Title: Blue October, Volume Two – Chapter Five.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Note: Hope the last chapter was okay.

Chapter Five: Winter Surprises

Severus watched in silence as Lily packed away her books testily. The silence that sat heavy and uncomfortable around them was preferable to the arguments that occurred so often during the last week. But he managed to hold his tongue for only a few moments before he finally spoke.

"I just want to understand why," Severus said at last. He spoke barely above a whisper to avoid the irritation of Madam Pince, who was cataloguing some new acquisitions not too far from their desk. "Why do you spend so much more time with them than me?"

His friend sighed as she shouldered her satchel. Frustrated fingers tucked a loose tendril of hair behind a delicate ear – the rest of her crimson mane had been swept up into a ponytail and tied with a black hair-tie that morning. However, a few tendrils around her ears always managed to escape her fingers.

"You know it's not like that," Lily answered quietly, green eyes glittering at him from across the desk. "You only think that because my time and attention were solely yours before, and now they aren't. Such jealousy is normal right now, Sev, but you need to let this go at some point. You can't blame me for your not trying to make new friends."

"I don't know any such thing, and that's beside the point!"

A snort of bitter amusement escaped Lily, who shook her head exasperatedly. But nothing more passed between them as she turned and strode away, back straight and head held high. Feeling immensely stung, Severus watched her go without a word. He wanted nothing more than to throw his inkwell at the nearest wall. He ignored the urge in favour of continuing his History of Magic homework and trying not to rip through the parchment with his quill. Concentrating upon his homework was easier said than done, of course. Far too often he found his thoughts straying towards Lily and her recent obsession with spending time with the other girls in her dorm.

Two hours and one horrendously written essay passed before the unexpected arrival of Lucius Malfoy disrupted his frustrated silence. The elder boy planted himself in the chair opposite and crossed his legs in an elegant and somewhat effeminate manner. Severus refrained from acknowledging his appearance until Lucius spoke in a clipped manner, "One generally greets one's friends."

"We aren't friends," Severus returned sharply, finally looking up at him.

"But we could be," Lucius replied patiently, his sharp features almost warm with contemplation. He brushed an imaginary piece of lint from his gracefully broad shoulder. Severus cast an icy glance in his direction and began gathering his possessions without a word. He ignored the words that continued pouring from aristocratic lips. "You need to begin forming your connections now, Severus; sitting silently in the corner will do nothing for your future prospects in this world. It would be a shame to let that brain of yours fall into disuse."

Severus shouldered his satchel and walked away, feeling a stab of satisfaction when Lucius bristled in his wake. He faltered outside the library only when he spotted Potter laughing uproariously at the end of the corridor, his thugs staring at him as though his arrogance hung the moon and stars. His survival instincts encouraged him to return to the safety of the library, where the presence of Madam Pince and the Head Boy would provide some measure of protection. His pride, however, refused to let him retreat. His pride wanted nothing more than to send Potter toppling down the stairs with a well-placed hex.

The young wizard slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew his wand. Concealing it up his sleeve, Severus told himself it was nothing more than a simple precaution. But he knew fortune would favour the prepared. His fingers flexing around the grip, Severus donned an air of nonchalance as he turned down the corridor in the opposite direction. An array of spells flickered through his mind. Each of them danced briefly upon the tip of his tongue, preparing to fling themselves from his mouth at the barest provocation.

He could feel it when the atmosphere in the corridor shifted almost imperceptibly, turning darker in unspeakable ways. Alarm raised the tiny hairs across the entire length of his body as goose bumps pimpled his flesh. His grip tightened around his wand as that infernal slur issued forth from Potter's vile and wicked mouth. Severus quickened his pace and disappeared around the next corner, his heart beginning to pound as Potter and his thugs broke into a run somewhere behind him. He whirled around as Potter emerged from beyond the bend and employed the Smokescreen Charm instantly. Severus used the chance to slip back down the corridor, avoiding his tormentors by playing close attention to their voices, which grew louder with frustration when the smoke refused to be banished. His quiet desperation fuelled the magic that kept the screen in place as he crept passed them.

A smirk curled his mouth when Potter and Black collided with each other, their empty skulls echoing dully before they fell apart with a muffled curse. Severus suppressed his exclamation of triumph as he emerged from the smoke behind them and hastened down the corridor, his steps as quick and silent as he could make them.

He almost made it past the library when a swift hand snared his robes and hauled him sideways, pulling him back inside the cavernous room filled to bursting with books that smelled like ink and parchment and lost years. Lucius looked down at him shrewdly, an eyebrow arching, before disappearing into the corridor. The door closed behind him. Even so, Severus could hear the elder student deducting house points from Gryffindor, much to the indignation of Potter and his unruly gang. Satisfaction punched through his stomach. He almost grinned. Fortunately, he managed to squash the urge before Lucius returned and shut the double doors once more. An insistent hand seized his shoulder and ushered him back towards the abandoned desk.

