I can't concentrate for the life of me. Not when I have to stare at the back of his greasy head. I understand now why Sirius and James literally can't stand him. Before he was just mildly annoying, but now I could hex him into oblivion, and I wouldn't even bat an eyelash. How dare he call Lily a mudblood! She has defended him for years and how does he repay her? With a literal knife in the back. If Professor McGonagall wasn't such a hardass I would have already hexed him by now. I'll just have to do it after class
A gentle brush on my knee tears me away from my thoughts. I glance down and realise I have been rapidly bouncing my leg up and down. Looking up, I see Sirius's eyebrows are furrowed and his head tilted in concern. My anger instantly dissipates. Warmth spreads across my face as he smiles, nudging me with his elbow while gesturing toward the other side of the room. I turn and see that Peter has fallen asleep on Mary by accident, and she's desperately trying to push him off. Sirius and I bite down the laughter threatening to come out.
"Alright, I want 10 inches tonight on the vanishing spell tonight," Professor McGonagall says to the class. "And Mary dear, when Mr. Pettigrew wakes up, please tell him he has an extra five inches of parchment and for him to see me about his detention. Class is not naptime," she finishes before wiping the blackboard with a flick of her wand.
The class erupts in laughter at Peter, the noise seeming to finally wake him up. He looks around confused, and that seems to make the laughter even louder. He blushes, giving an apologetic smile to the glaring Mary.
"So what are you doing this weekend?" Sirius asks me as we're packing up to leave.
"I don't know. I might hang out with my sister, and Lily will probably make us study for O.W.L.S.," I say with a sigh. "Do you Marauders have any fun plans?"
"We were thinking about having a party. Wanna come," he asks with a smirk.
I grin back at him and say, "Sounds fun. But I don't know if Lily will want to go to a party." I notice her across the room and start making my way towards her. "I'll let you know if I can convince her," I say behind me to Sirius.
"Hey, Lils," I say to her as we walk out of the classroom. "So I have a great idea. You're going to love it," I say with a grin. She looks at me skeptically, knowing half the time my "great ideas" are not so great, at least to her. "How about a party this weekend?"
"Is this a Marauders party," she asks suspiciously as she narrows her eyes at James, Sirius, and Remus who were waiting for Peter to be done talking to Professor McGonagall.
"Maybe," I say slowly, trying to ease her into the idea. "But I will protect you from James the entire time! It'll give us a break from studying, and it might make you feel better!" I tell her, giving her a big hopeful smile.
She sighs and says, "I don't know, y/n. I don't think I'm up for a party. Plus, O.W.L.S. are only a month away."
I begin to respond, but as we are turning the corner, something catches my eyes at the end of the otherwise empty hallway. There's a group of Slytherins surrounding a young Ravenclaw girl. As we get closer I see that it's Snape, Avery, and Mulciber pointing their wands, I realise with a sickening feeling in my stomach, at my sister. She's backed up against the wall and it looks like she's holding her arm like it's hurt. Without thinking, I run to the end of the hall and shove the Slytherins aside to get to my sister.
"Ellie, are you okay? What happened?" I ask quickly, scanning my eyes over her to see what's wrong. Tears are running down her face, and her arm looks burned. I pull out my wand, and I push her behind me. Turning around to the group, I point my wand at Snape.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Do you get off on bullying first years?" I yell at him. He glares at me in return, and his friends turn their wands at me. He starts to answer, but Lily comes from behind and pushes past him to kneel down in front of Ellie. His eyes follow her, cautious and guarded.
"Y/n, her arm looks pretty bad. I think we need to take her to the Hospital Wing," she says to me.
"Okay, you go. I'll be right behind you," I say, still glaring at Snape.
"Y/n, I think-"
"Just take Ellie and go!" I interrupt her, never taking my eyes off the group of Slytherins. She looks at me hesitantly but nods. She turns back to put her arm around Ellie, leading her away.
