It was Friday evening and I was finally serving my last detention with Professor Flitwick. I was sat at the table in the corner working on Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. I was particularly focusing on spells to use the next day to prevent myself from looking like a complete moron in front of Severus. I smiled at my need to still impress him after everything we'd been through this year. Maybe he was right about me and my intentions with him, though, I couldn't believe I was the only one making such advances. There were many times when it was clear his intentions were to impress me. I had a sudden jolt of excitement for what would happen tomorrow. I couldn't wait to see him to toy with him and possibly trick him into losing the bet. I wondered how strong his will to win would be.
Professor Flitwick cleared his throat which brought be to the realization that I had been staring off into space, smiling like an idiot. I quickly returned my concentration to my studying.
"Miss Winston." The professor squeaked. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I have another task I would like you to help with."
I lifted my head and tilted my head to the side. "Professor," I half laughed. "I may be wrong, but I do not think you are required to ask my permission before assigning tasks for me to complete while in detention. I think you can just tell me to do something."
He let out an amused sort of laugh. "Right you are, Miss Winston. One point to Ravenclaw. I have never liked giving detentions but I knew Professor McGonagall would not allow me to let you off with no such punishment. Anyways, follow me." He said, hopping from his chair onto makeshift stairs constructed from stacks of books.
I followed him from his office to the Great Hall, which was now empty, not even a single student remained studying at one of the long tables.
"Right." Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice echoed in the empty space. "The other teachers and I have decided, that considering the gloomy weather we have been having," He turned his head to look at the rain pounding on the windows that had been pouring down for nearly a week. "That we would recreate springtime in the school since it appears the skies to not wish to cooperate. First things first, you and I need to enchant the ceiling to show sunny blue skies, rather than the stormy black outside."
In no time at all Flitwick and I had transformed the rainy skies to bright blue with streams of artificial sunlight shining down on the tables. Every now and again puffy white clouds would drift peacefully across the enchanted sky. I was surprised at how easy it was to perform such a charm.
Flitwick seemed gleeful in his accomplishment and immediately began charming grass to grow on the stone floors. I watched him and before long I was able to copy the spell. Soft, long blades of grass shot up from the floors in the most perfect display of meadow grasses. I spared a quick glance over to Flitwick, who was working diligently, before I removed my shoes and stepped barefoot onto the grass. I took pleasure in the feeling of warmth coming from the enchanted sunlight and the springy grass tickling between my toes. I walked along, following the paths of grass as they sprung up on the floor. I had almost my half of the floor covered with grass, including under the tables, when I turned around to see Flitwick looking at me.
"Enjoying yourself, I see." He giggled, as he pointed his wand at a patch of grass. Small purple flowers popped up, dotting the grass with color.
I practiced a charm I learned my first year. I was delighted when white daisies began sprouting up all over the grass covered areas. I watched the flowers burst, their petals stretching out and their yellow centers pointing up, reaching for the sun. Daisies had been my favorite flowers as long as I could remember. There were more complex, more beautiful flowers but none had been able to match the simple sunniness of a white daisy. Many summers were spent in the fields near my home constructing crowns from them and sometimes forcing Louis and Sean to wear them. I had been obsessed with wanting to lay in a field of daisies since the first time I had seen the movie Alice in Wonderland. One night I went to bed with the idea in my head and the next morning when I woke up the entire farm was covered with small, white daisies. My parents didn't know what to think and I couldn't have been happier.
Soon the once stone floors were grass covered and full of blooming flowers. I pointed my wand at one of the walls and cast another spell I hadn't used since my first year when Susan and I were very concerned with making our living quarters pretty. Green vines of ivy climbed from the grassy floor up the walls, over the windows, all the way up until they were lost in the enchanted ceiling. My eyes followed as the ivy spread out over the walls covering all the windows exposing the grey rainy skies outside with bright green leaves with delicate, thin white veins.
"Very good, Miss Winston." Professor Flitwick clapped as he, too, watched the green foliage spreading over the Great Hall.
