The Secret Life of Severus Snape
Chapter Three
The next years of his schooling followed a very similar pattern, with the exception that Lily actively sought him out on more than one occasion. Oh, she used schoolwork as an excuse, but as they were paired in Potions by Professor Slughorn, David decided that this was a huge plus for him to have the prettiest girl in their class working with him since their first year. It was her choice of friends that wasn't particularly tolerable, but Lily acted as a buffer from the Marauders excesses on occasion. Sirius Black, the prat from the train and James Potter were the worst of Lily's friends, but they usually waited until Lily wasn't around to torment David for his heritage, parentage and anything else that seemed to garner an angry response. The worst thing was when they gave him the nickname of Snivellus, in direct response to his upset and pain at realising that he had no true friends. He was reviled by his housemates for his lack of an illustrious background, and by everyone else because he's ended up in Slytherin house - the home of all bad wizards. Black particularly liked to torment David with a sympathetic audience to make the teasing all the more malicious. If only he'd waited until he was safely in his dormitory before he'd given into the pressure of constantly acting a lonely role during those first few weeks of his first year.
The most laughable slur Black chose to repeat often to whoever happened to be around at that chosen moment, was the idea that Snape had known more curses and hexes than any other first year. Many of the students and some of the teacher's believed Black implicitly, and it made Snape all the more feared. What no one chose to examine was where he might have learnt those tricks, particularly when Sirius Black had come to Hogwarts with a healthy arsenal of nasty curses himself.
Self defence was still regarded as the sole domain of the Gryffindors and other houses. Anyone from Slytherin using such an argument usually found themselves carpeted by whichever teacher happened to catch them in the act. More often or not, it was Professor McGonagall or Headmaster Dumbledore who expressed disappointment in David's antics, glossing over the fact that he had, more often than not, been goaded in the extreme by both Black and Potter, and to a lesser extent, Pettigrew and Lupin. In the four years he'd been at Hogwarts, he'd never really managed to outwit either Black or Potter - not that he hadn't tried hard enough in the process. No, any curses or hexes he knew and tried to adapt, had been first perfected on him by the golden boys of Gryffindor Tower.
And so David resorted to schoolwork as his outlet. He knew he was bright, loved reading and exploring new ideas and the like. Hogwarts gave him the opportunity and permission to extend himself outside the realm of simply maths, science or the beauty of the written word. All too often he occupied quite happily a quiet spot in the Library poring over not only his assignments, but a large number of extra books that looked interesting or might come in handy at some stage. It was no surprise that he was one of the top students in his year, along with Lily Evans who also threw herself into learning and adapting to this new and strange world. David liked her a lot. In fact, any thoughts of Jane took a smaller part of his thoughts when Lily was close by. David liked to think that Lily might be interested in him as more than a friend, but she seemed content to have David as a friend, nothing more. So they bounced ideas off each other, shared bibliographies and generally were content to work peacefully side by side in the dignified confines of the Library stacks. Sirius and James couldn't attack him openly in the Library either, though he was constantly on his guard when Lily left him by himself. Leaving the quiet peace of the stacks meant that David knew absolutely that his tormenters would be waiting for him to leave, and then they'd attack him slinking away like the cowards they were only for him to hobble back to the relative safety of his dormitory. Just once he wanted to get the better of both of them - just once, but the opportunity had not presented itself so far.
The isolation David felt so keenly at Hogwarts was directly opposite to catching up with his mates from primary school once he got home to Harrogate. Most of them, including Jane, had all gone to the local comprehensive. David, along with several other children had instead been shipped off to other boarding schools, though no one else was magical. It was a relief to hop off the train each holiday and feel relaxed at home after an obligatory night spent in the dank and dreary terrace in Spinner's End. This was done to reverse the foul brew he had to drink each week at school to mask his appearance, and because Lily Evans also lived in the same town. What better way to have a few precious hours talking to Lily without the need of constantly watching his back as he did at Hogwarts. As David grew older, he found the more he hated the terrace in Spinner's End. It was merely a stopping point on his way to Hogwarts or the shell he hid in for a solitary night as he shed the persona he'd been forced to assume by his mum, but he couldn't ever see it being a home. Living above the shop in Harrogate was always warm and secure. It was his sanctuary and one David relished returning to because it meant he could throw off the secrecy and artifice of his day to day school life and simply be himself. No, it seemed to David that the snobbery and hatred he elicited at Hogwarts was nowhere in evidence where it really mattered - at home. As much as he enjoyed his lessons, he had no idea just what he was supposed to do for a job once school was finally finished with, in three years time.
Oh, there were the half hearted jibes from his friends about not knowing any of the latest bands, or why David never talked about school and the teachers like his friends did, but perhaps the hardest thing about straddling two worlds was that David always felt the uncomfortable sensation that he didn't really fit in anywhere. It didn't stop him from meeting up with Jane and the others and hanging out at the local chippy or milk bar. Then there were the mornings they all converged on the local record shop, laughing and looking through all the new psychedelic record covers of bands with far more popularity and street cred than any of them could claim. There was always the thought echoed by all the boys that these chaps never had to worry about pulling a bird, the general consensus was they had to beat the groupies off with a stick, and wouldn't that be fun for a lark. All any of them could do was drop hints for birthday presents and wish. None were truly from families who were flush with cash, and so the most they all could do was window shop and scour the local paper for the very scarce holiday delivery jobs. When they weren't roaming up the high street or lounging around making a bag of greasy chips last for as long as possible, as they took turns feeding the jukebox, there were the impromptu games of football in the local park, or the occasional game of touch footy or cricket.
Had David understood just how hard the next three years of his schooling would be on his psyche, he might just have chosen to flee to the Muggle world and do something, anything to avoid the pain and ostracism hurtling towards him at a dizzying pace.
AUTHOR NOTE: This was written for Sunnythirty3 for the recent 2012-13 SSHG Exchange, but could not be completed in time to post. The first part is complete and the second in the process of being written. If you're looking for hawt sexxors, then this isn't the story for you. There is some swearing, along with the judicious use and misuse of canon.
Many thanks to the fabulous team of Scattered Logic and Magically25 who have helped me get the story to the stage it is at currently. Without their input, I doubt this would be half as good. I am truly very, very lucky to have had their continuing help. Any remaining mistakes (yes, my comma fetish) are mine alone.
Addendum: Many thanks to Jong_Kahn (Ashwinder) for pointing out the large plot hole in Chapter One. I'm hoping the further explanation of just why Eileen feels the necessity of changing David's name in order to protect the family, goes a long way to plugging the hole. :)
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