Boy-Snape

Sirius whistled to himself as he took the stairs to Hogwarts's owlery two at a time. It'd been nearly two weeks since he returned to Hogwarts and he was finally getting around to sending a letter to Joan to see how she was settling in with her brother and sister. He'd wanted to send one the day after she left and then several more after that, but Remus and Lily had talked him out of it. They had told him to let her adjust into her new life a bit and rekindle her bond with Jack and Janice before he blew up her fragile peace with his (self-admitted) word-salad letters.

Reaching the landing of the owlery's tower, he grinned when he caught sight of a familiar narrow form with long, black hair sending off an owl with a letter and small sack tied to its ankle.

"Funny meeting you here!" he chirped as he approached with his own letter clutched tightly in suddenly sweaty hand.

Severus jolted. When the other teenager finally mustered up the courage to look over his shoulder, his gaze was weary and tired. Sirius just smiled. It was better than the fury, loathing, and irritation he'd gotten the first week and a half from Severus as he'd constantly invaded his space and scared off the likes of Avery, Mulciber, and their ilk. Sirius glanced to the other's wand hand. He wasn't even holding onto his wand anymore when Sirius was in his presence. It seemed letting him cast those hexes at him without so much as a deflection spell on Thursday had done a world of good to proving to Severus how serious he was about his reformation in regards to their relationship. He was even gladder he'd talked to James about his plan to let Severus do whatever he wanted to him beforehand to stop James from trying to retaliate on his behalf.

Keeping up his pleasant expression as he approached the window Severus was in front of, he reminded himself not to be disappointed when the other took a couple of wide steps away from his quickly impending form. This was a process, he reminded himself. He had to not only clear away all of the distrust Severus held for him, but build up good-will between them too. Calling out for a Hogwarts's owl upon reaching the window, he decided to be conversational as he waited for one of the birds to soar to him. "Who were you sending off a letter to? Joan?" he asked.

Severus didn't answer, just stared at him with an inscrutable gaze. Sirius shrugged off the other's silence and gave the owl that landed a scratch on the head before he tied his letter to its leg. "Take that off to Joan Moon for me, please," he told it.

The bird gave a light trill before it set off. Instead of pushing away from the window now that his business was done, Sirius leaned his elbows on the ledge and just stared out at the school's ground from his vantage point. Honestly, if the owlery didn't smell like bird-shit and damp straw he'd probably like to come up here and just stare out the windows at nighttime. He was sure the sky especially looked spectacular from this view.

"Joan was growing worried you were only being nice when you agreed to write her," Severus said, startling Sirius enough that he slid on some loose straw in his haste to turn around to face the other teenager and nearly fell on his bum.

Severus snorted in amusement as Sirius regained his equilibrium and straightened out his robe. Sirius sent the other a huffy frown as he grumbled, "Way to give me a heart attack."

His friend only smirked at him.

Once he was done fussing with his clothes, Sirius told Severus, "I was advised not to send off a half-dozen letters the minute Joan left. Especially since it takes some time and effort to read a letter from me— I'm not very good at keeping my thoughts straight, you see."

"She wouldn't have cared," replied Severus. "Joan isn't exactly John Milton herself."

Sirius wrinkled his nose at Severus, confused. Who in the Hell was John Milton? "Who?" he questioned after a beat.

Severus sighed and briefly massaged the bridge of his nose. "The famous Muggle poet?"

He shook his head. He knew about that Shakespeare fellow, and, oh, that one wicked author, Shelby? Who wrote Frankenstein. That was the best book Remus had ever lent him from his mother's reading collection.

"And you Pureblood lot have the gall to call us Half-bloods and Muggle-borns uncultured…" Severus muttered as he crossed his arms.

"I'd never say that," Sirius assured him with earnest solemnity.

Severus gave him an odd look. "Yet you have no trouble having a laugh at an eight-year-old who didn't know how to pronounce arachnid."

Sirius gaped. He'd wondered a lot over the last week just how much Severus remembered from being eight, but this proved it. The other remembered bloody everything. "That's— That's— different!" he sputtered. "It's just you pride yourself on how clever you are and then—" he stopped in his babbling, realizing he had no good reason. Letting his shoulder slump, he said to Severus, "Sorry."

Coolly, the other dipped his chin. "Very well. I will accept your apology."

Sirius perked up at Severus's reply. That was different. He'd said sorry about a few things over the past couple of weeks, but that was the first time Severus forgave him. He ran a hand through his hair. "D'you think Joan will be upset I didn't write her sooner? Since she's obviously been asking you about me?"

