Aftermath

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Potterverse, and the characters, of course, unless I end up coming up with any original ones. And I'm not making any money on this.

It was not a good time to be a Muggle-born witch or wizard. Lily Evans remembered how excited she had been to find out about the wizarding world. Now she sometimes wished she had never heard of it. She was afraid for her parents, afraid for her sister. And she couldn't see anyone doing anything about it.

The one person, ironically, who gave her hope was Severus Snape. Dyed in the wool traditional Slytherin that he was, if he thought the attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns were a strange and fairly recent development, then perhaps it was something that could be fought. In any case, it was something that must be fought.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter started calling themselves the Marauders in their third year at Hogwarts, but most of their activity under that guise didn't start until after the incident with Remus. Up until then, James had tried to keep some control over his hatred of Snape. He understood the patronage system and knew how easy it was for a boy of Snape's background to get sucked into it - especially if he landed in Slytherin. But this time, he had gone too far. There hadn't been even a pretense at a reason for hexing Remus; it was malice, pure and simple. He couldn't stand Snape thinking he could gain by it.

Peter was the lookout. He was always more aware of everything and everyone around him than the other three. When he caught sight of Snape coming toward the library he scampered in ahead of him, and took his place at a table next to the windows, by Remus. That was Lupin's cue.

Remus rose, leaving his books for Peter to bring later, and headed for the door. He deliberately plowed into Snape, who was on his way in, so that the Slytherin's books flew out of his arms and scattered on the floor. Before Snape could pick up all his books, Remus bent down and grabbed one of them, Unfogging the Future. He sat on top of the nearest table and started paging through the text while Snape, who had already gathered his other books, stood and waited.

"Lupin, my book, please," said Severus coolly, when the Gryffindor made no sign of giving it back.

"Did you say something, Snivellus?" asked the other boy.

Severus said nothing, not answering to the name.

"Guess not," said Remus, sat down at the table facing Snape, and continued to look through the book as if it were the most interesting thing he'd seen in a long time.

Severus was tempted to just take his place in the library without it, but he really needed the book and couldn't afford to replace it. "Lupin, may I please have my book back?" he asked again.

Remus looked up from the book. "Did you say something, Snivellus," he repeated.

So that was the game. And now Severus realized he had made an error in judgement. They had attracted the attention of most of the other people in the library. By delaying, he had made sure he would have a nice audience for his humiliation. He schooled his face to blankness and answered, "Yes, I did. I would like my book back, Lupin. Please." It was the first time he had answered to the nickname, and he heard snickers throughout the room.

Remus held the book out but did not get up from the table, forcing Snape to lean over the table to get it. "We're even now," Severus said so quietly that only Lupin could hear.

"You wish," Remus mouthed, barely audible. Then he got up from the table and left.

Once outside the library, Remus made his way to the corridor where they had agreed to meet afterward. James and Sirius were waiting for him, James having already stashed the Invisibility Cloak in a pocket in his robes.

"Did you have time to do it?" asked Remus.

"Plenty of time," James said with a big grin, and Sirius snickered. "Is Peter still in the library?"

"He was over at the table by the window like we planned. He should be here any minute."

They heard the sound of scurrying feet and Peter came around the corner, arms full of books, choking back laughter. "It's starting to show," he snorted. "Did you see Remus? He was brilliant!"

"When we left, Remus was sitting on a table reading Snape's Divination text," said James.

"He made Snape answer to Snivellus to get his book back," Peter said, and was overcome with another silent laughing fit that brought tears to his eyes.

"And I missed it!" Sirius exclaimed in mock outrage.

This is not good, thought Severus as he cleared some first years away from his favorite table in the library with a scowl. It was his favorite table because he could sit with his back to the wall, and it gave him a good view of the rest of the library. He couldn't have people grabbing his books like that. After considering what to do for a few moments, he settled on a spell that would make the thief's hands turn green and start itching if he held one for more than five minutes. Satisfied, he turned back to studying.

Lily caught up with Severus while he was still there. "We need to talk."

He got out his wand. "Muffliato. OK, talk," he said, his tone flat, and his eyes not moving from his text.

She took out a book of her own, her quill, and a scroll to make it look like they were talking about schoolwork. "What was the deal with Remus?"

"He doesn't know?"

"It's not about -."

"No. I ... verified it wasn't that. Lupin really doesn't know?"

