[Harry Potter] Fic: Zero
Title: Zero
Challenge: obviouslysnape , Sectumsempra
Characters/Pairings: Severus, Lily - and a side serving of James and Sirius
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1, 787
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. The HP universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Summary: Severus knew there was a reason he hated social gatherings.
Christmas time again. A time of festive cheer and good will toward others. One lone boy reclined against the windowsill he sat in, watching the frost covered school grounds and the busy-body population below. All of those students had a family worth going back to. They had a home and a warm fire that awaited them in the hearth, and what did Severus Snape have? A run-down old house, a mother who drank more than she cleaned, and a father who just about yelled as much as he worked. Another year, another Christmas, another holiday spent at Hogwarts, hoping the pain of not being missed by anyone would go away.
“Sev!” Severus twitched a little at the nickname, he always did, but Lily Evans was the sole person who could get away with calling him that. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She beamed that radiant smile he was so fond of and Severus felt himself smile back, no matter how hesitant. “Come on, we’ll be late for Slughorn’s party.”
He had forgotten about that. Slughorn’s Winter Gala, as the man liked to call it. He had nearly hoped Lily would have forgotten as well. They could spend their last evening together and, more importantly, alone. That was, if they didn’t have to go to that party full of pathetic, dull-minded dunderheads. Not that Lily would ever see it that way, she seemed to like social gatherings.
She was at her best and brightest when surrounded by people. It was her natural element. A disposition that was at odds with her best friend, the introvert. Severus was anything but a social butterfly like her. He hated large crowds and the false pleasantries they all exchanged. None of it was real, everything a pretense. If he wanted to be in the midst of that, he would sooner go back to his dormitory.
Nevertheless, he plastered a thoughtful look on his face and stretched out his long legs, much like a large cat soaking up the winter sun’s warmth. “Ah, dancing, drinking, frolicking with idiots. How could I have let that slip my mind?” He gave her his best mocking smile before he stood and bowed just as mockingly. “Shall I accompany you, my lady, to this … dance of the imbeciles, then?”
Lily playfully slapped his arm, mostly out of retaliation. “Stop acting like a prat and let’s go already.”
“As my lady commands,” he acknowledged her, using the most serious expression he could muster - which wasn’t much, his lips kept twitching.
--
The party was a colourful, atrocious mess of red, gold, silver and green. The tapestries and portraits were already drunk, slurring profanities at unwitting students. The music was too loud and somewhat obnoxious. And there was Lily Evans, at her happiest.
Severus couldn’t understand it, how she could draw so many people to her and still be unconditionally oblivious to how others saw her. She had a fun-loving, do-or-die personality and it was more attractive than her gaudy hair or her bright green eyes. At least her personality could be tempered down to a respectable level. He had seen her at her shyest, at her most vulnerable, but here in this room she was not a little girl anymore. No, Lily was growing up into a remarkable young woman.
Severus tore his gaze reluctantly away from the sight of her laughing with another of their classmates, a fourth year Ravenclaw, and instead scoured the room for any more familiar faces. There weren’t too many people he didn’t recognize on sight. After all, he made it a point to know everyone’s name long before they knew his and used it against him. But it was fun to people watch and figure out who liked who, who hated who. It was a past time that had helped see him through many of Slughorn’s events.
He crossed his arms and leaned back against a cool dungeon wall, settling in to observe. A glimpse of messy hair out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he quickly turned, his hand automatically going for his wand. A reflex that had saved him countless times from ending up in the Hospital Wing.
Potter wasn’t paying any attention to him, however. That, coupled with the fact that the arrogant Chaser from Gryffindor was sauntering up to Lily Evans made him react without thinking. Attack the attacker before they get a chance to do the same, was one of the infinite number of self-taught lessons he had learned.
He used a tripping jinx, nothing too nasty, and watched in satisfaction as the other boy tripped, falling head over heels into Lily Evans. It was enough to see her disgusted face just before she shouted, “Potter,” and pushed him off.
Severus, 1. Potter, 0.
Slughorn had made it to the source of the commotion by now, demanding to know what was wrong. When Lily explained that Potter had literally thrown himself at her, their professor requested the gate-crasher should leave. Severus was further delighted when Slughorn even got Potter’s name wrong, calling him Pauper. He smirked when the other boy flushed an angry red and marched out, but not before glancing back and Severus smirked wider, letting him know who was responsible.
