Amortentia Dolorosa

Opening the door to the Leaky Cauldron, the young man was rather out of breath and looking around frantically, searching every dark corners with his eyes. One hand reached up to pull at the hair behind his ear, biting his bottom lip in worry as he smoothed out his Apprentice Healer robes.

"Excuse me? Has anyone seen or heard of someone by the name of Christobal Nightrain? He's about ye tall," raises left hand to about 6' 1", "and has black hair and blue eyes. he should be wearing grey robes..."

It was the night before he had to catch the Express, back to school, and Severus had come to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, because his mother wasn't allowed out in public, this week, and his father was too drunk to do anything useful. Sure, he could've floo'd Lucius, but that would've meant admitting something was wrong. So, instead, he leaned over his bowl of soup, in the corner of the tavern, absolutely certain that Lucky had slipped him the galleon with which he'd paid for it, while he wasn't looking. Galleons weren't common fare, for his pockets.

He looked up, with a start, as the flustered medi-wizard burst in, shouting about a missing person. He thought he might've seen a man fitting that description, headed upstairs, but it really wasn't his concern, either way. Merlin only knew the whole story, here.

But, all the same, the man did look more concerned, than anything. Severus cocked his chin at the gent, to get his attention, and quietly pointed up, before returning to his soup.

Noticing the youth making a sign at him and then pointing towards the stairs, Deanathaniel gave a relieved smile and ran to his only possible clue as to where his brother could have gone to that night. At least someone saw him... he thought with a little smile.

It was a few minutes later that he came back down, shoulders slumped and letting out a resigned sigh that he would probably be picking up Christobal tomorrow from either the Muggle police department or from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad holding cells for bad behavior in public.

He went to the youth and gave a tired smile. “He wasn’t there, but thanks for the help anyways.” With that said he left the youth that seemed to want to stay undisturbed, he went to sulk at the bar and ordered a full bottle of Firewhiskey with a pout on his face.

Severus shrugged at the man's comment and watched him retreat to the bar. It was, most distinctly, not his problem.

He'd have to remember to thank Lucky -- or maybe just to yell about it, lest he encourage young Mr. Malfoy to do it again. The soup was better than anything cooked in his home in the last three years, not that he'd ever say such a thing aloud.

But, still, he watched the stranger drink firewhiskey and sulk... It was amazing what a little bit of drama could do to a person's momentary consequence.

After having drunk a full glass of his whiskey, he refilled his glass and sighed once more, this time to relieve himself from the frustration of his long day and the fact his brother was missing yet again, he turned on his seat and took in his surrounding more slowly, a frown marring his brow as he took an actual notice of the youth whom had tried to help him.

Ordering a plate with a few slices from a roast and mashes potatoes, he took his bottle once the food had arrived and moved over to the young man's table, putting the plate besides his bowl of soup.

"You know, last I checked, gals tend to like a man with some meat over his bones. And if you're good enough, I'll even let you have a glass or two from this fine Firewhiskey," he encouraged with a small smile and wagging his right brow.

"If it is'na Mad Murphy's, it's piss in a bottle," Severus commented, before wrestling his accent back out of Ballycastle, where he'd spent most of the summer. "And I have a girl, not that it's any of yours."

He might've been lying about the girl. Lily was pretty pissed at him, still, but he supposed in some sick way that Roddy in a dress might count. Not that he was ever going to say anything of the sort. Ever. Because... well ... eww. No.

"And what sort of man sits down in the midst of another man's dinner, without so much as an introduction? Do you even have a mother, or were you raised by bears?" Severus raised an eyebrow over one dead eye. His face was level and cautiously blank as he stared boringly at the young stranger. After a summer with two of the brashest purebloods he knew, his manners were taking a turn for the proud and pointed.

He smiled a bit a the youth, liking his bite. "So long as it's not actual piss, I'm fine with anything. And last I checked, so we under aged youngs, though it is true that some have been raised to appreciate more refined brands," he mussed as he looked at the ceiling, frowning at what seemed to be a white stain that was unidentifiable.

He looked back down into the grey eyes and tilted his head to the side. "As for my mother...she was rather too busy with my brother to care much about raising me, though I admit it was rash of me to seat myself so." Denathaniel stood at those words and gave a formal bow. "I am Denathaniel Nightrain, Healer in training, at your survice. Now be a good boy and eat that meat, I'm sure your girl will enjoy being lifted without worrying breaking you into two, even if she is as light as a feather," he ended with a smirk and sitting back down to sip at his glass.

"Severus Snape, potions apprentice." He remained still as stone. "And I find your insistent charity both insulting and irrequisite. I am not some flimsy waif in need of assistance. I am a perfectly serviceable wizard."

He tilted the bowl to get the last spoon of soup. "Besides which, it's my mind that interests my interest. I have no use for a lady less the intellectual than myself, and she has no use for dumb brutes who haven't evolved far enough to use with precision what's granted by the blood."

He looked faintly smug, as he ate the last of the soup. He was a wizard in a world in which blood meant nearly everything, but power and control meant so much more, and what he lacked in the first, he strove to make up in the second two.

"But, of course, you're a healer. You're all like this, aren't you?"

"Of course we are, a Healer's first duty is to see to other's health, the second is to be meddlesome. If ever you see a Healer not asking about someone's less than healthy stature, than they are not made for the duty and should be quartered."

