They Didn't Know We Were Seeds

Severus is on his way to the library to work on an arithmancy paper when he spies Potter and a couple of the Marauders walking on the other side of the corridor. He'd rather have run into Potter when he was alone, but this will do. He needs to apologize before it becomes too late and it's festered too long. Lupin and Sirius will wonder why he's pulling Potter away to talk to him (especially because he's not hidden his distaste for the other at all), but Lupin doesn't pry and Potter is possibly even more stubborn than Sirius. Potter will never tell Sirius about what conspired between the two of them unless Severus okays it.

Hurrying in the trio's direction, he calls, "Potter!"

The boy looks in his direction. A frown pulling at the corner of his lips, he asks, "Yes?"

Ignoring the way Sirius and Lupin are looking at them, Severus says, "Can we talk?"

Potter crosses his arms. "Right here we can."

"Potter…" Severus growls.

Unintimidated, the boy things his lips and tells him, "If you have something to say, say it. We don't have a lot of time. Peter's gobstone practice starts soon."

Severus sighs. "Fine," he bites. Then, through gritted teeth, he says, "I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I wasn't cross with you, I was angry at someone else. None of what happened last year was your fault."

Potter blinks, surprised. Evidently, an apology is the last thing he was expecting from Severus. "…Okay. Thanks." He glances at Lupin and Sirius. Obviously finding something he was looking for in their faces or stances, he asks Severus, "Do you want to come to the tournament with us? Gobstones is actually fun to watch and Peter's pretty good at it."

He shakes his head. "I have an arithmancy paper to write," he tells him. "Maybe another time?"

The boy nods. "Yeah, another time."

-o-O-o-

He drags a whinging Scabior through the portrait hole into their moderately student-filled common room only to let him go and give the ruffled boy a shove towards the dorm's stairs. "Go put on some robes that aren't torn and bring me that one to fix," he orders.

Face indignant, Scabior starts, "You aren't my moth–"

"I'll hex you if you don't move it," cuts in Severus.

The first year's teeth click together. Scabior glances behind him, likely at a few of Severus's fellow third years. Scabior sags for a moment before he flounces away in the direction of the stairs. Severus almost smirks. He's sure his yearmates made it quite clear that Severus is not bluffing about possibly hexing Scabior should he not listen to him.

He watches Scabior to ensure he goes up the stairs to his dorm before he turns around to give his attention to his housemates. Severus feels quite gratified when he sees Sage and Regulus sitting together on the floor with a deck of exploding snaps between them. It's good that the two are getting along. Sage needs actual friends in Slytherin and not just acquaintances.

He approaches the pair and takes a seat between them. "It's like he wants to have his face smashed in!" he complains as he accepts a hand of cards that Regulus gives him.

"Perhaps he'd learn something if it was," Sage mutters as he throws down a card, starting the game.

Severus furrows his brows, thinking of the Scabior he knew from his last lifetime. He'd picked fights just the same as this one. He got black eyes, broke teeth, and received bloody noses by the dozen, yet never seemed to learn anything from it. Something told Severus Scabior rather liked the pain – or perhaps he got off in some way from egging wizards into fistfights. "I don't believe he would," Severus finally says.

Sage snorts as Regulus draws a new card from the communal pile. "Why are you so invested in him?" Regulus asks. "His family is a bunch of chavs."

This information gives Severus a pause. He honestly did not know that. Once, Scabior had been as important to him as an ant is to whale. Now, though, he understands why Scabior's gotten under his skin. They come from similar backgrounds and Severus sees himself a bit in the boy. With the right guidance…

"What do you think my family is?" he says.

Regulus frowns, perplexed. He glances at Sage, who pointedly turns his gaze to the cards in his hands in response. When he sees that the older is not going to be of any help, Regulus slowly mumbles, "The Montagues are… Respectable."

"Yes, they are," Severus agrees— If only for Sage's sake. He thinks (is certain) there's much more to the Montagues than what little he saw over the summer and what he knows from his previous lifetime. "But the Snapes are far from it."

The younger frowns and Severus truly begins to wonder just how dumb Regulus is when the boy's eyes go a fraction wider. Face now red, he mumbles, "Oh." And drops his gaze to cards. "You haven't always lived with them, have you?"

Severus rolls his eyes and is about to tell him that it's not a big deal when a robe lands in his lap. He looks up to see Scabior glaring at him. "'Ere it is!" he spits.

"Good," says Severus. He points to the empty spot across from him. "Take a seat."

The boy glowers some more and shuffles in place. Severus keeps a steady gaze. Finally, Scabior does as he's told. Severus takes out his wand and fixes the robe. He then passes it and his hand of cards off to Scabior.

"Play a round with them," he advises before getting to his feet.

"Oi, where are you goin'!" the ill-mannered brat shouts after him.

Severus glances over his shoulder at Scabior. "To meet Lily." With a sneer, he says, "If she's still waiting for me, anyway. Getting you here took quite a long time."

The boy's face screws up in annoyance, but there's really nothing for him to say. Well, he certainly could say something, but just about everyone who's dared to say anything disparaging about Lily up until this point knows Severus won't stand for it and has passed this information along to everyone else in their house.

Pleased by the reaction, Severus leaves. He may want to help Scabior become something greater than what he was in his first lifetime, but he doesn't care half as much about him as he does about keeping Lily in his life.

Your thoughts on this chapter? Which scene was your favorite?

Thanks a million for reading :)