Hey guys!
I hope everyone had a good weekend and that the beginning of the week didn't kick your ass too hard. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the update! :)
much love
bbs
bookobsessedpooj: I'm excited to be getting to delve deeper into these characters and this story. I hope I can meet your expectations! Thanks for reviewing!
Also thanks to the two guests who reviewed!
Severus worked at the far end of the Slytherin common room at an old desk next. Next to him there was a small porthole window to the Black Lake that cast a shadow over his parchment every time a merperson swam by. He liked this small corner of the room. The sheer opulence of the Slytherin dungeons had always made him feel a little out of place.
A burst of laughter forced him to look up.
At the center of the room, Regulus Black, Nathan Mulciber, Cassius Avery, and Evan Rossier sat comfortably on the large leather couches. Narcissa Black sat next to her cousin, talking with some other pureblood princess in his year. An emerald engagement ring sparkled on her left hand, a gift from Lucius Malfoy who would marry her as soon as she graduated.
He was grateful the older boy was no longer there. The looks the couple gave each other were nauseating.
Another round of laughter filled the room and he scowled as his quill scratched across his parchment. He envied how at ease they were amongst each other while he never felt the tension leave his back. Lily had teased him saying it always looked like he was waiting for something bad to happen. And perhaps he was.
"Snape."
He glanced up from his parchment and saw Mulciber and Avery standing side by side, he continued working. Behind them, he caught a glimpse of Regulus Black's grey eyes watching them
He forced himself to sound unbothered
"What do you want?"
Avery approached and sat himself on the edge of Severus' deck, crinkling some of this parchment. He scowled at him but the other boy just smirked.
"Heard you are quite inventive with spells. Care to share?"
He set down his quill, forcing his black eyes to stare at the two boys with boredom
"Care to fuck off?"
With surprising speed, Mulciber had the end of his wand pointing at Severus' neck. Avery shook his head with disappointment and stared at him with piercing blue eyes
"Is this how you treat your brothers, Snape?
Severus' voice turned venomous,
"We are not brothers."
Avery's hand gently pushed Mulciber's wand away from his neck,
"But we could be."
For a moment the hatred in Severus' eyes faltered. This had been, in the deepest, farthest corner of his heart, what he had wanted. Lily was irreplaceable, his closest dearest friend. She was everything he wasn't: beautiful, kind, and brave. Merlin, he wanted her in every sense of the word. But there was something to be envied amongst the group of the boys in his House. Avery, Mulciber, Rosier, and Black were all a part of pureblood families and made a habit of reminding others of this. Lucius Malfoy had graduated the previous year, leaving a gaping hole in the group. The offer felt too good to be true
He desperately prayed the eagerness didn't show on his face as he closed his book,
"I have a few."
Mulciber and Avery exchanged a glance and their smiles were friendly for the first time,
"Now?"
Severus nodded and stood from his seat, casually swinging his bag over his shoulder. Avery motioned towards the leather couches and Black and Rosier walked over
For the first time since he was sorted into Slytherin, Severus felt like one of the powerful few as he led the four boys away from the others in the common room
"Damn I'm good. Pay up bitches."
Lily, Marley, and Dorcas Meadowes grumbled as they pushed their chips towards Alice.
"Thank you for being such gracious losers, ladies. My pockets enjoy the extra weight."
Dorcas leaned back and crossed her toned arms,
"Can we play a game that Alice sucks at now?"
Alice seemed unbothered as she made a show of collecting her winnings. Lily laughed and grabbed the stack of muggle cards, shuffling them absentmindedly. The Gryffindor Keeper stood from her chair and stretched,
"Alright I'm going to bed. I got practice in the morning."
Lily glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up quickly,
"Shit. I have rounds in five minutes. See you at breakfast!"
After leaving her friends she stopped by the Head dorms and tossed her bag in her room just in time for the prefect on duty to knock on her door. The Hufflepuff walked back to his dorm and Lily walked along the familiar corridors, quietly humming to herself and wishing the paintings a good night. She walked through the Great Hall, the stars twinkling above her.
She did her usual route and caught a group of second year Hufflepuffs sneaking around. She took a few points away and walked them back to their dorms. They had reminded her of Potter and his friends and she had found herself smiling.
She became increasingly unsettled as she neared the dungeons and she was glad no one was there to see her hesitation. It was a bit embarrassing.
Finally she descended the steps, the wand's light guiding her way. Up ahead she heard whispers coming from a classroom. She nudged the door open with her shoulder
"What are you doing out of bed?"
She was met with Mulciber, Avery, Rosier, and Black speaking casually with Severus Snape. Her wand pointed at the other four boys and she noticed the first three reach for theirs as well.
She gave a quick glance at the four other boys before looking back at her friend.
"Everything alright in here?"
Regulus pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning on and Lily watched him carefully,
"Don't worry your pretty little head. We're just talking."
"You can talk in your common room."
Severus felt his heart beating wildly in his chest as he glanced between the two. It was no secret that the other four boys hated Muggle-borns and the tension in the room was suffocating.
