A Promise

by Atana

Severus Snape and his best friend pass their exams must say goodbye for the summer. A Snips and Spirals story.

DISCLAIMER: Really, if I could make money from this, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

-------------------- Snips and Spirals Fanfic: "A Promise" Text by Lady Tesser --------------------

Finals were done!

Severus Snape, fourteen-year-old Third-Year student, was the last to leave his Potions class, being kept back by Professor Sartoris.

"I already know you've passed this class," the old Potions Master said. "I must say your ... studies have been going along, as well."

Sev dropped his eyes to the floor. Professor Sartoris did not look as cold or aloof as his own father, but both were Dark Arts cronies to their bones. Sev often wondered why Dumbledore was not able to see what kind of a soul the Potions Master of Hogwarts had. After all, Sartoris sat to Dumbledore's left during meals, being quiet and polite and never drawing much attention to himself. Perhaps that was why.

"Thank-you, sir."

"You have the ability to become a great Potions Master yourself, Master Snape," Sartoris continued. "I intend to teach you everything I know, because I know you can do it. I always thought you could be best at potions rather than incantations."

Sev nodded. "I prefer potions, sir. Much easier to control the results."

Sartoris nodded. "A more exact science as well, and a high form of art when done correctly." He scratched his thin nose. "You'll be returning home next week. I expect I'll be allowed to tutor you over the summer as usual."

"Very likely." Sev looked up. He had been to Sartoris' family home, also in Whitshire, on several occasions, and he rather liked the place; it was an old, rambling Victorian (practically a new home in the Wizard World) that had a quiet, Gothic beauty about its somber but delicate grounds. Sartoris had a pretty great-granddaughter who knew her way around the kitchen just as much as the Professor knew his way around a potions lab. The house smelled of food and potions, a rather comforting combination to the boy. And Sartoris never resorted to hitting him, either, but retained a degree of professional bullying that Sev could accept without hatred. "Would I be able to stay with you and learn, sir?"

"I'm afraid not. You still have your other studies with your father." He patted Sev's head affectionately and waved his hand in dismissal. "I'll see you in classes, then."

Sev left the Potions Lab and made his way across the dungeon corridors to the Slytherin common room.

He stood before a stone wall, murmured "Pureblood.", and stepped through the opened doorway.

The room was empty. Everyone was outside or in other classes. Sev plopped down on a couch and gazed up at the dungeon ceiling, feeling it pressing down on his face and windpipe and chest ...

Going back home. Back to a different slice of hell.

He put the thought out of his mind. He still had another week until then, and he wanted to relish his time left at Hogwarts while the Marauders were still on suspension at Professor Machiavelli's.

Britomartis Vox appeared at the bottom of the girls' dorms staircase, her knee-length ash blonde hair in several braids. "Good, you're finished!"

He studied her outfit of the uniform, minus her sweater and robe, with the addition of several gold spirals and double-axes drawn on her cheeks, legs, and arms under her rolled-up sleeves.

"I see you're keeping the respect and propriety of Slytherin House going strong."

She smiled sweetly, pulling her sunglasses off. "Somebody has to - must not let the world know it's full of inbred, petty-minded monsters." She settled on the couch next to him. "Like my painting?"

"Nice," he replied, laying his head back.

"I have one on my stomach - a rather good rendition of - " She began lifting her shirt. Sev gripped her wrists and pushed her shirt back down.

"Will you stop that?" he snapped. "It'll be our luck Penderdandis will come through!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, releasing her shirt. "No, with the way you're acting, it'll be our luck that the protection skills will kick in." Her brows knotted. "Snips, I usually run around in a lot less on Crete, and nobody is bothered."

"Well, you're not on Crete, you're here."

She sat up, putting her sunglasses back on. "Come on, let's go outside." She pulled him up and ran outside before he could object. Trotting down to the lake, they saw several other students relaxing on the shores and under the trees - talking, laughing, horsing around. Some of the couples were seated together, holding hands or cuddling in the grass.

Martis claimed an empty spot by the shore of the lake. Sev sat next to her and drew his knees up, resting his elbows on his knees, and stared at the lapping water. On the other side of the lake, some of the upperclass students tossed food to the octopus sunning itself near them.

