I don't have much an excuse for posting so late other than school is starting and I found myself running around last minute getting supplies. By Wednesday or Thursday I will be trying to post ch 7 because I'm technically still behind (':

Edit: HEhe sorry if you're getting multiple notifications for this I realised a plot hole I had.

Severus was having a nightmare just like he did most nights, though this was an unfamiliar one to him. Shoved into a whole new situation that he couldn't make sense of. Most nights he saw Charity Burbage's face as she pleaded and begged him to save her. He had quite a few but Charity was a recurring nightmare. He had had dreamless sleep several nights a week since arriving at Hogwarts but didn't want to find himself addicted to it. It had addictive properties, and he would rather not fall into his father's footsteps that way.

He remembered vaguely running barefoot, scared out of his mind. He could hear someone screaming and yelling but he couldn't discern the voice. He could not pinpoint the voice to anyone, couldn't even tell if they were male or female, so he called out for them. His urge to protect whoever belonged to the voice was choking him to the point of hysteria.

He didn't show it outwardly besides in the way he began to run towards the noise without any regard for his safety. Severus pumped his legs when the screams began to get closer, and he could hear their pleas for help clearer now. Before he could turn the corner he tripped and vaulted forward, but he didn't hit the ground with a thud as he expected. Suddenly, he was submerged into a large body of water a few feet below the surface. He began to thrash as he tried to paddle upwards, but he was becoming entangled in weeds only to be confronted with someone watching him sink lower and lower in the murky depths. Not even trying to save him in the slightest.

He jumped awake after catching a glimpse of his face staring down at him, breathing heavily. Severus pulled his hair back as the sweat dripped down his forehead, his whole body was feeling oily. More so than it usually did when he woke up from a nightmare of Charity when he didn't have dreamless sleep.

He had never had that nightmare before...

Glancing around he confirmed he was still in his dorm room with the rest of his roommates snoring softly to themselves. He slowly lowered himself against the bed and took a deep breath, was this repentance? Watching himself drown? His absolution for the things he had done?

It seemed unlikely, his absolution would be his death. The final one that didn't bring him back unlike the last time.

Severus sat up once his breathing evened out, his shields slowly being built up around the emotions he had just experienced. He was already agitated and it was only the start of the day. He pulled out the transfigured watch from last night and checked the time. It was four in the morning. He groaned slightly before he shoved the watch back in his satchel and sat up as he knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep. His body clock usually made him get up at around quarter to six if he was lucky to sleep that long, and a head start wouldn't do him any harm, as he told himself most mornings. Not that it would do much when he only had two classes this afternoon, the rest of his day was his to do as he pleased.

He grabbed his journal and opened it to Lupin's timetable that he had scribbled down when the Gryffindor had given it to him. It helped him sort out where he was if he ever needed to find him, he knew his location. He had given Remus his timetable as well so they were equal on both sides.

It looked like he had part of the morning to himself before he would hear from him as Lupin had Herbology with Ravenclaws this morning. Shoving it back into his bag he picked out one of his threadbare uniforms and underpants, sighing at the slowly falling apart clothing. He intended to have a shower. He could feel the grime on his skin and wanted to scrub himself off until he was raw, maybe rub off the emotions he was hiding.

He headed towards the showers and found himself standing under tepid water, not that he minded as long as it wasn't ice cold. He washed away the grime and the lingering images of his nightmare with a bar of soap and shampoo.

Halfway through his shower, he heard two other boys enter the room and began to bathe themselves chatting incessantly to each other.

Then a third boy entered the room and was lingering around even though there were plenty of showers he could inhabit. This put Severus on edge as the boy had absolutely no reason to be lingering, he wasn't even speaking to the other two who were jeering at each other.

He rinsed the shampoo from his hair as he eyed the shower curtain, sensing how close the third teenager was near him. Had he taken the boy's favourite shower? How immature of him!

Was this the attack that Avery had warned him about?

Severus rolled his eyes and continued to wash, still eyeing the curtain with suspicion. His back tense, waiting for the next move. His body was already preparing to fight.

When he had finished he stood there under the running water, not indicating he was leaving anytime soon. He could sense the boy's frustration and wanted to further it if this was an attack the angrier the opponent the less clear they were thinking. The best time to strike.