Potter got the hint and glared. And then promptly ran into a wall.
Severus doubled over laughing - but only after he noticed Lily Evans stowing her wand away.
Severus, 1. Lily, 1. Potter, 0.
--
It didn’t last long, that feeling of superiority. “All right there, Snivellus?” Leave it to Potter to go back for reinforcements. But really, his choice in ‘friends’ left something to be desired.
“I was until I saw you, Black.” And wasn’t that the truth.
The party had ended an hour ago and he had parted amicably from Lily only ten minutes before. Life was good - or had been until Potter and his lapdog showed up. As luck would have it, he was too far away from the Common Room to call for help. No matter, he had lived this long by depending on his own merits, not others.
He withdrew his wand, provoking Black and Potter to do the same. “Is there something I could help you with? Perhaps you need to learn a Potion to reduce the size of your head, Potter. You seem a bit prone to staggering lately.”
A muscle twitched in Potter’s cheek. Aggravation. Good, let him be angry. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, Snivelly.” Potter voice could instill fear in a lesser man. If only there was a cure for sheer stupidity. Potter would have made a wonderful Slytherin.
“I don’t know who I’m ‘messing with’, do I?” Severus pulled his lips into a thin line and sneered. “I know for a fact that I’m looking at two simpletons, the very same two who think they can win a fight against me.”
“And we will,” growled Black, “and we’ll leave you here to rot, you little bastard.”
Severus let his hand tighten on his wand, the only outward response. “Let’s see you try.”
“I didn’t come here to fight,” and Potter had the nerve to put his wand away as he was saying that, “I came here to talk.” Potter waved a hand in Black’s direction dismissively. “He wants to fight you, of course, but hear me out before your ears aren’t working properly.”
There was a too smug look on Potter’s face and that never boded well. Severus kept his wand trained on him and ignored Black for the moment. “Well, go on.”
A quick succession of things happened after that. One minute he was looking expectantly at Potter like he actually cared what the other boy had to say and the next he was on the ground, panting, as if someone had just punched him square in the gut. Then he realized that was exactly what had happened and he snatched up his wand from where it had fallen aside, pointing it at Potter. With anger fueling him, he channeled his magic and hissed out, “Sectumsempra.”
Blood splashed onto the floor as a gauge as deep as it was wide spread across Potter’s chest. The other boy dropped to his knees, clutching at the wound, and Black shouted, demanding to know what the hell had just happened. Before Severus had the chance to boast however, Black had punched him square in the face. He felt his nose break in three places or maybe four. There was too much blood to tell.
--
“I don’t know what you boys were thinking! Nearly could have died!” Severus winced. It was almost not worth what he had done to be subjected to that shrill woman’s voice. Madame Millan was known for it and it could easily escalate to new heights of bat sonar when screeching about students and their misconducts. Often times the Headmaster figured that was punishment enough.
When she turned her back to go fetch a pain-soothing potion, Severus made a face of disgust and then looked around the room for Potter, wondering what had become of him. Last he had seen, Millian was treating the other boy in a closed ward. Shouldn’t Potter have been better by now? Shrugging it off as no concern of his, he stood and made to leave. She had fixed his nose as best she could and the bleeding had stopped. He was fine, the pain was nothing new.
He had barely taken two steps out of the Hospital Wing before a redhead girl barreled into, hugging him tightly around the waist. “I - I heard Potter and Black talking and when I heard that they … but you’re all right!”
His cheeks felt like they were on fire. Why did she always have to do the most embarrassing things in the most open of places? “Potter got off worse.” There was a flicker of concern on Lily’s trusting, expressive face, but she hid it well when she next spoke.
“Well, that’s good. That toerag deserves anything he gets.”
--
Lily didn’t think the same as she had last night after she found out. “I can’t believe you! Using Dark Magic? In Hogwarts? And you created that spell! How could you?”
He had no answer to that. Later, when she left for home and he stayed at the only home he had ever known, they would part on unfavourable terms. It wouldn’t be the last time either.
He wondered if it would be worth it to tell her he regretted as much as she loved. Then decided against it, if she couldn’t accept him, every part of him, why should he tell her anything? It would only hurt more in the end.
