"Hem. Ahem." Despite the relatively small crowd of eight students he was addressing, Professor Fractalis was clearing his throat as nervously as ever. Public speaking always made him tongue-tied, although give him a class of students and an Arithmancy text, and he could talk forever. He was a quiet, very shy man, and quite spectacularly unsuited to his duties as Deputy Headmaster. Promoting a man like Fractalis had Dumbledore's fingerprints all over it; the headmaster had something of a subtle need to 'fix' people.
Sev, not exactly renowned for his gregarious nature, didn't quite see why Fractalis should be forced into having social skills if he didn't want them. He was probably much happier curled up on his own with a book, something Sev could definitely sympathise with.
Never mind James Potter or Malfoy's jealousy, Sev was most irked over being a Prefect for the way it cut into his private time. He was the kind of person who needed a lot of space to himself, and being on constant call to help out students he really wasn't keen to talk to was something less than a thrill. On the other hand, it gave him a little leeway to return to his old habit of late night strolls, something he'd been sorely missing.
Most of the Prefects looked fairly keen - for now, at least - although Sev was his usual impassive self. Narcissa was attempting to look unimpressed, and wasn't quite managing it; the Slytherin thirst for glory was too strong, although Sev suspected Malfoy had made some fairly scathing remarks. Never mind that she was supposedly his girlfriend, she had something he didn't and so he had to belittle it.
James and Lily made a much more convincing example of domestic bliss, although neither looked quite their usual bouncy selves today. Lily looked a little pale, her eyes a tiny bit too bright as if she was a touch feverish. It would be very like Lily to soldier on without admitting to being sick, especially when it came to something important like Prefect duties.
Fractalis coughed again, and shuffled papers. "Ahem. Thank you all for, uh, for coming. As I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has told you, we're uh, we're very confident that you'll all do very well as Prefects." He brushed his hair back from his face.
"As you know, this is a, a fairly trying time for wizardry. In these times, it is imperative that students obey the school rules."
"You mean it wasn't before?" said James quietly. Lily smiled at him, although it was a weak reflection of her usual full-throated chuckle. She was sitting with her head against his shoulder, and he was absently playing with a coil of her hair. Sev had no doubt that if he made a snarky remark at some later date, she would claim illness as an excuse. Though Lily was well aware of his people-reading skills, she seemed bound and determined to prove that she could defy them if she chose. He did wonder exactly who she thought she was fooling, though. Everybody knew James and Lily were crazy for each other.
Lily had befriended Sev in the first year, largely against his will. She had helped him in thwarting a murder plot, understanding - if not liking - his justifications for joining Malfoy's organisation to work from within. Lily was far from stupid, but she was fiery and quick to righteous indignation; she knew or suspected the depths his chosen course of action might drive him to, and she didn't like it one bit.
She seemed to have appointed herself the job of substitute conscience, something which would be less help than hindrance on his long-term spying mission. Especially when she was a mudblood, and hence a deadly enemy of the group he was posing as a part of.
Sev had managed to avoid her for some time, but had been forced to let her in on a few things when a Death Eater raid had threatened the school in the previous year. Now it was going to be even more difficult for him to keep out of Lily's way.
They listened as Fractalis outlined their duties, amidst much stammering. This year, not surprisingly, the emphasis was security above all else.
"Now, I know it's not, um, the nicest thing in the world to feel like you're reporting on your friends-"
"That's all right for Snape," spoke up James. "He doesn't have any." Lily smirked, and Sev just smiled thinly. Smile in the right way, and you could convey a world of contempt without saying a word. Not that he actually cared what James thought, of course, especially since he'd deliberately engineered it so he thought that way, but continuing the 'feud' with the Gryffindors was second nature by now.
Fractalis took a leaf out of his headmaster's book and forged on regardless. "As I say, it may seem a little... harsh, but it's absolutely essential. Remember, the rules are there for a reason." His voice grew stronger now; as an Arithmancer, Fractalis was a firm believer in logic and rules. "This is not about punishment, it's about safety. If students aren't where they're supposed to be, we can't protect them properly."
They all knew he was talking about the Death Eater raid from the previous year. Then, the enemy had strolled in bold as brass and started attacking; next time, their approach might be far more devious. If students couldn't be accounted for, nobody would know if they were missing or not.
Lily was the first to voice the shared thoughts aloud. "Did they catch them, Professor?"
"What?" he asked vaguely, train of thought derailed.
