Thanks again to those who reviewed :) Now, if you would please follow me further, I got some more entertainment for you (and the title STILL doesn't make any sense, but I feel like I need one XD)

Enjoy.

-Shadows and Dust-

"It is time to go, your Majesty."

A tall man stood in front of the Prince's bedroom, determination written all over his face. The Prince shook his head with a satisfied smile directed at his General.

"Yes, I do believe it is time for me to leave. But you, my friend, will stay here."

The blond man stared at the Heir as if he had grown two heads. His grey eyes analyzed the slightly younger young man in disbelief. "I beg your pardon?"

"I have a better plan," Seven grinned mysteriously. "Forget about the immediate, bloody war we decided upon. I'm going to Cirdog ahead- and alone. But you stay here with the army, ready to go and fight in case it doesn't work out."

"I'm sorry, but I doubt…"

Prince Seven raised an eyebrow and gave a cynical laugh. "Are you willing to go against me, Flamoy?"

Said Flamoy looked down in an ashamed fashion. "Of course not, my Prince. My only desire and purpose is to serve Razalas' best interests."

The Prince smirked. "That's what I thought. You'll follow my every order, won't you?"

The answer held no hesitation. "Always."

-

"Where are you going?"

The drawling voice froze Severus in his steps. He didn't need to turn around to know that Lucius Malfoy was behind him, cold eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"To the library," Severus answered curtly without moving. He only turned to face his senior when the latter one snorted in dislike.

"Going to meet the Gryffindor mudblood?"

Automatically, Snape's whole body tensed. "The name is Lily. Lily Evans."

Lucius ignored him.

"Honestly, a Gryffindor is bad enough, but a Muggle-born? Even if she is acceptably pretty, you can do better than that, Severus."

Snape inhaled deeply, unclenching fists that he wasn't even aware of having closed in the first place. It took a considerable effort to reply calmly, though with the traditional Slytherin sarcasm dripping through.

"At least, she doesn't sneer at me every time I get near her."

He almost beamed when Lucius lost his cold composure, red spreading quickly on the older boy's pale cheeks. "Narcissa stopped behaving like that a week ago!"

'Only because she learnt that a political alliance with both your families would be fervently approved by her parents,' Severus wanted to retort badly.

"But she still doesn't like you," he stated simply with a bitter smile.

Well, to say that Narcissa didn't like Lucius was an understatement, but no one ever dared to tease the boy about it.

Lucius' face flushed deeper and he struggled to find words for a moment.

Flashing a victorious smile, Severus turned around and started to walk away. Even with all the respect he had for Lucius, it felt amazing to see the infamous Malfoy totally helpless.

"Isn't it sad…?"

Second time that day Lucius' voice stopped Severus before he could get out of the Common Room. His body stiffened and his smile faded, as he warily turned on his heels.

"Isn't it sad?" Lucius repeated, his eyes gleaming with vengeance. "That… I still have more chances to date Narcissa than you have with that sad excuse for a girl?"

This time, Severus couldn't control himself. In a flash, he was running at Lucius, not even bothering to draw his wand from his pocket- his mother had once said that when his dad hit her, it hurt more than any spells, no matter how vicious- and he punched Lucius with all he had.

Severus barely had the time to see Lucius' shocked face before he blacked out.

--

"Sev, you lousy prat! You never showed up at the library!"

Snape slowly opened his eyes, his mind protesting instantly with a painful headache. "Lily?"

"Do you know how long I waited for you like a silly little girl?"

Oh, how nice that Lily was –again- the first thing he saw when he woke up. "Lily… what happened?"

"I don't know!" She fumed, glaring at him. "The only thing I know is that, after having waited 40 bloody minutes for you to join me, somebody- somebody I don't even know! – told me that you were at the infirmary!"

Severus blinked, trying to process the data. He was at the infirmary. It made sense and it was a good start. "… Why?"

Lily frowned at him questioningly. "I'd like to know. They said you picked a fight with Malfoy, but that's very unlikely…"

"I did."

Lily gaped at him in a comical way. "Severus Snape! You had me waiting… for a fight?"

"Sorry, Lils," Severus said, wincing lightly at the thought that she may be angry with him.

Which she was not, he realized when she burst out laughing. "Oh, Sev! Do you really think I'm the kind of girl who would be mad at you for have her waiting when you are in the infirmary?"

Severus paused and thought about it.

"I guess not," he sighed after a moment. "It looked a hell like it though."

Lily giggled some more. "I couldn't let you get off with it so easily! You attacked Lucius and did no permanent damage on him! How lame is that?"

"Lame, but safer than if I actually did permanent damage," Severus replied with a tiny smile. "I only punched him and… see where it led me?"

Lily nodded with a gentle smile, taking her friend's hand in her own. "Yes. To a hospital bed looking like you are about to explode in an ocean of pustules. Your face glowing green, too. I suggest you don't try that again."

Severus looked horrified.

"How many times will I wake up next to you with weird stuff all over my face?" He wondered aloud in pure terror, causing his Gryffindor companion to giggle.

"It's not that bad," she comforted him with an amused grin. "You just need Mrs Pomfrey to find the good counter spell…"

Severus nodded absently, trying to picture himself but not daring to take a look. How very great… It felt like every time he was around Lily, Fate decided to make him look miserably stupid.

