"The Tale of a Broken Man"
By: PsychoHaired
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any related names; they are just being used to fill the void the wait for the seventh instalment in the wonderful series has created in me.
A/N- Sorry for the lack of updates, I am busy moving seventeen years of useless crap that has been part of my life into a rather large trunk… Yes, I am moving; the reason for this is that I'm going to be starting college in Florida. Yay me! I have mixed feelings right now. I'm happy, but I'm also sad. The thing is, I can't wait to start a part of my new life… but I don't want to leave my old life behind, all my friends, my family, my boyfriend… I might not see them in years at a time and I'm going to miss them so much. On the upside, I will make new friends and meet new people, and so will they. I wish I had more time though… Anyways, before I breakdown into a sobbing, mopey mess… here's the new chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 26:
The rest of the summer went by miserably enough. The usually cheerful, peppy, and annoyingly charming Regulus Black was suffering through bouts of depression and Severus wasn't much help in cheering him up, as he was also miserably depressed and sour. Regulus's Parents were constantly at each other's throats and when they finally quieted down, you could sense the tension lingering throughout the entire household.
Kreacher was always in a foul mood most of the time and prowling around the house muttering insults directed mostly at the eldest Black brother. The little creature shot Severus looks of disgust whenever they were in the same room. Somehow, the house-elf had found out about Severus's true heritage but was ordered to keep to himself by Regulus. Suffice it to say, when September 1st came around, both boys were eager to leave that grim old place behind.
-o-
It was raining hard; Severus was focused on the tapping noise the downpour created against the speeding Knight Bus he and Regulus were riding in. He lazily watched as the fat water droplets rolled down the glass window with increasing velocity. Soon enough, the Knight Bus arrived at Kings Cross Station and both boys got off, unloading their trunks as quickly as possible. When the cost was clear, they casually leaned into Platform 9 and 3/4.
"Oh look! There's Phinneas and Doge. I'll see you later Severus" Regulus said, dragging his trunk, giving him a quick wave.
Severus shivered slightly; he and Regulus had to cross a couple of streets through the downpour so the muggles wouldn't notice the massive purple bus they had ridden in. Severus nodded and pulled his trunk, his shoes making an odd squelching noise as he walked. With his free hand, he swept his lank wet hair from his eyes and continued walking towards the scarlet train. From the corner of his eye, Severus caught a flicker of bright auburn. He turned to look and felt his heart pace quicken; Lily Evans looked even more beautiful than he remembered. She casually flipped her hair back as she chatted with her friends, laughing at something they had said. Suddenly, she turned and spotted him, Severus cursed under his breath and looked away quickly, he had stared too long and she noticed. He started to walk again and looked back at her, she had turned away, Severus sighed, she looked back at him once more, causing him to slip and fall; the contents of his trunk spilling around everywhere. Severus cursed again, picking up his things as fast as he could.
"Well, well, well…" a cruel voice started. "Look who decided to take a shower".
"Shove off Potter" Severus gripped his wand tightly without looking up.
"What's this?" Potter bent over to pick an old shoebox up.
"Gross James, if you touch that you'll get grease all over you" Sirius stepped besides his friend with a smirk.
Severus flashed them a death glare as the train whistle blew.
"We'll see you soon Snivelly" James said as he left, stepping on Severus's hand deliberately.
Severus heard his fingers cracking painfully as he hissed in pain. "Great bloody fucking beginning to another fucking perfect year" he spat, cradling his hand carefully.
-o-
The train rolled along steadily through the countryside, rain still pounding against the glass window. Severus had found a compartment for himself and was now tossing and turning in his sleep…
Severus cawed and flapped his sleek black wings, flying towards a big tree by an ominous looking black lake. The sky was dark and a low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.
A small auburn bird sang kindly and flew off; Severus flew with it happily. Suddenly, a fast little blackbird flew with them, tweeting at the lovely red bird. The blackbird and the pretty auburn bird flew off together towards the big tree, leaving the poor raven behind.
Feeling bitter and cold, the raven fluttered down to the ground, weak and heartbroken. A huge snake slithered precariously towards him. The raven, afraid to be eaten alive, directed the enormous serpent towards the large tree by the lake.
Realizing what it had just done, the raven flew back to warn that pretty red bird that it was in danger. But when the raven landed on the pretty auburn bird's nest, all it found was a tiny egg with an unusual crack on it; next to it, were red and black feathers covered in blood.
The raven flew away desperately, looking for the pretty red bird that had flown with him. With panic, the raven realized all of its feathers were falling and it began to fall fast, landing on the floor with a dull 'Thud!'
Severus woke up with a start in a mess of tangled robes. He noticed the train had stopped and students were getting off. He rubbed his head gingerly as he stood up and straightened out his damp clothes. Severus shivered slightly as he got off the train, trying unsuccessfully to shake an odd feeling of déjà vu. It was still raining; Severus cursed.
-o-
The bell rang, making Severus jump with a start. He gathered up his incomplete History of Magic notes and stuffed them in his book bag, leaving the classroom to eat lunch. He perked up a bit when he noticed they were serving his favourite dish and loaded his plate with mashed potatoes. A few minutes later, Regulus and his friends joined him. They were talking about last week's Appleby Arrows match excitedly.
"That save Finnerty made was amazing! Was that a double-barrel sloth grip?"
