Severus Snape and the Half-Blood Prince (29)
This chapter is a bit long. I hope it will fit.
The Cold War
Improbably, the truce between Gryffindor and Slytherin held through the end of the year and the next.
A petition begging for the continuance of the Quidditch season and signed by every single student in the school produced a conditional reprieve. As long as the students stayed good, the season could go on. And just to make sure they did, the last game was held on the very last day of school.
So, there were no more skirmishes. That the teachers knew about. Or Lily Evans.
The other prefects seemed to have a tacit understanding that mistakes and skirmishes would occasionally take place. But Lily Evans had declared a zero tolerance policy on pranks and no one wanted to test her on it.
It was obvious who was getting that Head Girl position next year.
But, below her horizon, there were small, covert actions that took place. A hexing during the D.A.D.A. class that might just have been accidental. An untraceable jinx placed on one of the Quidditch broomsticks. Lacing someone’s pumpkin juice with sleeping potion.
The last one was Severus’s doing. He felt justified, though, because he found out from one of Regulus’s spies that Potter was planning to ask Lily on a date for the last Hogsmeade weekend. Severus simply forestalled that by spiking Potter’s morning drink.
Lily ended up spending the day with Hicks, which wasn’t as unbearable as if she’d been with Potter. Potter’s sudden sleepiness was put down to overindulgence in butterbeers the night before.
Then there was the theft of Severus’s schoolbooks a week before exams.
It was a warm day, and Regulus had persuaded Severus to come flying with him on broomsticks. It was no mean feat, as Severus and broomsticks never really got along, but, of course, it was impossible to deny Regulus anything once he started wheedling for it.
So, they left their book bags and robes on the ground and soared through the air in just their shirtsleeves and trousers. They never left the Quidditch field and their things were in sight the entire time. Nevertheless, when they returned to the ground, Severus’s book bag was empty. Everything else was untouched.
They searched for a good half hour. Then, Regulus sent out his spies to dig up any information they could.
Nothing.
In the common room, Regulus lay prone on the couch, his face set in thought.
“It’s the Marauders,” he said. “Has to be. No one else would be low enough to steal a fellow’s books a week before he was taking a N.E.W.T.”
Severus couldn’t help but agree. “Question is--what do we do about it?”
“As far as the books go, I can always get you another set, don’t worry about that.”
There were limits to how much of a possession Severus wanted to be. “I can buy my own books. You’ve been paying me for lessons all year.”
“I know, but--“
“I don’t need to be kept. The problem is, if we can’t possibly go to the authorities. They’ll shut down Quidditch.”
“That’s probably the plan,” Regulus said. “They take your books, then either you or I retaliate and the teachers cancel the remaining Quidditch season. Since Gryffindor is in last place--and unlikely to finish up any better, this only helps them. You and I get the blame for it all, and the whole school ends up hating Slytherin again.” He scowled. “And just when I was working on a new treaty with Hufflepuff!”
“Treaty?”
“Yes. Hicks has this idea about imposing sanctions if Gryffindor doesn’t stop hogging the kitchen scraps. They keep snapping up the leftover pudding from the elves. According to Hicks, this is putting a serious crimp in the late night study sessions in Ravenclaw. Everyone knows how the Eagles need their sugar.”
Interhouse politics made Severus’s head reel. “So what does Hufflepuff care if Ravenclaw’s grades suffer?”
Regulus laughed. “Because the only reason the Puffs make it through school is by cribbing notes from the Eagles.” He shot up, his dark eyes flashing with energy. “I tell you, Sevvie, the real power in this school comes from tapping into the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw alliance. We’ve been fools, taking on Gryffindor by ourselves.”
“You talk like it’s a war.”
“It is a war! Just... a different kind of war. Using diplomacy instead of spells. Intelligence, rather than brute force.”
“Treaties, rather than transfiguration.”
“Go ahead and laugh, Sevvie.” Regulus stood up. “Wait here. I’m going to go get those books.”
After half an hour, he returned with a stack of books under his arm. He dumped them into Severus’s lap.
“How did you get them back?” Severus started sorting through them. They all contained his distinctively cramped handwritten notes in the margins.
“I had a few choice words with that Lupin fellow. I told him that I suspected his friends and pointed out what a shame it would be to let one little incident touch off a confrontation that assured the mutual destruction of everyone’s Quidditch chances.”
“What did he say?”
“Well, we had a bit of a face-off. But when I mentioned how the books disappeared with no one in sight, he suddenly stood up and told me he’d bring them back. Ten minutes later, he handed them to me.”
“So, he knew they’d taken them.”
“Apparently.” Regulus looked at him quizzically. “What’s wrong?”
Severus hesitated. “The Potions book is missing.”
“Damnit!” Regulus looked thunderstruck. “Isn’t that the one you write all your spells in?”
“Yes.”
With a groan, he flopped down on the couch next to Severus. “This is worse than I thought--“
“It’s not that bad--“
“Not that bad? Sevvie, with that book, they have access to some of our best spells!”
“We’ll no longer have the edge in the charms race?”
“Exactly!”
Severus smirked. “I put a blood charm on it last year. The only other people who can read the notes on it are the four people in my Potions class. Belby, Evans, and Shacklebolt--or their blood relatives.”
Regulus’s face lit up. “And they can’t even ask Evans for help!”
Severus nodded. “Even if they figure out what I did.”
Regulus kissed him. “You’re a genius!”
They stayed together on the couch all evening. Regulus, muttering and plotting out ways to contain and isolate Gryffindor, while Severus read his notes and ran his fingers absently through the other boy’s hair.
They never did find the Potions book.
****
It didn’t matter. One of the benefits of practicing Legilimency and Occlumency was that Severus found he could, if he concentrated, bring up memories with perfect clarity. He could see his missing book in his mind. If he wanted, he could mentally turn the pages and read them.
He passed his Potions N.E.W.T. and Transfiguration O.W.L. with ease. He wasn’t great on the practical part of Transfiguration, but he felt he more than made up for it on the written.
It helped having Regulus take his O.W.L.s at the same time.
Severus didn’t hear from Regulus all summer, so he was surprised when the seeker tackled him with a bear hug on the train platform.
“Come with me to the Captain’s compartment,” Regulus begged him.
Severus followed, complaining, “Slug Club. Prefect’s car. Quidditch car. Why is it that everyone in this school seems to have a special train compartment except me?”
Regulus pulled down the window shade and threw himself on Severus like a starving man onto a table full of bread.
“Merlin, I missed you!” he said, when he finally came up for air.
“Why didn’t you write, then?” Severus asked. “I wrote you three times.”
