It's the last day of September, and Marcus can hardly wait for professor Lupin to arrive and start teaching. This will be his fifth lesson, and up until now every one of his classes were brilliant and funny. The only other teacher who can make him forget it's a lesson is professor Flitwick, and the half goblin has almost half a century of experience under his belt. Professor Lupin can do the same, without actually having any credentials, or similar jobs. He asked him.

So when it's Snape who shows up instead of Lupin he is kind of disappointed. Not like Roger, his friend hates potions only a slightly less than his inability to talk to girls; but he is. Professor Snape is quite knowledgeable in many fields, a fucking genius in potions, but he is not a good teacher. If he weren't tutored by his uncle, he would be incredibly lost in his class. The man can't even put this on his genius, because come on! If Damocles Belby can explain it to him in a way he can understand it, so could he. According to the sixth and seventh years he is much better with them, more irritation and less cold fury. Penelope Clearwater tells them, he can't suffer the incompetent, and does not have the patience to guide the young. It's sink or swim on your own, because he will tell you how to do it, but sure as hell won't help you with it.

Again the man is brilliant, just… not teacher material.

Marcus can already hear Roger silently grumbling beside him, and he can see the puffs cringing. His yellow and black year mates have a collective grudge against the man. Talent against hard work, not a good combination. He wants to snicker, because while the puffs don't like him, professor Snape respects them, exactly for their hard work. That man is a walking contradiction, he can't figure him out. Like at all.

So he is just as baffled as everyone else when the man starts to talk about werewolves. Just, what?! It's one thing that it's third year material, because professor Lupin is making them learn it, but they weren't supposed to learn about sentient creatures until January. And here comes their potion professor and literally gives zero fuck about their lesson plans. It doesn't make sense.

He doesn't really listen, more occupied to figure out the potioner's plan. Because there has to be some kind of a plan, the man loves confusing people, but he is not this random. Why would he want them to write a whole essay on werewolves and the ways to kill them? It's not like he is the one who has to read it. By the time it will be completed, professor Lupin should be better. Actually, why did he left them so much time to write it. It's not like there isn't any research material, he just needs to ask his uncle and he will write something that's a mix of defense and potions. Anyone who does not accept Democles as an accurate source is a fool. He has some advantage, but the library is still full of books and scrolls on werewolves, why did he make sure he isn't the one who will ne-…

Holy shit!

Marcus is a fool, it's full moon today and professor Lupin isn't here. He isn't here and Snape is giving them a lecture about werewolves, making them write an essay on killing them. It seems cruel, and for all his failings the potion master is rarely cruel. Hardass, stubborn and perfectionist? Yes, all of it, but he only ever seen him cruel to Potter, his friends and the Longbottom boy. So to make a man read all the ways a child would kill him, for something he can't control? Yeah, it's not good, even by the man standards.

And it's not just that. For all his faults, professor Snape cannot bear bullies. He had seen the detentions he gave, for making Luna Lovegood cry, McLagen was cleaning cauldrons for months. According to Cho and the Gryffindors, not even Potter could make him so angry. And he hates the boy. This whole thing just. Does not make sense. Like maybe he has something against werewolves, or is it just professor Lupin? He doesn't know, but he needs to ask someone, but he also, can't do that. It's okay that he guessed it, but he is a Belby, of course he did, but it's not his secret to tell. He knows all the grudges against weres, he won't make it harder for his favorite professor.

This doesn't mean he will just sit still and let all this happen. He can write an essay on killing where it isn't the main focus, and he is sure he can make Roger do the same. His best friend already hates the potion professor; this won't help with that if he is reading his glare correctly.

It's not enough. Their work won't make all the others null.

It's not much but… it is a start.

Roger Davis is halfway through his essay when it all clicks, and he nearly snaps his pen in half. Marcus looks up from his own homework with a questioning look in his eyes, and yeah he is pretty certain his friend knows too. This tweak on the essay was his idea all along. Still it takes him a few seconds before he decides to ask him about it.

"Were you going to tell me?" and if the flinch is anything to go by, the answer is no.

