The sun was finally shining again after a week of pouring rain. The sunlight began to warm up the many small puddles that had formed in the courtyard and attracted the mosquitoes and other bugs. Rising humidity made the air heavy. It was incredibly hard to breathe.

And yet it was a pleasant change!

To finally be able to go outside again and not have to crouch on top of each other in an overcrowded common room!

Severus knew it was pleasant down near the lake on these days.

The sun burned down relentlessly and made even the last person sweat in their black school robes who dared to go outside for even ten minutes enjoying the sun, but still, anything was better than sitting inside.

It was a big difference from last week's temperatures, some days the thermometer reached not only 10°C and stubbornly stayed there.

But there was always a fresh breeze by the lake. It would certainly be bearable in the shades of the trees.

So the Slytherin student borrowed the two library volumes he was currently reading and got the same telling off he got every day when he borrowed a book.

"Return the books before dinner, with no ink stains, no food scraps between the pages, all pages intact and not a single one torn out, and certainly no dog-ears bent into them! If you dare scribble on the pages, the book will bite your hand off!"

He already knew Madame Pince's speech by heart.

She delivered it to any student who asked to borrow books, even if it was only allowed by the hour anyway, and certainly not overnight.

But she couldn't blame the students if they wanted to study outside instead of getting dusty in the library themselves.

So far, Severus had always managed to return the books in one piece and with both hands intact.

Only once had he not succeeded.

He had packed his things into his bag after the Alchemy lesson when his ink glass exploded in his pocket.

Now it seems strange when a tightly screwed jar explodes at all, but the timing just couldn't have been any closer and the jar would have exploded in his hands. He trusted Madame Pomfrey, but with such force it would probably have torn the skin off his hands and given him a few days in the hospital wing.

The bag was ruined, and so were the books and his notes.

The laughter that followed from the Gryffindors was as humiliating as it was treacherous. After all, in the tumult of a finished lesson, no one paid attention to anyone else. Everyone just wanted to leave the room as quickly as possible.

So whoever laughed at him had to be the one who had done it to him, or to his jar of ink... ...and therefore all his textbooks and his hard work!

Severus didn't have to look around to spot the source of the laughter. He knew their laughter all too well.

It was the four Gryffindor boys who had been giving him a hard time since his first day at Hogwarts.

Of course it had to be them - Potter, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin!

The four Gryffindors who thought so highly of themselves that they had to give themselves a gang name.

The Marauders - that's what they called themselves when they were up to mischief and nonsense.

Did they want to keep their name a secret? Probably.

But did everyone know who was meant by the name? They certainly did!

And they were so shamelessly proud of it too.

Well, Lupin had never really participated. He mostly just stood by, watched and did nothing.

But this time, even Remus Lupin laughed at him.

'The Marauders' was a fitting name.

Because that's exactly what they were: Useless riffraff who had nothing else on their minds all day but hanging around and playing stupid tricks at other people's expense.

Potter and Black rarely showed up in the library. Mostly when Severus himself was there.

But they didn't study in the library. They just wanted to ambush him there, and pull the next prank on him.

If he could hear them whispering on the other side of the shelf, he knew he'd better find somewhere else to study if he didn't want to spend the rest of the day fighting them off or getting back at them for whatever they were trying to do to him.

That was his daily routine.

He had got used to that by now.

He paid them back with the same coin when he caught them. But that turned out to be more and more difficult. As soon as he thought he could catch them somewhere, they were gone again.

The books were ruined, of course. No spell could help to remove the ink from the pages. At best, he would cut himself on the well-camouflaged shards that were impossible to detect under the black ink. And the book from the library snapped at his hand with papery teeth as he tried to grasp it.

So Madame Pince was not making idle threats.

Severus had reported the incident to Professor Slughorn, the Slytherins' Head of House. Of course, he didn't believe Severus when he said that the Gryffindors were to be blamed for it. Why should he believe Severus at all? Slughorn let himself be influenced far too much by Dumbledore and McGonagall.

It was also common knowledge that Gryffindors would never do anything so insidious. It just didn't fit the qualities of a Gryffindor!

So compared to the favourites of Hogwarts, Severus was at a loss.

