Welcome

Cassie peered around the corners of the room, her arms laden full of random bottles filled with the basic ingredients for a potion's class. Around her arm she'd draped her standard size 2 pewter cauldron and a basket of what looked like normal flowers. Well, they were, but she'd been doing quite a bit more reading than usual lately and had nearly never slept so that she could continue to read more, and she thought that she'd found what she wanted.

The Dark Lord was not the usual self that made her want to glomp his leg in glee. He didn't seem to take the same amount of pleasure in describing a torture, and beyond their first pseudo-meeting where he'd shown her the library, he'd not spoken a word in her hearing beyond what he had to in class. The brooding coldness to him wasn't as much fun as his usual self, and she'd been flipping through one of her course books when she'd gotten an idea. Her adopted mother had always made her tea when she was down in the dumps, and although it didn't solve a problem it made her in a better state of mind to contend with it.

The girls in the tower were sick of her playing around with her concoction, so they had sent her packing earlier that evening. No matter. The trophy room was always unlocked and she could witch whatever else she needed without being disturbed. Hopefully.

She put a protective covering on the floor and pointed her wand, whispering incendio to allow purpleish flames to sprout from her wand and remain in place. Giving a satisfied nod, she placed the cauldron above the flames and made sure her makeshift tripod was stable to keep the darned thing hovering above them and not within them, and then she went back to her notebook. It was covered in scrawled writing, cramped to conserve space on the page, and it detailed the various plants that she had.

She removed a black-eyed susan plant and eyed it. "Encouragement," she hummed to herself. "I suppose that's something anyone might want when they're down. But temper it with lavender, just in case. After all, a little bit of distrust never hurt anyone. Geranium's are for comfort, but they smell a little funny and aren't that good to the taste. Peonies might be better, although what healing needs to be done isn't exactly obvious..."

Her eyes returned to the now simmering cauldron and the mixture inside. She'd already used most of the conventional wizarding potion ingredients in that, and it was ok, but it needed something more. After all, black beetle eyes and pickled lizard's hearts weren't what she thought of when she called to mind a... balm of the soul. A peace of heart. So she was mixing some herbology in to try to find a happy medium between fake happiness (which was what most of these flowers would give) and just serenity that the potion had to offer.

Giving a sigh, she poked at the flowers some more, looking somewhat despondent.

Humming very softly, the younger Lestrange boy wandered down the hallway, choosing to spend his free time indoors, which was very rare. Normally he would be outside flying, but right now he couldn't. He had broken his wrist while in the Forbidden Forest, catching himself on a particularly nasty fall, which, he had to admit, was caused by his own stupidity. Oh well. He'd healed it nearly all the way, but he wanted to give the magic a day or two to set in before resuming normal work with that hand. Unfortunately, that included flying. He would have gone to the hospital wing, but he wasn't supposed to be in the Forest, and he wasn't willing to admit that he had indeed been there, because that would get him in trouble, reflect badly on his family, etc. It didn't help any that his mother taught here, and hence was close at hand for lectures...

So he was taking it easy for the day, which, unfortunately, was nearly synonymous with being bored. Wandering the hallways was a desperate, last-ditch attempt to find something to do or someone to talk to... and so far, it wasn't going so well. Most people were very busy, either that or he didn't particularly want to speak to them at the moment. For being a somewhat outgoing and popular person... there were very few interesting people out today. So he gave up on that and decided to do the very last thing he could think of.... go to the trophy room. Sure, it wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, but there were some things to look at, and it was always amusing to look back at history tied to him... awards the Slytherin Quidditch team won, that his mother personally won, it was just interesting... at least it was better than being bored out of his mind.

Directing his steps towards the trophy room, he reflected that he had to get his Care of Magical Creatures essay done... he'd already finished Potions, Herbology, and Transfigurations for the day, but he still had to finish that. His grades dropping in one class was simply not acceptable, especially those classes taught by the Dark Lord and Lady... Khaos had always tried his hardest not to get the attention of them, the Lord, especially. They were both unsettling, and to be honest, he didn't like either one. The Dark Lord was fearsome, the Lady... too charming, too sweet and personable. There was just something that he didn't trust about her, but then again he didn't really trust anybody.