"I was hoping you realize it yourself. I…it wasn't my secret to tell." He nods, because it's true, and Marcus is a Belby, it makes sense he found it out so quickly. The rest of them don't have a potions genius whose specialty is werewolves a letter away. The fact that his brain needed extra two days to put it together isn't weird at all. What is interesting how little time he actually needed, which means…

"You weren't exactly stuble." he needs to cover his mouth not to laugh out loud, he doesn't want to get them kicked out of the library. His friend looks a little bashful and absolutely unrepentant, and okay he is calm now. The little snickers that leave his mouth as he tries to speak again are just an illusion. "Anyone else who knows?"

"Apparently every seventh and sixth year, and majority of the fifth." Which actually puts an ends to his laughing because just what?!

"That's…" he starts and Marcus nods.

"An awfully lot of people? Yeah, most of them guessed before the essay. Apparently professor Lupin is really bad at keeping it secret." If what he says is true, that's the understatement of the century. It looks like nobody in this school can keep a secret not even to save their lives. But what's most interesting is that the man is still teaching, he knows many of his schoolmates thinks werewolves are both lesser than them. And dangerous.

"And no one reported or told anything? Not even the Slytherins?" Marcus shrugs.

"They are not idiots. Lupin is their best shot for the OWL's and NEWT's, they aren't going to jeopardize it." He is right, the DADA professor is the first who has actually taught them anything. Even he was panicking a little and his exams are more than a year away. He doesn't want to know how the older ones were feeling. Which reminds him.

"We should find out if anyone in our year knows, or like below."

"I am fairly certain Cho does," Marcus answers without missing a single beat "although if she does she hasn't told Marietta yet."

"Are you sure about it?" Cho and Marietta are attached by the hip the chances they haven't told something to the one or other is small.

"Marietta can't keep a secret to save her life, you know her." And he does. The girl is a gossip. The worst part is that she isn't doing it out of malice, mostly the secrets just slip out of her. She is rather like Hagrid in that way.

"Shouldn't we do something about this? Stop it from spreading, or something like that?" Sure the upper years aren't tattling, but the others don't have anything to stop them. He doesn't want his professor to suffer because of some bigots.

"I don't think we can. Thanks to Snape a few days and the whole school will know it." There is an unhappy frown on Marcus' face, and Roger knows that his friend actually likes the potions professor, unlike him. The only reason he is willing to take his class until graduation is because he will need potions later on, if he is going to be an auror. At least the man has humor, even if it's dark and mostly directed at him. He likes insulting people and giving them detentions. If he thinks about it this witch hunt is really not the man's style, he doesn't put people in danger. Not even Potter and his friends.

Still no matter how hard the potion master tries or what Marcus thinks, it will take much more than a few days for the whole school to know. Both of them underestimate the school's ability to ignore the obvious, and the raven's passive mentality.

"I think our house will guess it," Marcus looks at him and leans forward a little, interested of what he thinks their house is going to do. He anticipates something dramatic, or terrible or both, and he knows his friend is going to be disappointed by this. "and they won't do anything about it."

Marcus blinks, once, twice, three times before asking.

"As in telling their parents or ministry officials?" he leans back in his chair trying to get comfortable before shaking his head.

"As in anything. No bad, no good. We are Ravenclaws, Marcus. Knowledge, curiosity, creativity, those are our strength. Thinking, not doing." He shuts his eyes, but even like this he can picture his friend frowning. "We will keep this to ourselves, and in a few weeks we will forget that it ever happened. Maybe we will write some studies later on how unfair is this, or like your uncle invent a potion that will help weres to feel better on full moon. But we won't go out and start a riot. That's not what we are."

It's rather depressing if he thinks about it. He likes doing. He likes moving and thinking on his feet and coming up with new strategies on the spot. And it's not just he likes it. He is good at it. Not Ron Weasley good, of course, but he is one of the few people in the school who won a chess match against the boy. So his house sometimes irritates him to no end.

"Sometimes I think we should." His eyes particularly snap open as he stares at his friend. Marcus looks like he isn't even aware he said that aloud, but apparently he is because the next second he looks up and smiles at him. "Start a riot I mean." He chuckles humorlessly at first, but somehow it turns into a real laugh. "Oh God, think about Dumbledore's face. I don't think any of his plans would remain intact!"

And apparently the image of their headmaster's confused face is enough for him to start laughing too.

Despite their best efforts they do get kicked out of the library.

