Back at it again. I cannot be stopped.
*knocks on wood to ensure I don't jinx myself and incur a power outage or computer crash*
Thanks again to my lovely reviewers. I love when you share your thoughts with me. They give me things to consider and ideas of where to go from here. So never stop asking questions! Never stop theorizing! You guys are my life blood!
I enjoy hearing all of you express interest in particular scenes and frustration at characters (not to say I love antagonizing you, but come on, poking the bear is fun!)
If Someone Cared Enough
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ruminations
The first few weeks of school passed in relative uneventfulness. Students slowly got back into the swing of working and studying instead of relaxing and procrastinating as many of them had all summer. As the weather took its time in becoming true autumn weather, many students took to studying outside, enjoying the remaining warm days while they could.
It was because of this reason that one group of students had the library relatively to themselves.
"That's wrong," Simone said blandly, tapping a finger onto Davis's Runes homework.
Davis frowned, looking over his paper, "It can't be," he denied, "I checked the book six times for the answer."
"Check it again," Simone said simply, thumbing through a book on the finer uses of Asphodel.
Davis flipped back to his marked page in the textbook. Cursing under his breath, he vanished the mistake from his family and began penning in the correct answer, muttering all the while.
Thea shook her head, smiling at her friends fondly as she researched the components for truth serum.
Simone smirked over the rim of her teacup, taking a quiet sip.
"Aren't food and beverages strictly forbidden in the library?" Severus questioned, one eyebrow raised inquiringly.
Simone shrugged, "What Pince doesn't know won't hurt her," was the simple reply. Simone placed the teacup down on its saucer and wand her wand over it.
"Spill-proof," she said, picking up her cup and turning it upside down. All the tea stayed inside the cup.
"Don't be such a worrywart, Sev," Lily chided, "Hardly anyone ever follows Pince's rules completely."
"Hard to believe I would hear that from a prefect," Severus drawled.
"Even I can recognize when a rule is pointless," Lily replied. She reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of chocolate, nibbling on it while keeping an eye out for the librarian.
Nesme wasn't even trying to hide her bag of crisps, "I am SO glad I smuggled some of these from home. Knowledge makes me hungry."
"Knowledge makes Severus pessimistic," Simone observed, "Look, each year in this library his frown lines grow more and more pronounced. Oh what horrors knowledge has brought him."
Severus slapped Simone's hand away, "Very funny," he said sarcastically.
"I thought it was," Simone said pleasantly.
"Me too," Davis added with a cheeky grin.
Severus turned to Lily, "If I see even the hint of a smile on your face, you can forget borrowing my notes."
Lily schooled her face into a solemn expression, "I wouldn't dream of smiling." She turned to Simone and Davis.
"That wasn't funny, guys," Lily said seriously, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"You're remarkably convincing," Simone said teasingly.
Lily snorted and began to giggle.
"Kiss your homework help goodbye," Severus said tartly.
"Oh come on, Sev," Lily said beseechingly when Severus tried to stand up, "Where's your sense of humor?"
"I must have left it in my other set of robes," Severus said mockingly.
"Along with the rest of his personality," Simone muttered, prompting the others to giggle.
Severus pointed a finger at Simone, "You, I'm ignoring."
"Tried it; it doesn't make her go away," Davis quipped.
At the affronted look on Simone's face, Thea laughed, causing Simone to look even more aghast.
"Theadosia!" she gasped, scandalized, "Et, tu, Brutus?"
"Alright, now I feel marginally better," Severus conceded in satisfaction.
"Hey, every party has a pooper and that's why I invited you," Simone snapped without any real heat behind it. She turned to Thea, "And you, young lady. I am surprised at you. Giggling at the expense of your best friend; you fiend!"
Simone's attempts to be serious just made Thea laughed harder, her nose wrinkling up cutely, "S-sorry, Sim," she offered weakly in between giggles.
Lily bit back a smile, "So, now that no one is taking off in a huff, I really need those DADA notes, Sev. I promised Mary I'd revise her essay and I want to make sure I'm going by the correct material."
