Chapter 33 Not Even a Finger was Left Behind
At first, Peter thought becoming James's best friend would be easy and painless. It was easy. That much was certain with just the two of them rooming together, and all evidence of Remus and Sirius removed from their room. There was enough floor space now that they could invite some girls up to listen to the wireless and dance.
But James was different. He had changed. He cried. Not just when he wrote a letter to Remus either. It was rather Peter's own fault because he was trying to imitate the spontaneous way that James or Sirius would suddenly put their arm around the other's shoulder. James would hug him back, say something nice and start weeping. Not all the time, but enough that Peter stopped touching him. Marauders did not cry. They made others cry.
The only shadow of the former Prongs that Peter could see was when James told him of their new Marauder mission. It was so stupid. James wanted to save MacDonald and Evans from Snape, who was teaching them the Dark Arts. Actually, it was beyond stupid. James and Peter could only beat Snape if they attacked him while he was sleeping, and that would probably be a close thing.
Prongs's plan was to gather information about his use of the Dark Arts and to get him expelled or worse, not attack Snape without provocation. First off, that sounded incredibly dull. The other problem that Peter saw with the plan was that he and James should stay away from MacDonald and Evans. Without Sirius, they were the prime targets for their revenge. If they wanted to learn the Dark Arts, it was to use them on Potter and Pettigrew, not to join up with the Death Eaters.
After dinner, James was excited. Tonight was the full moon. After checking the map, he made sure he was presentable … well, more than presentable. This was a big night. Peter would see. Their waiting would pay off once MacDonald and Evans found out that they could keep them company.
James stared at the map, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to take them out to the Whomping Willow.
She was in the Infirmary.
James kept checking his watch. Wasn't it getting rather late? What were Evans and MacDonald doing? He saw them earlier today.
He ran his finger slowly away from the Infirmary. They'd never make it in time now. Lower, lower, into the dungeons … there they were. Prof. Dumbledore, Prof. McGonagall, MacDonald's parents and Snape were there with them. What the hell was Snape doing there?
James watched. Soon, everyone became absolutely still, except for MacDonald who was turning in tight circles. MacDonald spun nonstop for close to ten minutes, before Evans walked over to Snape.
Prof. McGonagall joined them and they exited that room. Near the Slytherin dungeons, Snape parted from them. It was just Evans and McGonagall now, and it looked like they were heading up here.
James glanced back at MacDonald's dot on the map. Her feet were still moving, but going nowhere.
To Peter, James jubilantly declared before he ran down the stairs to the common room, "Evans is coming up. She's not a werewolf!"
Peter replied to the empty room, "So?" Prongs was an idiot when it came to Evans. Well, he was an idiot about most everything these days. He took the map from where James left it, and put it in his pocket, then transformed into a rat. Prongs was going to be no fun tonight.
James paced the common room till Evans came in through the portrait hole.
"Evans!" he exclaimed, heading over her. James then noticed she looked blotchy with bloodshot eyes, even with the greenish skin.
"What do you want, Potter?" she snapped.
"Did Snape do something to you?"
"Snape? What is it with you? You are the densest bum rag in existence. I just came from a cage in the dungeons, you … you … dunderhead. It's the first full moon since your little prank."
"That's good, right? You're not a werewolf."
Lily's lip curled and she looked at Potter in disgust. "I might not be, but Mary MacDonald is. Or would you prefer us all dead?"
"How could you say that, Evans? I tried to save uh … you."
"Funny, I don't recall seeing you there. From that article in the paper, it sounded like you were having a laugh with your mates."
"I wasn't. I was outside waiting for Snape."
"Waiting to do what? Stupefy him and call Lupin?"
"No, I never wanted to get Remus in trouble. I would have stopped him."
With a disgusting exhale of breath, Lily replied, "You are such a liar, James Potter. Don't talk to me."
James couldn't let her head up the stairs without telling her how he felt. He didn't care if there was an audience watching them now. "But Evans, if you're not a werewolf, don't you see? We can go out."
Lily turned and her mouth dropped open in shock.
She shut it so hard, her teeth clicked, and she kept them tightly closed as she gritted out, "Go out? I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last boy on earth, and the entire future of the human race depended on it."
"Evans! I mean Lily … you and I would be perfect together."
"Perfect?" she growled, "You're a perfect pisshead that shouldn't even be in school still. I don't care who your parents are and how much they paid to keep you here. There is no price that can be put on the lives of others."
"You need to calm down."
"Calm down. Oooh!" Lily continued back up the stairs in a terrible mood. Calm down. Like she'd actually listen to him saying calm down. She could not believe how incredibly thick-headed and conceited James Potter was. If she stayed in the common room a moment longer, she'd start jinxing.
James knew that didn't go well. Evans was upset over MacDonald. This was the part where Sirius would say something like 'tough luck, Prongs', but he wasn't here. Everyone in the common room, even the lads, looked at him. Rather hostile looking. Maybe he should see what Peter thought of this.
He went back to his room, but Peter and the map were gone.
Mary spent her days during the full moon in the infirmary. She felt wrung out, and would not be able to attend classes till Monday.
When she was alone, Mary cursed Remus Lupin. How could he commit someone else to this torment? Black, Potter and Pettigrew were untrustworthy and sadistic fiends, they were as monstrous on the inside as Lupin was during the full moon. Lupin was aware they knew where he was during his unsupervised transformations. All he needed to do was say something to Madam Pomfrey or Prof. Dumbledore, but he didn't. He didn't because he was a werewolf in his heart too, there was as much humanity left in him as there was in the rest of the Marauders.
