Prologue ii
~
There were four other boys in particular, also in Pettigrew's year, three of whom were in his house, which was Gryffindor.
Unlike Pettigrew - Peter Pettigrew - James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin did not attract the unwanted, cruel attention of Yeats, were bright, funny, good at sport and most of all, were handsome and mentally able.
They - apart from maybe Remus - had a certain, rugged charm about them: Ties tied any old how, shoelaces knotted in several places, shirts sometimes untucked, cuffs and collars unbuttoned and a fresh, rascally look on their faces, quite contrary to Pettigrew's annoying chubby cherubism.
All three came from quite different backgrounds: Sirius was an orphan; he had elevnsiblings, all younger than him, living alone in an old, stone, Scottish farmhouse. Remus was a French speaking Belgian. His father was a magical theologian, his mother a mysterious figure from Morocco who could speak no common language although her love for Remus was very obvious. Only James, and he alone even when I do introduce the fourth character, was the slightly better than Middle-class young Englishmen, his ways of speaking earning the friendly ridicule of Sirius whose thick Scottish accent made him stand out, but caused people to listen to him a bit more (and win rare smiles from McGonagall). Remus would merely smile in his way, a mischievous glint often visible in his brown eyes. Unlike the case of Sirius, his French accent made him seem shy (he was anyway) and unusually quiet, though in reality, one could argue he was the silent mechanism working in the clockwork of their friendship.
It was the joke that Pettigrew had discovered true happiness, egged on by it's ancestor, "Dad's in the button business, Pettigrew's you know," that caused a bizarre alliance be made between the three and Pettigrew.
* * *
One of the many traditions of Hogwarts, amongst the students, unspoken and as old as the very stones that built the magnificent institution, was the tradition of the bijou. This, is where the fourth I first mentioned, came in.
Severus was an enigma. A quick tongue, having been brought up by oath- relatives in the slums of Rio di Janeiro, his Spanish accent (My how all my interesting characters ain't English, c'est interestant, non?) making him set apart to the girls and more often, to the senior boys.
The tradition of bijou started in a greta variation: swift, soft glances across the hall, leading to notes left in pyjamas or closets, meaningful words indicating to walks and meetings in secluded places in the school grounds, it would then blossom, sometimes magnificently, into a friendship of sorts. This friendship was sometimes quite flattering to the more homesick first year boys, to others a trifle unruffling.
Severus Snape arrived late by two weeks and was first spotted by the Marauders - for that was what James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had decided to call themselves - at the Slytherin table, quietly sipping orange juice, toying with pancakes lightly touched by honey and quietly sitting, reading a large enough volume. Whilst they were whispering about the strange, new boy - his pale tan and black eyes ("Definitely a changeling if I ever saw one,"), his sleek, shoulder length hair, raven black and giving him an enigmatic look - he suddenly glanced up and caught sight of them from across the hall.
They froze.
No response made, nothing flitting in those dark eyes, the boy returned to the volume. The Maraders could only look at each other astounded.
Anyway, as I pointed out before, Severus was mysterious enough, handsome enough to catch the eye of many a fifth, sixth and seventh year. Indeed, he was taken by a Raveclaw favourite named Tern, Alfred Tern.
It held true for the other boys as well, the partnerships seeming like magical incantations on the tongues of others: 'Willenhold and Lupin', 'Kerr and Potter', 'Bearer and Black'... on it went.
Not all boys were chosen of course.
Some that did not have obvious bijou qualities were resigned to the fate of, or sometimes, fortune of, never having an illicit taste in the sexual aspect of Hogwarts. Some that did not have obvious qualities were taken on, much to the wonderment of fellow first or second years: Until they themselves enetered fifth year or above and could understand and see different qualities other than the scathingly obvious.
Pettigrew was not one of them.
"Lonely, eh?" James had once teased, aiming a paper aeroplane at the back of Lupin's head. Pettigrew had shrugged and smiled.
"I'm happy enough," he replied.
"Yeah, you an' the res' o' yer but'ons, hm?" Sirius laughed. He was actually loosing most of his Scottish accent by now and had resigned to a more boyish version of McGonagall's tongue-tweak.