"Don't trust your own notes?" Severus asked knowingly.
Lily gave Severus an unamused stare, "No one is as thorough in that class as you, Sev."
"Fair enough," Severus said, handing over his notes.
"Where is Mary anyway?" Nesme questioned.
"Hanging out with the other girls from our dorm," Lily explained, "They've been sort of clingy to us lately; wanting to spend more time with us than usual. They tried to talk me out of studying today. They were adamant about it until Mary told them she would spend time with them. They were skimming through a make-up catalogue when I left."
"They must be pretty vapid and girly," Davis stated bluntly without a care for how rude that sounded, "To prefer make-up over an education."
'More like that want to keep me away from Severus,' Lily thought sourly.
"Hey the first Hogsmede weekend is coming up pretty soon," Nesme said, thankfully changing the subject, "Are you all excited?"
"Simone has probably bought everything there is to buy there, but we'll go," Thea said with a smile.
Simone pouted at her friend, "Not everything…just…most of it."
"I've got someone to meet there, so I have to go," Severus stated.
"Oh? Who's that?" Nesme asked curiously.
"A doctor, for my neck," Severus lied easily, having known this question would come, "They want to monitor my progress as time goes on; because it was caused by a spell I invented, the side effects are still unknown."
Nesme nodded, "Makes sense."
"Meet us for a cuppa after your appointment," Davis offered, "We can all check out some shops together."
Severus breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, glad his friends bought his story. Only Lily and the professors really needed to know he was meeting his therapist.
He looked over at Lily, diligently going through the notes he lent her.
Lily had yet to really open up about how Avery's assault affected her. She had mentioned her wariness around men and her frequent nightmares, but she rarely ever went into any detail about either subject, just brushing it off as something she would have to work through. More than once Severus had broached the subject of her possibly seeing a professional, but his suggestion was continuously rebuked and dismissed. Lily was steadfast in assuring her longtime friend that she was handling herself just fine.
"It's not like he got very far," she would often say.
Severus glanced down at Lily's arm, covered by the sleeve of her robe. Lately he was noticing more and more redness appearing on her freckled flesh, a scratch here or there, a scab that should have healed by now just getting steadily bigger. When he questioned Lily about it, she had laughed it off and insisted it was an allergy, probably lingering from the summer. She even went to the hospital wing to acquire some cream just to prove it.
Severus looked at Lily again, suspicious. She had said it was just a skin irritation; surely, that wasn't a big concern. But…he kept thinking back to what Dr. Marcus had said about anxiety and stress.
He glanced down at his bitten fingernails and healing skin around them.
Lily was quite adamant that her nightmares were lessening and that she was coping well around her male classmates. Still, Severus couldn't help but worry how much of this was true and how much of it was just her putting on a brave face.
A loud crash near one of the library windows dragged Severus from his thoughts, making him and all his friends turn in their seats to see what the commotion was.
Madam Pince appeared around the corner and gave the general area an icy glare.
"Shhhhhhh!" she hissed, before disappearing back around the bookshelves. She didn't even bother to see what caused the noise, content on blaming everyone simply for existing in the same vicinity as her precious books.
"Oh dear," fretted a particularly small house elf. He was on his hands and knees, picking up some books that had fallen off a shelf, "Not good, not good at all."
Simone stood up and approached the creature.
"Are you alright?" she asked with concern.
"Yes, yes, all fine," the house elf claimed unconvincingly, "Just clumsy, Bixby very clumsy. Not good; not supposed to be seen by students, bustling about disturbs their studies."
"Hey now," Simone crouched down in front of Bixby, "You don't need to worry about being seen. House elves are a normal part of most wizards' lives. And it wouldn't hurt for students to see what hard work really looks like after all the complaining they do about simple essays and reading."
"Bixby should not call attention to himself," Bixby went on, "Was stacking a shelf for Madam Pince…only disillusioned myself for a second, I did. Now Bixby make a mess of everything, making students worry."
Simone looked up at the shelf in question. It wasn't particularly high up.
