Chapter 9: Sirius' Secret
Time passed, and before anyone knew it spring had
come to Hogwarts. Lily was delighted. It was to her a home, a place away from
Petunia who had behaved very badly towards her during the Easter holidays. Her
friends had wanted to take their revenge on her, but Lily had warned them not
to.
The animosity between them and Severus Snape was
worse than ever before. They pretended innocence, but everyone knew it was of
the tricks the five played on him, especially the irreversible spells. They
used him (and McGonagall) as their guinea pigs. And, try as he might, Snape
could never get revenge.
Or that's what they
thought. They weren't to know what Snape had been planning. With his
second-year friends, Lucius Malfoy and his devoted followers Crabbe and Goyle,
and his own friends Herman Nott and Mervyn Lestrange, Snape had a brilliant
plan. It couldn't fail. They were Slytherins, and fair play meant nothing to
them, so they would do anything to get what they wanted. Snape began to put his
plan into action, waiting for the right time to finally act with the patience
that made him a great potion brewer. The one to suffer the most would be his
hated cousin.
*********************************
"Don't you find Snape is being even more annoying
than usual these days?" Sirius asked one balmy evening in late May. The five
friends were sprawled out on the grass in front of the lake, half-heartedly
attempting to do some homework that had been due in two weeks ago.
"Maybe he wants more pranks played on him?" James
suggested, biting his lip over the Charms work he was doing.
"Maybe we're just bored so
we notice it more," Lily said, absently trying her Sneezing Charm on James.
"Atishoo, atishoo,
atishoo," sneezed James. This went on for about ten minutes. "You – atishoo –
didn't- atishoo – need – atishoo - to - atishoo – try – atishoo – that –
atishoo – you – atishoo – knew – atishoo – you – atishoo – knew – atishoo – you
– atishoo – could – atishoo – do – atishoo – it – atishoo – you – atishoo – bitch
– ATISHOO!" With that one last sneeze James had finished and gradually his eyes
stopped watering and his face went back to its normal colour.
When he was back to normal, he winked at Sirius.
"That's it, Lily. In the lake!" Before she knew it Sirius had seized her feet
and James her arms and they carried her, shrieking happily, towards the lake.
"1…" they swung her, "2…"
they swung her further, "3!" they let go. But Lily wasn't stupid, and she
grabbed onto James as she flew past, pulling him in with her. Seconds later
Remus had sneaked up behind Sirius and pushed him in too, and James grabbed
Remus by the leg and he fell in with a splash. Peter took a great run up and
jumped, flying in over their heads. He might be afraid of boats, but swimming
was one of the few things he could do well.
They shrieked and splashed, having a great water
fight, and didn't even notice McGonagall come towards the lake. She cleared her
throat loudly.
"Oh hi, Minnie!" they chorused. Minnie frowned.
"Don't call me that."
"Ok, Minnie, we won't."
"You shouldn't be in the
water. Detention."
"But Minnie," they said
together,
"Its not against the
school rules," James continued.
"We checked!" grinned
Sirius.
Minnie looked flustered.
"But…."
"We checked." They
interrupted firmly. Minnie was annoyed. It was just like them check the school
rules, never obey them, and then catch her out the one time she was wrong.
"Very well." She snapped. "But make sure you dry off properly."
"Yes Minnie!"
She turned her back. SPLASH! The five had splashed
her. When she looked back they were all smiling innocently. She turned back to
the school again. SPLASH! Minnie chose to ignore it. One argument with the five
was enough for one day; all the teachers were in agreement about that. As she
walked off they started her water fight again.
***********************************
As they walked back towards the Great Hall that
evening, five feet, with perfect timing, appeared in front of each of the
friends. "AGHH!" they yelled in unison. From the floor they looked up at the
grinning faces of Snape, Nott, Lestrange, Crabbe and Goyle, and Malfoy, who
stood up. "Hello children," Malfoy sneered, "Did you have a nice trip?"
"Yes thank you, Malfoy,"
Lily sneered back. "Why? Do you want one too?" Malfoy involuntarily took a step
backwards, then seemed to give himself a mental shake as he stepped forward
again to tower over Lily, who hurriedly scrambled to her feet. She felt so
self-conscious, as if everyone was looking at her. Every nerve in her body was
tingling in anticipation for the coming fight. Malfoy's voice snapped her out
of her reverie.
"I bet," Malfoy said, turning slightly to Snape,
"That Black hasn't told his friends his little family secret." Snape's smirk
grew even wider, and Lily thought he looked weird; no Gryffindor had ever seen
Snape smile.
"Maybe I should tell them?" Snape suggested. Maybe
you should, Lily thought, then we could throw it back in your face. "Shall I,
Cousin Sirius?" Snape asked.
"Stop pussyfooting around,
Snape," James snapped. "If you're going to tell us a fairy story tell it
quick."
"If you're so desperate
then I will. Did you know that Black is related to the second in command of the
greatest Dark Wizard this century, Grindlewald?" Lily and James exchanged
puzzled looks, whilst Peter moved even further behind Remus. Sirius heaved a
great sigh.
"Explain." Lily and James
said, as one.
"Well, Sirius' great-aunt
Mirelda wanted to marry my great-grandfather Snape. Her tyrant of a father,
another Sirius, wouldn't let her. She did anyway, they eloped together. They
lived together happily-"
"Delving into the Dark
Arts," Sirius interrupted,
"Because they were very
much in love." Snape continued as if he hadn't heard Sirius' interruption. "The
Blacks cut off all connection with Mirelda and never even contacted her son,
their own blood relative. That was my father."
"Yes, lovely family
skeletons, Snape, but I don't see what this has to do with Sirius," Lily said
impatiently.
"Well, his father and my
father are first cousins. Very close relatives, you see. And my father," his
voice dropped, "was Grindlewald's second in command. If the Dark Art's are in
my blood, they're in his as well."
"And another warning,"
Malfoy's voice dropped even lower than Snape's had, "the Dark Arts might be defeated
temporarily, but they always rise again. One day soon, they're going to
rise so high that they wont be defeatable. Not even by the likes of your
precious Dumbledore."
The four friends stared at
him in disbelief, and Peter even stuck his head around Remus. "Are you saying
that you support the Dark Side, Malfoy?" James asked, "Just for future
reference."
"Don't start with me,
Potter, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."
"WHAT!" James shrieked,
"There has NEVER been a Potter involved with the Dark Side!"
"There's things about his
parents I could tell you that would make your hair curl. Their personal habits,
you know." James blanched. His father was very high up in the Ministry and did
not need the bad press rumours could bring, very they were true or not.
"I've had enough of this
shit," Lily said suddenly. "These are my friends, Malfoy, and nothing you say
will make any of us turn against another." With that, she spun around and
marched towards the Great Hall and the Gryffindor Table, quickly followed by
the four boys.
"That true, Siri?" she
asked when they had sat down.
"Yeah," Sirius replied,
"But that was the Snape version of events, not the real one."
"'Cos we just wanted to
say," James continued, looking at Lily, "That it doesn't matter. Snape can say
whatever he likes; you'll always be our friend." Lily nodded in agreement.
Not for the first time, Remus wondered how they did
that. James and Lily hardly ever had a civil conversation, yet at times like
this they could seemingly talk out of each other's mouths.
Sirius, meanwhile, was looking touched at their words.
"Thanks," he said, "I thought you'd feel that way, but it's still nice to hear
you say it."
I wonder if they would feel that way abut my secret? Remus
thought, then promptly forgot about it as dinner was served.