Chapter Nine: Friends
It was a sunny March day a few days after the full moon. The snow had melted and the Easter holidays were approaching. It was time for the second years to choose their elective classes for next year.
Severus had an on-going problem with the arrangements at Hogwarts. He preferred to have four solid walls about him at all times, but it was hard to insure privacy inside. Even if you thought you had a corridor or an empty classroom to yourself, there was always the chance of a ghost coming through unbidden, or Peeves, not to mention a staff member or fellow student. And if there were actually pictures on the wall, forget it. It may look empty now, but the next time you looked, you might find old Nigellus Black, past Slytherin headmaster of Hogwarts, staring down at you. So although he would rather be inside, today was decent enough to go outside, and Severus wanted to talk to Lily alone.
Since Christmas, people had become accustomed to seeing the icy Slytherin and the fiery Gryffindor walking along together, immersed in conversation. Most of his fellow Slytherins thought little enough of it; she was Muggle-born and he was practically Muggle-born. By rights he should find a Muggle-born Slytherin girl, but there was no such creature these days. Not that it was that kind of relationship anyway.
Severus stood, his back covered by a large tree, methodically looking over the grounds, examining the other students running about, talking, or sitting quietly reading. It looked like most of them were outside today. Maybe it would have been better to stay inside after all.
Severus caught sight of Lily coming down from the main entrance to Hogwarts. She was in animated conversation with a couple of other Gryffindor girls, and then set off alone toward his tree. As she came towards him, he saw she wore a fierce scowl on her face. As always, it struck him how transparent Gryffindors were.
The raven haired boy bowed to the inevitable, and set aside the topic he was dying to discuss. "Somebody giving you a hard time, Evans?" he asked, frowning slightly.
"Same old shite," she growled, tapped him firmly, but briefly, on the shoulder to indicate he should follow, and stalked off on the long, circuitous path that wound around the grounds past the lake, past Hagrid's hut, and the Forbidden Forest. She had learned soon enough that the Slytherin did not appreciate being touched by anybody except close relatives.
"Which is?" asked Severus, following her. The standard response to this question was usually an evasion, but he was genuinely at a loss. He could see that other people, especially but not exclusively Gryffindors, were giving her grief for associating with him, but he could not understand why. That some people might object, he could understand, but judging from her reaction and his own observations, it was more than a few.
She stopped, folded her arms, and shook her head at him. The standard response, then. No answer. But then she seemed to come to a decision.
"You're a bully, Severus. You pick on people who have committed no offense worse than not showing 'proper respect' to Narcissa sodding Black. And all you care about is bloodlines; you suck up to any pure-blood who gives you the time of day. You're a toady."
The boy's face became completely impassive and his eyes empty. Lily was one of the few who had learned this was a sign of intense thought, not anger.
After a pause, he answered. "I know that's what the Gryffindors say." Then he added, "Especially the rich, pure-blood Gryffindors."
"Damn it, Severus, there you go again!" Lily snapped, her green eyes flashing. "Not everyone is obsessed with money and bloodlines like you Slytherins."
"Really?" He drew out the word, his lips curled up slightly in a sneer. "So tell me, when was the last time you saw a Gryffindor refuse anything to James Potter? Or Sirius Black?"
"Ancestry and wealth have nothing to do with it," she came back. "They're just ... popular." As she heard what she was saying, it suddenly didn't sound quite right.
"Fair enough. They're popular. But they can't be the only ones with that kind of popularity. Maybe in your year. But in all seven years? So why don't you just tell me about the popular Muggle-borns in Gryffindor that no one ever refuses?"
He waited while her face worked, thinking.
"Okay, that wasn't fair. By far most wizards and witches are half-blood, so just tell me about them, tell me about the half-bloods."
"Severus, I don't know everyone's bloodlines."
"No problem. As you so kindly pointed out, I do. Name someone and I'll tell you."
Lily looked at Severus, beginning to understand. "You're going to tell me that anyone I name is a pure-blood, aren't you?"
"Pretty quick for a Gryffindor," he smirked.
"But you do hex people just for looking cross-eyed at Narcissa," Lily accused.
"And Sirius Black and Potter hex people for being available," Severus snapped back. Then he seemed to frown at himself and tightened his lips. "Which doesn't change the fact that you're right. I do. I don't like it, but I do it."
"You don't like it!" Lily was outraged. "Don't you lie to me, Severus Snape. Don't tell me you didn't like duelling Sirius last year."
