A/N:: Meet chapter two, in which characters are better formed, and writing less juvenile. Please also remember that very few adults behave the same way they did as children, and that people can behave very differently around different people. (I say this only because some people *glare* obviously don't realize this.) The Severus in this story will be similar to the one in OotP, as dictated by his current 'environment,' but if it'll make you feel better you may call it an AU. (though at this point it could also be considered a theory, mwhahaha!!)
Disclaimer:: Harry Potter etc. are property of J.K Rowling, no copyright infringement is intended.
Nothing Simple
By Severitus
Chapter 1—Of Things to Come
Avery was following him again. Severus could hear his boots clicking on the stones behind him as the shorter boy raced to catch up. Avery wasn't too bad a guy compared to many of the other sixth years, and truthfully he was the closest thing that Severus had to a friend. However, he knew the only reason Avery even talked to him was because Lucius ordered him to, and the boy was damn annoying to begin with. Sighing heavily, Severus slowed down and waited for his dorm-mate to catch up.
"What do you want now, Avery?" he asked without turning around. The brown haired boy was panting heavily, his hands on his knees and his tanned cheeks flushed.
"Why…*pant*…what makes you think I…*pant*…want anything, Severus?" the boy managed to gasp, the left side of his mouth rising and his brown eyes shining.
"You always want something, Avery. Either that, or Malfoy wants something. So, which is it? I have Divination next," Severus growled, tapping his foot impatiently for effect.
"I still don't know why you take that class…" Avery shook his head. "But anyway…I was just curious-" Severus growled in warning. "Okay…eh…Lucius was just curious about that girl you were talking to in Herbology," Avery managed to get out, idly twisting the strap of his ratty satchel between his short fingers.
"Ah. Well, you can tell Lucius to shove it somewhere unpleasant. Who I choose to talk to is my business alone, and he should know better than to stick his nose in my business," Severus said, and started walking briskly down the hall again.
Lucius…he hated the blonde brat. Almost all of Slytherin house looked up to the boy as some sort of…king, as the supposed epitome of everything Slytherin. But Severus knew better.…Lucius was respected because he was rich, pureblood, and his father was next in line to become Minister of Magic. The spoiled brat was always telling tales about how his father was in contact with the true Heir of Slytherin or some such nonsense. There had been rumors of a Dark Lord circling throughout the magic community, but Severus doubted that the Malfoys had ever met him. After all, if there was one thing the Malfoys were famous for, it was surviving. They wouldn't side with anyone until it was clear who would come out victorious.
Of course, a Snape would never bow down to a Malfoy, or any crackpot old Dark Lord either. The Snapes were an old and proud line-- notorious as Dark Wizards, true, but still classically strict and noble. Lucius knew this all too well, but had persisted in trying to enlist Severus into his little 'gang' since the very first day they'd met. Severus couldn't even count the number of times he'd turned the blond into a frog, died his hair red and gold, shaved his head, hung his polka-dotted boxers from the astronomy tower, or cursed him to talk like a chipmunk in retaliation in the past five years, but the brat never seemed to get the hint. Maybe slipping a little 'Mistruth elixir' into his pumpkin juice would teach him….After all, as much time as Lucius spent primping in front of the mirror each morning, it wasn't likely that he'd enjoy seeing his worst nightmare staring him eye to eye every time a hair fell out of place.
The divination classroom was nearly empty when Severus arrived. Students from all houses were seated on the colorful poufs and cushions around the room. The only empty seat he could see was at a table with Remus Lupin. The sandy haired Gryffindor was turned around in his seat, listening to the conversation that Potter and a boy named Longbottom were having. Thankfully Potter and Lupin were the only Marauders in Divination, so Severus didn't need to worry about dodging hexes or flying teacups.
They were studying Pyromancy today. Each of the small round tables had several long white candles set up, their wicks flickering with orange-yellow flames. The air seemed even more stifling than usual with the added smoke of so many candles, and Severus' nose was itching from the heavy incense floating from the fireplace. The Professor, Sibyl Trewlaney, had just begun teaching at the end of last year, (the previous professor had quit after predicting her own retirement) and nobody was very impressed. She really wasn't too many years older than the seventh years, but seemed to think she was somehow superior to even the other professors. She rose from her overstuffed chair at the head of the classroom with feigned grace, her bracelets jangling like dozens of small chimes. The reflections of the multiple candle flames reflected in her enormous glasses made her eyes nearly impossible to see.
