Chapter 35: The Silver Lighter

Summary: Regulus drops by at the potions lab to see Severus.

Severus labeled the pepper up potion vials and started to clean up. It was the second week of classes and Severus was done with the brewing. It was a relief, really. He had to brew potions every once in a while but for the most part, he would have the evenings to himself. He had also done some experimenting in the past few weeks for his research project. He was planning to do a paper on simplifying the brewing process which covered both potions and herbology. He had gotten the idea from the books Regulus had given him for Christmas. The potions in those books used basic ingredients, but the brewing process had been complex. Severus was comparing the new version of the potions with the old versions and trying to categorize the herbs that could be used in simplifying the brewing.

He was also doing another paper about werewolves and the potions they could use throughout the month to ease the transfiguration. The book about werewolves' old traditions had opened up a lot of new possibilities. That paper was for defense and potions. For his charms class, he was doing a research on the healing charms used on the victims of werewolves' attacks.

And then there was the transfiguration project. He had decided to work on a more general topic for that one. His understanding of transfiguration was not as good as his other subjects, so he hadn't been planning to put in that much effort. Now that he was working with Black though, he tried to work as hard as he could. They had already met in the library three times and things had gone surprisingly smoothly. True to his word, Black had let Severus do the planning and by the looks of it he was taking their research seriously. They had gone through almost all of the books on their list and they were going to do a revise the next day.

Severus looked up when he heard a knock. "I'm almost done, Professor. I'm just …." he trailed off when he saw Regulus coming in.

"Hi, Sev. Slughorn let me in." he said. "I should have come sooner, but I didn't want to attract too much attention."

"Regulus!" Severus said brightly. He left the rag he was cleaning the table with and rushed over to hug his friend. He pulled away suddenly, a second later. "Oh, god! Sorry. I got your robes all dirty."

"It's fine." answered Regulus with a smile and sat down on one of the stools. "How was your summer? You were at Hogwarts, right?"

"Yeah, I had to stay here. It was fine, though. I was reading those books you gave me most of the time. What about you?" asked Severus has sat next to him.

"Things were a little tense. You know the Lestranges were sentenced to ten years in Azkaban. The kidnapping would have gotten them three maybe four years, since they didn't harm you and didn't actually take you out of Hogwarts. It was their dark mark that pushed it to ten years, you know having participated in illegal dark rituals. That has made the purebloods really unhappy. The Lestranges and the Blacks most of all. Rodolphus and Rabastan are the Lestranges' only children. And Bellatrix was supposed to marry Rodolphus this summer. Others are saying they don't want their children to get the mark anymore and the dark Lord is furious. There were all these people that graduated this year and their parents didn't take them to him to be marked."

"So, is Evan …." Severus trailed off. He couldn't get the words out.

"No, not yet." answered Regulus.

Severus let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "And you? What do your parents think?"

"They don't want me to take the mark. With Sirius moving out, I'm their only ward. My parents don't have the mark themselves. Most of the pureblood elders don't. Their support is financial and political. The younger pureblood are the ones who are expected to do the field work. Most of the girls haven't gotten the mark either, not like Bellatrix. Now, the dark lord wants the elders and the girls to take the mark as well."

"You should think of a contingency plan, Reg. You can arrange to go to a university far away from here after school, somewhere with limited access. Like you said, the dark lord's angry. He is a very powerful wizard. There's no saying what he's really capable of." said Severus quietly. He squeezed Regulus' hand. Regulus nodded in response.

...

Sirius was working at the library with Severus. He went through their notes in his head. "We should put the animagus transformation in a different category. It can only take form of the animal your personality is closer to, it doesn't require a spell and you can stay in the animal form for as long as you want." he said, counting the differences with his fingers.

Severus nodded absentmindedly. "So, we have transfiguring humans to objects, plants and animals and we're going to put animal into two categories."

Sirius frowned. "No, I'm saying we should have a category dedicated to animagus transformation."

Severus sighed. "Fine, but we're asking McGonagall on Monday." he said. Sirius' frown deepened. It wasn't like Severus to avoid arguing. He looked at the other boy for a second. There were dark circles under his eyes and he seemed to be deep in thought.

"Severus, are you OK? You look upset." asked Sirius.

"I'm fine." answered Severus shortly.

Sirius didn't push farther. He picked up his quill and started to rewrite their notes on a blank roll of parchment, while keeping an eye on Severus. After a few minutes, Severus took out a small silver item out of his pocket and started to play with it. Sirius put the parchment away when he was done and took a closer look. "Is that a lighter?" he asked curiously.

Severus looked up, startled. "Yeah, it was for my dad." he said, running his fingers on the edges.

"Can I see it?" asked Sirius.

Severus hesitated for a second, then handed it to him. It was square and antique looking. There was a picture of a ship on one side. "This is so cool." said Sirius, admiring the detailed drawing.

"Black? Can I ask you something?" said Severus suddenly.

Sirius looked up with a smile. "Sure." he said.

Severus was quiet for a second. "Why didn't you get along with your parents? I don't mean the whole thing about you being Gryffindor. I mean before Hogwarts." he asked finally.

Sirius looked into Severus' dark eyes. He hadn't talked to anyone about this, but he felt an ach to tell Severus. He took a deep breath, then started to talk. "When I was a kid, all my parents cared about was teaching me to behave properly. They never spent any time with me except for those lessons. I wasn't allowed to run around and play. I would sit in my room and look out the window at the people down on the street. Our house was in a muggle neighborhood, you see. There were all these muggle kids there, wearing comfortable clothes and playing together. With their parents talking to them and laughing. One day I decided to go outside and play with them. I took off my robes and went out in a shirt and trousers." Sirius paused, remembering the excitement and joy he had felt. "It didn't take long for my parents to realize I was gone. Our house elf, kreacher told them. They obliviated the muggles and took me inside. My mother started yelling at me about how filthy and worthless muggles are and that if I talked to another muggle again, she'll torture them to death."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." said Severus, uncomfortably.

Sirius realized he had been crying. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and took a deep breath to compose himself. They sat there for a few minutes. Severus was the first one to break the silence. "It's almost curfew, Sirius. We should go." he said as he stood up and started to put his things in his bag.

Sirius smiled. It was the first time Severus had called him by his name. They gathered their things and stepped outside together, then said goodbye and started walking in opposite directions. When Sirius got to his dorm room, he sat down on his bed for a few minutes, still smiling. He looked at his hands, suddenly. He was still holding the lighter.

...

Notes: Severus got the lighter as a Christmas present for his father, last year.