"Sirius? I thought we were talking about Narcissa's targets this year, not Malfoy's last year."
"Are you telling me you duelled Sirius last year because Lucius Malfoy told you to?"
"Of course," Severus answered. "You don't think I cared about that stupid broom, do you?"
"And you really do hex people just because Narcissa tells you to?"
"I just told you that," he answered, puzzled at her question. "Everyone knows I belong to Lucius Malfoy, and unless he tells me otherwise, I answer to the ranking Slytherin at Hogwarts. Who this year, unfortunately, is Narcissa Black. And because I'm so good at Charms, including Hexes and Jinxes, that's what they both want me to do. It's annoying, and it makes me a target for no good reason."
She stared at him. He wasn't kidding.
"I've never hurt anyone!"
"You've never ... " Lily was aghast. He honestly didn't see anything wrong with what he was doing. "Just because you've never caused any lasting physical damage doesn't mean you've never hurt anyone!"
"Oh, yes, I quite agree with that," Severus answered coldly, black eyes glaring at her, and now Lily knew that he was furious. "For example, just because you don't notice that one of your so-called best friends has a broom that doesn't stand a chance in hell against your Nimbus, it doesn't mean that he's not humiliated every time you leave him in the dust on his Comet. ... Or his Tinderblast."
"Sirius didn't mean anything ... "
"Of course not. Sirius never means anything by it," Severus spat. "And it wasn't just Sirius. James almighty Potter got mad at Pettigrew for not saving Sirius from himself! But not to worry. Neither of them meant to humiliate Pettigrew, so that's all right then."
Lily had become very quiet. "Peter hates you for that, you know."
Severus shook his head in disgust. "He has to, Lily. He belongs to James and Sirius as surely as I belong to Lucius and Narcissa. But he's a Gryffindor, so he can't admit it to himself. And James and Sirius can't admit they have obligations to him. At least when Narcissa treats me like shite, I don't have to pretend it's the fault of the people she sets me on."
"But you don't have to do it at all, Severus. You don't have to be Narcissa Black's personal thug."
"We'll see," said Severus, sighing wearily. "There are much worse people than Narcissa. No doubt I'll have to choose sooner rather than later and damn the consequences. But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."
Lily could see Severus was not going to talk about this any more and her own head was spinning, trying to make sense of everything the Slytherin boy had told her. "Yes, I know. Electives for next year."
He smiled at her faintly, somehow astonished that they still seemed to be friends. "Yes, the electives. But there's something else I have to tell you that's more important. And you have to swear to me you will never tell anyone."
"How can I swear that without knowing what it is, Severus?" Lily asked. "You hang around with some scary people."
Severus smirked. "You have no idea," he said. "You hang around with some scary people too, you know."
"Yes, I know." She copied his smirk. "You."
At that, he laughed. "But really, Lily. I'm not swearing you to anything Dumbledore doesn't approve of. In fact, if he tells you you don't have to swear not to tell anyone, I'll release you from your word. Is that good enough?"
"Okay, I swear to keep your secret, unless Dumbledore tells me I don't have to. Now what is it?"
"Remus Lupin is a werewolf."
Lily broke into a wide smile. "And Dumbledore's arranged it so he can go to school here? That's wonderful!"
Not for the first time, the Gryffindor's response took the Slytherin by surprise, though he didn't show it. He had told her so she would be prepared to protect herself if need be.
"You can't tell anyone, Lily," Severus warned her, worried. "It's against the law for him to be here. If the wrong people find out, they'll kick him out."
"Against the law?"
"Lily, it is rather dangerous, you know. If Lupin fails to take the necessary precautions even once, people can die."
"Well, yes but ..." And then suddenly something occurred to her. "Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black would be two of the 'wrong people', wouldn't they?"
Severus nodded his head silently.
Suddenly, Lily didn't care about the Slytherin boy's "personal space." She hugged him.
Severus stiffened, but smiled back at her, a bit shyly. "Now about those electives," he said, and they set off walking again.
Albus Dumbledore looked down at the grounds from his office, and his eyes picked out the tall, gangly Slytherin boy, all black and white, and the shorter Gryffindor girl, her ginger hair in vivid contrast. He chuckled to himself. It made him think of another Gryffindor / Slytherin friendship from long ago. Of course that time, the Gryffindor had been male, not female. He hoped this one turned out better than it had for Godric and that other Salazar so long ago.
Posted by Madmaxime at May 12, 2006 05:32 AM