A/N: Well, here's chapter 3. Finally. I told my mom I was doing a history project so I could get on the computer. I'm so bad…not really. Snape is nice in this ff, at least in the beginning. This is kind of going to explain his past and why he's so mean (not that I care, since I rather hate Harry, but I'm probably the only one out there who loves Snape and hates those STUPID GRYFFINDORS). Um, if any names or spells or anything else is wrong, I really don't care…I'm here to write a story, not to get every little detail of the Harry Potter stuff right. And I had to make up spells because I couldn't remember. But enough of me blabbing. Please read and REVIEW THIS STORY!!!! THIS MEANS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 3: Severus Snape

Kelly huddled in the corner, hoping they wouldn't do anything too bad or painful to her.

"Crucio!" Sparks flew out of Lucius' wand, and pain hit Kelly. Her body thrashed around, hitting the walls and whatever else was near.

"Let this be a lesson to you, mudblood. If you so much as look at us the wrong way, you'll get even worse. Wingardium leviosa." He moved her to the main hallway and left with Tom.

Kelly didn't know how long she lay there. All she knew was that the pain wouldn't stop. What seemed like eons later, Professor Dumbledore, the Transfigurations teacher, happened to walk by and saw her. He rushed to her aid, removing the curse. She smiled weakly up at him before she blacked out.

Kelly woke up in the hospital wing. The nurse, Miss Duvall, was hovering over her.

"It's all right, honey. What happened?"

"I'd rather not say," Kelly said. If she told, Lucius and Tom would probably kill her. There was a knock on the door and Miss Duvall answered it. Professor Dumbledore stepped in with Headmaster Senecis and a woman Kelly didn't recognize. They whispered for a minute with Miss Duvall, then she slipped out of the room.

"Kelly? This is Cara Drake from the Ministry of Magic. She needs to ask you a few questions about what happened." Headmaster said. Kelly broke out in a cold sweat.

"This'll only take a few minutes. Okay, let's get down to business. Do you know that you were hit by the Cruciatus curse?" Kelly nodded. "Do you know that it is one of the Seven Unforgivable Curses and the person who cast it could be sent to Azkaban?" She shook her head. "All right. Do you know who placed the curse on you?" Kelly shook her head violently. "Could you tell us in your own words what happened?"

"I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd take a walk. I was closing the portrait…and then I heard someone say…say it. And then they moved me into the middle of the hall and left."

"There was more than one?"

"What?"

"You said 'they'. That usually means more than one person."

"I don't know…it sounded maybe like more than one person walking down the hall."

"Okay. That'll be all. Thanks for the help."

"No problem." The Headmasater and Miss Drake left the room.

"They threatened to do worse to you next time, didn't they?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"How'd you…how'd you know?" Kelly gasped. "I didn't…I wasn't that obvious, was I?"

"No, Kelly. I just took a wild guess, and I was right." He smiled benevolently at her and left.

A few months later, Kelly sat on her bed musing over the flowers she had found. The card said:

Kelly - I've been worried about you, because of what happened earlier in the year, even though you don't really know me. I'm looking forward to seeing you in class.

A Friend

She didn't know anyone who would write something like that. It couldn't have been one of her regular friends, because they were all with her watching the Quidditch practice. Then she had come back and found a dozen red roses and a card on her bed. No one recalled seeing them, and no one knew who they were from.

"That's it!" Kelly jumped up and started heading out of the common room.

"What's what?" Sirius asked. "Oh - lemme guess. Something about your mystery boyfriend." Kelly almost thought there was a touch of jealousy in his voice.

"Dumbledore! I'll see if these flowers are really an illusion!"

"Kelly Wick, sometimes you really scare me with your random-ness. If he's in one of OUR classes, how could he put that kind of an illusion on something?" Lily asked.

"Still, it's worth a try."

"She's right, Lily. It could be from a Slytherin, and they all know more about magic than they should. Besides, we could all use a break from our Potions essays." James said. Kelly noticed that him and Lily always seemed to quarrel.

Maybe they'll go out. She thought.

She explained the situation to Dumbledore. He agreed to test the flowers.

"Nonnus illasionis!" Sparks shot from his wand and the edges of the roses wavered and a small message popped out. Sirius picked it up and read it out loud.

" 'Only Kelly can dispel this illusion.' Hmmm, I wonder whose handwriting this is."

"What're yeh waiting fer? Try it!" Hagrid shouted.

Kelly picked up her wand. Her heart thudded in her chest. A lump congealed in her throat.

"Nonnus illasionis!" The roses disappeared and in their place appeared two small boxes. Kelly picked up the larger of the two. There was a note inside. She read it silently. It said:

Kelly - you're probably wondering who I am, and why I sent you these 'flowers.' I'm Severus Snape, a Slytherin. I'd like to talk to you, if you have the time. Leave me a note behind the gargoyle statue by your common room ASAP. I'll be sure to get it then.

Signed,

Severus

"Who's it from?" Lily asked. "C'mon, don't leave us hanging!"

"It's from…a friend, just like the other card said." Kelly didn't want them to know because she knew that they would stop her from writing back. She picked up the smaller box and opened it. Inside was a silver necklace.

The pendant was intricate, and she brought it to her face to see it better. It was an emerald set in silver with an inscription on the side.