A charming smile slid across the younger Black's face and Lily thought he looked strikingly like Sirius,
"Right you are Miss Evans."
The other three boys scowled at her. She glanced at Severus once more. He silently begged her to leave,
"I'll let you show yourselves out."
Surprise flickered across each of their faces but only for a moment. They had expected house points to be taken away and detentions to be given but the Head Girl said nothing as Regulus brushed past her followed by Rosier, Avery, and Mulciber. Severus lingered behind. Lily walked towards him and he hated the concern in her eyes,
"Are you sure everything's alright? I can…"
"Everything's fine."
Her eyes flickered over his face and she relaxed,
"Okay," she glanced at the door and lowered her voice, "Be careful around them, Sev."
He rolled his eyes
"You should go."
She nodded and followed him out of the room, the other four boys waiting patiently in the hallway. Despite her friend's ease around the group of Slytherins, Lily felt an incredible mistrust towards them. They were rumored to be Death Eater recruits and if this was true, it did not bode well for her.
They made her feel on edge and Lily always trusted her instincts.
She walked past them, her wand gripped in her hand and heard Black's voice travel along the stone walls
"You shouldn't be wandering the dungeons alone, little Gryffindor. It's not safe."
Lily waited until she was out of sight to start running, but when she did, she didn't stop until she reached the portrait to her common room. As soon as it opened, she stepped in and closed it quickly, her knuckles white from gripping her wand. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against the back of the portrait and exhaled.
"Are you alright?"
She jumped and turned around to see Remus sitting on the couch with a concerned look on his face
"What? Yeah. I'm fine. Just…I'm fine."
She gave him an unconvincing smile, tucking her wand back into robes. Her shaking hand didn't go unnoticed by him.
"If you say so. Just let me know if you need anything…"
She nodded and walked over to the recliner and sat down, finding his presence oddly comforting
"What are you still doing up?"
Remus frowned and grabbed a goblet from the side table, taking a long sip. She looked at it curiously, recognizing it as one from Slughorn's supplies. He resisted making a disgusted face as he swallowed it
"Not feeling very well so I bothered Pomfrey for some sleeping potion."
Lily knew it wasn't the entire truth but he had accepted her lie so she would accept his.
"Can I do anything to help?"
A moment passed and he looked away in embarrassment,
"Could you help me to my room? I don't have the energy…"
Lily stood up from the chair and walked over to him. He looked up at her with a sad smile, his skin flushed from whatever illness plagued him. She held out a hand and he looked at it. A wicked grin crossed her face
"Come on now, I don't bite."
Remus' laugh was loud and sudden, making her grin wider. He grabbed her hand and that handsome smile crossed his face once again,
"But perhaps I do."
She lifted him from the couch and led him to his room. With a flick of his wand, he lit the room. Unsurprisingly it was filled with books stacked in every which way. Robes laid scattered on the floor and Lily noticed that some were torn. Lupin kicked them away and scratched the back of his head self-consciously,
"It's a little messy."
Lily laughed, thinking of her own messy room
"Oh you should see mine. This pales in comparison."
She noticed the moonlight peeking through the curtains. It was a beautiful view with the Black Lake sparkling underneath
"It's almost a full moon. Just a few more days I think."
Lupin turned away from her, gathering a few of the robes off the ground and tossing them in the laundry bin.
"Four more days."
"See you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Evans."
When she left the room, Remus walked to the curtains and closed them violently.
As the five boys exited the corridor and walked into their common room, Severus braced himself their torment. Without a doubt, they would kick him out for being friends with the Muggle-born Gryffindor.
As soon as the door closed, Regulus clapped his hands together, his face lit with excitement. Severus thought this made him look disturbingly similar to his obnoxious older brother although he'd never, ever say that to him. That would be practically asking for an Unforgivable.
"This is brilliant!"
Avery, Mulciber, and Rosier looked at him curiously but said nothing. Despite being the youngest, Regulus was the undisputed leader of the group in Lucius Malfoy's absence. Severus thought that it might have had something to do with him being the cousin of Malfoy's girlfriend, but that was another thing Severus would never bring up. Black approached Severus, grabbing his shoulders
"You have the Mudblood wrapped around your fucking finger. We could use this to our advantage."
He tried not to flinch at the ugly word. After all, it was just a word. Sticks and stones and all that.
The other three seemed to have caught onto the implication. Avery clapped him on the back, smiling proudly
"I knew we were right to choose you."
Severus tried to remember the last time someone besides Lily smiled at him like that. It felt good.
They had chosen him. Out of all the other purebloods in their house, they had seen something in him and they had wanted it. He couldn't stop the grin on his face.
Regulus collapsed on the couch
"I'm not going to lie. I had my doubts. But as long as Snape is with us, the Mudblood can't touch us."
There was that word again. Mulciber laughed
"The look on her face when she left…"
They all laughed and Severus joined in, although less enthusiastically.
Rosier shook his head,
"A shame about her blood. Evans is pretty hot."