Madam Pomfrey did her job, but nothing more. Mary studied her carefully. She knew that Lupin was left outside alone. For all the feigned interest in the safety of the students, Pomfrey could have done something. Lupin may not have told her that his safety was compromised by students knowing where he was, but to expect no one to stumble across him in seven years from either Hogwarts or Hogsmeade was the height of foolishness.
Lily was a constant visitor outside class. Mary was interested in knowing what was going on in class. Divination was moving into comparative symbolism and analysis. They were being taught methods in preparation for another large assignment over the Christmas holiday. Lily and her had speculated on what their first major project would be. Mary's hopes were on a compatibility comparison. Severus's chart was already compiled by Lily, and even though the subject was unnamed, it was available for other students in the class to review. Especially since it was part of what the professor called a perfect example of predictive divination, so far.
Mary hoped that would be the assignment. Lily could also do one of her and Severus.
When Lily visited her without Severus, Lily had confided that she was developing feelings for Severus, but did not know what to do since she did not want to lose either Mary or Severus as a friend.
At first, Mary was upset, since it seemed awfully convenient that after Mary took an interest in Severus, all of of sudden Lily noticed he was a boy.
But if there was someone likely to compete with her for Severus, it was Lily. It was her good fortune that Mary and Lily were such good friends and could be honest with each other. Some other girl might be a spiteful tramp and try to catch Severus's attention in order to hurt him, or even Mary or Lily. It was hard to believe, but girls like that existed, and not only in Slytherin.
Anyway, if they both did comparative charts matching their own with Severus's, it could clear things up without getting ugly. Besides, Mary did not think Severus would understand them competing for him. He seemed utterly clueless to her suggestions, and was quite restrained when Lily drunkenly demanded he shag her rotten and leapt upon him.
Mary feared his reactions and reluctance were due to his unfortunate past. Even though Lily knew much more than Mary, Mary was confident she could put Sev's fears to rest.
Since it was a non-Divination day, Severus visited with Lily today. They had already discussed it, and Severus could use the time on Arithmancy, while the ladies talked about the superior method of divining the truth. One could not let their life be ruled by numbers and equations. That was ridiculous, or at least in Mary's and Lily's opinion, which were the ones that counted. It was bad enough that horoscopes had them using base 60 math, but luckily there were charms to help with those calculations.
The three of them were talking about Defense when Madam Pomfrey walked up to Mary's bed and interrupted them, "Mr. Snape, I find I have time in my schedule and I'd like to give you a complete physical." It had been eating away at her that this boy had hoodwinked St. Mungo's and the Ministry into thinking there was something wrong at the school. She'd expose him for the fraud he was.
His lip curled up as he responded, "What for? No one's cast anything on me in days."
"Some of the student records were tampered with, and need to be updated."
Severus's brow furrowed. Did he even have anything in a record to be tampered with? "All right. Go ahead and cast whatever."
"I need you to get undressed first. Come -"
"I've never gotten undressed for you before. I'm not doing it."
Mary and Lily were equally confused and concerned. Madam Pomfrey used magic. She didn't have students strip down. They certainly never did.
"No arguments, Snape. You'll have a detention every night until you cooperate."
"All right."
"Well, come on then. I haven't got all afternoon."
"I'm not wasting your time. I opted for the detention."
Once a very cross Madam Pomfrey was out of earshot, he muttered, "I doubt I even have much of a record. Am I right in thinking no other students need to get undressed for her?"
Mary laughed, "Now you ask?"
"No, Sev, they don't. That's a lot of detention for standing up for what you think is right," Lily said concerned because he had so much homework.
He shrugged, "It's seventeen months at most, not counting the summer holiday."
"You're not going to serve detention for seventeen months," Lily replied.
"Oh, did I change my name to Potter?" Severus asked airily. When Potter and Pettigrew got suspended, their detentions stopped and Gryffindor was restored to zero points. With the loss of Parkin, their quidditch scores were not going to save them, and they'd be lucky to hit an even hundred points by June. Potter would probably be restored to the quidditch team to save them too. His 'probation' did not get him tossed out of school, so there no reason that the ban given at the same time shouldn't be lifted too.
"Just take off your clothes," Lily argued.
"No, he shouldn't have to," Mary countered. Lily should try to be a little understanding of Severus's feelings on the matter. It wasn't as simple as disrobing for him.
Lily glared at Mary. This didn't involve her. She was only taking Severus's side, which was the wrong one, to kiss up to him.
"She did not agree to any conditions, Lily. Examined by just her, or others?"
"What?"
"You at least agree it is an unusual request?"
"Yes, but -"
"Why not in the courtyard? Or the Great Hall during dinner? It wouldn't be my first time."
"That would be wrong," Lily replied.
"Like something being wrong stops it from happening at Hogwarts. If you are concerned about my health, you know I had a totally undressed examination at St. Mungo's, and until recently one of their healers were seeing us every week. Today, Madam Pomfrey wants to fix her records? She never did any sort of examination on me before."
Mary said, "Nor to me either. If she was so bored, why not have me strip? I'm right here every morning now. She accepted what St. Mungo's said about me, without reexamination."
"I don't think you should make trouble," Lily stubbornly insisted.