Regulus looked confused. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Severus replied. “It’s not sort of thing I’d be likely to forget. I had to go catch the bloody owls each time.”
“Well, that’s your problem,” Regulus said airily. “Using common freelance owls. I’ll get you something better.”
“Stop that,” Severus said, sitting up. “I don’t need you buying me things.”
Regulus sighed. “Truth is, my mother probably threw them out. My parents don’t like you.”
“They never met me.”
“I know, but you’re not in the register. And you’re a boy.”
Severus snorted down at Regulus who was lying on the train seat, with his head in Severus’s lap. Regulus sighed.
“With Sirius gone, I’m the designated heir. I have to be responsible. I have to be everything he’s never going to be.”
Severus was suddenly reminded of his uncle. “Do they trot out eligible pureblood maidens for you to marry?”
Regulus laughed. “No. That’s already been decided for years. I’m marrying Mulciber’s sister, Georgina.”
Severus raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t she ten or something?”
“Something like that. I don’t have to marry her tomorrow.” He caught hold of Severus’s hand and held it against his chest.
“So,” Severus said.
“So,” Regulus replied.
There didn’t seem to be anything more to say about it. Truth to tell, Severus had assumed, when his owls had gone unanswered, that Regulus had gotten tired of him. At least that wasn’t true.
They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, then they chatted and caught each up on their summers. Severus hadn’t much to tell, except about Peg.
Peg was a friend of Joyce’s from Canada who showed up to be Maid of Honor when Joyce and Matt finally tied the knot.
Severus met her at the pub a few days before the wedding. Joyce called him over to the table where they were both sitting, before the shift started.
“Sev, this is Peg,” Joyce said, nodding towards her.
Peg was a tall woman with dark blonde hair that she had pulled back in a loose knot. Her skin was tan and healthy-looking. As though she spent a lot of time outdoors. She wore jeans and a light green t-shirt under a fringed leather jacket. Like Joyce, she was smoking a cigarette.
Severus nodded hello at her. She gave him a long, appraising look, then said, “Yeah, all right,” to Joyce and stubbed out her cigarette. She held out her hand and said, “Pleased to meet you, Sev.”
Joyce slid in to the window to give him space and Severus sat down. Peg interrogated him about his school and classes and Severus automatically translated it all into Muggle, telling her that he was taking Chemistry (rather than Potions) and Math (instead of Arithmancy).
Peg told him that she was studying Art at some University in Canada and decided to travel a bit over the summer before settling down. She was staying with Joyce for a couple weeks, then going on to France and Spain and possibly Italy as well before returning home.
“Unless I can get a job here,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”
All he knew about Canada was that it had large mountains. He could picture her climbing them, strong and powerful and free. Even with a cigarette in her hand, she was like sunshine and strong wind. She made everyone else around her look stunted.
She stayed at the pub all evening. When they were closing, Joyce said she was going to stay with Matt that night and asked Severus to walk Peg back to her place.
So he did.
“Come on in,” she said as she unlocked the door. She threw her backpack and jacket down in the living room. She was apparently sleeping on Joyce’s fold-out couch, because it was opened up into a bed. She sat back on it and looked up Severus, who hovered nervously by the door.
“So, Sev,” she said conversationally. “Have you ever had sex?”
“Um...”
“With a girl?” She had a wide, open-mouthed smile.
Severus shook his head. She nodded.
“Do you want to?”
His face felt hot. “Um...”
With one swift gesture, she pulled off her t-shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra. He’d registered that fact earlier in the evening, when her jacket fell open a little, but it was brought home to him in spades when he beheld her breasts so suddenly naked and free.
He didn’t have much to compare them to, but he couldn’t imagine anything more spectacular. He stared open-mouthed.
“Go on, then. You need to take off your clothes.”
He fumbled at the Muggle fastenings, while she slid easily out of her jeans. She hadn’t been wearing panties, either.
“What was it like?” Regulus asked, curiously.
“It was...” Severus diplomatically substituted the word “different” for the word “amazing.”
“Did I do that all right?” he had asked her afterwards. She smiled and told him he was great, which he had enough Legilimency to know was a lie. But it was okay, because she let him do it again. And again.
He got better at it. Peg stayed two weeks, and, since Joyce seemed to living at Matt’s, they had plenty of time and space for Severus to practice in. Eventually he got to know the difference between when he was good and when he was merely adequate. Peg was nice enough to give him a few pointers.
He’d always been a good student.
Then, after two weeks, she kissed him on the cheek, threw her backpack over her shoulder and strode out of the pub on her way to London. That was that.
He felt hollow for the rest of the summer.
“So, are you going to be chasing girls now?” Regulus asked.
“Of course not,” he replied absently, his fingers tracing circles on Regulus’s chest.
But that was the problem. Having done what he had done with Peg, he couldn’t stop thinking about doing it with other girls. Especially Lily.
Every morning he stared at her across the Great Hall as she laughed and chattered with her girlfriends. He’d catch sight of her in the courtyard sitting with one boy after another. She never seemed to stick with one for more than a couple weeks, which was a bit of a comfort.
But, although he felt sickened and ashamed of himself, he couldn’t help thinking about making love to her. He’d been in love with her for more than a year now. But, before, it had been a sort of vague, dreamy feeling. He’d thought of kissing her, or holding hands, or just looking at her smiling at him.
Now, he was imagining her tossing her head back the way that Peg had done, her hair loose and tangled on the sheets. He wondered what her breasts looked like underneath those school robes. What she’d sound like when he pressed down against her. What she’d taste like.
“Merlin’s pants,” Regulus said, exasperated. “Why don’t you just slip her a love potion and be done with it?”
“Don’t be an arse,” Severus said. They were doing their homework in one of the study rooms. Or rather, Regulus was doing his homework, and Severus was staring at the wall. “Love potions are for losers.”
“Well, how about a shot of Imperius, then?” Regulus said. “Have your way with her and get her out of your system.”
“Don’t you ever...!”
Before he even realized it, he had Regulus by the throat and his wand in his face. He only barely restrained himself from hexing the boy with the darkest curse he could think of. He had never seen Regulus looked so terrified.
He let go then, his hands shaking.
“I was just joking,” Regulus said.
“You don’t joke about that. You don’t...” Severus shook his head. “There’s a reason those are called Unforgivable Curses.”
Regulus rubbed his neck. “Would you react like that if someone used Imperius on me?”
Severus smiled reassuringly, “Of course.” He held out his arms and Regulus came into his embrace, leaning his head on Severus’s shoulder.
“You really are in love with Evans.” It was a statement, not a question, but Severus answered it anyway.
“I suppose I am.”
