Chapter Four
Severus couldn't sleep. He couldn't shake the day's events from his mind. Had he done the right thing? He was furious with himself for not knowing the answer. He was always right about things. Always. Except now he didn't know what was right. He rubbed his eyes. Suddenly, a voice barked at him from the fireplace.
"Snape!" He got up tiredly and bent down.
"Lucius, it's a pleasure, as always…" he lied smoothly.
"I need your help," Malfoy said sharply.
"I'll be happy to help you in the morning," Severus got up slowly.
"Please," Lucius begged. "Don't go."
"Can't you get your wife to help you?" Severus said, enjoying ever minute of the torture and humiliation he was inflicting.
"She… She ran… She's busy right now. Severus, I need a place to stay for a few days. The Dark Lord has found my hiding place, and I cannot stay for long," he pleaded. Severus allowed himself a faint smile.
"I see. So you propose to stay here, so that when the Dark Lord does find you, which he undoubtedly will, we will both die?"
"Of course not! He won't find me. Please, Severus, you have no idea…"
"Actually I do. I'm sorry Lucius, but I can't keep you here."
"But what will I do?" Snape could tell he was close to whining now.
"Join the Order of the Phoenix," Severus suggested, starting to leave.
"They won't want me!"
"Do something bad and end up back in Azkaban," Severus said.
"That horrible place!"
"I'm afraid I can't help you then. This hiding idea was stupid to begin with, you should have known that!" Severus turned his back to the fire and headed towards his bed. He paused.
"Oh and Lucius? Next time try to contact me at a more convenient time than 3 am."
He lay down feeling very satisfied, and fell asleep right away. His dreams weren't dreams though, they were memories…
"Narcissa!" he shouted, running after her. It was lunch time.
"What?" she said coolly. Her friends giggled.
"I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me today?" he said, unfazed.
"What makes you think that I would sit with you?" her friends laughed. He turned to go, his head hung with the humiliation that rejection often brings. "Oh, and Snape?" He turned around, hopeful.
"Don't talk to me in public."
88
"Severus!" Narcissa shouted after him, as he made his way up the stairs to the dormitory. The common room was empty, as it was so late.
"What?" he said coldly. "Talking to me again?"
"Don't be like that. You know I was only joking."
"Actually, I don't."
"Well now you do." He came back down the stairs.
"It wasn't really funny to me," he said quietly. She seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Ok. I'll let you jinx me. And then we're even."
"Fine. But not now. I have to think of the perfect spell…" she started laughing, and after a while he joined in too.
"Friends?" she asked, her tone serious.
"No. Not yet. But not enemies," he said, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes. "The problem with you, Narcissa, is that you do things without thinking, and the consequences are never good."
"The problem with you, Severus, is that you have no life, and that is because you have no friends, and maybe you would if you stopped giving people the LOOK."
"What's the LOOK?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She crossed her eyes.
"The EVIL LOOK," she laughed.
"Nar?" he asked.
"Don't call me that… ever. You can refer to me as "My Queen". Or else," she laughed again. He rolled his eyes.
"You wish! Anyway… Did you mean that? I mean, about not talking to each other in public?" She quieted and didn't say anything for a long time. His heart raced.
"You can talk to me in public. I guess. I'm tired now so I'm going to go to sleep, ok?" She got up and left. His heart sank. She was…embarrassed of him.
88
"I should have gone with mother," Draco muttered.
"What's that, Draco?" Lucius snapped.
"Nothing. I just don't see why we have to sleep in this pigsty, that's all."
"Do you have better ideas?" Lucius said, his temper rising.
"Yes. I could leave, and stay with Crabbe and Goyle, while you stay here. No point in both of us dying."
"Or you could shut your mouth," Lucius said angrily. Draco scowled.
"No wonder mother ran away. This plan was madness," he said, sulking.
"Well then why didn't you go with her? I'm sure she asked you, she cares for you so much," Lucius spat. "I don't see why though."
"As a matter of fact, she did ask me. I chose not to go, as I thought you'd need my help. I was right too!"
"She'll be back when she realizes she can't survive without me. She has no money anyway."
"She could always get it from Gringotts though," Draco said frowning.
"Shut up boy."
88
Narcissa got up, her back sore. She had to go somewhere. But where? She looked around her. She was still close to Severus'. She couldn't go there though. She wondered how Lucius and Draco were coping. Maybe she should have just gone with them.
"Narcissa!" she turned around, startled. It was Bellatrix.
"Narcissa," Bellatrix repeated, her eyes glinting. They had never gotten on very well, ever since school.
"That's me," Narcissa said, keeping her expression neutral.
"The Dark Lord wants me to search your mind, to see if you know where Lucius is hiding…" Narcissa gulped. Having Bellatrix going through her thoughts was not something she was going to enjoy, but if she didn't let her… She sighed.
"If it can't be helped, than go ahead." Bellatrix took out her wand, a gleeful expression on her face.
"Occlumens!" Memories flashed before her eyes…
"Why don't people like Severus?" she asked her friend.
"He's just… weird I guess. Different, ya know?" Narcissa didn't. She just couldn't understand how he had isolated himself from everyone else in their house.
"Well I think he's funny!" she said, defensively.
"You asked, I answered…" A scream interrupted them. They ran outside the common room to find Severus dangling in the air in front of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.
"Put him down!" Narcissa shouted. The other Slytherins glared at James' group, hating the way another Slytherin was being humiliated.
"Or what?" Sirius said coolly. "Going to tell on us?" He laughed.
"You're dishonoring our family by doing this! Doesn't your name mean anything to you? At all?" she said angrily.
"Does it look like it does?" he replied.
"It should," she said haughtily. "The noble house of Black—"
"Thanks, but I've heard it all," he said in a bored voice. "I just don't CARE."
"Cru—"
"Expelliarmus!" James shouted, and her wand flew out of her hand. The Slytherins had their wands out now, and the James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were greatly outnumbered.
"Don't move," Lucius hissed at Narcissa, as she turned to get her wand. "They'll curse you as soon as your back is turned. Accio wand!" Her wand flew towards them, and she grabbed it. Sirius let go of Severus, who fell to the ground.
"This isn't over," James said, eyes flashing. The four left, and the Slytherins returned to what they had been doing.
"That was close!" Narcissa whispered to Severus.
"I could have handled them on my own," he said, shrugging her off. "I didn't need your help. Now they're going to think I'm a wimp or something."
"You were outnumbered four to one!" she protested.
"I could have handled it," he insisted.
"If you say so."
"Enough! You should have seen what you needed to by now!" Narcissa said, stopping the flow of images. Bellatrix smiled.
"Oh, I saw a lot more… Very well, until next time Narcissa," she said, her wand still raised.
"As long as next time isn't any time soon." Bellatrix's smile widened.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see."