sinking ships `LENA & SIRIUS

[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Detention.

Honestly, Silvanus hadn't exactly thought it through when he had given them to Lena. For the past couple of nights, he just found things that he wanted other Professors to do and then just supervised Lena doing them... although the other Professors seemed to disapprove of Lena in detention. Or, maybe it was just that Lena and Silvanus were being left along together. Silvanus had been nothing but good so far... In fact, he had even brought those bloody essays and marked them while Lena did her detentions. He didn't know which would have been more boring: watching her clean Slughorn's classroom or reading these essays. He really didn't know why essays were mandatory as they were just as boring for Professors to read as they were for the students to write. The worst part was when the majority of the students got most of the information right. There was nothing to do but read it. Well, and occasionally glance up from whatever essay he was marking to look at Lena when she leaned over to clean something.

Silvanus honestly just wished maybe some students would put some humour into things. Yes, he was being hard on Lena, but for the most part Silvanus was a very laid-back Professor. In fact, many students actually liked him (no matter how unbelievable it seemed to Lena). Then again, it was probably habit for students to not put in humour, as he doubted very much that many other teachers enjoyed this. He didn't know how the other teachers didn't want to Avada Kedavra themselves reading all these essays. Silvanus tried to keep them to a minimum for this exact reason.

Today, however, Silvanus didn't bother getting Lena to do other Professors' works for his detention student. That particular day, he decided that he wanted help with some of his work. He knew that he had a pregnant Thestral, and therefore he needed help in keeping her calm. She had been a panic mode for a couple of days now, and the only thing that seemed to keep her calm was allowing her to lay down for a bit and be fed carefully. He found that even petting her helped her relax. He was able to see them due to the fact that he had seen his aunt being killed by his uncle. It was a tragic event, but Silvanus had only been six. It was classified as an accident, but he didn't see how smashing her head off of the counter in an argument could be seen as an accident. It didn't really bother Silvanus as he didn't remember his aunt.

The unfortunate part was that going near the female Thestral made the one who had mated with her uncomfortable. Silvanus found that whenever he tried to care for the pregnant Thestral, the male would stomp his hooves impatiently and flick his head in an irritable fashion. Luckily enough, though, Silvanus had two detention attendees for that particular night.

Silvanus had kept Sirius after class one day and spoke with him about the issue with Lena and their essays. He had agreed that if Sirius attended detention, then he would forget about the whole thing and let them both off with a warning. Sirius had willingly agreed, and Silvanus suspected it was because he had told him that he would be allowed to use his detention time at the same time as Lena's. He doubted Sirius would be too keen once he found out what exactly the detention was. Really, Silvanus wasn't even sure if either of them could see Thestrals.

Silvanus had told the two to meet him at the edge of the Forbidden Forest at dusk, but he hadn't told them what their detention was. It was best to keep them on edge. He doubted very much whether Lena even knew that Sirius would be present.

So, Silvanus stood there, patiently waiting for the two to arrive as he could hear the Thestrals not far behind him. It was a bit chilly, but nothing unbearable, but he didn't know if that would change after the sun went down.

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[Sirius Black!]

Sirius had noticed that Lena had been acting a bit odd in Care of Magical Creatures, but he hadn't asked what was wrong. In fact, Sirius hated asking anyone what was wrong in case it was too deep or emotional. It wasn't like he was trying to be mean, but he didn't know how to act in those kinds of situations, and didn't really want to get involved. He hadn't have to wonder for long, however, considering after one of the classes, Kettleburn had pulled him aside and told him what Sirius had assumed was bothering Lena.

Sirius had felt a little guilty. Admittedly, he had read over Lena's essay, but she didn't know. She had left it in the common room when she had gone for lunch one day, and he had taken a peek at it. No, he didn't cheat off of it, but he had read it. Therefore, he wasn't surprised when Kettleburn told him that some of the information had been familiar. He hardly took offense when Kettleburn accused him of cheating, but had denied it all the same. When explained that one of them would have to take a zero, he didn't want the zero, but Lena was the one who had put the honest hard work into it, so he asked if they could come up with a compromise. Taking a detention in order for them to get good marks didn't seem like such a bad idea, especially since Kettleburn had said that the two would be doing their detention together.

What Sirius had been expecting was something easy. Kettleburn was a known germaphobe, so he was hoping that it would rub off on their detention. Maybe they would have to clean his office. Then again, what was there to be cleaned if he was a germaphobe? He would undoubtedly already have it sparkling. In any case, he had no idea that Kettleburn had Thestrals in store for them. If so, he may have taken the zero. Sirius didn't really know what they looked like in real life, and had only seen them in pictures. He had never seen anyone die, so they remained invisible to him.

