Severus quickly noticed there was something wrong with Peter Pettigrew.

The pudgy boy was currently being closely watched by James Potter and Sirius Black in the library, with Severus noted how Pettigrew looked high strung with nerves, his beady eyes were flitting (seemingly in fear) every few seconds and had twitchy fingers.

Did he have something important to tell Severus about? What could it be?

Frowning, Severus knew he had to do something to get whatever information Pettigrew had, but how? Secret codes? Invisible letters? Patronus messages?

It took him another minute before he mentally slapped his forehead and silently groaned to himself; he already had one such infallible, ingenious method!

As soon as he entered his room after dinner, Severus took out a black feather from his breast pocket and blew a wisp of breath onto the item, watching as it gradually unfolded into his spectral pet raven, Rogue. Its bright orange eyes twinkled in mischief at him and he almost smiled at its antics.

"Look after Pettigrew," he ordered, "If he ever got any messages to me, sent it to me right away. And if he got interrogated, defend him as best as you can without compromising his position."

The phantom bird bowed its head in obedience before turning invisible and flew away in search of the cowardly Gryffindor. Narrowing his eyes, Severus then took out his History of Magic book and continued working on his essay for a while before sighing morosely.

He couldn't afford losing such a valuable pawn within the Lions' den.

The seventh-year boys' room in Gryffindor Tower was silent, mainly with two of the three boys there had fallen asleep. However the remaining one was still awake, biting his lower lip as he read the parchment in his hand:

Snape,

James and Sirius somehow got a bit of your hair (during Potions Class, I assumed). They also had kept a bit of Polyjuice Potion we did a week ago, though they didn't know what to do with them for now. Perhaps they will use the potion during Evans' sister's wedding? Anyway, to get to the Come-and-Go Room, you have to pace three times in front of the wall opposite Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry at the seventh floor and wish for the room where your hair is hidden.

Evans' Animagus training is almost done; I'll tell you more about it but from what she had told us, her animal form looked small. Not sure if I have to accompany her to visit Remus during the full moon; bet the Animagus Ministry officer was still there.

Peter

With a defeated sigh, Peter kept the letter he had for Severus Snape into his satchel for the umpteenth time ever since he found out James had used the Slytherin boy's severing spell to get a few strands of his greasy hair. He briefly shuddered upon imagining how each of them would fare upon disguising as the Head Boy.

(No, Peter certainly didn't want to know. He already could think of how pathetic he was.)

The thing was; he couldn't even get away from his two supposed friends. The Peter from a few years ago would have been touched by such gesture, but now it felt more constricting. Were they suspecting him in giving information to Snape? Peter sure hoped not, he certainly had been covering his tracks quite well.

Anyway, he needed to find a way to send the letter to Snape before something terrible happened. Yawning, he drew down the curtains of his bed and reluctantly climbed into the sheets when he saw two bright orange eyes perched on one of the bedposts.

Peter almost let out a girly shriek at the sudden sight, though with a frown he quickly realized it was a raven from its glossy black feathers. His eyes widened upon recognizing whose bird it was and he immediately casted a few silencing spells around his bed, followed by Snape's Muffling Charm for good measure.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Peter cried out in utmost relief, "I… I- I tried so hard to reach Snape but James and Sirius just didn't let me get out of their sight ever, not even a second! Here, take this!" He pulled out the damned letter from inside his satchel and hurriedly tied it to the bird's leg.

"T- Tell him I can't help him much now, a- and I'm sorry for that," he went on, "I can't afford them to oust me, you know? It would've been better if Evans was suspected, instead." Grinning to himself, Peter saw the raven's eyes also seemed to glint in amusement before he drew the curtains of his four-poster bed aside and let the bird flew away to its master.

As he lay down on his bed with eyes closed in joy, Peter smiled.

He was safe.

Severus clenched his fists in suppressed rage upon reading Pettigrew's letter.

Those thrice damned Marauders! Did he really have to keep his guard up for 24/7? Why couldn't they just leave him be?! Groaning to himself, Severus massaged his face and hissed again at the numerous implied usages of the Polyjuice Potion with his strands of hair.

Were they planning to sabotage him? Frame him for the supposed existence and opening the Chamber of Secrets? There hadn't been any attacks on the students and the basilisk wasn't even in the school anymore!

Though, he still hadn't cleaned up the hidden place just yet, so he was still under their suspicion. Carding his fingers through his hair in frustration, he really wished for someone to talk to in order to discuss more of the plan to retrieve his stolen hair. He was ready to reach for the black notebook that Marvolo gifted him a year ago when he felt the familiar chill swept across his room.

"Why so glum, Prince?" a cold voice suddenly spoke, and Severus rolled his eyes in utter annoyance. Of all the time it could have chosen, of course the damned Grim Reaper came during a moment of crisis.

Turning to the cloaked figure, Severus snapped, "My position is at stake, if you want to know. Those fools have stolen part of my hair and how the hell was I supposed to get them without them knowing I had swapped them or something else?!"

There was a beat of silence.

"Too bad that wasn't any of my concern," Death finally said in deadpan and it turned to leave.

"How funny of you," Severus sneered and sighed dramatically as he glanced back at Pettigrew's letter, "Oh, what will happen if someone were to disguise as me and cause harm to others? Would you rather have me to be blamed or that other person?"