Denathaniel tilted his head to the side. "Potions apprentice? Why that's quite a large load young Mr. Snape; no wonder you cherish intelligence above brute force, but let me remind you that the body's need to eat allows the mind to concentrate purely on its task rather than its shell's condition. I also enjoy a good battle of wits, be poor as I am at it, but that does not mean an argument can't end with the fists and one must be able to handle a hit were it to come."

He poured a glass to Severus, not caring if the youth drank it or not. "And ever more, in potions, one must be able to be healthy enough to endure hours upon hours stuck in a room with only company of a cauldron, so the one should have plenty of reserves on themselves..." He left it hanging, just smiling once more at the other apprentice.

"Do not mistake me. I eat quite well. It is merely the work I do which keeps me so thin..." Severus let one corner of his mouth twist, in an antagonistic smirk. "Thirty-three percent of the body's resources, as I recall, feed the brain -- more if a man does heavy thinking. The stomach does not always hold enough to fuel such determination."

He did pick up the shot, however. "However, since it is my intention to sleep, this evening, rather than to ... indulge the latest goblin of my intellect, I will take you up on the piss-whiskey. I'll need something to make sure I stay down, and sleeping potions always leave me listless."

There was a brief pause as he drank and lost himself in a thought. "You said you were looking for a man named Nightrain, named yourself the same, and said you had a brother. Is it this brother you are so concerned with finding?"

Denathaniel sat back and gulped down the rest in his glass before pouring another for himself, keeping a close eyes on the youth's drink level also, ready to fill it back up. "Yes, forced sleep do tend to be more harmful than good at times...and you are indeed right, young Mr. Snape. My brother is the one I was seeking...though I'll not be seeing shadow nor hair this evening."

Seeing Severus was not touching the roast, he stole one piece, being careful not to touch the rest of the food in case the youth did end some at one point in their conversation. He knew how some people were about their food being touched by others and was always careful not to touch what he wasn't intended to eat.

"And my concern finds its self turn to those within the presence of my brother rather than my brother himself. I need not even trust that he will be sound and safe...if not held up in a cell in some law enforcing establishment. Makes me wonder if I shouldn't just leave him there to stew for a few days..." he mumbled before he sighed.

"I've only been close to one person who wasn't witted enough to stay out of gaol. And he never learned any better, whether he did his time or not," Severus offered. "Although if your brother hasn't done any, yet, it might be time he did. Just to put the image properly into his head."

Severus killed the glass of firewhiskey, with barely a grimace -- the result of having spent the better part of a summer utterly shitfaced.

Denathaniel happily refilled the glass, knowing his intuition about the youth being used to alcohol was proven right. "Oh, no worries about my brother; he's been in them so often back in our birthtown that he had a cell with his name on it. Even managed to dragged me in with him a few times too, bloody bastard he is." But his fond smile made it clear he held no hard feelings for those 'mishaps'.

"Actually, that's one of the reason why I left home and came here, not to mention that St-Mungo's apprenticeship is one of the bests. Couldn't well leave Chris back home to lord over my parents, no matter how much they irritate me. How 'bout you? Got sibblings to ruin your happily made plans?"

"Your brother sounds like a dear friend of mine, but with a good deal less sense," Severus commented, lifting the glass and examining the amber liquid in it. "You know, one might think you are trying to get me drunk, for some unfathomable reason."

He raised an eyebrow, inquisitively, and levelled an amused gaze at Denathaniel, for a long moment. But it was only a moment. He sipped at the glass.

"I am -- most thankfully, I am certain -- an only child." He swirled the glass, gazing into it. "It suits me well."

He snorted in amusement. "If your friend is anything like my brother, I'd run for the hills were I you, and be sure to use slippery curses on the ground you've covered."

Denathaniel looked at his watch and let out a groan, passing his fingers in his hair, which stood up at odd ends. "As for getting you drunk young Mr. Snape, if it were my intentions the bottle would be between us and not within only my reach, where I can control your intake of alcohol. And I've made it my personal policy to never seduce anyone who is under the effect of any substances, so you do not have worry about your virtues," he said with a teasing smile, though he did let his eyes take in Severus fully once more, even if the table proved to be a considerable obstacle.

"How I wish to have been an only child...or at least have one more sibling along with me. Maybe I wouldn't have had to suffer through my brother's insane phases all alone..." He let out another sigh and stood up. taking the rest of the bottle with him. "And if you will please excuse me, young M. Snape, I must leave for I have this bottle to finish and I must somehow be freshly rested for another trying task of being an apprentis...not to mention being made to fill in during the weekend. Ah, how I can only hope to pass these next few years without being the one to put fellows Healers into the beds I tend the patients to!"

Severus raised an eyebrow, but then, one did have to know Roddy to appreciate him, he supposed.

"My virtue, Mr. Nightrain, has never been and will never become a point of question." The words spilled out, smoothly, chased by an intentionally blank expression. "May the evening serve you well, and fortune favour your endeavours."

He set the half-full glass on the table, beside the plate of meat, and stood. With a stiff bow, he headed for the stairs.

Amused by the youth's offended attitide, Denathaniel still called out to him. "If ever you need someone to talk to or simply to look over for any health issues, you can send for me. Not questions asked. Good evening, Mr. Snape."

He left, taking a long pull at the bottle and hoping his night would not be spent worrying over his brother's misbehaving nature.