Chapter 15

Sticky and Horny Situations


Sev left with Professor Slughorn, feeling utterly drained. So much talking.

"I must say, you conducted yourself very well, and that definitely helped, Severus."

He took in a breath and prepared to talk again. "And you, sir, must have helped too. I'm sure said something in my defense. Why else send me away at that moment."

He was neither oblivious nor unappreciative. Even if he had a very difficult time reading the sentiments of said previous conversation, by and large. He knew professors rarely disagreed or confronted such things in front of students, even in his world.

"I did not need to say much, my boy. Because you were very honest. The hesitation is more in the outside perspective, your special situation per se, but that is thankfully the Headmistress' job and not mine." He smiled in an old-man sort of mischievous way. "I just get to play favorites," he confessed, not even abashed about it.

They stepped off the staircase to find Rose standing there looking antsy. Sev had no idea what she was doing. It seemed needing to use the loo was a more likely scenario than a chat with the headmistress by the looks of things, but his thoughts were interrupted by a barrage of words.

"Professor Slughorn…sir…professor…I can't let you punish Sev. I don't think he did anything wrong other than stick Jackson to the wall, sir. They were leaving. He wasn't even facing Jackson. And he's not even hurt. It wasn't hard at all. They don't know he's from some Dark place and that you'll probably think he's some junior Dark Wizard! He's kinda sorta weirdly like my brother. You wouldn't send him to Azkaban, would you? Mum would freak."

Sev blinked at her. He was kinda sorta weirdly like…her brother? Factually half correct but minus the entire shared history and childhood thing, he supposed. That bit was generally highly important. He barely knew her at all. It was rather nice of her to stick up for him, though.

So far as Professor Slughorn was concerned, Rose Granger-Weasley was a very odd combination of her parents, but both were still very soundly present in her speech of breakneck speed. Professor Slughorn nodded, his lips slightly parted, until she finally gave him a moment to speak.

"Severus is not going to Azkaban, Miss Granger-Weasley. We generally don't do that for some spells in the hallway," he added, with a small smile of amusement. The way kids were so very extreme sometimes! "And nor do I think he attacked anyone."

"Oh, okay, well, good, sir," she replied.

"But why don't you tell the headmistress what you just told me, before she decides what to do with Mr. Colby and his friends." He looked to the staircase. A little piece of him thought yes, Little Gryffindor, go tell the Big Gryffindor… It felt like that quite often, still.

"Yes, Professor," she said, turning to get on the staircase. "Oh, and erm, Sev, Lily was looking for you. She's really upset. If you can, erm, find her…"

She gave him a look. A very weird look. One of those teenaged I-think-I'm-being-covert looks, but that look was never very covert.

In fact, Professor Slughorn looked at Sev and raised his eyebrows. Clearly he knew the look too. Precisely why it was not very covert. Not that Sev had any clue what it meant, girls were odd to him, most especially Rose, and definitely right now with Rose.

But if Lily was looking for him, well, she had asked him to be her friend (with his big dragon Patronus, in case of Dementors) and he had agreed. It was rather more than that, but he was not at a stage where he realized the affinity was because she had been the first one to be nice to him that was not somehow obligated. That and she was something his world did not have, innocent and sweet.

"May I, sir? I mean, I know I should probably go back to the Common Room until my next class if you're done with me, sir, but..."

Professor Slughorn eyed him again and then eyed Rose. Whatever was going on, the aged Potions master had to remind himself that it was good for the boy's socialization. In whatever secret teenaged language they had. Hopefully, he was not about to start the next wizarding war between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"Go on, then," he said to the boy. Then he stopped him by the shoulder and, looking him in the eyes, added, "Severus, behave yourself." There was a pause. He added, quite seriously, "And pretend that in the way that your father would have meant it. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"And we shall talk more of the rest of this business Saturday, if not before."

Professor Slughorn was shortly left standing outside the staircase looking after first Rose and then Severus. This was all very strange. And he should have flooed back down if he was not going to use the time to lecture his Slytherin vigilante.

In fact, he went back to Minerva's office and did floo back down to the dungeons. They couldn't expect a man of his age to walk.


(Thirty minute before in Gryffindor Tower)

"Jackson, Severus did NOT cast that first spell and you KNOW it. His back was still turned and you had your wand out first, I'm pretty sure. It doesn't make sense otherwise. You can't just blame him for the whole thing. He wasn't even there for half of it! And you started it!" Rose Granger-Weasley barked at Jackson Colby, idiot extraordinaire.

"What do you care? Because he stuck up for your cousin who is a minion to Moldy Voldy's spawn, Malfoy?" He then added, "Or do you like that blond prat and want to make little demons with him? You know he fancies you? Perhaps you have a secret romance." He made kissy faces.

Her fists balled and her face got really red. She opened her mouth-.

"What going on?" Lily suddenly asked, having just come back from class.

"Jackson's about to get cursed for the second time today," Rose growled. "And he's trying to get Severus sent to Azkaban!"

"What?!"