Penelope Clearwater can not put into words how fucking thankful she is for Lupin. Like, the man is a savior, an actual angel descended from heaven to save them. Everyone in her year thinks so, or at least the ones who are in his NEWT classes. Percy Weasley almost started to cry when the man made all of them personal study plans, so they could catch up and ace their NEWTs. Every. One. Of. Them. They know that he is a werewolf, the man is not subtle, with his scars and his worst fear being the moon. Her classmates knew before he "came down with something" on full moon.

So this essay professor Snape assigned them? She wants to just, tear it apart and burn it. Without magic. She wants to drench it in ink, to take it and feed it to…

She almost tears through the blasted thing when a hand touches her shoulder. If she does there is no way in hell she is writing it again, so she turns towards the housemate that startled her, ready to snap. And she finds herself face to face with a worried Cho Chang. The fourth year brows are drawn in concern, and she can hear the question before the girl actually asks it.

"Yes, I am all right. No, I don't need help, you are like three years younger than me anyway." The moment the words leave her mouth she wants to take them back. The young seeker hasn't done anything wrong, she shouldn't be the target of her anger. That would be Severus Snape, but she can't actually go and scream at her favorite professor, no matter how much he deserves it.

And Chang is going to places if her patience is anything to go by, because she doesn't snap back instead she smiles and says.

"Yeah, we are angry too."

There's a few seconds while she contemplates denying the whole thing, before she decides against it. Clearly nobody in this school can keep a secret, and if Cho knows it's only matter of time Marietta will too. She looks around and sure, everyone is looking at them with various expressions of concern and anticipation and curiosity. What she absolutely doesn't see is surprise. Well looks like her year isn't the only one with brains. She should have expected it; they are Ravenclaws after all. Instead she was caught up in her own bitter anger, regretting the fact she couldn't do anything.

But this? This she can work with.

According to her housemates the plan is going great. A little bit too great if anyone would ask Luna. Nobody does, which is a pity, because her their head is probably filled with baby aquavirius maggots, and she knows exactly five ways to counter them. They are trying to show Professor Snape that what he did was cruel and unnecessary, just make him a little irritated by barely acknowledging him in class. She agrees to a point, but she is sure that the plan won't work. The professor bares the signs of inamari poisoning and they attack both the heart and the mind. They are really nasty, hard to counter and even harder to cure, and she is sure ignoring him isn't the way to do it.

Then again this is just half of the plan. It's more about making themselves noticeable. To make the other teachers do something about the problem.

Penelope was pretty sure Snape would call them out sooner or later, or just berate them for being pain in the ass, as she put it. He can't do much else, because they are not actually dumbing their own work down, just act as if they don't care. If nothing else, he would tell it to their head of house and they have a chance to explain themselves. Which is exactly what they want.

Only after two weeks of being passive aggressive and cold, nothing happens, as she predicted inamari's poison doesn't go away just like that. By this point the other houses realized something was going on and some of them started mimicking them. Or tried to at least, because they don't seem to understand why this is happening only that they are kind of rude to professor Snape and getting away with it.

But it's not only professor Snape who lets them, but the other teachers too.

Which is strange.

She is pretty sure the last time she heard Penelope answering in clipped tones to the potion master, she caught the headmaster smiling approvingly. Or maybe a morped is messing with her head, despite wearing a whole carrot to counter them.

The worst is that professor Snape isn't doing anything either, yeah he is more irritated than usual, but it looks like he resigned himself to their cold shoulder, and is determined of stubbornly ignore the problem. If it goes on like this the blow up won't be pretty.

She has to tell someone about this, the question is who. There are only so many people who would talk to her, even less who would listen. Penelope won't, not when she is so worked up about it, and her brother usually follows her lead in important questions.

Well, that leaves one person.

Roger has no idea why Luna Lovegood came to him and not Marcus. Especially with a potion problem. But she looks the particular brand of stubbornness he is see when he looks into the mirror, so he knows she won't leave until he helps her, but the why eludes him.

"So why did you bring us here?"

The here is a hidden alcove most people use for making out, not secret meeting about potions. He just hopes that's not the new code for the former, because the idea of kissing the tiny girl makes him want to vomit.

"We have a problem."

"We?" because sue him, the plural confuses him even more than the situation.

"With Penelope's plan." like it's obvious. Maybe it is for her, but what hehas to do with it is still a mystery.

"So talk to her." she shakes her head, and glares at him a little like he is being an idiot.