"Don't do anything stupid," she mutters in my ear as she passes. The Slytherins let them pass, their focus now on me.
"Looks like you don't have any more backup. It's just you against us," Avery says with a grin.
"Oh, Severus, are you too scared to fight me alone? Afraid you'll lose," I taunt him. He narrows his eyes at me, caught in my obvious trap. The air crackles with tension as my words hang in the air. The room falls silent, everyone waiting for the first move.
"I wasn't scared of your little sister, and I'm definitely not scared of you," he scoffs. "You're both just filthy mudbloods."
Everything goes red, and before I can think, I wave my wand and snap, "Flipendo!"
Snape is forcefully thrown back, his body crashing against the cold stone floor. Avery and Mulciber raise their wands to retaliate, but Snape raises a hand, halting their advance. He slowly rises to his feet, his eyes burning with malice.
"Stop, I can fight her on my own." He raises his wand, and a surge of magical energy gathers at its tip. "Petrificus Totalus!"
A white light bursts out of his wand and hurtles straight toward me.
Reacting on pure instinct, I command, "Protego!" The curse bounces, dissipating into the air. "Nice try, Snivellus. Is that the best you can do?"
No insult I could throw at him would make up for what he's done. First calling Lily a mudblood, then attacking my sister, and finally he insults me as well by calling me a mudblood. No. He's asked for it.
"Stupefy," I yell, my voice dripping with venom. He casts his own projection charm, causing the spell to ricochet off his shield. We find ourselves slowly circling, waiting to see who will make the next move.
"Reducto!"
I fling myself out of the way of the incoming curse. It shoots past me, hitting a suit of armor. It blasts apart into a cloud of swirling ash. I raise my eyebrow and say, "Someone's getting a bit more excited." I pause, smirking before yelling, "Expulso!" The blue light bursts out with blinding speed, but he narrowly dodges it. It manages to hit Avery instead, throwing him back into another suit of armor with a yell.
"Finish her Snape before I do!" Avery shouts as he struggles to get up.
"Aww is little Severus scared?" I say in a high, mocking voice. I know that I'm testing the limits, pushing an everyday fight into the realm of a deadly duel, but I can't seem to care as pure adrenaline pumps through me. "You know you've got balls calling someone a mudblood when you're half muggle yourself."
His face pales as his eyes widen in horror. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Avery and Mulciber look at Snape with their jaws dropped.
"Oh was that supposed to be a secret? Whoops." I can't help but giggle. "Lily told me. I guess she likes me more than you."
"Shut up!" he roars, his composure completely crumbling. "Confringo! Expelliarmus! Stupify!"
His wand slashes through the air, releasing a barrage of curses. I duck, dodge, and employ every protective charm at my disposal, doing everything in my power to avoid the incoming curses. Finally, Snape pauses, his nostrils flaring, and his eyes blazing with a manic intensity.
I'm out of breath and tired, but I ignore it. "Can't even beat a Gryffindor. No wonder Lily dropped you," I say with a laugh. A part of me is surprised by my own cruelty, but another part revels in inflicting just a fraction of the pain he has wrought upon others. "It was your own fault you know," I snarl at him. "And now you've pushed her into the welcoming arms of James Potter."
A chilling silence descends upon the room as his eyes transform from dark brown to pitch black. In a split second, he raises his wand and whispers, "Sectumsempra!" A blinding light comes towards me faster than any spell I've seen before. Time slows as I raise my wand, but I know it's too late. Just as the spells are about to hit me, a force pushes me out of the way, knocking me to the ground. My stomach drops as I see Sirius lying on the ground right where I was standing, blood seeping through his white shirt.
I gasp before rushing over to him to kneel down–all thoughts of the duel completely forgotten. His eyes are closed, and his eyebrows are scrunched together in pain. I cradle his head in my lap, my hands trembling as I assess his chest. His shirt is now completely covered in blood. I tear open his shirt and bite down a gasp at the sight. There are several deep gashes scattered across his chest. None of the rudimentary healing spells I know can fix this. Looking up at Snape, I see he's staring, frozen in shock.
