous. Now, the gameface.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Tanith briefly surveyed the gobstones board. Even with Severus' slip-up, she was getting hammered. "I'll take the inch" She decided quickly, that would at least let her catch up,and if this throw was good enough she could close the gap and even beat him - if she was lucky. Luck though, especially in competitive games, was never Tan's strong-point. It was the reason she wanted the Felix badly enough to try out an untested potion. "Bollocks!" She had messed up the throw, giving him a wide margin to beat her in the next two moves, even one. In fact even if Severus made a mediocre move by his standards, she'd still lose out on the Felix. Too annoyed with herself even to be embarrassed about the loud swear, Tanith grumbled to herself and rested her head on her knees, frowning at the board. "..Go on then, your turn" Not that she was on the edge of her seat. She needed to hone her skills at Gobstones, obviously.

[severus snape]

She didn't look like she was going to go back on the agreement so he wasn't sure if he really needed to swear by blood. But it was still the principle of the thing. He gestured with the badge and nodded at her thumb, his hand held out ready to shake on it. It would also allow him to demand that she indeed try the experimental potion properly. Preventing her from only taking a small dosage. It was highly unlikely that it would still be as frightening even if it did cause her to hallucinate. And he'd be there to hlep anyway.

She was really playing now, he could see it in her face. She was focussing and calculating which of the advantages he had offered would benefit her most. She'd gone for the inch. A wise decision. It was the same choice he would have made if offered. It gave her the best chance of beating him. And, if she was the subtle, cloak-and-dagger, cheating even in small games like this, she could move her stones closer and his stones further away under the pretence of measuring the distances.

Thankfully, even her wise choice wouldn't be enough. She'd realised that too, the loudly voiced profanity made that clear. He smiled to himself but wiped the smile off his thin lips quickly. It wouldn't do to be over confident and make a fool of himself at the very last minute. Tanith seemed to have given up though. Her body language was defeatist, head on her knees, muttering to herself.

He made his throw, and though the butterflies of an impending victory fluttered in his stomach, he still made a good throw. Even for him. THe game was all but over now. from her on it was just a show of sportsmanship. He sat back in his chair with a small smile, not wanting to gloat. Well, not wanting to gloat too much.

"so...will you be free to come to the dungeons tonight after dinner in the Great Hall?" He said offhandedly. THey still had all day to wait, but that was the price one paid for betting at unsociable and ungodly hours in the morning.
Now not only ddid he have an advantage in this gaem but also in the wider game, the one that encompassed most of the interactions between members of the house of slytherin. If he needed another favour he could offer to teach her to improve at the game so that she'd be able to beat others. Not him of course, he wouldn't let her get quite that good. But one thing was sure. She needed to hone her skills at Gobstones, obviously.

[]

[tanith]

"Oh, right" Tanith had missed out his offer to join him in some sort of blood pact, she had been so engrossed in the prospect of winning some precious Felix Felicis and planning her next move. Slightly embarrassed at the blunder, missing out on things like this happened often, she quickly fumbled with the pin Severus handed to her and pricked at her own thumb, squeezing at the pale skin unti a small bead of blood trickled out. It wasn't painful by any means, but she was still reluctant to shake on it. Not that she thought he had some sort of diseases she might catch, but because it seemed very serious all of a sudden. She didn't want to question him on it again. After all they had already agreed on the terms of the bet and the game was practically over. This was probably betting ediquette for Slytherins anyway, it seemed to be a fittingly morbid way to seal the deal. And besides Tanith wasn't exactly clued up on the art of betting or deal-making with other Slytherins. Not wanting to look stupid, she shook on it quickly and handed back the pin, surreptitiously wiping her clammy hands and bloodstained thumb on her pyjama trousers. Apparently betting made her nervous.

That was probably because she was losing so badly. Well, at least from her glum position, sitting with her head on her knees, Tanith couldn't see that he was gloating to much, even though he was beating her easily. She wondered if post-betting she could ask Severus to give her lessons. She still preferred Exploding Snap of course, but Gobstones was pretty fun once you got into the game, and if he gave her some pointers it would be something to pass the time if they were ever both unable to sleep again, which seemed likely. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to ask, though. Perhaps Severus would think she was trying to cheat, and then there might be some sort of forfeit for the crime. Or perhaps Gobstones lessons had to be something for proper friends, and she wasn't sure they were proper friends. "Can't be very interesting to white-wash people all the time. You should give me a few tips, next time we play" There. That was fine. She had thrown it out there in an offhand way, so she could backtrack easily if she was indeed right about the forfeit or the friends clauses for Gobstones lessons. And plus it gave her some time to stall. She knew that her next move would most likely end up to be the losing one, and the longer it took before she got hit in the face with Gobstones gunge, the better.

"Okay" Tanith nodded to the invitation, which she assumed was for trying out the experimental potion. It was short notice, but it wasn't as if she had an active social life. Actually once Tan had replied she'd wished she'd waited, or pretended to postpone the event because she was seeing a boyfriend or having a study-date with a friend. But she was too tired, and it wasn't as if she hadn't shared a Common Room and classes with Severus for the past five years. He'd be able to tell she wasn't exactly the life and soul of the party. Besides, she was curious in spite of herself, to see what it did. Strictly speaking Potions weren't suppsoed to be tested until they had been declared safe by the Ministry, she knew that much, it was her father's department, although she had never been very interested, and Severus was admittedly accomplished in Potions. Taking a deep breath, Tanith flicked the last stone into the circle and held her breath, as though that would stop the inevitable. The foul-smelling gunk, thankfully,hit her largely on the shoulder, some of it in her hair, but not much to the face luckily.

"Lovely" Tanith groaned, picking a speck from her cheek. "I'd.. I should get cleaned up before class" Actually, she would much rather have stayed talking to him for a while longer, good company was hard to come by in Slytherin. But if she had felt slightly awkward before Tanith doubted she could maintain a conversation covered in rancid green goo. "I'll see you after dinner then?" She half-smiled before gathering up her stuff and slinking backto the dormitory. Hopefully she could manage to get a shower before Cissa hogged the bathroom for her lengthy morning routine. She was already looking forward to the evening though. Having somewhere to go and someone to meet up with was nice for a change.