Chapter Twenty One: The Awesome Foursome

AN: Sorry if this is late. FFN has been down for me since Sunday morning. It won't let me log in to upload the story. I managed to upload chapter 20 on Sunday night but FFN was only up for about a minute and has been down for me ever since. I even tried on a different computer. NADA.

For those of you interested, I am posting full chapters now on my Live Journal until this FFN mess is cleared up. If you don't have a live journal account, you can still read my journal, and it's free to get one if you want one. Since FFN won't let me give you the link, I have to just spell it out for you.

Bamachick73 dot livejournal dot com.

Full chapters will be posted there for the time being. I always update with the FFN link in my Live Journal regardless. Feel free to friend me if you like if you want to get an account.

Hope this FFN mess clears up soon! Been driving me insane for two days now. Yes, I emailed them.

Two days later, Severus was back sitting opposite Rachel Chapman again. He did as she had told him, and brought his many drawings with him. She filtered through the pages of drawings with an admiring expression. He would rather die than admit that when he drew in a rage, but it did make him feel a lot better. He neglected to show her the picture of the disemboweled Potter and a brilliant caricature of Black who appeared to have hung himself. He thought the Slytherin fireplace would enjoy those more than her judgmental eyes.

"These are extraordinary. You are highly, highly gifted, Severus. Where did you study?"

"I didn't."

"You've never taken a drawing class?"

"You know as well as I that only the super-rich in our world can afford such a thing," he said coldly. She smiled and nodded as if she'd forgotten that little fact.

"Well, you are highly talented. Do you paint?"

"No."

"Why not? You should."

"I've honestly never tried. Quill and ink and pencil are cheaper than paints and brushes."

"That is true. Once you are a Healer and making all that money, you should give it a try," she said, still filtering through the many pictures of vampires, werewolves, various people and some landscapes. "And you drew these just in the last two days?" she asked as he nodded. He understood he was good and secretly enjoyed the praise, but it still made him a bit uncomfortable. "You must fancy this one, you drew her several times," she said while looking at him with a large smile.

He knew he'd drawn Lily and did think that Rachel Chapman was probably seeing her as well, but he did not wish to discuss her with the head-doctor.

"We, we were friends. We aren't anymore, I don't know why I drew her so many times."

"Six of them, in fact. Why are you no longer friends?" she asked, holding up the picture that she was questioning-- only the image staring back at him from the parchment was not that of Lily, but of Camilla.

"Huh? Oh, her? I thought we were…never mind. Um, she and I are still friends," he said uncomfortably. "I wasn't aware I drew her that much."

"Yes, six times. The only other girl I see repeated is this one, three times," she said, holding up the image of Lily eating dinner with a familiar werewolf. "So, this is the one you are no longer friends with?"

He wanted to tell her that she already knew all of that since Lily was her patient, but he didn't think admitting he'd gazed into her head was a good idea.

"She hates Slytherins-- that whole House prejudice stuff, remember? The other one, with black hair, she's in my House, she's very nice."

"She's very, very pretty. You drew her consistently. Why is she weeping in this one?"

"Oh, I suspect her boyfriend is cheating on her and she's a smart one, she'll find out soon."

"Really? Will you tell her of your suspicions?"

"No! It's not my job to do that; it's his job now, isn't it?"

Twenty minutes passed as they continued to talk about his friends in his House and his hatred of Quidditch. He'd forgotten to be mean to her and was actually speaking his mind, until she hit him with a question he was not expecting.

"What do you know of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord?" she asked, without a smile for once. He stared at her and used his Occlumency to make himself believe he knew only what he was telling her.

"I know what I've read in the papers. I suspect the papers don't reveal everything, though."

"No, probably not. What are your opinions on the matter?" she asked casually. There was no better time than now to test his Occlumency skills and try to lie his way out of it.

"I'm against this so-called Dark Lord. I don't agree with his politics and I think Death Eaters are stupid as well. I'm sure they'll lose this war," he said, never taking his eyes off of hers. She seemed content with his answer and if she didn't believe him, she did not show it.

"Do you have any friends who feel differently?"

"Not really. I would not be friends with someone who I didn't think agreed with me about that. I mean it's a war, it's a big deal. I know there are some in my House who side with the Dark Lord, I pretty much don't speak to them."

"I see. Well, I liked the drawings," she said, handing them back to him. "You are very talented. We'll meet again next week?"

"I guess, if we have to."

