.2.
Severus Snape bounded through Hogwarts corridors and out into the frozen landscape. An hour ago a strange owl flew into the great hall where he was meeting Lily for lunch. There was no sender but the letter told him to go to the "meeting tree" by the frozen lake for a "birthday surprise". Seeing as only Lily and Lucius know when Severus' birthday is, he complied and went outside. He trekked through thick piles of snow, the frozen mass soaked through his second hand uniform.
Severus hummed to himself to keep his mind away from the chilly place he was currently in. He stopped humming, however, when he noticed no one was around. Frowning, he climbed up to the lowest branch. He waited until his slender fingers turned a light blue. Swiftly, Severus jumped down and followed his steps back to the castle. He pulled out his wand and attempted at a warming charm. Severus was so intent on successfully applying the more advanced charm; he didn't see the second set of footprints head toward him.
"Expelliarmus!" a voice shouted and Severus' wand flew several feet away. Severus spun around, looking for the source of the voice, but saw no one. It suddenly dawned on him who the voice belonged to and he dove into the snow, searching for his wand.
"Conjunctivitis!" James shouted, knocking the invisibility cloak off of himself and Sirius. Severus froze as black spots danced across his vision and suddenly he couldn't see anything but blurry lines. His heart raced as he franticly searched for his wand. Sirius and James continued to send curse and jinx's his way.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius said and the red light shone brightly on Severus' darkened eyesight. James walked up to Severus and kicked snow on top of Severus' thin robes.
"Happy birthday Snivellus." James smirked and headed towards the castle. Sirius turned toward the defeated boy and smirked.
"Stay away from Prong's girl." Sirius threatened and walked after James without lifting Severus from the binding spell. A few hours in the cold will do him good, Sirius reasoned.
Severus' body heat began to run low as the snow soaked through his clothes. He shivered, desperatly wanting to get warm. Severus willed someone, anyone, to come and rescue him.
Hours later, Lily, who hadn't seen Severus all day, went to Professer Slughorn.
"Sir, I'm really worried about him. I haven't seen him all day. He was supposed to meet me for lunch, but he clearly didn't show." Lily said, pacing before Slughorn.
"Now, now. Have you checked the library? Severus has been known to loose track of time there."
"Yes, I've checked everywhere within the castle." Slughorn cocked an eyebrow. "You see sir, it's his birthday and we always spend it together. We were supposed to meet, but I haven't seen him. Please sir, help me look." Lily begged; Slughorn sighed and nodded. "Thank you sir." Lily said with relief. "Could you check the grounds? I know its out of bounds but that's the only place…" Slughorn got up lazily and followed Lily to the doors.
"I'll be back." He said as he tucked his thick cloak tightly around his pudgy frame. Leaving the door open, Slughorn strolled into the winter wonderland. Halfway to the lake, Slughorn stopped and looked down at the pale figure of Snape.
Lily saw him stop and kneel down and she stood on her tip-toes to see into the snowy hole. The wind blew whisps of black hair and suddenly she didn't care if it was against the rules; Lily ran out and slid to the ground next to Severus. She reached down and placed a warm hand to his cold cheek. Severus widened his eyes, trying to descover who was so warm. He saw faint dots of beautiful green and flashes of vibrant red. Lily, his mind supplied for him. But what was Lily doing out here? Suddenly, the warm hand was gone and despare welled up in Severus until he was engulfed in warmth.
Slughorn lifted up the stiff boy with Lily's cloak overtop him. Severus was shaking violently but Lily could tell he wasn't stiff from cold. Quietly she whispered the counter curse of a jinx she thought it was and was successful when Severus suddenly sagged into his head of house. Severus' body felt relieved to loosen his tight muscles but didn't know where he was, or more importantly, where was his Lily? He continued to shiver up to Madam Poppy's hospital wing.
"Oh my!" The matron gasped, "What happened?" She demanded but didn't wait for an answer as she ran a diagnostic spell and hurridly applied several warming charms upon him. Although Poppy claims to treat all students fairly, she is callous with the Slytherin boy before her.
Poppy began to disable the multipul curses, allowing Severus to gain complete control over his body again. He still couldn't see and that made him nervous. He didn't know where he was or who he was with. Then, a small face was standing over him, with vibrant red hair and his heart lept.
"L-l-l-lily?" He asked, almost afraid it was a dream.
"Sev," She said, relief in her voice as she gripped his hand but immediately released it when he gasped. Lily looked down at the long fingers that were beginning to turn black.
"Sev," she said again. "Who did this to you?"
"M-m-m-mar-randers." Severus said through still chattering teeth. Lily's green eyes turned hard and she spun around quickly.
"I'm going to murder them!" She growled as she started toward the door but stopped when Dumbledore entered.
"Miss Evans. Murder causes so much damage to the soul." Albus said mournfully.
"But sir," Lily said as Albus came towards her. "They nearly killed him!"