Regulus sighed. “I imagine that I will come to love Georgina someday. We’ll have children, of course. Two boys. The heir and a spare. But I can’t imagine feeling about her the way I feel about you.”
“You will, though,” Severus said. “Because she’ll belong to you.”
Regulus shook his head. “Girls are different,” he said. “I’m sure it feels good, but it isn’t the same. Boys are... you can talk to boys. You can fight with boys. Girls are like centaurs. Nothing they say ever makes any sense.”
***
Since he had passed his Potions N.E.W.T., he didn’t have Potions classes any more with Lily. She had passed as well. Damocles and Regan had, of course, done all their N.E.W.T.s and were out of school. Damocles had taken a position in the research department of St. Mungo’s and wrote Severus enthusiastically about getting the funding to test his Wolfsbane potion.
“It will be years before it can be prescribed,” he wrote. “No one here can brew it, either!”
Damocles had enclosed some notes, further developing and complicating the potion. He asked Severus to look them over and see if he could suggest a way to simplify the process. Severus sighed and wondered if Damocles would ever stop building potions in the sky.
Regan passed her N.E.W.T. with an Acceptable mark, which was exactly what she’d been aiming for.
“You don’t want to score too highly in Potions,” she had said once. “If the other Aurors find out you got an E or an O, then you end up having to make the coffee all the time.”
But she didn’t get into the Auror training program. The explosion in the classroom had left her with a weakened larynx. She couldn’t speak above a whisper and this was considered too great an imperfection to qualify for training. Instead, she had been hired by the Department for Magical Law Enforcement at an entry-level desk position.
She had found that out late last year. Severus remembered her stirring her cauldron in the class that day, her head bowed so that her tears wouldn’t show. He felt awful and wanted to apologize. Perhaps if he had used another spell that day, she might have kept her voice.
“Don’t be silly,” she had whispered to him. “These things happen.” As she looked at him, he could see the faint impressions of family portraits filled with maimed and damaged relatives reflected in her eyes. They were all Aurors, after all. She had grown up knowing that horrible things could happen in an instant. She squeezed his hand. “I won’t be an Auror. But I am alive.”
***
Instead of holding a post-N.E.W.T. Potions class, Professor Slughorn recommended Lily for an internship at the Ministry of Magic’s Unspeakable Department. He asked Severus to assist him by teaching the first and second year Potions classes. Severus accepted. The school would pay him a small stipend. Any opportunity he had to earn money was welcome.
He continued teaching dueling. The threat against Quidditch remained in effect this year, and, since Gryffindor was back in the running, restrictions against hallway hexing were stronger than ever.
Consequently, the curses were taught one-on-one, much like the master/elf system. Regulus refined it a bit. He, Ackroyd, and Hastings learned from Severus. They each taught their own elves and another upperclassman. The curses trickled down through the ranks with Severus occasionally checking in with individual students and correcting things like stance and reaction time.
He had passed his Transfiguration O.W.L. with an E, as well as the sixth year exam. Consequently, he was able to rejoin his class in seventh year Transfiguration. He managed, with much hard work and concentration to keep up, although he couldn’t compete with Potter or Black who insisted on showing off every single class.
It was almost worth failing the O.W.L. in fifth year to have spent an entire year without having to deal with that. No wonder he’d always hated the subject.
****
Towards the end of the term, Regulus came into the study room, his face grave.
“Sevvie, did you ever notice anything strange about the Marauders?”
“Other than their colossal egos?”
“My boys are having difficulty keeping track of them. They tend to... disappear.”
Severus put down his quill. “They’ve always had a way of popping out suddenly--out of thin air. Then, they’d always be able to find me, no matter where I was. I used to think I was getting paranoid.”
“Paranoid?”
“Muggle word. It means that you think everyone is out to get you. It’s a form of insanity.”
Regulus thought about that for a moment. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you. Sevvie, I want you to tell me everything you can about them--starting at the beginning.”
So, even though he felt silly and petty at times, Severus recounted every incident that he could remember between himself and the Marauders--barring the one with the Whomping Willow. He kept his word about that.
It took several hours. Regulus listened thoughtfully and seemed most interested in when Severus mentioned the large parchment that he occasionally seen them carrying.
“I think that parchment is important,” he said. “My boys have mentioned seeing it, too. They seem to pull it out a great deal and study it.”
“What do you think it is?” Severus said.
“I don’t know,” Regulus said. “But I’m dying to find out.”
***
Two days later, Severus took his evening run around the lake. Regulus usually walked him to the lake, waiting for him, and walking him back. Severus had a sneaking suspicion that Regulus did this for his protection. Before fifth year, the Marauders had regularly attacked him at the far end of the lake. Since Regulus started taking an interest, the attacks had ceased.
But tonight, Regulus was meeting with the prefects and Severus was alone. And, at the far end of the lake, with his wand stowed in the back pocket of his shorts, he found himself on the receiving end of a hex cast by James Potter.
He was half-expecting it and dodged, but he still got caught on the leg and a line of red welts ran up his thigh. His wand was out before he hit the ground.
“Expelliarmus!” Potter’s wand flew into the bushes.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at a meeting?” Severus demanded, pointing his wand at Potter. Potter had, in a cruel twist of fate, been appointed Head Boy. No one was able to figure out why.
Potter smiled pleasantly. “I blew it off once I realized you’d be alone out here. Seemed like a good chance to settle things between us.”
“Settle what?” Severus lowered his wand, while Potter rustled in the bushes for his own. He emerged, holding it aloft and making a great show of putting it into his pocket.
“I know you slipped a sleeping potion in my juice last year,” Potter said. “That was pretty low, considering that I saved your life and all.”
“I had my reasons,” Severus said. “And you only bothered to save my life to keep your bosom buddy Black out of trouble. I don’t think it counts.”
“Look,” Potter started again. “I don’t blame you for liking Evans. She’s the hottest girl in school--“
“You’re a pig,” Severus interrupted. “It’s not the way she looks that matters. It’s the way she is.”
Potter looked thoroughly taken aback. “Sirius told me how you obsess about her.”
Severus blinked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“That comic you drew. Where she was wearing those... sexy clothes. It’s disgusting.“
Severus burst out laughing. “You don’t know the first thing about her, you sodding jerk! You don’t know what music she likes. Or what makes her laugh. I’ll bet you don’t know what her favorite color is. Or that she--“ he swallowed suddenly and triumph swooped into longing, “that she can’t cut out a decent snowflake to save her life...”
Wham! All of a sudden he was on the ground with Potter on top of him, flailing and punching for all he was worth. Severus fought back, pulling back Potter’s stupid stuck-up hair and rolling over until he was the one on top. He drove his fists into Potter’s face, which was twisted with fury.
