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PATH to DARKNESS by Tyde
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Chapter Six – Those Bloody Gryffinflaws!
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The first years from all houses settled into Hogwarts within the first couple of weeks and it was like they'd always been there. From dodging Peeves to sneaking to the kitchens for extra food all was well and good. Quirrell seemed to be getting more confident (and hanging around Peter a lot) and Sirius, Remus and James seemed to be getting into more trouble and conveniently blaming young Snape for the lot of it. Sev was sure they must have been using some sort of charm on the teachers because they always seemed to believe the side of Mister Potter and his cohorts over him. It probably had something to do with the fact that it was always old Headmaster Puckranter that caught them and half the time he'd forget what he was saying in the middle of a sentence so confusing him was no big deal. Severus was determined to catch them out at something but whenever he tried he'd always end up in the middle of it all. He thought if he couldn't be a Gryffindor himself, thanks to that bloody hat, he'd try and become friends with Potter, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin who were fast becoming the most popular kids not just in first year but in all of Hogwarts. As much as Snape tried to hate Potter he found it nearly impossible. When the boy wasn't picking on Severus he was telling jokes and getting everyone on side. 'He'd be a great head of Ministry of Magic someday' thought Severus.
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As soon as their month ban was up Lily and Severus went back to the library but were careful to be more quiet this time. Lily found a spell to put a charm on the air around them that minimised noise and the only looks they received from Madam Pince this time were ones of approval. She assumed of course that they came to the library to study and they were such diligent little students that the earlier incident was forgotten. Her thoughts were confirmed by the fact that Severus was coming first in Potions and nobody was even closer to touching Lily's high scores in Charms. A little bit of each other rubbed off on them and Severus found himself improving his Charms marks to just a bit over failing and Lily found that the majority of her potions no longer turned to soup, although sometimes soup was the better alternative.
If the Gryffindors knew that she spent so much time with a Slytherin surely they would not approve of it so Lily kept their library meetings a secret. James always wondered where she disappeared to at night but she just told him 'The library' with a haughty look and he backed off. He thought it best that maybe he keep his distance for a little bit while she cooled down. She obviously didn't want him to know why she spent so much time in the library so he respected her privacy and didn't press the issue further.
Severus meanwhile told all his Slytherin friends that he was hanging out with Lily and this of course didn't translate well. He was mercilessly teased from noon to night and he couldn't see the difference between Hogwarts and his primary school anymore. From left to right someone was always leering at him, Quirrell seemed the only one to stick close by Sev, if only for the fact that Macnair kept telling the mop-haired boy that he reminded him of one of his Hackneyed Hares that hadn't faired too well and Slatero thought maybe Snape knew a potion that could make Macnair shrink to the size of a pea and hence remove the threat. He looked forward to the times he'd see Lily in the library and they'd giggle about spells, transfigurations gone wrong and Professor Binns rants about Goblin Wars. He couldn't imagine surviving the first term until Christmas if it hadn't been for Lily. Then in typical clumsy Snape fashion he screwed it up.
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The class stood in the Charms corridor awaiting Professor Flitwick to call them in. A few Slytherin boys threw mini paper brooms at each other and the girls giggled about Jonnie Cutglasses' new song that had been debuted on the WWW the night before. Sev barely blinked when one of the paper brooms hit him in the forehead. However as the folded paper broom started to smoke Severus picked it up in alarm and without even thinking opened it up. One of the Slytherin boys had constructed a Howler and his voice now exploded through the Charms corridor.
'Where's your ickle girlfriend Lilypoos, Severarse?' Snape tried to shut the howler in a blind panic but it was too late. A look of horror crossed his face when he saw Lily Evans walking up to the Charms classroom with her books clutched to her chest. 'Hiding her in the library again where you two go to play kissy face?' Lily dropped her books in shock and ran down the hall, tears blinding her eyes. How could he tell them we hung out in the library? Did he do it just to embarrass me? She'd never felt so hurt.