"It's not right. What says that any staff can't tell any student to take off their clothes?"
"What?"
"I think it would be fair to ask for them to turn out their pockets, but there should be a student code of rights that would require a parent or same gendered head of house to be present, it to be done in a private area, and there should be some sort of limit or reasonable explanation given to allow it."
"Where do you come up with this stuff, Sev?" Lily asked. Teachers telling students to take off their clothes? It was only Madam Pomfrey.
"Ugh, can you imagine? What if it's like Prof. Pettigrew teaching … oh, whatever, he's not really good at anything is he? Well, you got the caster of the Breast Baring Jinx as a teacher, and able to tell any female student he wants to strip?" Mary asked.
"That would never happen. A Marauder teach here? Never," disagreed Lily.
"Dumbledore may act like he's wised up, but with a death and the Board he has to," Severus said. "However, he loves them. They might have hit a rough patch, but they'll tell him some tale of remorse, how sorry they are, and I guess only Pettigrew would need the money, so he gives him a job. Maybe assistant to Filch, since he can't teach anything."
Beady little eyes narrowed in anger underneath one of the beds. Assistant to Filch? That's rich coming from Snape. Peter could come back for Little Miss Smartass MacDonald later, or even next month. Evans would get tired of visiting her.
A bit after dinner, Severus went up to the headmaster's office, after arranging things with Mr. Filch.
At least Slughorn was back to normal and not pretending to invite him to tea. Severus knew he had to have gotten a few black marks against him since Madam Pomfrey did not normally hand out detention.
When he entered the office, he thought he really didn't need this shit. Besides Dumbledore and Slughorn, Abstractus, McGonagall, and Flitwick were here too, with some Ministry jerk in a pinstriped suit. What now? There was a fake galleon in the twelve he paid for his apparition class?
Severus supposed not because Abstractus, McGonagall, Flitwick and Dumbledore smiled at him. Rather than explaining what nonsense they were up to, they waited expectantly after greeting him with their teeth showing.
When that blond reporter woman that Lily was so taken with arrived with a photographer, he started feeling sick to his stomach. Horrible things were about to happen, and Dumbledore announced its commencement with, "Ah Miss Skeeter, a pleasure, as always. I suppose we're ready to begin then."
Albus had decided to keep things small, considering no familial support and Mr. Snape's lack of popularity among the students would result in catcalls rather than applause. He cleared his throat and picked up a stained piece of wood, "It's not every evening that one comes face to face with imminent death, but it's how one responds to such an occasion, with concern for others that brings us here today. For bravery and clear thinking, Severus Snape is awarded with this Award for Special Services to Hogwarts."
Dumbledore held it out to him.
Was Severus supposed to carry it down to the trophy room for his detention? He took it in one hand and asked, "What is this good for?"
"Good for?"
"Like getting out of detention?"
From the way they laughed at him, obviously Severus Snape was the dunderhead in this room. Yeah, he thought as he laid it down where Dumbledore picked it up from his desk, nothing like a good laugh at his expense. And they were supposed to be the adults.
"And that's not all, as I'm sure you've already suspected. Mr. Crouch is here on behalf of the Ministry."
Severus looked at Barty's father. He really looked like his son said. Severus's shoulder twitched at how inhumanely precise, was that the word, yes, precise he appeared. This is the man who allowed the Ministry to cast Unforgivables and said they were not be accountable to anyone. The head of Magical Law Enforcement and above the law, and anyone he chose to be above the law. What a fine role model, he thought sarcastically.
"Yes, thank you, Dumbledore," he said. He looked like a man who had better things to do. Hopefully, he'd be quick about it and then Severus could get out of here.
"Due to public demand that some notice be given to the student whose sound thinking prevented further terrible mishaps, I am awarding you, on behalf of the Minister, the Order of Merlin, third class."
Severus stood completely still. Although it was highly unlikely, this fellow could cast the Killing Curse at every one of them in the room, and not give a damn. He was efficient with pinning it to his robe. Crouch must do this a lot since he hadn't even bothered to say his name. Just speak, pin, and go.
He took the case from Crouch, who was holding it out to him, and unpinned the award and put it away. "Is this it?" Severus asked, holding the closed case in front of him.
"Yes, that's the award."
"Nothing else?"
"Such as?"
Severus could think of many things much more useful than this. The Ministry could have waived the twelve galleon fee for his apparition course. That would have been a damned sight better than this thing. However, Severus merely shrugged. He did not want the attention of this man, even if it was under the pretense of something good.
While Crouch remained the center of attention as he made his farewells, Severus put the worthless medal down with the plaque. This was a complete fucking waste of time. He had no idea how long Filch was going to keep him tonight, and he had things he needed to complete. Severus did not spend his evenings lounging around the common room in silk pajamas. If that were the case, then hobnobbing with the toffs in the head's office would be a delightful change of pace.
It got to be too much for him when the smiles were followed by hands and arms. They ignored his verbal warnings as he continued to twist free of their grasps at him. When he had backed up to the door, he decided to leave, rather than join the group pawing at each other for photos.