"How did you fall, Bixby?" Simone asked gently.
Bixby didn't answer, wringing his hands together.
"Bixby," Simone tried again, "Did someone hex you off the shelf?"
"Bixby didn't see anything," Bixby said evasively, "Too busy stacking books."
"Must have been some older pureblood," Simone muttered to herself. She looked down at Bixby's leg, noticing a nasty red blotch forming, "You got hit with a stinging hex, you poor thing." She reached for Bixby's leg.
"Bixby's fine!" the house elf insisted, attempting to stand up, "Must get back to work." He stood up and winced.
"I only want to help Bixby," Simone sighed. A clever though coming to her, the Slytherin tried another tactic, "Bixby, your job is to make the students happy, isn't it?"
Bixby nodded, "It is, Missus, though Bixby not doing a great job right now." His ears drooped sadly.
Simone's eyes softened in pity and sympathy, "Well it would make me very happy if you let me see to it that you're alright."
Bixby looked up at Simone questioningly, "It would?"
Simone nodded.
Bixby reluctantly let Simone look him over, surprise overtaking his face as the pureblood girl picked him up in her arms.
"You poor thing," Simone cooed, as her friends began to wander over, "Being picked on when you're minding your own business. You're so young too! Is this your first year working at Hogwarts?"
Bixby nodded, "Bixby was born in the castle like his brothers and sisters; only deemed old enough to work this past summer."
"Well aren't you a hard working boy," Simone praised, adjusting Bixby to her hip. She seemed oblivious to the shocked looks she was getting from some students and the disgusted ones from others. A pureblooded Slytherin babying a house elf was like seeing a Manticore dance the jig.
Thea came closer, lightly taking Bixby's leg in her hands, "This could probably be taken care of with a cream. The hospital wing should have some."
"Bixby must finish his work!" Bixby cried, scandalized, "He cannot just wander off when there is work to do."
"Then we'll think of something else that can be done here," Simone offered, "Any ideas?"
"I have a salve in my bag," Lily said, rummaging through her things, "I mostly use it for paper cuts, but it should soothe the skin just fine."
As the others fussed over Simone's precious cargo, Severus hung back, not seeing himself being of much use in the matter. Plus, he wasn't exactly the friendliest face, so the fragile little creature might not find him a welcome sight, being so shook up as it was.
Severus glanced around the library, taking in those around them. Most of the students had returned to their work, but some still watched the scene with the house elf curiously or with disapproval as was the case of some seventh year Slytherins.
One of them looked Severus's way and sneered at him, their lip curling up. Severus returned the sneer with one of his own. Things had been particularly tense in his House since he returned to school.
'Well look who it is,' Evan Rosier said their first night back in the Slytherin dorms, 'Severus…I assumed you would have been resorted to Gryffindor by now.'
A few students snickered, the goons flanking Rosier smirking.
They were gathered in the common area, people scattered here and there. Many older students were lounging on the couches and chairs while the first years grouped together nervously, still unsure where they needed to be. Some stood to the outskirts of the room, watching the confrontation between Snape and Rosier tensely.
'Then apparently you don't understand how sorting works, Rosier,' Severus drawled in tired boredom, 'not that I expect you to know much other than how to act the pompous ass.'
Rosier narrowed his eyes but otherwise kept his composure.
'I'm just shocked,' Rosier said casually, 'that the headmaster didn't see fit to resort you after your little…display last year on the train.'
'And what display would that be?' Severus asked sardonically, 'Doing the right thing? Putting two attempted rapists in their place?'
A few students flinched at his harsh wording.
'bandying words like that around is a sure way to make some enemies, Snape,' Rosier warned, 'I'm sure their families wouldn't appreciate you besmirching their family names like that.'
'Then they should have raised men instead of monsters,' Severus shot back.
Someone gasped, several other students whispered to each other, watching the verbal spar volley back and forth like a muggle tennis match.
From his spot by the fireplace, Regulus took in the spat with a blank expression, his expression unreadable.
