Chapter 22: A Tumultuous End

June 1, 1972

"The nerve!" Lily huffed as she set her books on the wooden table. Completely ignoring the look Madam Pince sent their way, she dropped onto the chair. Her friend sent the librarian an apologetic glance as he warily watched the angry redhead. "If I have to have another class with that pompous…"

"Lily!" Severus interrupted her. She looked at him, her green eyes widened startled by his tone. "Allow me to remind you that we're in the library." He told her. Most people would've been insulted at the admonishment. However, Lily knew her friend only meant well.

"Right." She said shaking her head. "I shouldn't have reacted like that." She sighed and put her head on the table. "Please tell me that I won't have to see that arse tomorrow." Severus snorted. "See!" she lifted her head quickly and pointed at Severus accusingly. "Even you think so!"

"Potter is an idiot. Your point being?" Severus questioned nonchalantly as he turned his head back to his textbook.

"Sev." Lily whined.

"Hmm…" Without lifting his head up he gestured for her to carry on. Lily glared at her oldest friend before gently shoving him.

"At least listen to me. I'm being serious." She pouted

"I am listening. Seriously." He told her, but the amused look in his eyes told her exactly what he thought of the issue.

"You're teasing me. You meanie." She crossed her arms and playfully glared at him. Chuckling, Severus put his book down and gave his friend his undivided attention.

"Alright my Lady, tell me your concerns and allow me to alleviate your troubles." He replied in a equally playful tone. Lily giggled before her face morphed into a more serious face.

"He's so annoying!" Lily began. "You've seen him. All he does is bully people, and he's so arrogant."

"He is annoying." Severus agreed.

"He's such a bloody prat." Lily exclaimed. Severus blinked, astonished at his friend's descriptive diction. "Sorry." She mumbled sheepishly.

"No, you're rather right. He's a pain in the arse. And Merlin knows he's got enough arrogance to make us all drop dead." Severus agreed. Lily blinked, and suddenly, she started to laugh. Severus looked at her confused. Did he say something funny?

"I knew you would make me feel better." She replied breathlessly as she wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes. Severus looked at her and smiled. "Alright, now time to study for finals." Lily said as she put her hands together on her lap and turned to face Severus. "Take it away professor."

"He's coming." Cissa whispered as she watched her older sister's stony face. "Andy stop acting like a child." the blond hissed quietly as she watched the tall man make his way towards them. "You will behave, if not for yourself, then for the honor of our family." Spinning around, Andy faced her little sister her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Family?" Andy scoffed. "What do you know about family?" Andy harshly questioned. Hurt briefly flashed across Narcissa's face before returning to her original mask.

"More than you do." Narcissa stated, turning to face her food. Andromeda laughed bitterly.

"You think so?"

"Excuse me Lady Black." the dark haired man slightly inclined his head at the blonde and then turned to his fiancee. "May I speak to you?" He questioned. Andromeda stared at her food. His question was a formality, his real meaning was hidden between the lines: come now or face the consequences later. But her sister did not see that, no one did. No one but her.

"Of course." Andromeda smiled as she acquiesced, putting on the act that she was taught. She bent towards her younger sister. "Family above all else." she quoted emotionlessly, staring her sister down before straightening, offering her fiance her arm. Hurt flashed across Narcissa's face as she stared after her older sister. Closing her eyes, she clasped her hands together, forcing herself not to cry.

"Family above all else." she repeated, trying to forget the distant look in her sister's eyes.

"You just said something about family?" Rabastan asked as the two walked out of the Great Hall.

"A reminder to my sister." Andromeda lied smoothly, allowing Rabastan to lead her through the corridors.

"A reminder to her or to you?" He asked her. Andy froze. She took note of the deserted hallway, a hallway students almost never used.

"I beg your pardon?" Rabastan's grip tightened on her arm. Andy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from flinching. "Let me go." Andromeda enunciated coldly, her eyes staring defiantly up at the pair of cruel onyx eyes. When Rabastan made no move to release his hold, she forcefully yanked her arm out of his grip. Before she could move, Rabastan roughly shoved her into a wall and pointed his wand at her throat.