The curtain finally burst open, revealing an annoyed-looking Thorfinn Rowle.

"What do you think you're doing taking your sweet time?" He asked before realising who he was yelling at.

This wasn't a planned attack, but still something he did not want to have to deal with today. He still had his lingering bad mood from the night before and his distinct lack of sleep was not helping the mix. He was feeling rather apathetic.

Severus only stared at him annoyed but not hiding as he would have if he were still mentally fourteen. "Do you own a certain stall?" he inquired and casually leaned against the wall, facing him fully without shame at being stark naked. Though tense. He could care less about embarrassing himself when it was so obvious it bothered Rowle at his lack of shame.

The apparent confidence confused Thorfinn, who just gaped at him with anger and shock. He had expected Severus to duck and run out of the shower at being exposed. It was clear he had done this to many other students.

He smirked at Rowle and crossed his arms, saying the words that would set him off, "my nose isn't the only thing that's big about me."

Thorfinn blushed at the comment which insinuates something entirely different. "What!?" he cried in outrage, "how dare you-?"

"It's alright, don't have to peep on me if you really wanted to see it. Just had to ask," he stated simply and summoned his towel from the bench next to his clothes. He didn't put it on immediately and instead began to dry his hair.

"Get out of the fucking shower!"

"Alright, Luv," Severus said sarcastically, only leaving because he didn't want to waste time being more petty than usual. His body was screaming at him to run as well, but he didn't acknowledge that.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out. The two other boys were peeking out of their shower and watching the scene before them.

"Didn't know you were a poofter, Rowle," one said with a smile.

They began to chuckle and giggle to each other, earning a glare from the boy mentioned. "Shut up! Am not!"

Severus scowled at the use of the term, disliking it. He had found a few males attractive in his youth, though it had most likely been the allure of power he so desperately wanted, he had no time for such novelties now. He didn't care who other people liked or who they associated themselves with when he had things to do. He summoned his wand and turned to land a stinging hex on Rowle's behind. When Thorfinn turned and glared at him he just winked back.

He dressed quickly, not wanting to be near any of the three other Slytherins. When he finished he walked by the two still in the shower and silently sent out the horn growing hex to each of them. The two shouts and curse at Thorfinn, thinking he was the dealer of the curse, which made Severus smile.

The day was looking a bit brighter for him, maybe it wouldn't be too bad.

Severus sat tensely at a table in the library; he was scribbling in his journal a timeline of the Horcruxes he knew about as he read through another wizarding family book. He didn't think it would do any harm to start a timeline without Lupin, as the two still needed to discuss Horcruxes in a lengthy discussion. He had already duplicated the notes he had taken from the night before and charmed it only for his and Lupin's eyes.

He had Myrtle written down in 1943 with the journal and ring circling her name. He had added Riddle Sr. and the Gaunts as an afterthought as Voldemort could have easily taken one of them and used their bodies for a Horcrux.

Hepzibah Smith was next ranging in the 50 to 60s with the locket and Hufflepuff cup surrounding her name with question marks. He had no idea which one the Dark Lord could have made from her. He was trying to find her death date. He had lost diadem circled with a question mark as it could be something to consider, though it didn't seem likely unless he truly confirmed that the Dark Lord had-was after the founders' objects. He had successfully nabbed the Slytherin locket and Hufflepuff's cup, why stop there?

He had at least four Horcruxes in question, and one in suspicion. Three of them he could at least confirm truly existed from seeing them himself, but where they were now was the mystery. The Dark Lord could be creating one at the moment and they would have no clue.

To split your soul fives times was insane, but the Dark Lord wasn't a sane man.

He rubbed his face in frustration, wishing he had a cigarette. Let it burn his nostrils and distract him from everything. He had been very self-destructive in his early twenties after Voldemort's first downfall and had picked up a few cigs to try and he hadn't shaken the habit until his later years. It was tempting to pick them back up again but didn't want to go through the hassle of trying to steal them or quit. He hadn't even considered them during the second war, he was always in some sort of danger and he didn't have time to be self-destructive.

