27 Pretty Vacant

The new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher was a fop. Lucius Malfoy's posh clothes looked plain in comparison to how this Scandinavian peacock was dressed, and Severus had to avert his eyes to not get blinded by the white perfection of his teeth when the wizard smiled. Severus detested him just as much as the witches were swooning over him. What a bloody dazzler!

Allegedly, Professor Pekka Lemminkainen was from the USAA, the United Scandinavian Auror Association. Headmaster Dumbledore had praised his skills to the skies, but even after the sixth week of this term, Severus wasn't quite certain what it was exactly that Dumbledore was praising. Perhaps it was their shared fondness for flamboyant robes. He couldn't have possibly referred to Lemminkainen's skills as an Auror because of that, Severus hadn't seen much yet. The Professor still had to prove that he was indeed capable of teaching Defence against the Dark Arts. Except, of course, you believed in his tales. And talking he did a lot. He would enter the classroom with a sickening bright smile on his face, and then he entertained his audience with droll stories of how he became such a highly decorated Auror.

The witches thought he had the cutest accent and the cutest nose. Plus, he was broad-shouldered and looking like a Viking- or at least what they believed a Viking would look like. Severus wanted to bang his head against the desk when even his precious Lily started gushing about Lemminkainen's golden mane... as if the Scandinavian was a bloody Griffin!

Even his male classmates thought him the height of cool (especially the Gryffindorks) because Lemminkainen wasn't giving them much homework. He was easy to please and seemed to have an open ear for their problems- mainly the hormonally influenced ones. Since he was almost brimming with testosterone, it was plain to see why they admired him. They wanted to be just like him, just as successful when it came to gaining the attention of a pretty witch.

Severus rolled his eyes. He missed grumpy old Professor Steel. Although she was an ugly scarecrow in comparison to Pekka Lemminkainen, she was decidedly more competent and he favoured that in a professor.

Nevertheless, the girls begged to differ. They all tried to outdo each other by overdoing it with beautification charms. But not all of the girls were acting like brainless imbeciles at the sight of Professor Pekka Lemminkainen. There was one girl that wasn't impressed by the Scandinavian fop at all.

Raven had crossed her arms at the desk, making them a pillow for her weary head; she was actually sleeping.

Severus watched her for a while since it was certain he wouldn't miss anything. Professor Peacock was spinning an incredible tale about a group of Inferi he once defeated, although from what he was blabbering it seemed to be more likely he was referring to Zombies. There was a huge difference between Inferi and Zombies. Both of them were undead beings, controlled through the Dark Arts, but while an Inferius manifested itself as a white mist, a Zombie was just a stinking, decaying corpse raised from its grave.

Should he inform Lemminkainen of his mistake? He opted against it and glanced at Raven again. She looked quite pretty with her tousled hair...

Ever since her return from London, she had been unusually quiet. Of course, she had told him of what had happened at Jeffrey's, but after that she had hardly spoken a word at all. She had all clammed up and he didn't know what to do.

What was wrong with her?He missed the way she used to be, their casual friendship. Perhaps she had stopped caring about him, just like everybody stopped caring about him sooner or later... his mother, Lily, and now, apparently, Raven too. He should simply accept that.

Meanwhile, Professor Lemminkainen was babbling on and on about his oh-so-exciting adventures. The class listened in rapt attention.

-o-

Raven was still feeling miserable. She had never wanted to Obliviate anyone since she believed it simply wasn't right to mess with someone else's memories. And yet she'd done it. She had erased memories from Jeffrey's mind- memories that wouldn't have been there in the first place, if not for her own stupidity. She should have never told Jeffrey that she was a witch. In these times, it wasn't safe for a Muggle to know about the wizarding world. Owls could be intercepted and then her friend would be in danger.

Sometimes she wished she could hex herself. At least that would be more effective than crying her eyes out and feeling like she betrayed him. Of course it was only for his safety- but that didn't stop her thoughts from running weird ways and her mind from becoming a strange place, in which she believed that she deserved being lonely and miserable, because she was a horrible person. Nobody was owling her anymore. Her parents were at the other end of the Atlantic ocean, in a far away country, and her best friend... well, he had his own agenda...

-o-

It was obvious that Marc Bolan's death- whether it was an accident or murder- had a great impact on her. But then again, Raven was a too sophisticated witch to cry over her favourite pop star for weeks; she wasn't a stupid little fan girl.

You really should reconsider your relationship with her...

