Chapter 34: The Research Project
Summary: Sirius and Severus become partners at transfiguration.
Sirius was huddled on his bed with Remus. They had drawn the curtains and put on a silencing charm to make a small study area. This year, they had to do a research project for each of their main subjects; charms, herbology, potions, transfigurations and defense against the dark arts. The two of them had partnered with Lisa March, one of the Ravenclaw girls, for most of their projects.
As Sirius was leafing through a charms book to find a subject for their research, something occurred to him. "Hey, Remus?" he said.
"Hmm."
"Have you noticed that Severus is doing his projects alone?"
"What?" asked Remus as he looked up from his book.
"Severus. He hasn't partnered with anyone in charms or potion or defense. He's doing all of his research alone." explained Sirius.
Remus shrugged. "He probably doesn't want to work with the Slytherins and he doesn't have any friends in other houses. The Ravenclaws would kill to partner with him, you know. Specially in potions and defense, but they're too proud to ask him."
"Yeah, exactly. Remember that girl I used to date, fifth year? That Hufflepuff seventh year, Sara?"
Remus frowned. "Not really. What does that have to be with anything?"
"She was a talker. She told me all about her classes and her classmates and the project they had to do."
"And?"
"She said McGonagall makes everyone work in teams. It's a non-negotiable with her. Sara said some of the Ravenclaw show offs in her class wanted to work alone but McGonagall made them work together." said Sirius excitedly. "We have transfiguration tomorrow. If I don't partner with anyone, maybe McGonagall would put me with Severus. It will be perfect, Moony! Transfiguration is my best subject and the project is for the whole year. We'll be researching together and reporting to McGonagall every two weeks." he continued, grinning from ear to ear.
Remus sighed. "I'd be mad at you for blowing me off at your 'best subject', but that does sound like a good plan."
"Really? You think it's a good plan?" said Sirius. His face fell a little after a moment. "You sure you're not mad at me?"
"It's fine, Sirius. I know how much you like Severus. And I can still work with Lisa. You'll help us if we get stuck or something, right?"
"Yeah, sure." answered Sirius with another grin.
...
Severus was sitting alone at his usual seat in front of the class. He was reading the fifth chapter of his transfiguration text while listening to McGonagall's lecture about the importance of the seventh year, the NEWTs and their research project. He could see the Gryffindor head of house was annoyed at him, but apparently she couldn't find fault with what he was doing.
The lecture was over after twenty minutes and McGonagall asked the students to form their research groups. Severus sighed as his classmates started to whisper and move around the room. He pulled his book closer and tried to focus on his reading.
He had been studying through most of his classes this week. With all the extra responsibilities, his schedule was busier than ever and he took every chance he got to study. Every morning, he woke up early and went outside. He put some food for his furry friend at the edge of the forest and worked on his small herb garden before going to the greenhouses to check on the plants and tended to them while occluding. He then went inside for a shower and ate his breakfast while doing homework. Whenever he had a free period he would go to the staffroom to correct the students' potions homework, since he wasn't allowed to take them to his rooms. After classes he would either do some brewing or study in his rooms.
Most of the teachers were friendlier this year and they did their best to make him feel included. They always ordered some coffee for the staffroom, even though Severus was the only one who liked it and left the chair he preferred by the fireplace empty for him. Madam Pomfrey made sure he ate healthy and tried to coax him into eating more fruits and vegetables. Mrs. March, the librarian had proposed to bring him the books he needed from the library after seeing how busy he was. It was a huge help. Severus had already made a list of the books he might need based on his books' index before the school started. He wrote down the ones he needed and gave it to Mrs. March at lunch. The librarian would check them out and bring the books for him at dinner.
Severus looked up from his book when McGonagall called his name. She was probably the only teacher who still didn't like him. "Yes, ma'am." he said politely.
"Sorry to interrupt your reading, Mr. Snape." said McGonagall in an annoyed tone. "Like I said, I need to know who you'd be partnering with. Since you didn't use the time I gave you to form a group, I'm assuming you already know who you're working with." she continued.
"I was planning to work alone, professor." answered Severus. There were a few snickers from the other students.
"I've already explained that you have to work in groups. Perhaps if you didn't have your nose in a book when I was talking, you would have found a partner by now. You leave me no choice but to partner you with a group myself."