She leaned back on the grass, spreading her arms over her head. "This feels wonderful, doesn't it, Snips? Finals are over and it's turning into summer!"

"And going back home in a week," he added.

She turned her head to him. "Wanna come to Crete with me?"

He chuckled. "I really wish I could, but I have to go back home."

Martis sat up. "I don't like the idea of you going back home to your father. Let's tell him that you died in DADA class and you can come live with me."

Sev snickered. "Sure, I bet that'll work. We'll fake my death."

"Why not?" she asked. "People do it all the time and for more petty reasons." She brushed hair out of his face. "You need to do something with your hair."

He looked at her. "I'll do something with my hair when you stop wearing your sunglasses."

Martis pouted. "Please? Let me braid it, just once."

"No braiding."

"You'll still look like a guy - my brothers braid their hair all the time and they still get girlfriends."

Sev closed his eyes, giggling nervously. "That's not why."

"Please?" She pressed her face close to his. "I'll be your best friend."

He finally laughed. "You already are."

"So you'll let me - yay!" She moved behind him and gripped strands of clean but greasy hair.

"Spirals, please - don't - "

She drew up hair from his temples and the top of his head, allowing forelocks to escape over his forehead. "Don't fight me, Snips, I've got lots of your hair in my hands and I can tug hard." She pulled them back and began braiding the ends down the back.

"Spirals, you are a pushy cow."

"And you're a passive mouse."

"I am not."

She finished braiding, securing the end with a tie from one of her own braids. "There, now look at your reflection in the lake."

Sev felt the braid at the back of his head, then crawled to the edge of the lake and looked down into the water.

His reflection looked back up. His face was free of most hair, the braid dipping down over his right shoulder while the majority of his hair was still loose at the back and lower sides. A few select strands hung over his forehead.

He turned around and looked at her. Her lips parted in a smile. "Snips, you look magnificent."

Sev blushed, wanting to hide behind his hair. "You don't have to lie to me, Martis."

"I'm not," she replied. "I'd never lie about stuff like this." She leaned closer and kissed his forehead. "My Snips is growing up and getting cuter!"

He pulled back. "Now I know you're pulling my leg."

"No, if I were pulling your leg, I'd be crying for you to make me a woman thirty different ways in a very loud voice while tearing my clothes off."

"Well, please don't!" he laughed uneasily. "I don't think I could survive your real 'Earthy' humor."

"Probably not. There's so many times I could have said something, but you would have died of embarrassment." Martis laughed, pointing. "You, the older boy who's supposed to be nothing but hormones, is better behaved than the twelve-year-old girl!"

"Life's more than 'that'," he answered with as much dignity as he could.

"'That'?" she repeated, giggling. "Which 'that'?"

"You know ... 'that'." He reached back and unbraided his hair quickly to be able to hide his blush.

"'That' ... " she echoed. The grin became a leer. "Come on, Snips, you can say it - 'sex'. Yeah, say it three times fast, Sev, it'll do you a world of good - 'sex-sex-sex'!"

"SHUT UP, BRITOMARTIS!"

She giggled, crawling over to him and hugging him. "My poor Snips, always so proper. All right, I'm sorry for doing that, it really was out-of-line for me."

Sev allowed his hair to fall back into his face. "Guess I'm too sensitive, huh?"

"Sometimes." She settled down and looked back up at him. "Really, you should go around with your hair in that type of braid. You look really good in it."

"Maybe." He looked back over the lake. "What are you doing to do for the summer?"

"Practice Quidditch. Think up pranks. Write thousands of letters to you everyday."

He looked down at her, seeing her sunglasses off and her moss-green eyes steady to his. "Really, Spirals?"

"Well, you're not getting rid of me for the summer." Her head rested on his shoulder. "Friends keep in touch when separated."

"I ... didn't know that, really." He thought about it, looping an arm around her shoulder. "We'll have to owl. I'll never be able to use the Floo."

"Me, neither. My family never uses Floo." She grinned. "I'll send you home with some of my artwork."

"The ones you did in Divinations class?"

She nodded. "I always thought Madame von Gruppen taught abstract art."

