Anastasiya Valentine was not a pleased girl. On this particular day in late September, the Gryffindor girl found it quite hard to find a solitary moment alone for study. It would have been fine, had it been her best mate - Carnelia LeFèbvre, but it was not. Not even close...not even a little.
Almost everybody was outside enjoying the last of the nice weather, only a few stragglers remained in the Great Hall, but Ana was the only one actually studying. Long, straight tendrils of black hair hung loosely over her shoulders, being shoved out of her shockingly green eyes every two minutes or so. Had her nose not been shoved so deeply into the bindings of her potions manual, she would have noticed the approaching trouble. But it was in such a way that her attention was completely on the Felix Felicis potion of luck, concerned with how dangerous and difficult it was to concoct. Her curiosity was far too strong.
Heavy weight slumped down beside her, to her left. An airy chuckle escaped from the nostrils of her visitor, her eyes actually darting from the pages of the potion manual - though only because it was being lifted from her grasp. Her head snapped to the left, black hair splaying about through the air and eyes locking on the thief of her book. Instantly, hatred spewed from her pores like toxic venom, so heavy that those within the vicinity could taste it, surely her visitor did. This air caused yet another chuckle from his stubble- lined mouth, more rich than the last. Sirius Black, the most insidious and attention-seeking git in the entirety of Gryffindor sat beside her with a hateful look of pleasure written across his well-defined face. Ana had not the time to throw out an insult to him, for more weight bowed the bench on the right this time, and she turned her head to see whom this invader was. Lacky James Potter, no doubt, with his messy black hair and modest brown eyes gaped at her from behind his pretentious glasses. Yes - even his glasses were pretentious.
"What are you reading, Sugar Hips? Oh, Felix Felicis. You gonna make it? Wanna get lucky with me? You don't need a potion, you know..."
Verbal diarrhea spewed from his maw, some that Ana still could not respond to. The air behind her shifted, it felt as if there was yet another person standing at her back. Tilting her head upwards, her eyes fell onto Remus Lupin, who looked rather displeased with the task he had been no doubt appointed with. Now, to be perfectly fair, Anastasiya and Remus had a history of getting along quite well. Remus was a Prefect, even, but when he was around the other three...it was then that Ana distasted his actions and sometimes his words. It was as if her sometimes-friend had a complete personality shift. Not something that the Gryffindor girl was fan of. At a second glance, the Prefect has silently mouthed the words, I'm sorry to her, but they had fallen on very deaf ears. She was angry at the trio of them.
"I'm assuming that your stumpy pet is groveling at your feet around here, somewhere?"
Ana finally shot, directing the question at either James or Sirius, as it seemed that Remus was keeping a tight lip in this situation. Blocking her exit was his only duty here. Both James and Sirius broke into fits of boyish laughter at her suggestion, as if she had told the most hilarious joke that any person had ever heard, which only made her distaste in them at this moment grow. The poisonous hatred in the air thickened.
"Not our feet, no."
James answered, eyes dropping down to the floor for a moment. Instantly, Ana slammed her legs together (though they had not been too far apart) thinking that Peter Pettigrew was hiding beneath the table, trying to gape at her underpants. It would not have been the first time that one of the four had tried this, and surely would not be the last. But he was not below, only a solitary rat sat at the floor by her right foot, searching for crumbs, no doubt. Anastasiya thought nothing of the situation...it was probably just one of the student's pets.
"Give me my book back, you prat."
Sirius laughed, slamming the book shut and losing her page, which ticked an annoyance onto her already bad attitude. He lifted the book high above his head and flashed his most charming alligator smile at her, "Reach for it, princess."
Angrily she rose, ready to reach for the book that was out of her grasp, though she had caught the eye of Sirius right as she did so, which travelled away from her for only a moment to Remus...his head tilting in the slightest of nods. Hands were at the base of either shoulders, shoving her forcefully back into her seat. Disbelief, though it was foolish to be so surprised, grasped at the center of her nerves that Remus would think to do such a thing. It made her more irate.
"Nope, you aren't leaving us yet. We want to talk to you. You never ever talk to is, Annie."
James attempted the sweetest possible tone he could, but it sounded forced and more sarcastic. Ana's eyes moved from Remus to James in an arc, a sneer coming across her thick lips,
"James. You disgust me. End of story."
Thoughtlessly, the Gryffindor jammed her elbow into the ribs of poor Lupin, causing him to double over in a fit of pained coughs. He backed up in doing so, giving her enough room and time to lift herself - as well as her bag - from the seat and snatch the book from Sirius. Both of Remus' friends were doubled over on the bench with laughter, which sounded like the cackling of a pack of hyenas. The shrill sound of their giggles bounced and echoed throughout the Great Hall, and it was the last that Anastasiya Valentine heard before disappearing from the room.
-
The cold air of the dungeons was refreshing on the sweat-beaded skin of her face. She shoved the door open to her potions classroom, which had been disbanded hours earlier, but one student remained. Severus Snape, who was by no means a well-liked boy, stood by a bubbling cauldron with a concentrated look fixed upon his sharp face. His hooked nose was sniffing the smoke he wafted towards himself, greasy black hair hung like a curtain before beady black eyes. Aside from Carnelia, Severus Snape was the only friend Anastasiya bothered to have.