'Lily wait!' Snape made to follow but one of the Gryffindors had magicked his shoelaces together and he promptly fell over. Sirius Black roared with laughter at his successful trick and watched as Quirrell stooped to help up his friend.
'That's what you get when you mess with a Gryffindor, Snape' Black announced with fire flashing in his eyes. 'Stay away from Lily, you hear?'
I don't think that's going to be a problem thought Severus bitterly. Not after that performance. I'll be lucky if she even looks at me again.
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As Halloween whizzed past and so did half of November Severus found that people at Hogwarts didn't forget..anything. Lily still wouldn't talk to him and all the Slytherin's were teasing him about liking a Gryffindor and having a Muggle grandmother. He didn't know it was such a big deal when he mentioned it to Macnair one evening and now regretted opening his mouth, ever. For his whole life actually. Sometimes he couldn't help it and his mouth got him in trouble, not for talking back but for being naïve that people would be so accepting of things. He mused this over in a Transfiguration lesson one day and didn't even notice that the Gryffinflaws (as he liked to call Sirius, Remus, James and Peter) were planning something. They grabbed the pillows they were supposed to be turning into loaves of bread and held their wands at the ready.
'Hey Severus, catch!' Sirius magicked a pillow into Severus's face. The boy was too slow to block it and it hit him right in the nose. Peter doubled up in laughter, as did Sirius.
'Got him a good one Sirius!' said Remus, the dark blonde haired one of the group, with glee. James grinned a little too until he noticed the look on Snape's face. He almost looked like he was going to cry.
'Come on fellas, you've had your fun. You know he didn't really didn't mean it, don't you Sevi?'
'Don't call me Sevi' he mumbled but a brief look of gratitude flashed in his eyes. He was the butt of jokes with this group of four, but James's general good nature always had him coming back for more and falling into the trap. To Snape's delight Potter had been spending less time with Lily lately (although he couldn't work out why) and this gave Sev the chance to get back into her good books. Since the incident in the Charms corridor she wasn't too happy with him at all.
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Snape found that Black's pillow in the face 'accident' was just the first of many tricks the Gryffinflaws would play on the hapless Slytherin. He tried to laugh it off, tell them – 'Good one chaps, remind me to right that one down' or get ultra sarcastic 'Got me again, gee you are good' on them but none of it seemed to stop them, besides his bottom was bruised and battered from the amount of times they'd summoned his chair out from under his bottom as he was sitting down. He tried his best to get back at the group by picking on either Peter or Remus but he soon discovered the group didn't care too much for Peter who at times gave them away by squeaking out confessions when he was pressured. Remus Lupin however was a different case altogether. Every few weeks or so Lupin would look sickly and Severus thought this was the best time to try to get in a trick or two but within a millisecond of him pointing his wand towards Lupin, Sirius Black would be in his face with thunder in his eyes and a wand firmly positioned between Severus's eyes. 'Try it Snape and you'll be eating your roast quail through a straw.' Black stated through gritted teeth. Severus swore to Merlin that sometimes Black even growled at him if he so as looked in Remus's direction. Snape knew there was something odd about Lupin and gosh darn if it took all of his years at Hogwarts to find out what it was it would be worth it. He hated the way the Gryffinflaws snuck around the castle always appearing seemingly out of nowhere or smiling smugly at portraits and statues as they passed them. Even Peeves seemed to leave them alone for some unknown reason. They ruled the school, and as first years there was something very wrong about that.
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Author's note: I didn't really like this chapter. Too short, too forced? Something, I'm not sure. I get impatient when I'm writing and I've starting writing chapter eight before chapter seven has even gotten a look in! Silly me. I know the name Gryffinflaws is really bad but I wanted something to kind of rhyme with Gryffindor. Other alternatives were Gryffinbores and Gryffinwars. There was a fleeting second of it being Gryffinwhores – but really, where does that fit in?