"Abstract something," he chuckled. "I'd like that."

She kissed his shoulder. "And what are you sending home with me?"

He was silent a moment, then replied, "All three of my dirty socks ... "

Martis shoved him headfirst toward the lake, yelling, "ONLY YOUR SOCKS??"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the lake with him. "You can have my shoes, too."

She laughed hysterically, splashing at him. "They're all wet and nasty now, Snips!"

"Just like your silly braids!" he called, splashing back.

Snips and Spirals were ignored by the rest of the student body.

The End-of-Term Feast arrived a week later. Students filled the Great Hall, their dark robes and pointed caps lining the rows of tables.

"Something I won't miss," Martis commented to Sev. "All this heavy meat."

"Heavy meat?" he repeated.

"My diet on Crete is mostly fish, olives, and barley bread with honey. Sometimes lamb or goat, depending on holidays, but this stuff has been making me lethargic."

He snorted a giggle. "Considering the way you run around, that surprises me."

She grinned. "I vibrate into another dimension when I'm really energetic."

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood, looking regal in his golden robes and long silver hair and beard. Students quieted down, waiting for him to speak.

"Another year come and gone," he stated solemnly. "We have stuffed your heads full of learning and knowledge and hopefully you'll retain a few things over the summer. If not, we expect a complete cleansing before you come back here." He allowed the students to giggle. "And now, it is time to award the House Cup."

Martis gripped Sev's hand, squeezing. Both of them grinned at each other.

"In fourth place, at one-hundred-and-twenty-two points, is Gryffindor."

The Gryffindor tables politely applauded, remembering how they lost four hundred points due to the Marauders (still suspended, even on the last feast) being jerks and showing bad sportsmanship over losing an agreed-upon Prank War with the two troublemakers of Slytherin. Lily Evans looked up toward the troublemakers in question - the back of Vox's long ash-blonde hair and Snape's partially-hidden face - and wondered what the next year would be like when the Marauders came back.

"In third place, Slytherin, with three-hundred-and-ninety-seven points."

The Slytherin table applauded, although a few of the more uppity members stared down Martis and Sev; it was no secret that the activities of the two were the reason they were in third place.

"In second place, Hufflepuff, with four-hundred-and-twenty-eight points."

Hufflepuff, the most neutral of the house rivalries, applauded.

"And first place, winner of the House Cup, with four-hundred-and-fifty-five points - Ravenclaw."

Professor Flitwick - Head of Ravenclaw - nearly fell out of his seat as he squeaked and applauded wildly.

Ravenclaw cheered, being led by a few ancient war whoops from the Vox's - Artemisia and Adonia standing on their bench while Phaedra jumped up and down behind her seat and Kyros (graduating) leapt on the table and began dancing.

Several of the Ravenclaws grabbed the Vox siblings down and chided them to be more dignified.

"Well done, well done, Ravenclaw," Dumbledore continued, clapping. "The teachers and staff of Hogwarts would like to wish you a very good summer holiday, wherever you may go. And our final words before the feast begins - poppycock, gobblygook, and squirk!"

The students cheered for their Headmaster as he sat down, smiling kindly at them all.

The feast appeared, and students dug in.

"The man really is insane," Lucius Malfoy said in amazement down the table. "It's true, he is truly the worst headmaster in Hogwarts' history."

"His insanity in refreshing," Evan Ryper commented. "Better than having the crud beat out of us every time we turn around. I heard that's what it was like with Nigellus Phineas."

"An illustrious ancestor," Narcissa Black added. "Very proud to have him in the family tree."

Martis, unable to hold it in, blurted, "And what an illustrious stick your family tree is - amazing how long you've lasted with brother-sister marriages."

Sev's laughter sputtered pumpkin juice across the table, which was conveniently unoccupied.

"FORGET HEXES!" Narcissa yelled, getting up. "I'm just going to tear her a new - "

"Sit down, Miss Black," Professor Penderdandis' voice said.

"But, sir, she insulted my family!"

"Then you insult hers; therefore it evens out in karmic fashion," Madame von Gruppen added helpfully.

"Oh, please, Emma!" Penderdandis sighed in disgust.

Narcissa's face twisted up in a sneer. "I'll take an apology then."

