Boy-Snape

"L-Lily?" Sirius sputtered as he lifted a hand to his forehead in his shock.

His fellow Gryffindor stared back at him, eyes large and lips parted as if she tried to speak only to find she was under a silencing spell. As when he'd moved earlier, Severus stirred at the commotion. Joan tried to shush the kid and push them both back to lie down, but it seemed this time Severus wasn't content to go back to sleep and leave Sirius and Lily to speak alone. Instead, he sat up and looked at Sirius with assessing eyes. Then, following his gaze, Severus turned his head to look at Lily.

Much as he'd done when he'd initially met Remus, Severus shied into him and asked Sirius, "Who's she?"

Sirius wrapped a hand around the kid's neck and gave it a light squeeze. "A friend," he said. "You two actually know each other pretty well."

Severus's expression turned to one of suspicion as he looked from Sirius to Lily. "Like you and older me knew each other well?" he questioned in tone sharper than Sirius would have expected a child capable of.

He shook his head. "No," he told Severus. "You two got on for a long while."

Proving once more just how clever a boy he is, Severus sighed. "But not anymore," he muttered in a small, dejected tone. "Don't I have any mates at Hogwarts?" whispered Severus. Sirius swallowed and felt unsure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. It didn't feel like the question had been directed at him— Or anyone really.

"There are some boys in Slytherin you go around with," Lily said, now hovering just a foot or two from the bed the three of them were gathered on. "Though, you never really called them your friends when we were mates."

Severus nodded. "Thanks," he said.

After a moment, Lily sat on the bed across from them. Staring at Severus a moment longer, she then lifted her gaze to meet Sirius's. "It was announced at breakfast you two had been found, but Remus filled me in on the extra details in Ancient Runes." She turned quiet a moment and fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve. "I wanted… No, had to make sure with my own eyes he was really okay." A hint of a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Relatively speaking, anyway."

Sirius found himself frowning. "Why? You two aren't—"

All traces of humor vanished from Lily's face and vexation replaced it. Eyes piercing, she cut in, "Just because our friendship is over doesn't mean I don't care! God, Sirius, get it through your head that people don't have to feel things at one extreme or the other."

He cringed away from her anger, yet, Severus, surprisingly, leaned in. "How come we aren't mates anymore?" he asked Lily.

Sirius's fellow Gryffindor suddenly looked very uncomfortable and shifted so both of her feet were planted on the stones of the infirmary. "Maybe—" she started, only to be cut off when Severus pulled entirely away from Sirius to go and lean over Joan's lap to lay a small hand on Lily's knee.

"Please?" he begged.

Lily's lip began to quiver and her lashes fluttered rapidly a moment. Finally, she whispered, "Those boys in Slytherin you go around with, I realized they had more influence on you than me after you called me a terrible name. And those boys are bad and want evil things for a girl like me. Even though I know you care about me and I care about you, I knew we couldn't be mates any longer after that. I can't trust you'd always have my best interests at heart, which means you aren't a safe friend for me to have." She brought her thumb to rub the start of tears out of the corners of her eyes. "Maybe I sound like a bitch, but I'd rather be safer – You can never be one hundred percent safe in times like these – than be your best mate anymore."

Sirius glanced down at Severus then to gauge his reaction to Lily's word. The kid's hair was hanging in front of his face and his little body was curled in on himself. He looked completely miserable. Even more so than after receiving the news that his mother was dead. Sirius imagined finding out not only was your beloved mother gone, but your best mate too was a soul-crushing experience. He wondered if Severus still wanted to be sixteen again after this latest revelation. If he stayed eight, he'd still have to deal with a dead mother and that grief, but he could keep Sirius for a friend and grow up and make more as time went on. Maybe he'd be a happier person in the long run if given the chance to grow up a second time. Though, that was silly of Sirius to even muse on. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore weren't going to allow Severus to stay eight if they could fix him.

