Falling in Reverse

[snape]

Snape nodded his head slowly. He understood the reason why Shendeth wasn't just peppering him with questions at the moment. The boy needed time to adjust and come to terms with the truth. He leaned back in his chair and stretched out his long legs a bit. He had no idea what to say or do now. He was at a complete loss. He considered letting Shendeth go for a moment; however, as soon as that thought entered his head, he was asked to show his Dark Mark. He pursed his lips briefly before he gave a shrug.

"All right, but I have to warn you that there are a few scars on my arm as well..."

He felt nervous and awkward all over again at the admittance. He prayed that Shendeth would not question the scars. Severus unbuttoned his cuff and then rolled up his sleeve until it was well past his elbow. He placed his arm down on the table when he was done, exposing the Dark Mark that forever tainted him. It was a black skull with a snake protruding from the mouth. It was also a very obvious 'tattoo' -- no longer faded as it had once been in the past. The scars on his forearm ran lengthwise across his wrist and nearly went up to his elbow. They were old (some were older than the Dark Mark in fact), but they were still there. They were far too straight to be anything else but self-inflicted.

[Shendeth Potter]

As soon as Snape put his arm down on the table he leaned over just slightly to look. There it was, the infamous Dark Mark, the inky but at the same time very real twisted snake and skull. "Wicked." he said under his breath, hard to hear though not entirely impossible for the professor. It was the first thought that came into his head, meant in the cool way but with both uses of the word very applicable.

Shendeth did not completely exclaim so out loud because it was tainted by the scars. Of course he could see them, and knew what they were. Most of the time he scorned people that had them. He wasn't so weak as to sink so far, but that was a tiny bit hypocritical. He was walking a fine line to not have them on his own arms, more so than he would ever admit even to himself. As such he decided to ignore the scars and not say anything about them.

The Dark Mark was a different matter; he also ignored the fact that it was just as sensitive. Once he had had his fill of examining it he asked, "Does it hurt?" He knew it was branded into the Death Eaters' arms but not if it burned all the time. There was no concern or anything in the question, it was just wondering and he'd actually be even more awed if the answer was yes.

[snape]

Severus raised a brow. Wicked? Hardly. He chose not to comment though and so his worry for Shendeth only increased. He knew that the chances of his son eventually becoming a Death Eater were particularly high because not only was the boy in Slytherin (a house well-known for producing so-called Dark Wizards), but now there was family history to worry about too.

"No, not usually. Of course it was very painful when it happened. It's not like a tattoo, Shendeth. They didn't take a needle and ink this Mark onto my skin. They branded me with it as one would brand a stock animal like a cow... Only it's more Magical in nature so it's not exactly a burn either... It does hurt when the Dark Lord decides to Call us. It also kind of glows and writhes as well. The pain gets worse the longer you ignore a Call to the point where you just want to tear off your own arm."

[Shendeth Potter]

Shendeth listened with delightedly malevolent interest. Wicked. Yes, in all sensibility and seriousness that was terrible. A horrifying truth revealing just how twisted the Death Eaters were, and something he should never wish to endure the torture of going through. The thing was he didn't have to, not at the present time anyway, so it could be a mere dark fascination. What an awful thought, pain like that. And that was exactly what made it sickeningly interesting in his mind.

However, he showed neither idea, but simply listened and nodded. "Oh.. I see." He could think of nothing else appropriate for responding to that. It also seemed he had run out of questions about the Dark Mark. The professor's talk had been in sufficient detail to answer everything. He had nothing else to ask either; right now he was just taking it all in. So he leaned back into the chair a little, showing that Snape could have a chance to choose the subject if he wanted to continue talking.

[snape]

"Indeed..."

He really had nothing else to say. Snape rolled down his sleeve, effectively covering the Dark Mark from view once again. He leaned back in his chair and frowned for a moment. Something about Shendeth really bothered him, but he wasn't sure what... The Potions Master therefore decided to keep the boy in his office for as long as he could until he could figure things out. Being a Professor did have some advantages and he was Head of Slytherin as well, which meant that he had a little more privileges when it came to the students from his house. He tilted his head somewhat as he tried to pick a subject to talk about. In the end he decided to play it safe. He knew next to nothing about his own son, after all.

"So... Tell me a little bit about yourself. I don't actively watch every Slytherin that I have. How's school going for you? What's your favorite subject?"