"The things I'd do to her…"
"We still could. It's not like you'd have to marry the bitch…"
Severus grabbed the front of Mulciber's robes, his black eyes flashing with more emotion than what any of the other Slytherins had seen from him
"Don't talk about her like that."
A hand settled on his shoulder and his anger faded. He released the other boy's robes and Regulus addressed the group.
"Evans obviously belongs to Snape. He's our brother now and we do not steal from our brothers."
The three other boys relaxed and Mulciber's twisted face turned into something like shame. Severus felt himself relax under the hand that never left his shoulder. He was immensely grateful for the younger boy's interference.
Black's face turned into a smile, the icy look long gone,
"I wouldn't want to share either if I were him either."
The group laughed again and Severus smiled, hoping he didn't look too nervous. Perhaps a friendship with these boys could actually help Lily.
He felt the smile come easier.
James closed his locker, the other boys on the team finishing up their showers on the other side of the wall. He ran a towel through his hair and heard Gideon Prewett's voice from the showers
"Hey Black! Team members only!"
"Relax, Prewett. I didn't come here to look at your tiny dick."
James snorted, turning to meet his friend. Sirius was grinning widely,
"There's dick I was looking for!"
Shaking his head, James sat on the bench and put on his socks, carefully avoiding the wet floor. Sirius sat next to him, lowering his voice,
"We gotta talk about this Saturday. If the game runs late…"
"I'll meet you guys at the shack as soon as it's over."
"Just didn't want you to get all sad if we left early."
"I mean I'll probably cry still."
"Typical."
The locker room emptied and Sirius looked at James
"Moony is worried about whatever tore that poor bastard apart."
James tied his last shoe and put his feet on the ground, running a hand through his wet hair,
"I'm not exactly thrilled by it either."
They sat in silence, thinking before Sirius sighed
"And I heard its favorite food is deer…"
James shoved him off the bench and Sirius laughed and then groaned when he realized he was sitting in a puddle. He grabbed James' offered hand and was pulled up.
"Is that what you came all the way here for to tell me?"
"Well that and the Slytherin team has practice after you guys and I wanted to leave a good luck present in my dear brother's locker."
"Aww cute."
Sirius scanned the locker numbers and stopped at the one on the far end, throwing a motion-activated dung bomb in it before slamming it closed
"The cutest."
The rest of the team filed out and the two Marauders lagged behind. Just ahead, they could make out the Slytherin team. Regulus stood at the front, his expression cold as he approached Sirius and James.
The younger Black looked much like his older brother only with shorter hair, not a strand out of place. He was every bit as attractive only sharper and more refined in comparison to Sirius rugged and easy good looks. He was shorter by a couple inches but years of playing Seeker kept him lean.
James' hand twitched near his wand in his pocket, watching Mulciber and Avery do the same.
Fights between the two brothers were never pretty.
"We seem to have developed a habit of running into stray Gryffindors."
"Fuck off, Regulus."
The Slytherin team laughed and Avery looked to his captain,
"Though these are not quite as pleasant the Mudblood last night."
James felt his stomach drop as Regulus' lips turned to a cruel smile,
"Ah yes Miss Evans was a delight, wasn't she?"
Sirius grabbed the front of his brother's robe, his face twisted with anger.
"If you touched her…"
Regulus snarled and shoved his brother away
"As if I'd touch the filthy Mudblood."
The shove was enough to send Sirius' fist into his brother's face. Regulus staggered and threw himself into Sirius, throwing his brother to the ground and hitting him in the jaw. James charged Regulus, knocking him off his friend. He grabbed the front of Regulus' robes,
"Don't call her that ever again."
He was pulled off of the boy by two Slytherin teammates and he fought in their grasp until Mulciber's giant meaty fist met his face. His mouth filled with blood and he spat at the Slytherin
The punch to his stomach knocked the wind from him and he was thrown to the ground. A foot stepped on his hand as he reached for his wand on the ground and he cursed. Regulus's voice came from above
"Don't let us catch her alone again."
He ground his foot into James' hand before he walked off, leaving Sirius and James laying beaten in the grass
Sirius rolled onto his back, grimacing at the pain in his ribs. James sat up, clutching his broken hand and looked down at his friend
"You okay, mate?"
He groaned as he sat up,
"I think the little shit broke my ribs."
James glanced at his friend who wiped the blood from his face that his own brother spilled. He knew that despite what his friend said, it killed him that his only brother acted the way he did. Sirius' love was unconditional for Regulus even if it was buried underneath so much hurt.
They sat there for a moment watching the sun set. The Quidditch pitch lit up and they watched the silhouettes of the players flying across orange and pink sky
"The things he was saying…"
James winced, but felt another swell of anger towards the Slytherin.
"Yeah I know."
"I think it's too late for him, Prongs."
He could hear the heartache behind the statement. They hadn't talked about it much lately but they knew Regulus was a Death Eater. He and his friends had been poisoned with hatred. James forced himself off the ground and offered Sirius his unbroken hand.
"Come on, Moony'll fix us up."
Sirius grabbed it and grunted in pain,
"I hope he smells like that dung bomb for weeks."
…