Sirius had been hoping to go with Lena down to detention together, but after waiting in the common room for quite some time, he realized that she didn't even know he had detention with her and she had probably already gone down. He pulled his warmest cloak on, unsure of what they would be doing. Since Kettleburn had said it would be outside, he didn't hesitate in bringing it. If they were to be outside, he would be set, and if the detention moved inside, he could bring the coat with him and just hang it somewhere.

When he got outside and walked down to the edge of the Forest, he realized that Lena was nowhere in sight. It was just Kettleburn standing there expectantly. Sirius frowned for a moment, but when he got closer, he put a phoney smile on his face. Yes, Kettleburn was probably one of his favourite Professors, but his class was definitely not one of his favourites. Besides, the guy seemed like he was in a constant midlife crisis. It was almost like, in Sirius' eyes, that he tried a little too hard to be cool and liked. (Even if he did argue with students a little too much.)

"Oi, Kettleburn, just me and you on this lovely date tonight?" Sirius teased lightly as he approached. He hoped Lena would arrive soon. Speaking to adults bored Sirius as they always had to keep their maturity and professionalism up, therefore putting any interesting conversation out the window.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[Lena Marie Becket]

if the clouds are just too high
I F I T O S S A N D T U R N A N D F A L L B Y T H E W A Y S I D E , J U S T F O L L O W T H E S T A R S

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D

ETENTION was definitely something she had never done before this week. Everything about it, she had already known because of the boys. Sirius was not a stranger to detention and neither was James. But experiencing it for one’s self was totally different and she had hated it. Mindless actions of cleaning or arranging things was boring and she hated being bored. Least the week of detention was half done already. Then life could go back to normal and she would never have to talk to Kettleburn ever again except in class. It wasn’t him so much that made her angry, but the fact that he had threatened her friends and treated her as if she was a fool. She didn’t take lightly to things like that, especially not attacks to her friends. Her full temper had already cooled after her big outburst at the professor so she hadn’t fought with him again. But she still held a grudge against him now. And that wasn’t likely to change very soon. So, instead of fighting lately, she had been shoving cold indifference at him for the most part. Especially in class. Still, it seemed the Care of Magical Creatures professor liked to rile her up on purpose because she had still snapped out a few times in anger though, thankfully, not enough to land her any more detentions.

She didn’t know what the detention was that night, and it bothered her a little bit. Going into the Forbidden Forest wasn’t exactly anything new but going at night was still a great deal creepy and reminded her of the stories of the large man-eating spiders in the forest. The forest was just dangerous and she gripped her wand more tightly in her hand that was in her pocket with it, by instinct. As the time for detention got closer she thought, as she did each night, on not going, but gave up and finally decided to leave the kitchens before she was late. The kitchens had been a common place for her the last few days because she would stuff herself on hot chocolate to try and relax so she wouldn’t hex their professor and his snobby attitude. And she knew her friends were starting to worry. Sirius had been shooting her a few odd looks, and so had Remus. Which meant she would have to try and fake it until the week was done and could finally, blessedly, relax once again.

So she left the kitchens and headed out of the castle, moseying her way down the path toward where they were supposed to meet up, tightening her coat around her. When she got closer to the spot, she noticed there was actually two people standing and waiting and she blinked in surprised, quickly trying to figure out who the second person was before she got there. It didn’t take long. She knew that body and that hair. Sirius. Her face slid into a confused frown as she continued forward and stopped beside her friend, leaving a great deal of space between her and the professor. “Sirius? You have detention tonight as well?” He hadn’t told her. Why had he not told her? She would have walked down with him. Her gaze turned back to the professor and took on an icy look as she said, as politely as she could, “good evening professor.” With her friend here she would have to be more polite to the bloody man but oh well. At least she wasn’t alone with him again.

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WORDS && 588
TAGS && Silvanus and Sirius
OUTFIT && click here
CREDIT && lyrics from "90% Gravity" by thebestbandintheuniverse Bridges I Burn, template by Madame Grimm of Caution.
NOTES && nothing yet

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[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Silvanus honestly didn't know how the night was going to unfold. He knew what he was expecting of Sirius and Lena was dangerous, but he didn't particularly care. Besides, Sirius was stupid and had enough chivalry that if something were to go wrong, he'd no doubt probably try and save Lena and risk himself. It was just the way that those Gryffindor boys usually were. Well, not that Pettigrew child. He doubted he would give up a piece of pizza for someone else. Regardless, Silvanus was usually the same way. He wouldn't typically give up anything for someone else.

"No, it's not just you and I tonight, Mr Black," Silvanus replied with a grin on his face. It didn't take long for him to notice Lena approach, however. She was right on time. After hearing the two mumble for a few seconds, Silvanus coughed loudly to get their attention off of each other.

