AN: Hello, hello. I'm so glad I've been able to upload this chapter tonight, I've been slaving over it like a hot stew all day. I'll keep this brief, thank you for your support. Please review, I love hearing what you guys think of this. I hope you enjoy!

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 SEVEN; LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE AND THE REAPPEARANCE OF SCRAPPY-DOO

Monday morning, and it meant one thing. Double potions. Groaning, Simona dragged herself out of bed, her unruly hair sticking up on end and cursed under her breath. She was not a morning person. "Good morning Simona!" Vicky said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day isn't it?" She said, staring out of the window. She was right, the sun was shining, there were little/no clouds in the sky. Simona grunted in response. She was far too tired to be as positive as Vicky. Simona hadn't slept well at all, she did drift off eventually, but only slept lightly. Being awoken by Celestica's deafening snores. Celestica was happily chatting away to Romagna, who looked just as tired as Simona.

"What time is it?" Simona mumbled as she stretched and yawned.

"It's 6:45. I'm going to go down for breakfast soon, fancy joining me?" Vicky asked happily, tying her hair back into a low ponytail.

"6:45?" Simona replied, shell shocked. 'How in the name of Merlin's baggy blue bloomers was she this happy at 6:45...AM?' she thought. Vicky nodded, rather violently and beamed.

"Yeah, I had a bit of a sneaky lie-in actually. I usually get up at 5:30." Vicky replied airily. Simona's eyes widened in shock.

"Wow, well that is a lie-in, if ever I saw one." Simona retorted sarcastically. Vicky's smile faded a bit and looked slightly hurt. 'Oh pants.' Simona thought, her bad temper got the best of her.

"Ciao Simona, che cosa c'è di sbagliato in Little Miss Sunshine?" (Hello Simona, what's wrong with little Miss Sunshine?) Romagna asked, tilting her head towards Vicky, who was smiling manically.

"Ero sarcastico a lei. Ha bisogno di imparare che la mattina, io non sono una brava persona." (I was sarcastic to her. She needs to learn that in the morning, I am not a nice person) Simona replied, sighing slightly.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Celestica asked in confusion. Both Simona and Romagna did their best not to smirk.

"Us? Well we were just talking about how nice the weather is in Italy this time of year." Romagna replied with a charming smile. Simona snorted suddenly, and when Celestica looked at her with a brow raised, Simona disguised it with a sudden coughing fit.

"Sure you were." Celestica replied, looking at the two Italians with suspicious eyes. "Get ready Simona." Romagna rolled her eyes. Simona complied, not wanting to get on the wrong side of Celestica.

After finally getting her hair to work for her and not against her, Simona put her hair into a bun and let tendrils of black, wavy hair frame her face. She pulled on her school robes and straightened her tie. Simona walked back into the dorm room to see the three girls ready and waiting for her.

As the girls made their way down to the common room, Simona noticed Severus once again stood behind a couch scowling at anyone or anything that happened to be in his eye line at the time. Simona noticed his eyes snapping to her, alongside every other Slytherin in the common room. "Oh for Merlin's sake." Simona muttered, slightly annoyed at her new found infamy.

"Ignorarli. Ovviamente niente di meglio da fare." (Ignore them, they obviously have nothing better to do) Romagna added, putting a reassuring hand on Simona's shoulder.

"Yeah, what Romagna said." Celestica added unenthusiastically. Both Romagna and Simona smirked.

Simona walked straight towards Severus who eyed her with suspicion.

"Hey, Severus." Simona said awkwardly. She had already planned out what she was going to say to Severus, thanking him for being so supportive, but as soon as she started, her mind went blank. "About yesterday." Simona started, shifting her feet.

Severus stood stiffly, he wanted to say so much to Simona, about how lovely she looked. How green her eyes are 'Just like Lilly's' he thought. 'No. Not like Lilly' his mind replied, internally cursing himself. Noticing he was taking a long time to reply, Severus quickly tried to formulate a plausible response. "It's fine." Severus replied tersely. Simona's eyes flashed with hurt, and he felt a pang in his heart. It was just like hurting Lilly. It was the best thing to do, he reasoned. He couldn't open his heart to two people, he just couldn't. He knew that at one point he'd let them both down.

Simona ignored his abrupt response, she knew he didn't care much for idle chatter. "Well I'm going to breakfast now, fancy joining me?" She said trying to sound relatively happy. Severus stopped himself from rolling his eyes at Simona's persistence. Reluctantly Severus agreed, knowing that if he started to ignore Simona straight away, she would realise it. "Yes." He replied unenthusiastically. Simona's green eyes glittered. "Okay, I'll just tell my friends that you'll be sitting with us." Simona said with a glint in her eye. She walked over to the Slytherin girls who were looking at Simona with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Why are you talking to Snape?" Celestica asked with a look of disdain. Simona frowned at this.

