They Didn't Know We Were Seeds
Severus hadn't known what including Wong in Scabior's training regime would do, but to say the least, he's happy he has. She brings in a level of focus to their sessions he never thought reachable with Scabior. He now watches Severus carefully as he demonstrates enchantments and copies his wand movements with an exactness previously unseen with the boy. Scabior also listens when Wong asks questions and will use hers as diverging points for his own inquiries. Some of the things he asks about even show a true thoughtfulness.
Wong's not a very good dueling partner, however. She is by far more advanced than most eleven and twelve-year-old girls, but she lacks the necessary aggression to be truly formidable. Severus is just thankful she hasn't cried after losing since her and Scabior's first scrimmage. To prevent tears however, he usually has her watch him and Scabior as they duel and just learn spells alongside Scabior instead. She's very quick on the uptake – often even faster than Scabior. She also has the patience to practice it over and over with the boy until he gets it.
Severus gives them a couple of spells to practice at the end of each lesson with the expectation they'll be able to do a passable recreation by the next day's teaching. For the most part, they've managed to do just that. When they don't, he just takes a little extra time to go over it. It may be irksome and slow them down, but he can see they are trying and he needs Scabior's confidence to stay up. When Friday comes, he says, "I've had Sage and Lily keeping an eye on Crouch and Professor Prince and they have not grouped up together for even a moment since before my duel." He smirks. "I believe you'll show that prick just how much he should regret not losing to me tomorrow."
Scabior grinned with pleasure. Feathers sufficiently fluffed by the compliment, he says, "Then I'll show Ollivander too!"
He wonders if he should say the boy shouldn't get ahead of himself, but Wong jumps in before he can come to a decision. Lightly, she raps her fingers on the back of his head. "Just focus on your duel with Crouch now, Edmund."
The boy wrinkles his nose. "Yeah, yeah," he agrees. Then, he mutters, "And it's Scabior."
Wong looks stricken for a moment. "Oh, sorry," she mumbles. "I thought we were friends…"
Scabior blanches. Then, with a hint of panic in his tone, he assures her, "We are! Everyone calls me Scabior. I just don't really like Edmund, Ed, or Eddie."
"Oh," says the girl.
Severus rolls his eyes. "If you two are done, there's one more spell I'd like to show you today."
"Yeah, alright, " Scabior agrees for the both of them.
-o-O-o-
"How do you think he will do?"
Severus stares at Scabior. The boy stands at ease, fingers fiddling with the base of his wand behind his back. He then glances at Scabior's face. The second-year's expression is neutral besides his mouth, which is set in a slight smirk. He's impatient, then, not nervous. Severus really can't say he's too surprised. Scabior has been downright certain victory is the only possibility since Severus asked how he felt about his coming duel with Crouch over a week ago.
He then looks over to Crouch. The Hufflepuff has a hand on his hip and he's laughing at the antics of his mates a few rows away from the platform. He's just as certain he'll win as Scabior is it seems. Severus is certain this duel will be something to witness. He does so hope neither one's temper gets the better of them. Crouch and Scabior have a tendency towards volatility when angry and upset. It would be unfortunate if this duel ends because one cheats or spells to maim rather than to disarm.
Severus turns his head and says to Lily, "I think Scabior will manage to impress while he is up there."
"You're not sure he'll win, are you?" asks Sage as he turns his gaze back to the platform when Demitri steps up to go over the rules and begin the duel.
He purses his lips. "I think his chances are quite good, but no, I am not entirely sure he will win." Severus's eyes move to Crouch. "Scabior might be too cocky."
"We'll find out in just a moment here, I'm sure," Lily murmurs, gesturing to Severus's grandfather, who was wrapping up the last of his little speech. The three of them fall quiet as Demitri walks off the platform, tensing for the first strike. The moment the old man's turned back around, watching, Crouch and Scabior cast their first spells – both wanting to be the first to strike.
A lime-green enchantment from Crouch's wand clips the red-orange hue hex that shoots out of Scabior's. The spells explode in a burst of bright yellow sparks in the middle of the platform. Students around Severus awe and whoop as Crouch and Scabior do their best to shield themselves from the falling bits of light. Unlike Crouch, who stays close to the platform as the sparks continue to flutter in the air, Scabior lets his shielding charm drop.
He ignores the falling sparks and only winces when one lands on the exposed skin of his hand as he mouths the words to a curse before casting it off in Crouch's direction. The Hufflepuff's mouth falls open when he sees Scabior is ignoring the small flames all around them and has sent an enchantment his way. Covering his head and rolling out of the curse's striking path just in time, Crouch unfurls from his ball only to shoot off a jinx of his own.
Scabior dodges with ease and sends yet another curse at the Hufflepuff. Crouch throws up a shielding charm and returns fire. It goes on like that for several minutes; both Scabior and Crouch trying to bespell the other before they can defend themselves or get out of the way. Finally, when Scabior begins to realize the futility of this method, he stops casting and instead tries a new method.
In a display of bravery, he rushes at the Hufflepuff. Crouch's eyes go wide and he looks at Scabior as if he's mad and hurries to back away, all thoughts of bespelling the other boy forgotten for the moment. Soon, Crouch's heels are touching the edge of the platform. Severus watches with great interest as Crouch panics and attempts a knockback jinx, only to mess it up and push himself off the edge of the platform.
It's only a meter-fall, but as Crouch twists to try and catch himself on Hogwarts unforgiving stone floors, he lands wrong on one of his arms and cries out. Of course, only Severus and the Hogwarts staff appears to notice this at all. Hogwarts' students are cheering for Scabior. Severus looks at Lily and Sage. Lily has her hands cupped around her mouth and is shouting for Scabior as loud as any Slytherin; as for Sage, he looks a little shocked, but happy. He is clapping alongside everyone else and, occasionally, he takes his fingers to his mouth and whistles (Severus wonders when Sirius taught him that, it's not as if he knew how to whistle like that during the previous duels).