"This," Lucius explained silkily as he pushed him down onto the nearest available chair, "is why you need to forge connections with others. As you can see, Gryffindors will never be as noble as some consider themselves to be and developing mutually beneficial relationships with others in your house could provide some measure of security." Grey eyes gleamed as Lucius settled opposite him. His narrow features seemed twice as sharp and dangerous as he spoke. "Lions may travel in prides, but serpents can slither unseen whenever they wish to. One quick bite can change everything, Severus."

"I have Lily. I don't need anyone else." The denial came out jagged and sharp, and only reminded him of the incantation used to heal his burnt hands. It reminded him of his friend walking away, leaving him in favour of those girls she thought so amazing; her precious Gryffindors. Lucius arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. He never needed to. Severus understood too well the point the Head Boy wished to make, the point he refused to acknowledge aloud. "And I don't need your protection!"

"Then perhaps a study partner?" Lucius leaned back in his chair, his every move epitomising grace and poetry the way Severus could never emulate. Not that he wanted to, of course. Emulating Lucius Malfoy was the last thing he wanted to do, even if the elder wizard were so regal in bearing. "I'm more than willing to cultivate such an arrangement with you. We could hardly call such a thing friendship, could we?"

"Fine," Severus groused. "Just shut up."

Triumph blazed briefly across pointed features before Lucius withdrew a volume from one of his inner pockets and turned the ageing pages until a miniscule bell chimed – the result of a clever and remarkable spell designed to mark one's place in a book. Uncomfortable with having given him such an easy victory, Severus avoided looking at him and withdrew the first book that came to hand: his textbook on Transfiguration. Neither of them spoke further, though Lucius surprised him by humming under his breath as he studied. Tuning him out was a simple matter, his attention captured at once by the spells he needed to revise.

Narcissa joined them an indeterminate amount of time later, tossing her waterfall of blonde hair over her shoulder as she settled beside the seventh year. She turned a brief smile upon Severus. Beside her, Lucius hummed in acknowledgement and covered her hand with his larger one. He tangled their fingers together with practiced ease, and Severus could do nothing but wonder how he managed everything without seeming uncomfortable even once.

It was an ease that continued to bother him with every passing day, his time divided almost equally between Lily, and Lucius and Narcissa. It was strange, studying with Lucius. Normally, the seventh year never made a sound but for his quiet humming, but sometimes...when Severus was stumped...he would come around the table and ask what the matter was. He would poke and prod at him intellectually, his tone as sleek and aristocratic as ever, until the answer came to him on its own. Not spelling the answer out for him proved immensely beneficial and eventually he never needed to consult Lucius at all. Once or twice, Lucius even held out his own textbooks and discussed the more advanced spells with Severus; first the theory, and later the incantations once he ceased regarding Lucius with stubborn suspicion that his mother would have been proud of.

Severus loved those afternoons and evenings the most. He loved the chance to learn new curses, new hexes and jinxes, new charms. Professor Sato was always surprised by his growing repertoire whenever she asked him to assist with demonstrations in class, and tended to award points whenever he handled a more advanced spell with particular aplomb. Something his housemates approved of wholeheartedly; even Barberus Prince managed to be pleased at one point or another, though he belied such circumstances by tripping him in the corridors and stealing his things with alarming frequency. Not that his things were worth stealing.

The one person displeased by his upgrading skill was Lily, whose angry spark grew angrier until she slammed her books down on the desk opposite him one afternoon in the middle of December and snapped, "Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"You! Spending time with Malfoy!"

"Yes." Severus saw no reason to deny the accusation. Anyway, attempting to soften the blow would only come back and bite him in the end. He set aside an essay he began simply because he wanted to, and looked up at his irate friend. Her anger flooded her face with warm colour, one he had rarely seen directed towards him. Usually, she directed it towards others on his behalf. "Lily, why are you so angry with me? You're the one who insisted that I make friends and this relationship between me and Lucius Malfoy doesn't even stretch that far. We're study partners, nothing more."

"Really? Because Black says you're his lapdog."

The accusation came out sharp, sharper than anything he had ever heard from her. And it stung, like a wasp at the height of summer.

"And I suppose you always listen to what that mongrel says about me." Severus jumped up as the words escaped him on a hiss and shoved his things away, infuriated by the growing sting burning in his eyes. His hands shook with the powerful anger coursing through him. He pushed past her, ignoring her hushed shout under the watchful eye of the librarian and stormed from the library. He never stopped storming until his vision blurred and the crags below the viaduct heard the scuffle as his knees gave way, his books toppling from his satchel.

