Hereeeeeeeeeeeeeee again! First I own nothing of it unfortunately! Cherry, thankssssss a lot for you terrific betareading! You even know how encourage me soooooo well that I will never want to get another betareader! I just wanted to say that Im sooooo happy so well written chapter than this! I'm just sooo proud my myself when I read this through now. It simple is soooooooooooooo good even if it is me author saying it! I wanted to thank my reviews, Kendra-the hyper one, Nat, and Iva! Ahhh, I just realized my mistake with Flitwick's name, thanks for telling Iva! And Nat, I'm proud to be your first writer you are reading!

Chapter 7

The next class was pretty uneventfully for once. Nothing more trivial than whispering went on around him that ended rather suspiciously if they saw him glancing at them. Not too surprisingly someone spoke to him finally at lunch.

He was sitting at the corner of the table in the great hall. The place was lonely now that Lucius wasn't there. He was playing with his food when someone came to sit next to him. At first he stiffened up and tried not to think the about the worst possible scenario that could happen but that was in vain. Basically he was pessimist though he always tried to stub it out. Well, most of time he was right with his assessment that things would go badly. He glanced at the other guy and noticed that he was a second year guy called Antonio Dolohow. He was part of the cream of the crop in slytherin. He just wondered why on the earth he decided to sit next of him just now. He was usually always ganged up with some older people in slytherin. The group, he would most probably have a fat chance to hang around with due to his nature. He did acknowledge that he was a quiet and shy person. But it isn't that easy to start speaking with all the new people like that. Mostly because he thought the worst of them and it was hard to give people a chance to prove themselves other way. He was too used to his old habits. Not to mention that he had some suspicions that this guy knew about the earlier "accident". When he remembered it he lost his already small appetite and eyed his food reluctantly as if thinking to eat or not.

Few minutes went by in silence but then Antonio spoke up.

"Hi, my name is Antonio Dolohow. I just heard what happened in the charms class."

Severus had guessed that it would be the case but still it hit him hard what Antonio wanted to talk about. In his mind he was banging his head against the table, just in his mind though. You can't really do it without losing your dignity. He would have liked to disappear to thin air but unfortunately that was not possible. However he wanted to act "normally" so he just played along and. He couldn't get into a worse position than he already was in, could he?

"Hi, I'm Severus Snape. I've seen you around. Which year you are in?" He of course tried to turn topic away from his embarrassing accident but frankly thing didn't go as he hoped.

"I'm in second year. I just wanted to tell you that it was cool what you did in charms class. You even got away without any punishment. I guess Flitwick must have been in good mood. Too many times they won't allow us to play with the charms although it is fun. I think you were extremely lucky."

'Great, now he is thinks that I did it on purpose. However it seems that he is admiring me more than criticizing. Could I turn this to my advantage? I should at least try, I cannot lose anything by trying.' Having decided what to do he answered to Antonio.

"Yeah, it was great. I got away with it without any consequences. I even got five points for a well-done incantation and that is something. Not to mention that he got a fright."

Something inside him pricked when he mentioned that but he pushed the feeling away and smiled instead. It wasn't a real smile but it his fake smile, the one that he showed to indicate that he was ok with the situation. He knew that he wasn't acting like himself but it wasn't so bad as long as he wasn't feeling do left out. Actually acting just a bit bad was nice. Being bad was much better than being forgotten and teased.

Antonio laughed. But it wasn't a bad type of laughing that some people used to do. He was more laughing with him, not at him. He smiled back and took some food. It was only a few seconds later that he choked on it, when Antonio asked him something surprising.

"By the way, why you are sitting here all alone all the time? From the first day you picked a place that is as far from others as possible. And you seem to stay pretty much to yourself. Why would you want to be alone?"

For a moment Severus tried to get his feelings back under control as the stupid question shook him up. However he didn't show any of the conflict on the outside. While he was emptying his mouth he was contemplating some satisfying answers for that particular question. Nevertheless it wasn't really a stupid question, it was way too smart and Severus didn't think Antonio would be so stupid that he bought just any answer. Nor did the teachers but they never asked those kinds of questions. Frankly, there wasn't much Severus could say.

"I just like to be by myself. There's no special reason. Besides I don't know many people here yet. We slytherins aren't too popular a house either it seems."

Other boy just looked at him warily for a moment before answering.

"Yeah I guess so. I will be off now. Some people are waiting for me."

And Antonio flashed a last smile before he left. Severus was left there just looking at his plate lost in his own thoughts as one idea was developing in his mind. He didn't really feeling like eating anymore so he left the hall. He took the hallway to the hospital wing hoping that Lucius would be better. However soon he was regretting his decision when the annoying nurse got him in her grasps. Before he noticed what was happened he was being ushered to the bed opposite Lucius and having to drink a Pepper-up potion. Poppy didn't like his constant coughing and he ended up staying there over night. And all he wanted to do here was to tell Lucius about their coming assignment. At least he succeeded in convincing the devilish nurse that he wanted to change into his pajamas by himself. There was no way he wanted to show his upper body to the tigress. He never shown any of his marks to any nurse and this place wasn't going to be exception. After Poppy had done with him she left them alone. She left the room muttering something about stubborn children as he was muttering about insufferable nurses.

