AN: Wotcher everyone, I can't believe I've written chapter four already, I can remember when I first got the idea for this thing. Thank you soo much for all the lovely reviews you've given me thus far. I really do appreciate them, thank GOD it's the weekend soon so I'll be able to maybe post two chapters/day! *fingers crossed* Without further ado, here's chapter four and I hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER; All characters apart from Simona belong to the almighty J.K Rowling. I am but a lowly fanfiction writer who puts her characters back after writing about them.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE BEST LAID SCHEMES OF MICE AND MEN, OFTEN GO AWRY
When it got to the end of the week, Simona was glad for a break. She hadn't made much progress in Transfiguration; much to the amusement of the Gryffindors in the class, students still looked at her oddly in Muggle Studies and Vicky was still acting strangely. However, the Gryffindors seemed to actually be laying off Severus, it didn't stop Severus receiving death glares from them (and Severus returning them with even more venom) whenever he saw them, but it was still progress.
Simona was sat in the Great Hall for dinner, piling up her plate with mashed potato, beans and sausages whilst thinking about her meeting with Professor Slughorn that she was due to go to in 20 minutes. Severus was busy scribbling notes in his Potions book, and absentmindedly eating the odd chip. Avery and Evan were busy talking about a girl in Slytherin, who they seemed to think was 'well fit'. Simona had no idea what they meant by this, and made sure she would look it up or ask someone about it.
After 15 minutes of dinner and ignoring Avery and Evan's increasingly smutty comments about this unknown girl, Simona got up to leave for her meeting with Slughorn. Politely waving at Severus as she left, earning a small grunt in reply. Simona thought about the catastrophic Potions lesson she had that day.
Simona and Lily were working on an Ageing Potion, which causes the drinker to become much older. The more potion that is drunk, the older the drinker gets. Lily told Simona that the correct colour for the potion was a light blue. After adding the liquefied banana and powdered leaf successfully, Lily allowed Simona to add the carefully chopped rattlesnake. Simona tried to cut the snake into exact pieces, but after getting distracted by a flying paper bird resting in her hair, she accidentally cut a piece too small. Forgetting how precise an art Potions is, when the ingredient was added to the potion, copious amounts of smoke started coming from the cauldron, the potion had turned a dark gray colour. Surprisingly Lily reacted favourably, laughing in amusement. However, it did cause them to lose the chance of winning an extra 15 points to their respective houses. Simona was mortified, she really wanted to be able to successfully brew a potion, as much as she appreciated Lily's unrelenting support. She really wanted to be able to brew a potion on her own, like the rest of the class. Severus won that time, Lily vowed to beat him next time, telling him 'It is so on!' Simona didn't know 'what' was on. But just smiled, pretending she knew what Lily was on about
Simona reached the door of Slughorn's office, reluctantly raising her hand to the door. Before she could knock, the door swung open. "Ah, Miss Sforza, right on time too. Come in, come in," he said ushering Simona into his office. Simona noticed Slughorn's office was quite small, the walls were littered with moving pictures of Slughorn with different people, with little engravings under each picture, showing who was in it, and the year it was taken. In every photo, Slughorn was doing the same cheesy grin, violently shaking the hand of a rather nervous looking celebrity. His desk cluttered with aging parchments and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. "Sit," Slughorn instructed and Slughorn sat on a tatty looking desk chair. "Do you want one?" He asked, wafting them in her face.
"No, thank you professor," Simona replied catching a whiff of what she thought, was vomit.
"I don't want to keep you too long Miss Sforza, so I just want to know how you think you're doing in Potions, if you're enjoying it and if you still need the assistance of Miss Evans," Professor Slughorn said cooly, his words slightly mumbled, due to the fact he was speaking with a mouth full of Every Flavour Beans.
"Well professor, I think I am doing okay. I do like Potions, but I think I need more time working with Lily, I don't think I am ready to work on my own yet," Simona replied, trying not to show her disgust at Slughorn, who was now eating the beans with his mouth open. Simona likened this to a cement mixer.