"I have an ... interesting assignment for you two tonight. Follow me," he began as he moved into the woods slightly. They came to a clearing where the Thestrals were. The pregnant one was standing there, so large around the belly that he half-expected her to pop right then and there. He went over and patted her on the head, but the male Thestral beat the ground with his hoofs.

"Tonight we'll be taking care of this pregnant Thestral, and trying to keep her calm. The male Thestral is agitated. So, Sirius, would you mind dealing with the male and trying to keep him preoccupied as Miss Becket and I take care of the female one?" Silvanus explained rather quickly.

He didn't want Sirius and Lena working together, heads close and whispering sweet nothings, or whatever the hell that they did. Besides, if something was to go wrong with Sirius...well, that wouldn't be overly tragic, would it? It wasn't like he particularly disliked Sirius, but it was just one person out of his way. Besides, he wasn't about to give a rowdy Thestral to Lena. He doubted she would like that very much, and assumed that the female one was much to her liking.

Honestly, Silvanus was so used to the creatures that he didn't even bother wondering if either of them could see them.

[/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Sirius Black!]

Sirius grinned at Lena when she approached. He glanced at Silvanus, expecting him to look off in an uninterested fashion into the distance, as what kind of Professor cared about students' small talk? Instead, he found the Professor gazing at Lena in the same sort of fond way that Sirius was. He tried to ignore it. It was probably because Sirius himself thought that Lena was rather good-looking, and therefore assumed that everyone thought the same thing, including Professors who were much too old.

"Yeah, you won't be alone on this splendid adventure," Sirius replied, happily, as if detention was just another expected duty in his day. "I'm sure I'll be making your detention a fair bit better, am I right?"

Sirius winked at her, and then turned back to Silvanus expectantly. Sirius was used to multiple detentions in a week. He preferred if he kept the amount under two, but sometimes it just happened where he got more. It depended on the Professor, what sort of mood they were in, and what he had done wrong. Many Professors left it at just one detention, and Sirius assumed it was because they knew that detentions did nothing for him. Besides, as much as they may not have wanted to admit it, many of them actually liked Sirius.

When Silvanus began to walk into the Forbidden Forest, Sirius followed without hesitating. Not that Lena or Silvanus knew, but Sirius took enough of his own adventures into the Forest. He knew the place almost better than the back of his hand. Sirius pulled out a gummy from his pocket and ate it, before offering a zombie-shaped gummy (that also made groaning noises) to Lena.

When they got to an empty clearing, Sirius looked around and wondered what they were there for. Were they to clean up the area? Sirius turned back to Lena, with one of the zombie gummies still hanging out of his mouth half-eaten, and shrugged in a 'I don't know what he's up to' sort of way.

"Well, where are they?" Sirius asked as Silvanus explained what they were supposed to do. He squinted his grey eyes into the Forest, wondering if they were just out of eyesight. His grin had faded after Silvanus had said that he would be getting the difficult male Thestral, but he didn't want to argue. After all these years, Sirius had learned to not argue (much) with Professors on detentions. Besides, he would rather get the mean Thestral than Lena... not that he knew what they were, or what they looked like.

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[Lena Marie Becket]

if the clouds are just too high
I F I T O S S A N D T U R N A N D F A L L B Y T H E W A Y S I D E , J U S T F O L L O W T H E S T A R S

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L

ENA still didn’t know why Sirius hadn’t told her that he was going to be in detention as well but maybe he didn’t know about her having to be there? Or he just hadn’t been able to catch her. She had beat a hasty retreat into the kitchens once she could to try and pump herself up for detention. But with her friend there, it made things a lot easier so she was smiling up at him, enjoying his pleased smile at seeing her as well. With his wink all of her annoyance at being in detention disappeared for a few glorious moments, laughing softly and bumping her shoulder against his arm(she was too short to reach his shoulder) in amusement. “That is true. Having you around would make dealing with this a whole lot easier. Why did you get deten…” Lena frowned, her mood disappearing as she suddenly guessed what would be the reason for him to have detention with Professor Kettleburn. Her gaze suddenly jerked to the older man and gave him a cold look, not caring if Sirius noticed and realized how unusual it was for her to do that just then. The man truly deserved her ire.

And then he was leading them into the Forest without any warning to what they were going to do and she couldn’t help but let out an annoyed sigh, tighten her grip around her wand, and follow the two men into the perimeter of the trees and further in. Lena noticed a clearing up ahead and figured that was where they were going, but she didn’t know what for, having not been in this part of the forest before. She tended to avoid the Forbidden Forest but it was something that she walked in to on the rare chance. So she would just make sure to keep her hand on her wand, just in case anything came at them that wasn’t supposed to be there. She knew the horror story rumors of the giant acromantula that lived in the forest and she didn’t particularly ever want to find out if they were really there.

