A/N: as always, title is both meant literally and figuratively, so proceed with caution if you must
Lily Evans knew there was something fishy going on with the Marauders, but couldn't put her finger on what it was.
She had consulted Remus Lupin about the disastrous prank on St. Valentine's Day and its aftermath, to which she was framed as a traitor by his other friends. They were currently in the library, and Remus had congratulated her for finally completing her Animagus training.
"I think that it's best that you register your animal form as soon as possible," he said while writing his DADA essay about the Patronus Charm, "wouldn't want you to be humiliated like James and Sirius were."
Lily only shrugged, "I suppose so. Though, what do you think about what they thought of that… awful prank?"
"Look, Lily," the werewolf started after setting aside his parchment, "No offense, but you had been friends with Severus for five years. The guys, well especially James was infatuated with you, yes; but even the most reasonable man could see why he would be suspicious of you."
"But I didn't put the donkey hair into their Polyjuice Potions, Remy," Lily heaved a heartbroken breath, "If you were me, who would've you suspected?"
Remus tapped his chin thoughtfully before letting out a sigh, "To be perfectly honest, no one. I know both James and Sirius; they may seem rambunctious but they are also sympathetic over my condition. Peter is a bit reluctant and scared, yes, but he too has a position within our group, even as small as his contributions are."
"So ultimately, I can see their reasoning for blaming you because despite everything, you're still an outsider to them," he went on, taking in the betrayed look in the Head Girl's face. "Don't take this the wrong way, Lily; if you are to carefully explain what it was, I guarantee James will forgive you."
"B- But it wasn't me," the redhead mumbled, "It wasn't me, I swear."
"Sometimes we have to take blame from others," Remus muttered, "Keeps one humble, you know."
After a few minutes, the girl finally nodded and they continued to work on their schoolwork until it was time for dinner. The moment they walked out of the library however, they saw the rest of the Marauders were waiting for them with wand in hand.
Remus only sighed to himself, why did he have to play peacemaker every time an argument broke out?
"Now James; I'm sure Lily didn't mean for that to happen-" he began but was cut off by the bespectacled boy, "You don't know what it felt, Moony! Just shut up and don't bother in things you don't fully know of!"
"Well surely a transformation into a donkey wasn't as painful as one was to turn into a werewolf," the Hufflepuff boy went on with crossed arms and they all fell silent.
James shared a look with Sirius and Peter before slapping Remus lightly on the shoulder with a bashful grin, "…Heh, guess you're right, Moony." His hazel eyes narrowed at the redhead girl, though.
The four boys watched as the Head Girl bit her lower lip and mumbled out her apology, "I… I don't know how exactly those… donkey hairs got mixed up into the Ziploc bag because well, we can't just Apparate from the school grounds, remember? But for all what it's worth, I- I'm still sorry for putting you guys in such situation."
Sirius only snorted indignantly, "Don't bother. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean we can't hurt you."
Lily gulped; was this what Mary Macdonald had felt when she was approached by those Slytherin boys about two years ago? Not knowing what they would do to her, she immediately ran away to the safety of others in the Great Hall.
"Someday, Padfoot," James muttered with a pat on his best friend's shoulder, "but not now." The four Marauders then followed suit, not knowing someone was watching them from under the Invisibility Cloak before leaving the place as well.
Moaning Myrtle was waiting for the regular kind boy to visit her resting place.
She didn't like him at first; after all just who did ask for the details of her death during their first encounter? Though as time passed, she saw him huddling in one of the toilets with greasy oil dripping from his hair and school robes, and was quickly acquainted over the circumstances they both shared.
In the end, the two struck a deal; Myrtle would let him use her restroom as he pleased whenever he needed some time alone and in return, he would bring in some books, be it wizarding or Muggle books to be read together. As such, she was currently lounging on the window ledge when the door was swung open and she glided down eagerly to greet him.
Only for her to immediately realize the boy in front of her was not the real one. Wondering where the actual boy was, Myrtle mentally frowned to herself. Was the impostor trying to dig out some of his secrets from her?
Oh no, that just wouldn't do. She might be deceased for over twenty-five years already, but she was a very trustworthy ghost. She had kept all the secrets from the students that sought refuge from others and those fiends could try to pry them from her dead hands, but she wouldn't let them.
She might be a Ravenclaw, but she too had a high sense of loyalty to those who earned her sympathy.
"Hello," she started sweetly, gauging in all of the impostor's reactions, "How do you do today?"
Whoever it was under the disguise flinched at the sudden conversation. "Um… I'm just fine," they said; Myrtle quickly noted the person was a girl from the fake deep voice she tried to emulate.
"Well, have you brought along the books? The Hunchback of Notre Dame?" the ghost went on before sitting on the sink counters. "I really want to know more about Quasimodo." She almost laughed at the impostor's blank expression; oh, she certainly would have fun breaking this girl who dared to impersonate the kind boy.
The door of her restroom swung open once again, and this time Myrtle knew it was the real boy she waited for since she could hear him muttering while stepping into the place, "Well, poor Quasimodo; I do wish he had found someone better…"
Silence fell into the room when the two boys made eye contact with each other.
"Ex-" the impostor started, though she quickly fell onto the wet floor on her back, rigid as a board. As expected, the real one was better; already had his wand out ever since he got there.
"Ew, loo water," Myrtle shuddered comically from her place on the sink counter, "Even I wouldn't wish that upon others."
