They Didn't Know We Were Seeds

"Has Sage looked a little down to you lately?" Lily asks him the afternoon before he's to attend the Slug Club party with Clara.

Severus cants his head and considers the question. Sage has been quieter lately, hasn't he? He's certainly not been as quick to smile (not that he ever was, but he did usually grin or smirk at least once or twice a day). "He's seemed more… contained, yes," Severus replies after his quiet deliberation.

Lily doesn't look particularly happy with his answer— As if she's been hoping he would give her another answer. Like she is being silly and imagining things and Sage seems perfectly fine to him. Of course, now that she's been proven right, Lily's voice grows anxious as she asks him, "Do you think something's wrong? He's not having problems with his brother or mother, is he? I know it can't be anything class related, we help him with his essays and studying all of the time! He's doing alright, if not well, in all of his subjects. And surely you'd notice if there was something going on between him and any of your housemates…"

Unfortunately for his friend, this is not an issue Severus wants to deal with at the moment. He has his own problems he's attempting to work through and really doesn't have much energy to spare for Lily's concerns let alone whatever problem his brother's possibly (not) dealing with. As the week has drawn on, Severus's dread of attending the Slug Club party has only gotten worse. Just thinking of the party leaves him so tense he's honestly considering faking ill to get out of it (he'd probably have by now if he didn't already know Lily would call him out on it). But as Severus knows far too well, you can't always get what you want. While he wants to stick his head in regards to Sage, Lily's not going to let him. Not to mention Sage matters now. He's not just a housemate or some merryweather friend, but family. Aunt Vesta and Boyd will never forgive him if anything happens to the boy while they are at Hogwarts together.

"I honestly don't know," he answers with no small amount of reluctance.

Lily begins to drum her fingers along her sternum. "Maybe you should ask him."

For a moment, Severus considers it. "No," he says, "that won't work. He'll insist everything is alright. All you can do is stay by his side and let him bring up what's bothering him on his own." Bleakly, Severus mutters, "Sometimes, even that won't work. He's good at burying things until they can't be found anymore."

His friend's face pinches with even deeper concern. "Tonight's the Slug Club party."

"Yes, it is."

Lily pauses in tapping her fingers and gives Severus a look of deep consideration. "Do you think Sage would let me keep him company tonight while you're at the party?"

Severus blinks. While Lily has been excellent in supporting his friendships with fellow Slytherins (unlike in their first lifetime), she's shown little interest in being more than a mate of a mate to them. Doubtfully, Severus warns, "He might want to hide in our dorms. And you know as well as I the upper years would murder you if you tried to sneak in to be with him."

The girl frowns. "What if I said I wanted his help with something? Do you think he'd spend the evening with me then?"

"Perhaps," Severus agrees, uncertain and having no qualms about keeping it from his voice.

She sighs. "There wouldn't be harm in trying at least, right?"

That, he's more than happy to nod to. "Yes, there's no harm in that."

-O-

While kneeling over his trunk and grimacing at his options of robes for tonight's function, Severus hears the scuff of feet from behind. Dropping the navy blue robe he's been considering for the past couple of minutes, Severus turns around to see a slightly dazed Sage standing a little less than a meter away from him. With forced patience, Severus asks, "Yes? What is it?"

"Lily asked me for help with practicing a spell tonight."

Severus returns his attention to his robes. "Hmm…" he says.

"You're okay with this?" the boy questions.

Deciding finally on a lighter gray robe to wear, Severus stands up and closes the lid to his trunk. "Yes," he answers. "It's no wonder she did. I'll be stuck at the Slug Club party all night."

Sage's expression is one of utter confusion. "But you two—"

"—Are friends," Severus cuts in. He then switches out of his school robes into the slightly nicer one for the party. He gives Sage a pat on the arm as he passes him by on his way out of their dorm. "Have a nice time, Sage."

-o-O-o-

Just as he remembers from his first lifetime, Horace's little parties are a complete bore. He stands by the punch bowl, glass of it in hand, but not drinking any. Clara is beside him, awkwardly conversing with Hufflepuff Clarence Bones, brother to Edgar and Amelia Bones, father to Susan Bones. She's smiling a lot at the redhead, but her eyes keep wandering off to a group across the room.

Severus is mildly amused, but mostly pitying toward Clarence. It's quite obvious the Bones boy is much more interested in Clara than she is in him. It's no matter, he'll get over the fact Clara does not fancy him eventually meet and marry his daughter's mother at some point in the coming six years. While the two are busy talking about defense spells, Severs tries to guess which of the young men on the other side of the room has caught Clara's eye.