"Yes, we do. In the meantime, I suggest you keep up with the drawings," she said, closing her notebook and smiling. He shrunk his drawings, put them in his pocket, and then turned to leave and held the door for her. She vanished down the hallway, heading in the opposite direction from him. He was tempted to follow her, but decided to return to his common room instead. When he did, he saw nearly every member of his House, along with Slughorn, standing in front of the large fire place.

"There you are! You are not getting away this time!" Camilla said, pulling him by the arm so hard he nearly winced. She dragged him over to the group. He then noticed that a fifth year Hufflepuff was aiming a camera at them.

"What's going on?" he asked Camilla.

"It's group pictures time for the Hogwarts Annual. You've been missing from the last five, you will be in this one."

"No, no, no…I don't like having my picture taken," he said, trying to get away.

"Nope, too bad, you're staying," she said, still holding his arm hostage.

"Yeah, you are a part of his House after all," Ophelia commented from her station in the front of the pack. They were lined up by height except all of the first years, who were kneeling in front of the group. Severus stood in the second-to-last row next to Camilla and Simon and felt he had no choice but to stay.

"Okay, so this is everyone then?" the Hufflepuff boy asked.

"Yes, we were waiting on him," Camilla replied as Severus shot her a dirty look.

"Okay, this is a five-second picture; when I count down from three the picture will start. Be sure at the end of the five seconds to all look at the camera and smile."

"I'm not smiling," Avery spoke in a low tone from the back row.

"Me neither," Mulciber added. Severus, for one, knew he was not smiling but he also noticed Camilla had not let go of his arm either. She actually wrapped her other arm around his as if she were 'taking his arm'. He did not really hear the countdown so he did not know that the camera caught him glancing over at Camilla, who glanced back. When their eyes met, they both smiled and she grabbed him harder, which actually made him laugh.

"Okay, let's look at the camera," she said, as both he and she broke their stare and looked into the camera. As soon as he realized he was looking at the camera, he dropped his smile but he didn't have enough time to drop it entirely. The flash went off almost as soon as he looked at the camera. In short, Severus Snape smiled in his first Hogwarts picture. He'd never live it down.

---

He'd always found ways to avoid the Hogwarts photographers in the past. Naturally, most pictures were taken of the athletes and the matches. Since he was not an athlete and did not attend matches, he was never photographed. If they wanted to do a montage of the library, then the book would have to be renamed "The Severus Snape Annual" as he'd be on every page. That year, in a weird twist of fate, the theme for the annual was 'academics' which meant a montage of the library.

His luck was not improving. Later that evening, he was in the library studying and didn't hear the same Hufflepuff approach him. Therefore he did not notice that three seconds of him working out equations was caught on film, followed by three more seconds of him looking up, rolling his eyes and then hiding behind his Arithmancy book.

He was caught pruning a mandrake the next day, which angered him tremendously but he did not show it. Instead, he did not look into the camera, applied the acne potion to the mandrake, and pretended he was not being filmed.

Later that day, he was caught in Transfiguration turning a two-inch piece of wood into a very elaborate high-backed chair, at which McGonagall actually applauded him and smiled. He was certain that photo would find its way into the Annual since no one had ever seen McGonagall clap and smile before. Potter and Black were the focus of the Charms picture, while he thankfully hid in the back behind a fat Hufflepuff, far away from the camera's lens. But his luck did not improve in Potions.

He, like all the others, had bought the special N.E.W.T. level Potions-kit. It was the first time students could bring in their own specialized knives and ornate personal vials. There were many varieties of kits and he had chosen the cheapest one. Some in his class had the more expensive one which came with very elaborate and multi-colored vials and a very strong Potions knife. His came with a dull blade and plain clear vials. That day, they had the task of scaling and dicing the very fibrous hide of the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon.

His Potions-kit knife was simply not doing the job he needed it to. He had a far superior one hidden in his boot and there was no reason not to use it. While the photographer was taking a picture of Nancy adding some hippopotamus blood into her cauldron, he reached down and grabbed his knife. Within a few seconds, the scales were flying off the hide with such ease he decided to never use the knife from his kit again. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Pettigrew was staring at his knife with his mouth open.

He also noticed that the photographer had turned his attentions to him and photographed him scaling and then dicing the pieces with the speed and precision of a trained French chef before dropping them into the cauldron. He never glanced up at the camera and ignored the boy who was standing a few feet from him as he stirred his brew. Finally, the flash went off and the boy walked away. Severus used his knife again to dice some more pieces and noticed that most of the class was ogling his new Potions tool. It was an amazing sight to see. Even more amazing was when he was finished using it for a few minutes he slammed the spear-tip an inch or so into the wood of his station while he added his pieces.

