A/N: Thanks to everyone for reviewing so far! Sorry the update took a little longer than I had expected, but better late than never, right?
Disclaimer: I still own nothing related to Harry Potter, except for this plot idea, I suppose.
"Sev!"
Severus jerked up from his table at the back of the Potions classroom at the sound of his best friend saying his name. Looking up at the doorway, he saw Lily flying at him, her red hair flinging around wildly behind her. As soon as she reached him, she nearly tackled him to the ground in a bone-crushing hug.
"Oh Sev, I've missed you so much!" she exclaimed brightly as they sat back up. She was completely oblivious to the stares around them; Sev heard James and Sirius choking with laughter at the very front of the classroom.
"I missed you too, but it's only been one day…" Sev muttered awkwardly, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks from the odd looks people were giving them. Then again, this was Lily he was talking to. He didn't mind if people stared, because it didn't matter with her.
"Mornin' first years!" a voice boomed over the classroom. Lily paused from her frenetic whispering long enough to gawk at the huge-bellied man that had just entered the dungeon, introducing himself as Professor Slughorn.
"Is that the Potions master?" Lily asked in a low voice as she darted her head back and forth between Sev and the man at the front.
Sev nodded numbly as the man's enlarged stomach knocked over an empty cauldron on his desk. He began explaining that, as first years, they wouldn't be making too many complicated potions yet, but today they would start small. Sev paid him no attention however, and turned back to Lily. She was taking notes at a frantic pace, but paused when Sev rested a hand on her wrist.
"Calm down…all that stuff's in the book."
Lily blinked at him for a moment before hastily putting her quill down. "So how was your first day?"
"You first."
"Well..." Lily seemed unsure of what to say. "I suppose it's alright…I made two new friends," she nodded to Narcissa and Laika's backs. "I told them I was going to sit with you for Potions though. What about you?"
From the tone of her voice, Sev could tell that Lily wasn't telling him everything, but that didn't matter. Gazing at the back of Potter's oversized head, he remembered that he had something very important to tell Lily…
"Well…I can't be in Slytherin…I even went to Dumbledore about it," he added sadly. "And uh…Potter challenged me to a duel."
"He what?!"
Sev immediately shushed her, not wanting to create another scene. Students were already getting up to retrieve their ingredients, however, thus giving them some time to speak normally without being overheard.
"I…he deserved it okay?" he mumbled quietly, referring to Potter's embarrassing Langlock scene from the previous night.
"Deserved what?" Lily asked as she stood up to go and retrieve their ingredients for the day's lesson.
"Nothing," he muttered under his breath. Lily gave him a doubtful glance, but walked over to the cabinet without prodding him further. Sev sighed inwardly. He still hadn't managed to tell her about her role in the duel yet. He knew he'd have to sooner or later, since you couldn't duel without a second…no matter how inexperienced the duelers are…
"Ready?" she asked anxiously as she returned with an armful of herbs and rocklike items.
They worked in silence for about ten minutes, before Sev knew he couldn't wait any longer. With a deep breath, he spoke up: "Lily…there's something else…I…I accidentally made you my second in the duel…"
He braced himself for an angry outburst, but found none. Lily just stared at him. "Second?"
He blinked back a few times, before it hit him: Lily was Muggleborn. She wouldn't know how a wizard's duel worked! Now he felt even stupider for volunteering her.
With another heaving sigh, he continued: "Second means you get up and fight Potter if I…let's just say if I become incapable of dueling anymore."
Lily's look of blissful oblivion contorted into one of shocked anger. "Sev, what were you thinking? I don't know how to duel! I can barely cast a spell on my own, let alone fight someone!"
While Lily continued ranting at him, Sev felt himself tune her out and focus on today's potion. He tried interrupting her several times to apologize and assure her it wouldn't be all that bad, but she wouldn't hear of it.
Not one to be boastful, Sev secretly knew that he could probably handle it on his own. He didn't know how much previous training James had received, but he was pretty sure that he had the upper hand on Potter when it came to Dark Art-related matters…
After thirty minutes of ranting and absentminded brewing, Lily seemed to have worn herself out. That or she ran out of excuses. Either way, Sev was mildly surprised when her shoulders drooped and she conceded to being his second towards the end of the class session.
"But Sev, how will we get out? Won't we get in huge trouble if we're caught?" she asked him feverishly.
Sev smirked. "Just don't get caught then."