Stepping into the Trophy Room, he didn't immediately notice that he wasn't alone, glancing up and to the side at the Hogwarts Shield which adorned the wall. A real-life version of that which was the school crest. Bringing his eyes back down, he realized that there was a person on the other side of a glass display case, who apparently hadn't heard his footsteps. That wasn't particularly surprising, actually, since he had gone to a lot of effort to learn how to walk quietly in hard-soled shoes... it helped when one had a twin. Peering over the case, his eyes swept left, then right, taking in the situation. Apparently she was trying to brew a potion... and it wasn't going well, judging by the look on her face. Leaning an elbow on the case, he rested his head on his arm, still peering over it at her. "What are you doing?" He couldn't resist asking, it was just interesting. His eyes roamed her ingredients and he began to piece together what the purpose of the potion was as he waited for an answer.

Cassandra was just digging down at the bottom of her basket when a voice startled her enough that she jumped a couple of feet into the air from her seated position. She gave a soft squeak of surprise when her rear connected with the ground, but managed to keep herself contained to a small space so she'd upset the fewest amounts of ingredients as possible and didn't come anywhere near the cauldron. Which only made the fall smart a bit worse, but her careful hours of work hadn't been wasted.

Cassie closed her eyes and counted backwards slowly from twenty so that her glare towards the visitor was only slightly baleful. "I'm trying to avoid the nitwits in my dorm that refuse to have a fire in their room for some reason. Saying I can't control it simply because they can't control theirs..." Muttering similar thoughts under her breath, she carefully re-arranged the piles that were already pristine in order to give herself something to do.

As she worked she watched the older boy that had spoken to her, cataloging him as she did everyone else. People in Gryffindor, it seemed, she'd hardly gotten a chance to talk to, since she seemed to draw Slytherins to her like a magnet. While he did not fit that description, he did seem to be in his later years in Hogwarts, and since the youngest person that she'd talked to here outside of her class was a fourth year, and she indulged in a moment's amusement regarding that. She'd been so worried that the older students would not want to associate with a first year, but she seemed to be a magnet for them, too.

Giving a sigh, she looked up at him again and kept her tone frank, not impolite but not supplicatory. "I'm sorry, don't mean to be rude, but you frightened me. I can normally hear people coming... anyway. I'm trying to modify the Serenity Potion so it works better. For what I want it to be doing, anyway." She worried at her lower lip and ran her finger lightly over the stalks of a couple of the flowers, contemplating them. "But I'm not that big of a study in Herbology, and I don't want to overdo it or make something that will turn someone into a pansy."

He hadn’t meant to startle her, but that is precisely what had happened, and he felt three quarters of the way amused, one eighth of the way remorseful, and one eighth of the way absolutely unrepentant. Arching a brow at her statements, he realized that she was quite angry… and frustrated. Khaos came around the display case slowly, then squatted, peering at the ingredients and the cauldron as she spoke again. Interesting… a modification of a Serenity Potion? He wondered what she was wanting something like that for, but didn’t figure it was any business of his own at the moment.

“Oh, it’s me who owes you an apology. I didn’t mean to frighten you, and I am terribly sorry. There aren’t many people who hear me coming… it’s a side effect of having worked so hard to be able to sneak up on a brother.” He paused, glancing over her ingredients. “Do you want help? I’m a fair hand at Potions and Herbology… and I’ve worked with modification before.” He gave her a charming smile, not willing to take a seat until he had been bade to do so… but that all depended on whether she wanted his help or not. He could help her, he knew it, already his mind was tinkering with ingredients, increasing some, decreasing others, shifting orders… it would take a while for this to work, but he could do it.