There's Clarence's brother, Edgar, and the Prewett twins, Fabian and Gideon, all of whom are seventh years, and a younger boy, a fifth year, by the name of Crispin Smith. From the way the twins frequently roll their eyes when Smith speaks, Severus is quite sure they're only suffering his company to be polite— Probably because Edgar asked them to. He keeps glancing at the pair with a look of warning in his stare, anyway.

It's a vague recollection at best, but he's quite sure Edgar marries a Smith, or someone closely related to them, a cousin, perhaps?

Severus looks once more to Clara. He can't imagine it's Smith that's got her eye and she's glancing too low for it to be the older Bones boy. Her eyes are on one of the stocky Prewett lads, though, he's having trouble discerning which one. Just as Severus thinks he's going to figure out which Prewett's caught her eyes, a loud voice exclaims, "Ah, Mr. Snape! What a surprise to see you here!"

Annoyed, Severus can't help but scowl at Horace as he stops beside him to take stock of the appetizers laid neatly on the table behind him.

"I was invited by a housemate," he answers simply.

The man looks up, a small plate of food already put together and in his hand. "Oh?"

Severus almost jumps when he feels the weight of Clara's hand settle on his shoulder. "Yes, that's right." Softly, she says, "I hope that's alright, sir. Severus is really quite a clever boy. I thought he could benefit from meeting a few others who are just as inventive as he is." She glances down at him, a furrow between her brows. "I haven't made many introductions yet, however."

"It's fine," Severus tells her.

She frowns, doubtful of his honesty.

"Really," he assures with as much earnestness as he's capable of showing.

Horace holds a half-eaten prawn between his fingers, gaze darting between the two of them as if he can't quite believe what he's seeing. Perhaps he can't. Why should a girl like Clara Parkinson want to help a nobody like Severus? It's not as if it's widely known just who all he's related to, nor is it that the Montagues took him in. Aunt Vesta hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of her making him her ward lest it draws negative attention to the family.

"…Inventive, you say?" the professor finally says.

"Yes," Clara replies, "for example, Severus has this one spell that levitates a wizard into the air and turns them upside down."

The portly man's eyes drift to Severus, who stares steadily back. He takes too much pride in his creations to lie and say they are the product of someone else's mind, even if it makes him seem like a child genius he is not.

"That sounds very interesting!" Horaces exclaims. "A demonstration might be in order later."

Severus pulls out his wand. "It works on more than people," he says. He points his wand at a cup of punch. "Levicorpus." The cup lifts into the air, flips upside down, and spills its contents on the table.

"Fascinating," the man murmurs.

He snorts. "It's quite useless most of the time."

"Don't say that!" Clara admonishes as Horaces goes a bit rigid in surprise.

Their reactions make him feel a little embarrassed. He hadn't meant to come off as self-deprecating, but as humble. Levicorpus, while one of the ones he's most proud of, is nothing compared to some of the other spells he's come up with over the years.

Nodding his head, Horace says, "She's quite right. It's quite the feat to create a spell in itself at your age, but one complex enough to do two things at once? Just brilliant." He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a little card. It's one Severus recalls receiving during his first lifetime. He hands it to Severus and tells him, "I'm officially inviting you to be a part of my club. We meet twice a month and hold a party like this one every other. Feel free to bring any friends of yours who may have something to offer."

Numbly pocketing the card, he mumbles, "Thank you, sir."

The portly man nods. "Have a good evening you two, I really must go congratulate to Smith over there. I hear his father just received a promotion at the Ministry…"

Clara and Severus watch him go. Once he's gone, the Parkinson girl spins Severus around and smiles. "Aren't you lucky!" she exclaims. "He hardly every invites students under fifteen to join his club!"

Severus really doesn't feel lucky, though, he's glad to have accomplished his goal. He has Horace's attention now. With time and the right words, he'll have the man giving him things and helping him in ways that Severus previously never could have expected from him. A better future is a little closer to his grasp. A small feeling of pride blossoming in his chest, he smiles at Clara.

"It wasn't luck, but you. If you hadn't invited me to the party Horace would have never invited me."

The teenager goes bright pink at his declaration. Eyes bright and joyous, she giggles. Taking his hand, she says, "Since you're officially a member, why don't I introduce you to some of our more prominent members?"

Severus follow easily. As disinterested as he is in the other students here at the party, he knows he has to keep up appearances and act grateful and excited to be here. It will keep him in Clara's good graces and earn him the favor of those he's to "meet" tonight.

How'd you guys like the chapter? Favorite part of it?

Also, don't forget the 525th reviewer for TDKWWS will receive a one-shot from me. Terms and conditions for that one-shot are listed in chapter thirty's A/N.

Thanks so much for reading :)