Lily punched him playfully. "That's not as easy as it sounds, you know."
"I know," Sev almost managed a small smile, when Professor Slughorn rounded to their table to examine their potion. He peered inside the cauldron, completely oblivious to Sev and Lily's worried expressions. They hadn't exactly tried their best today; Lily felt especially bad for arguing with Sev for so long, making it harder for both of them to concentrate on the task placed upon them. To their surprise, however, Slughorn beamed at them from the top of their cauldron.
"This is brilliant! I've never seen a better attempt at this potion by first years! What's your name?" he looked at Lily, who blushed from Slughorn's praise.
"I'm…Lily Evans, sir…but it was…"
"Oh ho! Could you possibly be related to Professor Bernardo Evans? He taught Potions here at Hogwarts nearly three centuries ago…"
Lily turned a fierce shade of scarlet. "Um, no sir…my father was a Muggle, see."
Sev paused. Why did she only mention her father? She should be proud of being so good at Potions and being Muggleborn at that…noticing the embarrassed look on her face, however, he decided not to push the issue.
"It was mostly Sev, here, sir," Lily nodded to Sev. "He's the best potioneer I've ever known."
Now it was Sev's turn to feel embarrassed. Slughorn turned his back on Lily and asked him his name. "Snape, sir. Severus Snape."
"Snape huh?" Slughorn racked his brains for a moment, before shaking his head in bewilderment. "I don't know of any famous Snapes in Potions' history."
Sev looked at Lily, but she wouldn't even look at him for some reason. "Well, my father's a Muggle too, sir. My mum was never good at Potions though…"
"No matter though!" Slughorn boomed. "Ten points for Slytherin for the each of you!"
Sev felt his face grow warmer as Slughorn turned to leave. He wanted to leave it at that, but he didn't want to earn points for a house he wasn't in…
"Actually sir," he said in a small voice. "I'm in Gryffindor."
Slughorn stopped at once, and whirled around to face him. His eyes seem to observe him more in-depth now; making Sev feel like his privacy was being invaded. He squirmed uncomfortably under the scrutiny of his teacher and his peers. Laika and Narcissa snorted softly over the low murmur of giggles throughout the classroom.
"Sorry about that," Slughorn said at last. "You just look like a Slytherin to me, I suppose. Ten points for Gryffindor, then."
xXxXxXxXx
Lily glanced at her Muggle watch. It was ten minutes until midnight. As anxious as she had felt earlier, she felt strangely calm now. For some reason, it didn't seem to register in her mind that she might be going to watch Potter destroy Sev in front of her very eyes. She knew Sev was pretty good, but what if Potter was better?
She quietly crept up from her bed, trying not to make any noise as she slipped into her regular cloak and grabbed her wand. Just as she made her way to the door, she stepped on something in the darkness, emitting a loud crack!
Lily's hands flew to her mouth, trying not to gasp in surprise. It was too late, however. Laika and Narcissa had woken up. Melika, on the other hand, remained steadily asleep, completely unaware of what was going on around her.
"Lily?" Narcissa's sleepy voice drifted through the darkness of the room. "What are you doing?"
Just as Lily was about to speak, she found the lit end of Laika's wand dangerously close to her forehead. Her hazel eyes silently glazed over Lily's appearance; finally landing on her traveling shoes and wand.
"Going out?" Laika asked, knowing the answer already.
Feeling defiant, Lily nodded. She didn't bother saying anything else, and proceeded through the dormitory's exit before either girl could stop her.
Just as she reached the strangely-silent common room, however, she felt two hands on her shoulders. Fighting back the urge to scream, Lily whirled around to see Laika and Narcissa standing there in their cloaks and shoes as well.
"We don't want you having all the fun, you know…I heard you talking to that Snape boy about a duel…we wouldn't want to miss that…" Laika informed her in a non-nonsense tone.
"But…"
"We won't get into trouble. My brother's a prefect."
"But a teacher…"
Lily trailed off as Laika and Narcissa gave each other exasperated looks before turning back to face her.
"Honestly Lily, give it up, we've barely seen Hogwarts and with our classes getting heavier, it looks like this'll be our only chance to really get out."
Narcissa smirked. "Besides, if we don't come, we could always go and have a little chat with Lucius about you…the rogue first year…"
Lily bit back another retort and sighed in defeat. "Fine, but if you guys get caught, it's not my fault."
xXxXxXxXx
"If we get caught, it's all your fault," James muttered under his breath as he, Sirius, and Sev prowled the fifth floor corridor. He and Sirius were at the front, with Sev trailing the two boys ten feet back, not wanting to get too close to the boy he was about to duel.
