Sorting Through The Mischief

"Re-sort me."

"Miss Evans?" came the reply.

"Re-sort me sir, I'm tired of being in a house that believes that pranks and nonsense are more important than an actual education. Re-sort me."

"Miss Evans, I'm sorry you're finding your house-mate's boisterous activities to be disturbing, but the sorting hat placed you in Gryffindor for a reason."

"The bloody hat was wrong!"

"Hey now!" came a reply from the corner of the room, "just because you don't like my decision doesn't mean I was incorrect Miss Evans…Evans…Lily Evans? Ah yes! I remember you quite clearly now, you were quite the conundrum in the first place. You were clever, a nimble full of the desire to learn, a decent Ravenclaw you'd have made. You were also kind and gentle with those who would be considered your lesser…Hufflepuff would have been proud to have you. Yet, you were also ambitious to prove yourself, you desired for your skills to be unparalleled…Slytherin would have accepted these aspirations with gusto! However 'GRYFFINDOR!' is where I placed you…and for reasons evident even now. You are brave Miss Evans, you desire justice and by the waving of the wand or by the workings of the mind you are determined to have it! You'd have found your way through any house, but 'GRYFFINDOR!' beckoned you more strongly than any other."

Lily slumped in the chair in front of the headmaster's desk. "I just don't know what to do," she said rubbing her temples. "I just can't stand it…can't stand the way they are."

"Miss Evans…there is…more at work here than you can see just now. Roads are being paved that must be tread, though we may not like where they lead us."

"I…I don't understand sir," she said with an air of defeat in her voice.

"Miss Evans, dear girl, sometimes, the things we desire aren't meant for us and sometimes the things meant for us aren't what we desire."

"But Sir, what of our choices? Do we not forge our paths by our own choosing?"

Dumbledore smiled weakly at Lily. "Lemon drop Miss Evans?" he offered the tin to her as he partook in one of the muggle candies he so enjoyed.

"No sir…I, I have to be going," Lily said with an exhausted sigh as she gathered her belongings and walked crestfallen from the headmaster's office. As she walked past the guardian statue of Dumbledore's office, she stopped; her jaw clenched and her eyes became steely. "I will pave my OWN roads. I will tread my OWN paths. I will decide MY destination by MY own journey;" and with that, she walked from the dark corridors of the school into the sunlight of the gardens.

"Leave me alone Lupin," came the surly voice.

"Look, Snape, just stop walking away, honestly, will you please slow down?"

"Why? You can't keep up? Your nightly exercises have you too fatigued for a simple walk through the grounds?"

"No, well…maybe, but that's not the point. Listen to me; will you just listen? You're being ridiculous!?"

"NO! You listen, you listen hard to me Wolf. I want to be left alone; left alone by you, by that bloody dog Black, by simpering little Pettigrew, and by that utter waste of a life, Potter! Do you understand me?" Snape was seething, he had his finger pointed directly in Lupin's face, and he was shaking with rage. His eyes were tight, blacker than normal, tinged by his fury. Remus was attempting to be stoic, he stood as tall as he could and breathed in quickly and heavily, but his trembling lower lip betrayed him. His eyes began to fill with hot tears. He simply couldn't deny the onslaught of emotions.

"You think you're the only person in this school that has ever had anything bad happen to him? You seem to know EXACTLY the position I'm in; you berate me for it every chance you get! I'm sorry if I haven't exactly stood up for you to my friends, but they're my friends, they ONLY people I have to help me through this…and sometimes I can't even stand to be around them because of the way the treat me. If you knew half the things Ja…Potter has said to me, you'd understand! That, you stupid git, is why I'm here;" he said, sniffing back the traitorous tears. Severus' eyebrows rose involuntarily.

"Alright Lupin, what is it you want?" He sneered as he spoke. Snape couldn't say he liked Remus Lupin or trusted him, but he didn't exactly hate the boy. Honestly, if it weren't for the cretins he associated himself with; he could see the young werewolf and himself being, if not friends, at least cordial.