"No," answered the other. "She rather likes you." He cocked his head, lips curving into a sly smirk. "Fancy-likes you, even."

"Ugh," Sirius muttered. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

Severus's smirk broadened into a grin. "Because it's the truth, you dunderhead."

In spite of all of his work to not be put-off or angered by something as little as an insult, he found himself grumbling, "Hey!"

"You're the one who said he and his mates insult each other," he shot back.

Sirius felt himself go stiff with shock. Did he really just say—? When the shock wore off and his mouth could form words again, he asked, "Does that mean we're mates again?"

Severus's expression took on a troubled note as he reached for his wand to hold in his hands. "Not close ones," he said. "I do not believe we will ever be as bonded as you and Potter are," he admitted. "But maybe we'll be good enough friends in a few years time you can talk me up to your fellow Gryffindors who have family that could put in a good word for me at Mulpepper's apothecary or Potage's Cauldrons since I can't rely on Mulciber's cousin as an in to the industry anymore…"

He laughed. "Yeah, sure," he agreed. "I know just who already! James's dad isn't much for potions himself, but his family's pretty entrenched in that stuff thanks to some potions his ancestors created." Sirius chuckled some more and added, his tone light, "Merlin, you're always thinking a step ahead, aren't you? I reckon you'd make Salazar Slytherin proud with that kind of cunning."

The other teenager crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Potter's father, really? You do realize he thinks I have you under some kind of enchantment, don't you? I can only imagine what he's saying and has said to his father about me. I doubt any good word you could put in about me would go far with the man." He sighed and uncrossed his arms to pull his wand from his sleeve and turn it over in his hands as he muttered, "I also believe I would have made Slytherin only a hair more than I'd please Godric Gryffindor with my boldness," Severus told him. "I was just shy of wearing red and gold after all."

Sirius's hands went to his hair. "What? No! You were really that close?" Then, realizing, that admission (or was it a lie? It was so hard to tell. He didn't know Severus well enough yet) was only made to distract him from the criticism he'd made toward his plan, Sirius told Severus, "Ah, don't you worry about James. He doesn't think you've got me enchanted! Blackmailed, maybe, but that'll fade with time. He trusts me and once I tell him off a time or two, he'll figure out I really meant it when I said we're mates now and buried the hatchet."

He grinned and reached over to lay his hand lightly on the other's shoulder. When Severus didn't throw it off, he curled his fingers around the other teenager's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze as he said, "And don't discount Mr. Potter as a potential ally so quickly. He listens to James, yes, but he's more than capable of making up his own mind about people."

Severus turned his attention to his feet and gave him a small nod of understanding in return.

Sirius let his hand fall away and internally sighed. He wasn't sure Severus believed him about either Potter. He supposed only time would prove him right. Sirius shifted from foot to foot and realized that things were beginning to feel a bit awkward. His mind racing to find a way to keep the conversation flowing and alleviate it of the doubts it was now weighed by Sirius recalled how just minutes ago Severus admitted he was nearly a Gryffindor like him.

Sirius smirked while his palms began to sweat slightly. He'd never told anyone this, but who better than Severus? If he'd told the truth about how close he'd come to being not-Slytherin, he'd like hearing what happened to Sirius when he was sorted. "You know," he said, lifting his hand and putting his thumb and pointer nearly together, "I was just that close to Slytherin, actually." He let his hand fall and looked away as he admitted, partly-embarrassed, but mostly proud, "If I hadn't threatened to find the hat after the ceremony and burn it to a crisp if it tried to place me in the dear old Black alma mater, I don't think it'd have listened to me demanding I go to Gryffindor."

When he looked back at his friend, Sirius found Severus's dark gaze was surprisingly calm as he remarked, "How different things may have been."

He agreed. "Yeah." Then, after another moment, he put out his hand. "Hey, I meant it when I said I'd talk you up to Mr. Potter. In fact, I'll start doing it right now in my letter to the Potters' starting next week, okay?"

His friend blinked, startled. Then, a bit of a smile started to play at the corners of his mouth and he swept forward to accept Sirius's hand and shake it. "And I will start rebuffing Mulciber and Avery myself… So please stop turning up in my dorm as your dog animagus to growl at them until they won't so much as glance in my direction."

Sirius threw his head back with an uproarious laugh. "You have a deal, mate."

And this is the end of Boy-Snape! How did you like it? Good? Bad? Meh?

If you'd like more de-aged!Severus (albeit of a different variety, he's older, it involves the trio, he keeps his memories…), I have another fic called Life is our Sentence for you all to read :)

Thank you for reading!