The boy was making the unmistakable Draught of Living Death, dropping his head every so often to mark notes in his potions manual, then returning to his work when he had finished scrawling them out. This is where the boy spent most of his school years, hidden within the comfort and safety of the dungeons as most did not stray down here - least of all the Marauders in all of their annoyance.
Some may think it strange that Severus Snape, a Slytherin, and Anastasiya Valentine, a Gryffindor, were friends. While it was much like blasphemy to the tride and true pure-bloods, such as graduated Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, it was not too far-fetched in a case such as this, Anastasiya was related to the Blacks, through marriage from one pure-blooded wizard to another. It was perhaps her brains and courage that landed her in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin, though she had always wanted to be a Ravenclaw instead. She tossed her bag down onto the floor and slid the potions book onto the end of the table that Severus practiced at, looking into the cauldron.
"Looking perfectly clear. Wow, Severus, your talents in potions never cease to amaze me."
He looked up for a moment, a ghost of a smile on his face before he peered into the cauldron as well. He was not one to cling to happier feelings.
"Yeah. Those idiots yesterday...if we're going to make these next week, I figured I should practice. But those fools, in class...they don't know the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane."
"There is no difference. Just the name," Ana smiled eyes traveling to the floor where an ugly brown rat flittered around.
"Very good, yes."
Was all that Severus answered. The door popped open a few minutes later and the three Marauders trolled in like soldiers. The rat scurried for the door. Remus was still bent a little funny, no doubt from the rib shot, and Sirius looked rather...well...serious for once. James' expression changed to excitement when he saw Severus behind Anastasiya. Peter trolled in a moment later, rather looking like a proud toad with a chubby chin. He was well-hated.
"Can't I just get a moment's peace without you trolls ruining everything?"
Ana half-whined, backing closer to her bag than she had been before. James snapped out of his imagination for a moment to give her a rather dirty look, clicking his tongue in disapproval,
"You sound like a banshee. Don't scream that loudly."
"Actually, don't scream. We just want to...talk," Sirius corrected, eyes flashing from Severus to Ana and back again.
Severus stood behind Anastasiya, closer to his cauldron than he had been previously and clutching a silvery knife in his hand. He had been using that to crush ingredients for his potion, but snatched it in hopes to scare off the bullying Gryffindor boys. He would never actually lash at them.
"Don't you have other girls to talk to? One's that are actually interested in hearing what you have to say? I'm sure there are a couple Hufflepuff girls down the hall who would just die to hear what you've got on your mind. Why don't you go inform them? Because I'm not interested."
"Why do you have to be like that?"
Sirius gave an approving nod to James, who took a step closer to the frightened Severus. He had made a move for his wand, but Anastasiya had drawn hers first, "Accio wand!"
It flew into her hand, from the depths of her bag, in a flash and was pointed threateningly at James Potter, whose grin only increased at the challenge. He moved to disarm her, perhaps, but never got the chance to. Within seconds, Ana had cast hers first, "Confringo!"
The back of his robes burst into flames, sending James wailing like the banshee he had discouraged Anastasiya from sounding like, and dashing around the room like a mad man. Remus drew his wand and immediately moved to put his friend out. Sirius grit his teeth, pouncing forward like an angry dog and snatching Anastasiya's wand hand, using his weight to slam her into a wall, knocking several chairs out of the way in the process. Severus took it upon himself to disappear into Slughorn's office, and Peter had been helping attend to the now smoking James - the flames had been extinguished.
Ana hissed in pain at the hard contact with the dungeon wall, and even moreso by being pinned by the illustrious Sirius Black. Upon forcing her into the wall, she dropped her wand with the surprise and slight inflicted pain. Sirius growled beneath his breath and drew much closer than Ana would have liked, being that she could feel his breath hit the skin of her lips the second he exhaled. His tone was rather dangerous as he spoke.
"If you want to play that way, we'll play that way. But you, of all people, should know that I always get what I want. And, Annie...you're the flavour of the year."
The door to the teacher's office flew open a moment later and Professor Slughorn siddled out of his room - his face red with rage. Severus stood behind him, this time, looking quite pleased with himself. Sirius released Anastasiya almost immediately and backed away from her as if he had never thought of even touching her. James cast a horrid glance at Ana, then to Severus before lifting himself from the floor and peeling his damaged robes from his uniform.
"Just what is going on in here?"
Slughorn shouted, waddling over to the cauldron on the table and peering in quickly before glaring at the Gryffindors, excluding Ana.
"Anastasiya set James on fire!" Peter squeaked, pointing a stubby finger at her.
"Nonsense. The idiot-boy surely did it to himself. Or you to him! Not be gone before I give the lot of you detentions. GO."
His bellowing voice echoed from one wall to the other, causing both Severus and Anastasiya to cringe simulataneously. The Marauders retreated, Sirius following the lot out the door, but not before he cast a quiestionable glance at Ana. In her mind, she could just hear his voice saying, Remember. I always get what I want...before the door to the potion's room slammed and they were left to an awkward silence.