A/N: Alrighty then

Thanks for all the reviews I really appreciate them. To answer one of the questions I got: Yes the Princes are sort of involved in what's going on with Severus although just not in the way you think.

P.S: each update will most likely have two chapters. One will be the main part of the story and the other will be a short sort of drabble-ish look into each of the relationships discussed in the fic.

Usual apologies. So sorry for any and all grammar and spelling mistakes made in the fics that I'm posting today. These are admittedly a little rushed. It's just that it's been so long since my last update, and I have exams coming up so if I don't do this today, I have no idea when I'll get around to it.

Some of the spells curses and hexes mentioned in this fic are complete figments of my imagination and probably have no real connection with the Harry Potter franchise in any way whatsoever. In other words: I made most of this up as I went along

Disclaimer: I see previous chapter

Sirius frowned on complete confusion, "What are you-"

'PRINCE WELCOMES THE NEW SUITOR AND ACCEPTS THE CHALLENGE WHICH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE HAND OF SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE'

"Challenge?... For the hand of Severus Tobias Snape?!"

Sirius paused when his eyes snapped down to Severus whose eyes were locked on the other side of the hallway. The animagus grasped Snape's arm and pulled him closer to hissed against his ear. "Severus, what's going on?!"

"Did you mean it?" Snape whispered and Sirius almost growled in frustration.

"What are you-"

"When you said you love me! Did you mean it or not Sirius?!"

The Gryffindor paused at the little flip his stomach made when Severus said his first name (even if it was more of a growl) but quickly shook the pink fog from his mind, "Yes, o-of course I did."

Severus gulped as he glanced back at the brunette behind him before he spoke, "A few years ago I made a mistake and went out with... This bloke-"

"Wait you went out with someone else before me?" Sirius asked with a slight whine reaching his voice as his lips slipped into a mournful pout while Severus just rolled his eyes.

"Yes I have a life outside of you and your friends bullying me. Now focus! Things didn't work out and I tried to leave him but he wouldn't let me and I wouldn't stay, so he contacted my grandparents-"

"I thought you said-"

"On my mother's side, technically whether they like it or not I am their heir." Severus clarified resisting the urge to roll his eyes all over again, "There's no time to explain but basically, he tried to bind me to him but they wouldn't allow it, so he put a curse on me."

Sirius gaped, "A curse, what kind of curse?"

Severus took a deep breath, "Before you, before anyone can...date me or anything of the sort. You'll have to defeat my seven..." Severus gave a suffering sigh at the utter idiocy of the entire situation, "Seven people I used to be involved with."

"What so I have to duel your seven ex-boyfriends to go out with you?"

"Seven exes."

"Yeah right." Sirius gave a snort when Severus didn't say anything and stormy grey eyes went wide, "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

The excited chatter around them rose to a crescendo and Sirius looked up when he heard, Pamela Woods from Ravenclaw making her way through the crowd with a note book and quill as she called.

"Place your bets! Place your bets! So far the odds are against Black with ten galleons on him losing on the third round. Do I have any higher bidders?" A large group of students swarmed the blue eyed girl, hurriedly calling out bets and tossing their money at her.

"Merlin's beard you're serious!" The animagus said as his eyes went wider still when Severus looked up at him with an incredulous look.

"Of course I am what sort of moron would make up a story like this?"

"What sort of psychopath would curse someone like that?!"

'THE FIRST CHAMPION HAS ARRIVED'

The crowd on the one side of the hall where Severus was staring suddenly pulled apart and a cloaked figure stepped forward.

"Shit!" Sirius cursed as he pulled Snape back to stand behind him while his other arm reached into his robes and pulled out his wand, as he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, "Right then, any idea who this is?"

"You...you're not going to forfeit?" Snape asked with a look of disbelief, before he took hold of Sirius' arm and pulled him back. "You don't have to do this-"

"Is this the only way to make you mine?" Sirius asked when the cloaked figure stopped about ten feet away. Severus narrowed his eyes at the Gryffindor. "I don't belong to anyone."

"Is this the only way to keep you?"

Severus paused before speaking in a low voice, "Yes."

"Then this is what I have to do." Sirius smiled, with his eyes just flooding devotion causing a dark blush to spread over Severus' face. The animagus groaned at how absolutely adorable it made the Slytherin look before looking back at the cloaked figure trying to bring his attention back to the task at hand.

"Who's this then?"

'SIRIUS ORION BLACK vs. EVAN ROSIER'

The cloaked figure dropped his hood to reveal dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes with an evil grin spread over Cupid's bow lips. The entire hall fell into silence as they watched with anticipation; William Creevy had made it just in time and was excitedly taking pictures for the school paper. Sirius gaped before he pulled himself together and looked back at Severus with a glare.

