They Call chapter 12
Some Get Kisses, Some Get Tears
Back at Hogwarts, Corona was walking around trying to make heads or tails of the one tablet that Severus had forgotten to take back. She wasn't even sure if she were looking at the thing the right way up. She looked in her copy of 'First Spells' to see if she could impress Snape by having it translated by the time he returned. As she was reading and not looking where she was going she bumped into someone she didn't know well but she recognized.
"Oh I' sorry," Corona apologized. When she saw the girl she had walked into she asked, "Are you Lily Evans?"
"Yes, I am," Lily answered. "Do I know you?"
"No, I'm not in any of your classes." Rona then introduced herself, "I'm Corona Solaris. I'm in Ravenclaw."
"Oh - - " realization came to Lily. She knew the name if not the face. "I wondered if I'd ever meet you, so I can warn you personally."
"Warn me?"
"I've heard that you've started hanging around - - Snape." Lily had been refusing to call her old friend by his first name. She had earlier only by a slip on her part. She was still furious at him and could not find an inch of pardon in her heart for him. Corona thought this was rather fast as she had only been in Snape's company one day previous. "If I were you, I'd stay clear of him."
The Ravenclaw girl tried to be diplomatic, but it was difficult. "Well, you're not me, are you?"
"You don't know him."
"Apparently, neither do you."
Lily was struck by this statement. If anyone knew Severus Snape, it was Lily Evans. "You keep on believing that. Just be prepared when he turns on you."
"Is that how little you think of him?"
"I try to think of him as little as possible."
"Do you know what he thinks of you?"
"I have a fairly clear indication of how he feels about me. He thinks I'm a filthy mudblood. Maybe you don't need to worry, being a pureblood, he deems your friendship worthy of his."
"Wow, have you got a chip on your shoulder," Corona had said this mostly to herself.
Lily still responded. "I'm sure a pureblood like you can't imagine how being called that feels."
"No, but I know how Severus feels."
"Do you?" Lily's contempt was palatable.
Corona wasn't sure if she should say how she and Snape had met; with him ready to jump from Ravenclaw tower over the loss of his friendship with the girl who stood before her now. "Miss. Evans, I don't want to argue with you. Right now I have chosen to be a friend to Severus. It has nothing to do with you. You needn't warn me."
"If you want a friend like him, good luck to you."
"I know Severus isn't perfect. I don't expect him, or anyone, to be. If you only knew how much you've hurt him."
"Me? Hurt him?" Lily couldn't believe her ears. "I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent."
"Okay," Corona got her hackles up. "If that's the way you're going to be, this discussion is over." Solaris had had enough of this Gryffindor's self-righteousness. It was clear to her that yes Severus was a damaged person. That didn't mean he didn't deserve some decent friends. She thought that there must have been another side to Lily Evans, because at that point, Corona couldn't understand what Snape saw in the girl.
"When Snape throws you under the bus," Lily called after Rona as she went on her way. "You'll wish you'd listened to me."
Corona thought to herself, 'And I thought Sev had issues.' She then saw someone that made her heart skip a beat. "Xeno," she called out to the boy who was following a group of Hufflepuffs as he hid behind a copy of the Daily Prophet. Xen halted his tailing of potential prank suspects to go to his girlfriend.
"Hi Rona." Xenophillius gave Corona a smooch. "Bad timing. I thought one of them was close to confessing."
Corona cleared her throat. "I don't think you need to worry about the Hufflepuffs anymore."
"Has the culprit been found? Who's behind it?"
"I think a declaration of guilt may be in the process as we speak."
"By who?"
"Our new friend."
"Oooh - - " Xen looked disappointed. "I was trying to exonerate him. Do I look foolish? Oh well."
"Your heart was in the right place."
"Why did he do it?"
"I think it had something to do with what they said at the Three Broomsticks, and trying to impress other Slytherin."
Xeno seemed to be taking the news rather well. "That gives me more time to look into my other project."
Knowing that Lovegood would have more than one pet project. She asked, "Which one?"