He gives each of them a look. "Let's go," Severus says. Then he starts shouldering his way through the few students standing in their way and makes it over to the platform. Scabior's smirk becomes a grin when he sees Severus. All but throwing himself off the platform, he yells, "Thank you! Thank you!" and darts in to hug Severus before he can step away.
After a moment, he embraces the boy back. Once he has, Scabior lets go and falls back a step, a cheeky smile now in place. "I knew you'd 'ug me back an' not deck me if I did it in front'a the school."
Lily says, "Even if you weren't in front of the school he wouldn't have hit you."
Scabior laughs and Severus rolls his eyes. Yes, he probably wouldn't have hit the boy, but Severus is sure he'd have shoved him away without hugging Scabior back. The younger boy appears to realize this too, as he replies, "Yeah, maybe. 'E never woulda 'ugged me at all, though."
His friend appears as if she's going to protest this, but Severus only shakes his head. She sighs and crosses her arms, letting the argument drop. Quietly, Sage murmurs, "Madam Pomfrey is looking over Crouch, do you think he's okay?"
They all look. Instead of getting on the platform to announce Scabior as the duel's winner, Demitri is standing with a hand on Crouch's shoulder as Madam Pomfrey looks over his arm. The Hufflepuff's grimacing as she expects it, but does not appear to be in any unbearable pain. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey waves her wand over his arm. She does it one more time after and, then, Crouch draws his arm back to himself. He clenches and unclenches his hand a couple of times before he nods his head and says what Severus can only assume is thank you to Madam Pomfrey.
"You should get back on the platform," Severus tells Scabior.
The boy blinks. "What?"
"Professor Prince never officially announced you as the winner, now did he?"
Understanding lights up Scabior's face. "Oh!" he exclaims before turning around and heaving himself back up on the platform. Just as the boy is pulling himself to a stand, Demitri joins him on the platform. He sends off sparks to quiet the crowd. Slowly, everything falls to a low din and the old man apologizes for the delay. He gestures for Scabior to stand next to him and once he's there, declares Scabior as the victor of the duel. Severus stares right at the man as he does, smirking all the while.
His grandfather's eyes narrow and Severus knows Scabior is going to have to watch out during his duel against Ollivander next week.
'That's just fine,' thinks Severus. 'We'll show you no matter what you have Ollivander send our way.'
-o-O-o-
In the classroom he and Lily commandeered for themselves at the start of the year, Severus looks over his results from the synthesized poison and sighs. It's another failure. No combination is working. What could Severus possibly be missing? He needs this to work or… He swallows thickly. Or they are going to have to find their way into the Chamber to extract poison from the Basilisk beneath the school themselves. He shakes at the thought. Merlin, he hopes it doesn't have to come to that.
'Next year," he tells himself. 'If I can't make a working poison by next year, I'll tell Lily and Cresswell we need to get into the Chambers.'
"Hello?"
Severus spins around. In the doorway stands Cresswell. He has an eyebrow raised at Severus, a look of curiosity in his eyes. "What do you want?" he asks.
Cresswell frowns. "That's not very polite."
He rolls his eyes. "Fine. Hello, Cresswell. What do you want?"
The Ravenclaw moves into the classroom. "I was talking to Mei after the duel."
"That's nice," Severus sneers.
Cresswell glowers at him. "Anyhow, she said you had her helping you prepare Scabior for the duel."
He nods. "I did," Severus agrees. "She was already showing him new spells before I even suggested I help Scabior prepare."
"I want you to put a stop to that."
Severus doesn't know what to say. Finally, after a moment's pause, he questions, "Why, pray tell, should I do that?"
Cresswell's expression turns hateful. "It was him and his Snatcher mates who killed me."
He shifts uneasily, not entirely sure how to reply. Severus never considered that Cresswell's murderer might be at Hogwarts right now – and so close to Severus too. While he's made peace years ago with the fact he's surrounded by future Death Eaters and killers and resolved to not let it get to him if he can help it, Cresswell evidently has not done the same. Probably hasn't had to. He's a Ravenclaw, most of his housemates didn't grow up to be Death Eaters. Those that did Severus can now imagine he's gone out of his way to avoid. Briefly, he wonders just how different Ravenclaw looks today compared to how it did during their true schooldays.
Severus shakes his head. He knows he should probably agree and then continue to do as he pleases… But he will need to work with Cresswell later. At some point, they will all have to come together to make the better world they all came back to create. Quietly, he reasons, "You do realize Scabior and that man aren't the same person, don't you?"
"They're close enough!" Cresswell snaps
Severus sighs. He'll try to exclude her, but he knows there is no way he can promise Cresswell any immediate changes. Snubbing her so suddenly will only cause strife for everyone involved. Even then there may not be much he can do. Scabior seeked her out on his own (or had Wong? Severus never did bother to find out) and he may continue to do so in the future. "I'll see what I can do," he tells Cresswell. "They are quite friendly and excluding her outright will only lead to an upset right now."
Cresswell doesn't look any happier, but he relents. "Fine," he agrees. "Just… Just don't let them become any closer."
"I'll do my best," promises Severus.
Your thoughts?
For those who like strange AUs, I have recently uploaded a one-shot called Usurper. In it, the gods of myth are real and live among the mortals of the world. The story focuses on Blaise Zabini, a demigod, and his life.
Thank you guys so very much for reading :)