Whatever Mr Bolan had meant with that cryptic message, Severus knew even without the advice of a Muggle glam rock star that he would like to be a better friend to Raven. If only things were that easy. He had a role to play; he had to pretend he was a true follower of the Dark Lord's ideology in order to not raise suspicion. He had to pretend he was still interested in joining Lord Voldemort's ranks and that merely his modesty was keeping him- the lowly half-blood wanted to make himself a reputation as a potions master and until then, he didn't consider himself to be worthy of entering the illustrious circles of that noble fraternity.

He sneered at that thought. Avery and Mulciber kept pestering him about accompanying them for a non-committal visit at Malfoy Manor (to meet some old friends) the following Hogsmeade weekend. Severus had so far managed to string them along by claiming he was too busy with homework, writing essays, and they had believed him because they considered him a boring swot anyway.

He couldn't have cared less.

Class was almost over when Severus finally elbowed Raven. "You're snoring," he said gently as she opened one big blue eye to shot him a confused glare, and he knew immediately that that had probably not been the wisest thing to say.

"'m not," she slurred without even bothering to lift her head.

He suddenly noticed how pale she was and that she had dark rings around her eyes. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Wake me up when Professor Reindeer's done blabbering. He's annoying." She rested her head on her arms again.

"He most certainly is. I miss Professor Steel. Have you heard anything of her lately?"

"Why, I received so many owls recently I must have forgotten to tell you 'bout it."

Although Severus was a bright mind academically, he sometimes wished for more social competence in order to figure out what she was trying to tell him now. Of course, he understood sarcasm. He was also quite certain that he didn't misinterpret that undertone in her voice; it sounded biting, a snide remark like he would give when being vexed, and he'd given her plenty of that in the past years. Mostly, she had endured it stoically. Or she had snapped back at him. But it had never been like that before; it had never sounded so... frustrated. What was he to do about it?

-o-

A bell chimed, announcing the end of class. While many of their fellow students were lingering to have a word in private with their favourite professor, Severus followed Raven down the corridor.

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"It's Hogsmeade weekend, isn't it?" She replied without much enthusiasm.

"We could go together," he suggested.

"Yeah... perhaps..."

Or she could Apparate to London and lock herself up in her flat, order a pizza and wallow in her misery. She didn't need company for that. It was better than following Severus through Hogsmeade, looking out for Lily and who Miss Perfect was dating this year. She really had enough of that. It was so tiring to be in love with Severus Snape; she wished there would be a button to switch off her feelings for him.

"So... um, you don't want to go to Hogsmeade?"

"No." Oh, he was trying and he was so cute in his clumsy attempt at being... just nice. She longed to simply cling onto that, for it had been too long already since she had actually talked to someone, a friend, and she thought she'd go nuts if she had to spend only one more day in this sort of self-imposed isolation. Sheepishly she glanced at Severus. "I'm sorry. I'm not in the mood for the hubbub of Hogsmeade. Perhaps... if you like, that is... we could simply go for a walk?"

"That is agreeable," he said with a hint of a smile that made her smile as well.

-o-

Saturday morning, Head Boy James Potter walked into the Great Hall wearing a smug smirk on his face. He sat down at the Gryffindor table, next to Head Girl Lily Evans, and poured her a cup of tea before she had the chance to even think about reaching for the teapot. Politely, he handed her the sugar bowl.

"If I remember correctly, you take your tea with two sugars, don't you?"

"You're being very attentive today, James. Thank you, but I think I manage to stir my tea myself."

"Sure." He fell silent for a moment, watching her stir her tea and take a sip. "Um, Lily, would you like to accompany me to Hogsmeade today?"

Lily put down her cup to glance at him. "You're not asking me for a date, are you?"

"No. Not at all. It's just... you know, since we're Head Boy and Head Girl we should perhaps go together."

"Of course," Lily smiled ever so slightly, knowing he was very clever. And very charming. "It's our duty, isn't it?"

"It is," James agreed, looking deep into Lily's beautiful emerald green eyes while the fingers of his left hand formed the victory sign for only Sirius to see. "We have to show presence and help the younger students to find their way to Zonko's... and Honeydukes."

"They also need to know where to buy new quills," she reprimanded him softly.

"You're absolutely right," he said with little conviction, because Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop wasn't exactly his favourite shop in Hogsmeade. But he wanted to act more mature towards Lily, knowing she liked that about him.

Together they left the Great Hall and queued to leave the castle. Professor McGonagall let them pass with a kind smile on her face while she continued to check the permission forms of some eager third years.