"No, no, I think it was an elbow wrenching monkey twist"
"No! That was Gables from the other team you idiot!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
The guys kept on going at it while Severus rolled his eyes.
"Hey Severus," Regulus began. "Our team needs a new seeker this year and try-outs are tomorrow."
"Yeah, so?"
"Well you're going to try out, right?"
"Are you bloody joking?" Severus nearly choked.
"No, I'm serious. I saw you flying and catching apples this summer and you weren't that bad"
"Snape plays Quidditch? No way!" One of the arguing boys turned over to their conversation, looking impressed.
"I don't"
"But you're pretty fast… and with a bit more practise you could—
"Regulus you are off your rocker. I can't play to save my life!"
"Think about it!"
"Okay…" he paused. "No fucking way" Severus helped himself to seconds, feeling both amused and annoyed.
"Come on!"
"No"
Regulus groaned.
Severus finished his mashed potatoes and left the table, shaking his head in mild amusement. Him? Play Quidditch? No way! The mere thought of it was laughable, ridiculously ludicrous! Severus left the Great Hall towards his Arithmancy class where he picked up his book on Legilimency and began to read once more.
Once class began, Severus had to put his book away and was busy copying the new, more complex tables. Professor Vector even assigned them loads of Practice Sets to hand in the next day. Severus groaned, it was his first day of class and already he had two essays and now the p-sets.
Not a moment too soon, the bell rang and Severus got up, looking forward to his next class, Potions.
-o-
"Good Evening students" Slughorn greeted, "And welcome to fourth year Potions." Slughorn produced a box that read 'Dr. Filibuster's Wet-start Fireworks'. "As always, in this first class I shall test if your brewing is up to par. You'll brew a rather tricky pepperup potion and the best one shall get Zonko's latest product, which will not be in stores until Christmas, Dr. Filibuster's Amazing Wet-start Fireworks!" Slughorn grinned at all the eager-looking students, puffing his enormous belly pompously. "Instructions are on page twenty-three, you may begin."
Severus quickly began preparing his ingredients, ignoring the book's outdated instructions. Like most fourth year level potions, Severus knew how to prepare this one by heart. After he was done preparing his ingredients and tools, Severus set his cauldron to a boil and began brewing. About half-an-hour later, he was bottling up his sample and setting it on the table when a loud 'poof!' was heard, quickly followed by large billowing quantities of green, mint scented smoke.
Everyone started coughing and when the smoke finally started clearing, Severus turned around to see what had happened. Professor Slughorn walked over to the source of the explosion; a tall Slytherin boy with sharp features Severus had never spoken to.
"Ah! It seems as though you're not quite up to par this year Lestrange" Professor Slughorn shook his head gravely. "Severus?"
Severus looked up in annoyance, knowing what was going to be asked of him… he didn't like it one bit.
"Would you kindly tutor Mr. Lestrange?"
Severus opened his mouth to protest but was cut off.
"Excellent! I expect do wonders with him." The professor grinned.
"But— he began to protest but was cut off yet again.
"You can use my classroom, and you can use my ingredients so you don't run out your stock."
"But—
"And don't worry about homework, since you'll be helping Rabastan I'll grade you on his improvement"
Severus held his mouth slightly open; he was at a loss of words, rage bubbling underneath him. He finally shook out of shock and was able to speak. "But if Lestrange fails, I fail too!"
"Ah… but he wont fail, because you will be tutoring him"
The bell rang. "Class dismissed!"
Severus was fuming. The nerve of that guy! He walked over to Rabastan reluctantly with a scowl on his face.
"We'll meet here every Sunday afternoon after dinner, no 'if's 'and's or 'but's. I expect you to pay attention and respect me. I don't want to waste my precious time and you better do well or else you'll wind up on the bad side of a curse" he said curtly to the indifferent-looking boy.
"Well someone's touchy this year" Rabastan smirked. "I don't believe I've introduced myself properly to you Snape." Lestrange ran a hand through his blond hair. "My name is Rabastan Lestrange from the Norse Lestranges"
Severus raised an eyebrow. "I'm—
"I know you are; Severus Snape, your mother was Eileen Prince of the Fulham Princes, I'm guessing your father was from the Middle-eastern Snapes. You never talk to anyone except for Black and you used to be friends with that redhead Gryffindor mudblood. If you ask me it was a nice thing you ditched her, people like Evans will only give you a bad reputation… although she is quite the fox. If it weren't for that disgusting blood of hers… I'd totally hit that"
Severus blinked a few times.
"But enough about you. I'm afraid I don't do Sundays; I don't like wasting my weekends. Besides, Sundays are always packed with homework and you probably will want to work those days so we'll meet on Thursday afternoons instead."
Severus wanted to argue but the guy had a point. "Whatever" Severus turned to leave, feeling miffed.
"Hey, Snape!"
Severus turned around.
"I think I like your attitude, join me and Evan some time" with this Lestrange left.
Severus blinked again, thinking what a bother it was going to be tutoring that self-centred idiot.
To Be Continued…
A/N- Yay! I'm done! Read and Review! And just because I feel like it... here's a
SNEAK PEEK!
"Hey Bellatrix…" Evan said.
Bellatrix looked his way in annoyance.
"Did it hurt?" he continued.
She sighed, "Did what hurt?"
"When you fell from the sky, you angel"
Bellatrix rolled here eyes. "Nice try… too bad it sucked"