The Marauders

Padfoot, Wormtail, Prongs, and Moony grew to really enjoy their new hobby – Freaking Out Snape.

Once during Potions class, Sirius Black had thrown a fist-sized chunk of morganstone (known to Muggles as potassium metal) in one of the lab's big sinks full of water, which had destroyed both sink and water with a great shower of sparks. When all four Marauders blamed Severus (and neither the professor nor anyone from his House had been watching, unfortunately), Sartoris had no choice but to subtract twenty points from Slytherin.

Several weeks later, James Potter had covered one of the unused lab tables in the back of the room with alignum vitae, a compound that explodes when touched and leaves purple stains. Waiting until Professor Sartoris' back was turned and most of the Slytherins were intent on their own work, Potter had detonated it by throwing a paper crane, blowing the top off the desk.

Severus had turned purple. For two weeks.

Again, the Marauders had pointed their fingers at Severus while snickering to their friends that Snivelly had botched his own prank and now bore the evidence as a badge of shame. Predictably, Slytherin had lost ten points, which had not endeared Snape to his Housemates (not that many of them actually liked him in the first place).

A week after that, Sirius had pulled off one a particularly embarrassing prank because – in Severus' eyes at least - it had made him look like a disgrace and a sissy.

The Potions class had been informed that they would make a caustic potion used to scour residue off the stone walls of Hogwarts. Knowing that it could also dissolve flesh if mishandled, Black had taken the beaker of his finished potion and had hidden it. Holding a substitute beaker of nothing but hot water, he had put his dragon skin leather-clad hand in the liquid, then flicked it in Severus' face.

"This should improve your looks, Snivelly!" he had hissed.

Since the liquid had been hot and it looked a lot like the real thing poor Severus had begun to shriek that the Gryffindor had thrown corrosive potion on him. As a final touch, Black then held up the beaker and drank it down while his classmates screamed in horror.

Black had gotten in trouble for that one, of course, but it had been well worth it for making Snape look like the ninny and fool he was.

There were a lot of pranks like these. In fact, some were actually amusing and creative. And it would not be a true statement to say that Snape didn't prank them right back (turning James Potter's underwear into cat-sick and causing Pettigrew to sprout an extra arm out of his backside being prominent among them).

But then, the Marauders (particularly Sirius Black) began to prank Snape in an undeniably malicious way. By the middle of their first year at school, the Marauders had figured out that ol' Snivellus got the crap beaten out of him when he went home to visit, which made their little jokes even funnier.

When the coast was clear, the Marauders would congregate, snickering, in a stairwell and watches the Slytherin child make his way up the stairs, eyes downcast and long greasy hair blocking his peripheral view. One of the Gryffindor crew (it was usually Sirius) would jump out with a shout, shooting his arms over the boy's head. Invariably, Severus would drop to his knees, books flying so he could cover his head.

The Marauders found this uproariously funny. It was usually James who crowed, "See? His old man hates the greasy git even more than we do!" before he sent the boy's schoolbooks back down the stairwell with a well-placed kick.

Severus had burned with rage, shame, and helplessness as he stood on the fringes of acceptance, watching these boys who were strong and handsome and who had friends and weren't afraid to ask girls to dances. These boys were never laughed at, never called shameful names. They were Dumbledore's golden Gryffies after all, not ugly little snakes who spent far too much time hiding their heartbroken sobbing from people who would be happy to shame them for it.

When Severus had complained to his teachers about the Marauders and their pranks, they invariably maximized his complicity in the event and minimized theirs. When Severus had complained at home, his father had responded by giving him yet another beating for being a sissy and a coward who would bring disgrace to the pureblood House of Snape.

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So it was that Severus had nowhere to run from persecution, nowhere to hide from taunts and insults and threats, and nowhere to flee except deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Standing up now, the boy stretched and shivered. He had left his book bag behind, so he had no jacket and the temperature had dropped considerably since sunset.