"Do tell," the Head Boy rolled his eyes before he too joined her and began opening Victor Hugo's famed novel for her. All the while, she told him what had happened and he snorted in amusement before sending a Patronus message to Professor McGonagall to unmask the girl.
Just as the Deputy Headmistress arrived at the lavatory, the girl's disguise fell off and they all frowned upon seeing who it was.
"Seventy-five points from Gryffindor for daring to impersonate as another student without their permission," the stern professor said, "I am so disappointed with you, Miss Evans. Were you planning to do something while disguising as Mr. Snape?"
The Head Girl's green eyes only looked up at them with utmost fear. Sighing, the woman took out her wand and casted Mobilicorpus onto the immobilized student, "I will take it from here, Mr. Snape; thank you for bringing forth this issue to me. Perhaps another student would be better for the position."
When the two left, Myrtle grinned at the boy who shared the same sentiment as her. "Now where were we?"
Severus never thought he would share the same feeling as the Marauders did, but stranger things had happened over the years.
James Potter nodded at him before the Transfiguration class started, and Peter Pettigrew gave him a quick wink; seemingly thanking him for doing their part of humiliating Lily Evans. To be perfectly honest, it was not his intention; he certainly didn't know she had gotten an uncorrupted strand of his hair for her Polyjuice Potion. Perhaps Lady Luck had bestowed her blessings on him through Myrtle?
Shaking his head, he turned to Evans who tried her best in making herself as small as possible, hiding from the scrutinizing eyes of other students; much to no avail when Professor McGonagall kept calling her out to answer the questions.
When the class was over, Severus decided to stay back for a while to finish his Astronomy chart before finally leaving for lunch.
The corridors were mostly silent since almost everyone was in the Great Hall. Quickening his pace, Severus was ready to walk down the stairs when he heard someone call for him.
"Prefect Snape!" the voice spoke once again and Severus stopped, wondering who it had been. His curiosity rose when seeing a group of first-year and second-year students inside one of the classrooms. There was also a cabinet. Looking around, he realized it was the Defense against the Dark Arts room. "Yes?" he queried.
"Um… we're wondering…" one of them asked, "what is inside the cupboard?" As soon as they finished saying it, the wardrobe shook and banging sounds were heard from inside it.
Severus almost laughed good-naturedly at their frightened reactions as they scurried away from the cabinet. "Oh, it's nothing to be afraid of," he said with a grin and stepped into the classroom. Perhaps they were due to an early lesson? Seeing their eyes lit up upon learning something new never ceased to make him smile.
"Now, you're not supposed to learn about them until your third year at most, although some of you may have encounter it," Severus began, "Inside this cabinet is a Boggart, a creature that takes in the form of your greatest fear. No one really knows how it actually looks like, though."
"How can we defeat it, Prefect Snape?" another student asked.
Severus hummed, "You will have to think of something funny while casting it. The incantation is 'Riddikulus'."
There was a ripple of laughter upon hearing his answer and Severus rolled his eyes in amusement; yes, the way to subdue the Boggart was ridiculous indeed.
"Can you please demonstrate it to us?"
The corner of his lips twitched minutely in fright. What was his Boggart? Briefly thinking about what he had been afraid of, Severus could only surmised two things: his father and Remus Lupin's werewolf form. Leaving what it was the Boggart would show to the curious children around him to Fate, Severus then unlocked the cupboard with a quick Alohomora.
But Severus should have known that the Dark creature would take in any feeling he had upon facing it. That he was currently being a bit insecure about showing the younger students his most feared person or animal. That if a person was undecided in what he was afraid of; the Boggart would turn into the front-most logical thing in his mind.
And so, a flash of light briefly blinded everyone in the room and when Severus saw what his supposed fear was; his face went utterly pale and he immediately wished he hadn't entered the classroom at all.
In front of him was his younger self, dangling in the air by his ankle. His school robe was draped down, exposing his greying underpants to the younger students. An exact copy of his onyx eyes stared back at him in utmost terror, silently begging for help.
"No…" Severus shook his head in dawning horror, taking backward steps slowly as his breaths quickened while the memory from nearly two years ago subconsciously flashed in quick succession within his mind. He no longer cared that he actually had an audience inside the classroom; all he wanted to do was being far away from his younger self. A Boggart he might be, yes, but even then how was he supposed to banish the creature away? By allowing himself to be made fun of?!
"NO!"
Severus then bolted away from the room. Running down the stairs, he could only think of heading to either Myrtle's restroom or his room to hide himself when the tread under his right foot suddenly disappeared and he stumbled forward.
Time came to an agonizing crawl as his other foot inadvertently left the safety of the stair steps. Cursing his bad luck for striking in at his most vulnerable moment, Severus quickly twisted his body so that his back would receive the impact instead and in doing so, saw Death was reaching its bony hand out to him. He couldn't gauge the Grim Reaper's reaction from under its black hood, but his heart plummeted to his stomach anyway.
…Had his time arrived already?!
The back of his head hit the sharp ledge of one of the steps with a faint crack and Severus tumbled down the entire staircase in a dark blur.
Then everything went black.
A/N:...Yes, I made Severus' SWM self as his Boggart. I mostly refered to this post for it:
https/moonlightdancer26./post/672031363358195712/i-am-surprised-by-the-need-of-the-snaters-or-those
(to be perfectly honest, I do think he had such Boggart in canon but then it gradually changed to Lily's dead body and Voldemort, etc)
Do tell what you think about it in the comments!