Oh, it was satisfying!
Then Potter’s hand got through his defenses and pushed up Severus’s chin until he was too far back to reach Potter’s face anymore. He tried twisting side to side, over balanced, and ended up on the ground again.
Potter seized him by his shirt as Severus grabbed onto Potter’s robes. They rolled over and over, falling off the path and into the lake. Gasping, Severus let go and started splashing back onto land. Potter followed, grabbing him around the knees and pulling him down. Severus stumbled back to his feet, kicking at the boy behind him.
“Running away?” Potter panted. “Bloody coward.”
Severus turned, furious, just was Potter’s knee came up and connected forcefully with his groin. The agony that shot up through his body nearly made Severus vomit. He doubled over, choking and sobbing with pain.
He felt Potter’s body slamming down on top of him again and fell forward, his arms trapped and useless under his own weight, and Potter’s fingers pulling at his hair. He struggled, but it was like being in Regulus’s armlock all over again--with pain added to the insult.
All he had left was his voice and he used it to spit out every swear word he knew. The fingers tightened in his hair, and his head was pulled up and slammed down, once, twice, three times.
Severus subsided in silence, his breath wheezing. He could taste the blood in his mouth, mixing with the mud. He managed to creep his hands up under his chest, but he was helpless to move the bulk above him.
“Tell me something,” Potter said, catching his breath. “Is it true you take it up the arse?”
“That’s something you’re never going to know,” said a cool voice from the shadows. It was Regulus. He stepped into the light, his wand pointed at Potter’s head. “But if you’re interested in the experience, Potter, I might be able to oblige you.”
Potter moved for his wand. Regulus easily disarmed him and motioned him to rise. Potter stood, as Severus, mustering what dignity he could, sat up and wiped his bloody nose.
“You don’t dare hex me,” Potter said. “I’m Head Boy.”
“That wasn’t the object,” Regulus said. “You just couldn’t resist, could you, Potter? The moment you knew Sevvie was alone, you came out here to beat on him.”
“I came out--“ Potter sighed. “I came out to settle things. The fight just... happened.”
“How did you know he’d be alone?” Regulus asked. “I’m always out here in case you or your thugs show up.”
“I--“ Potter shut his mouth, looking nonplussed.
“Does it have anything to do with these things?” Regulus asked, kicking at Potter’s book bag. It flopped over, and a piece of parchment rolled out, followed by a flowing silver cloak. Keeping his wand raised, Regulus scooped up the parchment. Potter made a convulsive grab for it, before retreating back to his defensive, hands-raised posture.
“What is it, Potter?” Regulus asked.
“Spare bit of parchment,” Potter answered.
“It’s covered with magic,” Regulus countered. His eyes dropped down to study the parchment. As Potter made another sudden movement for his wand, Regulus said, “I wouldn’t do that. You’re surrounded.”
Potter laughed. “You think I can’t take you and Snivellus on at once?”
“No,” Regulus replied. “I think you underestimate me. Lumos.”
At the word, a dozen or more wands lit up like fireflies in the darkness.
“I don’t go anywhere without reinforcements,” Regulus smiled. “So, what is this, Potter? Is this how you keep track of Sevvie? The way you managed to follow him around for years?”
“You’ll never know,” Potter folded his arms. “It only works if I tell it to.”
“But that’s what it does?” Regulus frowned.
Potter simply shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have any authority, Black,” he said. “If I tell Dumbledore about what you’re doing here, he’ll throw you out of school.”
“You tried to hex me,” Severus put in. He had pulled himself up to sit on a boulder. “I thought you made a promise not to hex any more Slytherins.”
Potter smiled smugly. “I made a promise not to hex any pureblood Slytherins. You don’t count, half-blood.”
Severus exchanged a glance with Regulus, who commented, “I don’t think Evans would be very impressed with that logic, Potter.”
“She isn’t.”
Lily Evans stepped out from the shadows, her wand dimly lit at the end. She looked sorrowfully from James to Severus, then to nowhere.
James looked thunderstruck.
“You’re really a disgrace, James,” she said. “You’re supposed to be someone people look up to--and yet you’re carrying on this... stupid rivalry. I’m pretty tired of being your excuse to fight.”
“Lily--“
“The problem is that you could be a really wonderful person if you’d just get over yourself.”
Potter stared down at the path. He looked miserable, which should have filled Severus with satisfaction. All he felt was a dull ache.
Lily looked over at Severus. Regulus took a step backwards, as if to remove himself from the situation.
She was so beautiful. All Severus could think about was how beautiful she looked in the twilight. The pain didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but her beautiful green eyes.
Then she turned and walked away. She didn’t say a word.
After a minute, Potter picked up his book bag. He stuffed the silver cloak into it, threw the bag over his shoulder and left. He didn’t even try to get the parchment back.
It was Hicks, stepping out from the shadows who took it from Regulus. “I’ll see to it that it never makes mischief again,” he said.
As the others filed out of the shadows and onto the path, Severus noticed that they were all prefects. He raised one eyebrow at Regulus, who smiled.
“I was at the prefect’s meeting. Who else was I going to bring?” Regulus sat down next to Severus on the boulder and waved as the prefects went back towards the castle.
Severus waited until they were out of earshot. “You took your bloody time,” he said. “Did you want Potter to kill me?”
“You were doing fine,” Regulus replied. “You almost ruined it, though. You should have let him get that first hex in.”
“I did!” Severus protested. He pointed to the welts running up his thigh. “Clear case of Burnunculus.”
Regulus winced and pulled Severus up to his feet. “I’ll rub some ointment on that.” He put his arm around Severus’s waist and help support him as Severus limped down the path. “You make a great decoy, Sevvie. You have a real future in it.”
“Sod off,” Severus replied. “This is the last bit of intrigue I ever intend to indulge in.”
Regulus smiled. “Oh, but it was a clever plan! We got him good. And we got that parchment out of their hands. Am I a genius?”
“You are a genius. Lord Voldemort had better watch out for you, or there’ll be a new Dark Lord in town.”
***
It was a clever plan. But it backfired. Potter seemed so chastened by the experience that Lily took pity on him. She began spending a lot more time with him, even going on dates to Hogsmeade. They became the most popular couple in school.
Severus watched it all happen with a sick horror that sucked all the happiness out of second term. The kicker was overhearing two girls talking about it in charms class.
“I think they’re the most perfect couple ever,” Sarah Adams sighed to Mary McDonald. “Lily is so nice. She’s just like a saint.”