"The ones who attacked us last year. Did they catch them?"
"Death Eaters," hissed James, and there was a half-seen shudder that rippled through the room. Snape's classmates were older now, coming up for sixteen, and beginning to pay far more attention to the world outside Hogwarts' walls. They had all heard the dark rumours of people disappearing and the Dark Mark being raised above empty houses.
Fractalis spluttered incoherently for a moment, the mention of Death Eaters seemingly disturbing his nerves. "I- I- the, uh, the Ministry of Magic would handle that side of things, I, I wouldn't really know about that." Sev was certain that translated as 'no'. How could they have? No one had really seen the two attackers' faces, and Sev didn't think anybody but him and Lily even knew about the Dark Mark tattoos every Death Eater had hidden away on their arms.
The deputy head quickly changed the subject. "And, now, as I say, although being a Prefect is a, a great responsibility, it also carries with it certain privileges." Alena's eyes practically lit up, and she nudged Penny excitedly.
"In addition to your own house common rooms, there is a Prefects' common room that you can all share, and the Prefects have their own bathrooms."
"Bathrooms?" That caught Narcissa's attention.
Alena nudged Penny again. "They've got, like, a bath as big as a pool in there. My sister told me!"
"Oh, I could kill for a good long soak," groaned Lily wearily. James looked a little dazed to be loaded up with that particular mental image.
Fractalis lead them down to the Prefects' Common Room, and showed them the password to get in: "Mahogany".
The Prefects' room was smaller than the House Slytherin Common Room, obviously, but it was in considerably better repair, looking more like a teacher's office than a student room. There were glass-fronted bookshelves stacked with advanced texts, although looking at the titles Sev saw he had already read most of them.
There were eight comfortable chairs arranged in a ring, so the Prefects could all sit together - although Sev found it hard to imagine that happening this year, somehow. "Nice digs," said James appreciatively, looking around.
Professor Vitae was waiting outside when they emerged. "Girls, if you'd like to come with me? I'll show you how to get into your bathroom whilst Professor Fractalis takes the boys." James, Sol and Derek all made disappointed faces.
"Okay." Lily yawned as she moved to join the teacher, rubbing her eyes. Looking at her hands, she seemed to remember something, and moved to unpin her badge. "Professor, can you do something about these-"
Professor Vitae stalled her with a hand. "Are they still staining people's hands?" she frowned. She turned to Professor Fractalis. "Trigo, are you sure Carnus didn't have something to do with this?"
Fractalis looked deeply uncomfortable to be asked such a question in front of students. "I, I-" he stammered. "I don't see why. It seems such a, such a childish little prank."
Vitae rolled her eyes. "And God forbid the great Carnus Malachite ever do anything childish. You're quite right, he's a paragon of maturity." Narcissa scowled and Sev followed her lead, whilst James grinned. Vitae fingered Lily's badge thoughtfully. "Still, bleeding badges... it seems like his kind of symbolism."
Lily started to unpin it again. "Do you want to take this? I can-"
"No, no, keep that, dear." She frowned. "Whoever is behind this, they want House Gryffindor to look bad. If our Prefects take their badges off, then they win." She nodded at James and Lily. "You two keep hold of those for the moment, and I'll speak to Professor Dumbledore about getting you some more."
James placed a hand over the badge on his own chest. "Nobody's having my badge off me while I'm alive," he proclaimed melodramatically.
"Who'd want it?" Sev said, too quietly for Vitae to hear. James scowled at him, but wasn't ready to pick a fight in front of his head of house.
Professor Vitae sighed and shook her head. "Right. Come on, girls. Bathrooms." They marched off.
Over the next few weeks, Sev slotted comfortably enough into his new Prefect duties. Students were encouraged to ask the Prefects for advice and help, but very few of them tried that on with him, even out of the Slytherins. However, out of all the Prefects, he had the most success at commanding authority; where the others might argue back and forth over minor offences, Sev could put down rebellion with a single arched eyebrow.
The role fitted him well enough, although he quickly became bored with the level of stupidity on display. Sneaking out in the middle of the night or breaking into classroom with a purpose was all very well, but why do it just because you were bored? It irritated him that people could be that mindless, and he perpetuated his nasty reputation by snapping at anybody he caught; especially, for the benefit of Malfoy, any of the Gryffindors.
Professor Malachite was certainly pleased with the way Sev handled his authority, and held him up as a model of a successful Prefect. Predictably, Malfoy didn't like that at all.