Even Professor McGonagall always turned up her nose at his accusations.

In the end, she blamed him herself for the behaviour of Potter, Black and Pettigrew. Because if he didn't provoke them all the time, they wouldn't have a target. She also decided that Severus should go to the Slytherins' Head of House for help in this matter.

Severus did not understand the blind faith of the teachers.

The more he complained and secretly sought support, the more the general opinion spread among the professors that Severus Snape had a tendency towards paranoia and hysteria.

They even suggested that he should go to Madame Pomfrey and get a potion for weak nerves, which pretty much insulted him to the bone.

It had taken him days to fish the last pieces of glass out of the inside of his bag.

A few days ago, someone had put something in his food that made his joints swell painfully. Sirius Black had indirectly confessed to it afterwards, or at least made such a suspiciously dismissive remark about what was going on that it actually only he could have been the cause of it.

He had reported that too, and Slughorn had not been buying it this time either. He had merely dismissed it with the comment that boys will be boys.

If only Slughorn knew that Severus wasn't even a... Never mind! He didn't want to bring this subject up in public.

Even though Madame Pomfrey had been able to drain his joints back to a normal size, they still ached, especially his wrists.

Today, however, it was not going to bother him.

He firmly resolved to enjoy the time in the sun.

His timetable was also done for the day.

Officially, he had the afternoon off.

He could have spent the day lazing around, but he wouldn't let that happen. After all, he was here to learn, not to daydream and waste his life in idleness.

He wanted to go into research after school - preferably for the dark arts.

Because unlike all the others, he felt that magic should not be divided into good and evil. Magic was always something good until you decided to do something vile with it. But then every spell could also be considered as dark arts.

If the Ministry also finally decided to stop categorising magic into good and evil, once common knowledge would no longer just simply vanish. For those who closed themselves out of knowledge made themselves vulnerable solely through their ignorance.

In any case, Severus decided for himself that it was not a good idea to ban certain kinds of magic. If no one knew what was possible with magic, who would even remember the counterspells if they had never learned the original casting?

Well, of course he was also attracted by the fact that it was forbidden.

He could not deny that. Sometimes it was also of great use if he could get the better of the Marauders with a small amount of dark magic. If he didn't get justice, he at least wanted to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing them suffer.

An afternoon at the lake was a pleasant change.

Even though he didn't often go outside, preferring a visit to the library to any other activities, the fresh air was good for him.

He had found a shady spot under a huge oak tree. From that spot, he had a wonderful view across the lake, and there were so many shrubs between him and the lake bank that he didn't even have to see the crowds of students who were swarming down there in that kind of weather. It was quite enough for him to be disturbed by their laughter and cackling.

As a precaution, he cast a spell to make the place 'unseen'. If people weren't staring directly at him, they simply wouldn't notice him and he would blur into a grey shadow for everyone else.

Severus was proud of it as it was his own spell he had created a few weeks ago. He wanted to finally have a place to himself without being disturbed. At first it had not worked as he had hoped. For at first, the spell had the opposite effect and worked more or less like a neon sign. But after a few adjustments, the spell seemed to work.

Before he delved into the book, he stared at the students who passed him by. No one even glanced at him! So the spell had to be correct!

Relieved, he stuck his nose into the book.

It was the book about Asian antidotes. Professor Slughorn had touched on the subject of the book, but preferred to stay on the old track of the curriculum and gave no more lectures on this subject.

This had to be a big mistake, because there was so much useful information about poisonous plants and animal secretions mentioned in this book, which would have been a wonderful addition to the actual study material.

Severus loved this book.

He had read it before, but at that time his mind had not been well-versed in the special properties of poisonous plants.

There were so many inconsistencies in the textbooks. So many unexplained side effects or wrong prescriptions. The textbook they were currently using in Potions offended Severus' sense of honour. That Slughorn had never noticed those mistakes before!

Anyway, the book on Asian antidotes was very helpful and gave the very clues that Severus was missing so miserably in the advanced potions textbook!

"Hey, Snivellus!" Potter's gleeful voice suddenly sounded right next to his ear.

Startled, he looked around, but there was no one to be seen. Irritated, he looked upwards as a precaution; after all, you never knew where they were.