By the time Severus got to the dungeons, he was muttering to himself, and ready to jinx anyone who impeded him. He changed into his detention clothes, or what Lily knew as his summer holiday outfit. He didn't want to risk permanent ruination of his uniform for whatever Filch thought up, and got in a bit of homework before heading to the caretaker's office for his assignment. It wasn't so bad. He'd be redoing the grout in one of the boys' bathrooms, and Filch verbally told him how to do it, and supplied what he needed to do it by hand. Severus gave the task a bit of thought while he worked. There was certainly a spell to do grout, but he could understand Filch not wanting to share that because his usual detainees would be shooting it all over the place. There was some precision needed and the excess needed to be wiped up before it dried, or it would be an unsightly mess.
Filch seemed happy with his progress when he came to check, or at least he didn't complain. For him, that was something.
Severus was not sure he could finish this whole room tonight. It needed a lot of work. He was going to have to regrout it all because the new grout was so much brighter than the old so there was no shortcut unless he could whiten the old.
Severus had a system going that worked for him, when the door opened again. He hoped Filch did not have much to say, and would let him continue without interruption. He felt if he finished this whole wall tonight, he'd have something to show to end the detention, besides being given the opportunity to look up the charm to do this more efficiently tomorrow.
There was a flash of bright light with a popping sound. A smug female voice said, "You ran out of there so fast, you didn't stay for a photo."
Severus looked back. It was that reporter, holding a notepad, and accompanied by some dodgy looking bloke with a camera.
Filch would have his cat's kittens if he found him goofing off with her. "I need to work on this. This is a gents' so you should leave."
"When is your detention over?"
"I don't know."
"Do you do manual labor around the school often?"
"If it's part of detention."
"How many days of detention do you have?"
"I don't know."
"Every night?"
"That is what I was assigned."
"When I interviewed the other lads, they said you come from a poor family."
"If you say so," Severus replied. Lily would admire this woman's needless questions. He was grouting tile, for Merlin's sake. There was no mystery to uncover here.
"Do you feel you are unfairly given punishments that others may not receive?"
His lip quirked as he continued staring at the wall he was working on, but Severus replied, "I am not in a position to judge that."
"Do you think detention every evening for an unspecified period of time will effect your grades?"
"It may."
"Why are you assigned this detention?"
"I refused a request from a staff member."
"Wouldn't it be simpler for you to have complied?"
"It was an unusual request that I felt inappropriate."
"Does the school administration support that request?"
"I don't know."
"Did a specific reason need to be stated when the detention was assigned?"
"I don't know."
"What's this?" asked Filch. The boy was still working and had made progress since his last visit, but there were two strangers in here who were definite distractions.
"Are you supervising this detention?"
"Yes. Who are you?"
"I'm Rita Skeeter. I was invited to the school to cover this boy receiving an Order of Merlin earlier this evening."
As long as he worked hard, Filch did not care what he had pinned to his chest. "So what do you want with him now?"
"Did he try to take the evening off from this labor?"
"No."
"What time does it end?"
"He's making progress. At the end of this wall, he can stop for the night." Unlike other workers, Snape actually got something accomplished. Filch knew this from previous detentions that all he needed to do was have this one work without other students.
"He will have detention tomorrow?"
"Yes, he's scheduled," Filch replied. With this nosy woman poking around perhaps the headmaster would change it.
"Do you know why he has detention?"
"Disobedience. What are all these questions for?"
"Just trying to get a little color for my story. He's not much of a talker."
"Good. I like workers, not talkers," Filch said, giving a very broad hint.
"Any beatings?" Pringle didn't spare the rod for her.
"They aren't allowed. Just the work," Filch replied miserably. "I think I've told you enough, and I want you to leave him to his work."
Bozo took a picture of Filch, who growled while Rita smirked at his discomfiture. What would really help any further article would be a likable student. Snape was hideous and boring. Rita was going to have to work hard to make him into someone for which the public could feel sympathy.
She left thinking about dear Prof. Slughorn. He gave a leg up to Barnabas Cuffe, and Cuffe got her staff position at The Daily Prophet, and made a lot of money on the side suppressing the news, instead of reporting it. If Cuffe was getting an award, Slughorn would have his fat arms all over him squeezing into the photo, but he avoided Snape this evening like he was still infectious with dragonpox.
Snape turned when he heard the door slam. Mr. Filch stared at the closed door, rather than him. "Is this wall fine than, Mr. Filch?"
"Yeah, but don't get sloppy about it," he menaced, while examining the work on a completed portion. "And clean the bucket and rags before you stop for the night."
"By the way, Mr. Filch, I noticed what looked like rat droppings in the first cubicle. Since I'm not as familiar with the building as you are, and what vermin it could be, I left it for you to see before I cleaned it up."
Filch slammed the stall door open and looked down, exclaiming, "Filth! Feces on my floor!"
Afraid of Filch taking it out on him, Severus repeated, "I will clean it up, now that you've seen it."
Barely listening, Filch began talking to himself as he left, "Traps. Vermin in here. Check the kitchens."
Severus completed his work on the wall's grout, and disappeared the rat dropping and scourgifyed the floor. Filch would probably want him to clean it more, but no one was going to be eating in here. He checked the other stalls, including behind the toilets to see if there was any more. Even though Filch hadn't seen it this time, he'd probably blame Severus if any got left behind in here.
Severus wasn't sure what house elves handled and what was Filch's domain.
Lily's emotions swirled her between opposing moods. Not speaking to Severus would not resolve how she felt. Even she had to admit that whatever they now had between them was more than they were in the past. She did not want to call her best friend her boyfriend, but Lily was doing things with him that should label him that and possibly more. Lily wanted a boyfriend; she just had trouble seeing Severus in that role. That bothered her, and Petunia's words haunted her. Lily wanted to snog and if she was in the mood, which she wasn't thankfully in today, finally shagging Severus would possibly not be out of the question.