Sirius moved his hand toward her, making her blink in surprise and dropped her gaze from looking around them protectively to see what he was holding out to her. The zombie gummies. Remus had told her that they’d made them and she hadn’t seen one in person till then, attempting avoidance. But she couldn’t be rude about it and slowly took the gummie from him, staring down at the weird thing, chanting in her head ”it’s just a gummie. It’s just a gummie, don’t think, it’s just a gummie” and she popped it in her mouth, eating it, jaw clenching slightly in mid chew as the thing actually moved in her mouth on its own and then she finally got it down while trying to hold in her look of surprised disgust. “Thank you. That was….interesting.” There was no easier or nicer way to say it. The candy part might have been really good but the fact that it had actually moved while she was eating it just made shivers of disgust slide down her spine.

Finally they reached the clearing and, before their professor even spoke, Lena knew what they were there for and felt her heart stop. Thestrals. She’d been able to see them since her third year at Hogwarts, having discovered what they were because the ‘horseless carriages’ suddenly were being pulled by beasts that no one else could see and she’d looked them up. Her gaze continued to slide over the two thestrals before them, listening to the plan and how Sirius, dear sweet Sirius, wasn’t able to see them. Biting back her urge to run away because she didn’t want her friend to know she’d seen death, she stepped forward and toward the two large dragonish horse beasts. “Professor, I think it would be a better idea if I handled the male.” Her gaze wanted to look back at her friend but wouldn’t let it because she needed to face down the older man and make him see reason plus she was throwing a bigger part of her secret out into the open. “Sirius can’t see them so he wouldn’t be able to contain the male. I can see them so it would be better if I handled it.” Her eyes were slightly darker as she admitted this though she kept her back straight and strong, hoping that the professor would have enough sense to realize her idea was for the best.

[/blockquote]

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WORDS && 761
TAGS && Silvanus and Sirius
OUTFIT && click here
CREDIT && lyrics from "90% Gravity" by thebestbandintheuniverse Bridges I Burn, template by Madame Grimm of Caution.
NOTES && nothing yet

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[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Silvanus chuckled at Sirius' bewilderment. So the boy had never seen death? For some reason, that rather surprised the Professor. The Black family name wasn't renowned for being extremely good peacekeepers or tree-huggers. He actually assumed that Sirius would have witnessed more than one death, or potentially murder. Then again, he could also imagine Sirius hiding out in his bedroom with music on full blast, ignoring all the bad stuff around him. He was, after all, Gryffindor, and had never shown any sign of being remotely attracted to Dark magic.

"Are you even aware of what a Thestral is?" Silvanus asked, cocking an eyebrow and in a demeaning tone. At Sirius' confused look, Silvanus continued with, "Miss Becket, would you care to explain?"

He found it amusing that Lena was able to see them. She didn't look very impressed, but Silvanus didn't really care. She would be fine. Better than Black, anyways, if he couldn't see them. He looked at Lena knowingly, and wondered who it was who she saw die. He kept the question to himself, and assumed that it was a question best saved for later, especially when Sirius wasn't around.

"No, no, Miss Becket, I think Mr Black can have him covered. Besides, I believe you'd be more... apt at handling the Thestral. The male Thestral just needs... ahh... brute force," Silvanus explained as he winked at Sirius in a would-be friendly manner.

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OOC: Lock, feel free to post as Sirius doesn't really have a lot to work off of here lol

[Lena Marie Becket]

if the clouds are just too high
I F I T O S S A N D T U R N A N D F A L L B Y T H E W A Y S I D E , J U S T F O L L O W T H E S T A R S

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L

ENA heard their professor laughing as Sirius said he couldn’t see the large hulking beasts before them and felt an urge to grab a stick that had fallen from one of the trees and hit the man over the head with it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with not having seen death. Frankly, it was a good thing her friend had never seen it and she truly hoped he never had to. But considering how there were undertones of a war brewing in their world, she didn’t think it was likely most of them would never see a Thestral. Least no one had asked her why she could see them and she planned to keep it that way. No one needed to know about that bleak and terrible day her whole life had changed.

The demeaning tone made her spine snap to attention, glaring again at the darker skinned man. He really needed to stop insulting her friend. Though she did noticed Sirius’ confused look and turned to him to explain after shooting their teacher another glare and a “Yes, sir.” It almost killed her to be polite to him. With that she turned back to the other Gryffindor to explain, smiling so he would be more relaxed and not worrying about it. “Thestrals are large beasts that mostly are in the shape of a horse but have wings, black leathery skin, a dragon head, and a boney body. Just try and picture the baby of a horse and a dragon and you can probably get the idea. They aren’t evil by any means and won’t attack without provocation though they are attracted to the smell of blood.” Which made her quite glad she wasn’t on her monthly that night and mentally noted that she would have to chew her professor out for possibly putting her in danger if she had been. “They’re invisible to everyone but those who’ve seen someone die in front of them.” That last part was, really, the most important out of all the information on thestrals.