Severus bit the end of his quill absentmindedly, ink spreading on the insides of his lips, as he continues to flip through the pages of the book. Thinking about the lack of danger he was in right now, it was something he had overlooked the whole time he had been a teenager again. It was a bit concerning because he didn't remember a time where he wasn't doing some dangerous business Dumbledore wanted or keeping dunderheads from blowing up their cauldrons.

He cringed at the taste of ink hitting his tongue and he pulled his quill away, cursing himself. He was about to swipe a hand across his mouth when Lily's hands came into view on both sides of his head, he recognised her chipped blue nails, as it was her favourite shade. She pulled his hair back and secured it with an elastic before he could react. A few strands of hair still hanging in his face, unable to be caught by her nimble fingers.

"You can read much better without all that hair in your face," she said, sitting down in the chair next to him.

"I look ridiculous," he argued, having heard her quiet footsteps approaching, putting his hand up to pull off the elastic but she grabbed it to stop him.

"No!" she whined, a slight blush creeping onto her face, "I think you look nice with your hair up. Please, Sev, please."

Severus scowled but gave in with a sigh, looking over at her, "if it makes you happy." He was uncomfortable at how exposed his face was, and he countered this feeling by pulling his outer robes tighter around his body. He would give Lily what she wanted for the day before returning to his comforting curtain of lank hair.

"Thank you," she said then began to giggle softly, and dug in her bag pulling out a handkerchief. "You got a little something…"

His ears heated up in embarrassment, which was now fully visible to her, causing another giggle to come from her mouth. He grabbed the handkerchief and wiped at his mouth, though it was a futile attempt as his lips were stained and no matter how much he wiped it off the residue was still there. He would just have to spell it off soon.

"It's okay," Lily mused, "you do it all the time."

"Pardon?"

"You do it all the time!"

Severus just shook his head and turned back to his book, thinking he looked ridiculous with his hair up. Why she thought differently baffled him.

Lily began to dig in her bag again as he watched her out of the corner of his eye and pulled out very familiar notes. The one's he had given Longbottom the night before. "Hey, Sev," she started, "why did Frank give me these notes from you? Not that I don't appreciate it, but it was unexpected!"

"Thought it would help on your test," he mused, looking over at her, "did it not help?"

"It is, I don't know where you got some of this information but it's answering the questions I have been having for DADA!"

"I'm glad."

Lily gave him a huge smile, "you're always so helpful to me, Sev, I have no idea what I can do in return."

"You don't need to do anything," he replied automatically, "just be a friend."

She rolled her eyes, giving him a slight glare. "Stop acting like you're a mither," she huffed, "you've got to have something!"

"Nah."

"Daft 'apeth!"

Severus snorted at her, sarcastically saying, "a way to get rid of my ink-stained lips."

He already knew what he could do to get rid of the ink stains easily but if it made Lily stop annoying him about doing something nice for him back for the notes he would let her do it. The notes had been to help her but were mostly for the scheme he and Lupin had executed the night before.

"Lick it off," she joked.

"Mmm yes, dying of ink poisoning is the way to go."

"Severus!"

Severus raised his eyebrow at her, "yes?"

"Don't say that," she frowned before her eyes lit up, "oh, I've got it! Stay still!"

She raised her wand towards his mouth while he eyed her, which made her laugh. "It's just tergeo, Sev, don't have to worry! I'm not going to hex you," she said before she muttered the incantation and his face tingled. She smiled when she saw it worked and said, "there you go, good as new!"

He nodded, "thanks."

Lily was about to open her mouth to speak when she caught sight of someone nearing the table. Catching the look he turned and saw Lupin walking towards them, who waved when he noticed the two looking at him. He looked more worn out than usual and it was obvious the full moon was nearing and taking its effects on him.

"Hello," he greeted, getting a suspicious look from Lily. He didn't respond to it and glanced at Severus, commenting, "you look quite nice with your hair up."

"Where's the rest of your gang?" She asked, slightly smug at the comment but not liking the change of subject, looking around as if they'd appear out of nowhere.

Severus smirked at her response, ignoring what he had said, giving Remus a smug look. He knew her and Remus were friends, they had been studying friends in their first year before the Marauders had scooped him under their wings. It had only deepened his resentment for the Marauders until the werewolf incident had happened.

