Chapter 9: The First Task

There were only a couple of nights left before the First Task, which would be held just around the time of Thanksgiving. Still recovering from his injuries after that second run-in with the Whomping Willow, Severus tried to focus on his schoolwork, as well as his Prefect duties. These responsibilities did just enough to help distract him from the absolute dread he felt towards the first event of the Triwizard Tournament. He wasn't sure if or how he should be preparing for it. His three fellow champions seemed just as in the dark about it as he was.

On this particular night, he had been assigned to hall patrol duty as part of his Prefect rounds. Lily was paired off with him, which made Severus relax much more easily. His best friend still seemed bothered by what had nearly happened to Mary, and Severus couldn't exactly blame her. As far as he was concerned, Mary MacDonald's interactions with him had warmed from cordiality to genuine friendliness, to the point where she had invited him to the November monthly trip to Hogsmeade before Lily did. Though shaken, the fierce Irish girl was consumed with the thoughts of the werewolf that had saved her life. It was apparent that with the experience everything that Mary thought she knew about werewolves from class, everything they had been taught, was now overturned completely on its head. Mary was now telling her story to any Gryffindor girl who would listen (and quite a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs as well).

"He was fierce, yet gentle. He was wild, yet tame," Severus had heard her gush to Lily and some other Gryffindor girls one morning, walking out from breakfast. Bizarre as the tale was, Lily clearly believed her friend; as for their classmates, Severus was less certain they believed Mary as much as they thought it was a nice….. almost romantic story. Mary's retelling of it came off as mushy, in any case.

As for Avery and Mulciber, Severus did his best to hide a smug, terribly amused satisfaction at the way they hobbled around the castle over the next few weeks, licking their own wounds. He himself was no worse off in his injuries than they were, and it was delicious to see them as not nearly so tough as they had always projected. Although Severus had been stunned to learn that his Slytherin cohorts had narrowly eluded expulsion, perhaps Dumbledore thought that the trauma they had experienced out at the Whomping Willow had been punishment enough. Avery and Mulciber had gone out there to have their way with a unsuspecting, unwilling girl. What they got instead was a hostile tree, a rabid werewolf and a menagerie of zoo animals who slapped them around silly.

Severus wasn't the only one who found Avery and Mulciber's plight terribly hilarious, though unlike him, they didn't even bother to try and hide it. James Potter and his mates had now taken to busting up into uncontrollable laughter every time either Mulciber or Avery so much as hobbled down the hall. Tellingly, Remus was the only one who kept silent; after all, he had been there. But the way Potter and his insufferable hangers-on chortled over this escapade for weeks afterward gave Severus the strangest suspicion that the boys knew more than they were saying.

…. Or perhaps Remus had returned to the castle and told them all about it. Mary's almost-rape aside, pretty much every other aspect of the story was good for a right laugh. Still, Severus was pleasantly surprised that none of this mirth seemed to be directed at him. A Severus Snape willing to stand up for a fellow Gryffindor? It seemed like just the sort of thing that James Potter would hoot over, if he even believed it at all first.

Severus fell out of these thoughts when he felt Lily playfully nudge his shoulder.

"Hey…. You OK?"

"Are you?" he queried back, jousting almost. Lily sighed, shaking her head like she was dislodging a fly.

"I'm just worried about Mary, is all. I've told her not to spend late nights in the library anymore…"

"She came out fine…."

"…. Following a near thing. And yet here you are still hanging around with Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! I don't know what you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! Do you even know what he tried to do to Mary….?"

"Yes, I do. I was there," Severus clipped shortly. Lily abruptly halted mid-rant, sighing deeply.

"Of course, I know, I'm sorry. It's just….. it makes me so mad they weren't expelled!"

Severus caught Lily's arm, forcing her to look at him. "I'm no friend of Avery and Mulciber, Lily," he assured her. "They were barely acquaintances, even before that ruddy night."

Lily eyed him pointedly. "You know they want to join up with…. You-Know-Who once they graduate."

Severus snorted. "They can throw their lives away, for all I care! Not my business."

"Yeah? Well, it should be." Lily's fierce gaze caused Severus to flinch; it was just like her to want him to do more. To be his best. To fight for something he believed in.

