A Fight with a Friend and a Date with a Girl

***6 October, 1976***

Severus had a sneaking suspicion that Lucy was not a great fan of Quidditch…or maybe she wasn't too keen over formally going on a date with him. Either way, her response when Severus asked her to attend Saturday's opening Quidditch match of Slytherin verses Gryffindor was lukewarm at best. Lucy had accepted Severus' invitation, but when she did, Severus could swear that she had a hint of fear in her eyes.

Then there was Regulus. He had gone from being an occasional nuisance to being a real pain in Severus' arse. There was no longer a question in Severus', or anyone else's, mind that Regulus Black had his eyes set on Lucy O'Conner.

Just yesterday, the younger Black had met Lucy outside her last class of the day, Muggle Studies, and carried her books back to the common room. Severus had been stuck meeting his assistantship obligations at the time, grading first and second year essays while Dr O'Conner lectured to his Fifth-year, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.

Later that evening, Regulus sat alone with Lucy on the couch. Somehow, he had managed to get Lucy to help him with his Charms homework. Funny, that…considering Charms was one of Regulus Black's best subjects.

Severus sat in alone in a dark corner, seething as he watched the sneaky-snake from behind his well-worn copy of A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions. His dorm mates sat in another far corner of the common room, giggling like schoolgirls at the exchange between Regulus and Lucy…or perhaps to Severus' quiet agitation, as the whole scene played out.

To Lucy's credit, every time Regulus tried to scoot closer to her, she would scoot away. Over the course of a little more than an hour, by Severus' reckoning, Black had managed to finesse Lucy from one side of the Chesterfield to the other, effectively pinning her in between him and the arm of the couch. With a clumsy move unworthy of any decent Slytherin, Regulus stretched as he gave an unconvincing yawn. Severus got up from his chair, ready to save Lucy and give Regulus Black a black eye worthy of his name but he didn't have to.

Lucy abruptly hopped up from where she was sitting before Regulus could rest his arm on her shoulder. Lucy turned to Regulus and said with saccharine sweetness, "Black, I think you have a pretty good grasp of the theory behind Summoning Charms. I'm sorry, but I still have my own homework to attend to."

Severus felt his lip quiver as he tried to suppress his smirk.

"Aren't you going to help me with the practicals?" Black asked almost desperately as Lucy gathered her things from the coffee table. "And why can't you call me Regulus?"

Lucy cut a glare at the Regulus' mates laughing outright in the corner. "I'm sure one of your friends would be more than happy to help you, Mr Black."

Avery, Mulciber, and their cohorts sobered immediately. They watched Lucy carefully as she marched her way to the corridor that led to the girl's dorms. With her rucksack slung over her shoulder and her wand firmly grasped in her free hand, she looked as though she could easily hex the next person that attempted to talk to her. There were more snickers and guffaws from the other students in the common room and Black's face turned crimson with embarrassment. Severus would have liked to have followed her, but there was no point. Boys weren't allowed in the girl's dorms.

Regulus had been properly embarrassed. He grabbed one of the round decorator pillows from off the Chesterfield and lobbed it at his friends. "Fat lot of help you knobs are."

Mulciber and Rosier leaned out of the way as the pillow flew between them. "Don't blame us, mate," Rosier said mockingly. "We gave you sound advice…can't help it if you have all the subtlety of a mountain troll."

Laughter erupted again in the common room as Regulus stalked away to the boy's dormitory.

But Severus knew that Regulus Black was tenacious. One rejection wouldn't discourage him. If there was one trait the Black brother's shared, it was their doggedness, and as long as Lucy didn't commit herself to another boy, Regulus would continue to pursue her. There was one key difference between the brothers, however. Regulus was honourable enough to yield to another bloke's prior claim. His older brother, Sirius, wouldn't give a damn. He would still go after the girl, boyfriend or not.

Not that Severus was Lucy's boyfriend—far from it. He still hadn't told anyone that he had asked out Lucy. But just because he was too scared to even think about such possibilities, didn't mean Severus wanted to Lucy to see anybody else, either.

Tonight found Severus in just about the same situation he was in the night before—studying in the common room alone, only this time his nose was buried in his copy of Advanced Rune Translation. At least this time he wasn't fretting over Regulus putting moves on Lucy.