Pettigrew had the nerve to walk up next to him to examine the knife further. Severus finally glanced away from his lava-resembling concoction to stare down the fat Gryffindor. When Pettigrew reached to touch the knife, Severus yanked it from the wood and stowed it back in his boot.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" he sneered in a hushed whisper. Pettigrew blushed and walked off.

"No way you could afford such a thing-- must be a gift from a Death Eater," Pettigrew mocked just loudly enough for Severus and a few other students to hear.

"Oh yeah, all Death Eaters are wealthy and carry around emerald-encrusted Potions knives in their boot. Very clever Pettigrew; I can see how you ended up in this class."

"Something wrong, gentlemen?" Slughorn asked. Severus shook his head and continued to stir. The photographer was long gone at this point, and Severus was just glad it was Friday and the weekend had arrived.

After dinner, he arrived back in his common room to find some of the girls playing Gobstones on the floor, some of the older kids playing exploding snap, and Camilla seated alone with a wizard's chess board in front of her.

"Sev, over here," Camilla said, waving him over. He sat opposite her and looked around the room. Everyone had their ties still tied neatly and their hair looked nice. He was back on his potion, so his hair looked like a slimy oil-rag but his acne had all cleared up.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"They are photographing our common room tonight."

"See ya," he said, rising and turning to leave.

"No, just sit and play chess with me."

"This is all bullshit! And fake! Normally, on a Friday we'd be out smoking near one of the trees, while others ride their brooms around the pitch and the rest sit around gossiping."

"I don't make the rules, Sev. He wants a picture of a typical Friday night in the Slytherin room where we all look good and play games. His words, not mine."

"Forget it!"

"Too late, he took the picture while you were complaining. Now you can leave and go do…whatever it is you do," she said with a wicked smile. Severus looked around to find Avery and Mulciber making stupid faces near the fire place and Rosier just appeared to be lost in thought. Simon was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Simon?" he asked.

"I have no idea. I've not talked to him much this week," she said, somewhat somberly.

"Just doing Prefect stuff, probably, which is what you should be doing."

"I am. I was told to gather everyone and stage this photograph. He was supposed to help me, I don't know," she said, looking down and putting away her chess pieces.

"Oh…I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked. Her blue eyes met his black eyes and he wanted nothing more than to tell her where he really thought Simon was. But it was not his place. It was his place, however, to beg Simon to come clean to her and either dump her or stop flirting with Avon. The next time he saw him, he was going to do just that.

"Nothing. I um…have a paper to write," he said, slowly rising to leave her.

"I heard that photographer was going to scope out the library again tonight, you may want to go hide somewhere else."

"Hide? I do not hide. But thanks for the advice."

Severus hid in the damp and empty corridor of the lower dungeon level where he typically met with Rachel Chapman. He had the whole area to himself and could concentrate on his work without interruption. Around nine though, his hand was cramping and he really wanted a cigarette. He also wanted to confront Simon Wilkes. He packed up his materials, dropped them in his room, gathered up his cloak and snuck out of the castle like most of the kids tended to do.

He was hiding out beneath a very large tree enjoying his cigarette, when he heard McGonagall. She was being very stern with someone and he wanted to know who. It was so dark out he walked over without his lumos and could still see some of what was going on. As he suspected, Potter, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin were being yelled at by their Head of House.

"I don't care, Potter, you are supposed to set an example for the others!" she said very fiercely.

"No one should follow our example, Professor, even you know that!" Black joked. What audacity he had to speak to his Head of House like that.

"It's after nine; the rules are everyone is to be inside by nine. We all know you are up to no good out here, and… do I smell smoke?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"Not from us! There are loads of kids smoking out here," Potter said with a large smirk on his face.

"I don't see loads of kids. I just see you four."

"What's going on, Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore said, wandering up behind her.

"Headmaster," she said, acknowledging him. "The typical gang is out here beyond curfew."

"Why are you out so late, Mr. Potter?"

"We were practicing for the big Quidditch game against Hufflepuff tomorrow, sir."

"Ah, I see. Well, practice is a good thing, isn't it?" Dumbledore said with a glimmer in his eye. It amazed Severus. If he'd be caught, he'd be reprimanded, have points taken away and possibly assigned detention. His aggressors, on the other hand, could do no wrong in the eyes of the Headmaster, it seemed. Severus looked over next to him when he heard some giggles. Someone was hiding behind another tree nearby, but he was too fixated on what Dumbledore was saying to McGonagall, of all people.

"I'm sure the boys are done and ready to come back inside, isn't that right, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh, certainly. Headmaster, we're on our way," Potter said sarcastically.