"Lily, what would you've said, had I actually asked you out on a date?" James inquired cheekily as they were slowly strolling towards the small village. Neither of them was in a hurry to get there; both seemed to enjoy the walk for it was truly a beautiful day. The sun was shining from a nearly perfect blue sky with only a few fair-weather clouds, but there was a cold autumnal wind blowing that almost smelled of winter. Gallantly, James cast a warming spell.

Lily smiled at him. "You know, James, I might have actually considered to accept it."

He tried to not grin like a Cheshire cat at her adorable response as he offered her his arm (which she willingly took) and he also tried to not smirk smugly as he turned his head to flash a victorious glance at his not-rival Snivellus, but in the end he just couldn't help it.

-o-

They were taking a walk around the lake, only the two of them, and yet it seemed to Raven as if their moment of togetherness was being troubled by people that weren't there.

Of course Severus had witnessed the interaction between Potter and Lily, had watched her accept Potter's arm as they were walking towards Hogsmeade. Raven understood that it pained him to see them acting so chummy. Lily, however, seemed to have forgotten that she used to be Severus' best friend and that Potter had never missed the chance to torment her allegedly best friend. And now they were walking arm in arm. It didn't have to mean anything. It wasn't necessarily the beginning of a romance- but that didn't matter to Severus. She could see the hurt in his face, even though he was trying to hide it.

Raven didn't want Lily to spoil her day out with Severus; she had longed so much to have him all to herself, if only for a few hours, and it was a beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining from a clear blue sky, the leaves of the trees were glowing in fiery golden shades, and the water of the lake was almost glittering like liquid silver in the sunlight. Occasionally, the surface was torn by something dark, a tentacle. The giant squid was enjoying this very fine day, too. Lucky devil for not knowing the problems of the humans. All it cared about was a dish of fish and a leisure bath.

She had just inched a little closer to Severus, when all of a sudden he said in a low whisper, "That day she told Potter she wouldn't go out with him if it was a choice between him and the giant squid."

That day- Raven knew immediately which day he was referring to. "Well, she also used to call him an arrogant toerag- Potter, not the giant squid. By the way, did you know that squids have three hearts?"

"Indeed?" Severus didn't seem to be enthused about that piece of information. He kept staring into the distance.

"Yeah, and they're green."

"Three green hearts?" Now he was looking at her; apparently she had managed to pique his interest.

"Well, faintly green. I don't know if anyone has ever researched the properties of green squid hearts as possible potion ingredients. Perhaps all three hearts are of different use?"

"That would definitely qualify for a thorough research," Severus agreed, lost in thoughts, and as if the giant squid could hear them talking about the abuse of his hearts as potion ingredients, it disappeared into the deepest depth of the lake with a last splash of water, waving his farewell. Then the surface of the lake lay calm and still like a mirror, sparkling, reflecting the sunshine.

Abruptly, Severus turned his head to glance at Raven. "How come you know about squid hearts?"

"Oh, blame it on my inquisitive nature," she offered with a smirk, glad she had managed to take his mind off Lily. "You remember I told you about Miguel, the son of a Spanish fisherman?"

When he frowned at her, Raven continued and told him about 'postmortem examinations' of fish and other creatures of the sea, simply because she was a curious girl. And to impress Miguel, who thought that all girls (especially tourists) were easy to gross out with fish entrails until she had proven him different; it had been the beginning of a wonderful holiday friendship.

But as much as Raven enjoyed reminiscing about Miguel, she even more enjoyed her current company. Placing a hand on Severus' arm, she gently urged him to move on in order to proceed with walk around the lake... and, to some extent, to also leave the past behind. There was no use in mulling over whatever Lily and Potter were doing as long as she was the one who was with Severus now.

Longing for proximity, Raven linked arms with him and he let her. He even glanced at her with one of those rare smiles that would only grace his features on very rare occasions. It was just for a moment, but that was all it needed to make her heart race, aching for him. She so badly wanted to grab him and snog him senseless until he would finally come to realize that she was the perfect witch for him.

Unfortunately, that was just a perfect dream. Reality caught up fast enough with her, throwing her back down to earth and straight into the face Sirius Black, who was teasing her about her poor choice of date once again.

They had completed their walk around the lake in companionable silence and were now facing a group of students returning from Hogsmeade for an early supper. Amongst them was Sirius Black, accompanied by the werewolf, Lupin, and his other sidekick, the ever so creepy Peter Pettigrew.

"I don't get it!" Black exclaimed in an exaggerated gesture of clasping his heart. "Why's a sexy witch like you still hanging around with that greasy git? Oi, Snivelly, did you Imperio her to stay at your side?"