"I knew it! I knew something was going on between you two. 'Keep your idiotic dribble to yourself Black, Rosier is nothing more than a friend' my arse!" Sirius growled before looking back at the Slytherin who pulled off his cloak and tossed it aside. "I knew all that growling had to do with more than quidditch!"

"Stop your babbling Black!" Severus snapped as he glared back, "Evan and I happened ages ago, I was spending the summer at his home while his parents were away. It was barely more than a fling."

"Come now pet." Rosier suddenly said as he took one more step forward and Sirius looked up to glare at the blonde. "You weren't calling it a fling when you were in my bed."

Sirius' eye began to twitch, "You slept with him?!"

"Evan broke into his parents wine supply." Severus said with an annoyed growl, "We were drunk and impaired, ring any bells?"

Sirius looked back at Severus and glared, "When this is over, I'm making sure you never drink ever again."

"You'll have to get passed me first Black." Rosier said with a smirk and Sirius matched his smirk.

"That shouldn't be too hard; beating a freak like you should be easy enough."

"Easy, huh?" Rosier repeated as his eyes narrowed into a glare when Severus suddenly spoke in Sirius' ear.

"Have you even seen Evan duel before?"

"No, but I should be alright long as he doesn't use any dark spells. Draw it out watch his tricks. I'll out last him."

"He doesn't have to use a dark spell to beat you all he needs is one spell and you'll be dead!" Severus hissed and Sirius looked back with a frown, "What spell is that?"

"Evan's shirt carries the Rosier crest; he can summon his family's idol."

"Which is?"

'CHALLENGERS READY! LET THE DUEL BEGIN!'

Sirius quickly pushed Snape back and stepped forward as he cast a defensive shield while Rosier just laughed. The animagus stared in confusion when the blonde suddenly twirled his wand and said.

"Serpensortia!"

The hall filled with gasps and every student except Rosier, Severus and Sirius ran. Sirius stared on in confusion as the hall emptied and Severus grabbed the back of his cloak to whisper again.

"Keep your eyes shut."

"What?"

A loud hiss rang through the air along with what sounded like carpets being pulled along the stone floors.

"He's summoned a basilisk."

"What?!" Sirius eyes went wide while Rosier just grinned, "How?! How would he even-"

"That's not important right now! Use your head or whatever it is that's stuck to your neck. You need to beat Rosier before it gets here and were all done for."

"Expeliarmus!"

He missed, badly.

But it was hard trying to concentrate and stay focused when he could hear that loud hiss grow louder and louder and keep his eyes still on one target knowing that the moment he catches sight of the Basilisk is the moment he drops dead and dies.

Sweet Merlin, where would Rosier have even learnt a spell like that much less perfected it to the point of summoning a creature that powerful and keep control over it. It just didn't seem possible.

Unfortunately Sirius didn't have the time to work through all of the impossibilities of his current situation since Rosier had started hexing him, which all seemed rather unfair and quite unnecessary seeing as how he'd summoned a giant serpent and all.

Sirius ducked out of the way before firing a hex when another suddenly came shooting right at him and he knew he wouldn't have time to stop it so he braced for impact when-

"Praesidium!"

Sirius head snapped back and he saw Severus holding his wand out over the animagus' shoulder, "Severus?"

"Stay out of this Severus, you'll only get hurt!" Rosier hissed on the other side of the hall and Snape ignored him pulling Sirius out of the way and into a nearby aclove just as another hex went flying towards them and Evan roared. "Black!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Sirius blinked in surprise when Severus hissed at him and they had to flinch away when another curse went flying into the alcove and the hissing grew louder, "Stop wasting time and fight back."

"I can't focus with all that bloody hissing, it's like the moment I look up I'll see it." Sirius growled out and Severus' head snapped up and the hissing got louder, its close. A stream of red light whizzed passed them into the alcove and Sirius grabbed a hold of Severus and ducked down as the light exploded above their heads and the air around them filled with dust.

"Black! Stop hiding like a coward and face me!"

Severus took a deep breath as he pulled out of Sirius' grasp and immediately aimed his wand at the Gryffindor's face. Sirius' eyes went wide and he froze.

"Sev?"

"Speculum speculorum!"

A bright blue light fired from the end of Severus' wand and Sirius could do nothing more than gasp when his entire face was suddenly consumed in a rush of warm air before it cooled and rushed up to his eyes. When the air stopped Sirius let out a heavy sigh since his vision had suddenly changed. Everything looked dark with light lining the sides of Severus' face and Sirius couldn't help but reach out to touch the Slytherin before Severus took his hand and pressed his cheek against it. It was like looking through the negatives from a muggle camera and Sirius felt disorientated for a moment when he realized something off about Severus.

