"Look who has graced us with their presence..." sneered James Potter as he and the Marauders walked out of the forest to face the Slytherins.

"It seems that they are bigger fools than they look like! Especially you, Snivellus! I can't believe you actually came for a beating!" laughed Sirius.

"Just you wait, you won't be laughing after I am done with you..." said Snape menacingly, taking a threatening step forward, however, he was stopped by Rosier.

"Let's not get carried away," he whispered to Severus. "Before we start, we should go over the rules," he said, looking at the Gryffindors.

"Hah, as if you snakes ever played by the rules!" shouted James.

"It might surprise you, but that's how it's done in the civilised society," sneered Rosier, "anyway, only magic is allowed, no foul play and we duel until the other party surrenders or is unable to fight back," he explained while shooting looks at both parties.

"Deal," said Remus Lupin and Rosier just nodded, while he stepped back, "Go ahead, Severus, after all, this is your fight."

James Potter just smirked, and he was ready to step forward. However, he was stopped by Sirius Black.

"Let me have this one, mate. Merlin knows I need it..." sighed Sirius.

"Go ahead," laughed James as Sirius took his place in front of Severus.

The two took their stance, but instead of bowing, as required, they just nodded their heads and the duel began. As expected, Sirius was the first one to start shooting one offensive spell after another, while Snape dodged them all.

"Haha! That's it mate, show him how it's done!" cheered James and Sirius smirked.

Peter Pettigrew also had a smile on his face; however, Remus Lupin was quietly studying the Slytherins observing the duel.

"You think they are planning something?" asked James as he looked at the Slytherins.

"They are just too relaxed..." said Remus and James just smirked.

"So, Rosier, how does it feel to know that you are on the losing side?" taunted James.

"How would I know? You should be asking that yourself..." smiled Rosier as he continued to watch Severus.

The moment James Potter turned his gaze back to the duel was the moment when Sirius shot a number of small arrows at Severus. However, he didn't just dodge them but sent them back at Sirius, whose eyes widened at the sudden attack. At the last minute, he managed to dodge them but it seems that he lost his advantage. It was Snape's turn to attack, and he did. He was shooting stronger and stronger spells at Sirius, and Sirius knew that he couldn't keep up his shield much longer.

"He is good..." whispered Avery to Rosier, who was smirking.

"A lot better than expected... He is giving it all..." mumbled Rosier.

The moment Sirius's shield scattered, Severus was quick to cast Expelliarmus, knocking Sirius back and the wand out of his hand. He caught the wand with ease, and he smirked as the Marauders ran to help Sirius up.

"You've lost, Black," he said with a smirk. "How does it feel, to be the one in the dust? It seems that you are all talk... No wonder Williams doesn't want anything to do with you!" sneered Snape.

"Don't bring her into this..." said Sirius as he stood up.

"Why? Does the truth hurt?" taunted him Snape.

"Shut up." spat Sirius, who was getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Interesting, isn't it? The mysterious in which the universe works... You have taunted me, humiliated me for all these years, and yet the girl you have been pining after all this time has more interest in me than she ever had in you," sneered Severus and Sirius's face went pale.

"W-what? No way... You?! She would never..." mumbled Sirius in disbelief.

"Oh, but she would..."

"Don't listen to him, he is just trying to piss you off," said Remus Lupin as he tried to hold back Sirius.

"And it's working... If you know what's good for you, you will stay away from her..." said Sirius menacingly.

"Now, why would I do that? As you can see, I won, so maybe you should be watching yourself..."

Snape only had time to finish the sentence as Sirius launched at him, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly punching him in the face.

"YOU. SHOULDN'T. TALK. ABOUT. SOMETHING. YOU. DON'T. UNDERSTAND." shouted Sirius between punches.

The moment Sirius tackled Snape to the ground, the Slytherin boys pulled out their wands.

"Should we?" asked Wilkes.

"Black brought it upon himself..." sighed Rosier, and by using a spell blasted Sirius from Severus.

Upon seeing Sirius fly into a nearby tree, James Potter sprang into action as he pointed his wand at Rosier.

"Ah, ah, ah! He deserved this. He broke the rules we set." said Rosier as he stood in front of Snape.

"You threw him into a tree..." said Remus in disbelief.

"And you can be happy that I only did that... Breaking the rules is usually rewarded with something much worse..." replied Rosier while he went to help Snape get to his feet.

