Chapter Fifteen - Waning
Chapter 15 of 59
FaradayOf the five ways to get through a locked door, the last is the sneakiest.
ReviewedThe next day was the breath out.
Snape circled the room of students like a bird of prey, pointing out mistakes and shortcomings in a steady, acidic stream. He’d slept poorly the night before and so was especially ratty that afternoon. He rubbed at his left arm surreptitiously with the knuckles of his other hand. It felt like he’d whacked his elbow hard against the stone wall. As he had feared, the efficacy of the painkiller was lessening. Perhaps the new strain of Kelp’s nightshade would help.
Snape watched Parr shift her jaw in that strange manner for the fifth time that lesson and frowned as she spoke to Dian with her head tipped up and to one side, left eye squinted slightly. Dian had been courageous enough to remain as Parr’s Potions partner despite the strip-tearing Snape had given them both a few weeks back. Their efforts were… satisfactory, he determined reluctantly. Perhaps it was time to split them up.
He was just sweeping back to the front of the classroom to give the five-minute warning to finish up their potions when a pain like searing jagged metal shot through Snape’s forearm. He flinched automatically and obviously, left shoulder dropping as the muscles along his side tightened in reflex, an inhalation hissing through his gritted teeth. Hard on the heels of that came a smash of glass behind him.
Swirling towards the sound, Snape found all heads turned towards Parr and Dian. Parr had her left arm bent up, fist clenched by her shoulder. Dian had both arms raised up away from her own body, head turned to the side, face scrunched up, splashes of ox blood up her blouse and down the front of her skirt. Shards of glass littered the bench and the floor like transparent teeth that had gone on a flesh-ripping frenzy.
“Oh, God, Opal, I’m sorry,” said Parr, distress plain on her features. “The jar slipped from my hand. Are you alright?” She uncurled her left arm and touched Dian’s shoulder tentatively.
Heads swung round to look at Snape, awaiting the inevitable backlash. Parr just bent down to pick up the broken glass from around Dian’s feet with her fingertips, setting the pieces on the bench with a shimmering tinkle that seemed ridiculously loud in the hushed classroom.
Brows furrowed at the continued silence.
Snape waited until Dian bent to help Parr clean up with mess. “Miss Dian, I suggest you concern yourself with finishing up your potion. It will be the last you make with Miss Parr, so ensure it’s a good one. After all, it’ll be costing Ravenclaw thirty points.”
Groans erupted around the room.
“I suggest silence unless you feel thirty points isn’t enough!” he barked at them. “Four minutes. Get on with it!”
Snape watched the students give the blood splash a wide berth as they finished up, bringing the sample flasks up to the front of the room and scuttling away like rabbits, giving him an equally generous circle of personal space. Parr was futilely trying to mop up the ox blood with a handkerchief, but the fabric had already soaked up as much of the crimson as it could. She wiped the remainder into a small circle and made to take off her school robes.
“Dismissed,” Snape hissed at the students, and they deserted the classroom in a blurred flurry of arms and legs.
Parr balled up her robes and moved to soak up the rest of the blood on the floor.
“Leave it.”
She looked up at his words, forehead rumpled and mouth downturned. They stared at each other for some moments, black into fading green. The metallic smell of the spilt blood hung heavy in the air like a portent. Snape toyed slowly with one of the buttons on his coat with his middle finger, his face inscrutable. Time passed.
Parr started to fidget.
Snape said nothing. He just ran the length of his finger over the button, back and forth.
Parr began to sweat.
He stared at her meditatively, enjoying her discomfort… waiting.
Parr opened her mouth to speak, but Snape got in first.
“That was very clumsy of you, Miss Parr,” he said softly.
The woman shifted her jaw. “A lapse in concentration, Professor,” she replied in a slightly hoarse voice.
Snape raised an eyebrow elegantly. “A risky thing to admit. Are you certain it wasn’t something else?”
Parr’s eyes dropped from his face to the hand in front of his chest, his finger still sliding across the button. Her lips thinned before answering. “I can’t imagine what you mean, Professor.” She raised her eyes again and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
Snape ran the tip of his tongue over the sharp point of a back tooth and narrowed his eyes at her. “Really?”
Parr wrinkled her nose and didn’t respond.
The trailing of fabric over stone sounded suspiciously like scales over dry earth. Parr’s head tipped back to look up at him. Her height was greater than normal for her, but he still managed to loom over her with the years of practice of doing it to others.
Parr’s nostrils flared briefly.
Snape’s finger left his chest and extended towards Parr. The pad touched the underside of her chin and with a slight pressure tipped her head back further. He could see the natural grey of her eyes pushing the green into a circling border at the limits of the irises, flecks of darker colour shifting as her pupils contracted. He bent closer.
“Open your mouth.”
Her eyes blinked a couple of times before complying. The ends of his long, black hair brushed her face, the tip of his nose nearly touching hers. He slid his other fingers under Parr’s chin to tilt her head a fraction to one side.
“Take it out.”
Parr blinked the question at him, her eyes slightly crossed from his closeness.
“Take whatever it is out of your mouth, Miss Parr,” Snape repeated stonily and let go of her chin.