Regulus was still at Quidditch practice. Being so close to the first game, the team captain was calling for more practices. Lucy was in her room, getting ready to go to Godric's Hollow with her parents. Since she had missed services on Sunday, she had promised her mother she would attend Wednesday night.

Severus was deep in his reading. Instead of translating a runic text, he had to write one and found the task infinitely more frustrating.

He was contemplating going to ask Madam Pomfrey for a Headache Draught when he heard Sinistra exclaim, "Lucy, what an adorable outfit!"

Severus looked up from his reading just in time to see Lucy's face flush pink. She was rather cute. She was dressed in a tweed skirt and matching jacket, with just a hint of a tan blouse underneath. The ensemble was even topped off with a deerstalker cap. Her hair wasn't in her customary braids anymore, but free-flowing in waves down her back. Severus inwardly laughed at the thought that Lucy only needed a hand magnifier and she would be ready to search for clues out on the moor, but the brown court shoes might prove to be a hindrance. But still, it was a becoming outfit. Besides, he never truly noticed before how pretty Lucy's hair really was.

"Thanks, Aurora," Lucy answered her dorm mate as she tugged a brown leather glove over her small hand.

Rosier looked up from where he had been studying with Sinistra, "You look nice, O'Conner. Where are you going dressed like that?"

"Out with my folks. I'd rather stay here, but what can I do?" Lucy shrugged as she evaded the real answer. Severus didn't blame her. She was a Slytherin going to a family church in Godric's Hollow. Some of their House mates would not understand, especially when Muggles were known to worship in the same church. As far as Severus was aware, he was still the only one that knew she had any familial relationship with the Headmaster.

"Severus, we shouldn't be gone too long. Do you think you can look over my Runes essay when we get back?"

It wouldn't have seemed so awkward if everyone in the room hadn't turned to Severus to hear his answer. He laid his book on his lap and said, "Uh…sure. I'm not finished with mine, but I wouldn't mind a second pair of eyes to look at it, if you don't mind."

Lucy gave him a small smile and said in her unusual accent, "Of course I don't mind. See ya when I get back."

Severus continued with his Runes essay and Lucy had already been gone for nearly an hour when Regulus and the rest of the Quidditch team came storming into the common room. He turned his back in a vain attempt to ignore the commotion they brought with them. Regulus was cursing his brother, which really wasn't out of the ordinary.

"Snape!"

"What!" Severus answered irritably as he snapped shut his book. He turned to tell Black to leave him alone, but stared in confusion.

Regulus stood before him with the hood of his robe still over his head, surrounded by his teammates like a protective guard. Severus instinctively put his hand in his wand pocket. He wasn't sure what he might have done to offend Regulus, but Black had his head lowered in such a way that Severus could not see his face, much less his intentions, so Severus wasn't taking any chances.

"Can you get your nose out of that book, mate? I need your help."


Severus reluctantly followed the Quidditch team to the Fifth-year boy's dorms. When they were in the common room, Regulus kept his face obscured enough so when he lifted his head, only Severus could see it. It was hard for him not to laugh, but with great effort, Severus managed to keep a straight face.

It wasn't until after one of Regulus' teammates closed the door behind them that Regulus felt safe to lower his hood.

"I fail to see why you need help for simple boils, Black. Jones, get your potions kit out for me, would you," Severus said to Regulus' only other Fifth-year teammate.

"I didn't eat or drink anything, Snape. It has to be a curse or a hex. I need a counter-curse, not a potion," Regulus said irritably. "And they're not simple boils!"

Severus' gaze narrowed as he studied the crimson and gold pustules that had broken out all over Regulus' face. They were also all over his right hand, so Severus figured that Regulus had touched his face at some point, or touched something that infected him. Either way, the work had the Marauders written all over it. Because of the unusual colouring, it looked more impressive than it actually was.

"It certainly looks like something your brother or Potter would do. Pettigrew doesn't have the brains and Lupin doesn't have the bollocks."

Regulus said scathingly, "Of course it was one of those Gryffin-twits. Sirius' birthday is tomorrow. No doubt his boyfriend, Potter, did it as a birthday present."

Janus Gamp, the new Third-year chaser said, "We can't have him flying in Saturday's game looking like the Gryffindor mascot."

