Chapter 34: Seizing Opportunity

Severus felt the blood drain from his face.

Melison's lips twitched up into a half-smile.

"So that does worry you. I thought it might."

"But sir – you could speak to the governors, couldn't you?"

"I could," Melison agreed. "But should I? You've shown no regard for the rules, Severus. Indeed, you seem to thrive on breaking them. And expelling you would reduce my headaches considerably."

"But I'm –"

"What, son? Clever?" Melison's eyes seemed to be burning a hole in Severus's own, but he didn't look away. "Yes, you are. But you're reckless. You let your emotions get the better of you, despite your progress in Occlumency." He lifted the books again. "I will give you one last chance. The truth, Severus."

How was he supposed to give him the truth when he wasn't sure what he'd been doing there himself? His palms were sweating, and he rubbed them on his robes absently.

And what if he told Melison what he did know? That he'd clearly been made the fool by Mulciber, led to the library in order to get caught –

Severus started, his breath catching. He was a fool, but not for following Mulciber's instruction - for not seeing it for what it was: an opportunity. But he certainly couldn't tell his Head of House that. He focused on the lie he was about to tell until he believed it himself, then allowed his body to sag slightly, as if Melison had broken his resolve.

"I found books referencing these in Mr. Malfoy's library, and I was curious. I've been through most of the ones in your office, and these seemed a good start to test a few theories I've had. I'm not planning on using them on anyone."

Melison frowned, his eyes narrowing. But Severus maintained eye contact, not blinking, and pushed on.

"I should have come to you, sir, I know, but I thought if you knew it was because of the Malfoys, you'd refuse."

"With good reason," Melison said sharply. "Even as an advanced student, son, unsupervised experiments are dangerous. Ones put into your head by research in Abraxas Malfoy's library, even more so."

Irritation flared in Severus, but he fought to control it.

Melison was still making eye contact, but finally, his head jerked down once in a terse nod, his frown still in place. "No more unauthorized trips to the Restricted Section, understood?"

Severus nodded, holding his breath.

"I cannot let this go with a simple warning. Ten points from Slytherin, and a detention. I'll let you know the details at a later date. You may go."

Severus turned, opening the storeroom door. He was halfway down the corridor when Melison called after him.

"And no experimenting, Snape. Or I will be forced to take stronger action."

"Yes, sir," Severus said, hurrying away. His stomach was roiling, his heart in his throat. By the time he reached the common room, he was grinning.

He'd just lied to Melison.

Successfully.

When he entered the common room, the din of the other students chatting with each other died abruptly. He ignored the stares, holding his head up as he made his way to the back corner where Lucius and his other friends were sitting.

Lucius wore a thin smile as Severus sat. "Still here, I see," he said.

"Melison's going soft," MacNair complained. "If I'd been caught smuggling books out of the restricted section, I'd have been tossed out before I could say Quidditch."

"Only because he knows you can't read any of the books in the Restricted Section," Rosier snorted.

"Oh, he threatened expulsion," Severus said, leaning back in his chair. "But I convinced him they were for experimenting."

"And who did you tell him you were experimenting on?" Lucius asked.

Severus smirked. "I didn't give names. But I have some ideas." His eyes roamed the room, a sense of satisfaction creeping in when one by one, his housemates avoided his stare and began to talk amongst themselves again. His gaze found Mulciber, sitting in the far corner alone. The older boy glanced up from his book, and Severus gave him a subtle nod. Mulciber looked back down at his book, a smirk sliding up one side of his face.

Word had spread around the castle before breakfast that Severus had been sneaking two highly dangerous books from the Restricted Section.

And that he had managed to talk himself out of expulsion.

The result was the same as it had been in his common room. Most of the students avoided even looking at him, their conversations hushed.

A few slid their hands over their goblets, as though to protect themselves against his poisoning them.

By the time he slid into the seat across from Mulciber, his smirk felt permanently affixed to his face.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Mulciber rumbled.

"It does a bit," Severus admitted. He hadn't thought that he'd cared one way or the other, but this – fear of him, of what he could do – it felt – powerful. He liked it. "Though you might have told me what you were doing," he said.

"Had to make sure I wasn't wasting my time," Mulciber shrugged.

"Well, thanks," Severus said.

"We're not done, Snape. People have short memories. You'll ride this for a few weeks, but we've only just begun."

"What were you thinking?" Lily demanded, catching him after breakfast before he could head up to History of Magic. "And now you're friends with Mulciber?"

"It isn't a big deal, Lily –"

"Yes it is, Severus. Mulciber's twenty times worse than Lucius, and he's only a third year!"

"He's not that bad," Severus protested, though he'd been of the same mind twenty-four hours earlier. "He's just built himself a reputation, that's all."

Lily's lips were pressed into a thin line. "Yeah, because he's a toerag," she said. "Your own housemates don't go near him. Why –" she exhaled, a short puff of air as her eyes narrowed.

Severus felt a bubble of irritation well up inside of him. "If it keeps people off my back, Lily, then what's the harm in hanging around him?"

"You're impossible sometimes," she said, gritting her teeth.

"And you in all," he snapped back, immediately regretting it when he saw the anger flash in her eyes. "Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't mean – look," he lowered his voice and made sure there was nobody eavesdropping. "I need to bolster my reputation before the end of term. Mulciber's perfect, because – well, it's like you said – his reputation's big enough to latch onto until I have my own."

"That's why you were sneaking books out of the Restricted Section. You wanted to get caught." She shook her head. "Just – be careful, Severus. Please."

In History of Magic, the seat beside him remained empty. He had never been anybody's first choice of seatmate, but this morning there was an even more obvious air of avoidance. Severus's lips twitched upwards. He'd rather have the vacant seat beside him than an obnoxious Ravenclaw know-it-all.