Laurent and he had done things like this many times before, changing spells, potions, anything to make it more useful… it was a hobby, you could say. It would take Khaos longer to do such a thing without Laurent sine the two twins played off of each other perfectly, knowing what the other was going to say before he said it, making improvements and finishing each other’s sentences to the point that it seemed they were one mind running in two bodies instead of two separate people. This reminded him… “I’m sorry, I seem to have forgotten my manners yet again… I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Khaos Lestrange.” He said this with a charming smile, extending his hand to her as an invitation for a shake or a kiss on the back, depending on how she took it. Normally he wasn’t one for formality, but seeing the social faux pas he had already committed, perhaps he ought to show a bit of regard for the rules of Pureblood society… after all, he didn’t want it getting back to his mum that he had been less than a Pureblood gentleman.

Shrugging away his apology delicately, the picture of a pureblood lady, she placed her hand in his, the back raised slightly so it would be easier for him to kiss it. The gesture mollified her and soothed whatever tiresome ire she'd been caught up in over her startlement. A handshake might have done the trick, too, but she doubted it. Opened up too many possibilities for him to be a chauvenistic bastard, which would make her want to tear something vital out of him. Not the best way to make friends.

"Cassandra Stone... Crouch. Both, I guess, but I don't know which one I want to use more." Cursing herself for being a thrice fool, she sighed and worried at her lower lip, examining the ingredients she had before her again. "I don't believe a bit of help would be unwelcome. I have an idea of where I want to start, but I'm not sure how well it will work and don't really want to experiment too much. There's only so much I can test this thing in one day before the results start getting muddled and I'm not sure which potion did what."

She picked up a couple of sage leaves and ran them through her fingers thoughtfully but did not mention yet what she had been considering, curious as to what he would suggest. "Most of what I've been looking at is too strong, I think. Like I said, I don't want to change the personality or make the behaviour any different, the way the original potion sort of does, I just want... what's that quaint little muggle book title? Chicken soup for the soul."

Khaos took the hand that was offered, bowing over it where he sat, brushing a gentle kiss over her knuckles as any other gentleman would do before letting her hand go. The genteel gesture appeared to quiet her temper somewhat, which, he had to admit, had been a partial goal. He hadn't intended to vex her, nor to surprise her, but he had, and thus he owed her an apology, which seemed to be well received. "Cassandra Stone... Crouch. Both, I guess, but I don't know which one I want to use more." His eyebrows shot up, looking her over with greater interest now. Crouch, hmm? Which one, which one? Bartemius was the only one who had ever married, and was known to have children, but her additude seemed to aim more towards Alastair... and having children outside of wedlock wasn't exactly unheard of. Hmm. And she wasn't sure which name she wanted to use more? That was very interesting, a line of conversation which was more than worth pursuing, and he would do so... gently. If he was good about it, she wouldn't even know he was prying. In the back of his mind, he admonished himself for wanting to stick his nose where it shouldn't be, but the majority of him was interested in doing just that... and seeing if there was something he could do to help her out. Yes, despite the fact that he didn't know her so well, it was obvious that something was bothering her, and he wanted to help. The pain of others was something that always got to him a bit more than he felt it should, but what harm would it do to simply help out a little? "I don't believe a bit of help would be unwelcome. I have an idea of where I want to start, but I'm not sure how well it will work and I don't really want to experiment too much. There's only so much I can test this thing in one day before the results start getting muddled and I'm not sure what potion did what." Ah... that was what writing down the results of your potions was for, what taking copious notes was for. Seeing as she was a Ravenclaw, he felt that she ought to know such a thing very well, even if she was only a first year, but he chose not to comment. Perhaps he would casually bring up the idea later. The Gryffindor's attention dropped to the potion ingredients again and he studied them with interest, even as he listened. "Most of what I've been looking at is too strong, I think. Like I said, I don't want to change the personality or make the behaviour any different, the way the original potion sort of does, I just want... what's that quaint little muggle book title? Chicken soup for the soul." It actually took Khaos a moment to get that analogy, not having been raised to know very much about Muggle culture. He racked his brain though, and remembered. Chicken soup... famous for healing properties, though, in truth, there was nothing about it that was healing. It was all in the mind.