The Grim Reaper stopped in its tracks and narrowed its red eyes at him. "…What are you playing at?" it hissed.

"There is no wordplay or anything of that kind here," Severus raised his eyebrow exasperatedly, "Only justice."

He then blinked and before Death knew it, he had used the Portkey pendant to teleport to the mansion, and went down the hill in search for any suitable replacements for his stolen hair, those that would not cause any suspicions at first glance.

Severus almost lost hope until he heard the braying of donkeys from a nearby farm and grinned in utter delight.

Far away, the Dark Angel only shook its head in amusement before disappearing with a flash of light.

It was St. Valentine's Day, and Hogwarts was filled with owls sending love letters and gifts from one person to another. Some portraits even had the symbols and drawings of Cupid sending heart-shaped doodle arrows at everyone, to which they were simply brush away with magic.

Meanwhile, Regulus Black couldn't wait to see what prank Severus Snape had set up for his disowned older brother and his pretentious Gryffindor gang. Glancing at the older boy under the Invisibility Cloak, they crouched in waiting for the Marauders to step out of the Room of Requirement.

It didn't take long before the wooden door was swung open and four identical clones of Severus Snape walked out.

"Remember, the plan is to make sure people were making fun at Snape as soon as the potion's effects are over," James Potter's voice came out from one of them and the others nodded.

Frowning, Regulus and the real Severus Snape only watched as they went to separate ways before following the disguised Potter. "…Are you sure your plan will work, Snape?" he couldn't help asking. Mainly because at the moment, the arrogant boy really made it clear that anyone would detest the Head Boy by the time they returned to normal.

"Patience, Regulus," Snape whispered, though Regulus noted how he pursed his lips as Potter was imitating the Cupid in one of the portraits. The girls there only rolled their eyes before leaving, muttering to themselves how strange the Head Boy had been just then.

When the hour was nearly over, Regulus and Snape quickly went to the loo and he waited for the older boy to complete his business there before going to the Great Hall. Students there gave them a second glance upon seeing the other boy before looking back at the Snape who was making fun of himself.

"Three…" Regulus heard the raven-haired teen count, "two…"

"…One."

A shriek suddenly entered the air and everyone turned to see the commotion. The impostor Snape was changing; his voice turned hoarse and the face elongated to the front. Hooves began to appear in place of the hands and ears went straight up, the tips were twitching every now and then. A tail poked out of the school robes, swishing in agitation.

All the students there had their mouths covered when the transformation was complete, to which a… humanoid donkey stood.

Another door swung open, and they all turned to see two more donkeys braying in anguish as they approached the first one; with the Head Girl was distraught on their tails.

"Just what had happened?!" the smallest one whined.

Then someone began to laugh. And another followed.

Before long, the Great Hall was filled with roars of laughter aimed at the three donkeys. If it had been April Fools' Day, no doubt this would be the king of all pranks.

"They sure are making an ass out of themselves!" Regulus heard someone say; and he looked up to see Snape was smirking triumphantly at the result of the prank.

Smiling whilst shaking his head, Regulus told himself to not dare to cross the Head Boy at any time soon.

"THAT DAMNED SLIMY SNAKE SNIVELLUS!" James Potter hollered in utter rage as the Marauders gathered in the Room of Requirement three days after the unfortunate incident. As always, Remus Lupin was absent; no doubt he would join the meeting if he was still a Gryffindor.

Sirius Black was gnashing his teeth in full agitation; being turned into a donkey in front of public sure wasn't a pleasant experience. "Doubt Snivvy was that advanced in changing hair structures. The question is who have made the changes?! There're only four of us that knows about it!"

Blinking, he then turned to Lily and cracked his knuckles loudly, "Should've known it was you!"

"What?!" Lily exclaimed, being completely surprised by the sudden accusation. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking but I certainly have never spoken to Snape ever since last year!"

"Well that was a bloody lie!" Sirius barked, "You've been giving Snivelly information about us!"

"You have no proof for that, Black!" she shrieked, abruptly stood up, "Why weren't you asking Peter; he sure is being quiet right now!" She pointed at the pudgy boy, who only sat still with twiddled fingers.

"You're blaming Peter?!" James screeched, almost borderline into insanity, "Did you hear yourself correct? Peter's been with us for seven years! He would've never betrayed us just like that! Isn't that right, Pete?!"

Peter merely nodded, grinning nervously at them as he gave his explanation, "I- I… No offense, Evans; but you're the only one among us whose Polyjuice Potion hadn't been spiked with that donkey hair. And you are good with Charms and Transfigurations too, so…"

Lily's green eyes widened in utter disbelief; how could they be so quick to blame her?

"Just you wait!" she spluttered, her face was beet red in utmost wrath, "I will prove to you lot that I am not the traitor! And when I did, you better be so sorry!" With a loud stomp, she left the room but not before they could hear her sobbing on her way out.

The three boys remained where they stood for a few minutes before finally sitting back down on their couches.

"How dare she assume the worst of you, Pete," James spoke after taking a chug out of his Butterbeer.

Said boy only sniffed, "You reckon Snape's still the guy who did this to us?"

"Nah, this one's on Evans," Sirius huffed as he slammed his bottle onto the table, "That bint will pay for humiliating the Marauders."