Malfoy was jealous of Sev's new position, but he was caught by both his need to pretend he didn't care and the fact that he was smart enough to know he needed Sev. Voldemort had shown a certain amount of interest in his second in command, and Malfoy was both threatened and puffed up about that. It reflected well on him for his second to be valued; provided he stayed a second.
Malfoy's irritation spilled over into his school life; petty and vindictive at the best of times, now he was positively lethal. Since he couldn't pick on Snape without causing himself problems, he chose the nearest available targets; coincidentally, embodying several of his pet hates mixed together.
"Hey, Potter," he called out to James as they came out of Potions. "Still dragging your mudblood whore around after you? I wouldn't get too close; you might catch something. Oh, wait - you already did." The assembled Slytherins cackled triumphantly.
Lily appeared to have some variant on the Muggle flu; she'd been to Madame Florence more than once, but despite an endless supply of Peppercup Potions (and the smoking ears that came with them), she had only seemed to worsen over the past few weeks. Pale and looking very drained, she could have been forgiven for retreating to her dorm and sleeping it off; but, being Lily, she refused to give in.
Malfoy was right; whatever Lily had, James was showing the first signs of going down with it. His eyes were red, and unlike Lily he'd managed to pick up an incredibly irritating dry cough. Considering nobody else seemed to have got ill, there had been many raised eyebrows and smart comments about 'swapping spit'.
James balled his hands up into fists, presumably ready to defend Lily's honour, when Pete Pettigrew's voice was raised in alarm from inside the classroom. "James! Quick, it's Lily!"
James looked panicked and rushed back in. Everybody else followed, the Slytherins hanging back in the doorway so they could see what was going on without looking like they cared.
Lily was collapsed on the floor, Sirius supporting her head with a worried expression on his face. "Come on, Lil, talk to me," he pleaded. James leapt straight over the desks between them and skidded to her side.
"What the hell happened?"
"I don't know man, she just collapsed!" said Sirius. "Professor! Can't you-"
Professor Ephemeria was hurriedly searching through her shelves of potions. "Hang on, hang on, hang on- ah!" She pulled down a jar of some red substance Sev didn't recognise and flipped the lid off. "She needs to breathe this." She tried to hold it under the fallen girl's nose, but James practically wrenched it out of her hands to do it himself.
"Come on, Lily, please, Lily." A moment later, she coughed, and weakly tried to sit up. James wrapped his arms around her to support her, and Malfoy made a disgusted noise.
"Ugh. I'm gonna puke."
Lily, being Lily, was already struggling to get up. "I'm fine! I was just dizzy for a minute, I didn't eat breakfast, I'm okay now." She elbowed James. "James! Get off of me!"
"You're not fine," he objected, but he helped her stand up - without relinquishing his hold on her middle. "Lean on me. You should be in the hospital wing."
"I've been! It's nothing, it's just flu."
"Lily, you should probably get yourself checked out again just in case," interjected Professor Ephemeria gently. "James, Sirius, you take her down. And Lily - don't come back to your lessons after." They all knew what Lily was like.
"I'm okay," insisted Lily, pushing off James and Sirius to walk unassisted. Malfoy was blocking her way out of the door, however, and she scowled down at him. "What are you looking at, Malfoy?" She pushed past him, and he made a big show of scrubbing at his robes as if he'd been touched by something disgusting. James scowled at him, but he was too busy chasing after Lily to do anything.
Sirius paused to point a finger at Malfoy. "One word, Malfoy, I'm warning you."
"Ooh, I'm scared," said Malfoy, pretending to knock his knees together in fear. But he stood back to let Sirius and Peter pass unmolested; only, Sev was sure, because Professor Ephemeria was watching them.
"What was all that about?" frowned Colin, as they headed in the direction of their next lesson.
"Maybe she's pregnant," suggested Avery nastily. Malfoy mock-shuddered.
"Bloody hell! Mini Potters? Don't scare me like that!" With another round of raucous laughter, they continued on their way.
Sev, though, was mulling over events thoughtfully. He knew, maybe better even than James, that Lily was no weakling girl, and he didn't give much credit to Avery's gossip-mongering suggestion. If Lily had fainted, there had to be something pretty seriously wrong. And considering she was the most high-profile of the very few mudblood students to remain at Hogwarts... well, "coincidence" was not a word Sev Snape put too much stock in.