"Where is this classroom anyways?" Sirius complained. "I'm sick of wandering. If we keep this up we'll get…"
"Shhhh!" Sev shushed him at once. Coming around the nearest corner was a creepy, yellow-eyed cat. It stared at them blankly for a few moments, before slowly creeping closer to the three boys.
"That must be Mrs. Norma!" James hissed to the other two, his eyes wide.
"Filch's stinky cat?" Sirius eyed the cat suspiciously. They were all thinking the same thing: if it went back to Filch, the duel would undoubtedly be called off…
Just as the ugly brown cat got within striking distance, Sirius kicked out at it with his long leg and the three tore off in the opposite direction.
"Why'd you kick the stupid cat?" Sev hissed as they sprinted past statues of past Hogwarts professors.
"What choice did I have? Let it go tell Filch?" Sirius snapped back before slamming into James. "Oi!"
"This is the place," James whispered as he righted himself and opened the door slowly. He and Sirius didn't bother waiting for Sev to catch up.
"Idiot!" Sev panted as he shut the door quickly behind him. "It's only a matter of time before Filch finds us!"
"I'm the idiot, am I?" Sirius glared at him and pulled out his wand. "It's your fault we can't just settle for dueling in the common room…had to choose a bloody Slytherin as your second…"
"The common room would have been far riskier than this!"
"Hey," James cut them off. He was observing the nearly-empty room before them with mild interest, and then he turned to Sirius and Sev. "Looks like Snivvy's little girlfriend never showed."
"Actually she's been waiting in here for fifteen minutes, Potter," a cold voice came out of the darkness. The figures of three girls appeared from the shadows behind the boys, making them all jump in fright.
The speaker, Narcissa, smirked at the three of them, namely, Sirius. "So sorry Sir-Sir, I didn't mean to frighten you."
Sirius's expression of surprise immediately contorted into a look of pure loathing. "Cissy…" he replied through clenched teeth. "I didn't realize you would be here."
"Hey, let's just start already," James cut in, trying to ease the tension between the cousins. He looked anxiously at the now-locked door, half-expecting Filch to burst through any second.
"Right," Sev muttered as he walked out onto the open area in the middle of the vast room. James walked to the other side, with Sirius waiting on the sidelines. On Sev's side, Lily waited apprehensively next to Laika and Narcissa, both of whom looked completely undeterred by the scene in front of them.
As James and Sev casually walked down to the center of the room, Lily couldn't help but feel amazed at how calm Sev was. They paused in the middle, and jerked their wands up at the exact same time. There was no sound in the entire room; it was as though a Silencing Charm had been cast over the barely-lit place.
Their wands stiffly dropped to their sides, and each boy whirled around, retreating in perfect synchronization. Once they reached the end of their respective sides, they both held their wands high.
James began the countdown, looking extremely focused and even slightly nervous. "One…two…three!"
"Expelliarmus!" Sev bellowed before James even had time to open his mouth. A flash of bright light erupted from the tip of his wand, and within seconds, James was lying on the floor, flat on his back and now wandless.
Narcissa and Laika shrieked with laughter; Lily remained quiet, but couldn't help smiling at Sev's lightning-fast Disarming Spell. Potter didn't stand a chance against him, surely…
"Why are they fighting each other if they're in the same house?" Laika whispered to Lily while Narcissa and Sirius resumed shouting insults at each other from opposite sides of the room.
Lily shrugged and looked back at James. He was on his feet once more, and apparently, Sev had given the boy enough time to retrieve his wand before resuming the duel. Looking flushed with humiliation, James held out his wand, just daring Sev to try another Disarming Spell on him. Sev did nothing; after all, what fun was a duel if you were always on the offensive?
"Petrificus Totalus!" James yelled dramatically with his wand pointed directly at Sev's heart.
Everyone waited in restless silence, but nothing happened. Not even a single spark erupted from the end of his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled again, but this time, with less confidence. Still nothing.
Laika and Narcissa were beside themselves with laughter at this point. Part of Lily felt kind of bad for him; after all, if it was her up there, she'd have no idea what to do either. Then again…it was Potter's dumb arrogance that had gotten him into this mess. Sev wasn't the challenger; therefore Lily found it much easier not to feel sorry for Potter now.