"Now Miss Evans, I'm sure that's not what happened; How about we leave Mr. Snape, here, to rest. Later we can discuss what happened." Albus led her out, Slughorn following close behind. Lily looked back at Severus, worry clearly in her deep green eyes.
That evening, Lily, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were called from their common rooms to the hospital wind. James and Sirius shared a smug look at who was in the hospital bed. Each took a seat around Severus' bed, Lily being the closest, James being the farthest away. Dumbledore stood, facing the six students.
"I'm sure you all know why you're here. I will give you all a chance to explain. Mr. Snape, would you start?" Severus looked around, trying to decipher who was in the room.
"This morning I received a letter, telling me to wait at the "meeting tree" for a… a birthday surprise." Severus blushed at his foolish actions. No one's ever surprised him for his birthday; he should've known something was wrong. But like all kids, he was intrigued by the idea of a "birthday surprise". "Since only two people knew when my birthday was, I complied. I waited but when no one came I began to head toward the castle." At this point, Albus interrupted.
"Weren't you suspicious when no one came?"
"No sir. I'm quite used to people forgetting about me." An awkward silence ensued before Albus cleared his throat, a sign that Severus should continue.
"Well, I started toward the castle when I was attacked…" Severus started shaking as he relived the cold in his minds eye. "I-I looked for my wand but then Potter said a curse I'd never heard and then I couldn't see…" When it was clear Severus wasn't going to continue, Albus turned to Lily.
"Miss Evans, I believe I already heard your half, unless you have something to add?" Lily shook her head and Albus turned to Remus, who was seated next to Lily.
"And your thoughts?"
"I was in study hall, tutoring some other first years." Albus smiled at Remus and turned to Peter.
"I was in detention with Professor McGonagall." Peter squeaked.
"Very well. So it just leaves you two." Albus said as he looked at James and Sirius.
"Fine, we cursed him, so what? He deserved it!" Sirius said, pointing at Severus and jumping out of the chair. Lily's eyes turned hard.
"And what did he do to deserve being left to freeze to death? Hmmm?" Sirius looked uneasily at James, not prepared to face the red-heads wrath. "Just look what you did!" Lily reached down for Severus' hand. Severus, not knowing who was reaching for him, flinched away but that didn't stop Lily. She grabbed his hand and held it up, showing his slightly blackened fingers.
"Frostbite! So what exactly did he do?" Lily growled.
"Lily, he's a Slytherin. He's evil." Sirius whispered as if Albus couldn't hear them. Severus' insides twisted. He wasn't evil, was he?
"Now Sirius, that's quite a harsh thing to say." Lily sat down but didn't let go of Severus' hand, to his greatest joy. Albus spoke to James and Sirius.
"Do you both agree to attacking Mr. Snape?" Both boys agreed, sending Severus hard glares that he couldn't see. "You both will have detention for the remainder of this month and next month." Severus you shall have detention for the remainder of this week, because you left grounds." Albus headed toward the door before Severus called out.
"Sir?"
"Mr. Snape?"
"I…I still can't see." Severus said hesitantly, as if afraid Albus would ignore him.
"Well then, I'll get Poppy." Albus said and gave the six one last look before leaving. Remus looked at his friends in disbelief as Lily rubbed soothing patterns on Severus' skin.
"You did this… on his birthday?"
"So, it's not like he died." Sirius challenged.
"Yeah but, it's his birthday. It's supposed to be a happy day. Surly you two could've held off until tomorrow."
"Could've but didn't." Sirius retorted.
"How'd you even know to trick him outside?" James grin made Remus feel like an outsider to an inside joke.
"Looked in Evans calendar; Good news is she's free next weekend." James ran a cocky hand through his hair. Lily, who had been listening, jumped up and her wand was suddenly in her hand.
"Why you arrogant-"
"Lily Evans!" Poppy shouted, "It's time for all of you to go." Under the scrutinizing gaze of the Matron, the five left. James and Sirius took off running the second they were in the corridor. Lily looked at Remus in question when Peter took off after the two. Remus just shrugged his shoulders and the two made their way to the common room.
Severus heard the Matron digging around in a potion cabinet. Before the Poppy got to his bed, Severus whispered four words. "Happy eleventh birthday, Sev."
"Here. Drink this. It will help your eyesight." Poppy said quickly Severus drank the vile potion and lay back against the pillows as he willed Lily to come back. Why me, Severus wondered. Just once he wanted to have a birthday that was good. He closed his burning eyes and laid still. All that night, Poppy assumed Severus was asleep but he wasn't. He was drilling one thought into his mind; thinking it over and over.
Always be alert to your surroundings.
So what do you think? Good enough to review? In case you didn't know Conjunctivitis - Damages opponents eyesight.
Thanks to my reviewers, special thanks to SeverusSnape19 for all the tips:) hope I made this chapter better. Reviews make the heart grow happier!