A small lulling silence permeated for a time, broken only by their footfalls. At last, Lily whispered:

"How's your leg?"

"Honestly? I'll be lucky if it heals by Spring Break."

She rolled her eyes at this. "Don't be so dramatic," though there was a smile in her chiding. Another beat, and then: "I'm scared for you, you know. I've heard these Tasks are brutal, and if you're still not at full strength by Saturday…."

"Lily:" Severus now gripped her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. "I'll be fine."

She smiled warmly at him, and they continued on. And when Lily's fingers brushed his, Severus didn't hesitate to grip them and hold fast.

That following Saturday, Igor Youngkin, Chad Quayle, Eponine de Ursula and Severus were sequestered in a tent on the Hogwarts grounds. None of the Champions knew exactly where; they had been awoken at dawn, blindfolded, and escorted out to this tent. All any of them knew was that the Task involved the retrieval of something, and that it would be underground. But Severus could hear the cheers of his fellow students in the stands; he hoped Lily and Mary would be there.

Chad, Igor and Eponine were standing around by themselves, individually preparing for…. whatever was to come. Drifting listlessly near the flap in the tent, Severus suddenly heard a 'Psst!' Then his name: "Sev!"

There was only one person who called him that and he floated near the flap, heart pounding.

"Lily?"

"Sev….. are you scared?"

"No," he lied through his teeth.

"You just have to…. go underground for a bit." Lily's voice quavered.

"Right. And probably fight for my life."

There was a whimper, then the flap fluttered back as Lily burst into the tent to throw her arms around his neck. She was still hugging him fiercely when Dumbledore and the other organizers of the Tournament burst into the tent.

"Champions, gather around!" Dumbledore did a double-take. "Miss Evans? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, um…. I'll just…. go…."

"Your boyfriend will be fine, cherie," Eponine called out in what she must have figured was a word of consoling.

At this, Severus was astonished to see Lily turn a bright shade of pink. "Oh, he's not…." she stammered, not finishing before fleeing from the tent.

Ilvermorny's Headmaster, Cain Miles, motioned the champions to gather around him. The order of their completion of the First Task would be determined by drawing lots. The length of the chosen lot would indicate who would go when, in descending order. When everyone had picked, Severus was visibly relieved to have quite literally drawn the short end of the stick, which meant he would go last of all. With the longest lot, Eponine would go first, followed by Quayle, and then Youngkin.

Severus watched the tent empty one by one. He could only keep time by the sound of Dumbledore's voice announcing the next champion. Eponine was outside for what couldn't have been more than five minutes; Quayle's turn felt like an eternity, which didn't bode well for Severus's nerves.

"…. And last, but certainly not least, we have our Hogwarts champion, Severus Snape!"

Severus emerged from the tent to cheering – lots from the Slytherins, though there were some boos from the other houses. It didn't matter – he knew Lily would be cheering for him, and probably Mary as well.

Finally able to take in his surroundings, Severus suddenly felt an almost PTSD reaction coming on when he realized…. he was on the grassy knoll.

Which meant –

WHAM!

The Whomping Willow's tree branch came from nowhere, sending him careening twenty feet through the air. Severus landed hard on his back, gritting his teeth. He had luckily managed to land in such a way that his weakened leg was not bothered, though it still gave a hiss of protest.

There was a chilling creak as the tree leaned much of its way forward, extending its roots, to try and crush Severus beneath him. Severus rolled out of the way, and leapt to his feet. From somewhere far, far away, he thought he heard someone yelling his name. Lily…..

Severus spent the next several minutes dancing away from this infernal tree, giving it a wide berth. He had to get underground somehow, to retrieve something….

He saw the knot and it all clicked into place.

He knew he couldn't poke the knot with a stick as Black had once suggested. But he could –

"Petrificus Totalus!" Severus took deliberate aim.

The flash of purple light flew true, hitting the knot. The tree froze instantly.

An audible gasp went up from the crowd, and then cheering. Smirking, Severus half-jogged, half-hobbled to the tree, and disappeared into the gaping hole just beneath the trunk.

He had never actually made it down here before; Potter had intercepted him before he could get into the passageway.