"Maybe Lily isn't your mate anymore, Severus, but Sirius is now and I know he's promised to be when you're sixteen again if you'll allow it," Joan broke in, clearing away the dark, brooding air that surrounded them all.

Lily was gaping at him, gobsmacked, but Severus was pushing away his hair from his face and drying his eyes. "That's true," he warbled at the girl.

Joan smiled at the kid and reached out to gently wipe away a tear Severus had missed. "I'd like to be your friend too," she told him. "And you want to know something? You'd be my first mate ever." She lifted her gaze to Sirius briefly, as she remarked, tone lilting and light, "While I'd be your…Hm, I guess it'd be your third. Even if Lily isn't your mate anymore, we can't discount she was your friend. And before me too!" She opened her arms to the boy, offering him a hug, which he took her up on. "Oh, Severus, I know you're feeling just gutted about now with all of this sad news, but to me, you really sound like you're not doing half-bad at life. You made friends, are going to Hogwarts, and preparing to become something brilliant when you graduate…"

"He is," Lily broke in. "Or was, I guess I should say. Severus," she paused, an odd look passing over her face, before giving a brief shake of her head. "You planned to become a potions master and invent some really amazing concoction. I always believed you'd manage it too; you're already incredible at creating spells. I was sure it would only be a matter of time before you invented a potion that'd revolutionize the magical world." A shadow ghosted across Lily's vivid green gaze, darkening it to something closer to the green of the Forbidden Forest in the spring. "I always had hoped it'd be a medical miracle and not…" she trailed off.

"Something evil?" Severus whispered.

She winced but dipped her chin in agreement. "You're not a bad person, Severus. But I worry about what will become of you when you insist on spending so much time with people like Avery and Rosier."

"The bad people," Severus said in way of looking for clarification.

"Yes," Lily answered.

The kid looked at him. "Is that why we weren't mates either? Because I spent my time with bad people?"

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "There's a bit more to it than that, but, yeah, that was a fairly big reason I didn't like you when we were the same age. I grew up around people like the Rosiers and Averys and I didn't care for them, even when I was a kid about your age, so when we started at Hogwarts and you began going around with them… Well, it made it easy to lump you in with them as bad, especially given some other incidents between us around the time we started school."

"Will you still want to be my friend if I hang out with bad people? Or will you go away like Lily?"

Sirius hesitated. It probably was a bad idea to admit to his intentions for after this mess was fixed, but… He sighed. "Kid, I was going to make sure you and those creeps stayed far away from each other after you were sixteen again. Mates or not. Lily's right, you could be someone who's amazing and I want that for you. Not… Not whatever Avery and Rosier do."

"Sirius, you can't make decisions for people like that!" Lily told him, exasperated. "And Severus would be the last person to appreciate someone trying to control who he goes around with. He hates people telling him what he ought to do."

"Well, your way of telling him you didn't like Avery and Rosier and everyone else didn't work, did it?" he snapped at her.

Lily scowled and crossed her arms. "He's stubborn and I always knew an ultimatum wouldn't work. He'd just pick them over me." Her anger faded then and regret replaced it. "But maybe I should have."

"He'll remember all of this, won't he?" Joan questioned, interrupting Sirius and Lily's row.

Sirius considered her inquiry and then shrugged. "I reckon so," he answered. "I don't see why he wouldn't."

"It might be a little fuzzy like it all actually happened when he was eight," Lily hypothesized, tapping her fingers along her knee in a thoughtful manner.

Joan looked pleased with herself. "Then Severus will make the right choices," she assured them. She smiled down at the boy, who still rested against her side. "I know it."

Lily and Sirius shared a glance. "We've known Severus a long time," Sirius said for both him and Lily. "And… Well, no offense to you Severus, I'm starting to realize you might have your life planned already in a way that involves the likes of Rosier and Avery and the Hell they plan to involve themselves in when they graduate. I don't think you're going to let go of it so easily when you're sixteen again, even after all we've been through together. You've got too much pride."