The small wizard waved his wand and the long tables next to us transformed, looking more as picnic tables. The tops were planks of wood laid out with small spaces between, the benches were the same. He waved his wand again and the table tops were draped with checkered clothes in alternating house colors. The head table was draped in checkered cloths with black, crimson, yellow, emerald, and blue.
I lifted my wand. "Avis." I said, drawing two connected hills in the air. A yellow bird blasted from the end of my wand with a shot and a bit of smoke. It flew in a circle over the dining hall before clinging to a bit of ivy on the wall.
Both Flitwick and I performed the spell several times until there was a small flock of yellow birds flying across the room from ivy to ivy.
Flitwick muttered, "Velamentum Bratus." Several trees burst through the floor causing the ground beneath my feet to shake. Their branches spread over the tables creating a sort of lace pattern of sunlight and shade over some areas.
Flitwick and I did a circle, examining our work to see if there was anything we could add or improve upon. I thought it looked quite springy but Flitwick lifted his wand and pointed it at each table. Wicker picnic baskets appeared at intervals along the length of each table and a large wicker basket appeared on the head table.
The double doors opened suddenly and Severus stood in the doorway.
"For goodness sake, Filius, I thought you were going to put something together for the students, not take down the entire castle." He said, his eyes cutting directly to Flitwick.
Flitwick let out a good natured, albeit, nervous laugh. "So sorry, Severus. Trees can be a bit destructive, but I guarantee there will be no permanent damage to the school. I hope we didn't disturb you."
At the use of the word 'we' Severus' eyes quickly searched over the great hall before landing on me. He looked momentarily shocked, though if I weren't watching for an expression I can't say I would have noticed the falter in his façade. His attention returned to Flitwick. "Disturb me? Your silly incantations have caused some mortar from the ceilings to fall into potions I have been brewing, ruining twelve days of labor not to mention some rather rare ingredients."
"I do apologize." Flitwick offered, only to be met with a dismissive wave of Severus' hand as he turned from the doorway and the doors slammed behind him.
"Well, he's in quite a mood tonight." Flitwick whispered to me.
My eyes were still glued to the spot where he had stood, my heart still beating at an elevated rate due to his unexpected visit. I gave a slight smirk. "He seemed normal to me."
We finally left the Great Hall after Flitwick added a rope swing to one of the tree branches and dotted the daisy ridden ground with some yellow daffodils.
He dismissed me under the terms that I would not tell McGonagall how easy my detentions had been to which I quickly agreed. I returned to his office only to pick up my belongings before I ran up to the Ravenclaw commons. The common room was almost as quiet as the library since end of year examinations were nearing. The O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's were almost here so the fifth and seventh years spent most of their time huddled together around mounds of books and the other years sat quietly, reviewing what they have learned over the past year. The collective silence around examination time was always one of the things I considered to be a perk of being a Ravenclaw. I couldn't find Susan in the common room and she wasn't in our room so I returned downstairs and joined one of the groups of students studying for the N.E.W.T's.
After some amount of time, which was spent mostly on reviewing Transfiguration, I noticed Susan come in through the entrance. She nodded at a few people who waved at her before she headed up the stairs to the dormitory. I closed my textbook, quietly excused myself, and rushed up the stairs after her.
"Where have you been?" I asked curiously as I watched her remove books from her bag and place them on her bedside table.
"Studying in the library." She said.
"The groups downstairs are much better than studying alone in the library." I told her tossing my own books on my bed.
"I wasn't alone." She said, turning her back to me.
"Oh?" I asked.
"I was with Henry Wood." She said. "He needed some help with a few subjects so I've been helping him while you've been in detention all week."
"Henry Wood needed help?" I asked.
"Yes." She said. "Particularly Potions, Herbology, and Charms."
"Hmm." I said.
"What does that mean?" She asked. "You know I'm smart, why wouldn't he come to me?"
"I know, you're very smart." I said. "That's not what my 'hmm' was referring to."
"Then what?" She demanded.
"It just that," I treaded over my words lightly. "Henry Wood had perfect O.W.L.s. He too is very smart."
"What are you saying?" Susan asked.
"I'm saying that, I think Mr. Wood fancies you and is making up an excuse to spend time with you." I smirked a bit and winked at her.