"So... something like a placebo effect, medically speaking... and yet comforting," he commented, eyeing the ingredients which all seemed tailored towards something like that purpose. Considering, he let his hand fall, finger trailing through a small pile of mint leaves. "That might be difficult... what one person finds comforting, another may not. Chicken soup, as you put it, would be an overall sort of thing... it may be that simple tea might be the best thing for what you're suggesting, as well as a simple potion for headaches," he said with a half-teasing, half-serious smile, then added, "But I can see what you're trying to do. Lavender generally eases the mind, perhaps you ought to mix that with mint... the lavender makes people kind of muzzy in the head, and mint clears that muzziness... but the relaxation of the lavender would still remain." It had been a while since he had tinkered with potions, the last time being an effort to make an opposite version of Felix Feliciatus... he'd been feeling particularly vengeful that day, but he had hope that what he had made worked, after a manner of speaking, since he had instinctually grabbed precisely the ingredient to blow the entire thing up... and he'd had the worst rash of bad luck that he'd ever had in his entire life for about a week afterwards. "If you're tailoring this toward a particular person, perhaps it would be easier... if you find out what is particularly comforting towards them, you understand?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly as his lit up with interest and she had to force herself not to lose her temper again. After all, a little speculation was to be expected after she'd made such an open-ended statement. But he'd surprised her, and her still-flustered mind had simply allowed her mouth to blurt before the thoughts could catch up with it. Although, to be sure, her confuscion was understandable, she didn't need to go blabbing it out to any wandering soul/ bleeding heart that would stand still long enough to listen. The very thought that she might need a random break down session with someone (preferably Hali, although the way she was going, it could very well end up being whichever person was closest) in order to return to normal was rather sickening in and of itself.

Cassandra pulled her thoughts away from that distasteful line and focused on what he was telling her about mint and lavender, nodding thoughtfully. Her teeth worried at her lower lip as she considered his last comment, as well. It wasn't quite a question as to who she was making this for, but it was as close as a pureblood gentleman would get without being forced to 'be rude' by pointing out the obvious. Nodding absently, she picked up a sprig of mint leaves and examined them as though she had never seen them before, giving herself a little time to explain without telling him outright. The last thing she needed right now was to be laughed at for making a calming potion for the Dark Lord.

There was a slight pause before she spoke. "I'm not exactly sure what he'd find comforting. I was thinking a little of the lavender, myself, since it's calming but the herb itself can also signify distrust... depending on the person. But... I don't think he needs any more of that in his life right now. I don't want to remove it entirely by making him go all happy-go-lucky chipper about life and people in general, because that'd do more harm than help..." Cassandra was not entirely certain what was troubling her Lord, but if he had complete faith in everyone, he wouldn't be able to defend himself from traitors or Order/Talon members in disguise or whatever else dared try his power. Nothing so petty could endanger him, not while she could help it.

"The idea of tea and headache medicine was one I considered... but I doubt it would do anything for him for very long. I don't want the effects to be fleeting... but I was going more for a distillation rather than something goopy. I personally always prefer to drink my potions as though they were tea rather than medicine... if it tastes good and is a good consistency, then you want to drink it even if it only helps a little. And since the effect is, as you put it, a placebo, it isn't going to be a fix-all solution to anything... it just... might make him better able to deal with it all enough to fix it better than he would normally. If you know what I mean."

She sighed internally and put the mint down, idly stirring the potion she already had on hand and pulling out her composition notebook with the other hand. It was filled with pages of cramped but meticulously neat writing, detailing different recipes she'd used thus far and various notes on different herbs and their properties in the margins. Effects and the duration of the effects were written in bold green pen that stood out further on the page, and she glanced at a few of these before flipping past them to a page that was half-complete. Cassandra pushed the notebook over towards Khaos. "Here's what I've done so far. There's some extra information towards the beginning, if you want to flip through, but I'm not sure all of it's overly helpful. I just like collecting random tidbits of stuff as I go along... never know when it might be useful."