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Now on with chapter 44...

Chapter Forty-Four

I'd Rather Marry the Giant Squid

The Christmas holiday, as enjoyable as it had been, quickly came to an end, and Severus found himself once again boarding the Hogwarts Express and on his way back to school. The three weeks Severus had spent at home at Spinner's End had been, in fact, quite memorable; not only had he been asked to internship with Nicholas Flamel, he had been amazed to find that his youngest sister, although slightly physically disabled, was amazingly bright as well as magically powerful, or so indications of her occasional bursts of accidental magic would leave one to believe. He had actually witnessed one such incident himself; Julia had a bit of a tantrum when her mummy refused to allow her another cookie, and in the mist of her screaming, the box which contained the cookies suddenly ripped open, spreading dozens of them all over the kitchen counter.

Then there was Lily. His sweet, beautiful, wonderful Lily, who on New Year's requested that once the clock struck midnight that he kiss her…French kiss her. He was, of course, more than happy to beseech to her request, although he suggested they wait until they were out of sight of their parents until they did so. And so at the stroke of midnight, he gave her a soft but simple kiss on the lips, and then, while everyone else continued to celebrate, they snuck outside and explored each other's mouths with their tongues.

It was the next day as they sat in the park under a large willow tree, just talking and enjoying a day without rain or snow, which in the middle of winter was difficult to come by, when Lily decided to ask her boyfriend a question.

"Sev, Petunia and I were talking the other day and….well, I was wondering, do you know what it means when a couple gets to third base?"

For quite some time, Severus just started at her; he blinked and blinked again. Oh, yes, he knew quite well what third base was; he had spent over seventeen years teaching hormone-driven, pubescent, little monsters. It wasn't, however, something he had planned to participate in with Lily until she was of age. He loved his Lily; he loved holding her and kissing her, but the more intimate part of their relationship (so, basically anything over second base) would wait until both of their bodies and her mind were more mature to deal with the seriousness of exactly what having sex meant, both physically and emotionally.

"Yes," he finally answered, "I do."

"Okay." She grinned, scooting closer to her boyfriend and snuggling into his chest. "What is it?"

Severus cleared his voice before explaining, in a rather clinical manner, the overall principle of third base. Although he was head of Slytherin House and the topic of sex did sometimes need to be addressed concerning one of his students, he normally directed them to the deputy head, as he had no patience for out of control, hormone-driven adolescent dunderheads.

When he had finished his explanation, Severus couldn't help but be a bit amused at his girlfriend's reaction. Her jaw had dropped, eyes widened, and she looked almost disgusted at the very idea of oral sex.

"I-I don't think I'm ready for something like that," Lily admitted with a sigh.

Severus gave a small laugh as he placed a soft kiss atop her forehead. "It's okay, Lily; I'm not ready for it, either."

"I'll tell you one thing, though," she added, snuggling back into her boyfriend's arms. "I don't think I'll be able to picture my sister and Alex the same way ever again."

XXX

The train ride back to Hogwarts had been mostly uneventful. Severus and Lily shared a compartment with Remus, Sirius, Regulus, and Narcissa, though James had periodically visited, but had spent most of the ride with Jason and Martin in their own compartment talking about what they got for Christmas, which included a variety of pranking items, at least it did for James. Potter still hadn't forgone his love for a good laugh at others' expense, and Severus doubted he ever would, but he had seemed to tone it down a bit, at least for the moment.

Once arriving at Hogwarts and after gorging themselves on an array of delectable elf-prepared entrees, the student body headed to their rooms for bed; however, it would seem Severus' roommates had too much sugar at the feast and were bouncing around the room like bunch of bloody rabbits.

"Come on, Severus," James said with a laugh, plopping himself down on his friend's bed. "We haven't heard about your holiday yet."

Severus rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "If I tell you how it was, can we end the 3-ring circus and go to sleep?"

Jason gave a snorted laugh. "Circus? You know, I know how to juggle if you want the full effect?" he joked, grinning.

"Not unless you want me to permanently hex your hand to whatever it is you plan to juggle."

Jason's smile instantly faded.

"Don't be such as ass, Severus. Now, come on, tell us about your holiday."

"Very well," Severus said with a sigh. "I was offered a summer internship with Nicholas Flamel; I witnessed my eleven-month-old sister perform accidental magic, and I got to French kiss, Lily. Now," he said grabbing his wand of his bedside table, "if we are done with pleasantries for the evening, I would like to get some sleep." Severus pointed his wand at the overhead light and muttered a quick Nox. The room was now dark aside from his roommates' dimly lit bedside table lamps, and because of this, Severus was unable to see the stunned expressions of his three roommates.

XXX

Lily intently listened as Narcissa explained, in great detail, the night her father gave her permission to pull out of the betrothal agreement, with the stipulation that she find someone worthy to replace him, which basically meant they were pureblood, filthy rich, and came for a prominent family. The young Gryffindor knew that many pureblood families within the wizarding world believed in arranged betrothals and that love rarely played a part in marriage; she thought it unbelievably archaic, but then again, the entire wizarding world was for the most part pretty stuck in the Middle Ages.

