Chapter Nineteen: Loyalties
During the next Hogsmeade meeting with Lucius at the Three Broomsticks, Severus confirmed that Malfoy's attitude toward love potions, and even Unforgivables (used on animals, of course) was as he had conjectured when he had talked to Lily. Lucius had been coolly polite when he offered Snape the obligatory condolences on the loss of his mother.
Avery also paid his respects to Lucius that weekend, and assured him that he was solidly in Malfoy's camp. Malfoy's only scruples were that Snape should not be forced to put himself in danger of being expelled, a condition to which Avery readily agreed. As an aside, Lucius also preferred that Snape be kept away from pure-bloods, a sop he was willing to throw to Regulus now that Black was no longer in power at Hogwarts. No need to burn any bridges unless it was absolutely necessary.
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James was now completely smitten with the Muggle-born redhead. Her Muggle background made her exotic to the boy, who had been raised in pure-blood affluence with almost no contact with Muggles. And she had stood up to him. This was quite different from the way most other people, especially girls, treated him. Since her "no" really meant "no", he daydreamed about what it would mean if he could ever get her to "yes."
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The Marauders were alone in the fourth year boys' dormitory in Gryffindor tower. Now, more than ever, James was obsessed with getting Snape. Not only was he a greasy Slytherin git who attacked innocent people on orders, and sometimes out of malice, as when he had attacked Remus, he was also his rival for Lily's attention. And he couldn't believe the relationship was completely platonic. It certainly wouldn't be if he were that close to Evans.
"Right," said James to the other three. "What are we going to do about Snivellus?"
Sirius still burned when he thought of being tied up by Snape yet again. And somehow he blamed the boy for his "low-blood" blurt, which had turned the other three on him temporarily, and gotten James' crush, Evans, mad at them. He didn't quite understand why everyone had gotten so upset with him. "Low-blood" wasn't a foul name, like "Mudblood." "I don't know, but let's think of something good. I've got a score to settle with that git," he said.
"You know I'm in," said Peter. He was riding high, having been the only one to have landed a hex on Snivellus in the altercation, and what a lovely one it had been, too. Snivellus, puking slugs.
"Remus, you're not saying anything," said James. The werewolf had been a willing participant in the robe prank last year, and had even been responsible for the proliferation of the name "Snivellus", which the Slytherin git could no longer always ignore. But even towards the end of last year, he seemed to have become strangely reticent when it came to Snape.
"He didn't actually do anything this time," the boy answered. "You can't exactly blame him for defending himself (and Lily, he added silently to himself) against our attack. And he used only defensive spells."
Peter looked at Remus with a frown. He was always trying to ruin their fun, especially when it came to Snivellus. The other boy, whose presence had led to his demotion to "fourth" Marauder, clearly did not hate the Slytherin, and Peter guessed that they were even friends. He'd nosed about and found out about the exchange in front of Belby where Remus had shaken hands and said they were even. And he knew they talked when Snivellus helped in the Infirmary after the werewolf's Transformation.
"James, I think you should back off," said Peter with mock solicitude. "We wouldn't want to make Remus attack his friend."
"Just because I don't hate him like you do," said Remus, indicating the other three boys, "doesn't mean we're friends. I don't like what he does any more than the rest of you."
Remus supposed that what he had said was true enough. He didn't figure the Slytherin considered him a friend, and he didn't like what Snape did. But he still felt like a traitor to both Snape and the Marauders. He would have liked Severus to be his friend.
Sirius didn't like any kind of strife among his friends. "Oh, come on," he said. "Cut him some slack. Remus likes everyone. If anyone could see some saving grace to old Snivellus, he would. Just don't expect us to see it too," he added to Remus, with a barking laugh.
"OK," said James. "But you won't give us away to Snape, will you?"
James and Sirius took the flushed, horrified expression on Remus' face for a "no." Peter, more shrewdly, read it as a sign of the boy's conflict of loyalties. But James and Sirius had closed the subject. He filed it away to be used another time.
They finished making their plans, and then it was time to go down for lunch. "You go on ahead," James said to Sirius and Peter, at the same time motioning Remus to remain behind.
"What's wrong," James asked when the others had left. "Snape's found out about you, hasn't he?"
