A/N: Bundimuns are, as Fantastic Beasts says: A Bundimun looks like a patch of green fungus with eyes, although it does have numerous legs which it can use to move at speed when necessary. It is a parasite which infests houses and feeds on dirt. This is not a bad thing in itself, but unfortunately the creature also excretes a foul substance which rots its resident building and will cause it to collapse if left unchecked. It also gives off a violent smell of decay. Scouring charms are required to remove a Bundimun infestation.
Read, and you shall find out why I've defined them…
And only one review so far? sniff…
Disclaimer: JKR owns all HP related material and I'm just a psychotic fan…read on! (PS, sorry the chapters have been kind of short…)
(chapter three)
The Welcoming Feast had been delicious and the students were separating, all heading back to their respective dormitories. Severus had managed to avoid the scheming Black and Potter for most of the dinner, until he was leaving the Great Hall.
"So I reckon Slytherin'll be getting some new Quidditch players, then?" James Potter said loudly. He knew Severus could hear him.
"Sure," said Sirius, equally as loud. "They'll all be horrible, of course."
"Unless Snivellus here joins the team!" James said with mock enthusiasm.
"Yeah," scoffed Sirius. "Then they won't be just horrible, they'll be really pathetic!"
The people who had been standing around all laughed. They were used to the start-of-the-year insults against Severus.
Severus hurried past them all, angry that he hadn't stood up for himself and shot back with some witty comeback. He reached the Slytherin common room, gave the password, and entered.
"Well, well," said a drawling voice as he walked in. "Severus Snape."
Severus looked around and his eyes landed on Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was a pale, blond boy who was more clever, cunning, and wealthy than half of the students at Hogwarts. He was a popular Slytherin, and had exchanged few words with Severus over the past five years.
"Hello, Lucius," Severus replied cooly.
"It always amazes me what filth they let into this school," Lucius remarked. Severus felt himself freeze. Lucius gave a cold laugh at the look on Severus's face. "I meant Potter and Black." Severus relaxed and Lucius continued, "How do you stand it, Severus? How do you stand to let them push you around like that? You're a Slytherin, does pride mean nothing to you?"
Severus didn't know how to respond. He wanted to find a way to speak up for himself, but he also didn't want to make himself look like a fool in front of Lucius.
Lucius could sense this and he shook his head. "Ah, Severus, you disappoint me. Always worrying about what other people will think of you…" He got up and began to walk to the winding staircase that would lead up to the dormitories. "Think about it, Severus. If you don't do something about it, then there'll be no one to stand up for you." Lucius walked off, leaving Severus in deep thought.
That was true…He needed to stand up for himself. Years of being quieted by his father had stifled his nerve. He wanted to make something of himself, to prove to them all that he could be great…powerful…
Severus shook his head and decided not to dwell on it. What was it he heard Dumbledore say once? "The greatest wizards waste away just thinking of what they could be…Power can be more corrupt than you think, don't let youself be fooled…" He didn't want to be fooled by anything. But hadn't he read all of those reports? There would be a dark power rising. Which side would he want to be on?
He spent an hour thinking it over by the common room fire as people headed up to their beds, ready to begin their next day at Hogwarts. Which side do you want to be on? the voice in the back of his head kept asking him.
Soon, he had dozed off and when he woke up, he found it was late into the night. He headed to his dormitory, not thinking about it anymore.
The next day, Severus went through his classes all right. He didn't find any trouble, and naturally he enjoyed Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. He had managed to avoid trouble with Potter and Black until lunch—
Severus was walking across the grounds from the greenhouses back up to the castle when, in the bustle of people, he accidentally bumped into Sirius Black.
"Hey there Snivellus!" Sirius said in mock cheerfulness. He was with James and Remus Lupin. Severus always noticed that Remus was the quiet one while the other two taunted him, but then again, it didn't help when Remus, who was a prefect this year, didn't tell his two friends off. He seemed to find it as amusing as the others.
"Leave me alone, Black," Severus muttered. He tried to walk past them, but James blocked him.
"Look, Prongs, I think he wants to stand up to me," said Sirius in a fake whisper. He smirked and slapped a hand on Severus's shoulder, who was confused at why Sirius had called James Prongs. "Ah, Snivellus, Snivellus, Snivellus…" He shook his head. "You're a funny one." He lowered his voice and said maliciously, "Watch out for the Bundimuns." He winked and strode off with his laughing friends.