"Odd, considering you came from practice, that not one of you has a broom," McGonagall noticed, sternly looking at Dumbledore and not at the boys at all.

"Yes, odd indeed," Dumbledore winked, walking away. Severus heard another rumble from the tree next to him. He turned his head to see if he could find who was out breaking the rules with him. He began to wander over a little closer when he felt a tug on his robes.

"Why do you love us so?" Potter asked Severus, who turned and summoned his wand from his sleeve.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Severus sneered, his wand only a few inches from Potter's chest.

"You are always following us around, you must be in love," Potter remarked and giggled as Black and his other friends approached. Severus decided it best to just ignore him. It was four against one again and he still had his red lightning curse and they knew that. He raised his wand more and made a motion as if he were about to strike. Black, Lupin and Pettigrew all reached for their wands and would have been cursed had he actually cast the curse at them. Potter just stood there and smiled, not bothering to even get his wand.

"What's going on here?" Simon asked, coming forth from the cover of the tree he had been hiding behind with Avon, who walked out with him.

"We're just chatting with Snivellus here," Potter said. Severus was highly tempted to go ahead with the curse. Black was about to hex or do something when Potter rose his hand and told him to stop. "No, don't block him or try to disarm him. Let him hit us, let him get into trouble. It's after nine and he's outside as well."

"As am I, and I am a Prefect and I could take points away from you," Simon said very seriously.

"True, but you are out too and your mini-Death Eater is as well, so you'd have to discipline him or you'd have your badge revoked," Potter said in a very egotistical tone.

"Wilkes's badge will never be revoked, no matter what you say or do," Severus said in a silky and very controlled voice. "And he won't take points away from me. He is a Prefect and was on his nightly patrol. I was asked by our other Prefect to come and get him and she can verify that," he fibbed. "Therefore, it's just you four breaking the rules. I believe the Headmaster himself asked you to go back indoors, did he not?" Severus said with his wand one inch from Potter's chest. He noticed Potter glancing over at Avon, but she was not even part of this conversation. "And I'm not going to hex you. Between Wilkes and me, we'd kill you anyway. I mean, we are Death Eaters, aren't we?" he said in the most haunting and serious tone he could muster. The smirk on Potter's face finally vanished.

"So be it, Snivellus. Keep following us, lusting after us, probably creaming your pants over us. You'll never get us expelled, ever!" Potter said, finally becoming angry.

"Oh, I have no desire to have you expelled…killed, perhaps, but not expelled."

"Severus!" Lupin said, finally looking afraid.

"Shut up, Lupin," Severus sneered, wanting desperately to just show Potter and Black his Dark Mark once and for all. The thought of them fainting at the sight of it was nearly overwhelming. "You are all convinced we are all little Death Eaters, right? All Slytherins follow the Dark Lord after all, isn't that what you say? If you were really being confronted by two Death Eaters, would you honestly be standing here mocking us?"

"No, we'd fucking kill you…both!" Black said with an almost insane look in his blue eyes.

"And your brother as well, Black? I mean, he's with us, isn't he? He is a Slytherin. Would you kill your brother?" Severus said, bypassing Potter and getting right in as much as of Sirius's face as he could, considering Sirius was probably seven inches taller than him.

"Fuck you, Snape," Black said, shaking in anger.

"Oh, now I'm Snape," Severus said, turning to face Wilkes, who was playing along but looked pale and frightened. "I guess no Death Eater would be named Snivellus. I'd imagine the Dark Lord himself would come here to defend one of his followers if he was called that name, but then again we are so highly trained in Dark Magic that we can defend ourselves, can't we Simon?"

"That we can."

"Like the lightning curse I used on you the other day, who do you think taught me that?" Severus asked as everyone seemed to believe him, everyone but Lupin.

"Come on, you are no Death Eater, Severus," Lupin said with a concerned look on his face.

"Well, all you Gryffindors keep telling everyone that all members of Slytherin are Death Eaters; this is your tale, not mine."

"Be careful, James, he has a knife!" Pettigrew said. Severus was surprised that Pettigrew remembered that, but that was just lucky for him. Using wandless magic, Severus quickly summoned the knife which flew up from his ankle and into his left hand.

"Thanks, Peter, I nearly forgot my Christmas present. All Death Eaters have these, don't we?" he asked Simon, who looked horrified at the sight of the large and imposing knife.

"Sure…yeah, we all do. I left mine inside."

"He's fucking crazy, James," Black said, which made Severus smile. Well, he was in therapy, so perhaps there was validity to that.

