Those Long Nights- The First Day Part 2
Stacey walked down the long corridors to the Great Hall. She saw a crowd of girls all around Sirius. They turned to her and glared at her forcefully. Stacey rolled her eyes and just walked into the Great Hall where she sat by Lily and Remus. They were in a deep discussion about the Avifors charm.
They both looked up and smiled at Stacey. "Do you feel better?" Lily asked.
"Yeah…as long as that asshole stays away from Severus I'll be just fine." Stacey said with an evil glint in her eye. 'I'll mess that boy up so bad he'd wish that he never messed with Stacey Tatnall.' She thought while she imaged Sirius falling down a giant hole.
Remus looked at her with concern. "You alright there Stacey?"
"Oh yeah…sorry spacing out there." She said with a blush crossing her cheeks. She looked down at her plate and dug into her mashed potatoes. After a while she turned and saw Severus reading 'Dark Arts For Those Who Seek Power'. A lopsided grin spread across Stacey's face. 'He looks kinda cute when he's concentrating.' Her smile grew wider as she thought about Severus.
Severus walked slowly back to his room after an embarrassing Transfiguration class. He didn't exactly know why Stacey stuck up for him. Every other girl (except Lily of course) had always fallen for Black's charming face and his flirtatious personality. But Stacey was very different. She had looked past Black's looks and everything and saw his horribleness towards Severus. Lily never really stuck up for him like that before. She just called Black immature and thought that was enough. Severus was glad to have a friend that he could talk to and that had the some of the same interests as him.
He let his thoughts wander to the future. 'Maybe Hogwarts won't be so terrible after all.' A smile found his lips as he thought about his newfound friend.
He walked down to the Great Hall. The sudden rush of noise came to his ears. But a voice that had tortured him for years also came to his ears. Black was talking of his accomplishment of pranking a third year Hufflepuff. The unfortunate little boy had gotten hit with a spell that turned his hair into a thick green goop that wouldn't come out for 4 days. Severus shook his head and thought he'd made it past Black without interference. But of course he was spotted and the torture began.
"Well, well, well…if it isn't the slime ball loser Snape." Black said with malice present in his voice. The girls around him laughed at Severus. He just kept walking.
"What? You think you're so cool now that you have a little girlfriend to protect you eh? Well she's not here is she?" Black said with a evil grin and his hand reaching for his wand.
"Eww" One of the girls said, "Who would ever want to go out with you?" She asked while laughing.
But Severus was already in the Great Hall. He sat down at the Slytherin table and began to read his book. He had only taken a few bites of bread. The girls voice resounded in his head. 'Who would ever want to date me?' Severus asked himself. He did not have the looks or the stunning athletic ability. He wasn't flab or anything. He just didn't have all the muscle the popular boys had. He did not have a charming personality that one so many girls over. All he had was intelligence. And girls pretend to like him to use him to help them with their homework. It didn't bother him so much really. Most of the girls he knew only cared about their hair and looking good. A few cared about studying extra to get the top grade. But they were all taken anyways. And Severus couldn't see himself being someone's boyfriend. He wasn't in to those things like long walks into the sunset and romantic crap. He never really liked anyone before anyways. He decided to wait till the day came when he did have a need to do all that romantic stuff. He was rather attached to his solitude. He got lonely on occasion but he dealt with it. He focused back on the dark arts book he was reading.
He felt a pair of eyes on him. He looked up to see Stacey staring at him intently with a weird smile on her face. Her lopsided grin quickly changed to a friendly smile and she waved. Severus waved back. He was trying to figure out what he just saw in Stacey's eyes a couple of seconds ago. He just couldn't place it. He decided not to dwell on it and kept on reading his book.
Stacey walked out to the greenhouse. It was a muggy day and most of the students there had taken off their robes leaving their uniforms. Stacey didn't have a uniform but she took off her robes anyway. She had on blue flares and a tight t-shirt that was blue with white letters that said 'Don't mess with the mayor". She had on a pair of white sneakers that had 2 blue stripes on them. The boys all stared at her like she was a steak. It kinda grossed her out. She stood by Lily at a huge pot.
Professor Sprout came in and announced that Stacey was the new student. The she told what they were supposed to do with the giant pots. "You are to plant these bulbs," she pointed over at her desk where 60 little white bulbs sat. "Do not be alarmed if they start to shake. You will find out what they are when they bloom. But I will award 20 points to whoever can tell me ahead of time." She smiled and the class set to work.
Stacey and Lily worked together in planting the bulbs. It wasn't too difficult. But some of the bulbs shook so hard they fell out of their hands. They left the greenhouse and walked over to the Care of Magical Creatures. It was outside beside the Forbidden Forest. Professor Norette was a tall black man. He was very muscular and had many scars from burns and such. Lily told Stacey that he used to be a dragon catcher. Sirius and James came out of the greenhouse and were talking about how annoying it was that Gryffindors had Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins.