"What did you do?" I yell at him. He doesn't move. "Stop staring and fix this!" That finally seems to break him out of his stupor. His eyes are still panicking, but he quickly comes over to Sirius's side. I watch as he takes his wand and starts muttering spells I can't understand. The wounds begin closing, and I release a long-held breath of relief.
He stops once the bleeding has stopped, and the gashes have been reduced to shallow cuts. "I can't do anymore" he shakes his head, "He needs to go to the Hospital Wing," he tells me.
I realize my face is covered in tears, so I quickly wipe them away. They still continue to fall.
"I can't carry him. He's too heavy," I say as evenly as I can, but it comes out garbled.
He thinks for a second before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I'll go get Madam Pince," he says before standing up.
"Why are you helping me?" I ask, suspicious. He looks down at me and narrows his eyes.
"I'm not doing this for you," he snaps. He pauses. "Besides I won't snitch on you for starting a duel if you won't snitch on me for cursing your boyfriend," he finishes more calmly.
"You hexed my sister!" I yell, ignoring his last remark.
"And I'm sure Lily has already reported me," he says monotone. "However, no one knows about our duel except for you, Black, and then Avery and Mulciber." I look around and realise we're the only ones in the hallway. Avery and Mulciber must have fled as soon as Sirius got hurt.
"Fine," I ground out. "Just hurry."
I turn back to Sirius as Snape starts running down the hall. He's still unconscious, but his eyebrows are scrunched together. Without thinking, I run my fingers over them, hoping by erasing the lines, I might ease his pain. They slightly relax, so I move one hand to his hair and the other to his cheek. I study his face and notice for the first he has light freckles across his nose. I smile at the discovery.
"You know you better be okay for your party. I was looking forward to it," I grumble, hoping it would wake him. His eyes stay closed. I sigh. "You're kind of an idiot. You shouldn't have saved me back there. You could have died." I say before smiling. "But thank you."
"You're welcome," he mutters with a smirk, his eyes still closed.
I gasp and place both of my hands on his face. "Sirius? Are you okay? Does your chest hurt?"
He slightly opens his eyes and weakly smiles at me. "I'm fine. Just don't move, okay?" he says before closing his eyes again.
"Of course. Madam Pince is on her way. Is there anything I can do?"
"Can you go back to playing with my hair and caressing my face? It felt nice," he says with a grin.
I laugh, rolling my eyes, but do what he asks. We sit there in comfortable silence for a few more minutes until Madam Pince comes rushing down the hall.
"Severus told me what happened," she says, out of breath. The Hospital Wing is on the other side of the Castle, so she's run quite a long way. "They don't look that deep, but he should still come to the Hospital Wing for me to look over him," she says as she leans over to inspect Sirius's chest. "Can you stand?" she asks him, and he nods.
Madam Pince and I grab both of his arms and help him up. He grimaces but seems steady enough to walk. I hold his arm for support, and we slowly make our way toward the Hospital Wing.
"You really should be more careful, Mr. Black. Those suits of armor are quite dangerous", she says, gesturing to the overturned suit of armor Avery knocked into.
"Oh yes, quite the clutz I can be," he says with a serious nod. I snort quietly, and he gives me a quick wink.
We finally get to the Hospital Wing, and I see my sister laying down with Lily sitting at the foot of her bed. Once I get Sirius comfortable on a bed, I rush over to Ellie, sitting down beside her.
"Are you alright?" I ask. Her arm has a small bandage on it and her cheeks are stained with tears, but besides that, she seems okay. I realise I probably don't look any better.
"Yeah, you told me I should be careful around Slytherins, but you never said what assholes they can be," she replies with an eye roll. Both Lily and I laugh at her remark.
"Well, what happened to cause them to be such assholes? You know, besides the obvious."
