LawWren: I love a tortured Severus... Strange, I know, but it's true…
BlackPreistess: Wait! I know where I recognize your name now! You're the James/Severus writer! I love your story! ... Sorry… Thought I'd point that out…
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or its characters…
Warnings: Violence, bullying, tortured!Severus, swearing, etc… When I think of stuff I'll add to the list… Sorry for not adding it sooner, I kept forgetting it…
Chapter 3
Severus didn't know what to do. He'd had trouble figuring out how to act. Was he supposed to sit and eat the ice cream in silence? Or was he supposed to talk while nibbling at it? He frowned as Remus returned with their ice cream and carefully carved out a small scoop, enjoying the taste immensely as he sucked on it. He didn't look to happy though.
Remus had gotten one in a cone, and was eagerly swiping his tongue over it, smudging his lips with chocolate before merrily licking it away. He was nearly finished when Severus began sucking on his fifth spoon.
"Come on Severus, it's going to melt if you don't hurry up and eat it." Remus was grinning foolishly and was wiping his face gently with a napkin, watching Severus carefully.
Though fidgety under his gaze, Severus' scowl found its way to his face, "I like to enjoy what I eat, Lupin. Did you taste a single bit of your ice cream?"
"I did, it was… Delicious."
At Severus' glare, Remus went silent and Severus angrily stabbed his ice cream and stuffed it in his mouth viciously.
"Sorry." The werewolf mumbled.
Severus snorted.
It was another ten minutes before Severus finished his treat, happily drinking down what had melted. Remus watched with mild amusement as Severus hesitantly wiped down his hands and dabbed at his mouth. He smiled, how utterly… cute.
It took them a while to agree on where to go next; Severus seemed to want to avoid all the busier shops, and stay out of sight, while Remus wanted to go to Honeydukes and buy what ever he could afford.
As Lupin moved away from him, Severus moved towards the alleyway beside Honeydukes, letting his eyes follow Lupin's form into the shop before he turned away. He was to wait outside, while Remus browsed and bought, before they headed off to Hogwarts again. They both agreed that the crowd in the Three Broomsticks would include the other Marauders and would be near suicide to enter together.
"Who are you waiting for Snape?"
Severus flinched slightly, cursing himself for not paying attention. He quickly regained his composure.
Malfoy was smirking at him, proud of himself for catching Severus unguarded. He had wandered away from Crabbe and Goyle, who were looking into a store window, pointing and smirking over something.
"No one. I'm simply deciding on where to go next." He leant back against the wall again, and carefully looked the other way.
Lucius scared him again as he stepped forward, carefully leaning down so his cheek was practically touching Severus'. His smirk broadened, "Not waiting for a Gryffindor, are we?"
Severus had to force his eyes to remain shut, as Lucius continued, "You're a Slytherin, Snape. A pathetic one, true, but a Slytherin no less. Hanging around with a Gryffindor…" He let the sentence hang. But Severus knew exactly what Lucius was going on about.
Why had he even thought of hanging around Lupin? He was a Gryffindor, and not only that, he was a Marauder! What had he been thinking? Or not thinking as the case was…
"And besides that, who would want to hang around you."
That hurt. Severus let his eyes fall to the ground, but didn't move any further. He just stared, his mind burning with questions.
Why would Lupin want to be around him? He was repulsive! And Lupin's friends seemed to dislike him more than Lucius and the others. They pranked him at least once… His mind drifted off on that thought, before flashing lights and anger welled up in him.
How foolish could he have been? How desperate? Of course Black and Potter would use innocent Lupin to get to him. In fact… He wouldn't have been surprised if the stupid prat had gone and told them about the other Slytherins!
Lucius – having become bored with Severus' unresponsiveness – had ordered Crabbe and Goyle to follow him and had disappeared into a quidditch store, leaving Severus staring after him.
He snorted and after a long pause he walked away, heading up to the castle. Lupin wouldn't miss him, of course. He would probably go and tell Black about the strawberry thing now… He cringed inwardly; he'd had a hard time at home for his favourite flavour. What kind of a guy liked strawberry?
Severus carefully pulled his hair behind his ear. No. Lupin wouldn't miss him.
And anyway… He had homework to finish.
o0o0o
Remus looked around quickly, trying to find Severus' skinny form. He walked to inspect the alleys near by when he couldn't find him, and he felt his heart grow heavy as he realized Severus wasn't around.
Had he grown tired of waiting and walked off? Or had he simply told Remus that he'd stay outside so he could ditch him when he went into the shop? He popped a chocolate frog in his mouth as he thought about it, slowly heading back to the castle. There was no point in staying if Severus didn't want to be around him.
As he walked, it came to Remus' attention that Severus was a complete mystery to him.
First, the Slytherin preferred sticking to the rules, but if needed would curse an enemy into nothingness without a second thought. He couldn't count how many times he'd had to stop or fix Sirius and James' feet or hair or clothes after Snape had hexed them.
Second, Snape seemed to have the ability to be polite one minute then absolutely horrid the next. His moods changed so drastically in such a short time, Remus would have sworn that the other boy had Horntail blood in him.