“And James is so brave,” Mary agreed. “Did you hear that he once saved that idiot Snape’s life?”
The Cold War
Improbably, the truce between Gryffindor and Slytherin held through the end of the year and the next.
A petition begging for the continuance of the Quidditch season and signed by every single student in the school produced a conditional reprieve. As long as the students stayed good, the season could go on. And just to make sure they did, the last game was held on the very last day of school.
So, there were no more skirmishes. That the teachers knew about. Or Lily Evans.
The other prefects seemed to have a tacit understanding that mistakes and skirmishes would occasionally take place. But Lily Evans had declared a zero tolerance policy on pranks and no one wanted to test her on it.
It was obvious who was getting that Head Girl position next year.
But, below her horizon, there were small, covert actions that took place. A hexing during the D.A.D.A. class that might just have been accidental. An untraceable jinx placed on one of the Quidditch broomsticks. Lacing someone’s pumpkin juice with sleeping potion.
The last one was Severus’s doing. He felt justified, though, because he found out from one of Regulus’s spies that Potter was planning to ask Lily on a date for the last Hogsmeade weekend. Severus simply forestalled that by spiking Potter’s morning drink.
Lily ended up spending the day with Hicks, which wasn’t as unbearable as if she’d been with Potter. Potter’s sudden sleepiness was put down to overindulgence in butterbeers the night before.
Then there was the theft of Severus’s schoolbooks a week before exams.
It was a warm day, and Regulus had persuaded Severus to come flying with him on broomsticks. It was no mean feat, as Severus and broomsticks never really got along, but, of course, it was impossible to deny Regulus anything once he started wheedling for it.
So, they left their book bags and robes on the ground and soared through the air in just their shirtsleeves and trousers. They never left the Quidditch field and their things were in sight the entire time. Nevertheless, when they returned to the ground, Severus’s book bag was empty. Everything else was untouched.
They searched for a good half hour. Then, Regulus sent out his spies to dig up any information they could.
Nothing.
In the common room, Regulus lay prone on the couch, his face set in thought.
“It’s the Marauders,” he said. “Has to be. No one else would be low enough to steal a fellow’s books a week before he was taking a N.E.W.T.”
Severus couldn’t help but agree. “Question is--what do we do about it?”
“As far as the books go, I can always get you another set, don’t worry about that.”
There were limits to how much of a possession Severus wanted to be. “I can buy my own books. You’ve been paying me for lessons all year.”
“I know, but--“
“I don’t need to be kept. The problem is, if we can’t possibly go to the authorities. They’ll shut down Quidditch.”
“That’s probably the plan,” Regulus said. “They take your books, then either you or I retaliate and the teachers cancel the remaining Quidditch season. Since Gryffindor is in last place--and unlikely to finish up any better, this only helps them. You and I get the blame for it all, and the whole school ends up hating Slytherin again.” He scowled. “And just when I was working on a new treaty with Hufflepuff!”
“Treaty?”
“Yes. Hicks has this idea about imposing sanctions if Gryffindor doesn’t stop hogging the kitchen scraps. They keep snapping up the leftover pudding from the elves. According to Hicks, this is putting a serious crimp in the late night study sessions in Ravenclaw. Everyone knows how the Eagles need their sugar.”
Interhouse politics made Severus’s head reel. “So what does Hufflepuff care if Ravenclaw’s grades suffer?”
Regulus laughed. “Because the only reason the Puffs make it through school is by cribbing notes from the Eagles.” He shot up, his dark eyes flashing with energy. “I tell you, Sevvie, the real power in this school comes from tapping into the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw alliance. We’ve been fools, taking on Gryffindor by ourselves.”
“You talk like it’s a war.”
“It is a war! Just... a different kind of war. Using diplomacy instead of spells. Intelligence, rather than brute force.”
“Treaties, rather than transfiguration.”
“Go ahead and laugh, Sevvie.” Regulus stood up. “Wait here. I’m going to go get those books.”
After half an hour, he returned with a stack of books under his arm. He dumped them into Severus’s lap.
“How did you get them back?” Severus started sorting through them. They all contained his distinctively cramped handwritten notes in the margins.
“I had a few choice words with that Lupin fellow. I told him that I suspected his friends and pointed out what a shame it would be to let one little incident touch off a confrontation that assured the mutual destruction of everyone’s Quidditch chances.”
“What did he say?”
“Well, we had a bit of a face-off. But when I mentioned how the books disappeared with no one in sight, he suddenly stood up and told me he’d bring them back. Ten minutes later, he handed them to me.”
“So, he knew they’d taken them.”
“Apparently.” Regulus looked at him quizzically. “What’s wrong?”
Severus hesitated. “The Potions book is missing.”
“Damnit!” Regulus looked thunderstruck. “Isn’t that the one you write all your spells in?”
“Yes.”
With a groan, he flopped down on the couch next to Severus. “This is worse than I thought--“
“It’s not that bad--“
“Not that bad? Sevvie, with that book, they have access to some of our best spells!”
“We’ll no longer have the edge in the charms race?”
“Exactly!”
Severus smirked. “I put a blood charm on it last year. The only other people who can read the notes on it are the four people in my Potions class. Belby, Evans, and Shacklebolt--or their blood relatives.”
Regulus’s face lit up. “And they can’t even ask Evans for help!”
Severus nodded. “Even if they figure out what I did.”
Regulus kissed him. “You’re a genius!”
They stayed together on the couch all evening. Regulus, muttering and plotting out ways to contain and isolate Gryffindor, while Severus read his notes and ran his fingers absently through the other boy’s hair.
They never did find the Potions book.
****
It didn’t matter. One of the benefits of practicing Legilimency and Occlumency was that Severus found he could, if he concentrated, bring up memories with perfect clarity. He could see his missing book in his mind. If he wanted, he could mentally turn the pages and read them.
He passed his Potions N.E.W.T. and Transfiguration O.W.L. with ease. He wasn’t great on the practical part of Transfiguration, but he felt he more than made up for it on the written.
It helped having Regulus take his O.W.L.s at the same time.
Severus didn’t hear from Regulus all summer, so he was surprised when the seeker tackled him with a bear hug on the train platform.
“Come with me to the Captain’s compartment,” Regulus begged him.
Severus followed, complaining, “Slug Club. Prefect’s car. Quidditch car. Why is it that everyone in this school seems to have a special train compartment except me?”
Regulus pulled down the window shade and threw himself on Severus like a starving man onto a table full of bread.
“Merlin, I missed you!” he said, when he finally came up for air.
“Why didn’t you write, then?” Severus asked. “I wrote you three times.”
Regulus looked confused. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Severus replied. “It’s not sort of thing I’d be likely to forget. I had to go catch the bloody owls each time.”
