The Untold Story

Chapter 14: Hallowe'en

October 31, 1971

Since the incident where Malfoy and Black had stood up for Severus, he patched up his relation with his roommates and even interacted with the Slytherin girls in his year. Narcissa, it seemed, had taken a liking to him and made it her mission to make sure he was well-connected with his female peers. He tried to find a clean uniform pair to wear knowing that Selwyn and Rosier were waiting for him in the common room.

"You can't wear that same old boring uniform to the feast!" Sierra Selwyn called out horrified as he walked out of the Slytherin male dorms.

"I don't really have fancy dress robes…" he trailed off blushing.

She glared at Rosier who just shrugged and relented, "Fine, I should have another pair of dress robes."

Severus followed Rosier back up to the dorm and changed into Rosier's dress robes.

"I am sorry about wearing your dress robes. It's just a feast and as far as I know there isn't any dress code." Severus said apologetically.

Rosier rolled his eyes. "Sierra, just comes an old pureblood family that celebrates Samhain instead of Hallowe'en. Although I could use some help in potions."

"Sure, I can help." Severus replied nodding knowing he couldn't deny Rosier help.

Sierra gave them a curt nod of approval before leading the way to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en Feast. Severus froze in awe as he looked at the decorated Great Hall. It was filled with huge pumpkin lanterns that glowed a warm ember and live bats hung from the ceiling blocking some parts of the enchanted stars. Evan Rosier gave a friendly push and his feet moved involuntarily to join his peers Selwyn, Greengrass and Mulciber.

"Took you long enough." Mulciber grunted.

"We would have been faster if Snape here wasn't stunned by the Hall he sees everyday." Rosier snorted.

Gina Greengrass smiled at him sweetly and said, "Nice dress robes, Severus."

"Thanks, but they belong to Evan." Severus sheepishly replied.

As Dumbledore took to the stage and gave his long-winded Halloween speech, Severus zoned out by reflecting on his Slytherin peers. Overall, they weren't too bad. Rosier had sweetened up to him immediately after Andromeda publicly announced that the House of Black stood with Snape. Evan often reminded Severus of Lucius: arrogant, posh and proud but not necessarily mean. In contrast, Mulciber was often very rough and at times unnecessarily cruel. Avery and Mulciber were good friends and Walter Wilkes was a very quiet boy who was often on his own. The Slytherin girls he supposed were all very aloof and quiet like Narcissa. The only exception to that rule was Sierra Selwyn who was very headstrong and demanding. He supposed that was because she was an only child and would one day be the next head of the Ancient and Noble House of Selwyn.

Sierra poked his stomach raising her eyebrows expectantly, "Are you going to eat or is your stomach full?"

Severus didn't retort as he gobbled his food.

Remus was glad that the full moon wasn't until a couple more days. This month when it had been the full moon, his friends had noticed his absence and he panicked before telling them he had to visit his sick muggle grandmother. They had accepted it without much fuss but he had no clue what he was going to tell him when the next full moon arrived.

"Remmy, you look down. Are you feeling alright?" Sirius asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, I am fine. Just a little tired." Remus replied.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be bursting with energy like Merlin after the feast. Dad says the feasts at Hogwarts are divine." James said as he crossed the dorm before cheerfully going back to singing, "Samhain, Samhain, let the ritual begin, We call upon our sacred ancestors to come in. Samhain, Samhain, we call upon our kin, We call upon our dear departed loved ones to come in…"

After a few moments, Peter came dressed out the bathroom he had been hogging.

"I'll race you down, James!" Sirius yelled as he ran out of the door with James chasing behind him. Peter followed them too but his short legs kept him behind. A sore Remus, sighed, before closing their door and slowly following his friends.

To say the food served during the Halloween Feast was divine was a great understatement. Sirius had no words to describe how amazing the carrot cake tasted. He was eating his third portion of carrot cake and he could care less. James was also busy drinking himself to death with pumpkin juice. Remus still looked a little sick although he loaded his plate with chocolate and Peter was licking a big red lollipop.

Sirius could not for the life of him understand why the Blacks never had such colorful festivities. Hallows Eve at home always consisted of all the Blacks meeting to solemnly pray for their ancestors before eating in a depressing silence with snarky comments and fake concerns littered in. Then the children were dismissed to bed, and the older Blacks continued their faux-civilities to discuss politics and alliances. He was surprised by how seriously James took Hallows' Eve. He supposed their family celebrated Samhain which had deeper roots but James's sincerity in praying for his ancestors had surprised Sirius.