Remus had thrown a glare at James and lobbed over a crumpled bit of paper.
"Vicious demon!" James yelled, earning a grin from his Belgian friend. Remus didn't speak much as it was, so whether his accent was disappearing or not was his own mystery.
Pettigrew laughed.
"I'm alright, really."
Classes shared with the Slytherins were at a minium in those days, only non-compulsive lessons would occasionally be shared, such as Magical Languages, and it was through those that they began to know Severus.
He and Remus almost instantly hit off. Being more foreign than Sirius or James, the continential in-jokes flowed thick and fast between them. They were also both quiet; unneccesary chit-chat was cut out between them, sly glints in the eyes, egging on their comrades. The worst came, of course, when either of them would start swearing in either a Belgian or Brazilian dialect.
James had grown used to Severus and Sirius seemed to be torn betwen amusement, admirance (does that word exist?) and wariness of the Slytherin.
Still, an unspoken agreement had come between the five now, Pettigrew being as oblivous as ever to whether Severus was slightly different or not: he could have been a Turkish spy for all he cared, and although it was difficult, a kinship sort of... grew.
* * *
I think I mentioned before about Alfred Tern, yes, the Ravenclaw sixth year that had 'selected' Severus.
Perhaps 'favourite' does not describe suffiently, his standing in Hogwarts: a Prefect and House Team Captain, Tern was a school favourite, revered by all below and above him. The fact that he had chosen Severus, placed both in a higher esteem. As they say, Kings shall have Queens: the two were almost like a legendary pairing.
However, the interest that had led him to the quiet Slytherin, had grown into a passion: it was not uncomon to see Tern wait outside the Slytherin common room, only to be met by an exasperated Snape, or to see the two talking conspiratally together down the corridors. It made them seem aloof, different from all the cosy, on-existant reationships buzzing around them.
One of Tern's team mates, was a heavy set boy by the name of Fischer. Tobias Fischer.
And now, I am beginning to have even mentioned the name...
~
There were four other boys in particular, also in Pettigrew's year, three of whom were in his house, which was Gryffindor.
Unlike Pettigrew - Peter Pettigrew - James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin did not attract the unwanted, cruel attention of Yeats, were bright, funny, good at sport and most of all, were handsome and mentally able.
They - apart from maybe Remus - had a certain, rugged charm about them: Ties tied any old how, shoelaces knotted in several places, shirts sometimes untucked, cuffs and collars unbuttoned and a fresh, rascally look on their faces, quite contrary to Pettigrew's annoying chubby cherubism.
All three came from quite different backgrounds: Sirius was an orphan; he had elevnsiblings, all younger than him, living alone in an old, stone, Scottish farmhouse. Remus was a French speaking Belgian. His father was a magical theologian, his mother a mysterious figure from Morocco who could speak no common language although her love for Remus was very obvious. Only James, and he alone even when I do introduce the fourth character, was the slightly better than Middle-class young Englishmen, his ways of speaking earning the friendly ridicule of Sirius whose thick Scottish accent made him stand out, but caused people to listen to him a bit more (and win rare smiles from McGonagall). Remus would merely smile in his way, a mischievous glint often visible in his brown eyes. Unlike the case of Sirius, his French accent made him seem shy (he was anyway) and unusually quiet, though in reality, one could argue he was the silent mechanism working in the clockwork of their friendship.
It was the joke that Pettigrew had discovered true happiness, egged on by it's ancestor, "Dad's in the button business, Pettigrew's you know," that caused a bizarre alliance be made between the three and Pettigrew.
* * *
One of the many traditions of Hogwarts, amongst the students, unspoken and as old as the very stones that built the magnificent institution, was the tradition of the bijou. This, is where the fourth I first mentioned, came in.
Severus was an enigma. A quick tongue, having been brought up by oath- relatives in the slums of Rio di Janeiro, his Spanish accent (My how all my interesting characters ain't English, c'est interestant, non?) making him set apart to the girls and more often, to the senior boys.