But there were no marauders in the treetop either. Nor were there any brooms flying around. Was it possible to record your voice with a spell and enclose it in something that would burst open at the appropriate command or time? Like a voice in a soap bubble? Or like a magic record? If it existed, Severus had never heard of such spell before.

There was probably nothing.

Just pure imagination - as the teachers would tell him.

He should focus on the book again. Still, the uneasy feeling remained and tickled the back of his neck.
His eyes were focused on the letters in the text, but his mind wandered. How did the marauders always manage to track him down? Did they have a spy he didn't know about who always told them where Severus was? Was the whole school conspiring against him? Why wasn't it enough that it was already four students from his year giving him a hard time?

They always found him - even in the most unlikely of places - where he would never usually stay. Even in a deserted room between the kitchen and the Hufflepuff common room. He was tired of the misery of hiding. Perhaps he should take up his housemates' offer after all and join them against the Gryffindors.
It was definitely worth considering.

Until now, he had never considered their offer.

After all, he could still defend himself all on his own against the four Gryffindor idiots. They couldn't even manage to bring him down to his knees all together as a group.

Sure, he had to be careful so that they had no opportunity to put something in his cauldron while brewing or in his food again while he wasn't paying attention for a split second. Or that they blew up his new and very expensive inkpot.

The inkpot was actually just a normal, plain little barrel with a screw cap and waterproof black ink. He was thinking about switching over to water-soluble ink to prevent possible new incidents. But that would only mean putting up with the attacks of the marauders, and he certainly didn't want that!

There it was again!

That voice! The laughter!

Was he going crazy after all?

This time it wasn't right next to his ear and several joined in. Startled, he reached for his wand.

This couldn't be good!

"Snivellus! Snivellus!" they chorused.

This surely meant nothing good!

Had his spell not malfunctioned?

Awkwardly, he stood up. His joints still ached, especially after sitting around for a long time.
They came up from the shore from a boat.

Potter in the lead, Sirius and that pathetic pimple-faced Peter in tow. They had brought a whole crowd of bystanders with them who cheered them up.

At first the book about Asian poisonous plants flew out. of his hands Severus scolded himself for not putting a protection spell on the book. He would certainly survive this attack. After all, it didn't matter if he had to cope with just a few more visible injuries, but a lot of invisible ones inside.
But a library book like that was damn expensive, and he would never be able to replace it!
In other words, this book was more valuable than his own life. So he had to find the book once again when those idiots would finally leave him alone.

These fools had to pay for that!

They were getting closer and closer, laughing as they did so.

How many were there?

He couldn't count the crowd Potter was dragging behind him.

Maybe ten? Or more? He recognised a few faces. They belonged to the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Severus had to fight back.

But he was not prepared.

His wand flew out of his hand in a high arc by shrieked out Expelliarmus. His fingers ached from the force of the spell. The next thing he knew, an invisible hand was dragging his ankle from where he stood and lifting him into the air. Turning his world upside down. His robe fell from his shoulders and disappeared from his sight.

Had he just spotted another classmate from his own house? Short straw-blond hair and a green emblem emblazoned on his robe? He must have been mistaken...

"Let me down!" he shouted, trying not to let his fear vibrate in his voice.

Of course they wouldn't let him down.

A mixture of anger and disgust joined his fear. Anger because he couldn't defend himself - not against so many. Disgust because he felt so pathetically weak and disgusted with himself.

He wriggled and tried to free himself from the magical grip, but it didn't help. When Potter's spell became unfocused, Black helped him with his magic, and then Pettigrew and a few others from the Quidditch team. They put curses on him, holding his hand or his leg or his arm. In the end he was hanging in the air and couldn't move at all.

It was sheer horror, but the worst part was that he couldn't stop them!

"Snivellus! Snivellus!" the others shouted at him, laughing.

They quickly grew bored of the attack. Severus hardly fought back, because everyone was attacking him at the same time or was just watching. He had no choice but to let it all wash over him. His head was turning red. He felt the blood swelling his veins. At the same moment he swore double revenge against each and every one of them.

The faces blurred before his eyes. He could not see them properly anymore.

This frustrated him greatly.