Rosier frowned, 'It's a real shame, Severus. You had such potential. We could have given you everything in your wildest dreams: wealth, power, a name for yourself. And instead you took our generosity and threw it away…all for a mudblood.'
Severus glared, 'Don't call her that,' he warned dangerously.
Rosier shrugged hands in the air, 'I'm only telling it like it is. You traded down; not up. What could she possibly offer you…besides the obvious, I suppose. You gave up a grand future just to get in some mudblood's pants.'
Rosier smirked at Severus, 'What a waste too; I doubt Avery is the only one who's ever had a go at her…'
Severus's wand was out before anyone could even blink, pointed squarely between Rosier's eyes, 'Not another word out of you,' he hissed menacingly.
Several of Rosier's buddies drew their wands, pointing them hesitantly at Severus.
Rosier eyed the wand warily, drawing his own, 'Careful now Snape; we wouldn't want a repeat of what happened to you on the train, would we?'
'Go ahead and try,' Severus challenged, 'If you honestly think I can't handle a spell of my own invention when I expect it coming, you're severely mistaken.'
Rosier didn't move, glaring down the end of Severus's wand.
'Or are you all talk?' Severus questioned knowingly, 'The truth is you don't know my spell, do you? Avery never taught you.'
Rosier said nothing.
'That's it, isn't it?' Severus continued, 'He didn't teach you the spell because then he wouldn't be as powerful. Typical Slytherin; not about to put himself at a disadvantage, not about to teach his secrets to allies with the potential to become enemies.'
Seeing Rosier's glare deepen, Severus continued, 'It's perfect for His cause isn't it? Not one of you trusting the other, all ready to betray one another in order to be the first to kiss the hem of His robe. Sounds like a true wizarding paradise He's building for you all…'
Severus's eyes landed on Regulus, the dark haired boy still perched by the hearth. Regulus eyes met his own for a moment, a flicker of something inscrutable in his gaze, before turning away and heading to his room
'You're making a grave mistake, Snape,' Rosier stated, drawing the attention back to himself, 'Don't think there won't be repercussions from turning your back on the cause.'
'The hell with your cause,' Severus growled, 'What could you ever given me that wouldn't have come with a price? You're the one who's mistaken, Rosier; good luck throwing your life away for a madman.'
Clapping came from behind him.
Simone walked down the stairs from the girl's dorm, Thea close behind.
'Well, well,' Simone said, drawing her wand, 'This has been quite the rousing performance but some of us have class in the morning.'
She aimed her wand at Rosier's group.
'Evan,' she said with a mocking level of politeness, 'If you would be so kind as to shove off.'
Rosier stared down the two wands pointing at him, weighing his options. His eyes trailed over Simone, landing on Thea, prompting him to lower his wand, lest any of his unsavory secrets be uncovered by her nasty ability.
'This isn't over, Snape,' Rosier warned as he headed up to his dorm.
Severus watched the seventh year leave before turning his attention to the rest of the lingering crowd. Most of those watching quickly went back to their own business, as Slytherins always keep their heads down and avoid looking to make enemies.
Severus glanced over the library's occupants again. Aside from the Slytherin seventh years, there were some giggling Hufflepuffs clustered together by the door, some Ravenclaws picking meticulously through heavy tomes of Alchemy. By a group of meandering Gryffindor third years, a sliver of green and silver caught Severus's attention.
"Getting some light reading in, Reg," Severus said coolly, approaching the boy.
Regulus flinched, nearly dropping the book he was peaking around.
"Just catching up on some core reading material," was Regulus's hasty explanation.
"I see," Severus hummed. He tipped the cover of the book towards him, "Dances with Moonbears; pray tell, what class assigned you that?"
Regulus flushed, putting away the book he had randomly grabbed.
"What do you want, Snape?" Regulus asked, dropping the pretense.
Severus shrugged, "I only wanted to say hello to an old friend. We used to be friends, didn't we?"
Regulus looked down his nose at Severus, sniffing disdainful, "What use would an heir to the noble house of Black have for a halfblood? Besides," Regulus said, turning away to collect his things, "You're ideals and mine have…diverged as of late."