"Good, good. Potions does take a while to master, so don't get too disheartened. You are making progress Miss Sforza, and I think you should have no problems in brewing your own potions in a few weeks time, after you gain more confidence in your ability of course," Slughorn replied, swallowing his Every Flavour Beans with an audible gulp. "I think that will be all for this week, Miss Sforza. I'll see you back here this time next week?" Slughorn continued, shovelling more Beans into his mouth, Simona nodded hurriedly and almost ran out of the door. 'How can a man eat that many Every Flavour Beans in such a short space of time?' she thought, shivering. By the time the meeting with Slughorn had ended, it was almost curfew. Simona walked down the dungeons' labyrinth-esque corridors and hallways and eventually ended back outside the portrait of Salazar Slytherin. Simona said the password out loud (Slytherin rules) and went to sit on one of the couches.
"Hey, Simona," Came a small unenthusiastic voice from behind her, Simona turned to see it was Rachel. The dark eyed brunette who nodded at Simona during her first night at Hogwarts. Rachel sat down next to Simona on the couch and put her feet up on the ebony table. "I heard you're working with that mudblood in Gryffindor," Rachel continued with an unpleasant smirk. Simona looked at Rachel in confusion. She didn't know what a 'mudblood' was, afraid that it would show that Simona lived with muggles, alienating herself from pretty much the whole of Slytherin. Simona pretended she knew what she was talking about.
"Yeah, Slughorn made me. Thinks we make a sort of 'dream team'," Simona replied, trying to sound disdainful of Lily, even though Simona liked her. Rachel scoffed and turned to Simona.
"Pfft, that Slughorn is desperate. He tried to pair me up with a half-blood Hufflepuff on Tuesday, if he wasn't my Head of House I swear to Merlin I would have hexed him," Rachel said scathingly. Simona laughed loudly at this, a bit too loudly, which earned a few stares and a raised eyebrow from Rachel.
"Well... isn't being paired up with a Hufflepuff of any blood status... laughable?" Simona faltered, trying to get Rachel back on her side. Simona watched Rachel's reaction in uncomfortable silence.
"I guess so, good one, Simona," Rachel replied, a smirk returning back to her face. 'Phew, almost' Simona thought in relief. "I'll see you later, I'm going to bed," Rachel continued, slapping her hands down on to her legs and walking up to the dormitory. Simona hazarded a glance around the common room, their attention seemed to have been refocused, away from Simona's random outburst.
Simona got out her Transfiguration textbook and a cup she had taken from the Great Hall, and once again attempted to transfigure it into a tortoise. After a few failed attempts, and accidentally setting the cup on fire, Simona successfully transfigured the cup into a tortoise. Feeling proud of herself, Simona climbed up the stairs into the dorm room to have a shower, when she once again saw Bellatrix's piercing stare. Shrugging the strange feeling she got whenever she noticed those lifeless brown eyes, Simona had a quick shower and returned into the dorm room in her pyjamas and a towel wrapped precariously around her wet hair. Rachel was asleep, Vicky was staring sadly towards the door of the dorm and Bellatrix had (thankfully) gone to sleep too. Simona took this as a prime opportunity to take out her Compact Cassette player, with her headphones and started listening to her Led Zeppelin: II bootleg, softly singing the words to 'What Is and What Should Never Be'.
Hogwarts never usually allowed muggle software in the castle, and usually caused such software to blow up if it was tampered with. However, understanding Simona's situation, Professor Dumbledore allowed Simona to listen to her cassette tapes. There was a rule though, and that was no one else could know, and it should only be used when no one can either hear or see it, seeing as though it would be unfair to the other students.
After her parents were killed, Simona was able to cope with her loss through music. Her father had taught her how to play acoustic and electric guitar when she was 7 years old, her mother taught her to play piano and she gave Simona singing lessons. Simona's mother had a wonderful singing voice, Simona likened it to a songbird. Her father could sing too, but because of the music he was into, he had a more gravely, rock voice. Simona seemed to inherit both of these tones. Her adoptive parents encouraged Simona to use music as a coping mechanism too, and her adoptive father would tell her she sounded just like a 'young Janis Joplin' who just happened to be her mother's favourite musician.
Simona had listened to the tape twice, when she decided it was time to sleep. She wrapped her headphones around her cassette player, took down her now dry hair from her towel and lay back on the pillows; her inky black hair surrounding her like a crown. Out of exhaustion, Simona drifted off to sleep easily.