Remus was dumbstruck by the question. James took that as a "yes."
"The git's made leaving him alone a condition of keeping your secret, hasn't he?"
"No, he hasn't," Remus answered immediately, and followed it with, "and of course he doesn't know. He thinks I have Lunar Fever." Remus surprised even himself with how quickly and easily he came up with the lie. But then, he'd been lying to people about his lycanthropy since he was a little boy. It was second nature by now.
"Lunar Fever?" asked James. "I've never heard of that."
Remus shrugged. "Neither had I. Snivellus has, though." He was counting on James to not try to find out more about the fictitious ailment that he had made up on the spot. It wasn't as if James liked to do research, or was likely to ask Snape about it.
James fell for it. "All right, I'll back off. Sirius is right, you do like everybody. And besides, I owe you."
"What for?" asked the other boy.
"Keeping me from hexing Evans. Like you said, I really don't think it would have helped," he said with a snicker.
Remus chuckled, and followed his friend out of the dormitory to the Great Hall for lunch. He wondered briefly why he had felt the need to hide from James the fact that Snape knew he was a werewolf, and had promised Dumbledore to keep it a secret. Then he dismissed the thought for consideration some other time. When in doubt, it was always better to hide anything related to his lycanthropy.
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It had turned out that Jones did fancy Avery, so Severus gave Avery a vial of highly watered down rosewater to spike her tea. As a result, or so Avery thought, she had accepted his invitation to Madame Puddifoots, and if things hadn't gone as far as he might have wanted, still they were satisfactory enough. When Severus got hints that his potion might be requested for other people, he told them the potion was keyed to work only for Avery and Jones, but if they wanted to wait another couple of months, he was sure he could brew up another one for other specific pairs.
And so it went with Avery's other "requests." Simple hexes and jinxes Severus continued to perform as always, although Avery was not excessive or unreasonable in that area. It was his "private" requests that usually caused the problems. Severus learned to deflect Avery to something less damaging when he could, and trick him into thinking he was getting what he wanted when he couldn't. If neither tactic worked, Severus would work out some way with Lily for him to get caught (but not by Lily, of course) before too much harm could be done. So far, one of the three methods had always worked.
Publicly, the fallout was as he expected. He had settled into a routine with the Marauders, who were the unofficial chastisers of the Slytherin, with most of the other students being content by now to stand back and leave it to them. Most of the time, his interaction with the Marauders consisted of name-calling, and petty sabatoge of schoolwork or potions. And whenever Severus was with Lily, he was off limits.
But whenever he was alone, and not too close to other people, no holds were barred, and he usually ended up paying a visit to Madam Pomfrey to reverse or wait out the effects of the latest Marauder attack. Not only was he outnumbered three to one (Lupin always managed to be singularly ineffective, although he never stopped the others), but his hands were still tied concerning Potter and Black. He was still not allowed to use anything other than purely defensive spells against the two pure-bloods.
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I should have used a Silencing Charm on the room, thought Severus. I had no idea I'd scream like that.
A Hufflepuff had passed the empty classroom where Severus had been practicing some of his more dubious magic, when he heard the Slytherin scream. He had burst in and found Snape, now quiet, but shaking uncontrollably. He looked up and down the corridors, expecting to see one of the Marauders, although judging from the Slytherin's condition, this seemed a bit much even for them. The seventh year had the presence of mind to use a levitation charm to move him, rather than attempt to grab him himself, and brought him to the Infirmary.
Madam Pomfrey recognized the symptoms at once, gave Severus a potion, and told a house-elf to bring the Headmaster there immediately.
"Someone has used the Cruciatus Curse on that boy," she told the Headmaster angrily, when he arrived.
Albus could tell by the look on Poppy's face that the diagnosis was beyond question, and it was deeply disturbing. He worried about the brilliant, ambitious boy, especially under Avery now, but he had felt that as long as he remained friends with Lily Evans, he couldn't be pulled too far astray. But this? Had Severus refused Avery something and been punished?
"Severus, how are you feeling?" asked Dumbledore kindly, sitting in the chair next to the boy's bed.
"I'm fine. I was just trying ... something ... and it went wrong."