“Well, that’s your problem,” Regulus said airily. “Using common freelance owls. I’ll get you something better.”
“Stop that,” Severus said, sitting up. “I don’t need you buying me things.”
Regulus sighed. “Truth is, my mother probably threw them out. My parents don’t like you.”
“They never met me.”
“I know, but you’re not in the register. And you’re a boy.”
Severus snorted down at Regulus who was lying on the train seat, with his head in Severus’s lap. Regulus sighed.
“With Sirius gone, I’m the designated heir. I have to be responsible. I have to be everything he’s never going to be.”
Severus was suddenly reminded of his uncle. “Do they trot out eligible pureblood maidens for you to marry?”
Regulus laughed. “No. That’s already been decided for years. I’m marrying Mulciber’s sister, Georgina.”
Severus raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t she ten or something?”
“Something like that. I don’t have to marry her tomorrow.” He caught hold of Severus’s hand and held it against his chest.
“So,” Severus said.
“So,” Regulus replied.
There didn’t seem to be anything more to say about it. Truth to tell, Severus had assumed, when his owls had gone unanswered, that Regulus had gotten tired of him. At least that wasn’t true.
They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, then they chatted and caught each up on their summers. Severus hadn’t much to tell, except about Peg.
Peg was a friend of Joyce’s from Canada who showed up to be Maid of Honor when Joyce and Matt finally tied the knot.
Severus met her at the pub a few days before the wedding. Joyce called him over to the table where they were both sitting, before the shift started.
“Sev, this is Peg,” Joyce said, nodding towards her.
Peg was a tall woman with dark blonde hair that she had pulled back in a loose knot. Her skin was tan and healthy-looking. As though she spent a lot of time outdoors. She wore jeans and a light green t-shirt under a fringed leather jacket. Like Joyce, she was smoking a cigarette.
Severus nodded hello at her. She gave him a long, appraising look, then said, “Yeah, all right,” to Joyce and stubbed out her cigarette. She held out her hand and said, “Pleased to meet you, Sev.”
Joyce slid in to the window to give him space and Severus sat down. Peg interrogated him about his school and classes and Severus automatically translated it all into Muggle, telling her that he was taking Chemistry (rather than Potions) and Math (instead of Arithmancy).
Peg told him that she was studying Art at some University in Canada and decided to travel a bit over the summer before settling down. She was staying with Joyce for a couple weeks, then going on to France and Spain and possibly Italy as well before returning home.
“Unless I can get a job here,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”
All he knew about Canada was that it had large mountains. He could picture her climbing them, strong and powerful and free. Even with a cigarette in her hand, she was like sunshine and strong wind. She made everyone else around her look stunted.
She stayed at the pub all evening. When they were closing, Joyce said she was going to stay with Matt that night and asked Severus to walk Peg back to her place.
So he did.
“Come on in,” she said as she unlocked the door. She threw her backpack and jacket down in the living room. She was apparently sleeping on Joyce’s fold-out couch, because it was opened up into a bed. She sat back on it and looked up Severus, who hovered nervously by the door.
“So, Sev,” she said conversationally. “Have you ever had sex?”
“Um...”
“With a girl?” She had a wide, open-mouthed smile.
Severus shook his head. She nodded.
“Do you want to?”
His face felt hot. “Um...”
With one swift gesture, she pulled off her t-shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra. He’d registered that fact earlier in the evening, when her jacket fell open a little, but it was brought home to him in spades when he beheld her breasts so suddenly naked and free.
He didn’t have much to compare them to, but he couldn’t imagine anything more spectacular. He stared open-mouthed.
“Go on, then. You need to take off your clothes.”
He fumbled at the Muggle fastenings, while she slid easily out of her jeans. She hadn’t been wearing panties, either.
“What was it like?” Regulus asked, curiously.
“It was...” Severus diplomatically substituted the word “different” for the word “amazing.”
“Did I do that all right?” he had asked her afterwards. She smiled and told him he was great, which he had enough Legilimency to know was a lie. But it was okay, because she let him do it again. And again.
He got better at it. Peg stayed two weeks, and, since Joyce seemed to living at Matt’s, they had plenty of time and space for Severus to practice in. Eventually he got to know the difference between when he was good and when he was merely adequate. Peg was nice enough to give him a few pointers.
He’d always been a good student.
Then, after two weeks, she kissed him on the cheek, threw her backpack over her shoulder and strode out of the pub on her way to London. That was that.
He felt hollow for the rest of the summer.
“So, are you going to be chasing girls now?” Regulus asked.
“Of course not,” he replied absently, his fingers tracing circles on Regulus’s chest.
But that was the problem. Having done what he had done with Peg, he couldn’t stop thinking about doing it with other girls. Especially Lily.
Every morning he stared at her across the Great Hall as she laughed and chattered with her girlfriends. He’d catch sight of her in the courtyard sitting with one boy after another. She never seemed to stick with one for more than a couple weeks, which was a bit of a comfort.
But, although he felt sickened and ashamed of himself, he couldn’t help thinking about making love to her. He’d been in love with her for more than a year now. But, before, it had been a sort of vague, dreamy feeling. He’d thought of kissing her, or holding hands, or just looking at her smiling at him.
Now, he was imagining her tossing her head back the way that Peg had done, her hair loose and tangled on the sheets. He wondered what her breasts looked like underneath those school robes. What she’d sound like when he pressed down against her. What she’d taste like.
“Merlin’s pants,” Regulus said, exasperated. “Why don’t you just slip her a love potion and be done with it?”
“Don’t be an arse,” Severus said. They were doing their homework in one of the study rooms. Or rather, Regulus was doing his homework, and Severus was staring at the wall. “Love potions are for losers.”
“Well, how about a shot of Imperius, then?” Regulus said. “Have your way with her and get her out of your system.”
“Don’t you ever...!”
Before he even realized it, he had Regulus by the throat and his wand in his face. He only barely restrained himself from hexing the boy with the darkest curse he could think of. He had never seen Regulus looked so terrified.
He let go then, his hands shaking.
“I was just joking,” Regulus said.
“You don’t joke about that. You don’t...” Severus shook his head. “There’s a reason those are called Unforgivable Curses.”
Regulus rubbed his neck. “Would you react like that if someone used Imperius on me?”
Severus smiled reassuringly, “Of course.” He held out his arms and Regulus came into his embrace, leaning his head on Severus’s shoulder.
“You really are in love with Evans.” It was a statement, not a question, but Severus answered it anyway.
“I suppose I am.”