The tradition of bijou started in a greta variation: swift, soft glances across the hall, leading to notes left in pyjamas or closets, meaningful words indicating to walks and meetings in secluded places in the school grounds, it would then blossom, sometimes magnificently, into a friendship of sorts. This friendship was sometimes quite flattering to the more homesick first year boys, to others a trifle unruffling.
Severus Snape arrived late by two weeks and was first spotted by the Marauders - for that was what James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had decided to call themselves - at the Slytherin table, quietly sipping orange juice, toying with pancakes lightly touched by honey and quietly sitting, reading a large enough volume. Whilst they were whispering about the strange, new boy - his pale tan and black eyes ("Definitely a changeling if I ever saw one,"), his sleek, shoulder length hair, raven black and giving him an enigmatic look - he suddenly glanced up and caught sight of them from across the hall.
They froze.
No response made, nothing flitting in those dark eyes, the boy returned to the volume. The Maraders could only look at each other astounded.
Anyway, as I pointed out before, Severus was mysterious enough, handsome enough to catch the eye of many a fifth, sixth and seventh year. Indeed, he was taken by a Raveclaw favourite named Tern, Alfred Tern.
It held true for the other boys as well, the partnerships seeming like magical incantations on the tongues of others: 'Willenhold and Lupin', 'Kerr and Potter', 'Bearer and Black'... on it went.
Not all boys were chosen of course.
Some that did not have obvious bijou qualities were resigned to the fate of, or sometimes, fortune of, never having an illicit taste in the sexual aspect of Hogwarts. Some that did not have obvious qualities were taken on, much to the wonderment of fellow first or second years: Until they themselves enetered fifth year or above and could understand and see different qualities other than the scathingly obvious.
Pettigrew was not one of them.
"Lonely, eh?" James had once teased, aiming a paper aeroplane at the back of Lupin's head. Pettigrew had shrugged and smiled.
"I'm happy enough," he replied.
"Yeah, you an' the res' o' yer but'ons, hm?" Sirius laughed. He was actually loosing most of his Scottish accent by now and had resigned to a more boyish version of McGonagall's tongue-tweak.
Remus had thrown a glare at James and lobbed over a crumpled bit of paper.
"Vicious demon!" James yelled, earning a grin from his Belgian friend. Remus didn't speak much as it was, so whether his accent was disappearing or not was his own mystery.
Pettigrew laughed.
"I'm alright, really."
Classes shared with the Slytherins were at a minium in those days, only non-compulsive lessons would occasionally be shared, such as Magical Languages, and it was through those that they began to know Severus.
He and Remus almost instantly hit off. Being more foreign than Sirius or James, the continential in-jokes flowed thick and fast between them. They were also both quiet; unneccesary chit-chat was cut out between them, sly glints in the eyes, egging on their comrades. The worst came, of course, when either of them would start swearing in either a Belgian or Brazilian dialect.
James had grown used to Severus and Sirius seemed to be torn betwen amusement, admirance (does that word exist?) and wariness of the Slytherin.
Still, an unspoken agreement had come between the five now, Pettigrew being as oblivous as ever to whether Severus was slightly different or not: he could have been a Turkish spy for all he cared, and although it was difficult, a kinship sort of... grew.
* * *
I think I mentioned before about Alfred Tern, yes, the Ravenclaw sixth year that had 'selected' Severus.
Perhaps 'favourite' does not describe suffiently, his standing in Hogwarts: a Prefect and House Team Captain, Tern was a school favourite, revered by all below and above him. The fact that he had chosen Severus, placed both in a higher esteem. As they say, Kings shall have Queens: the two were almost like a legendary pairing.
However, the interest that had led him to the quiet Slytherin, had grown into a passion: it was not uncomon to see Tern wait outside the Slytherin common room, only to be met by an exasperated Snape, or to see the two talking conspiratally together down the corridors. It made them seem aloof, different from all the cosy, on-existant reationships buzzing around them.
One of Tern's team mates, was a heavy set boy by the name of Fischer. Tobias Fischer.
And now, I am beginning to have even mentioned the name...