A/N I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry that I didn't update sooner. I'm a bad auther! Bad! Bad! I'm unworthy! *sniffling goes and sobs in a corner*

The days of school were bus, busy, busy. There was hardly room to breath for anyone. But somehow the Marauders still fit in a few good pranks between exams and the full moon.

James and Padfoot considered that the best time of the month, while Remus dreaded it and Peter didn't know what to think. It was a normal procedure, they all snuck out under James' cloak and made their way across to the whomping willow. It was a majestic sight. They stood just out of harms reach and watched, wide eyed, at the thrashing branches while Peter changed form. It always took a good deal of encouragement to get him to dart forward and hit the secret knot. The rest of the marauders would then come forward and descend int the icy black. Following the tunnel was a grim and solemn affair. Remus was always twitchy. At that point they all changed, and they only had to wait for Remus to do the same. Then it was just fun and games.

Things were fine with the marauders, and things were fine with Adell. Sure she didn't talk to anyone, she sketched quietly and managed to get 3 nasty rumors spread about fer by the charming Sirius Black, and sure maybe she did have to go a morning with grossly overgrown front teeth, but she didn't care. She was soaring, she was untouchable, and it felt good.

Severus Snape just spent his days brooding... but that was fine with everyone.

But it was the last day before they all took the train to go home. Things were about to be heated.

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The marauders found themselves in a familiar situation. James was livid, he paced up and down the room the four boys shared.

"This is it men." He barked at the weary-eyed boys. It was very early in the morning, they hadn't even had breakfast yet. "It's our last chance to defeat the enemy, for Gryffindor! He said patriotically. Sirius growled.

"We get it Prongs!" he yawned "But couldn't this have waited until after five in the morning?" James gave him a look.

"We've gone easy on her until this point. But now it's time to get ugly."

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Adell sat dreamily at the supper table stirring her soup absent-mindedly.

Severus munched at a roll hungrily.

Lilly chatted with her friends animately.

It was their last supper at hogwarts for all of summer, and everyone could feel the time slipping away like grains of sand. But for James Potter and Sirius Black, time stood still.

She didn't react at first. She ignored the prickling and stinging and bubbling. The feeling intensified and at last she couldn't ignore it anymore. Adell reached up to touch her burning face. She recoiled from the pain of the touch and was shocked to find that the texture of her skin certainly wasn't how it was this morning,

Sirius and James leaned forward in their seats from across their table. At the same moment Adell caught her reflection in her goblet. Her eyes widened with shock and horror.

Large Boils, Green with infection, were festering on her face. Some had a red tinge and oozed puss Hardly any of her original healthy skin showed. Her jaw fell open with a small pop. It was then that the pain hit her like a wave. So suddenly she gasped. She took a few rasping breaths.

It was then that people started to notice her. There was a mixed reaction across the table. Horror, surprise, sadistic glee, hummer, anger, pity, but in any case it was an explosion. Teachers stood up to see what the sudden commotion was about. Adell ripped herself from her seat and rushed from the Hall. The only silent ones were four Gryffindor boys three of which merely exchanged looks of pure delight. They had won. Finally. She was defeated. They saw the look she had had. They saw her tears. She was broken. For now. But no matter what, they had this moment of glory. A little pain and humiliation went a long way. And what was more, they knew that it was completely justified.

Remus just cast his gaze downwards.

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Severus Snape walked down the hallway nervously, he hated to admit it, but something had broken inside of him when he saw the look of horror on Adell Sanctamonia's face. IT wasn't a weakness, because that was something he refused to have, but she had just seemed so... defenseless. His emotions were conflicted and his thoughts muddled, but they just boiled down to one thing

"Why am I doing this?" and "I need to find her."

But he had to admit the situation was a bit awkward. How was he going to find Adell anyway? And who was she? He knew nothing about her! He kept walking a bit irritably. Until, at long last, he herd sniffling.

Looking around, he saw that his feet had carried him to the library. Walking a little further, he turned behind a bookshelf and saw what he was looking for. There she was, the epitome of helplessness. She was hugging her knees and making pitiful snuffling sounds. Her face was down and he could see her back shaking with suppressed sobs.

She wasn't crying over her face or the pain, she was crying because sh had lost. And everyone knew it. She was crying over the stress of the last week, the uselessness she felt, her unfair life, the fact that she was crying for merlin's sake, and everything had just come bubbling out, completely and totally against her will. Severus regrettably knew this from experience.

"Hello." he said quietly and awkwardly. She froze and looked up at him. Yes. He face was unquestionably grotesque. But Severus didn't flinch. Against the Marauders preconceived notions he was not a sissy. Adell blinked her tears back, clearly embarrassed. Severus just wordlessly took a small flask out of his robes and gave it to her.

"drink this." He said quickly, maybe a bit coldly. She tentatively took it from him and drank the light blue liquid in one swallow. Her face cleared up almost instantly and she looked up at him thankfully and humbly. He took the empty flask back. The marauders had pulled this one on him a year back. He had carried the antidote with him since then. You never know when they were going to do it again. They really didn't enjoy coming up with new material. Well, it had come in handy now, anyway. He looked at Adell's eyes. They were interesting. Very light blue, except for the very rim which was more of a blue/gray/silver. They were shadowed by her dark eyelashes and made all the more interesting by the heavy glaze of tears. She looked away from him and he realized that he had been staring at her. And she had been starring right back.

She stood up quickly and looked at her toes. Wiping her face, she finally spoke.

"I didn't need your help." she murmured.

"I didn't need your approval." he said, before walking off swiftly. She blinked. The phrase seemed oddly familiar. She watched him billow out of the library. (A/N because Snape billows. Not exits.) She didn't know what to think. Hmm....Severus... She blushed and ran out of the rushed out.

What the bloody hell had that been about?

A/N thanks to:

BaraIchigo

JainaZekk621

pennypotter128 (again)

KenziCullen (again)

And Naflower05 (again)