BitterSweet: Chapter 17.

Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling hence do not own any of the characters etc, etc.

Severus Snape's POV:

After the amazing Christmas, the rest of my days were mainly spent in solitude, although a few days were spent with Lily. Of the days I spent at home, I read. Mercury was frequently bringing me Dark Art books from the Prince collection, and as I sat in my little room with my door locked up to keep Tobias out, I read and studied as much as I could.

The concept of going back to Hogwarts was, for some reason, hard to comprehend. In all honesty I don't want to go back to a school where I am having to deal with death threats from the Slytherin loyalists, endure constant humiliation from those bloody toerags, having to be among dunderhead-teenagers, and worst of all, watching Potter chase after Lily. Ugh. School is a place for the immature, not those with half a brain.

Nonetheless, as I look across at Lily as she stares outside the window as the train passes through English terrain, I can't help but feel the excitement which consumed me as a kid. I will be able to practice magic whenever I want while at the same time I get fed stuff which can classify as 'food'. With that thought, I leap up from my seat; grab my robes and am about to leave the carriage.

"Where are you going?" Lily asks.

"To get changed into my robes – I can't bare to be in these muggle clothes any longer." I say as I pointedly tug at my oversized, holey jumper. Unexpectantly, the train suddenly stops, the lights flickering off. The action catches me unaware and flings me to the other side of the cabin.

"Lumos." I whisper, my wand lighting up. I see Lily staring at me, with her wand also in hand. I begin to head for the door again.

"Can't you just get changed in here?" Lily asks in a scared voice. My throat goes dry – had I heard wrong? Me get changed in front of Lily? Is she insane?

"I'll be quick. Besides, it was probably another one of Potter's pranks that stopped the train." I excuse, rushing out the door. Once I change, I walk briskly back to the carriage, only to find Potter harassing Lily.

"What do you mean you're taken?" Potter asks in disbelief as he ruffles his hair like the vain child he is. I step through to the cabin and Lily's eyes flit over to mine.

"It's not official yet, but – "

"What's going on?" Sirius shouts, stepping into the carriage with Remus and Peter. Since when was this a bloody party? Bad enough with just Potter.

"I was just asking this fair lady when she wants to have a little date at Hogsmeade." He announces as he sits by Lily, putting his arm around her with confidence, holding his lighted wand in her face. "But apparently, she is already taken!" He boisterously announces, as if it is impossible. Lily shrugs off Potter's arm and holds her illuminated wand defensively. I move to the window-side of the carriage and sit opposite Lily and James, still invisible to them both.

"Already taken? And by who!" Sirius questions as he sits on the floor.
"What does it matter! I said it's not official yet!" Lily yells, making Potter move away slightly, much to my delight.

"Whoa! Calm down Lily! Don't want your red hair – which Prongs so adores – to light on fire!" Sirius jokes. Potter moves closer to Lily.

"Ah Lily, you should know by now that I will not rest until you are mine – and who better for you to be with then James Potter the Great?" He asks, standing up and flexing his muscles.

"Oh…I can think of one." She replies, winking at me. Her words send an unknown feeling rushing within me. It is at this stage that Potter and his crew actually recognize me.

"Ah. Surely you do not mean greasy Snivellus here!" He says, but was cut off as the train started to move again. Despite the lights turning back on, and Potter putting his wand away, Lily still kept hers up defensively. I gripped mine within my jacket, ready to whip it out at any signal. Unphased about the peculiar journey, Potter continues to woo Lily.

"Well Lily, you know that as a Gryffindor bachelor, it is our duty to date the eligible people of our house." He remarks, sounding very self important.

"You mean you see it as your duty to shag every pretty girl in Gryffindor? You might have your ego, and even a few shags, but you'll never have me you worthless scum." Lily retorts. With pleasure I watch Potter's face break down, his ego crumbling before my eyes, a feat I have only dreamed of. Not wanting him to have a full-on cry, Sirius steps in and, telling Potter that Lily was just being hormonal, managed to pull the Marauders out of our cabin.

"Well I am glad that's over!" She exclaims finally, lowering her wand. I smirk at her.

"As am I." I reply.

Before we know it we are walking into Hogwarts, excited and hungry. As soon as Lily enters the building she stops to take a deep breath.

"Lily, what are you doing?" I ask cautiously.

"Just allowing Hogwarts to fill me up." She replies contentedly, before grabbing my hand and leading me into the Great Hall. I try to tug my hand away from her's, and eventually succeed before any sly looks are cast our way

As we separate to walk to our opposite houses, I can't help but get the feeling I should be very, very careful. With a deathly scowl on my face I take a seat at the Slytherin table, staring down at any spiteful glare my way. Evan comes over to me and slaps me on the back. "How's it feel to be back, eh?" He asks as he bites into a piece of chicken. Evan Rosarie had always been a friend of mine, even though the prank in third year meant I couldn't trust him anymore. But I guess that can be expected from a Slytherin.
"Like it does every other term, Rosarie." I reply nonchalantly. With a chuckle and a little mutter, he turns away to leave me to my own. I look at the food before me hungrily, knowing I haven't eaten for days, but don't want to seem unruly. I carefully take a reasonable portion of food, and quickly eat it, barely feeling any satisfaction.