Waking up late Saturday morning, Simona instantly relaxed knowing she didn't have any lessons that day. After yawning and stretching, Simona changed into her muggle clothes, which consisted of a Deep Purple t-shirt and blue jeans. Brushing her teeth in front of a mirror, Simona was looking forward to the weekend. Finally being able to relax and not humiliate herself in lessons.
Upon entering the common room, Simona noticed Severus sat at a desk surrounded with numerous amounts of parchment. Simona sat down in a spare chair next to him and took a closer look at what he was writing. It seemed to look like ideas for different spells, notes on the Dark Arts and formulae for Potions. Simona was impressed, she had noticed Severus' aptitude in Potions and DADA, but never knew how much time he spent dedicated to researching and studying the topics in his free time. Severus noticed Simona sitting down and looked at her suspiciously.
"Hey Severus, why are you working, that is no way to spend a weekend!" Simona asked, attempting humour. Severus stared at her for a few seconds before arching a brow.
"This…is… how I spend my weekend," he replied sardonically. Simona blushed, trying to think of a good save.
"Well, I applaud your dedication, Severus. Not many people would study during their free time even if their lives depended on it," Simona said quickly, thinking that complimenting Severus might stop him looking as if he's analysing her. Severus smirked at this and started scribbling down more notes, his brows furrowing in concentration. Thinking it would be a bad idea to continue a conversation with him, Simona decided it would be a good idea to go get something to it. "I'm off to the Great Hall, see you later, Severus," Simona said quietly, putting up her hair into a ponytail. Severus grunted in response.
Simona sat by herself at the Slytherin table and helped herself to a big helping of toast, marmalade and tea. When she was half-way through her breakfast she noticed Lily standing in front of her. "Hiya Simona, do you want to come sit with us, you don't need to sit by yourself," Lily said with a smile, moving her arm towards the Gryffindor table where Sirius, James, the ill-looking boy and the mouse-faced boy were sat. Sirius was waving his arms madly, causing the rest of the Gryffindor boys to fall about with laughter. Simona nodded and followed Lily to the table. "I thought Simona should join us for breakfast, she was sat by herself," Lily said as she sat down opposite James. Simona took the seat next to Lily, she was sat opposite the ill-looking boy.
"Alright, Simona, where's Snivelly?" Sirius asked with a smirk, James laughed at this, Lily frowned. The ill-looking boy was busy reading a book.
"He's in the common room, studying." Simona said shortly, biting into some toast.
"Knew it, playing with his little potions set is he?" James asked, his mouth curling up into a crooked smile. It was Sirius' turn to laugh at this and high-fived James. Lily's frown deepened.
"Enough now guys, leave Sev alone." Lily reprimanded, causing the smug smiles to be wiped from Sirius and James' faces. The mouse-faced boy was wringing his hands nervously, looking for cues when to laugh. Simona smiled at Lily, liking the fact she was still sticking up for Severus.
"So from which poor muggle-born did you steal that shirt from , eh?" Sirius asked, with a mean glint in his eye. James gasped and laughed quietly at this. Simona's eyes darkened, the Deep Purple shirt was her father's she got it after he died, they were one of his favourite bands and got the t-shirt when he saw them on one of their early tours. Simona blinked back tears, this was her favourite tee.
"Sirius, that's an awful thing to say!" Lily scolded, putting an arm on Simona's shoulder.
"It was my father's, he got it when he saw Deep Purple in 1968," Simona said with gritted teeth, Sirius' expression softened.
"I'm sorry Simona, it's just you don't see a lot of Slytherins wearing muggle band tee shirts that they haven't stolen from someone. Do you like Deep Purple?" He asked, trying to amend his harsh comment. Simona could see that he was genuinely sorry and decided to appease him.
"Yes, they're one of my favourites," Simona said, a little more politely, she liked the fact she could discuss music with another wizard.
"What do you think of that new singer… I forget his name," Sirius said, his brows furrowing in concentration. Simona knew exactly who he was talking about, he was called David Coverdale, an unknown singer from the North-East.
"He's called David Coverdale. I really like him, he's got a really nice bluesy voice, I can't wait to hear the new album." Simona replied, a smile coming to her face.
"Oh yeah, that's who I was thinking of. I quite like him too." Sirius replied, a smile of familiarity appearing on his face. Simona looked to the ill-looking boy, who was still engrossed in his book. She noticed the title 'Of Mice and Men' by a muggle author, John Steinbeck. Simona remembered reading the book when she was younger, her father would replace the swear words with funny substitutes.
