The Rose Bushes

Horatio chuckled. "Don't we all though, Professor? Come tell me about you snake."

Viper raised an eyebrow. "There's not much to tell..." she said rather definsively, not really wanting to indulge someone she met scarcely 10 minutes ago into her lifestory regarding Drakon.

Horatio wrinkled his forehead. Not much to tell... He had not been expecting a detailed thesis on where snakes came from, how they could be tamed and how Viper had come to possess such a fine specimen.
"I was only curious about its name and perhaps maybe what kind of snake it is. About twenty years ago I had a python, but she died from old age a few years back."

Kiara looked over at Viper if she didn't want to tell about her famillar that was her choice.

Viper nodded as she listened to Horatio's tale. "His name is Drakon and he is North-West Australian Taipan, descended from my late brother's familiar." she said in a tone that made it clear that it was all she was going to reveal on the topic.

"Ah, fascinating." Horatio remarked, looking down at the large snake. He chuckled. "When I was a student here, some friends and I placed several snakes in one of the professor's desks. She must have screamed for an hour. But we had charmed them to float as well, so that may have had something to do with it."

Kiara laughed

"Don't give her any idea's" she said as she indicted to Viper.

Viper thought of it for a moment, the corners of her mouth twitching. There were quite a few students in Hogwarts with snakes...

Kiara saw the expression on Vipers face and shook her head "To late........ Thanks Horatio if there are snakes scaring everyone around the castle you will know why" she said although a mild bit of amusment in her voice.

Horatio tapped his pipe against his leg, dumping a small bit of ash into his hand.
"Well, I doubt Professor Viper would succumb to such a childish passion. But if she should..." his voice volume dropped a great deal. "I know an excellent charm." he chuckled as he placed his newly lit pipe back into his mouth.

Viper raised an eyebrow, her suspicion heightening as the thought of a possible threat reached her. "And that charm would be..." she inquired.

"A floating creaking charm, what else?" Horatio raised an eyebrow. This young woman got suspicious faster than Melvin Teaboy, one of his former colleagues. He had once gotten arrested by a muggle group called the FBI and had never been the same since then...

Viper nodded, though she was not entirely convinced and still quite suspicious. Instead her eyes drifted to his pipe with a rather wistful expression. She had successfully given up smoking about six months before becoming employed at Hogwarts but the smell from other's smoking still brought back the urge with a vengeance.

She pushed away the desire to summon her own cigarettes, opting for her trademark goblet instead. Politely, she summoned two others as well, leaving them to levitate in between the three of them for whoever wished for a beverage.

Horatio politely refused the goblet. "Smoking and drinking never mix well, my dear." he commented.

"Really Viper...." Kiara said "Do you drink anything else?" she said as she grabed the goblet and watched as it tured in to a steam cup of tea.

"Like coffee or something?"

She looked over at Horatio, "you are quite right they don't"

"I drink plenty of other beverages!" Viper defended. "Water, coffee, the occasional glass of juice....you make it seems as though I am an alcoholic!" she exclaimed.

She smiled inwardly as she heard Horatio's comment of the two habits not mixing well. It was quite true although it seemed that Viper needed at least one to sustain herself. It was right after she quit smoking that her goblets seemed to attach themselves to her. She wondered which habit she would be better off with.

"Speaking of juices, of which type are you most fond of? Apple, grape, passion fruit, kiwi, spinach, aloe, maybe pomegranate..." Horatio listed.

"Pomegranate." Viper replied as she reminisced about the days when she was still the Boss and every now and then when things got stressfull, she would hide with her two colleagues in the supplies cupboard for a quick smoke and a goblet of pomegrante juice.

"I am not much for juice anymore, but any furit flavered tea is fine with me" Kiara added.

Horatio nodded. "A friend of mine always enjoyed a glass of..." he stopped, eyes widening slightly as if he had said something he shouldn't have. "Alas, the poor man is dead now." he attempted to wave away the comment by bringing up death which was understandable due to his old age. Many of his friends had long since died of natural causes.

Viper raised an eyebrow. An old man speaking of death, how lovely... she thought dryly to herself as she repositioned herself to have Kiara be inbetween her and Horatio as inconspicuously as possible.

Kiara blinked "I am sorry to hear that Horatio" then she noticed Viper back away. Really she knew how to make things awkward.

Horatio sighed as the two woman paid no attention to his comment, focusing instead on the death one...of thank heavens, he thought.
"Oh it is quite alright." he smiled.

"What was your friend fond of drinking?" Viper asked absent-mindedly as she drained the rest of her goblet. "Champagne? Sherry? Vodka?"

"Viper.." kiara hissed. but she focus remained on Horatio.