Lily already had one point. He had zero, and always would.
Challenge: obviouslysnape , Sectumsempra
Characters/Pairings: Severus, Lily - and a side serving of James and Sirius
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1, 787
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. The HP universe belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Summary: Severus knew there was a reason he hated social gatherings.
Christmas time again. A time of festive cheer and good will toward others. One lone boy reclined against the windowsill he sat in, watching the frost covered school grounds and the busy-body population below. All of those students had a family worth going back to. They had a home and a warm fire that awaited them in the hearth, and what did Severus Snape have? A run-down old house, a mother who drank more than she cleaned, and a father who just about yelled as much as he worked. Another year, another Christmas, another holiday spent at Hogwarts, hoping the pain of not being missed by anyone would go away.
“Sev!” Severus twitched a little at the nickname, he always did, but Lily Evans was the sole person who could get away with calling him that. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She beamed that radiant smile he was so fond of and Severus felt himself smile back, no matter how hesitant. “Come on, we’ll be late for Slughorn’s party.”
He had forgotten about that. Slughorn’s Winter Gala, as the man liked to call it. He had nearly hoped Lily would have forgotten as well. They could spend their last evening together and, more importantly, alone. That was, if they didn’t have to go to that party full of pathetic, dull-minded dunderheads. Not that Lily would ever see it that way, she seemed to like social gatherings.
She was at her best and brightest when surrounded by people. It was her natural element. A disposition that was at odds with her best friend, the introvert. Severus was anything but a social butterfly like her. He hated large crowds and the false pleasantries they all exchanged. None of it was real, everything a pretense. If he wanted to be in the midst of that, he would sooner go back to his dormitory.
Nevertheless, he plastered a thoughtful look on his face and stretched out his long legs, much like a large cat soaking up the winter sun’s warmth. “Ah, dancing, drinking, frolicking with idiots. How could I have let that slip my mind?” He gave her his best mocking smile before he stood and bowed just as mockingly. “Shall I accompany you, my lady, to this … dance of the imbeciles, then?”
Lily playfully slapped his arm, mostly out of retaliation. “Stop acting like a prat and let’s go already.”
“As my lady commands,” he acknowledged her, using the most serious expression he could muster - which wasn’t much, his lips kept twitching.
--
The party was a colourful, atrocious mess of red, gold, silver and green. The tapestries and portraits were already drunk, slurring profanities at unwitting students. The music was too loud and somewhat obnoxious. And there was Lily Evans, at her happiest.
Severus couldn’t understand it, how she could draw so many people to her and still be unconditionally oblivious to how others saw her. She had a fun-loving, do-or-die personality and it was more attractive than her gaudy hair or her bright green eyes. At least her personality could be tempered down to a respectable level. He had seen her at her shyest, at her most vulnerable, but here in this room she was not a little girl anymore. No, Lily was growing up into a remarkable young woman.
Severus tore his gaze reluctantly away from the sight of her laughing with another of their classmates, a fourth year Ravenclaw, and instead scoured the room for any more familiar faces. There weren’t too many people he didn’t recognize on sight. After all, he made it a point to know everyone’s name long before they knew his and used it against him. But it was fun to people watch and figure out who liked who, who hated who. It was a past time that had helped see him through many of Slughorn’s events.
He crossed his arms and leaned back against a cool dungeon wall, settling in to observe. A glimpse of messy hair out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he quickly turned, his hand automatically going for his wand. A reflex that had saved him countless times from ending up in the Hospital Wing.
Potter wasn’t paying any attention to him, however. That, coupled with the fact that the arrogant Chaser from Gryffindor was sauntering up to Lily Evans made him react without thinking. Attack the attacker before they get a chance to do the same, was one of the infinite number of self-taught lessons he had learned.
He used a tripping jinx, nothing too nasty, and watched in satisfaction as the other boy tripped, falling head over heels into Lily Evans. It was enough to see her disgusted face just before she shouted, “Potter,” and pushed him off.
Severus, 1. Potter, 0.
Slughorn had made it to the source of the commotion by now, demanding to know what was wrong. When Lily explained that Potter had literally thrown himself at her, their professor requested the gate-crasher should leave. Severus was further delighted when Slughorn even got Potter’s name wrong, calling him Pauper. He smirked when the other boy flushed an angry red and marched out, but not before glancing back and Severus smirked wider, letting him know who was responsible.