"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men..." Simona said, causing the ill-looking boy to look up from his book at her.
"…Gang aft agley," He finished, smiling. Simona nodded at this and the others looked at them in confusion.
"I used to love reading that book when I was younger," Simona said quietly. "Have you read it before?" She asked.
"Yeah, I just like to re-read it every now and again," The boy replied. "I'm Remus by the way," He continued, extending his hand towards Simona, she shook his hand and smiled.
"I'm Simona," She said, grabbing another piece of toast.
"I know, Sirius is forever talking about you," He said politely, causing Sirius to scoff in indignation.
"I do not… it's… it's only because you know Snivellus!" He said outraged and tripping on his words, Lily cleared her throat at Sirius. "I mean… Snape," He corrected himself, earning himself a weak smile from Lily.
"Is that so?" Simona asked, arching a brow at Sirius, even though she liked his taste in music, she still didn't appreciate the way he treated Severus and she enjoyed watching him squirm.
"I think she's got you there Sirius!" James said, highly amused earning a firm biff to the head from an irate and embarrassed Sirius. The Gryffindors roared with laughter (AN: Hilarious pun, I know)
"Screw you guys, I'm going back to the tower!" Sirius shouted, slamming his hands down onto the table and marching out of the Hall. The mouse-faced boy eagerly ran after him, his pudgy legs struggling to keep up, he almost slammed into three first-year Hufflepuffs, causing James to laugh, full of mirth. Simona laughed too, more out of confusion as to what had just gone on.
"I should go now guys, I told Severus I'd be back after I had something to eat," Simona said, excusing herself from the table. Severus didn't say that exactly, but she wanted to get away from the awkward silence that seemed to envelop the table after Sirius' moody departure. The Gryffindors said goodbye, Remus smiled at her warmly, and Lily waved frantically, James nodded in acknowledgement.
When Simona got back to the common room, Severus was still poring over his parchments in a state-like-trance. Feeling uncharacteristically brave, 'it must be from sitting with those Gryffindors' she thought to herself, she sat back down in the empty chair. "Hey Severus, still studying?" She asked amiably. Severus grunted in response. "Lily got me to sit with those Gryffindor boys," Simona continued, undeterred by Severus' un-cooperation. Severus looked up at the mention of Lily and raised a brow. 'victory!' Simona thought with a smirk.
"They didn't say anything about me did they?" Severus said unemotionally. Simona was surprised by this, Severus didn't seem the type to care about what people thought about him.
"No," Simona lied, not wanting Severus' mood to plummet again. "I found out Sirius likes Deep Purple," Simona continued, looking down at her father's shirt. Severus looked confused. "They're a muggle band," Simona explained, answering Severus' non-verbal question. "Anyway, I know this will interest you…" Simona said, leaving room for guesses.
"What?" Severus asked irritably after Simona broke off her sentence mid-way. Simona looked at him with a mischievous glint in her emerald green eyes.
"I made Sirius get up and leave the table in a mood," Simona said, Severus smirked at this.
"And, how did you do that?" Severus asked, suddenly genuinely interested.
"Well, I was talking to Remus about a book he was reading, and when I told him my name he said he already knew because Sirius was 'always talking about me'," Simona replied adding air quotes.
"Go on," Severus added, wanting to know how she got the usual arrogant and level-headed Sirius to march off in a huff. Simona's smirk grew larger.
"He tried to cover it up by saying it was only because I knew you, and when I questioned him about it, and James mocked him for it, he just up and left, " Simona finished, looking for Severus' reaction. His mouth turned up at the corner in amusement and scoffed with quiet laughter.
"I must say, that's quite an achievement," Severus said silkily and returned back to his parchment.
Simona sat in silence for a bit, drumming her fingers on the table before deciding to go up to her room. "I'll leave you to it, I'll be back down later," Simona said, wanting to think about today's events.
"Okay." Severus replied, his black eyes still fixed on his scribbled writing.
Simona walked up to her dormitory and when she opened the door she inhaled sharply.
AN: Ohhhh bad cliffhanger or what? I've been wanting to do one of those for ages. I hope you enjoyed this chapter folks, I have added some more marauders action for you, I know this chapter is a bit 'Sev-lite' but he will become more prominent in following chapters, promise. :) xoxo