His detention was not cutting into their time together because Severus began at curfew with whatever Mr. Filch had for him. While Lily was not being affected, she thought he was being a stubborn git by not giving into Madam Pomfrey. What did it matter? She agreed that it was an unusual request, and as far as she knew unless a student had an obvious injury that needed inspection, they were not asked to disrobe by the school nurse.
It did not help matters that Mary was voicing approval for Severus's decision. He did not need someone cheering his noncompliance because she was hot for him.
Then there were those awards. Lily found out by reading about it the next morning in the paper. Her first thought had been why Severus? There were five other people that entered the Shrieking Shack. However, she beat that green envious monster into submission considering that without Severus she'd be dead, Mary would be dead, and Lily wasn't sure about Wilkes and Rosier. If Severus had not disabled the werewolf, would they have seen it and ran? Besides stopping Mary's bleeding, he also got Helen's body out of there. If they were so stingy with awards that only one person could receive it, Lily supposed Severus was the best choice.
She was inclined to believe Severus did not know about them in advance. Nonetheless, his attitude was sorely lacking any pride in himself. He was not someone who was easily gladdened by his life, but his perception of their non-importance was sad.
Lily agreed that two new things to add to the Hogwarts overstuffed trophy room would be cursed by future generations of students in detention, and Severus could benefit more from … oh, anything. His suggestion of money sounded rather mercenary, but at least he could use that.
Close behind his disturbing deficiency of self-worth was his speculation that the awards were merely for show to put a positive light on the incident. Dumbledore should bear responsibility for the easy access to a transformed werewolf, but here he was smiling and shaking hands with Crouch in the photo, with Slughorn beaming behind him. Severus was not even in the newspaper photo.
Lily silently tried to rationalize that perhaps with his skin not back to a normal tone, that the black and white photo of Severus did not turn out well. Maybe it was for the best that Severus pretended he did not care. Lily felt a bit hurt for him, but if he was outwardly upset, she didn't know what she'd do. Her friend was used to disappointment, but that did not make these sort of things right.
Making things even more difficult was Potter, of all people. That damned toerag kept showing up in the library and hovering around them. Making things worse was Lily opened up her big mouth and told Severus to ignore him at first. Severus did, although Lily detected him shifting his eyes to keep them on Potter. After a couple evenings of Potter's pesting around, Lily was ready to jinx him herself. She had not been this annoyed in years, and that was when her family would take a long car trip, when Petunia would get bored and start poking her in the backseat. That's how juvenile Potter was acting. Didn't he have homework of his own to do?
Lily was relieved when Saturday finally arrived, and she could get Severus alone. They were sitting in the window looking towards the mountains from Ravenclaw tower. Rather than unloading all she wanted to say to Severus, Lily was being a bit naughty and was feeling the front of his trousers. Initially, she was not in the mood to kiss, snog or do anything more than merely enjoy some quiet time with Severus. He did not complain and while he was looking through a library book on household repair charms, Lily's hand walked over there on its own. She looked at the book with Severus and found it somewhat interesting. Once she was seventeen, Lily could use some of these around her parents' home. It would save time and the cost of hiring someone. That is what she was thinking, until that little voice started urging her to pull down the tab of Sev's zipper. Lily was in the midst of ignoring it, even though she knew she had Severus thinking about more than roofing shingles, when Severus lifted his head and looked into the corridor, narrowing his eyes. He lowly said, "Someone's coming."
She turned her head to listen, but forgot to pay attention as she gripped Severus firmly and protectively in her hand. He pulled her hand off, muttering, "It could be a teacher." He put the book directly on top of his lap and drew his wand, holding it between them.
"All right, Evans?" Potter asked when he came around the bend.
For what seemed to be the fiftieth time this week, Lily said, "Leave me alone."
Against his better judgment, Severus asked, "What are you doing, Potter?"
"Nothing."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"It's a bit cold out, would us locking you in a broom closet be all right with you, Potter?"
"Not without a fight."
"No fighting," Lily emphatically stated, although until Potter broke a rule, they may be stuck with him.
"All right," Severus agreed. Could Lily be giving Potter yet another chance? A chance at what, Severus wasn't sure, but she was not helpless. He'd assist her, but if Severus took it upon himself to rid them of Potter, who apparently Lily was tolerating once again, who would she blame? Him, of course. Lily had been ticked at Severus all week over MacDonald, detention and bloody Dumbledore and his awards. Now Potter was being added to that stew. Posing, smirking, and playing with his hair like the absolute jackass he was.
"All right?" Lily repeated. She expected a lot more than 'all right' from Severus. Potter was being a first class bum rag. She hated him. Yes, there was a very short list of people that Lily could not find anything worth … anything. There were a lot more people that she thought of as worthless, but Potter, Black, He Who Must Not Be Named, yeah, that was pretty much it, were so without conscience or morals that the world would be a much better place without them. They were simply that evil. Potter was not outwardly evil at the moment so courtesy dictated that she not harm him. Surprisingly, Severus took Lily's words to heart that he ignore all toerags. Maybe she shouldn't have stressed that lesson about being 'the better man' too much. She liked his idea about a broom closet, and then bricking over the door so Potter could not get out. Maybe with his precious Nimbus to keep him company for all eternity.
