Severus bounced impatiently on his toes as he, Remus, James, and Lily waited for Sirius to finish putting on his costume. Emmeline, Dorcas, and Marlene had gone down to the feast a while before, while they had still been getting ready. It was Halloween night, and Lily had organized a costume contest after the feast for all the Gryffindor first years. Apparently, Molly and Arthur had agreed to be judges and matching costumes would also get to compete in the House-wide group costume contest. Somehow, Severus had gotten roped into doing matching costumes with Lily. He was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and pants that Narcissa had kindly Transfigured into a shiny, skintight outfit that made him look like he was made of silver. Or, in this case, tin. Lily's parents had sent them a cardboard box and face paint along with Lily's Dorothy costume. They spent an enjoyable evening covering the box with silver paint and cutting out leg and arm holes. The result is certainly worth all that hard work, though. His entire body was covered with either silver fabric or silver face paint and the box fit him quite nicely. He even had a silver hat! Next to him, Lily was a perfect Dorothy with her gingham dress, neat red braids, and sparkling red shoes. He hadn't yet seen their costumes, but Lily told him that Emmeline was dressed as Emma Peel and Dorcas made a surprisingly good Professor McGonagall. Which is either very brave or very stupid. Perhaps both. James wore a long purple dress that Marlene had lent, which he had pasted gold stars onto. He declared himself to be Merlin, which Severus personally thought was a bit presumptuous. Remus had been bribed with chocolate by Dorcas to dress as Professor Dumbledore. He looked absolutely ridiculous.
Finally, Sirius came down. He was wearing a fancy knight costume that his parents had bought him the previous year but replaced the helmet with a jeweled cardboard crown, making him the King Arthur to James' Merlin.
"Come on, come on," barked James impatiently, "Let's get to the feast already! I'm hungry!" Severus rolled his eyes.
"You're always hungry. It isn't anything new." James gave an indignant yelp and the group made their way out of the Common Room, bickering good-naturedly.
They had barely made it out of Gryffindor Tower when it stepped out. The ogre was easily three times the size of Severus, smelled of spoiled fish, and was a horrible murky green color. It wore only a ragged, dirty loincloth and dragged a crude spear. It's really just a big toothpick. What a stupid og…Dear G-d in heaven that's an ogre. Shit. Before Severus could sit and deliberate any further, the ogre turned around. For a second, it stared at them and they stared back. Then, the ogre raised its spear and went right for Lily, who dodged out of the way at the last second. Severus nearly lost his mind. Nobody, but nobody, hurts Lily. Completely forgetting his fear, Severus raised his wand. Well, now's as good a time as any to try out one of the spells Lily and I learned in the library…
Before he could get a word out, James and Sirius had raised their wands.
"Locomotor wibbly!" they shouted at the same time. Remus' book sailed out of his hand to hit the ogre right between the eyes. Lily, seizing her opportunity, kicked the ogre between the legs. It screeched and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her high in the air. Severus' vision blurred red and he felt something stir deep within him. He heard himself howl, a piercing, grating sound that he had never made before and didn't think he could ever make again. There was a flash of light, then complete darkness. Severus' vision cleared suddenly and he was on the floor, inexplicably exhausted. He looked up to see Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus staring at him.
"What?" he snapped irritably.
"Mate," said James gently, "You might want to take a look at what you did to that ogre." Severus dragged his eyes to where James was pointing. The ogre was a mass of purple blood and green flesh. He felt sick. At that moment, Professor McGonagall came sprinting up the nearby stairs.
"What in Merlin's name is going on? I heard screaming!" she panted. Then she caught sight of the mangled ogre, Severus on the floor, and his friends grouped around him. She gently pushed through to Severus and put a tender arm around him. He leaned into the warmth that felt like his Mum and began to sob. I'm a monster! Father is right, I'm a horrid, awful little beast.
"Miss Evans, would you care to explain what happened here?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly, stroking Severus' hair as he wept.
"Well, we were on our way to the Great Hall for the feast when we saw the ogre. It turned around and nearly ran me through with its spear, but I dodged. Then James and Sirius hexed it and Remus threw his book at it. Then I kicked it, and it grabbed me and lifted me up. Then Sev screamed, and then…the ogre fell and I floated to the ground, then Sev passed out for a moment. Then he woke up, and then you came." Lily said, her voice wobbling. Professor McGonagall nodded.
"The five of you did very well. Ten points to Gryffindor each," she said briskly, then lifted Severus' chin up. "Mr. Snape, I'm sure when you were small you did accidental magic. Sometimes, especially when they're still learning, older witches and wizards do accidental magic when they are extremely angry or frightened. That ogre was trying to hurt you, and you brought it down. You did not do it the way you did on purpose, nor does it say anything at all about you. Your emotions were so strong that your inner magic, that what we tap on to do spells, rose up and flowed out of you uncontrollably. You have done nothing wrong. In fact, your magical power is very impressive," she said fiercely. Severus could only nod. "Now, this much magic takes a lot out of you, so I am going to take you to the Hospital Wing to see Madame Pomfrey. She is going to look you over and make sure you don't need any medicine to help you get your energy back." Lily opened her mouth. "Yes, Miss Evans, you may accompany us."
"Hey!" said James indignantly, "We're his friends too!" Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes, though Severus thought he saw the corner of her mouth tick up, just a bit. "Very well, you may all come, provided that you don't disturb any of the patients and speak quietly, for Merlin's sake." James nodded and he and Sirius mimed zipping their lips.
Soon, Severus was settled on a bed in the Hospital Wing because Madame Pomfrey, who was kind and lovely, had wanted to observe him for the night, playing Gobstones with his friends as they ate their way through the plates of food the Madame Pomfrey had kindly had the Kitchens send up. Professor McGonagall had gone to notify the Headmaster, and then sent Madame Pomfrey a note explaining that the ogre had wandered into the castle from the Forbidden Forest because somebody had left the doors open. Some bloody idiot, more like.
But something good came of it all. From then on, Lily, Severus, Remus, Sirius, and James were best friends. There are some things you can't share without winding up liking each other, and defeating a gigantic ogre is one of them.