Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you like this chapter.

SSS

"Sirius, grab the tent anchors. Severus, start putting together the tent polls. Remus go find some wood, so that we can start the fire." Nolan stated as he started to unpack his rucksack.

"Excuse me sir, but you don't actually expect us to do this without magic, do you?" Sirius said in a arrogant voice. Nolan just looked up, and shook his head.

"Hey moron, how the hell do you think we are going to do this with magic, when we have no wands." Severus snapped.

"Watch your mouth Severus, or you will be over there with James." Nolan replied.

Severus made a poor attempt in snapping in the tent poles, while Sirius spent the majority of his time juggling the tent anchors, rather than placing them in the ground. James, who had been now relieved from his punishment, was now helping Jenna dig a latrine.

"Hey Remy, watch this!" Sirius shouted as he saw his friend coming back with an armful of firewood.

"Sirius, knock it off, now. You have 20 minutes to have the tent set, if this is not done, we will take down what you have put up and you will start again." Sirius dropped the tent anchors quickly and began to make a weak effort.

"Snape, are you done with those poles yet?" Sirius asked hastily.

"NO I AM NOT, do you have a problem with that?" Severus enunciated.

"DO you even know what you are doing?" Sirius asked, knowing that the counselors were within earshot.

"I would like to try to see you do any better without magic." Severus sneered.

"That is enough boys." Jenna stated trying to remain unmoved by their behavior.

"Hey Padfoot, catch!" James shouted, as he tossed the rope used to secure the tent to the tent anchors.

"Good toss, Prongs. Remember the time when you intercepted the Quaffle and threw it right past Bone's nose! That deterred her right quick!"

"Ah yes, one of my better moves, I think!" James said proudly.

"Would you to stop messing around, and get to work!" Severus hissed angrily.

"What's the matter Snape, unable to have a little fun? Or maybe you don't even have the slightest clue what that means, your greasy nose stuck in those books all the time." James said, dropping his end of the rope to walk towards Severus.

"Oy, back off, or you'll regret it!" Snape said dropping what little he had of the tent put together.

"Severus, James, enough! James over there with Nolan. Severus come with me." Jenna said, walking over to the two to break up their little 'love fest'.

Severus watched as James kicked his feet in protest. James reluctantly went over to Nolan, where he was taken a few meters away from the campsite.

"Severus, come with me." Jenna said. Severus followed in silence.

"Sit down." Jenna said pointing to the snowy ground.

"But it is covered in snow." Severus protested.

"Does it look like I care?" Jenna said.

"No, no it doesn't." Severus said quietly.

"Now, would you like to tell me what is going between you and the other boys?" Jenna said calmly.

"You've seen how they are, how they belittle me." Severus hissed again.

"They are just trying to get a rise out of you. Don't succumb to their level." Jenna responded.

"You don't think I know that! I have inured their stupid jokes for too long, to sit there passively."

"I understand the difficulty in your situationbut, how old are you? 14, 15 years old?" Jenna asked.

"Almost 17." He sneered.

"All right, even older then. 17, your 17 Severus, almost a man now. You need to be aware of your actions, and the action of those around you. James and Sirius mentioned that you spend your time reading." Jenna asked.

"Nothing's wrong with reading!" Severus said defensively.

"I never said it was, Severus. But, let us assume for a moment that both James and Sirius do not find the same satisfaction in reading that you do. Do you think this makes them bad people? You have different interests, but that does not mean that you can find common ground. Do you see where I am going with this Severus?" Jenna asked.

"That still does not justify what they do."

"I never said it does, I simply am pointing out why perhaps you find yourself constantly hitting a wall when it comes to them." Jenna said.

On the other side of the camp, Nolan sat with James having a similar conversation.

"James, do you find it amusing to goof off constantly? Or does being around your friends cause your behavior to escalate?" Nolan said getting straight to the point.

"I don't goof off, it is just a bit of fun." James said while drawing with his glove covered finger in the snow.

"James, there is a difference between fun, and humiliation. What if you were in Severus's position. How might you react?" Nolan questioned.

"He is just so uptight, he doesn't take a joke. Always nagging about working, he needs to relax."

"We are not talking about Severus, we are talking about you. You need to start putting effort into your work. The Headmaster of your school has told me that your marks are borderline. You have trouble focusing?" Nolan asked.

"I am smart." James said in defense.

"I never said you weren't, you lack focus. During your time here at camp I want you to work on this. We both know you are more than capable, after all, from your conversation earlier, you play Quidditch. That takes an extreme amount of focus, as I am sure you know. When Jenna or I ask you to complete a task, we expect you to complete it. We are teaching you discipline, something, which you could use more of." Nolan said, while attempting to stand.

"Yes, sir."

SSS

Severus and James made their way back to the campsite around the same time. Sirius and Remus, well mostly Remus had been able to pitch the tent in under the time limit. Jenna was working on starting a fire, while Remus watched intently.

"Hey Remus, think we could become real mountain men?" Sirius asked as he sat poking the fire.

"Maybe, my dad took me camping a couple of times when I was little, before the accident." Remus said quietly. James and Severus sat opposite of each other in silence, still thinking about their latest conversation with the counselors.

"All right boys, now that we have set up camp I will go over what we will be doing here for the next four weeks. Every morning you will get up when we say. You will have 5 minutes to roll up your sleeping bag, get dressed, put out the fire, fill up your water bottle, and secure your remaining items. Each day will be a bit different. Every other day you will spend an hour talking to either myself or Nolan. Our goal is to mold you into motivated, talented people." Jenna stressed the word people.

"You are people first and wizards second. Each of you are here for different reasons, which in time you will share with the group. You will learn to communicate to one another without insult. You will learn to forgive, and to move forward." Nolan added.

The remainder of the evening was spent in relative silence. Severus spent most of the night writing in the notebook they were given, while Remus, Sirius, and James huddled together chatting every now and then. Severus would look up every now and then furrowing his brow in a mix of anger and jealousy. Jenna sat next to Nolan discussing tomorrow's activities in a hushed voice.

The cold night air could be felt every time a gush of wind hit their bodies reminding them that they were out doors, and were to remain that way for quite some time. Severus felt a shiver run through him, and closed his eyes trying to forget how alone he truly was. Trying to forget this thought, Severus put away his notebook and went into the tent.

"All right boys, time to go to bed." Nolan said as he walked around the campfire, placing his hands on the three Gryffindor' bodies.

"Bed, but it is only 10 o'clock!" Sirius said twisting his neck around in protest.

Sirius may have protested that night, but after being woke up at six in the morning the next day, Sirius never opened his mouth again to argue the 10 o'clock curfew.