"But I thought Professor Slughorn talked to you and the other teachers, ma'am. With my busy schedule it's not possible for me to …."
"You should have thought of that when you accepted the responsibility, young man. If you want to pass this class, you're going to have to find the time. Now, let's get to the other students and then I will decide in which group you will be working." said McGonagall firmly. Severus was nervous. He sat there and tried to keep his emotions under control while the other students wrote down their names on a roll of parchment and handed it to McGonagall. Severus held his breath as the Professor started to read the parchment. "Mr. Black!" she snapped suddenly. "Why in the world did you write your name separately? Didn't you listen to a word I said? You are supposed to work in groups!"
"I was listening, professor. But since I'm on top of the class in transfigurations, I thought it would be alright." answered Black nonchalantly.
"You assumed wrong! The rules in this class apply to all of the students, no matter how exceptional they think they are. You'll be working with Mr. Snape." said McGonagall. She picked up a quill and added their names to the parchment.
"What?! You can't do this …."
"Ten points from Slytherin. Another word out of you, Mr. Snape and it will be detention." snapped McGonagall. Severus didn't say anything for the rest of the class. He was the first one out of the door when the bell rang.
...
Sirius stood at the door to the staffroom and knocked. He waited a few seconds but when no answer came went inside. Severus was the only one there. He was sitting near the fireplace with a stack of parchment on his lap. "Hey, Severus." said Sirius as he walked closer.
Severus looked up. His face darkened when he saw Sirius. "What do you want?" he snapped.
"I thought we should talk since we're doing the transfiguration project together." answered Sirius as he sat next to him.
"You set it up, didn't you?" said Severus accusingly. "This is some kind of prank. Why else would you put in your name alone with all the fuss that McGonagall made about me?"
"Look, Severus. I'm done with all the pranking, I swear." started Sirius. Severus snorted. "I mean it. Remus and I are not friends with James and Peter anymore. We just want to keep our heads down and study."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, honest. I've partnered with Remus and Lisa March for my other projects. But I wanted to give them a little time together. You see, Remus and Lisa like each other, but Remus never asks anyone out. You know, because of his condition. I figured, since I'm good at transfiguration I could work alone and let them pair up. I thought McGonagall would let me get away with it." explained Sirius.
Severus narrowed his eyes. "Then why didn't you say anything when McGonagall said you had to work with me?"
"Why wouldn't I want to work with you? Everyone knows you're smart and you care about your marks and stuff." said Sirius. He could see the other boy wasn't convinced. "I know I've always been mean to you and I'm really sorry. I didn't realize what a jerk I was. Now that I know, I'm trying to be better." he continued.
He could see the shock on Severus' face. The boy stared at him with bottomless black eyes. He blinked a couple of times, his long lashes flattering. After a few minutes of silence, Severus sighed and ran a hand through his silky black hair. "Look, I couldn't work with a partner even if I wanted to. I'm busy all the time. I have brewing and homework to correct." he said, gesturing to the parchments he was still holding. "And I tend to some of the plants in the greenhouses. I don't know about your schedule but I don't think we can come up with something that works for both of us."
"Alright. We'll work with your schedule since you're busier. James threw me out of the quidditch team, so I'm free most of the times. You're in all of my classes except for muggle studies. That's Wednesday mornings, second period. We have to report to McGonagall every two weeks, so we should meet once or twice a week. You let me know when you have time." reasoned Sirius.
Severus stared at him for a few seconds, then put the parchments aside and pulled a notebook out of his bag. "I was thinking about doing a research on human transfigurations since we haven't really gone through it in class." he said. He opened the notebook to the correct page and handed it to Sirius.
Sirius took it with a grin and started to read. The notes were arranged neatly. Severus had written a brief explanation about each aspect of human transfiguration and a list of the library books related to it. "Wow, this is great. You always work like this?" he asked, enthusiastically.
Severus ignored his question. "So? You want to work on this subject or not?"
"Yeah, it's good."
"Write down the first five books on the list and start taking notes. We'll meet in the library Saturday afternoon at 2."
Sirius took a piece of parchment and a quill out of his bag and wrote down the names of the books. "See you Saturday." he said with a smile as he stood up. Severus nodded and got back to his marking.