Then Potter's voice mockingly bore through the other voices: "Who wants to see me whisk away Snivellus' trousers?"

The cheering was loud.

His horror was becoming immeasurable. He couldn't let that happen, because they wouldn't understand! Or the attacks would turn to harassment of an entirely different kind!

Tears veiled his gaze and he tried desperately to blink them away. His heart was racing and he wanted to break free from the magical grip. But the invisible shackles held him in place.

"Pants off! Pants off!" the others shouted in unison.

And then he heard fabric being magically torn in the air. So it was not enough for heroic James Potter to simply conjure the trousers away so that they would reappear in some obscure place. No, he absolutely had to ruin them. But it didn't stop at the trousers, because Severus soon felt the cool breath of air between his legs.

And then he felt as if his head was being held under water. The sounds seemed distant and muffled. He heard a rushing sound that grew louder and louder, that his head threatened to burst. But all around him it became quiet... only white noise in his ears while the Gryffindor boys stared irritatedly at the one bodypart he could not even hold his hands over in protection.

They stared unabashedly between his legs. Even Potter and Black were irritated and took the precaution of looking even closer.

"He ain't got no willy!" one of them roared, his face contorting into a sneering grimace.

"Nonsense! It's just so small you can't see it!" jeered another.

"Nice bush, Snivelline!" exclaimed Potter, jostling Black with his elbow, only to point a finger unnecessarily at Severus.

Before the others could join in, the ground was yanked away from under their feet and all the Gryffindors who had been laughing at him a moment ago were now lying on the ground - moaning and disoriented.

"Have you virgins never seen a vagina before? It's so obvious you Gryffindors have no idea!"

Severus didn't know where the voice came from, but he would recognise it anywhere: It belonged to Lucius Malfoy!

And he had brought a troop of Slytherin students with him.

All at once, the magical bonds loosened and Severus fell head first onto one of the thick tree roots, unable to stop the fall.

From then on he was only hazily aware of everything through the veil of pain and shame.

His house mates were attacking the Gryffindors. The cowards wanted to run away, of course, but a spell kept dropping them to the ground and dragging them back to the clearing.

"Don't you wimps have any honour? When you're outnumbered, you dare to do anything, but when you're up against several, you're scared your wands will fall out of your filthy hands?" Lucius' voice thundered across the clearing.

The Slytherins had made short work of the Gryffindors. They were all flat on the ground, disarmed and motionless.

"Well, do you like this, Potter? Why did you stop laughin, huh? Is this not funny anymore!?" Lucius was standing right next to the Gryffindor, looking down at the younger boy with a triumphant grin.

"Snivellus is a girl! He's got a pussy!" the Gryffindor spat from the ground, wriggling like a fish out of water. He couldn't shake the spell and growled like a pathetic street dog. "I knew you Slytherins were perverts! I just didn't think you were SUCH freaks!"

Lucius snorted a muffled laugh and looked down disapprovingly at the squirming Gryffindor. He put the tip of his shoe down on James' mouth so he couldn't spit out any more unmentionable things.

"Severus is a boy. And what's between his legs is none of your fucking business! You'd better stick your nose in your own business or I'll make your business my business." The boy's eyes glared up at him in disbelief. "Do you understand that, Gryffindor wimp? We offered Severus our support against all of you for years, but he always wanted to deal with you and your brood on his own. That's why we never paid you back for attacking him. But you can be assured that we have made a note of every attack and will make you pay anytime you approach him ever again." Lucius' voice remained calm and collected the whole time, but did not miss its mark.

"Just nod if your little maiden brain understands this."

James didn't get the chance, though.

"What's going on?" the delicate voice of Professor McGonagall boomed across the clearing, and with a wave of her wand, got Lucius to move his foot away from the student's head.

James grinned triumphantly.

But Lucius was not to be deterred. "If you're not expelled from school for sexual assault by tonight, consider yourself lucky... or just pathetic, Potter."

"Mr. Malfoy! Explain yourself!" demanded McGonagall so enraged that her cheeks turned rosy.

She released the spell that was on the Gryffindors.

Of course, the boys immediately stood up and went straight for revenge on the Slytherin. Spells and jinxes flew in a wild blur through the air.