"Severus?"

Another hex was fired but this time Sirius almost felt like he could see it before even seeing it, it was headed straight for the raven's head so Sirius grabbed a hold of his shoulders again and dragged him down to the ground and it hit the wall. Severus jumped at the sound of the hex erupting above his head like he hadn't seen it at all and Sirius knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"I cast a spell so you won't have to worry about the Basilisk's eyes. But I can't see."

Sirius almost gaped, "What, why would you-"

"Black!"

"It's only temporary." Severus almost flinched back at the shout but still reached out to touch Sirius' face with his head looking away even as he spoke to the animagus, "I want you to win."

Sirius could feel a blush rush up to his face and his chest begin to fill with warmth just as Severus' hands slid down to his collar and grabbed on tight, "Don't lose."

"Of course I won't." The Gryffindor leaned forward to kiss Severus on the lips when the raven stopped him short, "What?"

"The hissing stopped."

Sirius paused when he realized how incredibly quiet it suddenly was, he looked up his eyes went wide when he was suddenly face to face with a large serpentine face.

Through his new vision, the colors were all off and it seemed like light was shining through the lines of the scales on the Basilisk's head and the large eyes were blazing balls of light Sirius' breath hitched as the snake hissed and its mouth opened to reveal large sharp fangs and the animagus moved before he even knew what he was doing.

"Confringo!"

The serpent screeched and its head snapped away and to the side as a large burst of fire suddenly exploded in its face, Sirius used the opportunity to grab Severus' arm and dart out of the alcove into the open hall way where a curse suddenly shot passed his face and he saw Rosier in front of him.

"Hold on tight." Sirius whispered and Severus immediately took hold on the back of the Gryffindor's robes just as he ducked out of the way of another curse and the Basilisk started hissing again. Sirius' head snapped back and he saw the serpent heading straight for them hissing in a rage.

"Epoximise!" Sirius said with a shout and the Serpent immediately began to struggle as it seemed like it had stick to the stone floors as it screeched and hissed violently.

"That won't hold it for long." Severus whispered and Sirius huffed out a frustrated breath when another hex was fired but this time he blocked it with a defense spell and he looked back at Rosier with a glare when the blonde paused as he looked into Sirius' eyes seeing the eerie white glow that came from them and his lips twisted into a hateful sneer.

"You're helping him?" Evan hissed as he stepped forward, "After everything he and his friends have done to you you're helping him Severus?!"

The blonde fired another curse even as he continued to rant, "After everything that's happened you'll choose that bastard over me?!" another curse and this time Sirius fired back feeling concern for the raven that held on tightly to the back of his robes since he could feel Severus tense behind him.

"I was there when no one else was and yet you… He was right, you're nothing more than a cheap whore." Rosier growled and Sirius eyes narrowed down into a dangerous glare all while the Basilisk continued to hiss behind them as he finished. "I'm sending you back to Prince in a thousand pieces you filthy slag!"

"Bombardo!"

Sirius suddenly screamed and Rosier's eyes went wide when he was suddenly thrown back, a loud explosion rang through the air and vibrated off of the castle walls. Severus tensed and Sirius turned to wrap his arms around the raven as the explosion took its full effect until the tremors eventually stopped. The Basilisk began to screech as well and Sirius looked up just in time to see it shift and shimmer like smoke in the breeze until it had completely disappeared.

Severus was breathing hard in his grasp and still hadn't looked up yet so Sirius took hold of his chin to tilt it up so he could see the raven's face.

"Severus, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." The raven answered as he took a deep breath to calm him racing heart, "Where's Evan?"

Sirius looked up towards the spot where the blonde was thrown and noticed that the blonde was yet to make a single move when that deep booming voice from earlier suddenly spoke.

'THE CHAMPION IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE! SIRIUS ORION BLACK, WINS!'

"You won?" Severus said with a slight gasp and Sirius started to pout, "Well don't sound so surprised. Like I was ever going to-"

The animagus was cut off when Severus suddenly reached up and crushed their lips together in a bruising kiss, pulling the Gryffindor as close as humanly possible before breaking for air and Sirius gasped, staring with wide eyes at the raven before him when his eyes suddenly cleared and his vision returned to normal. Once it did he saw a deep flush on Severus' cheeks while those large dark eyes filled with relief as the raven quickly moved up to press a slightly softer kiss on his lips.

"Good."