"Listen to me now and listen well." He growled, enjoying the brief look of terror in her eyes. " From the moment your father gave you to me you were mine." Andy turned away defiantly. Rabstan grabbed her face and turned it towards him. "Do you understand?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"I belong to no one." Andy spit at his face, the flame in her eyes smoldered. She watched in satisfaction as he wiped his face in disgust. Turning, he slapped her, hard. Andy's face whipped to the side, her hand flying to cradle her cheek. No doubt there would be a bruise tomorrow. A tear escaped her eye.

"Do you understand?" he repeated softly. Andy bit her lip and looked at the floor. Suddenly, another crack echoed in the corridor. Rabastan stared at her in shock, his free hand flew up to his stinging cheek. "How dare you! Brevis Adflicto!" he hissed at her. Andy fell to the floor, her body spazzing as she screamed in pain. Her body was on fire. She'd never been in so much pain. The spell stopped a long minute later. Rabastan stared down at Andy as her muscles quivered in exhaustion. "Remember this bitch. Talk to that mudblood again and you'll regret it." Andy looked up as the teen smirked at her and walked off. Curling into a ball, Andy let silent tears stream down her face. Hugging herself protectively, she closed her eyes and let her exhaustion take her.

"Andy?" a worried voice called her. Her eyes cracked upon and she looked up to see a familiar face swim in her line of vision.

"Siri?" her voice cracked and her cousin helped her up gently.

"What happened?" He asked her as he looked at her appearance. "Who did this to you?" His eyes swirled with emotion: anger, hatred, but mostly concern.

"How'd you find me?" She questioned as her cousin started to help her up.

"We're going to the hospital wing." Sirius stated. Andy dug her heels into the stone and shook her head, which brought another bout of pain.

"No." she turned to her cousin. "I'm not going to give him the satisfaction. As far as anyone knows, nothing happened today." She stared at Sirius sternly. "Promise me." she demanded when he remained silent. After a few seconds of tense silence he finally gave her a curt nod.

"I'm not forgiving him for this." Sirius stated coldly as he thought about the Slytherin that hurt his cousin. His fists clenched reflexively.

"Good." Andy nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. "I won't either." Taking out her wand, she quickly used a disillusionment charm to fix up her face. "How do I look?" she asked.

"Perfect." he smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Let's go. Are classes over?"

"Yeah, they finished a while ago." Sirius answered. He refrained from asking her questions, although he did glance at her worriedly from time to time. She would periodically slow down and stop, her breathing would get heavy and her eyebrows would furrow in pain. They remained silent. Each preoccupied with their thoughts.

"Tell me." Sirius finally asked when they stopped for the fifth time. Andy looked at him and smiled. Her lower lip started to quiver. Sirius watched helplessly as his formidable cousins face crumpled.

"Oh, Sirius." she pulled her younger cousin close and wrapped her arms around him. Sobs racked her body. "He's horrible." She sniffled. Sirius closed his eyes and leaned into his cousins embrace. Slowly, he rubbed her back.

"I know." he whispered quietly. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he forced himself not to break down. He had to be strong. He had to be strong for Andy. A tear slipped down his face as he remembered seeing the bruise on her face moments ago.

"I won't marry him." She whispered. Sirius nodded, as he opened his eyes. "I'd rather die" her voice was thick with emotion. Sirius tightened his hug and nodded again.

Hours later, Sirius lay awake as he replayed his evening. Sirius Andy had said. This is my fight. You don't have to forgive him, but this is is my battle. I'll fight this war. In the dark Sirius smiled as he remembered the determination in his cousins eyes. You can fight the war Andy he thought as he closed his eyes, and if you lose I'll be there to fight it for you.

"May I speak with you?" Malfoy had approached her after Andy had left. Narcissa quickly pushed away the hurt and confusion away and smiled.

"Of course." the couple walked outside, into the courtyard. "It's a beautiful day." Narcissa commented.