It didn't matter. His suffering would end tonight.

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The students and faculty at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had searched the Castle thoroughly. Even Filch and Mrs. Norris had given the forbidden third floor a thorough inspection. Severus was gone.

"What do we do now, Headmaster?" said Minerva McGonagall to Albus Dumbledore. "It's nighttime and the boy is probably out there, hiding somewhere."

"I know," the old wizard sighed. "And knowing Severus, I'm sure that he's already concluded that he can't return to still more humiliation. He's from a proud family, and he has his own dignity as well."

There was a loud pop as one of the house elves apparated in front of them. "Excuses me, Sir Headmaster and Miz Professor, but one of us seen someone heading toward the woods earlier today. Might him be your boy, mayhap?"

Headmaster Dumbledore thanked the elf, then sighed. "Now, Minerva, let's go round up a suitable search party and go in after him."

"The Forbidden Forest!" the Transfiguration professor gasped. "But can we make any real headway in the dark, Albus?"

Dumbledore nodded in the affirmative. While the lumos charm used by other wizards and witches could provide a candle's flame, his could produce a bonfire's worth.

"We can and will, Minerva. The tougher task will be to convince him to come with us after – and if – we find him. It's a dangerous place, and I hold no great hope that a half-grown boy armed only with his wand can successfully vanquish any creature that is determined to hurt him."

Minerva gave a wry smile. "Don't sell the lad short, Albus. He knows more of the Black Craft than our own Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. All right, then," she said smartly. "let's be on our way."

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Severus had stumbled on for another hour into the Forbidden Forest. His hope to find some Magical Creature who enjoyed boy as an entrée had been dashed when he noticed that he was still quite alone. He thought that perhaps the dark creatures of the wood avoided him because they sensed his own dark nature. Like did not consume like, after all.

It was very dark but his eyes had become as accustomed to the blackness as those of the forest beings who spent their entire lives in it.

Like me. I live in darkness too.

The truth was far more benign. A friendly centaur had been keeping watch on the child, using his own considerable influence in keeping predators away from him. He had sensed the boy's alarm and hopelessness, and would prefer to see Dumbledore find his lost lamb alive instead of a mangled corpse.

Snape's knowledge of Dark wizardry did not prevent his stomach from calling out quite loudly for its dinner in the Great Hall, a meal he'd missed because those prats had exposed him to the entire world. He was also thirsty, although too much adrenaline pumped through his system for sleepiness to become an issue. Severus consoled himself by realizing that hunger, thirst, and exhaustion wouldn't matter by the end of the night.

He missed his mother keenly as he fought his way through sharp branches and over sharper stones. She had been unable to stop his father's abuse, but she loved him and had showed him the only true kindness he had experienced during his blighted childhood. He would be sorry to disappoint her, but his suffering had become unbearable and he had no friend at hand to help him – or any friend at all.

Mama don't hate me I love you but I'm all alone

What was that?

A light?

Yes.

Quite suddenly, half the forest was illuminated as brightly as it were dawn. He jerked to a stop in surprise. Common sense told him that he had not been out here the entire night, and even if he had, the sun did not just come shooting above the horizon all at once.

It was then that Severus realized that he was being rescued.

Rescued?

NO!!!!!

Tears began to run down his face. As hard as he tried to keep from being a crybaby and a disgrace to the family name, he couldn't stop them. Indeed, the boy was filled with such profound sadness that he could have cried forever.

Totally undone, with the prospect of rescue intolerable, the child leaned against a tree and slid down to his heels. He pulled his robes around his thin legs and put his hands in front of his face like he always did when his father went to punch him in the mouth.

Poor Severus Snape thought about an old Dark song he had known when he was little; its grim lyrics fit his present mood quite nicely. He sat where he was for the moment, and sang the tune very softly to himself:

Round we go

The world is spinning

When it stops

It's just beginning.

Sun comes up

We laugh and we cry

Sun goes down

And then we all die.