Potter got the hint and glared. And then promptly ran into a wall.
Severus doubled over laughing - but only after he noticed Lily Evans stowing her wand away.
Severus, 1. Lily, 1. Potter, 0.
--
It didn’t last long, that feeling of superiority. “All right there, Snivellus?” Leave it to Potter to go back for reinforcements. But really, his choice in ‘friends’ left something to be desired.
“I was until I saw you, Black.” And wasn’t that the truth.
The party had ended an hour ago and he had parted amicably from Lily only ten minutes before. Life was good - or had been until Potter and his lapdog showed up. As luck would have it, he was too far away from the Common Room to call for help. No matter, he had lived this long by depending on his own merits, not others.
He withdrew his wand, provoking Black and Potter to do the same. “Is there something I could help you with? Perhaps you need to learn a Potion to reduce the size of your head, Potter. You seem a bit prone to staggering lately.”
A muscle twitched in Potter’s cheek. Aggravation. Good, let him be angry. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, Snivelly.” Potter voice could instill fear in a lesser man. If only there was a cure for sheer stupidity. Potter would have made a wonderful Slytherin.
“I don’t know who I’m ‘messing with’, do I?” Severus pulled his lips into a thin line and sneered. “I know for a fact that I’m looking at two simpletons, the very same two who think they can win a fight against me.”
“And we will,” growled Black, “and we’ll leave you here to rot, you little bastard.”
Severus let his hand tighten on his wand, the only outward response. “Let’s see you try.”
“I didn’t come here to fight,” and Potter had the nerve to put his wand away as he was saying that, “I came here to talk.” Potter waved a hand in Black’s direction dismissively. “He wants to fight you, of course, but hear me out before your ears aren’t working properly.”
There was a too smug look on Potter’s face and that never boded well. Severus kept his wand trained on him and ignored Black for the moment. “Well, go on.”
A quick succession of things happened after that. One minute he was looking expectantly at Potter like he actually cared what the other boy had to say and the next he was on the ground, panting, as if someone had just punched him square in the gut. Then he realized that was exactly what had happened and he snatched up his wand from where it had fallen aside, pointing it at Potter. With anger fueling him, he channeled his magic and hissed out, “Sectumsempra.”
Blood splashed onto the floor as a gauge as deep as it was wide spread across Potter’s chest. The other boy dropped to his knees, clutching at the wound, and Black shouted, demanding to know what the hell had just happened. Before Severus had the chance to boast however, Black had punched him square in the face. He felt his nose break in three places or maybe four. There was too much blood to tell.
--
“I don’t know what you boys were thinking! Nearly could have died!” Severus winced. It was almost not worth what he had done to be subjected to that shrill woman’s voice. Madame Millan was known for it and it could easily escalate to new heights of bat sonar when screeching about students and their misconducts. Often times the Headmaster figured that was punishment enough.
When she turned her back to go fetch a pain-soothing potion, Severus made a face of disgust and then looked around the room for Potter, wondering what had become of him. Last he had seen, Millian was treating the other boy in a closed ward. Shouldn’t Potter have been better by now? Shrugging it off as no concern of his, he stood and made to leave. She had fixed his nose as best she could and the bleeding had stopped. He was fine, the pain was nothing new.
He had barely taken two steps out of the Hospital Wing before a redhead girl barreled into, hugging him tightly around the waist. “I - I heard Potter and Black talking and when I heard that they … but you’re all right!”
His cheeks felt like they were on fire. Why did she always have to do the most embarrassing things in the most open of places? “Potter got off worse.” There was a flicker of concern on Lily’s trusting, expressive face, but she hid it well when she next spoke.
“Well, that’s good. That toerag deserves anything he gets.”
--
Lily didn’t think the same as she had last night after she found out. “I can’t believe you! Using Dark Magic? In Hogwarts? And you created that spell! How could you?”
He had no answer to that. Later, when she left for home and he stayed at the only home he had ever known, they would part on unfavourable terms. It wouldn’t be the last time either.
He wondered if it would be worth it to tell her he regretted as much as she loved. Then decided against it, if she couldn’t accept him, every part of him, why should he tell her anything? It would only hurt more in the end.
Lily already had one point. He had zero, and always would.