Rose Among the Thorns: The Third Evans Sister
By Jedi Blu, Lady at Large
Standard Disclaimer Found Here: I do not own anything that is not mine. Doesn't that make wonderful sense?
Italics are thoughts, emphasized words, or letters.
NOTE: I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. Feel free to critique harshly. That is all.
. : ; ' " j e d i b l u " ' ; : .
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Call it a Dare, Call it Jealousy
. : ; ' " j e d i b l u " ' ; : .
Rose was on her way to Greenhouse Four, determined to get there early enough to go over her notes from the last lecture so she'd be ready to put everything into practice today. She marched smartly down the castle steps, smiling to herself, when a sudden strong wind blew up.
It was January, such things were to be expected.
But the wind tried to snatch up her beautiful green cap, given to her for Christmas two years before by Severus. Rose put a hand to the hat to keep it firmly on her head, leaving some of her notes unguarded. Thin sheets of parchment went skittering out of her grasp and around the side of the castle in no time.
Praying her notes didn't proceed to the lake, Rose took off after them as fast as she could. To her relief, the papers were let down by the wind and she began to gather them up at once, with fairly no time lost for her to study them.
But it was as she bent to snatch up the last parchment that she heard voices from just over a large shrub.
"...following us? If you're really so interested, and so stupid, as to think you won't get caught next time, try it tonight!"
"Sod off, Black," a familiar voice was shouting back. "I've got better things to do with my time than waste it on you."
"Like what? Snogging with the Slytherin tramp?"
Rose narrowed her eyes and did what she could to peer through the foliage, knowing all too well she was said 'tramp' and Sirius Black was the one calling her such names. It was easy to see what was going on, as she could make out Black and Severus standing stock-still, wands raised at each other. It looked like a stand-off, neither wizard willing to strike the other until there was a real reason to. Dueling was against school policies, of course, but that normally wouldn't stop them. Nearest she could figure, neither boy really wanted to fight.
But Severus did look angry now.
"You know as well as I do that isn't true," Severus said, voice low and dangerous.
"What? The snogging or the tramp?" Sirius Black bit out, snarling almost. "Everyone knows you've taken up with Evans, and everyone's disgusted by it."
"You're a complete imbecile, Black, and trading insults with you is going to make me late for class," Severus hissed out, not even deigning to reply to the last jab.
Sirius threw his head back a little, a haughty, arrogant smile appearing. "Can't take jibes at your precious little girlfriend, can you Snivellus? Don't like her name dragged through the muck, do you?" He chuckled, his eyes narrowing. "So curse me, why don't you? Use a lovely little Dark Arts curse; I'm sure you know a few."
And it struck Rose what was going on.
Sirius Black was baiting Severus, trying to get him to react in any negative manor. There wasn't much brain-work in figuring out why; the whole school knew that Severus Snape was under the protection and guardianship of the Headmaster, and some figured it was because Severus was a real problem case and so needed extra watching. If Black believed he could get Severus in real trouble with his guardian, head of the school, he would try to force Severus into making the first move. If he could claim Severus attacked him...well, it wouldn't be good. Doubtless Black and his family would reign terror down upon the school for Snape's behavior.
Bless him, Severus knew this and was trying so hard not to fly off the handle and attack. There were no witnesses, after all, and his word against the word of a Black was nothing.
Rose wondered if she should come out and stop the nonsense, but remembered the other time she had stepped between the two boys—years ago, but still fresh in her mind. And when Lily had tried to help Severus...well, he had pride. She would just watch, and only emerge if truly needed.
Severus, for his part, looked as if all he wanted to do was spring at Black's throat. "Leave Rose Evans out of this, Black," he spat out, looking more enraged by the moment. "Whatever you have against me has nothing to do with her. What do you want?"
Black laughed, a bark almost, and shook his head. "You really don't get it, do you? Fine, we'll play it your way. What do I want? Well, call it a dare. You really want to know where Remus Lupin has been going every month for the past six years? Then try to follow me tonight. If you succeed, you'll get much more than you bargained for." The threat in his tone was obvious, the malice in his smile made Rose shudder. "Much more."
"Cease the dramatics, please," Severus snarled. "And get out of here. I'm sure by now your little friends are wondering where you are."
Sirius shook his head. "Coward," he bit out, backing away. "Too worried about getting the Headmaster upset at you to even defend yourself anymore. What a shame. But I guess I should've expected it from a mixed blood, motherless snotling like you." And Sirius was gone, around a corner and out of earshot.
