Chapter 3 – Snips and Spirals
Professor Severus Snape pulled a very old book with much dust accumulated on it from the bookshelves of his private office. Throwing it on his desk, he sat down and brushed his hair out of his face as he opened it to a latter part of the book.
Pictures stirred in movement as he flipped pages ... school assemblies, dances, Quidditch matches ... until he found what he had been looking for.
His Fifth-Year yearbook lay open, a scene playing out of him at fifteen and Britomartis at thirteen, both walking across the quad toward the library, books in hand. Martis smiles and waves at the camera, while he hides his face behind his hair and books. Martis turns and spins him around by his scarf, causing him to look up and drop his books from his face. She grins and hugs him around the shoulders with one arm, pointing to the camera. He smiles briefly, then turns away and continues on to the library with his face hidden by hair and books again. She pauses, shrugs, then follows him. A snake (Medusa, Snape remembered, and a lovely girl) slithers behind her.
Beneath the moving image, the caption read: '"Snips" and "Spirals" heading to the library for study and plotting. Again.'
Snips and Spirals, nicknames given by their brothers and sisters of Slytherin. Snips, a silly convoluted merging of his last name of 'Snape' and the synonym of 'sever' from his first name. Then there was Spirals, getting her name from the incredible amount of spiral jewelry, spiral- printed clothing, and spiral-designed temporary tattoos she wore. The spirals were more visible and distinctive than the sunglasses.
Tucked into the page fold was another picture, this one after a Slytherin Quidditch victory and Britomartis was still in her uniform, her arms around his shoulders and hugging him amid the large group of their Slytherin brothers and sisters. She kisses his cheek, making him turn bright red in the picture. In the background, Lucius Malfoy sneers at her behavior as he always had.
He flipped a few more pages to the Third-Year pictures, finding Martis' headshot; still wearing sunglasses and had Medusa wrapped around her shoulders, but smiling and being affectionate toward the snake.
Yes, she was his only friend back then. Even Lovely Lily was not as much a friend as Martis had been. Lucius Malfoy was even less in that regard, despite being Slytherin 'brothers to the ends of the Earth'.
The very first day of classes of his Third-Year, Severus was being dragged by his hair through the mud by Sirius Black. The bad part was that Black was riding a broomstick and flying low enough to cover him completely in the thick, black mud outside of the school.
'Like it, Snivellus?' Black crowed, his handsome face contorted by a malicious snarl. 'You're lower than mud, Snivelly!'
'What are you doing to a Slytherin, Gryffie?!' a girl's voice had yelled.
Black had released him, throwing him into the mud. 'Oh, a little girlie trying to rescue the greasy, miserable git! You don't know that even his own house hates him, do ya' little girlie?'
Severus had lifted his head up, wiping mud from his face, seeing a First- Year girl with knee-length ash blonde hair standing her ground as Sirius Black whipped around on his broom and headed straight at her.
The girl gracefully stepped aside and swung her arm out, landing a solid right hook into the thirteen-year-old boy's jaw and knocking him off his broom.
Cussing, Black had stood up and pulled his wand out.
The girl dashed up and kicked it out of his hand. 'If you're going to fight a girl, then at least be man enough to use your fists!'
Black sneered. 'Delighted, girlie.'
His fist struck out at her mouth - she clutched his wrist and slung him bodily over her shoulder, landing him face first in the mud. Tossing his fist at the back of his head, she added, 'Shame on you, you bully! Picking on girls and Slytherins! Don't you have a keeper?'
Black had turned over, groaning in pain. 'Great going, Snivellus, you've got a little girl to fight your fights for you. Congratulations, you wad of virus-snot. Nobody'll come to the wedding.'
Humiliated and dirty, Severus had run off, hearing the girl calling Sirius Black enough bad names to make McGonagall's hair turn completely white.
And then she found him in the library, held him, calmed him ... and finally introducing herself.
'I'm Britomartis Vox, First-Year,' she had said. 'Call me Martis.'
He whispered his own name, 'Severus Snape, Third-Year.'
'And we're Slytherins. Listen, any time that creep gets near you, I'll knock him on his nasty butt. Slytherins stick together, Severus.'