Remus tugged at the collar of his shirt, "on the grounds, I told them I had to grab a book."

"Oh," Lily relaxed more, "how come you're here, Remus?"

Lupin looked relieved at her lack of hostility, not having expected her to lessen it in the slightest. "I wanted to thank Severus for helping me last night."

"Oh?" She looked at the mentioned boy, who only rolled his eyes in response.

He knew Lupin wanted to discuss the contents from the night before. "Are you sure your goons would like you talking to me?" He drawls, shutting his book. They had truly never spoken this openly with each other outside the classroom and it made him ponder what Lupin was trying to do.

"Well, they can get used to it," he said, shaking his head, "they're not my only friends."

Lily smiled at that pulling a seat over, "alright, I want to know what you have to thank Sev for."

"Oh," Remus blinked, hesitantly taking a seat, "well I felt sick last night and he helped me to the infirmary. You know how easily I get ill."

Severus scowled, hoping Lily wasn't going to be raving about the nice deed. She gave him a look that infuriated him, knowing she was going to hold the fake good deed over his head whenever he was being mean to Lupin and she was nearby.

"Oh! Are you alright?"

"Of course, just a bad case of a stomach ache."

The two chatted for around five to ten minutes, Severus just observing them as he scribbled in his journal. He wasn't exactly sure how to add anything to the conversation and would rather not be more awkward than he already was. He began to draw the Horcruxes out from what he remembered and found himself proud of his detailed sketches.

He didn't have long to revel over this aspect when Marlene McKinnon walked around the corner, her face brightening when she saw Lily, though it faltered when she saw him. It made him wonder what he could do to make her two friends like him more, even if he was not a very likeable person in the first place. "Hey, Lily," she said, interrupting the conversation, "me and Mary are wondering if you'd like to walk around the grounds?"

Lily's gaped a bit as she had been in the middle of a sentence, quickly frowning in thought. She looked over at Remus and Severus before saying, "If they can come. I can't just leave them."

Marlene grimaced, staring at Snape.

He gave her no expression, annoyed with her. He wanted her to be more comfortable around him as he was not leaving his friendship with Lily anytime soon and sneering would not help his case at all. Though it seemed his lack of expression made her more uncomfortable.

Damn it.

"It's quite alright," Remus put in, eyeing Snape out of the corner of his eyes with a slight smile, "me and Severus can wait for you, always will. We have Transfiguration together anyway, yes?"

Severus nodded with a glare to Remus, knowing this would be a perfect time to discuss a few things under the Muffliato charm. "Go hang out with your mates before they explode with anticipation," he nudges her slightly, giving a small smile. The one he reserved for her.

Lily still looked hesitant but shoved her things back into her bag, standing and squeezing the two on their shoulders. "Alright, I'll see you soon. Don't get into trouble!"

With that, she hurried off with Marlene, who looked relieved at not having the two boys accompanying them. The second they were out of sight Severus cast Muffliato and turned to Remus, digging out his doubled notes of the Horcrux information.

He handed them over without a word and Remus took them gingerly, clearly afraid of whatever Severus knew. He only shook his head and waited for him to read through the information before his speech would start.

"What're you implying, Severus?" he asked after reading through the notes, growing more horrified after each page.

"What I already know," he stated simply, with more venom than usual. "The Dark Lord is making Horcruxes to avoid death. Use your head, Lupin!"

"Remus," Remus corrected before a wave of realisations burst through his mind and smacked him in the face, "that's how he survived all these years? Bugger."

"So you are capable of thought!" Severus exclaimed sarcastically, "yes, and because of this it would be foolish to try and duel him until all of his Horcruxes are destroyed."

"More than one?!"

"Yes," he opened his journal and charmed it to allow Remus' eyes to make sense of the scribbles instead of seeing jumbles of letters, "that is why we were viewing memories the night before, to gain more information, I only knew of the existence of at least three."

"Three? That is insane!" Remus breathed looking down at the timeline Snape had started earlier today, his face paling to an unnatural shade of green. His hair falling in front of his eyes. "You suspect five?"

