Halloween was when it all blew up. Hermione was walking with Lily when they came upon James, Sirius and Peter surrounding Severus.
"Don't." Lily grabbed her arm to stop her as she angrily went to step in. Hermione wrenched her arm from Lily sending her a glare, "He wont thank you." The red head insisted.
Hermione ignored her and sent a quick and vicious stinging hex at Peter, who yelped and spun, wand raised, his expression angry as he fired a nasty spell back. Sirius decked him, hard, his nose spraying blood as he flew back.
Everyone outside stared at the dark-haired man in shock. It was during this silence that Harry and Remus found them.
"What's going on?" Harry demanded.
"James?" Remus asked looking from Severus, still on the ground to his friend but his eye caught Sirius still trembling with rage and Peter sitting shocked with tears in his eyes and blood flowing around the hand he held up to his nose.
No one knew what to say, "She attacked me first." Peter finally mumbled.
Sirius just growled at him and took two steps to Severus yanking the other boy to his feet roughly, "Take her to brew or something." He practically shoved the boy at Hermione before turning back to his friend with a glare. "We're going to have a chat."
To stunned to move for a minute Severus glared at him but shrugged and pulled her arm through his and led her away, Lily following after them. Harry stayed with the boys to sort it out, knowing she was fine.
"What was that about?" Lily finally asked as they entered the castle.
Hermione shrugged, "James and Sirius don't like me spending time with her." Severus spat out.
"Sirius just shoved her to you and told you to spend time with her."
"That is a mystery." Severus shook his head, "So was that hit, where did the little pureblood learn to punch? Why didn't he use a hex? Why did he attack Peter at all?"
"He likes Mya." Lily shrugged. At Hermione's expression she laughed, "Come on, the whole school can see it, you can't? He's terribly jealous of Sev. I bet that's why they were picking on him."
"You mean because James picked on him because of you?" Hermione shot back.
"He did not." Lily glared.
"You abandoned your friendship with Severus and they don't pick on him anymore." Hermione spat back, "He made one little mistake and you threw away a life time of friendship."
"One little mistake?" Lily almost screeched back as they argued around Severus. "He called me a mudblood because I tried to help him!"
"Don't be so conceited! If you could see past your own bloody perfection you'd know he was lashing out because he was hurt, you're a terrible friend Lily Evans." Hermione, arm still linked with Severus's, jerked him a little more towards her and away from Lily on his other side.
The red head grabbed his other arm and yanked him closer, "I'm not, at all, am I Severus? We were the best of friends!"
"Until you tossed him aside." Hermione hissed.
"He tossed me aside, I'm the mudblood!"
"He apologized or tried to and you were a bitch!"
They'd stopped walking and turned to face each other, still holding tightly to one of his arms while Severus stood there in complete shock, not entire sure what was happening. One moment he was being taunted and hexed by the Marauders, without the somewhat restraining presence of Lupin, next Sirius punched his best mate and shoved Mya to him and now she and Lily were arguing over him? What the hell universe had he just stepped into?
"I was hurt!"
"So was he!"
"You think I haven't missed him? I didn't know how to make it better!"
"Did you try talking to him, telling him you forgave him?"
"So he could call me that again? I tried to help him, he clearly didn't want to be my friend anymore, even if he was sorry for announcing it by saying that to me!"
"You were his only friend!"
"I made a mistake!"
They stood there glaring at each other and finally he shifted, catching their attention, both girls looked horrified at their white knuckles gripping his arms and yanked their hands back comically.
"Sorry Sev." Hermione rubbed the spot she'd been clutching.
"Me too." Lily turned to him and then licked her lips, "I really am sorry, for everything."
"Me too." He offered her a tentative smile and she smiled back, linking their arms.
Hermione shook her head and took his other arm, both girls tugging him a little as they started walking towards the dungeon again. Severus let himself be led, walking along in a bit of a daze.
"Do you really think James was mean to him because we were best friends?" Lily asked Hermione gently, "I don't want him to go back to being such an awful bully. He's almost… fun, to be around now."
"Do you really not know how in love with you he is?" Hermione snorted.
"Everyone knows that." Severus mumbled.
Lily stumbled a little as they walked, "Really? I mean, he's such an obnoxious flirt. I figured I was just a challenge or something."
"How can you like him?" Severus growled.
"I don't!" Lily defended, a little to vehemently.
"Yes you do." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"No!" Lily hissed but a sharp look from Severus made her huff, "Ok fine, I like him but I don't know why, he's so, so, insufferable." She looked pleadingly at the boy, "I'm sorry Sev. I really am. He's always been so awful to you and I hate him for it, I do. I hate that I like him at all, I always did."
Severus shrugged, they'd reached the potions class at this point, "It's fine Lily, I guess we can't help who we like."
"I won't let him bully you though Sev, I'll hex him and hate him forever."
"I can handle myself." He huffed, drawing up to his full height.
"Of course you can, but it's what friends do." Hermione told him, knocking his shoulder with hers before letting go of his arm to enter the empty classroom.
"We are still friends aren't we Sev? I mean, we can be friends again right?" Lily asked tentatively.
Severus gave her a wide grin, "Of course."
"TEN!" Hermione shouted as they came in, making him shake his head and bite back a chuckle.
"Ten?" Lily asked. When Hermione explained counting his smiles, she fell into a fit of giggles.