"Vera amor non moritur?" Judith had leaned over and read the inscription. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's Latin. It means 'True love does not die.' " Kelly said in a dreamy voice. Everyone gawked at her, and in a minute the dreamy expression disappeared from her face, and she looked kind of confused. "Why're you looking at me like that?" No one answered, so she turned to Professor Dumbledore. "What?"

"I think we should go talk the Headmaster, Kelly. The rest of you, get back to your common room. C'mon, Kelly, let's go."

"Bye, Kelly." Sirius said, then ran ahead to catch up with the rest of the group.

"Why do I need to see Headmaster Senecis? What's wrong?"

"You'll see when we get there." He said mysteriously. Kelly stayed silent for the rest of the walk.

"Hello, Albus, Ms. Wick. What can I do for you?"

"I have great news for the whole school. Kelly's a Seer! I just saw proof."

"What do you mean, I'm a Seer? I've never…wait, can Seers know things about people? Without ever meeting them, like knowing if they're good or bad?"

"Some can, yes. I'm guessing you can do that. Now what was your proof, Albus?"

"I watched her have a Seeing Trance. In my office, in fact."

"What was the cause?"

"A necklace. A present from another student." Dumbledore and Senecis were too involved in their conversation to notice Kelly, so she slipped out, went to Dumbledore's office to get the note and necklace, and went back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

James and Lily were sitting on one of the couches together. James' arm was around Lily and they were talking quietly, so Kelly was careful not to disturb them.

When she finally got to her room, she sat down at her desk and tried to write a note to Severus, but she couldn't get it to sound right.

Frustrated, she accidentally spilled her ink, and it fell all over her parchment. As she picked up the ruined parchment to throw away, she noticed there was a word spelled out by the places that hadn't absorbed the ink. She had to squint to see what it said: Beware. Kelly gasped and fell backwards on her chair because at that same instant Lily walked into the room and scared her.

"Whoa - you all right, Kelly? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Kelly struggled to her feet.

"I'm fine," She answered a little too quickly. "Just fine and dandy."

"I almost believe you. What's wrong? You've been acting really for the past couple of months. Everyone's been talking about it. We're worried."

"I'm fine, okay? I'm just a little stressed, that's all. And I haven't played basketball in forever. Don't worry about me, I'll be all right. Hey, what's up with you and James?"

"We're…we're going out!" Lily was practically glowing with excitement, and Kelly was happy for her.

"Congrats! Hey, can I work on some stuff in here?"

"I'm kind of tired, could you work in the common room?" Kelly walked downstairs. She looked at the clock and realized that it was 11:30; Severus would be checking the statue soon. She still hadn't written anything.

"What'm I gonna do?" She paced the room a few times. "That's it!" She would go out and talk to him in person. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and stepped quietly out of the portrait hole. Sure enough, Severus was there, looking behind the gargoyle for the note. She tiptoed behind him.

"Looking for something?" she whispered. He whirled around, startled by the unexpected visitor. He relaxed slightly when he saw who it was, but he was still tense. "Sorry, I couldn't think of anything to--"

"Sssshhh! He whispered. He took out his wand and muttered something under his breath. As Kelly watched, their skin took on the appearance of the castle walls. She pressed herself against the wall just as Headmaster Senecis walked by, then turned the corner. Kelly let out a breath of relief that she didn't even know she'd been holding.

"You shouldn't've come out here." He said. "Why didn't you just write back?"

"I couldn't think of anything to write. Besides, writing is SO impersonal."

"Well, we can't stay out here. Where could we go to talk?"

"Umm, how about Dumbledore's office? I'm sure he wouldn't mind, considering what just happened with us."

"What d'you mean?" Severus had a suspicious look on his face.

"I'd rather not talk about it. It's nothing like" He started to give a horrified look. "like that. I mean, he's a teacher! And ages older than me. Eeew! Gross!" They left their skin the gray color just in case someone came through the halls, but no one did, so they took it off in Dumbledore's office.

"Lumos." Kelly gave Severus a half-smirk when the tip of her wand started to glow. "You're not the only one who can do magic, you know. I just don't know illusions or other stuff we haven't learned in class."

"Ignis." Severus lit a candle, and Kelly turned off her wand. "So you weren't scared when you found out that I gave you the necklace?"

"Obviously not, since I'm here. Why would you scare me?"

"Well, I am in Slytherin, and you saw the incident with the Sorting Hat."

"So? I knew you weren't bad since I first saw you. I just had a feeling, I guess you could say." Severus was silent for a minute.

"You're a Seer, aren't you?" Kelly struggled to keep a straight face but lost the battle. "God, no, don't let this happen to me!"

"What?" Kelly asked confusedly. "What's wrong with me being a Seer?"

"N--nothing. Absolutely nothing." He finished a little more strongly. "So, I hear you play basketball."

"Do you know much about it?"

"Nope. I'd never even heard of it until I heard you played it."

"Okay. So you start with a team of players…"

Aaaawwww, how cute. Review this so I know what to do with it next. I think there's going to be a love triangle…definitely going to be one. But I won't tell you who's in it. But review and thanx to all of you who did, Sioned (you're Pam, aren't you?) and others that I don't feel like naming. I love you all!!!!! And thanks to Kelly, who is behaving, unlike some other characters *grumbles at Erin*. See ya l8r! P.S. check out my favorite authors!