"Just a pointer, next time rather than hurrying to his side, the second should be brave enough to stand up and continue the duel..." he said, looking pointedly at James Potter before turning away and starting to walk away.

"Oh, don't worry, I will..." said James Potter, as he shot a spell at Rosier.

What he didn't expect was Avery throwing himself in front of Rosier and casting a shield spell.

"You shouldn't have done that..." said Rosier quietly.

"How dare you attack someone from behind?! You coward!" shouted Avery as he cast a spell the marauders had never heard of.

James Potter's defensive spell was cut through like nothing and he flew back a couple of meters before landing with a thud.

"James!" shouted Remus as he ran to check up on his friend.

"If this was a duel to death, you would be dead, Potter..." said Avery, "Knowing spells is not all there is to duelling."

"You know, I expected this to be an eventful duel, but I don't take kindly to someone breaking the rules we agreed on," said Rosier as he, Avery and Wilkes walked closer, "or someone who would attack me from behind... Lupin, you seem to have more brain than these two; you haven't crossed me yet, so I will allow you to leave now, without any injuries," said Rosier as he looked at Remus.

"And take that shaking fool with you," added Wilkes as he pointed to Peter Pettigrew, who was watching from a far distance.

"Why would you let us leave like that?" asked Remus, confused.

"As I said before, we have no business with you. You haven't crossed us... You are simply just friends with the wrong kind," said Rosier, "We haven't seen or heard you start something with either Severus or Avery, and you stayed out of this duel."

"What of my friends?" asked Remus, and Rosier let out a sadistic laugh.

"Your friends... Oh, I have plans with your friends..." he said with a smirk.

"What are you planning?"

"Oh, just teaching them a lesson..."

"I am afraid I cannot let that happen," said Remus as he stood up and took out his wand.

Rosier just sighed, "Fine, be that way..." he said and before Remus could blink, one of the Slytherins cried "Petrificus Totalus!" and Remus fell to the ground paralyzed.

"Now," said Rosier as he turned to where the last standing Gryffindor was supposed to be. "Wait, where is he?" he asked confused.

"Should we go and look for him?" asked Wilkes.

"No need, let's teach them a lesson..." smirked Rosier as he motioned for Severus to come over. "Now, what do you reckon we do with them?"

"We could tie them to a tree and leave them there!" suggested Avery with excitement.

"What? No! You know what is in this forest?" asked Rosier, turning to Avery, who just shrugged. "Exactly. I refuse to go to Azkaban because of a bad prank..."

"We could do something to humiliate them..." said Snape.

"Hmm... Do you have something in mind?" asked Rosier, intrigued.

"Not really, I just want them to know how it feels to be humiliated in public..."

"Hmm, let me think..." said Rosier as he closed his eyes.

"We could steal their clothes..." suggested Wilkes.

"And put them in a place where everyone can see them..." added Avery with a smirk.

That gave Rosier an amazing idea. "Gentlemen, I've got a plan." He said with a smirk as he opened his eyes.


In the middle of the night, four Slytherins were creeping into the castle, levitating the three petrified Gryffindor boys.

"Alright, we are going in, Severus, you keep watch..." whispered Rosier, while Wilkes and Avery levitated the boys to the Great Hall

"Why do I have to be the one on watch?" asked Snape.

"Because I don't trust those two! Now, do as you were told..." said Rosier as he disappeared into the dark.

"Ha-ha, this is going to be great!" laughed Avery, but he was shushed by Rosier.

"Be quiet! We don't want anyone finding them before morning..." said Rosier as he was casting a spell that he had learned from one of his grandfather's books.

"There, they will be petrified for quite a while!" he said as he took a step back to admire his handiwork."Now, you will think twice before starting something with us..."

After the boys finished, they made their way to the common room.

"Now, everything is taken care of! Well, almost everything..." said Rosier as he looked at Severus' face.

His nose was bloody, and he had a black eye. "We can't go to the hospital wing. They would know right away that you had something to do with it. Do you have something to cover it up?"

"Like what? An eyepatch?" asked Avery.

"I am not going to wear an eyepatch!" said Severus and Rosier rolled his eyes.

"I meant a potion or something..."

"Oooooh! Yes, that would be quite helpful..." said Avery.

As the boys walked into the common room, they saw a figure on the sofa reading a book.