"Good afternoon, class," she said in a soft, mysterious sort of voice. "Pyromancy, or the art of diving by fire, is a particularly tricky form of divination—" she began, but Severus had tuned her out. His eyes had drifted across the room to the redhead leaning back in her cushion-like chair. Lily Evans was idly doodling in a muggle notebook, looking just as bored (if not more so) than he was. Her hair shone like copper in the light of the nearby fire, and Severus felt the corners of his mouth quirk up into a tiny smile. She wasn't the prettiest girl in school, nor the smartest (though she was close), nor the most popular, but he felt helplessly drawn to her. Something about her…he couldn't say what exactly, seemed so perfect to him, so…familiar. He wanted to know her. Oh, he'd had crushes on girls before (not that they ever knew that…) but something about Lily was very different from that.
"Severus!" Severus started at the sound, turning to see Remus Lupin pointing insistently at the pages of his textbook.
"Oh, thanks," Severus muttered, quickly flipping to the appropriate page. "So is it the usual routine, I read your fortune, you read mine?" Severus asked, one eyebrow raised at the Gryffindor. Lupin rolled his eyes and nodded.
"You want to go first?" Lupin asked politely, and Severus made a very noncommittal sound and nodded. Like cleaning a wound, it was best to get divination over as quickly as possible.
Lupin stared so deeply into the candle flame that Severus was surprised that his eyes didn't go crossed. He was biting his lip with teeth that Severus had always thought oddly sharp, and was absently rubbing a page of the textbook between two fingers. When Severus was nearly to the point of poking the Gryffindor with his quill, Lupin nodded to himself, and began to speak haltingly.
"Let's see…there's a pointy shape in the middle, that's supposed to mean a 'life-altering event.' Um…the flame is still and mostly yellow…you will need the support of a new acquaintance. And the round blue shape near the wick…er…love. According to the book, a new acquaintance will help you through a life-altering event and you will find love…eh…somewhere." Remus cracked an unsure half-smile, looking as if he believed it about as much as the sky falling. Severus gave an amused half-smile in return, staring at the flame with idle curiosity. Strangely, he found his gaze wandering back to Lily again, wondering if perhaps there was a grain of truth in the candle flame….
"Well, I suppose I could always use a new acquaintance." Severus stuck out his hand in greeting, mouth still twisted into a half-smile. "Severus Snape, greasy git and reluctant bane of Gryffindor House. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Remus blinked in confusion at first, but then his eyes softened and he smiled, taking Severus' hand in a firm handshake.
"Remus Lupin, aka Loony Lupin, and reluctant accomplice to mayhem. Pleased to meet you." Remus took a moment to study the true smile that lit the Slytherin's face, there wasn't a trace of the cruelty or sadism that James and Sirius always accused him of. If anything, Snape looked a little surprised himself. "Forgive me for being blunt, but I thought you hated me, Severus," Lupin said, and Severus snorted, flipping forward a page or two in his book.
"Nah. I save my hatred for Potter and Black. Everyone knows that you're the only sensible one of the group. I don't fault you for it, but I've always wondered why you're friends with them." Severus said, now watching the candle flame carefully. Remus sighed and dropped his eyes to the tabletop, the sound of James' laughter at poor Longbottom's expense ringing through the noisy room.
"Sometimes I wonder that myself."
Wisely, Severus said nothing, but flipped through another page or two in the book, his eyes flicking from the pages to the flickering flame. "According to the all powerful candle, you'll lose trust in a…friend and share your eh…hex? Curse? Whatever…um…you will gain new allies. And…er…experience inner turmoil," Severus muttered, tilting the book slightly as if to make better sense of it. Remus, however, had gone suddenly pale at the mention of 'curse.' "Bah, just rubbish. I still wonder why I bothered to take this class…" Severus growled, closing the book with a disgusted snap.
"Yeah…rubbish," Remus said softly, but the worry in his eyes betrayed his thoughts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The library was mostly empty when Severus entered later that night, old leather book bag thrown over his shoulder. A pair of Ravenclaws were seated in the middle of the room, nearly hidden by stacks of books and parchment. Madam Pince, the new librarian, was staring in bewilderment at a stack of returned books nearly twice her height. The only other person in the room was seated in a far corner, a thick book opened before her on the table. The girl's fiery red hair was fanned across her back, the curls shining copper in the light of a nearby torch.