Slytherins stick together.
After that, when not in classes or separate dorms, Snips and Spirals stuck like glue.
It dawned on him with horror that the only times he could ever call happy was when he was with Britomartis Vox - not in potions class, not by himself, not with the Headmaster, not anything else, but when he was within the safe aura of 'Spirals' Vox. She was barely a teenager at the time ...
And it still scared the holy hell out of him.
Severus Snape closed the book and pushed it away, placing his face in his hands and allowing his hair to fall around his face. The Marauders' voices echoed like ghosts through his mind -
'Ugly, greasy git.' 'Girls will never like you!' 'Nobody wants you!' 'Ew! Snivellus' hormones are active!' 'Lock the girls up before he does anything to them!' 'Dis-gus-ting.' 'Lock your own doors, guys ... ' 'Ewwwwwww!'
Why was it him? Why anything at all?
And yet, despite the horrors, there was the soft voice of Martis calming him down, preventing him from casting Unforgivables upon them all ... giving him shreds of dignity ... and touches of love ... and then she left as well ...
Damn it all.
A knock came from the door and Snape sat straight up, pulling a grading book before him. He brushed more hair out of his face and called out, "Enter."
The door creaked open, showing the pale, sneering features of Draco Malfoy. "Professor Snape?"
The Potions Master looked up, mustering more annoyance than he already felt. "What is it?"
"It's about Professor Vox, sir." Draco slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Since she's House Mother, I expect you would know her."
"Get on with it, Malfoy," Snape snarled. "You want to know if she's a Pure Blood - yes, entirely pure, and not by marrying one's sister like your family, either."
Draco Malfoy blinked, then hardened his face in a credible imitation of his father's infamous arrogant sneer. "What did you say?"
"Go away, Malfoy, I am grading and I am not in any type of mood to deal with ... childish foolishness." His dark eyes raised up to meet the cold stare of the twelve-year-old. "Go. Now."
Draco made it a point to slam the door very loudly as he left.
Snape slumped in his chair, allowing his hair to curtain his face.
"Little pissant," he muttered.
Professor Severus Snape pulled a very old book with much dust accumulated on it from the bookshelves of his private office. Throwing it on his desk, he sat down and brushed his hair out of his face as he opened it to a latter part of the book.
Pictures stirred in movement as he flipped pages ... school assemblies, dances, Quidditch matches ... until he found what he had been looking for.
His Fifth-Year yearbook lay open, a scene playing out of him at fifteen and Britomartis at thirteen, both walking across the quad toward the library, books in hand. Martis smiles and waves at the camera, while he hides his face behind his hair and books. Martis turns and spins him around by his scarf, causing him to look up and drop his books from his face. She grins and hugs him around the shoulders with one arm, pointing to the camera. He smiles briefly, then turns away and continues on to the library with his face hidden by hair and books again. She pauses, shrugs, then follows him. A snake (Medusa, Snape remembered, and a lovely girl) slithers behind her.
Beneath the moving image, the caption read: '"Snips" and "Spirals" heading to the library for study and plotting. Again.'
Snips and Spirals, nicknames given by their brothers and sisters of Slytherin. Snips, a silly convoluted merging of his last name of 'Snape' and the synonym of 'sever' from his first name. Then there was Spirals, getting her name from the incredible amount of spiral jewelry, spiral- printed clothing, and spiral-designed temporary tattoos she wore. The spirals were more visible and distinctive than the sunglasses.
Tucked into the page fold was another picture, this one after a Slytherin Quidditch victory and Britomartis was still in her uniform, her arms around his shoulders and hugging him amid the large group of their Slytherin brothers and sisters. She kisses his cheek, making him turn bright red in the picture. In the background, Lucius Malfoy sneers at her behavior as he always had.
He flipped a few more pages to the Third-Year pictures, finding Martis' headshot; still wearing sunglasses and had Medusa wrapped around her shoulders, but smiling and being affectionate toward the snake.
Yes, she was his only friend back then. Even Lovely Lily was not as much a friend as Martis had been. Lucius Malfoy was even less in that regard, despite being Slytherin 'brothers to the ends of the Earth'.