"All right," Martis said solemnly. "I'm sorry your family is full of inbred idiots."

"Miss Vox!"

"I'm sorry for calling them idiots."

"Britomartis - " Penderdandis warned.

"I regret the necessity of referring to your family as 'inbred'."

"Thank-you," Narcissa said, settling back down.

Sev tried to keep the grin off his face. "She didn't get it!" he whispered.

"Not the fastest broom in the closet, is she?" Martis agreed. "Penderdandis' right eye is still twitching, too."

"He's going to have to let it go since Narcissa called it closed." Sev looked over at his best friend. "We leave on the train tomorrow."

She nodded. "I know." She grasped his hand. "We still have tonight and the train ride to get in as much hugs as possible."

He lowered his face, allowing his hair to curtain his eyes. "Perhaps the Conversation Room this evening."

Martis smiled. "And what shall we discuss?"

"We'll find out when we get there."

The evening wore on. The Houses had their own end-of-year parties and celebrations for graduates, overlooked by the faculty due to there being no point in taking away points at this time.

Notes compared the next day related the inflatable sheep visited each common room either by hanging on someone's head or trotting through as if nothing was going on. People would ask Martis and Sev about it, although both denied knowing about an inflatable sheep.

Martis herself climbed up the staircases to the Conversation Room, poking her head into the dark crawl-hole and finding the room lit with a lantern and Sev waiting. She grinned and hugged him before settling down. She glanced at his face and added, "You braided your hair. Easy to do, isn't it?"

He brushed aside a short forelock dangling in his line of sight. "It's different."

"Last night," she commented. She looked up at the stained glass ceiling meeting at a cone-point above their heads, glittering with the lantern light.

"My going-away present for you," he said. He placed an empty ink-jar on the floor in front of them. Martis studied it curiously.

"An ink-jar? What does it do? Spring flubberworms out?"

He smiled to himself, drawing his wand out and tapping the lid. The ink- jar shimmered, swayed, the surface blending and swirling together until it solidified again as a three inch pendant of a double-axe.

Martis gasped softly, picking it up and turning it over in her hands, still warm from the magical manipulation. "Oh, Snips, it's lovely! I can't believe the detail on this - the filigree and the snakes and the crescent moons - "

"I've been practicing," he admitted. "I went through about twenty ink-jars before I got it right." He gently enclosed her fingers over it. "My going- away present for you."

Martis pulled her sunglasses off, tears brimming her eyes, then she tackled Sev in a hug and giggled, burying him under her body and hair. "Thank-you so much, Severus!" She propped herself on one hand as she lifted up the pendant and looked at it in the lantern light. "It's so pretty - I had no idea you were such an artist - Snips?"

Sev was trying not to hyperventilate from both overload and a sudden impulse of fear. The overload being the fact a girl was on top of him. The fear being from the same reason, mostly due to the sudden shock of being pushed to the floor.

"Please - Martis - off - "

She quickly scrambled off him. "Sorry, sorry! I keep forgetting."

"Please don't," he said as he sat up. "I'm not from your culture. The only physical contact I've had for most of my life is beatings from my father and apologetic hugs from my mother. I'm not used to - to being hugged like that."

"You know I won't hurt you, Severus," Martis reminded him softly.

"I know, but it still scares me when it's sprung on me like that." He sat back against a wall and rubbed his shoulders. "You weren't like this at the beginning of the year, when we first met."

"That was because I hardly knew you. I don't do that to total strangers."

"Good policy."

Martis sat a few feet away, allowing the round room's small space to angle her body toward his for discussion. "Usually. I really wish you could come to Crete with me! We'd have so much fun together and you can get used to having real affection."

Sev smiled slightly, imagining being accepted into her sister Xenia's family (Martis' eldest sister, the one who mainly raised her) as another son and allowed to be ... whatever a child was allowed to be. He was not quite sure how other children acted. He assumed they were allowed to do things by mistake like mashing strained beets in their hair and screeching when they play outside or playing with toy soldiers in the parlor when no one was visiting ... Sev knew he got knocked against walls for doing such things, that's for sure.