"No." She said.
"No what?" I asked.
"He could have any Gryffindor girl he wanted, most of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls think he's dreamy, and I'm sure even a few Slytherins would take him. Why on Earth would he like me?"
"Because you're dreamy." I said batting my eyes.
She grabbed a wad of crumpled parchment from her bag and threw it at me, narrowly missing my head.
"You're smart." I said. "He's smart."
"So?" She asked.
"Well I don't know!" I shouted. "I'm not him! I don't know what his thought process is, or if he even has one. I just think it would be odd for a perfect student to suddenly need help in once strong subjects."
"Well, Snape is a bit more difficult for potions than Slughorn was." Susan considered in defense.
I nodded my head. "I suppose, but that doesn't explain the other two subjects he's 'struggling' with."
"Just stop." Susan said. "There is no way that Henry Wood likes me. Maybe he's so tired of being bothered by people that he's attached himself to me since everyone thinks I'm a loony since the lies Mark has been spreading. No one is talking to me apart from you, Henry, and a first year named Carla who says hi in the halls when we pass."
"I don't think so." I said.
"I thought you didn't like me spending time with him." Susan said.
"Well," I considered. I did think she was moving too quickly, but since she couldn't see that Henry liked her I thought perhaps I was reading too much into the time they spent together. "Do you like all the time I'm spending with Severus?"
She gave a slight cringe at my use of his first name before shaking her head no.
"Then I guess we're even." I shrugged.
"In that case, will you come to the Quidditch game with me tomorrow?" Susan asked.
"Quidditch?" I asked. "Since when are you interested in sports?"
"Henry asked me to come." She said, avoiding eye contact. "It's Gryffindor verses Slytherin."
"I can't." I said. "I have defense practice with Severus tomorrow."
"I'm sure that won't be until after the match." She said. "Snape is very supportive of his Slytherins. He has yet to miss a game and he seems to be very competitive. Henry said that McGonagall gave them a talking to because she doesn't want Snape teasing her like he did to Sprout after the 540-0 win Slytherin had over Hufflepuff."
I couldn't help but smile. "I didn't know that about him. I think I should go check when his and my meeting will be tomorrow. See you later."
I turned and pushed my way through the door and back down the stairs to the common room.
I moved quickly through the shadows in the hall. It wasn't past curfew yet but it was getting close and Filch has been known to stop students merely because he was suspicious they were planning to be in the halls after hours.
Finally I entered the dungeons and opened the door to the potions classroom. I was greeted by the sour smell of spoiled milk. I brought the back of my hand to my nose in an attempt to mask the smell before I walked to his office door. He stood, back to the door, hovering over his three experiment cauldrons.
"Severus." I said, taking a step inside.
"Get out." He said icily.
"What?" I asked, unsure if I had heard what I had heard.
"Out!" He yelled, turning to face me.
"What's wrong?" I asked, mildly frightened by his demeanor.
"You really don't get it, do you?" He asked, with an odd sort of cackle to his voice. "Twelve days of hard work, innumerable ingredients, some very rare and certainly more important than your life, gone! Because of you."
My heart buried itself deep in my chest at his harsh words, I placed my hand over the top of it and rubbed slightly. "Severus, I know you're upset about your potions but,…"
"Oh, shut up." He groaned. "Why do you have to act as though you understand everything? You can't possibly know how I feel right now. You've never done work like this. You don't know! You're just a stupid…know-it-all Ravenclaw!"
My jaw dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I don't know what this potion was supposed to have done but really what potions haven't been created already? There is a serum or tonic for everything and if there isn't I bet there is an enchantment or charm that can get the job done! What miraculous concoction were you brewing because I am certain it has already been created by someone else and it probably takes less time to brew and uses simpler ingredients! You're just a stupid Slytherin trying to get recognition to make up for the fact that you were picked on as a student. Wah wah, nobody likes me. Goodness, you play the victim well, don't you?"
Once I shut my mouth I was immediately shocked by what I had said.
"GET OUT!" He shouted, thrusting his finger angrily at the doorway.