"Anyone has to be better than Lucius Malfoy," the blonde sighed, leaning back against the shade tree they were sitting by.

"Yes, I suppose that's true. Not that I know him, just what you've told me, but he sounds like a serious tosser."

"You have no idea. The pompous twit."

Lily laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she scooted closer to her friend. "So, the question is, who do we know that fits the requirements but isn't a complete wanker?"

Narcissa gave a small laugh, but then shrugged. "No one in Slytherin, at least no one I know of who isn't exactly like Lucius...or worse."

"Okay, what about the other houses? David Chang in Ravenclaw is pretty good looking, and he seems like a nice enough guy. He's a pureblood, isn't he?"

"He is." Narcissa nodded. "But his family is only third generation pureblood, and they aren't all that wealthy."

Lily cocked her head to the side, her bow crinkling in confusion. "What so you mean, only third generation?"

The young Slytherin gave a small laugh. "Sometimes I forget you're Muggle-born, Lily," she said, reaching into her robe pocket and pulling out a hair tie.

The wizarding world in itself isn't all that large, and the pureblood population currently made up less then 2% of that. In pureblood society, it is considered extremely important that from an early age children be taught of not only their family's magical histories but of other families as well. This way, they can learn who is considered proper to associate themselves with and who is not.

"Do you know what specifics define oneself as pureblood?" she asked, pulling her long blonde hair into a messy bun.

"Um, not specifically. I know Sev's half because his dad's a Muggle, so I assumed a pureblood is when both your parents are magical. Am I wrong?"

"Not completely. If it were that simple, despite my biological father being a half-blood, or whatever he is, I'd still technically be considered pure. To be considered a true pureblood, both of your sets of grandparents have to be magical. David, for example, his parents were both pure, but his grandmother was half and his great-grandmother was a Muggle…or maybe a Muggle-born, I don't remember; anyway, you see the difference now."

"Yes, I do. So…as long as you marry a pureblood, any children you have would be considered pure despite whoever your real father is."

"Yes, they would," she said simply with a shrug, but then adding, "not that it matters, at least not as far as magic is concerned. I mean, I never much bought into pureblood antics; yes, I used believe witches and wizards superior to Muggles in that we have magic and they do not, but I couldn't ever wrap my mind around generational magic. I mean, look at you, you don't have an ounce of magical heritage, at least none that you're aware of, and still, you are one of the best in our year. And then there is Severus; he's half and…well, the boy's a bloody genius."

Lily laughed, but nodded in agreement. "Yes, Sev is special, in more ways than one."

"Yes, he certainly is and very mature for his age as well. My aunt thinks very highly of him, you know."

"Does she now?"

"Oh, yes. Though, I should probably warn you, according to my mother…well, Aunt Walburga has this crazy idea that when Severus comes of age, she plans to find him 'a proper woman of sufficient breeding' to marry."

Lily just rolled her eyes. "She's delusional."

"Yes," Narcissa said, giving a small, unsure smile, "but she can be very…convincing, not to mention that she can be rather ruthless in her tactics to get something she wants. There have even been rumors that she had her own brother killed so she could inherit the family's fortune."

Lily's eyes widened. "Do you believe that?"

"Don't know." She shrugged. "Sirius says she made up the story to ward off enemies; personally, I think she's a little barmy, or…maybe it's a little of both."

"Maybe…hey, I just thought of something!"

A wide grinned stretched across Lily's pretty face, and her eyes gleamed with what Narcissa often saw in her oldest cousin's eyes when he was up to something no good.

"What?"

"Potter."

Narcissa frowned. "What about him?"

"He's a pureblood, right? He's always going on about how wealthy he is, how well known his family is."

Narcissa gasped in shock. "You can't possibly be suggesting I marry James 'arrogant git' Potter. He's an utter ass."

Lily just giggled. "Better than Malfoy; besides, he may be a little immature, but he's not all that bad. I mean, Sev trusts him, so that has to be worth something, right?"

"Forget it, Lily. I'd rather marry the Giant Squid."

Both girls broke out in a sudden fit of laughter at the thought. "You might want to stock up on your supply of gillyweed if you do," Lily joked.

"Or get really good at the Bubble Head Charm," Narcissa added.

"Don't worry, Cissy," Lily said once the laugher had died down. "You'll find someone." She then reached over and gave her friend's hand a gentle squeeze.

"I hope so, Lily. Because if I don't, I may just buy a kneazle and move in with my Aunt Cassie."

A/N: Okay, so not much going on in this chapter I know, but its there nonetheless. Next up Death Eaters make a bold move, and Dumbledore confront Severus about taking up Flamels offer. Also someone else realizes what Remus is and its not who you might suspect.