"He'd never use a knife on me," Potter said. Severus instantly sliced off a button from Potter's shirt. He managed to slice through some of the material as well. He hoped he'd not cut him or he'd be expelled for certain. He did not see any blood and remained stone-faced.

"You're right," Potter said, taking three large steps back, "He is fucking insane!"

"Look. I will forget this ever happened," Simon said, finally intervening. "I won't take away any points if you four just go back inside. Okay?"

"Come on, guys, we need to get inside anyway," Lupin said grabbing Potter by the arm. Potter stared at Severus as if he'd just seen the Dark Mark. He looked scared and full of hatred.

"Yes, let's get inside," Severus said, stowing the knife but keeping his wand out. "We are late for our Death Eater meeting with Regulus," Severus said and then finally smiled at Black. The four boys turned and nearly ran back inside the castle. "Phew, that was close," Severus said, putting his wand back.

Avon looked as terrified as Simon. Severus had gone too far, way too far. He'd been so enraged by Potter and the others, he'd simply lost control.

"Avon, I was kidding. We are not Death Eaters," Severus said in a very reassuring tone. "I was just fucking with them. They are total assholes. This is a Potions knife."

"Yeah," Simon said with trepidation in his voice. "It is a Potions knife, we're not Death Eaters. Those four have been fucking with us since day one!" Simon agreed. "Did you see the looks on their faces?" he asked, playing along. Avon seemed to relax…some.

"Okay, well, I mean, he stabbed him," she said.

"No, he cut off his button, it was nothing. That asshole had it coming, but we really do need to get inside," Simon said as Avon looked somewhat relieved. "I have so much explaining to do man!" he whispered to Severus.

"Yes, to your girlfriend too, she wants to know where you are," Severus said, loudly enough for Avon to hear.

"I'm walking Avon back. We'll chat later, Snape," Simon said, placing his arm around Avon's waist and leading her away. "I'm really not good friends with him, you know," he told Avon as Severus shook his head.

Any minute now, Dumbledore or Slughorn would be coming to take Severus away. He made it all the way to his common room without being apprehended. He knew Potter and Black would tell on him. Perhaps it was best for him to be proactive for once and beat them to the punch. He knocked on Camilla's door and waited for her to answer.

"Hey Sev, what's up?"

"Nothing, can you please get Slughorn for me? I need to talk to him." Camilla looked worried; it was not like Severus to ever want to see his teacher, especially past curfew. She put on her bathrobe and slippers and headed straight into Slughorn's office. She was gone a while, which meant he was not in there. Apparently the 'secret' door to his quarters was through his office…interesting. Five minutes later, Slughorn followed Camilla out of his office.

"Yes, Mr. Snape?"

"Can we talk?" he asked with a guilty-looking face. He wanted to look remorseful, scared and desperate. He never fancied himself an actor, but he was trying his hardest to look the part.

"Sure," Slughorn said with a reassuring smile. He closed the door to his office behind him and cast a silencing spell and a locking spell. "What's wrong?"

"I…had a confrontation with Potter, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin tonight. I was really very angry. Crazy angry. I'd really rather not talk about it. I don't want them punished with points or detentions or anything," he whined, trying his best to sound traumatized. "I did not hex them though!"

"Good! I'm glad to hear of it, son."

Son?

"I just…mouthed off some. I was very angry. I, God knows what I said, I was so angry. They had their wands out. But I didn't hex them."

"Well, that's an improvement!"

"I…I think I'd prefer to talk to Rachel about this sir, if you don't mind," he said. Slughorn's gaze switched from joy to surprise. "And I really don't want them to get into trouble for it either. It's not about revenge," he fibbed, praying he was saving his own skin.

"Well, it's late right now…"

"Well, tomorrow perhaps?" Severus urged.

"If you really need her now, I can owl her," Slughorn pressed on. Severus wanted to appear traumatized but not insane.

"Sir, she gave me tools, things to use when I'm upset. I think they can hold me over until tomorrow."

"If you insist. I'll owl her tonight and ask what time she can come tomorrow. I'll let you know."

"You won't mention this to anyone, sir? I mean, you won't talk to McGonagall about them, will you? I don't want to start something and I'm not a tattle after all, so you won't say anything?" Severus asked, hoping he'd say no.

"No. Nothing happened, no damage done, you hexed no one and you are seeking help. I think we can keep this between us," he said with a warm smile. Now, if Potter and Black tattled, at least Slughorn would be on his side. Unfortunately, he had to meet with Rachel again on a Saturday morning-- not his idea of a fun weekend.