"He has no idea."

"I was afraid of that. They told me he did, but it sounded like a lie."

"What was it then?"

"I'm not completely sure myself. I was basically told to shut up and just do it."

"What do you think?"

"I think that Black, Regulus Black, is starting to target Mudbloods and low-bloods. For no other reason. If you're not next, you're definitely in the queue."

"But he's not in charge, is he? I thought Crabbe was."

"Black controls Crabbe."

Lily went silent, absorbing the information. "At this rate, you're going to end up hexing yourself," she said.

Severus finally looked up at Lily with a half-hearted smirk. "Pretty quick for a Gryffindor." He paused, then continued. "I think they're going to use me to harass Mudbloods and low-bloods until I'm such a target I'm no further use to them. Then they're going to drop me."

"What about Lucius Malfoy? He doesn't agree with this shite, does he? Can't he do something?"

"Malfoy isn't here. He's talked to Black, and Black isn't listening. So it comes down to whether he thinks I'm worth a battle with Black. I don't think I am."

"Then you've got to stop doing what they tell you to do."

"Well, that's easy enough," he said sarcastically. "And lose any chance of getting a decent job when I get out of here? There's always the cotton mills. Oh, hang on, they're all closing. That's out, too."

"But Severus, if they're going to drop you anyway, why make more enemies?"

"Because so far I still have Malfoy when I get out of school," he answered fiercely. "And because Regulus Black's isn't the only pure-blood faction at Hogwarts. There's Rosier and Wilkes, and they've got an alliance with Macmillan over in Hufflepuff. If I can get through the rest of this year, and two years of Avery, I'll have Wilkes in my sixth year and Rosier in my seventh."

Severus went back to his homework, and Lily left for the Gryffindor common room.

Severus stayed in the library until almost dinner time. As he made his way to the Great Hall, he was aware of snickers and giggling as he passed other people on his way there. Word gets around fast, he thought.

He went over to sit by Rosier at the Slytherin table, passing Regulus Black and Crouch on the way, who also erupted in snickers. It showed an appalling lack of Slytherin solidarity, but he wasn't surprised.

Rosier noticed the snickers Snape was getting and wondered what it was. When the other boy went past him to get to the free chair on his other side, he saw it, and pursed his lips. So Black and Crouch thought this was funny, did they? He transfigured a napkin into a cloak, went over to Snape, draped it over the other boy's back, and said, "Come on, Sev, we're going back to the dormitory."

Severus struggled to keep from flushing as he realized the snickers behind his back weren't from people who had seen or heard of what happened in the library. Once they were out in the corridor he hissed, "What's on my back?"

"'Snivellus', in flashing silver snakes," said Evan calmly. "I can't believe Black and Crouch would do that to another Slytherin, and in public."

With a twisted grin, Severus said, "Wrong Black. Sirius, not Regulus. It was Potter and his gang. I thought the snickers were because Lupin made me answer to that name before he'd give me back my book."

They reached the Slytherin common room and went straight up to the third year boys' dormitory. Severus pulled the robe off, and sat in his underpants on his bed while he examined the back. He had only two school robes, and the other one was currently in the laundry. He tried a number of charms to remove the offending graffiti but nothing worked. Finally he sighed, reached into his chest, and pulled out the only other robe he had - the one he had worn to The Party this year.

Meanwhile, Evan had Floo'ed the kitchens, and had the house-elves send up a tray of food for each of them. He set one on the other boy's bed. Then he sat in the chair next to the bed, settling the other tray on his lap.

The formal robe Severus had put on looked very out of place. "Thank you, Evan," he said, avoiding the pure-blood's eyes as he started to eat. The reaction was starting to set in, and his face was flushing with the embarrassment he had refused to show before.

"Do you want to try some more spells, or should we take it straight to Flitwick and see if he can do anything about it?" asked Evan.

"I think we better try Flitwick," Severus said. "I only hope this isn't permanent."

"Whether it is or not, you can borrow one of my robes for as long as you need it. I'll have one of our house-elves alter it for you."

"I owe you for this, Evan."

"No, Lucius owes you. But he's not here, I am. Crabbe doesn't know what he's doing. You don't give someone a job like that and then throw him to the wolves."

Severus smiled wryly to himself at the ironic suitability of Evan's phrase, then said, "Crabbe's controlled by Regulus Black. Malfoy's losing to him."