With the description finished she turned back just in time to see the knowing and speculative look from Kettleburn that made her frown again, wondering what had occurred to him and wanting him to stop looking at her like he wanted to puzzle her out. Thinking about that made her cross her arms over her chest, not having any of it from him.

“While I might be more ‘apt’ at working with the female thestral I still think there’s no point. If Sirius cannot see the male then how will he be able to handle him and not get killed? It would be logical for me to watch the male because I can see them and, brute force or not, I know how to handle myself.” Why was he even fighting this? Just because she was a woman didn’t mean she couldn’t protect herself and know how to be careful. She would rather not watch her friend trying to save them from something he couldn’t even see. He wouldn’t get hurt because of this professor or anyone if she could help it.

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WORDS && 523
TAGS && Silvanus and Sirius
OUTFIT && click here
CREDIT && lyrics from "90% Gravity" by thebestbandintheuniverse Bridges I Burn, template by Madame Grimm of Caution.
NOTES && nothing yet

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[Sirius Black!]

Sirius could very much feel the intense frustration coming off of Lena, and he didn't really know why. Personally, he couldn't see what the big deal was with the whole situation. Who cared if Sirius had to deal with the one Thestral? He didn't care which one he got. He doubted this would be the worst of his detentions. He had some pretty... interesting ones in his day, both from Professors who no longer worked there, to ones that still did. Sirius usually just took whatever came at him. The only time he protested to certain activities was if he was with someone, and either they both didn't want to do what was presented to them, or the person he was with didn't want to. It was amazing how much Sirius could take himself, but how little he was willing to allow others to go through.

Sirius listened to Lena's description of the animal with his eyebrows furrowed. He paused for several long moments as if he couldn't quite process the creature.

"Wait, so you're telling me..." Sirius began slowly. He looked back and forth between Lena and Silvanus. "That you both can see them? Wait," Sirius added and turned to only face Lena. "Who did you see die?"

It was a rather abrupt question, but Sirius thought that Lena and him were close enough that he would know if she had seen someone die. After all, she had confided in him that she was an orphan. What worse was it that she had seen someone die? Well, unless she had been the reason that the people die, but for some reason, Sirius highly doubted that. He was so focused on the question that he had asked Lena, that he had temporarily forgotten that the Professor was still in their midst.

Silvanus himself watched the two students talk.

"Very good description, Miss Becket," Silvanus said, uninterested in their conversation that continued to unfurl. Silvanus, however, frowned at Lena when she continued speaking. "I do believe that a female who could give birth at any moment requires someone who can see her, compared to someone like Mr Black, who can do no such thing. Knowing how protective female Thestrals could be over their babies, taking responsibility over her I would think would actually be more challenging. Now, if you don't mind..."

Silvanus nodded his head in the direction of the Thestrals, hoping that they could get started at any time.

"Unless there are any more objections that could waste our time?"

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[Lena Marie Becket]

if the clouds are just too high
I F I T O S S A N D T U R N A N D F A L L B Y T H E W A Y S I D E , J U S T F O L L O W T H E S T A R S

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W

ELL this was just outstandingly frustrating and her muscles practically twitched with the need to tell their professor off but she was almost done with her week in detention anyway and she didn’t want more detentions with him ever again. She just started chanting in her head ‘It’s only two more days. It’s only tonight and tomorrow then you’re done with him. It’s just for a little longer.’ Lena imagined her frustration as a little ball that her mind quickly shoved into a dark spot and locked it away while she tried to force herself to relax her muscles. She really didn’t want her friend to get hurt just because he couldn’t see the large beasts they had to take care of.

"Yes, it means Professor Kettleburn and I have both seen at least one person die." Probably not necessary to restate it but he had asked. A part of her couldn't help but wonder who their professor had seen die but she pushed that thought away. The question about who she had seen was obviously going to be asked, sooner or later. Sirius wasn’t known for holding in his every thought and if he wanted to know a juicy bit of information such as who she saw die, just because he was worried and curious not because of any other reason, he would ask. So Lena wasn’t all the surprised that that was one of the first things to pop out of his mouth once she’d described the thestrals. She puffed out a breath and knew she didn’t want to tell him just then but she didn’t want to just leave him hanging. Besides, if he heard now before dealing with a very dangerous and protective animal he could get distracted at then get hurt. As she took a step closer to him she lowered her voice, hoping their ‘esteemed’ professor didn’t hear her talking directly to Sirius. “I can’t tell you right now but I will when we get done here and are back in the castle. Alright?” Hopefully he would be happy with that because that was all she could tell him at the moment.