"How long have I been here?" He said at last, his eyes shifting to the window. It wasn't dark yet, but that gave him little to no clue.

"Three hours," Lily declared, cocking her head to the side. "I thought you would never wake up."

Severus nodded. "Weren't you bored?"

"Are you kidding?" Lily laughed heartily. "You didn't see yourself yet, but you are a pretty entertaining thing!"

Snape groaned.

"Beside, I busied myself driving nosy students away from you and writing!"

Damn, she was beaming like if it had been the best day of her life.

"Do you want me to read it?"

Severus shook his head. "Later. Who came by?"

He saw Lily bite on her lower lip, like if evaluating what she should tell him. Weighing the pros and cons of telling him the truth or an incomplete version of it- Severus knew that look all too well. He himself had used it several times.

"Just go ahead."

She closed her eyes and finally gave a shrug. "Some of your Slytherin friends were the first here. I let them close, because they were your friends… well, they pushed me away anyway. Then, they started mocking you. They are really mean, Sev. Pomfrey chased them away with various threats."

Severus stayed silent. He hadn't expected anything else, really.

"A lot of students that I didn't know came by out of sheer curiosity. Those, I could drive away by myself. Potter was another matter though…"

"Potter came?" Severus gritted through his clenched jaw, murderous plans already forming at the mention of the pompous jerk from Gryffindor. "Bet he had a good laugh."

His red haired friend grinned proudly. "Nope. The moment he passed the doorway, I warned him that if he came any closer, I'd hex him into next year."

Severus chuckled warmly and closed his eyes to get the best mental image of the scene. Potter must have been furious about it.

"I'm hungry," Snape informed after a moment.

"I'll go get Pomfrey!"

Soon, he was left alone, in a soothing silence. As much as he liked having Lily with him, whoever cast the spell on him did it really well: he surely looked awfully ugly and he felt like his head would burn at every sound he heard. Blasted Slytherins…

Not that the comforting peace lasted… About two minutes later, Poppy Pomfrey stepped in the room with a plate of sandwiches, telling him that Lily had to leave now that he regained consciousness.

"Why…?"

His voice wasn't above a whisper; he only ate a sandwich when he felt sleep gripping him already. Eyelids falling softly, blocking any source of light from his sight, he wandered into dreamland yet again.

--

"Finite Incantatum," a soft voice murmured.

Severus felt an icy feeling run over him. Gone was the cause of his torture.

"Y'know, not that I hate waking up with you by my side, but it's starting to become redundant."

A haughty snicker answered him… a snicker that sure wasn't Lily's. Another snicker, a manlier one, followed.

"My, I believe you are still dreaming, Severus."

"Lucius!" Severus exclaimed, this time fully awake. "What are you doing here? Why are you…? Narcissa?"

The girl with whitish blond hair smirked at him. "We came to deliver you from that fantastic spell, you idiot."

"It was only Finite Incantatum?" Severus inquired, frowning in disbelief. "Why couldn't Pomfrey…"

"Because it's not only Finite Incantatum," Lucius cut sharply, glancing at Narcissa with appreciation. "A brilliant invention, dear."

"Thanks," Narcissa smiled smugly. "But it's not that hard. Just a bit of imagination with an Author Rights addition."

"Author Rights?" Severus repeated, utterly lost. The only thing he grasped was that Narcissa was the one who cursed him…

"Author Rights means that nobody can re-create the spell or lift it, nobody but the one who invented it," Lucius explained in a bored voice. "Sad thing is that wizards don't use it a lot. They prefer selling them or just show them off."

He paused, this time to frown.

"Then again, talented wizards can do a close imitation even with the Author Rights

precaution."

Severus nodded absently, not caring the least bit that Narcissa could pull such a trick. Lucius, on the other side, was gazing at the girl with a newfound respect.

"Why did you hex me?" Severus asked in a whisper, keeping his voice casual.

Narcissa threw him an annoyed look. "You punched Lucius."

"So?"

Snape smirked when Narcissa opened her mouth to answer but bit her tongue just as soon. "That's not anything I want to discuss with you, Severus."

And with that, she left the room, her nose high in the air.

"Thanks, Severus," Lucius said, his wide eyes still fixed where Narcissa had vanished. "I guess I should apologize for what I said."

"You don't have to," Snape sighed. "You were right about the last part, it seems."

His voice unfortunately failed to be casual, and Lucius patted his hand absently. "Mudblood or not, I owe you one."

"Mudblood or not," Severus repeated weakly. The words felt bitter on his tongue.

"I'll let you get some sleep, then."

Severus didn't even think about denying the offer- anyway, Lucius was still staring at the doorway. He nodded instead, and soon, Lucius was gone, leaving him alone with peaceful silence.

Peaceful silence, and a small, hurt whisper coming out of the darkness. "What did he mean, mudblood or not, Sev?"

With a step back, I realized that the last chapter was edging on 'random' and 'pointless'… But I guess I'm still testing the waters- Lily and Severus's characterizations are something I'm not quite sure about. I do have a storyline neatly traced. I just need to get there. :)

I hope you will stay with me 'til the end! Until then, please review?