Finally alone, he glanced at Lucius in the opposite bed smirking at him. He was certainly doing much better then a couple of days ago. He finally relaxed and sank back into the bed. He grimaced a bit when his back made contact with the soft bed. Despite the pain he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the peace. At least he didn't have to do his detention today. Glancing over at Lucius he started.

"Finally she let us have some peace and quiet. Good to see that you are ok again. Class was feeling so empty without you. When is this tigress is going to let you out again?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. She just wants to make sure and she is going to let me out the day after tomorrow. Honestly, it's boring here. Since she caught you how are you?"

"I just have a small case of the flu, nothing more serious. Luckily it seems like I'm getting out tomorrow to. You've missed some classes while you were staying here. I can show you what we've been doing. History of magic is same old boring stuff. Transfiguration is well… you can imagine. Charms (flushing) we looked over opening and locking charms. I can give you my notes so you can copy them. And then we got an assignment in care of magical creatures. We are suppose to form groups and find get some information about some magical creatures."

Instantly a too familiar fear hit him and he quieted down for a moment. He shook his head as he was trying to remove his stupid feeling of foreboding.

"I said I would form a group with you when you get back. Only if you are volunteering to do it with me that is. You don't have to if you don't want to. I really understand if you don't want to."

The last part was a bit faint He knew that his feeling of foreboding was probably stupid but he couldn't help it. Never in all his life did he want a partner for a class assignment. He was almost too scared to hear the answer and he tried to prepare himself for worst possible answer. He didn't even look in Lucius' eyes.

Lucius listened to Severus' answer looking intently at his friend's face. So many feelings were reflecting behind that calm façade. At the beginning he was almost too intent on telling about their classes. When he came to charms he was clearly embarrassed for some reason. Lucius thought that perhaps there was some reason behind it. When he spoke about the assignment in care of magical creatures, he was far too nervous. He really wondered why on the earth he should be so nervous about this assignment. He played with idea of telling him that he knew about his bruises. No wonder he didn't want to change his clothes in the presence of the nurse though he really should.

"Sounds good. Give me the notes and we can go over this it now. After all it's a boring place and even school assignments sound exciting."

Severus took his knapsack and rummaged through it for the needed papers. Lucius saw him flinch, as discreetly as possible, while looking for their assignment. It was apparent how much the bruises still hurt his friend. He felt a surge of hatred as he thought of the person who made those marks. Moreover, the way in which Severus hid them was alarming. He was happy that Severus didn't see him looking at him calculatingly. Even now that he was already here he didn't say anything to the nurse despite his pains. He couldn't possible think of any reason why the other boy didn't want any help but knew that was the case. Unless… he was use to it or the reason behind them was something shameful. However Lucius thought that Severus really should show them to the nurse.

Finally Severus found the papers he was looking for and he brought them to Lucius. In no time the notes were copied by magic and they were looking through Severus' notes on the magical creatures essay. Severus had many books with him already so they used the advantage of a quiet room for doing their assignment. A few hours went by and finally Lucius couldn't keep to himself the information that he knew, not with Severus flinching every so often.

"I cannot keep this quiet any longer. Two days ago when I had my last night in the dormitory. When I got in you had fallen asleep with your day clothes on, your upper body half in sight…"

Lucius saw Severus drop all the papers he was holding at the moment when he spoke so he quieted down . So many different feelings were going through his eyes again. They changed from surprise to scared and angry. Then, he seemingly tried to act as if nothing had happened and his eyes became defiant looking. Lucius clearly had hit a sore spot.

Severus couldn't say a word when he realized what Lucius was getting at. There wasn't any mistake about what he meant. Desperation hit him when he realized that his secret was out. He had never shown people any of his marks and now he spoiled everything. No one had cornered him like that. His dad didn't care enough to look after him with his drinking problem and no teacher realized how bad his problem really was. He didn't want to continue with this topic. So he tried another technique and told the other;

"Honestly I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm going to bed, it is fairly late. (The next part he said rather icily) see you tomorrow!" He picked up all their papers and stuffed them into his knapsack angrily. He glanced at the other boy one last time and called out. "If you dare say even one word of your ridiculous suspicious to anyone you will be very sorry about it. Try to remember that before you go spreading rumors."

He would have liked to yell last sentences but he kept his voice down so that irritating nurse wouldn't come back in here, which really would be the last straw. Shaking he got back into his bed and tried to hide behind his blanket. He hoped that he would fall asleep quickly but that was as far from him as possible.