"Leave us alone," Lily insisted. "This following me around is highly immature."
"What?"
"Immature means you are acting like a child," Severus defined.
"I know what it means, Snivellus."
"You did ask."
"Someone's got to look out for Evans."
"I don't need you looking out for me, Potter," Lily said. This arguing was a waste of time.
"Yes, you do. The Dark Arts are dangerous. You'll lose your soul."
Both Lily and Severus repeated, "Dark Arts?"
"Leave me alone. You're being a pest," Lily warned Potter. Dark Arts indeed. Probably couldn't stand the fact that they were learning how to fix all the destruction Potter caused around the castle.
"But Evans, you can't trust Snivellus to … mmgh," Potter's tongue was now stuck to the roof of his mouth.
"Why do you bother trying to be reasonable with him?" Severus asked. Frankly, he was pissed at Potter finding them. The lack of interruptions after more than a month had made him feel quite comfortable with Lily here. Letting Potter know how angry he was would be a mistake. Calmly, he suggested, "Did you want to go visit Mary? After that, maybe we can see if there's any documentation regarding the digestive rates of werewolves. I stopped in after detention, and she was gnawing on that bone in that nest she made. That was after eleven."
Lily shrugged at Potter. Severus could have cast something much nastier on Potter. She would have, and was pretty close to doing it. She rose and picked up her nearly empty bag.
They were walking towards the stairwell, with Potter mumbling behind them, when Lily said, "Hold up a minute, Sev. Maybe he'll listen to me now." She took the book they had been looking at from Severus. "You stay here."
Potter's eyes lit up when Evans came over, and he smiled.
Lily frowned, explaining, "Next time I'm going to Prof. McGonagall, Potter. We're looking at a book to repair things. Not the Dark Arts, you stupid git. Severus Snape and I do a lot of things together, and have for years. I don't need you shadowing our every step, especially when we care about Mary MacDonald and are trying to help her. You following us up there, well … I don't think that would be right. Maybe next week, if you're sorry, you can try to speak to her, but this following around crap has got to stop. I'll hex you myself, and don't think I don't know some of your nasty Marauder spells." Calling to Severus, she asked, "Could you please remove the spell from him so he can say he understands, Sev?"
Severus would rather levitate Potter over the stair railing, but did as Lily requested reluctantly. It was better than showing her the reversal, in case he ever langlocked her.
James had quite a bit to say. "Don't trust that slimy Slytherin, Evans. That greasy git is luring you in and then ..."
"Give it a break, Potter. I've known Severus longer than I've known you, and I've seen you cast more nasty spells than he does."
"But he's ..."
"I don't need ..."
"... using the Dark Arts ..."
"... you telling lies ..."
"... to get you ..."
"... and hurting people."
"... huh, I'd never hurt anyone."
"See, you can't even admit it. How many boys have you terrorized in the toilet? How many bums has Madam Pomfrey needed to sort? How many girls have you assaulted?"
"It's just fun. Snape is not having fun."
Lily scowled at Potter's reply. Werewolves were not fun. Potter may not have set up that prank, but whatever Black thought was funny, Potter laughed at.
"My idea of what's fun is quite different from yours, Potter," Severus hissed. There really was no darker shade of hate that he could paint Potter and Black. Lily's 'using your words' tactic was wasted on them. When someone is so full of thinking how superior they are, especially with the backing of people like Albus Dumbledore, himself a self-promoting son of a bitch, the injury or death of the unimportant was beneath their notice. Severus could kill Potter right now and sleep quite soundly tonight, if it wasn't for Lily. Potter was sorted into Gryffindor because he was a fat-headed showoff, not because he had the potential to save anyone's life. Not everyone sorted into Gryffindor contained even a smidgen of goodness. Despite proof to the contrary, Lily continued to believe that Potter and Pettigrew may be redeemable since they were allowed back in the school. He doubted them arranging another death would convince Lily otherwise, since he was quite sure she liked Helen Parkin. Maybe MacDonald could talk some sense into her because she certainly never listened to Severus on these matters.
On their way upstairs, Potter followed on an alternate staircase, talking loudly about the Dark Arts, or at least his perception of them.
On a swinging stairwell, Severus gave Lily a questioning look. Potter was a certifiable idiot.
Lily grinned when Severus made a talking hand gesture, that until now he only used when Petunia was talking on the telephone with one of her girlfriends.
Lily couldn't help smiling when Severus made fun of Potter's gabbiness. Hexing him off the stairs was more what she had in mind. At least Potter had the tact not to follow them inside to visit Mary.
Peter had a lot of time on his hands. With the map, he was able to find Snape every night and watch hidden away as a rat, gloating about who in fact was Filch's assistant.
During the day, well, Peter did not have a full schedule of classes so that left him free to practice what he was best at … bullying first years. He stayed far away from Gryffindor tower since that fickle lot were no longer cheering his clever spells. There were at least a dozen boys from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin to take his pick of.
He was interrupted from his enjoyment of a little Hufflepuff gurgling in the urinal by a bunch of older lads entering the gents. Seeing Mulciber, Avery and an older Ravenclaw, Peter was relieved none of them was a Hufflepuff, but to be safe he let the young tyke go, meaning to follow the dripping crybaby out of the lavatory.
Mulciber blocked his path. "Pettigrew, I've been meaning to have a word with you ..."