When Silvanus cut in she turned back to her original spot and nodded, albeit reluctantly, as he complimented her on the description of thestrals. Though when he flat out shot her idea down her back stiffened again and her dark eyes glared slightly, giving in. He did have a point, even if she wasn’t too happy with it. At his nod to get them moving she bit her lip hard, using the pain of it to remind her to keep her mouth shut and not yell at him and tell him he was being a pompous ass. But she still nodded again giving a “No, professor. We can work.” and started walking toward the pregnant thestral after giving Sirius a quick look that told him to be careful. Her movements were cautious, not wanting to startle the female, waiting for Silvanus to give her direct orders on what he wanted her to do.

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WORDS && 511
TAGS && Silvanus and Sirius
OUTFIT && click here
CREDIT && lyrics from "90% Gravity" by thebestbandintheuniverse Bridges I Burn, template by Madame Grimm of Caution.
NOTES && nothing yet

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[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Silvanus looked curiously at Lena. He had somewhat expected her to be interested in such a detention. He thought that maybe this detention wouldn't be so dull for her, but yet all he continued to get was hostility. He didn't understand what made the girl so miserable all the time. It was like she was just one big cloud of teenage angst. Of course, angst wasn't always a bad thing. Sometimes girls came to Silvanus because they were so full of angst and didn't know how to deal with it - he usually showed them a method that wasn't exactly school-approved.

However, Silvanus was pleasantly surprised when Lena agreed to start on their detention. He looked at his watch. About time, he thought to himself. He looked at the two students before him, and decided that he would give Lena instructions first. As much as he wanted to spend the majority of his time with her, he knew that he'd have to spend more time with Sirius - why couldn't he have seen someone die? It wasn't overly traumatizing by any means, usually. Even people who merely saw their grandparents die on a hospital bed could see Thestrals. Sirius Black, the boy from a family of Dark wizards, couldn't see them? It was like a bad joke. Now he was going to have to babysit the boy for the rest of the evening.

"Mr Black, I'll get to you in a moment, I'll just get Le - Miss Becket started," Silvanus instructed. He walked over to where Lena was standing in front of the pregnant Thestral. "I'm not sure exactly how knowledgeable you are on the subject of Thestrals, particularly pregnant ones, but not to worry... this one is expected to give birth any time now." Silvanus rubbed the animal's stomach affectionately. More affection than he usually showed in class. Despite his demeanor, he really did love the creatures he cared for. "See how her belly is darker than usual? It means the baby is ready to come out. I'm hoping for a non-stressful birth, which is why I need Mr Black to watch over the male. If we're lucky, we could have the creature out tonight. Well, at least I hope so. Birthing is never an easy feat by oneself. All I need you to do right now is try to keep her calm." Silvanus grabbed a bag of meat from his pocket and handed it to her. "Owl meat - it's her favourite."

Silvanus then turned away from Lena and made his way over to Sirius. Sirius had moved to a spot where he had presumably thought was near the male Thestral, but couldn't be further away. He grabbed the boy by his upper arm and led him to where the real animal was. He grabbed Sirius by the wrist and made him touch the Thestral's face and pet him.

"What you're doing now? That's all I need you to do. If you can't feel it's face anymore, call me over."

With that, Silvanus gave Sirius a bag of meat as well before returning to where Lena was. He touched the horse-like animal on the face and petted her fondly. In return, the Thestral shook her head into his hand as if she didn't want him to go anywhere. Silvanus walked around the animal and nodded.

"Yes, I do think the baby will be coming out to-" just when he was about to finish the sentence, however, a loud and wet splashing noise broke the nearly silent night air. "Her water's broke!"

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[Sirius Black!]

Seeing how uncomfortable Lena looked, Sirius wanted to come up with some rouse on how to get the both of them out of there. Perhaps fake an illness? Then again, if Kettleburn was as bad as Lena made it seem, he'd probably just send the ill one to the hospital wing and then make them make up for their detention some other time - without the other one.

Sirius bit his lip in an agitated fashion when Lena refused to tell him right then and there who she had seen die. He was a very impatient person, and he knew for the rest of the night he'd be wondering who she'd seen bite the dust. He knew he shouldn't dwell on it, as he'd probably come to the wrong conclusion, but he couldn't help it. He went to continue speaking to Lena, but she had already walked over to her Thestral. Nothing was more infuriating than when a Professor was around during an important or personal conversation. This happened to be both. He could understand where Lena was coming from, but it still bothered him.

Sirius walked over where he could only conclude that his Thestral was standing. It felt a bit odd to see the other two standing around what he only saw as thin air. What kind of horrible creature could only be seen by those who had seen someone die?

Obviously, where Sirius had been standing had been completely wrong. Kettleburn came over and grabbed him by his upper arm. Honestly, it hurt, but he refused to wince or anything. He didn't even know if the Professor knew that he was clenching so hard. With his vague instructions, Sirius felt more annoyed than ever. He could feel something there without seeing it. So he pretty much had to keep his hand on the animal and hope that it didn't move?