Sirius could care less about his Black ancestors. He just wanted Regulus to survive for an year with his crazy parents before he joined Sirius at Hogwarts where Sirius could keep his little brother safe. However, he hadn't heard from either his parents or Reggie since his sorting and Sirius was starting to fear the worst. Andy assured him that Reggie would be fine but she didn't know his mother like he did.

James seemed to have an inner radar synced to Sirius feelings. He put his arm around Sirius's shoulder, "Siri, you should try some pumpkin juice, it's the best."

Sirius made a unappealing face. "Why would I ruin the taste of my favorite carrot cake with something much less appetizing?" he asked rhetorically.

"Oi! Pumpkin juice is the best."

"Nuh uh, Butterbeer is."

As they squabbled on, Sirius buried his worries about Reggie to spend time with his brother in all but blood.

November 2nd, 1971

The full moon had arrived and Remus was terrified for he still hadn't thought of a plausible excuse to tell his friends. Instead, he tried to focus on his classes today: Herbology, Flying, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He supposed Herbology wasn't too bad and while flying he could stick low in the sky. In Transfiguration, he had James to help him any new spell but DADA was with Mulciber which would be painful. That was it...maybe he could just let Mulciber hurt him during DADA and then he could just go to the Hospital Wing to "recuperate" in peace.

Just as Remus had predicted the day had passed by easily enough and the four boys made their way to the DADA classroom.

"Ughh...I have to be with Wilkes again. He is always better at spells than me." Peter groaned.

"That's not true. You just need a little more confidence in your spell work." Remus gently reminded Peter.

"At least you don't have to deal with the dumb slimy Sylvain Avery. Try defending him." James growled to Remus.

"I am not defending them. In case you have forgotten, I have to deal with Mulciber who just tries to pummel me muggle style every time my spell work succeeds." Remus defended himself.

"Yeah, Mulciber is a creep." Sirius agreed.

"What about you Siri? You never complain about Snape." Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged while James gave a frown. "He isn't like the other Slytherins."

As Sirius took his seat next to Severus who gave a slight smile, he couldn't help but compare the other Slytherins to Severus. Severus wasn't cruel like the others; he was, of course, very sarcastic but Andy had a sharp bite too. He also seemed honourable. As far he knew, Severus hadn't told anybody of the prank or their meeting in the charms room.

"Stop staring at me, Black!" Severus said in a low no-nonsense voice staring right ahead.

"Why? Afraid you'll fall in love if you stare at my beautiful eyes?" Sirius playfully taunted.

"With such a vain man? Never." Severus said his obsidian eyes staring down Sirius's stormy grey ones.

"Today we will be practicing the shield charm 'protego' again. Find your partners and start." Professor Hylnir commanded.

As usual, Sirius and Severus faced each other mixing each other taunting remarks with their practice spells. Towards the back of the room, Mulciber was glaring evilly at Lupin. Remus was in no mood to put a fight and his muscles were starting to be sore.

"Let's go Lupin. Stupefy!" Mulciber yelled.

Remus reacted quickly with his shield charm but his weak 'protego' sent him flying back towards the classroom wall. He heard a thud and that was the last he knew.

"What has happened over there?!" Professor Hylnir yelled as he made his way to the back of the classroom.

"Lupin…" he said softly trying to shake unresponsive Remus awake. The rest of the students had ceased their practice and gathered around Mulciber and a fallen Remus.

"Mulciber! I did not authorize the use of stupefy. My instructions clearly stated to use titillando. Detention, tonight! Potter, take Lupin to the Hospital Wing." Hylnir seriously stated.

All the students looked on in silence before James quietly made his way to Remus and Professor Hylnir lifted Lupin up. Potter catched him around his back as Lupin leaned onto Potter's right shoulder.

"Everyone else, back to practice. Avery, Mulciber you may both practice together and DO NOT use stupefy."

Severus noticed Sirius's spell had a lot more power and his eyes held a fiery rage deep within them. As soon as Hylnir dismissed the class, Sirius rushed out with Pettigrew without even bothering to say goodbye to Severus. It shouldn't have bothered him but it did.

AN: Our thanks to geekymom. We know how it is to be the anonymous reader; for many years, we were too. However, once we became writers we realized how valuable reviews are. So please comment and let us know your thoughts. Happy Easter!