"Well, I was walking down the hall after class. I was kind of distracted because I was reading." I give her a look but she ignores me. I've told her several times not to walk and read at the same time. "I accidentally bumped into Mulciber," she pauses, grimacing at the memory. "You can connect the dots from there".
I nod and turn towards Lily. "What did you tell Madam Pince?"
"I said that Avery, Mulciber, and Sev-" she stops. "-Snape were surrounding her in the hallway and probably cursed her," she sighs. I begin to say something but she continues. "What happened to Black?" she asks and gestures across the room toward Sirius being treated with a potion.
"Well long story short, I took your advice of not being stupid and started a duel with Snape." She gives me a reprimanding look. "Yeah well, he deserved it. Anyway, he cast some weird curse, and I didn't have time to block it. Next thing I know I'm being pushed out of the way, and Sirius is unconscious on the ground with blood gushing out of him."
Her face darkens, and she looks away. "I was probably some Dark Arts spell," she says bitterly.
A moment passes in silence. I want to say something to make her feel better, but my sister beats me to it. "So Sirius Black saved you?" she says with a grin. Lily snorts from behind me.
"Very funny, but I didn't need his help. Perfectly fine on my own," I tell her.
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Sure if bleeding out in the hallway is your definition of fine. You should be happy. He's hot." I hear Lily gag behind me.
"Merlin's sake, Ellie. You're eleven," I tell her, even though I was for sure thirsting after boys at her age. "And he is in fact, not hot," I deadpan.
"Aw, is that really what you should say about your knight in shining armor," I hear a deep voice behind me. I freeze before turning around. Sirius is now standing at the foot of the bed with a smirk on his face.
"I should have left you out in the hallway," I tease.
"But then who will throw that party you were so looking forward to?" he says.
That reminds me–the party.
"I don't know if I should go with Ellie alone in the hospital wing," I tell him disappointedly.
"I'll be fine here," she states while petulantly pushing my shoulder. "Madam Pince said I only have to stay overnight," she adds before smiling mischievously. "Plus, you owe it to your hero," she sings. I hear Sirius laugh behind me, and I turn and glare at him.
"Okay, I'll go," I announce, causing both Ellie and Sirius to cheer. I turn to Lily, my gaze completely in puppy-eyes mode. "But Lily, you have to come with me," I plead.
"Y/n, I have studying to do, and I'm tired," she says with a sigh.
"Aww come on," I whine. " I can't go without you, and I almost died today," I say. She rolls her eyes at my dramatics. "I promise it will be fun." I tug on her arm, seeming to have gone from the responsible big sister to a pseudo-annoying little sister.
"Fine, I'll come," she says smiling. "But I'm leaving early," she finishes with conviction.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I shout and hug her. I turn toward Sirius and nod affirmatively. "We'll be there!"
"Can't wait," he grins. "It starts at 8. See you then," he says as he starts backing away toward the door.
I nod and watch him as he exits. When I turn back, I notice Lily giving me a look. "What?" I ask innocently.
"Are you sure you know what you're getting into, y/n," she asks me–not judgemental, just concerned.
"I don't know, Lily. Are you sure you know what you're getting into," I say teasingly, ignoring her question.
"You know what I mean," she sighs as she rolls her eyes, but she lets the subject drop. "We should probably go up and get ready," she says, getting up from the bed.
I join her, but before we leave I turn back to Ellie. "Are you sure you'll be alright," I ask her, studying her face to make sure she's really okay.
"Yes, mother, I'll be fine," she sighs. "Go." She waves to the door. "Have fun with Sirius," she says as she wiggles her eyebrows. I don't encourage her with a response, but I can't help but chuckle as I follow Lily toward the exit. I'm almost to the door when I hear behind me, "But not too much fun! Wrap it before you tap it!"
"ELLIE, YOU'RE ELEVEN!"
a/n Maybe I'll make a part 2 about the actual party? Let me know if anyone would interested in that :)