She dropped her gaze from his, shifted her jaw, and spat the bezoar into her palm. It glistened wetly.
“I expect students to enter and exit my classroom with nothing more in their mouths than they were born with, Miss Parr,” Snape breathed at her. “Do I make myself clear?”
Parr dragged her lower lip under the top one, removing the sheen of moisture that had been there. “Perfectly clear, Professor.”
Snape held out his hand. Parr sighed, blotted the bezoar on her sleeve quickly and placed the cherry-sized concretion of hair into his palm. He curled his middle finger up to touch the underside of her hand, stopping her from drawing it back. She looked up at him questioningly.
There are four ways to open a locked door: use the key, force it open, pick the lock, or knock. A fifth way not available to most is to slide under it, something that Snape was particularly gifted at. His mind slithered down the barrier and made for the gap.
Parr’s pupils dilated abruptly, and she snatched her hand back, breaking eye contact.
The distant sound of many footsteps down the corridor heralded the approach of the next class. Parr shoved her scrunched up robes and her books into her bag and turned away. She paused and cleared her throat.
“You’re standing in the ox blood, Professor,” she said in a flat tone and hurried out of the classroom.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Orion's Pointer
135 Reviews | 5.6/10 Average
An excellent encounter Lucius - Severus! Usually Licius is depicted as the stronger one, but this is refreshingly different and wonderfully elaborated. Severus so enjoys annoying the aristocrat with working-class manners. And he doesn't reveal anything at all.
I love this story! I can't wait until the next chapter comes out!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks so much! I confess that the next chapter is taking me ages to sort out. Real life has expanded into a huge monster that takes up all my time, but I shall do my best.
Great story! I find it very original, and Snape is very well characterized. I wonder what he will do when/if he remembers where he saw the knives before (the dream, right?) And six hours seem too little time! I wonder what will happen... Please update soon!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thank you, I appreciate the review and the rating, and I apologise for both the time it took to respond, and the time it's taking me to get the next chapter done.Yes, Snape did see the knives in the dream.
SOooo sensuous! I love!
“You’re supposed to use it for sex, not to drill a core sample through the tundra.” and “How would you like a sharp poke in the eye with my foot, Severus?” are the best lines ever. I am also really loving the exchanges between these three. Your dialogue is uproariously great at times, causing me to laugh aloud, especially the two examples above. Keep it up, I am loving it!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
The aggravation between these three characters seemed to work particularly well. In many ways, it wrote itself!
This is an impressively constructed, intriguing story! Excellent! I'm really enjoying your little hints and allusions!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks you very much for bother reading and reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and hope that you continue to do so.
You write beautifully. I am looking forward to their little adventure. And I can't wait until he saves the Handler. But I'm still worried about those other women who pop up every now and then. And what about this little girl...she's got to play a part in here somewhere. I look forward to more. Thanks for the update.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
They're all threads. Some go nowhere, and others make a pattern. But which is which?
Nice fight scene. don't know why, but they have been my favorite bits from this series so far.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
They were fun to write.
Usually I have no taste for OC's/Snape pairings, or for OC's all together. Consider yourself lucky that you've charmed me with a truly original character so far! *g* Seriously. This might be the first fic I've read in over two years involving an OC. Enjoying the mystery.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Then I hope I don't disappoint! Parr's not the most well-behaved OC and for that some don't like her. Thanks for taking a chance on my fic - it's greatly appreciated.
Wow, I never would have though of Folter as a main character, but she's coming in as one. How does she have info? I want to know!I can't wait to see what Snape can do now that he knows he's a seevy and the options in life are opening up. But I'm worried about those women that he's run into, Hagrid's "friend."Anyway, great job. I look forward to the next update.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
One of the few advantages of taking a terribly long time to write chapters is that the story has a chance to grow along its own pathways. Folter's character has proved to be quite an important one, which I hadn't anticipated. I'd like to think the story is better for her presence.Glad you're still reading!
I love this story!! You are a wonderful writer!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thank you very much. I'm glad you're enjoying it!
I'm so glad you updated. I needed a fix pretty bad and when I got on, your story was here to save me! I am exicited to see where this goes. I still have so many questions. For every answer you give, I find myself wondering more and more (in a good way). Keep the chapters coming!
this is scary!
Oh, the story continues...I always wish there were more to each chapter. I am still stumped on so many things. But you leave me quite intrigued. I look forward to another installment.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks for reviewing!I'm going to try and answer a few questions next chapter.
Thank u for the update, another puzzle to work over - just what has she done in untying the knot - has she tied another between them? love your story
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I appreciate the time you take to review.The next chapter will give you a few answers, but of course, not all!
O rly?I do wonder what that last bit was about!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Let us say an unintentional Side-along Eroticisation.
who's sycorax?this is fantastic fantastic FANTASTIC!!! i can't wait for more!! you just keep blowing my mind again and again and again!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
I'm glad you're still enjoying the story!Sycorax is the witch from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.