She glanced to the right, where Sev stood in place with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked slightly amused by James's inability to perform the simple Body Bind Spell.
"Honestly Potter," Sev sneered as he closed in on James. "I thought you would have at least known how to duel when you challenged me…Petrificus Totalus!"
At once, James body went entirely rigid; he dropped his wand and fell to the floor with a deafening thud!
The girls' jaws dropped. Lily knew Sev was good, but she hadn't realized he was this good!
"Seems like Snape knows a few spells," Laika muttered under her breath, sounding slightly impressed.
"Great job Sev!" Lily cheered him on. He looked back at her and attempted a small smile. He didn't exactly like all of this attention, however, so he casually flicked his wand at James, releasing him immediately. His cheeks grew warm as the he overheard Narcissa goading Sirius again, and Lily was whispering excitedly to Laika that Sev was one of her best friends, and he was also the best wizard she knew. Not used to such flattery, Sev almost turned to tell the girls to cut it out, but he had other issues at the moment: James, infuriated by Sev's successful attempt at the Body Bind Spell that had rendered him helpless for several moments, was barreling down on him with a murderous expression on his face…
Lily, too, noticed this, and panicked. "Sev look out!"
"STUPEFY!"
"PROTEGO!"
Much to everyone's shock, the Stunning Spell rebounded off of the shield and hit the caster, sending James flying backwards and crashing into rows of dusty desks at the back of the classroom.
As the dust settled, Lily felt everyone staring at her. There were two seconds of complete silence, before Sirius stomped over and began yelling.
"You can't interfere with the duel! It's against the rules of…"
"Oh shut up, Sirius, like she really…"
"You're one to talk, Cissy…I thought you'd at least know how duels work thanks to dear Bellatrix…"
"Don't bring my sister into this!" Narcissa shrieked, pulling out her wand and pointing it at Sirius's head.
"Hey!" James got up from his crumpled mess and stood next to Sirius; both of their wands pointed at Narcissa's forehead.
"Stop! I can hear…"
"Shut up Evans! It's your fault you ruined the entire duel," James hissed nastily, moving his wand from Narcissa to her. "I thought half-bloods knew how to duel properly, but I must have been mistaken…"
"Hey! Don't point that at Lily!" Sev growled at James, poking him in the side of the head with his own wand.
"What is going on in here?" a quiet voice asked from the doorway.
Instantly, all of the kids stopped their arguing and turned around to face the intruder. It was none other than Lucius Malfoy. He stood alone, pointing his wand at James and Sirius. Laika's face went from furious to gleeful in a matter of milliseconds.
"Lower your wands," he ordered them. Glaring at the prefect badge emblazoned on the older boy's chest, Sirius and James jerked their wands down to their sides.
"You too, Snape," Lucius hissed at him, even though he was technically on the girls' side for this one. "Laika?" he asked softly, turning his attention to the three girls, all of which hadn't lowered their own wands yet. "What is going on in here?"
"They were dueling, Lucius," she replied accusingly, pointing at Sev and James.
James opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately silenced.
"Snape and Potter? Interesting, indeed…oh, and naturally Black had to come along to feel important…"
Sirius glowered at the tall blonde boy, but said nothing. It looked as though they were in enough trouble as it was…
"I think fifty points from Gryffindor will be sufficient," Lucius said maliciously, his eyes glazed over the three boys with a look of upmost contempt.
"Fifty?!" James roared. "You can't do that!"
"Would you like me to make it one hundred?" Lucius asked threateningly. This quieted James at once, but he instead glared at Sev, as though it was his fault.
Feeling that justice had been served, Lucius turned his attention to the girls. "Back to your dormitory, ladies."
"WHAT?!" Sirius yelled, unable to hold back this time. "Why don't they lose points? They're out past curfew too! You're such a damn ba—"
"Yes?" Lucius prodded him further, raising his right eyebrow inquisitively.
Sirius's entire body shook with rage, but he managed to hold his tongue this time. Realizing that Gryffindor now had less than zero house points because of the three of them, Sev tugged his housemates' cloaks and they stomped towards the exit.
"We're going back to our room now," Sev informed Lucius before James or Sirius could try insulting the prefect further. Without a single glance back at the girls, the three young Gryffindors left the dark room as though nothing had happened at all…
A/N: Please review. I'll respond to comments as soon as I can. Chapter four should be up within a week :)