[Shendeth Potter]

At least that was something fairly easy to talk honestly about. Shendeth had no objection to the change of subject; he was mostly an introvert but maybe such talk could help, who knows. For an answer, school seemed to be one of the few things that was steady and problem-free. Sure he was far from a perfect student, and had quite the fair share of detentions, but he was smart and had the grades to prove it. In fact he probably could have made a decent Ravenclaw if he had wanted to.

Not that he ever put any effort into school. He got homework done on time and such, but just barely; shall we say a lazy procrastinator? Maybe he was too smart, or remembered things well enough to not have to do a whole lot of studying. It wasn't that he really hated school, well of course he hated homework, who doesn't, but the only issue he took with it was that it was simply boring.

Some classes were better than others though, so he did have an answer for the second question. His favorite class really was Potions; if he had hated it he would have had no problem saying so. Though it was a close tie. Herbology was not a subject ever associated with Slytherin, but the strangeness of that choice was perfectly fine; everyone knew Shendeth was a strange kid. As for the rest of the classes, they were alright too. The only one he had really never liked was Defense Against the Dark Arts, that was surely least favorite, but for no particular reason. If only it was just the Dark Arts, then that would change.

Shendeth shrugged a little. After all the talking the professor had done he should give a thorough answer and say all of this that came to mind. "School's going fine, actually. I'm doing good.. it's as boring as ever. My favorite class is well Potions, but I like Herbology too. They're all okay really, though I've never liked Defense Against the Dark Arts." Wasn't struggling at all or anything worth talking of, yeah it was supposed to be an important class, but he just didn't like it. Heh.

[snape]

Severus nodded his head several times as he listened to Shendeth speak. He felt a flash of pride that the Slytherin teen was doing so well in school. Of course he knew that his son was good at Potions, but had not known that Potions was the boy's favorite class. He raised an eyebrow at the last sentence though. He could understand why some students weren't that impressed with Defense Against the Dark Arts... There had been a different Professor in that position for the past few decades. (Ever since the Dark Lord cursed it). There was no way they could learn everything there was to know when they didn't even have the same teacher year after year...

"Herbology and Potions have a lot in common so it's not unusual that you like both. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that Longbottom isn't very good with Potions considering his skill in Herbology... Or so Madame Sprout has told me." He tilted his head somewhat. "As for Defense Against the Dark Arts... that class is a joke half the time. There hasn't been a very good Professor there in a long time. Except for Lupin maybe, even though he did backtrack a little bit."

Snape figured that if he actually wanted a relationship with Shendeth - as more than a Teacher/Student one so they could be a Father/Son one - then he would have to open himself up again. However, he didn't necessarily like the idea. Shendeth wasn't the problem though. It was the Potion Master's own insecurities that were coming into play because everyone he let into this selective niche past his normal shields of Occlumency always ended up leaving him somehow or betraying him. It was difficult for him to trust others nowadays...

"What else do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?"

[Shendeth Potter]

Shendeth listened and nodded a little in turn as the professor spoke. He couldn't help smirk a little bit at the mention of Neville. Naturally they were rivals; everything about his classmate just screamed to be picked on. The changing Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers weren't the full reason why he didn't like it but that was true. He had seen Professor Lupin a few times before then of course, since the werewolf was a good friend of his dad's, er, no stepdad's, but given things between them that did not help any.

This year's teacher was looking to be the best so far in his opinion. "Yeah. I like Professor Moody better.." Especially after the first class.

Now, that was a question he had never liked. Mostly because Shendeth wasn't someone who had a character-defining interest. He had not found any one particular, strong passion. At least none that he was going to say. Looking up and experimenting with Dark magic was a big one. Picking on the few first years who somehow managed to be even shorter than him and generally being up to no good with his friends wasn't much of something to tell. Watching TV and playing video games at his Muggle friends houses during the summer was definitely something he liked to do but apparently that was frowned upon and an anti-hobby. And he wouldn't admit it to anyone magical.

So yeah, no. "Not really.." That was an area a better person would say needed working on. Definitely. Though at least he wasn't a real 'bad kid' in that he didn't get into fights. Why fight when you can run?

In defense there wasn't a whole lot to do living at school. "I play Quidditch sometimes." he said with a bit of a shrug. That seemed to be a common response to that question. He only did it for fun and wasn't a nut like Harry or a jock at all. But it was true. Hence their last meeting outside of class in the hospital wing.