The Hufflepuffs in Charms tried to go a step further and leave empty seats all around his desk, until Professor Flitwick chastised them for trying to fit three to a bench.

A terrified boy – Severus thought his name might be Stebbins – was the unlucky seatmate, nervously looking at him from the corner of his eye all through class, at one point knocking his pot of ink off the desk, narrowly missing Severus' robes.

"Do be more careful Stebbins," Professor Flitwick admonished before performing a cleansing spell.

"Get ink on me," Severus muttered from the corner of his mouth, suppressing a grin when Stebbins' body went rigid, "and you won't be able to use a quill for the rest of the term."

The class period ended, and Stebbins bolted from the seat. Severus smirked.

This was going to be fun.

Mulciber snorted at lunch when Severus told him.

"Keep making threats like that, eventually you're going to have to follow through," he noted. "So make sure you're ruddy well prepared to do it next time."

"Gentlemen," Lucius said, slipping onto the bench beside Severus. "It seems the two of you have become as thick as thieves." His eyes glittered strangely. "Good." He held out a hand to Mulciber, a thick folded square of paper between his fingers.

Mulciber trailed his gaze from the packet to Lucius's face. "And the rest?"

"You'll get it," Lucius said smoothly. "Of course, if you'd rather wait until it's all together –" he began to curl his fingers back towards his palm, but Mulciber snatched the packet and put it into his pocket quickly.

"Always a pleasure, Lucius," Mulicber rasped. He stood from the table and hurried out of the room, leaving half of his food on the plate.

Severus frowned after him, then turned to Lucius. "What did you give him?"

"Payment for his services," Lucius said, picking up his fork. "Leave it at that."

Severus's frown deepened. "You mean for me. His services for me."

Lucius turned his head slightly and fixed an annoyed look on the younger boy. "Yes. He worked much more quickly than I thought he would. Stay close to him. But it is equally important that you do not neglect our little group."

"Afraid you'll miss me?" Severus asked with a smirk.

"I'll positively weep into my pillow every night," Lucius said, rolling his eyes. "Your reputation at Hogwarts will be cemented with Mulciber's assistance. But alienating the others will hurt your prospects outside of school. And you will be of no use to anyone if you fail to even obtain an apprenticeship."

"I'm a second year," Severus protested. "There is plenty of time –"

"Not as much as you may think," Lucius said quietly. "Not to get in."

"Get in where?"

"Lord Voldemort's inner circle. I'll speak for you, of course, but it will bear more weight if you haven't had doors slammed in your face because of your lack of connections."

Severus frowned. "The man at Christmas?"

"He's more than a man, Severus," Lucius said, eyes glittering. "He's the most powerful wizard this world has ever seen. And we're going to be at his side."

"How do you know?"

"I won't say more, not in this place," Lucius muttered. "But you'll find out soon enough. This summer when you come to the manor." His gaze flicked up to the staff table, where Melison was staring at them, not blinking. "Anyway," he said, turning back to Severus. "I expect I'll be too busy with N.E.W.T.'s to have any kind of chat with you again this term." He clapped the younger boy on the shoulder and stood. "Don't make me start wondering if the last year-and-a-half of my time has been wasted."

Severus watched him leave, his frown growing. Lucius's mention of Lord Voldemort made him remember Sebastian's request that he report anything he overheard at Christmas to him or Melison. He looked up at his Head of House, but the older wizard had already gone.

He shrugged and stood to head to Defense Against the Dark Arts. There hadn't been much to share anyway.

Nikolas caught up to him just outside of the Hall. Severus glared at the hand the other boy put on his arm to stop him, then tried the Mulciber move and slid his eyes up to his dormmate's face.

"If you want to keep that hand –"

"Oh shut up," Nikolas said, nevertheless releasing his arm. "I heard what Lucius said to you. About – about You-Know-Who," he hissed.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And I want in," he said immediately. "If it means licking your bloody shoes, then that's what I'll do."

"Sod off, Avery," Severus said, beginning to walk towards class again.

Nikolas matched his quick strides, panting as Severus quickened his pace again.

And when they got to class, Avery slid into the seat beside Severus without hesitation.

"I want in," he said again.

Severus scowled. "So talk to Lucius," he said. "Leave me out of it."

"Lucius is gone in six months. I can't even get myself invited to the Manor. You're there every bloody holiday. And with this Pemberton thing -"

Severus glared at him, his hand twitching towards his wand.

"Hex me," he said with a shrug. "I probably know the counter by now anyway. You're not the only one who studies outside of class."

Severus snorted. He hadn't forgotten Nikolas's pathetic showing last year. He'd taken him down after just one jinx.

"Oi, Nikolas!" Callum had entered the room and made a confused gesture, his arms wide.

"Take your seat, Mr. Nott," Professor Burtram said, coming in behind him and shutting the door.

Nikolas shrugged at Callum and pulled out his textbook.

"Look," he muttered, sliding a piece of paper over the desk. Severus arched a brow, but looked at it, curious.

There were words scrawled in Nikolas's hand over the page. They looked like spells, but he'd never heard of any of them before.

"Where'd you get these?" he asked, frowning.

"Made 'em up," Nikolas said, grabbing for the paper back. Severus held it out of the shorter boy's reach. "They don't work – yet. But as soon as I figure out how –"

"It'll make you a lot more useful to Lucius," Severus muttered, stuffing the paper into his book as Burtram cleared his throat and cast a stern glare in their direction. "Leave it with me," he said when Burtram looked away again.

He'd never even thought of inventing his own spells before.

The possibilities were endless.