Lucius stopped himself from calling after Severus, as he didn't want to stick his head into the hornet's nest. He looked over when other boy rolled to his side and said no more. He should have guessed it, he had hit upon a rather touchy subject. He guessed that he was the only one who knew due to Severus' reaction.

The next few hours both of the boys were trying to fall asleep both lost inside their own thoughts. Lucius was trying to think of a way to make up with Severus, who apparently was not taken too well his confrontation. His best idea was to give his friend some time to clear his head and look a how things would go. Perhaps if he could assure other boy that he wouldn't tell anyone then he would feel more confident in relating some of what happened to him. However, he didn't know how long Severus would be crossed with him.

Severus was trying to stay calm though he was ready to break down at any moment. He couldn't believe that he was that daft that he had allowed anybody to see his marks. So now he was hauling himself over the coals for showing his bruises. It was his own business; they had no right to question him about them. It was really stupid of him to fall asleep without his pajama on and let Lucius see his bruises.

Never did he tell anyone about his treatment among the other children. Due to the feelings it gave him he tried to avoid thinking about it, not mention speaking about it. He remembered the one time when one of the teachers was trying to comfort him, the results were the opposite of what anyone would expect. As long as teacher was present he just sat there trying to keep his feelings at bay but when she finally left him alone he ran to a more private place where he would break down alone. She probably noticed his reaction because she stopped trying finally. He never even said a word to her, as he knew that once he did that he would be crying next to her and that was last thing he wanted.

God, he hated his life. Somehow he kept his nerves under control for that night but he wasn't far from crying. The only reason he could do it was because he had to for his dignity. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he let Lucius know how he felt. His having seen the marks was quite enough as it was. Finally he heard Lucius even breathing indicating he was sleeping but he wasn't that daft that he dared to risk him waking up so he just looked at the ceiling and tried to concentrate on his breathing. That was the best way to stay calm if there were people around and he was feeling blue. The worst thing was that when he was feeling blue every bad thing that happened to him came back to his mind and it was hard to stay calm with those thoughts swirling about in his heal. Perhaps tomorrow it will be better, he concluded. Usually a night's rest gave him some control again.

After few hours trying to fall asleep he finally did. However, soon after he started to have nightmares.

He was walking outside when he saw a group of children. They hadn't seen him yet and he hid behind the corner just to listen to what they were saying. If they saw him they'd just fall silent until he was gone or started mocking him. To his amazement he realized there was one especially annoying person among this group and some new people that he had never seen before. Soon he discovered that they were talking about him and not in the way he was hoping for. They were calling him a freak and that they would make fun of him anytime they wanted some fun. This got him to freak out totally and he started to run out as quick as he could. Unfortunately the group noticed him and started to laugh aloud and grabbed some snow and they threw at him. Somehow their own snowballs stopped in the middle of the air and turned back to the group who just looked dumb stricken as their own snowballs hit them. This launched the group into angry muttering and they started to call him names. Just then someone showed up next to him, Antonio. He told him to pay them back with his "freakish" powers. Then they would know that there was no messing with him. In that instant he turned his sadness to hate and revenge. Especially this one guy over there who bugged him the most. He walked up to them concentrating on getting this one idiot to fall down and to his astonishment it really happened. He tried to think of how he could be washing his mouth out with soap and seconds later there was pink bubbles coming out of idiot's mouth. Smirking he called.

"This will teach you what happens if you try to say these stupid things. I would enjoy doing this again anytime soon if you try to do that again. Just to let you know whom you are playing with!"

Smirking he walked out leaving the people staring after him horrified. He felt so damn good despite what they did to him again, or what they tried to do actually. He enjoyed showing them their places.

Just then he woke up to see that everything was just a dream. But it was not a bad dream actually at the end; he was almost disappointed that it ended. He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was six a clock morning so there wasn't much sense in going back to sleep for one hour. He contemplated over the dream that he had and it really made a lot of sense to him. Why should he look calm if some of the guys were trying to make fun of him? Cold anger would be a much better answer and equal payback. They wouldn't know what hit them if they tried to play with him; of course he meant those Black and Potter boys. Before Hogwarts he had no wand so no chances to do anything against others. Not to mention his father telling him that it was forbidden to use magic if you aren't an adult already and even then if you used magic in front of muggles you would get condemned to prison at the worst.

Now he glanced at Lucius again and recalled their debate last night. He still didn't know how to act around him. He certainly didn't want to talk about it nor feel his pity. Pity was almost more annoying that talking about it, almost. He fell back onto the bed and somehow he drifted back to sleep. After an hour he woke up to the blasted nurse coming to wake them up for breakfast. Lucius was stuck there for one more day as he went to great hall for breakfast. Gratefully he thanked Poppy and left the room thanking Merlin that he didn't have to stay in the same room with Lucius any longer. He would get some free time to think about thing freely.

To be continued

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