The very first day of classes of his Third-Year, Severus was being dragged by his hair through the mud by Sirius Black. The bad part was that Black was riding a broomstick and flying low enough to cover him completely in the thick, black mud outside of the school.
'Like it, Snivellus?' Black crowed, his handsome face contorted by a malicious snarl. 'You're lower than mud, Snivelly!'
'What are you doing to a Slytherin, Gryffie?!' a girl's voice had yelled.
Black had released him, throwing him into the mud. 'Oh, a little girlie trying to rescue the greasy, miserable git! You don't know that even his own house hates him, do ya' little girlie?'
Severus had lifted his head up, wiping mud from his face, seeing a First- Year girl with knee-length ash blonde hair standing her ground as Sirius Black whipped around on his broom and headed straight at her.
The girl gracefully stepped aside and swung her arm out, landing a solid right hook into the thirteen-year-old boy's jaw and knocking him off his broom.
Cussing, Black had stood up and pulled his wand out.
The girl dashed up and kicked it out of his hand. 'If you're going to fight a girl, then at least be man enough to use your fists!'
Black sneered. 'Delighted, girlie.'
His fist struck out at her mouth - she clutched his wrist and slung him bodily over her shoulder, landing him face first in the mud. Tossing his fist at the back of his head, she added, 'Shame on you, you bully! Picking on girls and Slytherins! Don't you have a keeper?'
Black had turned over, groaning in pain. 'Great going, Snivellus, you've got a little girl to fight your fights for you. Congratulations, you wad of virus-snot. Nobody'll come to the wedding.'
Humiliated and dirty, Severus had run off, hearing the girl calling Sirius Black enough bad names to make McGonagall's hair turn completely white.
And then she found him in the library, held him, calmed him ... and finally introducing herself.
'I'm Britomartis Vox, First-Year,' she had said. 'Call me Martis.'
He whispered his own name, 'Severus Snape, Third-Year.'
'And we're Slytherins. Listen, any time that creep gets near you, I'll knock him on his nasty butt. Slytherins stick together, Severus.'
Slytherins stick together.
After that, when not in classes or separate dorms, Snips and Spirals stuck like glue.
It dawned on him with horror that the only times he could ever call happy was when he was with Britomartis Vox - not in potions class, not by himself, not with the Headmaster, not anything else, but when he was within the safe aura of 'Spirals' Vox. She was barely a teenager at the time ...
And it still scared the holy hell out of him.
Severus Snape closed the book and pushed it away, placing his face in his hands and allowing his hair to fall around his face. The Marauders' voices echoed like ghosts through his mind -
'Ugly, greasy git.' 'Girls will never like you!' 'Nobody wants you!' 'Ew! Snivellus' hormones are active!' 'Lock the girls up before he does anything to them!' 'Dis-gus-ting.' 'Lock your own doors, guys ... ' 'Ewwwwwww!'
Why was it him? Why anything at all?
And yet, despite the horrors, there was the soft voice of Martis calming him down, preventing him from casting Unforgivables upon them all ... giving him shreds of dignity ... and touches of love ... and then she left as well ...
Damn it all.
A knock came from the door and Snape sat straight up, pulling a grading book before him. He brushed more hair out of his face and called out, "Enter."
The door creaked open, showing the pale, sneering features of Draco Malfoy. "Professor Snape?"
The Potions Master looked up, mustering more annoyance than he already felt. "What is it?"
"It's about Professor Vox, sir." Draco slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Since she's House Mother, I expect you would know her."
"Get on with it, Malfoy," Snape snarled. "You want to know if she's a Pure Blood - yes, entirely pure, and not by marrying one's sister like your family, either."
Draco Malfoy blinked, then hardened his face in a credible imitation of his father's infamous arrogant sneer. "What did you say?"
"Go away, Malfoy, I am grading and I am not in any type of mood to deal with ... childish foolishness." His dark eyes raised up to meet the cold stare of the twelve-year-old. "Go. Now."
Draco made it a point to slam the door very loudly as he left.
Snape slumped in his chair, allowing his hair to curtain his face.
"Little pissant," he muttered.