I pinched my fingers over my nose. "Severus, I think you need some fresh air. I think perhaps the spoiled potions have created some sort of…anger gas."
"I think you need to get out of my office." He spat.
"Fine." I said. "I'll get out but only if you come with me."
"No." He said. "Why would I go anywhere with you, you filthy mud…"
I lifted a finger at him immediately. "Don't you dare say it."
"Mudblood." He snarled.
"Severus…something Snape!" I shouted authoritatively. "You come outside with me this instant."
"Make me!" He said.
"Fine." I said, turned to re-enter the classroom and into the ingredients cupboard.
I returned to his office after having opened the secret portal.
"Petrificus Totalus!" I shouted, pointing my wand at Severus. His body seized and he fell backward onto the ground. "Wingardium Leviosa."
His stiff body rose from the floor and with my wand I carefully guided him from his office into the portal which closed as soon as we were through it.
"Sorry." I apologized as I accidentally hit his head against the banister of the stair case.
"Sorry again." I said as his body slammed to the ground when I had to open the wall to the outside.
I resorted to taking him by the robes and dragging him the rest of the way and leaving him to lay, still petrified, in the grass in the dark night. I sat next to his frozen form with my back pressed against the stone wall of the castle and waited. I wasn't sure how long I'd have to wait before he'd be back to normal.
Ten minutes into my sitting in silence I felt less tension. I began to really regret what I had said to Severus out of magic induced anger. I looked over at him. His face was frozen with a furrowed brow and his lips were tight and thin. He looked closer to the Severus I knew in the beginning of the year than the one I now know. He acted much more like the one in the beginning too. He said that word. At me. About me. I began to wonder if whatever was playing with our emotions only brought forward things we secretly thought. I shook my head as if trying to jostle the thought out through my ears. I didn't think any of the things I said to Severus. I liked him very much and thought he was strong considering everything he'd been through, I never thought of him as a victim. I still remembered him when he was a student. He was almost always alone with his nose buried in one book or another. He seemed quiet and seemed to mind is own business. I never understood why James Potter always picked on him. I supposed now that it must have had something to do with Lily Evans.
I glanced down at him, his face crooked with anger. I combed my fingers surreptitiously through his hair. It was worth a try, I supposed. I attempted to calm my nerves with a quick breath and gave my wand a wave. The anger stuck on his face melted into surprise and quickly changed to embarrassment.
I watched has he hoisted himself up into a sitting position and shuffled to press his back against the wall. His knees bent, he placed his elbows on them and hid his face in his hands, all the while avoiding looking at me. I thought it best to let him alone for now. I stood up and brushed earth and wetness from my robes. There was a momentary break in the rain but the stars were still covered with clouds. I took a step forward in the direction of one of the many entries.
"Tobias." Severus said.
I froze halfway through a step. My foot landed with a wet splat onto the place over which it had been hovering. "What?"
"Tobias." He said again. "Severus Tobias Snape. You didn't know my middle name. It's Tobias, after my father. I hate it."
"Well," I said, relieved that he was speaking to me. "I won't ever use your middle name, then."
There was another long bout of silence. I was too afraid to leave him so I stood in front of him awkwardly, moisture seeping through my shoes and into my socks.
"I'm sorry." He said finally, still not looking at me. "I didn't mean a word of it. I certainly didn't mean it when I called you a…a…a…"
"It's alright." I said, taking a seat on my knees in front of him. "I know. I didn't mean any of the things I said either."
"I'm so so sorry." He said.
"It's okay." I said. "Honestly."
"What did you come down for, anyways?" He asked. "I'm lucky you did."
"I wanted to check up on when we were going to get together for my defense lesson." I said. "It's been brought to my attention that Gryffindor is playing Slytherin in Quidditch tomorrow. I never would have thought you would be interested in athletics but I hear you are quite the poor winner."
A small smile brushed across Severus' lips. "Immediately following the match tomorrow, grab your supplies and meet me in my classroom. If Slytherin wins, which we will, I will think of some reason not to celebrate with my students."
"You do remember our bet, don't you?" I asked.
"Absolutely." He said, a mischievous grin spreading over his face.