"Yes, because of the house elf's memory and the way the Dark Lord looked at the cup and locket, why would he stop at just two founders objects?"

"Hmm," he replied thoughtfully, taking a deep breath to clear away nausea, staring at the sketches that Severus had made, "the diadem is lost, even if he was searching for it it wouldn't be that likely that he had gotten it."

"Do you not think I know that? It is a mere suspicion if we ever catch wind of the object making its presence known."

Remus just thought silently to himself until he connected Olive Hornby's memory from the night before to the ring sketch. "Oh, dear, he had already been making them during his school years? How morbid."

"According to the memory, yes," Severus said, cringing at the lack of emotion in Lupin's last sentence, but masking it with a sneer.

"He lost the little humanity he had before he even graduated," he frowned with a breathy chuckle at the revelation, "he's barmy."

"Barmy, indeed," Severus agreed before directing the subject at hand, "I have the most information on the ring and very little for the rest. I would think locating the ring would be a much easier feat as it is connected to the Gaunt family."

Remus nodded, remembering seeing the ring on the oldest of the Gaunt's in Bob Ogden's memories. The book in front of Severus made more sense now. He knew what Severus wanted to do, research, and he wasn't going to let him do it alone. They had to make an effort together to dive deeper into the deep mud surrounding Lord Voldemort.

He stood up, excusing himself. Severus just waved a hand cancelling the Muffliato and watched him go to leave when he noticed the wince. Remus was having some kind of pain already, which didn't sit well inside Severus' mind.

"Remus," he breathed, forcing Lupin's first name out of his mouth, "before we research I must discuss something else with you."

Remus gave him a questioning look, but a smile tugged at his face at the use of his first name. A rare occurrence on Snape's lips that he hoped he was regarding him on friendlier terms than he ever had before. He forced himself to sit back down, his muscles sore.

Severus dug out the potion he had bottled the day before and set it in front of the Marauder, recasting the charm. "I want you to take this before you transform, bring it with you where you are locked up," he instructed, "it will most likely cause you to drift off to sleep, it is a huge muscle relaxant."

He stared at Snape with a confused look, staring at the swirling contents. His eyes began to dilate as he sniffed the air surrounding the potions, his senses heightened. "Muscle relaxant?-"

"I tried it, it works," he interrupts, pushing the vial towards him, "take a sip. It is a pain reliever, Lupin, I am not trying to poison you."

Remus hesitated for a moment but grasped the vial, smiling. "That would be a merciful, Severus, don't flatter me."

Severus snorted, "such dismal humour."

"I only know the best."

"I cannot bend your will, but take it. It is your choice to try and lessen your pain, not mine. I would rather a capable Lupin rather than an incapacitated Lupin."

Remus slipped the vial into his bag after giving it another sniff, gratitude written across his face as if no one had ever helped him in his life before. Which made Severus scowl in annoyance, he didn't want the wolf's gratitude. He just wanted a functioning Remus to follow his lead in the destruction of the Dark Lord. He cancelled the charm so he did not have to hear anything else about the potion, though he was eager to know if it would help Lupin. It disappointed him that Remus hadn't taken a sip like he had suggested and would just have to wait for the results after the full moon so he could know if he needed to start from scratch or tweak it to the Lycanthropy more.

He tugged his robes closed in front of him, looking expectantly at Lupin. They didn't have all day to broaden their knowledge of the ring's whereabouts. If he was going to ditch his Marauders' for the time being he might as well help.

"I'll go get some books," Remus said, his lips forming a permanent smile upon his face. He got up and walked away before Severus could retort something sarcastic back at him.

The two spent nearly an hour scouring over several books and maps, unable to pinpoint the Gaunt's home. They had decided it would be a useful place to search for any clues of Tom Riddle's ring. Severus was sure that the place was of some sort of importance to the Dark Lord, even if it was covered in bitter resentment or hate. He wouldn't cut off his magical roots so easily as they were the roots he was boasting about to his followers, pretending as if his muggle side of the family was non-existent.

A hypocrite. He was a huge hypocrite.