"I'm not even sure I should be doing this anymore," Lupin said weakly. "I just thought…I just thought, it was wrong…what he did." Lupin was about to retreat when he saw a flash of red hair across the lawn. Snape, had obviously seen it too. Lupin looked up at the boy across from him. Snape's breathing had changed and there was a look on his face of utter sorrow, loss stretched across his features like a billowing storm. "She doesn't love him."

"What?" came the distant reply. Though he'd heard the words, Snape's mind was consumed with an image, her soft lips pressed against his insipid face, his fingers trailing through her hair, violating boundaries he'd previously been denied, the rush of their breath, her face, her surprise, her voice 'Severus!'

"Severus, eh Severus, SNAPE, I said she doesn't love him mate." Snape turned to Lupin, forcing himself to tear away from the terrible memory. His face was still wrenched with pain, Lupin balked at his visage before he continued. "That letter, that 'birthday surprise' James gave you, it was meant for you alright; but not from him. Lily wrote that to you. She dropped it in class and James, being the utter arse he can be, saw it as an opportunity and well, you know the rest."

Severus didn't speak, he blinked, he blinked a lot actually. His mind wasn't quite sure what to do with the thousands of thoughts running through it. Those words had been meant for me? Elation! Potter hurt me with something I've so longed for? Fury! Lily…kissed Potter when she has feelings for me? Confusion!

"Snape, say something…and stop blinking like that, it's all together creepy man!" Snape opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and closed it once more. "Nice fish imitation Severus," chuckled Lupin.

"So what you're telling me is…" Severus asked, stammering.

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you," replied Lupin.

Severus ran his hands through his inky hair. "I've been avoiding her for days. Seeing her…with him…" he attempted to swallow the lump that formed in his throat every time the memory surfaced. "What if I've ruined it?! Every time I'd stalk away from her, she'd look so defeated. I thought…I thought she deserved it!"

"Just go to her and explain. She's a reasonable girl. She'd have to be to have put up with Potter's advances and your surliness for so long. Either that or she went 'round the twist ages ago and we just think she's normal. Oh, and Snape, before you go…I actually do have a little present for you."

Severus narrowed his eyes as Lupin reached into his robes. His first reaction was to go for his wand, after all, the usual circumstance that followed a marauder reaching into his robes around him was a hex or two…or twelve, slung in his general direction. However, he stilled himself and saw Lupin withdraw a folded parchment from his pockets.

"Now Snape, if they find out I gave this to you, there'll be no end of it for me. My time spent as a werewolf would be welcome relief to the tortures they'd inflict."

"They'd be so upset over…a blank parchment?" Snape eyed the paper, trying to see what was so special about it.

"It's far from that mate, far from it!" He withdrew his wand, tapped the pages and stated, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" With his tap and incantation, the map began to bleed with ink. It spread out from the center filling with words and images…

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

"Merlin's beard!" said Severus as he looked over the map, seeing each labeled spot, each name, moving about the corridors or grounds of the castle. "There's you and me, Dumbledore, the daft dog, the toe rag, Mulciber…Lily; and to think your fellows accuse me of the dark arts! This is utterly devious…Slytherin even!"

"I'm glad you approve," said Remus as he grinned at a thoroughly shocked Severus Snape. "Mischief managed," he quickly said with another tap to the map. Snape watched astonished as it returned to its former undistinguished appearance. "This is how they always seem to know where you are. It's how we manage to avoid getting caught all the time. This, this, is the Marauder's greatest asset, the most prized possession of the club…Happy Birthday Severus Snape," said Lupin as he place the map squarely in the hands of the quartet's worst enemy.

AN: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. It's taken me a while to get it written with the holidays. I'm still deciding exactly where to take this and am open to suggestions. I also hope you'll check out my Harry Potter Star Wars crossover titled "That's No Moon Severus Snape" it's incredibly ridiculous.

As always, reviews, critiques, and suggestions are more than welcome.