But having Martis for a 'foster sister' and running all over the island under the sun and over the mountains together, learning to fly winged- horses and playing hide-and-seek in abandoned temples like she and her sisters and her friend Dion had done ...

Heh. Too late for that. And there was no way any of that dream would become reality.

"What is real affection, anyway?" he asked. "If it's what you've shown, I'm surprised you all manage to keep the birthrate down."

"Well, it's not all sudden," she giggled. "I'm helped take care of my nieces and nephews. Babies are meant to be hugged and loved and touched constantly to assure them they are loved. And you really can't help but hold babies all the time because they're so wonderful." She mimed holding an infant in her arms. "I really miss it. My sister Tassos just had another baby, a boy named Dorian, so I'm going to be all over that kid when I get back." She giggled and sighed. "I know I'm going to have lots of babies when I grow up. And I'm going to love and cherish every single one of them, no matter how many I have!"

Sev reached over and touched her hand. "You'll be a good mother. You mother me enough."

Martis smiled, turning her hand over to squeeze his hand. "Don't know where I got it," she commented snidely. "Certainly not from my mother."

"Probably from your sisters," he suggested. "I really do thank you for being my friend."

"No problem, Snips. We're sticking together for the rest of the ride. I passed with high marks, you passed with high marks, we're getting back together for the fall." She suddenly turned very serious. "I want you to promise me you'll come back to school."

He became serious as well, the lantern light illuminating his face, showing more than the fourteen years of life he had lived. "I'll try, Spirals. I want to come back and I'll do everything I can to make sure I do. It all depends upon my father."

Martis stood on her knees and placed her hands on his cheeks. "You will come back, Severus Snape. I need you with me."

He pulled away, pressed her hands back. "All right. I promise to return. I might be a pile of ashes, but I'll return."

"Don't talk like that." She sat on her tucked-under legs and rested her hands on her knees. Her hair surrounded her body and trailed on the stone floor around her. "We're going to survive this, both of us, together. Snips and Spirals will return next school year, ready to take on the newly- released Marauders."

Sev gasped. "I permitted myself to forget about them. Rats." He smiled up at her. "Now we're going to have to come up with all new pranks."

"Don't worry. We haven't covered everything yet. We're going to make Filch go completely gray trying to keep track of our handiwork."

"Don't we already have a file drawer full in his office?"

"Probably, so we'll fill up a whole cabinet by the time you graduate." Her smile became a full-on grin. "Of course, we'll have to pull a HUGE prank when you graduate. Perhaps get rid of Peeves in a spectacular fashion?"

"We'll be made Gods," Sev concluded.

"One can hope." She reached forward. "Can I hug you?"

He nodded. "Just not too violently."

Martis crawled over and enclosed Sev in a hug, snuggling close to him. "This will have to hold you over for the summer."

"Then it'll have to be for a couple of minutes."

"Maybe an hour."

The two friends held each other and gazed up at the stained glass ceiling.

The next morning, the students were taken to the Hogwarts Express by Hagrid, who made sure stragglers were not left behind. The day was clear and sunny and warm, the students itching to get out of their robes and uniforms and into summer clothes as soon as the train pulled out of the station.

Martis kept Medusa close as the rest of the familiars were loaded in the cargo cars. Making sure her own trunk was put away properly, she turned to go back up to the passenger cars - and ran into Remus Lupin.

"Oh, no," she sighed. "They let you guys out? Or did you run when they hosed out your cages?"

Lupin's thin face flushed, which did not make him look any better because of his sickly complexion. "I'm offering my own apologies for what happened last December, Miss Vox. It was bad sportsmanship on our parts to take it personally ... Well, for the rest of us. Padfoot always had a problem with, er ... " He made motions of something being dropped down a pair of trousers.

Martis supplied with tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek, "Had a problem with his genitals being drummed on by Cornish pixies. So he's had that problem before?"

Lupin almost broke out into laughter, but his blush made up for the embarrassment factor. "I'd share the details, but I was sworn to secrecy." He offered his hand. "Really, I'm sorry for what happened. Prongs and I agreed to never, ever allow personal pride to get involved with our groups' on-going animosity."

She shook his hand. "At least you're honest enough about it. I noticed Black isn't involved in this agreement."