"Indeed." Lucius agreed. It was sunny, but not overly hot. Instead it was a bearable temperature thanks to the occasional cool breeze. After that they both fell awkwardly silent. Narcissa opened her mouth, but Lucius beat her to it. "Forgive me Lady Black." Narcissa blinked in surprise as Lucius turned to face her.

"Whatever for?" she questioned. I don't recall him doing or saying anything wrong she thought as she racked her memory.

"For the unfairness of this marriage." He continued. Narcissa frowned. Does he not want it anymore? Panic filled her at once.

"Is the arrangement not to your liking?" Narcissa asked. Her heart beat frantically.

"No, it's not." Hurt flashed across Narcissa's face and Lucius fumbled as he tried to fix the situation. "Wait. No. That's not what I meant." Lucius sighed. The normally put together pureblood took a deep breath and looked at Narcissa in the eye. "You're being forced into this marriage. I only realized afterwards that only my feelings were taken into account when our parents made the decision. Yours were ignored. As such, this arrangement is unfair to you." Narcissa blinked. She blushed, a smile twitched at the corner of her lips. He'd thought about her, about her feelings. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had said anything as thoughtful and kind. Perhaps Andy, but these days all she seemed to be doing is distancing herself. Narcissa pushed the negative thoughts to the back of her mind.

"Thank you." she whispered. Lucius looked at her as she continued to stare straight ahead. She turned towards him and offered him a gentle smile. "For thinking about me." She clarified.

"It was the right thing to do." He shook his head. They stood there in comfortable silence. "What is your decision?" Lucius finally asked. He had turned away, his eyes focusing on something in the distance. Narcissa studied the older man. Until today, she'd only known him as the proper pureblood. If they'd married, he would've been good to her, but there would be no love between them. Even friendship would've been out of the question, but the fact that he cared about her opinion highlighted his character. He liked her, or at least he valued her enough to value her opinion.

"During the summer, we should go somewhere." Narcissa said softly. She looked up at Lucius. "Get to know each other better." The blond man smiled and nodded. She agreed he thought happily, a warm feeling blooming in his chest. Suddenly, they both heard the bell ring. "We should go." Narcissa sighed.

"Or we could stay." Lucius stated. The blond woman paused.

"Or we could stay." she agreed quietly. The two sat down on the grass, enjoying the silent company of the other. Eventually, the sky darkened signalling the end of the day. The two returned to the castle hand in hand.

June 10, 1972

Finals were over, and the halls filled with chatter about summer plans. Severus sighed as he stared at his packed trunk. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving tomorrow morning. He didn't want to go back. That's the only thing he knew for sure. Sitting down, he let himself fall back onto his bed. Everyone seemed excited to leave. Well, everyone but him and Black it seemed. Surprisingly, the Black heir didn't seem too keen on the idea of going back home. Probably because he got sorted into the "wrong house" Severus rolled his eyes. "Wrong house." He muttered darkly. "What a stupid idea." Severus closed his eyes, going back to think of his own dilemma. It's only three months, you've survived years he reminded himself.

"Hey Snape!" his eyes snapped open and he stared irritably at Mulciber. "We're playing chess in the common room." Slowly, the dark haired boy got up and followed his classmate. Soon enough, he was sitting down on a couch, watching his classmates play chess in boredom.

"You don't look very entertained."

"And you sound unusually happy." Severus replied. After a year, Severus had tuned into Malfoy's feelings extremely well. He could tell what the blond was feeling just by hearing his tone.

"Hmm." Lucius didn't offer him any insight, and Severus decided not to ask. He had other ways of obtaining information.

"Have any plans for the summer?" Lucius inhaled sharply at the first years words.

"She told you." Lucius guessed. Severus smirked, completely ignoring the chess game in front of him now.

"She's quite excited." Severus avoided answering the question. Over the past few weeks, Narcissa and Severus had gotten quite close. That meant that Severus was usually kept up to date in the details of his allies courtship.