"No, she is too stubborn, she won't listen to me."

"Have you actually tried talking to her? And what's the problem with the plan? I thought it was working fine? Did something happen?" because if Snape went and did something to Luna he is going to have words with the potions master. Never mind that the man has the ability of a dueling champion. He will fight him with his bare hands if needed.

"It's working, and it is not." And okay, she lost him there again and all he wants is an explanation not this whole cryptic bullshit, but he sees how she is biting her lips, like she is trying to explain herself and doesn't has the right words to do it. And he doesn't have the heart to be rude to her at all. He can do this; they just need to get to the same page. He already has an idea.

"Explain it to me. Your words." because everyone in the school knows Luna keeps talking about impossible creatures, and if it's easier for her to talk in metaphors and imaginary things, he will take it.

"I think our plan was sidetracked by dorimps." and he has no idea what that is, but at least they are going somewhere.

"Is that what they normally do?" her eyes widen a little. And oh… He knew not many people indulge her way of thinking, besides the Weasley girl, so his acceptance must be weird to her. If he thinks about it, he hasn't seen anyone else talking to her in a friendly way. Just tolerating and snappish, like they don't have the time, the patience for her. He usually is better at noticing things about people, why didn't he see this.

He vows to do something about it later, when they aren't hiding in a make-out alcove. Now he just listens.

"They let your wish come true, just not the way you think of."

"So when we made the plan, we wanted them to listen…"

"...and change things. And they did, but not for the better." he frowns, doesn't remember anything bad happening. Yeah Snape is crankier than normal, but that's understandable.

"Have you seen something?"

"Dumbledore smiling." which again, explains nothing. The old goat is always smiling mysteriously, that's not new.

"I assume there is more to it?"

She nods so hard; she almost hits her head on his chest.

"He was smiling when Penelope was being mean to professor Snape." And okay, right that is weird. For all his inability to keep the school safe, Dumbledore is not cruel. And neither is Penny, but she has been angry at Snape since the very start of this mess. Probably because he is her favorite professor, and the fact the man is not as good as she imagined hit her hard.

"So you think the headmaster approves?" because what they have been doing is kind of rude, and that's exactly the point. If the teachers actually encourage it, this won't go anywhere.

"He wants to teach professor Snape a lesson." Luna says this with such confidence he doesn't even try to question her.

"And his favorite students giving him a cold shoulder is a good one in his books. Did he try to talk to him?" because they are all adults and sometimes they aren't idiots, so they probably tried to sort this out in a grown up manner. Given the fact these are the same people who hid a priceless artifact in a castle full of children, he doesn't have too much hope

"I don't know but…" and she is biting her lips again, looking unsure and so much younger than twelve; and he wants to go and talk with the idiots who made fun of her. She is obviously cleverer than all of them. Still that's a future him problem. Now he just needs to understand what the hell is going on and do something about it.

"But?"

"The other teachers seem angry with him too."

He opens his mouth to ask what the hell is she talking about, when it dawns to him. She is right. Usually they don't let them get away with so much, hell McGonagall scolded Marcus the last time he said something about professor Trelawney and the woman hates the divination professor.

And if McGonagall was enabling them… the others must be doing the same.

Luna is right. This is not good. They need to do something about this.

Still the question remains…

"Why me? You know I don't like potions, that I don't like Snape. Hell I think there isn't a single soul in this school who doesn't know that." because everyone knows he hates potions, that he isn't fond of the professor either. Still she came to him instead of Penny, the prefect, the head girl, the one who planned this all.

The smile that appears on her face is so warm he needs to look away.

"Because you are one of the kindest people I know. And I don't think you not liking him will stop you from doing the right thing." And he can only blink for at least half a minute, waiting his brain to process what she said. That may have been the biggest compliment anyone ever told him, even if he doesn't think it's true.

But she is right on one thing. He won't let this get out of hand, because this whole plan isn't going anywhere. It just keeps hurting Snape and no matter how much he hates the guy and his classes, that doesn't mean he wants to needlessly torture him.

They are going to stop this whole thing, but to do that they need one more person. So he grabs Luna by her wrist and starts to drag her towards the potions classroom.

"Come on! We are going to need Penny for this one."