When the entrance to the common room opened, Evelyn Williams, who was taking her time reading on the sofa, looked up. It was late, and she was wondering who it could be at such an hour.

"Isn't it too late for being out here?" asked Rosier.

"I could ask you the same question..." said Evelyn as she took a look at the boys, "You look better than expected! No mud or blood on your clothes and your hair is well-styled as always..."

"Tch, judging by how much time he takes styling it; it would be impossible to mess it up..." mumbled Avery, and Evelyn laughed.

"And... Oh my gosh, Severus!" she gasped as she saw the boy's face.

She ran up to him, and before he could move, she brushed his hair away from his face, so she could take a look at the damage. "Oh my, it looks awful... Does it hurt?" she asked as she gently touched the blue skin around his eye, and he winced.

"You should go and see Madam Pomfrey..." said Evelyn as she took her hand away.

"Uh, that would be problematic..." said Rosier and Evelyn looked at him sternly.

"Why?"

"You see, we might have played a little practical joke on our Gryffindor friends and we wouldn't want to be found out..." said Rosier with a smirk.

"Oh... Do you have a bruise removal paste or something?" asked Evelyn as she turned to Severus.

"Bruise removal paste?" asked Avery, confused.

"Yes... You know, to remove that nasty bruise..." motioned Evelyn to Severus' face.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that!" said Rosier.

"It doesn't matter, Regulus was the one who had it, and he's run out of it after last week's practice..." said Severus and Evelyn just sighed.

"Stay here, I will get you some..." she said as she walked to her room.

The moment Evelyn was out of sight, the boys turned to Severus.

"Alright, what's the deal with you two?" asked Rosier.

"Nothing..."

"Yes, because it sure looked like nothing..." mumbled Avery.

"Wait... Are you the mystery boyfriend Black was crazy about?" asked Rosier, smirking.

"You will find out soon enough..." said Severus and Rosier's smirk widened.

"You are, aren't you? Ha-ha, this is amazing! I can't wait to see Black's face!" laughed Rosier.

"Well done, Snape!" said Avery as he patted him on the back.

"Alright, gents, let's leave them alone! Good job today, by the way..." said Rosier as he looked at Snape.

"Tch, I ended up getting beaten up on the ground..." he mumbled as he looked away in shame.

"Only because Black broke the rules. Listen, Severus, and listen well; you've won in a fair fight and you should be proud of yourself!" said Rosier before he turned and left to their room.

"You know, he is right... Black's second didn't take his place after you took his wand, so technically the duel was over before he attacked you... He was just being a sore loser. Goodnight, Snape," said Wilkes as he passed him and left to his room.

After a while, Evelyn returned with the paste in a glass jar and with wet wipes.

"The others left?" she asked surprised and Severus nodded.

"Oh! I see... Uh, would you mind if I cleaned you up here?" she asked awkwardly, not looking at Severus.

The poor boy's eyes went wide at the suggestion, "You? Why?"

"Well, Emma is sleeping, and I really don't want to wake her up... And I am sorry, but I am not comfortable giving it to you without her consent..." said the girl.

"Oh..."

"Yes... Uh, I know that we are not so close, so you could just call back one of your friends or something..." she mumbled, but Severus just sat down on the sofa.

"No, um, if it's not a problem, would you do it?" he asked quietly, and Evelyn let out a small smile.

"Of course," she said as she sat down in front of him.

She put the glass with the paste and the box of wet wipes on the table.

"Alright, could you close your eyes? It would be better that way..." she said, and Severus did as he was told.

Evelyn brushed his hair behind his ear, so it wouldn't be in the way.

"It's quite late, why are you still awake? Is the book that interesting?" asked Snape trying to make conversation.

"Not really... You might have noticed that Lucinda's nose got broken. She had a nasty incident, I can't speak about - Bonnie accidentally headbutted her - Anyway, Madam Pomfrey fixed it, but now she is snoring terribly..." sighed Evelyn.

"And you couldn't sleep..."

"Exactly... But that's enough about me. Tell me about the duel... How did it go?" she asked as she used the wet wipes to wipe the filth from his eye.

"You mean, my face doesn't tell you enough?" asked Severus and Evelyn laughed.

"Well, judging by your face I would say that you lost, but Rosier mentioned that prank sooo..."

As Evelyn carefully cleaned his face, he told her about the duel, leaving out the part where he used her to taunt Sirius.