A beaming smile broke out over Sirius' face and he moved to steal another kiss from the Slytherin's lips only for Severus to pull away and start walking towards the other side of the hallway, completely ignoring the Gryffindor's mournful pout at being interrupted as he walked over to the blonde who still hadn't moved much.

Sirius followed and watched as Severus stopped by Rosier's side and let out a heavy sigh as he crouched down beside him.

"Evan?"

The blonde didn't respond at first and for a moment Sirius felt a rush of fear run through him at the thought that he might have actually killed the other. He looked awful after all his clothes had gotten torn from the impact of the blast and he was covered in multiple cuts and bruises some of which were bleeding out over his skin and into his clothes but then Rosier thankfully stirred and turned his head to face Severus before letting out a groan. "Se-Severus?"

Severus reached out to brush a few strands of hair from Rosier's forehead, "Keep still, you're not injured too badly but you still need to go to the infirmary."

Rosier seemed to swallow hard as he looked up into the raven's eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said I just-"

"I'm sorry too." Severus interrupted giving a soft sigh, "I didn't mean for things to end the way they did. You deserve better… I'm really not worth all of this trouble."

"Don't do that." Sirius said as he went down to crouch beside Severus and the raven looked back at him with regretful eyes and Sirius wished he could make that look go away. "I hate it when you belittle yourself like that; you're worth so much more than you could ever imagine Sev."

Severus gave a snort as he shook his head, "Said the love-struck fool who has absolutely no idea what he's gotten himself in for."

"I know exactly what I'm doing. I love you and… I don't care what I have to do as long as I get to keep you then I'm willing to do anything."

Severus' cheeks flushed but he didn't look up as he brushed a strand of hair behind his ear, "I always attract the psychotic ones."

Sirius rolled his eyes before leaning forward to press a soft kiss on the raven's lips and he felt like his heart might just jump right out of his chest when the Slytherin leaned into it and kissed back before breaking it with a smile, "Alright, we'll do it your way."

The animagus beamed only to pause when he found Rosier's blurry green eyes focused on him and he frowned when the blonde suddenly spoke, "If you hurt him, I'll kill you."

Sirius almost froze for a moment before just letting out a heavy sigh as he raked a hand through his hair, "Not that I'd dream of it, but you already sort of failed at that."

"This doesn't count Black, Severus was helping you."

Despite himself Sirius smiled, "I promise I won't hurt him, I'll keep him safe."

Rosier nodded his head and let his eyes slip shut and Sirius looked up at Severus only to blink in surprise when he found the Slytherin glaring at him. "What?"

"It hasn't occurred to you that maybe I can take care of myself?"

"Of course you can… I-" The animagus stuttered and gaped for a moment, "Sev-… I was just. Well what I meant was… See Rosier-"

Severus immediately stood up before casting a levitation spell on the blonde as he started walking to the infirmary. "Unbelievable."

Sirius sputtered for a moment as he scrambled up off the floor to catch up with the object of his affections. "Severus wait!"

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"Why the bloody hell didn't anyone tell me about this?!"

Remus, James and Peter all stared back blankly at Sirius before James just gave a shrug as he went back to mulling over his potions essay.

"You never asked."

Sirius growled in frustration when Remus spoke, "There was never any reason to tell you anything before Sirius. Remember you hated Severus a few months ago and we didn't even know you loved him till this morning. Plus you were dating someone before all this."

Sirius stared at his friends incredulously, "I was?"

He was?

"Yeah, some skirt from Hufflepuff." James started out thoughtfully, "Helen or Mariam… I can't remember."

Remus just shook his head dismissively, "It doesn't matter. Besides, even if we wanted to we couldn't tell you anything."

The animagus frowned, "Why not?"

"We just can't." Peter said with a shrug and Sirius' frown deepened.

"What do you mean you just can't, why can't you tell me anything about it?"

James sighed, "What did Snape tell you Padfoot?"

"He said he's cursed." Sirius said quickly when realization dawned on him and the wizard gaped, "Wait a minute... So all of you? But how-when?!"

"A year ago when Diggory asked Severus to marry him, he had to go through the same challenge and he lost. The entire school saw it."

"And where was I when all of this happened?"

"Don't you remember? Your parents made you go home two days before Halloween. Diggory dropped down on one knee in front of everyone during the Halloween feast and that's when his challenge started. It ended a week later and that's when we were..." Remus' face went blank and the entire room dropped into silence when the werewolf shook his head and gave a sigh of frustration, "We can't talk about it."

"I- wait." Sirius said as his eyes went wide, "Diggory used to date Severus? When?"

"A year ago."

"But he left school a year ago."