The rough stone scraping his palms stung less than the words Lily had uttered. Severus swallowed a bitter laugh at the thought as he settled on the ground and drew his knees closer, almost crushing them against his chest the way he would when he was younger. The wintry chill that had settled around Hogwarts in recent weeks sent bursts of pain shooting through his arm in various vibrant colours. He had brought no coat with him that morning. Normally, he never ventured outside in this weather unless necessary, and such moments often involved trekking across the grounds to reach the greenhouses or being shoved onto a broomstick despite his preference for remaining on the ground. Madam Hooch never listened to him. She never listened to anyone who claimed the sport was anything less than wonderful.

Naturally, she adored James Potter and his cruel sidekick and it seemed Lily would follow in her footsteps, choosing to side with them instead of him. Instead of someone she claimed was her best friend next to Petunia. A bitter smile twisted his mouth. But for a few wise girls in his own house, almost every girl in the year seemed to think the sun shone out of Potter's condescending arse. Not to mention every pore on his damned body. All the professors adored his winning smile and arrogant strutting like an overgrown peacock.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled sharply, wanting nothing more than to rip Potter's bloody feathers off. The mere knowledge that his tormentor was so beloved hurt twice as much as his agonised arm did. He almost found himself wanting to go home for the first time in his life. At least Mr Evans would have welcomed him with open arms had Tobias driven him away, would have welcomed him despite his wife's dislike of him. Of course, Mr Evans would also have stopped those damned Gryffindors from treating him that way, from treating him like he meant nothing – like he was barely even a person. He would have scolded Lily for repeating something any one of them had said. He would have stood by him.

The fabric of his robe was coarse and threadbare against his skin when Severus wiped his face hastily, his heart hammering when the doors opened. Lily appeared in the doorway. Her heavy coat threatened to suffocate her. Her shoes scuffed against the stone as Lily hastened across the viaduct and threw herself upon him with too much vigour, her arms winding around his neck. Her sudden weight almost smothered him. But he could find neither the will nor the strength to push her away, to keep his distance after the accusation she had repeated; his arms wrapped around her almost of their own volition.

"I'm sorry." The way her apology escaped was not unlike the way water rushed past within a babbling brook. Loose tendrils of crimson hair brushed his cheek. She tightened her arms around him. "I know what I said was mean and I'm sorry, so sorry for hurting you, but I was upset. I was angry! Don't you know what everyone's been saying about him and the others like him? Malfoy hates people like me, people like us!"

"But he doesn't seem very hateful right now," Severus grumbled against her shoulder, his face warming up rapidly and his stomach squirming the longer she remained attached to him. The warmth of her coat eased the pain in his arm a little. His hands clawed at her back. "He hasn't said anything about you, you know, and I'd tell him to shut up had he done so. But he hasn't mentioned anything of the sort. Not about you or me. All we do is study, Lily, I swear. I don't talk to him except to ask him something, and he doesn't talk to me unless he thinks a spell would interest me. We aren't friends."

"Okay, good. Don't ever be." Lily withdrew a moment or so later, her expression fraught with a multitude of emotions. She worried at her bottom lip, but shuffled around so she could sit beside him. She linked their arms together, squeezing his elbow with her warm hand. Automatically, Severus inched closer, avoiding her knowing glance when another chill gripped him. Chuckling, Lily pulled him even closer, her hair tickling his face once more. Her laughter soon faded as the chill pervaded even their warm huddle and sent a shiver through each of them. "Sev, you know I'm just looking out for you, don't you? I don't want to see you get hurt and Malfoy, he's slippery, he's like an eel or something, and he's just waiting to get his fangs into you. Promise me you'll be careful."

"I am being careful."

A week later, however, found Severus at home in Cokeworth with two letters clutched in his hand.

First and foremost was the missive from Narcissa. It was an expansive letter wishing him a happy holiday, and her best wishes for the New Year, which was accompanied by a handsome quill and two wax and seal sets: one bearing the Slytherin emblem and the other the Prince coat of arms. Seeing them warmed him. He had never expected to receive any gifts beyond those from Lily, Mr Evans, and his mother; the three people that mattered most to him.

But it was the second missive that concerned him most. It was short and simple: an admonition to stay warm in elegant script that flowed across the parchment without hesitation or mishap, without blots of ink splashed in every direction the way his card from Lily had been. The missive came with a pair of sleek black gloves that reached almost to his elbows and a scarf. Both garments pulsed with warmth as soon as he donned them. The heat spread through every inch of him until his muscles relaxed and the ache in his arm ebbed away, leaving him comfortable and content. And perhaps a fraction guilty, when he remembered Lily's warning, but the seventh year seemed almost amicable.

Lucius even seemed to care.

To Be Continued.

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