Regulus sighed. “I imagine that I will come to love Georgina someday. We’ll have children, of course. Two boys. The heir and a spare. But I can’t imagine feeling about her the way I feel about you.”
“You will, though,” Severus said. “Because she’ll belong to you.”
Regulus shook his head. “Girls are different,” he said. “I’m sure it feels good, but it isn’t the same. Boys are... you can talk to boys. You can fight with boys. Girls are like centaurs. Nothing they say ever makes any sense.”
***
Since he had passed his Potions N.E.W.T., he didn’t have Potions classes any more with Lily. She had passed as well. Damocles and Regan had, of course, done all their N.E.W.T.s and were out of school. Damocles had taken a position in the research department of St. Mungo’s and wrote Severus enthusiastically about getting the funding to test his Wolfsbane potion.
“It will be years before it can be prescribed,” he wrote. “No one here can brew it, either!”
Damocles had enclosed some notes, further developing and complicating the potion. He asked Severus to look them over and see if he could suggest a way to simplify the process. Severus sighed and wondered if Damocles would ever stop building potions in the sky.
Regan passed her N.E.W.T. with an Acceptable mark, which was exactly what she’d been aiming for.
“You don’t want to score too highly in Potions,” she had said once. “If the other Aurors find out you got an E or an O, then you end up having to make the coffee all the time.”
But she didn’t get into the Auror training program. The explosion in the classroom had left her with a weakened larynx. She couldn’t speak above a whisper and this was considered too great an imperfection to qualify for training. Instead, she had been hired by the Department for Magical Law Enforcement at an entry-level desk position.
She had found that out late last year. Severus remembered her stirring her cauldron in the class that day, her head bowed so that her tears wouldn’t show. He felt awful and wanted to apologize. Perhaps if he had used another spell that day, she might have kept her voice.
“Don’t be silly,” she had whispered to him. “These things happen.” As she looked at him, he could see the faint impressions of family portraits filled with maimed and damaged relatives reflected in her eyes. They were all Aurors, after all. She had grown up knowing that horrible things could happen in an instant. She squeezed his hand. “I won’t be an Auror. But I am alive.”
***
Instead of holding a post-N.E.W.T. Potions class, Professor Slughorn recommended Lily for an internship at the Ministry of Magic’s Unspeakable Department. He asked Severus to assist him by teaching the first and second year Potions classes. Severus accepted. The school would pay him a small stipend. Any opportunity he had to earn money was welcome.
He continued teaching dueling. The threat against Quidditch remained in effect this year, and, since Gryffindor was back in the running, restrictions against hallway hexing were stronger than ever.
Consequently, the curses were taught one-on-one, much like the master/elf system. Regulus refined it a bit. He, Ackroyd, and Hastings learned from Severus. They each taught their own elves and another upperclassman. The curses trickled down through the ranks with Severus occasionally checking in with individual students and correcting things like stance and reaction time.
He had passed his Transfiguration O.W.L. with an E, as well as the sixth year exam. Consequently, he was able to rejoin his class in seventh year Transfiguration. He managed, with much hard work and concentration to keep up, although he couldn’t compete with Potter or Black who insisted on showing off every single class.
It was almost worth failing the O.W.L. in fifth year to have spent an entire year without having to deal with that. No wonder he’d always hated the subject.
****
Towards the end of the term, Regulus came into the study room, his face grave.
“Sevvie, did you ever notice anything strange about the Marauders?”
“Other than their colossal egos?”
“My boys are having difficulty keeping track of them. They tend to... disappear.”
Severus put down his quill. “They’ve always had a way of popping out suddenly--out of thin air. Then, they’d always be able to find me, no matter where I was. I used to think I was getting paranoid.”
“Paranoid?”
“Muggle word. It means that you think everyone is out to get you. It’s a form of insanity.”
Regulus thought about that for a moment. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you. Sevvie, I want you to tell me everything you can about them--starting at the beginning.”
So, even though he felt silly and petty at times, Severus recounted every incident that he could remember between himself and the Marauders--barring the one with the Whomping Willow. He kept his word about that.
It took several hours. Regulus listened thoughtfully and seemed most interested in when Severus mentioned the large parchment that he occasionally seen them carrying.
“I think that parchment is important,” he said. “My boys have mentioned seeing it, too. They seem to pull it out a great deal and study it.”
“What do you think it is?” Severus said.
“I don’t know,” Regulus said. “But I’m dying to find out.”
***
Two days later, Severus took his evening run around the lake. Regulus usually walked him to the lake, waiting for him, and walking him back. Severus had a sneaking suspicion that Regulus did this for his protection. Before fifth year, the Marauders had regularly attacked him at the far end of the lake. Since Regulus started taking an interest, the attacks had ceased.
But tonight, Regulus was meeting with the prefects and Severus was alone. And, at the far end of the lake, with his wand stowed in the back pocket of his shorts, he found himself on the receiving end of a hex cast by James Potter.
He was half-expecting it and dodged, but he still got caught on the leg and a line of red welts ran up his thigh. His wand was out before he hit the ground.
“Expelliarmus!” Potter’s wand flew into the bushes.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at a meeting?” Severus demanded, pointing his wand at Potter. Potter had, in a cruel twist of fate, been appointed Head Boy. No one was able to figure out why.
Potter smiled pleasantly. “I blew it off once I realized you’d be alone out here. Seemed like a good chance to settle things between us.”
“Settle what?” Severus lowered his wand, while Potter rustled in the bushes for his own. He emerged, holding it aloft and making a great show of putting it into his pocket.
“I know you slipped a sleeping potion in my juice last year,” Potter said. “That was pretty low, considering that I saved your life and all.”
“I had my reasons,” Severus said. “And you only bothered to save my life to keep your bosom buddy Black out of trouble. I don’t think it counts.”
“Look,” Potter started again. “I don’t blame you for liking Evans. She’s the hottest girl in school--“
“You’re a pig,” Severus interrupted. “It’s not the way she looks that matters. It’s the way she is.”
Potter looked thoroughly taken aback. “Sirius told me how you obsess about her.”
Severus blinked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“That comic you drew. Where she was wearing those... sexy clothes. It’s disgusting.“
Severus burst out laughing. “You don’t know the first thing about her, you sodding jerk! You don’t know what music she likes. Or what makes her laugh. I’ll bet you don’t know what her favorite color is. Or that she--“ he swallowed suddenly and triumph swooped into longing, “that she can’t cut out a decent snowflake to save her life...”
Wham! All of a sudden he was on the ground with Potter on top of him, flailing and punching for all he was worth. Severus fought back, pulling back Potter’s stupid stuck-up hair and rolling over until he was the one on top. He drove his fists into Potter’s face, which was twisted with fury.