Mary had briefly considered asking her parents to let her stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holiday with Severus and Lily. She was worried that Lily would take advantage of her time alone with him. However, Severus seemed so unconcerned about Mary's suggestions that he may not think of Lily like that either.
It was a bad idea anyway. Her parents wanted her home, and she wanted to be with them. She had written her parents about inviting Severus, and maybe Lily too, but although they understood Mary's anxiousness to find a replacement for Malcolm Wilkes, they felt she could do better. Except that's not how she felt. Severus was better. What happened to the 'what's on the inside is what counts'?
Although Severus was still greenish from dragonpox, Mary wasn't on the same page as her parents over the pockmarked young man. He saved her life. He cared about her.
Meanwhile, Mary had Lily palely agree that comparisons of Severus's birth chart to theirs might yield something definitive. But Mary had also noticed Lily touch Severus's arm or grab his hand to get his attention. This was new. Was Lily trying to explore her feelings for Severus, or was she trying to insert herself between Mary and Severus?
It could be jealousy that made Mary pick a bone with Lily's divination interpretations for Severus. So far, Lily had been on the mark, and Severus failed to see any significance to Lily's predictions that had turned out truthful. Mary felt it was Arithmancy that blinded him, as if it was a stick that had poked out his inner eye. She certainly could not see any significance to that work. It was just filling a lot of parchment with scribbles.
On top of Mary's difficulties with Lily, Potter was being such a pest, Mary had to jinx him a few times out of frustration. Pettigrew too. She also used a lot stronger words for them than Lily's 'toerag'.
Why were those two even back at Hogwarts? Why was everything so unfair?
Young Mrs. Norris was hot on the fresh trail of the rat thing that was in her castle. Her person was not as perceptive as her. He kept expecting a rat, but Mrs. Norris knew that the rat was not always a rat. He stank like a rat all the time. It was so obvious. When she found the rat thing, she snap his neck. Then everyone would know what a great hunter she was. Rats were for housecats, Mrs. Norris was no housecat and she'd prove it when she brought down this quarry.
She flicked her tail and trotted down the hallway silently. He had been this way tonight. His stench was fading, but Mrs. Norris knew there was a pattern to this rat thing's movements. She had listened well earlier tonight, and she knew who the rat thing was hunting. Silly rat thing thinking it was the hunter.
James telling Peter that he may not be welcome over at the Potters during the Christmas holiday due to James' parents was absolutely the last straw. If James really cared for Peter, he'd bend over backwards. Peter had seen James do that repeatedly for Sirius. Where was Sirius for James now? Expelled, somewhere in Europe traveling and having sex with his photogenic wife, and ignoring James pleading with the mirror. If James Potter wanted to be pathetic, he wasn't going to drag Peter Pettigrew down with him. Even Mary MacDonald was jinxing them now.
He needed friends that were really friends. Ones that would help him in the future. Mulciber and Avery were more honest than Potter and Black. If Peter wanted some opportunities to meet people and do things over the Christmas holiday, all he needed to do was show his sincerity. Peter had wasted five years palling up to the other Gryffindors, and they didn't appreciate him. Mulciber's candor was refreshing, and Peter could take his pick of Snape, Evans, or MacDonald, and it would be up to Peter's own creativity. Something that he wasn't trusted with before. It was either Sirius or James's idea that was always acted upon. They never cared what Peter suggested.
He wouldn't tell Mulciber and his new friends how he got around at night. That was his secret, and they'd never guess he was an animagus with a magical map of the castle. Peter would amaze them with his ingenuity and cunning.
Peter finished his trap on the archway lintel. He had pried it loose and then put it back into place with a sticking charm so when he released it, gravity would take over. The sticking charm wouldn't keep it up there long, however Peter needed something that could be quickly dispelled. He transformed back into a rat to hide. He waited twitching his whiskers in anticipation. This was right on so many levels. Snape had broken up the Marauders, got Sirius expelled, got Remus sent to Azkaban. and James was a sobbing nancy boy now. Snape would be a perfect transition from his old friends to his new and better ones.
The greasy git was coming down the hall now. He was dressed in filthy muggle clothing. Merlin, James was absolutely right. He was worth killing just for the mere fact that he existed. His nasty whore of a mother slept with a muggle, and did not chuck his mewling form in a bin within minutes of emerging from her festering, diseased body. Disgusting.
Once he passed the niche where Peter was hidden and began work on the first window, Peter transformed and checked for prefects in the area on the map. Perfect. He wiped the map and put it away, holding his wand ready for Snape to finish caulking the first window and move to the next one by passing under the arch where he'd have the loosened stone lintel drop on him, hopefully crushing his oily skull.
Damned half-blood was so glacially slow. Filch wasn't watching him, just throw some caulk up and go on.
Come on, come on, come on.
Peter didn't have all night to wait on Snape, and he was too far away to reapply the sticking charm precisely to keep that stone up there.
Could he know Peter was hiding here? To be safe, smaller, and less noticeable, Peter resumed his rat form and nervously shifted his weight on his clawed paws while he waited, concentrating on how much he hated Snape.
It was going to be so sweet. I
t wasn't going to be James or Sirius that finished him off, but Peter. Peter Pettigrew.
He got all twitchy anticipating the look on James's face when he told him.
Peter couldn't wait to race back to Gryffindor.