Harry had been having the time of his life, the memories still haunted his dreams, both happy and terrible filling him with pain but he was happy and young and despite the side project he and Hermione still researched and plotted, he'd never been so free to just be young and have fun. He missed Ron more than anything and he worried about Hermione, but not being the boy-who-lived was remarkably freeing, here he was just another prankster, a marauder. The future, saving the fate of having to save the world still weighed heavily on him but it wasn't as pressing, suffocating or terrifying as it had been. He was prepared for war and had learned to sit back and plan instead of jumping head first with only assumptions and headstrong accusations. He definitely got his stubborn side from his mother, James laughed things off and moved on from things easily, except Lily Evans herself of course, James seemed incapable of moving on from his crush on the red-head, she dominated his thoughts.
He'd known about the way his father had bullied Severus from Snape's own memories but had never seen it in real life and had, not exactly forgotten but not thought about it, shrugging it off as something his father had grown out of so seeing it was hard. He wasn't sure how to react. Then he saw Hermione and Peter squared off but as his wand flicked into his hand he saw Sirius's hand shoot out. Everyone stood in shock as the pudgy boy flew back and landed, blood spurting from his nose. The whole student body currently outside had gone quiet in shock.
Quickly jolting out of his own shock Remus jogged forward and Harry followed him.
When Sirius shoved Severus towards Hermione and told him to get her away from there he'd been ready to take her himself but a quick look told him she was perfectly fine, if as surprised as the others, so he stayed to figure things out.
"You broke my nose." Peter finally spoke again. Sirius angrily flung a spell at the boy snapping the cartilage painfully back into place and making the boy yelp.
"Sirius!" James snapped.
"You ever lift your wand to her again and we're through." Sirius spat at the boy.
"She hexed me first!" He protested wiping his bloody hands on his robe.
Sirius just growled at him and turned to storm away. Peter glanced pleadingly at James but the boy didn't seem to register a decision was being made between his friends as he automatically turned with Sirius and wrapped an arm around the dark boys shoulder, "Alright mate?" Sirius just snorted as they walked towards the castle.
Harry looked from Peter to Remus, the pudgy boy was getting to his feet and angrily swiping at a few stray tears, "You ok Pete?" Remus sighed.
"He punched me, I defended myself and he punched me." Peter fought back tears as he angrily faced the third Marauder.
"More like she defended Severus and you turned on her, I'd have hexed you too." Remus told him rolling his eyes, "Sirius will get over it."
"He punched me." Peter repeated. "James just walked away, asking if he was ok, I'm the one that got punched and they were the ones who started in on the slimy Slytherin git."
"You just followed along, egging them on like usual but you turned your wand on one of ours Pete." Remus shrugged, "You know James would never condone it, that's how you and he met, and Sirius… I'd have done the exact same thing and you know it. You know you were wrong. They'll get over it. Come on and we'll get you cleaned up."
"No." Peter hissed yanking back from the taller boy and wiping the dried tears away again turning away and storming to the school.
Remus shook his head and turned back to Harry, "We should check on Mya."
"She's fine."
"I don't think he sent a mild hex Harry, not if Sirius was that pissed."
"She can defend herself, his spell didn't even come close to touching her." Harry shrugged, "Severus will take care of her anyways."
"They hate him." Remus nods in the direction of his two best friends.
"I don't really know James's problem with him besides his being a Slytherin and how close he was with Lily but Sirius only jumped on board because of James." Harry told him with a shrug. "I don't think it's hate, just years of antagonism." His mind darted to the blond Slytherin, his school nemesis, "It's something they can get past." For months Draco had helped get muggle-born children to safety, found places for people targeted or survivors of attacks. For months, after saving Hermione, killing Greyback and then his own father, the boy had been his friend. Trusted and respected. "Sirius doesn't hate him he's just badly motivated by James to dislike and bully him."
"James and now Mya."
"So it true? He likes her?"
Remus shrugged, "Ask him."
"I'm asking you."
Remus just turned and started walking towards the school, "You're different with her too." Harry pressed. "You glare at Severus when they sit together in the library, you always make a point to sit near her and keep sugar quills in your bag with your chocolate because they're her favorite." Harry pressed.
"So I like her." Remus admitted, "We're just friends."
"Why?"
"It's complicated." Remus shrugged glaring at the ground.
"Because you're a werewolf?" Harry ignored the clear, change the subject, vibe coming from the taller boy.
Remus tripped over his own feet and just barely caught himself from falling as he spun on the Harry, "What?"
"Mya told me." Harry shrugged.
"Mya?" He frowned in question.
Harry chuckled and shook his head, "She's brilliant you know."
"When? I've only transformed twice this year." Harry shrugged again in response. "So you know, have known?"
"Yeah." Harry offered absently before pressing on what he considered an actual topic worth discussing, "So is that why it's complicated or is it because of Sirius."
"Both but you knew?"
"Yeah." Harry laughed, "We know, she's also trying to get information on Damocles new potion, Wolfsbane, for you. It's going to make the transformations easier. She says he'll get the Order of Merlin for it. I guarantee she'll have the potion mastered and be talking Severus into helping her brew it by the New Year."
Remus just shook his head in shock, "So it's ok, with you?"
"If you date my sister?" Harry couldn't help teasing him.
"That I'm… that I'm… a thing."
"Point of advise Moony." Harry stopped him with a hand on his arm, "Don't ever let her hear you say that, the girl can be a bit nutters, especially when it comes to her friends and she wont stand for them being picked on or abused, even if you're doing it to yourself."
"I'm a monster Harry, surely she understands that."
"You're a werewolf Moony, not a monster and I mean it, she can be right scary sometimes, so don't let her hear you putting werewolves down, don't let her hear you put down any creature but especially not yourself."
Remus nodded to stunned to say much, "So what now? I mean it's Halloween, that little incident has kind of put a damper on the day but we can still salvage it."
Harry shot his friend a grin, "Prank Filtch?"
Remus shook his head with a laugh, "Come on, let's find Sirius and James."