"He doesn't look like their mascot, he looks like he caught the bloody Gryffindor clap," Thor Rowle, the blonde, burly Seventh-year captain snarled. "Can you fix him or not, Snape?"

Regulus had went from looking angry to worried as his eyes darted around room to each of his teammates and then back to Severus again.

"Look, Severus, you've got to help me," Regulus said pleadingly. "If I go to Madam Pomfrey, she's going to keep me overnight and early tomorrow morning is the last time we have the pitch until the match on Saturday."

Actually, Severus was tempted to let Regulus stay the way he was after the way he tried to imitate the giant squid with Lucy the night before. Unfortunately, such a course might backfire on him. First, if word got back to Lucy that Severus refused to help, she might take issue with it. Lucy was well aware that Severus could cure something as simple as boils—even coloured ones. Even worse, she might take pity on Black. Then, where would that leave Severus?

"Alright," Severus said in reluctant agreement, "How did this happen?"

"I think they cursed the Snitch," Regulus said. "As soon as I touched it, it exploded into dust and this happened."

"Well, you're half right, anyway," Severus said as he moved over to the table where Jones had sat his potions kit. "The Snitch was hexed to explode in your face, but you were doused with Bulbadox Powder. The colour is just a simple charm someone placed on the powder that should wear off by morning."

"In other words, the boils will be gone, but I'm still going to have gold and crimson spots on my face until morning."

"That sounds about right," Severus said as he put snake fangs into Jones' mortar and began to crush them into a fine powder.

Regulus sat on the side of his bed, seemingly consigned to his fate. "Well, I don't want anyone to see me like that, so I guess I'm confined to my bed for the rest of the night." He waved off his teammates and they reluctantly left him alone with Severus.

Severus set up the cauldron and burner. "Is the door locked? We're not supposed to have open flames in the dorm."

"It's locked," Regulus answered distractedly.

"How do you do it, Severus?"

Severus looked up from his work and stared at Regulus quizzically. "It's a simple First-year potion. Anyone should easily…"

"No…not the potion," Regulus interrupted irritably. "I mean O'Conner…Lucy. How do you get her to talk to you? I can't get her to talk about anything but schoolwork."

Severus quickly turned his attention back to his work so Black couldn't read his face. "I don't know what you're talking about. Schoolwork is practically all Lucy talks about."

"Not with you," Regulus noted. "And she lets you use her given name."

Severus adjusted the flame under the cauldron and hoped that the radiating heat would excuse the flush on his face. "I don't know what to tell you. She's the one who spoke to me first. I don't know what I did. Do you fancy her?"

Severus kept his head down towards his work, but quickly glanced up to see Black's reaction. Black leaned back on his bed and seemed to consider the question.

"I suppose you can say that I think she's different from most of the girls around here. She is pretty, even though there are prettier girls. Perhaps it's simply because she's American. I find that fascinating. I just want to get to know her." Regulus nodded reasonably.

Severus groused as he began to ladle Boil Cure into a phial, wishing he hadn't agreed to help Black, after all. "Perhaps you're trying to know her too well."

Regulus at least had the good grace to blush with embarrassment. "That wasn't my idea. Avery and Rosier where trying to give me pointers on how to…"

"Seduce her," Severus finished furiously as he nearly slammed the potion phial into Black's hand.

"Of course not!" Regulus downed the Boil Cure in one swallow and threw the phial angrily down on the floor. He stood up and faced Severus. Black's boils were gone, but he still had ridiculous crimson and gold spots on his face.

"I'm not a cad!" Regulus seethed as he stood up to Severus.

"You certainly acted like one last night! You're lucky Lucy got up when she did!"

"What would you have done? Cursed me?"

Severus stood his full height, towering above the younger teen by at least three inches, "I can easily give you the boils back, if you like!"

Suddenly the fight seemed to deflate out of Regulus and he looked at Severus with a sort of odd curiosity. "You fancy her, don't you?"

Caught off guard by the question, Severus took a step back and said defensively, "I never said that. Besides, don't you think this is getting old?"

"I know we've been taking the mickey out of you for the past two months, but honestly, I just thought you cared for her as a friend," Regulus said. "But you really do have a thing for Lucy. Hey…I'm sorry, mate."

Severus sat heavily on the edge of someone's bed. "I suppose it's not your fault. I really don't know how I feel about her. But I did ask her to go to the match with me this weekend and then to Hogsmeade."