"And so Rosier decided to prank them, to teach them a lesson about starting something with us..." he finished the tale.

"Oh, wow, so you basically won a duel against Sirius! Nice! How does it make you feel?" asked Evelyn while she carefully applied the paste to his bruise.

"Worse than I imagined... It hurts pretty bad..." whispered Severus.

"Oh, I see. So, you are saying that actually hurting Sirius, hurt you too in a more spiritual way? That's deep..."

"What?" asked Severus as he opened his eyes to look at her confused, "No, no, that's not what I meant! I mean, my eye hurts quite a lot. Winning my duel with Black - now that was the best feeling I've ever felt!" he said with a smirk as he closed his eyes to let Evelyn continue fixing up his face.

"So, what did you do to them?" she asked.

"You are quite talkative tonight..." said Severus and Evelyn just shrugged.

"If it bothers you, I can stay quiet..."

"No, it... It's nice talking to you," he said, surprising them both.

"Oh... I'm glad, at least it will make it easier for you to pretend to be my boyfriend..." laughed Evelyn.

"Well, you are certainly acting like a caring girlfriend fixing me up like that..." sneered Severus and Evelyn laughed, however, Severus's good mood suddenly vanished.

He opened his eyes and took Evelyn's hand in his.

"I - I need you to be honest with me. The agreement states that both parties are required to be honest about their intentions... So, is the agreement the reason for you acting like you care? So that Rosier and the others would get the feeling that you care about me?" he asked quietly.

"What? No! I - I mean, we don't know each other that much... But we are Slytherins! And we are classmates... And Slytherins keep together," said Evelyn with a smile.

"There, all done. Handsome like before! It should stop hurting in like... Half an hour? And the bruise will disappear by morning... But if it continues to hurt, go and see Madam Pomfrey... A prank is not worth risking your health for," she said as she gathered her things and stood up.

"Thank you. How can I repay you?" asked Severus.

While he wanted to believe that Evelyn helped him, purely from the kindness of her heart, he knew better. She was a pure-blood Slytherin, and they only cared about one thing...

"Don't worry about it! Consider it to be a... friendly gesture! However,"

'Ah, there it is...' thought Severus.

"Since I was so nice to help you, you could tell me what happened to Potter's gang..." said Evelyn, giving him a sweet smile.

"Is that all?" asked Severus, surprised.

"Yes,"

"If you go to breakfast, you will see them in the morning..." he said, and Evelyn just shook her head.

"Tch, secretive, aren't you? Well, goodnight, Severus..." she said as she walked to her room.

Severus stayed on the sofa, looking at the flames of the fireplace. Now he was more confused than ever. One minute she was threatening him, and in the next acting like a friend. Was this an act?

As he watched the fire, he replayed the whole conversation in his mind. The change was unusual, but not unwelcome. And as he remembered the faces she made when she was embarrassed, he had to say that she was cute... Even in the common white shirt and green pyjama trousers, however, the fluffy pink slippers were a surprise...


"Evie, it's Saturday morning! Why do we have to go to breakfast this early?!" whined Lucinda as the girls walked to the Great Hall.

"Trust me, it will be worth it!" laughed the girl.

"The food is amazing, but not amazing enough to wake up this early..." yawned Bonnie

"Just... Trust me, okay?"

As the girls neared the Great Hall, it was busier than ever before.

"Let me through! I said no photos, Miss Vance!" the commanding voice of Professor McGonagall rang through the Hall.

"Hey, Vance! What is this about?" asked Lucinda Emmeline Vance, a fifth-year Gryffindor, with who she was on good terms, surprisingly.

"You mean, you haven't seen it?! Oh, girl! Here," she laughed as she showed them a photo that she had sneaked out.

It was a photo of James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin bound together by ropes, wearing nothing but their underwear, while there was an apple in their mouth effectively silencing them. Of course, this would be considered horrible, was it not for the surprised and horrified expression they made. It was also unusual to see the usually confident and cocky Gryffindor's faces beet red.

The Slytherin girls snickered while Lucinda laughed so hard that tears were running down her face.

"Make me a copy of that, would you?" she asked the Gryffindor girl.

"Consider it done," said the girl, before she disappeared into the crowd.

Evelyn giggled as she remembered the picture, and she made a mental note to congratulate the boys. However, little did she know that they wouldn't get away with it that easily...