"The one about the rumor that some of our very own fellow students here at Hogwarts are thinking about joining up with you know who." He informed, "You know there are some who just graduated that already have the dark mark."
"How do you know that?" Rona wondered. "Aren't they very secretive about who exactly are death eaters?"
"Yes they are, but there are some kids here whose mums and dads are known followers of - - you know who. One of them has spoken to me in the strictest of confidences."
"So sad," Rona mused. "It must be difficult for them."
"Difficult - - for them?" Xeno looked incredulous. "You worry me sometimes. How can you be so sympathetic?"
"You're the one off interviewing potential death eaters."
"Not sympathetically." Xen remembered something at that moment. "I thought you were supposed to be meeting Severus for that rune lesson?"
"They're not runes," Rona pointed out. "I did, but some thing came up and Sev had to go somewhere."
Being an inquisitive person made Xeno ask further, "What could possibly tear anyone from your company?"
This made Corona giggle at first. "Not everyone is as enamored of me as you."
"That's good."
"Do I detect a glimmer of jealousy Lovegood?"
"If it were anyone but you Solaris. Sooooo - - Why don't you want to tell me why Snape took off in the middle of your rune lesson?"
"They're not runes," Rona reiterated. "I'm not sure if it's my place to tell."
"It's me Rona."
The young lady had to think about that statement. Xeno was good at finding people's secrets; he wasn't as good at keeping them. Still if she swore him to secrecy, it might be safe. In her deep understanding of people she realized that Severus was an extremely private person.
"Come on Solaris, spill the beans."
"If I do, you have to keep it to yourself. I can't loose Severus' trust."
At this point a bit of Xeno's good nature faded. "Why does that matter to you so much?"
"Did you forget what I told you? About how I met him?"
Now Xeno was feeling a bit embarrassed. He had forgotten that Rona had been at the right place at the right time to stop the Slytherin boy from doing himself a great harm. "Oh yhea - - "
Rona's voice held teasing in it, "Oh yhea, what a response." She gave him a playful hip check. "I was so proud of you yesterday, don't go all jealous boyfriend on me now."
"I wouldn't tell anyone anything. I actually think the kid isn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be."
Part of this statement pleased the girl; another part disturbed her. "Who makes him out to be bad?"
A hard swallow stuck in the boy's throat. "I hate to say, but, quite a few people. Not just those Gryffindor boys that hang around with Potter."
"People who I bet have never even met him. Or barely know him."
"I wasn't taking statistics. We barely know him either. After all he did pull that prank on the qudditch team."
"Making soap ooze all over the changing room can hardly be categorized as bad."
"I've heard some other things over the years."
"How is it that I never heard any of these things?"
"Because you're too sweet to listen to rumors." Xeno placed a gentle kiss on Rona's forehead, and the two began to embrace into a cuddle.
"Using flattery to get me to talk," Corona teased. "Severus is a very troubled young man. I don't think things are going to get easier for him. I don't know why I feel so compelled to be there for him right now, but I do."
"I know why." Xeno looked reflective, he almost didn't want to remind Rona of something. "Thalion."
Rona looked at the ground. She looked sad, yet she was thinking of someone warmly. "Thalion - - of course. How could I have missed that?"
"I don't think you did, not really."
"You can be sweet yourself, can't you?" Rona kissed Xeno a little bit more intently.
"Sweet enough for you to tell me why Severus had to cut your lesson short?"
"If I tell you and you go blabbing, I'll never forgive you."
"Then you know my lips are as good as super glued together."
"It's Severus' mother. He got a letter this morning that she's at St. Mungo's. Professor Dumbledore took him to see her. It sounded serious."
Xeno now felt even worse at having felt the twinge of jealousy that he had. "Poor kid." Despite his sympathy for Snape, Lovegood's mind was focused on Solaris. His attentions towards her became more intense as well. They were in quite a long kiss when someone rudely yelled out, "Why don't you two get a room."