If they could locate the ancient home they would be another step closer to being a step ahead of Voldemort. If they couldn't they could take the muggle side and try and locate any muggle relatives of the Dark Lord, but that seemed dismal as they were most likely under the ground. The Dark Lord most likely had decided to erase their existence. Who better to use to create his immortality?

Severus was frustrated by the time that Lily had finally made her reappearance, and he and Lupin had packed up the atlas they had been leaning over along with the several books that went into more detail of each pureblood family, especially the Peverell roots.

They were no closer in finding the Gaunt's family home than they were in locating the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw.

Lily chatted happily to the two of them, dragging them towards the Transfiguration classroom, looking particularly smug when she found Severus still wearing the ponytail she had given him. He debated taking it out just to irk her, but he enjoyed the small smiles he got when she looked at his hair.

His hair had returned to the length he had had when he had died during the summer months, but it hit a growth spurt returning to Hogwarts; unlike himself. He didn't bother to trim it and let it grow if it kept at the rate it was growing he would most likely have hair as long as Lucius Malfoy's in no time. Which made him amused than curious as to what the dark wizard was up to. Most likely doing the Dark Lord's bidding or messing with ministry officials, it was what he did best. If he wasn't doing that he was under Narcissa's finger, doing her bidding.

They were meant to marry by next summer, and he would be one of the first invited since he had had a hand in getting them to pay attention to each other in the first place. Lucius had been using him as an ear to complain at every opportunity about her turning away from his obvious attempts at wooing her, and Severus finding it the perfect timing to get into better landings with the Malfoy had devised several plans. It had ended up with several hexed wizards trying to pursue her romantically making a fool of themselves in front of her, a smug Lucius and Narcissa upset; only to be comforted by the blond wizard which won her affections.

Lucius had considered him a great and loyal ally and friend after that, and he was loyal to those closest to him, not even the Dark Lord deterred that. Severus just happened to be one of them, a measly half-blooded twelve-year-old at the time who had just scored him his partner for life.

He smirked triumphantly at the memories, knowing that Lucius would be detrimental and beneficial to his plans. He had to stay neutral to keep his allies, but Lily would have a hard time thinking him not joining the order was a good thing. She was just as risky to his plans as Lucius was in a way, but he wasn't willing to just throw the other away. They were both equally important, even if he had lost some respect for during the years he was still a friend. Albeit, a prejudiced friend, but he could be swayed...

Severus continued to ponder over this throughout the Transfiguration lesson, not bothering to pay attention to much to the lesson or the people around him. He was on edge once again when Remus took a seat behind him and Lily, Black flanking to his side looking more hateful than usual. He was ready for any sort of attack that Black could give as well as Mulciber, who was certainly under Yaxley's command.

He was never comfortable in Transfiguration class most days which was making his day more irritable.

The only thing that truly annoyed him was the several glances quite a few girls kept giving him since they had seen his hair up, they weren't hostile but shocked, and he wanted to take it down but Lily was sitting right next to him. She would just put it back up again.

To make it worse he had heard the Marauders and several other boys snickering about it, but he didn't care enough to give them the attention they wanted. He just stayed inside his thoughts while he half paid attention to McGonagall's words, he usually made himself distracted in her class because he could barely look at her without being afraid of finding some sort of hate in her eyes. So he had managed to avoid meeting her gaze or face throughout the school year so far. As long as he could do the Transfiguration lesson well she did not need to linger around him.

He had nothing to offer her, he was just the lone boy from Slytherin who was friends with one of her lions. Not the Potions Master struggling to teach his first year that she felt obligated to take under her wing.

Severus withdrew more into his robe, hands clasping it closed in front of him. The thoughts disturbing him more than he would like to admit, so he occluded them back. McGonagall began to explain the hand movement of the spell. After that, she left the class to start practising, but he didn't move to pretend to struggle at the spell. He didn't have much motivation since the library.

Lily seemed to notice that and she nudged him until he looked back at her, she gave him a concerned glance. "You alright?" she whispered, "didn't find what you were looking for in the library?"

"No," Severus scowled, but his mood lightened hearing her voice. He untucked himself a bit. "Could you explain the wand movement again? I didn't really hear it," he said, knowing he already knew the movement but wanted to hear one of Lily's studious rants.