Watch out for the Bundimuns? Snape wondered. What did that mean? He knew what they were, of course, but what did Sirius Black have to do with it?
Severus made sure the three were a good distance ahead of him before heading back up to the castle himself. Once in the Great Hall, he sat down among his fellow Slytherins and would every once in awhile join in their conversations about classes and Quidditch. At least there were some people who didn't mind to hear him speak.
Which is why it caught him off guard when Lucius Malfoy sat down across from him. All of his friends followed what he did and sat down around Severus too. Then they all continued lunch, speaking to him every so often, getting him to join in their rants and insults against other houses.
"That Potter—Always thinks he knows what he's doing. And it's all because the teachers favor him, just because he's some Quidditch star. He's not even that great on that broom of his. My father says—Hey," Lucius said, interrupting his rant. He wrinkled his nose. "What's the smell?"
The Slytherins could all smell it—a horrible odor was coming from somewhere along the table. And then they saw it. About a dozen Bundimuns were skittering from underneath the table where Severus, Lucius, and the others sat. Their many legs caused them to move quickly and soon they were all over the table. Several of the girls screamed, and others held their noses as they jumped up. Severus, too, jumped up with a look of disgust. He turned his head to the Gryffindor table in time to see Sirius, James, and Remus all laughing incontrollably and being patted on the back by other Gryffindors.
Professor McGonagall had come storming over to the Slytherin table by then. "Evanesco!" she said and the Bundimuns vanished. The stench was still there when Professor Kettleburn joined McGonagall in the chaos.
"Scourgify!" Kettleburn commanded and the stench vanished. Both professors headed back to the Head Table and the chaos died down. Over at the Gryffindor table, the three friends were still laughing. Severus wanted to point this out to McGonagall, have her do something about it, but he knew that there would be no consequences. Not with those three—Remus Lupin, prefect; James Potter, Quidditch star; Sirius Black, charming and brilliant.
Severus was about to send a curse back to the Gryffindor table when he noticed a small, round boy hurrying over to sit next to James. He knew that this boy's name was Peter Pettigrew. He had seem him around in classes and tagging behind the three popular Gryffindors. He never joined in the insults much, be he, like Remus, always found it hilarious. He was one of those boys who felt the need to prove himself also. Not many people liked him, but seeing as how he was friends with Sirius, James, and Remus, people tried to be as nice as possible to him.
Severus looked around at Lucius Malfoy and his friends, all sitting around him. Were they doing the same? Were they only being nice to him because Lucius was being nice to him? Would he end up being the Peter Pettigrew of Slytherin House? He shook the thought. What did it matter anyways?
"Anyways, so Sirius said…" a girl was saying as she walked past the Slytherin table to her friend. Severus stopped and watched them. The girl who had been talking was a short, dirty blond fifth year who was in Gryffindor. She had hazel eyes and was incredibly pretty. But that wasn't who Severus was really concentrating on. It was the girl next to her that he couldn't help but watch.
She was a couple inches taller than her friend and had shining, dark red hair that flowed down to her shoulders gracefully. Like her friend, she was also a fifth year Gryffindor. The girl was always smiling and laughing, showing off her brilliant smile. But what was most striking were her eyes…those emerald green eyes…Severus also knew she was a prefect. Lily Evans, he thought.
Why did he have to find her so attractive? She was a Mudblood…But he couldn't help himself. She was stunning.
The two girls sat down at Gryffindor table, far from the laughing crowd that surrounded Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter. Every so often the blond girl would sneak looks over at Sirius but Lily seemed to think nothing of them. Severus was glad for that. She wasn't another shrieking fangirl, at least.
James, however, constantly looked over at Lily, hoping to catch her eye. Severus thought this was pathetic. Here was the admired James Potter, star of everything and favorite of everyone, who couldn't even get the attention of a girl he fancied.
Severus would've thought this more amusing if he didn't feel the same way…
(end chapter three)
A/N: I don't hate the Marauders, honest! On the contrary, I absolutely LOVE them. I'm a "shrieking fangirl"…LOL…I just portray them this way in the story because this is supposed to be Severus's side of it all…
EAPoeSpirit: Thanks for the review!
Thanks for reading!