What on earth did that mean? Rose stood, stock-still and confused. Severus's parents had both been pure blood.... She thought she knew this, it was one of the only things she really did know about his background.
The Slytherin boy stood there, obviously seething with rage, for several long moments before whirling and storming off in the direction of his Care of Magical Creatures Class.
Rose waited a few moments, to be certain she wasn't seen leaving the area by either of the boys, then hurried to her own class which she would only just be in time for.
She wouldn't tell Severus she had heard or seen anything. No, she would simply keep an eye on him tonight, and make certain he didn't get into trouble.
Boys were infernally stupid when it came to such things as dares. And she wasn't about to let Severus get himself expelled or, worse, killed at the hands of bullying Gryffindors.
. : ; ' " j e d i b l u " ' ; : .
Rose was shivering, not at all liking the cold. It had also started to snow, with flakes falling thick and fast onto the ground of Hogwarts. She stood, wrapped in the same old cloak Severus had given her a couple of years before that had been practically drenched in spells to make the wearer 'unobvious.' She had managed to follow him out of the castle without him detecting her—or at least without him acknowledging she was there. He could have just been ignoring her presence so that, if caught, he could claim he was alone in his task that night.
Severus stood concealed at the moment, near a statue that stood far outside of the grounds, keeping an eye on the large, but young, willow tree which stood fairly on its own. The Whomping Willow was incredibly dangerous, as a few signs near it pointed out. Students were to stay far away from this rare tree, except for seventh years, who were required to get as close as possible to study it for herbology.
Soon Rose detected another figure moving about in the falling snow, and she had no doubt it was Sirius Black. He went, to her surprise, directly to the dangerous tree.
She couldn't see what he was doing, but he suddenly disappeared from view near the roots of the tree.
And Severus was quickly following him.
A cloud moved swiftly across the face of the full moon, so what little vision Rose had was lost to her in that crucial moment.
But she knew the willow tree was, for whatever reason, not attacking.
The Slytherin witch moved quickly to the base of the tree, looking at the footprints by the light of her wand to determine what had happened and why both boys had disappeared.
But the footprints just stopped at the roots.
She stood, horrified and alone, wondering what was happening.
Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder, and Rose flipped around, alarm clearly written on all her features and—
James Potter stood above her, looking surprised but not angry. "Evans? What in the name of Merlin are you doing out here?" Actually, he looked more suspicious than surprised.
Rose didn't think there was anything for it, obviously Potter wasn't in on what was going on, she could tell he wasn't sure what to make of her. "Following Severus who is following Black, on a dare, to where ever it is you all like popping off to once a month," she answered, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. It was colder than Hades out there.
James's reaction startled her. "WHAT?!" He grabbed her shoulders in a death-grip. "Are you certain? Padfoot dared Snivellus to follow him tonight?!" He looked angry, and afraid, and Rose was very much alarmed.
"Yes, I heard it myself. They just disappeared here!" she responded, pointing to the footprints. "What's going on?"
"No time to explain, we've got to hurry," James said, reaching past her to hit a knot on the roots of the tree. Slowly, the roots slid up to reveal a hole in the ground. "Jump in, we've got to save your boyfriend."
Rose didn't think it the time to argue the nature of her relationship with the other Slytherin, but followed quietly behind James Potter with a very bad feeling.
Far down the secret passage the Whomping Willow had hid, Severus was growing more uncomfortable by the moment as he followed the winding path to who knew where.
Ever so often he could hear Sirius Black in the distance, and he had the uneasy feeling that Black knew he was being followed and was trying to help Severus along.
To his surprise, he found himself emerging from the tunnel into a house.
A very, very odd house.
Which looked used, old, and abandoned.
'What the devil is going on?' he thought, running a hand through his lank hair. He glanced around, but there was no sign of Sirius Black. On closer inspection of the room he stood in he realized that the windows, and the door that presumably lead outside, were all boarded up. 'Where am I?'
A piercing, blood-chilling scream suddenly rent the still, stale air of the house, and slowly became deeper and much more resonate...it became a howl.
Severus froze, feeling all the blood drain from his face even as he reached for his wand. He couldn't move for several seconds, all he could do was stare at the closed door near him, a door not boarded up, from which he was certain the sound had come. All was silent while he stood like a petrified person, and then he heard something that startled him—
There was a scratching sound on the door, like that of an animal trying to get out; but the sound was high on the door, not low as a dog or cat would be...and it was near the doorknob.
To his credit, Severus felt more curiosity than fear, and he lowered his wand slightly.
The scratching stopped, and everything fell completely silent so that he could hear the wind outside the building—which he was now certain was the Shrieking Shack—winding through trees and gullies.