"Because he's my friend. And he was there for me when I needed him." Simona snapped, causing the other girls to look at her with a smidgen of fear. At this point Severus walked up to the small group and scowled. "Guys, this is Severus, Severus this is Celestica, Vicky and Romagna." Simona said amicably, pointing to each girl in turn. The girls smiled and nodded in response, Severus just stared back at them with his cold black eyes.

"We should go now, before all the good food goes." Celestica said as the group fell into an awkward silence.

When they got to the hall, Celestica and Vicky sat next to each other, Vicky sat next to Celestica and Severus and Simona sat beside each other, on the opposite side to the other girls. "I'm starved." Vicky said brightly, grabbing copious amounts of porridge and spooning it into her bowl.

"So, what has everyone got first?" Celestica asked, trying to break the tense atmosphere that was caused by Severus' seething temper.

"We've got Potions, haven't we Sev?" Simona replied, looking at Severus who was reading a large Potions book whilst eating toast. He noticed Simona looking at him expectantly and merely nodded his head before pulling the book closer towards him. Simona sighed in exasperation.

"Il tuo nuovo amico è tutto sorrisi non è vero?" (Your new friend is all smiles isn't he?) Romagna asked sarcastically, Simona almost reprimanded Romagna for her comment about Severus when he was sat right next to her, but remembered that since Romagna said this in Italian, he wouldn't have noticed what she had said.

"Egli non è buono in mezzo alla gente." (He isn't good around people) Simona replied with an arched brow, trying to keep her cool.

"Vedo che." (I can see that) Romagna added with a smirk. Simona saw that they had gained the attention of the other girls, plus Severus who looked at her with inquisitively. Simona shook her head and grabbed the last of the toast, smothering it with sickening amounts of chocolate spread. The girls looked at her with an air of repulsion.

"What?" Simona asked with a mouthful of toast, earning groans of disgust from Celestica, Romagna and Vicky. Severus snorted with amusement and looked back to his book.

"You're disgusting Simona" Celestica laughed, throwing a bit of porridge at Simona from Vicky's bowl. Simona laughed in return and threw back some crusts from her toast. Severus looked at both Celestica and Simona with disdain, he didn't approve of their childish behaviour. Simona smiled innocently at Severus, Severus likened this to a dog trying to appease its owner. Severus actually found this quite amusing, but instead scoffed and scowled down at his book. He found it hard to ignore Simona, who now sighed and frowned down at her plate.

"Hey, Sev. What are you reading about?" Simona asked politely, still determined to get him talking to her.

"The Conjunctivitis Curse." He replied abruptly, his eyes not leaving the page.

"You're not going to use that on any of those Gryffindors are you?" Simona asked, knowing he couldn't resist replying to that.

"I might do, the day's still young." Severus replied, with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"No guesses on who your first victim is going to be." Simona replied, trying to sound casual. Severus looked at her with a raised brow. 'Sirius Black it is then.' Simona thought, reading his mind.

"Yo, Simo!" Celestica shouted, gaining her attention by throwing a poorly aimed lump of porridge at Simona which missed her and hit Severus square in the face with a SPLAT. The porridge slowly dripped down the side of Severus' forehead, the girls burst into hysterical laughter. Severus' face turned beetroot red, probably out of embarrassment or rage.

"Merlin's beard!" Simona exclaimed, desperately trying not to laugh. She reached to wipe the porridge that was still on Severus' face, but jumped when he batted her hand away quite violently. "Sev, I'm so… Celeste man, what the hell did you do that for?" Simona reprimanded Celestica who could only open and close her mouth, she was laughing so hard she started to wheeze. Severus closed his book, with a loud SLAM and stood up, he marched off out of the Hall. Simona decided to follow after him. "Sev…Sev…slow down, I can't keep up!" Simona said running, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"That's the idea." Severus boomed as he continues his relentless pace. Thankfully, Simona was a fast runner and managed to jog beside him. Severus would find this amusing, if he wasn't so angry.

"Sev, please." She begged, running in front of him and making him stop abruptly. His face was almost contorted with fury.

"Leave me alone." He hissed, trying to push past her, Simona grabbed his arm.

"Oh how the tables have turned." She said with a raised eyebrow. Severus rolled his eyes and tried to get out of Simona's grasp. "Come on Sev, I know what Celestica did was wrong, but she was aiming at me." Simona said calmly, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'd say it was right on target." Severus spat out, looking at the ground, anywhere to avoid Lilly…Simona's emerald green gaze.

"You know that isn't true Sev." Simona replied irritably. She really wanted him to like her new friends.