"Ah yes," Severus said, nodding sagely, "I've heard a great deal about ideals lately. Frankly I'm surprised the noble house of Black would let someone else charter their future for them or tell them what to think…"
"My thoughts are my own," Regulus growled, turning to face Severus with a glare, "What I believe in was my own choice, no one else's. If you choose to surround yourself with lesser beings, then do not expect me to be so welcoming to you." Regulus turned to leave.
"Do you truly believe that?" Severus asked curiously, making Regulus pause.
Regulus turned back around, eyeing Severus, "Excuse me?"
Severus shrugged again, "I'm just saying, I was given plenty of reason to dislike muggles or anything strictly not Slytherin," he casually walked a circle around Reg, hands in his pockets, "Tortured and tormented daily by Gryffindors, beaten by a muggle father—you surely heard about that from your dear soon-to-be cousin in law, Malfoy. Of course I disliked muggles, but what about you?"
"What about me?" Regulus asked warily.
"You never met a muggle in your life, have you?" Severus asked, "And yet you hate them and muggleborns. Are you honestly going to tell me you weren't influenced at all by your parents? Growing up under their rules, their teachings, hearing them day in and out look down upon those they deemed unworthy of breathing the same air as them. You mean to tell me that you just…naturally came upon this hatred of muggles all on your own?"
"I'm not sure I see where you're going with this," Regulus said as confidently as he could manage.
"You're not a fool, Regulus," Severus said bluntly, "And you're not a thug. I see kindness in you, Reg, the sort of which I realized has no place in the new world He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hopes to achieve. You know what happened on the train; are you as ruthless and barbaric as Avery and Mucliber?"
"Of course not!" Regulus cried, outraged by the very suggestion.
"Do you crave seeing people driven to their knees before you, writhing in pain?" Severus asked, "Think you have the stomach for that?"
"I…I…" Regulus stammered, "What do you want me to say?!"
"That you aren't blind, Reg!' Severus hissed, "Don't tell me you honestly haven't realized by now what sort of army He's building if Avery and Rosier and all their ilk are the sort of folk He's recruiting?"
Regulus said nothing, refusing to meet Severus's eyes.
Severus sighed, just about ready to give up. Stupid stubborn Slytherins.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Severus asked, changing the subject, "You typically don't study here."
"I wanted a change of scenery," Regulus answered flippantly.
"How is it that everyone else believes you and yet I can always see when you're lying?" Severus asked tiredly, "Seriously, why are you skulking around the library?"
Regulus didn't answer, his lips pressed into a thin line. For a fraction of a second, his eyes flickered over, briefly landing on one person in particular.
Severus followed his gaze.
"Serapeum?" Severus questioned, "You fancy her?"
Regulus scoffed, "As if! She's insufferable."
Severus searched Regulus's face for any hint of a lie. Regulus was sincere. There was no affection in his eyes when they gazed at Simone. Rather, it was something else…
"You admire her," Severus stated, "Well now that is curious. I would have thought such a strong proponent of magical equality would be the last person you'd look up to."
"You wouldn't understand," Regulus said peevishly.
Severus raised a brow, "Wouldn't I?"
He continued to scrutinize Regulus, following his gaze to and from Simone as she cooed over the injured house elf. Taking in the ridiculous fawning, Severus turned to Regulus to find a subtle softness to his gaze.
Understanding lit up Severus's face, "It's how she treats house elves!"
Regulus grabbed a hold of Severus's shoulder, "Keep your voice down."
"That's it, isn't it," Severus pushed, "You admire her treatment of the elves." Severus narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
"Most pureblood children are practically raised by the Help," Severus mused aloud, "I suppose it would be only human to develop a certain fondness for them. You're cretin brother is often heard bitching about your family elf. I take it you do not share the sentiment?"
Regulus snorted, "Siri may pretend he's broken away from the family, but he acts just like Mother. She tramples all over the help too. Neither one of them has ever heard of saying thank you."
