Chapter 6: Summer Wars
Warning: This story may contain traces of: OOC-ness, spoilers, tortures, magical spells, AU, swords, powerful spells, badly written but still very awesome duels, family, severitus, spouts of random insanity now and again, rambling author notes and minor character bashing. Engage at your discretion.
THE OTHER WARNING: This author is currently not very busy, bored out of her mind and suffers from severe cases of bad humor. Take the WARNING seriously, just not the author in general.
In the wee hours of a perfectly normal morning, in a perfectly normal manor house that is perfectly normal for old pure-blood families to use, in the middle of a perfectly normal summer holiday for perfectly normal magical children, something terrible and horrific for one and perfectly normal for the other occupants of said perfectly normal manor is happening.
There was screaming, a loud shriek that's either the result of an hour of the Cruciatus Curse, or something perhaps even worse. The screaming was horrible, like banshees were trying to sing with Bellatrix Black while the Dark Lord Voldemort was demolishing the Hogwarts castle with only his sharp nails and a packet of werewolf fangs. It's a never ending screech that could scare the living daylight out of any sane 250 year old and below.
Most of the occupants of Prince Manor only blinked, looked up, gave a second thought to the mad screaming, and went right back to whatever they were previously doing.
Severus Snape dropped three mistletoe berries into the bubbling cauldron in front of him, breathed a sigh of relief when the aging potion turned sparkling blue and not some other ghastly color. He had once though that having his three friends with him through out the boring and long summer holidays would be a perfectly alright and righteously fun.
Now, he wished he could go back in time and knock some sense into his twelve years and 3 months old self. What in his brilliant potions making mind ad he been thinking. Allowing those two into his house?
Who is it this time? He thought. I heard so much of Potter and Black's screams lately I couldn't even tell who's who anymore. I really hope Potter have enough sense in his Gryffindor mind to not mess with Black's precious hair.
"JAMES POTTER, YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! HOLD STILL SO I CAN PROPERLY KILL YOU! YOU BASTARD HOLD STILL!" Someone screeched in the distance. Black it is then.
When Severus had made a careless remark in the safety of his dormitory room, with the other three present and eating cauldron cakes, about spending the summer together at his often than not empty manor house; he most certainly did not expect a bloody war every morning after breakfast!
It all started when Sirius Bloody Black insinuated that James Freaking Potter couldn't pull a decent prank to save his life, not exactly in that context. It had escalated to a banter that lasted well through the night and kept almost all of the manor's occupants, house elves portraits and all, awake that night. The next morning, James Potter declared war on Sirius Black by dumping a jar of molded cheese onto Black's precious Quidditch supplies. So the play of Chaos and Pandemonium raised its not so welcomed curtains.
"Somebody help! The mutt is coming, the mutt is catching up!" James Potter shrieked as he raced down the hall, dangerously close to Severus' private potions laboratory.
It's a very good thing that students are not allowed to use magic during the holidays, even though the ministry couldn't trace the spells done in Prince Manor's iron hide wards. Severus had put his foot down in the beginning to stay away from his potions lab and the library, and no permanently damaging the property either. He couldn't stop the war, but he could do damage control.
They didn't expect him to help, it's against his morals. But it didn't mean he won't.
What had Potter done this time that would warrant such hideous screaming?
"Quiet James! Severus is brewing and you know how he feels about this war between you and Sirius. Haven't you learned to not disturb him when he's creating potions?" He could hear Remus hiss quite loudly as he half dragged James by his ear along the brightly lit hallways while Severus poked his head out of his thick lab door.
It seems Remus is finally having a nervous breakdown.
The Princes were a very very old pure-blood line, descendants of Rowena Ravenclaw and perhaps Salazar Slytherin. They value knowledge, learning and masks above all else and does not bat an eyelash to killing or torturing innocent people to get what they wanted. They were a typical Dark family, darker than the Malfoy's even, and older and even more prestigious than the Black's. The male members were actually princes once, before London bridge came crashing down around the wizarding world.
If there is one thing Severus Snape does not want to become, it's Dark. He is not against Dark Magic, no qualms of killing for say dragons to get its scales and skin, but he would never kill nor torture just for the sake of it.
Due to the Princes' search for knowledge and maybe conquest along the way, the manor had a vast library tat could only be rivaled by that of Hogwarts'. It was something Remus heavily admired, something Sirius did not care about, something Severus loves and something James swore never to step foot in other than for quite like it, it's private and it provided a good hideout for the two people not included in the prank war from the war participant's blood thirsty rampages.
Which was where he is heading right now, to escape one of Sirius Black's loud blood thirsty rampages.
"I know that Sirius is almost here but there is nothing he, you or anyone can do that would make me get inside that paper infested room!" James is really pushing the boundaries of 'whispering.'
He could almost see Remus' hard exasperated glare as he made his way up the stairs. Seriously, how did Sirius not find James with the volume they are 'whispering'? Do they want to be killed? Severus wondered if the sorting hat had made the right decision at their first Welcoming Feast. Again.