"Then explain the weird looks, the tense atmosphere. They don't like me, Simona." Severus said, a flash of sadness in his eyes. This confused Simona, 'Why should he care what her friends think of him?' she thought.

"Sev, for as long as I've known you, you haven't cared what people think about you, what about those Gryffindors? Why do you care what my friends think about you?" Simona asked, concerned.

"Because…" Severus sighed, as he tried to finish his sentence he was interrupted by the appearance of the 4 Gryffindors. 'Well timed, boys' Simona thought angrily.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Snivelly Snape…" Sirius said mockingly, James laughed and Remus kept a straight face. "Oh, hey Simona." Sirius said when his eyes locked onto Simona, he blushed slightly and looked at the floor. Severus frowned at this and curled his hands into fists.

"Black." Simona replied tersely. Her expression softened when she looked at Remus' calm honey-coloured eyes. "Hey Remus, have you finished that book?" She asked, a bit more politely.

"Hey Simona, I've almost finished it. Just got past the bit where Lennie kills Curley's wife." Remus replied calmly. The others looked at them both in confusion.

"Oh yeah, I remember that bit. Poor Lennie, he doesn't know his own strength." Simona said with a sigh. Remus nodded at this. They both stood in silence, remembering that chapter.

"If you two are done, I've got a message for Snivellus." James said with a nasty smirk on his face. Severus scowled at him, his lips pressing into a sneer. Simona stepped protectively closer to Severus, so that if James wanted to hex him, he wouldn't have a clear shot.

"And what is that message, Potter?" Simona asked sharply. Tilting her head and feeling anger rise up once again.

"Back off, Simona. I have nothing against you." James replied.

"If you have something against Severus, you have something against me. Now what is it that you wanted to say?" Simona asked with increasing venom, her eyes beginning to darken.

"Simona. It's okay." Severus said softly, just loud enough for Simona to hear. His dark eyes focused sharply on James, who was still smirking. Severus was touched that Simona was willing to sacrifice her new found affiliation with the Gryffindors for him, but didn't want to show weakness in front of them by letting her fight his battles for him. It was the same thing Lilly had done for Severus so many times before he even knew Simona. Their likeness disturbed him somewhat. "Let Potter say what he needs to say." Severus said louder, his voice dripping with contempt.

"Lilly wants you to stop sending her those notes, Snivellus it's creeping her out." James said harshly. Both Simona and Severus flinched at this. Sirius barked with laughter.

"And did Lilly tell you this herself?" Severus replied, an eyebrow raised and his black eyes narrowed.

"No, but if I were her I'd be seriously creeped out. Who would ever want to receive any letters from a greasy git like you?" Sirius said, with a smug smile. James and the mouse-like boy went into hysterics at this. Remus stood still, void of emotion. This was it for Simona, the anger she felt two nights ago was back.

"You little-." Severus started, his face contorted with fury. He was however interrupted by a 5ft2 blur that slapped Sirius in the face and dived at him. She had her left fist raised in the air, about to hit him when she was pulled off by James and Remus. Sirius was lying on the ground shell-shocked. Severus tried his utmost to keep looking fumed at James and Sirius but he was highly amused by Sirius' expression when Simona leapt at him.

"Get off me!" Simona screeched, flailing around in Remus and James' grip who were holding her by her arms in the air, her feet not touching the floor. It was rather comical to watch Simona, her now-black eyes staring at Sirius as he tried to dust himself off and maintain composure.

"Calm down, Scrappy-Doo." James said with a bemused smirk, which only angered Simona more.

"Let her go Potter. Leave us alone." Severus sneered. James and Remus looked at each other and reluctantly let Simona drop to the floor. Simona stepped towards Sirius, which made him leap back with a small squeal. Simona and Severus smirked in unison and the Gryffindors skulked off. "You didn't have to do that, Simona. I can fight my own battles." Severus said condescendingly as if he was lecturing a small child.

"I know, Sev. But you didn't deserve that. What Sirius said was far too harsh." Simona replied, scowling at the earlier comments from the Gryffindors. "Is it true what they said, about you sending letters to Lilly?" Simona added with a small sad smile.

"No." Severus said curtly. As much as he didn't want to lie to Simona, he knew she would believe him. "Potions starts in 5 minutes, we should probably set off." Simona simply nodded at this and the two Slytherin students made their way down to the dungeons.

AN: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I know it didn't cover a lot of the day, but I felt the interaction with the marauders was pretty important. Simona really needs to get her temper in check don't-cha think? I tried to put a but more comedy in this, just to make up for the violence in chapter 5. I'll hopefully post chapter 8 tomorrow! Sorry about the inacuracy of the Italian, I only have Google-Translate to rely on. The rough translations are in brackets. xox