But as Severus proceeded down the passage, his wand lit with Lumos, he realized freezing the tree was only half the battle.

All manner of magical creatures attacked him every few feet: Blast-Ended Skrewts, Cornish Pixies, giant spiders. Severus slashed his wand up and down, fighting past them all.

Finally, the dirt walls of the passageway turned into wood and Severus emerged onto a wooden staircase, old and teetering. Flush with excitement, he ascended until he came upon a room with a collapsed four-poster bed against one wall. Opposite this, on a table, Severus saw a series of rings.

There were three of them – gold, bronze and what Severus suspected might have been platinum. Between the gold and bronze rings, there was a space, the dust around it disturbed… and tellingly mixed with some grey flakes, leading Severus to believe that a silver ring had once been here. As to which of his competitors had gotten it, or how they had gotten down here, he was less certain.

The question now became: which ring should he pick? The gold was surely tempting. He was almost disappointed that the silver ring had already been claimed, as silver was one of Slytherin's house colors. He glanced down at the bronze ring. In a quick moment of decision, he closed his hand around this ring. Bronze was a close enough reminder of auburn, the color of Lily's hair. Slipping it into his pocket, Severus dashed out of the room, ran down the wooden steps and back into the dirt passageway. He encountered nothing as he reversed back the way he had come. The tree should still be frozen; he was home free!

Emerging from the tree to roars of approval, Severus didn't realize his mistaken overconfidence until it was too late. A hot white-light blinded the vision behind his eyes and he felt himself pitch forward, the sting from a vicious tree branch lacing up his back.

He was knocked out cold the second he hit the ground.

When Severus awoke, he came to sensing the feeling someone stroking his hair. Bright and golden dapple sunlight streamed in from the edges of his vision and he groaned.

"Sssssh…." A tender voice crooned. "Just relax." A tender kiss pressed into his forehead.

"Lily…." He moaned.

"I'm here," her dulcet tones came again from somewhere above him. Something soft and wet brushed his skin – a pair of lips pressing into his forehead.

These were soon to be replaced by something far wetter, and Severus spluttered, blinking droplets out of his eyes as Mary MacDonald appeared in his line of sight. Her eyes danced, the mirth on her face far too explicit for Severus's liking; she seemed one tick away from bursting into laughter.

"So, you've decided to join the living, git! Took you long enough!"

Severus groaned again, Lily's soft hands cradling him, and then she let out a hiss.

"Sev, can you move your head? You're blowing out my thighs."

Wait – thighs? A rather lurid image of Lily's legs, long and creamy, flooded into Severus's mind just then, and he thought to quickly banish it, lest his embarrassment show.

It was then that everything fell into place: Lily was resting his head in her lap. Severus had to suppress an almost goofy smile. If this was his reward for nearly getting killed over a damn ring, he'd gladly go through with the Second Task, and the Third too.

All the same….

"If I ever have to interact with that infernal tree again, it'll be too soon."

Lily laughed musically. "Maybe you should be thankful that you have. You won the Task, you know. You got the most points. Quayle and Eponine didn't even get under the Willow."

Severus jostled, trying to sit upright, hardly daring to believe it. "I won?!"

"You did, prat," Mary got out through peals of giggles. "Though I can't say I'm surprised. You were really brave." A grin of amusement had now fully fought its way onto her face…. and then she suddenly surged forward and planted her lips on Severus's in a chaste peck.

It was largely innocent enough, and over after a moment, but Severus's eyes still bulged. When Mary broke away, he coughed and spluttered.

"While I appreciate being attended to by pretty girls, I'd rather not go snogging you, MacDonald, if it's all the same to you!"

"Oh, trust me, Snape – that was a one-time thing," Mary smirked, almost like she was trying to make a point.

In his peripheral vision, he could see that Lily looked scandalized, even while Mary busted up into fits of laughter. "Mary!"

"What? You've been kissing him too!"

"Not…. not there," Lily turned cherry-red for some reason. If he'd had the strength, Severus would have grabbed her neck and pulled her lips down to his, just to shut her up. As it was, he simply curled into her lap, and allowed himself to fall asleep to his best friend stroking his hair.