"You did," Black asked with genuine surprise. "What did she say?"

Severus couldn't help but smile softly, and chuckle to himself, "She said yes."

Regulus stood quiet for a moment. Severus suspected that it was something Regulus neither wanted nor expected to hear. Black turned to the mirror on the wall behind him and looked at his face with dismay. He had to put a Silencing Hex on the mirror to shut up its criticism of his spots.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, a determined look came across Black's face and he said soberly, "I think I'm going to have a lie down now. Thank you, for the potion."

"You're welcome," Severus replied, noting Black's change in mood.

Severus pushed himself up from the bed, straightened the duvet, and quietly left, unsure of Regulus' intentions. He left Black to clean up the mess after him. Severus had already lost Lily because of James Potter. He wasn't about to lose Lucy to Regulus Black.

***10 October, 1976***

Severus waited by the window in the common room. A pod of gindylows were hiding in the tall, aquatic grass, their collective attention on a lone hippocampus off in the distance. The common room was empty, with the exception of a few upper-year blokes waiting on their dates to finish primping. Otherwise, everyone was already on their way to the pitch.

For Rosier, it was worth the wait. Severus' attention was distracted from the impending underwater drama when Sinistra emerged from the girl's dorm. Rosier beamed as she reached her hands to him then kissed him on the cheek.

Severus couldn't blame Evan. Sinistra had traded her school robe for a tight, cream-coloured jumper and brown, skin tight corduroys that not only complimented her dark complexion, but featured her very feminine curves and long legs. Severus had to make sure his eyes were back in his head before Evan cursed them out.

Rosier slipped his arm around Sinistra. As they walked towards the door she turned back to Severus and said, "Good to see you look nice, Snape. Lucy looks good."

Severus raised an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn't accustomed to getting compliments from girls about his looks. His long hair was pulled back out of his face, just as he had worn it most of the term. He wasn't wearing anything too special, only a black V-neck jumper over his white button-down shirt. Severus wore his nicest pair of dark jeans, but that was all. It had only been in recent years that students were allowed to wear more modern and casual attire to weekend events.

He didn't have to wait much longer before Lucy entered the common room. Severus was taken aback. Lucy did have a figure. Certainly, she wasn't as curvaceous as Lily or even Sinistra, but her dark green, turtleneck jumper definitely accentuated the curves that Lucy had and Severus definitely appreciated them. He was slightly disappointed when Lucy tied a short trench coat around her waist and slipped a stocking cap over her hair, which she had let flow down her back once again.

"Why the coat?" Severus said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "It's not that cold outside."

"Severus, I'm from the coast of South Carolina where forty degrees is considered the dead of winter," Lucy said as she pulled a knit glove over her fingers.

Severus chuckled, "Forty degrees here and people are dropping off like flies from the heat."

Lucy scoffed and said, "I keep forgetting to convert. I suppose there is a slight difference. But be that as it may, I'm not used to the cold. I've only seen snow three times in my entire life."

"You're in for a rude awakening come winter, then," Severus said as he offered Lucy his arm. "Fortunately, I don't think they're calling for snow today."

Lucy sighed, "And I suppose that it's perfect weather for Quidditch."

Lucy slipped her arm around Severus' elbow. "You almost sound disappointed," he remarked, not sure what to make of her comment.

"No…of course not. I've been looking forward to this all week," she said, sounding as if she were trying to convince herself as much as Severus.

"Well, come on, then. We're going to have a hard time finding a good spot to watch the match."

"Let's go," she said with resolve.

Lucy's smile was genuine, but nervous, as they walked and talked their way to the pitch. Severus had no idea what was bothering her, but he was determined to make the day a good one for the both of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Howdy all. Back again.

First…an Author's note. Funny enough, a Hippocampus is not only the name of a part of the brain located in the temporal lobe. It is also the name of a Mer-horse type creature from Greek mythology that JK Rowling included in her universe.

Second…a resounding thank you to my beta, tambrathegreat. I was pretty sick during the writing of this chapter and it showed in my first draft. I hope I got most of my mistakes corrected, because I am pretty tired right now. *yawn*

And third…thank you all for your encouragement and lovely reviews. (And stefanskoala makes 100! Hurray!) You finally get the first date next chapter.

TTFN
~Missyann