He was never sure what moved him to do it, but Severus found himself reaching for the doorknob, wanting to open it to discover what tortured creature had made such a terrible noise from within that unknown chamber. He pushed the door open, slowly, but remained outside the room peering in.
Only barely could he make out the room, which consisted of a broken down bed, and his eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness inside. He remained where he was, his eyes carefully taking everything in....
A shadow moved, and again Severus found himself frozen as he watched the shadowed figure turn towards him.
The light of glowing eyes, almost gold in color, suddenly turned on him and Severus finally felt the fear that most would have all ready known. Bile and a scream rose up in his throat, but he was able to let neither free as the shadow uncurled itself and it was revealed to the Slytherin what he had stumbled upon. Never in his life had Severus felt so much fear, never had he wished to die on the spot as he did at that moment. Surely dying from heart-failure was possible in such a situation, and it was preferable to being killed by the creature that even now was preparing to pounce on the boy who could not move to save his own life.
The werewolf began to snarl and reveal long, hideous, sharp fangs.
Next came a moment in which several things happened all at once, and Severus only just was able to take it all in.
The werewolf leapt through the air.
The heart-rending scream of a woman filled the air. "NO!"
James Potter leapt in front of him, wand-raised.
The door slammed in front of the werewolf.
There was another howl.
And a bark of laughter.
Severus Snape's knees gave out, he crumpled to the floor in a heap, trembling as his frozen nerves finally found life again.
Arms came around him from behind; warm, sheltering arms embraced him and held him as he shuddered on the floor from his near-death experience. A face was buried in his neck, he felt hot tears of another falling on his skin. The person clinging to him—Rose, he realized—was shivering.
Woodenly he turned and wrapped his arms about her, even as he laid there on the ground, and buried his face in her neck. He inhaled her scent: the smell of falling rain he suddenly realized. He couldn't believe she was there. How had she gotten involved in all of this? It didn't matter. She was safe, she was with him, and he was safe. She was in his arms.
Rose, for her part, was completely and totally in shock as she sobbed into Severus and could only hold him, determined never to let him go. 'I almost lost him....'
From across the hall another door had been standing open, and the laughter came from there.
James Potter was shivering, his own blood cold with fear and shock. He crossed to that other door and found his best friend nearly dying from laughter, tears streaming down his cheeks. James was immediately transformed from an angry boy to a man filled with righteous anger. "SIRIUS!" he barely managed to shout through his clenched teeth, finding himself unable to unhinge his jaw from pure anger. "What the hell have you done?"
"Come off it, Prongs," the pureblood Gryffindor answered, wiping tears from his eyes as he straightened. "It was hilarious, the look on Snivlly's face."
"HE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" James ground out, gesturing with one hand to where the two Slytherins still held each other as one sobbed...but Severus's eyes were suddenly glued to the Gryffindors. "This isn't a game, Sirius! Remus Lupin is a dangerous person, and you almost caused him to commit murder tonight! You stupid, arrogant, idiot! What would that have done? Gotten us all locked away! Gotten someone killed!"
Sirius Black had stopped laughing; he now looked at his friend with a mixture of pain and unbelief on his face. "I would've stopped Moony in time," he argued quietly. "Nothing would've happened."
"'In time?' James asked, looking shocked. "When was 'in time?' When someone was bloody-well bitten?"
Sirius shrugged, trying to appear careless, but there was a light of confusion in his eyes. "Snivellus shouldn't have been poking around in the first place."
"You dared him to come," James hissed. "You goaded him on! I know you, Sirius, and you almost committed murder tonight!"
"I would've stopped it!" Sirius shouted, suddenly angry with his best friend. "Nothing would've happened!"
"Then why did I have to stop it?" James ground out, clenching his teeth again. "I saved his life, I saved his humanity, and you were standing here laughing! Does cruelty amuse you so?" He shook his head, everything about James Potter disapproving and angry at his best friend, and this was more alarming to Sirius Black than what he had just done. "Maybe you do belong with your family."
That did it. Every ounce of humor and self-righteousness left Sirius Black at once. "No. It was a prank, Prongs. A joke. A way to get back at Snivellus for poking around all the time—"
"A prank?" James turned away and met the eyes of Severus. "To get back at him? For poking around?" A torrent of curses flew from James's lips and he slowly came towards the huddling Slytherins, noting Rose's eyes were on him as well. "For poking around," he repeated, shaking his head, "or for being with Rose Evans?"
Before any of them could blink, with the speed that only a banshee could normally use, Rose was past James and attacking Sirius Black with her bare hands.