"He's still nursing his ego," Lupin admitted. "And Wormtail is a spineless jellyfish."

"I thought he was a rat."

"That, too." He smiled, running a hand through his ginger-colored hair.

Martis folded her arms. "I really wonder why you run around with those guys, Lupin. You seem to be a fairly decent bloke on your own, but a complete lump with them. Why's that?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. You know how it is. I have to go. They'll accuse me of consorting with the enemy or something."

"See you next year, then."

He smiled faintly. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. More pranks?"

"Absolutely."

They went their separate ways and Martis climbed onto the train, locating the cabin her siblings said they would claim on the ride back.

She found the twins and Phaedra in a cabin and she slipped in. "Where's Kyros?"

Phaedra made a face. "Sitting with all the other 'adults'."

Adonia giggled. "He's a pain in the butt, baby sister. Mr. Graduate is, as we speak, turning water into rum and chatting up his 'study partner' Dagmar Campbell."

Artemisia added, "'Study partner'! He's not fooling anybody - Dags was singing one of the homeland love songs the other night and he denied everything."

Martis giggled. "Well, it's not like it wasn't unexpected."

"Brothers are weird!" Phaedra announced. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go locate my own 'study partner'."

The twins made faces at her back while she left as Martis said, "Isn't her study partner Jinny Mackie?"

"Nope," Artemisia answered. "She decided to get a 'study' partner named Monsoor Patil, who is a Sixth-Year. Very cute."

"Adorable," Adonia agreed. "He's on the Quidditch team with her, fellow Chaser."

"It was probably the tackle during that practice match with Hufflepuff that made her switch study partners," Artemisia commented.

"Absolutely," Adonia confirmed. "Which is odd, because when I tackled him in the halls just before that, he ran away screaming."

"Well, you do resemble a rabid bull."

"We have the same face, smartarse."

"No we don't. I'm prettier."

Martis got up from her seat to look up and down the carriage walkway for Sev. She waved as she saw him get on two cars down. He nodded and made his way down the small corridor, narrowly avoiding getting slammed into a wall by Lucius Malfoy.

"Remind me why I can't pull his hair?" Sev asked in disgust.

"Because you'll have every single girl - with the exception of me - from Slytherin trying to pull your hair out." Martis smiled, drawing an arm around him. "Come on in, you can share the cabin with us."

Sev dropped his face, his hair covering his eyes as the twins became quiet when they entered the cabin. The train lurched forward, making Martis and Sev plop onto their empty seat.

"How you doing, Snape?" Adonia asked.

"Well," he answered.

Adonia hated short answers. "Wasn't von Gruppen's test a bore?"

"A bit."

She smiled sweetly. "Your hair's on fire."

"What?"

"I know what his problem is," Artemisia proclaimed. "He's being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of estrogen in the cabin due to the two sexy fourteen-year-old blonde twins sitting in front of him, giving him excellent views of their cleavage."

Sev pulled his robe up over his face to cover the brilliant crimson red he turned. Martis fumed. "Are you done embarrassing him yet?"

"No," Artemisia answered breezily.

"Steam hasn't come out of his ears yet," Adonia pointed out.

Martis cleared her throat. "I'd appreciate it if you two would semi-behave yourselves. Snips isn't as worldly as we are."

"You mean 'Earthy'," Artemisia corrected her. "We apologize, Snape. We were just playing around."

"Yeah, sorry," Adonia added. "You're a good guy, Severus. That's why we can joke like that. Any of the other guys would take it the wrong way and step out of line - then we'd have to kick them around."

Martis smiled, pulling his robe off his face. "It's all right, Snips. They like you. If they didn't like you, you'd be hanging out the window by your hair and wearing a sign reading 'I'm nothing but male scum.', so it's all good."

He inhaled deeply, trying to control the blood in his face. The twins were right, it really did not help that they were already out of their uniforms and wearing matching bright green sundresses that displayed the fact they had mammary glands. "Spirals ... Your sisters are very distracting."

"Why?" she asked, completely puzzled.

"Well, uh, they ... "

Adonia leaned forward, studying his face. He pulled his robe back over his head. "Oh, I get it. Come on, Artemisia, we have to cover them up."