Would he kill Snape outright, or would he be pinned to the floor like a helpless bug? Poor little, trapped Snivelly.
Move it already. Merlin, he was slower than a lame house elf.
Out of nowhere, Peter was assaulted.
The pain!
He couldn't scream, but he squealed loudly.
That filthy beast of Filch's grabbed him by the neck and was swinging him hard into the stone wall.
Shit!
Severus had been finishing this window, which had so little of the old caulk left blocking out the cold air, it was a miracle the glass had not fallen out of the frame, when a high whining noise emitted from behind him.
He turned, wand ready, and saw Filch's growling cat had caught the rat and was … punishing it?
He had seen rats before, but down at the river they were as large as cats, and were rarely alone.
Severus stupefyed it when he noticed Filch's cat released it as she threw it against the wall.
It seemed stunned, but it could easily be playing dead before running off and getting away.
Filch wouldn't like that, and Severus would rather not have to clean up any more rat shit, or track down the odor of this one dying in the walls after the mortal wounds Mrs. Norris inflicted upon it.
Feeling that he had better things to do than watch this, Severus went down the hall to the stairwell and called, "Mr. Filch!"
Severus sighed when no one answered. Filch could be sneaking up on an out of bounds student or Peeves.
Returning to the cat and rat, he considered that if the cat would release it to him, he could either cage it or put it out of its misery.
Or maybe not. Mrs. Norris growled menacingly when he approached, with her big eyes directly on him while holding the bedraggled rat down. Severus was not interested in taking her rat to eat, or take credit for catching it.
"Snape," called a female voice.
He looked. It was Shingleton, the fifth year Ravenclaw prefect and the younger sister of the Head Boy. Severus recognized her by the characteristic single eyebrow.
"I called for Filch because his cat's got a rat here."
"Oh?" she asked, then wrinkled her nose at it. "It's kind of big."
"Not really. This one's small, but rather fat. It might have been getting into the kitchens, unless the house elves were feeding it."
"Can't you … uh, do something?" she asked, backing away as Mrs. Norris flung the rat's body into the wall.
"That cat's rather mean. I don't want to fight her for it, but I stunned the rat earlier to keep it from getting away."
Looking around, she tried to talk about something other than a smelly rat, while they waited. So she brought up Snape's detention. "You still working on the windows?"
"Yeah."
She looked at the one that Snape had been working on, with Filch's step stool still set up in front of it, then paced to the next one in the corridor. The difference was easily seen. Marta strolled back to the gruesome scene, passing under the hallway's arch between the two windows. She made a face and asked, "Do you think it'll be alive much longer?"
"I don't know."
"Will she stop when it's dead?" she asked, turning around to pace a bit.
"I don't have a cat. I wouldn't know," Severus replied. Did all girls feel the need to senselessly talk? If Shingleton had nothing to help, why didn't she just shove off already?
Severus considered returning to his detention work since she'd be around to watch the cat.
He turned to ask her if she was staying, when for no discernible reason, a large block of stone fell. It barely missed his head, but impacted with his shoulder knocking him backwards to the floor. The edge of the stone weighed upon his ankle, but his foot may be all right considering his father's old boots had steel toes.
It was definitely his ankle that hurt and there was pressure on the top of his foot, where the laces were, and there was no steel.
Shingleton screamed. Since she was on the other side of the stone, Severus couldn't see how badly she was crushed so levitated the stone off them.
Or off his foot.
Shingleton stood untouched on the other side of the archway, clutching her chest with one hand and waving the other around in the air.
Yeah, wouldn't want to take out her wand and help him, would she? God damned useless Ravenclaw. In the excitement, she probably forgot Severus Snape was the victim, or she'd be laughing so hard she'd pee herself.
Rather than giving her a taste for how he felt right now, Severus moved the block to the side of the corridor, instead of onto her.
This was one of those times he felt like crying. The physical pain was not as bad as that, but the pain coupled with the lack of basic concern for his welfare was agonizing. She felt more compassion for that rat, than him.
He was still examining his ankle when she said, "I think I need to go to the infirmary."
Not sure that he heard Shingleton correctly, he asked, "You need to go?"
"Yes, for a calming draught or something. My heart is absolutely racing," she explained while still keeping her hand in the center of her chest.
Severus looked up at her from where he sat on the floor. Did she have some sort of heart problem? Crap. Why him? Severus thought to himself as he got up, believing his ankle just to be sore and probably have a lovely bruise tomorrow. Testing it, he could sort of stand.
"What about uh …?"
"If you need to go to the infirmary, I'll go with you," Severus replied. Who cared about a rat? If she keeled over in the hall, and he was the last one to see her, he'd be in deep trouble.
They slowly made their way up there, and Singleton explained her problem to Madam Pomfrey. At least Singleton had enough sense to deny Severus caused the accident when Pomfrey asked. Lovely is the only nice word that came to mind as Severus went back downstairs to clean up the items he left behind.
Mrs. Norris and her rat were gone.
Mr. Filch was not in his office. Severus waited till he returned, rather than slinking off to bed. That stone could be a sign of something structural.
He also would let him know about the cat.
While sitting there, Severus considered that without Lily, a cat or other animal might be the next closest thing to a friend he could find. Though he'd show a bit more decorum than Filch. And it sure as hell wouldn't be a cat. The rats at Spinner's End would gulp it down as an appetizer, if his mother didn't throw it in the pot to boil it up first.