Stacey's face lit up when she heard this. 'Severus!' She thought excitedly. They had about 15 minutes before class started. Stacey stared at the big doors until she saw a large group of Slytherins come out. And behind them was Severus looking very annoyed. Stacey's excitement faltered. She ran up to greet him and he just looked away. "What's wrong Sev?" She asked with concern written all over her face.
"I don't want to talk about it." He mumbled flatly. Severus continued to stare at the ground. His hand gripped a note tightly.
"Um ok. But you know I'm always here if you need me to talk or anything." She reassured him by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you." He said so quietly Stacey barely heard him.
They walked up to the enclosure by the forest. Inside there were about 20 little green scaly puppies. It looked like someone mixed a dog and a lizard together. Professor Norette explained that these creatures were called Bregederos.
"You will pick a partner and the both of you will take turns taking care of your Bregedero. You will do this for 2 months. I want happy and healthy little Bregederos by the end of the 2 months. Have fun and don't do anything stupid." Professor Norette handed out papers with what the Bregederos eat. "Grab a partner and come pick one!" She said with enthusiasm.
"Hey Severus, wanna be my partner?" Stacey asked with hope in her eyes.
"Sure." Severus said smiling. This made Stacey very happy because he didn't look so sad anymore.
They went over to the little Bregederos. Stacey picked one up and said to Severus, "What about this one?"
He looked at it and shrugged. "They're all the same."
"NO! This one is special because I'm going to name it…ALFRED!" Stacey said with a huge grin on her face. "I'm gonna hold you and love you forever and ever!" She said to Alfred.
"Alfred?" Severus asked looking perplexed.
"Yes…Alfred." Stacey said and added quickly "Unless you don't like it. Then we don't have to name him Alfred."
"No, no Alfred's a great name." Severus said.
"YAY!" Stacey exclaimed. She sat down in the grass and let Alfred play by running her hand across the grass. Severus just stood there and stared at the little Bregedero chase her hand.
"He's SO cute!" Stacey said happily.
Severus sat in the grass next to Stacey and patted the Alfred on the head. He let out a little purr.
"Aww…he likes you Severus!" Stacey said.
Professor Norette began to talk again. "Bregederos have special powers. Your homework is to take care your Bregedero and find out what its powers are."
"Aww don't worry Alfred, Momma Stacey will take care of you." Stacey said. "And Daddy Severus won't let anything happen to you."
Severus just laughed. 'Me…a father…ha!' He thought.
The bell rang notifying them that class was over. Alfred was licking Severus' hand.
"I think you should take him first cuz he LOVES you. Hehe." Stacey said with a giant smile on her face.
"Okay. I'll give him back to you tomorrow then." Severus replied with a grin. They picked up their supplies for the Bregedero, which consisted of a lease, a small cage that could expand to fit 2 people inside, and a book about everything there is to know about a Bregedero.
"WOOT!" Stacey said as her and Lily walked into their dormitory. "My first day was fantabulous." Stacey said with a huge smile.
"Yeah well you don't have to work on a project for 2 months with James." Lily said frowning.
"You didn't have to work with him you know." Stacey said sympathetically.
"I know, I know. But I would've felt bad if I turned him down. And he has been acting nice. He still asks me out every 5 minutes though." Lily replied rolling her eyes as she finished speaking.
Stacey laughed. "Do you know when Quidditch tryouts are?"
"They're tonight." Lily said picking up some dirty clothes. "At 6:30." She added.
"Sweet!" Stacey exclaimed.
They went to dinner and sat down by the Marauders. They were in a deep discussion but Sirius looked up and shouted to Stacey. "HEY! Stacey come sit by me!" He said with a grin plastered on his handsome face.
Stacey rolled her eyes but sat next to him anyways. She might as well be nice to him instead of making him an enemy.
Sirius put his arm around her. Her expression still held the annoyed look.
"So Stacey, you're from America right?" His grin was still present on his face.
"Yep." Stacey said while chewing on some chicken.
"Hmm. What's your favorite color?" He asked her.
"Black."
"What's your favorite food."
"Cake."
"ME TOO! Do you like Quidditch?"
"Love it. Trying out today." Stacey replied with a grin crossing her features.
"YOU CAN BE ON THE TEAM WITH ME AND JAMES AND WE WILL HAVE SO MUCH FUN!" Sirius said loudly and excitedly.
"Yep." Stacey said with her grin fading. She wanted to find as many friends as possible. There was just something about Sirius that she didn't trust.
"Jamesie! Miss Tatnall here is joining the team!" Sirius said getting more excited by the second.
James grinned but said nothing. He was writing furiously.
"Well I'm gonna go get my broom and some stuff and warm up a little. See you guys in a bit." Stacey waved and with one glance at Severus, left the hall.
WOOHOO! Wasn't that just dandy? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I would love to hear what you have to say!
-Gangsta C
P