Severus didn't look particularly offended at what Sirius was saying, just a little grumpy as if he didn't like being told that everything was already set in stone for him. However, his expression smoothed when Joan began to comb her fingers through his hair. The girl was looking down at Severus, eyes knowing as she said, "He's a clever boy, I'm sure he'll make the right choice when it counts."

"Oh, Ms. Evans. What has brought you to the infirmary?" All four of them jumped at Madam Pomfrey's abrupt inquiry and presence. They had been so absorbed in their conversation her entrance into the healing hall had gone entirely unnoticed. Eyes wide, Lily said, "I'm just fine, Madam. I came to see how Sirius and Severus, is all."

The nurse checked the little watch she had pinned to the pocket of her pinafore. "Hmm, that's interesting seeing as all classes are still in session for at least another fifteen minutes before they let out for lunch."

The color drained from Lily's cheeks. "I, um, this is my study period?" she offered.

Madam Pomfrey quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? Are you sure you're not supposed to be in transfiguration class right now?"

Lily winced and mumbled, "…Maybe."

The nurse sighed. "I imagine you were given the details of what happened to Mr. Black and Mr. Snape by Mr. Lupin, weren't you?"

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey! I know I should have just waited out the last hour until lunch to come here, but I was getting so anxious and I justed wanted to see they were well for myself I told Professor McGonagall I had—"

Madam Pomfrey put up a single hand to silence Lily's confession before she pulled a notepad and self-inking quill from a dress pocket and quickly scratched out a note. "Why don't we say you popped in for a pain potion? I'm sure she will be very forgiving of your lengthy break from class then."

Lily took the note with gushing, "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!" and stuffed it into her pocket as she stood on her feet. She leaned over to quickly embrace Sirius and, then, after a second of uncertainty, ruffled Severus's hair, and shared a handshake with Joan. "I'm glad you're all doing well," she said. "I'll probably stop by again at lunch with Remus and the rest," she said.

"Oh, Ms. Evans, would you inform the boys not to bother coming around until after dinner? I just spoke with the Headmaster. He plans to have Professor McGonagall take the three to Diagon to replace the wands they lost during their adventure over the lunch period."

"Diagon Alley?" gasped Severus as Lily promised:

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

While Lily left, Severus started to bounce around, asking once again, "Diagon Alley? We're going there? And to Ollivander's? That's—" He grinned. "It's so wicked we're going! I can't wait!"

Sirius laughed and gently tugged the kid down from the bed so he wouldn't accidentally step on him or Joan in his exuberance. "Yeah. It'll be great. If you're good, I bet we can convince her to let us go to Sugarplum's for some chocolate frogs."

Eyes large as quaffles, Severus awed, "Really?"

"Yeah, kid, yeah." As Sirius continued to listen to Severus's delighted prattle, he kept half an ear out for Joan as she asked, softly, "Has Professor Dumbledore heard from my family?"

"No, Miss, not that I know of."

"Oh. That's… That's, um, fine."

"Don't despair yet, Miss. For all we know he may have and is in the midst of creating a wonderful surprise for you. It'd be quite like the Headmaster to do such a thing."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

As Severus continued to talk about all that he knew about Ollivander's and Diagon Alley in general, Sirius reached for Joan's hand and squeezed it. "She's right, I bet. Madam Pomfrey's worked at Hogwarts nearly as long as Professor Dumbledore," he assured her.

Joan's lips curved in a brief, half-hearted smile. "Yeah," she replied like she believed him, but he could see the doubt glimmer in her eyes. Sirius knew he wouldn't be able to stand idly by for much longer if they didn't hear from the Moons soon. He couldn't believe Jack and Janice would do this to their baby sister. They'd always seemed like pretty all right people and if they were going to reject her over something that wasn't even her fault. Well, he'd make sure they received an earful from him since he doubted anyone else would have the guts to.

How did you enjoy the little moment with Lily? The rest of the chapter?

Thank you a million for reading :)