"Oh, give over, nobody is going to Azkaban," Colby said, rolling his eyes. "Do you really want us to lose the House Points?"

"You told the headmistress that Sev attacked you, like, more than one of you! What do you think is going to happen, Jackson! They said you said he flung you into the wall, hard!" She pointed to his friends. "That's not 'Write Some Lines' material!"

Neither of the two older ones arguing noticed Lily Potter, daughter of the infamous-with-curses Ginevra Weasley, taking out her wand.

They were going at it so loudly, they did not even hear the spell before Colby swore, yelled, and then grabbed his head, leaning forward in pain as horns sprouted from his head.

"LILY!" Rose couldn't even wrap her tongue around what had just happened to say more than that.

Colby shrieked. "You gave me fucking HORNS?!"

Lily squeaked.

"JAMESSSSS!" Rose shrieked too, for back-up, of course…pulling out her wand to keep Colby away from Lily.

Why was everyone trying to get expelled today!

"You deserve them!" Lily said, crossing her arms, wand still in hand.

Rose stood between them. "Jackson, stop. Don't do anything stupid. She's, like, twelve! James will know how to get rid of them."

Speaking of James Potter, he arrived in the Common Room laughing at something already, but he really started laughing when he saw the horns. Until he realized that everyone had their wands out at everyone else.

"James! Thank Merlin. Lily gave Jackson horns because he's just lied to Professor McGonagall and told her Severus basically tried to kill him." The story got a bit more fantastic each time it was told. "And now Lily is going to be in so much trouble! You have to get rid of them! Before the Headmistress comes back after talking to Sev!"

James tried not to chuckle to loudly. Everyone else's faces were quite disturbed.

"Lily, you…you…they're spectacular…but you're an idiot," James said. "You're going to be in so much trouble if we can't get rid of these."

"What do you mean 'if', James!" Rose said, eyes wide. We are all going to get detention.

"Do you think I'll get expelled?" Lily asked.

Colby was busy fingering the huge horns on his head with wide eyes.

James snickered as he eyed the horns. "I don't know how to get rid of extra magical appendages, Rose. Lily, what spell did you use?"

"I don't know. I just really wanted to give him horns, and bam!" she said, in a panic. "It just happened."

It was not that strange for younger kids to have some uncontrolled magic when emotional, but it was super inconvenient, because they couldn't just look up a spell to reverse it.

"Everyone, get ALL your spell-books!" James said, quite seriously.

Rose declared, "I'm telling the headmistress what I saw in the corridor, Jackson. I'll stall her for as long as I can and make sure Sev isn't blamed for your big mess in the corridors."

Lily's eyes widened at a sudden thought, "Rose, yes, get Sev! Tell him. I bet he can get rid of horns. He knows wicked powerful magic, like his huge dragon Patronus."

"NO WAY!" Colby protested. "Do you think I'd let him aim a spell at MY HEAD?!" Definitely not after he'd blamed the Slytherin boy for the entire thing! For all he knew, the Slytherin had just gone down, big time, because of him. Wait, that kid can make a dragon Patronus?

"Do you have a choice?" James asked, with a sinister look of his own, wand out. "That's my sister you're talking about. If we can't find something in the books, we need a backup plan."

"And Sev won't hurt you. He won't want me to be in trouble. If he wanted to hurt you, he could have already," Lily said. She didn't consider that Sev might want to hurt Mr. Jackson Colby now, after the last hour plus of his life.

"Yeah, instead of just giving you a sticky arse," Rose added.

"If he can fix it, he will," Lily told the horny boy. After all, Sev had promised he would be her friend. Her would surely do that for her. Right?

"I'll try…if he's not already stuck writing lines, in eternal detention, or expelled, or restricted to his common room," Rose said. She gave Colby a scathing parting glance. Then she added to Lily, "You'll have to wait outside the portrait hole in case I can, y'know, give him the message."


AN - What do you all think? Does he get rid of horny boy's horns for him? Will there be words? Did Slughorn just accidentally start the Battle of Hogwarts 2?

AnonGuest - I often wonder why young Lupin never did anything too bc older Lupin seems far more responsible as an adult. I'm a psych professor, so my take on it is this: if you're a marginalized kid who hasn't had friends, the pressure of your friend group to conform is much stronger and you fear being ostracized again (or turned into the new target) if you disagree. We see it in bullying all the time: kids stand by bc they've been taught to by authority figures and institutions (don't get involved or you'll get hurt or in trouble, mind your own business) and because subconsciously they're thankful they aren't the targets. It then becomes very normalized to watch or even be amused. On the other hand, Sev isn't a normal teenager and really not much of a normal human for this world, he's not afraid of other kids and could not care less what they think. He sees it as opportunity to finally do all the things he always wanted to do and couldn't.

Duj - In addition to my essay reply ;) What do you think of this situation he's about to walk into?

Read it, Review it, please! Drop me a note to tell me what you like to keep the fires burning under my motivational cauldron 3 I always reply to reviewers :D Thank you all so much!