"So am I." Lucius admitted. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"I doubt your here to talk about your fiance." Severus changed the topic.

"I'm not." Lucius shifted to face the first year. "If you want to come to Malfoy Manor this summer, you'd be welcome to."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Yes." Lucius said. Severus blinked, shocked at the straight answer, but he finally nodded. "How else am I supposed to teach you enough etiquette to get you through a wedding?" Severus bit his lip to keep himself from smiling. Narcissa had hinted at inviting him to Andromeda's wedding. Severus thought she was kidding.

"I'd be honored to come." Severus said finally. The older student stood.

"I'll send you an owl." He finally said. "See you at the feast in the evening, and say your goodbyes to your friends." Lucius instruced, morphing back into the stern pureblood mentor. Severus nodded. "A verbal answer"

"Of course." The blonde nodded, satisfied. He turned and left the room. A few minutes later, Severus stood and left as well. Aimlessly, he wandered the castle. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice as he walked into an unfamiliar corridor. A hiss startled him. He looked down to see a cat. A cat he was pretty sure belonged to the unpleasant Hogwarts caretaker. The caretaker would surely be here in a few seconds and try to give him a detention or worse. "Shoot." he muttered. Quickly, he turned and ran into a what he hoped was an empty broom closet.

"Hey!" A voice protested as he ducked inside and closed the door. The voice sounded oddly familiar.

"Black?" Severus questioned.

"This is my hiding spot. Find your own." The Black heir stated, the tip of his wand glowed in the darkness of the closet.

"I don't see your name on it." Severus pointed out.

"And I don't see yours." Sirius snapped.

"Shut up." Severus hissed. "He'll find us."

"He's already going to find us, no thanks to that stupid cat." Sirius countered.

"No thanks to your loud mouth." Severus muttered.

"Excu..." Sirius stopped as they heard the caretaker's voice. The two boys froze. Suddenly, the door to the closet slammed open. Both boys squinted as light streamed in.

"Please sir. We didn't do anything wrong." Severus started immediately.

"It's the last bloody day for Merlin's sake!" Sirius shouted at the same time. Severus mentally hit his head for thinking that Sirius Black would actually help him get out of this situation. Way to make it ten times worse Black he thought bitterly as he aimed a sharp glare at the other boy.

"Finally caught you Potter." Filch said gleefully. "Detention for disrespecting other people and property." Filch pointed at both boys, a wide smile stretched across his face.

"Sir, I didn't do anything wrong." Severus pointed out calmly.

"Detention for talking back." Filch hissed.

"That's not fair." Sirius snapped.

"Life's not fair, Black. Now shut up and let me handle the situation." Severus growled, wondering how he was going to fix the situation. Suddenly, there was a crash. A cackle echoed through the corridor, and a ghost zipped past them laughing. Severus watched cautiously as Filch's face reddened.

"PEEVES!" He screamed in rage, his attention diverted from the boys.

"Run." Both boys whispered at the same time, taking off in the opposite direction as the poltergeist.

"BLACK!" The caretaker yelled as the boys dashed away. They came to a stop panting.

"That was…" Severus said breathlessly.

"Amazing." Sirius finished. The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen him that mad. That was brilliant."

"I don't think I've ever broken so many rules." Severus muttered.

"Hang out with me and you'll say that more often." Sirius promised as he winked. The two smiled, and became silent. "I'm sorry." Sirius finally said softly after a few moments. Severus looked at him blankly and Sirius cleared his throat. "That day… after break… in class." Understanding lit up in Severus's eyes. Sirius looked away.

"So am I." Sirius looked at him confused. "For being rude to you just now." Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, about that." He ran a hand through his hair. "I was being an arse, so….it's fine." He grinned sheepishly.

"At least we agree about one thing." Severus muttered.

"Hey!" Sirius pouted playfully. "That's mean!"

"I had no idea." Severus replied sarcastically. The two smiled at each other after a few seconds. "See you next year."

"You make it sound like I'm about to die or something."

"What a blessing that would be." Severus muttered dryly. Sirius smirked before walking away.