He could go back to sleep, and he should really do so, considering what would most probably happen come morning, but it urked him that he still had no idea just where he was.
Though the place did feel strangely familiar...
Alright, then. Time to explore a little. Not to much, and he didn't want to hit any traps if he could help it, but he could sort of walk around the "residential area" without causing problems.
He hoped.
Once a Ravenclaw, always a Ravenclaw.
Two floors down and one sideways, Kuroo Hazama was beginning to wonder if perhaps this hadn't been one of the most brilliant ideas he'd had. It would be quite embarassing if Snape had to come get him...
And that odd sense of familiarity was actually getting stronger. Odd.
And here...At last, there seemed to be something. A doorway, and...
Something...Medical? It almost felt like some casual version of the life support spells used in some of the larger Magical hospitals...
...Hmmm?
"...What in the world are you doing there? Come in, boy."
Kuroo blinked. And blinked again.
The elderly man on the bed blinked as well. There was a muted rainbow of colors passing through him and around the bed. Some kind of medical spell, just as he'd thought...
"...Oh. Who're you? ...No, wait a minute, you look a bit..."
Alright, so he was a muggle, though there were some faint magical traces...Perhaps a squib? Not that many supposed muggles didn't have at least a dribble of magic, of course, but...
Grey and white hair, brown eyes...Something about the round glasses, though...
And then it all came together.
"--Hey, I remember ya! Hazama, right? One of the few so-called "friends" of that nutter idiot son of mine that I ever met face to face, if I remember right. You, and that red-haired girl, though I don't know if she was a friend or not."
Ew. Of all the things to remember.
"...Long time no see, Mr Snape. Sir."
The man smiled toothily. Kuroo sighed.
Just what did Snape think he was doing, anyhow?
"...Oh, and there was that blonde girl with the weird pigtails, what's her name? Pretty kid, though. ...What are you doing here, boy?"
"I could ask the same of you, sir."
"Oh, you mind your p's and q's--At least sometimes. Eileen liked that about you, you know. She thought some of it might rub off on that stupid son of mine--ours-- sometimes. Fat chance, but that was Eileen... Well anyhow, that plumb idiot son of mine just turned up around a week ago and kidnapped me out of that stupid nursing home m' other brats stuck me into. Said he was paying for most of it anyhow, though that was the first time I'd heard that..."
The old man stopped and chewed his lip.
"What the fuck is he mixed up in now, anyway, damnit? I'd thought he'd gone on the wagon and up the straight and narrow, being a schoolteacher and all, even if it was one of those schools... My son the schoolteacher. Heh. I thought it was too good to be true..."
"It..."
Kuroo groaned. What to do, what to say?
"Have you talked to...anybody else, after coming here?"
"...Nope. Nada. They're 5 or 6 Severus's running around all the time, though..."
Well, yes. That must be...disconcerting...
"And the, whatchacallit, House-elf things. But they don't talk much."
Kuroo made up his mind. The old man needed to be told something, after all.
"Your son and his--boss, plus others, have been fighting a very nasty criminal and his cronies for a while now. Things have come to a broil, so to speak, and he was afraid you might get some flack flying your way, I suppose. Especially if he was paying for your nursing home and some such--they might have traced the money trail, or something."
That ought to be generic enough, he supposed...
"...And I'm a old man who can't even go to the bathroom properly by myself, so why not, huh? ...That stupid brat. Eileen used to worry about him, you know. Probably afraid he'd take one of my rifles and try to shoot up that school of his, or something. ...Me, I was worried about--other stuff."
The old man stopped, and sighed.
"What is this stuff, anyhow? He said it'll make me feel better probably, but..."
"...Some kind of spell to help your organs function, I think. It should be all right."
"...Oh. He does know what he's doing, then?"
"It seems like it, sir."
"Good. ...He got good grades in school, you know. The normal one, and that one."
Schoolwork had never been the problem with Severus Snape, true.
"...You should try to get some sleep, sir. I'll try to come again."
If he could convince Snape to let him examine his father properly, that is.
"All right. You be careful, now."
"...I will. Good night."
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(Posted Sun, 04 Sep 2005 08:56)
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