As convoluted as this story can get sometimes, and this chapter was one of the most convoluted, still I enjoy it. What an interesting chapter! I think this is finally a turning point in Snape's and Parr's relationship - perhaps they'll like and trust each other a little more now. But please, I hope something happens with Parr's Handler soon.
my god my god my god. I think I'm going to cry. this is fantastic. I mean, I mean, if this wasn't fanfiction, you should publish this. or maybe I'm just overly emotional. but I don't think so.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thank you. Alas, I've told my story in someone else's world, but without it, this story would never have been.
WHAT a chapter. I am almost speechless. The confrontation between Lupin and Snape in the dungeon was perfect, and as for Chara and Snape in the sodden, lightening-struck grounds - that was an exceptional chapter. Well done. More soon! Please! 
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks for such a lovely review! I hope to do a bit of writing on the next chapter this weekend, but often I can never predict when the time is right to do it. We'll see!
It's all starting to come together. I cannot wait to see what happens. You do a great job at keeping the tension high! I am addicted.I find this whole facinating. You've done a great job creating a whole new world out of JKR's existing one.I always love your updates. Keep them coming.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks! Should be another one along very soon.
THANKS FOR THE NEW CHAPTERand the "christmas spirit" joke is fantastic. and the art ones.ooooohh!!! this is POWERFUL. I love it. I absolutley love it. it's been a while since I read the earlier part of this fic, and I can't remember if it was all this powerful...but I do remember that it was fabulous and I cannot wait for more!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks for the review.To be honest, the earlier chapters were much lighter. The story has aquired a gravitas I hadn't really expected. I still try to keep the humour, though.
I have been devouring this story at every spare moment possible for the past three or four days. I would grab fifteen minutes in the car as my husband drove on my blackberry. I would stay up late at night, tucked in to bed and reading by the light of my screen. I even passed up movie-time with my family on Christmas, just to get in one or two more chapters. I feel a bit barren, now that I have run out of chapters. The pace you have set at revealing the story's secrets is maddening, but in a most pleasurable way. Often times I'd find my hands fisted into my hair, snarling at the screen with confusion, only to be slowly eased into enlightenment throughout the chapter, to the point that when I reached the end I'd laugh at myself for ever doubting you, for ever having thought you wouldn't supply me with the information I needed.
Your story - the type, the style, the prose - is a rare thing in the world of fanfiction. I've never encountered a nonprofessional piece that strings the reader along quite like yours. This maddening feeling I have reminds me of the months I read and reread Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It's deliciously agonizing! Now, all the more so, being as this is a Work In Progress. I don't know how to adequately express just how enthralled I am. I would pay good money for this story so that I might read it over and over, and give it a deserving spot within my library. There are still so many unanswered questions, and probably questions I have yet to think of asking. Do you plan on answering them? I do so hope, as nothing leaves so noxious an aftertaste as an ambiguous author with a story of this caliber.
It has been a joy, reading all that you have currently posted. Your vocabulary sometimes has be running for a dictionary, but you are never so verbose that I grow weary from thinning the reference pages. This is a mature, intelligent piece that I cannot praise highly enough. Your characterization and balance of humor and darkness is just right, leaving me guffawing at one turn before seamlessly quickening my spirit the next. I do so hope that I will one day see the conclusion of this magnificent story, as so often great pieces find themselves abandoned. I look forward to the road before us - it seems we have many miles to go before that final chapter is posted, and I eagerly anticipate every turn and bend in that long road.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
This is one of the longest and most complimentary reviews I've ever received - thank you so much!Yes, my beta often half-jokes that I'm very adept at stringing things out! She claims I'll be 80 and saying "Just one more chapter!"I try not to leave too much unanswered, and if it hasn't been answered, it's usually because I do so further on down the track, and that there's a reason for witholding the information. However, I'm always more than happy to answer questions people have, as long as I don't feel it gives away any important piece of plot. I did think about putting a thread on the TPP forum for just such use, but my story isn't that widely read so it seemed a touch extravagant. So if you have any questions you can always e-mail me, or attach them in a review - I'll try not to be too evasive. 
And there's no way I'm NOT finishing the story! It just takes me a long time to get the chapters out.With luck and the grace of my beta and validation queue, there'll be another chapter before the end of the year.My thanks once again.
New chapter!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!
Lovedit...especially the end, this just gets better and better =)
thanks for the update!!!!!!
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Sorry it took so very long! I'm hoping to have another chapter out before the end of the year.
Oh you have not disappointed me! This was a great chapter. I loved the first scene. My favorite line: "He vacillated as Parr started listing euphemisms for illegal forms of copulation and Snape’s involvement in them."I was laughing so hard.I am intrigued to see what happens once Snape's mind is out in the open. Even though he's decided upon doing the exercise, I don't know how he'll handle having her see everything as she trains him to put up his guard.I wonder how Lupin will react if he were to find out. I think he'd be a bit miffed since he considers Parr his territory.Thanks for updating! I had sorely missed your story. I look forward to future posts.
Response from Faraday (Author of Orion's Pointer)
Thanks for the review! I'm estimating there'll be another chapter after Xmas but before New Year. It's half-done at the moment, so taking into account writing the rest, my beta checking it, the Xmas break, and the validation queue...