"You monster!" she screamed, still hysterical, digging her claws into his cheek as she slapped him across the face with all the power she possessed. "Bastard!" Her fist connected with his jaw. Had she a wand in her hands at that moment....
James grabbed her and pulled her roughly away, keeping his arms around her as she fought to tear away and attack Sirius again while Sirius tried to regain his footing and put a hand to his bleeding cheek.
A hand fell on James's shoulder and he jerked his head around to meet Severus's eyes. Calmly, the Slytherin boy reached out and grabbed one of Rose's flailing hands, and she immediately stilled. He tugged, and James released her to Severus.
Rose glared at Sirius, unadulterated hate in her cold, cold green eyes. "I'll kill you," she hissed out. For in her mind, in the hysteria, one thing was very clear; Sirius Black had just tried to rip her only friend, someone she cared about vastly, out of her life...for petty, jealous reasons.
Severus had her, though, and she followed him without protesting. He led her back through the trapdoor and into the tunnel once more; a howl pierced the air from behind them and Rose moved closer to him in the darkness. He wrapped an arm around her as they went back to the school.
And straight to the office of Albus Dumbledore.
Thank you, thank you! :-D
Sneak Preview: Coming up we've got Another Year Gone, 1977, a very long chapter in which we go at a faster pace to come to Rose's fifth year. After that comes False Sense of Security (title subject to change), which I'm not at all happy with at the moment. No one will cooperate with me, Severus is decidedly against such a mild form of revenge on Black…but I've said too much. ;-) Then comes Time Stands Still for No Wizard, when Rose and Severus are separated for a while before their paths cross again.
To My Reviewers:
Nestl: Glad you're enjoying. Just keep reviewing and we'll both be happy!
Illume: I'm GETTING to the grown-ups, ok?! But these two really need to marry/fall-out soon if I am ever going to tell you why Rose has been GONE all these years! Patience, my fine friend! Canoodling is a good thing, you'll see more of it and in heavier doses soon enough.
Eclipsed Planet: I'm very happy you found my story! And even happier that you like it. Rose is in endearing, to a point, but she WAS put in Slytherin for a reason. She's got her own mean streak somewhere, it's just a matter of making it come out. You'll see what I mean.
Emikae: Have I told you I like your name? It's cute. Anyway. Stick figures are fine, that's what I have to live with drawing. The unicorns, a vision of innocence, are a great contrast to this story which is largely about Rose losing her innocence. Poor kid. Read on, and do keep reviewing!
Elvesmagic010: Ah, the Shrieking Shack finally puts in a short appearance. Oh, thanks so much for the t-shirt! Here, have a bumper sticker for your dragon—"Snape IS Sexy, Get Over It"—and enjoy! I'm still writing, so must still be happy. Good. Watch for more attempted fluff, I know you like that sort of thing. See ya!
Jade Ann Merlin: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Lysaandi: Yes! Origami is a wonderful hobby, so long as you don't become too frustrated when your crane comes out looking like a…deranged fish. Don't ask me how THAT happened. I like money-folding. I can make a peacock, and elephant, a bow tie, a frog, rings, and a little man. Hehe. Great for last-minute birthday gifts, trust me.
Elz Perfection is something we all strive for! Thank you for noting my attempt at it. Maybe this chapter will change your mind, though.
Loraliant Angelisa Snape: That last chapter was adorable, wasn't it? This one, in turn, is downright irritating. Let me know what you think. And yes, there will be more fluff. I don't know about making people cry, though…not for a few more chapter, at least.
Fondued Jicama: Thank you for remembering me. :-) It's delightful to be remembered, especially for a fic I wrote so long ago. Goodness, I loved writing that! If you stick around because of me, I'll be very flattered. See you!
Rinny Z: Don't cling too much to your computer, it's not good for the poor thing. :-D Thanks for being so enthusiastic in your reviews, you make me smile and I feel SO appreciated. Here, have a grudge. (holds out fuzzy lil purple thing with huge, sad eyes). His name is Fruzzle.
Goth Princess: The waiting is over, you have the result of Sirius's jealousy before you! What'd you think?
Rae Roberts: I reviewed Lupin's story you have going. You know, you write him just as well as you do Severus even though they're such different characters. Ahem. But I digress. Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed the unicorns, but watch out for the dust bunnies. Later!
Nabenabe: Yes, that was a lovely review. Thank you for taking the time, despite FF.N's apparent glitch, to let me know what you thought of the last chapter. I really appreciated it. :-D You're such a loyal fan!
Remember, Review…or FRY!
-JB-