The noise in the Great Hall just seems to constantly be loud, and as I walk out of the Hall in a wave of foolish teenagers, the noise only gets louder. Girls giggling and whispering, boys grinning and tackling each other – when will it end? I walk down to the dungeons, ready for sleep to soon overcome me, but as I am about to turn into the Slytherin dormitories, I hear an unwanted voice call out to me: "Ah! There you are Severus m'boy!" I turn around in annoyance to see none other then Slughorn racing towards me, his robes flapping in the faces of the students.
"Now, let's get to your room, eh? I am quite glad Professor Dumbledore reminded me – I had nearly forgotten to enter you in, what with the new password." He exclaims, as if his forgetting something is unheard of. I stare at him as we walk, wondering whether he drank a wrong potion, before I realize what he means. I mentally scold myself for forgetting I am to lodge with Slughorn – I could have saved up some of the unnecessary joy. Wordlessly I follow Slughorn down through the dungeons. He mumbles the password, and we walk in. As I walk in, the sight before me renders me in shock – 10 different cauldrons all set up, a private collection of ingredients and a whole wall dedicated to books. If I had of noticed this all before, I wouldn't have thought it so bad to be staying here.

"Now now m'boy, you'll have time to explore my new treasures later, but now I must quickly show you your room so I am not late for the meeting. After getting this lot refurnished and so on, I decided to add something to your room. I put in a desk and a few shelves for your belongings." He says, as he steps through my bedroom, looking around contentedly.

"Right, well. With that being said I think I will be off!" He announces, after a short silence. Giving me a slight nod before leaving my room, he walks off humming to himself. When the door clicks shut, I walk slowly over to my bed and place my trunk atop of it so I can place my books on the shelves. I take each book out carefully, so carefully that I could be accused of being Madam Pince!

Once I am in my PJ's and all is settled, I walk out into the main room and wander over to the book collection, not daring to touch anything yet. Observing the collection of potion's books, I begin to grow weary of studying the cases of "Ye Olde Potions Vol I" to "Ye Olde Potions Vol M". Turning away and preparing to go to bed, I take one overall glance at the wall of books before walking off, and I spot a book which is so rare, I nearly dropped dead. Figituarvely. As I stand there, agog, staring at the cover, I feel my fingers itch to read it. Hearing footsteps coming down the hallway, I decide to run to bed. Lying down, all I can think about is that book: Horcruxes and How to Make Them.

--Meanwhile, in 3rd POV—

"Now is the time to strike!" Avery aggressively shouts, pounding a fist into his hand.

"Avery, be calm. All will soon fall to fit our plan; it always does." The cool voice of Lucius Malfoy predicts.

"And what makes you so sure Snape will join us, eh? How do we know we aren't wasting our time on him when there are plenty of third years who are ready for convincing?" Mulciber questions as he holds his illuminated wand to Malfoy's newly scarred face. The trio was in a secret hiding place, deep within the dungeons of Slytherin, where only slime and darkness kept them company. It Is here that the future death eaters meet monthly with their new recruitments, it is here they negotiate their next move, and it is here, and only here, that they keep in touch with the Dark Lord himself. All unbeknown to Dumbledore.

Hello all!

Ok, first off, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who have been so, so supportive. I can not explain enough how meaningful your words have been, and that they truly helped me to move on and get on with my life. Honestly, you guys couldn't have offered any more support, and I truly thank you for helping me so much, and also for understanding. Luckily, my difficult time is over. Life has moved on, things are becoming alot easier, and I find myself enjoying things which I never did before. It has taken me a quite a while to get a total grip on myself, and I think I finally have. Bit of luck, I won't experience such a difficult time for a long time to come. So, thank you, to each and every one of you who offered your support. I would love to give you all a big hug, nonetheless we have to deal with cyber-hugs.

Now away from that mushy moment, I am quite annoyed it's taken me so long to write this chapter - is there any point in saying sorry anymore?
I recently found that life doesn't always work as planned, and so I am finally accepting that I can't update every week. I have had this chapter written for a few weeks, and finally found the time to put it up.

After re-reading through my story, I am embarrassed to see all the many mistakes I have made, so I will spend a bit of time from now to re-edit it all, but not to fret, nothing major will change. Nonetheless, this means I won't be completely concentrating on the next chapter for a little while.

As far as my other story, My Own, I am currently in the midst of writing the next chapter, and hope to get it on up before the end of the month.

Thanks again to everyone for your support, it has meant everything to me.

Please read and review, if you have any queries or complaints, feel free to message me. The reviews are particuarly nice ;)

Thanks again everyone,

Love Angela xox

(Missteque)