"What? This is the first time I can let them breathe."

"Yes, but Martis' friend is freaking out."

Sev got up, trying to feel for the door. "I'll leave, I won't bother you."

"Oh, please, Severus!" Artemisia chided him. "Sit down. We're the ones disrespecting local customs. You can uncover your face now."

Sev did so. Martis patted his hand. "There," she said. "My sisters can behave."

He quickly smiled at her and lowered his robe down the rest of the way. "I probably should change into my own clothes soon."

"Good idea," Martis agreed. "I'll meet you back here in a few minutes."

Martis and Sev left the cabin, leaving the twins behind.

Adonia pursed her lips, then leaned back, finishing the buttons on her cardigan. "Severus is a good guy, but he's way too shy."

Artemisia shook her head. "Martis says that his father's abusive."

The other twin snapped her head around. "What? Toward that little thing?"

"Not as bad as what I've heard. The Snape family is full of nothing but Dark Wizards."

Adonia knotted her brows in worry. "Is baby sister safe?"

"I think so. I think she's keeping him in line for the most part. The kid's had a pretty bad childhood, so Sis is a good influence on him."

"As long as he stays out of the Dark Arts around her, then he's a goody." She smiled. "After all, he helped us get those dopey Gryffies after what they did to her - never saw anybody that small do a Full-Nelson like that."

Artemisia leaned close. "Well, he was pissed-off; you heard him call her 'his Martis'. He's entirely devoted to her."

Adonia swallowed. "You know what this means."

Artemisia nodded. "If he hurts her in any way, we kill him."

Sev returned to the cabin, seeing the twins still had their cardigans on and both were engrossed in an intricate game of Wizard's Chess which was balanced on their knees. Martis was already in, clad in a turquoise sundress with a more modest cut. Medusa was wrapped around her shoulders, laying amid several beaded necklaces with Snake Goddess and double-axe fetishes. The double-axe pendant he made her hung from a single strand of rose quartz beads close to her neck.

"Come on in, Snips," she greeted him. "I need to give you your going-away present."

Sev settled next to her and fiddled with the worn hems of his dark tunic. "But this will mean I will be going away."

She stared at him, her sunglasses covering up her emotions, save for the fact her chin threatened to quiver. After a moment, she said, "Make it 'promise to come back' presents." She handed him a pack of large papers rolled up and held together with a blue bow.

Sev pulled one out and unrolled it, finding her large sketchpad paper filled with bright yellows and oranges and blues denoting a temple ruin from Crete.

Excitedly, he pulled out another one, this one of the bright white villas lining a cliff-face looking out over a sapphire-blue ocean; silver dolphins splashed in the water in the distance.

None of them were Wizard paintings or sketches. All were still, allowing the flow of the colors and brushstrokes to show the implied movement of the scenes.

"Oh, Gods," he whispered. "These are beautiful, Spirals."

Martis grinned. "They're to decorate your room at home. When you start getting depressed, you can look at them and imagine you're on Crete instead."

""Thank-you, Martis. Thank-you so much." He hesitantly raised his arms, then she dove into them and hugged him.

The twins exchanged looks over their chess board.

Sev and Martis pulled apart just as the snack-cart came by. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" the dimpled witch asked politely.

"Anything other than pumpkin juice?" Adonia asked. "I'm getting sick of it."

"Oh, I'm afraid not, dear."

"We'll get some soft drinks on the Muggle train," Artemisia told her twin. "A dozen Droobles, please. We're going to fill the Muggle train with bubbles."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Martis agreed. "How about some Cauldron Cakes and a few Chocolate Frogs for Snips and myself?"

"I'll take a pumpkin pastry, then," Adonia said.

"I thought you didn't like pumpkin?"

"Only pumpkin juice; having that with nearly every meal is driving me bonkers. Can't wait to get some goat milk again."

"Goat milk?" Sev asked as the witch handled them their requests and Artemisia paid.

"You irrational British Wizards drink cow's milk, we more sane and sensible Cretans drink goat milk," Artemisia explained.

Sweets were passed around; the twins went back to their chess game while Sev and Martis shared their chocolate then settled back into the seats and watched the countryside go by the window. Medusa eventually settled around their shoulders, drawing them closer together as the ride continued.