The two young people's lips parted and they became aware they were in a fairly public place. They had no intentions of going to need a room, but they became self-conscious of their make out moves being observed. Xeno suggested, "Why don't we take a walk around the cove?" His eyebrows made a suggestive motion.
"I think a walk would be a lovely idea," Rona agreed. The two young sweethearts clasped each other's hands and strolled towards the lake.
On a tall hill above the lake, woodland animals were disturbed by a loud popping sound. It was two wizards returning from St. Mungo's. This was a little further away from the castle than Severus expected Dumbledore to bring them. The boy hissed, "What's this?"
"I thought you might not be ready to face your fellow students quite so quickly," the headmaster told. "This is an excellent place to have a good cry if one needs."
"Cry? What makes you think I need a good cry?" Severus was cross.
"No one will see you here."
"Don't - - " Severus rounded on Dumbledore, but stopped himself. Snape could never understand how one minute he felt grateful for something Dumbledore had done, then the next he wanted to spit at him. "I am not a child anymore. I don't cry."
"One doesn't need to be a child to cry. And I know better."
"Do you?"
"If you keep all of the emotions that are boiling up in you inside, you will explode."
Severus picked a tree branch up off the floor of the woods. "I don't need to cry." Instead of crying, Severus had grown into the habit of becoming angry. Shaking the branch in his hand he declared, "I'm not a weakling!" The enraged boy promptly began, in lieu of the headmaster, bashing the nearest tree with the branch he had picked up. A series of blows followed. "I - - " Whack. "AM - - " Whack. "NOT" Whack. "WEAK!" Whack, whack, whack! The branch crumbled so the boy began punching the tree with his fists. The sharp bark tore the skin before the boy realized. Blood began to show on Severus' knuckles.
Dumbledore grabbed Severus by the wrists. "That's quite enough Mr. Snape. You're going to hurt yourself."
This time Severus managed to break free of the older wizard's grip. He looked like a cornered beast. "What do you care!"
"Despite what you believe, I care." Dumbledore's wand was produced and a healing spell that stopped the bleeding of Snape's hands was produced. "I care about all of my students."
"Some more than others," Snape snapped back.
"Please don't say that Severus." The old wizard understood the younger ones anger. He was not offended and didn't say anything like, 'haven't I proven otherwise today.' Instead he advised, "I assure you, a good cry works much better than beating up on trees."
Defenses gave way. Snape could no longer hold back the flood that had been held back by he dam of anger. It was mostly for his mother that the tears came forth, though some came from all the stress of school and his schoolmates as well. Severus feel to his knees, sitting back on his heals as he let loose all of the pent up feelings. What Potter had done, Lily's words; all mingled together with the other feelings to create an agonizing wail from the young wizard. Dumbledore stepped closer intending to offer a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. What he would have done for anyone in such pain. Severus held his hand up in a halting signal. He may have felt safe enough to cry in the headmaster's presence, but going as far as caring contact was too much. This too Dumbledore understood. It would not have comforted Severus anyway; the boy's father had beaten a fear of physical contact into him. The headmaster rebuked himself silently for almost forgetting that.
When the boy regained his composure, Dumbledore conjured a washcloth appropriately filled with cold water. "Wipe your face, I'm sure you don't want to look flush when you return to the castle."
He was right about that, Snape didn't want to look like he had shed a single tear never mind the torrent that he had just produced. He did as Dumbledore had suggested. He could feel the heat leaving his face. He said nothing as the older wizard made the towel disappear. When Dumbledore asked, "Are you ready to go back?" Snape nodded. He still could not bring himself to speak. He hated letting anyone, even the headmaster see him in such a vulnerable state. He was dizzy from the experience. The silent walk back to the castle brought his normal unreadable continence back to Snape.
At the gates Dumbledore asked one more time, "You will be alright?"
If he wasn't, there wasn't much he could do about it now. Severus nodded once more. He knew what was awaiting him inside of the castle. Confession may have been good for the soul, but he was sure his fellow Slytherins would not see it that way.
tbc