Oh, it was satisfying!
Then Potter’s hand got through his defenses and pushed up Severus’s chin until he was too far back to reach Potter’s face anymore. He tried twisting side to side, over balanced, and ended up on the ground again.
Potter seized him by his shirt as Severus grabbed onto Potter’s robes. They rolled over and over, falling off the path and into the lake. Gasping, Severus let go and started splashing back onto land. Potter followed, grabbing him around the knees and pulling him down. Severus stumbled back to his feet, kicking at the boy behind him.
“Running away?” Potter panted. “Bloody coward.”
Severus turned, furious, just was Potter’s knee came up and connected forcefully with his groin. The agony that shot up through his body nearly made Severus vomit. He doubled over, choking and sobbing with pain.
He felt Potter’s body slamming down on top of him again and fell forward, his arms trapped and useless under his own weight, and Potter’s fingers pulling at his hair. He struggled, but it was like being in Regulus’s armlock all over again--with pain added to the insult.
All he had left was his voice and he used it to spit out every swear word he knew. The fingers tightened in his hair, and his head was pulled up and slammed down, once, twice, three times.
Severus subsided in silence, his breath wheezing. He could taste the blood in his mouth, mixing with the mud. He managed to creep his hands up under his chest, but he was helpless to move the bulk above him.
“Tell me something,” Potter said, catching his breath. “Is it true you take it up the arse?”
“That’s something you’re never going to know,” said a cool voice from the shadows. It was Regulus. He stepped into the light, his wand pointed at Potter’s head. “But if you’re interested in the experience, Potter, I might be able to oblige you.”
Potter moved for his wand. Regulus easily disarmed him and motioned him to rise. Potter stood, as Severus, mustering what dignity he could, sat up and wiped his bloody nose.
“You don’t dare hex me,” Potter said. “I’m Head Boy.”
“That wasn’t the object,” Regulus said. “You just couldn’t resist, could you, Potter? The moment you knew Sevvie was alone, you came out here to beat on him.”
“I came out--“ Potter sighed. “I came out to settle things. The fight just... happened.”
“How did you know he’d be alone?” Regulus asked. “I’m always out here in case you or your thugs show up.”
“I--“ Potter shut his mouth, looking nonplussed.
“Does it have anything to do with these things?” Regulus asked, kicking at Potter’s book bag. It flopped over, and a piece of parchment rolled out, followed by a flowing silver cloak. Keeping his wand raised, Regulus scooped up the parchment. Potter made a convulsive grab for it, before retreating back to his defensive, hands-raised posture.
“What is it, Potter?” Regulus asked.
“Spare bit of parchment,” Potter answered.
“It’s covered with magic,” Regulus countered. His eyes dropped down to study the parchment. As Potter made another sudden movement for his wand, Regulus said, “I wouldn’t do that. You’re surrounded.”
Potter laughed. “You think I can’t take you and Snivellus on at once?”
“No,” Regulus replied. “I think you underestimate me. Lumos.”
At the word, a dozen or more wands lit up like fireflies in the darkness.
“I don’t go anywhere without reinforcements,” Regulus smiled. “So, what is this, Potter? Is this how you keep track of Sevvie? The way you managed to follow him around for years?”
“You’ll never know,” Potter folded his arms. “It only works if I tell it to.”
“But that’s what it does?” Regulus frowned.
Potter simply shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have any authority, Black,” he said. “If I tell Dumbledore about what you’re doing here, he’ll throw you out of school.”
“You tried to hex me,” Severus put in. He had pulled himself up to sit on a boulder. “I thought you made a promise not to hex any more Slytherins.”
Potter smiled smugly. “I made a promise not to hex any pureblood Slytherins. You don’t count, half-blood.”
Severus exchanged a glance with Regulus, who commented, “I don’t think Evans would be very impressed with that logic, Potter.”
“She isn’t.”
Lily Evans stepped out from the shadows, her wand dimly lit at the end. She looked sorrowfully from James to Severus, then to nowhere.
James looked thunderstruck.
“You’re really a disgrace, James,” she said. “You’re supposed to be someone people look up to--and yet you’re carrying on this... stupid rivalry. I’m pretty tired of being your excuse to fight.”
“Lily--“
“The problem is that you could be a really wonderful person if you’d just get over yourself.”
Potter stared down at the path. He looked miserable, which should have filled Severus with satisfaction. All he felt was a dull ache.
Lily looked over at Severus. Regulus took a step backwards, as if to remove himself from the situation.
She was so beautiful. All Severus could think about was how beautiful she looked in the twilight. The pain didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but her beautiful green eyes.
Then she turned and walked away. She didn’t say a word.
After a minute, Potter picked up his book bag. He stuffed the silver cloak into it, threw the bag over his shoulder and left. He didn’t even try to get the parchment back.
It was Hicks, stepping out from the shadows who took it from Regulus. “I’ll see to it that it never makes mischief again,” he said.
As the others filed out of the shadows and onto the path, Severus noticed that they were all prefects. He raised one eyebrow at Regulus, who smiled.
“I was at the prefect’s meeting. Who else was I going to bring?” Regulus sat down next to Severus on the boulder and waved as the prefects went back towards the castle.
Severus waited until they were out of earshot. “You took your bloody time,” he said. “Did you want Potter to kill me?”
“You were doing fine,” Regulus replied. “You almost ruined it, though. You should have let him get that first hex in.”
“I did!” Severus protested. He pointed to the welts running up his thigh. “Clear case of Burnunculus.”
Regulus winced and pulled Severus up to his feet. “I’ll rub some ointment on that.” He put his arm around Severus’s waist and help support him as Severus limped down the path. “You make a great decoy, Sevvie. You have a real future in it.”
“Sod off,” Severus replied. “This is the last bit of intrigue I ever intend to indulge in.”
Regulus smiled. “Oh, but it was a clever plan! We got him good. And we got that parchment out of their hands. Am I a genius?”
“You are a genius. Lord Voldemort had better watch out for you, or there’ll be a new Dark Lord in town.”
***
It was a clever plan. But it backfired. Potter seemed so chastened by the experience that Lily took pity on him. She began spending a lot more time with him, even going on dates to Hogsmeade. They became the most popular couple in school.
Severus watched it all happen with a sick horror that sucked all the happiness out of second term. The kicker was overhearing two girls talking about it in charms class.
“I think they’re the most perfect couple ever,” Sarah Adams sighed to Mary McDonald. “Lily is so nice. She’s just like a saint.”
“And James is so brave,” Mary agreed. “Did you hear that he once saved that idiot Snape’s life?”