Chapter 3 Stand aside for a Gryffindor
Prefects from Hufflepuff were only too pleased to escort the four Marauders into the castle. Longbottom, also a Gryffindor, instructed the four to go straight to their common room and to wait till Prof. McGonagall summoned them.
Frank didn't want to take any chances with them weaseling their way out of assaulting Alice. He saw the fire in McGonagall's eyes when she met with the prefects to brief them on the jinxing of female students. There would be no 'boys will be boys' nonsense coming out of her mouth regarding this. Those four would rue the day they picked on his sweet Alice, even if Frank had to make it his personal mission for the entire summer.
Remus Lupin may think being a prefect is a joke, but Frank Longbottom had a sense of duty that Lupin apparently lacked. The Marauders' antics had been so bad when Longbottom was first made prefect, they almost lost him the chance to be Head Boy. Sure, Frank caught them loads of times, but considering he only caught them for a small percentage of their infractions, his record for discipline looked shoddy. This was his last chance at making sure his permanent record was improved for his Auror's application.
Having the basic gist of things from Alice, Frank did not want to waste any more time outside with students still hanging around to gawk at them. Even though he knew they were mostly snickering at Snape only having a third year's robe to cover up, there should have been some amount of restraint since Alice and Lily were also in need of fresh clothing. Frank was annoyed that all the missing buttons were not summoned into his hands from the girls' blouses. The thought of creeps taking souvenir blouse buttons only made Frank's blood heat further into a boil. He divided what he recovered between the two ladies for them to reparotheir blouses as best they could along with the straps of their bras.
While they did their quick repairs, Frank again snarled at the loitering students to move along then commented with a nod at Snape, "We'll stop and get you dressed."
Frank took Snape's bag so he wouldn't be encumbered by more than keeping that robe closed, and led the group up to the castle. He continued to lead once they got inside and took the stairs down to the dungeon, heading right to the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
He addressed Regulus Black, "Stay out here with Evans and Oakby. We'll be back out shortly."
"We?" queried Snape.
"I don't want you to get delayed. Lunch is going to end promptly with the practical exams this afternoon."
"You're a Gryffindor."
"I'm also Head Boy. Open the door, Snape."
After an annoyed glare, there was no further delay as Snape leaned his face against the stone and breathed the password. It was inaudible to the others.
The stone opened, and Frank instructed, "Lead," and took hold of Snape's arm through the robe.
To the few Slytherins not at lunch that were lounging in the common room, it appeared that Snape was in deep trouble as he was marched through barefoot with the bigger, muscular Gryffindor Head Boy attached. Rather than raising objections to the intrusion, they shared amused smirks. Snape would pay later once they found out how many house points the half-blood had lost them this time.
Rather than standing around and basking in the humiliation of being manhandled, Snape headed directly for his room, knocked on the door, and receiving no answer, breathed another password into the wood of the door.
Frank released Snape as they entered the dorm room.
Unlike the uniformity in Gryffindor, a couple of the beds had different hangings with family crests in rich embroidery, feather beds, fancy duvets in sumptuous fabrics, and one even seemed to have a spare mattress on top, raising the sleeping surface about a foot above the level of the other beds. Except for the green coloring, Snape's was the only one that looked identical to the beds in the Gryffindor's dorms. Snape's trunk was pretty beat-up and had the words 'Blood Traitor' carved deeply in large letters on the lid.
In response to Frank's indignant noise, Snape muttered, "Something new would be written if I remove that so I'm not going to bother until it's ready to be loaded on the Hogwarts Express." He waved his wand performing a few charms before opening it.
Frank put Snape's bag down on the foot of the bed, and made small talk by asking, "Still got a lot of packing yet?" indicating the relative emptiness of Snape's trunk with a brief wave of his hand.
"Not really," Snape replied as he dug out pants, trousers and a shirt. With a pointed glance at Frank Longbottom, Severus moved to put the bed between the two of them before sliding his underpants on under Regulus's robe, then pulled on his trousers. He removed the robe to put on his shirt, and Frank could not look away from the emaciated torso that was so unlike his own well-defined bulk.
Frank found the sight disturbing, and thought that the marks of injuries both old and recent showed how insignificant Snape was physically in comparison. It was fortunate that Frank did not see Snape's back – the area preferred for disciplinary correction and attitude improvement beatings.
Frank tore his eyes away and looked down at the still-open trunk. There wasn't any contraband visible, and considering that whatever lining the trunk once had been ripped out, it was probably a poor place to hide anything. The highly tarnished plaque on the outside claimed the trunk belonged to 'Eileen Prince'.
"I have a small problem – that was my last pair of shoes, belt, school tie and robe."
"School rules require each student to have three robes, Snape," Frank replied, quoting the standard uniform code.
"At the beginning of the year it is, and I did then. You Gryffindors are very dismissive about others' belongings."
Frank rolled his eyes in response to the boy who had 'blood traitor' carved onto his school trunk.
Snape walked over to one of the other trunks in the rooms and briefly waved his wand. "A piece of Spellotape would be stronger than Rosier's ward." After opening the lid, and carefully searching and putting items precisely back into the deep and obviously magically expanded trunk, he continued, "Only grabbing a pair of shoes, Longbottom. He's got so many clothes, he won't notice they're gone. I'll even take a scuffed up pair." Snape held up the pair he intended to take.
Frank shook his head in disapproval as Snape got out a pair of pathetic socks from his own trunk, threw his bag in and then closed and replaced the wards. After putting on his socks and Rosier's shoes, Snape adjusted the fit with his wand and then headed out the door with Frank following.
Upon reaching the group waiting outside the Slytherin common room, Snape thrust Black's robe at him with a surprising, "Thank you."
Frank interrupted the return by asking, "Can Snape keep that another day, Black?"
When Regulus returned a puzzled nod, Frank then asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a spare Slytherin tie too, would you?"
"Sure," Regulus said, suddenly understanding the problem. "You can keep them both, Snape, if you want rather than giving them back. It's my brother's fault that your uniforms are gone. Only fair that another Black help get it sorted. Besides, can't have you losing points from Slytherin for not being in uniform for our last day." Slytherin was still in the lead for the cup, but it was so close that a point loss for any infraction gave Ravenclaw a chance to snatch it away. Regulus wasn't sure how he'd ask Snape to pay him back, but it would sure be useful if he was passing while Sirius was bullying his little brother in the halls.
Snape's eyes narrowed, but kept the robe. He finally gave a silent nod in return.
"I'll get the tie to you while you are queued up for your afternoon exam."
Frank added, "And I'll get you a belt and another pair of shoes so you can return the ones you borrowed."
That caused another suspicious look from Snape, now directed at Frank Longbottom.
Lily knew Severus didn't want charity or pity, but could only imagine the problems he would face at home with having to replace all his clothing. She hoped Severus would not spite them all by insisting on going home barefoot. He was so stubborn at times. Lily merely smiled encouragingly at Severus. More words on the matter would likely trigger Severus's anger into insults for everyone around him.
Alice took Frank's hand in hers.