"Enough of this!" shouted McGonagall, casting a silencing spell on each of the squabblers. "Everyone here will get twenty hours of detention and for every other spell I see here, another twenty will be added on! All students sort yourselves now! Gryffindors to the left! Slytherins to the right!" she ordered. "You too, Mr. Malfoy! And what about Mr. Snape and Miss Black? You are addressed too! Get up right now! I will not tolerate idleness!"

Malfoy walked past her, but not without telling her, "Before you worry about your beloved Gryffindors, perhaps you should ask yourself why Mr. Snape cannot rise to his feet. And it's your students' fault!"

Instead of going to the other Slytherins, he made his way towards Severus.

Narcissa had put her robes over him so he wasn't completely exposed.

"Shall we take you to the hospital wing?" he asked as he leaned down to him.

Severus shook his head vehemently.

Lucius grabbed his chin and looked at his head from all sides. "Sev, that needs to be taken care of! That's a pretty bad bleeding!"

"You can heal that right now, can't you? You're good at it, I've seen you whisk away your own wounds!" Severus urged pleadingly.

"I can only close your wound, Sev," Lucius explained almost apologetically. "I can't check if there's anything else." With a quick wave, the blood was gone from Severus' face.

"It doesn't matter! I'll deal with it! Just don't take me to the Madame Pomfrey. Please!" Severus begged him in tears.

All the while Narcissa held her arm around his shoulder like a big sister. "Severus, doesn't Madame Pomfrey know about your... well... Circumstance?" She didn't seem to know exactly how to address the subject.

Severus shook his head as much as he could, for his head hurt like hell all at once.

"Mr. Malfoy, explain to me why you are not complying with my instruction? What is it about my words that is difficult to understand? Or do I have to make you move your legs with a spell?" McGonagall's patience apparently just snapped.

"I'm only doing my duty as a prefect and looking after Severus. Shouldn't that be your duty too, Professor? To ensure the safety of all students, not just your own house students?" Lucius had been known to revolt against professors. He had always shown a lot of self-confidence. That was the reason he had been a Head Boy for three years in a row.

McGonagall stared at him with pointed lips, but ignored his brash remark.

"Mr. Snape, pray tell me the reason why you are still on the floor! Will you gracefully stand up when I'm talking to you!" Instead of dealing with Malfoy, she took her anger out on Severus.

But Severus did not move. He didn't even look up at her. Even when she approached him and her hand came close to his face, he backed away, startled.

"Mr. Snape, an explanation, if you please! And put on some trousers and shoes! You're breaking school rules!" she said as his bare legs peeked out from under Narcissus's robe. "Where are your clothes anyway? If you've gone swimming, you'd better watch your stuff!"

"He didn't go for a swim, nor did he voluntarily sunbathe here, or whatever else you're trying to imply, Professor!" Lucius interfered again.

"Then why isn't this boy wearing any trousers, Mr Malfoy? The only thing I've seen here was an attack by Slytherin students against Gryffindors! Or how are you going to explain to me that all the Gryffindors were on the ground being maltreated by you?"

"You only see what you want to see. Your well-behaved pupils outnumbered Severus Snape and exposed him in front of everyone," Lucius explained in a calm and determined voice.

"Severus has an ole cunt!" Sirius blurted rather unintelligently.

Outraged, McGonagall turned to him. "That's enough of your disgusting outbursts for one day, Mr Black!" She moved her wand as if she were cutting something or folding a newspaper. But the movement only served to put a stop to Sirius Black's tongue.

"Everyone involved, report to the Headmaster's office IMMEDIATELY!" she ordered.

The Gryffindors trotted after Professor McGonagall with their heads bowed. The Slytherins didn't move from the spot. Instead, they looked perplexedly over at Lucius, who motioned them over with a nod of his head.

"Mr. Malfoy! Do you want to inflict more punishment on yourself and your house?" McGonagall crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

Lucius didn't let her get in his way. It was well known that he didn't think much of her anyway.

He spoke briefly to his fellow students and when they all nodded, they spread out around Severus and formed a wall so that no one could see the boy, who biologically wasn't a boy at all. So they made their way to Professor Dumbledore's office and marched past a stunned McGonagall.