"Severus, I can not allow you to cover for whoever did this to you," the Headmaster said gravely. "I am prepared to use Veritaserum, or enter your mind, to get the answer. Madam Pomfrey and I both recognize the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse."
There was a tense silence, as Severus tried to figure out how to answer. He had been caught, pure and simple.
Finally he said, "It was me. I'm teaching it to myself, and before I tried it out on any animals, I chose a subject who could tell me how I was doing. Myself. And 'myself' thinks I've pretty much got it," he added arrogantly.
Albus gently entered the boy's mind to verify the boy's story, although his instincts already told him it was true.
"Severus, look at me," the old wizard said. "You have friends. Lily Evans, Evan Rosier, Damocles Belby. Even, in his own way, Remus Lupin. You are not trapped."
The boy stared at him silently. This was not what he had expected the Headmaster to say.
"And Severus, don't ever use that curse again. Not even on an animal. Not even on yourself."
The boy inclined his head in seeming agreement, but Albus noticed that he had not actually said anything out loud.
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Severus was studying in the Slytherin common room. Black and Crouch occasionally scowled at him, but since Avery had taken over, they were no longer allowed to harass him. For the first time since his first year, he could sit in the common room with some expectation of getting something done. In fact, he actually played the occasional game of chess with Belby or Rosier.
Evan came up to Severus. "Sev, could I have a word?" he ordered politely.
Severus rose, merely inclining his head and saying nothing. As his reputation had grown, Rosier had started to become more distant to him.
He followed the pure-blood up to the fourth year boys' dormitory, noticing that Rosier had evidently cleared it. Evan moved his straight backed bedside chair to the wall without any beds, and transfigured it into a more comfortable armchair. "Why don't you pull up a chair?" he told the other boy, who brought his own bedside chair over without transfiguring it, and sat down.
"Potter's gang gives you quite a bit of trouble, don't they?" Evan began.
"Someone's got to punish me for my sins," the other boy answered sarcastically.
"Or for Avery's," said Evan.
Severus shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, showing no reaction on his face.
"I've always respected you, Sev. You do what you have to, and no more than is necessary. Not like Carrow or Jugson. Even with Lupin. Everyone in Slytherin, at least, knows Black set you up to take the fall on that."
At that, Severus let himself smirk. "Somebody should tell the bloody Gryffindors, then."
Rosier chuckled softly, and went silent for a moment. Severus waited patiently for him to continue.
"I know you want to make something of yourself. But I always thought you had limits. Some of what you're doing for Avery isn't right."
Severus considered what to say. He had a sinking feeling he was about to lose Rosier's support. "I would prefer not to answer to him," he said carefully.
"I'm glad to hear that, at least," Rosier said. He paused, and then continued. "I looked through the book Avery gave you."
"He wants me to learn the Cruciatus Curse. And the Killing Curse. For use on animals," said Severus.
"And how are you coming on that, Severus?" asked Evan coolly. He hardly ever used Snape's full first name, and it sounded jarring coming from him.
"I've gotten quite good at killing flies," the other boy deadpanned. "If you need someone for pest control, I'm your man."
"I see," said Rosier, refusing to let himself show amusement at Snape's wry humor. "And the other? Made any progress there?"
"Why do you want to know, Rosier?" Severus answered quietly. "Yes, I've made progress, and I'm prepared to Crucio a cat or two if the alternative is Knight Bus ticket boy for the rest of my life."
Evan felt a chill run down his spine at the other boy's calm, emotionless words. "Ice man," some called him.
Severus saw Rosier shudder. That did it. I've lost him, he thought with a wrench, although his face remained impassive.
"Then we'll just have to make sure you have other alternatives," said Rosier. "Okay?" And he reached out his hand to the other boy.
Severus's eyes widened, and his mouth parted slightly, in shock. Then he grabbed the other boy's hand like a drowning man and answered fiercely, "Yes!"
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Author's Notes
Carrow and Jugson were two of the Death Eaters in the Astronomy Tower in HBP.
Actually, I got that partly wrong. Carrow was one of the Death Eaters in the Astronomy Tower in HBP; Jugson was a Death Eater involved in the MoM battle.
Posted by Madmaxime at January 2, 2007 06:23 PM