He stood there, patting was was seemingly thin air for a few moments. However, suddenly he heard a noise from his Thestral, and he couldn't feel the creature's head anymore.

"Professor!" Sirius began to call as he saw the hoof-marks being made in the dirt, going towards where the other two were standing. However, Kettleburn and Lena had their own problem as the water of theirs just broke. Sirius ran forward and took out his wand, but realized he had no idea where to point it. Just as suddenly, he felt something hit him square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to the ground.

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[Lena Marie Becket]

if the clouds are just too high
I F I T O S S A N D T U R N A N D F A L L B Y T H E W A Y S I D E , J U S T F O L L O W T H E S T A R S

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T

HE situation could have been laughable. She was stuck with the one man who made her more furious than anything in the world when she was generally one of the most calm tempered people in their whole year, they were having to help a large thestral give birth, the boy she was friends with and had almost dated was having to watch something he couldn’t see, and it was so cold she could see every breath she took. The whole night was weird and Lena personally couldn’t wait until it was finished and she could just go get a shower and then go to sleep. This was promising to be one of the longest evenings of her life and her shoulders slumped slightly as her gaze flicked to where the castle was, wistful on being up there and in the shower. Sirius was annoyed at her not answering him, she knew that, but he’d have to deal because telling him that was too big of a secret to just say it now.

She was brought out of her thoughts as Silvanus walked up beside her and she snapped upright once again, trying to make sure he didn’t see how tired and cathartic she had gotten for a moment. She needed her wits about her after all around both him and the pregnant thestral. As the dark man started talking and explaining she listened carefully and nodded, taking the bag of meat from him and sucked in a small puff of air in surprise when their hands brushed but quickly looked down at the thestral, forcing herself to try not to pay attention to how it seemed like there had been a spark between them. Some fissure that she hadn’t really felt before. “I’ll take care of her. I don’t know about their pregnancies but I can at least do this.” To take her mind off of their touch she crouched down slowly before the large animal and started petting her head with one hand, feeding her with the other, being careful not to move to fast and surprise her.

As their professor had already moved away to help Sirius she looked over occasionally to watch them, curious, lips tilting up slightly at how Sirius was so far away from where he really had to be. At least he had tried. And it was amusing to watch him trying to pet something that probably looked just like thin air to him. As Professor Kettleburn walking back to her to deal with the pregnant thestral she shifted slightly to get more comfortable, her knees not too pleased at her crouching down in that position for very long. The yell of her water breaking made her gaze snap up to his, concerned. “What do you need me to do?” Dislike for the man or not, she was proficient in her duties.

And that’s when she heard something they really didn’t need to worry about at the time. Sirius had yelled out, making her turn her body toward him, watching as the large male was coming toward them. The other Gryffindor couldn’t see anything so he wouldn’t know what to do and, for that matter, she had no idea what she was supposed to do right then either. But suddenly the male turned around and hit its head hard against Sirius making him drop to the ground. “Sirius!” She started to move but remembered she was in just as bad a position and turned to Kettleburn, worry and determination to fix things clouding her eyes. “We need to do something about all this. What do you need me to do to help?” Lena wanted to run and help her friend but the baby thestral was on its way so she really didn’t know what she should do just then, feeling pulled in all different directions, keeping part of her gaze on the male thestral the whole time.

[/blockquote]

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WORDS && 653
TAGS && Silvanus and Sirius
OUTFIT && click here
CREDIT && lyrics from "90% Gravity" by thebestbandintheuniverse Bridges I Burn, template by Madame Grimm of Caution.
NOTES && nothing yet

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[Silvanus Kettleburn]

Silvanus hadn't expected the mother's water to break so early in the night. He thought maybe they might get there by sunrise, but here it came. He didn't even have the gloves he usually wore when assisting an animal in giving birth. Instead, he stood there for several moments in shock, somewhat unsure of what he could do with the students with him.

"Just stand back," Silvanus instructed. He assumed that Lena would not enjoy the task that he was about to do, and he wasn't so cruel enough to make her do it (surprisingly). Besides, he was rather familiar with it, and he wasn't about to make a student stick their hands up in a very private place of a Thestral. Not only would it gross the student out (no doubt to the point of reporting him for some silly reason), but it could be dangerous to the mother. It wasn't that he doubted Lena's abilities, it was just that she was unfamiliar. So, instead, Silvanus saw the little creature begin to come out, and just as he was about to go ahead and grab the baby Thestral, the only thing that could make the whole situation worse, happened.

Silvanus turned his head just in time to see Sirius fall to the ground.