"He didn't leave he disappeared," Peter said cautiously and Remus gave a nod as he spoke, "He lost when he got to the last champion and no one's seen him since, if you weren't so oblivious you might have noticed that that's also the year Severus all but barricaded himself in the library."

Sirius looked up in thought, he does remember if only a little bit. He remembers complaining about how Snape was always there and they couldn't get a moment alone to prank him.

Come to think of it, Severus did seem to be particularly miserable that year.

Did he really like Diggory that much?

"Well, can you at least tell me who this Prince bloke is?"

Remus bit his lip a bit and tugged his book closer as he spoke, "It's someone you know."

"Really, who?"

James shared a look with Remus and Peter before staring up blankly at Sirius and the animagus sighed, "You can't tell me. Right."

Sirius sank back into his chair and stared up at the ceiling when James pulled him out of his thoughts, "You know you don't have to go through with this, you could choose to forfeit."

Sirius just shook his head as he raked a hand through his hair. "No."

"Why not?"

"I love him, I can't ever stay away from him so if this is the only way I can have Severus then I'll just have to finish the challenge." Sirius said dreamily when his head gave a slight tilt, "Plus it's actually kind of cool if you think about it. A valiant noble handsome knight facing foes and obstacles for his one true love."

Remus gave a snort, "Valiant and noble, are you?"

"Piss off."

James sighed in frustration and shook his head, "What's so special about Snivellus that you absolutely have to have him, there are plenty of other Slytherin prats you can shag Sirius."

"Don't call him that! And this isn't about sex." Sirius looked up and glared at his friend, "You wouldn't understand what it's like with him. None of you would."

James watched Sirius through his glasses and Remus sank down a little more in his seat when Sirius let out a yelp of pain when he was hit with something hard against the back of his head.

"OW!"

"Twit." An auburn haired girl said as she walked past the table in the common room with a heavy book in her hands and Sirius stared at her in confusion.

"What was that for?!"

"For being an imbecile that's what." Lily said as she walked passed when James leaned back in his chair and caught the girl's arm as he gave her a bright smile.

"You know, there are better ways of dealing with your anger. I'd be glad to show you some if you like."

"Not even in your dreams Potter." The girl said with a huff as she ripped her arm away from James and stomped her way up to the girls' dorms.

James just laughed as he bent over his essay again, while Sirius continued to rub his head, "What's her problem?"

The other marauders all just shrugged.

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They have Herbology first this morning. It was a mixed class with students from Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff all mixed in with the Gryffindor's.

A few months ago Sirius hated this class since he was paired up with Severus, now it was one of his favorites.

The animagus stood beside the bench that he and Severus usually worked by as the class slowly started to fill. Professor Sprout was yet to arrive so the class was buzzing with loud talking and laughing when a Ravenclaw suddenly came up to him with a mournful look on her face.

Sirius blinked as the girl walked passed him and sighed, "Such a waste."

The animagus just stared back at the girl when Severus came skulking into the room and walked over to stand beside Sirius by the bench.

"Morning Severus, did you sleep well?" The Gryffindor asked with a beaming smile and Snape just looked away staring at his feet for a moment before he spoke.

"You still have time to forfeit." Severus said as he clutched his books up against his chest, "Before it's too late."

Sirius almost growled in frustration since he didn't know what it would take to finally force Severus to accept the fact that he was serious about him. The Gryffindor reached out and grabbed the raven's chin to force him to look up into his eyes.

"I love you, so I'm not going to quit." Sirius said with all the conviction in the world and Severus bit his bottom lip before reaching up to wrap his arms around the Gryffindor's neck and pull him down for a quick kiss.

"Good luck." Sirius gave a goofy grin when Severus pulled away with a dark blush on his cheeks and he almost leaned down to kiss the Slytherin again when.

'THE SECOND ROUND WILL NOW BEGIN'

Really all of these interruptions are getting on his nerves.

Sirius' head snapped up along with everyone else in the room when the air was knocked right out of the animagus as he was tossed aside and he hit the floor hard.

"Merlin, you're not going to survive are you Black?" Severus growled in frustration while Sirius just groaned in pain when the Slytherin helped him up to his feet.

"It was a cheap shot, I won't get caught out a-again..." Sirius trailed off and his eyes went wide while the rest of the class gaped and stared as devils snare started to cover every inch of the glass walls in the room and thicker vines swayed and twisted in the air.

A skinny teen with ratty brown hair and freckles on his face stepped forward and Sirius gaped.

'SIRIUS ORION BLACK vs. FRANCIS LONGBOTTOM'

A/N: yeah it's a little fluffy but I'm having fun with this one.

I'll explain why the guy calls himself Prince later in the story

Please review