Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2013 21:01:05 GMT -8
Sleep was a rarity for Severus these days, it seemed. Night after night, he relentlessly poured over books and practiced magic- potions, charms, wordless magic, forbidden spells. In fact, Sev had even taken to inventing a few particularly nasty curses himself. There was really an exceedingly simple justification for his dedication, his commitment to knowledge and skill.
Well, Severus learned to stay alive, of course. His unquenchable thirst for wisdom and information, intelligence and detail, stemmed from his most basic of survival instincts. There was a war brewing, after all, was there not? Everyone needed a strategy, a method of survival- an ace up there sleeves. Sev found himself in the Library once more on that cold, February morning. The dawn had yet to begin, scattered lanterns still casting dim ghastly lights down upon his workbench, shadows jumping on the wall with every miniscule flick of the flame. Though the bitter cold chilled his very bones, the Slytherin lad never even bothered to produce a heating charm throughout the night. Life in the dungeons quite adjusted one to the dwindling temperatures of the Scottish winter tundra.
The weight of the tattered feather quill in his hands must have tripled throughout the night, or perhaps his body was finally showing signs of exhaustion. It must have been so, for his eyes were heavy and threatened to shut without a moments notice. He had been working on school work, as it so happened, though he more frequently studied his own personal projects. An essay for one of his only challenging classes, Ancient Runes- a pointless lesson, to be perfectly earnest. Nevertheless, it was a requirement, and Severus generally didn't mind the additional school work. Though he had friends and a "social circle", of sorts, Sev had always preferred the company of silence.
As the first rays of morning began to cascade over the smooth oak windowsill beside him, the echo of footsteps reverberated throughout the empty chamber. Rubbing his eyes as he blinked toward the barely visible dawn horizon, Severus wondered who would might be wandering around the library at such an impossible hour. With sharp, observant eyes keen for any mischief, he looked about the spacious athenaeum in an attempt to locate the intruder.