"I suspect gratitude would not be Black's strong point," Severus agreed, "So you don't feel that way about your house elves." It was more of a statement than a question.
Regulus shook his head, "Kreacher has been there for me when even my own parents weren't. They're all about appearances, galas, and dinner parties; that all comes first. But Kreacher…he's never been too busy. He makes time for me, and he makes sure I know I'm important to him. He's…genuinely happy to be in my presence."
"So it upsets you to see how house elves typically get treated," Severus surmised, "And that's why you look up to Serapeum."
Regulus nodded, "She treats them like people; not things."
"While your family treats them like things instead of people," Severus tacked on, "Along with every other pureblood family you know."
Again, Regulus nodded sadly.
"Well this has been an enlightening talk," Severus said, "Before I go, let me leave you with some food for thought."
Severus leaned in close to Regulus, his eyes hard.
"If You-Know-Who wants to put muggleborns and muggles beneath our feet, imagine what sort of life he has in store for those beneath even them…"
Severus turned away and left Regulus to his thoughts, figuring the boy with need some time to digest this.
"Hey Severus," Mary greeted merrily, walking into the library just as Severus reconvened with his friends, "Finished studying?"
"Not quite," Severus answered, gesturing to Simone still fussing over Bixby, "We had a momentary distraction. I take it you managed to shake your friends up in Gryffindor tower?"
"For the time being," Mary replied, casually flicking a strand of hair over her shoulder.
Severus took a moment to observe Mary. Her hair was pulled into a half up-do with the rest falling down her back in the usual curls. A light layer of blush decorated her cheeks and her eyes were lightly rimmed in a faint brown eyeliner, a neutral dark tan dusting her eyelids for one of those 'natural' looks. The was a subtle pink glossiness to her lips and one of her moles—or beauty marks as women tended to call them—had been darkened by her right eye to stand out more.
"You look…different," Severus stated after a moment, "Good different," he clarified.
Mary's smiled broadened, pushing some loose strands of hair away from her face, "You think so? Jess and Mel wanted to try out some tips from Witches Weekly and I was their test subject. I think I might keep this look."
"I doubt you'll find many protesters to that," Severus said, "it suits you rather well."
Mary was positively beaming, "Great." She fell into step with Severus, moving back towards their study table, "So what did I miss?"
Oh my Lawd! This is a chapter without any scene changes. Holy shit that's uncommon for me. I typically jump around more than a rabbit hopped up on cocaine and red bull.
So we're seeing some of the changes that have come about from Severus choosing sides. He's on the outs with old allies and looking for others willing to reconsider the path of a death eater.
We're also seeing more of Simone's stance on house elves.
I always found Herminone's wish to free the house elves admirable but poorly thought out. She wanted to free them but was ignorant to the fact that forcing or convincing others to free their elves would not have meant elves would have a better life. No longer living for free in the house of a master, they would have needed to seek actual paid employment and it didn't sound like Herminone was working on any way of ensuring house eves could apply for jobs without discrimination in the workplace. Remember Dobby had a hard time earning a living after he was freed because people thought it preposterous that he request pay? Well laws would need to be put in place to make house elves free to apply for legitimate work without the fear of being turned away from jobs for their race, just as we put laws in place to ensure an employer cannot discriminate based on race in real life.
Without these precautions, all Herminone would have accomplished was freeing elves to live in poverty until they starved. It's sort of like how when people fought to end slavery they should have also had the foresight to set up plans so that newly freed slaves wouldn't be struggling for work in their states with racist employers refusing to hire them. I personally feel like we went "Well your free, good luck!" and left them to figure out how to fend for themselves.
Simone realizes that you can't just up and free all elves cold turkey. For one, many elves seemed brainwashed or enchanted to WANT to be enslaved. So Simone wants to start small; put up laws against elf mistreatment, establish rights for elves and above all, help break the mindset elves have that they should serve regardless of cruelty inflicted on them. Simone managed to convince Bixby to be cared for by allowing him to see it as a way of helping her feel better; stating she was worried and that letting her assist him would be a way for him to in turn assist her.
Read and review as always my friends.