Severus tried to hide his nervousness as he approached the table, schooling his face into an unreadable mask. He didn't understand why he was so nervous about a simple study session, even if it was with Lily Evans. He'd been trying to get up the courage to speak to her for more than half a year, but had always come up with reasons not to. She was out of his league, she was a Gryffindor, she'd never waste breath on him, he thought. And then she had broken the ice herself, and in doing so had abolished nearly every reason he had for avoiding her. However, he wasn't sure that he should get his hopes up. She was a Gryffindor after all, and he had no way of knowing if the Marauders were behind her previous behavior. It'd be just like them to pull an almighty prank like that on him.
"I'm not late, am I?" he asked, sliding into the seat across the table from Lily. She looked up at him with a smile, her bright green eyes shining up at him.
"Nope, you're right on time." She closed her book and set it off to the side. Her smile seemed sincere as she looked up at him, absently twirling her quill between her fingers.
"What was that you were reading?" he asked as he dragged a parchment and quill out of his bag.
"Just a book on Medical Charms, Madam Pomfrey likes me to study them in my off time." Lily shrugged as if it was unimportant, dropping her quill into her ink well.
"You're apprenticing then?" Severus asked, his eyebrows raised in interest. Lily smiled and flushed slightly, nodding to his question. It took a lot of work and skill to gain an apprenticeship, and it was a testament to her skill in Charms that she'd earned such a place with the Hogwarts Mediwitch.
"Yes, I'd like to go to work at St. Mungo's someday." She grinned excitedly, the green of her eyes even more vibrant.
"It sounds like you have your life all planned out for yourself," he said with an amused smile.
"Not all of it. So how about you? What are you going to do after Hogwarts?" Lily asked, and Severus sighed at the question. His eyes were downcast as he answered, his fingers absently playing with the tattered hem of his robe.
"Most people are certain that I'm going to become a Dark Wizard and slaughter muggles for pleasure and profit," he replied, his mouth curled with dark humor. Lily's smile seemed to shrink slightly, but it didn't disappear.
"But…that's not what you want to do," she said with quiet conviction, and Severus stared at her in surprise.
"No." He brushed a strand of black hair out of his eyes and allowed a small smile to cross his lips. "I want to go on and get my Masters Certificate in Potions Making, and go on into research. Maybe I'll even come back here and teach Defense," he said, the smile widening at the last.
"It sounds like you've got your life all planned out too," Lily replied, her eyes reflecting her merriment.
"Not all," Severus replied with a smile. "Now, which subject should we start with today? If I remember correctly, you're top of the class in Charms, but your Defense…" he trailed off, half of his mouth curving into a knowing smirk, and eyes bright with good humor.
"You're right, I do need some work in Defense, and in Potions too, if my last test score is anything to go by. At this rate, I won't even scrap by with an 'Acceptable' in either one." Lily bit her lower lip, as if horrified beyond words of not making it into the Newt level classes. Severus laughed lightly, the rich sound surprisingly warm to be coming from a normally cold and quiet person. Despite herself, Lily felt her lips curving into a smile. She decided then and there that she liked his laugh very much, and would do anything she could to get him to do it more often.
"You have a very nice laugh, Severus," she admitted, and a light blush rose high on his cheeks.
"Er…thanks." Severus' eyes were wide, and he suddenly looked very nervous. Lily realized that he probably didn't receive compliments very often. There was no arguing that he wasn't the most handsome boy in school…his hair was oily and slightly unkempt, his nose large and hooked, and he was far too thin to be healthy. However, his eyes were also dark and striking, his fingers long and elegant, and his smile…it warmed her up inside like nothing before. And besides…she liked his nose.
"Um…anyway, Lily, I'm sure you've nothing to worry about. You'll pass with flying colors. I, on the other hand…I definitely need to work on my Charms and Transfiguration. I'll never understand how I can cast a perfect shield in defense but can't manage a simple drying charm…" Severus gaze dropped to the Charms book on the table, and his gaze looked so hopelessly confused that Lily couldn't help but laugh.
"I suppose we'd better work on that first, then! Come on, there's an empty classroom right across the hall that we can use to practice." Before Severus could protest, Lily had grabbed his hand and was dragging him toward the library doors. The Ravenclaws glared, but Severus found he couldn't care less about anything other than the fiery redhead who held his hand, and liked the sound of his laugh.
--End 1---