Before Severus could reply, Raven said nonchalantly. "Well, Black, I remember your... um, generous offer to shag me in one of the broom closets. But although you have a lovely bum, I'm not interested in a bum if I can have brains instead."

"You must be kidding," Black spluttered; he really didn't understand what was wrong with Lestrange that she didn't fancy him.

"Hex her, Padfoot! That Slytherin bitch shouldn't be allowed to talk to you like that," Pettigrew egged him on although it was plain to see that the dumbest of the Marauders had no clue of what was really going on here. He looked even more dumbfounded when suddenly his wand was in Snape's hand.

Immediately, Black drew his own wand, facing his nemesis. Lupin- who had seemed to grow himself sort of a backbone- reached out a placatory hand and rested it on Black's arm to prevent a fight.

"Let them be, Sirius. They're not worth you ending in detention again."

"Yeah, you should listen to your..." Raven bit her tongue before she could say werewolf, "um, friend. It's amazing that you're obviously too full of yourself to even realize you're a bad loser when you don't get what you want, and I am decidedly not available."

-o-

Ouch, that hurt. It felt like a slap in the face. Lestrange made him feel like a fool begging for attention, when in fact Sirius could have any girl he wanted. After all, he was popular while she wasn't. She should be overjoyed that he even glanced at her, in spite of her being a Slytherin- and yet, no other witch had ever refused him so boldly.

But it was like craving for forbidden fruit or the apples in neighbour's garden that always looked so very much more tempting. Sirius didn't really like Lestrange, nevertheless he wanted her just because she played so hard to get. He wasn't used to being turned down.

-o-

"You should be more careful around Black," Severus said as they were walking away from the Marauders, "I don't like the expression on his face, the way he stares at you so... so lewdly."

"Don't worry about my virtue, Sev. I most certainly do not intend to become one of his trophies." She heaved a sigh and continued in a whisper, "It's nice to be considered desirable though."

"Well, you definitely are a desirable witch, Raven." He wondered briefly why she had no boyfriend and was hanging around with him of all people. It never occurred to him that she might be in love with him, because when he thought of love he thought of Lily. "That's why you have to be careful. Black- you know, he's used to get what he wants."

"He's not a rapist," Raven gave to consider as she linked arms with Severus again, being quite touched that at least he'd called her desirable even though he seemed to be immune to her charms. Perhaps she should simply try a little harder to make him realize what he meant to her- but she was too scared of his response, that he might tell her he would only ever love Lily, and she really wasn't in the mood to hear that. "Although Black is decidedly too full of himself, I think he rather relies on his good looks and his oh-so-charming ways. Some witches do actually like that. Well, they also fawn on Lemminkainen and he isn't my kind of guy either."

Severus would have loved to know what her kind of guy should look like, but he didn't dare to ask because such a question was perhaps a tad too personal and most likely not appropriate to pose anyway. It was a pity, though, since he might have recognizes himself in her answer.

Nevertheless, he decided to keep an eye on her in case she was wrong with her evaluation of Black's character; he wouldn't let her walk empty corridors alone at night. Severus simply didn't trust any of the Marauders, given that they had made his life at Hogwarts a hell for too long already, and Raven was much too precious to him to let her become one of their victims.

Lily had often hated his fierce protectiveness; sometimes, she had even accused him of being overly protective or possessive- but Raven didn't seem to mind him watching over her. Actually, she seemed to enjoy him walking her to class and back, and he enjoyed it, too, being close to her.

-o-

Students that were of age were now allowed to leave Hogwarts on weekends; they were merely requested to sign a permission form. But on Hogsmeade weekends, formalities were hard enough to handle for the chaperoning teachers (they had to check parents' permissions as well as trying to keep the kids from harm) that any seventh year with an Apparation licence could simply disappear from their radar. Many Slytherins did so in order to meet with the Dark Lord, who was not as surreptitiously recruiting students straight from under Headmaster Dumbledore's nose as the latter might have wished.

Avery and Mulciber were boasting with their 'adventures' that night in the Slytherin common room, but Severus soon grew tired of listening to them. He didn't agree to their ideology and it made him feel sick to hear they actually considered hunting Muggles as a sport, just like Quidditch.

It seemed to him that things were getting out of control in the wizarding world, proportional to Lord Voldemort's constantly growing influence. The Ministry didn't do much about it, though. Their only reaction to an impeding war (which was likely to break out sooner or later) was to assign Bartemius Crouch as new head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

thanks to my most lovely, wonderful betas, hypnotic ink and alabaster princess