"Dammit!" Silvanus shouted in a frustrated tone. He saw the Thestral turn its back on Sirius, and Silvanus knew what was coming before it did. The Thestral gave Sirius a good kick right in the face, and then blood squirted everywhere. Silvanus did not flinch, but it was the furthest thing from a good thing. Not only did he not know what kind of damage the animal just did on Sirius, but this could be bad - almost career-ending bad - if he couldn't think of a way to fix it. "Lena," he began before realizing he had called her by her first name. "I need you to get the baby out ... if you don't assist, the baby could get stuck and lose oxygen. I just need you to grab it in a secure way and get it out. Sever the cord as quickly as you can, and then clear it's nose and eyes of any, well, gunk."

Silvanus said this all rather quickly, as he had a student in mortal danger on his hands. He honestly didn't know what he would have done if his career wasn't on the line. It wasn't really his first instinct to get into a one-on-one encounter with a creature much bigger than he was. Silvanus pulled out his wand and rushed over, however, despite that his courage was not on his side. Sirius was laying on the ground, clearly unconscious. He raised his wand at the creature, not sure what spell he was going to cast. However, the Thestral was quicker and raised itself on his hind legs, and then hit Silvanus square in the chest with his front hooves. It was then Silvanus' turn to get the wind knocked out of him. By the time he could get his thoughts in order, the Thestral was already heading towards Lena.

Silvanus waved his wand as quickly as he could, causing ropes to wrap themselves around the long legs of the Thestral. The creature went crashing to the ground. It hadn't been his first-choice as now the animal would no doubt resent him for a long time after, but it was the first thing that came to his mind, and it was either that or allow Lena to be attacked.

OOC: Lock - you may as well reply... seeing as how Sirius is all knocked out and whatnot, it's not like he can do a hell of a lot haha

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[Lena Marie Becket]

if the clouds are just too high
I F I T O S S A N D T U R N A N D F A L L B Y T H E W A Y S I D E , J U S T F O L L O W T H E S T A R S

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W

HILE waiting for orders she continued to just try and calm the mother down but keeping up the petting and feeding her the raw meat. Lena knew she would definitely be taking a nice long hot bath later. Not having much else to do she tried to keep track of what was going on in both sides of the detention. When she’d seen the hit and warned the professor about it, she had hoped that things wouldn’t get worse. But she’d forgotten about how alike thestrals were to horses and so, like a horse, the beast reared around and before she could scream, the kick landed. Her body lurched toward Sirius a step before she forced herself to stop, wanting to run to him but that would only put her in danger as well. Thankfully Silvanus was already moving to help, giving her orders as he went. Him calling her by her first name didn’t even register just then, though later on when she looked back on this, she would remember it with almost perfect clarity. With a quick nod she ran to where he’d been standing and, ignoring the ick factor of her brain, moved her hands in to help the baby. Words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, not even thinking about them as they came out. “Don’t worry, I have this. Just take care of Sirius and please don’t get hurt either.”

Lena had been too busy trying to help the baby thestral out of the mother that at first she didn’t know that everything else was starting to go wrong. She suddenly heard another thud and her gaze snapped up in time to watch the professor stagger back and watched with a vision of impending doom as the very angry thestral started running at her. She couldn’t do anything while her hands were on the baby, trying to pull it out and she knew that, if something didn’t happen in the next second, her life would probably be in danger. It felt like her breath caught in her chest and it was almost as if the beast was suddenly moving in slow motion because of her fear. But then a spell hit it and it crashed to the ground, still a bit further from her and the female.

The breath in her lungs finally wooshed out and her gaze quickly dropped back down to where her hands were and continued to try and get the baby out, working as quickly and carefully as she could with the mother. They needed to get the baby out as soon as possible before anything else went wrong. Even though she was mainly focused on the birthing the ball of worry still rolled around like a spiked bowling ball in her belly and she called out to the others, needing to know how bad it was, even if she couldn’t look. “Are you ok? How bad is Sirius?” Jerk of a professor or not, he’d just been hit by a huge angry beast. He had to be in pain and her instinct was to go to him and Sirius and help but, well, she couldn’t. Finally the baby came out all the way and it lay on the ground while her hands slid over it, pulling all the birth sack stuff off of it and tried to clear out its mouth and nose so it would be able to start breathing on its own. Lena might never have done all of it before in her life but she’d seen enough on tv to have the general idea.

After a few heart stopping moments the baby finally started breathing and moving on its own and she let out a breath of thanks before moving out of the way and standing, allowing the mother and baby time to bond. Her gaze flew to the boys, taking a step toward them now that the baby was safe. “Anything I can do to help? The baby is fine now.”

[/blockquote]

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WORDS && 669
TAGS && Silvanus and Sirius
OUTFIT && click here
CREDIT && lyrics from "90% Gravity" by thebestbandintheuniverse Bridges I Burn, template by Madame Grimm of Caution.
NOTES && I hope you don't mind me taking over on the birthing bit.

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