Penny spent the last potion lessons switching between politely smiling at her professor and being colder than an Azkaban cell on the winter. She knows her house opted to be more cold than false smiles, but Rob and Percy tell her it's kind of terrifying and creepy, so she keeps alternating between the two. It takes several weeks but professor Snape actually asks her, if everything is all right. The "of course professor" that leaves her mouth is dripped in honey and sarcasm and she cherishes the look of utter bafflement on the potion master's face.

But what really stops her is the flash of hurt.

And oh, she never thought of that. Because yeah, she was angry; angry as fuck at Snape for doing this to Lupin, but she never ever imagined she could actually hurt him. Which, is stupid of her, really. She is the best potioner the school has seen in years, along with Rob, and they usually end up in Snape office to discuss theories three or four times a week. The two of them want to be healers, and they wanted to improve the shit they call healing for years now. And professor Snape was helping them, tutoring them in more advanced potions, and improving the already existing ones together.

Neither of them was there since the DADA lesson. Not once. Both of them shut him out, she kept smiling at him in the most passive aggressive way she knew and she have hurt him. And she was angry and him, still is, and she wanted to punish him the only way she could do it. Now she is thinking that it would have been better if she had stormed his office and berated him about blood purity and not being a complete dick; because what she is doing is just cruel. Being angry at someone, who doesn't know what he did wrong, and has no way fixing it, is just wrong.

And all of her house is doing the same thing, because she asked them to, and maybe Snape just wanted to know what did he do wrong when he asked her. When he asked one of the two students, (toward he is almost kind) who he thought that actually give a little fuck about him, and he received similar treatment than from the rest.

And yeah her plan had a second part where they were going to explain everything, where they were going to tell the teachers, to professor Snape why they did this; but it looks like along the way she and everyone else forgot about the most important part.

This can't go on. Sure she is still angry and disappointed, and what Snape did wasn't all right at all, but neither is what they are doing now. They needed to stop, and make plans, real ones; not just glorified revenge fantasies. Both for making Lupin stay, and making Snape understand. But first she needed to make this right, to ease the pain she had caused. So she takes a deep breath, swallows her anger, burying it for later and looks the professor right in the eyes; smiling without and malicious intent for the first time in a long while.

"It will be professor, please don't worry about it." and she particularly runs out of his classroom.

She can feel her eyes tearing up, and it's stupid, because she doesn't have a reason to cry, yet here she is. He feels even worse when the first thing out of her brother's mouth is:

"Oh Merlin, did he hurt you?" It's filled with worry and fear, and she is just glad Percy needed to run for his next class, because she can barely take this from one person let alone too. She relaxes her clenched fists, and when did she do that? She doesn't remember so she shakes her head to clear her mind a little, and literally blurts out the first thing she has on her tongue.

"I think we hurt him."

He doesn't have time to answer because Luna Lovegood and Roger Davis appear almost from thin air just to stop right in front of her. They are a little out of breath, like they have been running, and it takes a few seconds before any of them can actually talk. She uses the time to blink away her tears, she doesn't want to worry them unnecessarily. Davis is the first one to recuperate.

"We need to talk." His voice is hard and full of natural authority, and she knows he is being considered for the quidditch captain role, but this is the first time he looks the part. She nods, because he is right they probably need to talk, the whole house needs to sit down and reevaluate. Although that's probably not why he is here. "Okay, Clearwater, Penny, listen. I know this was your idea and all, and that you are angry, but I don't think our plan is working. We need a new one!"

The confidence he had before literally fades away in front of her eyes, and she can't blame him. She is stubborn, and few people can convince her to change her mind. Her brother is one of them, and occasionally Percy is another. Good thing she doesn't need convincing on this one.

"You are right."

"…and the teachers are going along with it too, and what's the point of this... Wait, what?!" the stream of arguments reach an abrupt end, when the boy finally realizes she is agreeing with him.

"We should stop the plan. It isn't working, and we are hurting professor Snape." He blinks at her, but thankfully doesn't interrupt. She looks up to her brother, because the plan was her idea, but she needs him on board for this. Despite what everyone thinks Rob isn't just blindly following her around They like to present a united front, what everyone else sees is the product of long talks and fiery arguments. But he just smiles and nods, and okay, they can do this. They are going to get it right this time around. They are going to make professor Snape realize what he did was wrong without hurting him in the process. And maybe, if all things work out, they might just keep professor Lupin too.

"I think it's time to call a house meeting."