This was the last taste of heaven, Sev decided. 'For the whole summer, I have this memory of being accepted by a family and being held by my best friend.' He shifted carefully, drawing an arm around Martis as she napped quietly against him. Medusa allowed the moment, settling back down again.

He wished it could go on forever ... the countryside rushing by and the train's movement and the feel of Martis with her arms around his waist and his arm around her and both of them close; Martis dozing while he drowned in the sensations of acceptance, trust, and even love.

He checked himself. He trusted her. He trusted her with his life, even though he promised himself he would never, ever trust anyone, that he would never open his heart, that he would kill anyone before trusting them ... and here he trusted her to the ends of the Earth, innately knowing she would not betray him or abandon him or anything to break him.

He felt the tears prickle the back of his throat, stinging his eyes. Damn it, he should not cry over something like this! He should be retreating back, pushing her away, adding her to his List because she was closest to his heart and soul.

He wanted to be held forever, allowed to cry in relief, drown in the elation and safety of trusting her with that same heart and soul, both as fragile as dew drops in the morning sun. He was nothing without her, but with her he was worthy of at least being treated as a human being.

He recognized the silver skies of Whitshire immediately. The train stopped a few places along the way when there were many students in an area. It just happened a large concentration of students also lived in the area the Muggles called 'Stonehenge Territory'.

Sev did not want to leave. He wanted to stay cuddled next to his Martis and go on to London, taking a Muggle train to South Hampton, then going to Crete by submersible ship. He wanted to cling to her, refuse to let go, spitting in his father's face if he had to.

Heavily, he raised his head, brushing his hair back with a hand. "Spirals."

Martis stirred in her nap, squeezing him tighter and laying her head in the curve of his neck. "Don't go, Snips," she murmured. "Stay with me. Let's go to Crete."

"I want to but I have to go home."

Her sunglasses raised up, gazing at him. He pulled her sunglasses down her nose and saw tears threatening to spill over her lids.

It broke his heart. "Oh, Spirals, don't cry, not over me."

"Why not?" she sniffed. "You're going home to your horrible father. We won't be together for three months."

"Then promise me you'll meet me in Diagon Alley the first Saturday in August before school starts. My parents always take me there for school shopping at that time."

She bit her lip.

"Martis, please!" he begged.

"Yes. Seven weeks." She kissed his cheek. "Too long."

"We'll write," he said, squeezing her so tight he thought he would break her. "I'll write you everyday."

"I'll write you every day, too. I promise that." Her lips kissed his cheek again. "You will come back."

"Yes." He reluctantly got up and gathered his carry-on and the rolls of drawings, gazing at her the entire time; she returned his stare, tears spilling down her cheeks. The train came to a complete stop and students began to move down the walkways.

Martis got up and grasped his arm, accompanying him out to the hall and steps down to the platform.

Sev glanced out the window. "No sign of my father - just the driver come to pick me up." He turned back to her. "Oh, Gods, Martis, please don't cry."

"I already am." She embraced him in the hall as other students brushed past them to leave. Lucius Malfoy commented, "A true disgrace that you must practically fornicate in the middle of traffic! You'll see each other soon enough - come along, Snape."

Martis gritted her teeth, pulling away enough to draw her wand and snap it at the back of Lucius' expensive black cape. It became embroidered with the words 'Want a good time, sailor?' across the back in bright pink. Flowers embroidered themselves around the words.

Sev managed to chuckle amid his own tears. "I'm going to miss that."

"Me, too." She kissed his cheek yet again. "I'll miss you the most."

"I'll miss you, too." He made his leaden legs move, carrying him down the steps onto the platform. Martis stood in the doorway, bracing herself on both sides as the train began to move again.

Sev stood on the platform, watching her shrink as the Hogwarts Express sped away, feeling as if a chunk of his soul had been carried away with it.

He dropped his head, hiding the tears from those around him.

On the train, Artemisia and Adonia politely remained quiet as Martis fingered the double-axe pendant at her neck and cried behind her sunglasses.

She began ticking off the days until they would meet again ...

Diagon Alley may not survive.

-End-