"Severus Snape," she scolded lightly before launching into an excited murmur of the movement and the reasons behind it. He listened to it letting it wash some sense of peace into him, as much as he could being on guard.

When she finished she urged him to try, and he faked a struggle for the first few times which earned him a few giggles from her when she knew he was saying the incantation wrong. They were interrupted by a scoff behind them, they both looked back seeing Sirius rolling his eyes.

Remus looked annoyed beside him and nudged him. He got a glare from his friend and he looked at Severus and Lily to give an apologetic look on behalf of Sirius. Lily just shook her head and they turned back to perform their transfiguration.

Black didn't seem to let go of trying to bother Severus and Lily at any possible moment that he could, as if he was trying to get killed by the two, including a scolding from Lupin. He was especially annoying to Snape who assumed he was still bitter from when he had easily defeated him and Pettigrew and was trying to boost his ego by being bothersome.

He could ignore it until Sirius decided to tug on his ponytail, everything just seemed to snap inside Severus. He had his wand out and in Black's face before his vision had cleared and he finally registered what he was doing. He didn't have any sort of remorse for doing it either.

Sirius glared at him, "what're you going to do, Snivellus?"

Severus growled but was interrupted from snapping back.

"Mister Snape! What are you doing?!" McGonagall admonished, furious heading towards his table.

He ignored her tone with a flinch, keeping his eyes steady on Sirius. "Your pathetic life is so fulfilled bothering me, is that it, Black?" he seethed, jabbing his wand into his chin, "bully students because you are so much better than everyone else, right?"

"Severus," Remus frowned.

"Sev," Lily echoed, grabbing his arm, "he's not worth it."

"Mister Snape! Lower your wand right now!" McGonagall warned sternly, ready to take his wand.

This angered him more but he lowered his wand, knowing he was making a scene. He had just wanted a quiet and irritating day, but he wasn't getting that. "Protecting your precious lions as always," he retorted, his voice so soft no one had caught it except Lupin, snapping his gaze over to McGonagall only to freeze and stared at her with his mouth agape. Her face brought a feeling he had to swallow down and he fell into his seat. What was wrong with him?

"Scared of a scolding, aren't we Snape?" Sirius sneered smugly, stopping when McGonagall directed a glare at him.

Remus glared at him as well, surprised by the amount of hostility that Sirius was giving Severus. "Sirius was bothering him, Professor," he said in defence, knowing what had just occurred was not entirely Severus' fault. He disapproved of the wand in Sirius' face, but the teenager was asking for it from the beginning.

Sirius gave Remus a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, he was bothering us throughout the class," Lily added in, her hand squeezing Snape's fist which was still clutching his wand. He was still staring at the professor but not gaping anymore, his face blank, but Lily's touch brought him back to reality.

McGonagall looked at both of the offending students, wondering why it was always this lot finding their way into fighting each other in her classroom. Her gaze settled on Severus who seemed to be paralyzed. "Twenty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin," she said, before steadying her stern glare on the two students in front of her, "you two will be spending a weeks detention with me after Halloween holiday, if you cannot get your act together by then I will add another week's worth."

Severus just nodded mutely while Sirius looked ready to have a tantrum at the aspect of having detention with Snape. He said nothing though, saving himself a tongue lashing from the professor who looked ready to give it.

"Yes, Professor," Sirius replied dejectedly, scowling at the back of Snape's head.

Remus and Lily directed a dirty look at him, both knowing that it was his fault for egging on the Slytherin in the first place.

Professor McGonagall looked placated and resumed class, which broke out into whispers about what had just happened. The Slytherins whispering excitedly at how Snape having nearly hexed Sirius' face-off. The Gryffindors surprisingly had mixed opinions on the subject, but the four didn't care to listen much to it.

Instead, Severus supplied a glower at Sirius. He did not want to spend detention near the Gryffindor, he would rather face the Dark Lord than deal with the childish behaviour of the boy behind him.

Sirius rolled his eyes, muttering, "nice going, Snape."

Also, I want to thank raymond21 for giving me so many suggestions, you're a lifesaver too. (: Thank you so much. Also thanks for all the comments I am receiving I didn't think I would get much when I started posting or even follows. Thank you. Review and critique nicely.