Third, he was constantly picked on, yet… He was able to blend into the crowd? Did Sirius and James have a charmed compass especially made to track done Snape? He simply couldn't keep track of the Slytherin.
He seriously was a walking mass of contrasting ideas that seemed to make sense to some people and create headaches for others. He admitted he was part of the latter group, though rather grumpily.
Like how could Severus seem to want to be his friend, and then ditch him? How could he like the dark arts and argue against the testing of curses and other charms on house elves and other creatures? Was hurting a human better than hurting a creature? Was it more righteous?
Remus was about ready to pull his hair out. Maybe it wasn't healthy to be thinking about Snape so much? And maybe it was even more so to be trying to work out how his mind worked.
He sighed as he entered Hogwarts castle, his eyes focusing on deep red hair. "Lily!" He called, and waved his hand slightly when her eyes shot up to look around the room. She waved back and motioned for him to sit next to her.
"Where are the others?" She asked, peering behind him curiously.
Remus cleared his throat, "They're probably in the Three Broomsticks."
She attempted to raise her right eyebrow, then her left and finally gave once Remus rubbed at his nose to stop himself from laughing.
"You remind me of Snape when you do that."
"I know."
He blinked. Sometimes she surprised him. She really did. Imagine a muggleborn trying to get along with a Slytherin and seemingly succeeding, while himself, a pureblood couldn't, even though the snakes thought them more worthy of their attention. Was he really that much of a failure when it came to making friends?
"Severus told me you and him were going to go to Hogsmeade together. What happened? He didn't walk in with you." She carefully marked her page and closed her books, eyeing Remus in a way that made his stomach do nervous flips.
"Erm… I think he doesn't like me." Oh how lame, "I mean! H – He doesn't like to spend time around me. You know, me being a Gryffindor and Marauder." He shrugged dismissively.
Lily frowned, "That doesn't sound like Severus. He usually doesn't care about the houses." Remus snorted and Lily looked livid, "He doesn't! Do you think he'd help me if he did? Supposedly I'm the worst type of Gryffindor."
Again Remus shrugged. "Maybe he didn't like me as a person?"
"Oh, I don't know about that." Remus' eyebrows rose as Lily giggled and flicked her hair over her shoulders, picking up her books and parchment. "See you Remus." She giggled lowly again, and it only confused Remus more.
Had he missed something?
o0o0o
"Severus?" The door creaked as she pushed it open and peered into the dimly lit room, "Yoohoo, Severus?" She finally spotted him sitting at the very far corner of the room, his face hidden behind his hair.
"Severus?" She touched his shoulder and he jumped horribly, bumping his knees on the table.
He rubbed his knees, swearing quietly, before he glared up at Lily. "Don't. Do. That. Again." He growled lowly, angrier with his reaction than Lily.
"Fine." She pulled the chair out huffily, sat down and crossed her hands on the table after she dropped her bag. "We're working on separating combined potions today?"
Severus nodded and adjusted his robes before he snatched a roll of parchment from his own bag. He carefully placed it between them, frowning at the slightly crinkled edges.
"What do we do first?"
"How was your date with Remus?"
Severus frowned, "We're working on our potions essay, not on my social life." He waved his hand slightly, grabbing his quill with the other, "And it was not a date." He pronounced the word carefully, almost as if trying to taste it and failing.
"Of course, of course…" Lily opened her text book and began reading aloud, soon stumbling over a word. As Severus leaned over the table to translate the mumbled word, Lily feigned innocence.
"So… How was your outing with Remus."
Severus, who was already becoming tired with Lily's questions, glared, "What are you going on about, Evans? We went to a book store, had ice cream," She went to comment but was silenced when he raised his hand, "And walked around, before Lupin disappeared into Honeydukes and I came back here. Stop mocking me. I'm sure the Marauders would have had a field day if we'd become friends." He moved to pick up his quill, but stopped and jerked a finger towards Lily, a fierce glare on his face, "Which we are not!"
"And why is that Severus?" She said it so casually that Severus nearly answered.
He mumbled an insult, but was otherwise quiet, scribbling down a few notes in his squashed handwriting. Lily huffed indignantly, trying to feign a hurt look because of Severus' actions towards her. She failed miserably.
After a few minutes of listening to the Slytherin's quill, Severus spoke, "Now… Let's put that stupid day out of our minds and concentrate. Merlin, knows how well we'll do with this stupid essay. Let's aim for ninety-nine, shall we?"
Lily nodded, though she was smiling slightly. "And stop smiling! Stupid, bloody Gryffindor, anyone would think you were on drugs." She giggled at his tone, but decided to not tease him.
He was in for a rough ride when she finally set him and Remus on track. They needed each other. Severus was too introverted, while Remus needed someone quiet to hang around. They'd help each other and considering how difficult they were being… She might have to go to some drastic measures.
Fire: Thank you for the reviews so far… Review again please… They're my motivation…
Anyway… I know not a lot happened this chapter, but it was a more of a thinking and a 'working-out-how-this-person-thinks' chapter…
Thank you for reading, I'll be back when I can…