"It's not like it's Azkaban in there! Come one James! The library has the thickest doors and no violence was allowed in there! Come on James. Go in or you'll die!" He could hear the urgency and the fed-up-ness in Remus' soft tone, "Not that I would complain." He could hear mutters afterwards. So the banshee he had heard on the other side of the manor, disturbingly near the kitchens, was actually Sirius Black? I guess the ability to produce abnormal volume of noise must run in the Black family.
"James-" Remus began again, but was pleasantly interrupted by a: "I FOUND THE SILVERWARE, PREPARE TO DIE POTTER! HAHAHAHAHA!" Severus broke into a run.
The next thing James knew he was being pushed roughly by two pairs of hands, "Black has finally found the silverware and you know how he is with my forks," Severus hissed and the other two gulped. How could they forget, black's aim is impeccable to say the least.
"Now move!" Severus hissed again, dragging all of them in before shutting the heavy doors of the library, pulling them two along until he found a secluded alcove and rounded on Potter, black eyes blazing, "What did you do?" Severus hissed.
Severus Snape is renowned in Hogwarts for his much loved and detested ability to cut down or bring up someone with his words and tone alone. Something many envied and many hated. Still, he used all he has to get what he wants, if that means ripping down a Slytherin or two from their high horse, then by all means. Right now, Remus Lupin is just glad that ability wasn't aimed at him.
Poor James though.
"I might have, um..." He stuttered nervously, hands twisting into interesting shapes in front of him.
Severus huffed, "What did you do Potter?" James winced. He must be really pissed when he willingly used their last names. That was never a good sign, as they learned quickly.
"What did you do?" Severus tried again, albeit softer this time.
James gulped, "I might have turned his hair to Gryffindor colors and his entire wardrobe to my mother's?" He tried a smile that did not look innocent at all. Severus could hear Remus bash his head onto a cushion while muttering heavy curses that could make a sailor blush. Nervous breakdown, definitely.
The one thing that could send Sirius Black into a murderous rampage that actually involved letting loose the silverware that could make every Dark Lord in existence coward in fear, was to mess with his precious black locks. As proven just around the same time Severus' words and tone ability was discovered.
"Severus, I vote we cast James into the hallway and lock ourselves in the library. I will end the war by any means possible, today," Remus muttered in between the chair cushions, completely disregarding the fear in James' hazel eyes.
Typical Remus. Spending too much time with a Slytherin to avoid a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor's vengeful tendencies had certainly rubbed off of him. Severus shot the cushion boy an appreciative look. Self-preservation is a most valuable trait among three of the four Hogwarts Houses.
Severus leveled a glance at James, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. To throw or not to throw, that is the question. James started to sweat, he never liked that calculating glaze his father always had when he was brewing up a fitting punishment for young Jamie, his hand started to inch around a bookcase for leverage.
Finally Severus decided, "Good idea Remus. Give me a hand with this though, will ya?" James' arms flew around the bookcase but before he could grab a strong hold Remus was there, half dragging and half carrying him to the door.
Severus opened the gateway to either safety or a premature death, shot a trademark Malfoy diabolical smirk at James' horrified face, "You shouldn't have messed with Sirius' precious hair. Now you'll pay the price. On three." Severus' thin hands came around James' other trembling arm. Remus nodded, amber eyes amber eyes dancing with amusement and relief, of a good show and a quiet rest of the summer.
"One!" Severus called, James started squirming. He's stronger than the two of them and could get away, given enough time.
"Three!" James blinked, his brain stopped working for a split second, his mind went blank. The next thing he knew, he was in the middle of the dreaded empty hallway.
"Be careful Jamie dear, I heard Sirius got all the forks from the house elves," Severus offered him a small smile that completely failed to look innocent. "Good luck!" James heard Remus calling in the back ground to "close the door! He's coming!"
Severus gave him another traitorous smile and the heavy door of the library and James' life slammed shut, the bolt sliding in place. James' eyes widened in horror, shock and disbelief. But before he could bang and beg on the entrance to be allowed to keep his pitiful life...
"I GOT YOU NOW POTTER!" There came Sirius Black, hands full of forks and knives 'looted' from the kitchen. Gryffindor red hair, plastered in bright gold flakes, in a Victorian Era glaring green dress that must have belonged to James' old fashioned mother, clashing horribly with everything around him.
Sirius Black smiled, the infamous madness of the Blacks gathering in his storming grey eyes, "DIE, POTTER!" He screeched and lunged. James screamed and the two 'innocent' bystanders snickered and mourned behind their thick books and for a friend that is very much lost.
All in all, it was a perfectly normal summer for four perfect normal trickster children that is soon to be the famous group named the Marauders.
Let's give a three minute silence for the most honorable eleven year old boy that is James Charlus Potter. He is bright, good looking ,and so not very dead. But close, very close.
I would go on a rampage too if someone dyed my precious hair Gryffindor colors. The silverware thing is taken from Black Butler, with Sebastian Michaelis' very awesome killing with cutlery. This chapter is just mainly there to remind you that they are still young and 'innocent.' But not for much longer. *evil smirk* Concerning Remus' furry little problem, the Princes were very rich and had a gigantic property, Severus brew potions practically everyday to starve off boredom, do I really have to spell the whole thing out for you?
I think I put too much capital letters and exclamation marks.
Pay attention to detail, is my advice to all of you reading.
Do any of you have any suggestions on what to call Severus Animagus form? Review please!